R. D. Burman

Rahul Dev Burman

Burman with Asha Bhosle
Native name রাহুল দেব বর্মন
Born (1939-06-27)27 June 1939
Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India
Died 4 January 1994(1994-01-04) (aged 54)
Bombay, Maharashtra, India
Cause of death Heart attack
Occupation Singer, Music director, Composer
Years active 1961–1994
Spouse(s) Rita Patel (1966–1971) (divorced)
Asha Bhosle (1980–1994) (his death)
Parent(s) S. D. Burman
Meera Dev Burman

Rahul Dev Burman (Bengali pronunciation: [Rahul Deb Bôrmon]; 27 June 1939 – 4 January 1994) was an Indian film score composer, who is considered one of the seminal music directors of the Indian film industry.[1] Nicknamed Pancham, he was the only son of the composer Sachin Dev Burman.

From the 1960s to the 1990s, Burman composed musical scores for 331 films.[2] He was mainly active in the Hindi film industry as a composer, and also provided vocals for a few of compositions.[3] Burman did major work with Asha Bhosle (his wife) and Kishore Kumar, and scored many of the songs that made these singers famous.[3] He also scored many songs sung by Lata Mangeshkar. He served as an influence to the next generation of Indian music directors,[3] and his songs continue to be popular in India.

Biography

Early life

Burman was born to the Bollywood composer/singer Sachin Dev Burman and his lyricist wife Meera Dev Burman (née Dasgupta), in Calcutta. Initially, he was nicknamed Tublu by his maternal grandmother although he later became known by the nickname of Pancham. According to some stories, he was nicknamed as Pancham because, as a child, whenever he cried, it sounded in the fifth note (Pa), G scale, of music notation. The word Pancham means five (or fifth) in Bengali, his mother tongue. Another theory says that the baby was nicknamed Pancham because he could cry in five different notes. Yet another version is that when the veteran Indian actor Ashok Kumar saw a newborn Rahul uttering the syllable Pa repeatedly, he nicknamed the boy Pancham.[4]

Burman received his early education in West Bengal. His father S. D. Burman was a noted music director in Bollywood, the Mumbai-based Hindi film industry. When he was nine years old, R. D. Burman composed his first song, Aye meri topi palat ke aa, which his father used in the film Funtoosh (1956). The tune of the song Sar jo tera chakraaye was also composed by him as a child; his father included it in the soundtrack of Guru Dutt's Pyaasa (1957).[5]

In Mumbai, Burman was trained by Ustad Ali Akbar Khan (sarod) and Samta Prasad (tabla).[6] He also considered Salil Chowdhury as his guru.[7] He served as an assistant to his father, and often played harmonica in his orchestras.[3]

Some of the notable films in which Burman is credited as the music assistant include Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958), Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), Tere Ghar Ke Samne (1963), Bandini (1963), Ziddi (1964), Guide (1965) and Teen Devian (1965). Burman also played mouth organ for his father's hit composition Hai Apna Dil To Aawara which was featured in the film Solva Saal, and sung by Hemanta Mukhopadhyay.[8]

In 1959, Burman signed up as a music director for the film Raaz, directed by Guru Dutt's assistant Niranjan. However, the film was never completed. The lyrics of this Guru Dutt and Waheeda Rehman-starrer film were written by Shailendra. Burman recorded two songs for the film, before it was shelved. The first song was sung by Geeta Dutt and Asha Bhosle, and the second one had vocals by Shamshad Begum.[9]

Burman's first released film as an independent music director was Chhote Nawab (1961). When the noted Bollywood comedian Mehmood decided to produce Chhote Nawab, he first approached Burman's father Sachin Dev Burman for the music. However, S. D. Burman declined the offer, advising he was unavailable. At this meeting, Mehmood noticed Rahul playing tabla, and signed him as the music director for Chhote Nawab.[9] Burman later developed a close association with Mehmood, and made a cameo in Mehmood's Bhoot Bangla (1965).[9]

Initial successes

Burman's first hit film as a film music director was Teesri Manzil (1966). Burman gave credit to lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri for recommending him to Nasir Hussain, the producer and writer of the film.[10] Vijay Anand also said that he had arranged a music session for Burman before Nasir Hussain.[11] Teesri Manzil had six songs, all of which were written by Majrooh Sultanpuri, and sung by Mohammed Rafi. Four of these were duets with Asha Bhosle, whom Burman later married. Nasir Hussain went on to sign Burman and lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri for six of his films including Baharon Ke Sapne (1967), Pyar Ka Mausam (1969) and Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973). Burman's score for Padosan (1968) was well received. Meanwhile, he continued to work as his father's assistant for films including Jewel Thief (1967) and Prem Pujari (1970).

The hit Kishore Kumar song Mere Sapnon ki Raani from Aradhana (1969), though credited to his father, is rumoured to have been Burman's composition.[5] Kora Kagaz tha Yeh Man Mera from the same film was also his tune.[8] It is believed that when S. D. Burman fell ill during the recording of the film's music, Burman took over and completed the music. He was credited as an associate composer for the film.

Marriage

Burman's first wife was Rita Patel, whom he had met in Darjeeling. Rita, a fan, had bet her friends that she would be able to get a film-date with Burman. The two married in 1966, and divorced in 1971.[12] The song Musafir Hoon Yaaron ("I'm a Traveller") from Parichay (1972) was composed by him, when he was at a hotel after the separation.[13]

Burman married Asha Bhosle in 1980. Together, they recorded many hit songs and also staged many live performances. Although, towards the end of his life, they did not live together.[14] Burman had financial difficulties, particularly later in his life. His mother Meera died in 2007, thirteen years after his death.[15] She had been suffering from Alzheimer's even before her son's death. Just before her death she had been moved to an old age home, and moved back to her son's residence after the issue became a controversy.[16]

Rise to popularity

In the 1970s, Burman became highly popular with the Kishore Kumar songs in Rajesh Khanna-starrer films.[5] Kati Patang (1970), a musical hit, was the beginning of a series of the 1970s films directed by Shakti Samanta of Aradhana fame. Its songs Yeh Shaam Mastani and Yeh Jo Mohabbat Hai, sung by Kishore Kumar, became instant hits. Apart from Kishore Kumar, Burman also composed several of the popular songs sung by Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle and Lata Mangeshkar.

In 1970, Burman composed the music for Dev Anand's Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1971).[17] The Asha Bhosle song Dum Maro Dum from this film proved to be a seminal rock number in the Hindi film music.[5] The filmmaker Dev Anand did not include the complete version of Dum Maro Dum in the film, because he was worried that the song would overshadow the film.[4] In the same year, Burman composed the music for Amar Prem. The Lata Mangeshkar song Raina Beeti Jaaye from this soundtrack is regarded as a classical music gem in Hindi film music.[5] Burman's other hits in 1971 included the romantic song "Raat kali ek khwab mein" from Buddha Mil Gaya and the Helen-starrer cabaret song "Piya Tu Ab To Aaja" from Caravan. He received his first Filmfare Award nomination for Caravan.

In 1972, Burman composed hit music for several films including Seeta aur Geeta, Rampur ka Lakshman, Mere jeevan saathi, Bombay to Goa, Apna Desh and Parichay. His success continued with hits such as Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973), Aap ki Kasam (1974), Sholay (1975) and Aandhi (1975). He also composed a song for a small documentary film called Maa Ki Pukaar, in 1975. After his father S. D. Burman went into coma, Burman also completed the music of Mili (1975).

Mohammed Rafi received the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer for the song Kya Hua Tera Wada from Hum Kisise Kum Naheen (1977), composed by Burman. He continued to compose several popular songs for films such as Kasme Vaade (1978), Ghar (1978), Gol Maal (1979), Khubsoorat (1980). He received his first Filmfare Best Music Director Award for Sanam Teri Kasam (1981). In 1981, he also composed hit music for Rocky, Satte Pe Satta and Love Story.

The playback singer Kumar Sanu was given his first break by Burman in Yeh Desh (1984) as voice of Kamal Haasan. Abhijeet was given his major break by Burman in Anand Aur Anand (1984). Although he made his debut a long time ago, Hariharan was first noticed in a duet with Kavita Krishnamurthy in Hai Mubarak Aaj ka Din from Boxer (1984), which was composed by Burman. In 1985, Mohammed Aziz, made his debut with Shiva Ka Insaaf (1985) under Burman.

The trio Rajesh Khanna-Kishore-R.D.Burman have worked together in 32 films together, and these films and songs continue to be popular.[18] The trio were close friends. R.D.Burman composed for 40 films for Rajesh Khanna.[19]

Last days

During the late 1980s, he was overshadowed by Bappi Lahiri and other disco music composers.[20] Many filmmakers stopped patronizing him, as films featuring his compositions flopped at the box office one after the other.[4][8] Nasir Hussain, who had signed him up for every single of his productions since Teesri Manzil (1966), did not sign him up for Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988).[4] Hussain defended Burman in the press, saying that the latter did not give weak music in Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai (1982) and Manzil Manzil (1984). He also said that the composer was going through a lean phase during the recording of Zabardast (1985).[21] But after these three films flopped, Hussain stepped down as a director, and his son and successor Mansoor Khan switched to other composers. The filmmaker Subhash Ghai promised Burman Ram Lakhan (1989), but gave it instead to Laxmikant-Pyarelal, who had earlier played in Burman's orchestra.[4]

In 1986, Burman composed songs for Ijaazat; the score is regarded as one of his best. However, the film belonged to the Parallel Cinema genre of (art films), so it did not stop the decline of Burman's commercial film career. All four of the songs in Ijaazat were sung by Asha Bhosle and written by Gulzar. Burman was greatly appreciated by the critics for setting the non-rhyming lyrics of the song Mera Kuchh Saamaan to the music. While both Asha Bhosle (Best Female Playback) and Gulzar (Best Lyrics) received National Awards for the score, Burman received none.[22] Burman suffered from a heart attack in 1988, and underwent heart bypass surgery a year later at The Princess Grace Hospital in London.[23] During this period, he composed many tunes, which were never released. He composed music for Vidhu Vinod Chopra's film Parinda in 1989. He composed one song called Chhod Ke Na Jaana which was sung by Asha Bhosle for the film Gang. But since the film took too long to release and due to his untimely death, director Mazhar Khan signed in the then little known Anu Malik for the music of the film. Thenmavin Kombath, a Malayalam film by Priyadarshan was the last film he signed, but he died before he could score for the film. The music of 1942: A Love Story (1994) was released after his death, and was highly successful. It posthumously won him the third and last of his Filmfare Awards. As per Lata Mangeshkar, he died too young and unhappy.[24]

Style

Burman has been credited with revolutionizing the Bollywood music.[25] He incorporated a wide range of influences from several genres in his scores. Burman's career coincided with the rise of Rajesh Khanna-starrer youth love stories. He made electronic rock popular in these popular love stories.[3] He often mixed disco and rock elements with Bengali folk music.[26] He also used jazz elements, which had been introduced to him by the studio pianist Kersi Lord.[27]

According to Douglas Wolk, Burman "wrapped sugary string swoops around as many ideas as he could squeeze in at once".[2] Biswarup Sen describes his popular music as one featuring multicultural influences, and characterized by "frenetic pacing, youthful exuberance and upbeat rhythms".[28]

Burman was influenced by Western, Latin, Oriental and Arabic music, and incorporated elements from these in his own music.[29] He also experimented with different musical sounds produced from methods such as rubbing sand paper and knocking bamboo sticks together.[8] He blew into beer bottles to produce the opening beats of Mehbooba, Mehbooba. Similarly, he used cups and saucers to create the tinkling sound for the song Churaliya Hai from the film Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973).[30] For Satte Pe Satta (1982), he made the singer Annette Pinto gargle to produce a background sound.[8] He also used a rubbed a comb on a rough surface to produce a whooshing sound in the song Meri Samne Wali Khidki Main from the film Padosan (1968)

On multiple occasions, Burman experimented with recording the same song with different singers. For Kudrat (1981), he recorded the light version of the song Hume tumse pyar kitna in the voice of Kishore Kumar, while the classical version was recorded in the voice of Parveen Sultana. In Pyar Ka Mausam (1969), he recorded the song Tum bin jaun kahan in the voices of Kishore Kumar and Mohammed Rafi separately.

Burman sometimes used the Western dance music as a source of inspiration for his compositions.[31] As was common in Bollywood, some of his songs featured the tunes of popular foreign songs. Often, the filmmakers forced him to copy these tunes for the soundtracks, resulting in allegations of plagiarism. For example, Ramesh Sippy insisted that the tune of the traditional Cyprus song Say You Love Me (arranged and sung by Demis Roussos) be used for Mehbooba Mehbooba (Sholay, 1975), and Nasir Hussain wanted to use ABBA's Mamma Mia for Mil gaya hum ko sathi.[32] Other examples of Burman songs inspired by foreign songs including Aao twist karein from Bhoot Bangla (Chubby Checker's "Let's Twist"), Tumse milke (Leo Sayer's When I Need You), and Zindagi milke bitaayenge (Paul Anka's The Longest Day) and Jahan teri yeh nazar hai (Persian artist Zia Atabi's Heleh maali) and Dilbar mere (Alexandra's Zigeunerjunge).

Band members

Burman often collaborated with same film directors and worked with the same musicians.

Music Assistants

String Instruments

Percussion Instruments

Keyboard Instruments

Wind Instruments

Legacy

Several Hindi films made after Burman's death contain his original songs or their remixed versions. Dil Vil Pyar Vyar (2002), which contains several re-arranged hit songs of Burman, was made as a tribute to him.[33] Jhankaar Beats (2003), which catapulted the music director duo Vishal-Shekhar into the limelight, is also a tribute to him.[34] In Khwahish (2003), Mallika Sherawat's character is a Burman fan; the film features repeated references to him.[35] In 2010, Brahmanand Singh released a 113-minute documentary titled Pancham Unmixed: Mujhe Chalte Jaana Hai, which received critical acclaim.[8] The music of Lootera (2013) is a tribute to Burman.[36] Other films which credit R. D. Burman include Gang (2000) and Monsoon Wedding (2001, for Chura liya hai).

A number of Indian remix albums feature Burman's songs, which are also popular in the country's pubs and discos.[4] Several of his compositions were re-mixed by the South Asian DJs in the United Kingdom and North America, and feature in popular albums such as Bally Sagoo's Bollywood Flashback.[3] Kronos Quartet's You've Stolen My Heart (2005) contains Burman's compositions sung by his wife Asha Bhosle.[37] In the 2012 film Khiladi 786, Music Director, Composer, Singer and Actor Himesh Reshammiya-composed song Balma is also a tribute to R.D. Burman.[38]

In 1995, Filmfare Awards constituted the Filmfare RD Burman Award for New Music Talent in his memory. The award is given to upcoming music talent in Hindi cinema. In 2009, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation named a public square in Santa Cruz after Burman.[39]

Burman inspired many later Bollywood music composers, such as Vishal-Shekhar. Jatin-Lalit are considered to have carried on Burman's legacy through the 1990s.[40] Notable musical assistants to Burman include Manohari Singh and Sapan Chakraborty. His instrumentalists included Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Shiv Kumar Sharma, Louis Banks, Bhupinder and Kersy Lord.[8] He is also noted for his partnership with the lyricist Gulzar, who wrote the words for several of his finest compositions.[8]

Pancham Unmixed, a winner of 2 National Awards, is a 113-minute biopic on Burman, directed by Brahmanand Singh. A postage stamp, bearing Burman's face, was released by India Post to honour him on 3 May 2013.

On the anniversary of his 77th birthday on 27 June 2016 Google had a Doodle of R.D Burman on its Indian Home Page.[41]

Discography

Out of Burman's 331 released film scores, 292 were in Hindi, 31 in Bengali, 3 in Telugu, 2 each in Tamil and Oriya, and 1 in Marathi. Burman also composed for 5 TV Serials in Hindi and Marathi.

Pancham's non-film music comprises few albums, including Pantera (1987), a Latin Rock album produced by Pete Gavankar (father of Janina Gavankar). The album was an international collaboration, for which Burman partnered with Jose Flores in San Francisco.[42] In 1987, Burman, Gulzar and Asha Bhosle worked on an album titled Dil Padosi Hai, which was released on 8 September 1987, Asha Bhosle's birthday. Burman and Asha Bhosle also recorded a song with Boy George.[43] In addition, he scored a large number of non-film songs in Bengali, which are available in different albums, and from which many numbers were later adapted in Hindi films. Burman also did playback singing in eighteen films for which he himself composed the scores.

Awards and recognitions

Though Burman laid the foundation for numerous Bollywood music directors to pave the path for the future of music in Bollywood cinema, he was awarded a total of only three Filmfare Awards, one of which was awarded posthumously (for 1942: A Love Story).

Filmfare Awards
Wins
Nominations

References

  1. ↑ Donald Clarke (1998). The Penguin encyclopedia of popular music. Penguin Books. p. 186. OCLC 682030743.
  2. 1 2 Douglas Wolk (December 1999). "SoundFiles: MP3s and other bytes worth your memory". Spin. 15 (12): 169. ISSN 0886-3032.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Tejaswini Ganti (2004). Bollywood: a guidebook to popular Hindi cinema. Psychology Press. pp. 111–112. ISBN 978-0-415-28854-5.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Mini Anthikad-Chhibber (1 July 2003). "Beat poet". The Hindu. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Dinesh Raheja; Jitendra Kothari (1996). The hundred luminaries of Hindi cinema. India Book House Publishers. p. 119. ISBN 978-81-7508-007-2.
  6. ↑ Deepa Ganesh (18 August 2010). "Backbones take centre stage". The Hindu. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  7. ↑ Rajan Das Gupta (3 January 2012). "Dad's the spirit!". The Hindu. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Avijit Ghosh (3 April 2010). "RDX unplugged". The Times of India. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  9. 1 2 3 Hanif Zaveri (2005). Mehmood, a man of many moods. Popular Prakashan. pp. 72–74. ISBN 978-81-7991-213-3.
  10. ↑ "R D Burman – My God, That's My Tune" (PDF). Panchamonline.com. Retrieved 2012-02-12.
  11. ↑ "The Business Of Entertainment-Films-Nostalgia". Screen. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
  12. ↑ Chaitanya Padukone (1 January 2008). "An ode to Pancham". DNA. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  13. ↑ "Revealed: Unknown facts about RD Burman!". rediff.com. 5 May 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  14. ↑ Ajitabh Menon. "when the beats stopped".
  15. ↑ "S.D. Burman’s wife dead". The Hindu. 17 October 2007. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  16. ↑ "A Bungalow, A Ma-In-Law". Outlookindia.com. Retrieved 2014-07-26.
  17. ↑ "It was Lata versus Asha over Dum Maro Dum!". rediff.com. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  18. ↑ Eight lesser known facts about Rajesh Khanna on his death anniversary
  19. ↑ 11 things you don't know about Rajesh Khanna
  20. ↑ K. Naresh Kumar (1995). Indian cinema: ebbs and tides. Har-Anand Publications. p. 159. ISBN 978-81-241-0344-9.
  21. ↑ Archived 20 August 2004 at the Wayback Machine.
  22. ↑ "Asha Bhosle wins the Padma Vibhushan – IBNLive". Ibnlive.in.com. Retrieved 2014-07-26.
  23. ↑ "Rajesh Khanna-RD Burman's 'Amar Prem'". MiD DAY. 20 July 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  24. ↑ "Lata Mangeshkar on R D Burman: Pancham Died Too Young, Unhappy".
  25. ↑ "RD Burman". Outlook. Hathway Investments. 46 (26–38). 2006.
  26. ↑ Kathryn Marie Kalinak (2010). Film music: a very short introduction. Oxford University Press. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-19-537087-4.
  27. ↑ E. Taylor Atkins (2003). Jazz Planet. University Press of Mississippi. p. 67. ISBN 978-1-57806-609-4.
  28. ↑ Biswarup Sen (2008). "The Sounds of Modernity". In Sangita Gopal and Sujata Moorti. Global Bollywood: travels of Hindi song and dance. University of Minnesota Press. p. 97. ISBN 978-0-8166-4579-4.
  29. ↑ "Pulsating Pancham". The Hindu Metro Plus Coimbatore. 2 July 2007. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  30. ↑ Savitha Gautam (26 February 2010). "Melodies and memories". The Hindu. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
  31. ↑ Ashok Da. Ranade (2006). Hindi film song: music beyond boundaries. Bibliophile South Asia. p. 309. ISBN 978-81-85002-64-4.
  32. ↑ Sidharth Bhatia (8 May 2012). "There’s RD, and then there are others". Asian Age. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
  33. ↑ Radhika Bhirani (19 October 2011). "Sur, saaz and rockstar: When music is Bollywood's muse". The Times of India. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  34. ↑ "Sujoy Ghosh plans 'Jhankaar Beats' sequel". IBNLive. 29 February 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  35. ↑ Saibal Chatterjee (7 June 2003). "Khwahish". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  36. ↑ "'Lootera' songs – Amit Trivedi's tribute to R. D. Burman". Zee News. 8 June 2013.
  37. ↑ Allan Kozinn (11 April 2006). "Kronos Quartet and Asha Bhosle Make Not-So-Strange Bedfellows". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  38. ↑ "KHILADI 786: RD Burman features with Akshay in new song". Hindustan Times. 18 October 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  39. ↑ Clara Lewis (2 January 2009). "R D Burman gets a chowk in Mumbai". The Times of India. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  40. ↑ "Chilling with Bollywood's new songsters". rediff.com. 8 September 2005. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  41. ↑ http://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/music/rd-burman-birthday-google-doodle-tribute-77th-birth-anniversary-2878577/
  42. ↑ Nilu N Gavankar (20 July 2011). The Desai Trio and the Movie Industry of India. AuthorHouse. p. 138. ISBN 978-1-4634-1941-7. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  43. ↑ "Tinseltown Talk". Independent Online. 26 January 2009. Retrieved 2 March 2012.

Further reading

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