RD Burman had a great sense of humour: Javed Akhtar

With its core proposition ‘Woh Zamaana Kare Deewana’, Zee Classic aims at reviving nostalgic moments and memories while promising to bring home the timeless magic of classic Hindi cinema. Keeping this core thought in mind, the channel is celebrating the music of The Golden Era (1950-1975) in an exclusive twenty-six part series titled, ‘The Golden Years 1950 – 1975, A musical journey with Javed Akhtar’. This Sunday, 10th July at 8 PM, roll back to 1968 and experience the musical mania of that golden era.

1968 continued to trail the legacy of superhit films, some mesmerising performances and heartfelt songs. Though eminent music composer Naushad faced failure with both of his major projects not working, some great music made its way to cinema composed by music directors like OP Nayyar, RD Burman and Lakshmikant Pyarelal. Even Shankar Jaikishan had major successes like Brahmachari and Jhuk Gaya Aasman. But the biggest musical blockbuster of the year was Padosan composed by none other than Rahul Dev Burman, the man who mastered music like no one else.

Stating this as his favourite movie of the year, Javed Akhtar said, “Padosan was a big success this year and it’s a film extremely close to my heart. There are very few Hindi films which can be called cult comedies and Padosan tops that list. All the actors performed stupendously in the film. But what’s lesser known is not only the comedians in the film, even RD Burman, the composer and Rajendra Krishan, the lyricist for Padosan had a great sense of humour. Dono bohot haste the, dono ko jokes bade yaad rahe te the aur dono hi har baat me ek mazak ka pehlu dekh sakte the. No wonder they composed such gems for this film. Mere Samne Wali Khidki Me is one such popular number. Lata Mangeskar and Asha Bhonsle sang together Main Chali Main Chali Dekho Pyar Ki Gali for this film and what a jugalbandi was that. The best part about Padosan’s music was it had a lot of improvisations and spontaneity. Aisa lagta tha abhi ke abhi banaya. Just like the song Ek Chatur Naar. I am sure this song was not composed in isolation inside a room. Yeh toh lagta hai kisi mehfil me baithke bana tha yeh gaana jaha sab ka apna ek yogdan tha.”

1968 was about many such good films and even better music for the soul. Iconic stories like Brahmachari, Kismat, Mere Hum Dum Mere Dost, Haseena Man Jayegi and Aankhen emerged as box office successes and songs like Chakke Mein Chakka, Aajkal Tere Mere Pyar Ke Charche, Na Ja Kahin Ab Na Ja, Chhalkain Jaam, Bache Mann Ke Sache, and Unse Mili Nazar among others soared the music charts. While Dharmendra and Shammi Kapoor captivated the audience with their ever charming flamboyance, Ashok Kumar’s outstanding performance bagged him a National Award.

Mohammad Rafi, Manna Dey, Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle commanded the music scene this year and gave the audiences a plethora of songs to slip into various moods of love, pain and longing.

~Get ready to hear many such unknown truths about Hindi Cinema in ‘The Golden Years 1950 -1975, A musical journey with Javed Akhtar’ co-powered by State Bank of India and Good Knight Fast Card, this Sunday, 10th July at 8 PM only on Zee Classic~