Composer and Musical Director. Nationality: Indian. Born: Kumar (Prince) Sachin Dev Burman in Comilla (now in Bangladesh), 1 October 1906. Education: Graduated from Calcutta University; studied Indian classical music with Bhishmadev Chatterjee, Badal Khan, Alauddin Khan, and others. Career: Served in the court of Maharaja of Tripura; 1932—radio singer on Calcutta station; also made popular recordings of East Bengal folk songs; 1934—small singing role in Urdu film Selima; 1937—first film as musical director, Rajgi; 1944—settled in Bombay; 1945—composed first songs for film, Shikari; compiled collection of Indian folk songs. Awards: Sangeet Natak Akademi (Academy of Music and Plays) award, 1957; President of India Padmashree award, 1969; India National Film award for Aradhana, 1969; Zindagi, Zindagi, 1972. Died: In Bombay, 31 October 1977.
Films as Composer and Musical Director:
1937 Rajgi (mus d only)
1945 Shikari
1946 Aath Din
1947 Chittor Vijay; Dil Ki Rani; Do Bhai
1948 Vidya
1949 Kamal; Shabnam
1950 Asfar; Mashal; Pyar
1951 Baaji; Bahar; Ek Naujawan; Sazaa
1952 Jaal; Lal Kunwar
1953 Arman; Babla; Jeewan Jyoti; Shahen Shah
1954 Angarey; Chalis Baba Ek Chor; Radha Krishna; Taxi Driver
1955 Davdas; House No. 44; Madh Bhare Nain; Munimji; Society
1956 Funtoosh
1957 Miss India; Nao Do Egarah; Paying Guest; Pyasaa
1958 Chalti Ka Naam Gaddi; Kala Pani; Lajwanti; Sitaron Se Aagey; Solva Saal
1959 Insaan Jag Utha; Kaagaz Ke Phool
1960 Apna Haath Jaganath; Bombai Ka Babu; Bewaqoof; Ek Ke Baad Ek; Kala Bazar; Manzil; Miya Bibi Raji
1962 Baat Ek Raat Ki; Dr. Vidya; Naughty Boy
1963 Bandini; Meri Soorat; Teri Ankhen; Tere Ghar Ke Saamne
1964 Benazir; Kaise Kahoon; Ziddi
1965 The Guide; Teen Deviyan
1967 Jewel Thief
1969 Aradhana; Jyoti; Talash
1970 Ishq par Zor Nahin; Prem Pujari
1971 Gambler; Naya Zamana; Sharmeelee; Tere Mere Sapne
1972 Anuraag; Yeh Gulistan Hamara; Zindagi Zindagi
1973 Abhiman; Chhupa Rustam; Jugnu; Phagun
1974 Prem Nagar; Sagina; Us Paar
1975 Chupke Chupke; Mili
1976 Arjun Pandit; Baroon; Deewanjee
1977 Tyaag
Films as Actor:
1934 Selima
1935 Bidrohi
Publications
On BURMAN: articles—
Rangoonwalla, Feroze, in Screen (Bombay), 4 August 1978.
Rangoonwalla, Feroze, in Screen (Bombay), 11 August 1978.
Ragendran, Girija, in Screen (Bombay), 27 October 1978.
* * *
S. D. Burman migrated to Bombay early in his singing career (1944) and soon climbed to the top, despite the city's cut-throat competition. Burman stayed in Bombay for more than three decades, but he continued to hold Bengal dear and it is from there that he drew his creative sustenance. His childhood exposure to the vast paddy fields and swollen, serpentine rivers of East Bengal and to the folk music of Chittagong and Comilla influenced his slightly nasal, long-drawn style of singing, evoking mood and landscape. His name on a cinema poster or advertisement was enough to guarantee box-office success in the 1950s and beyond.
Burman sang or wrote the music for over 500 songs in Hindi films from Bombay alone, in addition to his numerous recordings in Calcutta and Bombay, and though he amassed a fortune, he remained a humble, unassuming man all his life. His fame in Bombay did not rest on orchestration like Anil Biswas's or on using Indian classical music like Naushad, but on giving haunting and inimitable tunes, rather like Hemanta Mukherjee, to the work of such lyricists as Gopal Singh Nepali, Harikrishna "Premi," Y. N. Joshi, Raja Mehdi Ali Khan, "Madhukar," Anjum Pilibhiti, Prem Dhavan, Qamar Jalalabadi, Narendra Sharma, Rajendra Krishna, Shahir Ludhianvi, Shailendra, Kaifi Azmi, P. L. Santoshi, S. Athaiya, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Gulzar, Hasrat, Shakeel Badayuni, Anand Bakshi, Neeraj, Vijay Anand, Fani Badayuni, and Yogesh.
S. D. Burman's memory will be preserved among millions of his admirers through his lilting tunes, whether it was a melancholy Bhatiali of East Bengal or a love song in an indifferent Hindi film. His tunes transcend space and time and transport a listener to a milieu of romance or nostalgia. He took five to six days to decide a tune, test and retest it, before going ahead with the composition. No wonder they abide.
—Bibekananda Ray
Edited by Qwest - 17 years ago
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