Sachin Dev Burman was born in Komilla in the royal family of Tripura. Due to some legal difficulty or family intrigues, Sachin’s father, Shri Navadweep Chandradev Burman was removed from the line of succession when he was barely 15!

S.D. Burman was one of the most successful music directors of the 1950s and 1960s. Born into the royal family of Tripura, he first trained in classical North Indian music under his father who was a sitar player and then subsequently trained with other classical musicians. He initially worked in radio and made a reputation in the 1930s in Bengal as a singer of folk and semi-classical music.

Burman’s entry into the world of film was first as a singer and then as an actor, both in 1935. He worked as a music director in Calcutta from 1939 until 1944 when he moved to Bombay and worked at Filmstan Studios. Some of Burman’s most popular and memorable soundtracks were from his collaboration with Guru Dutt and Navketan Films. He remained Dev Anand’s main composer for many years. He also scored films for Bimal Roy. Burman’s soundtrack for Aradhana (1969) contributed to the super success of the film and still has a presence today as the songs from the film are a favorite with re-mix artists. Unlike his contemporaries Naushad and Shankar – Jaikishen who at the time were partial to heavy orchestration, Burman preferred to compose music that only relied on a few Indian musical instruments. Burman’s compositions were influenced by the folk melodies from his native northeastern India. As a singer, his thin but powerful voice was often used in background songs which served as a commentary within the film. Between 1944 and 1975, Burman composed music for 105 films.