You often hear things like Mr X is a genius, Mr Y is superb.You sometimes believe some of this talk or you don’t.But there are people who are actually very very talented. Rahul Dev Burman was one of them.Why do I say this?Well, he was very versatile.He was often seen as a rock-pop type composer. The truth is he was much more. He was good at every music genre. Indeed, he did bring electronic music to India.But his expertise was much more deep. He understood what kind of music a certain movie, a certain sequence required and he composed according.
You see Laxmikant-Pyarelal have done more films than him.But L-P(they have done more Bollywood films than any other composer(s)) did music for the mass market.But RD could compose both for the polished, refined educated man and also for the paisa vasool junta.This is a guy that’s difficult to figure out.You either do top quality music only like Madan Mohan or you do street-level stuff like LP.But RD could do both.Thus he has done "Samundar Mein Nahake Aur Bhi" and "Bachke Rehna Re Baba" in Pukar.One is a crude song and the other a fine piece of quality music.This is just one single example.RD lived only for 55 years.But his body of work in terms of quality and range is astonishing. He was perhaps someone who could compete globally.
Yet, his talent remained largely unrecognized in his brief lifetime.That most of his songs are still heard and liked by one and all is perhaps a tribute to his amazing, truly amazing genius.