बी. आर. देवधर

B. R. Deodhar (11 September 1901 – 10 March 1990) was born in Miraj, in present-day Sangli district of Maharashtra. He began his musical training under Nilkanth Buwa Alurmath before joining the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, where he became a leading disciple of its founder, Vishnu Digambar Paluskar — and the only one of Paluskar's students permitted to also pursue formal secular education.

Known popularly as "Professor" Deodhar, he is regarded by some scholars as the first composer of Hindi film music, and is credited with experimenting with orchestral instrumental ensembles (vadya vrind) in Indian cinema. He worked as a music director on about ten Hindi films during the early talkie era of the 1930s and 1940s, before turning his focus away from the film industry.

Deodhar's more lasting legacy was as a Hindustani classical vocalist of the Khayal genre, musicologist and educator: he founded the Deodhar School of Music in Mumbai, breaking from the traditional gharana system of teaching, edited the Hindi music magazine Sangeet Kala Vihar, and authored several books on music and musicians, including Pillars of Hindustani Music. His students included Kumar Gandharva and Saraswati Rane. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship in 1964 and the Padma Shri in 1976, and died in Mumbai on 10 March 1990.