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Note: Please have patience and read till the end for best results. We promise a smile :-)
Recently the Mumbai (erstwhile Bombay) Film Industry celebrated its centennial anniversary, a hundred years of putting colour into dreams, sound into emotions and life into fairy tales. It has given cliché expression to simple relations; redefined how the mother sews on for the success of her son, how the son faces his long lost father, how brothers confront below an over-bridge and how sisters are 'protected' by their 'rakhi' brothers. It has taught the country how to love, get obsessed and move on. During these years it has given a dozen hands to a pair of eyes looking for moments of magic around the world. It has indeed lived an 'inspired' life, just like its name Bollywood.
If one has to pick the cornerstone of Indian Cinema, It has to be its quintessential songs which give a musical deification to simplest of situations and most complex human sentiments. Sometimes they seep deep into our hearts and at other times they leave a long cloud of puzzle hovering over our humble heads. On this august occasion, we rummaged through the heaps of dust and debris to find a few gems of Hindi cinema, which can breathe life into corpses, bring smile onto the faces of the most stressed of people and render even the most intelligent, sobered in awe of their unfathomable musical and lyrical depth.
Here are they in increasing order of their sheer awesomeness (Please read and watch till the end ):
10: The seeds of grapes and the sinister needles
In the raisin-sweet voice of Kavitha KrishnaMoorthy, Mahesh-Kishor wove sensual magic into the imagination of Sawan Kumar who wrote an allegorical tale of oriental love making.
9: The Desperado is at Your Doorsteps
The lovers desperation at the doorsteps of the beloved has been a penchant of the poets of the yore, and Shyamlal Babulal Rai popularly known as Indeevar took this desperation into a bucket full of lecherous abstraction sung by Vishal Rathod and Sadhna Sargam under the aegis of miracle man Bappi Lahiri. The acting of Juhi and Anil Kapoor adds a little more sparkle.
8. For the love of Taters
The promises of lovers are another dreamy vista, where the artists of words play around. Rising beyond the normal boundaries of ages and time, Dev Kohli decided to add a new dimension to the everlasting love. Abhijeet and Poornima melt their melodies just like the syrup on the simile of this song (that is potatoes) against the music of who else but Anu Malik. A truly masaledar song.
7: The Motor Car girl
The luscious women body has lured many metaphors and this supersedes them all. An instant connection to all those who love cars and women (who doesn't?), Anand Bakshi teamed up with Laxmikant Pyarelal to draw this metaphorical beauty where Jackie Shroff in a rusty garage looks about and around Sangeeta Bijlani, describing her motoring curves.
6: The Sound of Love- Ooh Eeh Aah
Fire is the essence of love. When this inspiration dawned upon Indeevar, he set out to find where in the body lies the heat. The magical duo of Kishore and Asha resounding the fiery tunes of Bappi Lahiri made his inspiration tangible. Watch out for the fire in the expression of Sri Devi and Rajesh Khanna in the video below.
5: The Hunger of Love
What do lovers yearn for? What does the heart seek? A juicy steak soaked in warmth of love and a morsel dripping in desire for each other. Indeevar, the wizard of human emotions, journeyed from hearth to hearth discovering this primordial hunger relating the lovers' avarice to the Piscean platitudes(fish) and ornithological oceans (chicken).
4: The Pied Piper of Hamelin
In a life changing ordeal to trace the history of music and thereby bringing a new revolution, Anu Malik introduced to the world the music of the Rats. Riding on the popularity of Disco, Bhangra, Twist and Rap, the Pied Piper of India blew his Rat bugle to announce the advent of a new genre in music (That it went down the rat-hole is another story). The lyrics of the song are simply unbelievable and even more unbelievable is the fact that its lyrics are credited to Qateel Shifai (which my heart refuses to believe). And dear Kareena, did you see Saif in this video before you decided to marry him?
And here are the top 3!
3: The Meditating Mystic and The Fountain of Youth
How love prevails over spirituality and other show-pieces of human metaphysical endeavours is an enigma since ages. In the song, rendered by Kishore and Asha, on the wizardry of Indeevar, a meditating Rajesh Khanna is enticed by a gyrating Sridevi to have a look at her 'jawaani' and embrace her thence. The biggest question in the video is posed by the innocent kid who has no idea of what is going on, just like us.
2: Everything That's Thine, Shall be Mine
There are ways to express love, but this immortal song of Dada Kondke sung by an aging Mahender Kapoor and a young Alka Yagnik, does the impossible. It describes the proposition of lust, unbridled and uncouth to the lady in a mesmerizing play with the punctuations. Widely celebrated as the greatest abstruse song of the nation, with layers of hidden meanings inside each of their statements, understanding this song has been a long standing litmus test of adult-ery in India
1: The Black Dog and The Good Bye
Actually after repeated hearings and long patient researches we are still not able to zero on the meaning or the sublime inspiration behind this song or why-the-hell is Anupam Kher so happy at the end (We definitely were not). This song presumably is the thin line between intellectuals and show-offs. We are still far away from that intellectual pedestal from which this was envisioned. Enjoy
So here is our tribute to the greatest of Indian Cinema. If you want to murder someone after reading this, please use the comment section below.
[Co-Authored by Nikhil Anand (partner in crime)]
Don't go by the cover pic (src http://in.blouinartinfo.com/sites/default/files/sholay_poster_c.jpg)
Don't go by the cover pic (src http://in.blouinartinfo.com/sites/default/files/sholay_poster_c.jpg)
loved it sir...great research...every piece is a masterpiece
ReplyDeletethank you Chandresh. And thanks for sharing!
DeleteFrick!!
ReplyDeleteI had previously heard just one song from the list... aalu / shaalu one.
This is too much, how the hell did you dig these up man
hahahahaha.....
Hehe, had to take serious pain to find these. Gone through many songs that were equally painful but not even funny. Keep Sharing!
DeleteCool Cool Cool Cool, I can understand the hour of pain you had to endure to bring us these songs :). Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeletehehe. more to come
DeleteYeh to wahiyaat tha .. I mean WTF..
ReplyDelete@shaurya Apologies, but yes they are right at the bottom. :-P
Delete