RAINS–Slushy For Mumbai, Sexy For Bollywood
Mumbai rains played truant almost throughout July..Then suddendly today it started raining again..Not raining..But pouring..It hardly drizzles in Mumbai.
Whether it becomes Shanghai or not one thing is for sure, Mumbai scores over it in terms of rainfall. It receives almost the double the amount in Shanghai.For your gyan the average annual rainfall of 2120mm is almost double of Shanghai’s 1143 mm. Moreover no other global cities match Mumbai’s average.
‘Another unique aspect of Mumbai rains is that no other city handles as many intense rainy spells. Hongkong and Shanghai get six to seven months of rain, while Mumbai piles up its staggering average in just three very wet months.’ So much and such muck for Mumbai rains.
You might wonder what is the link between Mumbai rains and Bollywood.It’s said that Mumbai ki barsaat aur producer ki baat ka kabhi bharosa nahin kiya ja sakta( Mumbai rains and producers’ claim can’t be trusted).
Mumbai has a love-hate relationship with rains. It can’t live without rains, it can’t live with it also. Too much of it cause pain to Mumabi city. But for Hindi Films aka Bollywood rain spells gain..Off screen, rains may lead to fallen attendance at the theatres but on screen rain ususally helps in luring audiences to the theatre. To an extent rains brings out the voyeur within the audience.
Hindi Films romance with rains is legendary and full of sensuality. Hindi Films have invariably flirted with rains–whether in portion of a song sequence or its use in drama,suspense and action films. Songs like Ghanan Ghanan ghir ghir aaye badra (Lagaan) or Allah megh de paani de (Guide) form the very basis of a film story.
But focus of this post is on the best of Hindi cinema in terms of rain songs that celebrate rains per se and the resultant interplay of ignited passions between the genders. The typical scenario plays somewhat like this: Lightning and thunder. She gets wet. Shivers.Invariably she is without any outer protection. He lends her his jacket..She takes it and He escorts her to a nearby cottage or a glass house(with lots of window panes). Or she carries the jacket for a while and then lets herself loose in the rain. In her chiffon or mini skirt. He joins in her revelry. Or plays indifferent to her advances. In his denim shirt or simple banian. Eventually both come under the cottage or a glass house. He lights the logs in an already established fireplace or make shift one. Lightning and thunder.. This time dimple on his chin and droplets on her cheek are highlighted..That work as a spark to ignite already simmering passions.They come close..And closer.In earlier times not so far away before the advent of mulitplex era, the moment they came closer camera panned to the firelogs..Now- a- days it goes full nine yards in its exploration. All said and done the essence still lies in the song, not the sex.
Here is a random selection of my favorites.
Rimjhim girey saawan, sulag-sulag jayee mann (Manzil–Yogesh’s lyrics sizzle and smoulder as Amitabh Bachchan and Moushmi Chaterjee get wet on Mumbai streets)
Ik ladki bheegi bhaagi si, soti raaton mein jaagi si,mili ik ajnabi se (Chalti ka naam Gaadi–Madhubala is simply stunning in her drenched state)
Saanson ko saanson mein dhalney do zara..lamhon ki guzaarish hai paas aa jayein (Hum-Tum–Again beautiful picturaisation of Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukherjee getting wet and close on Mumbai streets, especially in the night)
Lagi aaj saawan ki phir wo jhaddi hai (Chaandni–Vinod Khanna’s anguish on unrequited love touches a chord deep down..Juhi Chawla looks stunning)
Kaate nahin Kattey din ye raat, kehni thhi jo dil ki baat, aaj main kehti hoon, I love you (Mr. India–Sridevi never looked so sensuous and erotic as getting wet in blue chiffon saree )
Hai Hai Ye majboori, Ye mausam aur ye doori…teri do takayaan di naukri, mera laakhon ka saawan jaye ( Roti Kapda Aur Makaan– Zeenat Aman mocking Manoj Kumar’s reservation of letting himself loose in the monsoon rain)
Bheegi Bheegi raaton mein, meethi meethi baaton mein, aisi barsaaton mein kaisa lagta hai ( Ajnabi–This question answer duet has some of the best similies to express feelings about rain enacted on screen by Rajesh Khanna and Zeenat Aman )
Aaj rapat jayein toh humein na chhuradiyo (Namak Halal–Amitabh Bachchan and Smita Patil going berserk in machine made Mumbai rain..Watch Prakash Mehra doing Alfred Hitchcockian appearance in the song)
Baadal kyun barastaa hai, darr kuchh aisa lagta hai (Betaab–Sunny Deol and Amrita Singh while giving those wet and wiling looks to each other definitely don’t look debutantes)
Hai re hai, neend nahin aaye dil mein tu samaye ( Humjoli– Leena Chandravarkar adding to Jeetendra’s passion and pelvic thrusts in the rain)
Chhoti si kahani se,baarishon kay paani se..saarii vaadi dhul gayi ( Ijazat–Shots of lush green hills, fog, drizzle,droplets on the leaves,meandering brook, cascading waterfall all through a train journey..the entire atmosphere with the song playing in the background is–in one word- enchanting)
Saawan barse tarse dil, kyun na nikaley ghar se dil ( Dahek–surprisingly Aadesh Srivastava reprised Yanni’s Aria and made into a melody in which Akshaye Khanna and Sonali Bendre go through various locations,obstacles and modes of transport–all in rain, just to meet each other)
Saawan Ka mahina pavan karey sor (Milan–Nutan correcting Sunil Dutt on word sor as shor has so many layers wrapped around itself..And then the words used to express effects of saawan on one’s sensibilities is wonderful)
Barkha rani zara thham kay barso,peey mere aa jaayein chahe jum kay phir barso ( Sabak–Shatrugha Sinha’s appeal to rain as a Queen to go slow till the beloved comes and then it can pour, reminds one of Kalidasa’s Meghdoot where clouds are made a messenger to convey one’s feeling to the beloved. Plus Mukesh’s rendition is so soulful)
Tip tip barsaa paani, paani mein aag lagi ( Mohra–Raveena Tandon gyrating to seduce Akshay Kumar has all the masaala and cliches, still it brings out Raveena’s lurking sensuality and shows the chemistry between the lead pair)
Koi Ladki hai jab wo gaati hai…tak dhum dhum, tak dhum dhum ( Dil Toh Pagal Hai–Getting drenched and wet in accompany of kids adds to this songs buoyancy and zing..Shahrukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit in their elements)
Mohe ang lag ja baalma, main akeli piya,sard hai mora jiya ( Mera Naam Joker–Padmini’s voluptuousness just bursts forth after getting wet in the rain and her entreaty to Raj Kapoor provides an amazing counterpoint)
Barso re megha megha barso re ( Guru–Wonderful atmosphere where Aishwarya celebrates rains and her own spirit of freedom)
And my two top favorites:
Pyar hua ikraar hua, pyaar se phir kyun darta hai dil ( Shri 420–You just can’t ignore the sizzling chemistry between Raj Kapoor and Nargis..Both under one umbrella..So near yet so far..And in one shot threesome of Randhir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor and Rima Kapoor seen as kids…. walking down the footpath with their raincoats on..Captivating)
Roop tera Mastaana, pyar mera diwaana bhool koi humse na ho jayee ( Aradhana–If there is one single example of showing effects on human sensibilites without actually getting wet but with rain constantly looming in the background, its this song..Picturised in a single shot it brings out the carnal desires between Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore without them lip-synching..Just an inter-play of reactions with burning firelogs adding to the smouldering passion..Ultimate)
So join in to add on your own favorites from hindi, tamil,telugu,malyalam,english, bengali,marathi,punjabi rain songs from films and may be music albums too– till rain-drops keep falling on my head (and yours too).
Tags: Bengali, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
how could you forget “Dekho Baris Ho rahi hain, it’s raining, it’s raining”?!
another cheesy rain song,
“Chori chori chora chhori chhat pe milenge
Toh khelenge prem game) -2
Chhod ke saari baatein bas romance rahega mame
On the roof, in the rain ”
that’s from ‘Masti’
and,
“Dekho Zara Dekho Barkha Ki Ghari..” from ‘Yeh Dillagi’.
:d
Also a beautiful song from Naazayaz (ajay devgan)
“barssat ke mausam me, tanhai ke aalam me,
me ghar se niakl aaya, botal bhi utha laaya.
abhi zinda hu tyo jee lene do, bhari barsaat me pee lene do”.
Krysh,
One of my favourite rain songs of Mumbai Street is “Rimjhim ke taraane leke aayi barsaat” from Kala Bazaar.. The song beautifully captured the moods of mumbai rains.. Few years back, I did one of my “Chitrahaar Quiz” on Monsoon Songs.. Have a look at the quiz on the on screen songs of Rains..
http://www.gulzaronline.com/chitrahaar/qz1/sundayqz1.htm
In case you want to try cracking it, I will hold the answer links till tomorrow…
Pavan,your quiz was quite intelligent,brilliant and tricky ..Sujata,Do Beegha Zameen,Guddi and of course Kala Bazar clicked on memory’s screen. I wonder how I overlooked the wonderful rain songs from these movies…Shammi Kapoor starrer Usne Kaha thha’s song rimjhim kay pyare pyare geet liye was lurking at the back of my mind but I did not know the movie’s name while writing.. well others were a revelation and a valuable addition..thnx for enriching the category.
one of my favorite rain song
–> “Rimzim rimzim… room zoom room zoom… bhigi bhigi rut mein…” from 1942-e-Love Story.
Decent post but why is it under Marathi category.
Whats the connection between the above post and marathi movies ? Please post under the appropriate cateory. Thanks