We continue our review of TOP Bollywood soundtracks and, in this issue, look at number 11 to 20.
Words: H. S. Billimoria
11) JIS DESH MEIN GANGA BEHTI HAI
When Raj Kapoor narrated the story of ‘Jis Desh mein….’ to Shankar, the music director felt that the subject had very little scope for music. Raj felt otherwise and worked hard to extract a superlative musical score from Shankar Jaikishan. The music of ‘Jis Desh mein…’ is rooted in the soil of Northern & Central India and is very ethnic. The title song is almost like an anthem and the lyrics are good enough to make every Indian proud. ‘Mera naam raju’, ‘O Basanti’ and ‘Aa ab laut chalen’ are all tremendous tracks. ‘Begaani shaadi mein…’ is still played at every wedding. Never did a dacoit story carry such a superlative score.
12) AASHIQUI 2
Aashiqui 2 followed in the footsteps of Aashiqui and what followed was a superlative, intoxicating album. Aashiqui 2 had several music directors but this did not affect the overall quality of the score. Mithun Sharma, Jeet Ganguly and Ankit Tiwari provided the best they could and Arijit Singh gave the songs extra pathos. Numbers to remember include ‘Sun raha hai tu’, ‘Chahu main ya na’ , and ‘Bhula Dena’ are all heart wrenching, unforgettable numbers.
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13) MUQADDAR KA SIKANDAR
Prakash Mehra was a Kalyanji Anandji loyalist and with ‘Muqaddar Ka Sikandar’ Kalyanji Anandji were at their best. Having megastar Amitabh Bachchan perform to their songs also helped. ‘Rote hue’, ‘O saathi re’, ‘Salaam e ishq’ and ‘Pyar zindagi hain’ rocked the charts and gave KA’s career a fresh lease of life. Clearly, Kalyanji Anandji’s best effort.
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14) DILWALE DULHANIYA LE JAYENGE
The Yash Chopra banner had experimented with several music directors. Laxmikant Pyarelal, Khayyam, Shiv Hari and Rajesh Roshan come to mind. Jatin Lalit came in for ‘Dulhaniya…..’ and as they say, the rest is history. To be fair, the mega success of the film also boosted the music. For Shahrukh Khan & Kajol, DDLJ was a milestone film. Jatin Lalit have never done better. ‘Tujhe dekha to’, ‘Ruk ja O dil diwane’ , ‘Mere khwabon mein’ and ‘Ho gaya hai tujhko’ are all racy, romantic numbers and the lead stars have given the songs an extra punch.
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15) MADHUMATI
This Dilip Kumar – Vyjayantimala starrer was a whodunit. The music by Salil Chowdhury was his best ever. ‘Aaja re’ became the most popular ‘haunted’ song. Other songs were also very popular. ‘Suhana safar’, ‘Toote hue khwabon’, and ‘Dil tadap tadap ke’ are all immortal numbers. Lyricist Shailendra combined excellently with Salil Chowdhury for this 1958 album.
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16) NAMAK HALAAL
When Satyan Pal Chowdhury teamed up with Prakash Mehra, Bappi Lahiri came in as the music director. Both Namak Halaal and Sharaabi became mega hits. We prefer ‘Namak Halaal’ because it was a far more original effort than Bhappi’s ‘Disco Dancer’ or ‘Sharaabi’. ‘Pag ghungroo bandh’ is perhaps the best ‘fusion’ dance song ever! Bachchan’s performance in the song is also mind blowing. ‘Raat Baaki’ sounds fresh even today and ‘Jawaani jaaneman’ sees Asha at her vocal best.
17) SANGAM
Raj Kapoor’s magnum opus was a huge box office hit aided in ample measure by Shankar Jaikishan’s music. ‘Mere man ki ganga’, ‘Dost dost na raha’ and ‘Yeh mera prem patra’ were chartbusters. ‘Main ka karoon Ram’ saw Lata in a different avatar. In spite of superlative music, ‘Sangam’ did not win the Filmfare Award for Best Music. Industry politics swung the award in favour of ‘Dosti’, the musical score for which was markedly inferior and hardly remembered today.
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18) JULIE
Rajesh Roshan stepped into the industry shortly after the death of Jaikishan. He came in like a breadth of fresh air. ‘Julie’ with no star cast worth the name became a box office hit thanks to Roshan’s music. ‘Bhool gaya sab kuchh’, ‘Yeh raatein’ and ‘Dil kya kare’ remain evergreen even today. The initial years of Rajesh Roshan saw a pathos in his music which generated instant appeal. This gives the music everlasting appeal.
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19) SAAJAN
Fresh from the success of Aashiqui, Nadeem Shravan scored another mega hit with ‘Saajan’. The infectious beat of ‘Dekha hai pehli baar’ saw it top the charts. ‘Bahut pyar karte hain’, ‘Mera dil bhi kitna paagal’ and ‘Tumse milne ki tamanna’ also hit the bull’s eye. Nadeem Shravan could do no wrong.
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20) MILAN
This Sunil Dutt – Nutan film was a sad love story with Laxmikant Pyarelal giving the music.L V Prasad, who produced the movie, had switched over from Shankar Jaikishan and LP had to deliver. Lata and Mukesh did the playback and LP excelled with their tunes. ‘Sawan ka mahina’, ‘Hum tum yug yug se’ and ‘Main to deewana, were huge hits. Milan is easily Laxmikant Pyarelal’s top score. We wish it were more popular even today.