New Delhi, Oct 1
Urdu poet Sahir Ludhianvi, who had just begun writing lyrics for Hindi films, was taken aback when he found his ghazal, with a motif of motivation and redemption, had been transformed into a sizzling (for its time) cabaret song. He remonstrated with the music composer but S.D. Burman stood firm.
Ultimately, the poet had to settle for seeing his cherished creation rendered in the composer's desired way by the talented Geeta Dutt, and picturised on a perky, guitar-playing Geeta Bali pirouetting around a rather cagey Dev Anand. Not only was the jazzed-up song and the film - among the first of Hindi films's excursion into noir - a hit, but it was a makeover for the singer, who had so far been typecast as only good for bhajans and tearful songs.
Sahir was not the only film figure that Sachin Dev Burman, born on this day (October 1) in 1906, joined issue with. He also locked horns with the legendary filmmaker Bimal Roy over a song in "Bandini" (1963).
Poet and filmmaker Gulzar once recalled that when he met Roy for the first time, after a common friend recommended him for writing, he found him a bit irritated. The music composer was also there, but sitting in a corner, and there was undeniable tension in the air.
What it boiled down to was the situation of the song "Mora Gora Ang Lai Le". Burman wanted the actress (Nutan) to go outside her house to sing it, and Roy opposed it, saying that no sheltered woman would leave her home alone after dusk to sing. Burman countered that she could scarcely sing it before her father but Roy said that he had recited it to her and she could reciprocate. At this, the composer, who was getting heated up too, said that they did not need a poem recital but a song "which would be stifled inside the home" and if he didn't get his way, he would not compose for it!
Ultimately, they arrived at a compromise and Nutan went out to the balcony of the house to sing!
All the incidents go to show how Burman, who made his name both in the Bengali and Hindi film worlds, had an unerring instinct for his art, exemplified by the unforgettable, but varied music he gave for a host for iconic Hindi films.
"Taxi Driver" (1954), "Devdas" (1955), "Pyaasa" (both 1957), "Solva Saal", "Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (both 1958), "Sujata", "Kaagaz Ke Phool" (both 1959), "Kala Bazar" (1960), "Teen Devian", "Guide" (both 1965), "Jewel Thief" (1967), "Aradhana" (1969), "Abhimaan" (1973), "Chupke Chupke", "Mili" (both 1975) and their range of immortal songs are among his priceless legacies.
These films may have starred Ashok Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Dilip Kumar, Dharmendra, Rajesh Khanna, Madhubala, Meena Kumari, Vyjayanthimala, Waheeda Rehman, Sharmila Tagore, Hema Malini, but Dev Anand and Guru Dutt especially, but it was the music that kept them alive in public memory.
Another reason for this was his approach. Santoor maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, who used to be a part of his in-house musicians, once revealed that he had a methodical way, wanting to understand what the film was, what was the situation, the actors and the director, and only then, think about its music.
Burman also did not like heavy orchestration, or classical overtones in his music, which accounts for its lightness and freshness. The first he considered overkill, and the second, he maintained, had no place in film music, which could be serious without using it - as he showed in "Devdas" and "Pyaasa".
But he always gave his work his full attention. Accomplished singer Manna Dey recalled in his autobiography how Burman used to drop into his house in whatever garb he was in to seek a response to what he had composed.
And Burman had a wry sense of humour. Sharma recalled that at one intense musical discussion, the composer paid no attention to a plate of a dozen rasgullas a visitor from Calcutta had brought. However, flautist Hari Prasad Chaurasia - with whom the santoor maestro would later tie up for film composition under the name Shiv-Hari - ended up gobbling all, trusting that Burman was oblivious of his 'theft'.
However, when Charausia performed exceptionally well at a rehearsal the next day, Burman told him that it was inevitable that his melodies would be sweet, "after all, you ate a dozen of my rosgullas".
He had three other legacies, before his untimely death in 19875 - a handful of songs in his voice, including "O re manjhi", "Wahan kaun hai tera" and "Doli mein bithaye ke kahar", his equally gifted son R.D. Burman, and his name gracing the greatest modern Indian cricketer as Sachin Tendulkar's father was a big fan.
