There are many who claim that RD Burman is the best composer till date and Kishore is the best singer (Considering male voice). There are so many fans for them or rather to say – devotees.. Now what made RD Burman and Kishore so popular leaving behind the composers like SD Burman, Madan Mohan, Salil Chowdhury, Naushad and singers like Mohd Rafi, Manna Dey and others who tried their luck in industry???
Following are my view points for discussion:
Firstly, I consider Salil Chowdhury, SD Burman, Madan Mohan, Naushad, C.Ramanachandra, to be much better composers than RD Burman. Just look at the songs being composed. No Doubt, RDB tried with many new style of music. The western style of music created a huge sensation among the audience. But was he versatile enough?? His songs were composed as if to cater to the style of Kishore. Kishoreda’s voice definitely had the right emotions for each song, but as not being trained, he couldnt give out certain classic numbers like what Rafi or Manna Dey sahib did. When comparing the singers Rafi and Manna Dey have sung almost all genre songs starting from semi-classical, qawallis till romantic soft numbers.
In this younger generation – if one asks for SD Burman or Salil Chowdhury or Madan Mohan, very few percentage of people will know. But RD Burman and Kishore are known to huge percentage of people. Many new age music directors and singers give examples of RD Burman and Kishore, while very less is talked about composers like Salil Chowdhry, Naushad and others.
It could be that the people needed a change and so RD Burman and Kishore combo was liked by all… Certain questions I am putting forward to people to answer:
- But have we forgotten those gems composed and sung by the early legendary composers and singers???
- Why is it that when it comes to Kishore or RD Burman, a special kind of treatment is given, while not for others??
- Why is not much importance given to the gems composed by the early composers?? Shouldnt they revive those songs and promote them?? Why promote more of RD Burman and Kishore songs??
All I can say at the end is – By doing this, they are depriving the younger generation from hearing the real classic melodies of the early composers. And saying that RD Burman and Kishore are the best is an injustice to the early legendary composers and singers. So, what do you think can be done to popularize the golden era songs belonging to 50s and 60s?? And what can be done to revive the names of those legendary composers??
October 9, 2008 at 8:18 pm
I think it is wrong to assume that RDB & Kishore kumar are given preferential treatment at the expense of ignoring the other illustrious names mentioned here.
At presently youngsters are exposed to only the new songs eventhough they might be of questionable quality especially on private FM radio stations and in TV channels so our future generation is deprived of the joy & pleasure of listening and appreciating the glory and golden era of film music.
This applies to even classical music. These new songs are played over again & again just to serve as a publicity campaign for the impending release of the film and hence the main consideration here for both the film maker and the entertainment media is of commercial nature than the true propagation of art which is rich in content and aesthetic in nature.
So my point here is even RDB & Kishore are not much talked about today as much as like Himesh Reshammiya, Pritam, Sonu Nigam, so on. For old timers like me who grew up on a steady diet of to name a few Mohd Rafi, Naushad, Lata, Geeta, (the list is very long including RDB, Kishore and even the extremely talented but underrated Suresh Wadkar and south indians like Ghantasala, P B Srinivas) there is always a place in heart for the golden era of Indian music.
October 20, 2008 at 11:07 pm
after god iworship kishore saab, everyday imiss him,13oct1987 is the worst day of my life.everyday i remember him, ichallenge past 5000yrs,there was no singer born, i pray to god to send him again from heaven, whole world,miss him,and waiting to born again for this genious,chamtkar, jadugar, i have no words to express my feelings. long live kishore saab, kishore saab amar rahe. jab tak suraj,chand rahega, kishore saab ka naam rahega. suraj bhi mit jayega lekin kishore saab ka naam sada rahega.
October 30, 2008 at 4:55 pm
rd burman could compose all kinds of song in the best manner – classical , western , caberet ,fast paced , slow pased songs but all had melody in them. Kishore could sing exactly in a voice matching with that of the hero . they ruled the industry and gave so many great songs in 1969-1987 period.each year they had 10 films releasing and ALL HAD GREAT SONGS IN THEM. also when Rajesh- Rd – Kishore there were fireworks only. trio wrked in 38 films of which 30 r superhits in boxoffice.
October 30, 2008 at 5:00 pm
moreover see d albums – aar paar of 1985 , Manoranjan of 1975 , Hum kisi se kum nahin , sholay , duniya of 1984 , agar tum na hote , heera panna , namak harram , ———————they have songs of all kinds in same film. it shows they were d best , thier songs r loved by people born even before KK and RD and even by those born between 1945-2008 and will live forever in our memories n will b loved by generations to come.
October 30, 2008 at 5:07 pm
see classicsl numbers hve also been given by them together. its wrng to say only western style based songs they hve done . go in http://www.panchamonline.com/ and find the names and listen the songs of thier combo . all varieties r covered . other singers and music direstors hve lots of drawback in them . voice modulation and singing from stomach with clear throat was done by Kishore and crystal clear orchestration and a tune matching with situation in film was created by RD. AFTER 1985 , MOST OF SINGERS R BAD . udit was alone a good singer in 90’s . amit kumar was obviously good but he withrew frm industry to sing in orchestras. sonu is okay. shaan is good too.jatin lalit and a r rahmaan were alone good composers after 1994
October 30, 2008 at 5:11 pm
the pair of RD-KK is followed by all others like kishore-sd , rafi-sd, rafi- o p nayyar , rafi-naushad, lata-rd, asha-rd, mukesh-rafi-kk-shankar jaikishen ,kk-rajesh roshan etc…………….the rd-kk pair remains the best.
February 20, 2009 at 6:49 pm
When people speak about RD they talk mostly about his popular songs such as Aaja aaja main hoon pyar tera, Piya tu ab to aaja, Mehbooba Mehbooba, Chura liya hai tumne, Dum maro dum, Saagar kinare, Ek ladki ko dekha etc., but the fact remains that there are hundreds of superb compositions of RD which went unnoticed, mainly because the films did not do well at the box-office. Listen to the music of these films and think again over the article you have written and you will realise that you are grossly wrong in what you are saying. Just listen to the songs of :
Oonche Log (1984)
1) Teri Kasam (1982)
2) The Burning Train (1980)
3) Sitamgar (1985)
4) Alag Alag (1985)
5) Yeh Vaada Raha (1982)
6) Namumkin (1988)
7) Raksha (1980)
9) Karishmaa (1983)
10) Jurmana (1978)
11) Zameen Aasmaan (1984)
12) Bade Dilwala (1984)
13) Duniya (1984)
14) Ratnadeep (1979)
15) Tum Karo Vaada (1993)
16) Shubhkaamna (1983)
17) Main Awara Hoon (1983)
18) Humshakal (1974)
19) Bulundi (1980)
20) Dhandaulat (1981)
21) Basera (1981)
22) Anand Aur Anand (1984)
23) Jaane Jaan (1983)
24) Libaas (unreleased)
25) Sanam Teri Kasam (1982)
These are only a few, I can list many more films with good songs by RD. Also, please tell me is it RD & Kishore’s fault that they continue to be more popular than your other legends ? Also weren’t the other legends like O.P.Nayyar & Naushad around in the 1970s & 1980S when RD was in top form ? What were they doing then ? Face it. Every composer has a good and bad phase in their careers. Both RD & Kishore struck a chord with the people when music itself was getting revolutionised. RD was the master of rhythm. He composed different kinds of music…Every song sounded different…even the orchestration was different for each song…there was no monotony. The other legends refused to accept change…RD was a favourite of both Kishore & Rafisaab. He gave them his best songs which continue to be more popular even today.