RD Burman,the man who added his unique dash of pep and verve in to Hindi film music starting with the 60s. The first music director who brought Rock n' Roll to Hindi tunes, creating a brand of music so distinctly his own.

Rahul Dev Burman also known as Pancham was born to father and great music composer S. D. Burman in the year 1939. He was guided by his own father and trianed under Ali Akbar Khan .Undoubtly he had inherited his musical talent from his father.

In 70's was the era of Rajesh Khanna love stories like Kati Patang, Amar Prem, Apna Desh.He assisted his father in composing music for the influential Rajesh Khanna-Kishore Kumar combination in Shakti Samanta's Aradhana in the year 1969.

He first worked as a commercial composer in Nasir Hussain's musicals especially Baharon Ke Sapne and the teen-oriented film Yaadon Ki Baraat. Some of R. D. Burman's great music is associated with Gulzar's lyrics in Parichay and Aandhi. He made Hindi film music more youth-oriented as in Narendra Bedi's Jawani Diwani.

The film 1942 a Love Story was his major musical success in 1994. Pancham Da worked mostly with singers like Asha Bhosle and Kishore Kumar. He produced independent albums in which he included the samba beat and a rare collaboration with British pop star Boy George. He also sang his own songs in a unique way in films like Sholay and Shaan.

The distinctive voice of R.D. Burman was capable of conveying the emotional of a lyric as well. In the popular Bade achhe lagte hain (Balika Badhu), Amit's voice synchronises so well with RD's that listeners can scarcely tell when Pancham stealthily slips into the number with the boatman's clarion call O manjhi re jaiyo piya ke des... R.D. Burman often contributed key lines to his compositions without claiming credit. Though the legendary cabaret number Piya Tu Ab To Aa Jaa in Caravan is credited only to Asha Bhosle, Pancham's banshee cries of Monica o my darling have rooted the number in the public's mind. In the song 'Phoolon ka taron ka sab ka kehna hai' (Hare Rama Hare Krishna), Pancham sang for 'Daddy' Kishore Sahu -- with Daddy ka mummy ka sabka kehna hai ek hazaron mein teri behna hai... RD can also be heard in his element 'yumma Yamma yamma' number with Mohammed Rafi, in Shaan and the title song of Gol Maal and the all-time favourite Mehbooba O Mehbooba (Sholay) was given his voice. These incidental vocal appearances verify Pancham's mutitalent.

With the singing sensation Asha Bhosle, R.D. created an immense romantic atmosphere. They were considered a hot musical pair for shaping romantic songs though they did not more than seven or eight full-fledged duets. The first duet that R.D. and Asha sang was O meri jaan main ne kahaa (The Train). Inadvertently, the RD-Asha duet was left out, sidetracked.

The very next year they boomed with Duniya mein logon ko dhokha kabhi ho jaata hai that outpaced all other chartbusters.Dum Maro Dum from Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1971) was yet another sizzler with Asha Bhosle . Meanwhile both Asha and R.D. Burman came closer to each other before getting married.

The last duet of RD Burman with Asha was Yeh din to aata hai (Mahaan).Sadly, by the time RD's boat sailed into the 1980s, it developed a leak. If the song hadn't gone unnoticed, RD would surely have sung more such reflective quasi-philosophical songs. R.D.Burman died on January 4, 1998 only to be remembered by his beautiful compositions.