Recently, when the affable Ambassador of Brazil, His Excellency Tovar da Silva Nunes browsed though the book ‘R.D.BurMania: PanchaMemoirs’, the senior diplomat seemed quite impressed. Among many aspects, the memoirs authored by distinguished film journalist Chaitanya Padukone, highlights little-known information about the maverick maestro R.D.Burman’s ‘Brazilian connection’.
“The contents of the book are very interesting and I am keen to know more about the Indian composer RDB,” said the ambassador in a formal response letter. Earlier, at the Brazilian National I-Day celebrations in Mumbai, the ambassador had personally complimented Padukone for the author’s meticulous efforts in enlightening music-buffs about this Indo-Brazilian music fusion.
Curiously enough, RDB, fondly known as Pancham Da, had this fascination for Brazilian folk music and innovatively composed numbers like ‘Jeevan Ke Har Mod Pe Mil Jaayenge Humsafar’ with a Brazilian flavor. Known for his fetish for world music, he had even attended the Rio De Janeiro carnival once. He often incorporated pulsating Brazilian rhythms like the Bossa Nova, which was actually one of his favourites.
Notably, RDB is the undisputed king of retro music, with his songs a rage even with today’s youth. We often hear remix versions of his numbers in movies and they are extremely popular at pub circuits too.
Meanwhile on January 4, the legendary Bollywood composer-singer’s legion of fans worldwide, will observe his twenty-fourth death anniversary.
