Musicians - Rahul Dev Burman

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	Musicians - Rahul Dev Burman

Rahul Dev Burman, also known as Pancham or Pancham da (June 27, 1939 - January 4, 1994) was a music composer for Bollywood films. He was the son of singer and music composer Sachin Dev Burman and the second husband of playback singer Asha Bhosle.

Initial years

According to stories, Rahul Dev Burman was nicknamed "Pancham" because, as a child, whenever he cried, it sounded in the fifth note (Pa) of the Indian musical scale. The word Pancham means five (or fifth) in Sanskrit. Another version is that when the veteran Indian actor Ashok Kumar saw a newborn Rahul Dev Burman uttering the syllable "Pa" repeatedly, he nicknamed the boy Pancham. Pancham was born in Calcutta. After coming to Mumbai, he learnt sarod from Ustad Akbar Ali Khan. When he was nine years old, he composed his first song, Aye meri topi palat, which his father used in the film Funtoosh (1956). The tune of the song Sar jo tera chakraaye was composed by him as a kid. His father loved the tune and included it in the soundtrack of Guru Dutt's Pyaasa. As a child, Pancham also played the mouth organ in the famous song Hai apna dil to aawara (from film Solva Saal - 1958, starring Dev Anand). Pancham began his music career as an assistant to his father. His first film as a music director was Chhote Nawab.

Music Career

R D Burman gave music for 245 movies and a TV series Subah (1987). R D Burman did playback in eighteen movies composed by him. He was famous for unique, grunting bass singing style. He also acted in the film Bhoot Bungla (1965)and 'Pyar ka Mausam'(1967).

1950s

R D Burman started his career as assistant to his father, Sachin Dev Burman. He assisted his father in Chalti ka Naam Gaadi (1958) and Kaagaz ke Phool (1959). His first film as a music director was Guru Dutt's Raaz (1959). However the film was shelved after some shooting and recording of few songs.

1960s

R D Burman's first released movie as a music director was Mehmood's Chhote Nawab (1961). Mehmood once said that he gave the movie to R D Burman because he got tired of R D Burman denting his car with the persistent drumming of his fingers! The first song "Ghar aaja ghir aaye" to be recorded for the movie was sung by Lata Mangeshkar because R D Burman wanted no one but the legendary singer sing his first composition for movies. The song brought together S D Burman and Lata Mangeshkar who had stopped recording together since 1957.

R D Burman continued to work as his father's assistant in movies like Bandini (1963), Teen Devian (1965) and Guide (1965). Mehmood gave him his second movie as a music director in 1965 - Bhoot Bungla. The soundtrack is notable for Aao twist karein, a Desi version of Chubby Checker's Let's twist. In the movie, R D Burman also acted alongside Mehmood, displaying a fine comic timing. He also composed the music of Teesra Kaun in 1965.

R D Burman's first hit movie was Teesri Manzil (1966). Vijay Anand had arranged a music session for him before Nazir Hussain, the producer of Tesri Manzil. After hearing his music, Nazir Hussain made him the music director of Teesri Manzil. Initially, Shammi Kapoor (hero of the movie) was unhappy over choice of R D Burman. He wanted the tried and tested Shankar-Jaikishen, who had composed music for most of his films. However, after hearing R D Burman's music, he had no problems. The songs O haseena and Aaja aaja belonged to a genre that Indian music lovers were unaware of. Nazir Hussain went on to sign R D Burman and lyricst Majrooh Sultanpuri for six of his films including Baharon ke Sapne, Pyaar ka Mausam and Yaadon Ki Baarat.

In 1967, R D Burman gave music for the movies Chandan Ka Palna and Baharon Ke Sapne. Meanwhile, he continued to work as his father's assistant for movies like Jewel Thief (1967) and Talash (1969).

In 1969, Waris and the musical hit Pyar ka Mausam were released. For Aradhana (1969), R D Burman was credited as associate composer. When S D Burman fell ill during the recording of Aradhanas (1969) music, Pancham completed the music. The film was a turning point in the Bollywood history. It made Rajesh Khanna a superstar; Kishore Kumar
replaced Mohammed Rafi as Bollywood's top singer and R D Burman became the industry's most sought-after composer.
1970s
R D Burman was India's most popular composer in 1970s (Bollywood's superstar era), famous for his peppy tunes. He teamed up with singers Asha Bhosle, Kishore Kumar
, Lata Mangeshkar and others to churn up some of the biggest hits in the Bollywood music history.
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