If Rahul Dev Burman was alive today you can bet your last rupee he would be hyper-active as a composer…provided the film industry would have let him go on doing what he was born to. In his closing years, he was shunned by the same people whose careers he had made through his lilting songs. Filmmakers who swore by his name switched to other more saleable names. Ramesh Sippy who did a slew of films with RD in the 1970s and 80s from Seeta Aur Geeta to Sagar suddenly signed the more market-friendly Laxmikant-Pyarelal for Bhrashtachar.
That hurt. There came a time when RD sat jobless on the verandah of his home. He would place a bedsheet on the side overlooking the street so that people wouldn’t know he was sitting idle.
Hurt and rejection were nothing new to RD. Born under the shadow of the great Sachin Dev Burman, RD was crazy about music and composition from childhood. His father never encouraged him to become a music director. RD insisted he would follow in his father’s footsteps. The early assignments came his way on his own steam, not on his father’s recommendation.
Chote Nawab, Pati Patni, Baharon Ke Sapne and Chandan Ka Palna had lovely melodies. But it was only with Nasir Hussain’s Teesri Manzil that RD discovered his forte. There was no looking back as he spun out one trendy Westernised music score after another.
With the vocal prop of Asha Bhosle to bolster his unfettered musicianship RD quickly gamboled from 'Aaja aaja main hoon pyar tera' in Teesri Manzil to 'Chura liya hai tumne' in Yaadon Ki Baarat to 'Yeh ladka hai Allah' in Hum Kissise Kam Nahin as the cinema of Nasir Hussain carried him to the crest of the charts and then flung him down when Nasir Hussein’s son Mansoor Khan preferred to work with the younger composers Anand-Milind rather than RD in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak.
It is interesting how RD made his way to the top of the charts despite his father’s opposition. Dev Anand who had obtained some great soundtracks from Sachin Dev Burman wanted the son RD for Hare Rama Hare Krishna. Sachinda discouraged Dev Anand.
I remember Dev Anand telling me, “It was Burman Dada for me until Prem Pujari. And what fine work he did for me in Guide and Tere Ghar Ke Samne. But when I directed Hare Rama Hare Krishna in 1971 I wanted Pancham. We collaborated through some really exciting films. I loved the sound Pancham created for me in Heera Panna and Ishq Ishq Ishq.
The songs of Hare Rama Hare Krishna especially 'Dum maro dum' are hummed to this day. Incidentally 'Dum maro dum' was to be sung by Lata Mangeshkar, not Asha Bhosle. RD always did his best work with the elder Mangeshkar sister, be it in Amar Prem, Kinara, Aandhi, or Aap Ki Kasam. I believe RD’s real forte was the raga-based Indian melodies, But he moved towards a more Westernized sound to avoid comparisons with his father.
It’s not easy to grow under a banyan tree. Asha Bhosle who veered away from her illustrious sister’s style would know.
Recalled Lataji some years ago, “I was very closer to Pancham (R D Burman) than his father(Sachin dev Burman). When he married my sister(Asha Bhosle) he told me to write him a letter as a wedding gift which he stored away in his bank locker. I know Pancham was very unhappy in his final years because of the way his career had gone. I had the privilege of singing in his last film as a composer 1942: A Love Story. He sent me a message to sing. But then he passed away. I sang his sing 'Kuch na kaho' posthumously. I knew him from the time he would run around in his shorts. He was very naughty. When he came to me with his first song 'Ghar aaja ghir aaye badra' in Mehmood’s Chote Nawab I couldn’t believe he had grown up. Main Pancham ko bachpan se janti tthi. I first saw him when he thrust his autograph book at me when I was recording for his father. Do you know what I wrote in the autograph book? ‘Pancham badmashi chhod do’. He laughed and ran away. After that, I didn’t see him for a long time. He didn’t stay much with Burman Dada. He loved his Naani(grandmother) and stayed more with her. Then he showed up again to ask me to sing his first song in Chote Nawab. Pancham and Mehmood were close friends.”
While inviting Lataji to sing his first composition RD also managed to patch up his father with Lataji. Laughs Lataji, “Yes Burman Dada and I were not on talking terms. Out of the blue Burman Dada called and said, ‘Kya hua tumko? Kyon naraaz ho?’. I later came to know Pancham told his father not to fight with me because no one else could sing in the style that he wanted. Burman Dada implored me to sing for his son and to treat him like my own. That broke the ice between me and Burman Dada.”
Comparing the son to the illustrious father Burman Lataji observed, “Pancham never copied his father’s style. He had worked as an apprentice with his father. If he wanted Pancham could’ve easily followed his father’s style. But he followed a unique path. Though he knew how to play the Tabla and the Sarod, he chose to go the Western way. He observed the music and rhythms of Black musicians. Pancham loved ghetto music.”
Would it be right to say RD gave all the strong Indian melodies to Lata and the westernized songs to Asha? Lataji ponders over that one. “Main to yeh kahungi ki , Pancham always gave the right song to both of us. Asha benefited a lot from Pancham’s compositions. He’d tell me, ‘Whatever I compose for you I can never let Asha sing, and vice versa. Therefore a Raina beeti jaye or a Beeti na beetayi raina came to me …and so many other tunes. And why just the classical numbers? RD gave me Bahon mein chale aao which I consider his career’s best.Woh gaana unke saarey ganon mein no.1 hai. That song is very special. And Jaya Bachchan emoted so beautifully to it. Pancham believed that I could carry off that song. A composer needs to trust in the singer’s ability. Another unusual song that Pancham gave me was 'Bhai battoor' in Padosan. I think the words were given by Mehmood and then Pancham took over.”
Recalling her special bonding with RD, Lataji said, “He called me Didi. But I treated him like my son. When he got married the first time to Rita he told me to gift him with a hand-written letter. He kept that letter all his life. He loved and trusted me. When he had his first heart attack while recording a song I was told about it by his associate Sapan Chakravarty. When I heard about it I broke down. When Pancham heard about my reaction he told me not to worry When he went through heart surgery in London I happened to be there. He sent me a message saying he wanted to meet me before surgery. I went to meet him in the hospital. He told me, ‘I don’t know what will happen to me. I wanted to meet you before surgery.”
Lataji says her rapport with RD remained unaltered even when he married Asha Bhosle. “Pancham and I shared an unconditional equation. We didn’t expect anything from one another. He used to pour his heart out to me, tell me things that he didn’t share with anyone else. His last years were unhappy. He wasn’t doing well career and health-wise. I heard he was mentally upset. The last I heard from him was when he called to ask me to sing 'Kuch na kaho' in 1942: A Love Story. I was leaving for live concerts in the US. When I returned he soon passed away. I was in Delhi when it happened.”
Lataji not only sang RD’s first song she also sang his last number 'Kuch na kaho' in 1942: A Love Story.
Says the songstress, “Sadly I couldn’t sing 'Kuch na kaho' during his lifetime. When I recorded it without Pancham I felt terrible. I wish he was there when I recorded the song. Such is life. Ironically after a long period of hardships, 1942 was a success for Pancham.”
Falling silent Lata says, “I can still hear the laughter in the recording room when Pancham, Kishore Kumar, and I used to get together. He used to tell me he shared a great comfort level with Kishoreda. Pancham was a very warm and witty person. Kamaal ka composer…There were some composers I didn’t enjoy singing with. But some composers namely R D Burman, Salil Chowdhary, Madan Mohan, and Shankar-Jaikishan were very special.”
Another showbiz personality, alas no longer with us, with whom RD was very close was Rishi Kapoor.
In an old interview, Rishi had shared his fond memories. "R.D. Burman was like family to me. He used to come home and I used to visit him. Ashaji used to cook for us. Like me, he was very fond of eating and drinking. At the start of my career RD did music in my Zehreela Insaan and Khel Khel Mein. These had evergreen songs like 'O hanseeni' and 'Khullam khulla pyar'. I had become a big star after Bobby. I wanted to work with Pancham. I vibed with him much better than with Laxmi-Pyare who did Bobby. Pancham was way ahead of time. Picture chale na chale RD's music was damn good. His music suited my age and image. Pancham loved watching me shoot his songs. He told all my directors, 'Chintu perform kar rahaa hai mera gaana? I want to see him do it.' I'd get nervous. On the sets of Nasir Husain's films Hum Kissise Kam Nahin and Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai he'd have lunch with Nasir saab and then watch me dance. It was a great compliment. For the song, 'Dil dena khel hai dildar ka in Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai' Pancham came on the sets twice because the choreographer Suresh Bhatt was also Pancham's buddy. He used to shout, 'Buck up, buck up.' We were all a team. Pancham (RD Burman) and I were great buddies. Just before he died, this was the time when Nadeem Shravan et al. had taken over, he called me and said, 'I'm not short of cash. But I desperately need work'. I explained to him that producers came to me with pre-decided music directors. After Deewana and Bol Radha Bol I had succeeded with Nadeem Shravan and Anand Milind. These two became music directors in all my films. I remember I was working with Raj Santoshi in Damini which had music by Nadeem Shravan while Santoshi's Ghaatak had music by RD. I remember how unhappy RD was about this. You know on Pancham's birthday I got thinking about all the amazing work that we did together. A die-hard Pancham fan named Brahmanand was making a documentary on him. He spoke to all the people who've worked closely with Pancham, like Gulzar Saab and me. I met this ardent fan of RD from Kalikat. And he happens to be a die-hard fan of the Rishi Kapoor-RD pair. He pointed out that I had done 17 films with music by RD. That fan has sent me all the songs from those 17 films on MP3. Now I've all the music composed for me by R.D. Burman on MP3. Imagine being given such an invaluable gift on Pancham's birthday! There're rare songs for me by Pancham from my forgotten films like Raja, Naya Daur, Aan Aur Shaan, Gunehgaar which I had almost forgotten. Though my first film Bobby had music by Laxmikant-Pyarelal my maximum hit songs were by Pancham. There's one thing that you must note about RD's music. All of his youthful music was for Rishi Kapoor. The other heroes like Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan were older. But for Rishi Kapoor, Pancham could unplug the grooviest sounds. Shah Rukh, Aamir, Salman to paida nahin huey . And there were filmmakers like Raveena's dad Ravi Tandon, Ramesh Behl, and Ramesh Sippy who made the kind of films where Rishi Kapoor and R.D. Burman fitted in."
Rishi pauses in remembrance. " In his prime, Pancham gave all his youthful music for Rishi Kapoor. In Naya Daur he used empty bottles to create a special effect in the song Paani ke badle peekar sharaab sung by Kishore Kumar and Danny Denzongpa."
Singer Amit Kumar, whose father Kishore Kumar was RD’s favourite singer, collaborated with RD through many chartbusters in the 1970s and 80s.
Amit Kumar once spoke to me at length about R D Burman: “I was R D Burman’s blue-eyed boy.My professional association with Pancham started in 1975 with the song 'Bade achche lagte hain' in Balika Badhu. At that time I was a novice. I had sung a couple of songs earlier I used to visit R D Burman.He used to visit home till his death and cook for us. He was a fantastic cook. We’d compose music together. He had three friends in the film industry, Shakti Samanta and Ramesh Behl.We were with him till the end. “My father(Kishore Kumar) was very close to Pancham(R D Burman). Because of their closeness, I became friends with Pancham.I think I sang the maximum songs for Pancham after Asha Bhosle, Lata Mangeshkar, and my father. I think Ashaji sang around 800 songs. My father sang 500-600. I sang about 150 songs for Pancham. That’s more than Mohd Rafi Saab.We were associated for 20 years till his death. We loved each other unconditionally. The Burman family was like family to me. Sachin Dev Burman mentored my father.And Pancham mentored me. Even when Sachinda was composing for Guide in 1965 I was a little brat jumping over the harmonium all over the recording room. Burman Dada enjoyed me jumping around like a monkey...I came to Mumbai from Kolkata in 1971. Aradhana had released and my father’s second innings as a playback pasha had begun. One day my father was going for a recording with Manna Dey for Pancham. It was a song in a film called Khalifa. My father asked me to accompany him. I sat listening to my father and Mannada rehearse. Suddenly Pancham turned to me and said, ‘I heard that you sing very well. Sing for me.’ I was nervous. But I sang my father’s song in Jhumroo as the stalwarts in the orchestra accompanied me.
While returning home after the recording my father said, ‘You lost a golden chance. Your singing was bakwas’. I was hurt. I told my father, ‘I was nervous. To hell with singing.I’m going back to Kolkata.’ But in the evening Pancham called and told my father to send me for a recording the next morning.My father said, ‘What will he do in a recording?’ Pancham said I had to sing a song for a film to be directed by Shakti Samanta and he needed a raw voice. My father said, ‘Main kis khet ka mooli hoon? Why do you need my son when you have me?’ Pancham explained he needed a young voice to sound like a 17-year old. All this was banter. My father was very happy for me.I sang the song Bade achche lagte hain. I never knew it would become so popular. It didn’t become an overnight rage like Chikni chameli. It took three years to become popular. Today it’s a household number. 'Bade achche lagte hain' gave me an identity beyond being Kishore Kumar’s son. And I give full credit to Pancham. He forbade me from copying my father. He said no one could sing like him. He said, ‘Sing in your voice.’. I did. Then came the songs of Love Story which made me very popular. Rajendra Kumar who launched his son Kumar Gaurav knew my father from the time Rajendra Kumar assisted H S Rawail in Sharaarat. My father sang in that film. Rajendra Kumar wanted Kishore Kumar’s son to sing for his son in Love Story.I will tell you a shocking fact. R D Burman HATED the music of Love Story. He never liked 'Yaad aa rahi hai' which became my biggest hit. I remember while recording the number Pancham called me aside and said, ‘Yeh gaana Yaad aa rahi hai bahut bakwaas hai. It sounds like a Bhajan instead of a love song’. The song was a super hit. I rang up Pancham, ‘Ab bolo, kya bolte ho.’ Pancham was quiet. At that time he was going through a lean phase. Love Story brought him back in the reckoning.My favourite song in Love Story was 'Kaisa tera pyar kaisa gussa' with Latabai. After Love Story, everyone hoped Kumar Gaurav and I would become a team like Rajesh Khanna and my father. But that wasn’t meant to be. Pancham and I came together to compose music for other Kumar Gaurav starrers like Teri Kasam, Lovers, and Romance which were flops...I remember the first song we recorded in Love Story was 'Yeh ladki zarasi deewani lagti' hai with me and Asha Bhosle. Raj Kapoor Saab and my father came for the recording. Just imagine, I was singing in the recording booth with Asha Bhosle while Raj Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar, and Kishore Kumar were chattering away behind us. We were getting distracted and the stalwarts were asked to leave the recording room. The atmosphere was jovial easygoing and fun-filled. I distinctly remember my first meeting with Panchamda.
I was just a kid hovering in the studios when my father sang. My father made a film Door Gagan Ki Chaon Mein where he played my father. I played a mute boy. In the film, my father takes me to the city for medical treatment. There was a shot where both of us father and son had to climb down the stairs disheartened. My father needed a mouth-organ piece in the background. Pancham played the mouth organ very well. We were working in the Bombay Lab in Prabhadevi and he called up Pancham to come and play the mouth organ. That was the first time I saw Pancham Da. I think it was 1963. By then Pancham’s first film as an independent music director Chote Nawab had been released. But Pancham wasn’t well known. We became friends. At that time he was Sachin Dev Burman’s son and I was Kishore Kumar’s son. Then I met him again when he came to our house with Mehmood Saab to get my father to sing the track Jago sone walon in the film Bhoot Bungla. Thereafter we met frequently. When I heard the songs of Chote Nawab I was clean bowled by Pancham’s versatility. On one end he composed Matwali aankhon wali, on the other, he composed Latabai’s 'Ghar aaja ghir aaye badra'. I knew this man was a genius. I said to myself, ‘Yeh aaadmi to kamal ka hai’.Then I heard Pancham’s songs inBhoot Bungla. My father’s Jago sone walon was fine. But the Manna Dey song Pyar karta ja was even better. However, Pancham couldn’t make a mark, despite beautiful music in Teesra Kaun and Chandan Ka Palna, until Teesri Manzil. Pancham was trying to find his identity. He told me once, ‘It’s very difficult to be taken seriously when there are stalwarts like Shankar-Jaikishan, S D Burman, Madan Mohan, and Naushad...How do I make my mark?’ Pancham went completely western saying, ‘To hell with the Indian purists.’ In Teesri Manzil Pancham introduced the bass guitar into Hindi film music. People said he plagiarized songs. Hah, chori kisne nahin kiya? All composers sought inspiration. When Pancham borrowed he did it with style. He created his musical style completely removed from traditional film music. He revolutionized the sound of music. At that time when Pancham experimented with tunes, we were hung on the sound of Shankar-Jaikishan. Jaikishanji had predicted about Pancham, ‘A boy has come. He’s going to make chutti of all of us.’ Pancham was something else. He was ahead of his time. My song Roz roz aankhon tale with Asha Bhosle which is so popular today was a flop when it was composed in 1987.
It has gained popularity in the last five years. Destiny, I guess. Today we’ve fabulous technology to support film music. But listen to the clarity he brought to the sound of the 1960 and 70s.Absolutely clean recording. Pancham made a helluva difference. I sang for him till his end. I remember the title song in the film Rama O Rama was my first recording after my father expired. My father died on October 13, 1987, and on 1 January 1988, I recorded the song in Rama O Rama. Pancham died too young. He never took care of his health. As a musician and a human being, he was next to none. Even today Pancham is a chart-topper.Last week I was with the music company Saregama. They told me frankly that their revenues are generated from Kishore Kumar and R D Burman’s songs. I am proud to say that after my father I was Pancham’s favourite male voice. He never allowed me to copy my father. For that I am thankful to Pancham.No one can surpass the impact of Panchamda. He was a complete composer.”
Much loved by the entire industry and adored by his legion of fans across the world R D Burman left behind a legacy that no other music composer in India can come close to.
Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha.
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