A must-have for all Burman addicts
HQ Chowdhury's"Incomparable Sachin Dev Burman"
L-R: HQ Chowdhury (2nd from left) with special guests at the book launch. Artistes perform SD Burman classics.
“My introduction to Sachin Dev Burman happened through my father and uncles. They'd wait eagerly for this radio programme, 'Anurodh-er Ashor' [requests from the audience], that played popular contemporary songs. On the All India Radio [Calcutta] programme, the last slot -- in other words, the most popular -- would be reserved for Burman's songs. Once I asked my father: 'Why not Lata [Mangeshkar], Sandhya [Mukherjee] and other conventionally easy to the ear singers? Why are Sachin Dev Burman's songs this popular?' My father's response was: 'When you can truly grasp his songs, you'd understand why.' And I did…Years later when I was a student of Chhayanaut, Waheedul Haq asked me to perform two songs: one of Angurbala and the other, Burman's 'Tumi Tho Bodhu'. Right after my performance, Abdul Halim Chowdhury did a stirring cover of another Burman song -- 'Prem-er Shomadhi Tirey'. That song did something to me; it triggered an insatiable craving for Burman's songs. I finally understood why not other artistes, why only Sachin Korta would do,” recalled Sadya Afreen Mallick, Nazrul Sangeet artiste and editor of Star Arts & Entertainment. Mallick was speaking as a special guest at the launch of “Incomparable Sachin Dev Burman” -- music and movie connoisseur HQ Chowdhury's tell-all book on the legendary vocalist-composer-music director. Veteran music exponent Alim-ur-Rahman Khan has written the foreword for the book: “When he [Burman] entered the Hindi film world, with which I am not very familiar, he did wonders, which I now realise after reading this book by Humayun [HQ Chowdhury]…SD Burman had the capacity to draw out the essential music; both from the folk and the popular within the limits of what the cultural background of South Asia would allow the listeners to consume…SD Burman captured music in his records and Humayun has captured SD Burman in his book. This book, this fruit of love and admiration, should help those who are not yet acquainted with SDB, to get to know him and those who are familiar with SDB, to explore his genius better.” Khan was also a special guest, and spoke at the book launch. Another special guest, Syed Badrul Ahsan, executive editor of The Daily Star, fondly reminisced on the Burman classics he grew up with. “We all have the artistic spirit within. Though some manifest this spirit better than others, we all love to hum songs that have attained a timeless status. Usually we don't see books -- boasting in-depth insight into musicians -- here. Just for this reason alone, this book is a commendable effort. It [book] reveals many facets of Burman -- his way of speaking, his wit, his affinity for Comilla, interesting anecdotes and much more,” Ahsan said. Sabihul Alam, advisor, Toitomboor [publisher of the book] also spoke at the event. Toitomboor also publishes a monthly magazine for youngsters. An added attraction was live renditions of SD Burman classics by Nasima Shaheen and Nasimul Mahbub. Sharmin Murshid conducted the musical session. The book is an output of five years of painstaking research, interviews with Burman's contemporaries and colleagues [Manna Dey, Dev Anand etc], and includes rare, never before seen images of the icon. Priced at Tk 700, the book is a must-have for all Burman addicts.
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