“Lakhon hai yahan dilwale, par pyaar nahi milta…”, Am I falling in love again? Yes, may be, at least with the melodies… of our good ol’ Bollywood classics. I don’t know if everyone who comes to a foreign land (an Indian out of India, I mean) feels the same. I have, ever since I came to London, been going ga-ga with Hemant Kumar, tapping on ticks-tocks of O. P. Nayyar, getting melancholic with Rafi, and so on. I have, never in particular liked Kishore Kumar (spare me), and till date Lata is a big NO (except for Luka Chuppi – Rang De Basanti).
As a matter of fact, I never had any musical favourites from the times of the golden age of our Indian cinema (the lustre has only faded now, though movies of today do fake a lot of glitter). I used to listen to anything that played on my small Philips pocket transistor, the custody of which lay in my mom’s hands most of the times during day, and then with dad during the night. Dare, I touch the black box and change the frequency. So, it was up to me to enjoy whatever was played or just keep quite and listen, we dint have a television at the time. However today, when I am in possession of dheekk-cheekk-dhaakk-cheekk gadgets, I have hardly had anytime to enjoy (or even bother about) the classics. My speakers at home, or those plugged into my ears were always clouded with songs of today. Though I did make some time for Dev Anand (Hum Bekhudi Mein Tumko Pukare…) and Gurudutt (Yeh Duniya Agar Mil Bhi Jaye Toh Kya Hai…), searching for rare melodies seemed like one task for me.
However, with every passing day in London (and this has been happening since last 40 days), I keenly listen to a number of old classics, though I skip the ones of which don’t quite make me feel the beat and heat of it. I keep digging for songs and then burrow more and more and more, trying various combinations, singers from music directors, movies from singers, music directors from movies, and all sorts. And then I go to YouTube and take a visual enjoyment of the song. It’s an utter shame on me that I discovered here in London that “Nain Lad Gayi Hain…” is filmed on Dilip Kumar. Ahh, let me tell you this. One of my amazing musico-archaeological discovery – “Laga Chunari Mein Daag…” is picturised on Raj Kapoor, I was surprised, Raj Kapoor and a classical song, I gulped two sips of beer in one single go, imagine what your state would be, if in Khajuraho you find a lady clad in Draupadi’s saree. Phew!
As a matter of fact, I never had any musical favourites from the times of the golden age of our Indian cinema (the lustre has only faded now, though movies of today do fake a lot of glitter). I used to listen to anything that played on my small Philips pocket transistor, the custody of which lay in my mom’s hands most of the times during day, and then with dad during the night. Dare, I touch the black box and change the frequency. So, it was up to me to enjoy whatever was played or just keep quite and listen, we dint have a television at the time. However today, when I am in possession of dheekk-cheekk-dhaakk-cheekk gadgets, I have hardly had anytime to enjoy (or even bother about) the classics. My speakers at home, or those plugged into my ears were always clouded with songs of today. Though I did make some time for Dev Anand (Hum Bekhudi Mein Tumko Pukare…) and Gurudutt (Yeh Duniya Agar Mil Bhi Jaye Toh Kya Hai…), searching for rare melodies seemed like one task for me.
However, with every passing day in London (and this has been happening since last 40 days), I keenly listen to a number of old classics, though I skip the ones of which don’t quite make me feel the beat and heat of it. I keep digging for songs and then burrow more and more and more, trying various combinations, singers from music directors, movies from singers, music directors from movies, and all sorts. And then I go to YouTube and take a visual enjoyment of the song. It’s an utter shame on me that I discovered here in London that “Nain Lad Gayi Hain…” is filmed on Dilip Kumar. Ahh, let me tell you this. One of my amazing musico-archaeological discovery – “Laga Chunari Mein Daag…” is picturised on Raj Kapoor, I was surprised, Raj Kapoor and a classical song, I gulped two sips of beer in one single go, imagine what your state would be, if in Khajuraho you find a lady clad in Draupadi’s saree. Phew!
My ecstasy continues, each day exploring a new classic melody, and I have started enjoying it. I have Hemant Da as my beer buddy, O. P. Nayyar for wine celebrations, Geeta Dutt for some Rum, and Rafi goes on well with anything, even with Chai and Biskut.
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