Hundreds of Hindi movie songs from 1950s to 1970s capture myriad shades of love. A small collection:
- YouTube: Tujhe Kya Sunaon Main Dilruba (1958, Aakhri Daao, Rafi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Madan Mohan) — Lyrics in Hindi — From uncertainty to sublime mesmerization. Fond personal memories going back two decades (to class XII) are associated with this song. Curiously, there is another Hindi song with similar tune and theme but very different sentiments: YouTube: Ye Hawa Ye Raat Ye Chandni. Two old Hindi songs are rarely such carbon copies of each other.
- YouTube: Jurm-e-Ulfat Pe Hame Log Saza Dete Hain (1963, Taj Mahal, Lata Mangeshkar, Sahir Ludhianvi, Roshan) — Lyrics in Urdu — Defiance and assertion. Love transcends many boundaries.
- Tum Gagan Ke Chandrama (1964, Sati Savitri, Lata & Manna De, Bharat Vyas, Laxmikant Pyarelal) — Lyrics in Hindi — An epitomy of mutual love and reverence.
- YouTube: Hamse Aaya Na Gaya — (1957, Dekh Kabira Roya, Talat, Rajinder Krishan, Madan Mohan) — Lyrics in Hindi — A beautiful song with three stanzas on love, separation and death. I remember playing this song in mid-2006 at home amid great turmoil in my personal life. Sadly, the other person in the room never understood the meaning in the stanzas.
- YouTube: Na To Karwaan Ki Talaash Hai (1960, Barsaat Ki Raat, Rafi, Sahir Ludhianvi, Roshan) — Lyrics in Urdu, Hindi and Punjabi — One of my favorite qawwalis from childhood — love for the beloved and the love for the Divine commingle in qawwalis.
- YouTube: Na Jaane Kyu Hota Hai Ye Zindagi Ke Saath (1975, Chhoti Si Baat, Lata, Yogesh, Salil Choudhary) — Lyrics in Hindi — A nice song on separation and pining. A cassette of “Chhoti Si Baat” was played umpteen times in my car from 2001 — 2006.
- YouTube: Jaane Wo Kaise Log The Jinke (1957, Pyaasa, Hemant Kumar, Sahir Ludhianvi, S D Burman) — Lyrics in Urdu — A sorrowful song on unrequited love.
- YouTube: Meri Bheegi Bheegi Si (1973, Anamika, Kishore Kumar, Majrooh Sultanpuri, R D Burman) — Lyrics in Hindi — A rare Hindi song full of bitterness.
- Ye Duniya Agar Mil Bhi Jaye To Kya Hai (1957, Pyaasa, Rafi, Sahir Ludhianvi, S D Burman) — Lyrics in Hindi/Urdu — Depths of loneliness, anguish and despair. Familiarity with the movie storyline is useful for appreciation of this song.
- YouTube: Tere Bina Zindagi Mein Shikwa (1975, Aandhi, Lata and Kishore, Gulzar, R D Burman) — Lyrics in Hindi — Reunion, complicated.
- YouTube: Man Re Tu Kahe Na Dheer Kare (1964, Chitralekha, Rafi, Sahir Ludhianvi, Roshan) — Lyrics in Hindi — A song with spiritual sentiments and deep meanings. Recently discovered.
- YouTube: Kisi Ki Muskuratahon Pe Ho Nisaar (1959, Anaadi, Mukesh, Shailandra Singh, Shankar Jaikishan) — Lyrics in Hindi — Selfless love: one of my favorite songs. In twelfth grade, I jotted down lyrics of around 120 Hindi songs and some 10 English songs neatly in a diary. This song was special: I made sure it was song number 100! Today, its picturization reminds me of the movie Zorba the Greek. Trivia: a classic dialogue by Zorba is the inspiration behind the title of the book Full Catastrophe Living by Jon-Kabat Zinn, an MIT graduate. Over the last thirty years, Jon has been a leading figure for incorporating Eastern meditation techniques into stress reduction and healing systems in mainstream Western medicine.
Thanks to my parents, I have an ear for music. My mom stood sixth in the All India Radio vocal competition in 1972. My father maintained a collection of over 2000 gramophone records. So oodles of Hindi film music and Indian classical music poured into my ears during my formative years.
A wikipedia article on “Love Styles” reveals that two persons connect in so many different ways. Further, as relationships blossom and fade, the nature of love changes. Research work: It would be nice to build clusters of Hindi songs which revolve around the same theme.
Thats a wonderful collection of songs! Especially the 5th one, the qawwali “Na To Kaarwan Ki Talaash” ; one of those rare songs I like for so many good reasons.
It has a great play on words and very few songs would, according to me, be in the same league. It is sung by the finest, the maestroes or “ustads”of the Indian classical music – Manna Dey and Moh. Rafi. The music is very melodious as well as foot tapping. At first, it talks about romantic love and then rises to devotion in love (which is nothing but “bhakti”), and finally devotion becomes complete surrender to The Supreme! The crescendo takes you into a trance along with the mystifying lyrics of elevating a man to become The Divine Himself!
The medium of Qawwali as a form was used to hold the attention of a heterogeneous audience by taking them into trance with the mystifying music, actually making them receptive to a religious or sufi message that would be conveyed. This qawwali certainly does it all!
About separation and pining that some songs in the list are about, I have a very good one that I would want to make a mention of : “Ranjish hi sahi, dil hi dukhane ke liye aa”. One of the great Ghazals of all time sung by Mehdi Hassan
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGZ3D9WxZHE )
Pay special attention to the lyrics and do refer to an Urdu dictionary/ask a friend, should you see yourself struggle with few words. Its surely worth it!
hi your blog is great.
They have re-done #9 with a contemporary tinge in Gulaal, have a watch :)