Landmark Tunes- Hindi Films

There are a few landmark tunes that are associated in my mind with music directors in Hindi films.

Vasant Desai- Bole re papihara in Guddi. It is so different from the usual songs.

RD Burman- Dum maro dum from Hare Rama Hare Krishna. I don't think anyone else could have thought of this.

SD Burman- Wahan kaun hai tera, musafir, jayega kahan (film- Guide), in his own voice.

Jaidev- Main zindagi ka saath nibhaata chala gaya. A masterpiece from Hum Dono, sung by Mohammad Rafi.

Kalyanji Anandji- Pal bhar ke liye koi hamein pyar kar le from Johny Mera Naam. Dev Anand and Hema Malini added a lot of charm to it.

Shankar Jaikishen- Sayonara, sayonara from Love in Tokyo.

Laxmikant Pyarelal- Mere mehboob qayamat hogi from Mr. X in Bombay.

OP Nayyar- Piya piya piya mora jiya pukare, from Baap re Baap. Early use of Kishore Kumar's yodeling, and trademark hoofbeats that he used in many songs.

Continued...Hat Tricks

Laxmikant Pyarelal had two hat tricks that I can recall (a hat trick being defined as a movie album with three or more hit songs.

Shagird which had the famous Dil vil pyaar vyaar main kya janu re.. and Bade miya deewane aise na bano, haseena kya chahe, hum se suno picturised on Joy Mukherjee and I.S. Johar. And, Woh hain zara, khafa, khafa,...

Bobby which brought in Dimple and Rishi Kapoor as a lead pair and captured the hearts of teenage lovers in the seventies, had great music from them, almost every song still remembered. HUm tum ek kamre mein band hon, ...Main shayar to nahin, Jhooth bole kauvva kate, Na maangun sona chandi with its Goan twist of Ghe, ghe ghe ghe re, ghe re saiba,.and so on.

R.D. Burman had numerous hits to his credit in the hat tricks department.

Mere Jeevan Sathi, Teesri Manzil, Kati Patang, Aandhi, Ajnabee, Jawani Diwani, The Train, Aap ki Kasam, Namak Haraam, Amar Prem, Hum Kisise Kum Nahin, Yaadon ki Baaraat, were some. No wonder it was tough to forget RD anytime after the seventies. He was all over the decade. Hare Rama Hare Krishna with its landmark Dum Maro Dum, I Love you and the melodious Kanchi re kanchi re, and Phoolon ka taaron ka was in a class of its own.

Arzoo and Mere Humdum Mere Dost

Both are movies from the sixties. I remember watching one in a theatre and the other in an open-air screening in which our club in Singareni Collieries specialised. This was a unique experience in itself, but this is to reminisce about the songs. The stories were probably not great, formulas popular for the period, but the songs were memorable, and made an impact on our impressionable minds. The not-so-impressionable mind still remembers some of these.

Arzoo had 'Aey Nargise Mastaana', and  'Aey Phoolon ki raani bahaaron ki malika tera muskuraana ghazab ho gaya', both sung by Mohammed Rafi and picturised on the so-called Jubilee (Rajendra) Kumar. Also two good Lata Mangeshkar songs, all written by Hasrat Jaipuri- 'Ajee Rooth kar ab kahaan jaiyega'...and 'Bedardi balma tujhko mera man  yaad karta hai.' Music was by Shankar Jaikishan.

Mere Humdum Mere Dost had 'Na jaa, kahin ab na jaa, ..' and 'Chalkaye jaam, aaiye aapki aankhon ke  naam' in Mohd. Rafi's voice for Dharmendra, and 'Chalo sajna jahaan tak ghata chale' and 'Allah, yeh ada kaisi' in Lata's voice. Music was by Laxmikant Pyarelal. Lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri.