Shared Melodies

Today is the 70th birth anniversary of Rahul Dev Burman. Ritujaay Ghosh spoke to members of RD’s original band Almost every year, on June 27, a long, patient queue forms in front of Kala Mandir. Inside, there’s standing room only, while on stage, a group of men play evergreen melodies from Hindi films. If that sounds like a tacky album title, perish the thought. The melodies really are evergreen, and these men are torchbearers of one of Bollywood’s richest legacies - the music of Rahul Dev Burman.

They are the Original Pancham Band, inheritors of a man who died childless. To these 35-odd men, Burman was Pancham da or simply, Pancham. Pirated CDs of his compositions can never match what Burman’s orchestra produces even today, nearly 15 years after his death. Burman knew he was incomplete without his orchestra. And always acknowledged it as the most powerful artillery in his musical arsenal, unlike plenty of other composers.

Manohari Singh, who worked with Burman for over four decades and is now the orchestra’s frontman, still religiously varnishes his saxophone before he goes on stage. And a tear still rolls down his face as he shares Pancham anecdotes. It isn’t just Singh. Burman worked with the best musicians in the trade, sometimes as session players. While Singh frequently doubled up as Burman’s assistant, the likes of Swapan Chakraborty and the late Marutirao Keer helped out too.

On the tabla, Burman used the services of Janardan Abhayankar and Homi Mullah. The icing on the cake was Pandit Samta Prasad, who did the honours for Basanti’s famous tonga chase sequence in Sholay. Burman also worked with Trilok Gurtu and Leslie Vaz, stars in their own right who played drums for Burman.

Bhanu Gupta, one of Burman’s more trusted lieutenants, who worked in all Burman’s films right up to 1942: A Love Story, his last, played Spanish guitar and was one of Burman’s closest friends and sitting musician. Gupta’s surprise partner, also on the guitar, was Bhupinder Singh, who also sang many of Burman’s hit songs later.

Courtesy:hindustantimes.com
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