From the childhood, he was inclined towards Western music. His first childhood teacher was his mother Nazamaye, who taught him harmonium. At the age of 6, he gave his first public performance at C.J Hall in Mumbai where he played the pedal harmonium. His filmy music career started with Hindi film 'Baadal' (1942) in which he assisted music director Ustad Mustaq Hussain. Later he assisted Master Ghulam Haider, and Khemchand Prakash. His first independent assignment was for the film 'Circus Girl' (1943) in which he composed music along with another music director Vasant Kumar Naidu. In all, he was the music director for about a dozen Hindi films most of which were released in 1940s and early 1950s.
From the obscure 'Circus Girl' in 1943 to O Panchi, Rangmahal, Madmast, Talash, Char Dost, Vidyapati and Pyar in Hindi to Madhu Shraboni, Joy Baba Baidyanath, Maa, Chalachal, Panchatapa, Subho Bibaha, Manik, Kanchan Kanya, Panna and Pathey Holo Dekha in Bengali, he had an enviable repertoire. In 1947, he joined HMV as Orchestra Director and worked for R. K. banner and Naushad. V Balsara was one among such music directors who started his career in Hindi films but could not sustain it for long as a music director. But he changed the track of his career and became a famous instrumentalist, orchestra conductor, a music teacher and the music director of non-filmy songs and a few Bengali films during rest of his life. In 1954, he settled in Kolkata where he learnt Indian classical music from Muneshwar Dayal of Gaya and took interest in Rabindra Sangeet. During this period, he was connected with about 30 Bengali films in various capacity – Orchestra Conductor, background music, assistant music director and music directors. He also composed many non-filmy Hindi and Bengali songs mostly in the 60s and 70s. He had many music albums to his credit particularly as an instrumentalist and symphony orchestra music composer.
Parts of his orchestra albums were often used by AIR and Radio Ceylon as filler after the end of a radio programme. Balsara who was greatly influenced by western music learnt to play the piano from Hildafield, a German musician. His knowledge of the piano made him use it to play Indian classical music also with ease. He mastered the technique of using the instrument for playing Indian classical music from Muneswar Dayal of Gaya. He was equally at ease with string and wind instruments. He was known for his versatility with an array of musical instruments including piano, univox and melodica.
Contributed by :- Shri. Mitul Kansal
kansalmitul@gmail.com