Prosenjit Chatterjee to adapt Pancham da's recently published biography, R D Burman: The Prince Of Music by Khagesh Dev Burman, for screen
Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; May 7, 2019)

Even today when music directors have the onus of delivering a chartbuster, they don't look beyond R D Burman's creations - the latest example being The Jawani Song from Student Of The Year 2.

It comes as no surprise then that Bengali superstar Prosenjit Chatterjee has decided to back a biopic on the late Pancham da, who continues to influence Bollywood music. In collaboration with Akash Chawla and Arunava Joy Sengupta of Fresh Lime Films, the superstar has acquired the rights of the biography, R D Burman: The Prince Of Music by Khagesh Dev Burman, for an on-screen adaptation.

Published in 2015, the book not only explores how Burman played a significant role in introducing Hindi cinema to Western style of music, but also highlights many unknown aspects of his personal life, including his equation with musician-father S D Burman. A source reveals, "It's in the early stage of development, with the makers torn between developing it as a film or a web series. The project is likely to roll only by next year."

When mid-day reached out to Prosenjit, he confirmed the development. "For me, the music of Indian film industry is synonymous with R D Burman. When I directed my first Bengali movie [Purushottam, 1992], I was surprised when he agreed to compose music and also sing a song for it. " He added that a chance reading of the biography led to the idea of the film. "It is high time we paid tribute to the God of the music industry."

The producer duo, who has previously backed Karenjit Kaur, the Sunny Leone biopic, added, "We are happy to adapt this book that will bring the legend's journey to life."