Photo: Aditijain / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Rahul Dev Burman sits near the summit of Indian film music for me, and the numbers only hint at why. Scoring 331 films from the 1960s into the 1990s would be staggering on volume alone, but it was his restless playfulness that changed the game: turning bottles, breath, and odd noises into instruments long before that felt acceptable. The three Filmfare Best Music Director wins barely register against his real legacy, which is how thoroughly later Bollywood composers still revere him. His death at 55 in 1994 felt premature for someone so inventive. I keep coming back to his melodies because they still sound braver than most of what followed.
Overview
Rahul Dev Burman (; 27 June 1939 – 4 January 1994) was an Indian music director and singer, who is considered to be one of the greatest and most successful music directors of the Hindi film music industry. From the 1960s to the 1990s, Burman composed musical scores for 331 films, bringing a new level of music ensemble with his compositions.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Rahul Dev Burman
- Name (Japanese)
- R・D・バーマン
- Reading
- R・D・ばーまん
- Born
- June 27, 1939 – January 4, 1994
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Cancer / Rabbit
- Origin
- Kolkata, India
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- composer / film score composer / recording artist / director / actor
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Ballygunge Government High School
- University
- Private
Awards & achievements
- 1995 Filmfare Award for Best Music Director
- 1984 Filmfare Award for Best Music Director
- 1983 Filmfare Award for Best Music Director
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
- Wikipedia (Japanese)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.%20D.%20Burman
Composer — see all → · Film score composer — see all → · More people from India →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.