R.D. Burman’s Top 10 Lesser Known Songs

If you hadn’t heard – yesterday was R.D Burman’s birth anniversary. Lata Mangeshkar tweeted a tribute to him yesterday and since it would be really hard to top her tribute, we are not trying! Instead, here is a translation of her Hindi tweet:

Today, I remember a 13-14 year old boy wearing khaki shorts and white shirt, who came to me for my autograph during an S.D. Burman recording.  Burman dada came to me and said that the boy was his son Pancham and that he was learning to play the sarod. I met Pancham for the first time that day. A few years later, I was surprised when Mehboob sahab came to me and said that Pacham was composing the music for his new film, Chote Nawaab. He wanted me to sing the song “Ghar Aaja Ghir Aayi” for the movie. When I went for rehearsal, I was very happy to see such a young boy composing such good music. That was the beginning of a long relationship and I sang many songs for him after that. I sang some amazing songs to his music. It saddens me that he passed away at a very young age.  I recorded my last song for him “Kuch Na Kaho”, after his demise. Pancham was really a great musician. Today, on his birth anniversary, I only want to say that he will remain in our hearts forever. Today I present to you the first and last song I sang to Pancham’s music.

So what would be the next best way of paying homage to the great composer? A playlist, right? But it’s likely that any two “R.D. Burman’s best” playlists will have significant overlaps. For example, here’s my top-of-the-head Top 10 Pancham playlist – “Is Mod Se Jaate Hain”, “Mera Kuch Saamaan”, “Raina Beeti Jaaye”, “Rimjhim Gire Sawan”, “Kuch To Log Kahenge”, “Yeh Kya Hua”, “Tere Bina Zindagi Se”, “Tujhse Naaraaz Nahin”, “Chingari Koi Bhadke”, “Aaj Kal Paaon”. While, you may not agree with every song on the list, you probably understand why they figure in my Top 10.

Given the predictability of such a Top 10 list, I thought it would be more interesting to come up with a Top 10 list of Pancham’s less famous songs. The list is primarily for people who like R.D. Burman’s songs but haven’t really explored his music beyond the staple that gets played on the radio and TV. If you are an R.D. Burman fan, let me know if there are songs you love that do not get as much attention as you think they should.

My list of R.D. Burman’s Top 10 Lesser Known Songs:

  1. O Mere Pyar Aaja (Bhoot Bangla)
  2. Jiya Na Lage Mora (Budha Mil Gaya)
  3. Roop Yeh Tera (Sanjog)
  4. Bade Ache Lagte Hain (Balika Badhu)
  5. Roz Roz Daali Daali (Angoor)
  6. Mithey Bol Boley (Kinara)
  7. Kahin Na Ja (Bade Dilwala)
  8. Piya Bawari (Khoobsoorat)
  9. Ek Roz Main Tadap Kar (Bemisal)
  10. Pal Do Pal Ka Saath (The Burning Train)

Not satisfied? Check out R.D. Burman’s complete discography on MySwar.

3 thoughts on “R.D. Burman’s Top 10 Lesser Known Songs”

  1. Fagun Bhavsar

    Being an RDent fan of RD Burman, I guess, this list could just go on, but since we are discussing about only 10 songs – I can probably improve on that with following entries:
    1. Title song – Ander Baahar
    2. Pal do pal ka saath humaara – The Burning Train
    3. Aisa samaa naa hota – Zameen Aasmaan
    4. Aye saagar ki lehron – Samandar
    5. Suhaani chandni raaten – Mukti
    6. Kabhi kabhi sapna lagta hai – Ratnadeep
    7. Main deewana – Zameen Aasmaan
    8. Main aur meri aavargi – Duniya
    9. Tum jo mile to lagaa – Drohi
    10. Mohabbat to karta hai saara zamaana – Hifazat

    and yes, the last song that you mentioned “liye sapne nigaahon me” is from movie Mashaal and composed by Pandit Hridaynath Mangeshkar and not by Pancham da.

    Thanks and regards,
    Fagun

    1. Param Post author

      Fagun – Ouch! The Mashaal gaffe is seriously embarrassing!
      You have some real deep cuts in your list. Thanks for sharing. The only song on this list that made to my shortlist was Pal Do Pal Ka Saath Humara. Was really tempted to include it since it was the only Mohd Rafi and qawwali track in the list. I’ll replace Liye Sapne.. with Pal Do Pal..
      Not trying to defend my list but I was trying to balance the “Top” and “Lesser Known” aspects of the songs. I think your list trumps mine on the “lesser known” aspect and my list trumps yours in the quality aspect. Wait, I did end up defending my list! 🙂
      For those who are too lazy to search for the songs in Fagun’s list, here are the links:
      1. Ander Baahar
      2. Aisa samaa naa hota
      3. Aye Sagar Ki Laharon
      4. Suhani Chaandni Raatein
      5. Kabhi Kabhi Sapna Lagta Hai
      6. Main Deewana
      7. Main Aur Meri Awargi
      8. Tum Jo Mile To Laga
      9. Mohabbat To Karta Hai Saara Zamana

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