Three years have gone by since R D Burman left us (January 1994).
In the years preceding his sudden and irreplaceable demise his
longstanding friends and admirers in the film industry had more-
or-less dismissed the Burmanesque mystique as out of step with
the times. R D Burman didn't live to see the revival of interest
in his music. If he had lived to experience the upsurge of
laurels in the wake of "1942-A Love Story" he would have been
more saddened than gladdened by our tendency to write off
artistes of illimitable aptitudes when they hit a dark spot in
their careers.
After being in his father's shadow for several years and having
ghost composed some of the senior Burman's most successful compo-
sitions in the ate sixties, junior Burman proved he was 'beta'
than the best. RD made an immediate impact with two back-to-back
antithetical scores in long-standing friend Mehmood's "Chhote
Nawab" and "Bhoot Bangla". While the former contained such
effulgent classical nuggets as "Ghar aaja ghir aaye badra
sanwariya", the latter found RD doing a tantalising twist that
branded him as the most modern composer of our times.
One wonders what the shape of RD's career would have been if
early in his career Nasir Husain's "Baharon Ke Sapne" had been
the decisive blockbuster instead of Husain's "Teesri Manzil". If
Baharon Ke Sapne had clicked RD would have had the chance to com-
pose more compositions closer to his heart like "Aaja piya tohe
pyar doon"; "Kya janoon aajan hoti hai kya" and "zaamane ne
maarey jawan kaise kaise". Wisely, the anthology released to
observe the third year without RD Burman selects "zaamane ne
maarey jawan kaise kaise" from "Baharon Ke Sapne". This Burman
score was brilliantly collaborated in the inceptive years of his
career.
The collection lives up to the promise of delivering a rare
largely obfuscated side of the Burmanesque genius. The side that
never overcame hurdles imposed on the composer after the success
of the rock n roll score in Teesri Manzil. One number out of
fifty one selected for the collection alone suffices to lend a
tonal multiplicity to RD's enduring image as a versatile com-
poser.
Listen to Lata Mangeshkar sing "O ganga maiyya paar laga de mere
sapnon ki naiyya" for the long-forgotten Meena Kumari in April
1967. This precious composition from RD's vast ditty-kitty is as
purely Indian as the Ganga. One of Lata's most cherishable songs,
"o Ganga maiyya" has seldom been put in any anthology of RD'S or
Lata's songs.
The thrill of rediscovering a large number of RD's nuggets that
were sidelined by the failure of parent films, is sustained
almost to the end of the anthology. There's a telltale Rafi
number from a pre-Zanjeer Amitabh Bachchan starrer. "Koi aur
duniya mein tumsa" from "Pyar Ki Kahani" not only sounds very
similar to RD's "Maine poocha chand se" in Abdullah, the two com-
positions are similarly worded and sung by the same singer
Mohammed Rafi.
This collection stresses the more reflective artistry of Burman
than previous collections. In this era when RD's songs are being
remixed and restructured to suit the chart's purposes it is a
pleasure beyond words to hear the originals. Without the untold
benefits of multi-track recording facilities, R D Burman created
edifices of enigma like "O hansini" in "Zehreela Insaan"; "Ni
sultana re" in "Pyar Ka Mausam" and "Acchi nahin sanam dil lagi
dil-e-beqaraar se" in "Rakhi Aur Hathkadi". All these composi-
tions of classic modernism co-exist happily in this sun-kissed
anthology.
When the prolonged lean phase set into RD's career circa the
early Eighties RD was at the acme of his composing skills. The
films that Burman composed for during the decade of doom,
flopped. But were his longstanding filmmaker-friends like Meh-
mood, Rahul Rawail, Ramesh Sippy, Nasir Husain and Raj Sippy
impervious to the elevated quality of music that RD composed for
these disastrous films? If they missed the point earlier on
here's their chance to catch up with the irrefutable convictions
that Burman poured into songs from his flop phase. "O meri jaan"
in Nasir Hussain's "Manzil Manzil"; "Jeene de yeh duniya chahe
maar dale" in Lava. "Kabhi palkon pe aanson hai" in "Harjaee"
are among the choicest, most fluent and filigreed compositions of
RD Burman's career. They were also the essence of creativity in
film music of the Eighties.
Why did RD Burman's career get relegated to the back rows of the
charts? It's a pity he was born in an era when the fate of a film
and its music scores were inextricably linked to each other.
Today his imitators Jatin-Lalit become chart-ka-badshahs by echo-
ing RD's style in "Khamoshi-The Musical" even though the film is
a disaster at the box-office.
"The Genius of RD Burman" album doesn't do full justice to the
composer. No single anthology can ever do that. What it does is
familiarises listeners with some of the crucial career-defining
make-or-break songs from RD's repertoire. Back in 1979 when Hema
Malini's literary semi-classic Ratna Deep flopped its music too
went down the drain. Today when one listens to RD's "Kabhi kabhi
sapna lagta hai" from the film one is filled with wonderment and
admiration. Was the multi-talented RD Burman a mere dream?
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Subject: R
D Burman Song Sung Blue
Source: Filmfare, Feb 98
Author: Subhash K Jha
Remembering the finger-snappers and the soulful songs sung by
R.D. Burman himself... on the occasion of his fourth death anniversary
which fell on January 4, 1998.
It was an inherited talent. Music was a
gift bequeathed to Rahul Dev Burman, who passed away so suddenly
four years ago, by his father, Sachin Dev Burman. If Burman
Dada immortalised himself with his two manjhi songs -- O re
manjhi (Bandini) and Sun mere bandhu re (Sujata) -- Burman
Baba belted out O manjhi teri naiyya se chhoota kinara in
that long-forgotten river-bank(rupt) bilingual Aar Paar directed
by Shakti Samanta.
This timeless manjhi song proves that Papa
and Burman Jr were sailing in the same boat. Sadly, by the
time RD's boat sailed into the 1980s, it developed a leak.
If the song hadn't gone unnoticed, RD would surely have sung
more such reflective quasi-philosophical songs.
Doubtless, the distinctive voice of R.D.
Burman was capable of conveying the emotional of a lyric as
well, if not better than some male playback singers who sang
for him. This is specially true of RD's tunes for Amit Kumar.
In the popular Bade achhe lagte hain (Balika Badhu), Amit's
voice synchronises so well with RD's that listeners can scarcely
tell when Pancham stealthily slips into the number with the
boatman's clarion call O manjhi re jaiyo piya ke des... R.D.
Burman often contributed key lines to his compositions without
claiming credit. Though the legendary cabaret number Piya
tu ab to aaja in Caravan is credited only to Asha Bhosle,
Pancham's banshee cries of Monica o my darling have rooted
the number in the public's mind.
In the hauntingly bare Kishore Kumar-Lata
Mangeshkar love duet Hum dono do premee duniya chhod chale
(Ajnabi), the composer chips in as the bystander at the railway
station to ask where the fugitive lovers are off to.
In Lata's version of Phoolon ka taron ka
sab ka kehna hai (Hare Rama Hare Krishna), Pancham sings for
'Daddy' Kishore Sahu -- with Daddy ka mummy ka sabka kehna
hai ek hazaron mein teri behna hai... These incidental vocal
appearances verify Pancham's casual yet unforgettable artistry.
Recalls Gulzar, "Pancham was an excellent
singer. He knew the nuances of classical singing. For my films,
he sang only a couple of songs. But he lent his voice even
so often. For instance, in Jabbar Patel's Musafir, the boatman's
voice-over, is Pancham! As a singer, he would perfect a tune
by singing it repeatedly. In the album that I did with him
in 1994, listen to how well he has sang the numbers Raah pe
rahte hain and Koi diya jale kahin (later rendered by Kishore
Kumar and Asha Bhosle, respectively).
Then in Dil Padosi Hai, the original soundtracks
by Pancham before they were dubbed by Asha Bhosle are superb.
They show his range as a singer.
The solos and duets that R.D. Burman sang
in the '70s asserted his growing reputation as a rock-`n'-roll
renegade. Somehow the serious songs sung by Pancham (such
as the manjhi number in Aar Paar) never got their due. The
hits that Pancham sang were almost invariably gimmicky.
With Mohammed Rafi, RD was heard in his
element in the yummy Yamma yamma number in Shaan. RD's most
memorable duet of male bonding was the zany jazz-tinged title
song of Gol Maal. Sung with Sapan Chakravarty, the song's
verve is unmatched by any other song of male bonding in the
'80s except perhaps Jaan-e-Jigar, the groovy Goan gaana that
RD `dared' to duet with his favourite male singer, Kishore
Kumar in Pukaar.
Whenever R.D. Burman went solo, he made
sure it was a song that needed his voice, and no one else's.
Incredibly, the all-time favourite Mehbooba oh mehbooba (Sholay),
might not have been sung by Pancham at all. At first, this
vibrant sexy titillator was to be sung by Asha Bhosle. When
Jalal Agha was brought into the picture to lend a vocal drizzle
to Helen's sizzle, R.D. Burman was considered by Javed Akhtar,
Anand Bakshi and Ramesh Sippy as the best bet for this number
inspired by a Demis Roussos chart-topper.
Equally accomplished was Pancham's interpretation
of the locomotive rhythms of Dhanno ki aankhon mein raat ka
surma. Gulzar's words in Kitaab were transported to a wonderland
of images. It became a voyage of self-discovery for Pancham.
Equally devil-may-care was RD's interpretation of the number
Kal kya hoga kisko pataa (Kasme Vaade) and Samundar mein naha
ke (Pukar).
And how elegantly Pancham wore the shirt
of hurt into the two Nasir Hussain musicals Hum Kisise Kam
Nahin and Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai. In the ever-young songs Tum
kya jaano mohabbat kya hai and Dil lena khel hai dildar ka,
R.D. walked tall over a terrain of pain.
The most meditative solo melody that Pancham
sang was Yeh zindagi kuchh bhi sahi in the flop Kumar Gaurav-Poonam
Dhillon starrer, Romance, containing some of RD's best compositions
ever. The emotional grip of the lyrical delivery rivals Kabhi
palkon pe aansoon which Kishore Kumar sang for R.D. Burman
in Harjaee.
With his singing soul companion Asha Bhosle,
R.D. created a dense romantic atmosphere. Though they sang
no more than seven or eight full-fledged duets, the slender
repertoire created a voluminous impression because of their
impact.
The first duet that R.D. and Asha sang was
O meri jaan main ne kahaa (The Train). The Rajesh Khanna-R.D.
Burman team that bloomed in the '70s was in its infancy when
R.D. composed and sang with Asha for The Train. The film had
two strikingly original-sounding solos Gulabi aankhen by Mohammed
Rafi and Kis liye maine pyar kiya by Lata. Inadvertently,
the RD-Asha duet was left out, sidetracked.
R.D. Burman and Asha Bhosle had their revenge
the very next year when their uptempo number outpaced all
other chartbusters of Apna Desh. Their heat-and-run number?
The high-pitched ode to raunch -- Duniya mein logon ko dhokha
kabhi ho jaata hai. The number stressed the outlandishness
of Pancham's vocals. Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz were dressed
as a couple of freakos in this climactic song.
Just when you thought they were the '70s
version of Sonny and Cher, belying all expectations, the RD-Asha
pair hit an all-time high of emotional expression in Sapna
mera toot gaya in Khel Khel Mein. While Kishore Kumar accompanied
Asha in all the frothy fun duets in the film, R.D.Burman stepped
in to create waves in this memorable song of parting and remembrance.
Peculiar, passionate and palpably Pancham
is Na jaa jaan-e-jaan that largely ignored, scene stealer
RD-Asha duet in Joshilay. Here and in the disco-very-very
special of the '80s, Jaan-e-jaan o meri jaan-e-jaan in Sanam
Teri Kasam, Pancham stepped back into the shadows to let Asha
`squeal' the limelight. But his contribution to the two duets
is like a mistletoe decorating a Christmas tree.
The last duet that R.D. Burman sang with
Asha was Yeh din to aata hai (Mahaan). Sadly by then R.D.
Burman's career was under a cloud
There's an interesting end-game associated
with R.D. Burman's career as a singer. In the selective, reluctant
and meagre repertoire of songs that the chameleon composer
chose to sing, one song is extra-special. Kya bhala hai kya
bura in Gulzar's unreleased Libaas. It's one of the few film
songs that dares to make light of the burden of existence.
The song is special for another reason.
It's the only time, Rahul Dev Burman dared to face at the
microphone with the singer who had seen him as a child fooling
around in shorts at his papa's recordings... and whom the
young adult-Pancham hesitantly approached to sing the first
song that he ever composed.
That duet with Lata Mangeshkar was the last
song R.D. Burman ever sang in a film.
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