SD Burman: The inimitable composer

SD Burman

"Sun Mere Bandhure" and "Baro Bhalo Laage, Biroho Baro Bhalo Laage" , the enchanting tunes of the Maestro Sachin Dev Burman resonate in the hearts of music lovers even 35 years after his death. Clad in his signature dhoti and kurta, the great composer's creative and modern outlook to music changed the contours of sub-continental Indian music. A musical genius, he continues to mesmerise us with his haunting voice, with a rendition of folk- like Bengali songs as well as Hindi film songs.
Kumar Sachin Dev Burman, affectionately called "Dada Burman," otherwise known as SD Burman, was born on October 1, 1906 in British India . He was the second son in a royal family of Tripura. His father, Nabadwipchandra Dev Burman, a well known sitarist and dhrupad singer, was his first teacher. Later, he received training in classical music from Ustad Badal Khan as well as Bhishmadev Chattopadhyay. His training in classical music gave him a definitive foundation for his later compositions.
Burman started his music career as a folk singer and light classical musician for Calcutta radio station in 1932.
He sung for famous composer and poet Kazi Nazrul Islam and the two later maintained a friendly relationship.
His famous early folk compositions were often influenced by his huge repertoire of folk tunes from "Bhatiyali" or the boat songs, the Sari and Dhamail traditions of the North East.
Later he moved to Bombay and started composing for films. His first recorded song was for Tinkari Chakrabortay's “Senjher Pidim” in 1935. His compositions have been sung by famous names like Lata Mangeshaker, Mohammad Rafi, Asha Bhosle, Talat Mahmood, Geeta Dutt and Kishore Kumar.
Burman was a music director from 1939 to his death. In most of his compositions he used the bansari (flute) and often mixed Indian classical ragas with Western music. This experimentation proved to be very fruitful and redefined the way film songs were composed.
From the 1930s to the 1970s his music achieved the status of classics of that time. According to the Wikipedia he went into a coma soon after recording the song “Badi Sooni Sooni” sung by Kishore Kumar for the film “Mili”. Burman died on October 31, 1975 in Bombay.
The classic oldies that SD Burman sang in his powerful voice are timeless and earned him the sobriquet of "The Inimitable Composer."

Zeenat Khan, writes from New Mexico, USA.