Pancham and Us - Part 1: Guest post by Ravi Natarajan

Some posts provoke lot of comments and some pass by without any comment. In case of R D Burman, I was sure lot of people would have lot to say, given that his music has impacted so many. My good friend Ravi Natarajan, mailed me asking if there was any limit on number of words that he could write in the comment section. When I replied that I didn't mind any length in the comment section, he came back by saying, "Why not I do a guest post on RDB". I was overjoyed and immediately took the offer.

Ravi is a technologist based in Canada. He has a wonderful blog on Illayaraja wherein he discusses the intricacies of Raja's music. This is a well liked blog and is often referred to by all Illayaraja fans. Check out his Raja, The Genius blog . (You can see it in my blog roll as well.)  Additionally Ravi, who is very influenced by writer Sujatha, writes about Technology in Solvanam. He also writes about India and Development Issues in Thinnai. Here is an article he wrote for Thinnai about 'The 50 ft Divide' (In Tamil) and here is an article about 'Scientific Computing'  written for Solvanam. (In Tamil)

My sincere thanks to Ravi for doing this guest post. He has promised me that couple more posts will follow. Eagerly looking forward to them as well. I now hand over this page to Ravi.

I could not use the topic ‘Rahul and I’ as Asha Bhonsle has already taken that topic and I have no intention of competing with such a legend even for a topic. I thought of using ‘Pancham undiscovered’ and they have released a CD of RD Burman’s background score in that name. Damn! I put these two together to get to our topic. My friend CSR has been pushing me to write about Pancham’s music for a while and I was not sure about the response. If this post gets received well, I can try my hand with ‘Raja and Rahul’ some day! Thanks to Suresh for this opportunity or else I may be testing the length limit of the ‘comment’ feature in blogger!

While I heard a number of music composers in my childhood, it was mostly their ‘songs’. I never bothered to figure out the composer nor the techniques they were employing. My first composer has always been RD Burman – and first impressions last. There are two childhood predictions that I made musically that turned out to be true and I am very proud of both. When I first heard SPB in the 60s, I was able to predict the voice of the next fifty years.  When I started listening to RD, it was his strange unconventional sounds from the conga drum that attracted me. Just that sound revealed the new chapter in film music. Following the conga sounds of RD, I started familiarizing myself with his special tabla and the guitar.  Soon, I could tell a RD song from Laxmi Pyare, Kalyanji and so on.  The prediction I made on RD was not entirely true. I predicted that he would be the star composer till his death. He did die as a star composer, but had a decade of lull before that.

Firstly, RD is confused with his dad SD (Sachin) by a number of South Indians. Aradhana, Mili and Abhiman were SD’s compositions. I started appreciating SD only after hearing RD’s songs – too bad! Mili was SD’s last film. I started appreciating RD’s music before I learnt a word of Hindi. It is ironical that today I know the language very well and the current crop of composers in Bollywood do not impress me anymore! In this post, we will cover RD at the 30,000 foot level. We will cover his various faculties, orchestration, classical grounding, folk, melody compositions and also his modernization of Hindi film music in the 70s and early 80s. These are in no particular order. We will use youtube videos to illustrate.

Let’s start with his first film – Chote Nawab in 1961. What a title! Dad was the music king already. Pancham’s score with Lata was in his dad’s style but a fantastic tune, ‘Ghar Aaja Ghir Aaye Badra’ : 

Listening to this track, you can tell the arrival of a new era. Lataji recollects in her memoirs about this track very dearly.  Magnificent composition for a Bengali lad in the Hindi world!

Let’s take a classical trip of RD Burman’s work. He has been criticized for improper use of Ragas by experts and also complimented for some fantastic work too.  Most North Indian musicians got off base when they could not deal with RD’s guitar chords in his classical compositions. Let’s first start with his Kedar composition ‘Yun Neendh Ne Jaane Chaman’ from Dard Ka Rishta (1982) where Sunil Dutt plays the cardiologist. Kishore is pitch perfect:

Set to Malkauns, here is a great composition from Namkeen sung by Kishoreda. The unmistakable RD congo  is all over the place. Great string and guitar work:

One of the best haunting melodies in Hindi cinema, Mere Naina from Mehbooba (1976) is set to Sivaranjani.

Let’s get a bit more classical, pure Bhairav – Meete Bhole Bhole from Kinara (1977), sang by Bhupinder (his guitarist). I could not source the youtube video for this track. Brilliant composition that will make any classical musician sit up.

When I speak about RD with fans of other MDs, they get confused as though I am too unsure about who is the best. As I tend to enjoy any good music, I always think of the famous RD composition in Khamaj, Kuch to Log Kahenge, Logon ka kaam hai kehna from Amar Prem (1973)…Kishoreda at his best.

Next, another classical sample, this time with Pahadi, from the film Aap ki Kasam (1974), a brilliant melody – Karvatein Badalte …Lata and Kishore at their best.

Another immortal melody of Pancham from Amar Prem (1973), Raina Beeti Jaaye sang brilliantly by Lataji, is set to Gurjari Todi raga,

Pancham enjoyed a great rapport with Gulzar similar to MSV and Kannadasan. Pancham, Ashaji and Gulzar got off the film format compulsions and did a great album called ‘Dil Padosi Hain’. The first track of this album – Bheeni Bheeni Bhor is set to Todi and sang fantastically by Ashaji:

In his last film, 1942, a love story (1991), Pancham did a great Desh composition, Pyar Hua Chupke Se sang by Kavita..

In the early 80s, when I moved to North India, RD was very handy for me. I would introduce ‘Rasati Unnai Kanatha Nenju’ to my North Indian friends after breaking the ice with a typical RD melody such as ‘Phir Wohi Raat Hai’. Let’s get off the classical track and get to some serious melody of RD. It is so hard to list them all. Here are my top 10 Lata picks for RD.

Naa Jaa O Meri Ham Dum from Pyar Ka Mausam (1960s). You can see the use of bongos in this track extensively. The arrangement of this song is very different from his later 70s style.

Aaj Kal Paaon Zammen Par from Ghar…

The violins and the guitar in this song is way ahead of its time. Great lyrics by Gulzar. Aaina Wahi Rehta Hai from Shalimar…

Great use of the tabla – typical RD style. Ae Ri Pawan from Bhemisal (1982). Watch the tabla and the congo in tandem. Lata delivers her magic…

Bahon Mein Chali from Ananmika (1973) with Jaya. The congo in this track is a RD signature.

Naa Koi Umang Hai from Kati Patang (1972). This song was such a stealer that it broke all language barriers. I particularly like the  use of flute in this song to bring out the pathos…

Do Nainon Mein from Khusboo (1975).

The first clip has the song in the album with the signature RD tabla. The second clip is from the film. If any of the competition kids can sing the second track as is, they can be the next Shreya Goshal!

Jaane Kya Baat Hai from Sunny (1984). This has all the attractive melody elements of his 1970s work. For some reason, he fell off the popular taste at this time…

Tere Bina Jiye Jaye Naa from Ghar. I particularly like the guitar strum that is used throughout this track with the tabla and the bass guitar. Very ahead of its time.

Lastly, Ab Ke Naa Sawan Barse by Gulzar for Kinara.  Well written, composed and sung.

There is so much to write about RD Burman. Perhaps in the next part, we can cover Kishore, Asha and some duets.