R D Burman: A Continuing Nostalgia - Page 5

Jan 4 2006 was yet another great evening befitting the 12th episode on the 12th death anniversary of Panchamda.

As usual the show was packed in anticipation. The evening began with the signature opening piece from Hum Kisise Kum Naheen followed by a homage to the great man with 'Tumhi Kato Je Dure'.

Ankush then opened the evening introducing the theme of musical phrases using vocals. The use of humming or wordless singing is probably as old as film music but as with everything Panchamda has his own unique examples of using it to great effect.

The first example shared was the happy version of the song 'Hum Bewafa' from Shalimar. Everyone knows the better known serious version with the words. The happy version was just a bit faster and the entire version is sung without words. Then followed the Satte Pe Satta example of 'Mausam Mastana' first in Panchamd's voice during the sitting and then final version where some of the la la la from the sitting was retained in the final song. The Title song from YKB was next " the family version " which begins with the mukhda first sung as la la la to create the happy mood.

Then there were some examples of using such wordless phrases to distinguish two versions of the same song for example 'Wadiyan Mera Daman' in Abhilasha where the Lata version begins with an additional phrase not in Rafi version. Later we also heard a similar example from Manzil with the lovely phrase by Lata in between repetitions of the antara especially in the second antara. In 'Mere Naina Sawan Bhadon' too Lata does an opening phrase to establish the raga which is not there in Kishore version. His version begins with a different humming. Then followed examples of two singers in the same song having different phrases for their entry ' Kiski Sadayen' from Red Rose. Still another usage was same singer for two actresses on screen was in Khushboo where the second actress voice only sings this wordless phrase to bridge the antara and mukhda in 'Bechara Dil Kya Kare.'

Yet another usage of phrases was almost like brackets around the mukhda line. Two examples shared by Ankush were 'Dil Haye Mera Dil ' from Paraya Dhan and 'Socha Tha Maine' from Chandi Sona. Or used to fade out a song as in 'Chala Jata Hoon' from Mere Jeevan Saathi.

Then there were examples of opening phrases to create the mood of the song much like classical singers do with an alaap. There was the echo-filled start to 'Karvaten Badalte Rahe' from Aap Ki Kasam to create the mood of being among mountains, the arabic phrases to set up 'Matwali Aankhon Wale' from Chhote Nawab. Or as in case of 'Aane Wala Pal' from Golmaal, to introduce Amol Palekar's voice to Bindiya Goswami who is in love with the voice probably more than the singer. In this case its usage is less to create the mood but more to get the heroine to begin swooning before the actual song begins.

In 'Koi Ladki' from Seeta Aur Geeta the phrases follow the scale change and establish the newer higher scale, in Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai title qawwali it reminds of another song from the same movie seamlessly, and in 'Bachna Ae Hasino' from Hum Kisise Kum Naheen and 'Sagar Jaisi Aankhonwali' the phrases are longer pieces that take the song from present situation into a dream sequence. And in 'Jane Do Na' from Saagar there is just a brief hum as first interlude or M1. According to Bablooda who had appeared previously on the show, Pancham used to do this because he did not want anything to detract from the anatara that was to follow.

I missed some examples that I consider truly unique. For example the long prelude to 'Bhai Batur' in Padosan has a very western feel to it all through except right at the end where it segues into a very Indian ending. Another is the use of just one note in female voice that goes in the song 'Aao Mere Paas Aur Aao' before Kishore comes back to the mukhda. Still another is the use of Han by Lata in 'Paas Rehta Hai' from Ameer Admi Gareeb Admi without which the song just would not work. But then I guess one could go on and on.

The second part of the show then started with Ankush introducing the 70 year old Mr. Kishore Desai the mandolin player whose best known piece for RD is the opening of 'Tum Bin Jaoon Kahan' and who has been playing in the industry for last 52 years! He narrated many funny episodes. Beginning with claiming to be Langot friend T of Kalyanji bhai because the two used to go swimming together and because of the costume they were literally langot yaar! Another incident was when Pyarelal bought a new car they all went for a drive and on Marine Drive encouraged by a challenge from someone Panchamda removed his trousers right there in the car. Kishore bhai also talked about the close relationship between these friends. He particularly talked about the extremely talented late Ganesh (younger brother of Pyarelal). With extreme candor he mentioned that he would not reveal secrets about some of Ganesh compositions since those tunes are now famous under other names. Responding to a question on remixes, he predictably denounced the practice saying its not right that these people eating fruits of someone else s lifelong labor. He also talked about how there were many Kishores in the industry but Kishore Kumar would call all others by their last name while he always called Kishore Desai by his first name.

But the real excitement was to come when he picked up the mandolin and played some of his songs. He briely fingered the piece from 'Khatouba' which had been played earlier as the setup was being done. Then he began playing. First came 'Gori Ho Kali Ho' from Biwi O Biwi. The icing on the cake here was the piece on mandolin just before Kishore comes back to the mukhda. It was amazing watching Kishore Bhai fingers flying on the fretboard even at this age. Then came the immensely popular 'Meri Pyari Bindu' from Padosan. That drew immediate applause from the audience and went for an encore. The finish was the much awaited 'Tum Bin Jaoon Kahan'. Given his age, it is understandable that he missed some notes and occasionally even the beat but those few lapses at his age paled in comparison with the sweetness of his rendering and his very likeable and engaging personality. In fact Kishore bhai talked about being referred as Lucky Kishore. All MDs wanted to have him because he was considered lucky. They would have play something anything to include him.

As Kishore bhai songs went into encore after encore one could see Ankush's discomfort at the time getting prolonged. But after the Tum Bin encore the program had a brief interval. Post interval we were introduced to none other than Lalitji of Jatin Lalit. Lalitji gave a lot of insights into the industry and music in general but I was disappointed he did not specifically comment on the songs played.

Responding to question on RD introducing many instruments like bass guitar, Lalitji reminded the audience to also applaud the player Channi Singh who not only got the instrument but also learnt to play it with such skill. He said such players do not exist anymore. What made RD music great was not just the great composition but the outstanding team that would bring those compositions alive. And on top of that singers like Kishore, Rafi, Lata, Asha. Today singers are not even half of the golden singers and he said they would be the first to admit it too.

Lalitji talked about the differences in recording styles, how in the past the whole orchestra and singers would record the entire song all together. That made everyone tense and on the edge because one person mistake would cause repeat for everyone. Singers would be in one cabin by themselves and could not be heard by musicians. So conductor was everything. His signal would be critical to hold everything together. Today each person comes and does his part and goes. They don't even get know the whole song let alone play all together.

Lalitji said he was fortunate to have seen that era of recording all together because of the atmosphere it would create. He narrated an incident during recording of 'Sa Re Ke Sa Re' from Parichay where the kids were not getting it right. And that too at the end. So the whole song had to be repeated again and again. Finally one take happened where everything came out perfect except on kid started early towards the end. There was much debate on what to do when Kishore da finally said lets keep the take and get the kid on screen to also do the same. After they are kids and bound make mistakes now and then. And that is still there in the final recording.

Another recording glitch used to occur because of the equipment. He talked about the equipment in Film Center where the sprockets were misaligned and would cause a drag on some tracks. They experienced this in 'Pehla nasha' where the guitar tracks slightly lag others. They had taken Panchamda help on how to resolve this although some lag remains in the final recording.

Lalitji also talked about how Pancham used to treat everyone as a close friend. And he used to extract music from musicians as a friend. That is why they would put their heart and soul into it. A music directors job is not just to use what is in his mind but to tap the ideas of his musicians and RD used to excel in this. Because of all these factors there is so much soul in the old songs that everyone finds missing. In that vein Lalitji said that given all these limitations of quality musicians, singers and the detached manner of recording, if today any song still touches us even a little bit we ought to salute the music director. He invited all of us to look out for the upcoming film 'Fannah' soundtrack which he was proud of. He mentioned about how they got into Yashji camp due to introduction by Asha Bhosle in 1994. At that time Aditya Chopra also sat in on their sitting. While Yashji was non-committal, Aditya liked some of their songs and invited them to do the music for Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. That was the movie that really brought them into big league despite many hits earlier.

The only sour note was one audience member who said if Panchamda was alive aap sabki chhutti ho jati . Lalit-ji took the remark graciously since he and Jatin are admirers of Panchamda work and even been inspired by some of it like the rhythm of Chadhti Jawani used for Mere Khwabon Mein Tu Aaye from DDLJ.

All in all it was a great show once again and hats off to Panchammagic team. For me it was worth it making the trip from China and coming all the way to Pune for this show. Look forward to the next one.

SHIRISH JOSHI

(Mr. Shireesh Joshi has attended couple of PanchamMagic shows. He is from china and has made a point to visit Pune in Jan to attend the show.)

For all the followers of panchammagic, 1 st January is not the celebrating time for new year but its on 4 th January where festival of music is held to remember great genius on his death anniversary. This festival is different from normally what we see and listen elsewhere, not only it has information but the authentic information and great insight about RDB's music and its intricacies. Its love for Pancham's music which keeps growing day by day.


HOUSEFULL crowd outside the auditorium was well expected by all of us and as usual guests were also taken to surprise for the turnout for such an audio visual show also.

This year we had Nitin Shankar as main guest supported by friendly appearance of Pradeepto sengupta (Mandolin) and Manoharida (This time not on saxophone but on Alto flute). Theme for the show was RHYTHMS with lot of demonstrations by Nitin and his team on percussion instruments.

Every person in the audience was thrilled by looking at number of music instruments spread on the stage which although looked like an orchestra preparation but after listening to what was played on, took people directly to RDB's music take in film center….!!

Programme started with different aspects of rhythms used in panchamda's songs like pick-ups, like one in Kehdoon tumhe from Deewaar, Theka, Toda, entry and exit of some special instruments in some particular songs, how the side rhythms were effectively used like Reso Reso in Padosan's Mere Samnewali Khidki Mein, People also got to listen to slower version of Mere Samnewali, which is minus reso reso and how different it sounds.

Bass guitar & Tabla as pickup to rhythm of Jaane Do Na from Saagar, Tabla pickup of Ek Main aur Ek Tu from Khel Khel Mein, again Bass guitar and resoreso in Dil diya Hai from Ashanti, Claaping sounds, patting sounds, flenged guitar, variety of Khanjiri in Khatooba song from Alibaba Aur 40 chor, etc..

Music clippings were played where normally we don't notice all these details, but were very effectively explained by Ankush. Normally this Theme session becomes very informative for common listeners and their view of music listening and pleasure is heightened. This time there were about 28 track clippings for variety of RDB's specially crafted songs.

Nitin shankar graced the stage hereafter and he was magic on rhythms with his equipments. This year Mahesh ketkar also shared the stage with Ankush for compeering with his part of questions to Nitin Shankar. Nitin Shankar is an artiste on rhythms with Marutirao Keer as his guru and has been playing with Pancham Camp since the film Gurudev. He has thereafter worked with Panchamda till 1994. His contribution in rhythms at such an young age is tremendous, and is always excited about creating rhythms for big banners like Dharma Productions, Yashraj films etc. he was involved in the music of films like Bazigar, Khiladi, Yes Boss, and many Jatin Lalit musicals as well as Veer Zaara off late. It was his greatness to accept how he used RD's rhythm of Chadhti Jawani from Carvan in Mere Khwabon Mein Jo aaye from DDLJ.

Nitinda has seen and worked keenly with Panchamda and has taken a liking for creation of something different as always. Hence he knew what exactly used to go into making of great sounds, and he readily showed different instruments to audience and replicated some of panchamda's complexed rhythms to thuder applause with interesting anecdotes like panchamda used to give 100 rupee note to musician whenever he delivered the best of his ability in playing an instrument.

Nitin shankar painstakingly showed how the rhythm of Karvate badalte rahe from Aap Ki Kasam sounds raw when played without reso and madal. Then he added those two instruments and it sounded exactly like what we listen to original track. Such a small visualization and addition makes so much of difference to ears. That was the genius of Panchamda. Similarly how duggi used in Bangle ke peechhe and Gori Ke haath mein from Mela made difference in enhancing rhythms. Nitin was just fabulous on any instrument he touched on stage. He showed us the rhythm pattern of Mehbooba in Sholay minus the Madal and then with Madal….gosh…it was so complexed and played with such an ease and sounded terrific.

People went frenzy when they saw these actual acoustic instruments used by pancham and what world of difference it made to his compositions. Generally, people are unaware about the instruments, they know the sound but don't visualize how an instrument like madal or duggi looks like and makes such beautiful sound. People got to see rare instruments which were actually played in RDB's creations, those were Hudka, Pedal Matka, Bell tree, Murgesh, Dimdi, etc.

Hudka is an instrument which is held like a small dholak and pressed in the center to change the sound inbetween by applying different tension to the top surface.Ae ri pawan from Bemisal has Hudka played in it, Daiyya re Daiyya from Carvan has it. It has that typical sound of Dholak with rubbing like sound while playing.

Pedal matka was actually got from Viju Indulkar who originally played in Samne ye kaun aaya from Jawani Diwani. This instrument was specially made and later also used in Mutthukodi Kawari Hada from Do Phool and some other songs. This has big leather cap with matka below and leather strings tied around with Pedal below. When pressed on pedal and played on top, it stretches the surface and when pedal releases it makes impactful sound like Dhommpaaakk….which you hear in samne ye kaun aaya…RD used to call it "Dhompak" only.

Mugesh was the south Indian player who played Ghatam that is Clay Matka with leather ring on top also sounded different and RD had named that instrument as MURGESH only..!!

Dimdi is like a miniature Duff normally played in Bhajans etc..but RD used it so effectively in his westernized compositions too. Ishk Mera Bandagi Hai from Ye Vaada Raha has dimdi in it.

Bell tree had cycle bell caps of different diameter fixed on one on top vertically and played by stick by moving from top to bottom on the edge of caps. This sound we listen to in Tere Liye Palkonki Zalar from Harjaee…it sounds somewhat near to Chimes normally, we see played now a days…again this Belltree was a specially made instrument.

Nitinda played all these equipments with such a finesse, also told about Manohar or Manya Barve, who used to play such rare and different instruments with pancham and then we played actual original pieces on tracks which people really understood as how much innovative was the use made by RD in musical creations..& no wonder we listen and try to find all this treasure by listening to his gems time and again.

Musical instruments are alright, how about non musical sounds in Pancham's songs? Ankush had a trivia question just before interval as to recognize what was the instrument played in He saba from Manzil Manzil….we knew people will go crazy when they see this instrument and demo…On return from interval, same track was played, and then Nitin took out a simple Balloon from his bag and played in round motions in two hands…rubbing of fingers on ballon skin made the exact Bugu-Bugu sound in front of microphone…hats off to lord..!!! in the same song there was patting sound for which our group member Mahesh Shinde was sitting bare back in front of Nitinda and Nitin patted on his back ditto to Pancham's patting on Amrutrao Katkar's back in the original..!!!! what a sound wow..! Nitin also showed how Besura Dholak was played in the rhythm of Jeevan Ke Har Mod Par from Jhootha Kaheen Ka…they kept it upside down and played rhythm on it and that's why they called it Urdu Dholak..in urdu language, its right to left reading.. ..Ulta!! People got to listen to original sitting version of the same song in Panchamda's voice, courtesy Gulshan Bawra. This is always a feast to audience, and every time we play some new song in the context of the show.

Nitin Shankar was absolutely fantastic in this session with about 25 plus demonstrations like, Bongo rhythm of Mera Naam Hai Shabnam from Kati Patang, fabulous tabla piece of Parveen Sultana's Hume Tumse Pyar Kitna from Kudrat, Intro tumba piece of Hum Kissise Kum Naheen Competition, Anup shankar, his brother was also not far behind when he played a drum stick bounced on tabla in Pyar Hua Chupkese from 1942 ALS.

This was followed by friendly appearance of Pradeepto sengupta's mandolin rendition of Tum Bin Jaun Kahan from Pyar Ka Mausam and what a sweet mandolin to top it all it was played in front of original player of this mandolin in Pyar Ka Mausam is none other than our Manohari singh…he appreciated every bit of it seated in a first row. Pradeepto also praised panchammagic group for keeping alive RDB's creations and making aware common listeners to some good music knowledge and how difficult it is to creat such an impact in a 5 minute song. Also giving a platform to musicians who are not credited elsewhere for their fabulous work. Actually Pradeepto also had a wonderful preparation for Jaise Ko Taisa song Abke Sawan Mein Jee dare and Pyar Ke Mod pe from Parinda…but due to lack of time we had to do without it. I was sharing a room with Pradeepto in hotel and had privilege to listen to his many creations for panchamda like parinda, Jeene do etc. He was also supported by Kaustubh Ghaisas on Keyboards and Nitin Shankar on percussions. Pradeepto also told people as how Panchamda used to encourage new musicians and listened patiently to them.

Manoharida was next with his alto flute this time playing O Hansini from Zehreela Insaan…. whatever instrument Manoharida plays is always sounds fantastic in sound and style…we are grateful to Manoharida for his appreciation of our efforts and the situation in which he came for our show with his son in admitted in ICCU and in critical condition…on the return journey we had unfortunate and sad news of his demise.

Show as usual went very well with the audience and on the note to meet on 27 th June 05, again people went fully satisfied with 2005 new Pancham calendar in their hands.

Sincere thanks to all the Panchammagic hands who helped this show a great success and hats off to Raj, Mahesh, Ashutosh and Ankush for this wonderful conception..!!

SANDEEP KULKARNI

Originally posted by: soulsoup

Ye aap hai Punjini - mujhe ek lamhe ke liye aisa laga ke Bansari ka post hai! 😉

Soupji aap ka matbal kya hai? Can't I call someone cute? 😡

Originally posted by: punjini

Wonderful idea! Will this kind of programme be held again in the future?

Originally posted by: jhsurti

It's a treat to watch the RD group perform. I had the chance to attend one function just 3-4 years back. Manoharida was brilliant on saxophone. They selected quite a few good compositions and led us into the making of those tunes by the great Panchamda. How he was observant of the sounds around him and how he thought on the spur of the moment to use those sounds in his compositions.... It was good trip down the yesteryears...