MSV : His Music and his times - Part 11: The R D Burman influence

'Aradhana' released in 1969 was important in more ways than one. Rajesh Khanna became a super star. While Rafi and Kishore both sang for Rajesh Khanna in that movie, Kishore was chosen to be the voice of Rajesh Khanna. Kishore Kumar who had till then mostly sung for himself (when he was on screen) or for his friend Dev Anand, decided to become a full fledged singer. The R D Burman - Kishore Kumar - Rajesh Khanna combination would leave a huge impact on Hindi film music, which is felt even to this day.

I am sure those in the know will tell me that 'Aradhana' was not by R D Burman but was by S D Burman. While it is true, many industry insiders are on record saying that S D Burman was not well during that time and R D composed some of the songs. Going by the style of S D Burman and the later style of R D Burman my guess is that 'mere sapno ki rani kab ayegi thu' and 'kora kagaz tha yeh mann mera' were probably R D's creations.

Whatever be the exact credit, it has to be acknowledged that the music of this movie reached the interiors of Indian towns and village, a feat only R  D Burman could manage. (While Rahman's music did go out of India, within Indian context I would say that Rahman is mostly an urban phenomenon. Similarly Raja's music reached all the tea shops in all villages down South but his music didn't create much impact beyond the Vindhyas). My friend Aul Selvan and Inabvannan say that even for Mariyamman Thiruvizhas the songs of Aradhana were played. Such was the impact of the music of Aradhana specially the songs, 'roop tera mastana' and 'mere sapnon ki'. 'roop tera mastana' has been parodied both in Tamil and Telugu.



Rajesh Khanna with the mannerism that would capture the heart of all girls, a petite Sharmila, the super picturization of the car following the train and the rhythm reflecting the movement of the train and a great tune made this song the very definition of a super hit song.

The impact of R D Burman was not felt only in the Hindi film music world but also down South in the world of Tamil and Telugu films. When such powerful trends set in, there is no way but to face it one way or the other. MSV also had to take on this trend, a trend which was enabling Hindi film music to penetrate deep into Tamilnadu.

Here is one response from MSV to take on the new trend. 'uttaravindri ulle vaa'. The sax, the guitar and the rhythm and the club danced soaked voice of L R Eswari. You can see how R D Burman's music was pushing everyone to adopt certain musical styles, rhythm and instruments. (The second para has TMS singing in classical style before singing the western style. Outstanding transition.)



The MSV - L R Eswari was Tamil film music's response to the R D Burman - Asha Bhosle combination which produced hits like these.



When you listen to these two songs one after the other I am sure you will see some similarities in orchestration. The main difference is that MSV's orchestration tends to rush a bit while RDB's is more controlled.

Like R D Burman depending on Asha to deliver sensuous songs, MSV called upon L R Eswari for such songs and she delivered perfectly. She was no slouch and she was definitely singing such songs at the same level that Asha was singing. Here is 'naam oruvarai oruvar' from 'Kumarikottam'



What a delight this song is in L R Eswari's voice. The orchestra may not be as trendy as RDB's but the tune is superb with so many subtle changes and a sort of middle eastern feel in the song endings and humming. Both Eswari and TMS hit each curve with superb precision.

Another movie, which was released in 1971, whose music had tremendous effect across India was 'Hare Krishna Hare Ram'. Every single person of that generation, be it in the city or a tiny village, would have heard 'dum maro dum'. Zeenat Aman redefined 'cool' with a lot of help from R D Burman, Asha Bhosle and Usha Uthup.



You can hear similar orchestration in this iconic fun song, 'jambulingame jadathara' from 'Kasedhan Kadavulada'. Amazingly funny song with the unforgettable 'adhe adhe sabapathe'. (Check out the first interlude. You will hear the slight hurrying up of the orchestra and this interlude will appear in extend form later in 'engeyum eppodhum')



If you have heard R D Burman's music, you can find unmistakable signs of it in the orchestration of the pallavi and the first interlude. The charnams become more MSV with a lovely and simple tune but the pallavi and interlude orchestration is closer to R D B in spirit. Super singing by MSV and Janaki and the almost ghazalish charanams adding to the overall charm. This song sort of demonstrates how MSV had to compromise between his own melodic predilections and the orchestral dictates of those times.



Not only was there a need to adopt the RD Burmanish orchestration, in many cases MSV had to provide music to movies which were copies of popular Hindi movies. He mostly wanted to tune newly rather than copying the Hindi songs and that did lead to comparisons, not always in MSV's favor.

Here is 'kora kagaz tha' from 'Aradhana'



And here is its counterpoint from the Tamil film, 'Sivagamiyin Selvan'



Do you hear some traces of 'kora kagaz' in it? The song is a nice melody but the gait and the Pahadi of 'kora kagaz' take it to a different level.

The other film which pitted MSV against RDB was 'Nalai Namadhe', the copy of 'Yadon Ki Baraat'. The Hindi film music once again had the 'cool' and 'trendy' component which was sort of missing in the Tamil film. 'Nalai Namadhe' had some very nice melodies but in the overall context of those times, 'Yadon Ki Barath' was cooler.

Here is the title song of 'Yadon Ki Baraah'



Here is 'nalai namadhe'



Here is one more set where the Tamil song closely follows the Hindi original. (The picturization too is similar). 'O mere Raja' was from 'Johny Mera Naam' with music by Kalyanji Anandji but here too you can see the R D Burman influence.



MSV recreates the same song in his own style



Not only Tamil, R D Burman's influenced Telugu and Kananda music directors as well.

Here is a Telugu song by the music director Sathyam, an ardent RDB fan. While Sathyam comes up with a very original tune, the orchestration takes its cue from RDB. From the movie, 'Premalekalu', the song, 'idhi teeyani vennela reyi'



I do see some RDB influence in Rajan Nagendra's music as well . You hear 'endendu ninnanu' from the Kannada movie 'Eradu Kanaasu'  and decide



To make it look like a 5 year time period (from 1971 to 1975) had MSV only responding to the Bollywood trend will be an injustice to that man. He did a lot more during those 5 years. In the next part we will see more of the unique MSV melodies and the new singers he introduced into Tamil film music during that timeframe.