Remembering S.D. Burman: 50 Years Later, His Music Still Defines Hindi Cinema
Fifty years after he passed away, S.D. Burman’s songs continue to weave magic. The maestro breathed his last on October 31, 1975. He had been ailing, and slipped into a coma after rehearsing Kishore Kumar’s song Badi Sooni Sooni Hai from Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s film Mili. He was the second great Hindi composer to pass away that year, after Madan Mohan on July 14.
Besides the fact that his songs are still played on the radio, and at concerts and competitions, one indicator of his popularity is that there have been 14 books about him, including English biographies by H.Q. Chowdhury. Khagesh Dev Burman, the Anirudha Bhattacharjee-Balaji Vittal team and Sathya Saran. Last year, Moti Lalwani and Richa Lakhanpal released The Monk And His Music, based on 50 interviews with those associated with him professionally and in person. The book contains many anecdotes describing lesser-known facets of his personality.
Burman had a vast discography, beginning with Bengali songs and moving on to Hindi classics. A good number of his 1950s and 1960s tunes were filmed on Dev Anand, and that part of his career would require a separate page. To mark 50 years since his demise, let’s look at a specific period of his career. Our choice is songs from the 1970s.
At the beginning of the decade, Burman was riding high on the success of the Aradhana soundtrack, released in 1969. While the media focused more on how the film shot Rajesh Khanna to superstardom, the music did phenomenally well, with the Kishore hits Mere Sapnon Ki Rani and Roop Tera Mastana.
The 1970s began with Prem Pujari, starring Dev Anand and Waheeda Rahman. Neeraj wrote the lyrics, and while Phoolon Ke Rang Se became one of Kishore’s big hits, the film also had Lata Mangeshkar’s Rangeela Re and the Kishore-Lata duet Shokhiyon Mein Ghola Jaaye.
SD and Neeraj got together again in the 1971 films Gambler (Dev-Zaheeda), Sharmilee (Shashi Kapoor-Raakhee) and Tere Mere Sapne (Dev-Mumtaz). The first film had Kishore’s Dil Aaj Shayar Hai and Rafi’s Mera Man Tera Pyaasa, proving again that the music director knew which singer to give which song. In Sharmeelee, Kishore had the brilliant O Meri Sharmilee and Khilte Hain Gul Yahaan, whereas Lata sang the raag Patdeep beauty Megha Chaaye. In Tere Mere Sapne. Kishore and Lata sang the duets Hey Maine Kasam Li and Jeevan Ki Bagiya. The year 1971 also had the Dharmendra-Hema Malini film Naya Zamana, where Anand Bakshi wrote Lata’s Naya Zamana Aayega and Rama Rama Gazab Hui Gavaa Re.
Clearly, the decade had begun with a bang for Burman Senior, even as his son RD was making waves in his own way. One of the biggest successes of SD Burman’s career came in 1973 with Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Abhimaan. The film, starring Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bhaduri, had the incredible Kishore-Lata hit Tere Mere Milan Ki Yeh Raina, the Lata solos Ab To Hain Tumse, Nadiya Kinare and Piya Bina and Kishore’s Meet Na Mila. The songs were written by Majrooh Sultanpuri and the composer also got in Rafi on Teri Bindiya and Manhar Udhas on Loote Koi Man, both duets with Lata.
Two more films with Mukherjee brightened up the final years of SD’s career. Besides Badi Sooni Sooni, the Amitabh-Jaya movie Mili had Kishore’s Aaye Tum Yaad Mujhe and Lata’s Maine Kaha Phoolon Se. They were written by Yogesh. In Chupke Chupke, released six months before his death, SD teamed up with Bakshi again. Though the film was known more for its comic situations, Lata’s title song and Ab Ke Sajan Sawan Mein provided musical relief, along with the Lata-Mukesh duet Baagon Mein Kaise Yeh Phool.
The early 1970s had other gems from Dada Burman. Notable were Anuraag, Us Paar, Sagina (the only time Kishore sang for Dilip Kumar) and Prem Nagar, where Rajesh Khanna synced to Kishore’s Yeh Laal Rang. His last film Tyaag, starring Shashi and Zeenat Aman, was released 16 months after his death. Fifty years later, SD Burman lives on.