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S. D. Burman Age, Death, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More

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Wife: Meera Dev Burman
Children: R. D. Burman
Death Cause: Stroke

S. D. Burman Image

Bio/Wiki
Nick Name(s)Burman da, Kumar Sachindra Dev Barman, Sachin Karta, Grand old man of music
Profession(s)Singer, Music- Director
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)in centimeters- 170 cm
in meters- 1.7 m
in feet inches- 6'0"
Eye ColourBlack
Hair ColourBlack
Career
Debut1930: Musical Theater, Music Composer
1932: Calcutta Radio Station Radio, Singer
1932: E Pathey Aaj Eso Priyo & Dakle Kokil Roj Bihane Record, Singer
Last Film1975: Music Director, Badi Sooni Sooni (Mili)
S.D. Burman's Last Music Directorial movie (1975)
Awards, Honours, Achievements S. D. Burman Receiving Award
1934: Gold Medal, Bengal All India Music Conference
1959: Asia Film Society Award
1964: Sant Haridas Award

National Film Awards
1970: Best Male Playback Singer- 'Safal Hogi Teri Aradhana' from Aradhana
1974: Best Music Direction- 'Zindagi' from Zindagi

1969: Padma Shri

Filmfare Awards
1954: Best Music Director Award for Taxi Driver
1973: Best Music Director Award for Abhimaan

BFJA Awards
1965: Best Music (Hindi Section) for Teen Devian
1966: Best Music (Hindi Section) for Guide
1966: Best Male Playback Singer (Hindi Section) for Guide
1969: Best Music (Hindi Section) for Aradhana
1973: Best Music (Hindi Section) for Abhimaan
Personal Life
Date of Birth1 October 1906 (Monday)
BirthplaceComilla, Tripura, British India
Date of Death31 October 1975 (Friday)
Place of DeathBombay (Now Mumbai), Maharashtra
Age (at the time of death) 69 Years
Death CauseStroke
Zodiac signLibra
SignatureS. D. Burman's Signature
Nationality Indian
HometownComilla, Tripura, British India
School(s)• Kumar Boarding in Agartala, Tripura
• Yusuf School, Comilla
College/UniversityVictoria College, Comilla
Educational QualificationBachelor of Arts
ReligionHinduism
Food HabitNon-Vegetarian
Controversies• It is said that in 1957, there was a tiff between Lata Mangeshkar and S. D. Burman, as she used to throw tantrums while recording.
Relationships & More
Marital Status (at the time of death)Married
Marriage Date10 February 1938 (Thursday)
Family
Wife/SpouseMeera Dev Burman (Meera Dasgupta), Lyricist and Singer
Wedding Picture of S. D. Burman and His Wife Meera Dev Burman
ChildrenSon- R. D. Burman (Singer)
S. D. Burman With His Son R. D. Burman
ParentsFather- Mahamanyabar Rajkumar Nabadwipchandra Dev Burman
Mother- Nirmala Devi (Royal Princess of Manipur)
Childhood Picture of S. D. Burman With His Parents
SiblingsBrothers- 4 (Names not known)
Sisters- 2 (Names not known)
Favourite Things
Favourite Sport(s)Football, Tennis, Cricket and Hockey
Favourite FoodFish and Paan
Favourite AttireWhite Kurta Pyjama
Favourite Singer(s)Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey
Favourite Music Composer(s)Madan Mohan and Khayyam
Favourite Actor(s)Dev Anand, Guru Dutt
Favourite ColorWhite
Favourite Music Bengali folk

S. D. Burman

Some Lesser Known Facts About S. D. Burman

  • Sachin Dev Burman is a legendary singer and music director of Bollywood.
  • He was born in the Royal family of Tripura.
  • He got initial training in music from his father. Later, he took formal training in singing from K.C. Dey, and learned to play various musical instruments from the experts.

    S. D. Burman's Guru K.C. Dey

    S. D. Burman’s Guru K.C. Dey

  • He was a popular football referee and centre forward player. He also played cricket for the YMCA club. He loved playing Tennis, but his guru asked him to choose between Tennis and singing. So he selected singing over his favourite game.
  • Once, S.D. Burman was travelling with his friends on a train, and they did not have enough money to pay the fare. So, the ticket inspector took them to the lockup. One of his friends suggested him to sing ‘bhajans,’ incase inspector got impressed by his songs, he will let them go. And he was right! they liked his songs and released them soon.
  • He used to roam in jungles after his father’s death, and there he used to learn more about regional music from the localities of Bengal.
  • He started his professional career in 1932, as a singer in the Calcutta radio station. He released almost 131 songs in Bengali in the next few years.
  • The music lovers from different regions used to call him by many names. People from Kolkatta called him ‘Sachin Karta’, for Mumbians he was ‘Burman Da,’ for Bangladeshians and radio listeners of West Bengal he was ‘Sochin Deb Burman’. This tells how popular he was in every region.
  • In 1930, he set up a music school ‘Sur Mandir’. Amid all his students, was Meera Dasgupta, he used to like the simplicity of her and soon they both started liking each other.

    S. D. Burman's Wife Meera

    S. D. Burman’s Wife Meera

  • In 1938, he got married to her. There were some complications in their marriage. The reason was that she did not belong to a royal family, although, she was from a respectable and educated family. Therefore, she was not welcomed by her in-laws, this made S. D. Burman very upset, and he decided to break the ties with the royal family.

    S . D. Burman With His Wife and Son

    S . D. Burman With His Wife and Son

  • After marriage, he went to Mumbai but failed to get recognition in the music industry. So, he decided to go back to his hometown. But, Ashok Kumar stopped him and insisted him to take a last chance with the movie ‘Mashaal’ and after the release, if he still wanted to leave, he can. He gave his best and the music was a great hit.

    A Still From the Movie Mashaal

    A Still From The Movie Mashaal

  • During this time he met Dev Anand, and together they worked for the movie ‘Baazi’ which was again a hit.

    S. D. Burman with Dev Anand

    S. D. Burman with Dev Anand

  • He believed that for the movie ‘Baazi’ he made notable changes in his singing: which was directed by Guru Dutt. The first change was that he was singing with Geeta Dutt rather than Roy, and secondly, the gazal ‘Tadbir Se Bigri Hui Taqdeer Bunale’ was to be sung in western style.

    S. D. Burman Recording With Geeta Dutt

    S. D. Burman Recording With Geeta Dutt

  • During 1930-1940, as a music composer, S. D. Burman made a great contribution to the Bengali films and Hindi films.

    S. D. Burman on a Movie Set

    S. D. Burman on a Movie Set

  • In  1939, they welcomed a baby boy in the family- R. D. Burman (Rahul Dev Burman), the legendary singer and music composer, who later, got married to Asha Bhosle.

    S . D. Burman With His Wife, Son and Daughter- In -Law

    S . D. Burman With His Wife, Son and Daughter- In -Law

  • In 1950, he teamed up with Dev Anand‘s production to give music in the movies Taxi Driver (1954), Munimji (1955), Paying Guest (1957), Nau Do Gyarah (1957), and Kalapani (1958).
  • He also composed the soundtrack of the epic movie Devdas (1955). His music for Guru Dutt‘s hit movies: Pyaasa (1957) and Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959) is still reminded.

    SD Burman with Guru Dutt, Madan Puri, Uma Anand and Others

    SD Burman with Guru Dutt, Madan Puri, Uma Anand and Others

  •  In 1958, he was awarded ‘Sangeet Natak Akademi Award,’ and he is the only music director to receive such prestigious award.
  • His son R. D. Burman, and Nasir Hussain got classical music training from him. He also prepared Asha Bhosle, Kishore Kumar and Hemant Kumar as singers.

    S. D. Burman with Naasir Hussain and R. D. Burman

    S. D. Burman with Naasir Hussain and R. D. Burman

  • Earlier, there was some tiff between S.D. Burman and Lata Mangeshkar, but later they started working together. He used to say that just give me the harmonium and Lata and we will create the best music.

    S. D. Burman with Lata Mangeshkar and R. D. Burman

    S. D. Burman with Lata Mangeshkar and R. D. Burman

  • Later, in his career, he refused to lent his voice to the actors for lip-syncing, but he did bardic commentary in the movies.
  • The tune of the song ‘Allah Megh De’ (Guide, 1965) was initially recorded in the 1940s by the Bengali singer-composer ‘Abbasuddin Ahmed’ for the renowned music company Saregama. This song became very popular, and S.D. Burman decided to use this song in the movie Guide.
  • The lyrics were composed by Shailendra and S.D. lent voice for it. This was such a big hit that further its various versions were released by Laxmikant-Pyarelal in the film Palkon Ki Chhaon Mein (1977), and  Bappi Lahiri’s song ‘De De Pyar De’ from the movie Amaanat (1994) is a variation of it.

    S. D. Burman's as Music Director in Guide

    S. D. Burman’s as Music Director in Guide

  • S. D. Burman was very fond of Kishore Kumar and considered him as his second son. Their duo has given many hit songs to the Bollywood. Even when he was on his death bed, he wanted Kishore Kumar to record the song for the movie Mili, which was composed by him.

    S . D. Burman With Kishore Kumar

    S . D. Burman With Kishore Kumar

  • Sachin was a big fan of football and used to support the East Bengal team. He used to stop eating and cry when his favourite team lost. When he was in comma, one day, he opened his eyes on hearing the news that East Bengal has won.
  • He used to make the tune first and then lyrics, it was his own style of creating music.
  • He was very fond of Paan and had some favourite vendors at Khar Station (his bungalow) “The Jet” and Bharati Vidya Bhavan.
  • After a stroke, he went in a coma and left this world on 31st October 1975, in Bombay (now Mumbai).
  • Sachin Tendulkar‘s grandfather was a big fan of S.D. Burman. So, he decided to keep his grandson’s name as Sachin.
  • His contribution to the regional and Hindi music industry is still reminded. On 1 October 2007, on his 101st birth anniversary, Indian Postal Department released his commemorative postage stamp in Agartala.

    S . D. Burman's Commemorative Postage Stamp

    S . D. Burman’s Commemorative Postage Stamp

  • In the book, ‘SD Burman: The World of His Music,’ author SK Raychaudhuri revealed that S. D. Burman was unhappy with the fact that his son started creating music which was contrary to his father. When he heard the song ‘Dum Maro Dum’, he got up and left the studio.

    S. D. Burman's Book- SD Burman The World of His Music

    S. D. Burman’s Book- SD Burman The World of His Music

  • Many books have been published on the life of S. D. Burman mainly- S.D. Burman: The World of his Music, S.D. Burman: The Prince- Musician.

    S . D. Burman's Biography

    S . D. Burman’s Biography

  • In 2011, his first English biography ‘Incomparable Sachin Dev Burman’ written by H. Q. Chowdhury was published.

    S. D. Burman's Biography- Incomparable Sachin Dev Burman

    S. D. Burman’s Biography- Incomparable Sachin Dev Burman

  • In 2012, there was a news that Bangladesh Prime Minister ‘Sheikh Hasina’ would convert the ancestral property of S.D. Burman to a folk cultural institute-cum-museum.

    S. D. Burman's Ancestral Home in Comilla (Now Bangladesh)

    S. D. Burman’s Ancestral Home in Comilla (Now Bangladesh)

  • It is said that Sachin’s wife was leading a very unhappy life after his death. She was shifted to old age home-‘Sharan’ by daughter-in-law Asha Bhosle. She was unhappy but decided not to leave that place, and she ultimately died in the old age home.

    S. D. Burman With His Wife

    S. D. Burman With His Wife

  • In 2018, there was a news that full-length statues of legendary music composers and singers, S. D. Burman and Kishore Kumar, will be installed by a fan club in Kolkatta.  These statues have been installed near to R. D. Burman’s statue. The location which they have selected is South End Park, where S. D. Burman used to live with his wife in the early 1950s, before, coming to Mumbai. It was inaugurated by Kishore Kumar’s son- Amit Kumar.

    S. D. Burman and Kishore Kumar's Statue

    S. D. Burman and Kishore Kumar’s Statue