1933 - As long as music lives
Pic courtesy: Asha Bhosle's Instagram
My
earlier post was on ‘very-unlike-Asha’ songs. Which, for those who adore the
singer, are not atypical at all. In her long career, Asha had sung every genre
of song that Hindi film music directors gave her, and sung them well. Initially
struggling through B-grade and C-grade films, singing for the second heroine,
the heroine’s friend or the vamp, Asha reached the zenith of her profession through discipline
and hard work. Along the way, she impressed everyone who heard her with her
versatility and impeccable talent. In one interview, talking about her early
struggle, she had said, “I sang every song that came my way.” And among
those hundreds and thousands of songs are songs that speak of love. Love, in
its myriad shades. Like my earlier series on love songs by Lata Mangeshkar and
Mohammed Rafi, I will focus on the happier shades of love.
In
no particular order, then…
Infatuation – Haay unki woh nigaahein
Music: Madan Mohan
Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri
Someone’s glances have so wounded her heart that one can scarcely wonder how she’s fallen in love with him, sings Nutan, while her friend (Shammi) looks on amused. The object of her affection is, unbeknownst to her, driving the cab in which they are riding, but the infatuated young woman is lost in contemplation of his eyes… while Shammi whistles her queries. This non-verbal communication between the two young women highlights their companionable relationship. I slotted this under ‘infatuated’ because, well, Nutan’s character had to be infatuated to sing ‘Haay unki woh nigaahein’ about Shekhar’s eyes! If you overlook that, however, this is such a delightful song, very playful and yes, even introspective.
First love – Kali ghata chhaaye
Music: SD Burman
Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri
When you have always been ‘beti jaisi’, never the daughter of the house, when you have never had anyone to call your own, when you seem to always be on the outside looking in, it’s nothing short of a miracle to find someone who loves you for who you are. The eponymous Sujata (Nutan) can’t believe it herself; that Adheer (Sunil Dutt) really cares for her. For a moment, however, she’s happy, her happiness mingling with shyness as she admits that her emotions are engaged. Nutan’s on-screen wistfulness and trepidation are a reflection of these emotions expressed so beautifully in Asha’s rendition.
My
other choice for this section was the ‘don’t-care-ish’ vibe of the frothy
Koi keh de keh de keh do zamaane se jaake from Bahaarein Phir Bhi
Aayengi. There’s such sweetness, and dare I say, nervousness, in Asha’s
voice as on-screen, Sunita proudly, if shyly, declares her love for Jeeten
(Dharmendra).
Anticipation – Chori
chori solah singaar karuungi
Music: RD Burman
Lyrics: Anand Bakshi
Infatuation has deepened into love, and now, she’s waiting eagerly for her beloved to come calling. Nisha (Zeenat Aman) has fallen in love with police constable Ratan (Sanjeev Kumar) because he’s so unlike the other men she comes across in her profession. Suspended for authorising a raid on a brothel in which his superior officer is busted, Ratan decides to work as a security guard during the night. It is but a ploy to keep Nisha from meeting other men during the day, though Nisha doesn’t know that. The young woman is spending the night prettying herself so she can look her best when Ratan comes to meet her.
Adapted
from the play Irma La Douce, director Shammi Kapoor dealt with a heavy
subject – prostitution – deftly, neither glamourising the profession nor
moralising about it. The film also benefited from casting Zeenat as Nisha – the
actress is so unselfconscious about her body that it leaves the audience free
to focus on the subject matter. This is one of Asha’s 70s songs that I love.
Teasing – Bhanwra bada nadaan hai
Music: Hemant Kumar
Lyrics: Shakeel Badayuni
Attracted to the shy Bhootnath (Guru Dutt), Jaba (Waheeda Rehman) alternately torments and teases him. Here, she’s sitting down to write a poem (about Bhootnath) when he appears in the courtyard. He’s quite annoyed when he figures out that she’s turned him into a bee in her poem. Asha’s exaggerated inflexion is complemented by the quicksilver expressions that flit across Waheeda’s face, lending the song the teasing quality that so sorely exasperates Bhootnath.
Mischievous – Nigaahein milaane ko jee chaahta hai
Music: Roshan
Lyrics: Sahir Ludhianvi
Jameela (Nutan) is both playful and adorable as she sings a love song to her beloved – no, not the man who assumes he’s the recipient (Pran), but the ‘old man’ (Raj Kapoor) sitting next to him, the man who facilitated this meeting for him. And since the ‘old man’ is privy to her feelings and reciprocates them, Jameela’s eyes sparkle with mischief as she comes out from behind the purdah to sing directly to him. This playfulness is also evident in Asha’s rendition, rendering this qawaali one of the most mischievous in the genre.
My
other choice for this emotion was the impish Koi dekhe to kahe from Apradhi
Kaun. Such a light-hearted song, and it is clear that Asha had fun
recording it (as did Mala Sinha on screen.)
Flirtatious – Raat akeli hai
Music: SD Burman
Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri
I love everything about this song – the way Asha’s voice soars, pauses for a moment before dropping to the lower registers; the way SD’s music complements her voice, the melody soft and seductive before it soars to those achingly high notes before sinking back into soft sighs; Majrooh’s lyrics, so flirtatious, so achingly sublime; a beautiful young Tanuja expressing herself so directly to a handsome Dev… sigh. I must confess that though this song had earlier found its way onto my ‘Songs of Seduction’ list, I think Tanuja looked too young, and her fresh-faced exuberance made this seem more like an adolescent crush than seduction.
Yearning – Main jab bhi akeli hoti hoon
Music: N Dutta
Lyrics: Sahir Ludhianvi
This is a very ‘quiet’ song, an almost-introspective one, and Asha’s voice is both gentle and soothing. Husn Bano (Mala Sinha), unwed and pregnant, cannot help but remember Javed (Rehman), her tutor and beloved. Her father (Ashok Kumar) had sent him away when he’d dared ask for her hand in marriage, but that was before he’d learnt his daughter was pregnant. And now, Javed is nowhere to be found. The unfortunate young woman seeks to distract herself by playing a record. When this song plays, she cannot help but reflect that the lyrics resonate with her own plight – each line torments her with remembrances of the past, and the absence of her lover.
Romantic – Chehre pe khushi chhaa jaati hai
Music: Ravi
Lyrics: Sahir Ludhianvi
This serenade must surely rank as one of the quietest yet most direct public declarations of love. There’s a sweetness to Asha’s voice as she sings of a young woman’s feelings – it’s confident, proud and joyful. The love that Meena (Sadhana) feels for Ravi (Sunil Dutt) is out in the open for all to see.
Deceptive – Saba se yeh keh do
Music: Madan Mohan
Lyrics: Jalal Malihabadi
Like Haay unki woh nigaahein, it’s hard to believe Shekhar being anyone’s jaan-e-bahaar, or that his entering a mehfil would brighten the ambience and perfume the air. Still… the expressed emotions are deceptive; Meenu Mumtaz’s character is a con woman who pretends to be in love with Balraj (played by Shekhar), the titular bank manager, so she and her accomplice can defraud him.
When
I was writing up my ‘Untypically Asha’ post, I’d this song on my shortlist –
one of the many songs that Asha Bhosle sang that breaks the stereotype of her
being a ‘cabaret singer’ or ‘club singer’.
Rueful – Woh
hanske mile humse
Bahaarein Phir Bhi Aayengi (1956)
Music: OP Nayyar
Lyrics: SH Bihari
Heartbreak
is part of falling in love. And heartbreak leads to regrets, grief, even
bitterness… here, though, Amita (Mala Sinha) is merely rueful; it was her fault
that she misunderstood a man’s friendliness and support for love. Having fallen
in love with him and assuming he reciprocates her feelings, she’s shocked when
she realises that Jeeten loves her sister, Sunita. But despite her sadness, Amita
is mature enough to realise that loving someone doesn’t mean that they should
return that affection.
Woh hanske mile humse is a gentle ghazal, rueful in nature, that deals with a person’s sense of loss with quiet dignity. Asha’s voice holds a note of self-deprecation, of regret, of gentle grief.
So. These were my picks of Asha Bhosle’s romantic numbers. The ‘best’ – subjective, of course – of Asha’s romantic songs are duets; in this post, I’ve focused mainly on her solos, unwilling to share her limelight with other singers. But, in all these myriad shades of love that she so lovingly ‘painted’ in her inimitable voice, she evokes a sense that ‘love’, if it exists at all, must sound like this, must make you feel like this, must make the world seem a better place.
In
gratitude to a chanteuse who died as she lived – because, after all…
Pyaar
karnewaale pyaar karte hain, shaan se
Jeete
hain shaan se, marte hain… shaan se
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