It must have been around 1950- 1951 or thereabouts when I first got a call to sing for Dada (SD Burman) for a film called Lal Kunwar. His career hadn’t really taken off then. I must have sung 2-3 songs for the film. I remember one song Bach ke humse bhala. N Dutta was his music assistant then.
Then there was a gap for a while before he decided to call me for Taxi Driver (1954) for Navketan for the Jeene do song.
Lal Kunwar
I remember going to his hotel in Marine drive to rehearse. His wife Meera Burman was there too. He would make me rehearse for 3-4 songs in one go. Those days rehearsals would go on for two whole days, then we would also rehearse at Navketan where Chetan, Dev and Vijay Anand would be present. Those were such fun, simple and easy days. Dada would teach you the antara then take his paan and go off. Then again he’d come back and hum some Bengali songs. Haste khelte we would complete our recordings. He would sing the song to us and we would often imitate his style. Pancham (RD Burman) would also sing the song to us while rehearsing. But Dada was keen that we brought our own touch to the songs.
Taxi Driver
He was very particular about how you sounded and how fresh your voice was. He taught me how to fade in and fade out the voice. He told me how to create “tremor” while singing and how to move from high notes to low notes.
Pancham was his assistant on the harmonium then, Maruti Rao was on the tabla, Manohari Singh was on the saxophone. Dada had some amazing assistants like Jaidev and others. Pancham always had some suggestion or the other. Sometimes Dada would reject Pancham’s suggestions outright. Sometimes he would accept them. It was a wonderful sense of team spirit.
I have lost count of the songs I sang for Dada. He was inspired by bhatiali music (folk music from West Bengal). There was so much influence of Nazrul geet in him, as well. I remember the original of Poocho na kaise (song from Meri Surat Teri Ankhen – 1963) sung by Mannada (Dey) which probably had its origins in Nazrul geet. I remember another song of his – Meghla nishi bhore in Bengali was so remarkable.
His sense of rhythm was amazing and he never ‘over composed’ a song. There was minimum use. And the musicians who performed in the orchestra were all fabulous. Those were just amazing times. Dada’s Hindi was toota-phoota (broken) but his melody was unparalleled.
He was a royal man, tall and princely in demeanour. He didn’t believe in small talk and was to the point. He loved good food. He would always say my son Pancham is way out of control. Yeh ladka bahut natkhat hai. His food and drinking habits are out of control. Only you can “sambhalo” him, he’d tell me.
Also Dada’s classic way of functioning was making all of us singers rehearse separately for 3-4 songs and then giving away the appropriate song to the singer most suited to sing that song . For example I would see that one song which I had rehearsed has been sung by geeta (dutt) or someone else. But that was Dada!
I remember one stage show with him in the 60s and Pancham where I sang one of his songs and Pancham’s Oh mere sona (Teesri Manzil, 1966). I recall didi (Lata Mangeshkar) was present at that show too. I don’t remember if it was Achha ji main haari (Kala Pani, 1958) where he kept complaining that I wasn’t saying the word “achha” correctly.
He pronounced my name as “Aasa”. I remember singing the Ab ke baras (Bandini, 1963) song and he felt my singing lacked feeling. He was angry and said “Aasa tumhara bhai nahi hai? Usko rakhi nahi baandta?” That time, I was married and estranged from my family and was missing my brother Baal (Hridayanath Mangeshkar) so much that I started crying and Dada immediately asked to go for the take and then recorded the song in one take.
From 1951 to his death in 1975, I sang so many numbers for him that I have lost count. Sujata (1959), Bandini (1963), Jewel Thief (1967)… these were such unforgettable films. Those were such amazing times.
Today, those memories may seem hazy, but it was such good times recording at Famous Studio with all these amazing musicians. Dada’s recordings would start on time and end sometimes even before time. He was a stickler for punctuality. He lived and breathed music and nothing else. That’s why his songs have stood the test of time.
Also Read: Anuradha Paudwal Recalls Singing With Legendary Asha Bhosle, Fulfilling Her Father-in-law’s Wish.
