Lata Mangeshkar Sings For R.D. Burman

this article is from 2002 where legendary composer Naushad Sahab commented....

Lata Mangeshkar Sings For R.D. Burman
Times Nework

You can’t help but agree with O.P. Nayyar’s statement that “R.D. Burman reserved some of his best compositions for Lata Mangeshkar’’. As the CD unspools, you are transported to the halcyon past of Aaja piya tohe pyar doon (Baharon Ke Sapne). To a time when life was unhurried and minus the scourge of remixes, a time when cyclo-styled tunes didn’t scar the souls forever. The special R.D.-Lata chemistry lends itself to a heady potion.

Savour the eddies and currents Lata whips up in the Baahon mein chale aao (Anamika) ditty, which is so unlike the bowdlerised new versions of circa 2002.

The Pancham-Lata jugalbandi is best encapsulated in Mere naina saawan bhaadon (Mehbooba), where the songstress brings glorious light and delicate shadings to even the simplest of tunes. Hear Kishore Kumar and her swing through the notes of Bheegi bheegi raaton mein (Ajnabee).

Neophyte music directors would be well advised to snag a few tips from R.D.’s lush arrangements on Tune o rangeele (Kudrat). Armed with word power and an aching voice, the Anmol Ratan series creates an album which is laidback, yet excites at the same time.

The album keeps its eye on the main aim: a good tune. Ergo, you have Bahut door mujhe (Heera Panna), Dev Anand’s utterly forgettable movie made memorable by its music and the swinging Zeenat Aman.
The nearly forgotten Ae ri pawan (Bemisaal) shows up in the compilation. Anand Bakshi’s lyrics: Badal se tera kya hain kuch naata...baawri si tu phire, kaun hai tera sajan, make you wistful. The album is rounded off with Gulzar’s Tujhse naaraz nahin zindagi (Masoom). When Lata croons Jeene ke liye socha hi nahin dard sambhaalne honge, time stops for a generous bout of gooseflesh.

The inclusion of Sharm aati hai (Padosan) is a bit of a downer. Also, you wonder why the company chose Lata’s Paas nahin aana (Aap Ki Kasam) duet with Kishore Kumar, when the Karvatein badalte rahe number from the same film is far more fetching.

And as far as definitive duets go, why didn’t they include Tum aa gaye ho (Aandhi) or Tere bina (Ghar)? Also, songs like Jaane kya baat hai (Sunny), Do nainon mein (Khushboo), Thodisi zameen (Sitara) Sili hawa (Libaas) and Kuch na kaho (1942-A Love Story) would have added sparkle to this compilation. But these are minor warts in an otherwise flawless album.

'RD Burman was made of music'

Indo-Asian News Service
Saturday, January 5, 2008: (Mumbai) :

The legendary R D Burman, who revolutionised Hindi film music since he debuted as composer with comedian Mehmood's 1961 movie Chote Nawab, is almost a forgotten man today.

But the songs he composed continue to live on in the minds of all music lovers.

Those are Bollywood's imperishable treasure trove, more particularly, perhaps, for the music companies cashing in on his composing genius.

His 13th death anniversary on Friday went almost unnoticed in Bollywood, the hub of entertainment, to which the maestro devoted all his years.

R D Burman, or Pancham to his friends and contemporaries, was born into music. No wonder, he could compose tunes as a toddler.

In fact, S D Burman was so impressed by a tune his nine-year-old son had composed that he later used it in the Kishore Kumar-starrer Funtoosh in 1956.

A whizkid, R D Burman dabbled in music even before he could speak.

He was probably the only composer, who could play all musical instruments available during his time. He remained a student till the last day.

Paying his tribute to the man, who is often credited with introducing modern music in Hindi movies, music director Anu Malik says R D Burman was "made of music".

"The variety that he introduced in film music has remained unmatched till date. He could do so because he was classically trained and at the same time, he kept abreast with modern musical trends all over the world," recalls the young composer.

According to him, R D Burman was so much in tune with his time that he could compose Piya tu ab tu aaja from Carvan and Chingari jo bhadke, to saawan usse buzhaye from Amar Prem with equal ease.

His range varied from the catchy Aaja aaja, main hun pya tera to the soulful thumri Hame tumse pyar kitna by Parveen Sultana in Kudrat.

The mischievous Ek chaturnari, badi hoshiyar from Padosan to the melodious Tere bina zindagise koi, shikwa to nahin from Aandhi.

Hit gaana hai! Shabash, bete! Raj Kapoor

“Raj Kapoor came as a pleasant surprise after Guru Dutt,” agreed Pancham. “Dharam Karam came to me through son Randhir Kapoor with whom I generationally vibed. Picture my mental state when told it would be Raj Kapoor okaying the film's theme-song!”

“Nervous as hell felt as I readied six tunes for Rajji to pick from - for that piano-song situation in Dharam Karam. After the Guru Dutt experience, I mightn't have accepted Dharam Karam at all, had I known it meant facing Raj Kapoor!”

No second takes

“But Rajji had outlined the situation so clearly to me that I was hopeful. Yet fearful. I now played the first of my six tunes, as Rajji sat hoveringly in front. I'd barely started playing my first Dhun when Rajji burst out: “Situation ke liye perfect tune hai! Chalo, okay-bottle kholo! ”

Not only that, Raj Kapoor proposed a toast to me for the way I'd composed what later became, via Majrooh Sultanpuri, 'Iik Din Bik Jaayega Maatee Ke Mol, Jag Mein Reh Jaayenge Pyaare Tere Bol'.

“Raj Kapoor added, by way of a highly fulfilling bonus: “Hit gaana hai! Shabash, bete! ”

Tribute To Panham - 8th Feb, Kala-Mandir, Kolkata

Friends,
please note that there will be 8 original musicians of R.D.Burman who will perform live on stage.

Euphony a group of passionate Rahul Dev Burman fans who met on the World Wide Web is organising their 3rd event on the 8th February at KalaMandir,Calcutta from 6pm onwards. Kolkata would see a host of original Pancham-da musicians who played with HIM for more than 30 years will be enthralling the audience on the 8th of February.

Dfinitely be one of its kind.

You can view the poster of this event by clicking on this link below:

http://euphony.co.in/events/index.php



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tickets for 8th February show will be available at the following outlets in Kolkata from tomorrow i.e. 22nd of Jan/2008:

• Music World,Park Street - 22164228
• Bonanza - Salt Lake - 9830189975
• Alaap,Hedua - 9903394405
• Double Channel,Sealdah - 23605795 / 9433247161
• Super Audio,Gariahat - 9830375132
• Pal Audio,Ballygunge - 9433096322
• Gupta Electronics,Bhawanipur - 24552579 / 9830162738
• Sargam,Ganguly Bagan
• Commune Electronics (Manton Super Mkt),Behala - 24452085 /24985161
• Bapi Casettes & CDs, Jadavpur 8B Bus-stand
• R.G.Electronics,4/1 Dum Dum Road (Dum Dum Nager Bazar)
• Nefertiti - Dakshinapan,Dhakuria
• Karuna North - 13,Bhupen Bose Aavenue,Shyambazar - 9830038053

For any further information please check www.euphony.co.in or else
can contact us at +919836927479

Clips of "Mujhe Chalte Jaana Hai"

Friends,
here's the link to the clips of "Mujhe Chalte Jaana Hai", documentary by Brahmanad Singh-ji -- what can one say??? It's an excellent domentary...a must watch and buy, if available in DVD...

Dear Brahmanand Singh-ji,
Congratulations and tons of Thanks from bottom of our heart for the Documentary. Just finished watching clips Mujhe Chalte Jaana Hai at IndiaFM...can't thank you enough for the enormous task you'd undertaken. Many Many Thanks. BoSS from Heaven is showering you HIS blessings....




or link out to
http://www.indiafm.com/broadband/video/Special-Features/Qv918r90/1/Pancham-Unmixed-Mujhe-Chalte-Jaana-Hai-Excerpts.html

Pancham's Death Anniversary

Today is the very sad day for all Pancham fans.....we all pay our heartfelt tribute to The Legend...






Filmmaker Pays Tribute to R.D.Burman on His Death Anniversary
Varsha Pillai / CNN-IBN
Published on Fri, Jan 04, 2008 at 20:09, Updated at Fri, Jan 04, 2008

Mumbai: It has been 14 years since he passed away and all there is left of the great Pancham da are his memories and some evergreen melodies.

On his 14th death anniversary there is someone, who wants to pay a cinematic tribute to the maverick music director. Documentary filmmaker Brahmanand Singh is coming out with two hour film called Pancham Unmixed - Mujhe Chalte Jaana Hai.

The film takes an incisive look not only at the body of work of the legendary composer, but also reveals various facets of R D Burman that you would never know.

"Asha Bhonsle told us that he drove with one leg up on the seat. He would bring the second eg down only in times of emergency otherwise one foot would be up always and one hand woul dbe busy giving a taal (beat)," says Singh

From singer Asha Bhonsle to close friend lyricist Gulzar to composer trio Shankar Ehsaan and Loy, they all have sung out their love for Pancham Da in the film.

"His story has a very, very exciting graph. He started off in a very promising manner, then he was under his father's shadow and then broke off and created a niche for himself," says Singh.

The film is not only a nostalgic trip down memory lane for friends of the late composer, but its also a cinematic tribute to one of the greatest mSusic directors, Bollywood has ever known.


Jai Pancham!!!!


**********************************************************************
A documentary film on RD Burman

>> Pancham Unmixed: Mujhe Chalte Jaana Hai <<

By Faridoon Shahryar, January 4, 2008
Indian FM

“Mere saare compositions ek taraf….’Tere bina zindagi se koi shikva to nahin’ ek taraf,” said master singer-composer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan to one of his friends highlighting the brilliance of evergreen music composer RD Burman who is having his 14th death anniversary today. One of his fans, Brahmanand Singh has recently completed a two hour long documentary film Pancham Unmixed: Mujhe Chalte Jaana Hai on RD Burman for which he has interviewed some of the most revered names in the Film Industry like Asha Bhonsle, Shammi Kapoor, Gulzar, Rishi Kapoor, Pyarelal, Javed Akhtar, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Vishal Bharadwaj, Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Shantanu Moitra, Shiv Kumar Sharma, Hari Prasad Chaurasia and loads more.

“Today over 60% remixed songs are RD Burman numbers. People are forgetting who made them, how they were made. People know the songs from the names of the DJs attached to them. If a film like this is not made then the original composer would be completely forgotten,” Singh claims. But is there any other reason for making a film such as this? “No authentic work has been done on him. He is such an important landmark in Indian films. I’ve spent two years on the film talking to many of the people who were either close to him or have followed his work closely. It also has some of the very rare photographs, films clippings.”

Brahmanand Singh who has earlier made documentaries on Classical singer Asgari Bhai, Alzheimers Disease and Ragpickers is also looking forward to directing a comedy feature film. As for Pancham Unmixed: Mujhe Chalte Jaana Hai, he believes that since he has shot it on HDV, it deserves to get a theatrical release and he would want a big production house to take over the marketing of his film. We at IndiaFM Broadband shall premiere the first exclusive clip from this documentary tomorrow. So, all you RD fans don’t forget to make a date with us!

Documentary on Pancham

An ode to Pancham
Chaitanya Padukone
Tuesday, January 01, 2008 23:59 IST

A documentary tribute to the legendary RD Burman is now ready for release

MUMBAI: Very few know that the legendary Bollywood composer Rahul Dev Burman became the ‘butt of a bet’ involving his fan Rita Patel whom he met in Darjeeling. When they were back in Mumbai, Pancham asked her out to watch a movie. She did turn up, but vanished mid-way through the screening. Apparently Rita had laid a ‘bet’ with her friends that she’d be able to go out with the suave Rahul for a ‘movie-date’. Rita, by the way, went on to become RDB’s first wife.

On Pancham’s death anniversary (January 4) documentary filmmaker Brahmanand Singh is ready with a tribute titled ‘Pancham Unmixed — Mujhe Chalte Jaana Hai’. Over three dozen Bollywood celebrities have revealed their personal memories about RD in this two-hour bio-pic.

“Amusing, startling yet heart-warming anecdotes make it a must watch for every true RD fan,” says Singh. Beginning with Asha Bhosle, the film has nostalgic anecdotes recounted by, among others, Gulzar, Shammi Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Pyarelal,Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Vishal Bharadwaj, Usha Uthup, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Louiz Banks, Kavita Krishnamurthy and Shailendra Singh.

“I had shot some 70 hours of footage which had to be trimmed to two hours running time. I hope to screen the movie locally and also showcase it at various foreign film-festivals,” enthuses Singh, who planned to showcase the film at KARA (Karachi film festival) which has been postponed indefinitely following the unrest in Pakistan.

A poignant portion is when Vidhu Vinod Chopra (whose musical milestone ‘1942-A Love Story’ was Panchamda’s swansong of sorts) speaks about the dark phase in Pancham’s career — apparently RDB had almost been written off by the music industry following a lean, luckless spell during the early 90’s.

As Javed Akhtar succinctly puts it, “Pancham is a real champ because he could strike a knock-out punch with his ‘1942..’ score, even after being down and out.”