Ten Eternal Romantic Hindi Film Songs - Part II story

Hi Antara.

I completely agree with you that not many of the new songs can be termed as "evergreen" or will last for decades. As an example, last night on my show, an very old lady called and asked for a song from "Anmol Ghadi" and when I asked her for the reason, she said that she wanted to hear a song from that movie as her father always kept on singing a song from that movie. I told her that my father also played songs from that movie and she soon realised that I was much younger than her. Luckily I had one song on the database at the dtation - "Jawan Hai Mohabbat." And after it was played, she told me that she cried as it was her father's death anniversary and there was no one by her from her family and that this was her way of remembering her father. Moments later, someone else phoned and said that that song was the best song he had heard in a long time and asked me for the title of the movie and was rather shocked when I told him how old the movie was - this was a young person.

I think if there was to be an "evergreen" song from some of the latest, I would include the following:

1. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai - Film: Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.
2. Ajab Si - Film: Om Shanti Om
3.Kasto Mazza - Film: Parineeta

I hope that there is. But nothing can beat th old ones.

Hi Pratik,

You are right in saying that very few songs nowadays would qualify for an "evergreen" status. Personally, I am still an aficionado of old songs - many of which have this uncanny ability to evoke emotions in us everytime we hear them. Is it because of their richness of melody or depth of lyrics or sincere, heartfelt rendition? I dont know. I have nothing against new songs - some of which are truly wonderful and very innovative. But somehow, I cant see them lasting for decades and be still as popular and admired as the golden oldies.

To answer DPac's question - Thanks for agreeing with the list. This list is actually a list of 10 songs not 5. You can check out the other 5 songs which constitute the first part of the list here:
http://dearcinema.com/ten-eternal-hindi-film-songs/

Why 10 or 20, our films have such a treasure trove of songs that any list would be endless. This series is not intended as a rating or a top 5 or top 10. Honestly, songs such as these and countless others cant be ranked on any scale. My intention was to simply relive some golden melodies and the way they had been lovingly picturised, which makes them uniquely different from other run-of-the-mill songs. They can be called pathbreakers for their unusual treatment and approach.

Antara,
what prevented you from making this a list of 10 or 20?? surely cant be the word count :-)
The 5 you mentioned would the top 5 on mine too.. cheers

You are absolutely correct, Antara when you mention that good music does affect so many people in different ways. A friend of mine, who I recently met after almost twenty years, told me that he heard me on the radio and heard me mentioning the song "Pappa Khete Hai" from "Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak" and then playing it and he turned off the radio because it reminded of him when he got stranded - both mentally and physically in an African country and had no means of getting out of the country as he didn't have much money to do anything until a good samaritan turned up and helped him by driving him to the airport and using some influence, helped him to get out of the country, was playing the song in his car while he drove him. This was at the time that this movie was released.

Regarding my show, it is challenging to prepare for it on a daily basis but the best thing is that since I am charge of the music, I get to listen to many of the first release albums and it is up to me whether they are suitable for any shows or not. I have to make sure that they don't contain any offensive words or any thing that would upset anyone intentionally but would say that all of the Bollywood songs are fine. But sometimes, if I feel tired, I just pre - record my show and make sure that it goes on automatically when the time comes and thats when I don't take any requests - like today. I am just listening to the song from "Abhimaan" that you have mentioned.

These ever green melodies will never get old as far as I amconcerned. I even like listening to songs going back to the 1940's as I have been brought up listening to them as well as many of the recent ones such as "Rab Ne Bana Di..." Songs of today, I feel are few that can be said that can be considered to be "ever green" in the future.

Hi Pratik,
In fact, Tere Mere Sapne was on my initial list but I rather reluctantly pushed it out in favour of these 5 since I wanted to list songs from all kinds of moods and facets of romance. Originally, I had thought of appending an additional list of songs to this story which also could have made it to the list of 10. It is a very difficult choice to leave out one eternal melody in favour of another and I can only imagine the amount of juggling you must be doing to broadcast a live show daily.

Your show and the amount of preparation that goes behind it sounds very interesting and exciting indeed. Particularly so since good music does affect so many people in so many different ways. Tere mere sapne is a beautifully picturised song, lovingly shot in the backdrop of a golden sunset and evokes strong emotions every time one hears it simply because it is so true to life and so very rich in melody and lyrics.

Similarly, there are songs such as Tere mere milan ki yeh raina (Abhimaan) or Jalte hain jiske liye (Sujata) - these are evergreen melodies that will continue to touch a chord, even decades after they were created.

Antara, I can imagine what you went through when choosing the ten. I broadcast on the a local radio station, here in the UK and play Hindi songs on it and almost on daily basis, I have to go through a database, which I, myself created for the radio station and it takes me a very long time to go through. The reason being is that its considered not to be ethical if I, or, anyone else plays a song that has been played two or three hours before and many times, the system crashes because another presenter clicks for it to be be downloaded on his or her playlist when it is trying to inform them that it is not available to be played as it has been done so within the last two to three hours. Whe it crashes, I have to go through the list manually (printouts from various presenters and check and see what has been played and what not) and then make up my playlist from that. After I complete my show, because I have designed the database, have to go through the whole system and re - set it and that takes a very long time because of the amount of titles on it.

Last night, while on air, someone phoned and asked for "Tere Mere Sapne" from the classic movie, "Guide." Luckily I had the album on a CD with me as I had planned to install it on the system. The problem was that I had to to put it on manually instead from the normal system that I would use normally. While playing this song, again, I had tears in my eyes just because I could remember watching the film when I was a kid and even the caller, who called back said that he wept when he heard his request being played as it brought back memories of the time when he was dating a woman who was know his wife.

Hi Pratik,

Thanks so very much for the appreciative comments. I wholly agree with you. This list is in no way complete, because as you said, the list of such songs probably is endless, given our infinite stock of love songs in films. The songs you have mentioned are truly memorable and if I do write a third part, I will include these.
I had to actually sift from a pretty long list to finally decide on 10 - one of the most difficult decisions no doubt :)

You are right about the Amar Prem incident. The shooting did not ultimately happen on location because of Rajesh Khanna's stupendous popularity and ultimately a set had to be created - a marvellous job indeed given the challenge of presenting the massive Howrah Bridge as a backdrop. Incidentally, a few years before Amar Prem, Rajesh Khanna had shot another beautiful and immensely melodious song "Woh shaam kuchh ajeeb thi" beneath the Howrah Bridge with Waheeda Rehman for Asit Sen's Khamoshi. That shooting probably went off peacefully because Rajesh Khanna was in his pre-Aradhana days.

For all of us perhaps, in some way, these classic films hold a special place for all the sweet memories associated with them, since most of us have watched them since our childhood and have grown up with them. And these songs help us relive those memories, even if for a little while.

Hi Antara.

I missed the first part of this but managed to find it and read through it. This is a beautiful sequel to the first one and I sincerely hope that you will add another part to this. The songs that you have mentioned here and in the first one are superb ones and some of the most memorable ones as well. If you do add a third part to this, then I think you should mention some more that I think need to be added.

1. Kabhi Kabhie - Film: Kabhi Kabhie: Mukesh
2. Chandansa badan - Film: Saraswatichandra: Mukesh
3. Chalo Di Daar Chalo - Film: Pakeezah: Mohd Rai and Lata Mangeshkar
4. Ehsaan Tera Hoga - Film: Junglee: Mohd rafi and Lata Mangeshkar.

the list can probably be endless. But what you have mentioned about the song from "Amar Prem" is true and I believe that a set had to be created fro this because Rajesh Khanna, being a superstar at the time and his popularity. Had the crowd found out that he was filming in the area, they would have gathered in their thousands just to watch him and in particular sailing under the bridge during the song sequence. Some have even said that had this happened then there were chances of accident happening and perhaps even the bridge collapsing because of sheer weight of the total amount of people on it, wanting to see the superstar at the time.

I recently watched "Anamika" and when the song you have mentioned came on, made me have tears in my eyes for the simple reasons - beautifully worded and acted in the movie and above all it made me remember my childhood days and in particular watching it for the first time in a cinema in India, while on a holiday with my parents.