44 │ │ July 2019
The writer is a freelance journalist
based in Agartalabanks of River Gomati and play
the flute. Besides, folk songs sung
by fakirs, fishermen and boatmen,
friendship with the legendary
revolutionary poet Kazi Nazrul
Islam helped in grooming the
music maestro. On the other hand,
his father tutored him in classical
music. Young Sachin also spent a
considerable amount of time with
songwriter Ajoy Bhattacharjee
and music composer Himangshu
Dutta. These associations would
come in handy for the promising
music composer.
After completion of
Intermediate Arts (IA), he
graduated with a BA from Comilla
Victoria College. Later, Sachin was
sent to Kolkata for higher studies,
but soon realised that he won’t
pursue academics for long. His
blind love for music took him away
from studies and he soon ventured
down the rabbit hole. He accepted
the tutelage of Bengal’s legendary
singers Krishna Chandra Dey and
Ustad Bhishmadev Chatterjee.
Life at Kolkata threw some
challenges. His father passed awayin 1930. He was also rejected by His
Master’s Voice Company for his
nasal voice. But he made a path for
himself; when he was 27 years old,
he released his first record of two
Bengali numbers. Gradually, he
went on to sing Bengali numbers
written by Gauri Prasanna
Majumder, Mohini Chowdhury,
Rabi Guha Majumder, Ajoy
Bhattacharjee and last but not the
least, his better half, Meera Dev
Burman.
Overall, he sang 131 Bengali
numbers and he was the music
composer of most of his songs.
However, he achieved minimal
success in Bengal. The year
1944 brought good news as he
received a call from Sasadhar
Mukherjee, producer of ‘Filmistan’
in Bombay (now Mumbai), the
land of Bollywood. He composed
for the film ‘Shikari’ wherein the
legendary Ashok Kumar was cast
as the hero. His compositions
received good ratings. Few years
later, his composition ‘Mera Sundar
Swapna Beet Gaya’ sung by Geeta
Dutt in the film ‘Do Bhai’ (1947) wasan instant hit. Two years later, he
composed for films like ‘Shabnam’
(1949) and Mashal (1950). In 1948, he
met Bollywood’s leading stars Dev
Anand and Guru Dutt who were
diehard fans. Dev Anand founded
‘Navketan Films’ along with his
brothers Chetan and Vijay in 1949.
Henceforth, Burman composed
music for ‘Navketan’ for over two
decades. 1951 was another turning
point for Burman as the Dev
Anand-Geetabali starrer ‘Baazi’
became a blockbuster. The music
was composed by Burman and the
song ‘Tadbir Se Bigdi Hui Takdeer
Bana Le’ sung by Geeta Dutt
became a craze of the generation.
The following year, he added more
feathers to his cap with song ‘Yeh
Raat Yeh Chandni’ sung by Hemant
Kumar in another Dev Anand-
starrer ‘Jaal’ (1952). ‘Taxi Driver’
also starring Dev Anand released
in 1954 elevated Burman to new
heights of glory.
Burman subsequently
composed for blockbusters like
Devdas (1955), Munimji (1955), Nau
Do Gyaara (1957), Paying Guest
(1957), Pyaasa (1957) and so on
and so forth. He carved a niche
for himself in the world of music.
It was for him numerous lyricists
and singers in Bollywood became
successful. The ‘King of Indian
Melody’ took his last breath on 31
Oct, 1975. His last composition was
sung by Kishore Kumar for the
Amitabh Bachchan-starrer ‘Milli’.
The composition was ‘Badi suni
suni hain zindagi yeh zindagi, Main
khud se hoon yahan ajnabi ajnabi’
which when translated means
‘This life of mine is very lonely;
here I’m a stranger to myself.’SD Burman with RD Burman