Remembering Pancham Da: The man behind today’s Bollywood tunes

Mumbai: Pancham Da knew how to cry in five different tunes; yes you read that right music legend Rahul Dev Burman could cry in five notes and was subsequently named as Pancham (five). On his 77th birth anniversary newztrack.com brings its readers some very rarely known facts about singer/composer R D Burman who had redefined the Indian music with his revolutionising creativity.

• Born in Calcutta on June 27, 1939, Pancham da’s father was the legendary music director S D Burman but in a rarity, he carried on the

musical legacy, a tad better than his father.

•RD Burman’s musical journey started early. He was trained by Ustad Ali Akbar Khan (sarod) and Samta Prasad (tabla). He also considered Salil Chowdhury as his guru.

• Pancham Da’s first hit movie as a music director was Shammi Kapoor starrer ‘Teesri Manzil’ (1966), whose songs like--Tumne Mujhe Dekha became instant hits with the listeners.

• RD Burman composed his first song at the age of nine for the film Fantoosh (1956).

• Popular music director duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal played in the orchestra of RD Burman. RD Burman also gave break to several singers

like Kumar Sanu, Abhijeet and Mohammad Aziz.

• Puncham Da was nominated 18 times at the Filmfare Awards in the Best Music Director category. Of these, he won thrice for Sanam Teri Kasam (1983), Masoom (1984) and 1942 A Love Story (1995).

• The last Film fare given to him was posthumously.

• R D Burman became highly popular with the Kishore Kumar songs in Rajesh Khanna-starrer movies. Kati Patang (1970), a musical hit, was

the beginning of a series of the 1970s films directed. Its songs ‘Yeh Shaam Mastani’ and ‘Yeh Jo Mohabbat Hai’, sung by Kishore Kumar,

became instant hits.

• Apart from Kishore Kumar, RD Burman also composed several of the popular songs sung by Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle and Lata Mangeshkar.

• RD Burman was greatly appreciated by the critics for setting the non-rhyming lyrics of the song ‘Mera Kuchh Saamaan’ from the movie

‘Ijaazat’ to music.

• It’s also said that the song ‘Musafir Hoon Yaaron’ from the 1972 movie ‘Parichay’ was composed by Pancham da when he was at a hotel

after separation from his first wife.

• He later married legendary singer Asha Bhosle.

• Known for his knack for experimentation with sounds, the legendary composer, who is known for evergreen songs like "Yaadon ki baraat",

"Tum bin jaaun kahan", gave legendary singers Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle and Lata Mangeshkar some of the best tunes to lend their voices to.

• He passed away at the age of 54 in 1994, leaving behind a vast body of work, which continues to inspire every generation of music lovers.