Kaise kahen ham
Posted on: September 6, 2010
This post is written by Raja, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor of posts to this blog
My memories of Sharmilee (1971) are associated with my seeing this movie on my first-ever visit to Mumbai (then Bombay) in 1972. I have described some of my experiences of that visit on the post relating to the song “khilte hain gul yahaan”.
I remember “Sharmilee” doing quite well at the box-office. It was a big boost for Shashi Kapoor, seeing as it was during the Rajesh tsunami days (am I overusing this term?). And it was a very big movie for Raakhee so early in her career, considering she had a very meaty role in the movie, double role et al. She was still new in the industry and had been noticed in Jeevan Mrityu but this movie was exactly what she needed to announce herself as the most exciting new heroine on the horizon.
I liked all the songs in the movie. Yes, even the sad “megha chhaye aadhi raat” by Lata. As I have said before, in those days, I used to mentally fast-forward Lata’s slow songs in movies. But somehow I liked this song a lot – maybe it was the poignant scene in the movie that touched me. But more on that when this song gets posted.
Coming to the song that is posted here, “kaise kahen hum”.
Now, Mukesh may be the acknowledged shehenshah of sad songs – and Rafi saab has his fair share of classics – but, in my opinion, Kishore was absolutely magnificent in his own way. His voice had magic when he went into “soft” mode and you could just relax and let the song take over your mind. I remember there was a cassette series titled “Kishore in a soulful mood”. I had got the entire set and it used to play non-stop in my car.
I think this song “kaise kahen hum” was in that series. I am hundred percent sure it played in my car although, considering I had plenty of Kishore cassettes at that time, I cannot vouch for which one had this on it.
(I can see readers here go “Cassettes?” Which generation is he talking about? Well, in the 1990s I
was still only having a cassette player in my car, not a CD-player”. Some readers may even go “Cassette? What is that?” 😉 ).
Anyway, this song is a sad song where Shashi Kapoor reflects on what has become of his life. He was a fun-loving guy in the army who had fallen in love with the equally fun-loving, chulbuli Kamini. He happily said “yes” for marriage thinking it was Kamini he was getting married to. Turns out it is her identical twin, Kanchan, who he has ended up marrying. Identical in looks but poles apart in character. Too goody-goody, way too boring for Shashi.
So here he is thinking “ye main kahaan phas gayaa?”. Bucketloads of wallowing in self-pity. 😀
But lovely song nevertheless. Neeraj-SD Burman combination. Always a delight. Trust Neeraj to talk about “baag, bahaar, patjhad”. He seemed to love writing about nature and seasons. 😀
I hope you like this song as much as I do.
Song-Kaise kahen hum (Sharmilee) (1971) Singer-Kishore Kumar, Lyrics-Neeraj, MD-S D Burman
Lyrics
Kaise kahen hum
Pyaar ne humko
Kya kya khel dikhaaye
Kaise kahen hum
Pyaar ne humko
Kya kya khel dikhaaye
Yoon sharmaayee
Kismat hum se
Khud se hum sharmaaye
Baagon ko to
Patjhad lootey
Loota humey bahaar ne
Duniyaa marti
Maut se lekin
Maara humko pyaar ne
Apnaa wo haal hai
Beech safar mein
Jaise koi lut jaaye
Kaise kahen hum
Pyaar ne humko
Kya kya khel dikhaaye
Tum kya jaano
Kya chaaha thaa
Kya lekar aaye hum
Tootey sapney
Ghaayal naghmey
Kuchh sholay
Kuchh shabnam
Itna kuchh hai
Paaya humne
Kahen to
Kahaa na jaaye
Kaise kahen hum
Pyaar ne humko
Kya kya khel dikhaaye
Aisi baji shehnaayee ghar mein
Ab tak so na sakey hum
Apnon ne humko itnaa sataaya
Roye to ro na sakey hum
Ab to karo kuchh aisa yaaron
Hosh na humko aaye
Kaise kahen hum
Pyaar ne humko
Kya kya khel dikhaaye
6 Responses to "Kaise kahen ham"
October 4, 2011 at 8:46 am
I LOVE THIS SONG
KAISE KAHE HAM PAYAAR NE HAM KO KAYA KAYA KHEL DIKHAYE………
KHUD SE HAM SHARMAYE……..
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
September 6, 2010 at 8:38 pm
I love all the songs in this film (and everything else about the film!), and I’m delighted to see this one highlighted. The characters’ emotions range all over the place throughout the film as the various twists and turns are revealed, and this song really captures Shashi’s character at his lowest – and a nice contrast to so many others, like Kanchan’s sad song “Megha Chhaye Aadhi Raat,” where she is all alone, outside in the woods (which is where this character is most comfortable, I think), whereas Ajith is in his army base with his colleagues all around. A nice way of showing how different these two characters appear at various stages before the films’ final conclusion.
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September 6, 2010 at 10:40 pm
Raja too likes this movie immensely, seeing that he has posted two songs from this movie recently.
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