REQUEST to all RDB fans.
Sambit Basu
can any of you ( but please don't wait for the other guy :-) ) please repost
the article RDB:the man in the musician(part I). I don't know how, but I
missed that. Pleeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaase.
Thanks in advance,
Sambit
Amin Meghani
Hi RMIMers. I've been meaning to post this very special article for a
while but couldn't find the time. It's a loving tribute to Pancham by
one of his closest friends and colleagues: Gulzar.
They were friends during their days of struggle and associates as well
when they they made it big. Gulzar remembers their days of laughter and
music.
AND NOW THERE IS SILENCE...
by Gulzar
Part 1: THE MAN IN THE MUSICIAN
We knew each other from the moment we were hopefuls. We were
assistants--he to his father and I to Bimal Roy. When SD would come with
his compositions, his son would come carrying a "dagga". He'd be wearing
shorts the way kids wear Bermudas today.
My first lyric for Sachinda was "Mora gora ang lai le". Pancham would be
there. Shailendra did the other lyrics for BANDINI. And Pancham would
encourage me--go meet "baba", go and talk to him. He'd invite me to
their apartment in the one-storey building, 'Jet', on Linking Road.
Today there's a tall building over that one-storey structure. I don't
know who stays there now, Sachinda was there till his end.
Pancham was three-four years younger than me. He was always a kid, he
remained one. He was fond of pranks, of colorful clothes and especially
of the color red. He had a nickname for me--"safed kavva". He'd phone,
if I wasn't at home he'd leave a message, "Tell 'safed kavva' that 'lal
kavva' had called."
His sense of humor was his very own. He knew Asha Bhonsle was very
particular about keeping the house clean; so he sent her a gift--two big
brooms in bright wrapping paper.
One of his passions, besides music, was cooking. He grew chillies in his
terrace garden--as many as 40 varieties, cross-breeding them to get new
exotic tastes. Ashaji now wonders, "Who'll look after his plants? He's
gone."
If a friend was going abroad, he'd ask him to get back some soup
packets. Like he asked Rahi Sabarwal of Air India to bring him some soup
packets which you can only find in Hong Kong...Pancham even sent him a
telegram, "Don't forget my soup." The telegram was signed Soup Lover.
As young men in our 20s, we shared many common interests--interests in
home-cooked food and in sports. He was a soccer fanatic, he was a true
Mohan Baganian, he'd get into heated arguments with (director) Gogi
Anand over soccer. Yet Gogi remained Pancham's friend till the end.
Pancham married Jyoti. It was a love marriage, but I think it didn't
work out because they were two very different people. He was immersed
into films and music, he'd spend long hours away from home in the
recording studio of Film Centre. He was so obsessed with his work that
he had little time for any other love in his life.
Pancham was a terrific mouth-organ player; he played the organ in his
father's orchestra. And he was an outstanding sarod player too...he had
trained under Ustad Ali Akbar Khan.
Pancham would have his differences with his father. But he was
Sachinda's only child, he was the pampered one. And he could get pretty
possessive about his father. They hailed from a royal family; for them
it was a matter of pride that they had carved out their own little
kingdoms with their music.
There'd be good-natured bantering between them. "Baba," Pancham would
pout, "you don't give me enough pocket money." And Sachinda would laugh
back, "Oi Pancham, when are you going to contribute to the kitchen
expenses?" Whenever the son would try to shuffle out quietly from the
music room, Sachinda would say, "Jao jao, I know you want to smoke a
cigarette."
Pancham would frequently compose his tunes in the course of car drives.
He'd hum, we'd reach Film Centre and he'd say, "OK, you go home now,
I've got the tune in my head. I'll try it out with the musicians." If he
was especially excited about a tune, he'd scream with joy. He never kept
his happiness within himself, he shared the moments of ecstasy with
others.
Pancham would keep the actor's face in mind while working on a
composition. He'd tell me that, at times, he thought of my face while
conjuring a tune--which I thought was a great compliment.
{Excerpted from FILMFARE, 2/94}
Coming up... Part 2:GULZAR,RD AND ASHA: THE WINNING COMBINATION