Behti hawa sa thha wo
Posted on: October 17, 2013
This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
About a month back, I, my wife and four of my close relatives visited Leh-Ladakh on a two week’s trip. Rather than a relaxed holiday, the trip was an experience in itself. A flight from Delhi for Leh meant that there would be an altitude gain from 292 metres in Delhi to 3550 metres in Leh in about one hour time. It was the best option from the point of view of acclimatisation at a higher altitude. So we had to confine ourselves to our hotel rooms in Leh for 24 hours without doing much of an exertion as part of acclimatisation processes for getting used to the lesser oxygen at higher altitude. Furthermore, during our trip, we were to cross three very high altitude mountain passes – Khardung La, the world’s highest motorable road (5600 metre or 18380 feet above sea level) for visiting Nubra Valley, Chang La, the world’s third highest motorable road (5360 metres or 17585 feet) for visiting Pangong Lake and Fotu La ( 4100m or 13480 feet) for going to Kargil. Fortunately, we did not face much of a problem except some mild altitude sickness experienced by two of my relatives which got resolved quickly as we descended.
Being a cold desert, the Ladakh Himalaya is devoid of the scale of vegetation that I have seen in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Kashmir Valley. But these ‘bald’ Himalayan Mountains in various shades and colours look as beautiful or handsome as Anupam Kher! I will not go into detail of my trip further as this article will turn into a travelogue. However, I will discuss two places in Ladakh which have some connection with Hindi films.
First, the Pangong Lake located at an altitude of 4350m or 14270 feet above sea level. It was at a narrow and longish sandy stretch projecting into the lake that the last 10 minutes of scenes in the Hindi film ‘3 Idiots’ (2009) was shot. To the best of my knowledge, the first Hindi film which used this lake for location shooting was ‘Dil Se’ (1998). Those who had seen the film or video clip of the song ‘satrangi re’ would notice that the last stanza of the song was picturised on Shahrukh Khan and Manisha Koirala at the shore of Pangong Lake. The latest Hindi film to use Pangong Lake for shooting was ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ (2012). One of the scenes from this film – Anushka Sharma jumping from a rock into the lake water and later she being rescued by Shahrukh Khan was shot here.
There is an interesting background for shooting the last 10 minutes of scenes of ‘3 Idiots’ in Pangong Lake, Ladakh. This video clip gives details of the logistic problem the film’s production team faced following the unseasonal snowfall on the locations leading to the cancellation of the shooting. At one time, the situation was almost life threatening for film crew numbering about 100 when nearly 4 feet of snow got accumulated around their tents. Ultimately, they were rescued as the snowfall receded. The entire schedule of shooting in Ladakh was cancelled. But the topography of Pangong Lake was so awesome and inviting that both Raju Hirani, the director and Aamir Khan decided to come back for shooting in the next season. I was not surprised by Raju Hirani’s decision as having spent nearly two hours at the shore of Pangong Lake, I can say that we forgot about the problem of breathlessness by enjoying the breathtaking beauty of Pangong Lake and its surrounding mountains. I would say that the Mughal emperor Jahangir’s first impression about Kashmir -‘Dar firdaush ruhe zamin ast, hamin asto, hamin asto, hamin asto’ (If there is a heaven on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here) is equally applicable for Pangong Lake. The last 10 minutes of scenes in ‘3 Idiots’ shot at the lake became one of the most admired parts of the film and is partly responsible for an increased influx of tourists to Pangong Lake despite unpredictable weather conditions here.
The second sight in Ladakh is Druk White Lotus School, popularly known as Rancho School which is located about 15 kms from Leh off Leh-Manali road. In the film ‘3 Idiots’, some scenes were shot in the school complex where Aamir Khan plays a school teacher’s role and his friends Madhavan, Sharman Joshi and Omi Vaidya visit the school in search of Rancho (Aamir Khan). This school was not in our itinerary for sight-seeing. But our driver insisted that we should visit the school as this has become a popular tourist spot after the release of ‘3 Idiots’. We reluctantly agreed as this visit was at a cost of our lunch which we missed. A receptionist at the school apprised us of the background of this school which became operational in 2001. The curriculums of the school give more emphasis on the practical aspects of life and nature than on the bookish knowledge. The students of the school do not carry school bags as there is no need to carry books. The practical aspects of day to day life are taught to them by means of practicals in the school. Perhaps, this aspect of the teaching in the school may have attracted Aamir Khan which goes well with his role as a protagonist of teaching the practical aspect of life’s journey rather than the bookish knowledge.
The school was extensively damaged during a cloudburst in August 2010. However, with the help of some philanthropists and also from the maker of ‘3 Idiots’ and Aamir Khan, the school buildings were reconstructed in environment-friendly techniques using woods to withstand the natural calamities. The school uses solar energy throughout the year. The school has now nearly 700 students from play group to 7th standard with hostels attached to it for students who come from remote places of Ladakh. At the end of the visit, we were grateful to our driver who literally forced us to visit the school and we did not mind missing our lunch.
I have chosen one of the songs from 3 IDIOTS (2009) ‘behti hawa saa thha woh’ for discussion. The simple and inspiring lyrics of the song written by Swanand Kirkire and the excellent music composition of Shantanu Moitra made this song as one among my very few favourite songs from Hindi films of 21st century. The song is sung by Shaan and Shantanu Moitra. This is a background song as Farhan (Madhavan) and Raju (Sharman Joshi) along with Chatur (Omi Vaidya) are travelling in a SUV in search of Rancho (Amir Khan). This song is also played in the background once more when the story takes a turn from flash back. No video clip of the of full song is available on internet except those mixed with various scenes from the film. Probably this clip could have been made from an audio recording version. However, a partial video clip of the song as seen in the film is also available.
Video clip with full song :
Video clip as seen in the film:
Song-Behti hawa sa thha wo (Three Idiots)(2009) Songs-Shaan, Shantanu Moitra, Lyrics-Swanand Kirkire, MD-Shantanu Moitra
Chorus
Lyrics
behti hawa saa thha woh o(thha woh)
udti patang saa thha woh o(thha woh)
kahaan gaya usse dhoondho o
o o o
ra ra ra aaa ra
ra ra raaa raa aaa
behti hawa saa thha woh o o(thha woh)
udti patang saa thha woh o o(thha woh)
kahaan gaya usse dhoondho o o
hmm hmm hmm
hum ko to raahein thhi chalaati
woh khud apni raah banaata
girta sambhalta masti mein chaltaa thha woh
hum ko kal ki fikr sataati
woh bas aaj kaa jashn manaata
har lamhe ko khul ke jeeta thha woh
kahaan se aaya thha woh o(thha woh)
chhoo ke hamaare dil ko o(ko.oo)
kahan gaya usse dhoondho o
o o o
ra ra ra aaa ra
ra ra raaa raa aaa
sulagti dhoop mein chhaaon ke jaisa
registaan mein gaaon ke jaisa
mann ke ghaav pe marham jaisa thha woh
hum sahme se rehte kunwein mein
woh nadiyaa mein gotey lagaata
ulti dhaara cheer ke tairta thha woh
baadal aawaara thha woh o
yaar hamaara thha woh o
kahan gaya usse dhoondho o
hum ko to raahein thhi chalaati
(hum ko to raahein thhi chalaati)
woh khud apni raah banaata
(woh khud apni raah banaata)
girta sambhalta masti mein chalta thha woh
(girta sambhalta masti mein chalta thha woh)
hum ko kal ki fikr sataati
(hum ko kal ki fikr sataati)
woh bas aaj kaa jashn manaata
(woh bas aaj kaa jashn manaata)
har lamhe ko khul ke jeeta thha woh
(har lamhe ko khul ke jeeta thha woh)
kahaan se aaya thha woh o(thha woh)
chhoo ke hamaare dil ko o
kahaan gaya usse dhoondho o
o o o
ra ra raa aaa ra
ra ra raar aaa raaa
ra ra raaa raa raa
3 Responses to "Behti hawa sa thha wo"
October 17, 2013 at 3:04 pm
Lovely experience Sadanand Ji. Could pretty much visualise what you got to see. I really liked the movie 3 Idiots, it was nicely made and each character did a good job in the movie. Quite a few songs from the movie are good, and of course this song (I guess it would qualify as a movie opening song too) takes the cake. Thank you Sadanand Ji and welcome back :).
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October 17, 2013 at 3:48 pm
o a wonderful song in modern times. and so ALL IS WELL! we have got gr8 songs even in the 21st century
Sadanadji a big thank you from me & my Peevesie for this song
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
October 17, 2013 at 12:37 pm
Missed your presence in the blog very much Sadanandji
Simply superb post, song,
Enjoyed reading your post, very much,Thanks for that. “Kaash main bhi Aapke saath unn jagahon par chal sakta ”
phir se aapke post ko padhne chalaa……
prakash
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