Rahul Dev Burman: An immortal music director

Today is the much-loved composer's 80th birth anniversary and a city-based music group plans to offer a 'Panchamrit' of his unforgettable songs on Friday

For an immensely talented music director who began his career in 1961 with 'Chhote Nawab', the fame of Rahul Dev Burman, known as 'Pancham' or lovingly as RDB among his millions of fans has withstood the passage of time well into the new millennium. Every other day, on some online or offline platforms, one gets to hear the not-too-surprising news of his evergreen tunes being remixed and presented as the latest versions by the newer crop of singers in feature films, television serials and/or web series productions. Core fans of his have not been too happy with such 'adventures'. But then that is the price of his irreplaceable and enduring presence the mercurial music director has had to pay for sure as his 80th birth anniversary falls on Thursday, June 27.

After being an able assistant to his iconic father Sachin Dev Burman during the first phase of the 1960s, it is by now folklore that the 1970s had none to compete with him in the Hindi film industry. Rising to the stratosphere of name and fame simultaneously with Rajesh Khanna, Pancham's best tunes were in the company of a horde of lyricists like Majrooh Sultanpuri and Anand Bakshi and playback singers like Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhonsle. His songs continued to mesmerise the later film watchers who patronised the Big B as his tunes were liberally sprinkled across in films starring many other heroes too, who were also-rans during the reign of the Bachchan from the early 1970s.

Having scored music for not just Hindi or his mother tongue Bengali films, RDB was invited by Oriya, Telugu and Tamil film directors too. In all he scored music for over 290 films in Hindi out of a total of 330-odd films in which his stamp of class was permanently etched, across a timeline of more than three decades. Not unexpectedly, even after his demise in 1994, his songs have been used in many ventures alongside the later composers who have unabashedly acknowledged his influence on them. It is a long list from Anu Malik to Vishal-Shekhar and Jatin Lalit who continued with the musical tradition of Hindi cinema after the maestro died at a rather young age of 54.

Even today, the baby boomers who are in the 45-65 age group go weak-kneed when a song of his plays across the FM radio stations and online music channels, not to speak of the television and the immensely addictive YouTube video channel, a great favourite of nostalgia seekers.

Cashing on this mood, a city-based music lover group, Dakshin Dhwani is proposing an interactive music programme titled ' Panchamrit' at Nritya Forum for Performing Arts, a cultural centre in Banjara Hills, which would have over a dozen singers singing his popular numbers for a retro mood and feel during the weekend for his legions of fans. The event is scheduled on June 28 from 7/30 pm onwards