‘PANCHAM’, whose business was to paint souls of men with a musical brush, is no longer

among us, but his memories still haunt us and will continue to do so. He inherited music
from his mother Meera and father, the inimitable Sachin Dev Burman right from the day
he was born.

Born on the 27th of June 1939 in Calcutta, Pancham did his schooling from Ballygunge
Government High School, after completion of which, he dedicated himself to the service of
music. He took lessons in Tabla from Shri Brojen Biswas and simultaneously learned the
Sarod from the then Numero Uno Sarod maestro Ustad Ali Akbar Khan.

Very few of us know that he had composed his first song - “Aye Mere Topi Palat Ke Aa” -
when he was only nine years old. It was used in the film FUNTOOSH (1956) by his father.
The song “Sar Jo Tera Chakraaye” was also composed by him as a child and once again it
was included by his father in Guru Dutt's PYAASA. At the age of 19, he played the mouth
organ in the famous song “Hai Apna Dil To Awara” (SOLVA SAAL - 1958) that starred
Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman.

He began his professional career in 1955 as his father’s assistant. Now, since Sachin-karta
(as he was popularly called) was one of the leading composers then and had to his credit a
series of classics, it was extremely difficult for young Rahul Dev Burman to establish a mark.

He received his first offer at the age of 19 from Guru Dutt for RAAZ. For some reason the
film got shelved midway. Eventually, after a gap of almost four years, comedy-king
Mehmood introduced the phenomenon called “Pancham” through his home production
CHHOTE NAWAAB in 1962, which stunned the world as people discovered that Pancham's
music was way ahead of its times. His compositions for this movie also marked his versatility
in music as he composed the classic "Ghar Aaja Ghir Aayi Badra Sanwariyan” in Raag
Malgunji as well as the very hip “Matwali Aankhonwale, O Albele Dilwale".

A major milestone in his musical journey was TEESRI MANZIL, as he broke through all the
barriers and introduced a new form of music with Asha Bhonsle and Mohd. Rafi. The Asha-RD
combo gained enormous fame for its sheer magic; always unto some experiment they sang
and composed regardless of the consequences. One can witness their compatibility in songs
like "Mar Dalega Dard-e-jigar" (PATI PATNI), “Piya Tu Ab To Aaja" (CARAVAN),
"Paape Bacha Lo Tusi" (CARAVAN), “Mera Kuchh Saamaan” (IJAAZAT), the list is
endless. The chemistry worked like magic and the two tied the knot on the 7th of July 1979.
DID YOU KNOW –

R. D. Burman made his acting debut in Mehmood's 'Bhoot Bangla'. Later in 'Pyar Ka
Mausam' too he gave a hilarious performance as Mr. Popat Lal.

• Pancham introduced the twin track effect in 'Baharon Ke Sapne'. which he

later used to create the mesmerizing 'qatra qatra miltee hai' (Ijaazat) and a
few more songs.
• He also pioneered the use of electronic organ in Indian Films with the song 'O
mere Sona re' (Teesri Manzil).
• RD was, as Gulzar says, as good a craftsman as he was a musician. He picked
the sounds for his songs from very indigenous sources.

o In 'Chura liya' he used the sound of a spoon hitting a glass .

o For the Kitaab song 'Master jee kee aa gayee chiTThee' he brought
some desks from a classroom in the studio while recording and used
them as percussion.
o In Abdullah he used the sound of a bamboo whistle with a balloon tied
to it for a song.
o Once to get the sound of raindrops, he spent a whole rainy night in his
house's balcony recording the sound he wanted.
o In the song 'O Manjhi Re' from the movie 'Khushboo', R.D. Burman
used bottles with water filled at different levels and created a hollow
sound by blowing into them and this sound effect was used with the
orchestra.
o During the recording of 'Hum donoN do premee' (Ajnabee) the
musicians were on strike. So he improvised the song with emptied-out
musical interludes and just listen the song!

• The mouth organ played in the song 'Hai Apna Dil To Awara' sung by Hemant
Kumar in the film 'Solva Saal' is played by R.D. Burman himself.
• R.D. Burman played the mouth organ for his friends Laxmikant-Pyarelal in a
song in 'Dosti' and also in a movie for Kalyanji-Anandji.
• Dada Burman used Pancham's tune 'ai meree topee palat ke aa' in 'Fantoosh'.
Pancham was only 9 when he composed the tune.
• Again next year, for Pyaasa, SD used his son's 'Sar Jo Tera Chakraaye', which
became a big hit.
• Both Lata and Bhupinder won a National award for the song 'Beeti Na
Bitaayee Raina' from 'Parichay', and this song was composed in a hotel room
in no time.
• Aarti Mukherjee won a National award for the song 'Do Naina Ek Kahaani' from
'Masoom'.
• Gulzar (best lyricist), Asha Bhosle (best female singer) won National awards
for the song 'Mera Kuchh Samaan' from Ijaazat.
• RDB was the first to introduce the Brazilian bossa nova rhythm in Hindi film
music - the song was "Maar dalega dard-e-jigar", sung by Asha, in "Pati Patni".
That rhythm has since been endlessly used for film music. (contributed by
Chandrashekhar, UAE)
• R.D. Burman won the Filmfare Award only 3 times (Sanam Teri Kasam,
Masoom, 1942-A Love Story) while being nominated 16 times for the award.
• Amit Kumar, Abhijeet & Shabbir Kumar were given their first breaks by
Pancham.
• Jatin of Jatin-Lalit used to be in Pancham's children's choir.
• Nasir Hussain, for the first time after Teesari Manzil, did not sign R.D. Burman,
in 'Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak'.
• In July 1968, when presenting the Vividh Bharati Program Jaimala, Pancham
played the following songs :

o kajre badarwa re (Pati Patni), Lata

o O ganga maiyya paar laga de (Chandan Ka Palna), Lata
o sharaabee sharaabee mera naam ho gaya (Chandan ka Palna), Lata
o chunree saMbhaal goree (Baharon Ke Sapne), Lata
o mere saamne waalee khiD.kee meiN (Padosan), Kishore
o ghar aaja ghir aaye (Chhote Nawaab), Lata
o kahna hai kahna hai (Padosan), Lata

• In Decemeber 1971 again in Jaimala Pancham played these compositions of

his own:

o Ye jo mohabbat hai (Kati Patang), Kishore

o O hasina zulfoN waalee (Teesri Manzil), Asha-Rafi
o Gulaabee aankheiN jo teree dekhee (The Train), Rafi
o Jogee o jogee pyaar meiN kya hoga (Lakhon Mein Ek), Lata-Kishore
o Aao twist kareiN (Bhoot Bangla), Manna Dey-Chorus
o I Love You (Hare Rama Hare Krishna), Usha Iyyer-Asha
o Matwaalee aankhoN waale (Chhote Nawaab), Lata-Rafi