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!

Kishore on "uncommon" faces

Here I list 10 of my all time favourite Kishore Kumar numbers which were picturized on "uncommon" faces, who were no superstars. And tell you what, this is surely going to raise your love for Kishore, knowing how he could give superhits with some miserable faces on screen.

1. Teri duniya se hoke majboor chala(1970)- picturized on Parikshit Sahani- This evergreen sad song from Pavitra Papi(1970), written and composed by Prem Dhawan remains an all time favourite. Soulfully sung by Kishore, the song was lip synced by Parikshit Sahani, whose movies as hero can be counted on fingertips. The song had everything mesmerizing, except the actor and his woodden expressions.

2. Chalte chalte mere yeh geet(1976)- the song which made Bappi Lahiri. I try to memorize the name of the hero lip syncing this song and I forget everytime, now that I have given up at last. Was he some nephew of Dev Anand or something? Good that I did not see him too many times on screen. Again, leaving him apart, the song is a timeless beauty.

3. Dil kya kare jab kisise(1975)- Even Vikram's shorts looked better than his comic expressions on screen. This was supposed to be a sensous number, an all time favourite for teenagers even today, and yes, only to listen to and not to watch!!

4. Jeena to hai par ae dil kaha(1973)- Personally I rate this as one of the finest sad songs created by Pancham and Kishore. And if you have not been lucky enough to see the picturization of this song, dont miss Manu Narang and his acting!!!! Do get back to me after watching!

5. Yeh naina yeh kajal(1976)- Yet another beauty from Bappi Lahiri. Surprisingly, if he had composed some of his crappiests for Kishore, he also did many of his finests also. This is one of them picturized on some Bhishma Sahani.

6. Yeh wohi geet hai jisko maine(1972)- Jaidev and Kishore Kumar: a combination which came together only for 6 songs, and this one is easily the best of them picturized on Jalal Agha, who as expected, overdoes everything on screen.

7. Aap ke kamre mein koi rehta hai(1973)- Ahh...!!! The fabulous Tareq and his colourful glasses!!

8. Savere ka sooraj tumhare liye hai(1972)- Again a beauty from Kishore Kumar. His last recorded song with O P Nayyar and easily the best as well. Masterfully written poetry, sublime singing and striking composition with Dev Mukherjee on screen, who honestly, did not do a bad job.

9. Baharon ka yeh mausam suhana(1986)- The twilight times of Ravi, this sizzling tune was picturized on Pankaj Dheer- the Karna of Mahabharata. Of course, he played the role of Karna better.

And last but not the least, rather the best of this lot of evergreen beauties, the oldest and the most obscure- Jagmag jagmag karta nikla chand poonam ka pyara. I keep it at the last because there is no video available of this song today, but it is only known that it was picturized on Kishore Sahu in Rimjhim(1949). Those days, Kishore Sahu used to be a hero, but today he is most remembered as the man who played Dev Anand's father in Hare Rama Hare Krishna.

Kishore Kumar and his "Bengali" image

The above image of the chief minister of West Bengal(or, Paschimbanga- as it is currently named) garlanding the artist Kishore Kumar (1929-1987) on his 82nd birth anniversary on 4th August 2011 in her own office, indicates a quantum change in the perception of the Bengalis towards this genius. Not very long ago, entertainment in this state was taken as a lower grade of arts and entertainers were from a species not to be revered but only to be enjoyed. Question comes then, why such change?

Well, Kishore belonged to a period of "artistic brilliance in Bengal". He was not born in Bengal, neither he had a mainstream role in Bengali cinema and music for quite some time. Bengalis were preoccupied with the music of Tagore and Nazrul with intermittent inputs from Hemanta, Manna, Shyamal, Manabendra, Satinath, Sandhya and many other local breed talents. Being hailed from a middle class Bengali family myself, I could feel the indifference major Bengali music lovers had for Kishore Kumar. Too light, too fast and sometimes too modern as well..!!!

Kishore's first Bengali song came almost in the same time of his Hindi debut. The assembled number of Samar(1950) never came to notice in Bengal. He did make a more serious venture into mainstream Bengali movies and music with Lukochuri(1958), but again, a big hit notwithstanding, the reception was "casual". Many people perceived Kishore's antics in Lukochuri a mere translation in Bengali from what he was already doing in Bombay. Also, from Kishore's perspective as well, he might have assessed the monumental task of penetrating into Bengali mass and hence, concentrated more in his Hindi assignments, which were, by then, reduced to only acting.

There are very few anecdotes available today as to how Bengali musicians assessed Kishore's musical prowess that time. The traditional school of Bengali music, lead by the likes of Nachiketa Ghosh, Robin Chatterjee, Satinath Mukhopadhyay etc had hardly anything to say about him. Hemanta Mukhopadhyay was the only one working with Kishore, albeit only in the Bengali movies where Kishore himself was the hero- Lukochuri, Ektuku Chhoan Laage and Dushtu Projapati. Although, even with this limited association, Hemanta had given Kishore some of his best compositions like "Ei to hethay kunjo chhayay" ,"Chholoki chholoki man tanu" , "Shudhu ektukhaani chaoa" (with Geeta Dutt).

Not that there were not exceptions. The above photograph and the song is more than often discussed. But, again, they were taken on a much lighter note(something like the reception of rock band singer Anindya singing a Rabindrasangeet in Rituparno Ghosh's "Shubho Mahorat" today), "exceptions"- that is what they used to say.

Perhaps, the problem with "artist" Kishore Kumar was that his life changing album was "Aradhana" and not "Safar" or "Amar Prem", which came later. It was easy to assume that Kishore was a light singer and Bengal hardly had any allowance of light songs in their school of music.

And this label followed Kishore in spite of his undisputed dominance in the much larger Hindi music arena in the 70s and 80s. Shyamal Mitra was the first to lift the image to a small extent. Unfortunately, "Bipin babur karan shudha" was more popular on the lips of a drunken Uttam Kumar in "Amanush" than "Ki ashay bandhi khelaghar"- a sparkling semi-classical gem from the same film.

Between 1968-1975, Kishore came out with several non-film modern Bengali songs, each and every one being in the highest musical value league. He himself composed Raga Puriya Dhaneshri based "Aamaar deep nebhaano raat", Lata Mangeshkar composed for him " Aami nei aami nei"- a soulful composition sung with extreme vocal accomplishment by Kishore and R D Burman skillfully and delicately composing a lifetime " She to elo na". Kishore Kumar, after a long time, it seemed to have gained a place in the hearts of Bengali music lovers.

Kishore's low involvement in Bengali music in the 70s can be attributed to the fact that Hindi movies were still creating good music that time and hence he might not have felt the need to do something more serious in Bengali as well as to the fact that his major partners in that period like SDB, RDB, LP, KA or RR were not doing any music in Bengali in the 70s. Come 80s, Bengali movies and music underwent a sharp descent just like their counterparts in Bombay. Uttam Kumar was gone and so was, alongwith him, the evergreen romantic musicals. Nachiketa Ghosh breathed his last in 1976, Hemanta was too old to keep on going and Salil Chowdhury decided to focus only on very very limited assignments. The torch bearers left were Shyamal Mitra, who again had drastically cut down on his assignments and the Bomaby "importeds" like Sapan Jagmohan, Bappi Lahiri and R D Burman.

Definitely, not a period to be recalled with fondness, Bappi churned out insignificant numbers one after another, "mumbai-nizing" the Bengali music and Pancham, it seemed, clicked only with his non-film modern Bengali song albums. All his Bengali ventures that period- "Troyee","Kalankini Konkaboti", "Teen Murti", "Anyay Abichaar" do not justify the genius of Pancham- perhaps the greatest ever MD in Hindi films after his father. So, Kishore was reduced to singing in Bengali films largely under Bappi and Ajay Das- with horrible movies for more horrible faces like Sukhen Das..!! So, a gem like "Aaj milon tithir poornima chand" went unnoticed with Sukhen Das and a stray "Ek taanete jemon temon" or "Kheye oi laathi lyang" became cult songs with Mithun Chakraborty on screen.

This made an interesting transformation again. Kishore Kumar now became a "mass popular singer" in Bengal and a hot favourite amongst all the rookie crooners in Puja pandals and Local trains with intellectual Bongs drifting farther away from him. Even two full albums of Rabindrasangeet released in 1981 and 1986 could not repair the damage, as he was singing "Diner sheshe ghumer deshe" and "Rakhalchandra Mataal" in the same year, and yes, "versatility" was a taboo as far as traditional Bengali music was concerned.

So, now the million dollar question- how come sudden change in the perception today, after 25 years of Kishore's death?? Why suddenly reams and reams of papers are spent glorifying how Satyajit Ray used to admire Kishore or Hemanta had given some of his best compositions to Kishore or how his Rabindrasangeets are so unique even today?? The chief minister declaring that Kishore Kumar songs should be played during the traffic signals on the roads of Kolkata was a bit too much to digest for those who had always been fed with Akhil Bondhu Ghosh and Jaganmay Mitra.

Is Bengal desparately looking for a National Hero today? With music being one of their proudest domains, what Bengal can claim today at the National level is Pritam Chakraborty and Shantanu Moitra. Uttam Kumar might have been the superstar of Bengal, but 99% Indians outside Bengal yawn at this name, vaguely recalling Amanush and Chhoti Si Mulaqat.

And Kishore Kumar and Rahul Dev Burman have become youth icons! A gradual study and evolution in music have delved up a strange fact that these two together, had created music which was much much ahead of their times. So, the forgotten gems are revisited, unnoticed numbers that time are awed at and the intellectuals relook at their stances that time. Yes, perhaps, Kishore Kumar was a genius. He was a singing superstar when he died, and a comprehensive artist 25 years after his death.