Enkayaar, Bollywood Trade News Network

Is it not ironic that while the so-called shabby treatment to his wife made it to the headlines for quite a long time, the creator of Elysian music in the Hindi cinema Burman Da aka Sachin Dev Burman was not remembered with fondness on his death anniversary this weekend by the music aficionados who swear by his music in one way or the other throughout the world 24x7.

Were Sachin Da would not have been there a Kishore Kumar would not have made a mark or for that matter even a Pancham, his son. He was the man who had such a passion for music that even though he belonged to the royal family of Tripura, he left the royalty behind to reign over the heart of the country and outside through his own kingdom of musical instruments and each of his hits was a milepost on the path of conquest to win more hearts. Metaphorically speaking he was therefore a ruler over a much larger kingdom, and many a kings would have given a right hand to have this kind of committed following. The folk music of the eastern India would not have made its mark in such a profound manner but for Burman Da who introduced multiple varieties of acoustic instruments in his songs. The films of Dev Anand would not have met such a success were it not for Burman Da who gave one lilting masterpiece after another on a continuous basis.

For Sachin Da if a composition was able to convey the feeling of sadness and was able to touch the heart then it had hit the bull's eye. This is precisely the reason, why Mukesh's probably one of the rare hits with Sachin Da, "Chal Ree Sajni from BAMBAI KA BABU" was one of the most emotive songs that Mukesh sang in his career. The whole despair of a daughter going away from her family and the helplessness of a father has never been able to touch the chord as it does, whenever this song is played anywhere. His disciples are legendary starting from Kishore Kumar, to Hemant Kumar, to Geeta Dutt, to Asha Bhonsle as also Mohammed Rafi, Talat Mehmood and Manna Dey. Such was the fan following of Burman Da that to sing under his baton was always considered a privilege.

He single handedly was responsible for popularizing the folk music of Eastern India on to a national canvas and his success is still unequaled. He himself lived up to his be benchmark of being a successful singer, manifest from the sad songs that he sung, be it "Ho re Majhi in BANDINI, or "Wahan Kaun Hai tera... from GUIDE or Doli Mein Bithai ke Kahar" or " Kahe ko Roye... from ARADHANA. This song is especially worth mentioning as it would probably be for the rarest times that a father was singing under the baton of a son.

His outstanding contribution to the Hindi film music cinema has been his ability to use the folk music in one form or the other in his songs. Particularly important has been his effort to bring about the bowl form of rendition of music through his compositions and this is why his music has the elysian touch which nobody has been able to emulate. It was the folk with which the listeners identified with film after film and so even 32 years after he passed away, whenever his music plays on the power of folk is demonstrated in all its vitality and blissful manner.


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