#448

        Song:    pyaar bhari dhadkanon ke haar leke aauungi
                 tere liye aaj raat ko

        Film:    Angaarey (1954)
        Singer:  Lata Mangeshkar
        Music:   S D Burman
        Lyrics:  Sahir Ludhianvi
        *ing:    Nargis, Nasir Khan

A recent discovery for me; this entire soundtrack is a delightful
offering from Dada Burman.. Lata, Talat, Asha, Shamshaad and Kishore
Kumar, all find some melodious footage in the film. Especially Lata and
Talat - some lovely cuts like "us basti ko jaanewaale leta jaa paighaam
mera", "ummeed ki jholi mein kyuun bhar diye angaarey", both Lata
solos; the upbeat, but restrained Talat-Lata duet "tere saath chal
rahey hain yeh zameen yeh chaand taare", etc.

Today's selection is a particular ear-catcher. A sweet tune, rendered
to perfection as usual (the "tere liye aaj raat ko" is exquisite),
simple but affectionate lyrics set to a buoyant canter by the brisk,
foot-tapping beat, and a very charming picturization, all contribute
substantially to its appeal. The interludes in this song, mostly the
shehnai pieces, are very similar to RajKumari's "hamre mundere boley
kaaga sakhiri" from Babla (1953) which had the same MD-lyricist pair.

Here's all that she assures is forthcoming 'aaj raat ko' (to a
gleefully round-eyed, visibly-exhilarated-in-anticipation Nasir Khan)
at the end of the three antaraas:

      ....
      chayn leke aauungi qaraar leke aauungi
      tere liye aaj raat ko

      ....
      rang leke aauungi nikhaar leke aauungi
      tere liye aaj raat ko

concluding with (my favorite antaraa):

      jhapke na aankh intezaar ki
      toote na lay dil ke taar ki
      zindagi ka solhva singaar leke aauungi
      tere liye aaj raat ko

With the promise of all that, it is obvious that something is slated to
go wrong. And wrong goes it indeed... thanks to a martinet father
(played by a bellowing KN Singh), she pulls a no-show, providing the
setting for a lovely Talat solo "doob gaye aakash ke taare jaake na tum
aaye", close on the heels of this chirpy Lata number.

There's a beautiful Lata chorus song at the beginning of the movie,
sung to a backdrop of quaint chants in some arcane mountain dialect,
celebrating the birth of the princess (who is in fact not a princess,
but I shall desist from delving into the plot's subtleties here) :

 raajdulaari bitiyaari tohe mori umar lag jaaye
 (and a somewhat discordant chorus goes "jiyo jiyo jiyo...")

Another song that deserves a mention here- an Asha chorus number,
liberally smattered with the same droll mountain jargon :

      "pyaar bulaaye tohe, kab se jagaaye tohe
       palak jhapak gori chup chup kyon hai"

Wonderfully rendered by Asha.

This soundtrack is, I can say without a hesitation, one of SDB's best.