A twinge in my heart when the eyes meet
This title inadequately paraphrases a song I like very much, Nain lad jai hain to manwa ma kasak hoi bekari from the film Gunga Jumna. Yesterday I met some old college pals after a long time, and one of them was, like me, a total old songs buff. We sang many songs together for hours like we used to in college; even though his voice is suited to Talat Mahmood and Hemanta songs, we also remembered and sang this one by Rafi. Of course, I found it on Youtube today.
It’s in the Bhojpuri variant of Hindi, and the video makes the song’s meaning quite clear. Gunga, the hero, is having a good time with his friends, just after having realised he’s fallen for the washerwoman Dhanno (Vyjantimala, who smiles shyly simpers at the end). This was one of Naushad’s most popular soundtracks, using folk tunes and rhythms of eastern UP and Bihar. I love the off-beat whistle and Rafi’s alaap at the beginning and end. The choreography was by Hiralal, who often collaborated with Naushad, and the male dancers’ moves are typical of his style. I like how the colours are quite drab, quite unlike some of the over-the-top costumes and jewellery that typifies today’s Bollywood. The film itself is quite interesting; describing a young man’s turn to crime in the face of rural exploitation, it struck an early note of pessimism against the Nehruvian utopias following Indian independence.
The song features Dilip Kumar (real name Yusuf Khan) was a lot older by the time this film was released in the 60s, but who was the blockbuster star of the 50s. He looked a lot better in b/w. He, more than any other Hindi cinema star, had an excellent sense of music and rhythm. A pukka rasik, you can tell, in all his song sequences. Before Amitabh strode across the screen he was easily my favourite. He also sang beautifully himself; listening to his melodious Laagi nahi chhoote chahe jiya jaye from the film Musafir makes me wish he had sung more. His voice resembles Talat Mahmood’s a lot. He clearly had a ball filming this song. I hope you enjoy it!
Wow, cool film clip. I am in grad school too. Deep into the dissertation. And I knit. And I am an avid Bollywood/Hindi Film watcher. I very much enjoy your blog.
ps: are all the beautiful men in Bollywood named Khan?
I think that I might have made a mistaken assumption… I thought that I read somewhere that you were a grad student… it looks like you might be a bit past that. Sorry for the assumption in my last comment. But in any event, I did want to say ‘hi’ and tell you that I enjoy your blog. Cheers!
No problems, Mary, thanks for dropping by! I am, alas, past grad school, although as some readers here will testify, I often wish I could go back. As for the “Khans” in Bollywood, past and present, there’s a dissertation waiting to be written about the precarious and often paradoxical position of Muslim stars in the industry from the 40s! Although taking on a screen name was quite common for most stars in earlier days, there was greater pressure on minority actors to take on more “mainstream” Hindu names. Now that pressure doesn’t exist in the same way, and the Bollywood industry is often marked out as an idealized space of integration, or above communal differences, but there are other ways in which Muslim stars in particular continue to be coded differently or “othered”. (I must say, though, that I like this particular Khan way more than all those around today!)
Hello Desiknitter bhen ji!
Thanks for sharing the good ol’ filmi songs with us. My husband’s from India and he hates that I knit…reminds him of his dadi ji. So your blog is the only knitting interest he’ll have in the subject (becaue he knows you’ll have a great Bollywood clip to remind him of the oldies but goodies). I’m not Hindustani but desi at heart…once you’ve been in India, she(it) never lets go of you. India gets into your blood in an unforgetful but wonderful way.
To Mary: Yes! All the yummy guys in the films are Khan’s (or so it seems)! But they also come in my other favorite flavors: Bachchan, Roshan, and the Abraham guy.
Hi Magalie, thanks for visiting the blog! I think a little more respect for good old dadiji’s knitting is to be encouraged, wouldn’t you agree? Most of the older knitters in the subcontinent work without published patterns and it always amazes me to see how they still produce beautiful, fitting garments.