Born in June,1939, he left untimely more than thirty years ago in Jan, 1994, yet there’s still an immense amount of reminiscing, recreation and invoking of the musical gems of composer, singer and amazingly versatile artist that was RD Burman, lovingly known as Pancham. In the 1960-90s era, he composed musical scores for over 330 films, bringing a new level of musical ensemble with diverse compositions – classical, pop, fusion et al !
His tunes were a boon to both Hindi & Bengali music worlds of his time, that remain sheer treasures & fans know that many of his hit songs have versions in both languages. Interspersed among them are also numbers that became iconic not only for their superb rendition & lyrics but for the picturizations on Rajesh Khanna, the superstar of the 70’s.
‘Zindagi Ke Safar Mein..’ from the Hindi film ‘Aap Ki Kasam’ (1974) featuring Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz, is a sublime, beautiful sad song. It has a poignant theme of a once vain and egoistic man who’s very repentant having lost all his life’s bearings. The heart-rending orals of the soulful song were by inimitable Kishore da and awe-inspiring lyrics were written by Anand Bakshi and composed by Pancham. This was one of those songs that didn’t have a Bengali take but remains one of Pancham’s most moving creations !
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