31st October 2004, marks the 29th death anniversary of SD Burman. To commemorate him we bring to you a radio program recorded by Kishore Kumar in 1975 as obituary to his mentor . This program has gone down in the musical lore for it’s absolutely original format and winsome quality. It has Kishore taking us on an extremely entertaining journey to meet Burmanda. The […]
A Book on SD Burman: The Making of The Genius
“The book is nothing but an expression of the man. The book is nothing but the man trying to talk to you, trying to impart to you, some of his feelings,” said Arnold Bennett, in his classic work, Literary Taste, while urging the reader, especially the beginners, to “acquire some biographical information about the writer.” […]
Book Review: The musical world of SD Burman
Writing a biography is a tough task. It cannot be a simple collage of photos and anecdotes culled out from authentic sources. It has to reflect on what makes the person unique. It should not get colored by the writer’s admiration or dislike of the protagonist. In crafting the biography the most difficult phase is […]
Passion knows no border
SD creates South Asian symphony Fans From Across Three Nations Get Together To Salute The Maestro Avijit Ghosh | TNN New Delhi: Maajid Maqbool is a computer professional in Rawalpindi. H Q Chowdhury runs a private science and technology laboratory in Dhaka. And Ritu Chandra is a software engineer located in Philadelphia. But a common […]
Sachin Dev Burman, the eternal singer
Tabla master, Padmabhushan Ustad Ahmedjan Tirakawa was restless. It was the pathos in the song, “Suno mere bandhu re” which he had heard from his radio that made him so. He requested his host for the record but it was hard to find. When it was finally sourced, he listened to it with rapt attention, […]
Book review of the biography: The Incomparable S.D.Burman
In Today’s World Where Glitz Matters More Than Substance, One Is Frequently Holding Smartly-Packaged Glossy Biographies Which Vie For Our Eyeballs But Not Our Minds, Thanks To Shoddy Research. Reading These Biographies, One Can Scarcely Expect A Bibliography Or Studious References; Instead, What One Finds Is A Self-Congratulatory Tone Which Gossips On With Not Even […]
Aj phir jeenay ki tamana hai
PROGRAMME Sachin Dev Burman 1906-1975 Kumar Sachin Dev Burman needs no introduction. Popularly known as SD Burman or Dada Burman to his fans and admirers, this composer is an enigma that refuses to either fade or wither away even three decades after his death. He lives on through his seminal work for some of the […]
Tributes by various people
Bhishmadeb Chatterjee, (Classical Musician, SD Burman’s Guru ) Sachin Dev took training from my Guru Badal Khan and me for some time. I was charmed with his dedication to music, which continued throughout his life. At the height of one’s career people tend to forget their gurus — but not Sachin Dev who until his […]
Obituary :The Maestro Who Was a Misfit
Sachin Dev Burman was acknowledged as much for what he did not do as for what he did. He never bothered to keep dozens of assignments on hand at a time to be in the top bracket. He couldn’t care less to keep his songs in the ‘hit-parade’ though the modern ‘art’ of manipulations. His […]
In Conversation: A case for folk music
How old must a grand old man of music be? The description suits Toto the grand old man of western classical music Pablo Casals; Or his Indian counterpart Ustaad Allahuddin Khan. The grand old man of Indian Film Music Kumar Sachin Dev Burman looked slightly deceptive age-wise. How old is he? I haven’t asked him. […]
Reflections:Mere Sangeet Bhare Din
Prasiddh Sangeet Nirdeshak aur gayak Sachin Dev Burman comilla se bumbai kis tarah pahunche. Sangeet ki seediyan unhone kis prakar chadhin aur apni maulikta ke sutra kahan se khoje. Padhiye unhi ke shabdon mein. Is lekh ko prastut kar rahe hain unke parichit lekhak aur patrakar Shri Salil Ghosh. (Circa 26 December, 1971 – Dharamyug) […]
Opinion: Songless Indian Films
Occasionally Dada would put his baton down and pickup the pen. This article on the role and indispensability of music in Indian films was one such instance. This piece was written in 1966 and appeared in the 8th September issue of the Cine Advance film journal. “… instead of placing a song in an unwanted […]
Minimalistic Melody of SD Burman
Be it Bimal Roy’s Devdas, Sujata and Bandini, Guru Dutt’s Baazi, Pyaasa and Kagaz Ke Phool; Shakti Samanta’s Aradhana, Satyen Bose’s Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi or Vijay Anand’s Guide, S D Burman has scored the music for an inordinately vast number of classics. The soft-faced, bespectacled maestro remained popular with both discerning filmmakers and the […]
The Veteran Composer with a Magic Melody
In Hindi film music there is a great name that shines like the polestar forever. S.D.Burman born in 1906 in royal family of Tripura was known as a folk and light classical singer in A.I.R. Calcutta and had scored music for some Bengali films. He came to Bombay in the 1940’s under the invitation of […]
Acknowledgement
This centenary celebration show has been a labour of love from our end and it would not have been possible without the help and support of friends and music lovers all over the world. A lot of who pitched in purely out of their reverence for Dada Burman. We profusely thank the following for their […]
The Road to Success
“You enter a garden house with beautiful garden and congratulate the gardener. What about the master of the house?” Thus said Shri Ramakrishna. In our film world the same question is often asked, though in different words.However, let me assure you that as a director of film music, I do not envy the film stars […]