I brought in RD Burman’s 82^nd birthday this Saturday by watching Shekhar Kapoor’s brilliant debut, ‘Masoom’. It wasn’t a planned thing as I had completely forgotten about the man’s birthday. I just wanted to invest the Saturday night into something rock solid. Half way through the movie, social media updates, wishing the great music director started and the romantic in me thought, this album has to be reviewed for the next edition of vinyl review as a tribute to the great music director.

Much has been written and said about the golden combination and chemistry between Gulzar and RDB. And why not? They have given some of the most amazing songs to India in the modern era. You can almost pick up any album with that combination and it’ll be beautiful. But this LP is special because of the delicate subject matter of the movie itself. The poignant and complex story about a 9 year old motherless child, trying to find about his father and having no place to stay, has the power to tug your heart from every corner and in almost every sequence. And it provided a very fertile territory for the powerhouse duo.

Side One begins with the immortal Tujhse Naraaz Nahin Zindagi and its now very familiar Sitar intro followed by Lata Mangeshkar’s soft alaap. And you are hooked; the song has some incredible lyrics.

Jeene Ke Liye Socha Hi Nahin Dard Sambhaalne Honge (Never Thought, To Live I’ll Have to Handle Pain)

Then comes the playful Lakdi Ki Kaathi with a very spontaneous story about a toy horse who lives in ‘Mehrauli’. RDB himself played the harmonica in this. The song, even today is a standard anthem for kids. Well…largely sung by the adults for them. The side ends with a flirty camaraderie drinking song sung very effectively by Bhupinder and Suresh Wadekar – two of the most beautiful male voices. Close to 40 years after its release, the song remains a standard party favourite among men, after a few drinks.

Side Two starts with a gentle lullaby with Gulzar’s exquisite penmanship and Aarti Mukherjee’s soft singing. Once again the lyrics are beautiful.

Do Naina Ek Kahaani Thoda Sa Baadal Thoda Sa Paani (Two Eyes One Tale, A Little Cloud and Some Rains)

The final song of the album is the male version of Tujhse Naraaz Nahin  Zindagi sung uniquely and gently by Anup Ghoshal. Interestingly, this version starts off with the intro in guitar (as opposed to the Sitar in the female version).

The movie got several Filmfare awards including the best music director, lyricist and singer (Aarti Mukherji) and correctly so. Today, the album has achieved some sort of cult status for many of us. Its lustrous songs will stand the test of time and will probably keep shining 100 years from now.

Year: 1983 Label: EMI

Rating: 5/5

Reviewedby Meraj Hasan

Meraj Hasan is a Mumbai based communication professional (and an amateur poet/musician) with a passion for listening to music the vinyl way. His 32-year-old Technics turntable along with a humble collection of LPs across genres like Classic rock, Classical, Blues and Jazz (amongst others) are his prized possessions. He's also the author of the book 'Khyaalon ki Tapri', a collection of poems. This bestseller book is available on Amazon.  

He can be reached at +91 9833410791 or email: meraj.hasan@gmail.com