‘He spent a night recording the sound of rainfall’

Friends, contemporaries remember Pancham in a new book. Today is RD Burman’s 71st birth anniversary and his singer-wife, Asha Bhosle, and some of his close friends share memories of Panchamda in a coffee table book, Pancham Of Eternity, produced by Shemaroo.

RD Burman

Friends, contemporaries remember Pancham in a new book. Today is RD Burman’s 71st birth anniversary and his singer-wife, Asha Bhosle, and some of his close friends share memories of

Panchamda

in a coffee table book,

Pancham Of Eternity

, produced by Shemaroo.

Bhonsle says that after work, he would take a shower around 9 pm, then sit in a

kurta

and

lungi

and listen to records till 4 am. The 76-year-old singer adds that Burman who brought fusion and retro to Indian music was fond of original sounds and once he spent an entire night recording the sound of rainfall in a Khandala Hotel.

Coming from the princely state of Tripura, the composer truly lived like royalty. “He was fond of good food and would treat everyone to parties during work and never pass the bill to the producers,” recalls Bhosle.

Ahead of time

Lyricist Gulzar, who wrote soulful numbers like

and

Qatra qatra...

for his friends, admits that Pancham was always ahead of his times in everything. “He was more happy-go-lucky, free spirited, effervescent and so full of life,” says the Oscar winner.

“He understood the film medium well and contributed to the visualis too. Suddenly while singing he would ask, ‘Do you have a river at the location? I want to put a majhi’s (boatman’s) voice in the interlude.”