Remembering RD Burman
RD Burman (27 June 1939 – 4 January 1994) is an influencer in Bollywood even today long after he is gone. Reality shows dedicate episodes to RD, channels organize special RD Music shows, and his songs continue to be referenced in recent movies like Aisha, Tamanchey, Race, etc. TV serials continue to use cover versions of his songs, not to mention the numerous "remixes" of his songs.
Yet the same RD had long spells towards the end when he was without work. Success and failure perhaps have to be measured beyond the life span of an artiste. Filmmaker Brahmanand Siingh made a really insightful film called Pancham Unmixed about RD Burman. The film is a seamless narrative about this music composer who made almost 300 albums in his lifetime. Brahmanand Siingh is back with a much awaited sequel called "Knowing Pancham" to coincide with RD's birthday. I caught up with Brahma to know what he discovered about RD in the process of making this film.
Q: What was it like for musicians to be in a studio with RD? Was he a task master?
Brahma: RD always maintained that he had to be in a good mood even while creating melancholic melodies. He loved what he was doing, mixed well with his musicians, made friends easily, and had a keen eye for talent and then tremendous respect for the individual. But behind this seemingly all fun environment was sheer hard-work, discipline and dedication. Melodies were being created by the minute in the music room and songs / scores recorded every day in the studios, without fail. SD had planted this thought in RD’s mind at a very young age that he should compose 4-5 tunes every day even when he did not have work. By the time RD recuperated from his heart surgery, he had 100’s of tunes ready. Ashaji and Gulzar Sahab talk about making of the song Mera Kuchh Saamaan from the film Ijaazat. Because of the words being so conversational, RD refused to put them to music. Then Ashaji hummed a couple of words and RD built on that and composed the melody in just a few minutes. The song is very complicated in its orchestration and has layers of sounds besides having the melody wrapped around conversational lyrics. So the final version that we hear, would have taken several days of “nurturing”, as RD would put it.
Q: Pancham blended western music seamlessly with Indian classical and folk. Did that alienate him from the traditionalists?
Brahma: I am sure he did! But though Pancham is known to have brought in western influences, foot-tapping club numbers and mad compositions, one should not forget that he had a solid background of Indian Classical and Folk music. Every composition of his had a strong element of melody in it right up to the antaras and interludes. Contrary to popular belief, he actually won the admiration of the senior stalwarts who were not easy to please. Legendary Anil Biswas in a radio interview praised RD for his approach to music and made a statement that, “had RD not been younger to me, I would have touched his feet!” Jaikishen was there to bless RD when the 1st song of Teesri Manzil was recorded. Manna De never missed an opportunity to tell SD that he was a fan of Pancham. In a reality show on television, when OP Nayyar had declared himself to be a fan of RD. . Sajjad Hussain, composer of yesteryears considered SD Burman's Megha Chhaye and RD’s Raina Beeti Jaye as two gems of film music based on Indian Classical Music. Another good example is the song “Ek Chatur Naar” which is a light-hearted musical competition but never does it lose its roots in Indian Classical Music, both Carnatic and Hindustani.https://youtu.be/9HwrMGpFaik
Q: Pancham has used everyday sounds in his songs - the sound of glasses clinking or rubbing two pieces of sandpaper to create the chugging of a train. Where did he get these ideas from?
Brahma: He focused a lot on getting real natural sounds. He spent a lot of time in recording live sounds from nature and places around him, the sound of insects, or the trains chugging, raindrops on a tin roof, etc. Many albums got a luke-warm response when they were released but became a rage much later. Albums like Dil Padosi Hai, Jawaani, Shaan, Shalimaar, Ijaazat, or Pantera have become cult classics today.
Q: Who were some of the singers or musicians he discovered and mentored?
Brahma: Most of them remember him as someone who was always ready to help and go out of his way to do that. Composers Laxmikant-Pyarelal were his assistants in Chhote Nawab and RD played the mouth-organ for the complete soundtrack and background score of their hit film Dosti. There are many people in the industry who were spotted by RD and that gave their careers a new lease of life. Keen eye for talent but with an ability to pamper them with opportunities to grow, experiment and excel. He hand-picked top talents like Louis Banks, Ronu Majumdar, Bhavani Shankar, Trilok Gurtu, Tony Vaz, Nitin Shanker, Franco Vaz .. worked with stalwarts like Shiv Kumar Sharma, Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Zarin Sharma, Sultan Khan, Dakshina Mohan Tagore, Samta Prasad, etc. He mentored Sudesh Bhosle, Abhijeet, Udit, Sanu, etc and even lyricists like Nida Fazli.
Q: He had a long dry spell when for almost a decade his music was not bought by music companies. How did he cope with such a phase given that he had seen stupendous success for almost 2 decades?
A: The last few years of his life were very hard. Failing health, turmoil in personal life, changing standards of film music and dwindling ethics of some of his film-folks hit him hard. He always knew who he was but there were moments of insecurity is what we are told. RD’s early years of rigorous training under SD Burman and other masters inculcated a strong sense of musical aesthetics in him. He was self-assured, capable to understand what is bad, good or great music. This made him push the envelope and take risks early in life. Slowly the industry and music lovers accepted his music and fell in love with his style which was new to them. Even during the low phase of his career, he came out with gems like Gardish, Gurudev and 1942 A Love Story at a time when such songs had practically no ‘market’. RD was not invited for the premier of the film Gardish, probably because he was considered unlucky. In spite of all this, he gathered all his strength and delivered a magnificent album like 1942 A Love Story. Such was his enthusiasm while composing for this album that he had started calling his musicians and singers to start getting ready for his next stint! Pankaj Udhas, Sonu Nigam, Sanjay Leela Bhansali are some of the names who later shared how RD was excited to collaborate with them in the future, which never happened because of his death. Looking at the RD craze amongst today's millennials, we need to rethink failure and success. Art and artists need to be judged after their lifetime. That is how I would judge RD's life and work.----------------
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Watch a clip of Pancham Unmixedhttps://youtu.be/a9e4IZW7tQQ