Rahul Dev Burman  (27 June 1939 – 4 January 1994), commonly known as R. D. Burman and nicknamed Pancham da (पंचम दा) or simply Pancham, was a Indianmusic composer.

Biography : Early life

Rahul Dev Burman was born in Calcutta. According to stories, he was nicknamed Pancham because, as a child, whenever he cried, it sounded in the fifth note (Pa) of the Indian musical scale. The word Pancham means five (or fifth) in Bengali. Another version is that when the veteran Indian actor Ashok Kumar saw a newborn Rahul Dev Burman uttering the syllable Pa repeatedly, he nicknamed the boy Pancham. After coming to Mumbai, he learnt sarod from Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. He received his early education at Ballygunge Government High School, Kolkata.

When he was nine years old, he composed his first song, Aye meri topi palat ke aa, which his father used in the film Funtoosh (1956). The tune of the song Sar jo tera chakraaye was composed by him as a child. His father loved the tune and included it in the soundtrack of Guru Dutt's Pyaasa. In 2004, the soundtrack for Pyaasa was given an award for "The Best Music in Film" by Sight & Sound, the British Film Institute magazine.

As a child, Pancham also played the Harmonica (mouth organ) in the famous song Hai apna dil to aawara (from film Solva Saal - 1958, starring Dev Anand). Pancham began his music career as an assistant to his father.

Out of his 331 released movies 292 were in Hindi, 31 in Bangla, 3 in Telugu, 2 each in Tamil & Oriya and 1 in Marathi. RD also composed for 5 TV Serials in Hindi and Marathi. He also scored a large number of non-film songs in Bangla (also known as Pooja songs or modern songs), which are available in different albums.

R D Burman started his career as assistant to his father, Sachin Dev Burman. He assisted his father in Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958) and Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), and his first music interlude, in his father composition, was for the song, Jaane Kya Tune Kahi, sung byGeeta Dutt, for film Pyaasa (1957). His first film as a music director was Guru Dutt's Raaz (1959).

1960s

Burman's first released movie as a music director was Mehmood's Chhote Nawab (1961). Mehmood once said that he gave the movie to Burman because he got tired of Burman denting his car with the persistent drumming of his fingers. The song brought together S. D. Burman and Lata Mangeshkar who had stopped recording together since 1957.

Burman continued to work as his father's assistant in movies like Bandini (1963), Teen Deviyaan (1965) and Guide (1965). Mehmood gave him his second movie as a music director in 1965 - Bhoot Bangla. The soundtrack is notable for a sedate "Jaago sonewalo" sung by Kishore Kumar and a contrasting "Aao twist karein", sung by Manna Dey, a Desi version of Chubby Checker's "Let's Twist". In the movie, Burman also acted alongside Mehmood. He also composed the music of Teesra Kaun in 1965.

Burman's first hit movie was Teesri Manzil (1966). Burman gave credit to lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri for recommending him to Nasir Hussain, the producer and writer of Teesri Manzil. Vijay Anand also said that he had arranged a music session for him before Nasir Hussain. After hearing his music, Nasir Hussain made him the music director of Teesri Manzil. Initially, Shammi Kapoor (hero of the movie) was unhappy over choice of Burman. He wanted the tried and tested Shankar-Jaikishen, who had composed music for most of his films. However, after hearing R. D. Burman's music, he had no problems. The songs "O haseena" and "Aaja aaja" belonged to a genre that Indian music lovers were unaware of. Mohammed Rafi sang all six songs, four of them were duets with Asha Bhosle. Nasir Hussain went on to sign R D Burman and lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri for six of his films including Baharon Ke Sapne(1967), Pyar Ka Mausam (1969) and Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973).

In 1967, Burman composed music for the movies Chandan Ka Palna and Baharon Ke Sapne but neither film did particularly well at the box office, even though Burman's compositions such as "Chunari Sambhal Gori, Udi Chali Jay Re" became generational favorite. Meanwhile, he continued to work as his father's assistant for movies like Jewel Thief (1967) and Talash (1969).

In 1968, Burman had his second major box office hit after Teesri Manzil titled Padosan. His music for the comedy film was much appreciated.

In 1969, Waris and the musical hit Nasir Hussain's Pyar Ka Mausam (where he also acted in a supporting role) were released. ForAradhana (1969), Burman was credited as associate composer. When S. D. Burman fell ill during the recording of Aradhana's (1969) music, his son completed the music.

1970s

R D Burman was India's most popular composer in 1970s (Hindi Cinemas's superstar era), famous for his hippy tunes. He teamed up with singers Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle, Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar and others to churn up some of the biggest hits in the Filmi music history.

In 1970, R D Burman composed music for six movies, of which Kati patang (a Rajesh Khanna starrer) was a musical hit, this was the beginning of a series of films that were directed by Shakti Samanta in the 70s. Kati Patang songs like 'Yeh Shaam Mastani' and 'Yeh Jo Mohabbat Hai' became chartbusters. He also worked in Bhoot Bangla & Pyar ka Mausam

Eleven more movies with R D Burman as music director were released in 1971. Of these, Amar prem, Buddha Mil gaya, Caravan, andHare Rama Hare Krishna were musical hits. Amar prem is noted for intricate songs based on Indian classical music such as Raina beeti jaaye (sung by Lata Mangeshkar) was also in this film. The Kishore Kumar sung songs (Chingari Koi Bhadke, Yeh Kya Hua and Kuch To Log Kahenge) in the film were also very successful. The film also established Anand Bakshi to be a lyricist of great repute and he went on to work for a large number of films with Burman. Buddha mil gaya had simple, peppy numbers like Raat kali ek khwab mein aayee and Bhali bhali si ek soorat. It also had a classical song Aayo kahan se Ghanshyam?. Caravan had the best Bollywoodcabaret ever - Piya tu ab to aaja, picturized on Helen and sung by Asha Bhosle and R D Burman ("Monica! O my darling"). He also received his first Filmfare Best Music nomination for "Caravan." The title song of Hare Krishna Hare Rama sung by Asha became the hip-hop anthem for the youngsters. The song is used in Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories soundtrack, titled Dum Maro Dum for Radio Del Mundo in 2006. Over the years the song has been given cult status. Other songs like Phoolon ka taaron ka and Kaanchi rewere also popular. Paraya Dhan also featured some memorable songs like 'Tera Mera Juda Hona' and 'Haye Mera Dil.' 'Koi Maane Ya Naa Maane' from Adhikar is also notable.

In 1972, R D Burman composed music for nineteen films. Seeta aur Geeta, Rampur ka Lakshman, Mere jeevan saathi, Bombay to Goa, Apna Desh and Parichay were musically successful. The high-pitched Asha-R D Burman duet Duniya mein logon ko from Apna desh became popular. Songs like Beeti na beetayi raina and Musafir Hoon Yaron from Parichay marked the beginning of a fruitful association between R D Burman and lyricist Gulzar which would go on till the late eighties. Rajesh Khanna's Mere jeevan sathi had beautiful evergreen Kishore Kumar numbers like O Mere Dil Ke Chain. Also released in 1972 Jawaani diwaani was a hit. Songs likeAbhi nahi, Jaan-e-jaan dhoondhta phir raha and the title track were all chart-busters that year. Bombay to Goa, a comedy had hilarious songs like 'Dekha Naa Haye Re.' Seeta aur Geeta was the first film where Ramesh Sippy worked with Burman. Subsequently all his films till the end of the 80s would have Burman's music.

1973 saw fourteen more R D Burman soundtracks, of which the most successful ones were Nasir Hussain's Yaadon Ki Baraat,Shareef badmash, Heera panna and Anamika, whose 'Bahon Mein Chali Aa' and Meri Bheegi Bheegi' became popular. Yaadon Ki Baaraat was a musical with numbers such as 'Chura Liya Hai', 'Yaadon Ki Baarat', 'Lekar Hum Diwana Dil', 'Meri Soni Tamanna.'

In 1974, sixteen movies with R D Burman music were released. Aap ki kasam and Ajanabee were major hits.

In 1975, there were nine movies with R D Burman soundtracks including the superhit Sholay, Deewaar ,Aandhi, Khushboo andDharam karam. In Sholay, he sang Mehbooba mehbooba, picturised on Helen and Jalal Agha and for which he received his sole Filmfare nomination for playback singing. Aandhi had classic Gulzar songs sung by Kishore-Lata - Is mod se jaate hain, tum aa gaye ho, Tere bina zindagi se koi and others. Khushboo was another R D Burman-Gulzar masterpiece with songs like O manjhi re.

He did a song for a small documentary film called Maa Ki Pukaar, in 1975.

R D Burman also completed the music of Mili (1975) after his father went into coma and died. In 1976, there were 8 movies with R D Burman as music director, of which Mehabooba (1976) was a classic musical film based on reincarnation, where Rajesh Khanna played double role as Singer (Classical and Modern) with a very sophisticated way. Nine more movies were released in 1977. Naam gum jaayega (Kinara, 1977) is another of R D Burman-Gulzar gems, but it was "Kya Hua Tera Wada"(Nasir Hussain's Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin, 1977) rendered fascinatingly by Mohd. Rafi that became one of the most popular songs ever. Although, Kishore Kumar still continued to be the dominant male playback singer for R.D. Burman's songs, the success of "Kya Hua Tera Wada" enabled Burman to use Rafi more frequently.

In 1978, nine more R D Burman releases, including Shalimar and Kasme vaade. Shalimar included hits like Hum bewafa hargiz na the(Kishore Kumar) and the title track (Asha Bhosle). The title track, Mile jo kadi kadi and Aati rahengi baharein of Kasme Vaade were very popular. The title track and Raju chal Raju of Dharmendra-starrer Azaad were also moderately popular. Ghar was a huge hit for R.D. Burman-Gulzar duo with songs like Tere bina jiya jaaye na, Aaj Kal paon zameen par, Phir Wohi Raat hai.

1979 was a relatively full year for R D Burman, although he composed music for ten films. His biggest hit was Golmaal. The most popular songs were Aanewala pal (Kishore Kumar) and the title track (Golmaal hai bhai sab golmaal hai) sung by R D Burman and his assistant Sapan Chakraborty. Few other R D Burman hit songs in 1979 were Jeevan ke har mod pe (Jhoota kahin ka), Rim jhim gire saawan (Manzil), Saawan ke jhoole pade (Jurmana) and Do lafzon ki hai dil ki kahani (The great gambler, sung by Asha Bhosle and actor Sharad Kumar).

1980s

In 1980, there were ten releases. The song "Humein Tumse Pyar Kitna" was recorded twice with a male singer (Kishore Kumar) and a female singer (Parveen Sultana), who received the Filmfare Best Female Playback Award. R D Burman orchastrated for songs likeThe burning train and Shaan. The burning train included Sahir Ludhianvi qawwali sung by Asha Bhosle and Mohammed Rafi - Pal do pal ka saath hamara. The film is also noted for Teri hai zameen, sung by Sushma Shrestha and Padmini Kolhapure as child-singers.Shaan had songs like Pyar karne wale pyar karte hain shaan se (Asha Bhosle), Doston se pyaar kiya (Usha Uthup) and Yamma yamma (duet sung by Rafi and R D Burman). R D Burman also composed for Alibaba aur 40 chor (Приключения Али-Бабы и сорока разбойников in Russian), an Indo-Russian collaboration. Actor Rekha made her singing debut under R D Burman with the songKaayada kaayada in Khubsoorat (1980). The lyrics were penned by Gulzar. Other songs included Sun sun didi tere liye (Asha Bhosle) and Piya bavari (Asha and Ashok Kumar). The score is noted for Rafi-song Maine poocha chaand se, in which R D Burman modernised his father Sachin Dev Burman's tune.

The years 1981 saw R D Burman composing for fifteen films. He created two soundtracks with lyricist Gulshan Bawra and Universal Music India (then called Music India) - Satte pe satta and Yeh vaada raha. Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Satte pe satta was a story of 7 brothers and their 7 brides. The songs picturized on the seven brothers were sung by R D Burman, his assistants Basu and Sapan Chakravorty, lyricist Gulshan Bawra, Bhupendra, Anand Kumar C and Kishore Kumar. The songs for the ladies were sung by Asha Bhosle, Annette and Dilraj Kaur. The songs include Dukki pe dukki ho, Pyar hamein kis mod pe, Dilbar mere and Zindagi milke bitaayenge. R D Burman's song in 1981 was Sanam teri kasam. The soundtrack included Kitne bhi tu kar le sitam, Jaan-e-jaan andDekhta hoon koi ladki haseen among other songs. He received his first Filmfare Award for Best Music for this film, after being nominated for 12 years. received In 1981, R D Burman also composed music for Rocky (Sanjay Dutt's debut movie) and Love story(debut film of Sanjay Dutt's brother-in-law, Kumar Gaurav).

Fourteen more R D Burman soundtracks were released in 1982. The team of Nasir Hussain, R D Burman and Majrooh Sultanpuri (which had started with Teesri Manzil (1966)) presented Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai in 1982. Rafi would be heard in a Nasir Hussain-R.D. Burman-Majrooh Sultanpuri collaboration. Ashok Kumar's last song Chalo haseen geet (Shaukeen, 1982) was composed by R D Burman. Angoor (1982) is noted for R D Burman's spoof on the O. P. Nayyar song Preetam aan milo, sung by Sapan Chakravorty. In 1983, there were fifteen R D Burman soundtracks, including Masoom and Agar Tum Na Hote. He also received his second consecutive Filmfare Award for Best Music for "Masoom."

In 1984, fourteen R D Burman soundtracks were released. This year, Gulshan Kumar's T-Series made its entry into the arena of original film soundtracks. The company's first major music rights acquisition were for Pramod Chakravorty’s bi-lingual Jagir(Hindi)/Teen Murti(Bengali). The film's music was composed by R D Burman. Kumar Sanu was given his first break by R D Burman in Yeh desh (1984) as voice of Kamal Haasan. Abhijeet was given his major break by R D Burman in Anand aur Anand(1984). Although he made his debut a long time ago, Hariharan was first noticed in a duet with Kavita Krishnamurthy, Hai mubarak aaj ka din (Boxer, 1984), which was composed by R D Burman.

In 1985, Mohammed Aziz, a Rafi clone of 1980s, made his debut with Shiva Ka Insaaf (1985) under R D Burman. Hussain defended Burman to the press: "I disagree that RD gave weak music in (Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai (1982) and Manzil Manzil (1984)). He was passing through a lean phase during Zabardast." Hussain stopped directing films and handed the reins over to his son Mansoor Khan, who hired other music directors. Hussain put a positive spin on it at the time by saying, "We did not ‘drop’ Pancham – Mansoor felt that he could not possibly tell Pancham Uncle to change his style for him. Pancham will come back the day I direct again, which I plan to do soon." The partnership between Hussain and Burman which had started nearly twenty years ago with Teesri Manzil (1966) ended.

After 1986, he started getting less work. The year 1987 saw only 5 releases including Ijaazat. Ijaazat included songs like Choti si kahani se, Khaali haath shaam aayi hi, Katra katra and Mera kuch samaan (which won Asha Bhosle the National Award as Best Singer).

Noted lyricist, Gulzar, R.D. Burman and Asha Bhosle, came together in 1987, to create a double album, titled, Dil Padosi Hai, which was released on 8 September 1987, Asha Bhosle's birthday. R D Burman also produced private albums, including one based on the samba, and also collaborated with Boy George. He has also composed music for an album called Pantera produced by Pete Gavankar in 1987 whose lyrics were written by Jose Flores.

1988 saw some four more R D Burman soundtracks of which Libaas had songs, but the producer refused to release the film. R D Burman gave music for 6 more movies in 1989, including Parinda and Joshilaay.

1990s

R D Burman's last years were not very pleasant. The few films he composed music for flopped at the box office. Subhash Ghaipromised him Ram Lakhan but gave it instead to Laxmikant-Pyarelal. This greatly upset Pancham. He suffered from a heart attack in 1988 and underwent heart surgery. During this period, he composed many tunes, which were never released.

R D Burman gave music for few mediocre movies in 1990 (two), 1991 (three) and 1992 (six). In 1994, there were four more releases, of which 1942: A Love Story (released after his death) has an unforgettable score. The film won him the third and last of his Filmfare Awards. The music of Janam Se Pehle (1994) was also composed by R D Burman. Thenmavin Kombath, a Malayalam film byPriyadarshan was the last film he signed, but he died before he could score for the film.

Legacy

After his death, in the mid 1990s, the remix versions of R D Burman's hits ruled the Indian music scene. Even today, most of the Indian remix songs are his tunes remixed.

Gang (2000) was released long after R D Burman's death. He was also credited for music of few more films after his death. For example, Monsoon Wedding (credit for Chura liya hai) and Dil Vil Pyaar Vyaar (2002), which had R D Burman songs "recreated" by one of his assistants Babloo Chakravorty.

Jhankaar Beats (2003 movie)starring Sanjay Suri, Rahul Bose, Juhi Chawla & Rinke Khanna was sort of a tribute to RDB, wherein Suri & Bose play musicians who revere RDB & his music & whose music is influenced by Burman. There was a remixed version of Burmans popular Kishore Kumar number "Humein tumse pyaar kitna" which was integral to the film. Both the films, Dil Vil Pyaar Vyaarand Jhankaar Beats paid tribute to R.D. Burman, and his music."Jhankaar Beats" features one of his famous tunes from the movie, Kudrat while paying tribute to him.

In, 1995, Filmfare Awards, constituted a new award in the memory of R D Burman, Filmfare RD Burman Award for New Music Talent, given each year, to new music directors and singers in Hindi cinema. Before that an Indian Television proramme Superhit Muqabala's SUMU Award for R D Burman also started. Though that Award was not continued in later years as producers of the programme had some problems. The Filmfare RD Burman Award for New Music Talent is awarded to upcoming music talents.

In 2008 on 26 April 113 Minute documentary film, titled 'Pancham Unmixed - Mujhe Chalte Jana Hai', was premiered at IIFLA (ArcLight Hollywood), in Los Angeles. The film takes an incisive look into the Pancham’s reflective artistry and buoyant-but-also-lonely inner being. Featuring a host of close friends, colleagues and admirers, the film attempts to evoke awe, admiration and nostalgia the way most of his music does, till date.

Personal life

Pancham married Rita Patel in 1966, but they were divorced in 1971. He then married Asha Bhonsle in 1980. Together, they recorded many memorable tunes and also staged many live performances. After his father died in 1975, he took care of his mother. After Pancham's death, his mother eventually ended up in an old-age home but returned to her late son's house to die on 15 October 2007.

Burman had financial difficulties, particularly later in his life. There have been wide discussions about the disconnect between the success of his music and his financial success.

Music style

Pancham was comfortable with all types of music, be it the romantic Raat kali from Buddha Mil Gaya (1971), the sexy cabaret Piya tu ab toh aaja from Caravan (1971), the ultimate hippie anthem Dum Maro Dum from Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1972) or the classicalRaina beeti jaaye. It is said that Dev Anand did not include the complete version of Dum Maro Dum in Hare Rama Hare Krishna, as he was worried the song would overshadow the film. At times, RD doubled up as a singer too. His most famous song as a singer was Mehbooba from Sholay. This song is inspired from the traditional Cypriot song "Ta Rialia".

Pancham was a very creative person. His percussion included a spoon against a glass (Chura liya hai from Yaadon Ki Baaraat").Pancham has also directed music for some regional films, including Bangla, Oriya, Tamil, Telugu and Marathi. He also acted in one of the Bengali film named Gayak (starring Amit Kumar and Debasri Roy), where RD plays himself and 'discovers' Amit singing on a beach. Pancham's non-filmi music comprises few albums, including Pantera - the international album for which he shares credit with Latin American composer Jose Flores. In the only experiment of its kind he recorded the light version of Hume tumse pyar kitna in the voice of playback singer Kishore Kumar while the classical version in the voice of Parveen Sultana. He recorded a variety of songs rendered by Kishore Kumar notably the classical song Mere naina sawan bhado, the sad song Chingari koi bhadake, the philosophical song Aanewala pal, the pino song Pyar diwana hota hai, the romantic song O mere dil ke chain, the hummable wonderRaat kali, the separation song Zindagi ke safar me, the rainy song Rimjhim gire saawan. He recorded Tum bin jaun kahan in the voices of Kishore Kumar and Mohd. Rafi separately.

Notable musical assistants to Burman include Manohari Singh and Sapan Chakraborty.

Inspirations

He also used some of the popular western songs to compose his own tunes. One of his hit songs Mehbooba Mehbooba is inspired from the song "Say You Love Me", traditional Cyprus song, arranged and sung by Demis Roussos. His songs were also inspired from musical styles of ABBA,the popular Swedish Band