#484

       Song:    so rahe hain bekhabar sonevaale gaaon men
                aan milo baalama taaron ki chhaaon men

       Film:    Hulchul (1951)
       Singer:  Shamshad Begum, chorus
       Music:   Mohammed Shafi
       Lyrics:  Khumar Barabankvi
       *ing:    Nargis, Dilip Kumar
 

Continuing with Mohammed Shafi...

This increments my list of Favorite Shamshad Songs by one. Fast-paced
and peppy, with delightful visuals of Cuckoo cavorting merrily to the
rhythm alongwith the inevitable dancing legions. A somewhat stupidly
grinning Dilip Kumar and Nargis make up the audience muster roll.
Shamshad's voice in the song, despite the inherently high pitch of the
tune, is remarkably soft, which is quite unusual, and quite pleasant.

Hulchul is a tremendous soundtrack, scored partly by Shafi and partly
by Sajjad. It's mostly populated by Rafi and Lata, and pretty much
every single song is a collectible. If I had to pick a favorite - "luta
dil mera haaye aabaad hokar", a Lata solo composed by Sajjad. But it's
a tough choice, with competitors like "aaj mere naseeb ne", "ek jhooti
si tasalli vo mujhe deke chale", "haaye sadqe tere o baanke mere" and
Lata-Rafi duets like "preet jataake meet banaake bhool na jaana" in the
ranks.

A very interesting and eminently watchable movie too - it features, in
addition to Dilip K & Nargis, Balraj Sahni (as the 'other' man), Sitara
(as the 'other' woman), KN Singh filling in as the villainish brother,
and in probably the most colorful role in the movie, Yakub as the
friendly neighborhood crook. I think this was K Asif's production debut.
 

..Hrishi