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NOSTALGIA - Some home truths
Raju Bharatan writes on Meera Sachin Dev Burman, who passed away on Monday, at 84
The mother who replaced the son in 1971, as S D Burman's first assistant in Tere Mere Sapne, is no more. Not without misgivings did Meera Burman take over from her Pancham.
As S D finally told R D Burman that he could leave. Leave even their 'Jet' home. R D clearly had become too busy, as a music director, to devote the time S D, unfailingly, needed from his first assistant. Meera did such a splendid first assistant's job on Tere Mere Sapne that Dada never really missed Pancham. Meera, here, ably rehearsed Lata for such indigenous Dada tunes as Jaise Radha ne maala japee Shyam kee and Meraa antar ek mandeer hai teraa (both on Mumtaz). Done it her way Not to speak of the way Meera got Lata-Kishore going on Hey maine qasam lee and Jeevan kee bagiyaan mehkegee (both on Mumtaz-Dev Anand). As a melodious singer herself, Meera had no trouble in relating to writer-director Goldie Vijay Anand and communicating the euphonious essence of these Dada tunes to Lata. Each time we called on the Burmans at The Jet, my wife (Girija Rajendran) and I found Meera to be the picture of grace, the perfect host. Dada and Meera took the phone by turns, as S D rang to know how we'd liked his music director in O P Ralhan's Talaash. I truthfully told Dada we found it to be excellent. "Tell Meera that, she's not entirely convinced," said Dada, handing over the phone. We promised to call on the Burmans the following evening. By then, Talaash had hit the big time. That evening at The Jet, Meera first sang, for us, Khaayee hai re hum ne qasam, followed by Kitnee akelee, expounding the finer points of these tunes - as sculpted by Dada for his 'Lota'. Next, Meera warbled Aaj ko junalee raat maa, elaborating upon its folksy content. "But, Dada, I've heard this before!" I noted. "Isn't Aaj ko junalee raat maa drawn from your Ek baar tuu meraa ban jaa o pardesee - by Shamshad Begum in Filmistan's Shabnam, 20 years ago?" As Meera fidgeted, Dada simply pretended he'd not heard. That way S D knew how to use age to his advantage! Dada rang yet again, as Tere Mere Sapne bombed. "What, Raju, you said the film's music is so good, see how the Goldie mocies flopped!" "Its tunes still are among your best, Dada," I observed. But Dada wouldn't buy that line. Dada's pique clearly stemmed from the fact that Tere Mere Sapne was his first film without Pancham - to whom he'd wanted to prove a Meera point. Pancham's ceasing to be Dada's chief assistant had followed months of turmoil at home. Both Meera and Dada were clearly worried, as Pancham returned late (from the disco) every other night. Neither Dada nor Meera could comprehend that it was in the dis co - during the small hours of the morning - that Pancham picked up the upbeat notes he needed to give a Jawani Diwani turn to our music. R D's late nights - while affecting Dada's tunefully inspirational early-morning walk inevitably meant Pan cham's reneging on his work as S D's first assistant. This Dada wouldn't countenance. He'd fire Pancham in front of the musicians for neglecting "your share of work". Father versus son That Shakti Samanta's Kati Patang happened almost alongside his Aradhana meant Pancham's emerging as his own music man. So R D now would take only so much from S D. Meera gamely tried to shield her only child. But Dada was a ruthless disciplinarian at home as in the music room. I dare say the years separating Meera from Dada, both Meera and Dada from Pancham, had something to do with it all, following R D's first marriage to a Gujarati girl having failed. Nor were Dada and Meera too excited about Pancham's wedding an older Asha Bhosle. But both mellowed upon discovering how Asha -despite being ultra-busy -looked after their Pancham. The Burmans had reason to feel relieved here, since Asha, by then, was almost as crucial to Dada's music as to Pancham's.Some music the Burmans made! To think that, with Meera's going, the Burman legacy itself is now lost to us.
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