Mehandi lagi thhi mere haath
Posted on: April 30, 2012
This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
Ever since Ghulam Haider introduced dholak (belonging to the percussion family) as a major musical instrument for song compositions in the super hit film ‘Khazaanchi’ (1941), it has become an inseparable part of Hindi film songs. In fact in the 50s, prominent music directors started engaging specialist dholak players in the songs’ orchestration. The introduction of dholak in the Hindi film songs has made some of them so rhythmic that a music lover consciously or unconsciously replays the rhythmic beats with his fingers on whatever place he find near him, be it on a sofa hand rest or on a table top or play it on any of the kitchen vessels as Bhagwan did in ‘ kismet ki hawa kabhi garam kabhi naram’ (Albelaa-1951).
I have been very much fascinated by songs with dholak rhythms. In fact, more than the melody, it is the dholak beats which attract me to such songs. Although almost all music directors have used dholaks in the orchestration of the songs, C Ramchandra had developed his typical dholak rhythms in many of his songs that have become a sort of his ‘trade mark’. He has used dholak beautifully with the musical interludes played on guitars, saxophones and violins among other instruments. I am not sure as to when he started using his ‘trade mark’ dhoalk beats but I guess it was first used in ‘sham dhale khidki tale’ – ‘Albelaa’(1951). I have noted these familiar beats in some of his later song compositions as well like ‘ apni kaho kuchh meri suno’ – ‘Parchhain (1952), ‘gayaa andheraa huwaa ujaala’- ‘Subah Kaa Taara’ (1954), ‘main pi ke nahin aaya’ –Kavi (1954), ‘dil ki duniyaa basaa ke saanwariyaa’ – Amar Deep (1958), ‘o chaand jahaan wo jaayen’ – Shardaa (1957), ‘gaa rahi hai zindagi – Aanchal(1960). There may be some more songs in this category. I feel that C Ramchandra’s percussionist has played an important role in making these songs popular.
One more song which bears C Ramchandra’s familiar dholak rhythm is ‘mehandi lagi thhi mere haath’ from the film MEENAAR (1954) sung by Lata Mangeshkar. The song is written by Rajinder Krishan and is picturised on Bina Rai. It is a boat song in which Bharat Bhushan looks confused, probably due to loss of memory and Bina Rai is trying to revive his memory through the song. In this song, the dholak rhythms (along with tabla beats) are at a faster pace and with a high sound during singing but they go into background and other musical instruments make their presence felt during the interlude. Note the dholak sound towards the end of the last stanza when they are louder than during the earlier stanzas.
This song is not only melodious, it is very rhythmic. My feet go tapping automatically as soon as I listen to this song.
Audio
Video
Song-Mehandi lagi thhi mere haath (Meenaar)(1954) Singer-Lata, Lyrics-Rajinder Krishan, MD-C Ramchandra
Lyrics
tum kaun ho hamaare
sitaaron se poochh lo
aur ham hain pass tumhaare
bahaaron se poochh lo
pehle bhi aa chuke hain
idhar ek saath ham
tumko nahin yakeen
to kinaaron se poocch lo
mehandi lagi thhi mere haath
ho tum aaye thhe leke baarat
ho piya yaad karo wo raat
ho piya yaad karo wo raat
mehandi lagi thhi mere haath
ho tum aaye thhe leke baarat
ho piyaa yaad karo wo raat
ho piyaa yaad karo wo raat
yehi chaand yehi thhe sitaare
yehi chaand yehi thhe sitaare
yehi nadiyaa ke bheege kinaare
yehi nadiyaa ke bheege kinaare
chhup chhup saari raat
aa aa aa aa
chhup chuup saari raat
hoti thhi mulaakaat
ho piyaa yaad karo wo raat
ho piyaa yaad karo wo raat
mehandi lagi thhi mere haath
ho tum aaye thhe leke baarat
ho piyaa yaad karo wo raat
ho piyaa yaad karo wo raat
tere sang sang pyaar ki kahaani
tere sang sang pyaar ki kahaani
yehi baat thhi meri jawaani
yehi baat thhi meri jawaani
liye haath mein haath
hum tum aate thhe ik saath
ho piyaa yaad karo wo raat
ho piyaa yaad karo wo raat
mehandi lagi thhi mere haath
ho tum aaye thhe leke baarat
ho piyaa yaad karo wo raat
ho piyaa yaad karo wo raat
3 Responses to "Mehandi lagi thhi mere haath"
June 18, 2015 at 4:02 pm
does anyone know the name of dholki player of c. ramchandra.
particularly the song “mere man ka bawra panchhi”
in amardeep.
brilliant rhythms in each antara
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
April 30, 2012 at 4:14 pm
This song is among those songs, who had excellent virtues,but could not become famous.
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