#425

         Song:   bedard shikaari arey bedard shikaari
                 sun baat hamaari arey bedard shikaari

         Film:   Sanam (1950)
         Singer: Lata Mangeshkar, Suraiya
         Music:  Husnlal Bhagatram
         Lyrics: Qamar Jalalabadi
         *ing:   Dev Anand, Suraiya, Meena Kumari

 A step even further back in time, to a more-than-watchable movie that
 featured a disarmingly young and pretty Meena Kumari in a supporting role to
 Suraiya. This is a prosperous musical trove from Husnlal-Bhagatram, with
 songs spanning a gamut of situations and settings, from the initial
 burgeoning of softer feelings ("dil le gaya ji koi dil le gaya"), to the
 comical cover-up routine ("naya naya hai pyaar zamaana dekh na le") to the
 soulful dream sequence ("o sanam o sanam..") to the mischievously
 affectionate sparring contest ("main keh duun tumko chor to bolo..."), and
 many more slow, plaintive Suraiya numbers.

 In the midst of all this nestles this dainty duet picturized on Suraiya and
 Meena Kumari, early in the movie ; the song essentially traces the flight of
 the wrongly imprisoned Dev from jail. The song, ostensibly addressed to a
 'shikaari' who's just netted a hapless bird, uses these as a medium to
 comment on the situation our hero is thrown in, with the obvious metaphorical
 mappings. It comes across in quite a few lines in the song :    "itna to
 kabhi soch yeh beta hai kisi ka         na jaane kahaan dard mein maa roye
 bechaari     bedard shikaari arey bedard shikaari" (or something similar)
 reflecting on the hero's ailing and helpless mother... and the final
 exhorting crescendo as Lata lofts skywards with "pinjre ko jalaa de arey
 pinjre ko jalaa de", capturing the jailbreak and escape.

 Lata and Suraiya both sound wonderful in this optimally paced, beautifully
 coordinated duet - my favorite from the movie, even in the face of the Suraiya
 treasure it carries.

 On the side, as I was humming "main keh duun tumko chor to bolo..." a number
 of songs came to mind that portray the same of playful verbal exchange
 between the couple :

 - main keh duun tumko chor to bolo kya karoge (Rafi, Suraiya), Sanam (HB)
 - hum pe dil aaya to bolo kya karoge (Rafi, Asha, Shamshad), Do Ustad (OPN)
 - hum aap ki aankhon mein is dil ko.. (Rafi, Geeta), Pyaasa (SDB)
 ...

 Any more of these ?