Helen was a fixture in mainstream Bollywood movis of 1960s and 70s. It was mandatory to have a Helen cabaret in these movies, irrespective of the storyline.
It is difficult to say which of these Helen number became the most popular. There are quite a few to choose from, and some of them have already been posted in this blog.
Here is one of the more popular Helen song. It is from “Caravan” and the popularity of this song was quite unbelievable. At least it appeared so to my impressionable mind at that time. And I was not the only one who felt that way. Most listeners of India felt the same way.
Asha Bhonsle stole the show in this song. R D Burman too came up with his unique voice, which became very popular with listeners. Just like S D Burman would typically sing a song in the movies for which he would compose the music, R D Burman too started doing the same , with same success.
Majrooh Sultanpuri wrote the lyrics. I am just amazed at the quality and quantity of output of Majrooh Sultanpuri. I notice that a large number of songs composed in those days had their lyrics written by Majrooh. And all these songs became hugely popular.
Video
Audio
Song-Piyaa tuu ab to aaja(Caravan ) (1971) Singers-Asha Bhonsle, R D Burman, Lyrics-Majrooh Sultanpuri, MD- R D Burman
Lyrics
piyaa tu…
ab to aa jaa he he he he
Monikaa …
wo aa gayaa … dekho … dekho … wo aa gayaa
Monikaa Monikaa … piyaa tu ab to aa jaa
sholaa saa man dahke aa ke bujhaa jaa
tan ki jwaalaa thandi ho jaa
aise gale lagaa jaa
ah han ah hah hahaa
ah ha hah hahaa
Monikaa, o my darling
Monikaa, o my darling …
pyaase pyaase in mere labon ke liye
tere hothon ne hazaar waade kiye
bhoolne waale koyi jiye to kaise jiye
are haan are haan are haan haa
pyaase pyaase in mere labon ke liye
tere hothon ne hazaar waade kiye
bhoolne waale koyi jiye to kaise jiye
are haan are haan are haan haa
laa laa la laa laa la laa laa la laa laa la laa aa aa
piyaa tu ab to aa jaa
sholaa saa man dahke aa ke bujhaa jaa
tan ki jwaalaa thandi ho jaa
aise gale lagaa jaa
ah han ah hah hahaa
ah ha hah hahaa
Monikaa, o my darling
Monikaa, o my darling
meri haalat pe rahe jo teraa karam
wo baat bhi mujhko qabool hai o sanam
jiski khaatir chhoo liye the mere kadam
are haan are haan are haan haa
meri haalat pe rahe jo teraa karam
wo baat bhi mujhko qabool hai o sanam
jiski khaatir chhoo liye the mere kadam
are haan are haan are haan haa
arre laa laa la laa laa la laa laa la laa laa la laa aa aa
piyaa tu ab to aa jaa
sholaa saa man dahke aa ke bujhaa jaa
tan ki jwaalaa thandi ho jaa
aise gale lagaa jaa
ah ha ah hah hahaa
ah ha hah hahaa
Monikaa, my darling
Monikaa, o my darling
the guy who lip syncs for the word monica o my darling is CHINOO SHIKARI/CHINU RAJPUT,
the one OSCAR UNGER you are mentioning can be seen here dancing (in his younger days)with Shashikala
Pancham Da ( RDB ) used to song Bengali songs for which he , himself composed music . On such example ‘ Mone Pore Rubi Ray ‘ ( Meri Bheegi Bheegi Palkon , Kishore Da Anamika ) .
But he sang much fewer number of Bengali songs than his father SDB did .
Kudos to father son duo .
This blog discusses Bollywood songs of yesteryears. Every song has a brief description, followed by a video link, and complete lyrics of the song. This is a labour of love, where “new” songs are added every day, and that has been the case for over SEVENTEEN years. This blog has more than 19700 song posts by now. This blog is active and online for over 6000 days since its beginning on 19 July 2008.
November 29, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Helen rules over everything. Am v. glad to have the lyrics to this song. 🙂
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November 16, 2019 at 4:37 am
I have the same question. That “round faced guy” was in numerous group dances of those days. Would love to give him the recognition he deserves.
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