Mumbai, Sep 23 (IANS) The death of filmmaker Harnam Singh Rawail was a minor snippet in the back pages of Mumbai newspapers.

The unsung passing away of a once distinguished filmmaker left some of the more sensitive souls in the film industry dismayed.

"This is the same filmmaker who made a monumental film like 'Mere Mehboob' in the 1960s. It's so sad to forget those who contributed so much to Hindi cinema just because they haven't been professionally active in recent times," says filmmaker Arjun Sablok.

Rawail indeed contributed considerably to mainstream Hindi cinema.

Born in Lyallpur, he came to Mumbai as a teenager with the dream of making movies and no money in his pocket. Rawail soon moved to Kolkata where he wrote several scripts before turning director with "Dorangia Daku" in 1940.

He made several action and comedy films in the 1940s and 50s, but finally discovered his forte in the popular genre known as the Muslim social when he made "Mere Mehboob". A huge blockbuster featuring Ashok Kumar, Sadhana and Rajendra Kumar in a love triangle, the film's music score by Naushad is a perennial favourite.

Rawail returned at least thrice to the Muslim culture shown in "Mere Mehboob" to make the 1971 follow-up called "Mehboob Ki Mehndi". A resounding flop featuring Rajesh Khanna and Leena Chandravarkar, the film again revealed the director's keen ear for songs and music, this time by Laxmikant-Pyarelal.

Rawail's third Muslim social was the love legend "Laila Majnu", a huge blockbuster with Rishi Kapoor and Ranjeeta Kaur in the title roles. The film was again rendered remarkable by the music score composed by Madan Mohan. When the composer passed away before the film's release, the music was completed by Jaidev.

The film boasted of Madan Mohan's most successful score ever. "Laila Majnu" was also the last really successful love legend of Hindi cinema.

Rawail's fourth Muslim social "Deedar-e-Yaar", produced by the film's leading man Jeetendra, was a remake of sorts of the mythic "Mere Mehboob". The film scripted by H.S. Rawail's son Rahul Rawail was one of the biggest box office disasters in the history of Indian cinema, wiping out the senior Rawail's career as a moviemaker.

Though H.S. Rawail is identified with "Mere Mehboob", his most remarkable film perhaps was "Sangharsh" in 1968. Based on a novel written by the eminent Bengali author Mahashweta Devi, "Sangharsh" set in the 19th century focussed on the lives of bandits known as Thugs. The remarkable drama had exceptional performances by stalwarts like Jayant, Balraj Sahni, Sanjeev Kumar, Vyjayanthimala and Dilip Kumar.

Rahul Rawail paid his father's best work a compliment when he titled one of his films "Jeevan Ek Sangharsh" in 1990. Like the father, the son seems to have made his most successful films in the middle of his career. But unlike the father, Rahul Rawail isn't identified with any one genre of cinema.

"The important thing for a filmmaker is to keep surprising yourself and the audience," says Sanjay Leela Bhansali, an ardent fan of H.S. Rawail's "Mere Mehboob" and "Sangharsh".