With popular hits like Teesri Manzil (1966), Baharon Ke Sapne (1967), Padosan (1968) and Pyar Ka Mausam (1969) under his belt, and informally assisting his father in Aradhana (1969), RD Burman hit his peak in 1970 with the Rajesh Khanna-Asha Parekh starrer, Kati Patang. Though he composed music for six movies that year, Kati Patang was a landmark. It had seven songs, all of them superhits. The producer and director was Shakti Samanta and the lyricist was Anand Bakshi. RD’s soundtracks matched the sequence of events so well that they kept audiences glued to their seats. Samanta had been so impressed with RD’s work in Aradhana that he signed him as music director even before Aradhana was completed. He saw how the Afro rhythm had changed the complexion of the song ‘Rup tera mastana’, which was originally scored by SD Burman. He had no problem in acknowledging the brilliant composer who would dominate the musical arena in future.

I would like to mention that RD this time had imitated his father’s habit of changing the lyrics, if he felt his changes could give the final song a better effect. Kati Patang’s, ‘Yeh shaam mastani, madhosh kiye jaye’, was one of the songs where such changes were made. However, RD never openly claimed credit for the changes.

The song began with many instruments being played in the background and then with the sweet strums of the guitar, as Kishore sang ‘Ye-he-he-hun-hun’. The moment the lengthy tune faded away, a pronounced whistle came on. As an alternative to instruments, the whistle played a vital part. In the song’s mukhra, RD changed the words ‘Jai se’ to ‘Mujhe’. In the process of coming back to the mukhra from the antara, RD changed three lines, which were his inclusions. The line ‘Paas aati nahin’ was getting in the way of the tune while coming back to the mukhra from the antara, so he added Aisa lage, jaise ke tu, haske zeher koi piye jai’, which made it easy to come back to ‘Ye h shaam mastani’.

Kishore sang ‘Yeh jo mohabbat hain, yeh unka hai kaam’ in a jubilant mood. It was not a ghazal but the song assumed the form of a ghazal. Both songs ‘Yeh shaam mastani’ and ‘Yeh jo mohabbat hain’ are very melodious. Kishore had already won the position of numero uno in Hindi filmdom. These songs consolidated his position further.

There is a story behind the inclusion of this song in the film. Once, Rajesh Khanna and RD were travelling together on a short flight to Delhi and Rajesh asked RD to hum something to soothe his frayed nerves. RD obliged to the unconcealed delight of copassengers! Rajesh liked what he heard and prevailed upon his producer-director friend Shakti Samanta to create a situation in Kati Patang, which was on the floors at the time, to accommodate RD’s airborne melody And that’s how the song ‘Yeh jo mobabbat hain’ was added to Kati Patang, and went on to become a classic.

The third solo was of a different kind. Kishore’s voice is more joyous. He lets his voice float in the air in mid-taal and sings ‘Pyar diwana hota hain, mastana hota hain, har khushi aur har gham se begana hota hain’. RD composed a wonderful rhythmic tune and the percussion used along with it was brilliant. The foot-tapping rhythm of the song makes you feel like dancing.

RD also sang a duet with Asha in this film. The song was ‘Mera naam hai Shabnam’.

Rap artists of today would definitely bow their heads in respect if they listened to this song, although in RD’s time, the song failed to make any impact. Nevertheless, it must be noted that RD introduced rap for the first time to India at a time when internationally famous artistes like MC Hammer or Vannila Ice had not yet come on the scene.

RD also, worked with Mukesh. His voice retained its individuality. He gave RD a memorable superhit, filled with pathos, the very first time he sang for him. And what a song ‘Jis gali mein tera ghar na ho balma’ was. Considering the tune and metre of the song, RD knew who could give it the best treatment.

RD was also the first music director to introduce the synthesiser in Hindi films. “When I wanted to use the synthesiser, everybody opposed it. Today no music director can think of recording a song without one”, he noted. “When I wanted to use echolite, Shakti Samanta objected and said, ‘I don’t need all these noises’. later on, he agreed. Everyone knows how popular the songs were.”

Another 1970 release that carried RD Burman’s music was Ehsan, directed by Shib Kumar. A duet sung by Rafi and Asha became popular ‘Aaj tere naina mil ke jhuke kyun kai bar’. A brisk yet romantic song, with percussion that was swift, the duet ‘Aaja tujhe pyar kar lun’ sung by Kishore and Asha is said to be inspired by the jazz classic ‘St Thomas’, made popular by sax artist, Sonny Rollins.

In Ravee Nagaich’s 1970s film, The Train, lata’s voice in ‘Kisliye maine pyar kiya’ was impeccable. The first line of the mukhra is exceptional. The tone of a ‘question’ generally is not soft. However, in this song the question asked was in a soft tone. Other music directors would have made the question short and sharp. RD made it long and sweet. Sitar was the main musical instrument used.

In the next love song by Mohammed Rafi ‘Gulabi aankhen, jo teri dekhin, sharabi ye dil ho gaya’, he is saying to his friends, ‘My passion is uncontrollable, please take care of me.’ Seeing his own condition, he sings ‘Aata hain gussa mujhe pyar pe’. In this line, Rafi expressed his helplessness in such a manner that even the audiences were touched. The song started with a ‘la, la, la, la’. The clear pronunciation of each word of the lyric changed the metre and taal and made this song memorable. Moreover, the compact voice of Rafi also gave a new dimension to the song. RD used African resso-resso in this song.

With his singing companion Asha Bhosle, RD created an intense romantic atmosphere. Though they sang no more than seven or eight full-fledged duets, the slender repertoire made a tremendous impact.

Excerpt taken from the chapter ‘The 1970s’ from RD Burman: The Prince of Music