The collaboration between the ace composer and the lyricist-filmmaker began with a song from ‘Parichay’ that was composed in the shower.
This incident is mentioned in R.D.Burman's biography and I quote..
‘I was sitting in Pancham’s music room one morning and warming up by strumming chords on my guitar,’ Bhanu Gupta recalls. ‘Pancham, who was taking a shower, opened the bathroom door, poked his head out and said, “Bajate thako, themo na (Keep playing, don’t stop).” So I continued playing the chord progression. When Pancham came out, he was humming a tune that
fit the chord sequence I was playing. The line was “Mujhe chalte jana hai”. Later, he went back to the first two lines. So, in effect, Pancham composed the tune for the refrain first and then for the mukhra.’
Parichay songs are a masterpiece in their own..be it Beete na Bitai or the chirpy Saare Ke Saare.. they have that melodious tune that rings in one's ears even 40 years later.
After Parichay Gulzar worked with Pancham in three more films in quick succession: as lyricist in Doosri Seeta (1974), and as director and lyricist in Aandhi and Khushboo (1975). Directed by Gogi Anand, one of Pancham’s closest lifelong friends, Doosri Seeta bombed big time at the box office. With that, three RD–Gulzar gems went virtually unnoticed. It was only after the composer’s resurrection post-1994 that the audience could enjoy melodies like the Lata Mangeshkar solo ‘Din ja rahe hain ke raaton ke saaye’ and the Asha solos ‘Tu jahan mile mujhe’ and ‘Aaye re aaye re’.
What can some say of Khushboo..
The fragrance of the songs lingers even today.Asha Bhonsle solos, ‘Bechara dil kya kare’ and ‘Ghar jayegi’, which had the right dose of ebullience and grace but posed the risk of being interpreted as modern.The Lata Mangeshkar solo ‘Do naino mein aansoo bharen hain’ was recorded in two versions and is, with its mix of the flute, tabla and the extended taan in the antara, an example of how a sad song can be composed without it getting maudlin.The one song which has stood out for more than three decades is Kishore Kumar’s ‘O majhi re’ known as much for Pancham’s technical innovations like the use of the the blowing on a bottle filled with water and for its compositional and lyrical brilliance.
The music of Aandhi, considered at par with Amar Prem, is the result of a symbiosis of the best of both Pancham’s and Gulzar’s worlds.With the Kishore–Lata duet ‘Is mod se jaate hain’, there is a story how the lyrics baffled Pancham. With his limited knowledge of poetry and precious little knowledge of Urdu, he had inquired of Gulzar if ‘nasheman’ was the name of a town.
Tere bina zindagi se koi’,Emotions are mellower, and so is the tune which is adapted from a Bengali tune composed by R.D..Gulzar took to the tune and penned the lyrics which fit in snugly. Despite this, the song has a made-to-order feel as far as the theme of Aandhi is concerned.
The relationship and synergy continued with Ghar, Kinara, Masoom, Kitaab, Ijajat, Namkeen, Libaas , Jeeva , Basera, Gol Maal, Ratna deep and I may have missed many more and the Private album Dil Padosi Hain..
"Yaad hai Pancham, jab bhi koi dhun bana kar bhejte the toh saath keh diya karte the, 'The ball is in your court.” Yeh kaun sa ball mere court mein chhod gaye ho tum, Pancham. Zindagi ka khel akele nahin khela jaata. Humari toh team hai. Aa jao ya bula lo."
Gulzar wrote these words for his friend R. D. Burman, fondly known as Pancham Da, after he passed away in 1994.
(Excerpts taken from RD Burman The Man, The Music by Anirudha Bhattacharjee and Balaji Vittal, HarperCollins India.)
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