Today (March 31)  marks  the  26th  death  anniversary  of  Meena
Kumari-  on  this  and  the next few posts, I'll post some of her
songs... in memory of the Tragedy Queen.

#324

        Song:   Chaand hai wohi
                Sitaare hain wohi gagan
                Phir bhi kyoon udaas hai
                Udaas mera man
        Film:   Parineeta (1953)
        Singer: Geeta Dutt
        Music:  Aroon Kumar
        Lyrics: Bharat Vyas
        *ing:   Ashok Kumar, Meena Kumari

The enigmatic Aroon Kumar's seemingly  singular  claim  to  fame.
It's been a while since I saw this movie, but if my memory serves
me right, this soulful melody *is* filmed on Meena Kumari. I love
this  beautiful,  slow,  hauntingly  sad  tune-  its  amazing how
eloquent the song is in conveying its pathos with just a  minimal
amount  of background instrumentation- some soft flute(?) strains
and a gentle rhythm are all it has. The tune just  wafts  through
the  air, and everything in its path becomes a part of its innate
grief.

Ok, enough rambling. This Ashok Kumar  production,  incidentally,
is  a really good movie, with stellar performances by Ashok Kumar
and Meena Kumari. And its got some beautiful  tracks,  topped  by
Manna  Dey's  memorable  'Chali  radhe rani ankhiyon mein paani',
picturized on a 'jogi'  who  never  leaves  Meena  Kumari's  door
disappointed.


Guest Author: Hrishi Dixit