#383

        Song:   Paas nahiin aaiye haath na lagaaiye
                Kiijiye nazaara duur duur se
                Kiijiye ishaara duur duur se
        
        Film:   Saaqi (1952)
        Singer: Lata Mangeshkar, chorus
        Music:  C Ramchandra
        Lyrics: Rajendra Krishan
        *ing:   Madhubala, Premnath

ATMJH threads seem to have become rather educational of late  :-)
the  recent  interchanges on Persian/Arabian geographies, Lata/CR
chemistries,   Urdu/Gujarati/Marathi   etymologies,    fortuitous
crash-courses   in   assorted   languages,  discovery  of  arcane
instruments ; all have  been  too  fascinating  to  pass  up  the
temptation  to  stoke  the  fire a bit more :-)  here's one of my
favorite Lata  chorus  songs  that  shares  it's  Arabian/Persian
backdrop  with the earlier one. This one though, is Persian, with
quite a few references to Iran and Baghdad. (Balaji, was this the
movie you were trying to remember ? The Iran/Baghdad goof ?)

CR's wonderful  score  is  the  only  thing  that  salvages  this
ridiculous   movie   (to   some  extent  Kamal  Amrohi's  flowery
dialogues, and of course Madhubala, help out  a  bit).  The  same
undeniable  chemistry at work again- CR with Lata ("ishq mei.n jo
kuchh na honaa thha", "dil pehlaa aur pyaar duusra"), Talat  (the
glorious  "kise  maaluum  thha  ek din" with Lata), and even Rafi
this time ("aa gayii hai ishq pe bahaar" with Lata, "meraa mizaaj
ladakpan  se  aashiqaana  hai"). And of course this lovely chorus
song, with an amusing picturization on Cuckoo, who, alongwith her
dancing  platoon,  is  trying  to  warn  our man Premnath against
falling in love with the princess (who-else). Hence the  charming
vein  of circumspect advice in its lyrics... here are some of the
antaraas :                   

        dil ko lagaana hai to zaraa dekh bhaal ke
        daa.nv baDe TeDhe hai.n hasiino.n ke chaal ke
        husn dagabaaz hai, pehle aazmaaiye
        kiijiye nazaara duur duur se...

        pyaar ke muaamle mei.n jaldii na kiijiye
        achchii tarah sochiye phir dil diijiye  
        nazron kii pyaas ko duur se bujhaaiye
        kiijiye nazaara duur duur se...

(and once in a while Premnath throws Cuckoo these "oh yeah? watch
me!"  kind of glances.. quite funny, actually :-) )          
Then there's this quaint song picturized on Gope, of all  people, 
that goes  "haseena  sambhal  sambhal ke chal, pad na jaaye kamar 
mein bal" sung by CR himself. I think Snehal posted this on ATMJH  
a while ago.

This is another soundtrack I'd like to  see  released,  though  I
have it in my collection, courtesy of Faez :-)

PS The credits for this movie show Chic Chocolate  as  the  Asst.
Music Director.
   Wasn't  that  just  another  name  under  which  CR   composed
sometimes (films like
   Nadaan (1951))?? Or is this some other person ?



Guest Author: Hrishi Dixit