O CHAND JAHAN WO JAYEIN

Asha did not have to travel far and wide to face competition. She was literally born in a family that had oodles of musical talent, the most formidable being her own sis, Lata. I am sure Asha's voice was honed just emulating her elder sister. Their father was a composer, as is their brother. Their other two sisters have also sung for movies. I am sure Asha began simply reflecting the glory of elder sis Lata. There are tales of a steaming rivalry between the two once upon a time. Yet it must've been quite a task for Asha to move out of Lata's shadow and develop a distinct style of her own. Their voices though both high pitched have their own beauty.

Talent is not static. It is fluid and ever changing. It takes on new shapes and forms. Much like the moon, that startles us in so many shapes and sizes. Women too are often compared to the moon, for their beauty, their aura, their feminine appeal as opposed to the masculine, sun.  The moon may shine with the sun's reflected glory, but it has an intrigue all it's own. Who knows maybe the moon wants to shine with it's own light after all the light years of being but a reflection of the mighty sun. Women too, like the moon, ebb and wane, they have their phases and cycles. They may be moody and mysterious. They are ever changing, fickle even, one night wanting to mesmerise with a luminiscence that is full throttle and complete. At others they may want to just be a thin sliver of silver, alone and lonely, reflecting, collecting their energies, regaining reserves of strength for yet another full moon night when they are expected to show all that they are made of. But one thing is for sure, that when on an ink blue night, you're feeling lost and rudderless, the moon represents direction, hope, optimism and faith. The sun maybe the centre of the solar system, but the moon in it's myriad forms has enthralled us for ages, making poets and artists go loony in it's praise.

This song by Rajendra Krishan and C Ramachandra, a lesser known duet of Lata and Asha dazzles with it's moonlit beauty, two truly talented singers who happened to be born in the same family exhibit two distinct forms of the moon both brilliant and bright, and two ravishing actresses enacting it-Meena Kumari and Shyama. And one hell of a lucky dude Raj Kapoor for whom not one but two moon maidens shower melodies and good wishes! 

 

CHAL DIYE BANDANAWAAZ

Song 47:

Sometimes she just got fed up of the double entendres and subtle hints he kept on throwing at her. It all seemed like a precarious house of cards at the end of the day. She could not live in a world of riddles, straight talking diva as she was. She had never feared anything or anybody. When she liked someone she had the guts to tell it like it is. But when he continued playing games and tested her patience everyday, she let him have it. Not for her solving a super cryptic crossword and a hairsplitting sudoku in the name of love everyday. She'd rather have none of it. She was loony, she was moony and she could live in her imaginary world with George Clooney! Or anyone she pleased, in her dreams. What she was not ready for was to be tested and judged everyday by someone who himself took craftiness to another level.

Starting with Rafi-Geeta Dutt duets today. Somehow Rafi Geeta Dutt songs though fewer, had more of a clash of sensibilities, battle of the sexes. They displayed pretty well the different world views they came from. Sometimes the friction just lent itself to too much drama. The diva for all her tantrums, was a peace loving uncomplicated soul. She could live on love and fresh air and some good wholesome, natural, nutritious food, a steady diet of delectable books, rom-coms by the dozen and trysts of her eclectic wardrobe. All this was any day better than the khayali Pulaos he liked to feed her! 

KYA DEKHTE HO

Song: 46


Sometimes when it really got warm, club crooner liked to wear the bare minimum. She was so good au naturale that her attire was just a formality. Like a bronze statue chiselled out of precision and passion by Pygmalion himself, she stood tall and proud. Yet when people couldn't help staring, she could ask innocently, " What you looking at?" much to the hero's chagrin. Gulp, he went...."Errm at your face, I swear!"

Zeenat was afterall the perfect 10 when it came to gorgeous women who graced Indi screen. Even as women, many of us have ogled at her. I remember how when Satyam Shivam Sundaram had got released, we were still kids and our parents had left us home when they went for it. Many years later, in college a bunch of my female friends and I had gone to a seedy hall in Patel Nagar in Delhi and watched the movie with a bunch of rikshawalahs and such like, whistling and staring. She was just too good to behold in that. The story though farfetched, justified her attire through a deep and heavy spiritual and social message which is not entirely untrue.

But it was Feroz Khan who to quite an extent succeeded in portraying women who did not have to be sati savitri or dress like one to be considered virtuous. His heroines were a fine blend of the sexy and sweet, bold yet bashful. The lines between the hot and happening vamp who was only the toast of the smokey casinos and the heroine one could take home to mom, blurred because of directors like Feroz. Here were women who revelled in their sensuality, looked like a million bucks but had not lost their ability to love and be loved in the purest sense of the word. Also how these songs never seem jarring is because the lyrics always maitained some decorum. So whoever justifies cheap songs today by saying that 'situation hii aisee dete hain', need to know that the power of words can not be understimated.

And why this song is remarkable too is that it is one of Rafi's last songs, that he sang at the fag end of his career at age 56/57, the other one being the beautiful 'Maine Poochha Chaand Se' from Abdullah. He soon died after this, leaving a rich legacy of songs that brought so many moments of cinematic brilliance.


 

O HASEENA ZULFON WALI

Song 45:


But it was not before long that the traveller had to get back to the urbane charms of the metropolis. The club crooner had been waiting anxiously for him all this while. Only he could match her vitality, her verve. She was after all textured from the darkest hour of the night, vileful and enchanting. She was a restless spirit, searching, probing, seeking that paramour par excellence. Someone who could match steps with her zest for life. Someone who could kindle the fire in her. She was not bothered if she got burnt in the flame. She was a firebrand too.

A lesser woman would have kept away and tamed herself, but not the club crooner. She courted danger every night. She walked the tight rope with elan. Her passion was her propellant. She could burn the floor with her moves, her meandering curves leading him into a maze of mysteries, till he was wrapped around her little finger. When the two of them got together, any Ms. Goody two shoes was reduced to watching gobsmacked, frozen to her seat. Club crooner may not have been the lead woman, but steal the show she could! Yes, with great finesse and flourish, right from under Ms. Goody Two shoes' hoity toity little nose!

DEEWANA HUA BADAL

Song 43:

And sometimes when they met in the morning hours, it was  as if calm descended on Earth. The still waters of the lake woke up to mirror their sentiments, the stray clouds watched in wonder, awestruck. There were no facades, there were no fake platitudes. What they felt for each other was as true as the beautiful mountains behind. Solid and stable, waiting for centuries to see this very morning. There was joy in confession. There was peace in truth. For the truth was that they were made for each other. They felt fortunate to have met despite all odds. The traveller from the plains had come here to witness the beauty of this beautiful valley. She, a spring flower had in fact bloomed for a hundred years, every year, to finally be seen and admired by the traveller. As they disclosed age-old secrets buoyed on a shaky shikara, Kashmir sizzled with endless possibilities......

ACHHA JI MAIN HAARI

Song 42:

Asha has hundreds of duets with Rafi but its the Geeta Dutt ones that I am searching for, probably I will cover them next week. Here's an adorable Asha Rafi number that I suppose everyone loves. Asha's voice is fresh as a daisy and so is Madhubala on screen and Dev is aptly khaoing a lot of bhaav what with such a beauty persuading him. If I am in a foul mood, one thing that can surely lift my spirits and act as a great therapy is to be around food, plan and prepare something new, get my creative juices flowing and lose myslf in the colours, tastes, textures and aromas of interesting ingredients. Knead and roll, shape and size, balance and offset. Work out new combinations.

I seriously feel that people who don't love food only live half a life. I get along better with people who love food and somehow cannot relate that well to people who just eat to as if perform a necessary obligation.  When you're a spontaneous person you don't need recipes. I have thousands and thousands of recipes that I feverishly collected initially but I love to improvise and try new things every time. I almost never make the same thing the same way twice! Of course if the experiment works, you accept the accolades graciously. If it backfires, you just give it an exotic Italian/French/Moravian name and say it is the rage in Milan or South of France or Scandinavia. At best you'll have to roll back if you're asked to utter the same name again.

Then there are some people who when angry or perturbed, give up on food. There are people who can watch other beings gobble down bricks of cool ice cream on a sultry night and not get tempted themselves. There are people especially women who turn up at parties and then refuse to eat anything, either they are on a fast (arre should have told when I invited you na, that it was your weekly fast!)or watching their diet  that they totally disrespect the lengths the host might have gone to, to plan a meal. Happened to me today too. Then so much food goes waste. Either you should inform your host that I will come over but I eat like a sparrow/don't eat at all/I just look at food/I just smell food and I am full. We have quite a few professional hunger strikers in India who go on fasts at the drop of a hat. They hold the whole system on ransom and threaten and refuse to take a morsel before their demand is fulfilled. I seriously have never understood the idea of giving up food. Be thankful to what God has given you, make sure you share some food with the less fortunate. Feeding a hungry person is a very fulfilling experience. Everyone does not have to go out there and change this world. One step at a time with our near and dear ones, with the people who touch our lives is a great way to start. Before I say something that I have to rollback, I guess I'll just keep shut coz this song needs no introduction. Have a great week ahead with or without food. After all bhaav is the only thing you can khao once you've given up on food!! :-)))

ISHARON ISHARON MEIN DIL

Song 41:


Which is not to say Shammi and Sharmila didn't sizzle in the rustic songs too. Quicksilver, they could transform into two simpletons, simply happy to be together in this beautiful, big, wide world. The high haunted hills were witness to their love, as was the mist, as were the beautiful conifers and pathways. They had passed by that path, sometimes greeting the rising morning sun, at other times, as a mysterious dusk set in. The nights had been theirs right from the beginning of time. The nights, with their songs and subtle hints, the masked messages and the passive passions. It were the nights that brought relief from the bitter realities of life. The lack of bright lights subdued what stared in the eye in the daytime. You could interpret the shadows the way you wanted.....and renew some age old promises.

Well Delhi is so hot these days, that the night brings relief anyway. This is the time when you can put your feet up, sink into bed and psyche yourself into that second helping of icecream with the logic that it's made of milk and therefore rich in calcium and good for you! So what if you have to spend twenty extra minutes on the treadmill tomorrow. :-)