Dec 03, 2004 01:36 AM
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(Updated Dec 03, 2004 01:36 AM)
Recently while driving through the wind mills and the green pastures of Holland, my mind was racing off to distant memoirs, to a time when as a four year old I would wait for a week to see Chitrahar; my favorite song with a baby faced Sunny Deol and a slightly plump Amrita Singh. The song ( Jab Hum Jawa Honge) made me fall in love with those Wind mills, Horses, a lovely sweet voice called Lata Mangeshkar, and a slightly bald, always smiling musician called Rahul Dev Burman.
Years later, as an adolescent, when the Musician had passed away; each passing year acting as a strong upsurge of love and admiration for the person, I had come across this 5 CD/cassette collection named “Legends: Pancham – the Versatile Composer”. I did not waste a moment in dishing out 300 odd bucks for the collection and perhaps those are my best spent money on anything. Years later again (must have been more than 4 years), as I have fondly relived a part of my identity with Pancham’s music, I was thrilled beyond redemption when I found my friend carrying the CD’s (I had long ago scratched the tape real bad, listening them non stop).
No collection can probably ever do justice to the monumental talent of Pancham, opening the collection booklet gives you the idea straightway. Embedded in the 78 songs are some of the best music that Hindi cinema has received, some gems which have become part of the folklore, some lesser known ones which deserved to be. You see, experience and hear Pancham in various ways, smiling away with Lata di and Asha, with his father, the legendary Dada Burman and then you hear him teaching the ragas in “Aaj Kal Pav Zameen par”, sharing his moments with Gulzar and Asha di. The collection has snippets, comments and appreciation from some of the contemporary legends like Lata, Ustad Amjad Khan, Pt Shiv Sharma, Jagjeet Singh, Madan Mohan, Manna Dey, Shammi Kapoor etc.
The Albums:
Volume 1: Opens up with the classic “Ghar Aaja Ghir Aaye”, opening is shared by none other than Lata di herself , the song has one of the best classy preludes ( Pancham always made Lata sound special, probably after Madan Mohan). On the verge of quitting the Industry (Guru Dutt committed suicide after signing the young Pancham), his close friend Mehmood gave him the first release, interestingly the song also brought together Dada Burman and Didi moni (Lata) who had not worked for quite some time. The next track is again Mehmood unplugged, a catchy tune from Bhoot Bungla(where Pancham played one of the main leads). Then there is Asha Bhosle in Teesri Manzil and the album catches speed. There are some real beauties in store with “Mere Saamne Wali Khidki”, “Waadiya Mera Daman”, “Chingari Koi Bhadke”, “Ye Jo Mohabbat Hai”. There is a little known Lata gem “ O Ganga Maiya (for which he supposedly was nominated for a Maharashtra govt. classical music award, the judges rejected the song the moment they heard R D Burman) and then the magical “Kya Janoo Sajan” which adds that spark of immortality to the songs.
Volume 2: Opens up with the eternal “Beeti Na Beetai Raina”; Gulzar does the sutradhari this time, his grand baritone sets up the mood. Then there are light hearted ones like “Dekha Na Haye Re”, “O Saathi Chal” (You start getting amazed at this man’s ability to compose according to situations). In between, you see flashes of his experimenting self in “Jab Andhera Hota Hai” (stunning background vocals), “O Maajhi”(the Tympani effect). In between there are famous ones like “O Mere Dil Ke Chain”, “Duniya Me Logo Ko” , “Bahon Me Chalo Aao” and “Chura Liya Hai Tumne”.
Volume 3: Jatin-Lalitthrow up the rare bits of memorabilia as we get to know how Pancham composed a chartbuster from a single instrumental track after a strike by the music industry (“Hum Dono Do Premi”). There are typical ‘70s swashbuckling numbers like “Jai Jai Shiv Shankar”, “Kya Nazare”, “Hum Tum Ghumsum”. Kishore da’s “O Hansini” is a classy pick followed by the lesser known masterpiece “Kahin Karti Hogi” (the remix by Anamika made it to charts). Then we hear Pancham live singing Mehbooba (Sholay’s music rights were owned by Polygram, so HMV could not get the originals), sharing his opinions about “Mere Naina Saawan Bhado”as to how Kishore da despite being deficient in classical training, sang it from the heart. Then there is Madan Mohan, one great complimenting another as Kohli Saab thinks Pancham has enough caliber to be a classy musician, unlike the stereotyping of a Westernized Musician.
Volume 4: Opens up with “Naam Ghum Jaayega”, after a tête-à-tête with Gulzar and Asha, trying to un-puzzle the magic created by Gulzar and Pancham together (years later, they still epitomize music). Then there’s the rusty “Dhanno Ki Aankhon”, the singer in Pancham takes charge. We get glimpses of the more popular Pancham with “Chand Mera Dil”, “Aane wala Pal”, “Rimjhim Gire Saawan”. My pick: “Aaj Kal Paav Zameen” and “Yeh Saaye Hai”. By later half of ‘70s he consistently gave the most melodious songs, yet never won awards, it’s somewhat demeaning to music when something like “Sargam” wins over the soulful “Ghar”.
Volume 5: Back to “Jab Hum Jawan Honge”. In the ‘80s he consistently launched one star-son after another, from Sajnay Dutt, Kumar Gaurav to Sunny Deol, creating dreamy music that brought peppy ness to melancholic times. We hear to Udit Narayan afresh in “Bade Dilwale” (amazing is the no of singers he debuted: Amit Kumar, Shabbir Kumar, Abhijeet, Udit Narayan, Purnima..endless list). The album closes with “Kuch Na Kaho”, Gulzar deservedly rounding off, and Pancham crooning away “Raah pe rehte hai, Khush raho Ahle watan, Hum to safar karte hain”
Probably one minor complaint: The album has too many songs form ’72-’76 which I honestly feel is not the most creative phase for Pancham. The best probably was around ’77-’83. However, when we get such a grandiose collection, there’s not much that one can complain about. It’s a huge feeling of sweet hangover from the rhythmic melodies that will haunt you forever; if you haven’t got your copy so far, go grab it quick.
