Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs

This article is written by Raja, 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.

Today is the death anniversary of one of India’s biggest superstars, Rajesh Khanna, affectionately referred to as Kaka. He passed away on the 18^th of July 2012. I remember being shocked to hear of his death – and even wrote an emotional post on my blog on the occasion. Although I did know that he had been suffering from cancer, the news hit me hard. Today, it is already 6 years since his death. How time flies!

Maybe it’s a reflection of the person he was, but it seems to me that any conversation about Kaka invariably goes beyond his films, and delves into his personal life and relationships. His, admittedly none too positive, image seems to take over – at the cost of discussion about his films. This is unfortunate – but, to some extent, Kaka probably brought this on himself.

We all know he let success go to his head – and paid a heavy price for it. Like I’ve said before, maybe that was one of his roles here on this earth. To NOT be a role model, to be someone that can be held up as an example by parents to children of how NOT to let success get to your head. Anyway, later in life, Kaka did admit to the mistakes he’d made – and, on this Remembrance Day, I think I’d like to not talk about his mistakes. I’ve discussed them at length in previous posts – I don’t want to repeat myself.

Today, as I remember him, all I want to do is to thank him for the performances he gave me when I was just a young boy, growing up in the late 60s / early 70s. I’m going to pause just a bit here to remember those performances.

There were many – his filmography of that period and his success rate would put any other actor in the shade. Not even the big 3 (Dilip, Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand) who came before him could deliver that many hits in that short a time frame. Or the biggie who followed right after. But personally I couldn’t care less about the box-office success of those films. I was just a young boy – what did I know about the box-office? All I knew was, there was this “hero” on screen who, through his smile, or tilt of the head, or “guru” kurta, or dialogue delivery had me mesmerized in film after film, singing one blissful song after another (at that time I didn’t know about playback).

I didn’t always understand the storyline, or even all the dialogues, but everytime he would be romancing  the heroine, whether it was Sharmila or Mumtaz or Tanuja or Hema or another, it felt like all was just perfect with the world. It wasn’t as if other heroes didn’t have romantic scenes with the heroines, but somehow it seemed different in Kaka films. Later, when I thought about this, I felt it was possibly because romance was usually intrinsic to Kaka films. It formed part of the main plot itself. Whereas for others, it was an important element no doubt, but the storyline often had a crime-related plot – like smuggling.  Note that wherever romance IS the plot, the film seems very Kaka-like. For example, ‘Aa Gale Lag Ja’ (1973) could very well have been a Kaka film, though it had Shashi Kapoor in the main lead.

Of course, it was not always a happy ending. Kaka would often die in the film, breaking my heart.  This only made the film a bigger hit, so storylines were devised accordingly.

I thoroughly enjoyed those films – have fond memories of ‘Aradhana’, ‘Aan Milo Sajna’, ‘Kati Patang’, ‘Dushman’, ‘Apna Desh’, ‘Haathi Mere Saathi’, ‘Mere Jeevan Saathi’, and so many others. Whether it was “Mere Sapnon Ki Rani”, “Yahaan Wahaan Saare”, “Ye Shaam Mastaani”, “Waada Tera Waada”, “Rona Kabhi Nahin Rona”, “Dilbar Jaani”, “O Mere Dil Ke Chain” or any of his numerous hits of the time, I knew them all by heart – all stanzas. We’d often sing these songs amongst friends.

At that time I had no idea about Kaka beyond his screen presence. Ignorance was truly bliss.

Then things began changing.

Suddenly he didn’t seem to have the same magic anymore. I tend to associate this with his “long hair” phase but, to be fair to him, that was just the fashion of the time. Hamming seemed to have set in – even the films seemed to lack that romantic feel about them. The last couple of movies I remember of that era that I saw, and could accept, were ‘Aap Ki Kasam’ (1974) and ‘Prem Kahaani’ (1975).

Mehbooba (1976) was probably the first big shock for me. It was highly hyped at the time – what with the two biggest names, Kaka and Hema, as the lead actors. Not to mention RD Burman’s music. I remember the film being a big flop. Later I read that the decline started even earlier but for me, at that age, Mehbooba was the marker.

That was a terrible period for him. Flop after flop. I clearly remember ‘Bundalbaaz’, ‘Chalta Purza’, ‘Aashiq Hoon Baharon Ka’, even BR Chopra’s ‘Karm’ (another much-awaited film) – all failed. But there were more.

Oh, one thing. I said I didn’t know about box-office but there was one indicator for me. I used to travel by school bus to school, 30 km away. En-route there was a film theatre. From the bus, we could see which film was running. That gave us a pretty good idea of hit or flop. I remember ‘Yaadon Ki Baaraat’ running for many weeks, whereas ‘Bundalbaaz’ and ‘Chalta Purza’ just came and went.

After watching ‘Aashiq Hoon Baharon Ka’, I really couldn’t take it anymore. What had happened to my “Ye Shaam Mastaani” Rajesh Khanna? How had he morphed into this “I am in love, you are in love, he is in love, she is in love” Rajesh Khanna? I stopped seeing his movies. I couldn’t bear to.

Later, in the mid-80s, I did watch a few – but only because they were on Doordarshan. ‘Thodisi Bewafai’ (1980), ‘Avtaar’ (1983) and ‘Aakhir Kyon’ (1985). I quite liked them. But only these.

For the next 25 years, I stayed away from Kaka films that I had not watched. Sure, I watched the old ones to relive their magic. But none of his post-1977 films. Only a few years ago, I mustered the courage to watch this category. I think it had to do with his death. Maybe I felt I was doing him grave injustice by avoiding these films. After all, he must have worked just as hard in them, as in his early films. So why not at least give them a shot? For Kaka’s sake.

I started with the more successful ones – at least those with popular songs. Like ‘Agar Tum Na Hote’ (1983), ‘Kudrat’ (1981), ‘Rajput’ (1982). I kept my expectations very low. I quite liked all these films. And I was quite impressed by Kaka too. I don’t recall seeing much of the hamming  that I had dreaded. Sure they were very different from his early 1970s films – but that’s to be expected.

Recently I got into the mood again – and did a Kaka binge. I watched ‘Amrit’ (1986), ‘Dhanwaan’ (1981), ‘Dard’ (1981), ‘Aanchal’ (1980), ‘Janta Hawaldar’ (1979) and ‘Amar Deep’ (1979), all within the last month. As usual, keeping expectations low. I liked some more than the others, of course. But what I realized is each of their story lines is very different from the rest. That also made me realize that Kaka’s movies often had that – different story lines. This, at a time in the late 70s or in the 80s, when usually you had formulaic dhishum-dhishum films, either as multi-starrers, or hero taking revenge on the villain.

I now plan to watch more Kaka films of the period. Even if they’re not good, that’s ok. I keep my expectations low – and I’m watching them for Kaka. His looks aren’t what they were in the early 1970s – but that only seems to make him all the more real for me. And, worst case, the film will probably have a reasonable story line.

Moving on to today’s song.

Now having watched all these Kaka films recently, and most of them not being much represented on the blog, I was somewhat spoilt for choice today. I could have picked at least half a dozen Kaka songs from these films alone – and I do plan to write up more from these films. But for today, I’ve chosen “Paise Ka Kaajal” from ‘Aanchal’ (1980).

Firstly, this song comes in the category of “ye gaana IS film mein hai?” for me. I’d heard it all those years ago but didn’t know which film it was from. Secondly, ‘Aanchal’ is not represented yet on the blog, so it makes its debut today. Thirdly, it is a song & dance – and I quite like song & dance. 🙂 What I particularly liked about this one, apart from the song itself, is Kaka’s style. Not that he was a great dancer, but his style here reminded me of the Kaka of the early 1970s, when he’d dance similarly opposite heroines of the time. 🙂

The film stars Kaka, Rekha, Raakhee, Amol Palekar and Prem Chopra. It’s a village-based story, where Kaka and Amol Palekar are brothers, with Raakhee married to Amol Palekar. Since Kaka is her husband’s younger brother, Raakhee treats him with great affection. Kaka too has highest regard for his bhabhi. Prem Chopra, who has a score to settle with Amol Palekar, plays mischief, creating misunderstanding in his mind about the relationship between Raakhee and Kaka. Also, doing the same to Rekha, who is in love with Kaka.

To be honest, the film picks up only in the second half – the first half is rather slow. But maybe it is a build-up to show the relationships between the characters. I was rather keen for the film to get on with the plot. 🙂

In any case, do listen to this fairly catchy tune composed by RD Burman.  Lyrics are by Majrooh Sultanpuri. The song is sung by Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle. As usual, the lyrics have been provided to me by Avinash ji. He is always very helpful in this respect, sending me lyrics for any post I plan to write.

Not only this, he is a huge Kaka fan – a much bigger fan than I am. Avinash ji did tell me that he might not be able to write a post for Kaka on this occasion. So this is our joint tribute to Kaka, as we remember him fondly today.

Kaka, hope you are at peace, wherever you are. And thanks for all the memories.

Video

Audio

Song – Paise Ka Kaajal Daike Na Lo Hamri Jaan (Aanchal) (1980) Singer – Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle, Lyrics – Majrooh Sultanpuri, MD – RD Burman
Chorus

Lyrics (Provided by Avinash Scrapwala)

paise ka kaajal
daike na lo hamri jaan
paise ka kaajal
daike na lo hamri jaan
laakhon ki hai hamri jaan babuaa
dhhikki naaki dhhikki naaki
dhhikki naaki dhhikki naaki
dhhikki naaki naa aa aa aa aa

o o o o
nainaa hai chanchal
kaise na maarenge baan
nainaa hai chanchal
kaise na maarenge baan
ho
ham ho gaye hain jawaan babuaa
dhhikki naaki dhhikki naaki
dhhikki naaki dhhikki naaki
dhhikki naaki naa aa aa aa aa

mele mein bhi ham akele hain
tum hamre sang aao naa
sang aao naa
are phir jaate jaate ye chhalla
nishaani mein de jaao naa
are de jaao naa
aa ha
chhalla mera naa mehanga pade
loot jaaoge khade hi khade
ho
bachaaye tumhe raam
dhhikki naaki dhhikki naaki
dhhikki naaki dhhikki naaki
dhhikki naaki naa 

o o o o o o o o o o o
nainaa hai chanchal
kaise na maarenge baan
ho
ham ho gaye hai jawaan babuaa
dhhikki naaki dhhikki naaki
dhhikki naaki dhhikki naaki
dhhikki naaki naa aa aa aa aa aa aa

jeewan se jaaoge sainyyaan
jo hamse nazar mil gayee
nazar mil gayee
ho kitni dafaa hamre kaaran
yahin pe chhuri chal gayee
chhuri chal gayee
are hum dilwaale bhi dikhlayenge
dekh lena tumko le jaayenge
bachaaye tumhe raam
dhhikki naaki dhhikki naaki
dhhikki naaki dhhikki naaki
dhhikki naaki naa aa
o o o o
paise ka kaajal
daike naa lo hamri jaan
laakhon ki hai hamri jaan babuaa
dhhikki naaki dhhikki naaki
dhhikki naaki dhhikki naaki
dhhikki naaki naa aa aa aa aa

main jo is aanchal ko chhodun to
jag me rahaa kya mera
rahaa kya mera
are duniya ko maalum kya hai
jo tumse hai naata mera
hai naata mera
sab hai jhootha taraana tera
harjaaee kya hai thikaana tera
sikhaaye tumhe raam
dhhikki naaki dhhikki naaki
dhhikki naaki dhhikki naaki
dhhikki naaki naa 
o o o o o o o o o o o
nainaa hai chanchal
kaise na maarenge baan
ho
ham ho gaye hai jawaan babuaa
dhhikki naaki dhhikki naaki
dhhikki naaki dhhikki naaki
dhhikki naaki naa aa aa aa aa aa

paise ka kaajal
daike na lo hamri jaan
laakhon ki hai hamri jaan babuaa
dhhikki naaki dhhikki naaki
dhhikki naaki dhhikki naaki
dhhikki naaki naa aa aa aa aa aa

dhhikki naaki dhhikki naaki
dhhikki naaki dhhikki naaki
dhhikki naaki naa 

dhhikki naaki dhhikki naaki
dhhikki naaki dhhikki naaki
dhhikki naaki naa 

dhhikki naaki dhhikki naaki
dhhikki naaki dhhikki naaki
dhhikki naaki naa 

dhhikki naaki dhhikki naaki
dhhikki naaki dhhikki naaki
dhhikki naaki naa 

———————————————————————————
Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Avinash Scrapwala)
———————————————————————————

पैसे का काजल
दैके ना लो हमरी जान
पैसे का काजल
दैके ना लो हमरी जान
लाखों कि है हमरी जान बबुआ
धिक्की नाकी धिक्की नाकी
धिक्की नाकी धिक्की नाकी
धिक्की नाकी ना आ आ आ आ
ओ ओ ओ ओ
नैना है चंचल
कैसे ना मारेंगे बाण
नैना है चंचल
कैसे ना मारेंगे बाण
हो
हम हो गए है जवान बबुआ
धिक्की नाकी धिक्की नाकी
धिक्की नाकी धिक्की नाकी
धिक्की नाकी ना आ आ आ आ

मेले में भी हम अकेले है
तुम हमरे संग आओ ना
संग आओ ना
अरे फिर जाते जाते ये छल्ला
निशानी में दे जाओ ना
अरे दे जाओ ना
आ हा
छल्ला मेरा ना महंगा पड़े
लूट जाओगे खड़े ही खड़े
हो
बचाए तुम्हे राम
धिक्की नाकी धिक्की नाकी
धिक्की नाकी धिक्की नाकी
धिक्की नाकी ना
ओ ओ ओ ओ ओ ओ ओ ओ ओ ओ
नैना है चंचल
कैसे ना मारेंगे बाण
हो
हम हो गए है जवान बबुआ
धिक्की नाकी धिक्की नाकी
धिक्की नाकी धिक्की नाकी
धिक्की नाकी ना आ आ आ आ आ आ

जीवन से जाओगे सैंय्या
जो हमसे नज़र मिल गयी
नज़र मिल गयी
हो कितनी दफा हमरे कारण
यही पे छुरी चल गयी
छुरी चल गयी
अरे हम दिलवाले भी दिखलायेंगे
देख लेना तुम्हे जायेंगे
बचाए तुम्हरे राम
धिक्की नाकी धिक्की नाकी
धिक्की नाकी धिक्की नाकी
धिक्की नाकी
ओ ओ ओ
पैसे का काजल
दैके ना लो हमरी जान
लाखों कि है हमरी जान बबुआ
धिक्की नाकी धिक्की नाकी
धिक्की नाकी धिक्की नाकी
धिक्की नाकी ना आ आ आ आ

मैं जो इस आँचल को छोडूं तो
जग में रहा क्या मेरा
रहा क्या मेरा
अरे दुनिया को मालुम क्या है
जो तुमसे है नाता मेरा
है नाता मेरा
सब है झूठा तराना तेरा
हरजाई क्या है ठिकाना तेरा
सिखाये तुम्हे राम
धिक्की नाकी धिक्की नाकी
धिक्की नाकी धिक्की नाकी
धिक्की नाकी ना
ओ ओ ओ ओ ओ ओ ओ ओ ओ ओ
नैना है चंचल
कैसे ना मारेंगे बाण
हो
हम हो गए है जवान बबुआ
धिक्की नाकी धिक्की नाकी
धिक्की नाकी धिक्की नाकी
धिक्की नाकी ना आ आ आ आ आ

पैसे का काजल
दैके ना लो हमरी जान
लाखों कि है हमरी जान बबुआ
धिक्की नाकी धिक्की नाकी
धिक्की नाकी धिक्की नाकी
धिक्की नाकी ना आ आ आ आ आ
धिक्की नाकी धिक्की नाकी
धिक्की नाकी धिक्की नाकी
धिक्की नाकी ना
धिक्की नाकी धिक्की नाकी
धिक्की नाकी धिक्की नाकी
धिक्की नाकी ना