Musings on a golden era of Hindi Pop - Part 1

Hindi Pop music - Once upon a time, I used to look forward to the release of Private music albums and videos. The singers were earnest, the songs beautiful and the videos, all of them shot well, differently and having about them an air of such sweet innocence...that in hindsight seems to have been a golden era for the industry.

This post is all about trying to document that era. Lucky Ali, Adnan Sami, Alisha Chinai, Pankaj Udhas, Babul Supriyo, Falguni Pathak, Neeraj Sridhar, Strings, Euphoria...this list might go on. The sweet memories I have of my higher secondary and college days are linked closely with the enjoyment I derived from these songs. I used to take refuge in these songs - yes, refuge from the agony of bearing profanities and these songs provided an escape route. Perhaps escape would be putting it a little too harshly...they were something more than that. To me, some of these songs were pure poetry. Here we go, some of my favorites below -

 Lucky Ali - 

Song: Gori teri Aankhen Kahe -This is a pure gem from Lucky Ali and Kavita Krishnamurthy. If there is one voice that can evoke longing, nostalgia, pain and happiness, all at the same time, that would be Lucky Ali and this song is a perfect example of his genius. DD Metro used to have a weekend countdown on Sunday afternoons and this song was on the top of the charts for quite some time.

See the imagery woven in the lyrics -  

"Chanda Ne Bhi Dekha Nahi
Aur Taaro Ko Yeh Maloom Nahi
Ke Meine Tujhe Dil Diya
Tera Dil Le Liya"

Song: Tere mere saath jo hota hai  - "The Prime suspect is a female agent.." - an announcement on the air waves at the beginning of this song. Lucky Ali initially pursues this agent, begins to dance towards the end of the video, the crowd joins in and it is a carnival. A heady mix of good music, amazing video and extraordinary singing makes this my favorite. 

Song: Kitni haseen Zindagi - Malaika Arora Khan is gorgeous in this video. The lyrics are part philosophical and part romantic.

"Jeene ko to dil yeh chaahta hai
Jaane phir kyon sharmaata hai
Rukta nahin hai, sab kuch bataaye
Chupta nahin hai, dil jaan jaaye
Ab rehna kisko yahaan"

Daler Mehendi -

Song: Bolo ta ra ra - How can any post on this be complete without Daler Mehendi thanks to whom Punjab can now boast of numerous singing phenomenons - youngsters to whom he is the ultimate inspiration. We as a family had embarked on a tour of Haridwar, Rishikesh and Mussourie. The driver of our bus, a Sardar with a smile of cherubic innocence played Daler Mehendi songs throughout the night as he maneuvered the hair pin bends.

Neeraj Sridhar - 

I have always found his remixes good. He pioneered the use of English words, weaving them into the originals, altering them a little, but nevertheless preserving and enhancing their appeal.

Song: Hawa mein udti jaaye - This one makes my heart beat faster whenever I listen to it. The pace and the beats were ahead of time if I can put it like that. Neeraj has moved on since then to playback singing and of late, churned out quite popular tracks. 

Euphoria -

This band had a flamboyance and was bold to experiment. Palash Sen with his unusual style and his band with their eccentricities, quite an irresistible lot!

Song: Maeri - The beauty of this song is that anytime you listen to it, you get the feeling that you are part of a long train journey. The jerk of the train compartments, the depth of the lyrics are things that come to mind readily!

"duniya parayi chod ke aaja
jhoothe sare naate tod ke aaja
sau rabdi tujhe ek vari aajaa
ab ke mile to honge na juda
na juda na juda aaa oooo"

Adnan Sami - 

Adnan has something about him that makes you want to like him. Is it his careless charm or is it his confidence? I know not!

Song: Lift kara de - This song was a HUGE hit. It was on everybody's lips when it came out. Who doesn't love a lift anytime?

"Bangla motor car dila de

Ek nahin do chaar dila de
Mujhko aeroplane dila de
Duniya bhar ki sair kara de" 

Boy! Isn't he ambitious?  

(To be continued)