Did You Know...
R.D. Burman made his acting debut in Mehmood's 'Bhoot Bangla'. Later in 'Pyar Ka Mausam' too he gave a hilarious performance as Mr. Popat Lal.
Pancham introduced the twin track effect in 'Baharon Ke Sapne'. which he later used to create the mesmerizing 'qatra qatra miltee hai' (Ijaazat) and a few more songs.
He also pioneered the use of electronic organ in Indian Films with the song 'O mere Sona re' (Teesri Manzil).
RD was, as Gulzar says, as good a craftsman as he was a musician. He picked the sounds for his songs from very indigenous sources.
In 'Chura liya' he used the sound of a spoon hitting a glass .
For the Kitaab song 'Master jee kee aa gayee chiTThee' he brought some desks from a classroom in the studio while recording and used them as percussion.
In Abdullah he used the sound of a bamboo whistle with a balloon tied to it for a song.
Once to get the sound of raindrops, he spent a whole rainy night in his house's balcony recording the sound he wanted.
In the song 'O Manjhi Re' from the movie 'Khushboo', R.D. Burman used bottles with water filled at different levels and created a hollow sound by blowing into them and this sound effect was used with the orchestra.
During the recording of 'Hum donoN do premee' (Ajnabee) the musicians were on strike. So he improvised the song with emptied-out musical interludes and just listen the song!
The mouth organ played in the song 'Hai Apna Dil To Awara' sung by Hemant Kumar in the film 'Solva Saal' is played by R.D. Burman himself.
R.D. Burman played the mouth organ for his friends Laxmikant-Pyarelal in a song in 'Dosti' and also in a movie for Kalyanji-Anandji.
Dada Burman used Pancham's tune 'ai meree topee palat ke aa' in 'Fantoosh'. Pancham was only 9 when he composed the tune.
Again next year, for Pyaasa, SD used his son's 'Sar Jo Tera Chakraaye', which became a big hit.
Both Lata and Bhupinder won a National award for the song 'Beeti Na Bitaayee Raina' from 'Parichay', and this song was composed in a hotel room in no time.
Aarti Mukherjee won a National award for the song 'Do Naina Ek Kahaani' from 'Masoom'.
Gulzar (best lyricist), Asha Bhosle (best female singer) won National awards for the song 'Mera Kuchh Samaan' from Ijaazat.
RDB was the first to introduce the Brazilian bossa nova rhythm in Hindi film music - the song was "Maar dalega dard-e-jigar", sung by Asha, in "Pati Patni". That rhythm has since been endlessly used for film music. (contributed by Chandrashekhar, UAE)
R.D. Burman won the Filmfare Award only 3 times (Sanam Teri Kasam, Masoom, 1942-A Love Story) while being nominated 16 times for the award.
Amit Kumar, Abhijeet & Shabbir Kumar were given their first breaks by Pancham.
Jatin of Jatin-Lalit used to be in Pancham's children's choir.
Nasir Hussain, for the first time after Teesari Manzil, did not sign R.D. Burman, in 'Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak'.
In July 1968, when presenting the Vividh Bharati Program Jaimala, Pancham played the following songs :
kajre badarwa re (Pati Patni), Lata
O ganga maiyya paar laga de (Chandan Ka Palna), Lata
sharaabee sharaabee mera naam ho gaya (Chandan ka Palna), Lata
chunree saMbhaal goree (Baharon Ke Sapne), Lata
mere saamne waalee khiD.kee meiN (Padosan), Kishore
ghar aaja ghir aaye (Chhote Nawaab), Lata
kahna hai kahna hai (Padosan), Lata
In Decemeber 1971 again in Jaimala Pancham played these compositions of his own:
Ye jo mohabbat hai (Kati Patang), Kishore
O hasina zulfoN waalee (Teesri Manzil), Asha-Rafi
Gulaabee aankheiN jo teree dekhee (The Train), Rafi
Jogee o jogee pyaar meiN kya hoga (Lakhon Mein Ek), Lata-Kishore
Aao twist kareiN (Bhoot Bangla), Manna Dey-Chorus
I Love You (Hare Rama Hare Krishna), Usha Iyyer-Asha
Matwaalee aankhoN waale (Chhote Nawaab), Lata-Rafi
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