Bollywood Mujik : My favourite 12.

Looking back at a not-so-good, neither-too-bad year, I sat down listing the music that had hit me hard…at the right and the wrong places.

Here are 12 most favourite tracks from Bollywood that released this year (not exactly in the order of preference). Favourite in terms of music, lyrics, picturisation, the maximum number of hits on You Tube, mobile phone, “songs” folder on the D: drive or the general enthusiasm expressed when they were being played on radios or parar club.

Generally these lists are either of 10s or 20s. However ‘12’ is strategically chosen for an obvious reason. Reason: Cheap publicity stunts. :/

   1.       Piya tu kahe rootha re (Kahaani): 

I am unusually attracted to songs which portray the feelings of a woman, but are sung in a male voice. Having said this, I instantly remember two songs where I wasn’t sufficiently moved by the music or the lyrics, but the above factor had an impact very deep. (i) “Mera jeevan kora kagaz” from Kora Kagaz (Jaya Bachchan –Kishore Kumar) and (ii) “Muchhe jawa dinguli amay je pichhu daake” from Lukochuri (Anita Guha - Hemanta Mukhopadhyay).

And, then there was “Aaoge jab tum o sajna”… (Kareena Kapoor - Ustad Rashid Khan).

Such is this song. (Vidya Balan’s emotions depicted through this song sung by Javed Bashir).

Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani, I love you both. The music you produced made me high, low, happy and sad. So did Bashir’s voice.

The bottom line: the guitar chords hit me hard at the not-so-right chords of my heart.

The favourite lines: “Chali kos kos mein akeli; mosey boojhi jaaye na paheli….birhaah bani mori saheli…..”

2.      Chinta ta chita chita (Rowdy Rathore):

What kind of music was that?? And what kind of lyrics? What was Akshay Kumar wearing?? (Isn’t Salman the only person in Bollywood who’s allowed to wear such obnoxious pink/orange/green trousers?)

I am devoid of any answers to the questions above. But, I am full of love for this song.

My 5 year old niece: “Mimi, my teacher said me to colour these.”

Me: Said me? What kind of English is that?

She (getting where she went wrong, within a flip of a second): “Wrong English. Like, ‘Don’t angry me.’”

Me (to myself): Isn’t she only faaive?!

Me (to her): Don’t say that again and don’t angry me.

Like her Mimi, the little girl is obsessed about Rowdy Rathore and the ‘chinta ta chita chita’ hand movements. And like her Mimi, she sings the flute part, ‘pyan pyan pya’ parts and all the no-lyrics parts in the song with rapt attention.

The favourite lines: Chinta ta chita chita chinta ta ta (for being the most meaningful).

PPS: There’s a Bengali version of the same song from “Bikram Singha – Lion is back”. Lend an ear.

3.      Pani da rang (Vicky Donor):

Me: JD, you know why I love this song?

JD: Hmm?

Me: The actor himself sings the song. This gives a strange kick, na?

JD: Kono din to Kishore Kumar sombondhye eshob bolte shunini! (Never heard these praises for Kishore Kumar from you).

Me: …….

JD: Accept the fact that it’s his LOOKS. Looks, body and then voice….

Me: (‘I-give-up’ smile)…

JD:  ‘Sung by the actor himself!’ Mithyebaadi Draupadi! :/

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Yes, I mean, the boy is so dishy that you can’t blame me. Undoubtedly, in the entire year, Ayushman is the only man I fell for, who’s blessed with such amazing looks. And an amazing voice. (In addition, the Yummyness he was paired with! Sigh.)

The favourite lines: “Baba hein? Pishi ghhar pe hein? Nahi? To hum kya yahan bethhke LUDO khelenge?”

Shottyobadi Yudhisthir, I am in a tsunami of good old memories. ;)

4.      Tumhi ho bandhu (Cocktail):

Sung by Neeraj Sreedhar and Kavita Sethh, this song reminds me of drinking raw Vodka (Dev D style) on the streets and beaches of Goa, falling in love with all the moments around, falling in love with every possible sight and above all, falling in love with one’s own self over and over again.

I also told JD that this should have been our wedding song. Such honest lines, man! 

Additionally, “Mein hoon hi nahi iss duniya ki” is killer. So is “Tu hain jaisa, mujhko waisa dikhna….”.

Tu hain jaisa, mujhko waisa dikhna…. (mentally humming it).

I feel like dancing again, making those “thumb meets index” hand movements. And drink raw Vodka.

The favourite lines: Haven’t I said them already?

5.      Mein Pareshan (Isaqzaade):

Amit Trivedi! What else can you expect of him?

And Shalmali Kholgade! I want to lift her voice and sing like her. The “khaare bhi meethe hai” tone mesmerises me…for long.

The song is also wonderfully worded by Kausar Munir (I don’t know who he is. I copied the name from You Tube). The song is awfully romantic. I loved the sound of bullets in between the music. That fits my idea of romance. Love in the time of chaos. Love in the times when everything else is wrong, except LOVE itself.

The favourite lines: Zara zara phoolon pe jhadne laga dil mera,
zara zara kaanton se lagne laga dil mera. 

6.      Go Govinda (Oh my God!)

I used to dislike Sonakshi Sinha.

And then this song happened.

I have watched the movie thrice in the theatres and watched this song three hundred thirty three times on You Tube.

The Aman Trikha-Shreya Ghoshal duo is fantastic so is Prabhudeva’s chewing gum body-movements. But, the girl takes the cake. What a happy soul she looked! Yellow shoes, yellow nailpaint, yellow belt and the aika-dajeba nose pin. Not to miss her body language and her almost-perfect steps to match the Indian Michael Jackson. I accept, had I been a man, this girl would have given me wet dreams.

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On our umpteenth time of watching the video, a particular gentleman’s observation: “If I had to run away with a girl, she would be the one” (expecting me to start my hate speech for her).

Me:  Take me along.

O gawd! I actually have a same-sex crush on her! : (

The favourite lines: I am in a messed up state. Can’t remember.

7.      Rabta (Agent Vinod):

      Amitabh Bhattacharya! The man! He will put your soul into a washing machine and turn on the quick-spin mode.

     

      I found a number of versions of this song on You Tube and similar sites.  What I love THE most, is the Hamsika Iyer-Arijit Singh version. The lyrics are clichéd, common and mushy. There is nothing extraordinary in “humko hai rehna jannatein bhulaake teri baahon mein panaah leke”. (Where else does one expect to find solace?)

     

      Yet. Yet, there is something extraordinary about the song as a whole.

    It too has sounds of bullets, chaos and collision. And in the midst of all that is not-so-beautiful, emerges this song. I got goose bumps for the first few times.

      

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     While standing on the footboard of a very crowded bus (with stinking armpits all around) and holding you to keep you from falling, has anyone ever whispered, “You can make heaven out of a crowded bus. How can I not love you?”? If yes, you’ll agree: The most clichéd feelings suddenly sound extraordinary by their manner of execution.

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     The picturisation reminds me of Suman Chattopadhyay’s lines “Rastar kawle rickshawalar snan, tomar jonno likhchi premer gaan…..”

   
   Such is this song.
     
  The favourite lines: “Ruthi hui khwaaishon se thodi si sulah leke, aaya tu khamoshiyon mein baton ki jirah leke, khoya tha samandaron mein tanah safina mera, sahilon pe aaya hein tu jaane kis tarah leke..”

8.      Phir le aaya dil (Barfi):

Pritam waved a magic wand and out came the music of Barfi. I want to preserve this one as the best music of 2012 (as an album). Hats and caps off, Pritam. This is unarguably your best till date.

About this song, I love the Rekha Bharadwaj version which was not used in the movie. The Arijit Singh version that was used was truly beautiful and had the same “picturised on a woman, sung by a man” effect. Yet, once you have heard Rekha Bharadwaj sing phir le aya dil, your mind would stop right there.

This song is strong. The sense of incompleteness in the song throws thousand daggers at you making your heart bleed.

The feeling of letting someone go at a moment when that’s the LAST thing you want, is truly painful. Especially, when you have a long “baki hein” list containing daabi si aans, daabi si aanch, adhuri si baat, adhuri si yaad, ruki si raah, ruki si chaah and so on…. With such a cruel “baki hein” list, this song manages to evoke the same amount of tears “Mera kuchh saman” did.

The favourite lines: Karte hain hum aaj qabool kya keeje, ho gayi thi jo humse bhool kya keeje, dil keh raha usey mayassar kar bhi aao, wo jo dabi si aas baaki hai, wo jo dabi si aanch baaki hain…

O god, just humming of the song makes me sad. :(

And I am crying for unknown reasons.

This means it’s a sad song and a bad song.

Shooooo! Shoo song! I don’t want to hear it again.

God knows why I included it in my precious list.

Ok final. I hate this song. And, I shall never hear it again.

9.      Kala re (Gangs of Wasseypur II):

A friend sent me this song. I heard the song several times. Several. And was looking for adjectives to describe it and failed each time, until I remembered an old conversation.

“If I have to choose one adjective for you, you know what it would be?”
Me: Awesome?

“Nah, that’s easy to come.”

Me: O. Difficult?

“Better, but still achievable.”

Me: Then?

“Scary and that’s scarce.”

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Right, this song is scary.

And, that’s scarce.

The favourite lines: None.

10.  Dreamum Wakeupum (Aaiyaa):

“Mujhhe gore log nahi, kale log pasand hein…”

:D :D :D

Again, Amit Trivedi - Amitabh Bhattacharya combination. It’s smart. It’s sexy and it’s sinful.

I love the song. I think Rani Mukherjee was anyways PERFECT, but Sowmya Rao was the icing on the freshly baked cake.

The favourite lines: Heart beatnum dhol peetnum,  Love lust double kasht bada dheetnum.

Body heatnum hot seatnum, Calling Fire Brigade bhi defeatnum.

NO. It’s like choosing between your own children on the basis of who you love the most.

So, here’s the entire song.

Dreamum wakeupum critical conditionum,
Earthum wakeupum hilo dool sab shakeupum,
Face to faceum dharti putram,
Top to baeum kama sutram,
Thighsum thunderum downum underum,
Sizeum matterum thinkum wonderum,
Jumpingum ……pumpingum….
Throbbingum…thumpingum..
Wane runde mune naale….

Heart beatnum dhol peetnum,

Love lust double kasht bada dheetnum,

Body heatnum hot seatnum

Calling Fire brigade bhi defeatnum,

Same to sameum dil me utaram,

Top to baeum kama sutram,

Thighsum thunderum downum underum,

Sizeum matterum thinkum wonderum,

Jumpingum ……pumpingum….

Streelingum …..punglingam..

Wane runde mune naale….

11.      Jeeya jaye na (Talaash):

This is my favourite song of the year. The song is so beautiful, that I wish I could keep her in my pocket, take her out whenever and talked to her.

Javed Akhtar. Ram Sampath. Sona Mahapatra. Ravindra Upadhyay. My salute!

The favourite lines: Mann ab tak jo bujh naa paya, Tum woh peheli ho…Koi na jaane kya woh rahasya hein…Jiski saheli ho..

12.      Tera pyar hookah bar (Khiladi 786):

At times, when I feel no one understands me, I think of him.

No one understands him either!

Himesh Reshamiya, you are my anti-depressant of the year.

You’ve made me your slave.

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The man is like Bappi Lahiri. He never ceases to amaze. Be his looks, his acting, his impeccable singing style or his music.

He lends his voice to this song along with Vineet Singh and Aman Trikha and the result is a second Kolaveri D, in terms of madness.
Trivia: The lyrics have being penned down by Himesh himself.

There are certain songs which makes me wonder: “If I was a man, I would have sung this one for a girl”.

This is such a song. It leaves me intoxicated creating a Vitamin G effect all over the head.

The favourite lines: Teri ankhiyon ka waar jaise sher ka shikar, tera husn dhuyedaar jaise jaltaa cigar.. 

Phew! it's a long post! (And I still wished '12' was not the number).