The Hindu : Kerala News : Burman reigns, still

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Thursday, Jan 03, 2008
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Kerala

Burman reigns, still

R.D. Burman, whose death anniversary falls on January 4, continues to rule hearts.

Srinivas, the State award winner of the best playback singer last year, does not even have to pause to name his favourite composer. “R.D. Burman,” he would say. But if you ask him to select his favourite songs composed by R.D., whose death anniversary falls on January 4, he would take a long, long time.

Not surprising, because this genius has created so many beautiful songs – of all possible genres - in a career that spanned over four decades. “I could give you a list of a 100 favourite R.D. compositions,” says Srinivas. “He was the composer who instilled in me the desire to be a singer. And one of my greatest regrets in life is that I could never meet him, though he was very much alive while I was studying chemical engineering in Mumbai. Now one of my dreams is to do a show featuring only his songs.”

For music director Ouseppachan, the man who gave two of the finest musical scores last year (Ore Kadal and Pranayakalam), too, R.D. has been the greatest inspiration.

“To me, he is the greatest composer ever; he could do everything,” says the Chennai-based composer. “Many composers I know, including Ilayaraja, are fans of R.D. While other great music directors like Madan Mohan and Naushad largely did only certain kinds of music, R.D. had astonishing variety.”

True. The man who composed “Piya tu ab to…” (‘Caravan’), one of the most popular cabaret numbers in Indian cinema ever, also came up with some of the finest semi-classical songs like “Raina beeti jaaye…” (‘Amar Prem’). In one film, ‘Aandhi’, he tuned three of the greatest duets of Hindi cinema – “Is mod se…”, “Tere bina zindagi…” and “Tum aa gaye…” “See how well he used raaga Mishra Khamaj in ‘Amar Prem’” says Srinivas. “His music lives on because it came straight from his heart.”

Gayatri, another State-award winning playback singer, is also a huge R.D. fan. “He was an amazing composer who could go beyond the frames of ragaas. My favourites include “Saawan ke jhoole…” (‘Jurmaana’), “O hansini…” (‘Zahreela Insan’) and “Teri bina…”, a song I often sing in my concerts,” she says.

The one R.D. song playback singer and composer Shahabaz Aman likes most is “Khaali haath…” (‘Ijaazat’). “It is an out-of-the world composition, brilliantly sung by Asha Bhonsle,” he says.

P. K. Ajith Kumar

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