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), ‘koi aaya aane bhi de’ (Kaala Sona) and many 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 a good craftsman
    as he was a musician. He picked the sounds for his songs from
    very indigenous sources.

    • In ‘Chura liya’ he used the sound of a spoon
      hitting a glass .
    • 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.
    • In Abdullah he used the sound of a bamboo
      whistle with a balloon tied to it for a song.
    • Once to get the sound of raindrops, he spent
      a whole rainy night in his house’s balcony recording the sound
      he wanted.
    • 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.
    • During the recording of ‘Hum dono do premee’
      (Ajnabee) the musicians were on strike. So he improvised the
      song with emptied-out musical interludes. Just listen the
      song to once again!
  • 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 and 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 :

    • kajre badarwa re (Pati Patni), Lata
    • O ganga maiyya paar laga de (Chandan Ka Palna),
      Lata
    • sharaabee sharaabee mera naam ho gaya (Chandan
      ka Palna), Lata
    • chunree saMbhaal goree (Baharon Ke Sapne),
      Lata
    • mere saamne waalee khiD.kee meiN (Padosan),
      Kishore
    • ghar aaja ghir aaye (Chhote Nawaab), Lata
    • kahna hai kahna hai (Padosan), Lata
  • In Decemeber 1971 again in Jaimala Pancham
    played these compositions of his own:

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

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