RD Burman and Raga Khamaj
Happy birthday Pancham. You would have turned 75 today.
Being the son of SD Burman was the biggest barrier that RD had to overcome for a long time. When a composition was good, critics often passed it off as SD's craft. This was when SD's gave some sage advice and told his son, "Whatever you compose sounds like a Madan Mohan or Roshan melody. You need to have a style of your own." RD certainly took this advice to heart.
While the father was a minimalist, Pancham built his brand by crafting his music based on blues, bossa nova, folk, jazz and Indian classical. SD's minimalism and RD's exuberance when mixed together created magic. It is said that Pancham had asked for 12 musicians during the recording of Safal Hogi Teri Aradhana while SD had mandated 11. The extra musician had to be paid off and relieved before SD got down to the recording.
Every decade throws up a new sound
The sixties had seen Laxmikant-Pyarelal and Kalyanji-Anandji emerge. In the seventies, Naushad and C Ramchandra were fading. OP Nayyar was not the same hit factory any more.That's when RD's era began. His competition really was Madan Mohan and more importantly, his own father.
SD had given us the hit music of Sharmilee in 1971. So Pancham had to create something that sounded unique. He introduced mixed rhythms and sound mixing. From the whir of a studio fan, to the thud of someone patting a thick book, he drew his melody from everyday objects and sounds and put them into his music.
Pancham used to merge two ragas effortlessly. He had heard his father sing a song Bela Boye Jaye which stayed in his mind during the composition of Raina Beeti Jaye for the movie Amar Prem. The song is a mix of two ragas - a morning raga Todi in the mukhra and raga Khamaj, a late night raga. The song was crafted with the mood of the story and not on the time of the day.
RD was greatly influenced by Raga Khamaj
In Amar Prem he used the raga for two more songs Bada Natkhat Hai Re and then again in Kuchh Toh Log Kahenge. Let me hasten to add that in Kuchh Toh Log, the notes of Khamaj merge into Raga Kalavati. But even then can you think of another movie which has three songs based on the same raga in one movie?
That may well have been the year of Raga Khamaj for RD. He gave us another gem Aayo Kahan Se Ghanshyam also based on Khamaj. Come to think of it this film had another Khamaj based composition Jiya Na Lage Mora.
If you are a RD fan then you have to get hold of the 59th National Award winning book that gets down to nitty gritties like which instruments were used for which famous RD song. The interviews and stories are all culled out from interviews with his musicians and co-workers from the film industry. The result is a must read.
Thankfully the book does not get reduced to hagiography. The authors do highlight the lean patch of RD and say that a lot of it was due to RD's inability to manage perceptions. He used to take the blame for a flop film largely onto himself. We all know that he paid dearly for this habit.The book has sidebars which have RD related trivia and some interesting insights. Why was the Kishore-RD combination so popular?
“Kishore was the voice of the city slicker, while Rafi was the voice of the small-towner. Could the shift in audience preferences from Rafi to Kishore have something to do with the fact that the early 1970s saw rapid urbanization ?”
There are portions dedicated to the musical nuances of Pancham's hits.
"In the prelude of Chura Liya ( a tune inspired by 'If it's Tuesday it must be Belgium' from the 1969 film of the same name), along with clinking glasses, it is the twelve-string guitar strumming the notes of minor add ninth (or suspended on the fifth note from the root) chord that sets the ball rolling. The amalgamation of guitar riffs and the saxophone pieces complements Asha Bhonsle's voice in particular, and makes the song a winner..."
If you are just a regular listener like me who doesn't know what major and minor chords are all about, then maybe you should just enjoy the song instead.
Overall, if you can never have enough of RD then this book qualifies as "Panchamrit"
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Read more: <The Charm of Raga Khamaj>