Mehfil Celebrates ‘S D Burman’ Month

The Celebrations begin……….
Sachin Dev Burman (1 October 1906 – 31 October 1975)

Last week Dustedoff posted a book review on her blog, that was a biography of legendary composer S D Burman. It was a fantastic review and the book appears a must read for someone like me, who’s a die hard fan of Burman da. I already have a few translated (in Marathi) biographies of Burman da, but you are never satisfied with a book or two. I’ve decided finally to own a copy of that book too!
The month of October would be celebrated on my blog as ‘S D Burman’ month, I will try to cover his Hindi film career in several posts. Actually last month I was busy and couldn’t find time to look for various references and select songs for the list. But I decided to pay tribute to one of my most favourite composers, in every way possible.
I’m not ready with a post today, but will upload the first post in the series, in a few days time. Fortunately I got time yesterday and was able to collect information. Though it’s in a primitive stage as of now, I’m hopeful to shape it into a good and presentable post soon!
I haven’t decided about the structure of the future posts, but today I’ll present some of the songs, Burman da sang himself.
It’s a well known fact that he was a good singer, and started as a singer in Bengali songs, before he started composing the songs.
He has a number of Bengali songs to his credit as a composer and singer. He started his career in late 20s as a radio singer, and soon started composing songs too.
Nearly every year, he composed and sang Durga Pooja songs, that were hugely popular and I guess, still are!
As I’m not prepared for Bengali songs, today I will post Hindi film songs sung by him.

He sang for his own films, and for R D Burman too, and a few of his popular songs are the opening songs (credits song) of the movies. He was smart and intelligent enough to go for his own voice, only for background songs. Only for the possible exception of one song from Aath din, all his songs were background songs. By that I mean, the songs play in the background and no one lip syncs to it.

Let me present today, on his 112th birth anniversary, a few of my favourites, sung by him for Hindi films. The songs are in no particular order.

1. Sun Mere Bandhu Re – Sujata (1959) / Lyrics – Majrooh
The song is picturised on Nutan and Sunil Dutt, along a riverside. It was a unique idea to have a song in the background that actually describes ‘Her’ emotions and feelings at that moment. Burman da’s expressions excel. The romance between the couple gets sweetly highlighted by his unconventionally unique voice.

2. Mere Sajan Hai Us Paar – Bandini (1963) / Lyrics – Shailendra
A similar situation as the above song, with Nutan again. But this time it’s not romantic. She is in dilemma whether to go on with a comfortable life with Dharmendra or go for her love Ashok Kumar whom she sees accidentally and incidentally after a long interval. The song underlines the psychological and emotional struggle she’s going through. Again Burman da correctly chose himself as a singer, his voice suits perfectly for the situation.

3. Wahan Kaun Hai Tera – Guide (1965) / Lyrics – Shailendra
Perhaps one of the best picturised credits song, well sung by Burman da. A truly philosophical song, that tells entire journey of Dev Anand’s character. I always get goosebumps when I listen to it.

4. Meri Duniya Hai Maa – Talash (1969) / Lyrics – Majrooh
Talash was much awaited film with high expectations, with a alleged budget of one crore. Only Burman da’s music withstood the expectations. The credits song again, that can be said to underline the central theme of the movie.

5. Doli Mein Bithai Ke – Amar Prem (1972) / Music – R D Burman, Lyrics – Anand Bakshi
He sang for his son, this time a song that depicts the journey of the female character in the movie. And it’s again a credits song. The pain in his voice can be felt, that enhances the lyrics.

Disclaimer –

Mehfil Mein Meri claims no credit to any image or song, posted on the site. The images belong to their original owners. The songs links are shared from YouTube for the listening convenience of music lovers, the copyrights of the songs rest with their respective owners, producers and music companies.