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Remembering Pancham
Rishi Kapoor recalls some of the best moments in his relationship with his friend, the inimitable R D Burman, who would have turned 68 today
Pancham and I were great buddies. He was like family to me. He used to come home and I used to visit him. Ashaji used to cook for us. Like me, he was very fond of eating and drinking.
"Just before he died, this was the time when the likes of Nadeem Shravan had taken over, he called me and said, 'I'm not short of cash but I desperately need work'. I explained to him that producers came to me with pre-decided music directors, so I couldn't really do much...
| Rishi Kapoor |
"Although my first film Bobby had music by Laxmikant-Pyarelal, my maximum hit songs were by Pancham. There's one thing that you must note about RD's music. All of his youthful music was for Rishi Kapoor. The other heroes like Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan were older. But for me, Pancham could really unplug the grooviest sounds.
"I really feel that Pancham gave me his best. In Naya Daur he used empty bottles to create a special effect in the song 'Paani ke badle peekar sharaab', sung by Kishore Kumar and Danny Denzongpa.
"At the start of my career RD did music in Zehreela Insaan and Khel Khel Mein. These had evergreen songs like 'O hanseeni' and 'Khullam khulla pyar karenge'. I had become a big star after Bobby. I wanted to work with Pancham. I vibed with him better than I did with Laxmi-Pyare, who did Bobby.
"Pancham was way ahead of times. Picture chale na chale, RD's music was damn good. His music suited my age and image. He died 11 years ago but he lives in our hearts to date.
| R D Burman |
"Recently, a diehard Pancham fan named Brahmanand was making a documentary on him. He spoke to all the people who've worked closely with Pancham, like me and Gulzarsaab. I met this ardent fan of RD from Calicut. And he happens to be a diehard fan of the Rishi Kapoor-RD pair. He has sent me all the songs from the 17 films that I've done with Pancham, in the MP3 format. Now I've all the music composed for me by R.D. Burman. Imagine being given such invaluable gift on Pancham's birthday!
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