Thursday, February 14, 2013

ಮನಸೇ ಒಂದು ಸಾರಿ ಕೇಳು

Although there is not yet a full music video of this song on the web, you can understand that the lovers are trying to express their love for each other. The girl is so confident of the boy's love that she even declares, translated:

... In every birth, I'd pray to God that you be my lover ...

Happy Valentine's Day.



Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

ये रातें, ये मौसम, नदी का किनारा, ये चँचल हवा

Kishore Kumar's rendering of
ये बाहों में बाहें, ये बहकी निगाहें
लो आने लगा ज़िंदगी का मज़ा
is a treat to listen to. Bollywood seems to excel when producing rhythmic music capturing romance.




Saturday, January 05, 2013

ಸತ್ಯವಂತರಿಗೆ ಇದು ಕಾಲವಲ್ಲ

This song is a somewhat cynical view of life, as seen through the eyes of ಪುರಂದರದಾಸ, the 16th century poet & philosopher. The title of the song can be translated literally as:

This is not the time for truthful people ...

The song elaborates on how unrighteous people end up enjoying comfortable life, and the righteous end up suffering in their life. Perhaps this situation was more seen frequently during his lifetime, and produced the cynical outlook captured in this song.

The song's special significance for me is that I used to hear it, quite regularly, from my late paternal grandmother.

(It appears that this song can be rendered in different ragas; the video by D K Pattammal is in ♫भैरवी).



Sunday, October 28, 2012

साँस में तेरी साँस मिली तो

Yash Chopra breathed his last on week ago today. This post is to recall his contribution to romance cinema.
तेरी ख़याल में डूब के अक्सर अच्छी लगी तन्हाई
To be able to be comfortable with oneself is a valuable trait. The poet notes here, through the female lover, that being in love is capable of turning even 'being alone' into a comfortable state.


Sunday, October 14, 2012

पिया बिना पिया बिना

A female lover sings that separation [from her lover] is unbearable. How much unbearable? Consider the effect of separation:
  • Without my lover, the flute is unable to produce good music, my singing seems 'false' or 'incorrect' ...
  • Without you, my lover, my world seems empty, the nightingale has remained silent, the peacock has forgotten to 'speak' [in the woods]
When a Lata Mangeshkar sings about the separation, there is a certain relishable quality even to the feeling of separation (for the listener, that is, and not for the person undergoing separation).

What do you say, dear reader?


Tuesday, September 25, 2012

माही वे

Elaborate description of a female by a male lover — तेरे गाल गुलाबी रब्बा रब्बा, चाल शराबी रब्बा रब्बा —
her response — बजे मन में हलके हलके शहनाई रे — and,
a mother's wish — खुशियाँ जितनी है सब ढूंढ ढूंढ के लाऊँ — all rolled into one song.

And, the lyricist is — drum roll — Javed Akhtar.


Tuesday, September 18, 2012

अनार्कली disco चली

Item numbers have become a fairly regular feature in Bollywood movies these days. In addition, the lyrics have recently tended to mix words from other languages too — in this case English and Hindi. (The word 'item' itself is part of the lyrics, and refers to the dancer as a 'coveted female').

This song has a definite beat to it, and is quite funny in the way the old man — Boman Irani — describes the dancer [in English translation]:
...
please give me some attention
that will reduce my tension
...