In 1948, Roshan came to Mumbai to find work as a Hindi film music director and became assistant of music composer Khawaja Khurshid Anwar in film "Singaar" (1949). He somewhat struggled until he met the then famous producer-director Kidar Sharma, who gave him the job of composing for his film "Neki aur Badi" (1949). While it was a flop, Kidar Sharma gave him another chance in his next film. Roshan emerged as a player on the Hindi film music scene with "Baawre Nain" (1950) which became a big musical hit.