QSQT went on to usher a new phase of Hindi film music by heralding a return of melody, something that was vintage RD. Mansoor was convinced that the presence of the legendary music composer would be far too intimidating for him to even think straight.
Sadly, this didn't include RD in the scheme of things.
Nasir Hussain convinced the US returned Mansoor to treat the seemingly rustic guns and Thakurs blood saga as Romeo-Juliet and once he viewed it from that prism, Mansoor infused the project with his own signature. And he would have been had Mansoor not been in awe of his 'Pancham Uncle.' He was working on an idea that would go on to become Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992) but his father had nudged him to take over QSQT that was being made to launch his cousin Aamir. Considering his association with the banner, RDwould have been the automatic choice even though Nasir Hussain had relinquished the reins to his son Mansoor. He was elated when Ghai hit a dead-end with Devaa and shifted his attention to Ram Lakhan but as bad luck would have it Ghai's regulars Laxmikant-Pyarelal (LP) wanted to join the party.Īccording to the 2011 biography, RD Burman: the man, the music, Ghai unceremoniously discarded Pancham when LP emotionally blackmailed him by saying that they would never work with Ghai if he persisted with RD.īut Ram Lakhan didn't hurt RD as much as missing Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak would have. It didn't matter to him that Ghai wouldn't be directing the film, as he was busy with Devaa, his opus with Amitabh Bachchan, but the offer was challenging enough. Subhash Ghai was known for being a filmmaker who never went wrong with music and when he signed RD to score Ram Lakhan, the composer knew that this could be very his shot at making a comeback. Ideas might pull the trigger, but it's instincts that load the gun and while RD's instincts never left him, the manner in which the three opportunities did, killed his spirit from which he never fully recovered. In spite of scores like Sanam Teri Kasam, Masoom, Ijaazat and Sagar the mood for the kind of music RDwas good at had nearly died thanks to the kind of films that were being made but there were three instances when the second wind he desperately sought was almost within reach. There were old friends like Nasir Hussain who still believed in him but by the mid 1980s RDhad become a pale shadow of himself. By the time the decade ended contemporaries Laxmikant-Pyarelal and rising star Bappi Lahiri had managed to overshadow him but it was the general state of music in Hindi films that dipped his creativity. One of the most prolific and successful music composers of the decade, RD was nominated nine times in the 1970s for a Filmfare but never won a single trophy. made an instant impression with his initial releases Chhote Nawab (1961) and Bhoot Bangla (1965) and although the stupendous success of Teesri Manzil (1966) cemented his reputation, it was in the 1970s that he truly hit peak.īig successes such as Kati Patang, Yaadon Ki Baraat, The Train, Caravan, Hare Rama Hare Krishna, Seeta Aur Geeta, Do Chor, Apna Desh, Amar Prem, Jawani Diwani, Rampur Ka Lakshan, Parichay, Aa Gale Lag Jaa and Aap Ki Kasam established him as a major force before mid 1970s. In a landscape dominated by stalwarts such as Shankar-Jaikishen and his own father Sachin Dev Burman, RD started out with assisting his father on films such as Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958), Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959) and many Dev Anand films including Teen Devian (1965), Tere Ghar Ke Saamne (1963) and Guide (1965). A child prodigy who grabbed every opportunity that came his way, RD's life could also be, perhaps equally defined by the ones that he missed. An extremely instinctive musician, the impact of RD's music on our lives could be gauged from the fact that there would hardly be a moment in life which couldn't be summed by one of RD's tunes. RD Burman might have been just 55 when he passed away but in the two decades since his untimely death his aura has never ceased to grow.