Falling in love with you

Of all the successful romantic pairings in Bollywood, this would surely be in the top 3 in any ranking or shortlist: Raj Kapoor and Nargis.

Although the two hit it off like a house on fire (pun intended) right from the get go, when they were paired in Raj Kapoor’s debut film as producer-director in Aag , produced under his own banner, the two gave a string of hits as a romantic pair in Barsaat and Andaz (produced and directed by Mehboob Khan: the only movie with both Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar), which turned out to be Raj Kapoor’s first blockbuster hit. After that came the movie which took Raj Kapoor beyond the geographic boundaries of India and made him a famous name all over scores of countries, giving him a geographic footprint arguably larger than anyone before him and even afterwards: Awaara. This movie well and truly made Raj Kapoor an international celebrity. The movie made huge waves across the world especially Eastern Europe, Turkey, Soviet Union, the Middle East through Iran, South East Asia and Africa. In Soviet Union and China, Raj Kapoor became a huge celebrity, almost a cult figure, thanks to a very cleverly introduced socialist theme. This movie has an acting duel between Raj Kapoor and his actor/director father, Prithviraj Kapoor. Raj Kapoor’s grandfather, Diwan Baseshwarnath Kapoor made his ONLY film appearance. Shashi Kapoor made his debut as the childhood version of Raj Kapoor in Aag, and he did the same in this movie as well.

The film Awaara and the song “Awaara Hoon” are believed to have been among Mao ZeDong’s favourite films and songs, respectively. Awaara was actually referenced in a Chinese film, Platform, made half a century later, in 2000.

This song epitomises the romantic chemistry shared by the lead pair. They are uninhibited and utterly natural on-screen. Add to that beautiful monochrome photography, fabulous lyrics (Shailendra), great singing (Mukesh and Lata) & a simple but melodious composition by Shankar- Jaikishan, and you have all ingredients of guaranteed success. Nargis looks just awesome. https://youtu.be/E5JruUDe5XU

Despite being older to her by some years, Mukesh always addressed Lata Mangeshkar as Didi. They shared a great bond in their personal lives as well. In one of her interviews Lata has stated that her favourite Mukesh song was Jaane kahan gaye woh din from Mera Naam Joker, as it reminded her of the bygone era of playback singing. He had a uniquely original voice which hasn’t been replicated by anyone else ever since and she liked this aspect as well. Mukesh and Lata shared a deep bond of respect between each other. The duo were almost like family and it was Lata who named Mukesh’s grandson as Neil. Tragically Mukesh died in US when he accompanied Lata for a series of live concerts. Lata was the one who completed all formalities and got Mukesh back to India for the funeral.

This song has a very young Lata and a very mature Mukesh weave magic and satiate every member of the audience, even after nearly 70 years.

दम भर जो उधर मुँह फेरे
दम भर जो उधर मुँह फेरे, ओ चन्दा आ आ
मै उनसे प्यार कर लूंगी बातें हज़ार कर लूँगी
दम भर जो उधर मुँह फेरे, ओ चन्दा आ आ
मै उनसे प्यार कर लूंगी बातें हज़ार कर लूँगी

दिल करता है प्यार के सजदे
दिल करता है प्यार के सजदे
और मैं भी उनके साथ
चाँद को चन्दा रोज़ ही देखे
मेरी पहली रात हो मेरी पहली रात
बादल में अब छुप जा रे ओ चन्दा आ आ
मै उनसे प्यार कर लूंगी बातें हज़ार कर लूँगी

दम भर जो इधर मुँह फेरे
दम भर जो इधर मुँह फेरे, ओ चन्दा आ आ
मै उनसे प्यार कर लूँगा नज़रें तो चार कर लूँगा

मै चोर हूँ काम है चोरी
मै चोर हूँ काम है चोरी
दुनिया में हूँ बदनाम
दिल को चुराता आया हूँ मैं
येही मेरा काम, हो येही मेरा काम
आना तू गवाही देने ओ चन्दा आ आ
मै उनसे प्यार कर लूँगा नज़रें तो चार कर लूँगा

दिल को चुराके खो मत जाना
दिल को चुराके खो मत जाना
राह न जाना भूल
इन कदमों से कुचल ना देना
मेरे दिल का फूल हो मेरे दिल का फूल
ये बात उन्हें समझा दे ओ चन्दा आ आ
मै उनसे प्यार कर लूंगी बातें हज़ार कर लूँगी

दम भर जो उधर मुँह फेरे, ओ चन्दा आ आ
मै उनसे प्यार कर लूँगा नज़रें तो चार कर लूँगा

दम भर जो उधर मुँह फेरे

A warm and heartening sensation overcomes me every time. The very fresh young voice of Lata gels very well with the smooth one that Mukesh has. https://youtu.be/qA8ZroGExKE

Pure magic.

Enjoy the wonderful song all over again, folks. I definitely love it. Stay healthy and happy