Sunday, December 14, 2008

Rahul dev burman


It is a curious thing that R D Burman also goes by the name of Pancham. Story goes that when veteran Ashok Kumar saw Sachin Dev Burman's newborn uttering the syllable 'Pa' repeatedly, he nicknamed him Pancham. And the name stuck. To many, he's still Pancham Da. The man who added his unique dash of pep and verve in to Hindi film music starting with the 60s. The first music director who added a pinch of Rock 'n' Roll to lilting Hindi tunes. And created a brand of music so distinctly his own, that even his father, the older Burman came to be proud of his son's unconventional music.Rahul Dev Burman was born on 27 June 1939. To him, music came easy and early. He learnt to play the Sarod from the legendary Ustad Ali Akbar Khan at very young age. He also played the mouth organ. When he was nine years old, he composed his first song, 'Aye Meri Topi Palat Ke Aa..', which was later used for the film Funtoosh and the very next year, his father borrowed the tune of 'Sar Jo Tera Chakraye..' for the Guru Dutt film Pyaasa. The first film the younger Burman scored music for was Mehmoood's Chote Nawab in 1961 and the first song in the film was to be recorded was by Lata Mangeshkar. The film marked the reconciliation between S. D. Burman and Lata Mangeshkar who had stopped recording together six years ago.Vijay Anand can be credited with bringing about R D Burman's first big break. He arranged a music session for the youngster before Nasir Hussain commenced the production of Tesri Manzil. Shammi Kapoor, who heard RD's tunes, is said to have screamed 'Yahoo' in sheer appreciation while Nasir Hussain signed the young composer for six of his forthcoming films. At that time, he would not have known that the breathy 'Aaja Aaja..' would become one of the best seduction songs ever! R D Burman's constant efforts to break musical typecast and explore new possibilities came through in the music that he made. Be it the poignant tunes of Kati Patang, the love songs of Pyar Ka Mausam, the fun numbers from Padosan or the soulful melodies of Amar Prem, Pancham had done them all. While making music was his profession, singing always remained R D's passion. He sang occasionally and when he did, it was never went unnoticed.

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