Not many are aware, that debonair Bollywood star-actor Neil’s father, noted playback singer, Nitin Mukesh ‘shares’ his birthday with the legendary composer, R D Burman ( Panchamda), whose 77th birth-anniversary is being observed today.
Sharing his sentiments which are being excerpted from this latest PanchaMemoirs book titled, ‘R D BurMania’, authored by the senior journalist, the affable Nitin reveals, “Every year, Pancham-da used to call me up at midnight or early morning to wish me on my birthday. Then I would reciprocate and wish him. It was a divine coincidence that both of us shared the same birthday. Although I did try hard to be the first to wish him, he mostly beat me to it,” he smiles.
With their birthdays coinciding, did they have similar personality traits? With a blushing glow he discloses, “Both of us were sensitive, jovial, good at mimicking and loved good food. Besides, of course, the passion for music. We were both worthy sons of legendary fathers, my dad was Mukesh-ji, and he was the son of S. D. Burman. Just as his father had given my dad iconic songs like ‘O jaane wale ho sakey’, Pancham-da too gave my father some 19 songs, including the evergreen gem ‘Ek din bik jaayega’. Unfortunately, I got to sing only a couple of good songs under RDB’s baton. Now that Pancham-da has soared into eternal fame, I have been‘missing’ his birthday-wish calls,” signs off Nitin.