Koi aaya lachak uthhi kaayaa
Posted on: March 23, 2012
This article is written by Raja, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
One of my many weaknesses is that at any given point in time I’m humming or singing a song, completely oblivious to the surroundings. This has resulted in embarrassing situations at times (like when I burst out singing “chhoo lene do naazuk honthon ko” once while waiting for a flight in the departure lounge in an airport causing some heads to turn). Now, if I’d been Rafi saab or Talat Mahmood or Kishore, I’d probably get away with it – but I have no illusions about my singing having anything close to a favourable impact on the unintended and hapless targets of my indiscretions. It is just one of those things that I need to watch out for, I suppose.
While my random singing is often of random songs (no particular singer or genre as such), it is often a particular song that I’ve heard recently that gets into my head and then keeps playing there – I believe the term for this is a “songworm”. I know this term usually has negative connotations but I’d like to use it to just mean a song that sticks in my head and keeps me busy with it for a while. This “while” could be a couple of days, it could be a couple of weeks – or it could be months!
The latest songworm then to join an illustrious list of many songworms I’ve suffered from (well, I actually enjoyed them, so “suffered” is a harsh term) is “Koi aaya, lachak uthi kaaya”.
If your face has a completely blank expression on it, I will fully understand. To be honest, I had myself NEVER heard this song till yesterday morning. And now I’m continuously singing the first few lines. C’est la vie! 🙂
So how did I come across this song?
No, I did not hear it on the radio. I did not chance upon it on youtube either. This song comes to me, courtesy the inflight entertainment facility (ICE) on Emirates Airlines.
I was taking this flight from Dubai yesterday and had over 500 entertainment options to pick from on the flight. The latest movies, music and other stuff. Hollywood, World movies, Bollywood movies. Amongst the Bollywood movies, most options were of recent movies – say, the last 2-3 years. I was tempted to watch Ra-One but then I realized I might not have been able to control my impulse to shove my fist into the video screen. 😉 There were other movies too like ZNMD, Singham, Bodyguard etc but my eyes lit up when I saw the names of a few older movies in there. I’d seen some of them (like Kashmir Ki Kali – which is always worth a revisit) but I thought I’d watch something I’d not seen yet.
And that is how I ended up watching Dastaan (1972).
Now Dastaan (1972) is a movie I remember being released when I was a young boy. I even remember a picture of it in the Blitz magazine then. As far as I remember, it did not do well at the box-office, much to the disappointment of BR Chopra, who had till then had a pretty good time with the box-office.
Other than the fact that this movie starred Dilip Kumar and Sharmila Tagore (and the song “na tu zameen ke liye”), I knew nothing about it before watching it. I had not seen it and did not know what to expect. Better still, I kept my expectations low – lesson learnt from Neel Kamal. 🙂
From the short preview of the movie, I learnt that it was a remake of Afsana (1951). That had been written by IS Johar – I believe it was a big hit. Dastaan (1972) is again written by IS Johar – though it did not quite share the same success as Afsana.
I have not seen Afsana so I cannot compare the two but I would now like to see it because I did like Dastaan. And I think an Ashok Kumar-Veena pairing, with this storyline, is tempting.
The story is about a young girl who loves a young boy (Sunil) in her childhood but he gets lost in a fair. His twin brother (Anil) cares about her but though she likes him, her heart belongs to Sunil – and though years have passed, she still believes Sunil will return some day. Circumstances so develop that Sunil finally does end up returning as Anil.
Then one fine day, thanks to a birthmark that Sunil has and not Anil, she discovers that this is indeed Sunil and not Anil who’s come into her life.
She is overjoyed, rushes out of his house and sings this lovely song. A song that I’d never heard before but quite liked when I heard it for the first time yesterday.
And have been singing since.
As is usual for a BR Chopra film, the songs of this film too are written by Sahir Ludhianvi. However, the music department comes as a bit of a surprise. It is Laxmikant Pyarelal and not Ravi who’s in charge here. For a moment, I thought Ravi may have taken a break from composing at that time but he did compose for BR Chopra for Dhund (1973), so I wonder why it’s L-P here. Maybe somebody can throw some light on this?
The song itself is quite delightful, reflecting the ecstatic mood of Sharmila. Also, since it is picturised solely and entirely on Sharmila in this happy mood, it must be a delight for Sharmila fans. I must say that, by Sahir standards, the lyrics are quite simple. But, for once, what attracts me by a Sahir song here I not the lyrics but the mood that Asha Bhosle-Sahir-LP have collectively managed to convey.
Now that this songworm is stuck in my head, I thought one way of maybe getting rid of it is to write about it for Atul’s blog. Like they say, it’s not good to keep something bottled up within you. It’s best to let it out in the open. 😀
So here’s the write-up on this song. Enjoy!!!
Audio
Video
Song- Koi aaya lachak uthhi kaaya (Daastaan)(1972) Singer-Asha Bhonsle, Lyrics-Sahir Ludhianvi, MD-Laxmikant Pyarelal
Lyrics
ho koi aaya
lachak uthhi kaaya
ke dil mera bas mein nahin
ho koi aaya
lachak uthhi kaaya
ke dil mera bas mein nahin
sharmaaun
laakh bal khaaun
ke jaise par bina
main udti jaaun
ke dil mera bas mein nahin
ho koi aaya
lachak uthhi kaaya
ke dil mera bas mein nahin
sharmaaun
laakh bal khaaun
ke jaise par bina
main udti jaaun
ke dil mera bas mein nahin
ho koi aaya
lachak uthhi kaaya
ke dil mera bas mein nahin
jiske liye
zindagi phool chunti thhi
jiske liye main sad
khwaab bunti thhi
raaton ko main
dhadkanen
jiski sunti thhi
aaya wo muraaden liye
jaadoo bhari yaaden liye
naachoon machal kar gaaoon
ke dil mera bas mein nahin
ho koi aaya
lachak uthhi kaaya
ke dil mera bas mein nahin
moti bharoon
aaj main apne baalon mein
taaron ??
jaad uthhen narm gaalon mein
aaya hai din
aaj ka
kitne saalon mein
sochhon to lehak uthhoon
phoolon si mehak uthhon
naachoon
machal kar gaaoon
ke dil mera bas mein nahin
ho koi aaya
lachak uthhi kaaya
ke dil mera bas mein nahin
sharmaaun
laakh bal khaaun
ke jaise par bina
main udti jaaun
ke dil mera bas mein nahin
ho koi aaya
lachak uthhi kaaya
ke dil mera bas mein nahin
ke dil mera bas mein nahin
lalalalalalala
13 Responses to "Koi aaya lachak uthhi kaayaa"
March 23, 2012 at 11:02 am
Sorry Raja ji
I have addressed you,mistakenly as “Sudhir ji”
Sorry again
prakash
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March 23, 2012 at 1:17 pm
No need to apologise, Prakashji. Easy mistake to make. 🙂 Actually I feel honoured that you mistook me for Sudhirji. 😉
And yes, kuchh to karmic connection hoga.:-) Eerie that you were also thinking of exactly this song, especially considering it is not that famous a song. (Well, maybe it is – it is just that I’d never heard it before!).
I listened to it again – could it be “taaron se jaag jaag uthe narm gaalon mein” ?
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March 23, 2012 at 3:22 pm
I have heard this song many a times and
It must be “Taaron ke lau jaag utte narm gaalon mein”
Please correct me if I am wrong.
“Lau” as it has been used in Aandhi(Gulzar)song
“Tum aa gaye tho noor aa gayaa hai, nahin tho charaagon se LAU jaa rahi thi”.
Spelling must be either LAU or LOV.
I am not well versed with the meaning of Urdu or Hindi words that`s why I am not fully confident about the meaning of LAU.
Whether LAU means “small flames of fire OR Bhagwaan ke saamne chhote se deepak jalaathe hain naa, usse LAU kehthe hain kya?? “.
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March 23, 2012 at 11:22 pm
i ve heard this song umpteen number of times on Vividh Bharathi dekha magar pehli bar. thank you Rajaji and Atul .
and s Prakashchandraji the word used is ‘Lau’. i think lau means a small flame. i think the urdu expert in our midst (Sudhirji) shd help us here. wonder y he is quiet:).
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6 | Ava Suri
March 25, 2012 at 9:57 am
Heard this song after a long long time. Koi aaya, lachak uthi kaaya are rather unusual words, but then Sahir has often written very simple lyrics, that were very effective.
I remember large posters of Daastan on KG Circle in Bangalore in 1972. It sounds like an intriguing movie, I must try and see it.
Your singing woes are very much like mine, I have a song running in my head most times, and being in office, I can’t sing it (Jaisa bhi hai) so I take to writing down the lyrics on a piece of paper, which is why I am so fond of this site. Only place I can sing unabashed is my home, like that little girl in home loan advertisement.
choo lene do nazuk hothon ko, v funny.. no wonder you got nasty looks.
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March 31, 2012 at 2:15 am
Raja ji,
Great write up and another song that is a favorite. Again, having heard it on the radio often in childhood days, I somehow carried a mistaken impression in my mind for many years that this song is performed by Leena Chandavarkar on screen (no specific reason). I got to see the film many many years later (in the US, on VHS tape borrowed from a friend) and then corrected my impressions about the on screen performance.
And I notice that I am getting attention, even when I am somewhat distracted and not regularly following up the posts and the comments. Quite flattering I must say. . . ahem :), for Peevesie’s Mom ji and Prakash ji to think of me, while discussing the correct words and meanings. I assure you both that you have correctly written about the meaning of this word ‘lau’.
The lines surely are
“moti bharoon aaj mein apne baalon mein”
“taaron ki lau jaag utthe narm gaalon mein”
‘I adorn my hair with pearls today’
‘Light of the stars begins to glow in my soft cheeks’
The word ‘lau’ here means light, brightness, shine, glow.
Notable light hearted romantic words from the pen of Sahir; one generally remembers him for a different kind of poetry. And that is the poet’s charisma, and surprising sometimes.
Rgds
Sudhir
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May 8, 2012 at 3:07 am
LOVE the song.! I have been searching for this song long time now.
Finally I sat down to watch the movie so I could remember n start my search again. Now I am looking for MP3 version so I can download. Beautiful song and yes Sharmila did justice. So pure so innocent such expression..wow.!
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June 25, 2014 at 12:46 pm
new & a better video link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUpUkVYWXuQ
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August 10, 2017 at 12:20 pm
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September 3, 2017 at 10:29 am
Enjoyed reading your article on the song. Love your passion for oldies.! Love the song from the movie Afsaana. The song is picturized on Pran and the lady. I don’t know her name. “Abhi tou main jawaan huun” sung by LatanJi.
Sent from my iPhone
>
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
March 23, 2012 at 10:29 am
Sudhirji
Aap vishwaas nahin karoge, aaj subah uttkar main iss gaane ki bolon ko bhejne ki taiyyari kar rahaa thaa, Belive me, Vaise tho I have written it 4 weeks ago.
Kuchch tho KARMIC connection hai, Am I right?
This song is one of my favourite from years, not because of Sharmila but because of Ashaji and Sahir ji
Whether the following lyrics are correct?
mothi bharoon aaj main
apne baalon mein
TAARON KE LOV/LAU JAAG UTTE
narm gaalon mein
aayaa hai din aaj kaa
kitne saalon mein
sochoon tho lehak uttoo
phoolon se mehak uttoon
naachoon machhalkar gaaon
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