S. D. Burman

Sachin Dev Burman (1 October 1906 – 31 October 1975) was an Indian music director and singer.

Burman was born on 1 October 1906, in Tipperah Palace, Comilla, Bengal Presidency (in present-day Bangladesh) to Rajkumari Nirmala Devi, the royal princess of Manipur and Nabadwipchandra Dev Burman of Tripura, son of Ishan Chandra Manikya, the Maharaja of Tripura.

Sachin was the youngest of the five sons of his parents, who had nine children in all.

His mother died when he was just two years of age.

S. D. Burman's first school was at Kumar Boarding in Agartala, Tripura.

It was a boarding school for sons of the royalty and the very rich.

Burman's father, Raja Nabadweepchandra Deb Burman noticed the teachers were more busy with pampering the sons of the nobility than educating them.

Burman's father took him from Kumar Boarding and admitted him at Yusuf School in Comilla, before he was admitted in Class V in Comilla Zilla School.

He completed his Matriculation in 1920 at the age of 14.

He then got admitted at Victoria College, Comilla, which is presently Comilla Victoria Government College from where he passed his IA in 1922 and then BA in 1924.

Burman left for Kolkata to start an MA in Calcutta University, which he did not finish as music got the better of him for good.

He started his formal music education by training under the musician K. C. Dey from 1925 to 1930; thereafter in 1932 he came under the tutelage of Bhishmadev Chattopadhyay, who was only three years his senior.

This was followed by training from Khalifa Badal Khan, the sarangi maestro, and Ustad Allauddin Khan, the sarodist.

He brought K.C. Dey, Khalifa Badal Khan and Allauddin Khan to Agartala.

The noted Bengal poet laureate, Kazi Nazrul Islam also spent time in their family home in Comilla in the early '20s.

Burman started working as a radio singer on Calcutta Radio Station in the late 20s, when his work as a singer-composer was based on Bengali folk and light Hindustani classical music.

Consequently, his compositions were mainly influenced by his huge repertoire of folk-tunes from present Bangladesh and later other parts of India and around the world.

His first record was also released in 1932 (Hindustan Musical Product), with "Khamaj" (semi classical), "E Pathey Aaj Eso Priyo" on one side and the folk "Dakle Kokil Roj Bihane" on the reverse side, on 78 rpm for Hindustan Records.

In the following decade, he reached his peak as a singer, cutting as many as 131 songs in Bengali, and also sang for composers like Himangsu Dutta (8), RC Boral (1), Nazrul Islam (4), Sailesh Das Gupta (2) and Subal Das Gupta (1).

He also sang for Madhavlal Master (1) and his son R.D. Burman (1).

He made his film debut singing in Yahudi ki Ladki (1933) but the songs were scrapped and re-sung by Pahari Sanyal.

In 1934, he attended the All India Music Conference, at the invitation of Allahabad University, where he presented his Bengali Thumri, all to an illustrious audience, with the likes of Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit and the inimitable Abdul Karim Khan of Kirana Gharana.

Later in the year, he was invited to Bengal Music Conference, Kolkata, which was inaugurated by Rabindranath Tagore, here again he sang his Thumri, and was awarded a Gold Medal.

He built a house in Southend Park, Ballygunge, Kolkata.

S. D. Burman also did a singing role in the Urdu film Selima (1934) and another role in Dhiren Ganguli's film Bidrohi (1935).

As a music composer, he started with the Bengali plays Sati Tirtha and Janani, and eventually gave his first score in the film Rajgee.

His first film as a singer was finally Sanjher Pidim (1935).

A member of the Tripura royal family, he started his career with Bengali films in 1937.

He later began composing for Hindi movies and became one of the most successful and influential Indian film music composers.

Burman composed the soundtracks for over 100 movies, including Bengali films and Hindi.

Apart from being a versatile composer, he also sang songs in the light semi-classical and folk style of Bengal.

His son, R. D. Burman, was also a celebrated music composer for Bollywood films.

Burman's compositions were sung by the leading singers of the era, including Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi, Geeta Dutt, Manna Dey, Hemant Kumar, Asha Bhosle, Shamshad Begum, Mukesh and Talat Mahmood.

As a playback singer, Burman sang 14 Hindi and 13 Bengali film songs.

In 1937, his second film Rajkumarer Nirbashan (1940) became a hit.

He married his student, Meera Das Gupta (1920–2007), the granddaughter of Magistrate Raibahadur Kamalnath Dasgupta from Dhaka on 10 February 1938 in Calcutta (now Kolkata), though according to some, having married a non-royal, created a furore within the royal family, and subsequently he severed ties with his family, and forfeited his inheritance.

According to some others, S.D. Burman severed ties with his royal family because he was frustrated with the unjust and unfair treatment meted out to his father and his brothers by the royal family of Tripura.

The couple's only child, Rahul Dev Burman was born in 1939, and later, both Meera Devi and Rahul assisted S.D. Burman with some of the musical compositions.

He gave music in Bengali films such as Protishodh (1941), Abhoyer Biye (1942) and Chaddobeshi (1944) and only one Bengali film in 1969/70 after he permanently moved to Mumbai in 1946.

He composed for over 20 Bengali films and 89 Hindi films in all.