I am sitting at the SFO airport with my laptop and no internet. Playing sone random songs of Geeta ji and planning to write some of my thoughts about these songs..

Seene ki dhadkan tej hui..ab door na jaa..
Hai tujhko meri ulfat ki kasam..ab laut bhi aa..ab laut bhi aa..

Lovely song from the movie Nishana (1950). Its not exactly a weepy weepy song of the forties, yet it has the request to the lover to return. The music composed by Khurshid Anwar is melodious and in tune with the mood of the song. The wordings by Naqshab are just appropriate for the mood of the song. Geeta ji simply glides over the tune with so much comfort and ease.

There is a stanza which goes like :

Kehne ki nahin yeh baat magar..
Majboor hain dil majboor nazar..

The girl's helplessness in spite of being shy in expressing her feelings is well described. Its pleasing on the ears and hummable.

Its a nice melody to listen to. Again, its not so popular song, so it will be great if you guys can listen to this one.

Here is a song in totally different mood...

Aankhon ke paimane pee
Julf ke saaye me jee
Muskura le ho ho ho
Dil laga le..ho ho ho..
Ho matawale ..matawale..matawale..

The opening musical piece of this song from the movie Laal Pari (1954) is a sort of Arabian music or something like that. The music between the stanzas and the wordings like "Mere habeeb aaa..dil ke kareeb aa" also gives an impression that its an Arabian kind of music.

The way Geeta ji gives stress on "bahar" in the line "Rut hain bahar ki raate hain pyar ki " is simply wonderful. The MD Hansraj Behl has done an amazing composition of a simple song, probably on a common situation of a dance song.

Worth a dekko..I mean sunno !

Now I am getting swayed in the teasing natkhat number from Bahu Beti (1952) "Mose chanchal jawani sambhali nahin jaaye".
Pandit Shiv Dayal Batish ji and Kaifi Azmi has weaved a magic in this song. Unfortunately this song got into problems with the censors and was removed from the film. In a short song of exactly 3 minutes, the singer, composer and the lyricist have portrayed the feelings of a young woman who has just stepped on the youthfulness (jawani ke dehleej par kadam rakhkha hain).

In a way, the girl is fantasizing that some (handsome) guy should come and sweep her off her feets. The nature is doing magic on her..see what is saying..

Gudgudati hain tanhai hardam mujhe
Chhedata hain akele mein mausam mujhe
Raat sapne dikhaye, bhor kanon mein gaaye
Thandi thandi hawa mora ghunghat uthaye..

There is no vulgarity in the song (even by the standards of those times), yet the song is sensuous ! That is the special effect of a Geeta Dutt song..

I am sure those who have listened to this song, would agree with me !

Here is an entirely different set of emotions...full of patriotism and hopefullness !

Kaise rokoge aise toofan ko
Yeh umange yeh dil hain jawan ho...

The first time I heard this duet of Geeta ji with Talat sahab from the movie Anandmath (1949), I was simply mesmerized by the lyrics of Shailendra.

Boond tan ki ban aaj dhara
Bah chala jis mein jeewan hamara
Jisko chhoo kar ke doobe hazaron
Dhhondhata hain yeh dil woh kinara

Man ke panchchee ki pagal udan ko..
Man ke panchchee ki pagal udan ko..

Kaise rokoge aise toofan ko
Yeh umange yeh dil hain jawan ho...

The composer Hemantda (for whom the film Anandmath came as a big break as composer) has made this song so memorable with innovative singing of the duo. When Talat is singing, there is Geeta ji giving Aalaap in the background and its lovely Aalaaps by Talat sahab when Geeta ji is singing..

This is one of the special songs of Shailendra where the underlying feelings of patriotism and inspirational thoughts is at its best.

When the perfect tune blends into great lyrics like these, backed by some special singing a song like this becomes immortal.
I hadn't heard a song of Talat sahab composed by Hemantda before this, and this one is really special.

Now we have another duet with the one and only one Mohammed Rafi sahab. A foot tapping number where the girl wants to get married and the guy doesn't want to get into the wedlock. Yes you guessed it right, I am listening to "Ho chat mangani toh pat shadi na dil ko todo ji" from the film Chaalbaz (1958) composed by Chitragupta. Again, only after joining HF I came to know that the composer for whom Geeta ji sang maximum number of songs is not S D Burman or O P Nayyar but it is Chitragupt. Geeta ji has sung maximum number of duets with Rafi sahab (154 ?) and out of those the most are composed by Chitragupt, again came as a surprise to me !

When Rafi sahab sings "Bade lafade hain shadi mein yeh lafade chhodo ji" you can't keep your face straight.
There is such a prefect chemistry between the two singers singing this light hearted number..

Geeta : Shadi hogi band bajega
Karo na ghotala..
Rafi : Do din ki yeh deewali hain
Phir hain deewala

is just too good. Rafi sahab concludes saying " Hain duniya mein bahut andhe hamen to chhodo ji"..

A hillarious comic foot tapping number, very nicely portraying the tussle between an "Eager to marry" girl and a "Running away from marriage" guy.

I think the Rafi-Geeta duo has sung a lot of comic duets together and this is really one of the best among them. It is not as popular as say "Jane kahan mera jigar gaya ji" but it is fantastic !

Here is the last one before they announce the boarding of the flight !

Kis liye mathe pe bal hain
Ranz ka ijahar kyon
Dil se jab ikarar hain toh
Moon se phir inakar kyon..

I am not sure if this can be called as a solo or a duet, because at the very end of the song one can listen to the singer composer Hemantda singing "Na na na". Yes, this is the song from the movie Ek Jhalak (1957) composed by Hemantda.

Very rarely I have heard the wordings "Mathe pe bal" (Lines on the forehead when you get upset or angry) in a Hindi film song. The girl knows that the guy is in love with her but is not willing to express the same.

See how the lyricist Shamshul Huda Bihari has cleverly written the wordings

Aap ke hote hue bhi kyon na ho dil ka ilaaj
kahiye kyon na ho dil ka ilaaj

Siskiyan le le ke mar jaay bhala beemar kyon

Again, I had not even heard about this enchanting song before I joined HF. The magical moments of these songs are to cherish for a long time.


These were some songs which I listened to and wich made me write somthing about them. Looking forward to some more soul stirring moments (but not at an airport all alone, waiting for the flight!)

Cheers
Parag