Kishore Kumar and Shankar Jaikishen- Hysteria that did not coincide

No song in the first 8 years of mutual co-existance in the music kingdom ,18 songs in the next 13 years of association and then, 87 songs in last 17 years: the association of Shankar Jaikishen with Kishore Kumar has various interesting aspects. Another intriguing part is, for the first 13 years, SJ were the uncrowned king of Hindi film music and Kishore Kumar a non-considerate in playback singing and in the next 17 years, well, almost vice versa. “Almost” is because Jaikishen- the more prominent of the duo, died in 1971, and upto 1986, Shankar single handedly kept the S-J flag flying. As the musical parallelism goes, many still believe, it was Jaikishen with whom the camaraderie of Kishore would have blended better- and the proof was there with “Zindagi ek safar hai suhana”, the chartbuster Jaikishen had made with Kishore just months after the former passed away. But the fact is, out of 105 songs Kishore recorded under SJ baton, almost 70 songs came for Shankar only, owing to Jaikishen’s early demise.



Kishore Kumar with Asha Bhosle and Jaikishen



Alongwith Rafi-R D Burman and Asha Bhosle-Ravi, Kishore Kumar-Shankar Jaikishen combo has been highly neglected in Hindi film music history, perhaps owing to the reason that the fan groups of the MD and the singer never formed a common set.

With their clear cut preference to the trio of Rafi-Mukesh-Manna, Shankar Jaikishen ruled the film fraternity in the 1960s. They could be cult and traditional with equal ease, insisted on heavy orchestration, composed for the poster boys of Hindi cinema and maintained super Public Relations where their counterparts like Madan Mohan, O P Nayyar or S D Burman were not the experts at. They did not want to look beyond their comfort set of singers right from the very beginning in 1949. It is therefore, you will find hardly any association of them with Hemant, Talat, Geeta or Shamshad right from the 50s through the 60s, except for occasional masterpieces(Ae mere dil kahin aur chal or Yaad kiya dil ne kaha ho tum). So high was the S-J mania that time they managed to compose as many as 7 films for Dev Anand(Patita, Love Marriage, Jab pyar kisise hota hai, Roop ki rani choron ka raja, Asli Naqli, Duniya, Pyar Mohabbat)- a hero who never wanted any MD except S D Burman even outside his home production. So, for Kishore Kumar, his association with S-J was confined within the films where he was the hero himself. All the movies they worked together between 1956 and 1969 were mainly with Kishore Kumar as the protagonist- New Delhi, Begunaah, Shararat, Krorepati and Rangoli. So fascinated were the SJ with the trio of R-M-M, that except for in New Delhi, in all the other films they created space for each of the singers to playback for Kishore. Manna De played back only twice for Kishore- both the occasions came under SJ- Begunaah and Krorepati. Rafi played back for Kishore in Shararat- a movie where Kishore played a double role. There were two movies in that period where SJ did use Kishore for playback- one in Duniya(1968), a duet with Asha Bhosle on Dev Anand and one in Bhai Bahen(1969), again a duet with Manna De on a character artist.

With Aradhana released in 1969 and the equation changing a bit, S-J started using Kishore sporadically in movies like Umang and Tum haseen main jawan, still sticking mainly to their comfortable “trio” and making some space for the newly arrived sensation. By 1971, the producers started having their say on Kishore Kumar on the MDs. SJ, always known to abide by the industry trends, started suddenly using Kishore lot more. Kishore Kumar had by then, continued his popularity run with chartbusters in 1970 like Kati Patang, Johny Mera Naam, Sacha Jhutha, Safar, Pavitra Papi, Prem Pujari and Aan Milo Sajna. A force too huge to be ignored by now, Shankar turned on to Kishore for a piano solo in Laal Patthar. “Geet gata hoon main, gungunata hoon main” had Kishore responding to S-J just the way they would have wanted. Alongwith Rafi, Kishore had that elasticity to deliver just the way a MD wanted and not sticking to his own singing gambit. S-J used Kishore in the title track of a Shammi Kapoor starrer in the same year. “Jaane Anjaane”, an otherwise forgettable album, is best remembered today for Manna De’s “Chham chham baaje re payaliya” and Kishore’s “Jaane anjaane log mile”. In Andaaz, the unthinkable happened- with only one single solo in the whole film, Kishore’s “Zindagi ek safar hai suhana” overshadowed all the other songs in the album, including the versions of the same song by Asha and Rafi.

S-J, in a spree to check the continuous popularity of younger R D Burman and Laxmikant Pyarelal and older and rejuvenated S D Burman post-Aradhana, started signing movies one after the another in 1971. They had 17 releases in 1971, much more than what RD and SD had done, and almost as good as what LP had done. That was the good part, the bad part was except Andaaz, all the other movies bombed at the box office. Duniya kya jaane, Seema, Ek naari ek brahmachari, Albela, Jawan Mohabbat, Pagla kahin ka came and went. In spite of great songs, Lal Patthar and Mera Naam Joker failed at box office. Jaane Anjaane, Kal aaj aur kal received lukewarm response. Andaaz was the only day-saver, that too thanks to only one superhit. Interestingly, SJ used Kishore in almost all their movies in 1971, except for 2-3 Raj Kapoor and Shammi Kapoor movies. They had four releases of Shammi Kapoor that year, and none faring well, also gave a hint at the star’s declining product life cycle.

Kal aaj aur kal was a RK production launching Raj Kapoor’s son Randhir Kapoor. S-J decided to put Kishore Kumar as the voice of young Randhir and made him croon the evergreen beauty “Bhanwre ki gunjan”. Interesting to note that, although the media hypes a lot over Kishore’s association with Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan and Dev Anand, it was Randhir Kapoor for whom, in terms of percentage, Kishore Kumar had played back the most. Except for Jeet(1972) and Humrahi(1974), Kishore played back for Randhir Kapoor in all the other movies of the hero- an outstanding achievement between an actor and a singer.

Jaikishen passed away in 1971 owing to liver cirrhosis. With Shailendra already gone in 1966, Shankar was left alone to carry forward the glorious torch of the past. With already a declining trend in popularity, SJ held intact only one thing- the Filmfare Awards. They received it in 1970 and 1971 winning over the albums of SD,RD,LP and KA with many eyebrows raised. In 1972, a year truly belonging to Rahul Dev Burman, with mesmerizing albums like Mere Jeevan Sathi, Amar Prem, Parichay, Jawani Deewani, Hare rama hare Krishna and Bombay to Goa, SJ managed to win the Filmfare Award again for Beimaan under lot of controversies. SJ used Kishore Kumar again in almost all their movies except Aan Baan(1972)- a Rajendra Kumar starrer, where they decided to stick to their old gun, Rafi. Kishore delivered his job, giving hits under any circumstances, with “Tum kitni khubsoorat ho”(Jungle mein mangal), “ Saath mein pyara saathi”(Dil Daulat Duniya) and “Aankhon aankhon mein baat hone do”(Aankhon aankhon mein).



Shankar and Kishore Kumar in rehearsal can be seen in the original records of Dil, Daulat Duniya-1972. Pic Courtesy: Rajnikanth Ranchod Pithia ji



The next decade saw gradual decline of Shankar amongst mainstream cinema. After giving music to almost 350 movies, the exhaustion showed. With no Jaikishen, Shankar tried to put his foothold intact with occasional hits in Resham Ki Dori(1974), Sanyasi(1975) and Do Jhoot(1975). Many of Shankar’s hits that time came with Kishore like “Chhatri na khol”(Do Jhoot), “Mere dil mein tu hi tu hai”(International Crook), “Chamka paseena”(Resham ki Dori) and “Tu jahan main wahan”(Garm khoon).

Both Shankar and Kishore demised in 1987. While one was given a superstar farewell, the other went away quietly. Quite contradicting to the fact that once, in the 60s, Shankar had actually told in an interview that some songs were not singer Kishore’s “cup of tea”. That time, he was the superstar in music and Kishore was obscure. Time changes fast.

But, the fact remains that Shankar Jaikishen were amongst the greatest music directors in Indian Cinema and Kishore Kumar was one of the greatest playback singers. Although their peak periods don’t match, in spite of being contemporaries, they did give us some brilliant output together. Here are my top 10:

1. Nakhrewali- New Delhi(1956).
2. Chhotisi yeh duniya- Rangoli(1962).
3. Rangoli sajaao-Rangoli(1962).
4. Humlog hai aese deewane- Umang(1970).
5. Geet gata hoon main- Laal Patthar(1971).
6. Jaane anjaane log mile- Jaane Anjaane(1971).
7. Bhanwre ki gunjan-Kal aaj aur kal(1971).
8. Zindagi ek safar hai suhana-Andaaz(1971).
9. Saath mein pyara saathi-Dil Daulat Duniya(1972).
10. Kehta hai dil o mere sanam-Chorni(1980).

Rabindrasangeet in Hindi Movies and Sachin Dev Burman

The appeal of Rabindranath Tagore is universal. Much above than a normal human being, Rabindranath was a culture. A poet, dramatist, composer, musician, actor and humanitarian- Tagore put a foundation of art and culture in Modern India, on which still many skyscrapers are built upon.

Any Bengali friend reading this article would be a bit unpleased at me perhaps, because to describe Tagore is to show light to the sun; and he would be very correct in that. But the only reason I gave a small introduction is to put forth an idea that as a culture, Tagore could never be ignored. So, when it comes to his songs, more than the notes and the words, it is the high degree of emotion which has fascinated people for such a long period. Such a long period, yes; even as early as 2005, when Shantanu Moitra took Tagore’s “Phule phule dhole dhole” to make “Phool phool bhanwara dole”, and the people loved it!

Yes, this is the topic of discussion today. Hindi film music is very rich. Likes and dislikes of people vary, so do the talents of various composers. But, it is a fact that Khemchand Prakash was also a genius and A R Rehman is also a genius-albeit with different strongholds.

I don’t know whether using the word “plagiarism” would do justice to the fact of adapting Tagore’s tunes in  Hindi movie songs by various music directors. It might not be necessary that the composer did it for intentional copying or he was short of creativity, but can also be due to the fact that in certain situations, Tagore became too great to be avoided. As I said, for many musicians, he was an institution, a culture. You can change your outer dimensions, but the culture lies somewhere deep within yourself.

And it is also interesting to note that, it was not only the predictable Bengali music directors who took influence from Tagore in Hindi movies, even non-East composers like Rajesh Roshan and Laxmikant Pyarelal also used Tagore tunes in their movies. Kanu Roy went to the extreme end of using a Tagore song-Sedin dujone dulechhinu bone, intact in Bengali, in a full length Hindi movie called “Anubhav”(1971). Laxmikant Pyarelal  used the tune of “Purano sei diner katha” multiple times as a background mouthorgan score in their hit movie “Dost”(1974). Rajesh Roshan made one of the most famous adaptations of Tagore songs in the form of “Chhukar mere man ko” in Yaarana (1981).

But the person who took the culture of Tagore songs to a very different level was Sachin Dev Burman. As I had earlier said, “Plagiarism” is an avoidable term when it comes to adapting Tagore by certain composers. S D Burman was definitely one of them. He took Tagore just the way Naushad had taken the Hindutani classical ragas. When nobody criticized Naushad for using bandishes of different Ragas just as they were, Sachin Dev Burman had been more than often criticized for taking, adapting and sometimes even bettering a Rabindranath Tagore composition. But, for him, Tagore music was a culture which was quietly staying in his heart, just like Classical music fostering inside the Ustaads. He was an “Ustaad” of the Gharana called “Rabindrasangeet”. There were others also, Pankaj Kumar Mullick and Hemanta Mukherjee are the two to be named amongst the greatest exponents of Tagore from Hindi film music fraternity, but they preferred to keep Tagore aside from their Hindi professional music work; whereas SD took the popularization of Tagore with the flow of his professional work.

Sometimes he was quite blunt; “Nain deewane ek nahi mane”(Suraiya, Afsar-1950) was a complete “Sedin dujone”. Sometimes he was like a delicate craftsman taking some initial notes and then changing the song entirely; “Jayein to jayein kaha” (Talat, Taxi driver-1954) and “Jalte hai jiske liye”(Talat, Sujata-1959) are delicate cuisines prepared by the Master chef combining the spices of both the worlds. And then, there were times, when you simply could not point your finger and say “Yes, this is copied from that”, but always left to feel that Tagore was there, the “cultural feel” could not be overlooked; “Aese to na dekho”(Rafi, Teen Deviyan-1965) and “Yeh tanhayee haye re haye”(Lata, Tere Ghar Ke Saamne-1963).

From a neutral perspective, he actually bettered “Jodi tare naai chini go” with “Tere mere Milan ki yeh raina”(Kishore-Lata, Abhimaan-1973), changing the stanzas altogether in Antara.

There were many more of Tagore, when it comes to SD; ultimately, just like the Folk music, the music of Tagore was also SD’s own. He wanted to spread the universality of Tagore amongst all the common people in India.

And it was just another facet of the Great musician of India.  

Chala jata hoon...

It does not matter if Rajesh Khanna was not seen on the screen or did not make any public appearances. Only the sheer thought of he being alive and breathing in the same world along with us, used to give us the requisite nostalgic hysteria. With the departure of Kaka, followed with the previous exits of Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor and Joy Mukherjee-all just a year back- the last cord between the present generation and the 60s and 70s Indian Cinema is cut.

Yes, in his acting, he was melodramatic more than occasionally. And this progressively went on growing with his age. The charm of melodrama which Anand and Amar Prem gave us, and still give, became a parody by the time Wafaa (2008)- his last released movie- occurred.

But, still, Kaka was there. The first man to show us what mass hysteria means, was there. And now, with he gone, I don’t know, professionally how much present Indian cinema has lost, but the common people have lost Nostalgia forever. Here was a man, whenever coming in front of the public, who could take you to 40 years back in time instantly.

And as I have been listening to the FM Radio stations tirelessly playing the songs of late 60s and early 70s of Kaka, sung mainly by his “voice” Kishore Kumar, penned by Anand Bakshi and composed by R D Burman and Laxmikant Pyarelal, the mind goes wayward.

He had great looks. A Cinematic presence, which no one could or can replicate. The way he held the glass in Amar Prem (Chingari koi bhadke) or the way he nodded his head on an open jeep in Aradhana (Mere sapno ki rani) are history now. Who bothers what he delivered post-1975. It is more than sufficient to spend your lifetime with the two dozen great films Kaka delivered between Khamoshi (1969) to Daag (1973).

A lady charmer, Kaka epitomized romance on screen. With great couplings formed with Mumtaz and Sharmila Tagore, Kaka could be light, playboy some times and intense and emotional some other time with equal ease. With Sharmila, he gave some intense and emotionally serious movies like Safar, Amar Prem, Aavishkar, Daag and Aradhana; while with Mumtaz he delivered juvenile and light hearted romance in Do Raaste, Dushman, Sacha Jhootha and Apna Desh. And there was also Anand, where he did not have any heroine, and gave a lifetime performance.

And Kaka got some of the best philosophical songs ever composed in Hindi Cinema. In spite of not being into the intellectual cinema like Guru Dutt, Kaka got mesmerizing philosophical songs picturized on him like Zindagi ka safar (Kishore Kumar, Safar), Zindagi ke safar mein guzar jaate hai(Kishore Kumar, Aap ki Kasam), Zindagi kaisi hai paheli(Manna De, Anand), Kuchh to log kahenge(Kishore Kumar,AmarPrem) and Diye jalte hai phool khilte hai(Kishore Kumar, Namak Haram). After Kaka, Hindi cinema forgot to make philosophical songs for good. Because, perhaps, after Kaka, every time a philosophical song came on screen, it sounded like preaching. And Rajesh Khanna- with twinkling of his eyes and nodding of his head-could convey heavy messages with élan. Even a lyrically philosophical song Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana became a rage the way Kaka enacted it on the screen and of course, the way his “voice” crooned it.

With Rajesh Khanna, we have lost many more. No matter how much the girls today adore Hrithik Roshan or Salman Khan, it takes a lot of passion to write love letters to your hero with your own blood. Yes, the melodrama he showed on screen, actually hit the nerves of the people in real life also. Who could do such hysteria in our Cinema ever?

Rest in peace, Kaka.

An Ode to Entertainment- Charlie Chaplin and Kishore Kumar

We are inherently laid back people. By “we”, I mean the entire human race, of course. We made Einstein work as a clerk before he invented Relativity. We made Van Gough die of poverty without realizing his talent. We made Bill Gates drop out of school!! Well, the list goes on and on. Recognition to a talent, by us, is affected by many social, political, cultural, perceptual and economic surroundings. Many people raise above them, some take time to do so and some fail.

In the field of Art, Entertainment has always been held low. The question then comes “why”? Perhaps, it lacks the Aristocratic, Blue blooded legacy of its other counterparts. Delve the question, “Why do we need entertainment”? In mediaeval ages, all forms of entertainment were available to people, but for different “class”. Not all could listen to Tansen, could they? Neither could all sneak through the lanes of Umraao Jaan- for different reasons of course. With the advent of the twentieth century and the gradual diminishing stature of the rich and the poor, the World saw lots of changes. We saw Wars, we saw economic depressions, we saw hunger and we saw technology as well!! People got busier. More work and less play. To one’s surprise, Man found that there are more reasons to cry and less reasons to smile!! And still, even with the advent of Twenty First century, we don’t appreciate this amazing fact that to make people smile is one of the best things a human being can do! Entertainment is still considered as something pedestrian, although we all love to get entertained at the core of our hearts.  

The two persons we discuss here- one is a Global legend and the other an Indian subcontinent legend(confined mainly due to the Language), could do what Entertainment needed- to make it the elite. Two had many dissimilarities, but some amazing similarities also, as we would see, starting from social, personal, political and artistic parallels to the mass appeal and lack of recognition also. Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin and Kishore Kumar Ganguly had left an unending impression of their artistic genius to the coming generations, in spite of many efforts to bring their genius down by many agencies. They still stand high.

                

Their Versatility:  

They could act, sing, dance, compose, and produce movies and direct movies. They were multi-talented genius, who learnt all by themselves. Chaplin appeared as the Tramp character first time in 1914. The world staggered with the advent of the First World War, Chaplin gave people entertainment. His masterpiece acts in The Kid (1921), The Gold Rush (1925), The City Lights (1931), The Modern Times (1936), and The Great Dictator (1940) had comic relief along with strong socio-political messages. As the actor- producer-director, Chaplin had the audacity to challenge the conventional. His sublime scores in movies like Limelight (1952), gives Chaplin character a different shade- a shade of soothing, a shade of peace. Of course, like natural to a multi-talented artist, Chaplin is mainly remembered as a film maker and not a musician.

Kishore Kumar’s acting brilliance elated common men in India. Kishore, like Chaplin, liked to keep things simple. His natural acting and singing, first gave him a successful career as an actor in the 50s, and then, following a lean period in the mid-60s, a heavily successful singing career from 70s to late 80s- till his death. Along with that, Kishore produced and directed half a dozen movies, gave music to around 100 songs, and wrote the lyrics of some.

Their Comedy:

They were the prisoners of their own images. As Chaplin himself, made sarcasm at this genre in his classic “Limelight” with a dialogue by a character: “Comedy is not important”, nothing could testify better. Their comedy had a basic difference: While Chaplin used to combine slapsticks with a social message in the back, Kishore’s comedies were mainly jovial and light hearted with full of antics. Chaplin was politically verbose in his acts; Kishore gave a damn to politics. But, ironically, both of them suffered political roadblocks in their artistic career, which we would discuss later.

And both of them could give their acting a different dimension with a Limelight and a Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein. Coming out of their comical image, they could deliver timeless masterpieces to their fans.

Their Mass Appeal:

People never let them down. Chaplin was a craze and the only superstar during the First World War. He kept that momentum up always. People could understand Chaplin- an inherent quality an entertainer should possess. Yes, he did lose some contact with his loyal base in the 40s, but recovered it also.

Kishore Kumar was a rage in the 70s in India. What we call as a “mass hysteria” now, this guy gave a new definition to the stage performance and playback singing. He would dance on the stage, yodel behind the mike; make audience share the stage with him and all sorts of unconventional stuff one could imagine those days. A shackle free singing and performance gave Kishore the mass hysteria, continued even today, with a whole lot of present day singers keeping his legacy intact.

   

Their Personal Lives:

Yet another similarity- both were married four times. Considering Chaplin and Kishore both had stumbling blocks in terms of elite class acceptance, one of the major reasons which can be cited, is this. As I said, too many perceptual and personal stimuli influence our likes and dislikes, Chaplin and Kishore’s artistic achievements were more than occasionally eclipsed by their personal lives and activities.

Lack of Recognition:



A Postal Stamp issued on Kishore



                                            

Academy Awards were installed in 1928, and since then till 1972, Chaplin received none. His movies like Circus and The Great Dictator were nominated and ignored. Blockbusters like City Lights and Modern Times were ignored. Limelight was banned in US due to political circumstances (we would discuss later), only to be re-released in 1972 and fetching the only competitive Academy Award for Chaplin (The Best Musical Score). He received a Lifetime Achievement Award in the same year, a mere consolation for a constantly ignored artist. He did receive Knighthood in 1975- just a year before his death- just to make it “not too late”. Thanks to his long life, Sir Charles, could at least make something up in recognition in an illustrious career of 60 years!

Kishore Kumar won no award for acting and directing movies. As a singer, he was a sensation, but his Awards don’t speak this truth. He did receive 8 Filmfare Awards for Best Playback Singers, but then, the award itself has often been considered pedestrian due to the procedure and groupism behind it. He also received 4 BFJA (Bengal Film Journalists’ Award) awards for best singer but that is also nullified by his anti-group citing Regional flavour. Towards the fag end of his career and life, he received Madhya Pradesh Government’s prestigious Lata Mangeshkar Award, but that too after lot of hullaballoo from a member of the Jury- a music director who had never used Kishore as a singer and did not want the award to be given to him (He himself being the awarded in the previous year). – Courtesy: Original Source.

Political Roadblocks:

Chaplin spoofed Hitler, spoofed Capitalism of Modern America, showed darker sides of the Great Depression and raised vocal tone against Racism, albeit all in a Comic shade. It is quite natural for him to find roadblocks. Post World War II, Chaplin was termed as a communist in America and there were many political spying started on him. His last Hollywood movie “Limelight” was denied a release. This left Chaplin in a sour mood and he decided to leave America for good. For twenty years, Chaplin did not return to US. Only for a few days, he made a sojourn in 1972, to receive the Honorary Oscar. Chaplin died in Switzerland in 1976, far away from his Native England and his second home USA.

Kishore was never into politics. It is hardly recorded if at all he had any political acumen. He knew his art and he knew his pennies. Having seen the toughest of days of struggle, once reaching the pinnacle, Kishore wanted his accounts clear. Nothing for free, was his motto. Whereas, there have been many philanthropies he had done for the needy people, for the producers or the “affordable”, there was no mercy. So, when he was asked to perform for free by the Government, he revolted. He was banned by Government; there was a propaganda which ran against him, only to be lifted after 2 years. And remember, there was no apology given by Kishore Kumar. Along with his Art and his Commerce, Kishore Kumar maintained another thing very well- his Dignity.


Their Enigma:


Strange personalities they possessed. There have been innumerable personal stories on them which are revolving in the cloud. Their whimsical character, moody personality and humarous yet kind nature have been the topic of discussion just like their art and creation. If Peter Ustinov is to be believed, Chaplin once mentioned the Great moviemaker Ingmer Bergman as "Burger"!!


One put all his lifetime savings into one single project "The Great Dictator" and made it a hit and the other replicated the same with "Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein" and delivered the same result.

Their Legacy:



Musician Chaplin with the Fiddle



                                                         

Had there been no language barrier, Kishore Kumar would have been the nearest competitor to Charlie Chaplin in terms of an Entertainer. Comedy and Entertainment never had the Blue Blood in US before Chaplin arrived and the same replicated in India with Kishore Kumar. With common people and the youth always backing up their legacy, it is impossible to ignore these two wizards as long as people continue to smile in this world.

Burmans- Exchanging each other's shoes...

When it comes to music, Sachin Dev Burman and Rahul Dev Burman have been the ultimate for me. In fact, both the Burmans- the father and the son, have been amazing me for the last 25 odd years of my Hindi Film Music following.  As rightly put by one of my acquaintances, their appeal lies in their contradiction. The way both of them had taken their schools of music separately but with equal élan is learning! Traditionally, the senior Burman has always been regarded as the one belonging to the conservative school- inspirations from Indian classical, folk, Tagore songs; whereas the Junior Genius is considered from a rebel group of Westernization, bringing in concepts like Jazz, Bossa Nova, Samba and Hard Rock into Indian music. Well, ahem, this generalization can be nothing but FALSE.

It is so unfortunate, that almost always, even by luminary Film critics, this generalization between the Burmans always occurs. And slowly but steadily, this has given rise to a discretely different type of fan followings for both the father and the son. I have seen many people who consider SD to be the greatest MD in Hindi films (and rightly so) and junking out RD saying “loud” and “cacophonic” (wrongly so). Vice versa, RD group has also hailed RD as the biggest genius in the industry (and rightly so) and ignoring SD saying his songs were slow and old schooled (wrongly so).

The entire idea of this article is to “put things straight”. The idea of SD being “old schooled” is as bizarre as the idea of RD being “cacophonic”.

I discuss six albums here, yes, that’s all- three each from each of the Burmans- just to show the believed notion a twist. RD could be as conventional as the best goes and SD could be as modern, as effervescent as you can think of.

S D Burman- the Modern Man:

Come out of flute, sitar and violin and listen to one of my all-time favourite SD album- Jewel Thief.  Yes, he took necessary influences from David Lean’s Bridge on the River Kwai and some arrangement supports from his son, but JT is so SD-ish to the core!! The beautiful Raag Pahadi based duet of Lata-Rafi or the melancholic “Rulake gaya sapna” or the sizzling dance extravaganza “Hothon pe aesi baat”,the sensual “Raat akeli hai” and the signature Dev Anand from the colour era “Yeh dil na hota bechara”- you could never miss SD!! And he used plethora of instruments to give the cult album a treat- you have trumpets  and sax blowing, Guitars giving lead, along with his favourite flute and violins retaining their identities. JT was a cult album in the late 60s, and I must say, a proper response from the grand old man(he was 61, when JT released) to tose who had signed him off due to his poor health then.

Much before JT, had come Paying Guest. The old man (yes, even then, in 1957) created a new trend of conversational duets with the evergreen “Chhod do aanchal”. Melody with rhythm, sweetness with mischief and romance with fun- SD created a garland of melodies in that movie. The Kishore-Asha duet of “O nigahein mastana” had Kishore deliberately hushing up his voice in the third stanza for one line only to raise up his baritone once again in the following- a concept SD repeatedly used with KK in many songs later on ( Pyar ke is khel mein, Sa re gama, Meet na mila re man ka etc) and giving a beautiful contradiction with the Genius’ voice.

Has anyone heard the new year theme music of the album Gambler? Trust me; it would give Goosebumps to even the strongest RD fan… So modern, so well ahead of time and yet so less discussed.  I paste here the link of the whole album, so that, everyone can understand that SD was equally inheriting the sense of arrangement and sound as his son.

http://gaana.com/#!/albums/gambler-hindi-1971

Gambler also saw SD using Kishore Kumar in a super-contrasting mood song “Kaisa hai mera dil tu khiladi”- one of the most underrated song from the combo. Just like, no one else could have sung the song with so much justice other than Kishore, the compositional brilliance of SD is unmatched here as well. The mood switching happens throughout. And he gets traditional with Rafi with equal swiftness in “Mera man tera pyasa”- a soft romantic genre where Rafi was definitely the best. And the improvisation with “Dil aaj shayar hai” is exemplary. A ghazalish song, treated with so much of modernism, it simply changed the way sad songs were being sung in Hindi films. No over emotion, no sobbing, no melodrama- pathos expressed with dignity and yet conveyed meaningfully and passionately!

R D Burman- the Traditional:

He changed the entire gambit of Hindi Film Music in the early 70s. The foundation he had created with Teesri Manzil (1966) was enhanced further and further in the early 70s. RD happened to be the musician Modern India had been waiting for- a person who could mix melody with rhythm. A sad thing is that the next generation took inspiration only from RD’s rhythmic experimentation and very little from the amazing melodies he had given to us to spend our lifetimes.

RD was very much captivated in his experimentation till Amar Prem(1971) happened. Ironically, getting traditional was the ultimate experiment for Pancham. If Shakti Samanta- the maker of the film is to be believed, Pancham had to plead to get the assignment. Amar Prem successfully completed the trilogy of Woman centred movies by Samanta, preceded by Aradhana (1969) and Kati Patang (1970)- both musically chartbusters.

Pancham showed his grasp on Indian classical to the audience. Even if we leave out “Doli mein bithaike kahar” and “Bada natkhat hai re”- songs composed unaccredited by SD in that movie, the balance 4 were mesmerizing. RD exploited the vocal genius of Kishore like never before- a true Bhairavi (Chingari koi bhadke) with another Kalavati-Khamaj mix (Kuchh to log kahenge) and a timeless pathos (Yeh kya hua), RD, as mentioned by Ganesh Anantharaman in his book “Bollywood Melodies”,  singlehandedly ended all the doubts on whether Kishore Kumar cold be a complete singer or not. And not an end yet, even if today we get a lifetime album of Lata Mangeshkar, “Raina Beeti Jaaye” can hardly be missed out. A supreme Khamaj composition with Guitar rhythm instead of  traditional Tabla thekas, RD showed his mastery over rhythm and Indian classical simultaneously.

The following year-1972- saw a whole new partnership of RD-Gulzar in Hindi films. With Gulzar, Pancham delivered what he could not otherwise do in the then –on-going commercial masala flicks. And with excellent outputs in Parichay, Aandhi, Khushboo and Kinara, happened Ghar (1978).  A masterpiece, to say the least, Pancham did wonders with the voices of Lata and Kishore, just like Amar Prem. Both the Lata solos-  Aaj kal paaon zameen par and Tere bina jiya jaye na(a portion at the end sung by Kishore, retained in the movie but removed in the records), had Pancham utilizing the sweetness of Lata to the extreme. Both the compositions reminded us of Karta- his father, who had left for heavenly aboard three years back that time. Coming right after his Western chartbuster Hum kisise kum nahi(1977) a year before, Ghar had shocked the musical society with a Pancham punch of traditional Indian music. The duet of Kishore-Lata (Aap ki aankhon mein kuchh) and the Kishore solo(Phir wohi raat hai), excelled brilliantly in terms of singing, poetry and compositional achievement.

It seems Satyajit Ray had asked Kishore Kumar to do something about the former’s protégée Anup Ghoshal (information source: RD- the man, the music by Anirudha Bhattacharjee and Balaji Vithal) in Hindi film music. The request was transferred from the Big K to the Big P. The result was Masoom(1982)- in my opinion, the best experimental album of Pancham in the 80s. Yes, Lata was there for a solo but that’s all!! The whole album was done by RD with unorthodox singers like Anup Ghoshal, Aarti Mukherjee (winning a National award for a song in the movie), Suresh Wadekar, Bhupinder and children. No Kishore, no Asha, no instrumental extravaganza. RD created simple soothing melodies with maximum effect.  Masoom is a underrated album of RD filled with his musical genius. Each and every song was tenderly created with utmost melodic achievement.

Not that, these are the only albums showing deviations from the Burmans’ perceived images. There have been many more modern albums from the Papa Burman(Chalti ka naam Gaadi, Aradhana, Prem Pujari, Teen Deviyan) which had absolute modern treatment, modern arrangement and orchestral genius. So did Pancham show his orthodox calibre in all the Gulzar movies and many Rajesh Khanna, Hrishikesh Mukherjee or Basu Chatterjee movies.

Both the Burmans, for me, were a boon to the music industry and carry forward a legacy which made many more people’s lives. To constrain them by labelling is not only uncalled for, but also unethical!