Laaraa lappa laaraa lappa laai rakhdaa
Posted on: April 25, 2009
Wow! What a song ! And what Picturisation ! This song must go down as one of the great fun songs of all time.
I am talking about the song “laara lappa laara lappa laai rakhdaa”. I had heard this song on radio in my younger days, and liked it too. And then I forgot all about this song. Then I posted a song picturised on Meena Shorey, and I got a query from one of the blog regulars whether she was the same person seen in “laara lappa”. Of course she is the same person. And I thank peevises’mom for thus telling me about this song. So I started looking for this song. And here is this song.
The song is sung wonderfully well by Lata. Aziz Kashmiri has written this fun song and the music director was someone called Vinod (also known as Eric Roberts).
I wonder what the lyrics means. Apparently “Laara” means something, going by the lyrics.
Meena Shorey is wonderful in this picturisation. This is a fun song where office workers led by Meena Shorey sing this song. It is an absolutely iconic song. I hope that this post of mine will let my readers get familiar with this wonderful song from 60 years ago.
Song-Lara lappa lara lappa (Ek thi ladki) (1949) Singers-Lata, G M Durrani, Rafi , Lyrics-Aziz Kashmiri, MD-Vinod
Lyrics
laaraa lappaa laaraa lappaa laai rakhdaa
laaraa lappaa laaraa lappaa laai rakhdaa
laaraa lappaa laaraa lappaa laai rakhdaa
aditappa aditappa laai rakhdaa
ho… dekar jhoothe laare
ho… dekar jhoothe laare
laaraa lappaa laaraa lappaa laai rakhdaa
aditappa aditappa laai rakhdaa
laaraa lappaa laaraa lappaa laai rakhdaa
aditappa aditappa laai rakhdaa
baabuji ki baat niraali
baabuji ki baat niraali
dil bhi khaali jeb bhi khaali
dil bhi khaali jeb bhi khaali
ho phir bhi akad dikhaaye
o babuji, phir bhi akad dikhaaye
o babuji, samajh na aaye re
laaraa lappaa laaraa lappaa laai rakhdaa
aditappa aditappa laai rakhdaa
laaraa lappaa laaraa lappaa laai rakhdaa
aditappa aditappa laai rakhdaa
babuji se maange paise
babuji se maange paise
babuji bole paise kaise
babuji bole paise kaise
jaa
len den par khaaq muhabbat paak
bade farmaa gaye hain
len den par khaaq muhabbat paak
bade farmaa gaye hain
laaraa lappaa laaraa lappaa laai rakhdaa
aditappa aditappa laai rakhdaa
laaraa lappaa laaraa lappaa laai rakhdaa
aditappa aditappa laai rakhdaa
laaraa lappaa laaraa lappaa laai rakhdaa
aditappa aditappa laai rakhdaa
laaraa lappaa laaraa lappaa laai rakhdaa
aditappa aditappa laai rakhdaa
laaraa lappaa laaraa lappaa laai rakhdaa
aditappa aditappa laai rakhdaa
ho… dekar jhoothe laare
ho… dekar jhoothe laare
ho… dekar jhoothe laare
laaraa lappaa laaraa lappaa laai rakhdaa
aditappa aditappa laai rakhdaa
laaraa lappaa laaraa lappaa laai rakhdaa
aditappa aditappa laai rakhdaa
aajkal ke gentlemen
aajkal ke gentlemen
rahte hain hardam bechain
khaali jeb matakte nain
khaali jeb matakte nain
kaam karen na kaaj
kaam karen na kaaj
phir bhi akad dikhaayen
o babuuji phir bhi akad dikhaayen
o babuji samajh na aaye re
laaraa lappaa laaraa lappaa laai rakhdaa
aditappa aditappa laai rakhdaa
laaraa lappaa laaraa lappaa laai rakhdaa
aditappa aditappa laai rakhdaa
aajkal ki naariyaan
aajkal ki naariyaan
hai muft ki beemaariyaan, beeaariyaan
raat din mardon se ladne ki kare taiyyaariyaan, taiyyaariyaan
kaam kuchh kartin nahin
aur baandhtin hain saadiyaan
kaam kuchh kartin nahin
aur baandhtin hain saadiyaan
laaraa lappaa laaraa lappaa laai rakhdaa
aditappa aditappa laai rakhdaa
laaraa lappaa laaraa lappaa laai rakhdaa
aditappa aditappa laai rakhdaa
ho… dekar jhoothe laare
ho… dekar jhoothe laare
fikr kyon karte ho saaheb
fikr kyon karte ho saaheb
ye bhi kar dikhlaayengen
ye bhi kar dikhlaayengen
waqt aayegaa to is kursi pe
ham dat jaayenge dat jaayenge
waqt aayegaa to is kursi pe
ham dat jaayenge dat jaayenge
laaraa lappaa laaraa lappaa laai rakhdaa
aditappa aditappa laai rakhdaa
laaraa lappaa laaraa lappaa laai rakhdaa
aditappa aditappa laai rakhdaa
23 Responses to "Laaraa lappa laaraa lappa laai rakhdaa"
April 25, 2009 at 3:32 am
This is a song that is a must watch song, and thanks to internet, it is possible now a days. Just imagine, people did not have access to the video of this song for decades together, because this movie was not a well known movie.
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April 25, 2009 at 6:15 pm
This is just absolutely brilliant !!!
The song, the picturisation, the fun in the office.
It is so refreshing to see women actually being portrayed as working in an office in those movies instead of “the man brings home the bacon” mindset not very uncommon in those days.
And Meena Shorey is just very very good.
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April 26, 2009 at 6:05 pm
thank u atul. i used to see this song in the chhayageet days.
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May 15, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Hi Atul, I came across your site by chance. Really appreciate the great job you are doing, including trying to present the lyrics accurately. Hope to keep coming back to check for more of these golden oldies.
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May 15, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Yes, providing correct and full lyrics is one thing I can take pride in, in this blog.
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July 2, 2009 at 10:20 am
Meena Shorey was just beautiful. She looks and acts
like Hollywood Star. May God rest her in peace.
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January 27, 2011 at 1:58 pm
The tune of this song is based on a Pahadi Punjabi song tune of Kangra District,where,even today it is sung in festivals.
Originally Eric Roberts,born in a Catholic family of Lahore,Vinod was exremely talented but unfortunate that he was not given his due in the industry.Vinod (1922-1959) died at a premature age of only 37 years.He gave music to 32 films,out of which 3 films were released 1 to 2 years after his death.
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November 26, 2011 at 6:41 pm
Lara lappa in Punjabi and Himachali means to not keep your word, or to dilly dally, keep someone guessing etc.
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November 26, 2011 at 6:58 pm
Mr Atul, I could not identify Mohammad Rafi’s voice in this song. Was he in the chorus?
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September 16, 2012 at 12:55 pm
Beautiful song, atul my request I want song mujhe tum se mohobat hai Magar mai kah naheen sakta(pictrised on whom)
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September 16, 2012 at 1:16 pm
You have enquired about the picturisation of this song in the past too. This was a B grade movie called “Bachpan” and its details and its video are not available. So one can only guess about its picturisation. It has been guessed by one regular that the song may have been picturised on Salim Khan.
https://atulsongaday.wordpress.com/2010/10/29/mujhe-tumse-muhabbat-hai-magar-main-keh-nahin-saktaa/
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January 11, 2013 at 5:47 pm
Absolutely a foot tapping number!! I have the VCD of this film and pay homage to Vinod by watching the film.
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July 9, 2015 at 6:02 pm
Atulji
Th tune of this song was copied in two Tamil movies Digambara Samiyar(1950) and Kavitha(1962)
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October 17, 2016 at 8:29 pm
Great song, funny video! I instantly fell in love with it years ago, but still can only guess what Lata is singing about. Would be great to have just a rough translation. Maybe one day someone will have mercy on a non hindi speaking person.
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November 26, 2017 at 9:30 am
Lara lappa means Taal Matol which means to evade. Addi tappa means khamakha jhagda karna.
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November 26, 2017 at 11:45 am
Thank yo for the meaning of “lara lappa” and “addi tappa”. (finally after hearing this song for almost 40years)
will be thankful if we get translation of all the punjabi in this song
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February 15, 2021 at 6:34 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmF5M3MjPog
video
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
April 25, 2009 at 1:56 am
I love this song! My uncle used to sing this song, but I heard it for the first time on a cassette that we bought from some small store in 2001, and then on a show done to felicitate Lata on her 70th birthday. Now that I have seen the picturisation, I think it is absolutely marvelous! It is full of life and joy and reflects the thinking in the minds of women, 60 years back, who wanted careers and were not allowed to have one.
Thanks for this great song, Atul!
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November 26, 2011 at 8:02 pm
Absolutely wonderful. Have been hearing this for many years now
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