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.

Melody in the movies: 1972

Rajiv Vijaykar (Screen)

S.D. Burman composes and sings the single number 'Doli mein bithaike kahaar...' in Amar Prem, where the rest of the songs and the background score are done by son R.D.Burman.

Two of Dada Burman's scores, Anuraag and Yeh Gulistan Hamara hit the market, but the films will be released, and hence discussed here, in 1973. Son Rahul Dev Burman is now at his commercial and creative peak and has a bountiful year despite a few turnips like Savera, Sanjog and Rakhi Aur Hathkadi, the last noted only for Kishore-Asha's 'Acchi nahin sanam dillagi....' Gomti Ke Kinare is noted for the foot-tapping Kishore-Asha duet, 'Aao aao jaan-e-jahaan...', while Lata-Kishore's 'Jeene ka din marne ka mausam...' enjoys a short spell of popularity. Shehzada has a moderately popular score with songs like 'Rimjhim rimjhim dekho...', 'Thokar mein hai meri saara zamana...', 'Chhodo kalai...' and Rafi's 'Ho tere attharoo...' (Rafi now has now begun to make only rare forays into Pancham's music rooms).

Going in ascending order of RD's excellence and success, we next have Bombay To Goa, Seeta Aur Geeta, Apna Desh, Samadhi, Do Chor and Parichay. Bombay To Goa has the first two popular hits ever filmed on Amitabh Bachchan - 'Dekha na haaye re socha na...' and 'Dil tera hai main bhi teri hoon sanam....' The title-song sung and enacted by Kishore Kumar does not really make waves, but 'Tum meri zindagi mein...' (a Kishore-Lata duet found in the album but not in the film) is loved by connoisseurs. Seeta Aur Geeta has the chart-busting 'Hawa ke saath saath...' and 'Koi ladki mujhe kal raat sapne mein mili...', and gets the distinction of having two drunken songs in a comic subject - 'Haan jee haan, maine sharaab pee hai...'and 'Abhi to haath mein jaam hai...'.

Apna Desh finds RD-Asha doing an encore over the 1971 'Monica O my darling...' with 'Duniya mein logon ka...', while 'Sun champa sun taara...', 'Le lo re le lo babu...', 'Rona kabhi nahin rona...' and 'Kajraa lagaake...' also enjoy varying popularity.

In Samadhi, Lata's 'Bangle ke peeche...' (now reborn in remixed form as the charts-, video- and controversy-topping 'Kaanta lagaa...') earns only lukewarm popularity in the face of hit numbers like 'Jaan-e-jaana jaao kal phir aana...', 'Maine dekha ek sapna...' and even Asha's 'Jab tak rahe tan mein jeeya...'