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 A Smattering Of Remorse. In Dismay, Serious Readers Shake Their Heads, Page After Page, And Then Put Away The Copy, Out Of Reach, In The Far Recesses Of Their Bookcases.
But Then There Are Other Biographies That Are Not So Smartly Packaged But Are Written With The Seriousness The Subject Deserves. The Narration Has In-Depth Data, Dotted With References In Their Foot-Notes, End-Notes And Come With A Respectable Bibliography. These Are Read Right To The Last Page And Then Placed Within Reach On The Most Accessible Bookcase. Thankfully, HQ Chowdhury’s Biography, Incomparable Sachin Dev Burman, Belongs To The Latter Group. That The Subject Is Lofty Puts An Additional Burden On The Biographer, But Chowdhury Has More Than Adequately Proven That This Book Does Full Justice To One Of The Finest Hindi Film Music Composers Ever.
An Ardent Bangaldeshi Fan Of Burman, Chowdhury Took No Less Than Six Years — Between 2005 And 2011 — To Research His Subject. Barring A Few Forgivable Glitches, The Book Is A Veritable Treasure Not Only For The Composer’s Fans But All Hindi Music Lovers And Music Historians.
A Truly Informative And Scholarly Work, The Book Sets Out To Achieve Its Desired Goal, Which Is Spelt Out By Chowdhury At The Very Start: He States That His Aim Was To “Put Together In One Package The Information Available To Listeners From Different Sources… There Is No Attempt At A Musicologist Analysis Of Individual Songs, Barring A Few.” Burman’s Life And Creative Works Are Presented In A Methodical Manner. At Times One Wishes He Had Put Aside His Scholarly Cap To Let His Enthusiasm Get The Better Of Him, Especially When He Details His Favourite Songs.
Chowdhury Engages The Reader With Inexhaustible Content: He Talks At Length About Dada’sBengali Songs, His Love For Nature, Folk Music, His Desire To Be Mostly Minimalistic In His Orchestration, His Style Of Functioning With The Lyricists, His Obsession With Football, His Close Association With Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar And Dev Anand, His Sense Of Humour, His Lovable Nature, His Problems With Lata Mangeshkar And Jaidev, And His Experimental Approach Towards Songs — Each One Of These Is Narrated With A Gentle, Unbiased Style.
Chowdhury Shares With Us A Few Amusing Anecdotes About The Maestro. When Burman Wanted To Buy His First Car, He, Being A Known Miser, Refused To Buy It Right Away. The Excuse: “Abhi Abhi To Train Ki Pass Kharidi Hai, Wo Khatam Hone Do, Nahin To Paise Bekar Jayenge (Just Now I Have Bought The Train Pass. Let That Finish First).” And When He Finally Bought The Car, He Found It Unbearable To Pay The Road Tax!
But When It Came To Music, Burman Was Largehearted. He Believed That “Film Songs Must Be Straight And Simple Without Any Exaggeration Or Ornamentation, So That The Common Man Could Grasp Them Fast And Sing”. In His Own Words, “The Room Boy Was My First Guru In Film Music.” He Created The Melody First And Then The Lyricist Created The Words That Could Fit In The Melody. Sahir Ludhiyanvi, The Topnotch Hindi Film Lyricist, Had Once Sarcastically Remarked: “In Other Words, The Body Must Be Fitted In An Already Prepared Coffin.” Over Decades, He Proved That His Music Was Supreme, That Lyrics Took Second Place And Had To Be Subservient To The Melodies He Created.
Chowdhury Debunks Several Stories About Dada’s Melodies Being Actually The Handiwork Of His Son, RD Burman. The Author Interviews People Like Kersi Lord, M Singh, Etc, Who Had Worked With Sachinda. Each Of These Instrumentalists Have Taken Turns To Demolish The Unfair Claims Of RD Being The Original Creator Of SD’s Work.
And Then There Was Dev Anand. If There Is One Person Who Truly Emerges As A Knight In Shining Armour, It Is This Indian Gregory Peck. The Author Shares A Story: Burman Had Recorded Only One Song For Guide When He Had A Heart Attack. Dev Rushed From The US To Be At The Hospital. Burman Said: “Dev, Please Replace Me.” But Dev Replied, “The Film Will Not See The Light Without Your Music. I Will Wait For You Until You Get Well.” Burman Then Asked Him, “What Happens If Something Happens To Me?” To This The Versatile Actor Said: “In That Case, It Will Go Only With The Song You Have Composed.”
Chowdhury’s Biography Does More Than Adequate Justice To Burman, Arguably One Of The Top Three Hindi Film Composers Of All Time.
Reference: http://creative.sulekha.com/book-review-of-the-biography-the-incomparable-s-d-burman_556406_blog
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