Laxmikant-Pyarelal - Early Life - Pyarelal

Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma, was born in Gorakhpur district of United Provinces (present-day Uttar Pradesh), on 3 September in 1940. Pyarelal was the son of a renowned trumpeter Pt. Ramprasad Sharma (popularly known as Babaji), who taught him the basics of music. He started learning violin at the age of 8 and practised it 8 to 12 hours daily. He learnt to play violin from a Goan musician named Anthony Gonsalves. The song "My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves" of the movie Amar Akbar Anthony is regarded as a tribute to Mr. Gonsalves (the movie had music by Laxmi-Pyarelal). By the age of 12, his family's financial condition had deteriorated, which in turn forced him to earn money by playing in studios. Pyarelal then used to frequent visiting and playing the violin in studios such as Ranjit Studios, to earn money for his family.