Ghulam Haider was born in 1908 in Hyderabad (Sind, Pakistan).

He studied dentistry and learnt music from Babu Ganeshlal. Giving up dentistry, he worked in the theatre in Calcutta as a harmonium player - first at the Alfred Theatrical Company and then the Alexandra Theatrical Company. He briefly worked with the Jenaphone recording company as composer and broke into films in Lahore with the father-son duo of Roshan Lal Shorey and Roop Kishore Shorey.

He got his big breakthrough film with D.M. Pancholi's Punjabi film Gul-e-Bakavali (1939) followed by Yamla Jat (1940), both starring Noor Jehan.

His biggest hit came the following year with Khazanchi (1941). The music of Khazanchi caused a revolution. By then Music Directors of the 1930s, who had embellished films with their exquisite compositions set in classical ragas, were beginning to sound commonplace. Khazanchi's refreshingly free wheeling music not only took the audiences by storm but also made other music directors sit up and take notice. Combining popular ragas with the rich verve and rhythm of Punjabi music, Haidar ensured that the Indian film song would never be the same again.

Khandaan the following year with Noor Jehan was again a mega hit establishing Haider at the very top.

He moved to Bombay where he worked in films like Chal Chal re Naujawaan (1944), Phool (1944) and Humayun (1945). His best-known compositions were sung by Shamshad Begum and invoke Punjabi folk and extensively featured percussion instruments like the dholak.

Memorable Films

Gul-e-Bakavali (Punjabi)(1939)

Yamla Jat (Punjabi) (1940)

Khazanchi