RD Burman’s 87th birth anniversary: Resurrecting Pancham da through his evergreen melodies

Organised on the legendary music director-composer’s birth anniversary, an event titled Dilkash — Pancham Classics has kick-started the non-profit passion project of four NCR-based individuals; who have their background in corporate profiles but their hearts lie in music.

Chandeliers shone bright on a 10-member orchestra as some forgotten musical instruments came alive, as if on cue, to pay tribute to the late music director Rahul Dev Burman (RD Burman) aka Pancham da. Transporting music lovers to the era of Pancham da was the event, Dilkash — Pancham Classics, held at Apparel House in Gurugram on Saturday, which marked the legend’s 87th birth anniversary.

Anchoring the event, Rajeev Beotra (inset) took the audience on a trip down memory lane as he shared nuggets from RD Burman’s life in between the musical acts. The performances were accompanied by screenings of videos that filmed Pancham’s songs in Hindi cinema, such as Aaja Aaja Main Hoon Pyar Tera featuring late Shammi Kapoor and Asha Parekh, in Teesri Manzil (1966). (Right) Singer Indu Thakur regaled the audience. (Photos: Henna Rakheja/HT)

On stage, anchor Rajeev Beotra shared, “RD Burman was called Pancham because he used to cry in the fifth note.” Thus commenced a live geetmala that introduced music lovers to the passion project of four NCR individuals from corporate background, who came together to fuel their passion for music via this non-profit venture. These four are also curators of the show: Prem Syal, Rajeev Beotra, P Balaji, and Aseem Soni.

P Balaji and Aseem Soni, both curators of the show, left the audience mesmerised with their musical prowess. (Photos: Henna Rakheja/HT)

The curators joined the local singers on stage for rendition of some of the masterpieces from Pancham’s rich oeuvre including Aaja Aaja Main Hoon Pyaar Tera and Pyar Hua Chupke Se. In the background, visuals of these classic were screened to create an engaging spectacle. “We wanted to offer the right blend of his life journey interspersed with relevant songs, in two-and-a-half hours,” shares Aseem, adding, “This is just the beginning, for we aim to have a programme every quarter where we celebrate and resurrect a musical personality’s golden era by sharing anecdotes combined with his/her contribution to popular Indian music.”

Singers Shailaja, Dr Suneet Sekhri, and Nikita kept the audience enthralled at Dilkash’s first-ever event, which was dedicated to legendary music composer, late RD Burman. (Photos: Henna Rakheja/HT)

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