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02 December 2011

My Favourites: Songs of Heartbreak

Love is beautiful - coloured as it is by rainbows and sparkles, where everything brings a smile to your lips and there might even be unicorns flying about for all I know. (Note to self: Do unicorns fly? Find out.) Love can hurt, though. A twist of fate, circumstances, distance, an impulsive decision, can all lead to the dark side of love - heartbreak.

Rainbows fade, sparkles die and the unicorns fly away. Then come long days plagued by memories of happier times and endless nights soaked in tears; and one wonders that a decision made to prevent being hurt brings so much anguish in its train. There is only pain and darkness, and the ache of knowing one is bereft. 

There are thousands of songs that celebrate falling in love. There are as many songs that are infused with the essence of misery, that talk of failed relationships, of unrequited love, of feeling rejected, songs that offer some solace because somewhere, someone understands our pain. Someone has written words and set down to music that which we feel but cannot say. And we listen to the echoes of our own heartbeats and drown ourselves in mourning a love that can never be. 

I know what my heart is like
Since your love died:
It is like a hollow ledge
Holding a little pool
Left there by the tide,
A little tepid pool,
Drying inward from the edge.
Edna St.Vincent Millay (Ebb)

So, for everyone who has ever searched and found someone to love, only to find their love unrequited; for everyone who has taken a decision to armour themselves against the pain of loving only to learn that hearts break, nevertheless; for everyone who has ever loved someone and known the ache of breaking up; for everyone who has discovered that there is no cure for heartache, no, not even time, and that tears are an infinite supply; for everyone who has sat down with a box of tissues and a pint of icecream and found that that does not heal the ache; for every torn and bleeding hope and every cry of despair - here's a list of my favourite songs of broken hearts and crumpled dreams. 


1. Tera jaana (Anadi / 1959 / Shankar-Jaikishen / Shailendra)
 The sorrow of myriad hopes and dreams that have crashed and burnt. He's leaving and she cannot stop him. She watches, sorrowfully, as all her hopes lie in shambles around her, as all her dreams of a future (with him) fade into darkness. Hanskar humne tha kaha, jeevan bhar ka saath hai, yeh kal hi ke baat hai (We laughed and said we would be together forever, wasn't that just yesterday?) How soon things change. She knows that as long as the moon rises, she will be beset with memories of him -  dil jab zid par aayegaa dil ko kaun manaayegaa... (who will steer her heart away from this madness?) 

2. Mohe bhool gaye saanwariya (Baiju Bawra /  / Naushad / Shakeel Badayuni)
The pain of separation. He's left and she has no news of him. She knows she shouldn't have loved him. If she had known that love would bring such sadness in its wake, she would have told everyone not  to fall in love. But she did, and now, he's forgotten her. Dil ko diye kyun dukh birhaa ke, tod diye kyun mahal banake... she weeps. There's no answer. She's left to mourn a lover who has not bothered to return to find out how she fares. 

3. Muhobbat ke jhooti kahani pe roye  (Mughal-e-Azam / Naushad / Shakeel Badayuni)
 The disillusionment of love. Teri aarzoo ne humein maar daala (your desires will be the death of me)  she sings and then continues, jiye to magar zindagani pe roye (I live to mourn life).  This is the consequence of falling in love without thinking. Now she has to choose - her love or her life. If she chooses the latter, then keeping her mouth shut is the price she will pay.

The tragic love story of a courtesan for her Prince; of barriers of class and caste sending one to the dungeons and inciting the  other to rebellion.


4. Hum ko tumhare ishq ne kya kya bana diya (Ek Musafir Ek Haseena / 1962 / OP Nayyar / Shewan Rizwi)
... he asks, and answers his own question: Jab kuch na ban sake to tamasha bana diya (What has your love made of  me? If nothing else, it made a joke of me). Yet, what can one crazed lover do? Kuch ban padi na hum se to deewaane ho gaye deewaangee ne phir tera rastaa dikhaa diyaa (when I could be nothing else, I became crazed in love, this madness brings me back to the paths you travel)

When will the craziness stop? How do you forget your love when every path, every turn reminds you of one who is gone?

Time does not bring relief; you all have lied
Who told me time would ease me of my pain!
I miss you in the weeping of the rain;
I want you at the shrinking of the tide;
The old snows melt from every mountain-side,
And last year's leaves are smoke in every lane;
But last year's bitter loving must remain
Heaped on my heart, and my old thoughts abide

There are a hundred places where I fear
To go,—so with your memory they brim
And entering with relief some quiet place
Where never fell your foot or shone your face
I say, "There is no memory of him here!"
And so stand stricken, so remembering you!
(Edna St.Vincent Millay - Sonnets)


5. Socha tha kya, kya ho gaya (Anmol Ghadi / 1946 / Naushad / Tanvir Naqvi)
She has just realised that he had never been hers. Now, she has the sad task of convincing her heart not to weep. 

Ae dil naa ro, hairan na ho
hona tha jo vo ho gaya
rone se ab kya faayda
 


Well, the heart does not know what it can gain by crying, but how does it stop? Well, she says, think of it all as a dream, and forget it ever happened. Jo kuchh bhi dekha khwab tha is khwab ko ab bhool ja... Only, that is not easy either.   Apna jise samjhe the hum afsos woh apna na tha... It’s all very well to be practical, but the heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing.


6. Aisi muhabbat se hum baaz aaye (Nirala / 1950 / C Ramachandra / PL Santoshi)
 
What happens when loving someone has brought you only grief? When do you give up fighting? 

Banakar tumhe apna kya humne paaya
Khushi lut gayi chain dil ka ganwaaya
bade gham sahe aur bahut dukh uthaaye
aisi muhabbat se hum baaz aaye
 


She claims she’s tired of such a love, but is she  really? If she is, then why is she still weeping? Whom is she trying to convince - him? Or herself? Can she convince either? 

Guzaari bahut jaag kar humne raatein
Kabhi humne chhup chhup ke aansoo bahaaye
 


7. Humein kaash tumse muhobbat na hota ( Mughal-e-Azam / 1960 / Naushad / Shakeel Badayuni)
The ache of regret. If only...  
Humein kaash tumse muhobbat na hota 
(If only I hadn't fallen in love with you)... 
but she also acknowledges her part  
- Humeen badh gaye ishq mein hadh se aage 
(I crossed all boundaries in my love for you) ;  

and gently queries  

Tumhi phoonk dete nasheman hamaara, 
Mohobbat pe ehsaan hota tumhara 
(If only you had snuffed out the flicker of my love, 
that would have been the greatest kindness you could have done unto me). 

If only you had stopped me before I stepped on to this path, if only I had woken up from my dreams, if only...  haven't you heard the drumbeats echoing these fateful words? If only...

8. Tum mujhe bhool bhi jao (Didi / 1959 / Sudha Malhotra / Sahir Ludhianvi)
The anguish of unrequited love. What can be worse than knowing that the person you love does not love you in return? That you enter into a relationship knowing that he doesn't love you, but think your love is enough for both? And then learn that no, it isn't. Especially when that someone doesn't even believe in love?  What price your love then? 

Mere dil ki, mere jazbaat ki keemat kya hai? 
Uljhe-uljhe se khayaalat ki keemat kya hai?   

He has the right to remain silent, for he has never loved her.  
Tum jo yeh bhi na batao yeh haq hai tumko, 
Meri baat aur hai maine to muhobbat kee hai.  
(It's different for me since I loved you.) 

There is also the pain of knowing that one cannot stop loving on command.  
Tum meri hoke raho ye meri kismet na sahi -  she remains his, even if her fates have decreed he will never be hers. And what can she do even if he forgets her? 

Tum mujhe bhool bhi jao to yeh haq hai tumko... 
How do you stop loving someone? 

9. Bujha diye hai khud apni haathon (Shagoon /1964/Khayyam/Sahir Ludhianvi)
Bujha diye hai khud apni haathon muhobbaton ke diye jalake 

She has destroyed her own relationship. Now what? She convinced herself that she would forget him; avert her face when she meets him next; remain quietly, eyes downcast when she hears his name. Little did she realise what an impossible task she has set for herself: 
 Na dil ko maloom hai na hum ko,
Jiyenge kaise tujhe bhula ke
 


How will she live, forgetting him?

10. O jaanewaale mudke zara dekhte jaana  (Shri 420 / 1955 / Shankar-Jaikishen / Hasrat Jaipuri)
She takes a decision to protect herself from hurt, only to be hurt more by his absence from her life. She is now standing mute, her anguish deeper than tears. He is angry and upset at what she said, what she wrote. How dare she? Can she not understand his compulsions? If that's the way she wants it, then as she is, he will have nothing to do with her. 

Only her heart knows the depth of her love - if only he would turn back - just once - if only he would take her in his arms, soothe her fears, reassure her, if only... she would melt. She loves him still, and never mind what decisions her mind makes. Her heart knows differently, but how can it let him know? 
O jaanevaale mudke zara dekhte jaana, zara dekhte jaana... can they have a second chance? 

And if he will not understand, then… Chalo ik baar phir se, ajnabi ban jaaye hum dono...

50 comments:

  1. You have picked ten wonderful songs, and I love each and every one of them, but - if I were to pick a song for heartbreak, my first choice would have been "Aansoo bhari hain yeh jeevan ki raahen ..."

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UE-LcQ5NNg

    There is a story behind this - many, many years back, my colleagues and I were trying to reconcile some accounts on a major project. One day, when we returned from lunch, I noticed one of the guys reading a letter and looking disconsolate. For the rest of the week, he grew a beard and hummed this song, driving me out of my mind! Later, I found out that the letter was from his girlfriend, and she had written to say that she was getting married to someone else! And I hope none of my former colleagues ever come to your blog and read this!

    I also noticed that most of the songs you picked have been sung by women - here are a few more sung by men:

    "Daaman mein aag laga baithe ..." from Dhool ka Phool
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVXifKDFatU

    "Dost dost na raha ...."
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLnSZSSJp5M

    "jaane woh kaise log the ..."
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vK2oDWwf1bk

    There is some bitterness in these songs, okay, a lot of bitterness, and stoicism, whereas the songs chosen by you, which are all about the broken heart and its pain, evoke tears from the listeners. Okay, I will admit, I cried in the cinema hall over "Tera jaana ..." and "Mohabbat ki jhoothi kahani ...", but I was less than ten years old then, and I thought it was my duty to cry when the characters on the screen cried!

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  2. They are beautiful songs, Lalitha.

    There is some bitterness in these songs, okay, a lot of bitterness, and stoicism,

    That's precisely why they didn't make the list. I had Toote hue khwabon ne on my list but didn't use it because I realised that the real pain only comes in a male solo when their lover dies. Otherwise, they are busy blaming bewafas or being all stoic (a.k.a stuck-in-the-mud) or bitter or cynical or angsty.

    Laughed so much at I thought it was my duty to cry when the characters on the screen cried!

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  3. Dearest Anu, such wonderful, wonderful songs, but can you stop posting such sad posts? :( I do not understand the lyrics of the songs (unless they have sub-titles, and you know how THOSE work!), but your write-ups to the songs made me all weepy... It's like this is personal, and I feel like a voyeur.

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  4. I apologise, Tina. Just listen to the songs, will you? Don't read the write-ups.

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  5. dil ka khilona hai toot gaya is one which comes to my mind right away, where songs on heart break are concerned. When I am in one of my crazy moods, I substitute any hindi word which I can find any rhymes with toot, like phoot, soot, choot, loot, rhoot...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p0JWDdv7kE

    The other one which I like is uthaiye ja unke sitam from Andaz
    uthaiye ja unke sitam
    It is also my motto while watching Hindi movies
    From the ones which you have listed, the one from Baiju Bawra, mujhe bhool gaye saanwariya is my favourite. A cousin of mine used to parody it as mujhe bhook lagi saanwariya.

    Wouldn't http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsY8n7S7qJY be a better link to the song humko tumhare ishq ne kya kya bana diya. the one which you have given is bit misleading. I know I am being fresh, forgive me!

    Socha tha kya kya ho gaya reminds me always of its parody in Chalbaaz http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrrT48GFEdk

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  6. @ Lalitha
    "I thought it was my duty to cry"

    That reminds me of Haathi Mere Saathi, where I felt obliged to cry as well, although I wasn't that sad enough.

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  7. "uthaiye ja unke sitam
    It is also my motto while watching Hindi movies
    "

    LOL!!

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  8. Anu, great list - as always - and some wonderful songs there. I guess my absolute favourites would be the ones from Anadi, Baiju Bawra and Didi - though the Shagoon one is beautiful too.

    Hindi films do have such a vast collection of 'my heart is broken' songs, don't they? Even as I was reading your post, I was thinking of the songs I like the most when it comes to this topic... I had to force myself to stop after a while, because there were just too many. Here are two that I like a lot (again, both picturised on women):

    Yeh shaam ki tanhaaiyan, from Aah:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7gWxxFCBC4

    And Chand phir nikla magar tum na aaye, from Paying Guest:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii8D7gNn318&ob=av3e

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  9. Sharmi Ghosh Dastidar3 December 2011 at 09:44

    Awesome Awesome post :) So musical so lyrical. had loads of fun reading and listening to the songs in the head :)

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  10. Great List Anu, How about these male ones
    1) Kiska Rasta Dekhe, Ae Dil Ae Saudaii - Joshila
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n72UXTTqHjc
    2) Tum Bhi Chalo, Hum Bhi Chale, Chalti Rahe Zindagi - Zameer
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1JXTxM9snw
    3) Hai Duniya Usiki Zamana Usika - Kashmir Ki Kali
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i85EpitOIkM
    4) Yeh Jo Mohabbat Hai - Kati Patang
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIWX9vCffms
    5) Hum Bewafa Hargiz Na The - Shalimar
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjvaKN52A3A
    6) Darpan Ko Dekha, Tune Jab Jab Kiya Singaar
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIcm-z6KqfI
    7) Koi Hota Jiska Apna, Hum Apna Keh Lete Yaaro
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNZ8d0eBNJo

    Paradoxically, in real life, all of the above male heros probably caused heartbreaks for their wives (I not sure about Shammi); at least these songs prove their acting caliber. :)
    PS --- Isnt it wonderful being born a male :)

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  11. The compilation looks heavily skewed in favour of the 50s and 60s; am more of a cine fan of the 70s when despondency and depression seemed to go along with our loss of faith in the political climate and poetry seemed to reflect those times (though the below selection may not show that)..Just compiled a few which came to my mind when I thought of your post..Of course, you'd have to help me in finding which of these are genuine heartbreak songs because while the lyrics may suggest it, the actual situations may not.

    Ek Akela Is Shaher Mein - Gharonda
    Koi Humdum Na Raha - Jhumroo
    Teri Duniya Se Hoke Majboor Chala - Pavitra Papi
    Aansu Bhari Hai - Parvarish
    Woh Subah kabhi to aayegi - Phir Subah hogi
    Hum Bekhudi Mein Tumko Pukare - Kala Pani
    Din Dhal Jaye Hai Raat Ne/ Kya Se kya ho gaya tere pyar me - Guide
    Yeh Kya Hua - Amar Prem
    Mera Jeevan Kora kagaz korahi reh gaya - Kora Kagaz
    Kabhi khud pe kabhi halat pe roona aya - Hum Dono
    Koi Yeh Kaise Bataaye Ke Woh Tanha Kyun Hai/Jhuki Jhuki Si Nazar - Arth
    Jaane Wo Kaise Log The-Pyaasa
    O Jaanewale Ho Sake To Laut Ke Aana - Bandini
    Yeh Lal Rang Kab Mujhe Chhodega - Prem Nagar

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  12. harvey, you're a riot! You sound like you're being forced to watch Hindi movies.

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  13. There are so, so many, Madhu that I would venture to suggest that heartbreak is far more widespread than happily-ever-after in love. I can't think how I came to overlook Yeh shaam ki tanhaaiyaan... completely slipped off my radar.

    As for it being picturised on women, cynical me can only think that it's always the women whose hearts are broken in love. The men seemingly brush off the heartbreak - or they are so busy blaming the women for everything that is wrong.

    I'm depressed just listening to them :(

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  14. Thank you, Sharmi. Enjoy. (Especially since the comments section is throwing up so many more wonderful songs.)

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  15. Samir, they are *all* beautiful songs. Only, with the exception of Yeh jo mohabbath hai , every single one of them is not so much heartbreak as pointing fingers at their bewafa-girlfriend.

    Koi hota is not so much heartbreak as loneliness; and I hate Darpan ko dekha with a vengeance. If I hear it once more, I'll shoot myself!

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  16. Out of your list, most of them are from the 60s, no? They are all such beautiful songs, though, that I honestly do not care which era they come from. It's just that I tend to listen more to the music of the 50s and 60s.

    Yeh lal rang, Woh subah kabhi to aayegi, , Yeh kya hua are not 'heartbreak' songs in the actual sense of the word. Wonderful songs, though, so I have been looking them up on YouTube and listening for the past half an hour.

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  17. Great list, Anu. As always. As Tina said, the intros to the songs made me tear up a bit. Do we ever get second chances at love? Can we ever go back and undo a decision? I wonder.

    I love this song from Barsaat:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3QyOvWvfgc

    and this one (though it's a very new one - comparatively)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxKpjraMnKA

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  18. Most of the songs that would have been on my list have been mentioned in the post and the comments. I'm left wondering what contribution to make. There are sooo many songs. How to pick. Anbd then I thought I'd post a song sung by Mukesh from Film Malhar.
    Here there's no bitterness. The song even begins by wishing the bichda saathi 'good luck'. Whether he's being sarcastic I don't know. He might seem to indulge in self pity, but then what else can one sing about a broken heart...bitterness, anger, sadness, most importantly 'blame'.

    OK I'll stop philosophising :-D and give the link.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o00ci7paRW0&feature=related

    LOL at harvey's
    "uthaiye ja unke sitam
    It is also my motto while watching Hindi movies"

    and Lalitha's;
    I thought it was my duty to cry when the characters on the screen cried!

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  19. And of course a mention of Meena Kumari is a must. She had her heart broken all the time. As the name itself suggests 'Dil Apna aur Preet Parayi' is nothing but what broken hearts are all about.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSJDKYSHaBk&feature=related

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  20. Laughing at She had her heart broken all the time. - I must confess that's true. :) My favourite Meena Kumari heart is broken song is from the same film is this one:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJLdL5_QkVo

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  21. I haven't seen Malhar, but it seems to me that that chap is wandering around all the time with a broken heart! Doesn't it also have http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFXMmY9BS8k?

    Of course, he's too busy blaming the female for it...

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  22. I don't think so, Ruhi. I definitely learnt that one cannot undo a decision however much one may want to do so.

    The song from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam is one of my favourites - it's probably the best song in the movie - and I liked all the songs.

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  23. Oh yes, Anu. This *is* the obviously best song of the film. I chose to mention the other one instead, because I didn't want to be predictable :-D

    LOL at - it seems to me that that chap is wandering around all the time with a broken heart! Hahahaha!

    I haven't seen Malhar so don't know.
    This discussion (about man woman) reminds me of a discussion between Anne Eliot and Captain Harville in Jane Austen's Persuasion where he says about women's fickleness in love giving heartache to men.
    "all histories are against you -- all stories, prose and verse. [......], I could bring you fifty quotations in a moment on my side the argument, and I do not think I ever opened a book in my life which had not something to say upon woman's inconstancy. Songs and proverbs, all talk of woman's fickleness. But perhaps, you will say, these were all written by men."
    Hahaha!

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  24. Echoing others about this being a great list of songs AND why is your writing so heartbreaking (pun intended)? If you have made a decision you regret why cannot you go back and change it?

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  25. Predictable, you are not! :) That is a lovely song too - it's one of *those* films which have a wonderful score, and a plot that makes you want to kill yourself - slowly. Though I must say it was a darn sight better than Dil Ek Mandir, which made me want to commit murder before committing suicide!

    Re: Jane Austen - I agree whole heartedly with the last sentence in that paragraph! But then, I always liked Austen's dry humour. :)

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  26. Aaargh! I don't mean for my writing to be heartbreaking or sad or tragic or to make people weep!

    In real life it is not always possible to go back in time and change your decisions. However much you may want to. Your decision may have been made with the best of intentions, for the best of reasons; it is still possible to regret having made such a decision.

    In the context of the movie (the last song), she has made a decision to break off a relationship even though she loves him. It's a hard decision to make, but make it she did, and for many, many good reasons. However, she is heart broken, and if he hadn't left as he did, angry and upset, she may have given in - as her heart wants her to do. However, he leaves, without even a backward glance.

    Now, she had a scriptwriter who ensured that everything ended happily ever after; real life does not come with a scriptwriter or a magic wand.

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  27. I was reminded of your post today - we had a karaoke party at our house this evening, and someone was asking hubby to sing "Aansoo bhari hain yeh jeevan ki rahen ..." and I had to veto that request forcefully. Then someone wanted to sing "Yeh shaam ki ...", again vetoed by yours truly, then "Mohe bhool gaye ...", again vetoed. I told them I didn't want to get depressed, parties were for fun songs, not sad songs!

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  28. Anu, I apologise. I didn't mean to upset you. Not to flog a dead horse, if you have made a decision you regret, then why not apologise sincerely, make amends and start over again?

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  29. Lalitha, I can only imagine your plight! Am I allowed to laugh a little at the thought of one song after another being shot down? Now that you mention it, I should be planning a list of party songs, no?

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  30. No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap! Joining the beating of the poor dead equine - is it always easy for you to go back and undo the consequences of a decision? Let's put it in the context of the movie itself - if you (a hypothetical you) were in love with a girl; loved her beyond belief, but decided, due to circumstances to break off the relationship... now, being a decent person, you tell her so, including giving her rhyme and reason why you want things to end. A couple of days later, you realise that circumstances be damned, you would much rather have her in your life - do you honestly think if you went back and apologised, she's going to give you another chance?? Does real life really work that way? I do not think so. I think that if you (the hypothetical you) ever did something like that, then you have done the literal equivalent of dropping the hammer on your own foot.

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  31. In your hypothetical situation, I think I WOULD try to go back and explain why I made that decision, why I've changed my mind (even if the reasons for the earlier decision still remain the same), and how sorry I am, and how I would like her to give me another chance. After that, it's up to her, of course - and that's not a result I can count on with confidence. She may or she may not take me back. But I'll surely try, because having her in my life is more important than not admitting that I'd made a damned mess of things.

    My point is that you may or may not be able to undo the consequences of your actions - but how will you know unless you try?

    Once again, my deepest apologies. I had no intention of making you feel upset.

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  32. No, I'm not upset any more. Just thoughtful. :) Thanks, Sridhar.

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  33. Totally off-topic: Devsaab is no more. I heard the news sometime back. Another era has ended. What an awful year this has turned out to be!

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  34. I have always thought of the 70s as a defining period in our cinema when an attempt was made to break away from the shackles of cliched cinema - both regionally and Hindi. May not necessarily be in the music but in the overall creation of movies, moving away to greater realism.

    Think that music and theme of love has changed in the way they hit the screen from the 50s to 70s to now, from personal to a larger context and a magnified sense of anger. Probably, a change in the way we perceive love with changing times. Like 'Sadda Haq' from Rockstar may not qualify in the truest sense as a song dealing with hearbreak but it is conceived as a major love angst that emerges which also emerges from unrequited failure. Also, instead of focussing on the individuals alone as was wont previously, it has moved to questioning the society and the freedom of choice and all...

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  35. No no!!! I LOVE both films especially Dil Apna Aur Preet Praayi.

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  36. I just found out when I visited Madhu's blog. This affects me a lot, and it is because my favorite uncle, who was a huge fan of his, and introduced me to him and his style of dressing and doing his hair, passed away recently, and that was also sudden. RIP, Dev Sahib!

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  37. Yes, we need some fun to lighten up our moods!

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  38. pacifist, I will forego the murder and stick to the suicide. :) Khush?

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  39. I cannot think of the 70s being very realistic in terms of mainstream Hindi films, at least. This was the period when the alternate cinema did come up; I would say realism was restricted to them. And their realism was the stark kind. Otherwise, filmmakers like Bimal Roy, Guru Dutt, Raj Kapoor et al made their films quite realistic within the constraints of commercial cinema. The 70s for me, were excessive in terms of colour, flamboyance, scripts, stars, locations etc. And I loved it. :)

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  40. Done. :) Though a tribute to Devsaab has to come first.

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  41. Yeah, I'd put an off-topic comment there too on her post on High Noon.

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  42. I thought I would add one to this because musically it is too delicious to let go. It isn't in Hindi, but in Malayalam. One of Salilda's best examples of counterpoint, he used it later on in a Bengali song but Lata was then past her best and could not do justice. Harvey the villain will like this song, it has many minor chords and key changes for him to make an appearance

    Madanolsavam

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  43. Thank you, dear Anu!
    Yeah, i enjoyed Chalbaaz as much as I enjoyed Seeta aur Geeta, or at least my memory of it.

    It happens all the time, that the song which you are searching for just doesn't appear and then someone else goes and is not at all searching for it and posts it just like that. Disgusting little you tube! *aargh* ;-)

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  44. Some of my alltime favourites are covered above. I would probably put Mohe Bhool Gaye Saanwariya at the very top of such a list, for its plaintive beginning that you've translated ... but there is an irony in declaring a song about loss as a winner : )

    For today, since Devsaab is no more, one of my all time favourite songs. On seeing a screencap once, I thought I would burst out laughing, seeing the whiskers, but he actually carried it off well. And the song... amazing lyrics, amazing "vazan" from Kishore.

    The whole song is full of heartbreak soundbytes ( aansoo ke dhaage se seete rahe hum/jo zakhm toone diye ... hehhh) but none better than this :

    "chaahat ki mehfil mein gham tera lekar, kismat se khela juaaa/
    duniya se jeeta, par khud se haare, yun khel apna huaa"

    Devsaab, I've mostly ignored everything you did since the 70s, but you were an original. I agree when you say

    "Hum jab na honge, toh ro-roke duniya, dhoondegi mere nishaan".

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  45. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKEyS41niPI

    Eesh, I didn't link to the song.

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  46. It goes back to what I said before - the heroes' hearts break only when they are sure the women are going to die. :) Lovely song, though.

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  47. That is a beautiful song, AKM, and very pertinent lyrics, no? There is another song from rang-birangi Dev Anand - from the film Bullet:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OjLdpMnEZQ

    This one is one of my absolute favourites: Waheeda Rehman, Dev Anand. Film: Prem Pujari

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_09HE52OJvc

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  48. I changed my link of the song to yours, harvey. So much easier, and one does not have to sit through five minutes of fluff to get to the song! Thank you.

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  49. Hah....no, no, see Sunil Dutt's heart is breaking even though he has that smug smile on his face. And Ms.Parekh is even then thinking of calling him "Yewwwwww stoooopid". I don't know why this is preceded by Mr. Two tone cardigan and Ms.Parekh doing the weird salsa number. This song has lovely string sections in the interludes, it is sort of spoilt by a bad upload..
    aansoo samjh ke.

    Another conventional heartbreak song, but not a conventional tune by another amazing composer. Sajjaad, wonderful stuff , the notes edge towards a consummation but never quite get there , a feeling of incompleteness..
    aaj mere naseeb ne

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  50. Serves Sunil Dutt right - who asked him to sing anyway? No wonder Lalita Pawar and Nirupa Roy look so disapproving! There they are, enjoying what looks like a cross between Salsa and shaking sand off their clothes, and then suddenly this chappie walks up and sings the saddest of songs - at a party, to boot! On top of that, he looks so self-righteously self-sacrificing! Look at that smug smile on his face.

    (Good song, though, as long as I don't have to watch the video. And good movie too, as long as I close my eyes in anguish when this song plays on screen.)

    I liked Nargis - a very young and pretty Nargis, and the song is absolutely soulful - leading me to the validate my conclusion that the most agonising heartbreaks only happened to women. So there!

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