BAAG MEIN KALI KHILI

Song 15: 28 Mar 2013

Life comes full circle. I remember as a kid, this time of the year used to be a particularly exciting time. What with exams about to get over and results out, one would look forward to holidays and the long summer. Summer also meant spending long hours at the pool, getting rejuvenated and refreshed from the long, sultry afternoons. A little before my last exam I would take out my swimming costume or go get a new one, try it out in front of all mirrors in the house, from all angles. Then I would pack my swimming bag well in advance. Even the smell of that lime n lemony soap called Liril is so vivid in my mind. That soap always had models in a fluorescent green bikini bathing under a waterfall, creating a splash, Karen Lunel being the flavour of that season, the first girl I ever saw having a whale of a time under a waterfall, and how! There would be this bated nervousness mixed with anticipation. Who would be at the pool this year? Any new faces, any new show-offs and any new ace swimmers and divers. I could barely sit through my last exam, often even leaving one or two questions in the giddiness.Those Olympics Greg Louganis had made a clean sweep of most diving medals and I had his cut outs in my scrap books(of course he hadn't declared until then that he was gay!). 

This song by Asha Bhosle brings all that back like no other song. And Tanuja more than lives up to the energising song written by Shailendra and composed by the maestro Salil Choudhury(Gawd these Bongs, I tell you!). When you see Tanuja, India's very own Audrey Hepburn, you understand where Kajol got her special spark from. Of course her mom. Now I see my daughter super excited on her result day for pool to start while I cannot enjoy swimming per se without worrying about the tan, the chlorine, the hair damage etc. Oh to be able to have pure fun with no worries! This song will always be special for it is closest I can get to doing that. Coz it takes me back to when I was 15!:)   

NA YEH CHAND HOGA

 

Song 14: 27 Mar 2013

Geeta Dutt too could pack a pensive number with a certain punch. She could essay many moods with ease and spontaneity. When you listen to Geeta Dutt's club crooner numbers, it is almost difficult to fathom that she was once essentially a singer of spiritual Bengali songs or bhajans and hymns! It was a genius such as S D Burman who saw an undefined potential in her and coaxed her to try her hand at playback singing and particularly seductive songs. The rest was history.

Similarly once you tune yourself to her peppy numbers, it is unbelievable that she could also sing these sombre, serious numbers with the stability or what is called 'Thehrav' in musical lingo, the ability to hold a note with all your conviction and to convey unwavering sentiment to be expressed through that song. Today is a beautiful full moon night and for us loony crabs it is a special night always. It influences us in mysterious ways. Sometimes it could mean a crazy, cranky, wild time going slightly eccentric ot hysterical. Or it could be an equally serious and introspective time, when the mighty moon rays penetrate our souls and express all that has been curbed. And what better moon song than this Geeta Dutt number, composed by Hemant Kumar who also sang this song in his pleasingly nasal but melodious style. His tunes were memorable for their inherent simplicity and fluidity, with simple instrumentation that brought out the tonal quality of the singer to the fore. And needless to say Geeta Dutt's voice shines through. Now this is a passionate song, written by S H Bihari within the norms of decency. It transcends the span of time and age and still strikes a chord.

JAB CHALI THANDI HAWA

Song 13: 27 Mar 2013

But 'Thandi Hawa and Kali Ghata' were a matter of perspective. Dancing diva was human after all, given to human frailties and foibles. She could be in the midst of a beauteous spring time, the most salubrious weather ever, and yet feel incomplete. This was not showtime. This was not pretence. The dancing diva did take time off after all. These were times when she did not feel the need to please  and appease all around. These were the times she was her true self. Her heart knew what she wanted, who she was missing, who she wanted to be with. So in the middle of great celebrations could be a yearning to be with someone far away. On these days she sang songs of such naked longing and transparency, that even the plaintive cries of the cuckoo bird would be put to shame. This song by Ravi and Shakeel Badayuni tells it like it is and Asha Parekh does full justice to it. Dancing diva was a woman after all. And whatever adjectives you use to describe a woman- impulsive, illogical, emotional, instinctive, impetuous, fickle, restless, committed, loyal, pure or senseless. She was what she was and unabashedly so. She had to be true to her sentiments. She did not owe an explanation to anybody!  

THANDI HAWA KALI GHATA

Song 12:  26 Mar 2013
 

The female form has always and will always inspire poets, artists, painters, creative people to wax eloquent on beauty. And that too bathing beauties always add a fluid resonance across a screen or a canvas. While these maestros used the female form in all it's mystique and allure giving slight peeks to such advantage that one was curious to find out more. Dress and demeanour today leaves nothing to the imagination. Everything is stark, uncovered and staring in the face when all you can do is flinch, squirm and run for cover. Pretty girls and shapely legs by the poolside, always a yes. But getting to know about their lingerie and zandu balms and manjans and all toiletries possible! Big NO!!

Love this Geeta Dutt-Shamshad Begum song conceptualised by Majrooh Sultanpuri and O P Nayyar, with the porcelain beauty Madhubala covered from head to mid calf but more beautiful than any semi nude heroine today. This is that time of the year when the festival of Holi makes us all splash some water and colour and welcome the onset of summers. It is all about letting go of those woolly winter clothings and step into something breezy and comfortable and later perhaps enjoy a splash in the pool. Love the styling of this song with these sailor dresses and Burberry inspired umbrellas. The song sets just the right pace for a fun-filled and frolic-some Holi!! Yeah!

MUD MUD KE NA DEKH

Song 11: 25 Mar 2013

And then ever once in a while someone came along who shook up your being with a new found energy and verve. You were filled with hope and anticipation. You wanted to forget the past and move on to a better tomorrow. A mere brush of such people was enough to charge each pore in your body with optimism and courage and thrill. The dusty layers of complacence and self-pity were wiped away in a few moments of abandon. You found your lost bounce and bouyancy. You found a new direction, a new meaning in life. The club crooner was the mistress of make-believe. The seductress of celluloid dreams. Everything around her was larger than life. Everything glittered and swayed in perfect rhythm and synchronicity.

The hero forgot the simpering, sobbing heroine for a while with ease. He spent a few moments of forgetful weightlessness in the club crooner’s arms. He was under a spell, in a trance. He danced and sang as if there was no tomorrow. But little did he know that he was as much of a comfort to her, as she to him. Asha Bhosle pumps that enchanting quality into this song written by Shailendra and composed by Shankar Jaikishan that almost defined Nadira, the very westernised Jewish beauty who never forgave Raj Kapoor for typecasting her in a so called ‘negative’ role. If only she knew how the lines have blurred and any leading lady today would love to play the shades of grey she portrayed. And what would these classic waltzes be without the posse of pretty Anglo-Indian girls who provided such a beautiful flavour and ambience to the ethereal setting.

KYA HO PHIR JO DIN RANGEELA HO

Song 10: 24 Mar 2013

 

But come night and the dancing diva/club crooner had to get back to what she knew best. She had a reputation to live up to, she had an audience waiting, she had dreamscapes to conjure. She had to transport people away from the sordid realities of life to a world of unlimited revelry and instant gratification. She was a heady dose of hypnotic hysteria, a gail of gamboling gaiety, an optically pleasing optimism prism.

A whiff of her bouncy tresses and all you could think of were sunny beaches, frothy surf, tropical climes and chilled sangrias. Club crooner would puff perfect little smoke whirls and there you would go suspended on a wishing cloud to heaven, on a streetcar named desire. And two club crooners together! You had to be a lucky bloke. Check out this fabulous Asha-Geeta Dutt duet where they match chord to chord, nuance to nuance and create a double decker of joyous singing, youthful liveliness and sparkling attitude. Played on screen by two whoppers, heart-stoppers too!!

BABUJI DHEERE CHALNA

 Song 9:  23 Mar 2013

The only voice that came close and perhaps exceeded Asha in sultriness was of course Geeta Dutt. I am thoroughly enjoying exploring and discovering one whopper of a number after the other by these two extra-ordinary singers. As far as Geeta Dutt songs go, this is perhaps the first song of hers I ever noticed, memorised and tried to sing. It is just so easy on the senses. I remember distinctly that I was hooked on to it from the word go. And Shakila what an under-rated beauty! Noone really names her as their favourite actress from that era, maybe because she was surrounded by great talent. But I always found her very, very attractive. I mean just look at that waist. Could give the Malaika Aroras of today a run for their money. She moves like a whirlwind across the smokey joint, throwing caution to the winds. Wild tresses, mysterious glances, sassy full smile. Simply awesome and all you needed to complete the picture was a very innocent looking Guru Dutt, seemingly oblivious to her charms. Well, well, this competition is getting hotter than I thought. I am sure I'll have to stop at some point because Asha's numbers far outnumber Geeta Dutt whose life was sadly cut short due to various personal tragedies and early liver cirrhosis. So many geniuses just went the early burn out, early 'been there done that' way. So the key anywhere is to tread softly, slowly and comfortably. Babuji Dheere Chalna indeed!!! Geeta Dutt, O P Nayyar, Majrooh, Shakila and Guru Dutt-couldn't go very wrong with that combo.:-))