Monday, October 5, 2009

My Top 10 Lata Mangeshkar Songs

30,000+ songs. How does one choose? Obviously I am not going to sift through this huge data. I have a simpler way. I will type in whichever Lata song comes to my mind as I blog. Blogging does not get much live than this.

So here's my list of Lata Mangeshkar Top 10:

1. Lag jaa galey ki phir yeh haseen raat ho na ho, shayad is janam mein mulakat ko na ho - from Woh Kaun Thi? The music is by Madan Mohan

2. Tera jaana, dil key armaanon ka loot jaana, koi dehke bun kay taqdeeron ka mitt jana - from Anadi. The music is by Shankar Jaikishan. Nutan is absolutely heartbroken.

3. O! Sajana, barkha bahar aayi, ras ki phuhar layi, aankhiyon mein pyaas layi - from Parakh - this one is brilliant. The music is by Salil Chodhury

4. Chura kay gaya sapna mera, baithi hoon kab ho savera - from Jewel Thief. The music is by S.D. Burman. Vyjantimala never looked more beautiful.

5. Aaa! Jaan-e-jaan, aa mera yeh husn jawan - from Intequam. The music is by Laxmikant Pyarelal. This one is special: the only cabaret number by Lata. Helen gives her best; so does the man, painted all black, in the cage. (Actually there is one more song from Intequam that I love - Kaisay rahoon chup kay meinay pi hi kya hai.)

6. Dilbar dil say pyare - from Caravan. The music is by R.D. Burman. Perhaps Aruna Irani's best dance number.

7. Biti na bitai raina, birha ki jayi raina - from Parichay; the brilliant Hindi remake of the Sound of Music. The music is by R.D. Burman. (Actually this is a duet with Bhupendra doing a cameo at the end). Gulzar, RD and Lata were a deadly combination.

8. Another Gulzar-Lata-RD number from Andhi: Tere bina zindagi say shikwa. Duet with the man with the golden voice, Kishore Kumar. (I love all the three songs from this movie. The other two ... tum aa gaye ho, nur aa gaya hai; and iss mod say jaatey hain, kuch sust kadam rakh kar. All three songs are filmed on Suchitra Sen, Bengal's pride and Sanjeev Kumar).

9. Thinking of Suchitra Sen ... this one is from another Hindi movie of hers, Mamta. The song ... Rahein na rahein hum, mehka kareingay ban kay kali .... I think the music is by Roshan.

10. A non-filmi song which brings a lump to my throat every time I even think of it ... Aye meray watan kay logon, zara aankh mein bhar lo paani. I think the music is by C Ramachandra.

Is it already number 10? Hmmm... sad. I have so many more to go.

Which are your favourite Lata Mangeshkar songs?

Stumble Upon Toolbar

6 comments:

Ava said...

Wow ! Just my favorites. I love Rahe na Rahe hum. I love Suno Sajna papeehe ne (from Aaye Din Bahar Ke). I love all songs of Jewel Thief. But that song is Rula ke gaya sapna mera. I agree, Vyaj looks lovely. How abt Hoton me aisi baat?

You could choose top 100 and wish you had more numbers to cite.

grace said...

I also love the songs Mora Gora Ang Lai Le from Bandini (Gulzar's debut as a lyricist) and also Na Jiya Lage Na from Anand.
Rahen na rahe hum is a particular favourite of mine as well.

Ajay Poundarik said...

Aa Jan-E-Jan was not the first cabaret song sung by Lata. Earlier also she has sung cabaret songs for Laxmikant-Pyarelal in "Lutera" 1966..(Rat Se Kaho Ruke Jara..& O Dil Walo Saj-E-Dil) and in "Night In London" 1967( Mera Naam Hai Jhamila)...
-
I was also surprised not to see more songs of Lata with Laxmikant-Pyarelal.

Lata Mangeshkar sounds extremely melodious under the LP.

Lata Mangeshkar and Laxmikant-Pyarelal were a longer, larger, closer and more rewarding association that than what ANY composer has had with ANY singer in Hindi cinema.

From 1963, to the next 35 years, Lata Mangeshkar and and Laxmikant-Pyarelal were to chalk up an astounding 700 songs together, which accounted for one in every 10 Hindi film songs recorded by the Melody Queen, and one of every four songs composed by the duo. The unmatchable variety of songs. And what a mind boggling variety and range did we get in those 700 numbers which included chart-slammers and classics, and chaalu numbers as well as connoisseur choices. It is impossible to find that variety and that sustained excellence without monotony in the output of any other composer, with Lata or with any other singer.

The Albums or Films in which almost all the songs ( 90%) are sung by Lata for LP. Like.."Sati Savitri" '64, "Lutera" '66, "Baharon Ki Manzil"'67, "Intequam" '68, "Sharafat" '69, "Abhinetri" '70, "Jal Bin Machhali Nrutya Bin Bijalee" '71, "Mera Gaon Mera Desh" '71, "Bobby" '73, "Satyam Shivam Sundaram" '77, "Ek Duje Ke Liye" '81 and many more, have a different type of melodious songs.

We get the unmatached variety of songs of Laxmikant-Pyarelal with Lata Mangeshkar.

ANOOP said...

You just cant stop at 10 ! I would add almost all of the songs Lata sang for Madan Mohan and Roshan. I am not a "bhajan" person but her Bhajans, right from Allah Tero naam to O Palan hare can make you tear up. . My personal favorites besides Lag ja gale, Rahe na Rahe and Kuch dil ne kaha (Anupama) are all her Abhiman numbers

Amitabh said...

@avdi, @grace, @ajay, @anoop,
First thanks for visiting and leaving behind your valuable comments.
I did not want to stop at 10, and I am sure you will agree it is not possible to get all Lata gems in a blog (unless I launch a blog dedicated to Lata and list 10 every day for rest of my life - say! that is an idea!).
As I indicated in my post, I just typed out whatever popped up in my mind real time.
@Ajay, thanks for putting me right on the Cabaret thingy.
@Anoop, I totally agree with you on the MadanMohan - Lata combination.

Amitabh said...

@grace, I love Mora Gora Ang Lai Le. Very sensual.
@avdi, Suno Sajna Papeehay Ne is wonderful. It just didn't pop up in my mind when I was typing.

My Library