RMIM Archive Article "4".

From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian
#
# RMIM Archives...
# Subject:  A Most Versatile Music Director - An Obituary
#
# Posted by: Prince Kohli (pkohli@cc.gatech.edu)
# Source:   The Times of India, Delhi edition.
# Author:   Meera Joshi
#

 
==

        A Most Versatile Music Director - An Obituary


The versatile music director, Rahul Dev Burman, 54, who died this
morning  following  a  heart  attack at his Maryland apartment at
Santa Cruz, was one of the giants of Indian film music.

Born on July 27, 1939, "RD" was the  only  child  of  the  famous
singer-music  director,  Sachin  Dev Burman. He was brought up in
Calcutta. Popularly known as Pancham (the nickname given  to  him
by  Ashok  Kumar  when he found him only singing pa...pa..pa from
the "sargam") he scored music for more than 350 films.

After coming to Bombay on completing his matriculation, RD learnt
the  sarod  under  Ustad Ali Akbar Khan And later Ashish Khan. He
began to assist his father in music-direction. The first film  he
signed as an independent music director was "Bhoot Bangla" though
his first release was "Chhote Nawab" for the same  producer.  His
rise  to fame was slow but steady. And in the early seventies, he
had few competitors.

Dev Anand ("Hare Rama Hare Krishna," "Heera Panna"),  Shakti  Sa-
manta ("Amar Prem," "Kati Patang"), Ramesh Sippy ("Sholay," "See-
ta aur Geeta"), Ramesh Behl  ("Jawaani  Diwaani"),  Vinod  Chopra
("Parinda,"  "1942  - A Love Story"), Nazir Hussain ("Teesri Man-
zil," "Caravan," "Hum kisi se  kam  nahin,"  "Zamane  ko  dikhana
hai")  and  Gulzar  ("Parichay," "Ijaazat," "Kinara," "Khushboo,"
"Aandhi") were staunch RD loyalists.

While "Ijaazat"  won  him  the  National  Award,  RD  bagged  two
filmfare  awards  for  "Sanam Teri Kasam" in 1982 and "Masoom" in
9183. The MP govt. conferred on him with the Lata Mageshkar award
for 1992-1993 for his "outstanding achievements and long-time de-
votion to music." The award carries a cash-prize of  Rs.  1  lakh
and a citation.

Among his most notable films were "Apna Desh,"  "Aap  ki  kasam,"
"Agar  tum  na  hote,"  "Betaab" and "Love story." While "Drohi,"
"Muskurahat" and ""Gurudev" were some  of  his  recent  releases,
those  still  to  hit  the  big screen include "Ajay," "Ghaatak,"
"Love and War" And "1942 - A love story."

FUSION OF MUSIC: Panchamda was among the first to about  the  fu-
sion of western rock and jazz with Indian classical music. Though
he was often criticized for "borrowing" tunes and not being  ori-
ginal,  he  found nothing wrong with his style of working. He ad-
mitted to taking off from his father's tunes or others  that  in-
spired him. And when younger composers followed in his footsteps,
he took it as a compliment.

His last years were not too happy. When "Sagar" failed at the box
office,  he  found himself being sidelined. The only two to stand
by him were Dev Anand and Rajesh Khanna. He was shattered when he
lost "Ram Lakhan," which Shubash Ghai had promised him, to Laxmi-
kant Pyarelal, the duo who had played in his orchestra.

Following a heart attack in 1988, he underwent a  bypass  surgery
abroad  the next year. While recuperating he is said to have com-
posed over 2,000 tunes which he kept in his memory bank. He often
said  that  his  best tunes came to him in his dreams and that he
had to be in happy frame of mind even while composing sad  tunes.
"When I am down, I end up making a mess of things," he is report-
ed to have said.

The music-maestro also composed non-film music. His two most not-
able  attempts  in  this field were the international album "Pan-
tera" which he brought out in collaboration with the Latin Ameri-
can  composer,  Jose  Flores,  and  "Dil Padosi hai" sung by Asha
Bhonsle with lyrics by Gulzar.

Rahul Dev married Rita in 1960 but they were divorced in 1974. He
then  married Asha Bhonsle for whom he had composed many a memor-
able song in 1980.  Indeed, the RD-Asha duo  delighted  audiences
the world over with their "live" performances, with RD's showman-
ship and Asha's natural exuberance making them the perfect  pair.
It  was  only  fitting that Asha was there at his bedside when RD
breathed his last.

                -By Meera Joshi, Times of India, Delhi edition.
==



From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian