Sachin Dev Burman or SDB, one of the most towering figures in Hindi music industry regaled music lovers over three decades. And that renowned journalist and author Sathya Saran decided to pen the tome Sun Mere Bandhu Re The Musical World of SD Burman on his musical journey almost 40 years after his death, speaks volumes about the indelible mark he left behind.
Talking to City Express along the sidelines of the launch of the book in the city, as a part of Duchess Utsav at Savera on Saturday, Sathya, who also has to her credit the bestselling biography Ten Years With Guru Dutt: Abrar Alvi’s Journey and Baat Niklegi Toh Phir on singer Jagjit Singh, reveals how she hit upon the idea. “There was this person who worked in the same building I used as an office and while discussing about my book on Guru Dutt, he asked me if I would want to write a book on SDB. He said his father was a huge fan of the composer and had a lot of material he was willing to part with for the book.”
She adds that she chose to write a narrative story more like a novel to talk about the life of SDB, his fruitful associations with singers, filmmakers and lyricists. She maintains that the book has all that is known and published about the composer and that she has attempted a multidimensional narrative.
When SDB ruled the roost in the industry in 1950s, he also spotted and nurtured some remarkable talent, like Geeta Roy who later became Geeta Dutt, Kishore Kumar, who sang in a chorus for his composition and Hemant Kumar, who was initially criticised for his heavy Bengali accent. However, she says, “His favourite singer was Lata Mangeshkar and he once famously said, ‘Give me Lata and a harmonium, I will make music’. He also liked Mohammad Rafi, but there was a Bengali bonding between Kishore and him. But more than favourites, he was more for what song suited which singer,” adds Sathya.
He made some of the finest songs for movies like Devdas (1955), Pyaasa (1957), Sujata (1959), Bandini (1963), Guide (1965) and Abhimaan (1973), but a major part of his work was with Dev Anand’s Navketan Films.
Sharing interesting nuggets of information from various stages of his career, Sathya kept the audience engaged with the gist of segments from her book. Audio clippings of radio presenter Ameen Sayani took the audience through the highlights of SDB’s career, in his inimitable style.
“Gulzar, who worked as a garage mechanic was roped in for Bimal Roy’s Bandini. Extremely nervous, he actually wanted to run away from the project,” she adds. But he was ordained to enter films and with Mora gora ang picturised on the ethereal Nutan, he shot to fame and today, he remains a lyricist for all times.
A simple man with simple habits, SDB was, however, known for getting into quarrels with his colleagues – like lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi, who was also known for his difficult nature; the duo never worked together after Pyaasa. “SDB fought with Bimal Roy during the making of Bandini, as the latter didn’t want the song to be picturised outdoors. Later, they decided the character played by Nutan would sing Mora go rang in the courtyard,” she adds.
While he stuck to the rules he made, Sathya reveals that he also broke his policy of using minimal instruments twice during his career— for the snake dance sequence in Guide and Hoton mein aisi baat (Jewel Thief, 1967).
With his only son, Rahul Dev Burman following in his footsteps, he was the happiest when he heard his first composition, a classical based song for Chhote Nawab (1961). “His son was a rebel and that worried him. But RDB was there with his father all through his life assisting him. Aye meri topi (Funtoosh, 1956) was actually a tune made by a young RDB and took it from him,” she says.
His last number was Badi sooni sooni hai (Mili, 1975) and it is said that Kishore Kumar had tears in his eyes when he first heard the number. “The emotions his songs conveyed makes him unforgettable,” she adds.
Published by HarperCollins, Sun Mere Bandhu Re The Musical World of SD Burman is priced at Rs 499.