Word Play: Raat

Chalk it up (or down) to boredom, but I wanted another way to categorise my favourite songs than just by genres. So, instead of ‘My favourite songs of waiting’ or ‘My favourite raja-rani songs’ I cast about for another way to list them. And of course, I like making things difficult for myself. So, I wondered: Hindi film songs use certain words more than most. Why not find a way of listing my favourite songs that contain a particular word? To narrow my choices (and hence double my effort) I decided to limit it to songs that had the particular word not just in the mukhda itself, but began (mostly) with the word I chose. (Preludes to songs didn't count.)

So, first, I needed to choose a word with which to begin this series.  Since I began drafting this post in the night, that was almost too easy by association. Right now, in the North-East of the US, it is a crisp, cold autumn night, even though, officially, summer is not yet over. And as I sit here, looking out of the window, I can see the fog settle damply on the fields behind our house. There is a waning moon throwing dark shadows, as the trees and tall grasses sway in the light, chill breeze. 

I have spent many nights alone, working. It’s my favourite time of the day. Chores done, household put to bed, everything cleared up, and then there’s just me, my laptop, my notebook and my thoughts. Sometimes, they scare me, these thoughts of mine; sometimes, they sadden me, grieve me beyond tears; sometimes, it’s only the night that can bring solace, its darkness enveloping me – it’s also my favourite time to walk outside. The world changes in the moonlight – everything seems clearer, yet half-hidden, and more mysterious.

Raat. Ratri. Ratiya. Raina. Night. Glorious night. Silent night. The word has so many different associations in song, so many emotions entangled with this one word. What a wonderful way to explore them. 

1. Raaton ke saaye ghane (Annadaata / 1972/ Asit Sen / Salil Choudhary)

In a feel-good story about a disillusioned millionaire (Om Prakash) who sets out incognito, and runs into people who are helpful for no other motivation than that they are good at heart, this song stands out as the one song which talks of despair. The responsibilities of the little household that includes her polio-afflicted brother are on her seemingly frail shoulders, but Aarti (Jaya Bhaduri) has been managing as cheerfully as she can after her father’s death. She has even taken in an itinerant stranger, who, she feels needs looking after, much to the disapproval of Arun (Anil Dhawan), the man she loves (and who loves her). Whatever little she has is happily apportioned between the three of them. Yet there are times when the darkness never seems to lift, and even she feels like giving up. This is one of those times.

2. Raat kali ek khwaab mein aayi (Buddha Mil Gaya / 1971 / Hrishikesh Mukherjee / RD Burman)

A comedy-romance-suspense thriller from Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Buddha Mil Gaya narrates the story of two shiftless young men Ajay and Bhola (Navin Nischol and Deven Verma), who are on the verge of being thrown out of their rented house by their exasperated landlady (Lalita Pawar). So far, it has only been the good offices of their landlady’s granddaughter Deepa (Archana), who is in love with Ajay, that has kept them safe. The two set out to make money quick by trying to find a man who has been advertised as lost; only, each time they try to find the man who has put in the ad, someone winds up dead. And they are always on the spot of the crime! This song comes as some light-hearted relief, because Deepa is angry with Ajay for not having any time to spend with her. He has a small job teaching music, and she is angry that his student flirts with him; he never seems to sing for her, not in sur anyway. This is his way of trying to get back into her good graces.

3.  Raat ke musafir, chanda mujhe batade (Miss Mary / 1957 / LV Prasad / Hemant Kumar Mukherjee)

I must confess I cheated a little here. The song is not about the night as much as it is about the moon – the night visitor. But, hey, the word is there, and it’s a beautiful song, and…

It’s a perpetual battle of the sexes in Miss Mary, as Mary (Meena Kumari) and Arun (Gemini Ganesan) navigate the obstacle course that is their life; the spectre of unemployment forces the two of them to pretend they are married, since their employer insists only on hiring married couples. And since Arun did not impress Mary at their first meeting, their private conversations are fraught, though they have to keep up the pretence in public. Only, Mary is beginning to fall in love with Arun and is not too sure how to handle her nascent emotions, and their employer’s daughter flirting with Arun. Arun, poor fellow, is beginning to wonder if even a job is worth staying with a woman who is blowing hot and cold all the time, and sulking marvellously at others. Therefore…

4. Raat ne kya kya khwaab dikhaaye (Ek Gaon Ki Kahani / 1957 / Dulal Guha / Salil Choudhary)

One of Salilda’s best scores, and that is saying a lot considering the master’s immense contributions. While Talat Mahmood first sang for Salil Choudhary in Awaaz in 1956 (the beautiful duet with Lata, Dil deewana, dil mastana maane na), the songs in this film would see Talat soar to new heights as a singer. It is important to note that this was one of his last few films as an actor. He plays a doctor who is posted to a little village, where he meets Jaya (Mala Sinha); the two are attracted to each other, but there some teeny-weeny problems. Viz., Jaya’s father, Gokul (IS Johar) who wants her to marry Shiv, the son of the local money-lender; an old woman (Lalita Pawar) who wants Jaya to marry her already-married son, Ratan (Abhi Bhattacharya), because his wife is (presumably) barren; a marriage that is fixed, an abduction, and so on and so forth. Especially so on and so forth. What is the good doctor to do now? Why, take the tonga back to the station, of course, while Jaya weeps helplessly behind bars (well, of her windows, of course). Now, why he couldn’t have taken a leaf out of Ratan’s book and done some abducting of his own, I will never understand. After all, the maiden is willing.

5. Raat ka sama, jhoome chandrama (Ziddi / 1964 / Pramod Chakravorty / SD Burman)

Ashok (Joy Mukherjee) is a writer at heart, but of course, his father does not think that that constitutes ‘work’. While visiting his publisher, Ashok comes across the photo of a beautiful girl, whose father is looking for an estate manager. Having lost his heart to the photograph, off Ashok goes in search of chokri and naukri and a story. Asha (Asha Parekh) is  very pretty of course, but she is also spoilt, and quite frankly, gets very irritating very soon. Their first meeting does not go quite as Ashok would have wished, and Asha shows no signs of warming to him, but Ashok is nothing if not persevering. However, even he can get frustrated, as Asha all but challenges him – in public. 




5. Raat bhi kuch bheegi bheegi (Mujhe Jeene Do / 1963 / Moni Chatterjee / Jaidev) 

Mujhe Jeene Do was probably the most realistic cinematic description of dacoits’ lives and was an engrossing tale of their struggle for survival. They are shown as they are: harsh men in a harsh land, whose basic humanity has been smothered under the crimes they commit. Certainly, dacoit Jarnail Singh (Sunil Dutt) is not a man given to undue examination of his motives. He is what he is: a ruthless murderer, who has learnt that to kill or be killed is the only way to live his life. Even his loving is done much the same way – seeing Chameli (Waheeda Rehman) dance at a village wedding, he is attracted to her, and ends up abducting her after the performance. And she is a prostitute – there is no whitewashing here –she is not the ‘golden-hearted virginal tawaif who “only sells her voice and her art, not her body” ‘ trope that is so beloved of our cinema. She is also struggling to make her livelihood in a male-dominated society that can see a woman only as an object; and she does what she has to, to survive. Only, she is also an emotionally strong woman, and does not bow down to Jarnail Singh – and yes, prostitute though she was, he still has to woo her to win her love.

6. Raat aur din diya jale (Raat aur Din /1967 / Satyen Bose / Shankar-Jaikishen) 

What does one do when the love of one’s life seems to be living a double life? And what does one do when one meets a young man who claims that your wife is his lover? Should be a warning, no? not to go around proposing marriage to women you meet on stormy nights? Obviously, Pratap (Pradeep Kumar) hasn’t heeded this very sensible dictum, and is now paying the price. Having run into Varuna (Nargis) on aforesaid dark, stormy night, he sends a proposal of marriage to her through proper channels; the marriage soon takes place, and then disturbing things begin to happen in this psychological thriller. Varuna is never home at night; when her husband follows her, he finds her drunk, dancing in nightclubs with strange men, one of whom claims to be her boyfriend. And insists that her name is Peggy. When confronted by this, Varuna denies everything. So, who is insane here? Pratap? Or Varuna? Neither? Or both? 

7. Raat bhar ka hai mehmaan andhera (Sone Ki Chidiya / 1958 / Shaheed Latif / OP Nayyar)

The rags-to-riches story of an orphan Lakshmi (Nutan) who finds out after becoming a famous filmstar that she is only worth the money she brings in to people she considers her own. Exploited by her family, who live off her earnings, she seeks love in a journalist Amar, who comes to interview her. And it seems like that love is reciprocated. Only, Amar too has feet of clay, and poor Lakshmi is left bereft when she waits a whole night for him to come fetch her with only the clothes on her back. This is a shock and there is more to follow. A grief-stricken Lakshmi cannot take it any more and steals away in the dead of the night to end it all. Only to be stopped short by a song, the words of which seem especially meaningful to one who has given up all hope. It’s a song of awakening, a song that tells a despairing Lakshmi that it's darkest before dawn, that the morning is near, and that a new life is awaiting her - if only she will take it. It’s a song that gives Lakshmi strength to draw back, and to live.

8. Ruk jaa raat thehar jaa re chanda (Dil Ek Mandir /1963 / CV Sridhar / Shankar-Jaikishen) 

This was a three-handkerchief-tearjerker, for sure, and this was a mixed bag from the usually dependable Shankar-Jaikishen, with songs that ranged from the sublime to the sort that sounded like they were bored out of their head.

Remade from Tamil (Nenjil Oru Aalayam), the film narrated the story of two lovers, Dr Dharmesh (Rajinder Kumar) and Sita (Meena Kumari), who are unfortunately victims of the strange train we call life. When they made their promises of ‘ever after’ neither knew a time would come when they would have to meet as strangers. Dr Dharmesh returns from abroad to realise that Sita has been married off; heartbroken, he throws himself into his work at a cancer clinic. Years later, fate brings the two together. Sita’s husband, Ram (Raj Kumar) is critically ill, and has to be operated upon. Sita has made the best of what life has offered her, and is upset to see that Dharmesh hasn’t moved on; however, his still engaged emotions makes her fear for her husband’s life. Will Dharmesh be able to put his emotions aside?

This is the night before the operation, and Sita knows the morrow could spell disaster in more ways than one. If she could, she would push back the morning as much as possible.   

9. Raat ke humsafar (An Evening in Paris / 1967 / Shakti Samanta / Shankar-Jaikishen) 

Now, how can I have a list of songs, and not sneak in a Shammi song? And this is perfect! It’s Paris, the city of love, Shyam /Sam (Shammi) and Roopa (Sharmila Tagore) meet, fight, and Sam spends oodles of time wooing her despite her stated disinterest; now, she is (finally) in love… (As an aside, I wonder if a generation of men learnt how NOT to take ‘NO’ for an answer from a woman, because of Shammi!) But oh, the song, is so, so beautiful; and what better way to spend the night than to walk with your lover, hand in hand around a deserted city under the warm light of the stars and a benevolent moon? This is a romantic night, and a sensuous one; two beautiful people in love, and who cares what the morrow will bring?

10. Raaton ko jab neend ud jaaye (Mem Didi / 1961 / Hrishikesh Mukherjee / Salil Choudhary) 

A tiny gem of a movie, with no known ‘stars’, and a handful of characters, it’s a shame that Mem Didi is not known as well as it should be. In a film that was dominated by Lalita Pawar in the eponymous role, ably supported by a flamboyant Jayant and a more-reserved David, Tanuja was there to provide the love interest, and a bit of comedy. Rita (Tanuja) has nary a thought in her head other than enjoying herself thoroughly. She loves her old nanny, but is unaware that the latter is working herself to the bone in order to keep her at her exclusive finishing school. And there in the village, Mem Didi has had her moeny stolen and is at her wits' end to find enough to pay Rita's fees in time and to keep Rita from knowing the truth about her family. Tanuja was required to be sparkly and effervescent and she suited the role admirably.

If I were to add all the songs where raat appears somewhere in the song, not just the mukhda, this post would be many hundred songs long. As it is, having restricted myself to the first or second placement of my chosen word, I limited the number of songs available to me - missing out on Yeh hawa, yeh raat, yeh chandni; Yeh raatein, yeh mausam, nadi ka kinara, and many others of its ilk. However, rest assured: there are always genres, words, categories in which these songs will fit, and many more lists to form and savour. Many more songs to hum, many more movies to watch. Life is good.