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10 July 2012

My Favourites: Ghostly Melodies

Haunted haveli
Haunted swing
It is all dustedoff’s fault. (Of course it is; I need to have someone to blame for my inability to work.) She wrote a brilliant (and hilarious) review of Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi. Now, that is a film I have been wanting to watch for a long time, but I was in two minds about wasting time (which I don’t have) to watch a film that seemed to have plot holes larger than the Grand Canyon. I mean, I have an admittedly large tolerance threshold, and there is serious eye candy in that film, but Sharmila’s bouffant put me off (at the moment). Kya pata, I may yet watch the film one day.  In any case, it is not available on YouTube, so I didn’t have too much trouble not watching it. 

I found myself wanting to watch a ghost story however, and have been frightening myself quite deliciously these past few days with one beautiful ghost after another (Watch this blog for some ghostly reviews in the future). Before those reviews make an appearance, however, there are some more RK movies to write about so all anti-RK readers can be convinced to worship at the altar of the one and only Raj Kapoor. (Cue evil laughter.

But the bhoot has taken hold of me, and so, I decided to make a list of my favourite ‘ghostly’ songs.  I was going to write 'haunting' songs at first, but 'haunting melodies' means something completely different to me; they are songs that are so good (tune, lyrics or both) they imprint themselves on my consciousness, never to be forgotten. 

Sadly, there is a paucity of male ghosts (I found only two, and one of them only a pretend one).  We are made of sterner stuff, though, and shall endeavour to make do with the female of the species. Especially when they sing such lovely, lovely melodies.  Particularly when they sing such lovely, lovely melodies. One must admit that our Hindi film ghosts are most talented. They not only look beautiful, and sing well, but they also write the most meaningful lyrics, and compose the tunes too – all the while leading the poor haunted hero a merry chase around misty hills and vales.

Please note that not all these ‘ghosts’ are truly ghostly. Some of them are only pretending to have passed on to the astral sphere – perhaps because they get to walk around in white saris with their hair let loose, and have the men chase after them? Who can say? Besides, ours not to question why (Lalitha, this decree is particularly for you.); ours but to listen and (not) die. Without much ado, here are some of my favourite haunting songs.

1. Naina barse rhimjhim rhimjhim (Woh Kaun Thi
Poor, poor Sadhana. Can't say I blame her for weeping fit to cause a storm. She has to haunt Manoj Kumar, for heavens' sake! I would cry too! Besides, she is not even allowed to kill him, and he went on to inflict one patriotic piffle after another on us. I think I must protest to the ghostly union. (Harvey, is there one?) As an aside, I have also wondered why ghosts always seem to like walking around in stormy weather wearing saris that cling to them and make it impossible to walk? Must be dashed uncomfortable, not to mention cold and wet. 

Biswajeet must surely be the most haunted of men. He is continually following ghosts, each one lovelier than the other. I seriously wonder at ghostly tastes, however. I mean, Biswajeet?! I would happily turn into a ghost myself if I could get away from Biswajeet. But no. All these ghostly females insist on following him around singing songs. The only consolation I have is that this particular song does not have Biswajeet at all. The ghost is busy haunting Lalita Pawar and Waheeda instead. 

3. Kahin deep jale kahin dil (Bees Saal Baad)
What did I tell you? Biswajeet again. Honestly, what is up with these ghosts? Unless it is to find out the secret of his prettiness, I cannot understand why anyone would want to haunt him! I cannot blame him however for wanting to go after this particular 'ghost'. Anyone would. Such a sweet song, too. 

4. Saathi re (Poonam ki Raat)
Manoj Kumar again! Why is it never Shammi Kapoor or Dev Anand who get haunted? (Perhaps because there are enough earthly women haunting them?) This ghost comes accompanied by all the accoutrements that a respectable ghost needs to go haunting. A moonlit night, white garments (the better to see me, my dear), a full orchestra to accompany the singing, curved staircases - the better to glide down, and did I forget to mention the mist? Listen carefully, and you will hear the tune of Baag mein kali khili bagiya mehki between the antaras. (The original tune of the Chand aur Suraj song was Salilda's own composition for a Malayalam film called Chemmeen [Puthen valakkare]).

5. Janam janam ka saath hai (Tumse Achcha Kaun Hai)
Ha! You didn't think I was going to make a list and leave out Shammi Kapoor, did you? Of course he is not a ghost, only pretending to be one in the good ol' Shammi style of wooing (Well, no one haunted him, so he decided to do the 'haunting himself). You didn't know that was the perfect way into a girl's heart, did  you now? Of course she will fall in love with you even if she thinks you are a ghost. Well, if you looked like Shammi, that is, and sang in Mohammed Rafi's voice. Of course, being Shammi, the 'ghost' also dances. You must admit that Shammi Kapoor is a change from the female ghosts who just glide. He doesn't even have to wear white. (It is very sad that he could only find Babita to 'haunt', though.)

6. Aa jaa re pardesi (Madhumati)
The only 'true' ghost in this list. First, she sings the song when she is alive. Then, she sings the song when she is dead. Then, she sings the song and lures him to his death. This ghost is clearly very talented, however; she writes new antaras for the old song. Me, I like the song - both the 'real' and the 'ghostly' one.

7. Mere mehboob na jaa (Noor Mahal)
Okay, no laughing. It is Jagdeep who is being haunted here. Luckily, the ghost had a change of voice. This ghost is also heavily bejewelled and veiled. Just in case he gets close enough to see who she is. Or perhaps because she is not as beautiful as the other ghosts in this series. Contrarily, she also walks around with a candlestick. Perhaps she is also blind? She did get a lovely song to sing, however, so that must be her consolation.

This ghost has no sense of time. At all. At least the female ghosts only haunt their own generation. This one, however, seems to have been asleep! For a couple of generations at least. How else can one explain the fact that he appears centuries later to haunt the reincarnation of his lover from aeons ago? Poor Waheeda has no luck. Whether she is the hauntee or the haunted. When she is the 'hauntee', she is forced to haunt Biswajeet! Here, she is haunted by Raaj Kumar, and married to Manoj Kumar! (This is why you shouldn't bury anyone alive. Make sure they are dead, people, before you bury someone!) No wonder Waheeda looks so, well, haunted! She's to be pitied, even if the ghostly song is in Rafi's voice. 

9. Yehi woh jagah hai (Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi
What did I tell you? Mists? Check. White costume? Check. Hills and valleys? Check, check, check. Biswajeet? Of course! Beautiful ghost no.3 to haunt him, but this one actually decides to show him all the places where they 'met' aeons ago. She also excoriates him for forgetting the promises he made to her. Many, many centuries have passed but since the ghost is Sharmila Tagore, she ensured she had the services of a hairdresser, lots of hair gel, a beautician, and excellent costume jewellery at hand before she stepped out to do some haunting.

10. Sau baar janam lenge (Ustadon ke Ustad)
I don't know if that is a threat or a promise. Shakila doesn't either; but she definitely wants to find out. She is also probably miffed that she doesn't get to be the ghost. Which explains why she is dressed in the 'ghostly' costume - she must be consoling herself. Listen to the lyrics, though, and you will understand why Shakila is so drawn to find out whether Pradeep Kumar really means it. So much romance, so much, so much promise. (Why couldn't it have been Shammi? Sigh.)

The best for the last - the song that began all such ghostly wanderings. Our 'ghost' (Madhubala) swings, rows a boat, wanders around the haveli as blithely as you please, and is very sure that her hero will come to her. So sure indeed, that she has no ghostly props at all. Just her hauntingly beautiful face and even more haunting voice. Oh, and some badly fitted chandeliers that swing to and fro when she appears.

My choices are all from the decades where ghosts, real or otherwise, were beautiful (and didn’t look like stick insects). I must also apologise for the fact that a majority of the ghosts seemed to sing in the same voice. Perhaps it is one of the rules of the astral sphere:
Thou shalt sing in Lata Mangeshkar's voice (or, if male, in Mohammed Rafi's).   

I should have added 'filmi ghosts' to my list Kahan Gaye Woh Log? There has been a serious lack of ghosts in Hindi cinema lately. Considering the quality of today’s music, perhaps it is just as well. Do you have any favourite ghosts to share? Mind you, they have to be able to sing.

45 comments:

  1. Love this post on 'haunting melodies'! You have all my favorites right here, except this one:

    www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFvqegse04E&feature=relatedc

    For a change, Sunil Dutt is being haunted! Yes, really, why would a ghost in her right mind be wasting her time by haunting Manoj Kumar and Biswajeet? Laughed at your remarks about poor Waheeda being married to Manoj and being haunted by Raaj - double whammy, indeed! Nobody should be made to suffer like that!

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  2. Nice!! "Tuu jahan jahan chalega" from Mera Saya was never ghostly enough for me. It is a good song but some how lacked the haunting feel especially if one doesn`t know the story or haven`t seen the movie. However, Lalitha`s link made me realize that so many times in the absence of a proper visual, we end of confusing between context and concept of the song. The song which Sunil Dutt is listening before the above mentioned song/one on which he had recorded his dead wife`s wife " Woh bhuli daastan" from Sanjog, was a quintessential ghost song for me all throughout my childhood till I saw Anita Guha`s weepy face on the screen recently.
    Now, this song though like most in your list is a "pretend ghost" song, still shows real haunting dedication in scaring the ghost out of you with lyrics talking about waiting for the unknown death/killer.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kjyr9JYd3-I

    As for the most ghost having same voice, I remember watching a Lata Mangeshkar interview where she candidly said "Meine aapni career mein sabse jyada hit gaane bhooton ki liye gaye hai".

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  3. you beat me to it!
    so few male ghosts!

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  4. Aaacha...talking about ghostly lata, here are some more "darawane bhooton ke gaane" or should it be "chudail"?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYZ7gN9BV8U

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezzdj_5_Q0E

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMQA6dmZM_Q

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

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  5. Now I just can`t seem to find and listen as many ghost songs as possible. I have a job to do damn! This is so wrong. Ok guilty pleasure...some more Lata- the queen of ghostly melodies.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbv8POe73ZU
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wxf0sxaEU7E
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfgF1h9mM8c
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHsqRzbH42c
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpSgj_Ph6YQ

    and later in 80s and 90s

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U9s6-ilcB4

    I seriously need to stop now, from Madubala, I have reached to Moon Moon Sen.

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  6. chitrapatsangeet10 July 2012 at 21:16

    This is an excellent composition by Madan Mohan-
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZhrYtezyFM

    has eerieness all over it. The opening bit is so suggestive of the ghost lurking!

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  7. Thanks, Lalitha. Glad to have made you laugh! I did think of Mera Saaya to round off the songs to a dozen, but then dropped it, because it seemed more like him remembering her, than actually being 'haunted'.

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  8. Thanks for that Lata quote - it was so apt to this post! :)

    I agree about Mera Saaya not being ghostly enough - it wasn't ghostly at all in the film. Woh bhooli daastan definitely sounds 'ghostly' but again, is not. Gumnaam was a great adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel. Yes, the song is really frightening.

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  9. Oh, were you planning to do a 'ghostly songs' list too? I'm so sorry I 'stole' your idea. Let's blame dustedoff for it - if she hadn't written that rivetting review of Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi, I wouldn't have been reminded of ghosts and you would have not had your idea stolen from you.

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  10. The ghost in Phir Wohi Raat is a very energetic one, isn't she? I have yet to see one running away from the person it is supposed to haunt!

    Which film is the Reena Roy song from? I haven't heard it before, and the film did not look familiar either.

    Sannata sounds like one of the Ramsay films. Is it?

    Poor Jeetendra looks more like one of those puppets with its string broken than a man frightened out of his wits by a ghost. The ghost, by the way, is a fantastic Malayali actress called Sri Vidya. I didn't even know she acted in Hindi films! (Well, she was not a Keralite by birth, but she was an acclaimed actress in Malayalam films.)

    To be honest, I haven't heard any of these songs, or seen any of these films.

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  11. Wow! You have been busy! :)

    I did think of the song from Raaz but dropped it in favour of the still older ones.

    I love Mere naina saawan bhaadon and that is one song I think Kishoreda has sung better than Lata Mangeshkar.

    Is Tune mere hai zakhm-e-jigar ko chhoo liya a ghost song?
    I have not seen Nagina, so that is a serious question.

    Mere sanam, sun mere gham is certainly haunting!

    I liked Yeh raat bhi jaa rahi hai but it didn't have a video. :(
    Pyar tera pyar is horrible! It shouldn't even be in the same list as the others you have posted. :(

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  12. Very, very suggestive of ghosts and haunting, indeed. It's sad that Lata's voice quality had already begun to deteriorate at this point, don't you think so?

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  13. Anuji, you may curse me for submitting one more of a Manoj Kumar’s femme ghost enticement – Saathi Re- Poonam Ki Raat – Salil Chaudhary - http://youtu.be/dGJTDKupP_c . Salil Chaudhary, has his original music-gramatical grip, but seems to have his melodious touch here [compare a Madumati song referred to in the post]. It is said that he was stuck in some legal wrangling, on some personal matters, immediately after Madhumati, and Poonam Ki Raat was a sort of comeback movie.
    You may also like the song rendered under the influence of a ghost – Ami Je tomar – Bhul Bhulaiya - http://youtu.be/YF1nuFG5GEI.
    Lekin was a movie based on the story of re-incarnation. The song – Main Ek Sadi Se Baithi Hun – Lata – Hridaynath Mangeshkar - http://youtu.be/tseZkZIojXE - could have, probably been deeply haunting while retaining pathos, in the hands of Madan Mohan or Khemchand Prakash!
    ‘Sau Bar Janam Lenge’ certainly should have inspired more male ghost stories, for the song matches the best of any female songs of the genre.
    My special thanks to “chitrapatsangeet” for “RAAT UJIYARI DIL ANDHERA HAI –CHAALBAZ”
    Yes, Nagina was a ghost movie. Interestingly, SJ has composed a couple of rare C H Atma gems in this film – Roun Main Sagar Ke Kinare - http://youtu.be/8GX3qiF8kiY and Ek Sitaara Hai Aakash Main - http://youtu.be/shi0kS-z9zc
    Raj Kosla has used Who Bhuli Dastan in Meraa Saaya tellingly to convey Sunil Dutt’s reminiscences of the past. Yes, the past was indeed quite sad, but certainly did not haunt.

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  14. Oye, what do you mean by blaming me for it?! I can turn the tables and blame you for once again inadvertently filching my idea for a 'ghost songs' post (well, considering that I've been sitting on it for the past 2 years, I should probably have relinquished it by now...) :-D

    And of course, as you'd expect, my ghost songs list was nearly identical to yours, Anu. Barring Mere mehboob na jaa, which (since I haven't seen Noor Mahal and don't include songs from films I haven't seen) wasn't eligible. BTW, the song from Poonam ki Raat was the only good thing about that film - and this from someone who doesn't mind Manoj Kumar in non-patriotic, non-depressive mode. (I actually liked him in Woh Kaun Thi?, though my favourite bhootiya song from that is by far Lag jaa gale, not Naina barse.

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  15. Ashokji, I shall never curse you for posting one of my favourite songs. :) (I had it in the post, though.) Lata sounded sublime in that song, and it is one of Salilda's more complicated numbers.

    Lekin had some beautiful songs; the one you posted and Yaara seeli seeli were both wonderful compositions. I do like Hridaynath Mangeshkar's compositions. I agree he is no Madan Mohan, but he is definitely a very talented composer.

    Sau bar janam lenge was indeed a great 'ghostly male song! Rafi sounded suitably 'haunting' and it is strange indeed that they did not have many more such songs.

    Thank you for posting the other lovely SJ compositions from Nagina.

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  16. Gosh, did I steal the idea from you, too? First Harvey, now you? *Holding ears in penitence!* I am sorry!
    Do not watch Noor Mahal - I mean, if you have lots of time, and nothing else to watch, then, sure, but otherwise? Meh.
    Poonam ki Raat was particularly horrible! This was one of the films I watched because of the songs, and I wondered why I was so bent on torturing myself. Even the song is better heard than seen.
    Lag jaa gale didn't feel particularly bhootiya to me. Which is why I put Naina barse in. Whoever heard of a ghost going around embracing folks? Any self-respecting ghost should have disappeared into the mist when the chap came close, right?

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  17. The Reena Roy song is from one of her very first movies called "Goonj". It is a B movie with horrendous Mahendra "hairy" sandhu and cardboard Rakesh "wig" Roshan.It was a very bad movie with an equally good R D Burman score like

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUN0bOgWTng

    Oh Yes! the ghost in "Jaise ko Taisa" was Sri Vidya. I had completely forgotten about her. The only hindi film of her that I remember is "Arjun Pundit" with Sanjeev Kumar and Rakesh Roshan.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G3hFLu4Irs

    Yes, Sannata is a B horror from Ramsay`s stable, but still from pre "Veerana" and "Purana Mandir" days. So, its not bad at all, though even here the prototype is same as the old horror classics i.e. "its just a pretend ghost". Actually Sannata was the first movie for which Udit Narayan and Alka yagnik gave a full fledged playback.

    Yes! Yeh raat bhi jaa rahi hai doesn`t have a proper video available. However, I posted it as I didnt want people to confuse this song from "Sau saal baad" of 1966 staring Feroz Khan and Kumkum with a latter days(1989, I guess) B Horror of same name staring Hemant Birje and Sahila Chaddha

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  18. Completely unrelated to ghostly songs, but it just came to my mind after reading your comment on MERE NAINA, that though Lata is an extraordinary singer, I feel she always(and I mean always) falls short while singing a tandem song against a male singer.

    Actually, Raju Bharatan(Journalist and Lata Biographer) in his book, A Journey down melody lane, mentions that Lata was always very conscious of not being able to match up to the level of the male singer during her tandem songs.

    Well Lata and her tandem songs(or tandem songs in general) can be a topic for a seperate post for you. What do you think?

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  19. The topic of tandem songs as a post of its own is tantalising. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll get around to it after I spread the goodness of RK a bit furthr! :)

    I must admit to preferring the male voice to Lata's in most two-voice versions, but I will take a pass on Raju Bharatan's opinion, I think. He is a senior journalist, and does know a lot about music, but oh heavens' he's a pet peeve of mine because he keeps dropping names! Plus, accuracy in reporting was not always there. I won't go as far as to say he made up things, but yes, he did exaggerate a bit. And quote things out of context a bit...

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  20. Haven't seen any of the films you are naming, and with your description, I must say I'm glad I didn't. No, not even for the songs!
    Hemant Birje and Sahila Chhaddha, you say? That would be horrifying even if the genre wasn't horror!

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  21. Yes, they are not worth a watch.
    The movie with Sri Vidya, "Arjun Pandit" is a very good movie directed by Hrishikesh Mukherji. I think it won both Sanjeev Kumar and the movie writer a filmfare award. Its very rare and not easily available, so if you haven`t seen it and if you get an opportunity then do watch it.

    As for the tandem song post mentioned in the previous comment. Please do it(Of course! after your posts on RK)

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  22. Thanks for confirming about Nagina. As for SJ and Lata ghostly songs, here is another from Parde Ke peeche

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

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  23. chitrapatsangeet11 July 2012 at 10:30

    Yes indeed. Fully agree. BTW, the soccer song of Saira Banu is also supposed to be a ghostly song.

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  24. Heh, I agree, Biswajeet is very very very handsome, and of course you had to include a Shammi song in there. -giggles- Never knew pretending to be a ghost could be used to woo a girl, heehee. Just wondering, would you prefer Bees Saal Baad or Woh Kaun Thi? -has time to kill and wants to watch a film-

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  25. No, I said Biswajeet is very, very, very pretty. As for choosing, I liked both films, both had awesome songs, but if pushed to choose, I would pick Bees Saal Baad.

    Wooing a girl in that manner only works if you are Shammi. Perhaps, Dev, though I cannot see him consenting to being a ghost.

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  26. I seem to have missed seeing many films in my misbegotten cinema-viewing youth. Well, 'missing' is rather too strong a word, but you know what I mean. It may be 'classic Hindi haunted song' but I haven't heard it before. :)

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  27. Wow, perhaps you should make your own 'haunting' list! You have listed so many, so many 'haunting songs - most of which I haven't even heard. I think I got stuck in a timewarp though, where songs are concerned.

    I have a faint recollection of having watched Arjun Pandit - so faint I do not remember anything at all about the movie, least of all Sri Vidya being in it. If I can get hold of it, then yes, I will definitely watch it again. Anything by Hrishikesh Mukherjee can't be 'bad'. Thanks for the recommendation.

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  28. What footer song? *scratching head puzzled* Have I missed something?

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  29. chitrapatsangeet11 July 2012 at 19:02

    Payaliya Bawri from Saaz aur Awaaz

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  30. You didn't steal the idea from me. ;-) Incidentally, bollyviewer had done a ghost songs list sometime back - a year, maybe? More? Don't remember, but from what I recall, most of your songs were on her list too. :-D

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  31. Bollyviewer? That woman hasn't been blogging for more than six months. When I last heard from her, she was holidaying somewhere in Europe! I shall have to pop over and see her list - it has to have been longer than last year, since I do not remember seeing one since I began reading her blog.

    Same songs, huh? Guess these are the 'classic' haunting songs that everyone knows about. I have more unheard songs in the comments - ones that are new to me, I mean.

    I wish you and Harvey would do one of these - not for the songs itself, since you said yours would be more or less identical, but for your descriptions!

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  32. HAHAHAHAHA. I literally fell off my bed laughing when I saw your, "Why aren't Dev and Shammi haunted by ghosts?" remark. HAHAHAHA. :D

    Even if he did, he wouldn't be a very good one. I mean, a bepuffed ghost? Come on!

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  33. Hey, why not? If Shammi can be a dancing ghost, then surely we can have a bepuffed Noddy ghost. At least they are goodlooking.

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  34. NODDY. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA OH MY GOD ANU. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. HHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

    -drinks a glass of water to calm down- HAHAAHAHA. First - when I was five years old, there used to be a show with a cartoon character called Noddy and I used to watch it. HAHAHAHAHA. Second - Enid Blyton. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. AHAHAHAHA. -laughing so hard-

    Hey, didcha see my post on my blog? The one after the review of Return of Jewel Thief (-shudders at the very thought of it-).

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  35. Noddy by Enid Blyton is exactly who Dev reminds me of. :) We grew up with Endi Blyton, you know. Though I must say that the TV serials leave me cold. (Noddy is still cute.)

    I did see your post, and I did click on the link, and I did read your story. Haven't had the time to make a detailed comment on it.

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  36. Noddy by Enid Blyton is exactly who Dev reminds me of. :) We grew up with Endi Blyton, you know. Though I must say that the TV serials leave me cold. (Noddy is still cute.)

    I did see your post, and I did click on the link, and I did read your story. Haven't had the time to make a detailed comment on it. :)

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  37. Noddy by Enid Blyton is exactly who Dev reminds me of. :) We grew up with Endi Blyton, you know. Though I must say that the TV serials leave me cold. (Noddy is still cute.)

    I did see your post, and I did click on the link, and I did read your story. Haven't had the time to make a detailed comment on it. :) I did like what I read, though.

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  38. Noddy by Enid Blyton is exactly who Dev reminds me of. :) We grew up with Enid Blyton, you know. Though I must say that the TV serials leave me cold. (Noddy is still cute.)

    I did see your post, and I did click on the link, and I did read your story. Haven't had the time to make a detailed comment on it. :) I did like what I read, though.

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  39. How the- HAHAHAHAHAHA. My God. How does Dev remind you of him? Betcha Noddy didn't have an awesome puff, but still. Dev nods though. A lot. But I find it funny. And cuuute. :D :D :D :D :D

    Oh, thanks! :D It took me about an hour to write the prologue (And I was interrupted by my YouTube playlist suddenly springing to life and scaring the hell out of me, and my cat just came and stood on top of my laptop. :P), so. The title was... XDDDDD

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  40. How does Dev remind me of Noddy? How can he not? He's always nodding his head *exactly* like Little Noddy. And he walks like a wooden doll, too. All still and loose-limbed. Besides, I love Noddy. :)

    ps:Yes, you need to work on your title. :)

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  41. AHAHAHAHAHA. I just laughed so hard at that! Hahahahaha! I faintly remember one episode from the Noddy TV show. A character had splashed Noddy's legs with invisible paint, and Noddy was walking aroundd with no legs! Haha! Any sane person would've said, "pfft, wash it off," but I was 6 back then!

    And yes, maybe I really do. Every time somebody mentions the title I will end up laughing the daylights out of myself and think of Dustedoff's review and laugh even more. Incidentally, I was inspired by a role-play that I was in, so! :D I dunno any other titles though (Fail from my side.)

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  42. Subodh Agrawal18 July 2012 at 01:13

    Congratulations on a wonderful post. You have a valid point about deterioration in the quality of film ghosts. I guess reliance on computer generated effects to scare the audience has reduced reliance on 'ghostalgic' music. Among 21st century movies 'Bhoot' featuring Urmila Matondkar was pretty good, but I don't recall any good ghost song from it. I understand someone is now making a film titled 'Ghost Ghost Na Raha'. I hope the movie lives up to the promise of the title.

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  43. Thank you, Subodh. I agree with you about CGA. The effects that the old-timers got with just creating an atmosphere is now so mechanical. What is more, that has become the focal point. Bhoot was good, but I much preferred Kaun for the effect it created. The latter did not have any songs either. Ghost Ghost Na Raha? :) Sounds interesting!

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  44. What about "Mehbooba" with Hema haunting Rajesh Khanna (past his handsome best) and RK returning the compliment with "Mere naina saawan bhadon.."? And of course in 1990, "Lekin" with an incredibly tragic Dimple and a very very handsome and dashing Vinod Khanna as the "hauntee". A great movie with some lovely ghostly songs. 

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  45.  Nalni, agree with you especially about Lekin but I usually draw the line at the 60s when it comes to my music. It's very rarely that I meander into the later decades, though obviously, there are some wonderful songs there too, even if few and far between.

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