श्याम सुंदर

Shyam Sundar (born Shyam Sunder Gaba, 7 July 1914, Lahore) was a Hindi and Punjabi film music director active from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Drawn to music from an early age and influenced by fellow Lahore musician Master Ghulam Haider, he became one of the leading exponents of the "Punjab School" of film music during Hindi cinema's formative years.

He began his career composing for Punjabi films, including Sohni Kumharan (1939), Laila Majnu (1940) and Gul Baloch (1942); the last of these is historically notable as the film in which he gave Mohammad Rafi his first screen duet, alongside Zeenat Begum. Over a career of roughly 13 years he scored music for 24 films (20 Hindi, 4 Punjabi), known for his careful instrument arrangement and orchestration. He worked closely with singer Noor Jehan, starting with Village Girl (1945), and later with Lata Mangeshkar on Bazaar (1949).

Sundar's career declined after he developed an alcohol dependency during the making of Lahore (1949). He died on 15 July 1953 in Bombay while working on the film Alif Laila, whose score was completed by his assistant, Madan Mohan.