#394

        Song:   hamre mundere boley kaaga sakhii ri
                bichhde baalam ghar aayenge

        Film:   Babla (1953)
        Singer: Raj Kumari
        Music:  S D Burman
        Lyrics: Sahir Ludhianvi
        *ing:   ?


I had a slightly inverted reason for posting this song today:  it
does  not  quite read like Sahir's poetry. One does not find much
of the subtleties that have come  to  earmark  his  writings.  In
fact,  poetically  I  found the song a bit plebeian going into it
with Sahir-esque expectations.  I  guess  that  is  not  entirely
misplaced  given  the simple sentiments the song tries to express
(and he HAS written  his  share  of  flippant  verse),  but  that
distinctive Sahir touch is missing somehow.

However  it  is  a  pleasure  to  listen  to  Rajkumari's  dulcet
rendition  of this joyous melody. SDB has composed it beautifully
in a vivid splash of rhythms that change constantly  between  the
mukhdaa  and tha antaraas. Quite a liberal use of the shehnai too
; the transitional orchestration is very  similar  to  one  other
popular  song  that  frustratingly  escapes me at the moment... I
think it is OPN's "kabhi aar kabhi paar laaga teer-e-nazar".

The song is available on an EMI CD (PMLP  5635)  titled  "Vintage
Favourites-  Raj  Kumari",  quite  a  delightful  compilation. In
addition to the obvious inclusion of her gems from  Mahal,  Bawre
Nain,  etc.  it  also  contains some of her earlier, lesser known
songs (from Apna Paraya (1942), Nurse (1943), Panna (1944),  etc.
(Never even heard of these movies.)



Guest Author: Hrishi Dixit