#472

      Song:    zameen bhi wohi hai, wohi aasmaan
               magar ab woh dilli ki galiyaan kahaan

      Film:    Chandni Chowk (1954)
      Singer:  Mohammed Rafi
      Music:   Roshan
      Lyrics:  Majrooh Sultanpuri
      *ing:    Meena Kumari, Shekhar

Roshan's death anniversary passed on November 16. In remembrance...

A lovely title song by Rafi, echoing the sentiments of Delhi's senior
denizens as they collectively lament the passing of a beloved era and
rue the onset of a new, alien, unwelcome one ...

   yahaan par thikaanaa kisi kaa nahin
   ye zaalim zamaana kisi ka nahiin
   yahaan lut gaye kitne hi kaarvaan
   kahaan hain vo dilli ki galiyaan kahaan...

or

   gayaa mausam-e-gul bahaaron ke saath
   vo duniya gayii taajdaaron ke saath
   zamaana gayaa rah gayii dastaan
   vo dilli, vo dilli ki galiyaan kahaan...

This songs displays another splendid use of minimalist orchestral
patterns.. excluding the strident prelude piece, the song has virtually
no background instrumentation, except for a gentle percussive thread
accompanying the vocals; Rafi carries the entire song triumphantly on
his own, as he has done on numerous occasions (a la "jinhe naaz hai
hind par...", etc.)

I think this is the only male-voice song in the movie... rest are
either Lata or Asha solos or choral numbers. And quite a few of them,
lovely tunes such as 'dil ki shikaayat nazar ke shikve', 'aa jaayen
jaanewaale laut aayen bahaaren' by Lata, and the gentle 'tera dil
kahaan hai' precursor to Mamta's 'rahen na rahen hum' by Asha, etc.

Good movie too, but a rather sad one. Too tragic for Meena Kumari's
character. IIRC it is set partly in Delhi and partly in Egypt?