For the last quarter of a century, every discussion about R.D. Burman, has unfailingly veered towards how difficult his last days were and how his fair-weather companions had deserted him during the sedate days of his career.
This fact is not untrue.
However, it is time to purge these gloomy (and often, indignant) sentiments and celebrate the work of this amazing composer. A composer who had carved a unique niche for himself, outside his illustrious father's formidable shadow.
One also needs to bear in mind that he had the privilege of witnessing (& later assisting) his father inside the recording rooms, as a mere teenager (since the mid 1950-s).
This was a privileged circumstance.
To be able to get a ringside view of the making of a song, right from the ideation till the finished product, gave him an exposure that he leveraged capably during his composing days.
Also, his father's locus standi in the world of music, enabled him to interact with and learn from classical legends like Ustad Ali Akbar Khan & Pandit Samta Prasad. It also accorded him extra respect during his tenure as his father's musical assistant (something which a normal music-assistant may not have garnered).
All these factors must have been instrumental in his getting a break as an independant composer, in his early 20-s. (For the record, his father began his career in Bombay at the age of 40).
R.D. Burman, as Burman-da ka beta, obtained comprehensive musical exposure... and did he deserve it! With his incandescent talent, he left a mark that impressed some of the very best in the trade.
Here is what the revered composer, Anil Biswas, had to say about R D Burman (an excerpt from an interview on A.I.R. Vividh Bharati.)
Please listen from the 5:05 mark
Even a genius from Salzburg was buried in a pauper's grave in Vienna, in the 18th century, at the tender age of thirty six... unsung and unrecognised.
In the 70-s & 80-s, R.D. Burman was quite the monarch of almost everything he surveyed. Often, during that era, the font-size of his name on movie-posters were as prominent as those of the lead actors. Surely a barometer of significant success.
It is said that imitation is the best form of flattery. Here is a song, composed by the composer's associate, Sapan Chakrabarty, in 1973... the epicentre-year of the halcyon tenure of R.D. Burman.
It has the unmistakable touch of R D Burman's trademark style... including the tonic shift of the mukhda to craft the antara.
To cap it all, the opening line of the song mentions the composer's name. 😊
We need to remember R D Burman on his anniversaries with vibrancy... sans any gloomy thoughts.
After all, his music was vibrant... and uplifting.
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Another erudite article on the genius composer whose work is like a master class for Every music lover. You have put many points in perfect perspectives. Thanks for sharing your views.
ReplyDeleteWe believed that with the passing of Dada-Burman and Madan Mohan in the early and mid seventies, the curtain would finally come down on the world of music that we had come to love, admire and probably lived for.
ReplyDeleteBut there was one torch that was still burning bright although it would take the likes of me a long while to absorb and bask in its fervor.
True, oftentimes the melody Rahul Dev Burman created lay concealed within the raucous (to our ears!) orchestration he sometimes used (Caravan, Yaadon Ki Baraat). It took an unguarded moment during a listen that brought it to the fore and after that it never left you!
Yes, Anil-da made a defining statement when he said what he did and over the decades Pancham has made a niche in my subconscious.
There will never be, in our lifetimes at least, another Anil Biswas or Sachin Dev Burman…but hey, the scion wasn’t that bad!
Archie
ReplyDeleteYou have an inimitable flair for the pen.... makes even the smallest detail very interesting (eg..tonic shift from the mukhda to antra!)
Keep writing as I am gonna keep waiting!
Lovely post..Always like what you write..the style and the flow. Waiting for more
ReplyDelete