RD Burman

 

 

The magic of the 1970s and Dum maro dum

For a generation of music lovers, Rahul Dev Burman represented what it took to be hip in the late 1960s and early 1970s – from "Hare Rama Hare Krishna" to the mega hits that catapulted Rajesh Khanna to superstardom. Undoubtedly, the guitar and other western acoustics had been used earlier in Hindi cinema, but not with the same finesse, neither the popular appeal, that RD, or Pancham, injected during the salad days of Rock and Roll. From his first hit "Teesri Manzil" in 1966, six years after he made his debut as a film director, RD was best known for his peppy tunes. He teamed up with singers Asha Bhosle, Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar and others to churn out some of the biggest hits in the Bollywood music history.

In 1970, RD Burman composed music for six movies, of which "Kati Patang", a Rajesh Khanna starrer, was a musical hit. Eleven more movies with RD Burman as the music director were released in 1971. Of these, "Amar Prem", "Buddha mil gaya", "Caravan", and "Hare Rama Hare Krishna" were musical hits. In "Amar Prem", Pancham experimented successfully with Indian classical music.

Even today, the mention of Pancham gladdens the heart and cockles of millions of Hindi music film buffs. Says musician Ravindra Jain: "RD Burman did brilliant work. He popularised the dholak (percussion) and sarangi (string) instruments."