The legendary musician KC Dey was the first musical guru for SD Burman. He also learned from Bhishmadev Chattopadhyay and Ustad Allauddin Khan. SD Burman was a very successful composer and singer in Bengali cinema when he decided to move to Bombay to try his luck as a composer for Hindi films - a language he barely knew. He brought in the sound of folk music of the East to Bollywood. Today I want to showcase 5 gems from SD which are raga based.
What makes this festival magical is the way the sun and the moon are blended in with music to create magic. The Mehrangarh fort becomes like a giant movie set where the forgotten music of Rajathan is offered to a global audience. That is what the Rajasthan International Folk Fest is all about
RD Burman (27 June 1939 – 4 January 1994) is an influencer in Bollywood even today. Reality shows dedicate episodes to him, channels organize special RD Music shows, his songs are part of recent movies like Aisha, Tamanchey, Race, etc, TV serials are using cover versions of his songs, not to mention the remixes of his songs. Yet the same RD had long spells towards the end when he was without work. Success and failure perhaps have to be measured beyond the life span of an artiste.
If you think that Kedar is primarily used to express Bhakti Rasa (the emotion of devotion) then you have to listen to this song from Ek Musafir Ek Hasina (1962) composed by OP Nayyar and sung by Mohd Rafi and Asha Bhosle. This song is fabulous example of the use of Kedar in a romantic setting with Joy Mukherjee and Sadhna on screen.
In Amar Prem he used the raga for two more songs Bada Natkhat Hai Re and then again in Kuchh Toh Log Kahenge. Let me hasten to add that in Kuchh Toh Log, the notes of Khamaj merge into Raga Kalavati. But even then can you think of another movie which has three songs based on the same raga in one movie?
Raga Yaman evokes deep introspection at the end of the day and evokes a sense of anticipation of the evening ahead. If you thought it was only for spiritual songs, you are wrong. There are several romantic compositions in Yaman as well.
RD Burman passed away on 4th January 1994. That year saw the release of 1942 A Love Story, a score that was to get him one of his three Filmfare awards for Best Music Director. He got nominated 17 times for the award that eluded him. While we mostly associate a more western sound with RD, I think of him as a composer who simplified the most complex Hindustani classical music and made it accessible to the masses. That is the true yardstick of expertise.
