Very few people know this.After the late SD Burman was denied the throne of the princely state of Tripura he became a famous composer.His only son Rahul could have theoretically become monarch too.But he became the greatest musician in the history of Bollywood and everyone called him Boss.So much for the title.We all know by now that Rahul was launched in ’Chhote Nawab’(1961).But, he really started to blossom in ’Teesri Manzil’.In this movie RD used western music as applicable in the indian context.
Through he was basically a sarod player he had learnt good music at his great father’s feet.Such was his immense talent twenty-something RD made each tune in TM seem like a mature, polished piece of work.His hold on melody was particularly astonishing.Therafter there was no stopping this greatest talent of film music in India.He struck up a partnership with Anand Bakshi, Kishore Kumar and sometimes Rafi to churn out one hit after another.Rajesh Khanna would have been cute boy and not megastar had it not been for RD’s tunes.What made his music special.
Well, he understood his craft so well that he could change his style to suit the mood of the film.He was always in full control of the emotional aspect of the song and yet he was a conniosseur of the finest poetry.And his tunes always followed the zeitgeist and perhaps originated in it.His melody was simple and yet beautiful.Music-makers will know that it is imposssible for a single person to have all these qualities.But RD Burman, who died young and poor, and was not handsome at all was a genius.And therein lies his tragedy.