'I Had To Sing Bahon Mein Chale Aao Very Softly, As Jaya Bhaduri Is Singing When Everyone Is Asleep In The House,' Recalls Lata Mangeshkar On RD Burman's Birth Anniversary - EXCLUSIVE

Lata Mangeshkar picks out her 5 most favourite songs of RD Burman on his birth anniversary.

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'I Had To Sing Bahon Mein Chale Aao Very Softly, As Jaya Bhaduri Is Singing When Everyone Is Asleep In The House,' Recalls Lata Mangeshkar On RD Burman's Birth Anniversary - EXCLUSIVE
It is erroneously believed that Asha Bhosle sang Rahul  Dev Burman’s best  songs. In fact Burman Junior, like his father, was completely besotted by the Nightingale Lata Mangeshkar’s  voice and his career’s finest songs were reserved  for her only. Don’t believe me? Then checkout these imperishable  melodies .

1. Bahon mein chale aao (Anamika):  The signature tune for  R D Burman’s  immortal  collaboration with Lataji, Bahon mein chale aao is to RD’s oeuvre what  Mother India is to Nargis. Recalls Lataji, “When I  heard the  song situation in the  film it  was very clear to me that the tune had to be sung very softly. The heroine Jaya Bhaduri is singing to Sanjeev Kumar while everyone is fast asleep in the house. If she sings too loudly she will wake up  everyone. Her feelings had to be expressed very very softly. This song is  among my personal favourites. I often sang it at my live concerts.”


2. Raina beeti jaaye(Amar Prem): Goosebumps…RD’s ethereal composition where he used a morning raga for  a night song, Lataji’s flawless singing and Sharmila Tagore’s emotive prowess lent an eternal heft to  this  enchanting melody. Recalls Lataji,“Pancham’s knowledge  of Hindustan classical music  was very strong. He knew as much about music as his great father. In fact the very  first song of his  career was the classical based Ghar aaja ghir aaye badra in Chote Nawab, which I sang.”


3. Beeti na beetayi raina(Parichay): Lataji won the National award  for this  classical masterpiece  where she excels in articulating  the nuances of the  composition with the sensitivity that only she possesses. The doyen of  Hindustani classical  music Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan  had once  exclaimed, “Kambakht kabhi besura  gaati hi nahin(the  woman never  sings out of tune).”  Javed Akhtar verifies the authenticity of  the incident.  Lataji laughs, “Yeh unka  baddappan ttha(this was his greatness). But yes, I always enjoyed singing classical songs, This one is among my favourites.”


4. Dilbar dil de pyare(Caravan): Now for a fun song. One would think that RD would go to Asha  Bhosle for this  chulbula playful song. Says Lataji, “I thoroughly enjoyed singing the lighter songs  of RD like Bhai battoor in Padosan, Bangle ke peeche in  Samadhi and  Dilbar dil se in Caravan. In fact these spirited songs were  many often far more difficult than the serious numbers. With R D there was always something exciting happening during the recordings.”


5. Tere bina zindagi se koi  shikwa toh nahin(Aandhi): Perhaps the single-most popular song of R D  Burman’s career  Tere bina zindagi se was originally a song that RD composed in Bengali for the Durga Puja. He later converted it into this sublime number so suffused with emotions of regret and longing that it is considered by many to be  Gulzar’s finest poetry for a  film. Recalls Lataji fondly, “In Aandhi I had several beautiful duets  with  Kishoreda(Kumar) …Tum aa gaye  ho noor aa gaya hai,Iss modd se jaate hain and Tere bina zindagi.Each one equally beautiful. Who knows why one out of many equally beautiful compositions becomes  more popular than  the rest?”




Image source:  IMDb, Amazon
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