An Ode To the Timeless One (Published in The Hindustan Times, 4th January, 2006, co-authored by Anirudhdha Bhattacharjee)

All characters and incidents in the following article are real. Any resemblance with any imaginary person or incident is purely co-incidental.
These lines are a part of a crucial disclaimer which should dissuade the readers from construing this piece as an abstract from a Greek Tragedy. But be warned, even in this case, Fate treats the Hero in the most ironical of manners. He is betrayed by the benefactors of his deeds in the cold logic of commercial viability, he is wrapped in solitude till the very end, fame and success are mischievous class mates in an eternal game of hide and seek, and he departs for Olympus with one last flourishing bang. We speak ofRahul Dev Burman…..the one composer in Hindi Filmdom who truly transcends time and musical taste.
We are not exactly sticklers for tributes, for Death often is the missing masterpiece which has uplifted many an under-achiever and also-ran to reasonably legendary proportions in the world of Hindi films. But the sheer range and pedigree of tributes which has swelled in favour of Burman Jr. demand serious introspection. When on one hand giants like Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and Pt. IIlayaraja swears by his genius, senior colleagues in the stature of Salil Chowdhury hailed him as the ‘The only true musical phenomenon in the last twenty years’. While Manna Dey and Majrooh Sultanpuri, who put together, have worked with almost the entire Who’s Who legion ofthe musical fraternity, certify his supremacy, every discotheque or pub resonates with his creations still today. Even the modern music makers like Jatin-Lalit, Anu Malik, AR Rehman or Pritam never fall short of naming him, even when pushed to the situation where they can take only one name. Is there a key to the secret of RD’s longevity, reach and timelessness as a music composer?
There are some answers which have been generalised over the years. That he could get into the exact mood or situation, that he poured every drop of his inspiration and creative energy into planning the movement of the song, that he knew how to best use the voices of Kishore and Asha, that he knew when exactly he neededthe little extra from Lata or Manna Dey….so on and so forth. But most significantly, RD felt the pulse of the era. The early seventies were politically troubled times. Hippie Cult, Flower Power, Naxalite, Leftistetc. were buzz words in college and university canteens. The taboo associated which these elements were being rubbed off at a breathtaking speed. RD, himself a rebel, infused the rebellious elements in his creations. In a sense, he wanted to break away from the shackles of bondage which had made Indian film music a monotonous, predictable affair, more often than not; where a sitar or a veena replicatedthe basic tune, a surfeit of violins played the raga movement on which the song was based, the tablas and the dholaks played the normal 2-4 / 3-6 beat, where the beat pattern of the ‘mukhda’ was religiously replicated in the antara. And this insight, something on the lines of how Salil Chowdhury interpreted the genesis of a new musical package, was his most coveted secret in the string of success he had in that period. His works in a lot of way were Anti-Establishment in the realm of Hindi Filmdom. To begin with, he broke the norms of conventional rhythm. He brought in exotic beat patterns like Bossanova through Maar daalega dard-e-Jigar ( Pati Patni) . He could compose an exceedingly soulful number like‘Kya Janoon sajan’ (Lata in Baharon ke Sapne) and maintain the rhythm via the electric guitar, using the leather sparingly in the form of a congo and not the tabla as practised over the years by traditionalists, way back in 1966. He utilized the Madal tarang to devastating effect in songs like Tere bina jiya jaayenaa (Ghar) or Mehbooba Mehbooda (Sholay) . Then, he moved away from the usual cluttering of huge orchestral arrangement of industry bigwigs. When a whole lot of upcoming composers were keen to emulate the number of musicians used by Naushad or Shankar - Jaikishan, RD was riveted to the staid, modest rule passed on by his father who insisted that the number of instruments should never outweigh the singer's voice(‘Lota gayegi aaur ek instrument baajega’ remains the Senior Burman’s one of the most well-known remarks). Thus, even his loudest and fastest songs (for eg:Maine dekha ek sapna (Samadhi) / Yahan nahin kahungi(Mr Romeo) ) were arranged in an uncluttered manner to impart an unhurried feel.
The cynics might ask that this rebel in the man might have won him favours in that era, but how did his music transcend time? That answer lies in the sheer completeness of his music- RD brought to our film music a fresh look, an unsullied vitality, as a composer who was at ease at handling Western harmony,Indian melody, Ethnic flavour, Latin rhythm and recording technology. His thorough knowledge of both Indian classical music and Western chord system also came in handy in composing songs that were a mix of multiple ragas and chords. Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty, once demonstrated the use of multiple ragas, Khamaj &Kalavati, in the song ‘Kuch to log kahenge’(AmarPrem). Paradoxically, an arranger can clearly identify that the progression is definitely chord based! Pacham digged the concept of jamming, a term of common usage in Western music, and many of the tune and rhythm forms were the result of his jamming sessions. But in carving out the final output, he kept his own counsel and ultimately, like his father again, followed his own hunches and judgements. There was this new sound which he gifted Hindi Filmdom, by using new and under utilized musical instruments and derivatives like the Saxophone, Synthesizer, Drums and Flanger, new recording technology, beat forms, creation of special instruments to convey a specific effect in mind, capture natural sounds and in fact, coercing music out of unsuspecting objects of daily use. Who can forget the memorable banshee wails created specially by an instrument developed by RD for Gabbar’s signature tune in Sholay or the innocuous reso-reso doing the honours in ‘Sach mere yaar hai’(Saagar) and ‘Mere saamnewali khidki mein’ (Padosan)? Or for that matter the empty desks doubling up for percussion in ‘Master ji ki aa gayi chiththi’ from Kitaab? Another remarkable facet of RD Burman’s compositions is that despite having a explicitly existing signature style, his music was deliciously unpredictable. His style of composing was such that one minor note, one truant beat could lift the song to unexpected heights.The last line of the mukhda in Rut hain milan ki(Mela) or Bemausam bahar ke (Bundlebaaz), both otherwise predictably patterned Dholak augmented love songs are cases in point. Or probably the back vocals in Bindiya tarse (Phir Wahi Raat) merging with the main melody like a twinkling stream joining a garrulous river. Or the notational volte face, the twist in progression in the antara of Sun Nita (Dil Diwana) which would make Agatha Christie proud. In fact so all-encompassing was his music making style, so sweeping was his knowledge that he could actually create music in style of other music directors, and sometimes beat them at their own game. The use of dholaks in Kahe ko bulaya (Humshakal) or Sawan ka mahina (Nehle Pe Dehla) can be pitted against any similar treatment by LP. SD Burman’s effortless soulfulness can be traced in Khuli khuli zulphen(Parchhaiyan) or Bada natkhat hai (Amar prem), as can the melodic pyrotechniques of Salilda in Diwana karke(Mere Jeevan Saathi). In fact, HMV, had indeed by mistake, included the Bengali version of the song in a Salil Chowdhury-Lata compilation. Whether be it the classically moulded ‘a la Naushad or Vasant Desai’ song (Humen tumse pyar kitna (Kudrat), Gori teri paijaniya (Mehbooba), Roz roz dali (Angoor), Piya bawri (Khubsoorat), Kajra badarva (Pati Patni), Beeti naa bitai (Parichay), Aao kahan se (Budhdha Mil Gaya) or Bheeni bheeni bhor (Dil padosi hai), or the BappiLahiri-esque dance tracks with synthetic and psychedelic sounds; he was equally at ease.
Like any successful artist, he too was heavily influenced by works of other masters, but in retrospect was labelled a plagiarist by the media. It is another matter that he could keep his unique stamp of authority over the numbers he re-created. Today, most of the originals may have been wiped off from memory, but most of the inspired numbers remain. His inspiration was not the commonly understood syndrome,‘copying the tune’, but extended to incorporation of different forms of tunes and rhythm patterns into his music. This stemmed mainly from his deep knowledge of jazz, Latin American music and Broadway /Off-Broadway musicals. And the way he metamorphosed the original was nothing short of a miracle. Otherwise how can one explain a non-descript musical interlude from Procul Harem’s ‘Whiter Shade of Pale’ turning into one of the poignantly crafted love songs in HindiFilms (Tum ho mere dil ki dhadkan from Manzil)?
But his musical genius notwithstanding, RD Burman was pathetic at promotion. He had no bona fide muscle in the hedonistic Bombay film circle to even voice his opinion, let alone bloat it. At times it appeared that he was the staple punching bag of the media. And his consistent failure at being at the right place at the right time with the right people resulted in him losing many a prestigious project. RD was more of aninarticulate dipsomaniac whose world was confined to his music and his close circuit of friends. But even,those friends, barring few, hardly lived up to their billing. Bigwigs like Ramesh Sippy and Shekhar Kapur dropped him for no tangible reason even after he had given both commercially hit and timeless music for their films. Manmohan Desai, having used RD for AaGale Lag Jaa and Rampur ka Lakshman, his best musicals by miles, never said a word in RD’s favour in the future. He opted for temporal chart toppers and mediocrity, as the music of his films were literally gone in sixty seconds under the onslaught of time. But the unkindest cut of all came when Shubhash Ghai promised him Ram Lakhan, a big banner film which could have revived his creative avalanche, and then later switched to LP, another close associate of his. And while all this happened, RD could only look on from his Juhu verandah, behind the dhoti he had put up to prevent anyone from seeing the ‘great’ RD unemployed. Talk about Greek Tragedies and how!!!
RD Burman is a brand today. Music companies recover their cost in a twinkling when they repackage his music which he non-strategically gifted to turkeys like Chor Police, Adhura Aadmi, Sitamgar, Garam Masala, Mardonwali Baat and Namumkin. From sophomores to old hats, everyone reveres him to the extent of divinity. Only if this appreciation was devoid of the Van Goghian lag, he wouldn’t have died a lonely death. Only if there were people who would give him a chance to challenge new frontiers in composing, we could have had another Amar Prem or Hum Kisise Kum Naheen or Ishq Ishq Ishq. Only if Fate (of the Greek Tragedy variety) hadn’t proved his dazzling comeback to be his swansong...Only if……