Movie - Chhoti si baat. 

Singer - Mukesh. 

Composer - Salil Chowdhury. 

Lyricist - Yogesh. 

Vasant Panchami today! Spring is knocking at your doorstep. Days are getting brighter. Grass is getting greener and breeze is getting naughtier! Let's meet and greet the season with a lovely, lively song plucked for you from a beautiful movie 'Chhoti si baat'. Today's 'Song of the day' on the name of Vasant Panchami. 

1975 was quite a  significant year for Bollywood. Hindi movie screen witnessed a galore of some all time classics from all the genres. While Ramesh Sippy and Yash Chopra were stamping their vociferous impression with movies like Sholay and Deewar, while Raj Kapoor was about to bid adieu from silver screen after Dharam karam and Do Jasoos, while Vijay Sharma was creating quite an astounding worshiping verve by Jay Santoshi maa, there were some sincere and brilliant students from Bimal Roy school who were busy in carving some soft, subtle, gentle yet cheerful movies of their own class. Right after storming success of Aandhi, Gulzar's was spanning his ethereal 'Khusbhoo'. Hrishikesh Mukharjee had come up with cheerful Chupke chupke and Sentimental Mili.  

At the same time one more pupil of Bimal da, Basu Chatterjee was busy weaving a beautiful story ' Chhoti si baat'. 

Yes! Baat - story was indeed Chhoti si - simple! A lad meets a lady, then another guy meets her! What to do now? At what point our hero may lose the game? And the one worded answer is  - self confidence. He gathers that and wins. Basu Chatterjee sailed through this entire saga of winning heart on solid characterisation and minute attention each of the details to make it a memorable classic. 

It is believed at least in our Indian society that each and every girl from her adolescent age starts dreaming about her 'Prince' charming - Sapnon ka 'Rajkumar'. Yes, Rajkumar. He has to be special. Marvelous, mightier and superior than others. It always makes me recall Ketan Mehta's Maya Memsaab's dialogue - "sapnon Ka Rajkumar bhi kabhi cycle pe aata hai?!" 

Leave the ancient times, in 80s and perhaps till date, we somehow think, for a girl, a guy riding and "controlling" (a horse) is more impressive than "balancing" (a bicycle)! 

And this makes these kind of films made by Basu Chatterjee quite different yet so relatable and lovable. His hero is not heroic. He is human - a man next door. Basu Chatterjee has conceived a tongue-tied lover - Arun - Amol Palekar, who loves a simple yet very pretty girl - Prabha - Vidya Sinha who enjoys playing coy with this hesitant hero.  Arun then joins classes to gather confidence from Colonel Nagendra Nath - Ashok Kumar. What follows is a series of hilarious sequences wherein hero tries to master the technique of expression! 

And how it works!! 

One of the most pleasing parts of this movie was its awesome soundtrack. Salil Chowdhury's sweet, breezy melodies are as airy as this movie is. Salil da have so rightly choosen simple, humble voice of Mukesh to tell a tale of this meek hero.

Song starts with beautiful guitar stokes and then join bold trumpets and sublime sitar to enhance the allure in quite an awe-inspiring way making the visuals more and more likable. This is song of spring where mostly some sweet notes of flute were expected which was actually Salil Da's forte. But how brilliantly he has chosen trumpet - a powerful brass here to give a bolder substance to indicate the changed persona of our hero who's now confident enough to insist his entrant to change his seat and he himself sits just besides, quite close to her beloved. 

Yogesh Ji's has so beautifully penned the sequences here! Exquisite stage of ecstasy!  

ये दिन क्या आये

लगे फूल हँसने 

देखो बसंती-बसंती

होने लगे मेरे सपने

ये दिन क्या आये...

Hero feels himself on cloud nine while wooing her love of life. For him the days are like spring where his love is blooming like anything. His dreams too has become as vibrant and cheerful as her beloved's  colourful and floral synthetic sarees.  

First interlude has some soft and sublime notes of sitar but here in this song, trumpet is hero. It has to come to give the clue note to Mukesh ji for first stanza.

सोने जैसी हो रही है, हर सुबह मेरी

लगे हर सांझ अब, गुलाल से भरी

चलने लगी महकी हुई

पवन मगन झूम के

आँचल तेरा चूम के

ये दिन क्या आए...  

Both, Yogesh ji's poetry and Salil Da's music leaves you in confusion that which makes your heart pumping faster with more oxygen while listening this ultimate beauty. Just think of a warming bask in pleasant, convivial golden rays of the sun during springy mornings and the evening sky which has borrowed some colours from flowers of  bougainvillea. And of course, in background, imagine the sound of muted trumpet and strings of guitar. Your heart will surely try to match its rhythm with bongos which are throughout coasting here dexterously. 

Visuals are so entertaining. Signature Basu da! Our hero's confidence is on its peak now. His girl's mischievous, teasing eyes are now getting wider with absolute awe and appreciation. She's all impressed and his euphoria is reached to seventh heaven. Breaths are full  and here saxophone joins trumpets for the second interlude. 

Yogesh ji's poetry is ethereal indeed! It carries you away to an another world and you actually don't want to come back to your surroundings from that transfixing and intoxicating state. 

वहाँ मन बावरा, आज उड़ चला

जहाँ पर है गगन, सलोना साँवला

जा के वहीँ रख दे कहीं

मन रंगों में खोल के

सपने ये अनमोल से

ये दिन क्या आए...

Hum is ke aage kya kahen!!! 

Watch the song for yourself..