Last night, I wondered briefly: the rains play such a vital role in Indian cinema. Let me put it as Hindi cinema, to be precise. ‘Rain songs’, as they are popularly known generally imply wet sarees, in yesteryears, recently replaced with salwar kameezes and skimpier stuff of late! That the clothes, of the heroine ONLY, have to be transparent, is a foregone conclusion. From ‘Pyar hua ikraar hua’ featuring a sedate Raj Kapoor and Nargis and their ‘chunnu-munnu bachchas(Shashi Kapoor.. oh so adorable!) to Raveena Tandon heaving in ‘Tip tip barsa pani’, ‘rain songs’ have come a long way.
Tried to list some favourite ‘barsaat ke geet’. Surprisingly, I could recall just a few of them!
Some of the memorable ones:
Pyar hua ikraar hua – Raj-Nargis pair; cute kiddos; some great lyrics.
Tip tip barsa pani – Raveena Tandon; one gigantic Amazon! I love that jingle which precedes the song; it was used by MTV-India while presenting ‘First Day First Show’.
Dekho zara dekho barkha ki – ‘Yeh Dillagi’ featuring Kajol and Akshay Kumar. Peppy number with smart dances.
Rimjhim gire saawan sulag sulag jaaye mann – Haven’t seen the picturisation of this song but I love the composition.
Bas…. any more?
jayasankarvs says:
# Hay hay yeh majboori (R,K aur M)
# Megha Barse (Sajna Ki Ankhen)
June 10, 2004 — 7:10 am
Lakshmi says:
‘Megha barse’? Which is that?
June 10, 2004 — 9:03 am
madhav says:
# Megham poothu thudangi from Thoovanathumbikal
# Theyyattam dhamanikalil from Thrushna
June 10, 2004 — 9:00 pm
Lakshmi says:
Which is the second one? Haven’t heard that…
June 11, 2004 — 7:07 am
madhav says:
I couldn’t find the mp3. Trust me, it exists.
June 12, 2004 — 12:32 am
radhika74 says:
love the song ‘rim jhim gire saawan’ too…it’s just so damn romantic!!
June 10, 2004 — 7:23 am
lalunadiosa says:
more….
How about Sridevi in her see-thru blue saree doing Kaate Nahin Katate in Mr. India or Aamir trying to do the whole “Singing in the rain” dance to Tip Tip Tip Baarish Shuru Ho Gayee in Afsana Pyaar Ka or Tabu gyrating to Boondon se baatein in Thakshak or Anil Kapoor and Manisha Koirala romancing to Rim Jhim Rim Jhim in 1942 – A Love Story or Kareena Kapoor’s misguided attempt at being sensual in Bhaage Re Mann in Chameli and last the ode to rains that led to the clouds disappearing – Ghanan Ghanan in Lagaan!!!!!
June 10, 2004 — 7:25 am
Lakshmi says:
Re: more….
Of course, how could I forget Sri of the blue saree fame??!!! ‘Tip tip baarish’ was too kiddish, I thought…’Ghanan ghanan’ was one helluva village affair, yaar! Kahaan ka typical ‘Hindi phillum rain song’???
June 10, 2004 — 9:03 am
lalunadiosa says:
Re: more….
Right you are about Ghanan Ghanan…..hey how about the rain song in Astitva – cannot remember it’s name but it has Tabu getting all wet and slippery and stuff….oh and Na Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hain is a classic too with Sridevi in her oh-so-cute blue capris….and yes Sunny Deol manages to look hot too in that…
June 10, 2004 — 9:58 am
Lakshmi says:
Re: more….
Actually, ‘Ghanan ghanan’ is not a ‘rain song’ technically; it doesn’t rain in the song, does it??!!!
Yeah, that song in ‘Astitva’ is lovely; ‘Chal chal mere sang chal…’ I loved Mohnish Behl in that; he is damn dishy!
June 10, 2004 — 11:37 am
rileen says:
THE rain song?
How could you forget the delightful Ek ladki bheegi bhagi si ?
A not so great song which i enjoyed nevertheless was Aaj rapat jaayein – many others come to mind, some of which have been already mentioned by others.
You make poor Raveena sound scary :-p !!
June 10, 2004 — 10:00 am
parag says:
Re: THE rain song?
Hey! I was going to write about that one from ‘Chalti ka Naam Gaadi’. That is my most favorite Hindi movie of all time. If the Hindi movie industry had closed down after making that one movie, I wouldn’t have minded. 😉
June 10, 2004 — 10:17 am
rileen says:
Haha – come on, it isn’t as bad as that 🙂
Strangley, i was reminded of the ‘howlarious’ Ye raat aur ye doori from Andaz Apna Apna – movies like that make me glad the industry is there.
June 10, 2004 — 10:22 am
parag says:
That one movie I didn’t really get. I tried watching it a couple of times, but could never finish it.
June 10, 2004 — 10:29 am
rileen says:
Always nice to know of exceptions – you’re perhaps the first person who’s told me this 🙂 (let’s see if this results in a “me too, me too” chorus).
June 10, 2004 — 10:35 am
Lakshmi says:
‘Andaz Apna Apna’ was hilarious….:-) Especially, that line by Paresh Rawal ‘Main Teja hoon kyon ki Teja mera naam hain!’
hahahahha….!!!
June 10, 2004 — 11:39 am
rileen says:
Ye Teja Teja kya hai, ye Teja Teja? :-p
I’ve got the DVD 🙂
June 10, 2004 — 11:41 am
Lakshmi says:
:-))))
I can’t help it… too damn funny!!!
Have to watch it again….:-))))
*can’t stop laughing!!!*
June 10, 2004 — 11:42 am
rileen says:
Good to know you had a good laugh, as a result of my ‘random recall’ – kahaan saawan ke geeton kee baat ho rahi thi 🙂 …..
June 10, 2004 — 11:49 am
Lakshmi says:
You bet!!!
June 10, 2004 — 11:52 am
Lakshmi says:
Re: THE rain song?
Oh, I think Ravs is one of the most beautiful heroines in Bollywood but in this particular song, she looked G-I-G-A-N-T-I-C! Why on earth was she heaving and panting so much???!!!
June 10, 2004 — 11:41 am
rileen says:
Err …. Akshay? I think back then, she used to be all excited around him.
June 10, 2004 — 11:42 am
radhika74 says:
Re: THE rain song?
i find this particular dance number extremely crass. raveena looks like a bitch in heat.
June 10, 2004 — 12:57 pm
Lakshmi says:
Re: THE rain song?
The dance was crude, I agree… But I like the song!
June 11, 2004 — 7:03 am
radhika74 says:
Re: THE rain song?
yup..song rocks..wish she hadn’t 😛
June 11, 2004 — 9:39 am
Lakshmi says:
Re: THE rain song?
🙂
June 11, 2004 — 10:02 am
Anonymous says:
Barsat ka songs
Another song I remember is ‘Barsat mein humse mile…’
Another one ‘Zindagi bhar…. barsat ke raat’
June 10, 2004 — 8:10 pm
Lakshmi says:
Re: Barsat ka songs
Yeah, right… those are nice songs.
June 11, 2004 — 7:07 am
Anonymous says:
Re: Barsat ka songs
Taal se taal……
Saawan ka mahina aaya hai…{Ayee milan ki rat}…I don’t remember who the actress was but there were wet sarees and other mandatory masala ingredients.
Saawan ke jhoole..
Saawan ka mahina..
Last two…Good ones.Haven’t seen the picturisation..so don’t know if they will qualify as “philmi” rain songs :-).
–Anjali
June 11, 2004 — 9:04 am
Lakshmi says:
Re: Barsat ka songs
‘Saawan ke jhoole’? Which song is that?
‘Saawan ka mahina’.. is that the Ajay Devgun song? ‘Saawan ka mahina, shaadi bina mushkil he jeena, we want a girl beautiful, beautiful, charming, tip-top, beautiful, beautiful…Julie, ….. , chalegi apni gali ki Meena’..
!!!
June 11, 2004 — 10:01 am
Anonymous says:
Re: Barsat ka songs
‘Saawan ke jhoole pade tum chale aaye’……From a movie called Jurmana. I have it in the RDB collection :-). Lovely.
‘Sawan ka mahina pawan kare shor…’ from Milan….
‘Kahan se aaye badra’ – Chashme Buddoor I think yesudas sang this one.
‘Nainaa barase rim jhim rim jhim’ – Woh Kaun Thi
‘Mere nainaa saavan bhaado, phir bhi mera man pyaasa’ -Mehabooba. One of my favourites.
Don’t know if ‘meri bheegi bheegi si palkon main’ – Anamika has rain in it.
Then there are some beautiful songs from ‘Mazha'(malayalam)…almost all of them has rain…But not Bollywood style though 🙂
Also ‘Pranayamani thooval pozhiyum’ from Azhakiya Ravanan.
Ah! Now I am inspired enough to burn a CD of rain songs. Thats the only thing to do especially when you are miles away from the monsoon in India 🙁
–Anjali
June 11, 2004 — 1:24 pm
Lakshmi says:
Re: Barsat ka songs
Yes, yes… Oh God, how did I miss ‘Kahaan se aaye badra’? It’s one of my favourites… But I don’t think that rain features in the song.. Just the reference of ‘badra’.
I liked all the songs you mentioned.. Thanks, Anjali!
June 11, 2004 — 7:31 pm
Lakshmi says:
Oh, woman wooing guy? Manoj Kumar…. ???!?!?!? Not really a wooable sort, is he?
June 11, 2004 — 7:06 am
radhika74 says:
haha..you’re SO right!
June 11, 2004 — 9:40 am
kookygoblin says:
How abt Bol re papihara from guddi?
June 12, 2004 — 1:52 am
Lakshmi says:
Yes, that’s one lovely rain song where no one gets drenched.
June 12, 2004 — 8:09 am
dannykk says:
” Minnnal “
There was a beautiful song sometime back by Suresh Peters called ” Minnal “. I am not really that familiar with tamil, though I am an ardent Tamil movie fan. Anyways that song was beautiful, I listen to it even now.
June 15, 2004 — 5:34 am