Soon, Laxmikant –Pyarelal worked with most of the music directors of that era, in the 1950s. Some of the duo’s colleagues in this phase of their life included celebrated Santoor player Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma and flautist Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia who had ventured into Bollywood as Shiv–Hari. Pyarelal wanted to move on to Vienna to play for symphony orchestras like Zubin Mehta, but was restrained by Laxmikant from doing so. The duo were unhappy with the payments made to them and moved to Madras (now Chennai), but met with same story there, and had to return. Pyarelal would often visit the Bombay Chamber Orchestra and the Paranjoti Academy to fine-tune his skills in the company of other music legends like Goody Seervai, Coomi Wadia, Mehli Mehta and Zubin Mehta.
Lata soon came to know about their poverty-stricken backgrounds and recommended their names to music directors like SD Burman, Naushad and C Ramachandra. Similar age, passions and financial situations brought them closer as they played and practiced for long hours at the studios. He then met Pyarelal at Sureel Kala Kendra, a music academy for children run by the Mangeshkar family. Laxmikant had impressed Lata Mangeshkar with his violin playing during a concert at Radio Club, Colaba, when he was just ten years of age.