R.I.P Dev Anand

I went to office this morning, totally unaware of Dev Anand’s demise. I was little early today and only one of my teammates was in.  The conversation that followed was –
Me : Hi, Good Morning
Him : Good Morning. How was your weekend?
Me : It was great! Couldn’t have asked for a better one. How was yours?
Him : Was working both the days. Watched any movies? Saw Desi Boys?
Me : Nahhhh….I watch very selected new movies. I’m happier with my old black and white collection
Him : Is it?
Me : Yup and the next new movie I’m gonna watch is Don 2
Him : Ok…if you are so much into old films then there’s a sad news for you
Me : Sad news? What happened?
Him : Dev Anand is no more
Me : What? How can that be….When? How?
Him : I dont know the details

By then I had switched my laptop on and the first thing I did was to read the news. All that I could say was – this year’s been so unfortunate! Coming to think of it, they had turned old and fragile, were suffering and in pain. They’ve been relieved from all the worldly sufferings and have gone to be reunited with their old friends. But it’s not that easy to accept it, though we all know that death is the final destination, that all our lives come to an end someday. We’ve seen them and known all our lives,   ever since we can remember and all of a sudden we read that they are no more. It’s like losing a family member.

The only movie of Dev Anand that I have with me at the moment is Namoona but it was late by the time I got back home from work, so couldn’t watch it. May be some time later during the week…I had made a list of 10 songs but it’s already past midnight and it’ll take time to search for youtube links. So, keeping up the trend of last 3 days, here’s one song picturised on Dev sahab in Rafi’s voice.

I didn’t know that this song existed until I watched the movie and saw the song. And had completely forgotten about it until I heard it again on Vividh Bharati this afternoon on Dev Anand special Sadabahar Nagme. It has it’s own charm and it’s cute.

It’s from Love Marriage (1959), written by Shailendra, composed by Shankar Jaikishan, sung by Rafi and picturised on Dev Anand and Mala Sinha.

Lara lara la  
(Kahan jaa rahe the, kahan aa gaye hum – 2
Kisi ki nigahone se – 2
Takra gaye hum – 2) – 2

Kho chale saare nishan, main yahan dil hai kahan – 2
Soye hai ke jaage, chakra gaye hum – 2
Kisi ki nigahone se – 2
Takra gaye hum – 2
Kahan jaa rahe the

Lara lara la  ho ho ho….. Lara lara la  

Yeh subah masti bhari, yun hanse jaise pari – 2
Kismat ko shayad, yaad aa gaye hum – 2
Kisi ki nigahone se – 2
Takragaye hum – 2
Kahan jaa rahe the

Ajnabee apna hua, sach mera sapna hua – 2
Saare jahan pe, lo chha gaye hum – 2
Kisi ki nigahone se – 2
Takragaye hum – 2
(Kahan jaa rahe the, kahan aa gaye hum – 2
Kisi ki nigahone se – 2
Takra gaye hum – 2) – 2
Kahan jaa rahe the

Lara lara la  ho ho ho…..hmm hmm hmm….. Lara lara la  Lara lara la

You will live in our memories forever! RIP, Dev Anand!

My tribute to Rafi Saab – The A to Z of Mohammed Rafi

I started this post on 31st, as I was listening to Rafi marathon on Vividh Bharati but with such lovely songs playing I couldn’t concentrate on the post. I had listed the songs even before that, but still it took me so long to complete it. I kept getting lost in the songs in between that I forgot I had to come back here and finish this 🙂

After an extremely hectic week, the best thing I could ask for is a day full of Rafi saab’s songs. Not that I didn’t listen to his songs the rest of the week. Not even a single day of mine passes without listening to him. Thanks to Vividh Bharati for that. The first thing I do every morning after I get up is to put the radio on. And they play a minimum of one Rafi song in every program of theirs. Then my collection of hundreds of his songs in my cell phone which I listen to everyday on my way to work. Other people get frustrated with the traffic and I feel good about it. The longer it takes me to reach office, the more number of songs I get to listen to and I reach office more refreshed. And when I am not in meetings and am not reading something, I continue listening to music in office as well. A big thank you to Nasir and Venkat for sharing all those rare gems…you guys have introduced me to so many songs that I had never thought even existed. And a big big thank you to entire team of Vividh Bharati – Kamal Sharma, Renu Bansal, Mamta Singh, Nimmi Mishra, Yunus Khan, Amarkant Dubey, Rajendra Tripathi, Shehnaz Akhtari and to everybody else. Had it not been for you all I wouldn’t have known even half of these songs! I owe my filmi and musical knowledge to you all!

I missed out the programs on Vividh Bharti in the morning on 31st as I got up late. But ever since I got up I was been hooked to it. They played non-stop Rafi songs. And do I even need to say that each song of his is songs is a masterpiece!

So much is written about Rafi (1924-1980) that I don’t quite know where to begin and what new to say really.  Rafi was one of the most versatile singers…From the doleful Jugnu  to the patriotic Shaheed  to the classical Baiju Bawra to the effervescent Mr. and Mrs. 55  to the regal Raj Hath to the poetic Pyaasa  to the meltingly romantic Barsaat Ki Raat – phew! the list is endless—Rafi sang them all. And more.

The whole week I’ve been thinking of something special to post as a tribute to this legend. It’s just impossible to list out my 10 favourite Rafi songs. I’m in love with every song that he has sung. But at the same time I couldn’t even sit without doing a post. After sifting through numerous options like – listing down some songs of Rafi alphabetically, listing out human emotions and associating a song against each emotion, defining the 7 stages of human life through his songs….but I realized that I just couldn’t move beyond the first letter.

I started thinking of his songs that start with ‘A’ and the list was so long that I could break it into 2-3 separate posts. Then I tried with the emotions. Within no time I realized that there were too many of them for instance Anger, Anxiety, Anguish, Astonishment, Attraction, Amusement, Affection, Agony. And this is just the beginning. Next I shifted to the stages of human life. I opened Shakespear’s poem and started mapping Rafi’s songs against each of the stages. But 7 were too few and then realized that I would end up counting almost everyday as a different stage! So that wasn’t much help either.

So I came up with this rule for this post…I would include –
1. Not very popular songs of Rafi as in, not the songs that would feature in every top 10 or top 20. I’m promoting some rare gems of this mastreo.
2. One song per actor and preferrably picturised on a lesser known actor (at least I’ll try avoiding the supserstars as much as possible). There are bound to be few exceptions though. But don’t be surprised if you don’t see even a single Shammi kapoor song here! (As I am doing a series of Rafi sings for Shammi, I’m trying to leave out Shammi Kapoor songs so that other songs would get a chance).
3. For a change I’m including songs from movies that I haven’t seen as well.

A : Abhi na jao chhod kar (Hum Dono, 1961) – Absolutely awesome romantic duet, superbly rendered by Rafi & Asha and so convincingly picturised on Dev Anand and Sadhna.  The charming couple, the excellent rendition, Jaidev’s superb music, Sahir Ludhyanvi’s  thoughtful and yet so simple lyrics  and the beautiful depiction of two lovers unwilling to separate leave you wanting to fall in love – this is without doubt one of the best romantic song ever recorded.   When I  hear this song I feel like I am in another world, the feeling of the song is simply awesome. What a treat this is!  And for once I wished ‘A’ was the last letter of English Alphabet. Putting this song at the end would have made much more sense.

A : Ankhinyan milake zara baat karo ji (Pardes, 1950) : Striking the earlier song as I couldn’t think of any other song starting from ‘F’ other than Falsafa pyaar ka tum kya jano, picturised on Dev Anand. In his earlier years, before he had fully come into his own, Rafi sang for Ghulam Mohammed (Naushad’s protégé) a lovely duet with Lata. This one is picturised on Rehman and Madhubala and I love this  for lots of reasons: Madhubala’s striking beauty, Rafi’s deep, powerful rendition, peppy music and young and dashing Rehman!

 B : Bahut haseen hai tumhari aankhen (Aadhi Raat Ke Baad, 1965) : Very cute song…not very popular but sweet and very romantic nevertheless. Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur come together in this lovely track picturised on Sailesh Kumar and Ragini who playfully flirt and tease each other. Chitragupt’s music is soothing and pleasant.

C : Chhupa kar meri aankhon ko (Bhabhi, 1957) : My initial choice was Chal ud jaa re panchhi but couldn’t find the Balraj Sahni version of it  on youtube. I had once heard in an interview that Balraj was so sad after shooting the song. He felt he could have done it much better! It’s such a divine song. But guess I’ll go with the flow – romance and move ahead with this infectiously romantic duet featuring Jawahar Kaul and Shyama. Rafi teams up with Lata here and the rendition is magical. This is one of my all time favourite Lata-Rafi duets. I had first heard this song on Vividh Bharati years ago and always felt that it must be picturised on Meena Kumari. I somehow related the feel of the song and the name of the movie itself to Meena Kumari. But was pleasantly surprised to discover Shyama in it. I saw this film just because of it’s songs. Not a movie I am very fond of, but give me its music anyday and I would be more than happy. It has a variety of songs – Chal ud ja re panchhi, Chali chali  re patang meri chali re, Chhupa kar meri aankhon ko, Jawaan ho ya budiya, Kaa re kaa re baajra…Coming back to this song, Chitragupt’s music, Rajender Krishan’s lyrics, Lata and Rafi’s rendition is truly amazing. And check out Shyama’s expressions, esp when she lip-synchs “tumhari is adaa par bhi hamare dil ko pyaar aaye“. Haye…I just love this song!

D : Dil ki tamanna (Ghyarah Hazar Ladkiyan, 1962) : It’s Vividh Bharati again where I first heard this song. And the first thing I did after the song was over is to rush to search for it on google/youtube. Initially, I could just find the audio version of it, Rafi’s solo. And I have listened to it continuously for days, non-stop. What an intoxicating voice and there’s so much feel to it. I didn’t even know who it was picturised on then but just wished whoever it was – may his dil ki  tamanna come true! I’ve been looking for the cd/dvd of this movie ever since but with no luck. Rafi and Asha sing  Majrooh Sultanpoori’s lyrics for Bharat Bhushan and Mala Sinha, under the music direction of N. Dutta. It’s a classic composition.

D :  Dil mein chhupa ke pyaar ka ( Aan, 1952) : Striking Dil ki tamanna because I just confirmed that Ghar se toh cut chuka patta is picturised on Bharat Bhushan, though it doesn’t have a video, I don’t want to break my rule.. Here’s another lovely Rafi number featuring two actors whom I like a lot – Dilip Kumar and Nadira. Shakil Badayuni penned the lyrics for this lovely song and Naushad Ali composed the music. Rafi is heavenly and so is Dilip Kumar. There’s a color version of this video. But I find the B&W version more enchanting.  

 E : Ek tera saath hum ko (Waapas, 1969) :  Exteremely romantic song. Music is by Laxmikant Pyarelal and  lyrics  by Majrooh Sultanpuri. It is a duet sung by Rafi and Lata picturised on a newly married couple (Alka and Shekhar Purohit? Ajay?) pledging undying love and devotion to each other. I feel the essence is somehow missing in the picturisation, but just listen to it and it’s magical, such a treat to the ears!

F : Falsafaa pyaar ka tum kya jano (Duniya, 1968) : A terrific song by Rafi, composed by Shankar-Jaikishan and picturised on Dev Anand and Vyjayanthimala. “How would you grasp the philosophy of loving when you have never fallen in love before” – for once I kind of like the translation of the mukhda. I almost played around with Phoolon se dosti kaanton se yaari (Foolon se) but when I had a song starting with ‘F’, I thought I would rather go with it. Though Dev Anand looks wierd with that hair-cut and this song has the flavours of Badan pe sitare lapete hue, I  still love this number…it’s so intoxicating. This is what I call a quintessential Rafi song!

G : Ghar se toh cut chuka apna patta (Kal Hamara Hai, 1959) : I heard this song on radio last week and instantly fell in love with it. Unfortunately I couldn’t find the video.  Though imdb lists Bharat Bhushan as the lead in this film, I somehow don’t feel this song is  picturised on him. It sounds so much like a Johnny Walker kind of a song and I sincerely hope that it is. Something very catchy and lively about this song. Music is once again by Chitragupt. (P.S : I just confirmed that it is indeed picturised on Bharat Bhushan, so much for my guess work).

H : Hum toh hai tum par (Bewaqoof, 1960) – This is one very cute song rendered superbly by Rafi for I.S Johar. This movie was written and directed by I.S Johar himself. Majrooh’s lyrics and S.D Burman’s composition is beautiful. And it was R.D Burman on the Mouth Organ. The modulations in Rafi’s voice match I.S Johar’s antics so perfectly. There’s something very Shammi-sque quality to this song.

I : Itni badi duniya jahan itna bada mela (Toofan Mein Pyar Kahan ,1966) : Rafi sings this for Ashok Kumar. It’s so tender and so beautiful. There’s a softness to Rafi’s voice here which is just brilliant. “Versatile Rafi commendably modulates his voice to suit the great natural actor, Ashok Kumar, while singing on the pangs of loneliness” (Thanks Nasir for describing the song so beautifully).  Check out the picturisation for Guzre dino ka dhundla nishaan hai baanki, dil toh bujha kab se hai abh dhuaan baanki – the smoky effect is so amazing. Prem Dhawan’s melancholy lyrics, Chitragupt’s excellent music, Rafi’s magical rendition and Ashok Kumar’s brilliant performance – this couldn’t have got any better. My initial choice for a song beginning with ‘I’ was Itna haseen saathi itni haseen manzil from Aatma Aur Parmatma but couldn’t find a video to it. So settled for this one – another favourite of mine. Though not as romantic as I would have liked it to be, it’s a very beautiful song.

J : Jo baat tujh mein hai (Taj Mahal, 1963) : A timeless gem…one of my favourite songs. This one’s picturised on Pradeep Kumar. The lyrics by Sahir Ludhianvi, music by Roshan and Rafi’s velvety voice is beyond this world – truly sublime!  I so very badly wanted to post Jab se hum tum baharon mein from Main Shadi Karne Chala but it’s such an irony that we don’t have videos of such lovely melodies on youtube yet. And since the basic filter criteria here is one song per actor, I don’t want to go on posting just the audios. Hopefully, somebody will upload the video soon.

K : Kahin ek masoom nazuk si ladki (Shankar Hussain, 1977) : For once, I am not relating a song to Vividh Bharati. I first heard this bollywoodondemand.com, an online radio station couple of years ago. Back then AIR, Vividh Bharati didn’t have online sites. I accidentally came across bollywoodondemand.com and I used to listen to it very regularly at work. One fine day, I heard this song and googled for it but couldn’t find it. Then, I came across the audio version of it after few months and finally found the video last year. I was rather surprised to discover Kanwaljit in it. Used to watch him in serials during my school days, Family No. 1 on Sony used to be quite popular then. Kamal Amrohi’s lyrics, Khhayyam’s music and Rafi’s rendition – it’s all so heavenly. Something very dreamy, fairy-tale like about this song. But the video somehow spoilt this for me. I love the song, can’t help not loving such a magnificient number but the picturisation is a spoiler. Chalo khat likhe jee mein aata toh hoga, magar ungliyan kap kapati toh hongi, kalam haath se chhut jaata toh hoga, umange kalam phir uthathi toh hongi, mera naam apni kitaabon pe likh kar, woh daanton mein ungli dabati toh hogi….kabhi subah ko shaam kehti toh hogi, kabhi raat ko din batati toh hogi…what an imagination! It’s so beautifully written!! I used to imagine this scene while listening to this song, but the video didn’t have any of it! Audio version didn’t have the last antarra. I heard it for the first time when I saw the video on youtube. And it took me some time to figure out what Palate is …Palate kabhi toot jaati toh hogi….

L : Le chala jidhar yeh dil chal pade (Miss Bombay, 1957) : This is Rafi singing for Ajit. in the good old days before he turned into a villian on screen. Bombay—that teeming metropolis, teeming then in the 1950s just as it is teeming today—the land of opportunities, sapno ka shehar—was masterfully captured by lyricist Prem Dhawan to composer Hansraj Behl’s tune. I had only heard this song on Bhoole Bisre geet on Vividh Bharati. Saw the video for the first time today. Half the time I kept imagining Ajit saying “Mona Darling” in between the song. 🙂 Ajit was quite a handsome man and smart too…he realized early in his career that it’s more fun being the villian than a hero!

M : Main toh tere haseen khayalon mein kho gaya (Sangram, 1965) :  My my my dear from Nagina was my first choice. I didn’t want to list Mujhe dard-e-dil ka pata na tha and Madhuban mein radhika nache re. Though I love both these songs, they have already featured many times in this blog.  And thanks to Richard for including all these songs in his list. I’m not feeling guilty about skipping them. So here I come with this lovely track from Sangram picturized on Randhawa (Dara Singh’s brother) and Swarna Kumari. I am so glad I decided to do songs from the movies that I haven’t watched. I had heard this song so many times on radio but it’s for the first time I am seeing it’s video and am so happy to discover Randhawa in it! Lala Asar Sattar music is very melodious and Rafi is fantastic in it!

N : Na kisi ki aankh ka noor hoon (Laal Quila, 1960) : I almost included Nu tu hindu banega na musalmaan banega but realized I had this song in one of my earlier posts. And this divine composition by S.N Tripathi in Laal Quila came to my mind. It’s a timeless classic, a stunning nazm. Such deeply moving lyrics! Rafi’s booming voice magnificiently amplifies the poignancy and grief expressed by Bahadurshah Zafar. Truly unforgettable!

O : O phirki wali (Raja Aur Runk, 1968) : This song takes me back to my school days. We had a cassette, Best of Mohd. Rafi volume 2 which had this song. And there was a time when I was in 9-10th when I used to listen to this song at least 2-3 times a day. It’s such a masti-bhara song that it fills my heart with happiness when I listen to it. I somehow had always imagined it to be picturised on Shammi Kapoor or Dharmendra, mainly due to the fun quotient. I was pleasantly surprised to see Sanjeev Kumar singing it to Nazima. I was listening to this after so long today and I still remember each and every word of it. I’m so pleased with myself. That’s Rafi’s magic! Laxmikant-Pyarelal’s foot-tapping music, Anand Bakshi’s fun-filled lyrics and Rafi’s flirtatious rendition topped with Sanjeev Kumar’s awesome performance makes this song immortal. I love the way Rafi sings Jubaan se and Jarra beimaan si”

P : Phir milogi kabhi (Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi, 1966) : Biswajeet was one lucky actor when it came to songs. He got to feature in some of the best songs ever. I am not fond of him as an actor, but his songs, each one is a masterpiece! Rafi and Asha are singing for Biswajeet and Sharmila in this 1966 thriller. O.P Nayyar’s music, S.H Bihari’s lyrics and Asha-Rafi rendition, it’s picturization…everything about this song  is mesmerizing. I feel captivated everytime I listen to this and never want it to end. 

Q : Quismat ke likhe ko hum mita na sake (Duniya, 1949) : This is a lovely Rafi-Surraiya duet composed by C. Ramachandra. It has Surraiya, Karan Dewan, Yakum, Shakeela in the leading role. I don’t know who it’s actually picturised on. I have only heard this song on Radio and couldn’t find a video as well. Listen to Rafi’s young voice…it’s so gentle and soft. Amazing song!!!

R : Roshan tumhi se duniya (Parasmani, 1963) : This time it’s Rafi singing for Mahipal in Parasmani, which marks the debut of Laxmikant-Pyarelal as Music Directors. Rafi at one of his romantic bests, extremely melodious number penned by Ashad Bhopali. Such an apt song in praise of a princess! What awesome lyrics, equally amazing music and Rafi’s voice is subhan-allah!!! One can feel the emotion and depth in his voice…the way he sings “Haye”, the aalap in between and the accompanying tabla and sitar is just mindblowing. Even Mahipal and Geetanjali have expressed well. One more speciality about this film is that it’s partially color. The first half is in Black&White and the second half (if you remember, Hansta hua noorani chehra) is in color. Movie is total bakwaas but it has lovely songs.

S : Sau baar banakar maalik ne (Ek Raat, 1967) : I don’t know who this song is picturized on. Spent quite sometime searching for the video but couldn’t find. There’s hardly anything about this movie available. But I love this song so much that I just couldn’t leave it out. I was addicted to it when I heard it for the first time. Have been searching for the video for quite sometime now. It usually happens that the songs that I so desparately want to see are not as good as expected. So for the time being I am content just listening to it. Yogesh’s lyrics, Usha Khanna’s music and Rafi’s divine rendition…I get so lost in this song. Till I heard this song, I thought Chaudhvai ka chaand, Roshan tumhi se duniya, Tareef karun kya uski etc were the ultimatum when it came to praising the girl’s beauty. But now, there’s one more to the list.

T : Tum toh pyar ho (Sehra, 1963) : Ideal song on Rafi’s death anniversary would have been Tum mujhe yun bhoola na paaoge but that’s too popular and has already been discussed in this blog before. Then I thought of Tum akele toh kabhi baag mein jaaya na karo from Aao Pyaar Karein.  But again, even that doesn’t have a video available. So the next I could think of was this lovely duet by Lata and Rafi picturised on Sandhya and Prashanth. Hasrat jaipuri’s lyrics tuned beautifully by Ramlal, this is a gem of a song. And the depth in Rafi’s and Lata’s voice has taken it to a different level altogether! What a romantic duet it is!

U : Unse rippy tippy ho gayi (Agra Road, 1957) :  I discovered this song few months ago and fell in love it it. It’s such a cute and fun filled number sung by Rafi and Geeta Dutt. I was actually planning to include this is Geeta Dutt special post but I reached 10 before this could come up then. So here it goes! Picturised on Vijay Anand (this is his debut film as a hero) and Shakeela. He does resemble Dev Anand a bit, esp when he’s sulking. Yoddling is a quality that we generally associate with Kishore da. Felt good to hear Rafi yoddling for a change! There are few lines in Gujarati and few in Punjabi in between. Geeta and Rafi yoddling away to Roshan’s music and Prem Dhawan’s lyrics is very delightful.

V : Vo jo chahane wale hain tere (Duniya Rang Rangili, 1957) : I couldn’t figure out who was singing this song on screen…but who cares, as long as it’s sung by Rafi in real. It’s  sweet number written by Jan Nisar Akhtar and composed by O.P Nayyar. Check out Rajendra Kumar, he looks so young and handsome.  Is the girl Chaand Usmaani?

W : Woh hum na the woh tum na the (Cha Cha Cha, 1964)  : Rafi here sings for Chandrashekhar. He is so dull,  doughy and expresssionless. I don’t like him, every time I see him I keep wondering how he became an actor. Hence I am putting Helen’s picture below. Lets forget about the movie and the actor…coming to the song, it’s an excellent track. Penned by Neeraj and composed by Iqbal Quereshi, this is a touching song brilliantly rendered by Rafi.  

X : Phir aane laga yaad wohi (Yeh Dil Kisko Doon, 1963) : Ok, so this song doesnt begin with “X” – but then, how many songs do? I will just use this letter to insert another lovely song. And this song is specially dedicated to Nasir and Richard. We had a long discussion about this song sometime back. But due to my usual restriction of not including songs from the movies that I haven’t seen, I had left this one out in Shashi Kapoor special post. But since that’s not the case this time, here it goes to you both for reminding me of this song. Shashi Kapoor’s image below is for bollyviewer. This is one of the most melodious song, beautifully picturised. Ragini’s moves are so graceful and elegant. Shashi is a darling. Rafi is magical, Qamar Jalalabadi’s lyrics and  Iqbal Qureshi’s composition is so mystical with Usha Khanna chanting those simple syllables Pyaar ka aalam, it infuses so much feel to the song.

 
Y : Yeh teri saadgi yeh tera baankpan (Shabnam, 1964) : This post has been one hell of a revelation to me! I never knew Rafi had sung this song for Mehmood! Usha Khanna’s composition and Javed Anwar’s lyrics are simple and sweet. And Rafi as usual is outstanding! He could convincingly slip under the skin of characters that were poles apart: he sang for the brooding Dilip Kumar in Deedar with the same ease with which he lent his voice to a frolicking Johnny Walker in C.I.D.  And it is so difficult for the listener to decide where Rafi excels more and who his voice suits the best!

Z : Zara ruk jaa (Sitaron Se Aaghe, 1958) : I was feeling sad that I couldn’t include a song picturised on Johnny Walker so far. So am more than happy now for being able to do so. Apart from Rafi, I remember this song for Johnny Bhai’s cycle stunt and his friends going around puncturing everybody else’s cycle tyres. Rafi and Johnny share an amazing chemistry. Each song of this combo is special and tailor-made for them – the sync between Rafi’s voice and Johnny’s acting is always so perfect! I have a broad smile on my face everytime I see Johnny perched on a tree (he looks so comfortable there) and jumping down singing Zara ruk ja…

Rafi saab was the most versatile and probably had the most mellifluous voice. His voice reflected the great energy and smartness of youth and exuded great skill and craftiness. He could sing slow, fast , semi classical, Bhajans, Qawalis, taranas, Geet, romantic numbers, sad songs – just about anything with equal zest and gusto.

Also, when I began listening to  songs of Rafi, I realized one thing – he enriched the compoistions that he sang for. Now this is quite  exceptional and rare because he did not require a great composition to create a a great song.

I feel like Kahin bekhayal hokar choo liya kisi ne when I listen to his songs. This is one song that I really missed putting up here along with Jo unki tamanna ho, Woh din yaad karo, Yeh jhuke jhuke naina and many more!!! Be it any song of his, even if I am listening to it for the very first time, I feel a sense of familiarity towards it.

I came across this blog while searching for few songs and since what was written there exactly described the songs and how I felt about them, I couldn’t help copying them. And I must admit that it did save a lot of time. Writing up about these songs do take a lot of time. And it gets quite distracting as well – I search for one song on youtube, see some other song on related link section and that leads to another song and so on (as it’s too much of a temptation to resist). So when I find few lines already written up about the song, it’s god-sent! 🙂 A big thank you to Cinema Corridor and all other fellow bloggers for all your contributions and wikipedia for providing me with so much of information always! I had acknowledged everybody in my earlier post on Shammi Kapoor but somehow I forgot about this one. Could be because it took me couple of days to finish this post and by the time I reached the end, I was just happy that I had completed the post and was in a hurry to publish it.

Love you Rafi saab!!! May your soul rest in peace.

Kishore Da’s songs coming up next. I should have done that today, but first things first. And that reminds me I still have my Mukesh special post pending!

Ten of my Favourite Manoj Kumar songs

As this veteran actor celebrates his 73rd birthday today, here’s wishing him a very very Happy birthday!

He started his career as a romantic hero. Manoj Kumar’s image as the patriotic hero started with the 1965 film Shaheed, based on the life of Bhagat Singh. After the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri asked him to create a film based on the popular slogan Jai Jawan Jai Kissan. The result was Kumar’s magnum opus and his directorial debut, Upkaar (1967). Upkaar was a hit and won Kumar his first Filmfare Best Director Award.  He then went on to direct and act in lots of other movies which earned him the name of  Mr. Bharat.

Harikishan Giri Goswami, better known as Manoj Kumar, was a big admirer of  Dilip Kumar,  so much that he decided to name himself Manoj Kumar after Dilip’s character in Shabnam (1949).

He was blessed with good looks and an ability to act and direct well. I have been very fond of him but have always liked him more in his pre-patriotic era. That doesn’t mean I have anything against his patriotic movies. They were all very good but I’m making it a point not to include many songs from those movies, and even if I do, I will leave out the patriotic ones for now. Will do a separate post on patriotism some other time, may be around Independence day. For now, I’m concentrating only on romantic songs of his that I like the most with one single exception – the first song below.

1. Mera rang de basanti chola (Shaheed, 1965) :  When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced.  Live your life in such a manner that when you die the world cries and you rejoice –  this song just illustrates the saying. Manoj Kumar as Bhagat Singh has etched such an indelible impression in my memory that I just can’t find anybody else as good as him in the role. May be it’s because it’s one of the first movies of Manoj Kumar that I saw and the very first one of Bhagat Singh, during the good old Doordarshan days when they used to telecast patriotic movies on Independance Day and Republic Day. Everything about this song gives me goose flesh…esp the part where Manoj Kumar says : Hum gale milna chahate hai, ab ke bichde na jaane kab mile. And the way they embrace each other is so touching. Having said earlier that I like him better in romantic roles, I would have loved to list down Jogi hum toh lut gaye tere pyaar mein which I totally love, but I didn’t for 2 reasons – 1. I couldn’t help myself from not including Mera rang de basanti, 2. It doesn’t have enough of Manoj Kumar to classify it as his song. Each song of this movie, be it Sarfaroshi ki tamanna, Aye watan, Pagdi sambhal is absolutely brilliant and very emotional as well.

2. Gore gore chand se mukh par (Anita, 1967) : How could I not like Manoj Kumar sitting on a branch of a tree singing this paean to one of my favourite actresses, Sadhana. Though I don’t like her make-up much in this particular song, I love the room she is in! A beautiful song. Mukesh has sung some very nice and very romantic songs for Manoj Kumar. I could actually have done a combined post for Mukesh and Manoj Kumar but for all these years I have ignored him and failed to recognise his genius, Mukesh deserves a separate post just to himself, which is coming up soon.

3. Chodkar tere pyaar ka daaman (Woh Kaun Thi, 964) : This movie had some amazing songs, majority of  them rendered by Lata. But when we come to Manoj Kumar, where even he gets to lip-synch some of the song, this song tops my list. He was a very good-looking man. And this song is such a delicious treat to the eyes – Manoj Kumar and Helen both looking their best!  Manoj Kumar in black-n-white movies, I just can’t get enough of him. Lag ja gale is and will always remain my favourite from this movie and as I already had it in one of my recent posts, I am skipping it for the moment. And Naina barse is something I am saving up for some other occasion.

4. Door reh kar na karo baatein (Amanat, 1971) : One of the main reasons behind me doing this post. Ok…that’s not entirely true, I didn’t actually need an excuse to do this post. The fact that I actually like Manoj Kumar was more than enough  in itself and to add to it  that he featured in some of my favourite songs. This is a very passionate song,  one’s of my all-time favourites – simple lyrics, soft music, flawless voice and picturised on two very good looking people whom I am very fond of.

5. Chaand si mehbooba hogi (Himalaya Ki Godh Mein, 1965) : I will never forget Mala Sinha’s name in this movie – Phulwa! Thanks to the flower Manoj makes and writes “wa” beside it on the stone in the beginning of this song. It’s a lovely song – beautifully written, rendered and very well composed.  I am not very fond of the movie itself as such, inspite of Mala Sinha and Manoj Kumar but I love this song – probably the best thing in the movie. Manoj Kumar finds his dream girl in Mala Sinha, the innocent (though loud) village belle. And he  looked very cute in it, not just in this song but in the entire movie…a doctor educated abroad who lands up in a village and is in complete awe of the rural superstitions initially but eventually decides to stay back there and help healing the villagers instead of going back to in the city and setting up a clinic.

6. Main na bhoolunga (Roti Kapada aur Makaan, 1974) – An unforgettable melody…..
Samay ki dhara mein umar beh jaani hai
jo ghadi jee lenge, wahi reh jaani hai
main ban jaau saans aakhri tu jeewan ban jaaye
Jeewan se saanso ka rishta main na bhoolungi….
Maang se sindoor ka rishta…Mandir se pooja ka rishta….
Mesmerising lyrics…very touching. Beautifully and emotionally sung by Mukesh and Lata Mangeshkar and amazingly portrayed by Zeenat and Manoj and Shashi. And it fits so well into the story, it more or less sums up a part of the story. This movie won Manoj Kumar his second Filmfare Best Director Award.

7. Bol mere taqdeer mein (Hariyali Aur Raasta, 1962) : I watched this film when I was 15 and I don’t know what I liked so much about it…I somehow could never forget this story of Shankar, Shobhna and Rita. Waise toh all the songs are good – Yeh hariyali aur yeh raasta, Teri yaad dil se bhulane chala hoon, Ibteda ishq mein hum, Lakh taare aasman mein but Bol meri taqdeer mein kya hai has always remained my favourite. One of the most romantic songs ever…and that too with quite a philosophical note to it – jeevan ke do pehlo hai hariyali aur raasta. After Shaheed, this was the second movie of his that I saw, followed by Dus Numberi. No wonder I ended up liking him so much!

8. Paththar ke sanam (Paththar Ke Sanam, 1967) : A hunk with two lovely ladies and a couple of great songs….I had to see this film. Though I didn’t like the film much, I totally love the songs – Mehboob mere, Tauba yeh matwali chaal, Ki nahin hai, Bata doon kya laana or the title track – all of them are amazing! I don’t think Rafi has sung many songs for Manoj Kumar but the few that he has are superb! Be it this or Door rehkar na karo baat.

9. Ke duniya ek numbari to main dus numbari (Dus Numbari, 1976) : It’s such an entertaining film. Though it’s been a quite some time since I saw this film, I remember liking it when I saw it. This used to be Sony entertainment Televisions favourite movie a decade ago, they used to air it almost every fortnight.  And for once I saw Manoj Kumar so stylish (love his shades and his outfits in it) and it was so refreshing to see him do a role like this for a change.

10. Zindagi ki na toote ladi (Kranti, 1981) : I grew up listening to this song and watching it almost every week on Rangoli and Chitrahaar. This song itself was intriguing enough and the curiosity of seeing both Diliip kumar and Manoj Kumar together was too much to resist. So when this movie was finally aired on Doordarshan I just couldn’t afford to miss it. Though sad at times, from what I remember it was an entertaining package – action, drama, emoshun, good music, suspense, brothers separated in childhood, princess being kidnapped and what not. Un aankhon ka hansna bhi kya jin aakhon mein paani na ho, woh jawani jawani nahin jiski koi kahani na ho….lakh gehra ho saagar toh kya pyaar se kuch bhi gehra nahin, dil ki deewane har mauj par ho aasmano pehra nahin….amazing lyrics. Apart from Raj Kapoor Mukesh sang quite a lot of songs for Manoj Kumar. It’s interesting to see his son, Nitin Mukesh singing for Manoj Kumar here with Lata Mangeshkar.

There are so many other songs of his that I like from Upkaar, Do Badan, Shor, Aadmi, Neel Kamal, Purab Aur Paschim, Saawan Ki Ghata, Phoolon Ki Sej, Banarasi Thug etc….hopefully I’ll get to include all these songs in some list or the other over a period of time.

Thinking of his movies, I just can’t get Clerk out of my mind – few scenes in particular…For those of you who haven’t seen the movie, check this out –

One of the most ridiculous movies and one of those few movies which I couldn’t sit through the whole way. But there were quite a few scenes like this in it. Such scenes are entertaining and good to laugh at, esp when you can just see them instead of having to put up with the entire film! 😉

Here’s wishing Manoj Kumar health and long life on this day and always!!!

My Tribute to Raj Kapoor

Raj Kapoor, also known as the show-man of the millenium, was a legendary Indian film actor, producer and director of Hindi films. As 2nd June marks his death anniversary, this is a small tribute to this great man from my side. May his soul rest in peace!

Raj Kapoor was a canny judge of filmi music and lyrics. Many of the songs he commissioned are evergreen hits.  I had heard somewhere that Raj Kapoor still remains an Institution for Directors, an Inspiration for Music Directors and an Idol for all the actors.

I have mixed feelings about his portrayal of a tramp-like figure in many of his movies, who, despite adversity, was usually cheerful and honest (I adore his character in Anari, but then it gets on to my nerves as well at times coz it’s so out-of-this-world and I find it pretty repetitive too). I love him better in other roles like Chori Chori, Bewafa, Sharda etc.

With all due respect, and like I always keep saying, no matter how much I like and respect Raj Kapoor as an Actor and a film-maker, I avoid re-watching his movies. They hit me too hard emotionally, morally and socially.

But he really had a taste in music. All his movies had fantastic songs. And without getting into further details, let me list some of his songs that I like the most – there are many but these are the first ten that came to my mind :

1. Mera joota hai japani (Shree 420, 1955) : Raj Kapoor produced, directed and acted in this blockbuster. All the songs from this film were big hits  esp. Dil ka haal sune dilwala, Ichak dana beechak dana, Mud mud ke na dekh, Pyar hua ikraar hua, Ramaiya vastavaiya. Raj Kapoor’s display about the corruption in society with the adaptation of mannerism of Charlie Chaplin amused the viewers. And this is one of his signature songs.

2.  Aawara hoon (Awara, 1951) : This movie was based on the theme that human being is a victim of circumstances. It’s not necessary that a barriseter’s son grows up to become a barrister and a theif’s son a theif. I like the Dum bhar jo udhar as well, but this is another signature songs of his.

3. Woh chaand khila woh taare hanse (Anari, 1959) : All the songs in this movie are amazing. Kisi ki muskurahaton pe and Sab kuchh sikha humne are more of typical Raj Kapoor songs, but I somehow like this one better. The way he stands with the flower in his hand, trying to put it on Nutan’s hair, the innocence on his face and dont know what to do next expression. – simply superb!!!Only the opening verse has Raj singing just one line, the rest of the song is Nutan’s but he’s still so dominantly present throughout the song.

4. Ae sanam jisne tujhe (Diwana, 1967) : One of my favourite songs…there’s something very innocently true and cute about this song. The lyrics, music and perfect rendition  go hand in hand so well.

5. Jaane kahan gaye woh din (Mera Naam Joker, 1970) : Though Jeena yahan marna yahan and Aye bhai zara dekh ke chalo were more popular, it’s this song that gives me goose-bumps everytime I listen to it. What a great composition this was! It more or less summarizes the story of the movie. I usually end up with tears in my eyes when this song ends.

6. Aaja sanam madhur chandani mein hum (Chori Chori, 1956) : My all time favourite movie of Raj Kapoor and the only movie of his that I love watching again and again. This was another musical blockbuster – all the songs were superb.

7. Dil matwala lakh sambhala (Bewafa, 1952) : This movie is one of my recent discoveries and I have fallen in love with this love-triangle. I am usually not very fond of movies with tragic endings…I prefer light-hearted, romantic,  timepass movies, but this one’s an exception. Serious as it is, it’s a very beautifully handled story laced with pretty songs – and it feels rather good to hear somebody other than Mukesh and Manna Dey singing for Raj Kapoor. Talat Mehmood was amazing in this one.

8. Sajan re jhooth mat bolo (Teesri Kasam, 1977) : This is a gem of a song from the awesome fivesome – Raj Kapoor, Mukesh, Shailendra, Shankar and Jaikishen. These five have given us so many unforgettable numbers,  this being one of them – with a spiritual touch.

9. Jap re preet ki mala (Sharada, 1957) : This movie had a power-packed performance and I liked most of the songs – O chaand jahan woh jaye (which I had mentioned about in Meena Kumari special post), then this one where Raj Kapoor tries to woo lovely Meena Kumari and there’s one more cute song in this film – Lehraye jiya, picturised on gorgeous Shyama. But guess I’ll keep that for Shyama special post. But storywise, I actually didn’t know how to react to this movie, I have been in a state of shock ever since I have seen this film. Had wanted to do a post on it for Meena Kumari’s death anniversary but couldn’t. Let me see if I can review this film some time soon.

10. Masti bhara hai samaan (Parvarish, 1958) : This is such a care-free romantic duet. I love everything about this song – Raj Kapoor, Mala Sinha, Lata and Manna Dey’s rendition, Hasrat Jaipuri’s lyrics, Dattaram’s composition and it’s picturisation.

I have this thing for the Kapoor men, no matter how much I try (not that I want to) but I just can’t dislike them. I simply love all of them – right from Prithvi Raj Kapoor to Ranbir Kapoor!

 

It happens to be Khwaja Ahmad Abbas’s death anniversary today. Thanks to Vividh Bharati and Yunus Khan  for bringing it to my notice. I was tuned into Vividh Bharathi on my way back home and when Awara hoon played on Aaj Ke Funkaar (@ 9:30), I was wondering why they were doing a Raj Kapoor special program today itself. And then Yunus said that this episode was dedicated to a writer, this made me think it was probably dedicated to  Shailendra and then he finally revealed that it was Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, who he was talking about. Though unknowingly, I had already included songs from some of his films (films that he has written) in my list – Awaara, Shri 420, Mera Naam Joker. And I am glad I had done that.

 

 

And it was Prithviraj Kapoor’s death anniversary on 29th May but I couldn’t do a post on him  😦 That’s on my to-do-list for this weekend.

 

Ten of my Favourite Jeetendra Songs

I am not a big Jeetu fan, but like Nasir says – there’s neither anything great about him nor a larger than life charisma, but there’s something about him, something  that just can’t be ignored. And some of his songs are truly awesome, be it Rafi or Kishore singing for him, they are just amazing! Here’s wishing him a very happy (belated) birthday and here is a list of songs through which he dances, flirts, jumps, romances, dances,  jumps and dances over and over again.

1. Baar baar din  yeh aaye (Farz, 1967) : I actually love all the songs from this movie, like  Tumse o haseena, Mast baharon ka, Hum toh tere aashiq hai, Dekho dekho ji  better but since it was his birthday yesterday and this one’s  one of the best birthday party songs, this is a special  dedication to him.

2. Musafir hoon yaaron (Parichay, 1972) : One of my favourite movies and surprisingly this song marks my introduction to the Jumping Jack  – this is the first movie of his that I saw. Guess that’s one of the main reasons why I like him still even after watching him in all the other not-so-good movies.

3. Rukh se zara naquaab (Mere Huzoor, 1968) : What do I say about this song…I adore this song for every possible reason – music, lyrics, Rafi’s voice, picturisation…it’s all so lovely. I came home late from work last night and put the tv on just in time to see this song on B4U music and that’s what prompted me to do this post.

4.  Saat ajoobe is duniya mein  (Dharam Veer, 1977) : Garam dharam in minis and Jeetu in such flashy outfits….and as though that’s not enough – it has an added advantage of Zeenat’s and Indrani Mukherjee’s  presence, glimpse of Jeevan and lots of other royal pleasantness. Just this song itself is so spicy – a true representation of 70’s masala movies.

5. Dhal gaya din (Humjoli, 1970) :  Here comes Jeetu in his trademark White Trousers and shoes combo romancing Leena over a game of badminton followed by lots of other goodies. I had seen this movie ages ago but still remember the entire story. This movie had some very catchy dance numbers –  rain dance in Haye re haye, Jeetu shaking a leg with gorgeous Mumtaz in  Tik tik tik mera dil dole.

6. Chadhti jawaani teri chaal mastaani (Caravan, 1971) : Talk about catchy numbers and here comes another movie full of them – Piya tu ab toh aaja, Chadti jawani teri chaal mastaani, Daiyya main yeh kahan aa fassi, Ab jo miley hai, Dilbar dil se pyaare, Kitna pyaara vaadha, Goriya kahan tera desh re….to choose just one song from this movie is so tough – all the songs are ek-se-badkar-ek, RDB at his best. I like Kitna pyaara vaadha a lot, it’s a very cute romantic number but with Aruna looking the way she is in Chadhti jawaani, I had to choose this one.

7. Tere haathon mein pehnake  (Jaani Dushman, 1979): If the other songs are catchy and foot-tapping, I would rate this as a shoulder-shaking song in addition to being catchy, peppy and playful! Jeetu’s energy level, Neetu’s bubbly-ness, cheerful lyrics, perfect rendition and great choreography – this song gives a different dimension to this otherwise mysteriously bride-disappearing saga and distracts viewers for a while from what is inevitable.

8. Tera saath hai toh (Pyaasa Saawan, 1981) : I don’t remember much of the movie except for the fact that Jeetu is playing a double role (father and son) in this, but I love the songs – Tera saath hai toh and Megha re megha re. It’s such a highly romantic number.

9. Tere sang pyaar main (Nagin, 1976) : It’s so nice to see Jeetu jumping around a little gracefully, though his steps (esp the hand movements) look so feminine, but provided that he’s a Naag, I guess that’s ok. I remember watching this movie as a kid and had thoroughly enjoyed it. I think I should give it a try again – feisty Reena seeking vengeance and some good songs doesn’t sound all that bad. Reena and Jeetu share a very good chemistry here and both their costumes are  very sexy.

10. Aa meri humjoli aa (Jeene Ki Raah, 1969) : One of the best hide-n-seek songs ever – it’s such a cute song. I like Tanuja’s reaction to the song –  the way she suddenly jumps up from her seat (love the blue saari that Tanuja’s wearing). The other songs –  Aap mujhe achhe lagne lage, Aane se uski, Ek banjara gaye  are nice as well.

As always, I’ve already reached ten songs and there are still so many more playing through my mind : Ke hum tum chori se (Dharti Kahe Pukar Ke), Raat suhani jaag rahi hai (Jigri Dost), Yeh mulaquat ek bahana hai (Khandaan), Tere khayalon mein hum (Geet Gaya Pathharon Ne), Dil ki baatein dil hi jaane (Roop Tera Mastaana), Pal do pal ka (The Burning Train), Meri saanson ko jo (Badalte Rishte), Kab tak huzoor roothe rahoge (Aulad), Kisi raah mein kisi md par (Mere Humsafar)  – to name a few

Ok…now I think I like Jeetendra a little more than what I have admitted at the beginning of this post – “Tumse o deewane kabhi mohabbat na maine karni thi, magar mere dil ne mujhe dhoka de diya” 😉

Love Marriage (1959)

No, it’s not the IPL fever, at least not yet. I was off today and took out few VCDs to watch. It was tough to decide which one to watch first – Dil Deke Dekho being my all time favourite and Anupama has been on the top of my must watch list for quite some time now.

I had a tough time just deciding between these two. I then made up my mind to get up early tomorrow and watch both the movies. 🙂 Among the other three, I randomly picked one and it turned out to be Fashionable Wife.  I was actually looking forward to seeing it (just to check out how silly it is), esp after Spy in Rome – it’s also made by the same person. 😛 But fortunately or unfortunately, there was some problem with the cd.

Rishte Naate – the title itself sounded so emotional and sentimental (most of the times I simply end up buying movies without even thinking if I’ll ever watch them). And I was in no mood of seeing something depressing today. That  left me with only one option – Love Marriage!

A Cricket match in progress and that too with such a good looking batsman, I was more than happy just looking at him hitting fours and sixes.

After winning the match, he celebrates his victory with his friends at Sporting Club of Jhansi.

Scared that he might get caught by his brother, he sneaks into the house, with his shoes in his hands only to find his Bhabhi, Uma (Pranoti Ghosh) and his nephew, Munna (Master Anwar) waiting for him to hear the result of the match.

Just then his brother, Anil Kumar (Abhi Bhattacharya) comes back home from work, and all of them get back to their duties – the entire household is scared of him, including their pet dog, who quietly gets back into his basket for the night the moment he senses Anil’s arrival, signalling the others too.

Few obvious things – Sunil Kumar (Dev Anand) or Sonu, as his Bhabhi calls him, is extremely fond of his Bhabhi and nephew. He adores his brother, but is scared of him as well. Anil, on the other hand, is tired of Sonu’s kiddish ways and feels it’s high time he starts taking his life seriously.

The next morning Anil receives a letter from Mr. Choglekar. He had spoken to Mr. Choglekar regarding a job for Sunil, who’s a first class BA graduate. And Mr. Choglekar mentions in his letter that there’s a vacancy in Bombay and that Sunil should apply for it ASAP.

Bhabhi is all worried about having to send her brother-in-law away. But Anil is adamant about sending Sonu to Bombay. When Bhabhi does his packing and makes other necessary arrangements, he goes to the Sporting Club to meet his friends.

He finds one of his friends missing. One asking he finds out that he’s been too busy visiting Neelam, a kothewali bai. And all are worried that he’ll ruin his life at this rate. So they all set out to rescue him.

Sonu literally drags his friend out of there. Now Neelam takes this as a personal insult and vows to destroy Sonu and his family.

Sonu leaves for Bombay and he goes directly to his Mamaji, Naren Babu’s house, only to find it locked. On asking his neighbours he finds out that Mamaji has left for Jhansi.

With no place to stay in Bombay, he’s pretty worried. When he sees an ad in newspaper announcing an availability of a room, he goes to see it.

He manages to drive away all the other people who’ve come with the same purpose and finally goes to meet the owner but Geeta (Mala Sinha) refuses to share her flat with a guy. She wants a female flat-mate!

He meets Mr. Shampi, Geeta’s neighbour, on his way out, who narrates Geeta’s history to him – that she’s an orphan and is looked after by her Chacha-Chachi. She was studying in Bombay but started working to support the family after her Chacha passed away. And now she wants to share her flat so that she doesn’t have to pay the entire rent.

Now, it happens that Mr. Shampi knows Anil. When he learns that Sonu, aka Sunil is Anil’s brother, he decides to help him and convinces Geeta to give the room to him.

Sunil then sets out to meet Mr. Choglekar, who’s very worried about the Cricket Match the following morning because his team doesn’t have a proper batsman.

Sunil offers to help him out and after hesitating for a while he lets Sunil bat for his team. Geeta is a huge Cricket fan – she even has pictures of lots of cricketers stuck on her wall. So it’s only obvious that she’s on her way to see the match the next morning. Sunil asks her for direction to the stadium and she’s rather surprised.

She doesn’t believe that he can play – the way he behaves she thinks he’s an illiterate and good for nothing. Anyways, she takes him to the stadium with her.

Sunil not only wins the match but manages win Geeta’s heart as well. Here’s a scene from the game followed by She ne khela he se aaj cricket match.

Next day’s newspapers are flooded with Sunil’s photos and tales on how Choglekar’s team won the match because of Sunil. Sunil goes to Geeta’s room to show her that he’s not all that bad and what he witnesses there leaves him rather surprised – he sees Geeta cutting his picture from the newspaper and talking to herself about him. Pleased he runs back to his room and after checking himself in the mirror continues to the terrace to sing Kahan jaa rahe the kahan aa gaye hum.

Geeta looks so lovely here listening to him singing.

Both fall in love but are unable to express their feelings to each other.

Choglekar throws a party to celebrate his team’s victory and Sunil invites Geeta to it. Celebration and party implies that there’s one more song here. But I found this song somehow out of place, it would be more apt in a Manoj Kumar movie. But I love the dance preceding the song, no matter what Sunil says about it – Tin kanastar peet peet .

Sunil finally gets the job he had come for and better still he gets posted to Jhansi! But he’s not very happy about it because he doesn’t want to leave Geeta and go. But is delighted to learn that Geeta has quit her job and is leaving for Deolali, which falls on the way to Jhansi, where her Chachi lives. They leave by the same train the following morning.

This time Sunil is determined to tell Geeta that he’s in love with her.  And he even partially succeeds in doing so 😛

A little after Geeta arrives home, Champa, Chachi’s house maid informs her that some Sunil Babu has come to meet Chachi. This Chachi-Sunil encounter is hilarious, followed by Hum jaan gaye sarkar tum lakh karo inkaar.

Chachi is not all that well and her last wish is to see Geeta married. When she has an attack, she makes Sunil promise that he’ll marry Geeta right away. He’s little hesitant about the idea of getting married without informing his Bhaiya and Bhabhi but seeing Chachi ji’s condition, he gives in and gets married to Geeta.

He feels that he should go home first and inform his family then send for Geeta, but Chachi remains adamant that a girl, after marriage,  should follow her husband whereever he goes. So they both leave for Jhansi.

He’s so tensed that he doesn’t even know how to face his family, esp his brother.

Scared, he jumps off the rickshaw and sends Geeta alone to handle his Bhaiya and Bhabhi – to break the news of their wedding to them.  She does manage to impress Bhabhi.

Anil and Uma are more than happy with the news and they both adore Geeta. They celebrate the occasion and my wait for Helen finally ended when she came to dance to Dil se dil takaraye (the title track) – beautiful and graceful as ever.

All’s well and everybody is happy but as expected that doesn’t last forever.

Remember, Neelam and her vow to ruin the family? When I had just started wondering what happened to her, she made an entry.

Sunil ends up visiting her regularly and takes to drinking – Kareeb aao na tadpao

When Geeta learns this, she demands for a divorce!!!!

What happens to Sunil and Geeta? What leads Sunil to Neelam in the first place? Will things ever be the same again?

It was a delightful watch. I thoroughly enjoyed watching it –  lovely starcast, great performances, wonderful songs and a good story. Inspite of the twist with Neelam, and little bit of emotional atyachar towards the end (luckily it wasn’t very long), it was good.

Both Dev and Mala were loud at times, but given the storyline, I didn’t mind much. With some one like them on screen, and not to forget those lovely songs, I hardly had the time to complain about anything.

Ten of my favourite Dharmendra songs

Here’s wishing our apna ‘Garam’ Dharam paji a very very Happy Birthday!!!

In the mid seventies, he was voted as one of the most handsome men in the world, a feat only repeated by Salman Khan (from Bollywood) in 1997.  He was such a treat to eyes . He had an amazing combo of  good looks and great physique!!!

1. Pal pal dil ke paas (Black Mail, 1973) : This is one of the first Hindi songs that I learnt.  Though my dad had a huge collection of Lata, Rafi, Mukesh, Kishore number-  I wasnt much into music then. Firstly, I didnt understand the language and second, I was content playing with the other kids in the neighborhood and reading Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Famous Five and Secret Seven.  ( See my luck, am working from home today and compiling this list ; this very song is playing in the background in the fm that I am tuned to).

When I was in 8th standard, my maths teacher was an Indian (from Bihar). And when we didnt feel like studying we would occasionally make him sing songs in the class. This was one of his favourties (others being Chalte Chalte, Mere Naina Saawan Bhado and Mera Jeevan Kora Kaagaz). Most of my other classmates would sing along with him, but I couldnt coz I didnt know the lyrics. One day I felt so bad, that I actually hunted for Kishore Kumar’s records (gramophone records) from my dad’s collection, played them, sat down to write down the lyrics and learnt them by-heart! Though I didnt understand what it actually meant or what the song was about, I could atleast sing along with the rest of them and I was delighted 🙂

Now that I know the language and understand what it means, it’s one of my all-time favourite songs. And oh how romantic it is!

2. Aap ke haseen rukh pe (Baharen Phir Bhi Ayengi, 1966) :  Beautiful Tanuja, amazing Mala Sinha and dashing Dharamji on screen, Rafi saab’s golden voice, Anjaan’s  lyrics and OP Nayyar’s music…this one is simply superb. My heart skips a beat everytime I listen to this song. I run short of words to describe how beautiful this song is and how much I like it.

3.  Kajal wale nain mila ke (Devar, 1966) : The only fun-filled song in the otherwise serious movie. When Deven Verma, his cousin, asks him if he has ever been in love, he sings this song describing a girl (Sharmila) who he had met as a kid and liked –  unaware of where she is and how she is now. She later on gets married to Deven, and all that Dharam goes through when he gets to know who she is. Too much of sacrifice, drama and never ending stretch at the climax (where I always felt Sharmila overacted a little too much).  But Dharamji and this song are the best part of this movie. Deven looks great as well.

4. Main nigahen (Aap ki Parchhaiyan, 1964) : This song is deadly!!! Innocently very romantic. Dharam ji, I just cant take my eyes off him. And Rafi saab…. I go speechless everytime I hear this song. What a mindblowing composition!

5. Jhil mil sitaron ka (Jeevan Mrityu, 1970) : Dharmendra with Rakhee again. Apart from the great couple on screen, this song is so full of dreams and that’s what I like the most about it. Fantastic number composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal and penned by Anand Bakshi.

6. Ek haseen shaam ko (Dulhan Ek Raat Ki, 1966) : A romantic tale with lots of twists and turns, starring Dharmendra and Nutan.  This is a melodious track composed by Madan Mohan and rendered by Rafi.

7.  In baharon mein (Mamta, 1966) : Roshan composes haunting music for this family drama. Majrooh Sultanpuri does the lyrics. All the songs from this album are fabulous.  While the other songs like Rahe na rahe and Chhupa lo yun are serious and intense, this one is light and cute and infectiously romantic.

9 . Koi haseena jab (Sholay, 1975) : Before I get murdered by public for not including Sholay in the list, here it is! Loaded with action, romance, thrill and drama, the film is a must watch and the music needs oft repeating with fabulous scores by R D Burman and lyrics by Anand Bakshi.

10. Kali palak teri gori (Do Chor, 1972) : After debating whether to put this or rafta rafta, I finally decided on this. This is one of the cutest duet songs and I truly love it!

One of the most good-looking heros in Indian Cinema, who excelled in being romantic, comic and heroic (action packed) all at the same time. Love you Dharam ji, u truly rock!!! 🙂