Remembering the versatile Pancham Da on his 78th Birthday

On the 78th birth anniversary of Bollywood music composer Rahul Dev Burman, music lovers and the industry are fondly remembering the legendary composer . Popularly known as Pancham Da, the Music King was born on June 27, 1939.

Not known to many, because Burman could cry in five different notes, he got the nickname Pancham. Melody Queen, Lata Mangeshkar tweeted remembering the master:

Influenced by Western, Latin, Oriental and Arabic music, Burman incorporated elements from these in the world of Hindi cinema. He revolutionised the music world by introducing a fusion of Western rock and jazz with Indian classical music. This made him one of the most important and versatile artists in the 1960s.

He even started a new trend of mixing disco and rock elements with Bengali folk music. Rajesh Khanna played a significant role in popularising his art. Kaka’s romantic movies popularised his electronic rock music.

The ever-enthusiastic Pancham da never shied away from experimenting with the musical instruments and different objects to produce music. To create the opening beats of the song Mehbooba- Mehbooba, he blew into beer bottles. Similarly, cups and saucers were used to create the tinkling sound for the song Chura liya Hai from the film Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973). In addition, for the song Meri Samne Wali Khidki Main from the film Padosan (1968), he rubbed a comb on a rough surface to produce a whooshing sound.

He also experimented with different voices for the same songs. For Kudrat (1981), the light version of the song Hume tumse pyar kitna was recorded in the voice of Kishore Kumar, the classical one was recorded in the voice of Parveen Sultana. The song Tum bin jaun kahan In Pyar Ka Mausam (1969) was recorded in the voices of Kishore Kumar and Mohammed Rafi separately.

Burman then went on to use Western dance music as a source of inspiration for his compositions. For instance, his song Aao twist karein from Bhoot Bangla was inspired from Chubby Checker's Let's Twist. A film’s hit or flop never decided the fate of Burman’s music because his music always stood out—from the peppy Dum maro dum and the evergreen Chand mera dil to the soulful Tum aa gaye ho, nur aa gaya hai and Tujhse naraz nahin zindagi. His songs had such an attractive appeal that some films became hits on the strength of his songs alone.

Social media is brimming with wishes on the occasion. Former Indian cricketer Virendra Sehwag wished him on his 78th birthday:

Google also dedicated a doodle to the music maestro:

Pancham Da composed music for more than 330 movies. He also won the Filmfare award for best music director thrice in 1983, 1984 and 1995. His contribution to Hindi film music is significant and unmatchable.