Foot in the Mouth

Jan 4th was the 12th death anniversary of Panchamda ( R.D.Burman - famous hindi composer). Rediff featured a tribute to RDB by Anu Malik. After reading the tribute , I was left wondering if Anu Malik was paying a tribute to RDB or insulting him.

To start with , its a known fact that Anu talks too much. If he can compose some good music instead of talking trash, the hindi film music would be a better place. Shamefully boastful of himself he cuts across as a sorry figure trying to prove that he is not a copycat. Anu , if you want to prove that point , try to compose some decent music .

Here are some excerpts :

" I could see that suddenly, at the last moment, he changed whatever music he had composed and whatever his musicians were playing.Today, I find the same trait in myself -- I change my music at the last moment if I find it is not gelling.

He was a complete and versatile composer. He could give you an Amar Prem and a Teesri Manzil at the same breath --which, if you notice, I have done when I did while I composed Judwaa and Refugee and Virasat and Border. They are two different genres of music.

You fall in love with those tunes a million times because he made music from his heart -- the way I make it now.

He could twist tunes so well. He would pick up foreign tunes and make it his own tunes. If you remember Chura liya hai tumne jo dil ko [from the 1973 movie Yaadon Ki Baaraat], or even if he lifted from Abba, he would turn the antara [the chorus of the song] so well that it changed the whole tune. I think that is one thing that any composer can learn from R D Burman. Rather, you could say that is what I have learnt from him.

RDB's body of work is amazing -- Teesri Manzil,Amar Prem,Aandhi,Ghar,Aap ki Kasam,Kati Patang,Ijaazat,1942 - A love story. Its a sacrilege to compare RDB to Anu Malik.That is my thought. I rest the case.