Singing
legend
Lata
Mangeshkar
remembers
her
long
association
with
late,
noted
Bollywood
music
director
Rahul
Dev
Burman,
affectionately
called
Pancham-Da,
on
the
occasion
of
his
75th
birth
anniversary
Friday
and
says
"he
died
too
young
and
too
unhappy."
"For
a
composer
as
talented
as
Pancham
to
be
almost
jobless
was
a
living
death.
Pancham
was
very
unhappy.
He
would
sometimes
share
his
grief
with
me.
I
feel
sad
even
now
when
I
recall
how
cruel
the
industry
was
to
Pancham
just
because
some
of
his
music
didn't
do
well," she
said
while
sharing
how
unhappy
R
D
Burman
was
during
his
final
years.
Born
to
the
rising
star
in
the
musical
firmament,
S.D.
Burman
in
the
year
1939,
Pancham
revolutionised
Hindi
film
music
since
he
debuted
as
a
composer
with
comedian
Mehmood's
1961
movie
Chote
Nawab.
His
range
varied
from
the
catchy
'Aaja
aaja,
main
hun
pyaar
tera'
from
Teesri
Manzil
to
the
soulful
thumri
'Hame
tumse
pyar
kitna,
ye
hum
nahin
jaante'
by
Parveen
Sultana
in
Kudrat.
He
also
composed
mischievous
number
'Ek
chatur
naar,
badi
hoshiyar'
from
Padosan
and
the
melodious
'Tere
bina
zindagi
se
koi
shikwa
to
nahin'
from
Aandhi.
Lata
acknowledges
her
love
and
debt
for
the
departed
composer
and
says
her
brother-in-law
"was
immensely
talented
and
could
compose
in
any
style."
"He
knew
exactly
which
song
to
give
to
which
singer.
If
he
gave
my
sister
Asha
Bhosle
'Piya
tu
ab
toh
aaja',
he
gave
me
'Raina
beeti
jaaye'.
He
also
gave
me
'Naam
ghum
jayega
chehra
yeh
badal
jayega'..This
is
the
signature
tune
of
my
career," she
added.
Burman's
last
work
was
seen
in
1942:
A
Love
Story,
which
was
released
after
his
unfortunate
demise
in
1994
and
Lata
gets
emotional
as
she
recalls
the
meomories
while
singing
for
the
film.
"It
was
twice
that
my
recording
for
Pancham
for
1942:
A
Love
Story
got
postponed.
Finally,
I
was
in
Delhi
when
I
heard
he
passed
away.
I
recorded
the
song
'Kuch
na
kaho'
posthumously
for
Pancham
with
a
heavy
heart.
If
Pancham
had
lived,
he
would
have
been
so
happy
to
see
his
songs
used
so
beautifully."
Lata
feels
that
Pancham
who
died
at
the
age
of
54
was
reverent.
"He
saw
me
as
his
father's
artiste,
but
when
we
recorded
he
was
a
colleague.
And
if
Kishore
da
(Kishore
Kumar)
was
with
us,
then
it
was
full
masti
(fun).
We
had
great
fun.
And
his
songs
have
withstood
the
test
of
time.
Only
two
music
composers
from
Hindi
cinema
have
attained
such
enduring
fame
after
death.
Pancham
and
Madan
Mohan," she
said.