Sun Mere Bandhu Re… !

My five favourite S. D. Burman sung songs

Either I am just too indecisive or I love all his songs, which makes a list of 10 favourite S. D. Burman songs so difficult. That is why I took the easy way out and went off to make a list of 10 favourite songs sung by him. That in turn would have been too easy, because I found only around 13 songs where he has lent his voice and only eleven of them were solos.

The first song sung by him for a Hindi film I found was for Eight Days [1946]. (Anu informed me later that he sang for the film Taj Mahal [1941] under the baton of Madhavlal Damodar. The song was ek prem ki pyaari nishani.) After that it looks like he took a 12 years break and lent his voice to Dev Anand in Kala Pani [1958] for the song dil laga ke kadar gayi pyaare. He sings dhin ta ta between the stanzas. The first Hindi solo of his after Eight Days is most probably sun mere bandhu re for Sujata [1960]. After this nearly all of his songs appear as background songs. Mere saajan hai us paar, although sung by a waysider, the camera stays on this character only at the beginning of the song, giving it a feeling of background song. While compiling this list, I realised the big impact this singer has left on us. He sang around ten solos in Hindi films and still one has at least five songs of him at the tip of the tongue.

 

Spring in the air… Why should I?

Shashi, a contestant in the great Indian Talent Show and also a fellow Dharam-fan, came up with the idea of making a list of bahaar (spring) songs. Since I wasn’t in the spring mood, I asked him if he would like to do a guest post… and he agreed.
My mother always says that a good house is where guests come. If my blog is my house than I am blessed indeed. I have so many guests who come here regularly and also leave comments which give me new ideas and also widen my horizons with new songs. So here is one guest, who is also doing a post and bringing in the spring. After all his name is Shashi (the Sun)!

Shashi’s ten favourite spring songs

 

Of Winds and Breezes

My ten favourite thandi hawa songs

It is very cold here now. At night it goes down to  -20° C. When I ride my bicycle to work and back, the wind freezes me to the core. Yesterday, as I was returning back home the thought about the discrepancy between the European and Indian attitude towards cold and heat arose again in my mind. In Hindi film songs the cold breeze brings in the romantic mood, while in Europe summer sets the mood for romance. While Meena Kumari in Pakeezah wishes her lover that the sun may never touch her beloved (suraj kahin bhi jaaye tum par na dhoop aaye), the gondoliere in sunny Italy calls his lover o sole mio (my sun). Of course the temperature difference plays in this attitude a big role. This brought my thoughts to the various thandi hawa songs in Hindi films and resulted is this list.