RD Burman: The man who revolutionised Indian music

Global inspirations…

Burman was hugely influenced by many genres of music and experimented on his own creations by incorporating vivid styles. One would notice Western, Arabic and Latin influences in his compositions. He was introduced to Jazz music by pianist Kesri Lord and later grew fond of it. Author Douglas Wolk writes, Burman "wrapped sugary string swoops around as many ideas as he could squeeze in at once".

Music amidst non-musical stuff…

It is known to all that Burman was always way ahead of his time. He is one of those blessed musicians who could find music amidst daily ordinary instruments. He was probably the first one among Indian composers to use non-musical instruments like buckets, spoons, glasses to create sounds and incorporate them in his songs. The instrumental prelude before the very popular song 'Chura Liya Hai Tumne' from 'Yaadon Ki Baraat' is one example of that. The sound was created using cups and saucers. Similarly, for 'Mehbooba, Mehbooba', he blew into beer bottles to create the sound of whistling.

An enviable orchestra…

The orchestra Burman worked with, can win anyone's envy, even today. He preferred working with the same team. You can't probably name one single instrument that he didn't include. Over 40 instruments including unconventional ones like Swarolin, Banjo, Mandolin, Bulbul (string instruments), Thumba, Madol, Bangla Dhol, Congo (percussion instruments), Transicord, Accordion (keyboard instruments) and Tenor Sax, Trambone, Clarinet (wind instruments) have found presence in his work. Artists like Rashid Khan, Jairaman, Ranjeet Gazmer, Louis Banks, Pt. Ronu Majumdar, Hari Prasad Chaurasia Janardan Abhayankar and many more enriched his tunes with their soulful playing.

The art of recreation…

Copying foreign songs was always common in Bollywood. But with Burman, they didn't remain mere copies but achieved the stand of beautiful creations as he mingled them with his own original arrangements. 'Aao Twist Karein' from 'Bhoot Bangla' was inspired by ' Let's Twist' from 'Chubby Checkers'. 'Zindagi Milke Bitayenge' was inspired by 'The Longest Day' by Paul Anka. The evergreen number 'Tumse Milke' was also inspired by Leo Sayer's 'When I Need You'.

One song, many voices…

These days, we hear how music composers rope in a number of singers to sing one particular song and later pick the one which suits the most. Decades back, Burman had started off with this and it worked. Remember 'Humein Tumse Pyar Kitna' from 'Kudrat'? The lighter version of the song was sung by Kishore Kumar while Parveen Sultana crooned the heavier classical version. Same happened with 'Tum Bin Jaun Kahan' from 'Mausam' where both Kishore Kumar and Mohammad Rafi recorded the song separately.