PanchamMagic Show Report : At Pune, 27th June 06

Guests : Suraj Sathe, Pt. Karthik Kumar and Mitali Singh - Bhupinder

Another one of my bi-annual pilgrim trips to Pune, to offer my humble tributes to the Goliath of composers Rahul Dev Burman on the occasion of HIS 67th birth anniversary...

Venue - Tilak Smarak Mandir. At the stroke of 9.15 pm, the all-too familiar speakers blazed the boisterous "Doston se pyaar kiya" from Shaan. The trademark Pancham music blast leading to Usha Uthup's daring vocals set it up for a Grand Evening!!!!

Prayers to the loRD kicked off the show. The audience was assured by the known personality of Ankush who started with some of the differences between acoustic instruments & keyboards / synthesizers. Obviously, he noted, acoustic instruments can better convey expressions than the the "artificial sound machines". The instruments section took off with the Accordion (known as the Piano accordion b'cos of the "piano" keys). A lighter observation by Ankush - The accordion
may have evolved for people wanting to use the piano, but not wanting to remain glued to a single seat :-)).

This brought to stage Suraaj Sathe - the accordion player from RD's troup of the mid to late 80's. Suraaj narrated his entry to Hindi film music and the Pancham camp. He further introduced the accordion through the notes of Dada Burman's "Roop tera mastana"(Aradhana).The discussion carried on with Ankush, interspersed with crisp and clear original audio jhalaks of Pancham's masterly compositions - The brilliant accordion piece leading up to the start of the unconventional "Agar saaz cheda taraane banenge" (Jawaani Diwaani), the rich mixing of accordion, santoor & the bicycle bells in the vintage Lata - Asha duet "Main chali main chali" (Padosan) & the masterly blend of the accordion & harmonica (mouth-organ) in "Zindagi milke bitaayenge" (Satte Pe Satta). Genius at Work !!!!

The piece-de- resistance, however, was Suraaj replaying LIVE the accordion pieces of the classy "Chotisi kahani si" (Ijaazat). Not a single note could be heard here & there. And that too after having just heard the original song a few seconds back !!!! Goes to show what quality musicians are made up of !!!!!!!

The camera now panned to the resonant Hindustani instrument - The Sitar. The invited guest, a 70 plus Karthik Kumar & a disciple of the maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar, introduced the instrument through Dada Burman's (again !!!!!) "Piya tose naina laage re" (Guide) to finally take you to the magical "Gori Tori Painjaniyaan" (Mehbooba). The ordeal of playing the
Sitar to the "ghunghroo" beats of GopiKrishna in the recording studio was more than evident when the song's video was  shown - Hema dancing on screen to the strings of Rajesh Khanna's Sitar.. .Sadly, how back-stage musicians get faded against celluloid brightness.. A paradox of sorts...Will always remain a harsh truth, though....

Another stirring & revealing visual delight to confirm the above - the solo Sitar piece from "Parichay". Karthik Kumar narrated how the instrument was actually made "besura" in the studio for the first few plucks & then tuned to a sur - both enacted by Jeetu on screen. Strongly abetted by Gulzarbhai's sensitive conceptualization leading up to the entry of Jaya Bhaduri & the kids; Panchamda's free hand & the deft fingers of Karthik Kumar - the scene is a connoisseur's delight !!! . The Sitar Veteran also stressed on RDB's versatility & command on classical music when he said "Pancham was a master of all - folk, Classical & Western". Big words those.. Especially coming from a man of such stature !!!

The major event of the show was, however, when Bhupinder Singh & Mitali took centre stage .. Mitali -a very good singer herself who has sung 4 Bangla numbers under RDB's baton- is a diehard Pancham bhakt.. Her passion on stage was enough to prove the devotion she has for the loRD !!!!!! It was sheer joy to see her pay such attention to RD's musical nuances !!!

It was then the turn of Pancham's Bangla durga puja creations to mesmerize the auditorium... Fabulous melodies flowed - "Phule Gandho Nei" ( The unreleased "Phoolon ki zubaan" in Hindi)" & "Pora Baanshi sunle " (Hindi version as "Jiya mein Toofan" from Kehte hain mujhko raja) to only reiterate RD's class & melody . Analyzing RDB gems to the detail of details, sharing viewpoints on what made them distinct & unique, Mitali's classic examples - "Haan mere gham to utha leta hai.... dil padosi hai" ( Title track - Dil Padosi hai) & the haunting Lata stanza of "Mithe bol bole, bole paayaliya" (Kinara).. made the point. Bhupi reacted to "Bole ki Aache go" (Bangla version of underexplored "Hey sakhi raadhike" from Jurmaana) by saying "Pancham was a soulful singer". As a tribute to the undying & extraordinary spirit of Puneites, were played the lesser heard "Char dinon ki ye zindagani"(Gunahgaar)& "Kahiye kahan se aana hua" (Heeralal Pannalal). And finally, the public demand for "Ek hi khwab" (Kinara) was answered by Bhupinder himself - whose deep baritone voice continues to haunt to this day.....

A few other short stories to reminisce- RD's motivation to Mitali to give her best during song recordings, Kishoreda's pranks on Pancham & RD calling a funny looking producer an "Andawala"..

A cake-cutting ceremony with a birthday song meant that the evening had reached its grand finale. Hats off to the entire Panchammagic team for this very sweet gesture to remember the Chote Nawab. Also, special mention to Mahesh Ketkar and Sagar Kopardekar for making their session with Mitali and Bhupinder an extremely interesting one ...

As always, the evening at Tilak Smarak was sheer bliss. But, the heart longs for more...Pancham never quenches your thirst.. In fact, you end up feeling more thirsty..That,you guess, is the scorching effect of his innumerable melodies... But we all know, 4th January'07 with Bhupi's Guitar promise, will soon be on its way.. And then another 27th June....And then the next 4th January...And then.... 

RD Burman continues to live ..for ever & ever & ever..

S Iyer