S.D. Burman

Biography

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

Sachin's abandoned house in Comilla

Burman was born on 1 October 1906, in 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 Kumar Boarding in Agartala, Tripura. It was a boarding school for sons of 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 to Yusuf School in Comilla before he was admitted to 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 at Calcutta University, which he did not finish as the 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.