Tere bina zindagi se koi shikwa to nahi...
ian
MA Khan
‘Tere bina zindagi se koi shikwa to nahi...
Tere bina zindagi bhi lekin zindagi to nahin...'
These words ring true because RD Burman's music may be with us today
but his absence is strongly felt. On his 10th death anniversary, which
fell on January 4, 2004, as a tribute to the musical genius, here's an
unknown episode from his eventful life.
RD, better known as ‘Pancham', made his debut with Chhote Nawab. How
he got his first film is an interesting tale. Actor Mehmood, who was
the producer of Chhote Nawab, shared a warm relationship with RD's
father SD Burman. The senior Burman too showered all his affection on
Mehmood like his own son. In the mid 60s, when the actor decided to
launch his home production with, he didn't think twice about its music
director. It was quite obvious that it had to be SD Burman. When he
approached SD to do his film, Dada refused point blank. Reason — SD
Burman was, at that time, one of the leading music directors and he
didn't work with debutants. And Mehmood was a debutant producer.
Mehmood was deeply hurt. Nevertheless, next day he again came back to
SD. Seeing him, the veteran composer said, "Arre, main bol diya na
main teri picture nahin karoonga. Phir kyon aaya?" (Why have you come
back when I have refused to do your film?) Mehmood replied, "I am not
here to sign you. I am signing Pancham. Agar baap nahin, to beta
chalega!" To which SD answered fondly, "Arre pagla. Pancham abhi
bachcha hai. Tu kisi aur ko kyon nahi leta?" But the actor was adamant
and told SD, "If you don't work with newcomers, no problem. I work
with newcomers."
Later, when SD heard the film's music he was very pleased.
Congratulating Mehmood he said, "Wah re, tune to kamal kar diya. Ab
jab picture banayega, to mujhe lega na?" (You have worked wonders.
Hope you will sign me for your next film). Needless to say, Mehmood
had the last laugh.
V S Rawat
>
> RD Burman
>
> MA Khan
>
> ‘Tere bina zindagi se koi shikwa to nahi...
> Tere bina zindagi bhi lekin zindagi to nahin...'
>
>
> These words ring true because RD Burman's music may be with us today
> but his absence is strongly felt. On his 10th death anniversary, which
> fell on January 4, 2004, as a tribute to the musical genius, here's an
> unknown episode from his eventful life.
>
> RD, better known as ‘Pancham', made his debut with Chhote Nawab. How
> he got his first film is an interesting tale. Actor Mehmood, who was
> the producer of Chhote Nawab, shared a warm relationship with RD's
> father SD Burman. The senior Burman too showered all his affection on
> Mehmood like his own son. In the mid 60s, when the actor decided to
> launch his home production with, he didn't think twice about its music
> director. It was quite obvious that it had to be SD Burman. When he
> approached SD to do his film, Dada refused point blank. Reason — SD
> Burman was, at that time, one of the leading music directors and he
> didn't work with debutants. And Mehmood was a debutant producer.
I don't think SDB was ever at No. 1 position in film industry, the way
Naushad, Shankar Jaikishan, Laxmikant Pyarelal, R D Burman (yeah SDB's
son), Nadeem Shrawan, Anu Malik, A R Rahman, and others had been from
time to time.
This is decided not by the quality of music, but the banners one gets
and price one can charge.
Hence it was peuliar that SDB behaved in this manner. Or, maybe, those
who do not reach top slot are more apprehensive about their
reputations than those who have already reached there.
Rahman doesn't give a damn to such thoughts. He has worked with Shyam
Benegal, Deepa mehta, M F Hussain, Khalid Mohammed, any many like them
about whom it is a given that the movie is most likely to be
commercially flop.
And so it did happen. Movies were mostly flops, or below average, but
arr's music in these films is considered to be among his best.
> Mehmood was deeply hurt. Nevertheless, next day he again came back to
> SD. Seeing him, the veteran composer said, "Arre, main bol diya na
> main teri picture nahin karoonga. Phir kyon aaya?" (Why have you come
> back when I have refused to do your film?) Mehmood replied, "I am not
> here to sign you. I am signing Pancham. Agar baap nahin, to beta
> chalega!" To which SD answered fondly, "Arre pagla. Pancham abhi
> bachcha hai. Tu kisi aur ko kyon nahi leta?" But the actor was adamant
> and told SD, "If you don't work with newcomers, no problem. I work
> with newcomers."
What a fitting reply.
> Later, when SD heard the film's music he was very pleased.
Was chhote nawaab music was so great? I have found only one song
refferred to from this film "matawaalii aa.nkho.n waale". I don't
remembere any other song, nor remember having read about any of them.
> Congratulating Mehmood he said, "Wah re, tune to kamal kar diya. Ab
> jab picture banayega, to mujhe lega na?" (You have worked wonders.
> Hope you will sign me for your next film). Needless to say, Mehmood
> had the last laugh.
Very interesting anecdot. Revealed lots of things about lots of
persons.
btw, even after having padosan, why did mehmood switch to Rajesh
Roshan ( in kunwara baap. Rajesh roshan's debut)? Had RDB become so
big by that time that mehmood could not afford his charges.
who were the mds of his other releases, sabase ba.Daa rupaiyaa, jini
aur johny, others?
-----------
Thanks ian!
Keep posting exclusives like that.
-Rawat
Surjit Singh
>
> Rahman doesn't give a damn to such thoughts. He has worked with Shyam
> Benegal, Deepa mehta, M F Hussain, Khalid Mohammed, any many like them
> about whom it is a given that the movie is most likely to be
> commercially flop.
>
> And so it did happen. Movies were mostly flops, or below average, but
> arr's music in these films is considered to be among his best.
>
I think the MD who takes the cake as the one who gave his best in music
but whose movies were mostly flops is Madan Mohan Kohli.
--
Surjit Singh, a diehard movie fan(atic), period.
Visit my home page at
http://hindi-movies-songs.com/index.html
Srinivas Ganti
>"V S Rawat" <VSR...@datainfosys.net> wrote in message
news:401EB3C8...@datainfosys.net...
> I don't think SDB was ever at No. 1 position in film industry
<snipped>
> This is decided not by the quality of music, but the banners one gets
Right from his very first movie SDB worked with the top banners.
(He may have made some movies with the not so top banners but that's
besides the point).
8 days, Shikari, Paying Guest (Filmistan)
Naujawan (Kardar)
add
Navketan, Bimal Roy productions, Guru Dutt films, Shakti Samanta.
These are among the biggest banners in HFM !
sg.
Srinivas Ganti
"Srinivas Ganti" <gant...@hotmail.com> wrote :
>
> 8 days, Shikari, Paying Guest (Filmistan)
> Naujawan (Kardar)
>
> add
>
> Navketan, Bimal Roy productions, Guru Dutt films, Shakti Samanta.
> These are among the biggest banners in HFM !
Shabnam, Do Bhai are also by Filmistan.
And then we have Bahaar with AVM.
sg.
naniwadekar
"Srinivas Ganti" <gant...@hotmail.com> wrote -
>
>
Besides, it isn't as if only #1 can dictate things and choose
banners to work for. You can have all the books at your
disposal and a huge Excel spreadsheet filled with data but
if you don't use common sense before forming opinions,
you will keep thinking in terms of imaginary and baseless
rankings among MDs and singers. There were several
banners who might not have worked with Naushad or
SJ even if the services were offered to them for free by
these 'so-called' #1s.
- dn
Surma Bhopali
of them is RDB-Mukt-Indian-Muzik. ;-)
ianso...@hotmail.com (ian) wrote in message news:...
> RD Burman
>
> MA Khan
>
>
> ?Tere bina zindagi se koi shikwa to nahi...
Surjit Singh
> Wrong newsgroup. There are several unofficial definitions of RMIM. One
> of them is RDB-Mukt-Indian-Muzik. ;-)
Acronym finder
http://www.acronymfinder.com/af-query.asp?String=exact&Acronym=rmim
says
Refined Message Information Model
Royal Military Institute of Manitoba
>
> ianso...@hotmail.com (ian) wrote in message news:...
>
>>RD Burman
>>
>>MA Khan
>>
>>
>>?Tere bina zindagi se koi shikwa to nahi...
>>Tere bina zindagi bhi lekin zindagi to nahin...'
>>
--
Sudhir
=======================================
I never heard the story as narrated by mr. M A Khan
From my own recollections and other write-up at various
web sites, including this forum, the facts are:
Mehmood and Pancham (as he was known to his Mom, Dad and
family members) were friends for a very long time
Rahul had been assisting his father for quite a number of years.
In Miss Kabir's book on Guru Dutt, there is a reference that
RDB composed a song (Title not mentioned) for the un-finished
film: RAAZ (MD was supposed to be: Sachin da), which
as the film got scrapped, was later used in film: Chhote Nawab
(again title: not given)
Chhote Nawab was a shoe-string endeavor. The question of
Mehmood approaching S D Burman to compose for it does
not arise. Mehmood could not afford SDB's asking price.
In fact, the father advised the son on the strategy to make his
mark as a music director. If the film did not have the classical
raag based song: Ghar Aaja Ghir Aaye Badra / by: Lata, the film
and it's music still would have been hit, but Rahul won't have
achieved the recognization what he got from his first film. To
reinforce my point of view, I would like to refer to the critics
views for music Director: O.P. Nayyar. Until, the time OPN
composed classical raag based songs for film: RAAGINI,
he was considered a MD best suited for Paanwalas' customers.
Sachin da might have help Pancham in refining the subject song,
Ghar Aaja ...., but I don't have any proof to that effect and
certainly don't need one. The song is quite good.
Counter-points and Feed-backs welcomed and appreciated.
Sudhir
------------------------
ianso...@hotmail.com (ian) wrote in message
> RD Burman
>
> MA Khan
>
>
> ?Tere bina zindagi se koi shikwa to nahi...
> Tere bina zindagi bhi lekin zindagi to nahin...'
>
>
> These words ring true because RD Burman's music may be with us today
> but his absence is strongly felt. On his 10th death anniversary, which
> fell on January 4, 2004, as a tribute to the musical genius, here's an
> unknown episode from his eventful life.
>
> RD, better known as ?Pancham', made his debut with Chhote Nawab. How
> he got his first film is an interesting tale. Actor Mehmood, who was
> the producer of Chhote Nawab, shared a warm relationship with RD's
> father SD Burman. The senior Burman too showered all his affection on
> Mehmood like his own son. In the mid 60s, when the actor decided to
> launch his home production with, he didn't think twice about its music
> director. It was quite obvious that it had to be SD Burman. When he
> approached SD to do his film, Dada refused point blank. Reason ? SD
Surma Bhopali
> Surma Bhopali wrote:
> > Wrong newsgroup. There are several unofficial definitions of RMIM. One
> > of them is RDB-Mukt-Indian-Muzik. ;-)
>
> Acronym finder
>
> http://www.acronymfinder.com/af-query.asp?String=exact&Acronym=rmim
>
> says
>
> Refined Message Information Model
> Royal Military Institute of Manitoba
>
A Crazy Reminder Of Names You Misplaced
joshilay
> Was chhote nawaab music was so great? I have found only one song
> refferred to from this film "matawaalii aa.nkho.n waale". I don't
> remembere any other song, nor remember having read about any of them.
it has some other good songs too:
1.Ghar aaja ghir aayi was Lata's first for RD.
2.Aaj huwa mera dil matwala - RD did a pooja song later of this (Aaj dole mon)
3.Jeenewale muskurake jee
BTW, has anyone seen this film? was it kind of a Muslim Social movie?
V S Rawat
>
> Wrong newsgroup. There are several unofficial definitions of RMIM. One
> of them is RDB-Mukt-Indian-Muzik. ;-)
The other side might coin: RDB's.Music.Is.(the only).Music.
-Rawat
V S Rawat
>
> CHHOTE NAWAB / Rahul Dev Burman / Mehmood
> =======================================
> Mehmood approaching S D Burman to compose for it does
> not arise. Mehmood could not afford SDB's asking price.
SDB would have reduced his price to help a freind.
Isn't that the trend the M.D.'s (or any role in film line) rates are
not fixed like a plateform ticket's. It keeps on varrying, in a very
wide range dependig on the importance of the film or the banner, or
relationship.
The story goes that Meena Kumari accepted only one asharfii for
Paakeezah.
There must be several other incidences like this.
-Rawat
V S Rawat
Indeed.
1. He worked with big banners.
2. His films had top ranking actors/actresses of those days.
3. Several of his films become hits, music as well as film.
All the ingredients for getting crowned Number 1.
I don't know about no. 1s of 1930s, but after, Rattan Naushad's name
comes up referred as No. 1 for almost a decade, and after that
Shankar-Jaikishan's, after that Laxmikant-Pyarelal's, so on.
Was there a duration, however brief, when SDB was first choice of
everybody who could afford his prices?
The proof could be, like, when Krishna Shah came to produce a bumper
commercial movie Shalimaar, he took No. 1 of that era.
-Rawat
joshilay
the one that immediately comes to mind is that of Dard Ka Rishta.
Pancham was told of the noble cause behind making this movie by Sunil
Dutt. Pancham decided to score for this album free of cost and asked
the musicians to do the same.
Sudhir
Where did you hear the story of Meena accepting one gold coin
as a compensation. Most of the producer's part of funding PAKEEZAH
came from her earnings. Kamal Amrohi though highly respected
as a writer, took very few assignments and in addition all his
earlier films as a producer (DIL APNA AUR ....), were flops.
The other comments on flexiable compensation is correct is correct.
Sudhir
----------------------------
V S Rawat <VSR...@datainfosys.net> wrote in message >
> SDB would have reduced his price to help a freind.
Surma Bhopali
make sense! If you remove the 2 letters, it states a simple fact that
many RMIMers hate to like (or like to hate). ;-)
Sudhir
how the film industry works.
Please read the fifth para related to film: GUNAHON KE DEVTA
Chapter 3 : Star without Perks.
With Geet Gaya Patthrone, the nonentity Ravi Kapoor
disappeared. Jeetendra (this name was given to me by
Shantaramji) became a star. But none of the luxuries of a star
entered my life. I still live in the same place --
financially, things didn't change much. But I must admit,
Rajshree became a very important factor in my life. She made
me feel comfortable. In fact, with her easy, warm and
understanding nature, she absorbed my fear of her father while
shooting. Till today, we've remained close friends. She comes
to see me whenever she's in town and I never fail to meet her
when I go to Los Angeles where she now resides.
I never knew what a Christmas Eve's party was. Rajshree took
me to one. I saw a five star hotel for the first time when she
took me to the Ambassador. She, her brother Kiran, Shashank,
Teju and I, would all go out together. I was always kadka
because Shantaramji hardly paid me anything and my parents
couldn't afford high class entertainment. So, inspite of being
a hero, I could never pay those hefty bills. They regularly
treated me to the stylish fare. I would often want to buy some
snacks during the interval when we went to the movies, but
couldn't. I felt embarrassed. But Rajshree was extremely
understanding.
After Geet Gaya's release, people began saying Shantaramji's
films did well, but his heroes never really made it to the
top. This belief went against me and for 8-9 months after Geet
Gays..., I didn't sign a single film. Frustration creeped in
and I started doing the rounds of studios in search of roles.
That's the time I became friendly with Prem Chopra.
Both of us lived in the same building, but I don't know why,
there was a mutual antagonism. Whenever we saw each other,
we'd growl like two dogs from different gullis, get into our
respective cars and zoom away, as if we were extremely busy.
Actually we were both jobless. Then one day we came face to
face at Famous studios and decided to bury the hatchet. We
resolved to do our daily rounds together in one car and save
on petrol. Since then, we've been very thick.
Then came a film which once again set the ball rolling. Devi
Sharma wanted to boost Kumkum. He engaged P. L. Santoshi (Raj
Kumar Santoshi's father) to direct the film and offered the
male lead to me. It was a black and white film. I didn't know
whether to accept or refuse. I had not much of a choice
though, so I eventually agreed. One day I went to Devi
Sharma's house. He was drunk. I said to him that after working
with Shantaramji, I wanted to do a film only with him. He felt
flattered and said that he would begin a new film with me with
a more famous costar and instead, get another hero for the P.
L. Santoshi film. But he put the onus of getting a good
heroine on me. And I knew just Rajshree. She naturally agreed
to work with me but she asked for Rs. 3.25 lakhs, while Devi
Sharma was prepared to pay her Rs. 3 lakhs. So I told the
production manager to pay her Rs. 25,000 from my share of Rs.
55,000. Now I was left with Rs. 30,000. Devi Sharma wanted to
hire a top music director. Once again he asked me to get him a
music director. I was friendly with Jaikishan (of the Shankar-
Jaikishan duo) and once again a difference in price threatened
to shelve the project. This time too, I parted with Rs. 25,000
from my share. That means, eventually, I did the film for just
Rs. 5,000. However, after Gunahon Ka Devta (that was the film)
I never looked back.
How I got a secretary for myself is an interesting incident.
One day a man came to see me. He was wearing a suit and
proudly showed me his photo taken with Indira Gandhi. I
assumed he was a producer and thought it fit to entertain him.
I went into the other room, and asked my sister, who was a kid
then, to get 'do anne ke biscuit' for the guest from the shop
below. We never had tins of biscuit and such snacks stocked at
home in those days. We'd make the kids run down to get as and
when the need arose. He ate the biscuit and drank the tea
while I waited for him to make his proposal. Then he said,
"Sir, I want to become your secretary." "Oh God," I thought,
"khudko paalne ke liye paise nahin, me in secretary kahan se
palunga" This was during the slack days after Geet Gaya...
Anyway, to put him off, I called him at 9 a.m. the next day,
knowing I was leaving the home at 7 a.m. But he turned out to
be smarter than me. He was waiting outside the house when I
stepped out early next morning. He smiled and said, "don't
worry, I know you have no money. I understand. But let me work
for you." He was Mr. Ghosh. He remained my secretary for seven
years. He even made a film with me called Ek Bechara. After
that we parted ways.
Another landmark in my career was Farz. For 11 weeks, Farz
didn't do well and I fed the theatres to keep it going. My
father was proud of my fame and went to see it. He bought a
ticket and entered the theatre. At the entrance, he held it
out for the usher to lead him to his seat. The usher
indifferently said, "kahin bhi jaa ke baitho." My father
insisted on sitting on his seat when the usher revealed that
the theatre was three-quarters empty and it didn't matter
where he sat. My father was crestfallen. But, after a while
Farz picked up and soon became a super duper hit.
After Farz I saw a lot of success. As it happens in life, the
high phase was followed by a sudden depression. A ceiling of
six films was slammed on us. I had become choosy before that,
as a result I hardly had any films on hand. That's when Bidaai
came my way. Prasadji (L. V. Prasad)had offered it to Rajesh
Khanna who was asking for 11 lakhs. Prasadji couldn't afford
that much. So Rajesh told him, "then pay me one rupee."
Prasadji couldn't agree to that either and take an obligation.
I was prepared to act on any terms. While doing the films, I
learn a lot from Prasadji. I consider him my mentor. His sense
of humour too was excellent. I must narrate an incident to
illustrate this. On the sets of Khilona, Shatrughan Sinha (who
played the Sanjeev Kumar's elder brother, while I played his
younger brother), one day, in his characteristic style,
flamboyantly swaggered in. Seeing him walk like that,
Prasadji, in his Hindi heavily laced with the South-Indian
accent said, "Shatru, tumhara drunkard scene kal hai, aaj
nahin." All of us burst out laughing.
In those days, we rehearsed the dance sequences completely
before the shoot. The entire song had to be set and Hiralal
master was a tough dance director. We had our rehearsals daily
for hours and he would tire us out completely with his
vigorous steps. One day, I bunked the rehearsal and went to
see a film in Rex theatre. God knows how he found out where I
was, right in the middle of the film, a message flashed on the
screen that I was wanted outside. There, he stood, frowning
and dragged me back to the rehearsal!
Anyway I had pinned all my hopes on Bidaai and so had my
steady girl-friend Shobha. We'd been courting for over a
decade, and she was pressurising me to legalise the bond. I
knew I was tormenting her and that thought tormented me too.
So I promised her that if Bidaai clicked, I'd marry her
immediately.
maild...@yahoo.com (Sudhir) wrote in message news:<e32c7906.04020...@posting.google.com>...