In a city that celebrates Tagore’s compositions and Ray’s camera angles, the house where two of India’s most beloved composers, SD and RD Burman, lived is crumbling into obscurity. And Kolkata, it seems, is happy to hum along.
For three days, an online petition to preserve the house at 36/1 South End Park and convert it into a museum has been doing the rounds on social media and messaging apps. Till Saturday evening, 4,191 had signed the petition.
“This is disappointing,” said filmmaker and Rahul Dev Burman, or Pancham’s uncle, Abhijit Dasgupta, who started a digital petition titled ‘Save the House of SD & RD Burman- Convert it to a museum’, on Thursday.
“We were promised a museum. We were told a blue plaque would be installed. In 2021, they even renamed the street Sangeet Sarani. But nothing beyond symbolism has happened,” Dasgupta added. “If the Ministry of External Affairs can offer help to restore a Ray-linked building in Mymensingh, why can’t our own state protect this house steeped in musical history?”
Dasgupta says this is not the first time such an initiative has been taken, but “this time we’re determined to see it through.”
The two-storey house at 36/1 South End Park, in south Kolkata, once a haven for music and musicians, is now an eyesore. Dumped construction material lies strewn around its once-elegant façade.
The pavement is broken. Its distinctive south Kolkata Art Deco features are masked under layers of neglect. A circular balcony, triple-banded parapet, and soft angular edges, are all falling apart.
The Burman family moved into the property from a rented house in Hindusthan Park, where Pancham was born in 1939. This was the house where RD spent much of his school life. Even after SD Burman and his wife Meera shifted to Mumbai in 1952, RD continued to stay on while studying at Tirthapati Institution on Rashbehari Avenue. The house bore witness to the making of a musical legend.
Picture by: Arnab Ganguly
Within these walls, legendary artistes such as Allauddin Khan, Purna Das Baul, Salil Chowdhury, Hemanta Mukherjee, Asha Bhonsle, and Guru Dutt, whose centenary is being celebrated this year, spent hours discussing music. Iconic tunes were composed here, strummed and sung into being. The house was less of a home, more of a shrine to Indian music.
And yet today, it stands deserted, forgotten and perilously close to collapse.
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) says it is “looking into the possibility” of taking over the building for repairs. But that assurance has echoed for years without consequence.
In January 2021, chief minister Mamata Banerjee renamed South End Park as Sangeet Sarani. There were murmurs of a blue plaque, and plans to convert the house into a museum. The promises remain undelivered.
The current owner, Nisheeth Kumar Totla, told My Kolkata that he was not informed about the new petition. “There was communication with the government earlier. They assured me of renovating the building and turning it into a museum. But gradually, they stopped responding. I followed up a few times. No one got back.”
Swapan Samaddar, Member, Mayor-in-Council (Environment & Heritage), claimed ignorance. “I have not received any such petition. If I do, I’ll take necessary steps,” he said. On being reminded that plans were floated in 2021, he added, “I didn’t have the portfolio back then.”
Beyond its musical legacy, the house is architecturally significant. Built during the post-war construction boom in south Kolkata, it reflects a localised form of Art Deco, seen with circular balconies, curved walls and geometric parapets. “It’s a rare surviving example of a distinct residential style that marked the cultural shift of the time,” said a heritage architect.
But time is running out. Cracks in the structure widen with each monsoon. Local residents whisper that parts of the house are “on the brink of collapse”.
And yet, the only “heritage” officially recognised so far is the road sign: Sangeet Sarani, which does not particularly refer to the Burman father-son duo. A street name without a street plan.
While their music still lives on, but their house? That may not survive.