Melody in the movies: 1972 (continued)

Rajiv Vijaykar (Screen)

Do Chor finds L-P lover Raj Khosla opting for RD in his thriller with winning results in all its four songs - 'Yaari ho gayi yaar se...', 'Meri jaan, meri jaan, kehna maano...', 'Chahe raho door...' and 'Kaali palak teri gori...'.

Finally the biggies that made RD the icon of the early '70s in a single year are, again in ascending order, Raampur Ka Lakshman, Parichay, Mere Jeevan Saathi, Jawani Diwani, Amar Prem and Hare Rama Hare Krishna. Raampur Ka Lakshman is a hit-fest with the title-track, 'Gum hai kisike pyar mein...', 'Pyar ka samay kam ho jahaan...', 'Albela re...', 'Sanwala rang hai mera...' and the unusually structured devotional song, 'Kaahe apno ke kaam nahin aaye tu...'.

Parichay marks the beginning of the long RD-Gulzar association, and if Kishore's 'Musafir hoon yaaro...' and Kishore-Asha's 'Saare ke saare gama ko lekar...' have mass appeal, two other songs reaffirm RD's ability at the raag-suffused numbers, Lata-Bhupendra's 'Beete na beetayi raina...' and Bhupendra's 'Mitwaa bol meethe bain....' Bhupendra's peak phase as playback singer begins.

Mere Jeevan Saathi crashes at the b-o. as one of Rajesh Khanna's many flops that year, but the songs reach dizzy heights of popular acclaim. 'Chalaa jaata hoon kisiki dhun mein...', 'Deewana leke aaya hai...', 'Ho kitne sapne...' (all by Kishore) and Asha's sizzling 'E aao na...' all set the charts aflutter. But the 24-carat diamond here is undoubtedly the timeless Kishore number 'O mere dil ke chain...'.

Jawani Diwani is RD's biggest gift to mentor Ramesh Behl, who gave Pancham his breakthrough with The Train two years prior. The brilliant musical unleashes a score that the youth instantly identify with, and will do so for generations, with 'Nahin nahin abhi nahin...', 'Saamne yeh kaun aaya...' and above all'Jaan-e-jaan dhoondta phir rahaa...' topping the list. The title-song as well as 'Agar saaz chheda...' and 'Meri nazar ne yeh dil...' are all very popular at the time too.

Amar Prem is the second of these three humdingers that make Anand Bakshi form a mighty alliance with RD even as he continues his winning spree with LP and Pancham's father S.D. Burman. Easily the classiest among RD's work this year, it boasts of timeless treasures like 'Raina beeti jaaye...', 'Kuch to log kahenge...', 'Yeh kya hua...' and 'Chingari koi bhadke...' besides the unsung delight 'Badaa natkhat hai...'.

Finally, Hare Rama Hare Krishna - the film that will bring in the revolutionary Zeenat Aman into focus, thanks largely to the punch of Pancham's tour de force with Asha and Anand Bakshi, 'Dum maro dum...'. Arguably RD's career-greatest hit song, it completely dwarfs the film's other brilliant numbers like 'Phoolon ka taaron ka...' (in two versions), 'Kaanchi re kaanchi re...', 'Ho re ghunghroo kaa bole...', 'Dekho o diwano...' and Usha Uthup's first film hit 'I love you...' (with Asha) despite the tremendous popularity they enjoy.

Melody in the movies: 1972

Rajiv Vijaykar (Screen)

S.D. Burman composes and sings the single number 'Doli mein bithaike kahaar...' in Amar Prem, where the rest of the songs and the background score are done by son R.D.Burman.

Two of Dada Burman's scores, Anuraag and Yeh Gulistan Hamara hit the market, but the films will be released, and hence discussed here, in 1973. Son Rahul Dev Burman is now at his commercial and creative peak and has a bountiful year despite a few turnips like Savera, Sanjog and Rakhi Aur Hathkadi, the last noted only for Kishore-Asha's 'Acchi nahin sanam dillagi....' Gomti Ke Kinare is noted for the foot-tapping Kishore-Asha duet, 'Aao aao jaan-e-jahaan...', while Lata-Kishore's 'Jeene ka din marne ka mausam...' enjoys a short spell of popularity. Shehzada has a moderately popular score with songs like 'Rimjhim rimjhim dekho...', 'Thokar mein hai meri saara zamana...', 'Chhodo kalai...' and Rafi's 'Ho tere attharoo...' (Rafi now has now begun to make only rare forays into Pancham's music rooms).

Going in ascending order of RD's excellence and success, we next have Bombay To Goa, Seeta Aur Geeta, Apna Desh, Samadhi, Do Chor and Parichay. Bombay To Goa has the first two popular hits ever filmed on Amitabh Bachchan - 'Dekha na haaye re socha na...' and 'Dil tera hai main bhi teri hoon sanam....' The title-song sung and enacted by Kishore Kumar does not really make waves, but 'Tum meri zindagi mein...' (a Kishore-Lata duet found in the album but not in the film) is loved by connoisseurs. Seeta Aur Geeta has the chart-busting 'Hawa ke saath saath...' and 'Koi ladki mujhe kal raat sapne mein mili...', and gets the distinction of having two drunken songs in a comic subject - 'Haan jee haan, maine sharaab pee hai...'and 'Abhi to haath mein jaam hai...'.

Apna Desh finds RD-Asha doing an encore over the 1971 'Monica O my darling...' with 'Duniya mein logon ka...', while 'Sun champa sun taara...', 'Le lo re le lo babu...', 'Rona kabhi nahin rona...' and 'Kajraa lagaake...' also enjoy varying popularity.

In Samadhi, Lata's 'Bangle ke peeche...' (now reborn in remixed form as the charts-, video- and controversy-topping 'Kaanta lagaa...') earns only lukewarm popularity in the face of hit numbers like 'Jaan-e-jaana jaao kal phir aana...', 'Maine dekha ek sapna...' and even Asha's 'Jab tak rahe tan mein jeeya...'

Will someone please help Tony Vaz?
Vidyottama Sharma (Times of India)

"MUMBAI: The wooden stairs of Asgar Manzal in the crowded Chandanwadi area of Mumbai lead to a dingy and stinking room on the fourth floor. Lying on a cotton mattress covered with a dirty sheet is a frail man with bony limbs. This man who, today has only a television and an almirah among his prized possessions in a room that has a few dirty clothes and a stink to call its own, also has a cherished past he can boast of. The man is Tony Vaz, the reputed bass guitarist, late music director R D Burman was so fond of. "

Honor and support Tony Vaz

CMHB/Shubhkaamna: Payment and purchase information

Special release of Chala Murari Hero Banne/Shubh Kaamna

Universal is releasing only limited copies of this rare album (CD version only) in response to the requests of Pancham fans... {read more}

CMHB/Shubhkamna: US Distribution Update (Post by Prakash Jain at Pancham Yahoo Groups)

Melody in the movies: 1971

Rajiv Vijaykar (Screen)

R. D.Burman suddenly turns prolific and enters the top echelons. Many of his songs this year will be handpicked for remixes three decades later. Kati Patang is the first of his four major hits. The Kishore Kumar triumvirate 'Yeh shaam mastani...','Pyar diwana hota hai...' and 'Yeh jo mohabbat hai...' Lata's 'Na koi umang hai...' Mukesh's'Jis gali mein...' as well as Asha's 'Mera naam hai Shabnam...' and Lata-Kishore's 'Haath na chhodenge...' combine for an all-hit score.

Caravan has RD going folksy except for the situational 'Monica o my darling...' sung by RD himself with Asha Bhosle. One of the career-finest scores of the composer, Caravan also boasts of exquisite yet hit songs like'Are ho goriya kahaan tera des...' 'Chadti jawani...' 'Kitna pyaara waada...' 'Dilbar dil se pyaare...' 'Daiyyan yeh main kahaan aa phansi...' 'Hum to hain rahi dil ke...' and'Ab jo mile hain to...'. Hare Rama Hare Krishna and Amar Prem are the two other major master-strokes of the genius, but these scores are released in late 1971 and will create sensations in 1972 along with the films.

Two superstars of the '70s get to enact their career-first songs under this composer. Zeenat Aman makes her debut in the song-less suspense thriller Hulchul, which has Pancham scoring the background music. But before Hare Rama Hare Krishna, the trend-setting actress does a small role in the flop comedy Hungama and gets to enact the Lata-Mukesh duet 'Suraj se jo kiran ka naata...' with Vinod Khanna. Two more songs from this film, 'Kacchi kali kachnaar ki...' and 'Wah ri qismat...' are fleetingly popular.

Pyar Ki Kahani is Amitabh Bachchan's third release, and the first one in which he gets to lip-synch songs. The Rafi numbers 'Ek pate ki baat sunaaon...' and 'Koi aur duniya mein...' mark AB's musical debut, and at that point of time, Lata-Kishore's 'Ek khabar aayi...' and Lata's 'Umar hai satra saal...' are the more popular numbers.

Buddha Mil Gaya has Pancham scoring the timeless Kishore solo 'Raat kali ek khwab mein aayi...' along with 'Oye buddho lambo lambo...' 'Bhali bhali si ek soorat...' and the classical number 'Aayo kahaan se Ghanashyam...'.

Paraya Dhan boasts of popular songs like 'Aaj unse pehli mulaqaat...' 'Aao jhoome gaayen...' and'Tu pyar tu preet...' and Adhikar is symbolic of the quick ascent of Kishore Kumar is-à-vis Rafi as the latter is relegated to being the comedian's voice in'Rekha o Rekha...' and Kishore Kumar gets the hero's number 'Koi maane ya na maane...'. Ramesh Pant, veteran scriptwriter, makes his debut as lyricist. In a single year, RD composes two songs for Pran in this film and in Lakhon Mein Ek. But it is the twin version Kishore/Lata number 'Chanda o chanda...' that achieves hit status from the latter.

These youngsters are really rocking:
Rupam Jain (Indian Express)

"In their early twenties, Udyan and Mayur’s remix of ‘Do Naina, Ek Kahani’ from the Shekhar Kapoor film Masoom is the first to be played by the BBC station.

The song was selected for the Asian music section and played for over a week.
...
Both these GLS passouts believe that folk and traditional music of Gujarat is as vibrant as Punjabi Bhangra but needs to be marketed well abroad. ‘‘While playing an original track of R D Burman, we heard people in Dubai saying that this was the grooviest track they had ever heard. But here, Indians are more fond of remixes which kill the original track but manages to hit the charts as it has been marketed well,’’ says Mayur, who feels that upcoming DJs should ‘‘focus more on creativity rather than just mixing old songs."

2003 East Coast Pancham Meet Report:
Atish's, Cherry Hill, NJ, USA on August 2nd, 2003

It was a blast.

First things first. Thanks a lot to Atish for hosting and organizing the get-together. He deserves nothing less than a salute. And if anyone deserves it more than him, it is Aparajita - his better half. Apart from the food, which was delicious to say the least, she was so transparently managing things that one would have thought that all things are in place by themselves. But we know they are not. Thanks to you both for such wonderful hospitality, Atish & Aparajita.

About the day... boy.. You can imagine what kind of fun we are talking about here when I tell you that once we started at around 2 with the "music", it was non-stop Pancham - one after another - for full 6 hours, until someone reminded that we have to get back to home too.

We (Ajit, Pankaj [Ajit's guitarist friend - an "unaware" Pancham fan] and myself) started our journey to Atish's place at about 9 in the morning from DC. And Ajit had this idea to listen to Pancham's Sangeet Yaatra during ours. There was no doubt in my mind that by the time we reach Cherry Hill, Pankaj would be a half-convert anyway. Thus we began.

Everyone was already there when we reached Atish's place. People I had met already and people who I was meeting for the first time. It was not long that this difference blurred. After exchanging pleasantries we had a brief discussion about why only popular RDB songs are played in shows/performances. Atish's suggestion was that among 10 popular ones, the performers should sneak in a couple of less popular ones to make junta aware of them. Moreover it's almost one's duty to Pancham's legacy. Everyone agreed.

We started with watching the video tape of the first meet, which Ajit brought with him. It was great to see Shashi going great guns with his pack of LP covers. In a matter of minutes, he touched a lot of things ranging from the famous 70s 'chashmaas' to the Music India's preference of a particular photo of RD. Thanks to Ajit, people like me who were not present in that meet could see the "Shashyclopedia" (to borrow from Nilangshu) in action.

Atish's second request for lunch made us stop the tape and head for the food. And with the old adage in mind - bhuukhe bhajan na hoye gopaalaa - no one seemed to delay that any longer. The food was great and congratulations and thanks are due again to Mrs. Atish (and perhaps Jayati). The lunch also gave us the opportunity to talk about things. The topics were as varied as they could have been in such a short time with such delicious food in plate. We talked about the release of rare scores, how to clean noise from vcd/dvd-ripped songs, how the group started, the sad demise of Prakash's and Somendra's songs sites and things like that. After lunch, it was time for music. And nothing but music it was then onwards.

The stage was first offered to the youngest performer - Varun (Ashok's brilliant 9 yr old son). And with a promise that next year he will prepare an RD song for the day, he was allowed :) to perform a non-RD one. And a beautiful song he chose, composed by none other than the RD-school students Jatin-Lalit. The song was 'pahalaa nashaa' and Varun played it on the keyboard with his dad accompanying him on the guitar. It was very enchanting and set the mood for the day and challenges for the senior lot :).

It was Ajit's turn first to stun everyone with his specially prepared 10 track song on the keyboard - 'kyaa yahii pyaar hai'. It was awesome, as much so that I stopped the video recording in between, which brought me some bad looks from Ajit later :). He had especially instructed me to record it for his visit to Nilangshu next month. On that note, he has a long list of things to do during that visit to Calcutta and Nil. One item in his list talked of some robbery or something. I am not mentioning anything else here since I do not want to give Nil sleepless nights until then.

Chandrakant was one of our singers for the day. He knows the lyrics of so many less popular songs of RDB by heart and that was a good thing as there were no lyrics sheets for most of them. Not that not knowing lyrics mattered much. There were always la-las and na-nas to fill in. He also surprised Jayati when he jumped in after Jayati finished 'tere binaa jiyaa jaaye na' with Kishore's antara.

Another singer of the day was Asim Da. He had a big personal file of lyrics and in his deep, resonant voice, sang many Kishore favourites to our delight.

The star of the day was clearly Jayati's singing. She started with 'kyaa yahii pyaar hai' and then went on to sing gems after gems. She has such a great voice and sang all the songs really really well. And to top it all, just when all other singers and chorus singers (defined below) were keen on singing all songs in scales much lower than their original :), she started the incredible JAM with 'monica, o my darling' and then kept on going with some exuberant, fast, high-pitch numbers one after another. Nothing short of amazing. As far as the chorus singers are concerned, they included everyone else who did not have the microphone or who were not playing anything, including people like me who also served as jaw-dropping spectators when not singing or when Jayati was singing.

And I won't even bother to talk about Atish's playing. He plays like a pro and all this while he kept everyone going along so smoothly controlling things from behind his keyboard. Especially wonderful was his presentation on how RDB used two different beats for mukha.Daas and antaraas. Ajit was accompanying him on another keyboard and Atish's friend (I am sorry I forgot the name) on guitar, playing cool like a pro. Pankaj (who by now would have gone into the Pancham-aware mode) also played guitar for some songs. Though it is hard to tell for me who was playing better :), I can certainly say that the overall sound was very good.

Somendra also joined the spectators/chorus singers' lounge late in the day, only to figure out and repent that he had missed some great singing and music. But still he managed to join us for some wonderful songs. Others in the chorus included, from time to time, Ashok, Rajendra, Chandrakant, Asim Da, Deep, Pankaj, and Ajit. It would easily be over 50-60 songs (may be many more) that we all played and sang before finally ending it with 'raah pe rahate hai.n'. It turned out to be our last song for the day and what an apt one for a farewell.

I know I have missed many things here. But that is because I don't want Shashi, George, Suparno and others feel bad for not being able to make it. I am a sensitive guy, after all.

Thanks again to everyone who was there to make it a memorable day.

Hope to meet again next year.

Naushad Remembers RD

Pancham fan Indranil Bhattacharya found an article by Naushad (the composer) about Pancham, during a train journey. The article originally appeared in the June 2003 issue of Bangla magazine Anandlok. Here's an exceprt translated by Indranil.

"In 1989 he had undergone Bypass surgery and I thought that after such a major scare he would stay clear of all such things which took him to such a state. Even he promised to me that he will not touch wine after the operation. But he did not keep his words and again hit bottle to fight loneliness during that time. A genius who ideally should have sailed in the Ocean of music and presented us with rare pearls of sur and taal instead immersed himself in the sea of wine.. ..gradually pushing himself to the doorsteps of death. What a waste of potential and talent! Why Pancham, why did u do this?

"A creative and a versatile genius who had lots of music left in him to again transform moribund music scenario of todays and I believe only he could given a new direction to hindi film music died suddenly and a flower wilted before its full blossom.

"Pancham u did not keep your words."

Check the complete post at Pancham group.

From an Interview of RDB published in Filmfare in 1984

"Somewhere along the way I developed a taste for jazz. I used to accompany friends to their sessions. The musicians just take a sign line and improvise. This brings out your creativity. If a music director doesn't know jazz, he knows nothing. That's how I feel. Spontaneous improvisation is the hallmark of a good musician."
..
What should be the equipment of a good composer? "He should be well-versed in classical music. This is an absolute must. Some knowledge of jazz and orchestration also helps. He must also have the instinct of picking up cues—say from a car horn or the ringing of a bell."

Complete article text

Sport celebrates the victory of difference

"There'll always be beauty in sport, just as even the most hideously remixed RD Burman song will always have the template of a brilliant melody. The metronomic precision of Australian cricketers can't detract from the savage beauty of Gilchrist and Hayden in full flow. But every once in a while, even as you applaud their record-breaking successes, you wish for something different. That's why we like Federer, need Ralf and yearn for Dhanraj."

'Fresh' movie of young Amitabh : scoops@glamsham.com

"Amitabh fans can now go back and see a fresh a 'new' movie with Big B and Shatrughan Sinha. Sounds weird! But the news is that 'Yaar Meri Zindagi' which was completed during the days of Kala Patthar and Dostana was somehow delayed in the cans. The movie was directed by Ashok Gupta and the music was given by Panchamda (R D Burman). Not just Amitabh and Shatrughan, one can also get to see yesteryear artists like Sudha Chandran, Aruna Irani, Padma Khanna, Sharada and Ranjeet. "

indya.com - vindia - The Chosen One: R D Burman

"Most certainly the God of music in the Indian Music industry, R D Burman. The man who added his unique dash of pep and verve in to Hindi film music starting with the 60s. The first music director who brought Rock n' Roll to Hindi tunes, creating a brand of music so distinctly his own.

Panchamda has been and will continue to be an inspiration for many a inspiring musicians. In fact there are a lot of contemporary music directors who still reflect his style. A musician who revolutionised the world of music, the only one whose music was ahead of his time, a versatile music director, he could compose any kind of song, be it classical, modern, love song and make it sound brilliant.

Channel [v] pays tribute to the maestro this July and takes its viewers down memory lane through the melodies in the life of Panchamda. So stay tuned and do not miss this magical musical journey"

Running out of RD remixes
By Narendra Kusnur (mid-day)
...
At the rate at which music companies are churning out newer and newer remixes everyday, one shudders to think about what will happen two or three years later.

By then, the full form of A&R would have changed. Instead of 'Artiste & Repertoire', it would stand for 'Adapt & Rehash'.

The two most successful A&R managers would probably be called 'Assault & Rape' maestros for their expertise at slaughtering old songs. Needless to say, this is a title they would be utterly proud of.

Keeping this in mind, let's imagine what would happen when a record label's president meets the A&R director on December 31, 2005.

The room is filled with garlanded pictures of RD Burman, and both people salute all pictures 20 times. This is how the conversation goes:

Boss: The major highlight of our performance this year is that while all our other departments have closed down, the remix department is very strong. Congratulations, Mr A&R.

Manager: Thanks, chief. We beat all the other companies hollow this year. Of the 432 albums we released this year, 429 are remix albums. Of these, 401 exclusively contain remixes of RD Burman songs.
...
(link thru Jaideep Kulkarni)

Rock'n'roll: THE GREAT R.D. EXPLOSION
By Dr Rajiv Vijaykar (G magazine)

...
Amit speaks with some authority as he was one of the very few people privy to the information that Pancham was planning an album of his own songs that were to be 're-created' in the proper way. Says Amit, who had listened to some of the basic compositions, 'That album would have been 10 years ahead of today!'
...
Popular playback veteran Kavita Subramaniam (nee Krishnamurthi) looks at things from a different angle. Even though so many non-talents and music companies are earning parasitically from Pancham's treasury, she feels that even after death, Rahul Dev Burman is 'providing work (read livelihood and a possible passport to fame) to so many aspiring singers and musicians.' But she adds, 'I hate the videos. He was one of our greatest composers whose music communicated to every music lover. Imagine a 21-year-old composing a semi-classical in-depth song like 'Ghar aaja ghir aaye' (Chhote Nawab)! I personally preferred his weightier compositions.' She admits that it is 'reducing his worth' when all that his self-styled current bhakts love or know about Rahul Dev Burman is a couple of dozen 'trendy' or fast numbers. 'Pancham-da was not just about 'Dum maro dum', 'Piya tu ab to aaja' and 'Mehbooba mehbooba',' she points out.
...
Says Sonu [Nigam] wryly, 'I completely agree that most of his so-called fans even among the film music fraternity do not even know what Pancham was! If you played a '60s fast Shanker Jaikishan song to them, and told them it was Pancham, they would be ignorant enough to believe it! I happen to know that even when RD was alive, Jatin-Lalit were asked to compose songs 'like Pancham', while Pancham himself sat at home without work!'
...
R.D.Burman's one-time contemporary and friend Pyarelal sums up the situation aptly. 'I agree that it is very sad that his better songs are not being highlighted as much as his relatively ordinary ones. But times have changed and we have to accept this. The re-mixes are often done well musically, but where the singing and videos are often terrible. But finally we cannot afford to forget that within their limitations, all the people concerned are motivated by great affection for this great composer and they are showing their love and respect for him in the best way they can.'