Do you know this stock intro tune used in so many Hindi films?

I love watching opening credits of movies. Over the years, I have gathered some favourites: the classic water-colour paintings focused on eyes in the title sequence of Ankhen (1968), Chhupa Rustam‘s (1973) cleverly painted credits on a railroad, and the hare and tortoise fable-inspired animated intro of Katha (1982).

A majority of Hindi films from that era employ the standard opening credits rolling against a signature tune or that of a song from the movie. Often, such tunes would go unnoticed.

But not this one for the sheer number of times I heard this tune.

I don’t really recall the first Bollywood film where I heard this tune playing but it sounds very familiar. From time to time, I have noticed it being used in the title sequences of many films made in the ’70s and ’80s.

In The Gold Medal (1984)

(Music: Shankar Jaikishan)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7sFcmAdwAs#t=8m42s

In Chor Ke Ghar Chor (1978)

(Music: Kalyanji Anandji)

This slightly sped up version in Ganga Meri Maa (1983)

(Music: RD Burman)

Again in Mahendra Sandhu and Sarika’s Meherbaani (1982)

(Music: Ravindra Jain)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vgoJp9zOhw#t=0m09s

Also, in the Shabana Azmi-Farooque Shaikh starrer arthouse drama, Lorie (1984).

(Music: Khayyam)

The music directors for all the films listed here are different and so are the production houses. Also, none of the opening credits offer any information about the ownership of the tune.

I’d love to learn the story behind this tune. Who composed it? Was there any copyright/ royalty involved? And how did so many filmmakers end up having access to it? Questions… questions… I have so many of them.

Any pointers will be of great help.

UPDATE: I think Twitter pal and ace Bollywood enthusiast Sandeep Loyalka may have found the answer. He rightly points out that this is Deewaar‘s (1975) famous opening theme (of course, hence so familiar!) and could possibly be the source of inspiration. The film’s music was by RD Burman.

A little digging into Deewaar‘s IMDB entry reveals that the tune was originally composed for another Gulshan Rai-Yash Chopra-RDB film, Joshila (1973) and has since been used in many famous and lesser-known films including Yaarana (1981).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOshKkJuJR4#t=0m40s

With this piece of information, it looks like Pancham is the creator of retro Bollywood’s most widely used intro tune.