Sep 28, 2007 07:24 PM
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"Bappi Lahiri's 10 Best Songs! Is this an April Fool's joke or a Ripley's Believe it Or not?"*
Well that could be the first reaction of most of the people, if asked such a question. Not surprising, considering that Swami Bappidananda Maharaj has given us gems which go "Dooba Dooba" or "Zoobi Zoobi" or "Eyaa Eyaa Eeum Eeum" or "Bongo Bongo".Or even more masterpieces like "Saat mera aaoge, Ice Cream khaoge" or "You are my chicken fish fry".
But quite often Swami Bappidananda Maharaj has composed songs, which are genuinely good and melodious. Songs with good meaning, hummable and which dont talk about abstract philosophical concepts like "Disco Station" or "Dil se Dil ki Pappi". Matter of fact after Pancham, it was with Bappi Lahiri, that Kishore Da, had a large number of hit songs. For a large part of the 70's, Bappi gave some genuinely good songs, only most of them appeared in totally B level movies of which I dont have any clue at all. And that too on heroes like Sachin, Vikram and others whose names I dont even remember. Even in the 80's when Bappi Da, composed those abstract masterpieces, which left me totally clueless, there were still some really good songs, which used to pop up now and then. So here is a humble tribute to Swami Bappidananda Maharaj from a faithful follower of his.
Song: Chalte Chalte, Movie: Chalte Chalte*
I have no clue about this movie, except that though it has no relation with the SRK starrer and that it had Simi Garewal, and some unknown hero. But must say quite a lucky guy to lip synch to this beautiful song, one of my all time favorite Kishore Da numbers. The song starts off well with a guitar riff, and then picks up pace, before Kishore Da picks up the vocals "Chalte, Chalte, Mere Yeh Geet Yaad Rakhna, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, Rote Hanste Bas Yun Hi Tum, Gungunathe Rehna". Kishore Da really puts in so much passion and modulation, into this song, that to date whenever I listen to it, it still touches me. And one of the musical interludes has a whistling tune, which again reminded me of my another fav Kishore Da number, Dil Kya Kare( Julie), which has a continous whistle tune. My favorite lines from this song " Beech raah mein dilbar bichad Jaayen Kahin Hum Agar, Aur sooni si lagi tumhein jeevan ke ye dagar, hum laut aayenge tum yoon hi bulate rehna". Priceless, and one of the most romantic songs I have heard.
Song: Pyaar Manga Hai, Movie: College Girl*
Again another movie of which I have no clue at all, except that it starred Sachin. But this is one more beautiful romantic number by Kishore da. if you take a look at the starting vocals "Pyaar Manga Hai tumhi se, na inkaar karo", it is repeated twice. But there is a slight difference in the way Kishore Da modulates it, the first time is slow and soft, the second time he stretches it out. And then goes down to "Paas baito zara aaj to ikraar karo" and then he goes even lower as if in a whisper "mujhe pyaar karo". Musically this is quite average, but Kishore Da's vocals just elevate this song, as also some excellent lyrics, making it again one of my favorite. My favorite lines from this song "Kitna Madhur safar hai, tu mere humsafar hai, beete hue woh din, zara yaad karo". On the surface this and Chalte Chalte look very much simple, but try singing it, and you find how tough it is to recreate that modulation.
Song:Muskurata Hua, Movie: Lahu Ke Do Rang** T
his was a 1979 movie directed by Mahesh Bhatt, and starring Vinod Khanna, Shabana Azmi and Danny. Movie as such was a standard 70's Bollywood masala of lost and found, good brother, bad brother kind. No prizes for guessing who is who. But loved this peppy romantic number from the movie, and actually one of the few songs which looked good on screen too, I guess thanks to Vinod Khanna. Starting off with a lazy kind of beat, Kishore Da starts off the song "Muskurata Hua. gul khilata hua, mere yaar". And then Kishore Da hitting a higher pitch "mere Yaar". A kind of romantic song, with Vinod wooing Shabana, and somehow I must say their combination always looked good on screen. Also the song has some excellent guitar riff raffs, and makes me wonder why Bappi went in for all those noisy songs later in his career.Also excellent is the way Bappi mixes up the trumpet with a beat, in the first part. The most romantic part comes here "Dheere Se Chuu Lun Main Gaalon Ko, Chhoomu Main Bheege Se Gaalon Ka", and then Shabana responds with "Na, Na", and then again Vinod responding back "Na Na Karta Hua, Jag Se Darta Hua Mera Yaar".
Song: Yeh Naina Yeh Kaajal, Movie: Dil Se Miley Dil*
Another movie about which I have no clue at all. But one of the most melodious and romantic songs. Listening to this song I had two conclusions in mind, either Bappi Da did not compose this song, or those latter day songs were not composed by Bappi Da. Just beats me why with such an excellent talent, he wasted it on real 3rd rate songs. Kishore Da again in full form here, in fact I feel its one of his more underrated songs. Bappi Da wonderfully mixes up the guitar with mouth organ here to create a superb melody. Also throughout the song, he allows the vocals to dominate the music. This is one of the few songs, where I have seen extensive use of the mouth organ. Also Kishore Da's vocals here, are different, in that it looks more like reciting a poem. Another memorable romantic number for sure. My favorite lines in this song "meri saanson se poocho, meri aahoh ko samjho, tum pooja hum pujari, tum kismat hum zuari".Now again if you notice the first two lines, Kishore da renders them in a very elongated way, stretching the words, and when he comes to the "tum pooja, hum pujari" part, he goes very slow, just cutting down totally.
Song: Mana Ho Tum, Movie: Toote Khilone*
Well this combination seems straight out of Ripley's Believe It or Not, with Yesudas giving the vocals and Kaifi Azmi writing the https://lyrics. I guess this was one of those movies in whichShekar Kapoor tried his luck as a hero, before switching to direction. And one of the few songs where he had Yesudas singing for Bappi Lahiri. This is also one of my favorite Yesudas songs in Hindi. Quite slow and melodious song. And of course Yesudas vocals doing full justice to this song on unrequited love. My favorite lines from the song "Khulti Nahin Kuch Dilruba, Tum Hum Se Khush ho ya ho khafa, Tirchi Nazar, Teekhi Ada, Lagte ho kyon bejaar se, dekho abhi to pyaar se".
