शंकरराव व्यास

Shankarrao Ganesh Vyas (23 January 1898 – 17 December 1956) was a Hindustani classical vocalist, composer, and music educator who became one of early Indian cinema's most respected music directors. Born in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, he began training under Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar at the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya from the age of eleven, becoming one of his most accomplished disciples.

After settling in Ahmedabad, Vyas founded the Gujarat Sangeet Vidyalaya, and in 1937 he co-founded the Vyas Sangeet Vidyalaya in Dadar, Bombay, together with his brother, the noted classical vocalist Narayanrao Vyas. Between 1937 and 1954 he scored music for approximately 32 Hindi films alongside several Marathi and Gujarati productions, largely mythological and devotional subjects such as Ram Rajya, Narsi Bhagat, Vikramaditya, Bharat Milap, and Poornima, bringing a strong classical and folk musical idiom to the screen.

Beyond films, Vyas was a prolific author of music-education texts — including Prathamik Sangeet, Madhyamik Sangeet, Sitar Vadan, and Murli Naad — and compiled over 350 of his own compositions in the volume Vyas Kirti. He died in Ahmedabad on 17 December 1956.