Burjor Lord talks Rafi Sahab

Special Thanks to Swar Alaap.
Burjor Lord Aka Buji Lord...
Born on 19th July 1941 at Bombay ( Mumbai ) in both-sided musical families. Father Cawas
Lord was a Musician with British Army, Mother from a joint family with Mr. Behram Irani,
who had contributed for the First talkie movie Alam Aara in 19…. ,
During school days was learning Piano & Mouth Organ .
After S S C my practice sessions started from 7 in the morning till about 7 in the night, with of
course breakfast & lunch breaks. List of instruments, Percussion instruments, Drums ( practiced
on rubber pads ), Accordion ( under Mr. Adi Desai ) Glockenspiel, Vibraphone & later
Xylophone after purchasing one.
Daddy insisted to get a better knowledge of music one should also know Indian classical music. So
to obtain knowledge of Indian Talas learned Tablas under Inam Khan Saheb of Delhi Gharana
and Nagara under Kishen Maharaj & for Indian Ragas Harmonium under Babu Singh.
Daddy also taught me that to be a good drummer you should use both your hands & legs
independently, & for that it was necessary to be ambidextrous. For that he told me to use my left
hand also as much as right hand to tie shoe laces, open doors, locks, button shirts etc. with left
hand.
Started Music career in 1958 ( age 17 ) playing drums as a featured drummer and accordionist
for couple of dance bands and orchestras & In 1959 joined Cine Musician’s Association to work
for Bombay Film Studios.
Because of my studies of Indian Talas experimentally combined with my technique of Jazz and
Latin American percussion instruments along with mastery of Mallet instruments like
Xylophone, Vibraphone etc., created a unique style of my own to blend Western Instruments in
Indian style melodies, which made me a leading Percussionist in Bombay Studios for more than
25 years.
In addition to the above shows I feel proud to be a member of various Patriotic Defense shows
for our country in New Delhi , with Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru & I was on stage
when Pandit Nehru had tears in his eyes after hearing the beginning of “ O mere watan ke logo ”.
I feel lucky to have opportunity to attend various defense shows with leading Music Directors for
prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi , then Rajiv Gandhi, Defence Minister
Sharad Pawar & later Sanjay Gandhi, to collect funds for various national relief schemes.
But undoubtedly the best Defense Show of my life would be my trip to Nathula, just after the
Chinese aggression in 1965.. Write up in Calcutta newspaper. “ Film people entertain Jawans
within 200 yards of the Chinese ”. The troupe of film entertainers, led by Music Director C.
Ramchandra, during its sojourn in the Sikkim Sector, achieved the distinction of being the first
group of film personalities to reach the height of nearly 15,000 feet to regale Jawans and that too
within two hundred yards of Chinese armed forces.”

Films Career :
For rendering Ghungroos in Indian Dance songs all the Choreographers like Gopi Krishna,
Hiralal, Sohanlal, Saroj Khan etc. insisted that either Daddy, Kersi or Buji was called to play
ghungroos, as they use to render the dance steps, then we would write notations & then play, so
it would match with the dance movements in films.
Ramsay Brothers well known for their productions of Horror movies use to tell Music Directors (
even if I was not permanent with those music directors,to call me for background music as they
liked some horror effects I use to produce with drums.
Indian Classical :
Towards Indian Classical Music Played Vibrophone & Percussion for Indo Western
Orchestration called “ Melody and Rhythm “ composed by Pt. Ravi Shankar.
Also recorded total ghungroos synchronization for one and a half hour Indian Ballet called
“Chandalika “ danced and choreographed by Vijayantimala Bali and music by Pt. Ravi Shankar.

List of Awards :

15-02-2009 “ Swar Alaap “ Lifetime Achievement Award
Glorious Contribution To Hindi Film Music
01-02-2014 “ 5 th . O P Nayyar Lifetime Achievement Award

Multi Instrumentalist
26-02-2015 “ Mirchi Music Award ”

Outstanding Contribution To Hindi Film Music

25-04-2015 “ Cine Musicians Association ”

In appreciation of getting Radio Mirchi Award.
20-03-2016 “ Darabshaw Achievement Award ”
In the field of Music & Entertainment
2016 C M A Honour for “ D D Mehta Award ”
2017 C M A Award for “ Best Rhythemist ”
2017 50 Years of Association with CMA
2018 CMA Award for “ Best Soloist ”
2018 Shankar Jaikishan Foundation ( Ahmedabad ) Trophy
2019 Dadasaheb Phalke Film Foundation Award 2019