How beautifully the progression of songs is made in this film! Bimal Roy - the biggest school of film making here teaches the whole brigade of directors to come that this is how the songs should be woven in the storyline. 

A homely and comely damsel expresses a winsome wish to the dark, dence, drizzling sky, dampening her clothes and her mind as well : 

हूँ मैं कितनी अकेली वो ये जानके

मेरे बेरंग जीवन को पहचानके

मेरे हाथों को थामें हँसे और हँसाये, 

मेरा दुख भुलाये, किसी का क्या जाये...  

God of rains somehow smiles at her a grants her what she desires in no time. And here Dada Burman not only composes but also renders one of the most soothing and sublime love-lilt of all the time. Kamal Bose's camera one more time creates some immortal frames here : 

होता तू पीपल, मैं होती अमर लता तेरी

तेरे गले माला बन के, पड़ी मुसकाती रे

सुन मेरे साथी रे... 

And then comes the time to get clear confession of love from the one she is deeply in love with. Sachin Dev Burman was one of those genius composers who always knew whose voice would be more befitting for what character and which situation. His selection of Talat Mahmood's voice for this song feels quite custom made wherein Adhir expresses his feelings to Sujata on phone. Talat Mahmood carries this song with ultimate grace and delicacy just as the situation needed. If not considering the stage song of Patanga - mere piya gaye rangoon -  this one is perhaps the first ever song wherein a long love talk happens on phone on screen. A mellifluous, affectionate and adoring voice flows from the phone to aghast Sujata who has yet to get over the trauma she has just gone through when she comes to know for the first time in her life that she belongs to an absolute untouchable caste and is just NONE to the people who have brought her up as her family. 

Talat's velvety voice oozes out and out ardour.. 

जब तलक ना ये तेरे रस के भरे होंठों से मिले

यूँ ही आवारा फिरेगा ये तेरी ज़ुल्फ़ों के तले

गाये जाऊंगा यही गीत मैं तेरे लिये.. 

...and on the other side, Sujata's heart  breaks, melts and moves at the same time. Those words, that voice..whatever is being poured in her ears is as romantic as it could be. She would be on her cloud nine. But poor girl.., standing flummoxed, holding the phone reciever sheds slint tears of consequential despair.

Bimal Roy was the creator whose each of the frames, every single movement by characters used to have a story to tell individually. One of those ethereal and kind of his signature frames depicts the laden eyes of the lady on screen holding the ocean of emotions as much and as long before it makes its way to flood out. 

Remembering one similar frame from Parakh - 

Aag ke phool aanchal mein daale hue

Kab se jalta hai yeh aasman dekh le...

Adhir's words, his gaze, all drenched in love and affection and Sujata's forlorn eyes outpouring agony create a painful contrast for the viewers here :   

दर्द बनके जो मेरे दिल में रहा ढल ना सका

जादू बनके तेरी आँखों में रुका चल ना सका

आज लाया हूँ वही गीत मैं तेरे लिये.. 

Even the way both of them holds receiver of phone speak volumes. Adheer so affectionately holds it, sometimes with both his hands, sometimes close to his chest. 

And the girl.. 

Phone's reciver gets a weak hold..

slips.. 

nah...!

It lingers around her neck.. 

strives for the grasp again.. 

..gets it.. 

slips again but rests near her chest... 

Again she takes it near to ears and again she drops it... 

Could it be any effective way to show the  plight, perplexity and pain she is being through? That's the height of depiction by director and actor. 

Majrooh's poetry is at its daintily best perfecting the mindset of lovelorn hero. S D Burman's composition here defines the word - ethereal. Minimalist music arrangement lets the feel of Majrooh's delicate words and Talat's satiny voice  flourish immensely, while Interludes are juxtaposed with soaring violins depicting the arising pang in Sujata's sinking heart.

दिल में रख लेना इसे हाथों से ये छूटे न कहीं

गीत नाज़ुक है मेरा शीशे से भी टूटे न कहीं.. 

How intricately just everyone has carried out the same feel with ultimate delicacy including Bimal Roy, Sunil Dutt, Nutan, S D Burman and of course, Talat Mahmood.💕

सामने दीवार थी खुद्दारियों की 

वर्ना रस्ते प्यार के पुरख़म नहीं थे...

Suddenly recalled these lines written by late Sudarshan Fakir while reading an interesting post written on similar subject before a couple of days. And somehow since then some clumsy thoughts keep popping up in mind time and again. 

What selfless love means? 

Well.. there can't be any fixed definition of love even. And still, one of the most cherished exegeses is of course, "ek aag ka dariya hai... " by Jigar Moradabadi.

One more similar verse comes to mind  from classic Gujarati literature also!

Kavi Preetam Das had written in one of his  Bhajans in 17th century  - 

प्रेम ग्रंथ पावक नी ज्वाळा, भाळी पाछा भागे जो ने... 

मांही पड्या ते महासुख पामे देखणहारा दाझे जो ने.. ! 

Means the path of love is covered with the flames of fire. There are ones who run away by just catching a sight of it. Who have already jumped inside are getting sheer bliss and solace and the ones watching it from outside are burning! 

Hundreds, or perhaps thousands of lines are written by Hindi films lyricists confirming the same thought. Burning is inevitable at some or other point. But just as Shailendra writes, even if your 'right' brain keeps stoping.. 

मत खेल..

मत खेल...

मत खेल जल जाएगी... 

कहती है आग मेरे मन की.. 

a lovelorn heart still jumps inside saying..

मैं बंदिनी पिया की मैं संगिनी हूं साजन की..

or as Anand Bakshi writes, 

शमा कहे परवाने से अरे चला जा

मेरी तरह जल जाएगा यहां नहीं आ..

still ultimately...

वो नहीं सुनता उसको जल जाना होता है..! 

What makes one to take this bull by horns? What makes one to merge all the dreams and desires into someone else's? What makes one surrender every thought or feel that can be written by using 'self' as prefix? And the most important question - to what extent? Is it actually possible to dissolve 'self' absolutely in this process? Well.. the answers would be as subjective as the definition of love that varies from person to person. Sometimes, it's - No. 

So! does that means there wasn't any love there? Well..  It could be like..  

है नाम होंठों में अब भी लेकिन

आवाज़ में पड़ गई दरारें.. 

And what if it is other way around? Means that person is having no  self-respect (khuddariyan) at all? No! Sometimes love makes a person so vulnerable. I think it's not always about the person. It's sometimes about the situation. Sometimes we don't value a person who's with us. It's not someone's love or efforts but loosing them and then longing makes one realise the value of any relationship. Yes! खो जाए तो सोना है.. 

Like Sahir writes for a moment full of devil-may-care attitude 

जो मिल गया उसी को मुकद्दर समझ लिया

जो खो गया मैं उसको भूलाता चला गया.. 

And for the same film, for very next song, Sahir says on behalf of the same person..

हम तो समझे थे कि हम भूल गए हैं उनको

क्या हुआ आज ये किस बात पे रोना आया.. ! 

Majrooh also confirms it by writing... 

हमें तो यही था ग़ुरुर..  ग़म ए यार हैं हमसे दूर.. 

वही ग़म जिसे हमने किस किस जतन से 

निकाला था इस दिल से दूर..  

वो चलके क़यामत की चाल आ गया

हुई शाम उनका ख़याल आ गया.. 

And those two songs written by Rajinder Krishan, that inginted the whole chain of thoughts today, after reading Deepa 's post. A huge favourite duet from Bharosa.  

When it is proposed, 

कभी कभी ऐसे भी आया करो

चाँद निकले तो घर जाया करो.. ,

you actually love to listen the reply from a simple village girl from 60s.. 

आयेंगे जायेंगे मरज़ी से हम 

प्यार है तो नाज़ भी उठाया करो.. 😁👌🏼

And then.. at a moment of longing... 

her lonely heart cries saying.. 

रहने दे मुझ को अपने क़दमों की ख़ाक बनकर

जो नहीं तुझे गवारा मुझे ख़ाक में मिला दे... 

So! One should offer everything including self-worth as an oblation to the holy fire of love? Or should keep everything intact by sparing self from this burning? 

An answer from Gulzar's pen has remained so comforting to me at all stages of life. 

मैं छाँव छाँव चला था अपना बदन बचा कर

के रूह को एक खूबसूरत जिस्म दे दूँ

न कोई सिलवट न दाग़ कोई

न धुप झुलसे, न चोट खाये

न ज़ख्म छुए , न दर्द पहुंचे

बस एक कोरी कुंवारी सुबह का जिस्म पहना दूँ रूह को मैं

मगर तपी जब दोपहर दर्दों की ,दर्द की धुप से जो गुज़रा

तो रूह को छाँव मिल गयी है

अजीब है दर्द और तस्कीं का साँझा रिश्ता

मिलेगी छाँव तो बस कहीं धुप मैं मिलेगी....!!

October is quite a special month for hindi film lovers as it brings birthdays/anniversaries of so many big stras like Ashok Kumar, Asha Parekh, Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha, Hema Malini, Smita Patil, Om Puri, Vinod Khanna and many others.

 But at the same time, we have lost some of our brightest stars in October only. Guru Dutt, Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey, Sachin Dev Burman and of course, Sahir Ludhianvi whose death anniversary falls today only. While going through their entire career span, one can notice that these legends got to reap their share of success and stardom during 50s mostly. During 50s only most of them carved and cultivated their very much own style that was significantly different from their other contemporaries. Whenever they worked together they have formulated different dimensions of classics. 

While talking to DD Urdu, Gulzar sahab once said about Sahir : “If you look at his film career, then it has to be said, that Sahir sahab never took to the film medium, in fact it was the medium that embraced him. Jo unka andaaz tha wo medium ne apna liya, ye unki sabse badi khoobi hai."

For instance, songs of Pyasa. 

ये कूचे, ये नीलाम घर दिलकशी के

ये लुटते हुए कारवां ज़िंदगी के

कहाँ हैं, कहाँ हैं मुहाफ़िज़ खुदी के

जिन्हें नाज़ है हिन्द पर वो कहाँ हैं

Pretty heavy dosage of chaste Urdu was delivered by Sahir and Bade Burman Dada had composed that so exquisitely keeping the grandeur of the poetry intact. S.D.Burman, Sahir and Guru Datt together defined a class to hindi cinema and songs through their unparalleled work. 

But parallelly, one more combo was equally excelled during 50s. 

"Dan dar dan dar 

dan dar dan dar 

dan dar dan dar 

dan dar daaan......" 

Yeah! 

This too by Sahir! 

In 50s only! 

If we are talking about 50s, we can't miss to have even a single song having fantabulous combination of Dada Burman, Dev, Sahir and Kishore Kumar. 

There were several absolute riotious renditions where those "talkhiyaan" were evaporated from Sahir's ink for a quite a pleasant change. Or may be that ever mischievous naughty child in Kishore Kumar's persona might have dragged everyone to play their craziest and breathe at their lightest for a while. 

Taxi Driver was the soundtrack where bade Burman Dada have used three different playback singers for Dev Anand. Perhaps that "मायूसियों का, मजमा है जी में.." type of subtle lyrics would have made Dada choosing Talat Mahmood. But could never understand the logic behind choosing Jagmohan Bakshi!! 

IMO, IMHO, the best suitable voice for Mangal's (Dev Anand as taxi driver) character was actually the third one selected by Dada who also got the best suitable lyrics (language) too for that character from Sahir. 

हर फिक्र को धुएं में उड़ाता चला गया.. came later in 60s from Sahir for that ever-likable debonair soldier. But in 50s also Sahir arranged it all for Dev Sahab only to get over his ”आखरी फिक्र - पांच का नोट" in a khataara car's dhuan. Mode of transport - De Mello sahab ki gaadi.

The format of the song was gazal which I came to know many years later as who can even think of this?! 

Do you really think the way Kishore Kumar starts the song would have been 'composed' that way? If yes, then it would be amusing to know whose brain would have conceived the idea of that reverse mode of "Sa re ga ma pa dha ni sa.. !! The old monk?? Wow!! 😆

चाहे कोई खुश हो चाहे गालियाँ हज़ार दे

मस्त राम बन के ज़िंदगी के दिन गुज़ार दे... 

And what are the "lyrics" just after this mukhda.!?? 

I hope you are getting what part I mean. Remember, not just Kishore Kumar is singing alone there. Chorus too is singing that gibberish all along. So it must have been written. Who?! Sahir??? 

Mind boggling..!! 😁

Now antara. 

पी के धाँधली करुं तो मुझको जेल भेज दो

सूँघने में क्या है ये जवाब थानेदार दे .. 

Now this is quintessentially Sahir. Five people in a khataara car have five rupees total to enjoy with. How much liquor they would have got to get drunk with? 

Then? 

Jaane bhi do yaaron, 

thoda piyo, thoda sungho.. 

And what if still not satisfied? 

Simple.. ! 

भाव अगर बढ़ा भी डाले सेठिया तो ग़म न कर

खाये जा मज़े के साथ जब तलक़ उधार दे

Devil-may-care.. 😁

Just look at Dev sahab while lip-syncing these lines ! I hardly remember him wearing such a 'classy' attire where he considered his 4th button of shirt as first one! Fantastic!! 😁

Leave these people, even violins here are at their craziest mode! In fact all the instruments.. And those shouts, whistles, and that masht masht masht masht masht masht masht raam ended to "arey teri ki phir hawa nikal gai..." 

Hatts off... Just as Johnny walker says in the beginning - Kya phitkari maari hai imaan se..😄👌👍

We all have been reading about Sahir's unfavorable or say, devastating and dreadful childhood. This one is one of those songs wherein a little boy jumps out from the streets of Ludhiana to pen down all that 'mast mast mashti' he was perhaps deprived of. Or perhaps this was the attitude that people's poet with paradoxical nature wanted to show always ! Yes, 

चाहे कोई खुश हो चाहे गालियाँ हज़ार दे

मस्त राम बन के ज़िंदगी के दिन गुज़ार दे... 

But could he live so? 

Well.. the answer was given by Javed Akhtar during one Jashn-e-Rekhta festival. “Do you think a man who led a relaxed life, the one with money and comfort would name his book ‘talkhiyan' ? It is not possible. His life was full of bitterness and sadness and it remained with him till his last days.”

So? Was it like ... 

खुशियों की मंज़िल ढूँढी तो ग़म की गर्द मिली

चाहत के नग़मे चाहे तो आहें सर्द मिली

दिल के बोझ को दूना कर गया जो ग़मखार मिला

हमने तो जब कलियाँ माँगी काँटों का हार मिला...

Perhaps, it was not that way either. To me, Sahir led his life like one of my most favourite couplets from his writings : 

मेरे शौक़-ए-खाना ख़राब को, 

तेरी रहगुज़र की तलाश है... 

Singer : Lata Mangeshkar & Choir artists. 

Music : Salil Chowdhury 

Lyrics : Shailendra. 

Tell me, have you ever listened the sound of light?

Do you know, how smoke sounds? 

Have you come across the songs of soil, wood, grass, leaves, flowers and/or breeze ever? 

No??! 

Then you have yet to watch a Bimal Roy film ornamented with Salil Da's music and Kamal Bose's frames. Those films where woods are lovely, dark and deep.. and even if I have promises to keep, I cheat, borrow or steal time to be with them after every little while to revivify myself. By just seeing the nature shown on the celluloid, my breaths automatically get more oxygen. Fragrant oxygen. Yes, these movies have their own earthy fragrance that I could feel everytime while being with them. We mortals are made of total 5 elements - earth, water, fire, wind and space. All these elements are in harmony with our prana, our breaths, exhalation. Have you ever tried to feel, how reflective they are? They are responding to each of our breaths, throbs and thoughts. Have you ever clearly listened them echoing one's sentiments? 

I can say, I have! 

It's quite precise and pure. Also surreal and seraphic at the same time! One of the most sublime reflections of nature I have experienced in my lifetime is the choir created by Salil da. You can not define but experience it and the best and most beautiful thing about it is you need not to close your eyes for that! You can see the smoke, the light, the fire, the soil, the sky, the stars... just everything around you singing, echoing, reflecting to whatever they are being witness of through the lence of Bimal Roy.  

We have listened flute, santoor, glockenspiel, guitar, sitar, shehnai etc lending their playback to cool breeze, rain, stream, river, flowers, leaves or the soil itself. But that was Salil da who provided sound to the smoke, light, stars and sky with his celestial choir. 

And for that, he needed a voice that was as pure and pious as nature itself. 

Just that voice. 

Just ... 

No harmony playing behind. 

Sheer surge of the sentiments.. 

..... 

.... 

And there flows Shailendra's poetry.. 

khaak ho jaayen hum pyaar ke naam par..

Pyaar ki raah mein roshni to rahe... 

That sublime voice, just that voice, sings on behalf of the water trying to come out from two forlorn eyes.. and it's echoes in the form of choir-humming feels coming from the light and smoke ! 

A small village in countryside deprived even from basic facilities. An honest but skint postmaster trying to make ends meet so badly in reduced circumstances. An ever ailing mother, an amiable brother and an ethereally beautiful girl Seema.. (Sadhana Shivdasani). A girl who is all grace.. who's simple yet very sweet.. who's carrying every little chores of  household on her delicate shoulders with utmost care and concern.. 

And an ethical and idealist young man, "saath (60) rupalli ka school master" Rajat (Basanta Chowdhury). 

And that one of the most simple, sublime and soulful lovestories our silver screen ever had. Two innocent lovebirds who are very friendly, understanding and comforting to each other. 

And the set of circumstances.. 

Parakh was not just a social/political satire. Salil Choudhary's storyline and Shailendra's screenplay/dialogues (His only film as dialogue writer) have beautifully crafted a parallel lovestory also wherein they have exquisitely cultivated delicate layers of a soft-hearted demsel's mindscape who's surrendering to the turn of events and sacrificing her love at one point. 

Now this is the girl who is completely and deeply immersed in nature, and so is nature! All alone in her hut, poor girl is shedding silent tears and here, nature with its all elements becomes her intimate and sobs her sentiments alongwith. 

Yeah..  

Who else than Salil Da could think so! 

Wait, he not only thought but has composed the situation that way with the help of Shailendra's sublime poetry having unprecedented metaphors, and of course, with his awe-inspiring choir. And with that, 

whatever Bimal Roy has created on screen is far beyond the reach of any vocabulary. 

Western flute comes to give the playback for that earthy house made of woods and soil. And again that voice.. wetting the corners of your eyes .. nothing to show on the face that is off the screen. 

Just flames.. light... fire.. 

and choir.. 

and Shailendra.. 

Aag ke phool aanchal mein daale hue.. 

Kab se jalta hai yeh aasman dekh le.. 

Sky... 

stars... 

merging into the water... held inside those two forlorn eyes.. 

and again that voice .. 

"Mere man ke diye... "

In the entire universe there was/is/will be just one voice that is synonymous to nature itself. That has sheer essence of earth, water, fire, wind and space..

That's Lata ji for us. She's prana.. she's oxygen for our breaths, our exhalation process. 

Salil da knew that the most.

Movie : Mazaaq 

Voices : Asha Bhonsle, Vinod Mehra 

Composer : R. D. Burman 

Lyricist : Yogesh 

And you are the luckiest if that person is the Kishore Kumar!! 

That 12 years old child was indeed very lucky to get the chance to play younger version of Kishore Kumar in film 'Ragini' in 1958. Destiny has planned a far greater reward for him in form of some of the most memorable melodies he was going to get from same Kishore Kumar in future. At the age of 20, he lost an opportunity to win All India Talent Contest organised by United Producers and Filmfare from more than ten thousand contestants in 1965, otherwise, perhaps, he would have gotten Nasir Hussain as his first director and R D Burman as his first composer for film 'Baharon ke sapne.' He was the first runner-up and the winner was Rajesh Khanna with whom he shared the screen later in 'Amar Prem' - the epic made by Shakti Samanta. Playing a little role, Nandu babu's elder version in 'Amar Prem' paid him off in 1973, when the same Shakti Samanta gave him his first hit as hero - 'Anuraag'. Its music came from same Burman Gharana, bade Burman dada this time. And then success followed him - Vinod Mehra - with all musical hits. 

Today would have been his 78th birthday! Let's celebrate Vinod Mehra with one of his lesser discussed lilt composed by R D Burman. There is a special reason to choose this song instead of taking some hugely popular melodies picturised on him. This song from film 'Mazaaq' was the only song wherein Vinod Mehra joined Ashaji in recording studios too!! 

'Mazaaq' was not fortunate enough to leave its mark as a great movie but it was profusely fortunate to get one more best rain song composed by Rahul Dev Burman and penned by Yogesh ji. Vinod Mehra was one more lucky guy besides Randheer Kapur who has received some speldid eternal classic songs from R D Burman which boosted up his movies. Here also, in this movie, he was given an utterly beautiful song to become a part of! And he tried his level best to justify the job he was asked to do. Now We shouldn't compare him with Big B and Gulzar for their dialogues​ in Silsila and Raincoat songs considering their height and depth respectively. Their ohh-so-mesmerising base too. Still, VM sounds pretty good in this song. 

Prelude starts with charming guitar notes, enchanting flute, mellow sound of glockenspiel and entriguing violins notes and ends at a moment when a sudden strum depicts an endearing 'takkar' on screen which makes this entire saga flow......

Ashaji breezes in with such a sweet and sensuous voice which is undoubtedly best while expressing an allure outblooming. Mausami Chatterjee one more time gets an extremely beautiful drizzling lilt by Pancham besides Manzil.  

टकरा गये दो बादल अम्बर पे

तो बरसने लगी बून्दें बिखर के..

A thrilling encounter breaks all the barriers and makes the emotions glide.

'Baadal' comes three times in mukhda and each of times it sounds naughtier and more playful than the previous one.

"To barsne lagi boonden bikhar ke.." 

This outpouring too gets bolder with each of repetation. Ashaji's singing lifts the romance up to its peak bit by bit. 

First interlude starts with gushing violins. Delighting sound of glockenspiel makes everything fresh and vibrant just like lovely little raindrops. Soothing flute comes as if to soften the fervour she is feeling. Guitar is at its grandeour throughout pairing itself with glockenspiel. Violins again sway in to give break to Vinod Mehra. He goes in quite a smooth and natural way and just as he stops, that "aahh" by Ashaji works as a sudden, naughty yet so likable pinch on your senses. 

छोड़ो जाओ, बड़े वो हो तुम

नाम मेरा जोड़ दिया, मौसम से सनम..

मौसम फिर भी, मौसम है सनम

नाम मेरा जोड़ा ना बता ख़ुद से क्योंं बलम..

मुझसे मिलाओ ये नैन तो

ऐसे न जलाओ मेरे मन को..

This "woh" was quite a fascinating thing in vintage movie songs containing an X factor which was accessible only to the heroine and which sounded so cute and lovable. Here again Ashaji's exquisite rendition finely beats the beauty of lovely lush of beautiful rainwashed flowers, trees and also the pretty face lypsanching on screen. Specially that variation at the end of "mausam phir bhi mausam hai sanam.." amazing..

So tweely she complains about "naam mera joda na bataa khood se kyon balam..." Her immense desire of merging her identity into her man's name sounds so innocent and adorable.  

When she repeates the mukhda, the scene is shot damn beautifully. A heart overflowen with love and affection gets its way out through the eyes. What an ecstasy!

Reso reso gives quite an unconventional start to second interlude. Soft swirl on vibraphone and again crisp sound of reso followed by violins and guitar strums. How brilliantly all the sounds direct onscreen activities!

Whenever Vinod Mehra speaks, guitar and glockenspiel played in the background depict the mindset of his amused listener. So delicate, feathery yet vibrated.

And again Ashaji breaks in to blow you away..

जाने आई कैसी ये उमर..

बन के कली खिलने लगी सूनी राह पर..

तन में मन में, उठी ये लहर 

तुझसे सजन टकराए मन, जाऊँ मैं बिखर..

आग लगे रे सावन को, छू गया मेरे दामन को.

Visuals perfectly portrays the essence of each word of lyrics. 

"Jaane aai kaisi ye umar" and there shown those fragrant Rose buds. 

"Ban ke kali khilne lagi sooni raah par..." makes bud-like Mausami walk barefooted on wet soil in between the green grass on both her sides. 

"Tan mein man mein uthi yeh leher.." plucks her from there and puts at her dremscape and 

"tujhse sajan takaraye man jaun main bikhar" fetches her back to present!

"Aag lage re saawan ko chhu gaya mere daaman ko" sings her stimulated ardour so subtly. 

This movie - Mazaaq never saw any considerable success. It came and went in no time. But this song undoubtedly​ is being acclaimed for its ultimate charm. It doesn't resemble just a heavenly drizzle, it holds entire monsoon in itself.

Film : Teen Devian.

Singer : Mohammed Rafi. 

Music : Sachin Dev Burman. 

Lyrics : Majrooh Sultanpuri. 

Movie : Baharon ke Sapne

Singer : Lata Mangeshkar

Music : R D Burman

Lyrics : Majrooh Sultanpuri

Before a couple of months, while scrolling down Facebook videos I changed upon watching a hugely popular TV talk show wherein the guests invented were Waheeda Rehman, Asha Parekh and Helen. All three of them were so fondly sharing some of their most cherished memories. The host in between asked them how come the best of the female actors of golden era had become besties and not rivals of each other. I still remembe the answer given by Asha Parekh at that time. She said in any of the films made at that times there were roles conceived/designed for the particular artist only. The kind of fims and characters done by one actor were not same as the other one would do. And so, there was no sense of competition.  How true and convincing it sounds! Yeah, checking out the list of the films done by Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand and also remembering all those wonderful heart warming photos of all three of them together often seen on internet confirm Asha Parekh's statement. 

Today's 80th birthday of the legendary, 'The Hit Girl' Asha Parekh and I'm leisurely checking the list of all her hits. Dil De ke Dekho, Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hun, Meri Surat Teri Aankhen, Bharosa, Ziddi, Mere Sanam Teesri Manzil, Love in Tokyo , Do badan Aaye Din Bahar ke, Pyar Ka Mausam, Pagla kahin Ka, Kanyadan, Caravan, Chirag, Kati Patang, Aaya Sawan Jhoom ke, Aan Milo sajna.. and so on...  Such a lovely lot of musical mega hits with  bubly and beautiful Asha Parekh as a lead female actor who shined out substantially with her emotive best performances. In this entire list, there's just one film that I have yet to watch - Baharon ke Sapne. 

But... 

3 songs. It takes just 3 songs to portray one of the finest female characters ever conceived in Hindi films if the lyricist is Majrooh Sultanpuri. Yes!  As I just have mentioned, I haven't watched Baharon ke sapne yet. And still I have felt all the colours of Geeta's 'roohani' beauty depicted by Majrooh's black and white pen and paper. Whenever I think about her character, it feels me like the soil after first rain of the season. Yes, the soil. Strong enough to carry all the burdens over it.  Soft enough to soothe your feet. Wet enough to hold your footprints close to its heart. Capable enough to give you back thousand times more whatever you give it and fragrant enough to fill your breaths with sheer essence of life.!! And by watching all three songs I can say that Asha Parekh has lived that character by utmost perfection. 

My goodness! How much lucky this man (Ram - Rajesh Khanna) was to have such a woman in his life who love, love loves him all the way and wants back nothing but him him and him only ! From the very childhood she cares for him ( just recall their flashback scene in aaja piya..),  

she inspires him (Raina nahin apni par apna hoga kal ka savera..), 

she soothes him (thake hue in haathon ko de de mere haathon mein..), 

she comforts him at any cost (sukh mera le le, main dukh tere le lun..) 

and she tenders him a godly stature while saying - jal uthe sau diye jab liya tera naam.. 

She can do just anything and everything for him. She hardly cares about any pain while offering - 

but the only thing breaks her is - Ab bideswa jaiyo na....

This melody is ultimate from each of aspects. Lyrics, music and visuals everything is so heart stirring.! 

Long but lovely prelude. Santoor and flute are Pancham's favorite instruments whenever he composes drizzling.  Here too he uses the same for all the love Geeta has been drizzling over Ram since years with  the same soothing notes depicting her ever comforting attitude  - aa ja piya, tohe pyaar dun.. 

Soon violins sway in to give a starting call to mandolin strums which add movements to the masti on screen with help of bongas and guitar. Drizzling notes of Santoor, tweeting notes on flute, dancing notes on glockenspiel and swaying violins follow the hero leaving carelessly along with Asha Parekh. All it stops at a moment with a single note on glockenspiel. 

And that mesmerizing whisper.. 

..so serene.. so emotive.. full of adore and much more that you can not define but  love with your every bits of self..

And then - 

Aur mohe tarsaiyo na.. 

Lataji has put something in "aur mohe tarsaiyo na" which goes deeper inside your heart and comes out wetting the corners of eyes if you are truly engrossed in the melody. 

After composing a long prelude, Pancham and team has planned to keep both the Interluds short and here too santoor gives it a languid start. Rhythm switched to dholak when lyrics were being rendered comes back to bongas and guitar again. Then joins mischievous flutes. But considering the plan of Pancham and party, glockenspiel and violins complete their calls in no time. 

Lataji croons pouring all her heart out..  

But what stirs you much is the last line of stanza.. 

Majrooh takes here the reference of the another lines written on behalf of Geeta. 

.. remembering that you would be able to sense all those silent sobs she hides behind her loving smile and a lovely little touch of her finger on his nose tip. She's not lamenting. She's just conveying that be the rest of world harsh, wicked and merciless to him, how much he was missed and how much he is loved by her. He's so precious and so is his presence in her life at any point of time! 

For providing a rural piquancy, Pancham chooses dholak as a rhythm option and still keeps it so melow to provide supremacy to the moving lyrics and also to the most mellifluous voice our senses could ever have in our lifetime.  Second interlude brings some vibrant guitar strums. But soon breaks in shehnai which gives an earthy rustic feel to the song. And flute invites Lataji to proffer same sublime feel which Majrooh has worded for other two songs. 

You and just you are the ultimate treasure of my life. I want nothing but you and will live my life the way you lead it. No complaints, no demands. Just hold my hand forever and let my love-drenched eyes soak the vivifying elixir of your presence  all along the way. 

Have you really notice one thing throughout the song? How affectionately she keeps  staring at him.!! Without caring a bit about who's watching and how her hero is responding. She keeps on showering her love and still he hardly seems getting wet!! Perhaps because to him, his life is like that salt field on screen. Barren and burning hot, clumsy and colourless. But when she cared even? She keeps on drizzling.. She will keep on. And that's why I immensely love this song. 

While listening to the songs of Baharon ke sapne you meet a different Pancham. And here too he makes you speechless!