After reading the two previous reviews, I wanted to come up with my own list. So here it is. I love listening to hindi songs and I am singing/humming them all day. At first I wanted to present them in order of liking but that was proving too tough, so I am just presenting them in chronological order.

I decided to exclude the ones already described in detail in the previous reviews namely - Julie, Umrao Jaan, Arth, QSQT, Amar Prem, Guide, Chitchor.

1) Dil To Pagal Hai (1997): I guess this album is popular because of Lata’s singing. She still sounds like she did 40-50 years ago. The music is by Uttam Singh and lyrics by Anand Bakshi. My fav is ’’pyaar kar, pyaar kar’’. Other good ones are ’’dil to paagal hai’’, ’’are re are’’ & ’’le gayi’’.

2) 1942 A Love Story(1994): This is probably the last album of R. D. Burman. With lyrics by Javed Akhtar, my fav is ’’kuchh na kaho’’ by Kumar Sanu. I actually like his version better than Lata’s. Other good songs are ’’ek ladki ko dekha to’’, ’’rim jhim’’, ’’pyaar hua chupke se’’.

3) Baazigar(1993): I still cant forget the scene where the hero (Shah Rukh) throws the heroine (Shilpa Shetty) from the rooftop of multistory building. This movie had great songs. Anu Malik did a wonderful job. My fav is ’’chhupaana bhi nahin aaata’’. I like Vinod Rathod’s version better than Pankaj Udhas’. Other good ones: ’’yeh kaali kaali aankhen’’, ’’baazigar o baazigar’’, ’’ae mere humsafar’’.

4) Maine Pyaar Kiya(1989): This movie, with music by Ram-Laxman, was a big hit because of its music. This was released when I was doing my BS and I remember friends seeing this movie repeatedly, even ones who weren’t fans of hindi movies. My fav is the title song but ’’kabutar ja ja’’, ’’aaja shaam hone aayi’’, ’’dil deewaana bin sajna ke’’ are all hummable. I have to mention the Antakshari which was very nicely done, especially the ending with the ’’kaate nahin katte ... I love you.’’

5) Ijaazat (1987): With a combination of Asha Bhosle (who sings all the songs), R. D. Burman and Gulzar, what else can you get but sheer magic? All the songs ’’mera kucch saamaan’’, ’’katra katra’’, ’’chhoti si kahaana se’’ and ’’khaali haath shaam aayi hai’’ are simply excellent.

6) Utsav (1986): Laxmikant Pyarelal managed to get two duets ’’man kyun behka re’’ and ’’neelam pe nabh chaayi’’ from the sisters Lata and Asha, a rarity by any standard. However, my fav is Suresh Wadkar’s ’’saanjh dhale, gagan tale’’.

7) Aitbaar (1985): If you’ve never heard this album before and do manage to do it, you will never in a million years guess who the Music director is. Its Bappi Lahiri. The ’’copycat’’ managed to be quite creative here. The two duets ’’kisi nazar ko tera’’ and ’’aawaaz di hai’’ by Asha Bhosle and Bhupinder are brilliant. ’’tu ru ru’’ and ’’hum aur tum’’ are quite good too.

8) Masoom (1983): Movie-wise, this one is a masterpiece. Shekhar Kapur did a brilliant job with Naseer and Shabana. Music-wise, the team of R. D. Burman and Gulzar gave us
’’tujhse naaraz nahin’’, ’’do naina aur ek kahaani’’, ’’lakdi ki kaathi’’. My fav is ’’huzoor is kadar’’, a duet by Bhupinder and Suresh Wadkar.

9) Sadma (1983): This movie’s end is really heart-wrenching but fortunately the songs are great fun. Wonder why Ilayaraja didnt compose more Hindi music. Suresh Wadkar’s ’’aye zindagi gale laga le’’ is my fav. Other great songs are ’’surmayee ankhiyon mein’’, ’’o babua yeh mahua’’ and ’’yeh hawa yeh fiza’’.

10) Nikaah (1982): Salma Agha’s singing made this album memorable. My fav is ’’faza bhi hai jawaan jawaan’’. Others are ’’dil ke armaan aansuon mein bah gaye’’, ’’dil ki ye aarzoo thi’’. The qawaali ’’chehra chhupa liya hai’’ is simply excellent, its a battle of the sexes. There is a Ghulam Ali gazal ’’chupke chupke raat din’’ too. Music is by Ravi.

11. Qurbani (1981): Kalyanji-Anandji gave us ’’qurbaani, qurbaani’’, ’’laila o laila’’, ’’hum tumhe chaahte hain aise’’.
Who can forget Zeenat Aman dancing to ’’Aap jaisa koi meri zindagi mien aaye to baat ban jaaye’’

12. Ek Duje Ke Liye (1981): Laxmikant-Pyarelal & Anand Bakshi gave us ’’hum bane tum bane ek duje ke liye’’,
’’hum tum dono jab mil jaayenge’’, ’’tere mere beech mein’’. Of course, the elevator song ’’mere jeevan saathi pyaar kiye ja’’ created from movie names is great fun.

13. Saath Saath (1981): Jagjit Singh & Chitra Singh’s gazals made this album memorable. We have ’’yeh ter ghar, yeh mera ghar’’, ’’tumko dekha to yeh khayaal aaya’’, ’’pyaar mujhse jo kiya tune to kya paaya’’. My fav is the sad ’’kyoon zindagi ki raah mein majboor ho gaye’’. Music is by Kuldeep Singh.

14. Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978): Kalyanji-Anandji & Anjaan gave us ’’o saathi re’’, ’’dil to hai dil’’, ’’rote hue aate hain sab’’. My fav is ’’pyaar zindagi hai’’.

15. Kabhi Kabhi (1976): Khaiyaam & Sahir Ludhianvi gave us Mukesh’s ’’kabhi kabhi mere dil mein khayaal aata hai’’, ’’main pal do pal ka shaayar hoon’’, ’’mere ghar aayi ek nanhi pari’’, ’’tere chehre pe nazar nahin’’.

16. Aandhi (1975): R. D. Burman     and Gulzar, again, gave three wonderful duets of Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar,
absolute gems - ’’tere bina zindagi se koi’’, ’’tum aa gaye ho noor aa gaya’’, ’’is mod se jaate hain’’.

17. Bobby (1973): Laxmikant-Pyarelal created ’’hum tum ek kamre mein band ho’’, ’’na chaahoon sona chaandi’’, ’’jhoot bole kauva kaate’’ and my fav ’’main shaayar to nahin, magar aye haseen’’.

18. Jawaani Diwaani (1972) : R. D. Burman & Anand Bakshi presented us with ’’nahin nahin abhi nahin’’, ’’agar saaz chheda taraane banenge’’, ’’saamne yeh koun aaya’’. The one I like the best is ’’jaane jaan dhoondta phir raha hoon tumhe raat din’’.

19. Mera Naam Joker (1970) : Shankar-Jaikishan & Hasrat Jaipuri gave us three beautiful songs by Mukesh - ’’jaane kahaan gaye woh din’’, ’’jeena yahaan marna yahaan’’, ’’kehta hai joker saara zamaana’’. I also like the ’’teetar ke do aage teetar’’.

20. Madhumati (1958): Salil Choudhury & Shailendra gave us
’’chadh gayo paapi bichhua’’, ’’suhaana safar aur yeh mausam haseen’’, ’’dil tadap tadap ke kah raha hai’’, ’’aaja re pardesi’’.

If you haven’t heard of some, go download the songs from www.kaaza.com.

Some of the ones that didnt quite make it to my top twenty are: Prem geet, Saagar, Satte Pe Satta, Maya Memsaab, Sharaabi, Aashiqui, Namakhalaal, Gharonda, Silsila, Raat Aur Din, Kati Patang, Abhimaan.