A RD Burman’s birthday special!

We all have parents who played one of his tunes in the house, the car or at a party. Each one of us who are at any age can recognize his music. And this week he celebrates his 75th birthday! The hindi cinema world is celebrating his work and achievements by remembering the legendary R.D Burman. Remembering music legend R D Burman on his 75th birth anniversary, a special film titled ‘Pancham – Mujhe Chalte Jaana Hai’ will be screened tomorrow to pay tribute to the music director.
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As a tribute to the musician, fondly known as Pancham Da, Hindi movies channel Sony MAX will telecast the special film which brings alive the journey of R D Burman. It will bring to the audiences a medley of testimonies from stalwarts of the industry. Also, leading music composers and singers will recollect the magic called ‘Pancham da’ in their own unique way.

“Pancham Da was pure genius. If we write about the history of Hindi cinema’s music, his name would be on the top. Even today when his songs are played on radio, television and films it feels like they are songs from a recent movie. The songs are still very fresh and relevant even today,” director-producer Farah Khan said in a statement here.

“When we were doing ‘Ek ladki ko dekha toh…’, Javed Akhtar (lyricist) wrote the lyrics and Pancham Da would create tunes instantly while listening to the words. He composed the song in one minute,” she said.

Whenever Farah has to write a scene or a script, she plays Pancham Da’s songs and gets inspired.

Ace singer-composer Shankar Mahadevan says

“His musical contribution gave birth to many iconic characters in Bollywood. For example, he composed the character background score for Gabbar’s (in movie ‘Sholay’) entry by combining different unconventional musical instruments such as the ghungroo.”

Composer Vishal Dadlani feels there was a sense of madness in R D Burman’s music and that he was never afraid to experiment and try out different things. Practically the best thing about RD Burman was that he tried anything and it still was a hit! He experimented very little and went with the flow and today some of his tunes are some of the biggest ones ever!

“For Pancham Da, music was not limited to musical instruments. The way he used to use the instruments was uniquely different in its own way, he didn’t leave objects like cup, glass, etc,” Vishal said. “Today if electronic music is vastly used and accepted in Bollywood it backs to the originator who is Pancham Da,” he said.

‘Pancham – Mujhe Chalte Jaana Hai’ will be aired tomorrow on Sony MAX at 9 PM.