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.

Hat Tricks- Movie Songs

I have no idea where the hat comes in, but it is customary to call it a hat trick when you have three successes in a row. But the context in which I am using it is that of a movie album. A typical Hindi film had about six songs, at least in the days that I watched them regularly. Out of these, if three were big hits, the album was a 'hit'. And the late sixties and seventies that I remember the most, had several such musical superhits. I shall attempt chronicling a few.

Kismat (1968) starring Biswajeet. It had Laakhon hain yahan dilwaale, and Aankhon mein kayamat ke kajal, and Kajra mohabbat wala..I think it was O.P. Nayyar who tuned the songs. O.P. also had Kashmir ki Kali, and Ek Baar Muskura Do in which he had Kishore Kumar sing most of the songs, unlike his earlier films. Roop tera aisa darpan mein na samaaye, the title song, and a Savere ka suraj tumhare liye hai were some of those hits.

S.D. Burman had one of his greatest musical hits (for me) in Teen Deviyan. The magical songs were-

Arre yaar meri, tum bhi ho ghazab, Likha hai teri aankhon mein kiska phasaana, and Khwaab ho tum ya koi haqeeqat kaun ho tum batlao. Of course, he then had Aradhana in which almost every song (at least five) were great. Roop tera mastana, Mere sapnon ki rani, Kora kagaz tha, bagon mein bahar hai, gunguna rahe hain bhanware were some sterling compositions.

Shankar Jaikishan had Love in Tokyo and An Evening in Paris during this period. Some of the songs- O mere shah-e-khuba, the title song Love in Tokyo, and Sayonara, sayonara from the first, and Akele akele kahaan ja rahe ho, Aasmaan se aaya farishta shot in a water-skiing scene in which Shammi hangs down from a chopper, along with the title song, were big hits.


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.