Rahul Dev Burman (R D Burman) - Indian Best Music Composer Ever

January 4, 1994, all the strings and frets sung only the notes of grief on this day... even the nature was singing a silent tune of lamentation. It was on this day the most loved and adored musician RD Burman bid goodbye to this world. It was not just the end of the life of a musician but was the end of a music civilisation. It is only the person of Burman has departed from this world, not the eternal music he composed, and never the sensation his music renders to hearers. Burman lives today too in our minds through the music he left behind him. Let all music lovers bow down before the memories of R.D Burman and pay homage to him.

Music was was an inherited talent and a gift bequeathed to Rahul Dev Burman, the only son of famous music composer Sachin Dev Burman. Starting independent music composing in 1961, he did 331 Films and 4 Non-Film Albums. Out of his 331 released movies 292 were in Hindi, 31 in Bangla, 3 in Telugu, 2 each in Tamil & Oriya and 1 in Marathi. RD also composed for 5 TV Serials in Hindi and Marathi. He also scored a large number of non-film songs.

He was inspired by all the music traditions from around the globe. His music featured flavors from Indian classical and regional traditions, jazz, rock, swing, circus music, Mexican mariachi, and Brazilian bossa nova, among other styles. Burman also numbered the leading contemporary classical string quartet in the United States, the Kronos Quartet, among his admirers.

Personal Life

Rahul Dev Burman know as R.D. Burman, the sun of Sachin Dev Burman was born in Calcutta
on June 27, 1939. For most of his life he was commonly referred to by the nickname Pancham, which he acquired as a baby. S.D. Burman took a greater interest in his son's musical education. At first, Burman was given a grounding in the basics of India's complex classical music system. His father groomed him as a composer and encouraged him to learn different instruments so that he would become familiar with their capabilities. Beginning in his pre-teen years and starting on the tabla drum, he then studied the sarod, a difficult Indian stringed instrument, with Ali Akbar Khan and Ashish Khan, two of India's greatest classical musicians.

Burman finally began working in films as an assistant to his father, earning his first credit on the 1955 film Pyaasa. his father began schooling him in the finer points of film composition and assigning him to work with different singers and directors. More and more actual composition work was handed off to Burman, who was often credited as assistant music director on films scored by his father in the late 1950s, and the two developed a spirit of friendly competition that honed Burman's skills. Burman was signed as music director for a 1959 film called Raaz, His first official credit as music director was Chhote Nawab (1961). From then he never had to look back in his career.

Rahul Dev married Rita in 1960 but they were divorced in 1974. He then married Asha Bhonsle for whom he had composed many a memorable song in 1980. Indeed, the RD-Asha duo delighted audiences the world over with their "live" performances, with RD's showmanship and Asha's natural exuberance making them the perfect pair.

RD's Career

Independent career coincided with the the wave of early 70's Rajesh Khanna love stories. R D Burman's first released movie as a music director was Mehmood's Chhote Nawab (1961) and his first hit movie was Teesri Manzil (1966). R D Burman was India's most popular composer in 1970s, famous for his peppy tunes. The Combinations with Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle, Gulshan Kumar and Latha Mangeshkar made him the maker of ever-biggest hits in the bollywood music history. Burman had number of films in the 80's and 90's, among which most of them landed musical hits.

Some of his best music is assosiated with Gulzar's lyrics, like Parichay and Aandhi. Burman brought Hindi film music into the era of electronic rock with a series of enormously popular youth movies like Narendra Bedi's Jawani Diwani. Worked mostly with singers Asha Bhosle and Kishore Kumar, providing much of the music that defines their reputations. He also produced independent albums, including one based on the samba and one with british pop star Boy George

After a 1988 heart attack, he claimed to have composed 2,000 new tunes in his head while recuperating. He remained active in the early 1990s, composing music for several little-known films and bouncing back with one widely acclaimed masterpiece, the film 1942: A Love Story (1993). The movie won Burman's third Filmfare award, but sadly was not released until after his death on January 4, 1994.

Burman witnessed many ups and downs in his career. Some of his films were flop in the box office. But he was composing music until his death. Even after his death his songs are popular among the music lovers. Even today, most of the Indian remix songs are his tunes remixed.

Burman had composed music for 331 films: 292 were in Hindi, 31 in Bengali, three in Telugu, two each in Tamil and Oriya, and one in Marathi. One film, a 1980 Indo-Russian co-production of Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves, contained Russian-language songs. Burman also released five albums unconnected with films and wrote non-cinematic songs for other artists, mostly in the Bengali language. Indian-American director Mira Nair included Burman's "Chura liya hai" in her 2000 film Monsoon Wedding, an affectionate tribute to Indian cinema.

Doubtless, the distinctive voice of R.D. Burman was capable of conveying the emotions of a lyric. With the singing sensation Asha Bhosle, R.D. created an immense romantic atmosphere. They were considered a hot musical pair for shaping romantic songs. RD Burman,the man who added his unique dash of pep and verve in to Hindi film music starting with the 60s. He can claim the credit of the first music director who brought Rock n' Roll to Hindi tunes, creating a brand of music so distinctly his own.

Awards

* Filmfare Award – 1982 (Sanam Teri Kasam)
* Filmfare Award – 1983 (Masoom)
* Filmfare Award – 1994 (1942 a Love Story)
* Screen Award – 1994 (1942 a Love Story)