Legendary composer RD Burman and singer Asha Bhosle were brought together by their passion for music. Bhosle was a divorced mother with three children, while Burman was also a divorcee. Pancham, as Burman was fondly called, would come up with jazzier tunes for Bhosle, challenging her with every new composition.
But how did Pancham convince Bhosle for marriage?
He would anonymously send her flowers everyday. One day while recording a song with Pancham and Majorooh Sultanpuri, Bhosle received another bouquet of flowers. Frustrated, she threw them wondering who sent her flowers daily. At this point, Sultanpuri pointed out the culprit to her. They got married in 1980.
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"Music ka hamara rishta hai aur hote hote shaadi mein badal gaya. Pancham jaante hain ki main kya hoon aur main jaanti hoon ki Pancham kya hain. [Our relationship is that of music and this turned into marriage. Pancham [Burman] knows what I can do, and I know what Pancham is capable of]," Bhosle said during an interview in October 1993.
Music brought them together in all their differences. During an interview with Rajdeep Sardesai for IBN Live in 2006, Bhosle recalled how Pancham once won her over by writing and composing a Bengali song for her. This song was later remade in Hindi as 'Jaane Kya Baat Hai' for Sunny (1984).
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"This [Hindi song] was sung by Lata didi, but I sang this first in Bengali. This song helped end our [Pancham and Bhosle's] fight. I was asking him to have dinner. It was almost 2 am and he wouldn't eat...I left. We didn't talk for 10-15 days. Then he called me. I knew it was him. Who else would call me so late at night? He began singing, 'Chokhe Name Brishti...' meaning you are mine, why are you away from me. I just laughed and asked him to come over," Bhosle said.
The couple then went to Worli Seaface and composed the entire song. "It was such a beautiful scene. I still remember it. The waves had the moon's reflection. It was 3 am, then you could see the dim lights of Versova and on the other side was Marine Drive. We were in the centre. He composed the entire song there. We later recorded it and it worked really well. But when the Hindi song was made. He used didi's [Lata Mangeshkar] voice."
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The lyrics for the Hindi song were penned by Anand Bakshi.
Listen to both the songs below: