Happy Birthday, SD Burman!

Today is legendary musician Sachin Dev Burman’s birthday.

Descending from a royal family, SD Burman devoted his entire life to music and his perseverance for excellence.

His mother was Raj Kumari Nirmala Devi, the royal princess of Manipur and his father was the second son of Ishanachandra Dev Burman, Maharaja of Tripura.

Burman’s flourishing career began in 1937 with Bengali films. Later he began composing for Hindi movies and became one of the most noted Bollywood film music composers.

Apart from being a versatile composer, he also sang songs in light semi classical and folk style of Bengal.

SD Burman's compositions have been sung by the likes of Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi, Geeta Dutt, Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar, Hemant Kumar, Asha Bhosle and Shamshad Begum. Mukesh and Talat Mahmood also sang songs composed by him. The maestro himself sang about 14 Hindi and 13 Bengali film songs.

He has been awarded several times for his remarkable contribution in the music and film industry. He earned Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, National Film Awards, Padma Shri, International Jury on Folk Music, Filmfare Awards, BFJA Awards etc.

SD Burman composed and sang ‘Banshi shune aar kaj nai’, ‘Tumi ar nei sei tumi’, ‘Bangladesher dhol’, ‘Shono go dokhin hawa’, ‘Tumi eshechile porshu’, ‘Barne, gondhe, chonde, gitite and many other timeless Bangla and Hindi songs.

His only son Rahul Dev Burman was also a successful Bollywood film music composer.