Dam dam diga diga
Posted on: December 13, 2008
I have listened to this song many a times and it appears a typical Raj Kapoor movie song all the way. It is obviously sung by Mukesh. And I was convinced that Shailendra and Shankar Jaikishan have to be the lyricist and Music directors respectively. So I was mightily surprised to know that I was off target. The lyricist for this movie Chhaliya is Qamar Jalalabadi and the music director duo is Kalyanji Anandji for this movie. And I must say that they have done very good imitation of Shailendra and Shankar Jaikishan, who were they the top lyricist and music director in Bollywood.
I am also surprised to know that this movie was directed by Manmohan Desai. In fact, this was the debut movie for Manmohan Desai as a director who was only 22 years old at that time. And this debut movie of Manmohan Desai was a grand success as well.
And this song is a rain song. Now the mention of rain brings out different emotions in different people. The “proper” people try to keep away from rain. Their justification being (i)Children would fall sick if exposed to rain and (ii) grown ups would soil their clothes and would look low brow if seen enjoying the rain.
That is the commonly held majority view.
But the majority view obviously makes for dull and boring cinema, and we all know that Manmohan Desai movies can never be dull and boring. And that applies to this song as well. The rain begins and everyone including men, woman and even a fowl is seen running for cover,but their running for cover is not as desperate as that of “proper” people. They try to get under an umbrella, in case they are not carrying one of their own.
Raj Kapoor is fortunate to have an umbrella to call his own, but that is hardly any help as the portly figure of Raj Saab goes sliding under slushy underfoot conditions.
Raj Kapoor songs are not complete without a few ladies dancing in it. And the song shows a lady seen dancing in rain, with not an umbrella or raincoat with her, and enjoying the rain. And as Raj Kapoor moves ahead, a cyclist slides and falls off her cycle. The lady is not amused, but seems mollified enough after Raj Kapoor sings a few lines of the song addressing them to her.
Then Raj Kapoor walks ahead and comes to the junction where a traffic policeman ( in shorts, that was the usual dress of policemen those days) is busy directing traffic which largely consists of cyclists and foot walkers. Unlike the lady cyclist described earlier, the traffic policeman has no time for raj kapoor’s song, as he has to do his job, directing traffic with one hand, while holding an umbrella in the other hand.
Raj Saab proceeds further, and his umbrella just saves him in time from getting drenched from a bucketful of water thrown down by a lady standing on her roof. The lady’s gesture indicates she is apologetic about that, and raj Saab moves away, and this time climbs on the roof of another house, which has a wooden ladder placed against it. There he sings another para of the song, oblivious to the fact that his umbrella was closed and was not doing the job that all umbrellas are supposed to do during rains.
When Raj Kapoor gets down from the roof, the ladder gives way and Raj Kapoor find himself on the shoulders of a man walikng below.
It is that kind of a fun rain song !
Video
Audio
Song-Dam dam diga diga(Chhaliya) (1960) Singer-Mukesh, Lyrics-Qamar Jalalabadi, MD-Kalyanji Anandji
Lyrics
dam-dam, diga-diga
mausam bhiga-bhiga
dam-dam, diga-diga
mausam bhiga-bhiga
bin piye main to gira, main to gira, main to gira
haay allaah!, soorat aap ki subhaan-allaah
haay allaah!, soorat aap ki subhaan-allaah
dam-dam, diga-diga
mausam bhiga-bhiga
bin piye main to gira, main to gira, main to gira
haay allaah!, soorat aap ki subhaan-allaah
haay allaah!, soorat aap ki subhaan-allaah
teri ada waah! waah! kya baat hai
haaye, teri ada
are, teri ada waah! waah! kya baat hai
ankhiyaan jhuki-jhuki, baaten ruki-ruki
ankhiyaan jhuki-jhuki, baaten ruki-ruki
dekho koi re aaj lut gaya
haay allaah ! soorat aap ki subhan allah
haay allaah!, soorat aap ki subhaan-allaah
dam-dam, diga-diga
mausam bhiga-bhiga
bin piye main to gira, main to gira, main to gira
haay allaah!, soorat aap ki subhaan-allaah
haay allaah!, soorat aap ki subhaan-allaah
sanam ham maana gareeb hain
haaye sanam ham
aji sanam ham maana gareeb hain
nasiba khota sahi, banda chhota sahi
nasiba khota sahi, banda chhota sahi
dil ye khazaana hai pyaar ka
haay allaah ! soorat aap ki subhan allah
haay allaah ! soorat aap ki subhan allah
dam-dam, diga-diga
mausam bhiga-bhiga
bin piye main to gira, main to gira, main to gira
haay allaah!, soorat aap ki subhaan-allaah
haay allaah!, soorat aap ki subhaan-allaah
9 Responses to "Dam dam diga diga"
December 13, 2008 at 6:14 pm
And how did Gemma react ? 😉 To the rain, I mean .
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December 14, 2008 at 10:32 pm
She doesn’t mind the rain. I don’t think she enjoys my singing so much though.
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December 18, 2008 at 1:44 pm
What a beautiful song! It makes me want to dance and laugh at the same time. I remember hearing it on a wet, rainy day in Nainital, sitting with my mother and looking at the lake from our room. Thanks for this and other songs which have been reviving such beautiful memories for me.
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December 18, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Indeed it is a song that makes one feel nostalgic.
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June 12, 2023 at 8:17 am
Has the song any relevance to the place called DUM DUM in Calcutta, now KOLKATA
Is it a tribute to the HMV Marque?
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No sir, I do not think so. Dum Dum diga diga are just some gibberish words inserted in the lyrics to fit the meter of the song.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
December 13, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Ha ha! I was singing this very song yesterday as I walked Gemma in the pouring rain…now I can actually learn words other than “Dum Dum Diga Diga”!
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