Remembering Pancham Da

Panchammagic.org,a website which was solely created for R D Burman fans way back in 2000,organised a musical talk show at Tilak Smarak. Raj Nagul,a structural engineer by profession,Mahesh Ketkar,an architect,Asutosh Soman,a software engineer,and Ankush Chinchankar who has been the anchor for all the shows organised by the team,came together to form this forum,which has 25 members now. “We are people who bond over Pancham. We come from several walks of life but it is our love for R D Burman’s music that unites us,” says Ketkar. The website is meant to pay homage to the legend. “We did not want to commercialise the website. Though we organise musical extravaganzas twice a year,it is only to remember him and not for any other reason,” explains Ketkar.

Panchammagic’s show was graced by Andaleeb Sultanpuri,lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri’s son and pianist Chetty Pillai. “We always have a talk show wherein people share their experiences with Panchamda,while his numbers play in the background,” says Prasad Sanwatsankar,the website’s official photographer. Late actor Shammi Kapoor graced one such occasion in June last year. “Shammiji had readily agreed to come as he was a big fan of Panchamda himself,” adds Ketkar.

Humrahi,a group of ardent music fans,organised Raina Beeti Jaaye in association with Sahyadri Industries Limited at Yashwantrao Chavan Sabhagriha. Shivprasad Mallya,Madhura Datar,Hrishikesh Ranade and Vibhavari Apte enthralled the audience with Panchamda classics. A live orchestra of 23 musicians,including some who have played with the legend himself,took the audience on a beautiful musical journey.

Humrahi was started as an initiative to raise funds during the Kargil War in 1999. It has come a long way since then. “The melodies created by yesteryear musicians are still hummed by today’s generation. Humrahi has taken the initiative of recreating the melody magic by organising shows to pay tribute to musical maestros who have given the film industry the best of music,” says Amit Bivalkar,who has been a member of Humrahi since its inception. The team of Humrahi,consisting of Girish Rao,Sunil Juneja,Nishigandh Dashrath,apart from Bivalkar,organises two shows a year “without a profit motive. The money we collect from the sale of tickets is donated for charity,” adds Bivalkar.