Melody in the movies: 1972 (continued)

Rajiv Vijaykar (Screen)

Do Chor finds L-P lover Raj Khosla opting for RD in his thriller with winning results in all its four songs - 'Yaari ho gayi yaar se...', 'Meri jaan, meri jaan, kehna maano...', 'Chahe raho door...' and 'Kaali palak teri gori...'.

Finally the biggies that made RD the icon of the early '70s in a single year are, again in ascending order, Raampur Ka Lakshman, Parichay, Mere Jeevan Saathi, Jawani Diwani, Amar Prem and Hare Rama Hare Krishna. Raampur Ka Lakshman is a hit-fest with the title-track, 'Gum hai kisike pyar mein...', 'Pyar ka samay kam ho jahaan...', 'Albela re...', 'Sanwala rang hai mera...' and the unusually structured devotional song, 'Kaahe apno ke kaam nahin aaye tu...'.

Parichay marks the beginning of the long RD-Gulzar association, and if Kishore's 'Musafir hoon yaaro...' and Kishore-Asha's 'Saare ke saare gama ko lekar...' have mass appeal, two other songs reaffirm RD's ability at the raag-suffused numbers, Lata-Bhupendra's 'Beete na beetayi raina...' and Bhupendra's 'Mitwaa bol meethe bain....' Bhupendra's peak phase as playback singer begins.

Mere Jeevan Saathi crashes at the b-o. as one of Rajesh Khanna's many flops that year, but the songs reach dizzy heights of popular acclaim. 'Chalaa jaata hoon kisiki dhun mein...', 'Deewana leke aaya hai...', 'Ho kitne sapne...' (all by Kishore) and Asha's sizzling 'E aao na...' all set the charts aflutter. But the 24-carat diamond here is undoubtedly the timeless Kishore number 'O mere dil ke chain...'.

Jawani Diwani is RD's biggest gift to mentor Ramesh Behl, who gave Pancham his breakthrough with The Train two years prior. The brilliant musical unleashes a score that the youth instantly identify with, and will do so for generations, with 'Nahin nahin abhi nahin...', 'Saamne yeh kaun aaya...' and above all'Jaan-e-jaan dhoondta phir rahaa...' topping the list. The title-song as well as 'Agar saaz chheda...' and 'Meri nazar ne yeh dil...' are all very popular at the time too.

Amar Prem is the second of these three humdingers that make Anand Bakshi form a mighty alliance with RD even as he continues his winning spree with LP and Pancham's father S.D. Burman. Easily the classiest among RD's work this year, it boasts of timeless treasures like 'Raina beeti jaaye...', 'Kuch to log kahenge...', 'Yeh kya hua...' and 'Chingari koi bhadke...' besides the unsung delight 'Badaa natkhat hai...'.

Finally, Hare Rama Hare Krishna - the film that will bring in the revolutionary Zeenat Aman into focus, thanks largely to the punch of Pancham's tour de force with Asha and Anand Bakshi, 'Dum maro dum...'. Arguably RD's career-greatest hit song, it completely dwarfs the film's other brilliant numbers like 'Phoolon ka taaron ka...' (in two versions), 'Kaanchi re kaanchi re...', 'Ho re ghunghroo kaa bole...', 'Dekho o diwano...' and Usha Uthup's first film hit 'I love you...' (with Asha) despite the tremendous popularity they enjoy.