Thhoda sa roomaani ho jaayen
Posted on: October 5, 2014
This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a 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.
Continuing on my series of articles on some of the offbeat films (also called parallel or middle cinemas), I have taken up for discussion an NDFC promoted film ‘Thhoda Saa Roomaani Ho Jaaye’ (1990). The film was produced and directed by Amol Palekar. The main roles were played by Nana Patekar, Anita Kanwar and Vikram Gokhale with actors like Banwari Taneja, Dilip Kulkarni, Riju Bajaj, Arun Joglekar and Deepa Lagoo donning the supporting roles. The film was extensively shot in and around Pachmadi in Madhya Pradesh. The film was critically acclaimed but flopped miserably on the box office. I get an impression from the films clips in two parts available on YT that the it was later released on Doordarshan.
As per the credit titles, the film was broadly based on a successful American play ‘Romance of Rainmaker‘ written by Richard Nash which Amol Palekar has beautifully adapted to suit the Indian context. The film revolves around a family of four residing in a small town. The patriarch of the family is Papa (Banwari Taneja), a widower who has three siblings, Bade Bhaiyya (Dilip Kulkarni), Bim (Riju Bajaj) and Binni (Anita Kanwar). Binni lives a life of an unconventional girl who is at ease with the kinds of work which is normally the domain of man’s world like car repairing. She is an ordinary looking girl. As a result, she is still unmarried and is in her 3Os. Her status becomes the talk of the town in a negative way.
While Papa, her father and Bim, her younger brother are very supportive of her, Bade Bhaiyya though caring about her, takes a realistic view about Binni and often reminds her in a realistic way that she should get reconciled to the fact that she is an ordinary looking girl and she may have to remain a spinster all her life. According to him, what Papa and Bim say about her is only to keep her happy. Bade Bhaiyya is only concerned with the impending drought conditions which is looming large. He is worried that if it does not rain in the next few days, his agricultural fields would dry up and there would be loss of income for the family.
Papa’s family has an excellent relationship with JD (Vikram Gokhale), a divorcee and the district collector. One day Papa invites JD to his house for a dinner which would give an opportunity for him to interact with Binni for a possible marriage alliance. Binni is happy with this development. However, JD does not come for dinner. Now this development really set in the inferiority complex in her. While Bade Bhiayya is worried about the drought condition, Binni is already facing drought like condition in her life.
Bim has a different problem. He is turning 18 and wants to become a pilot. But he is afraid of height and night. He is also fond of drum playing. But Bade Bhaiyya often taunts him for his grandiose wishes. So he also develops a low self esteem and thinks that he would have to abide by whatever Bade Bhaiyya says , even if it means sacrificing his own dream.
At this juncture, a traveller enters their house in the night to take shelter for a day or two. He is a conman but introduces himself as Barishkar (Nana Patekar). He promises the family that he can bring the rain within 48 hours but this would cost them Rs. 5OOO which will have to be paid in advance. With his sweet talk he convinces Papa and Bim of his prowess while Bade Bhaiyya and Binni brand him as a Natwarlal like fraud and cheat. However, Papa parts with Rs.5OOO to him.
During his 48 hours of stay, Barishkar, through his own method and in his dialogues full of inspirations delivered in a dramatic way instils confidence in Bim by making him to walk on ledge of his house in the night to overcome his height and night fears. But it takes him longer to convince Binni that she is beautiful. Slowly, Binni becomes close to Barishkar. She even decides to move with him wherever he goes for, it is Barishkar who has instilled confidence in herself. But Bade Bhaiyya always thinks of him as a conman cheating his father of Rs.5OOO.
In the meanwhile, JD comes to know about a swindler Natwarlal who is at large and roaming in the town. JD comes to Papa’s house to warn him about Natwarlal. But his actual intention is to meet Binni. When Binni comes to know about it, she runs away to inform Barishkar about Natwarlal. JD, Papa and her brothers also run behind her and notice that she is walking towards Barishkar. Bade Bhaiyya confronts him and asks him to refund Rs.5OOO as it has not rained. Barishkar gives back the money and walks away bidding good bye to all of them. As he walks, some drops of water fall on all of them heralding the arrival of rains. Everybody is happy. Barishkar comes back, takes Rs.5OOO from Bade Bhaiyya and walks away. The film ends with JD, Papa, Bade Bhaiyya, Binni and Bim enjoying the rain dancing and all are in high spirits. The self esteem of Bim and Banni is restored.
I liked the film immensely which gives message of hopes, aspirations and self confidence. I have read that this film is a part of curriculum in some management schools and also for behavioral science. There was not a single moment of boredom in watching the film. The film has superb acting by all the actors especially Nana Patekar, Anita Kunwar and Vikram Gokhale. For the first time, I have seen Nana Patekar delivering his dialogues in somewhat lower than shouting pitch he is known for. But my choice of best actor’s awards goes to Anita Kanwar who has admirably withstood a tough competition from Nana Patekar. Kudos to her.
A unique feature of this film is that it is a musical film not only because of songs but also for some of the dialogues which are in rhymes. Dialogues, written by Kamlesh Pandey who is also the lyricist for this film are hard hitting in some places. Take for instance the hard hitting dialogues in rhymes rendered by Papa in response to the criticism of his daughter Binni for not getting married:
ped kaat kaat kar shaher nangaa ho gaya
suhar aur gaay ke naam pe dangaa ho gaya
sattar saal ke Gaganlal ne solaah saal ki Kusumlata se vivaah rachhaya
aur shaddi ke doosre din hi Shantibai ne apne bahu ko jalaaya
magar hamaara shaher pareshaan hai ke Binni Binni kyon hai
arre jahaan Mahatma Gandhi road pe bhikti sharaab hai
wahaan sirf Binni ki wajah se shaher ka hazma kharaab hai
There are many short dialogues in rhymes in this film which reminds me of musical English films like ‘My Fair Lady‘ and ‘Sound of Music‘.
The film has 12 songs including a version song. But barring 3 songs which are of full length, rest of the songs are short and are substitutes for dialogues. I have chosen one of 3 full length songs which is a title song ‘thhodaa saa roomaani ho jaaye‘ penned by Kamlesh Pandey and sung by Chhaya Ganguly. All songs are set to music by Bhaskar Chandavarkar ably assisted by Enoch Daniel. This song has a shorter version sung by Vinod Rathod and picturised on Nana Patekar. This version of song is once again repeated as a chorus song for rain dance towards the end of the film.
I could get only the audio clip of the song of female version. The reason could be that this song is sung in driblets on multiple times in the film as a background song starting with titles. The audio clip starts with an introduction to the film by Amol Palekar. There is no separate video clip of shorter male version of the song available except as a part of about 8 minutes of the movie clip for which I have given the link. The song starts from 6:3O onwards.
Enjoy the inspirational and motivational song in the beautiful voice of Chhaya Ganguly. A ghazal singer and the disciple of Madhurani, Chhaaya Ganguly retired from a senior position in All India Radio on July 31, 2O12 after 36 years of service.
Audio(full female version):
Video(part male version)
Song-Thhoda sa roomaani ho jaayen (Thhoda Sa Roomaani ho jaayen)(1990) Singer-Chhaaya Ganguly/ Vinod Rathod, Lyrics-Kamlesh Pandey, MD-Bhaskar Chandawarkar
Lyrics
————————————-
Female Version (Chhaaya Ganguly) (based on audio)
————————————-
baadalon kaa naam na ho
ambar ke gaaon mein
jaltaa ho jangal khud
apni chhaanv mein
yahi to hai mausam
yahi to hai mausam
aao tum aur ham
baarish ke naghme gungunaayen
thhodaa saa roomaani ho jaayen
mushkil hai jeeaa
mushkil hai jeena
ummeed ke binaa aa
thhode se sapne sajaayen
thhodaa saa roomaani ho jaayen
thhodaa saa roomaani ho jaayen
raastaa akelaa ho
har taraf andheraa ho
raat bhi ho ghaat ki
din bhi luteraa ho
yahi to hai mausam
yahi to hai mausam
aao tum aur ham
yahi to hai mausam
aao tum aur ham
dard ko baansuri banaayen
thodaa saa roomaani ho jaayen
mushkil hai jeenaa
ummeed ke binaa
mushkil hai jeena
ummeed ke binaa
thhode se sapne sajaayen
thhodaa saa roomaani ho jaayen
thhodaa saa roomaani ho jaayen
—————————————-
Male Version (Vinod Rathod)
—————————————-
raastaa akelaa ho o
har taraf andheraa ho o
raat bhi ho ghaat ki
din bhi luteraa ho
yahi to hai mausam
yahi to hai mausam
aao tum aur ham
yahi to hai mausam
aao tum aur ham
dard ko baansuri banaayen
thhodaa saa roomaani ho jaayen
mushkil hai jeenaa
ummeed ke binaa
mushkil hai jeena
ummeed ke binaa
thhode se sapne sajaayen
thhodaa saa roomaani ho jaayen
thhodaa saa roomaani ho jaayen
9 Responses to "Thhoda sa roomaani ho jaayen"
October 6, 2014 at 8:45 am
@ Kamath Sir- thanks for this post. It was much expected after your post on ‘Prahaar’.
I first saw ‘Thhodasa roomaani…’ on Doordarshan and thereafter it has been one of my all time favorite films. I got its VCD about 4/5 yrs back. I had this song in my draft folder but without a write up, which is here most deservedly as it required. thanks !
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October 6, 2014 at 7:04 pm
I was one of those lucky ones to have seen this film in Ahmedabad. Sure it was a box office failure but tye film itself was brilliant. Nanaji did a superb job as Barishkar. Even today I can recollect some scenes. Thank you Sadanad-ji, for taking me to old days!!
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October 6, 2014 at 7:06 pm
Coming to think of it, each one of us should find a Barishkar in our life
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
October 5, 2014 at 9:50 pm
Bhaskar Chandavarkar was a renowned sitarist. He gave music to many Marathi films and Hind too namely Samsya-76; Godhuli-79,
Surprisingly Kamlesh Pandey had no further movies.
Vinod Rathod sang in many movies before he became MD himself.
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