Rang barse silsila

THE wife of the principal of my boarding school in Himachal Pradesh would sing this song, ‘Holi aayi re Kanhai rang chhalke, suna de zara bansuri’, in the 1980s. Though the song from Mehboob Khan’s ‘Mother India’ celebrated the festival of colours, the first lady of the school sang it on Janmashtami. The song from the 1957 classic is etched in my memory.

Hindi films have songs for every mood and occasion and Holi is no exception. As the festival approaches, other songs come to mind. ‘Aaj na chhodenge bas humjoli, khelenge hum Holi’ is from ‘Kati Patang’. The song, picturised on Rajesh Khanna and Asha Parekh, who wears a white sari as she plays a widow in the film, beautifully portrays the contrast between a boisterous Khanna drenched in colours and a sombre Parekh in her spotless apparel.

Then there is the lesser-heard ‘Layi hai hazaron rang, Holi’ sung by Asha Bhosle in OP Ralhan’s ‘Phool Aur Pathhar’. As the celebrations go on, the expressions on the faces of Meena Kumari and Dharmendra, who are not part of the festivities, are pure gold. Ravi’s composition takes it a few notches above an average Holi song.

Even ‘Sholay’, the Ramesh Sippy dacoit drama, wasn’t without its Holi interlude. Amid the vengeful tale, writers Salim-Javed came up with light moments in the form of a song penned by Anand Bakshi and composed by RD Burman. ‘Holi ke din dil khil jaate hain, rangon mein rang mil jaate hain’ is a perennial favourite with radio jockeys. Not to forget Gabbar Singh’s famous dialogue asking his henchmen, ‘Holi kab hai, kab hai Holi?’

Rajshri Productions’ ‘Nadiya Ke Paar’, remade years later by the Barjatyas as ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!’, had a beautiful Holi number: ‘Jogiji dheere dheere, jogiji waah’. Ravindra Jain was a regular with Rajshri and what a score he came up with. Drenched in colours, in ‘Nadiya Ke Paar’, Sachin and Sadhna Singh make a pretty picture while dancing merrily.

Yash Chopra’s ‘Silsila’ hit the silver screen in 1981. It had the mother of all Holi songs, ‘Rang barse bheege chunar wali’, and that too in the voice of Amitabh Bachchan. Said to be one of India’s best known folk songs, the lyrics were written by Harivansh Rai Bachchan, based on a traditional bhajan by 15th-century mystic poet Meera, and set to tune by classical musicians Shiv-Hari.

BR Chopra’s ‘Baghban’ also captures the hues of the festival as the elderly Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini dance in gay abandon pushing back the years. ‘Hori khele Raghuveera Awadh mein’ has become a modern-day Holi anthem.

Though this ‘Namak Haraam’ number is not an out-and-out Holi revelry song, it has haunting lyrics: ‘Nadiya se dariya, dariya se sagar, sagar se gehra jaam’, rendered soulfully by Kishore Kumar.

‘Ang se ang lagana sajan hamein’ from the 1993 psychological thriller ‘Darr’ truly captures the Holi essence. And to kick off the festivities, what better song than Rajesh Roshan’s composition from ‘Kaamchor’: ‘Mal de gulal mohe, aayi Holi aayi re’.

Arts