Rahul Dev Burman was born in Calcutta. According to stories, he was nicknamed Pancham because, as a child, whenever he cried, it sounded in the fifth note (Pa) of the Indian musical scale.
The word Pancham means five (or fifth) in Bengali. After coming to Mumbai, he learnt sarod from Ustad Ali Akbar Khan.
R D Burman started his career as assistant to his father, Sachin Dev Burman. He assisted his father in Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958) and Kaagaz Ke Phool , and his first music interlude, in his father composition, was for the song, Jaane Kya Tune Kahi, sung by Geeta Dutt, for film Pyaasa .
His first film as a music director was Guru Dutt’s Raaz .Pancham was comfortable with all types of music. RD doubled up as a singer too. His most famous song as a singer was Mehbooba from Sholay.