Google's doodle honours RD Burman on 77th birth anniversary

Google on Monday stole the hearts of music lovers by honouring legendary Bollywood music composer Rahul Dev Burman with a doodle on his 77th birth anniverary.

Born in Kolkata on June 27, 1939, Burman had died at the prime of his career in Mumbai on January 4, 1994, aged 54.

Famous for a variety of compositions including the evergreen "Chura liya hai tumne jo dil ko", "Mehbooba, mehbooba" and more, was the only son of his equally illustrious father and music director Sachin Dev Burman.

The doodle shows a chubby, bespectacled and smiling portrait of Burman with musical notes and a few scenes of his songs in the background, aptly suiting his nickname of 'Pancham-da'.

"Bringing in influences from all over the world, from disco, to funk, to cabaret, RD Burman revolutionised Bollywood," Google said in its accompanying tribute.

Burman had started composing songs at the age of nine under his father's expert tutelage and by the mid-1950s, he was an able assistant working on music for some of the top films of that era.

In 1961, "Chhote Nawab", his first film as an independent music director was released, though he had composed songs for an unreleased venture "Raaz" two years earlier.

Since then, he never looked back and composed music for over 350 films including "Sholay", "Kati Patang", "Teesri Manzil", "Yaadon Ki Baraat", "Pyar Ka Mausam", "Hare Rama Hare Krishna", "Sanam Teri Kasam", "Satte Pe Satta", "Rocky", "Aap Ki Kasam" and many more blockbusters.

Occasionally taking the mike solo ("Mehbooba, Mehbooba") or with some other singers ("Monica, O My Darling" with Asha Bhosle), Burman created a rich musical legacy comprising Indian classical, pop, rap, disco, funk, cabarets, which revolutionised Bollywood music.