Indian Newslink 1st APRIL 2018 Digital Edition

APRIL 1, 2018
Entertainmentlink
Tribute to Sachin Dev Burman brings back the Golden Age
Venkat Raman
venkat@indiannewslink.co.nz
The Golden Age of Hindi
film music with Sachin
Dev Burman will return,
at least for an evening, as
a musical programme gets under
way in Auckland in May.
Organised by the Auckland
based Swar Sadhana Academy
of Indian Music and Ravi Shetty
Concepts, the Programme will
put together some of the finest
songs of Sachin Dev Burman,
paying tribute to the late
maestro.
Called ‘Sunehri Yaadein,’ the
event will be held on Saturday,
May 26, 2018 from 630 pm
at Dorothy Winston Centre,
Auckland Girls Grammar
School located at Howe Street in
Auckland Central.
Tickets, priced at $20 per person
are now on sale.
Hohepa Auckland
Third in the annual ‘Sunehri
Yaadein’ annual series, the programme
this year is being held
in aid of ‘Hohepa Auckland,’ a
charitable organisation that provides
people with intellectual
disabilities to live, learn and
work with others of all abilities.
About S D Burman
Born on October 1, 1906,
Sachin Dev Burman in Comilla
(Bangladesh) to Raj Kumari
Nirmala Devi, the Royal
Princess of Manipur and
Nabadwipchandra Dev Burman,
Annual
Swar Sadhana
event in aid
of Hohepa
Charity
Maharaja of Tripura (1849-
1862), Sachin Dev Burman was
the youngest of the five sons in
a family of nine children. His
mother died when he was just
two years of age.
He started as a musician in the
Calcutta Radio Station in 1920.
He began composing songs
for Bengali films in 1937 and later
become one of the most successful
Bollywood film music
composers.
With more than 100 films to
his credit, his songs were known
for their light semi-classical
and folk style of Bengal. His son
Rahul Dev Burman was also a
celebrated music composer in
the Indian film industry.
Almost all leading singers from
1950 to 1970, including Lata
Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi,
Geeta Dutt, Manna Dey, Kishore
Kumar, Hemant Kumar, Asha
Bhosle and Shamshad Begum.
Mukesh and Talat Mahmood
have songs composed by
Burman. He also rendered about
14 Hindi and 13 Bengali film
songs.
Partnership with Dev
Anand
Burman joined Dev
Anand to compose songs
for ‘Afsar’ (1950), the
first movie of the latter’s
company Navketan
International Films
Private Limited. The success
of their second film
‘Baazi’ (1951) elevated
Burman to the top of
the Hindi film industry
music.
The jazzy musical score
in ‘Baazi’ revealed a new
facet of singer Geeta Dutt,
who was mainly known
for melancholy songs
and bhajans. While every
song in the film was a
hit, ‘Tadbir Se Bigdi Hui
Taqdeer,’ a ghazal that
was occidentalised into
a seductive song became
famous.
The ‘Jaal’ song ‘Yeh
Raat, Yeh Chandni’ by
Hemant Kumar is an alltime
great classic.
The song, ‘Thandi
Hawain’ from ‘Naujawan’
(1951) sung by Lata
Mangeshkar was one
of his first major hits.
It made Lata very famous
as also poet Sahir
Ludhianvi.
The songs sung by
Mohammed Rafi and
Kishore Kumar became
popular.
Guru Dutt and others
He also wrote music
for the Guru Dutt classics
such as ‘Pyaasa’
(1957) and ‘Kaagaz Ke
Phool’ (1959). Among his
other hits of that decade
were ‘House No. 44’
(1955), ‘Funtoosh’ (1956)
and ‘Solva Saal’ (1958).
In 1959 came Sujata, a
masterpiece by Bimal
Roy, and Burman created
magic again with ‘Jalte
Hai Jiske Liye’ by Talat
Mahmood.
Asha Bhosle promoted
In 1957, Burman
fell out with Lata
Mangeshkar and adopted
her younger sister Asha
Bhosle as his lead female
singer. The team of
Burman, Kishore Kumar,
Asha Bhosle and lyricist
Majrooh Sultanpuri became
popular for their
duet songs.
Thus, he was responsible,
along with O P
Nayyar for shaping Asha
Bhosle as a singer of repute,
who became his
daughter-in-law after
she married Rahul Dev
Burman.
Rise of Kishore
In 1958, Burman composed
music for Kishore
Kumar’s house production
‘Chalti Ka Naam
Gaadi,’ the same year in
29
which he was awarded the ‘Sangeet Natak
Akademi Award.’
He remains the only music director to
have won the prestigious award.
He often took inspiration from Folk,
Hindustani Classical Music as well as day-today
sounds of life.
During an interview with Filmfare, he explained
how he had composed the ‘Kaala
Pani’ tune for ‘Hum Bekhudi Mein Tum,’ a
song written by Majrooh Sultanpuri, rendered
by Mohammed Rafi and picturised on
Dev Anand.
He said that he was inspired by
Hindustani Classical ‘Raag Chayyanat’ and
Muslim Muezzin’s call for prayers that one
hears daily near a Mosque to compose the
song.
More on Sachin Dev Burman and Sunehri
Yaadein will appear in our next issue.