Simplicity was his forte
K. PRADEEP

S.D. Burman, whose birth centenary falls this year, was a trendsetter in more ways than one.

SD was the first of those music directors who insisted on composing the tune before listening to the lyrics.

A CLASS APART: Music director S.D. Burman records a song. Accompanying him on the sitar is his son Rahul Dev Burman

Sachin Dev Burman (1906-1975) stands alone in a world where very often mediocrity is hailed as talent and plagiarism as genius. His songs had a stamp of his inimitable style, simple tunes backed by simple orchestra thereby emphasising the melodic content of the song.

A scion of a princely family in Tripura, SD, as he was sometimes called, picked up early music lessons from his father Nabadweep Chandra Dev Burman.

Student days

During his college days at Comilla Victoria College, near Dhaka, SD was forced to spend a few years in hiding. There was a conspiracy in the royal palace and a threat to SD's life. His father sent him to the jungles bordering Bengal and Assam. His association with wandering minstrels and Adivasis enabled him to add a new dimension to his music. The haunting folk style that SD later used in some of his immortal songs were perhaps influences from the days of exile.


Back home, SD travelled to Calcutta for his post-graduation. Here, he came under the magic spell of Bengali music as propagated during those days by musicians like K.C. Dey, the popular actor-singer. SD began learning classical music under Dey and later under great exponents like Ustad Badal Khan, Ustad Bishwadev Chatterjee, Girija Shankar Chakravarthy and the sarod under Ustad Allauddin Khan.

In 1927, SD faced the microphone for the first time. He sang a few songs for All India Radio. Hindustan Records contracted him to record semi-classical songs. That record, which had the song 'Dheere je jaana baghiyan me... ,' became popular.

In the 1933 film 'Yahudi Ki Ladki' he recorded a couple of songs but was rejected for his strong Bengali accent and pronunciation. Punkaj Mullick, who was the music director for this film, replaced SD with Pahadi Sanyal. Though SD did manage to sing in a couple of films like 'Sita' he realised that his future was not in singing. SD decided to try his hand at composing music. He also tried acting. He appeared in a small role in Dhiren Ganguly's film 'Birodhi.'

The Bengali film 'Rajashri,' released in 1937, marked the beginning of his career as music composer. SD went on to make music for a few Bengali films such as 'Rajkumar Nirbashan,' 'Jeevan Sangini,' 'Chadmabeshi,' and 'Matir Ghar.'

Move to Mumbai

In 1940, SD moved to Mumbai to become a playback singer. SD sang his first solo 'Prem ki pyari nishani... ' in the film 'Taj Mahal' (1941). He made his debut as a music director in the 1946 film 'Shikari.' A duet from this film 'Har din hai naya, har raat nirali hai... ,' sung by Ashok Kumar and Amirbai Karnataki, became a super hit.

A couple of songs from the film 'Eight Days,' released the same year also turned into hits. This included the immortal 'Ummeed bhara panchi... ' that he sang. But the film that really sent his stock rising was 'Do Bhai' (1947). All the songs from this film became hits. The film also became a watershed in the career of Geeta Dutt. Two songs 'Mera sunder sapna beet gaya... ' and 'Yaad karoge yaad karoge... ' became all-time hits and still remain favourites. In a career spanning more than four decades SD composed music for over 90 films. He was strongly inspired by the two powerful streams of music in Bengal, the Vaishnav and the Sufi styles. But when it came to his own musical creations, SD seemed to be more influenced by the Sufi style than anything else.

SD was very choosy and took time for his compositions. He often recommended other music directors if he found the films not his cup of tea. It is said that SD never allowed his assistants to create music for him. SD was a perfectionist who always insisted on numerous rehearsals and was even prepared to put off recordings till he got what he wanted. SD was also the first of those music directors who insisted on composing the tune before listening to the lyrics.

It was SD who stopped the trend of one singer singing for one particular hero, like Mukesh for Raj Kapoor or Kishore Kumar for Rajesh Khanna. SD used more than one voice for the same actor in the same film. He used a singer to suit the mood and the situation in the film. He had Mukesh, Rafi and Kishore singing for Amitabh Bachchan in the film 'Abhimaan.'

Fine sportsman

A fine sportsman, SD was passionate about tennis, football and volleyball. His famous altercation and subsequent patch-up with Lata Mangeshkar was once summed up by SD in a typical 'tennis-speak.' He said: "Lata was always my first serve. Asha (Bhonsle) became my second serve, once again I got my first serve Lata back." SD also found time to pen his autobiography titled 'Sargamer Nikhad,' which is in Bengali.

SD went into a coma while recording for the film 'Mili' and passed away on October 31, 1975.


Credit - Bob

Genius comes in pack of three


A shady bylane in a quiet Mumbai suburb, a sprawling house belonging to an avant-garde composer and an old lady who occupies this house till date. Lost to the world and almost lost to life she lives out her lonely autumn years in the care of a few devoted servants. The house is 'Marylands' in Santa Cruz, belonging to the avant-garde composer Rahul Dev Burman and the old lady in question, his mother Mrs Meera Dev Burman wife of SD Burman. Such is the travesty of time that today Mrs Burman, the last living member of the illustrious Burman clan is sadly oblivious to the fact that her dead son is a cult figure and the world celebrates her husband's centenary.

Rewind to the late 30s... Meera Dasgupta was a beautiful young lady. Born in an affluent family from Dhaka she got the best of the vibrant social and cultural environment of Bengal of those days. She learnt dancing from Amartya Sen's mother and for music she joined a school called 'Sur Mandir'. The school was run by a handsome prince from Tripura who had made a big name for himself as a folk and classical singer. Meera's singing talent soon brought her to the attention of her guru Sachin Dev Burman. She accompanied him for various musical conferences and despite the age gap love soon blossomed and Meera Dasgupta became Meera Dev Burman in 1938. In 1939 Tublu, aka, Pancham, aka Rahul Dev Burman was born. It was in the same period the Burmans recorded the delightful duet 'Gaye je papiha gaye' the tune of which was reused later for the Ashok Kumar- Amirbai Karnataki duet Har Din Hai Naya from SD's debut film Shikari.

After recording a couple of songs Meera withdrew from the limelight to support her husband's sangeet sadhana. She would be his sounding board, suggest tune ideas and would often pen down his ideas in Bengali which he would pass to lyricists to convey his vision. Soon their young son who lived in Calcutta with his grandmother started growing up. As an only child he was a cause of great worry for his parents due to his lack of interest in studies, till one day Dada caught the young boy humming a tune that he claimed he composed. Dada knew in an instant where his son's future lay. After much family deliberation, Rahul Dev Burman was transported to Bombay where he started training under the tutelage of his father.

The decision was a momentous one. Pancham, as he was popularly known, was a prodigal talent and when such high quality raw material came into the hands of a master sculptor like Sachinda the end product had to be a piece to behold till eternity. A fact that is more evident by RD's popularity today than ever before.

Pancham contributed to his father's music from the very early days. An odd mouth organ here, a banjo played there. And then the famous Aie meri topi palat ke aa, a tune a young RD hummed unwittingly to his father and was surprised to see it on screen in Funtoosh. "That was my creation", the child accused. "So what you are my creation" the father replied affectionately.

With Pyaasa, using Guru Dutt's influence on his father, RD became a formal assistant to Burmanda. He had a flair for instruments from a very young age. Trained in classical music by Ali Akbar Khan and Pandit Brijen Biswas, he picked up playing a host of western instruments from other sources. The end result was a prominent talent for orchestration. Dada used his son's services extensively in that area. He took apprenticeship under Dada on the art of composition and to mould a tune to suit film situations.

Dada's bout of ill health in sixties saw Pancham playing a greater role the SD team. Films of that era benefited tremendously from his orchestration skills. In the early sixties Pancham made his debut as a full-fledged composer with 'Chote Nawab'. It was a top class soundtrack coming from the son of a top class composer; however he had to wait around till Teesri Manzil before he become a force to reckon with. Pancham broke away from Dada's school of music completely with this film to define his own style. A style, which today, has become a school of music in itself.

Despite his individual success Pancham continued to work with his father as his chief assistant on prestigious projects through the sixties like Jewel Thief, Talaash and ofcourse Aradhana. After SD's Aradhana and the coming of the Kishore wave (which rode greatly on RD's music), Pancham suddenly found himself loaded with work. Time had come for the son to finally fly the nest. Pancham ceased to be his father's full-time assistant.

It was at this time that Meera Dev Burman stepped back into the limelight. She replaced her son as Dada's chief assistant and started to work full time on his films. Credited sometimes as 'Assistant Music Director" Meera Dev Burman paired with SD in a host of memorable films from the seventies like "Tere Mere Sapne", "Abhiman", "Mili", "Us Paar". In this period she also involved herself with Dada's parallel Bengali output. Dada would record 3-4 folk and classical songs every year on Durga Pooja in Bengali. A large number of these songs like 'Banshi Shune Aar Kaaj Nai' , 'Ke Jaash Re', 'Ghaate Lagaiya Dinga' were penned by his wife.

Son RD, continued to contribute to his parents efforts esp after Dada's health took an irreversible dip in the seventies. Dada's last few films like Mili were completed by Pancham.

In the early days RD had to struggle to come out of the shadow of his legendry father. His happiest moment was when his father came beaming one morning to tell him that for the first time in his life he was recognized not as SD Burman but as RD Burman's father. Both SD and Meera were extremely proud of their son.

RD Burman did not have any progeny putting a full stop to this illustrious line of heritage. However the Burman legacy lives and thrives. It lives on through their music. It is living hundred years after Sachinda was born and it will still be thriving when Pancham celebrates his centenary!

Credit - Barnali

"SACHIN KARTA*"

by HQ Chowdhury


First, his father Nawadip Chandra Burman who is said to be the younger son of King Ishan Chandra Manikya and the direct heir to the kingdom of Tripura. No matter what history says about Nawadip Chndra Burman, It is unanimously accepted that Nawadip Chandra was a very cultured man.

Karta remembered his father as: "I was cast in the mould of my father. His education was my backbone.

He was a saint to me and a true artist. It is through his teaching that I developed the little skills of fine arts in me. He excelled in Sitar, Dhrupadsongs, painting and sculpting. During the Swaraswat, Kali and Durga Pujas, he was the one who would make the statues in our house".

Second, Madav and Anwar, the two domestic helps.

"Madhav was an old man. After lunch Madhav would hum passages from the Ramayana on lazy Sundays. The tunes drove me crazy. No ustadi -- simple and straight from the heart. Anwar was my guru in angling. The two of us would be singing by the riverside and in our huge backyard. My grammar lessons would lay idle on the shelf as I spent the night, listening to Anwar as he sang with his "dotara". My teacher obviously did not like it ! But that did not deter me. Every evening I would cling to Anwar like a child and get carried away with his Bhatiali".

Karta's first guru, apart from those at home, was the legendary KC Dey who began teaching him from 1925. He was under his tutelage until 1930. He was then under the training of Bishwadev Chatterjee from 1932 although he was three years senior to him. Thereafter Khalifa Badal Khan, the famous Sarengi master and then the orchestra king Allauddin Khan (readers may like to go back to the songs "Pawane Diwane" or "Tere Naina Talaash" and note the orchestra). Of course, it did not end there. There was Shymlal Chetri, the famous harmonium player and Benerasi thumri specialist (refer to songs from Devdas and Benazir ! ) and the countless numbers of Pirs, Fakirs, Vainshnavs who would frequently visit their Comilla house. Karta knew the art to grasp any musical knowledge that someone could offer.

The Maharajas of Agartala were always great promoters of art and culture. They even helped Tagore's Vishwa Bharati financially. Karta also made his contribution as a promoter. He got KC Dey , Ustad Badal Khan and Allauddi Khan into Agartala. Nazrul Islam had also spent some time with him earlier, at their Comilla house.

There is not much information available regarding Karta's stint with Bengalee films and plays. After Karta set the music for two plays ("Sati Tirtha" and "Janani"), he composed the music for a film ("Rajgee" in 1837) for the first time. He composed music for about 10 Bengalee films barring the bilingual ones like Mashal, Aradhana. The second film "Rajkumarer Nirbashan" (1940) was a hit and ran for 17 straight weeks. "Jevaan Sangini" also did well. "Protishodh" (1941) ran for 12 weeks and it included the song "Phool Koli Re Phool Koli". In "Abhoyer Biye (1942)" he composed and sang the Hindi song " Aei Dil Betar Usey Yaad Kiye Ja" . The film ran for 30 weeks bumper hit. "Chaddobeshi" (1944) was also a grosser. It had the comedy number "Chi Chi Keya Sharam Ki Bath, Babur Lerki Paliye Gelo Driver Ke Sath". His last Bengalee film was "Chaitali" in 1969 for which Manna Dey sang for him in Bangla for the first time. The two songs " Duti Chokhe" and "Shudahi Ami " were big hits.

Karta's greatest contribution in the realm of modern Bengali music is the expression of poetry through music. The lyrical beauty of a song, delivered through his vocals, along the lines of a raga or a raditional folk song, continue to be unparallel in Bengali music. This gave him the status of an institution. Kumar Prasad Mukherjee, the last of the giants of the Agra gharana, who passed away last May says in his book "Mehfil" : " I would not have learnt to love classical music had it not been for Monu, Suku, and Gabu my friends. It was from them that I came to know that KC Dey's "Phirey Cholo Phirey Cholo" is Raga Malkaus, Sachin Dev Burman's " Ami Chino Eka" is Pilu and "Alo Chaya Dola" is Bahar.

Karta sang quite a few songs based on traditional or Hiindoostani bandishes, which were sung previously by other artists. "Kaun Bujhai Rama, Tapat Morey Manki" by KL Saigol became "Ami Chino Eka" and then "Tere Bin Sooni (Rafi), Ustad Abdul Karim Khan's "Jamuna Ke Teeray became "Modhu Brindabone" and then "Mithey Bole Bole" (Bhupendra - RD Burman), Ustad Fayyaz Khan's "Na Manungi Na Manungi became "Kuhu Kuhu Kuhu Koyelia" (composer : Nazrul Islam ); 'Jhan Jhan Jhan Baje Payelia" became "Jhan Jahn Monjiro Baje" and then "Jhan Jhan Payel Baje" (lata). As a performer composer, Karta produced amazingly beautiful shades of the same color paying due respect to their lyrical beauty, thus opening a new door to the appreciation of Hindoostani classical music.

Karta made "Remixes" to label them as "SD Burman songs". These, in their own way found places in the history of film music. However, they do not contain the "Karta nuances". Lata Mangeskar and Kishore Kumar admitted that he would modify these songs to make it easier for the singers. It is interesting to note that Bengalees hardly sing his songs in public. These are only hummed at home or amongst close friends for pleasure. The reason those patented nuances a twist here, a turn there, a broken voice here and a smooth shift there -- would be missing something which only the magical voice of Sachin Dev Burman could reproduce.

Unquote

Karta* -- Bangla word meaning "one who holds the authority to do things; lord or master used by servants in addressing their masters; Lord of the universe.


Credit Adi

NOSTALGIA - To father with love
Pancham's concluding notes on S D Burman
Raju Bharatan


As we looked aghast at the Dekha kiye tumhen turn he was giving to Hum bekhudee mein, Dada Burman demanded to know why we were not playing along.

From among Dev Anand, Raj Khosla and me, the secondnamed - as the Kala Pani director and a singer himself - finally made bold to say we felt Dada was ruining a beautiful tune by introducing a passage that sounded off-track and wasn't blending. Discussions galore Whereupon Dada really lost his cool and, turning to me, said: "You want to be a composer, don't you, Pancham, and you say this (Dekha kiye tumhen ) turn I'm giv ing the tune isn't blending, it's offtrack? I'm disappointed in you, Pancham, what calibre of a composer are you? Just you guys play on and see how I get Rafi to blend it in the final recording."

Blend, it finally did - ever so beautifully. This proved Dada had an audio-visual mind, he could envision 'a-tune-within-a-tune'. In that moment, I realised how much I still had to absorb from Dada as a would-be composer. Lessons, lessons Another thing I learnt from Dada, is that at all times it's better to be plain-speaking to avoid all chance of misunderstanding later. Dada was never wishywashy.

Take the time we recorded Chal ree sajnee as a background number for Bambai ka Babu. I felt the song was ideally suited to the vocals of my resonant pet then - Hemant Kumar. But Dada firmly ruled out Hemant, saying his vocals had begun deteriorating. Manna Dey was considered next, but Dada felt the Chal ree sajnee tune didn't suit his voice.

Talat Mahmood was rejected instantly by Dada on the ground that too much 'vibration' had crept into his voice. If Kishore Kumar had the vocals to go with the tune, Dada shrewdly sensed that this singer wouldn't be overkeen to perform in a 'background' number, since the main playback for Dev Anand, in Bambai ka Babu, was Rafi! That's how Mukesh came into the picture, though Dada agreed to test him out rather reluctantly. Upon his arrival for rehearsal at our Sion residence, Dada frankly told the singer: "Look, Mukesh, I don't promise I'll retain your voice in Chal ree sajnee. If after rehearsal, in the final take, I find your rendition unsatisfactory, I retain the right to scrap the song!"

"But you always have that right, Dada," noted Mukesh - as the soul of tact. "All I know, is you've called me after years, so I'll put in my best. After that, as the song's composer, it's your privilege to retain or reject me, Dada!"

One point I must make here that Dada bowed to no singer. When he felt Kishore Kumar wasn't giving cent per cent, he turned to Rafi - for Dev Anand, mind you - with total lack of inhibition. When he brought back Kishore, Dada did so on his own terms.

Yet, it was from Dada I learnt how to draw the best out of Kishore. Dada's technique was to send the tune's spool-tape in advance to Kishore. I found Kishore sounding peerless once this spool-tape was made available to him beforehand.

Then and there, I decided Kishore would be my first choice as singer, once I had the freedom to pick my own voice. That Dada spool-tape worked wonders with Kishore.

Today Dada's no more, but I owe all I am to him. Which other princely father would've agreed to his son's going into such an uncertain field as films in the then faraway city of Bombay? In fond memory Dada had vision, he instinctively sensed music was in my blood. Yet not once was he soft with me as his first assistant. In fact, more than once, he harshly pulled me up in the presence of all those musicians.

It hurt like hell at the time, but I saw there was merit in Dada's argument that he was dealing with his chief assistant - not his son - here. Each time Dada so openly scolded me, it was when I'd failed to do my first-assistant homework.

Today I know that it's his rounding that's equipped me for the job. When the time for me to compose by myself came, Dada just let me go, saying he had nothing left to teach me. He loved my tunes in Amar Prem, the film was my mum Meera's favourite too.

"After all, whose son is Pancham?" I last remember Meera asking Dada.


Credit - Bob

Thanks Music lover
The song "Waqt ne kiya kya haseen sitam.." was just mesmerizing lovery mindblowing
m one of the biggest fans of geeta ji

Burman da was one of the finest MDs of all time
an artist in true sense

Fantastic insight into SD. I just love that he was so brutally frank with the singers and that each singer had to prove his/her merit each time.

What a fantastic comeback Punjini with this article.

But AFAIK Sr Burman was against Pancham's making foray into Bollywood. He consistently resisted Pancham till later left studies in calcutta and decided enough is enough.