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Celebrating Pancham Da

Celebrating Pancham Da

7 Facts about Pancham we bet you didn't know 

Rahul Dev Burman was a musical genius who changed the very face of the Bollywood music. One of the most celebrated music composers in Bollywood, Pancham Da would have turned 78 on 27th June 2017. He is worshiped in the fraternity for the newness that he brought to the compositions by introducing revolutionary arrangements. The influence of rock and new world music was evident in his work and is the epitome of what one would categorize as ‘Cool Retro‘.

Radio Nasha brings to you a set of facts that are lesser known to even the most ardent RD Burman fans!

  1. Pancham Da composed and produced a Latin American Rock album named ‘Pantera‘:


    This album combined the elements of Latin American music with Rock, Jazz and Funk. Pancham Da even used the main theme of one of the songs from this album in the ‘mukhda‘ of ‘Rang Rangeeli Raat‘ from Priyadarshan’s Gardish in 1993.

  1. Pancham Da wrote the lyrics for the English song that plays in ‘Deewar‘:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2Mva42wr5c
    When Amitabh Bachchan and Parveen Babi meet at the bar in the movie ‘Deewar‘, there is a scene where the song ‘I’m falling in love with a stranger’ is playing in the background. The lyrics of that song were written by Pancham Da.

  2. The signature singing style of Pancham Da was inspired by the Jazz legend Louis Armstrong:

    Pancham Da lived by the motto “Meri aawaz ki koi pehchan honi chahiye” and hence his signature style was a distinctive growl. He was strongly influenced by the style of the American Jazz legend Louis Armstrong.

  1. SD Burman pinched one of his son’s tunes:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVE8zvQPINM

    While watching Funtoosh (1956) Pancham Da realized that the song ‘Ae meri topi palat ke aa‘ was on a tune he had composed. When he asked his father about it, his father admitted to pinching the tune. 

  2. The gramophone fetish:

    His father SD Burman owned a gramophone. Hence, Pancham Da bought 78 RPM records from the gramophone stores in new market, Mumbai.

  1. Father rejected, Son accepted:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2acfBLyZXDU

    Music direction for the film ‘Hare Rama Hare Krishna‘ was rejected by SD Burman and accepted by Pancham Da. This was the first time in the history of Bollywood that such a thing had happened. The rest, as they say, is history.

  1. The marriage with Asha:

    His mother was opposed to his marriage with Asha and had put a condition that Pancham Da could marry her only after his mother’s death. Pancham Da waited for his mother’s permission and only after his father was dead and his mother had started suffering from a psychological ailment, did he marry Asha.