 Spicezee BureauNew Delhi, June 27: Music lovers all over the nation pay tribute to R D Burman, the music composer who brought a unique verve in Hindi film music, on his sixty-ninth birth anniversary. |
Born on 27 June 1939, RD Burman’s love for music showed at an early age. He learnt to play the Sarod from the legendary Ustad Ali Akbar Khan at very young age and liked playing the mouth organ. He composed his first song – ‘Aye meri topi palat’, for the film Funtoosh in 1956. The very next year, his father borrowed the tune of ‘Sar jo tera chakraye’ for Guru Dutt’s film ‘Pyaasa’. Comedian Mehmood gave Pancham his first film Chote Nawab in 1961 and the first song in the film was recorded by Lata Mangeshkar, after that, there was no looking back.
The maestro became well-known for his timeless compositions for films like ‘Teesri Manzil’, ‘Padosan’, ‘Aradhana’, ‘Kati Patang’, ‘Amar Prem’, ‘Hare Rama Kare Krishna’ and many such classics. He stupefied the audience by composing music in entirely different genres. He created the classical based ‘Raina Beeti Jaaye’ as he flirted with seminal rock score in ‘Hare Rama Kare Krishna’ and cabaret in ‘Piya Tu Ab to Aajaa’ from Caravan in 1971.
The versatile composer experimented widely and did not abide by conventional norms. Most of his compositions were sung by his wife Asha Bhonsle. Towards the mid-1980s, Panmcham’s career began to falter due to the Disco age overtaking him. Yet, he gave beautiful music in films like Saagar and Ijaazat. His last memorable compositions were for ‘1942-A Love Story’, for which he received his third Filmfare Awards.
The timeless quality of Pancham Da’s music can be figured out from the fact that most of the remixes being done today are of his songs. Composers Vishal-Shekhar have taken to his music in ‘Jhankaar Beats’. They pay tribute to him again in their upcoming ‘Bachna Ae Haseenon’ starring Ranbir Kapoor. World-renowned music composers including AR Rahman have the highest regards for RD Burman’s music.
Bollywood's musical tribute to Panchamda
Divya Unny
Friday, June 27, 2008: (Mumbai):
Friday is Panchamda's 69th birth anniversary and the film industry's leading composers are lining up to pay tribute.
"Gulzaar saab always told me some bizarre tales of Burman da's way of making music and it was this eccentricity in him that made him unique," said Shankar Mahadevan, music composer.
From the foot tapping numbers of Teesri Manzil to the sensuous rhythms of Hare Rama Hare Krishna and the effervescent melody of Ijaazat, R D Burman's style created created a musical revolution.
Many of his best loved compositions were sung by his wife the incomparable Asha Bhosle.
The remix revolution of Panchamda's numbers by the likes of Bally Sagoo, DJ Aqeel and others only proves RD Burman's ageless appeal and composer duo Vishal-Shekhar have gone back to his music in Jhankaat Beats.
They are again set to pay him another tribute. "We are doing this film Bachna Ae Haseeno where there is a modern version of RD Burman's song Bachna Ae Haseenon. It has been sung by Kishore Kumar's son and it is our second tribute to him," said Vishal Dadlani, music composer.
"His songs were lovely and I think every budding composer should gain inspiration from his music," said music maestro A R Rahman.
Today is the 70th birth anniversary of Rahul Dev Burman. Ritujaay Ghosh spoke to members of RD’s original band Almost every year, on June 27, a long, patient queue forms in front of Kala Mandir. Inside, there’s standing room only, while on stage, a group of men play evergreen melodies from Hindi films. If that sounds like a tacky album title, perish the thought. The melodies really are evergreen, and these men are torchbearers of one of Bollywood’s richest legacies - the music of Rahul Dev Burman.
They are the Original Pancham Band, inheritors of a man who died childless. To these 35-odd men, Burman was Pancham da or simply, Pancham. Pirated CDs of his compositions can never match what Burman’s orchestra produces even today, nearly 15 years after his death. Burman knew he was incomplete without his orchestra. And always acknowledged it as the most powerful artillery in his musical arsenal, unlike plenty of other composers.
Manohari Singh, who worked with Burman for over four decades and is now the orchestra’s frontman, still religiously varnishes his saxophone before he goes on stage. And a tear still rolls down his face as he shares Pancham anecdotes. It isn’t just Singh. Burman worked with the best musicians in the trade, sometimes as session players. While Singh frequently doubled up as Burman’s assistant, the likes of Swapan Chakraborty and the late Marutirao Keer helped out too.
On the tabla, Burman used the services of Janardan Abhayankar and Homi Mullah. The icing on the cake was Pandit Samta Prasad, who did the honours for Basanti’s famous tonga chase sequence in Sholay. Burman also worked with Trilok Gurtu and Leslie Vaz, stars in their own right who played drums for Burman.
Bhanu Gupta, one of Burman’s more trusted lieutenants, who worked in all Burman’s films right up to 1942: A Love Story, his last, played Spanish guitar and was one of Burman’s closest friends and sitting musician. Gupta’s surprise partner, also on the guitar, was Bhupinder Singh, who also sang many of Burman’s hit songs later.
Says Gupta, "Pancham’s compositions were unorthodox, but every instrument could be heard. That gave great satisfaction to the musicians and was a major reason why no one ever left him." While Burman has always been considered ahead of his time, it was his work style and humility that endeared him to his band. How else could he have handled a team full of stars? Consider this: Kersi Lord and Louis Banks on synthesizer and piano, Sultan Khan on sarangi, Hari Prasad Chaurasia on flute and at times Shiv Kumar Sharma on santoor - Burman made his music in style and with stars who would give him their best. The miracle was that no one felt left out.
"Pancham had the ability to popularise unorthodox instruments like the duggi and madal, which made stars of Homi and Ranjeet Gazmer," says Gupta. Gazmer, one of Nepal’s leading composers, was nicknamed Kancha bhai by Burman. "The industry still knows me as Kancha bhai and I love it," says Gazmer. Adds Banks, "The best thing was that he publicly credited his musicians for what they did." So the musicians laughed with him, learned with him and shared with him. But above all, they made music with him, and in Burman’s own words, were indispensable for him.
Gupta recounts several examples of this unique bond. For instance, before he began shooting for Yaadon Ki Baraat, director Nasir Hussain asked Burman for some compositions and the master played two melodies. Hussain rejected the first instantly, but the second appealed to him. "Pancham jumped up and said, 'Maine kaha tha na yehi wala achha lagega.’ And pointing at me, he said, 'Yeh maine nahin is saale Bhanu ne banaaya hai'. That was Pancham," says Gupta.
This year, as Burman’s team returns to pay homage to their "own private Pancham", one thing is clear: RD Burman lives. As his orchestra breaks into music, the audience will fall silent, and when the Sholay theme is played, cries of "once more" will fill the auditorium.
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