One of the great inconveniences of language is that, while most of the time, it makes communication easier, it sometimes ends up imposing constraints when it comes to using superlatives. If these are indeed the twenty best songs of R D Burman, then which of them are the five best? What song would be the twenty first? Does'best' have any meaning when it comes to discussing someone like him? For in choosing these, the task is a bit like listing the five best plays of Shakespeare or the three best short stories featuring Sherlock Holmes.
In that sense, the afficianado's task is short circuited to numbers and ordinality when, in truth, art or its appreciation transcends arithmetic.
This, however, need not prevent us from writing a list regardless.:-)
anyway - here's the story:
- Do Naina Ek Kahani(Masoom): Aarti Mukherjee’s almost impersonal and pathos laden voice tells a story of mother love, sadness and childhood innocence. It seems that she may not have understood each word in the lyric(but then, who can understand Gulzar’s lyrics – I can’t!), but the mood and dignity she brings to the song is overpowering. Also a theme song, in the sense that it sums up this masterpiece of a movie very nicely in the way it is pitcurized. Also check out the instrumentation, which, though conforming to the same pattern, rises in crescendo and changes in emotion as the lyric progresses. And the question mark and longing remains.
Mehbooba Mehbooba(Sholay): What I liked about this song is the way is that the rhythm actually goes off-key(or should that be off the ‘sam’, as they call it in Indian music) and then returns! Only a very very clever musician could have done that. Try tapping pace to this song if you want to know what I mean. And of course, curious gypsy melodies too. Irresistible.
Hum Kisise Kum Nahin - four song medley(Hum Kisise Kum Nahin). Ok, I cheated on this one J – this is really four songs. But a fantastic competition song. Jatin Lalit tried something similar in ‘Jo Jeeta Who Sikandar’ with some success. Starts off with the soft ‘Chand Mera Dil’ inspired by a Beatles track, then a couple of grating harsh burn-the-floor spells by Kishore and RD before Asha’s voice sluices you with its freshness and gaiety. And what a finish! Check it out.
- Yeh Saayen Hain(Namkeen): Asha’s melancholy mystery tour as she talks about life, loneliness and longing and the need for rootedness in a world of wafer thin personas and empty situations.
Jaan E Jaan, Dhoondta Hee Raha(Jawani Diwani): Kishore Kumar and Asha play hide and seek in a delightful game of melody as their voices roll over the hillside and the emotions and moods of young love. A pity this one was wasted on Randhir Kapoor.
Dum Maro Dum(Hare Ram Hare Krishna): What can one say about this? Right from the time Bhupinder’s guitar drones and cuts a swathe through the silence and settles in on a hypnotic riff to the time that Asha traverses three octaves to create the undeniable anthem of the new generation. A landmark song that no one has even tried to emmulate. They would also have to find a Zeenat all over again, for starters.
Ek Chatur Naar(Padosan): Hilarious. Kishore Kumar and Manna Dey cross swords with that badshaah of buffoonery Mehmood butting in sometimes. Seldom has the ‘hasya rasa’ been so comprehensively evoked.
Sun Sun Sun Didi(Khoobsoorat): A song almost conversational in its simplicity. Asha to the fore again. Check out the instrumentation that contrasts Rekha’s light, girlish, naughty footfalls with her elder sister’s more dignifed ones. A treat.
O Manjhi Re(Parichay): Jeetendra crosses a river and the sound of rain drops at the background is the perfect foil to Kishore Kumar’s tale of friendlessness and peace.
Dhanno Kee Aankhon Mein(Kitaab): Another great train song. It seems the song is about a train driver who waits to pass a station at a particular time every evening so that he can have but a glance at the station master’s daughter as she lights the lamp. No, we don’t know who the girl is. But the mystery and the train’s sound is beautifully captured in the instrumentation, which loops in on itself, a bit like a Bach melody.
Kuchh to Log Kahenge(Amar Prem): Kishoreda goes all out in this song about the injustices of fate. A wonderful lyric and a haunting rise in melody when the verse ends.
Jahan Teri Yeh Nazar Hain(Kaalia): If ever a bit actress had to thank a song for committing her to posterity(oops), this must surely be one of them. I am told he lifted it from a Spanish melody, but then even ‘Merchant of Venice’ is just ‘The Jew of Malta’ and ‘My Fair Lady’ is almost ‘Pygmalion’.
Ek Ladki Ko Dekha(1942 - A Love Story): The paean to the virginal Manisha and yes, picturization does play a role. But check out the simple tune that grows on you, almost like ‘ahista ahista badhta nasha’. Also a short song – a lesson for the new movie moguls who, when they get even a reasonably good tune, make it stretch eight and half minutes.
Hoga Tumse Pyaara Kaun(Zamaane Ko Dikhana Hain): One of the great train songs of Hindi filmdom. Check out the instrumentations – lazy, langurous and conjuring up images of a steam train puffing its way through a Darjeeling tea valley. And yes, a mischeivous tune too. Alas, I guess these days they would rather make it steamy in the remix.
Chura Liya Hain Tumne(Yaadon Kee Baaraat): The opening strings of the guitar fall almost like Zeenat’s dark tresses and you are transported to Rafi and Asha’s tell-me-more story of young love. Provocative lyrics too.
Aap Kee Aankhon Mein Kuchh(Ghar): R D and his classical spin. Based on Raga Yaman Kalyan, like ‘Huzoor Is Kadar’ from Masoom, and a wonderful tease-me-yet-tease-me-not melody from a remarkable movie.
O Mere Sona(Yaadon Kee Baaraat): What strikes me about this song is the clever use of pauses just when the verse / main tune ends. That fractional silence makes the song even more naughty than it would have been otherwise. A pity it was wasted on Asha Parekh.
Jhooka Ke Sar Ko Poochho, Madam How Do You Do(Satte Pe Satta): Really a very simple tune but cleverly turned to advantage by the variations and corny dialogues in between. Btw, when was the last time we had a bhabhi coaching her brothers-in-law on how to snare a girl? Hats off to Hema for this one as well.
Piya Tu Ab Aaja(Caravan): The classic cave man and pretty girl combo. Yet to be surpassed. Embellished by RD’s throaty vocals. Umistakable sounds of panting and sighing at the back serve as the perfect backdrop to Asha’s majestic voice.
Dilbar Dil Se Pyaare(Caravan) – along with(and next to) ‘Mungda Mungda’ from Inkaar, the ultimate come-hither / come-and-get-it song from Hindi movies. Really in-your-face and provocative. Yes, it’s been remixed already. Twice.
a word about RD's background score. Check out ‘Shakti’, ‘Masoom’ and ‘Sholay’ – the way they bring out the sense of almost-Greek-drama inevitability, the questioning and innocence of the child and the terror of the valley. For that matter, even each song in Sholay(except ‘Yeh Dosti’) is spiced up with some danger in the way its instrumentation is done …
