#407

          Song:   koi hum ko na dekhein, hum na dekhein kisi ko
                  dekhein woh jisne luuta khushi ko, merii hansii ko

          Film:   Teen Batti Chaar Rasta (1953)
          Singer: Lata Mangeshkar
          Music:  Shivram Krishna
          Lyrics: P L Santoshi
          *ing:   Sandhya, Karan Dewan, Nirupa Roy

  I remember a thread on RMIM a while ago that discussed compliments paid to
  Lata's voice indirectly through dialogues in the movie, like in Bahut Din
  Huwe (1954) during "kyuu.N chamelii khilkhilaati hai bataa"  (Agha saying
  "yeh aawaz manushya-jaati ki nahiin ho sakti, agar hotii to itni miitThii
  nahiin hotii" to the prince) ; or during "unke bulaave pe doley mera dil"
  from Naubahar (1952) ("ziley bhar mein aisi gaanewaali bitiya aur hai kya
  kisi ki...")

  In the same vein, this whole movie is effectively one big panegyric to the
  great lady (in fact, I heard that this movie was actually based on her life,
  parts of it anyway). The gorgeous set of Lata songs on it's soundtrack really
  drives the encomium home. Since my most favorite one has already been posted
  on ATMJH ("kitna miiTha hotaa hai, kitna pyaara hotaa hai kisi ke pyaar mein
  kho jaana"), I'll go for my second favorite. The song starts off with a short
  prelude:
      hum jahaa.n se duur rehnaa chaahte hai.n
      <don't-remember-this-line- something chuur rehnaa chaahte hai.n>
      majbuuriyaa.n itni achhi lagii hamei.n
      ke har ghaDii majbuur rehnaa chaahte hai.n

  Failure to look beyond what meets the eye, and the unseemly importance
  ascribed to appearances - that's one of the statements the movie makes, and
  it becomes evident right as the movie starts off with this beautiful Lata
  solo:
        duniya hai yeh ruup ki pyaasi, dil ko dhuundh rahaa hai dil
        ruup to bikhraa hai duniya mein, dil ka milnaa hai mushkil
        apni adaa par mai.n huu.n fidaa
        koii chaahe na chaahe merii balaa

  The other facet of the movie is an exercise in national integration- set in a
  household with five "bahu"s of varying ethnicities - Gujarati, Marathi,
  Sindhi, Tamil and Bengali, complete with a father-in-law from Punjab and a
  mother-in-law from Banaras. One of the side-effects of this is a delightful
  song set in seven different languages.

  A good movie to watch. And an amazing soundtrack to own.

  I'll spend the next several posts on some Lata songs which I have recently
  acquired.