Magical Melodies of Glorious Geeta Dutt

 

Selecting just seven songs of Geeta Dutt is not easy so I looked for a hook by which I could narrow this down to a lesser-known array of her songs. The hook was easy to find and I decided to focus on seven different music directors who she has sung for. The difficult part was the decision to not add S D Burman, O P Nayyar or Hemant Kumar to the list of MDs. It may feel like sacrilege to most as she has sung so many beautiful songs for them. Any reference of Geeta Dutt and our mind moves to ‘Waqt ne kiya kya haseen sitam’ or ‘Babuji Dheere chalna’ or ‘Piya aiso jiya mein samaye gayo re’. However, today we will take a look at her somewhat lesser talked about gems for other famous music directors. 

1. Music Director: Bulo C Rani

Ghoonghat ke pat khol re Jogan 1950

The film Jogan had 15 songs, out of which 12 songs were sung by Geeta Dutt. Jogan is a beautiful showcase of true gems in Geeta Dutt’s voice. Ten out of the twelve songs are her solos. The film is based on a complex love story where an atheist falls in love with a jogan, and most of these songs are bhajans by Kabir and Meerabai. The music was so popular that it was said that Jogan had three major stars: Dilip Kumar, Nargis and the songs of the film. Ghoonghat ke pat khol is the one most likely to be known to all as is Mat ja mat ja jogi. Nargis has listed this film as among her best, similarly Geeta Dutt counts Mat ja jogi from this film as one of her ten best songs.  Bulo C Rani’s (Bulo C Rani’s real name was Bulochand Chandiramani) association with Geeta Dutt lasted over 10 years from late forties to late fifties and it gave us nearly 70 beautiful songs with their combination. 

Trivia: Jogan was actor Rajendra Kumar’s debut film where he plays the role of Dilip Kumar’s friend. 

2. Music director: Roshan

Khayalon mein kisike 1950 Bawre Nain

Sung by Geeta Dutt and Mukesh, this song was a part of this successful film which was the second Kedar Sharma film that Roshan composed for. This film established Roshan as a thriving music director. All the songs for the heroine of this film were sung by Rajkumari Dubey but this one song for the second lead Vijayalakshmi was given to Geeta Dutt. This song now has pride of place in every Geeta Dutt compilation CD.

3. Music director: Chitragupt  

Naachti jhoomti muskurati aa gayee pyar ki raat  Miss Mala 1954

Unknown to most, Geeta Dutt has sung close to 100 songs for Chitragupt. This duet with Kishore Kumar is a rare occasion where Geeta Dutt provides playback for Vyjayantimala who stars with Kishore Kumar in this film. This film also has a very sweet lullaby sung by Geeta Dutt ‘Nanhe so ja re’. 

Trivia: From all her duets, Geeta Dutt has sung maximum songs with Mohd. Rafi. Out of around 155 duets of Geeta Dutt and Rafi, Chitragupt has composed around 30 of them!

4. Music director: Vasant Desai

Meri aan Bhagwan Toofan aur diya 1956

V Shantaram's Toofan aur Diya had three songs of Geeta Dutt. She gave the playback to Nanda’s kid brother played by Satish Vyas. "Meri aan bhagwan kan kan se ladi hain to tum se bhi aaj ladegi, meri baat tumhein rakhni padegi” is a song with some of the most powerful lyrics by Bharat Vyas and has been sung by Geeta Dutt with such elan and emotion. 

5. Madan mohan

“Aye dil mujhe bata de tu kis pe aa gaya hain" Bhai Bhai 1956 

This is a delightful solo picturised on Shyama. The lyrics written by Rajinder Kishen are playful and laced with mischief, “Ae dil mujhe bata de tu kis pe aa gaya hai, Woh kaun hai jo aakar khwabon pe chaa gaya hai”. Madan Mohan composed this delightful tune which Geeta Dutt sang in her distinct style.

6. Salil Choudhury   

Aankhon mein tum Half Ticket 1962

Geeta Dutt has sung only seven songs for Salil Choudhury in his 19 year career in Hindi films. These were three solos and four duets, where the duets were one each with Mohd. Rafi, Hemant Kumar, Manna Dey and Kishore Kumar. Aankhon mein tum is a chirpy duet filmed on Madhubala and Kishore Kumar, written by Shailendra in his classic style.

7. Kanu Roy

Koi chupke se aake Anubhav 1971

Many are mistaken that Kanu Roy was her brother. (Her brother was actually Mukul Roy who was a music composer and producer, her famous ‘Do chamakti aankhon mein’ was sung for his film Detective.) Geeta Dutt has sung just four songs in total for Kanu Roy but these songs are always part of everybody’s list while thinking of their favourite top ten songs of this singer. Anubhav was the quintessential swan song of this erstwhile singer as she passed away in 1972. The velvety smooth tones of her dulcet voice in the songs of Anubhav show us how much she still had to offer even at the fag end of her days.

Born as Geeta Ghosh Roy Chowdhuri in a zamindar’s family in Faridpur, East Bengal in 1930, and going on to be known as Geeta Roy, then Geeta Dutt, her voice and music has remained timeless for all of us to treasure forever. 

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse at Geeta Dutt’s songs with seven composers over the years. Do write in the comments below with your favourite Geeta Dutt song!

SEVEN ICONIC 70’s SONGS OF ARUNA IRANI

The seventies was a very melodious decade and a constant thread through all those years was an actress who never got the lead role in the films that we will mention in this post but made a lasting impression with her roles and songs in those films. The theme for this post is the 70s songs of Aruna Irani. I have cherry picked seven songs of this versatile and beautiful actress, keeping in mind how she made each of these songs memorable with her charismatic performance.

1. Dilbar dil se pyaare Caravan (1971)

A dulcet Lata solo, written by Majrooh Sultanpuri and music by R D Burman, this is an iconic Aruna Irani song and ranks among the favourites of all her fans. This was an apt song to start the list with although it fits into the chronological order, too. In a recent interview, Aruna Irani acknowledges this as one of her favourite songs and has shown gratitude to Lata Mangeshkar for giving her the biggest song of her career. 

This song is a melodious blend of serpentine Arab music and Romani folk music boosted by the classic guitar refrain and lifted by Majrooh Sultanpuri’s lyrics. Aruna Irani plays the role of Nisha, who is a knife thrower in a band of banjaras and is desperately in love with Mohan (Jeetendra) who drives the van of the caravan. Dilber dilse pyaare is a lovelorn tribute from a woman in love which almost celebrates Nisha’s unrequited passion, revelling in the joy it gives her. 

Trivia: Aruna Irani made her debut in the film Gunga Jumna (1961) playing Azra's childhood character. 

2. Choron ko saare nazar aate Naya Zamana (1971)

Composed by S D Burman and written by Anand Bakshi, this solo by Lata Mangeshkar is a lesser known song of Naya Zamana. Aruna Irani plays the role of Rekha, Dharmendra’s sister, who is accused of stealing in a party. Feeling awkward that the gift she brought may not be good enough for such rich hosts, she takes it back from the table on which all the gifts are kept. The host’s wife (Indrani Mukherjee) thinks that she is stealing one of the gifts. The humiliation she faces feels very unjust to her and what could have been a typical situation with a party song is lifted to a memorable cinema moment by Aruna Irani. This is probably the only party song that Aruna Irani would have done where she didn’t need to dance and she herself was the focus of the song for her expressions. This song underlines the fact that she wasn’t given her due in films and that she was a very able actress.

3. Ae phasa Bobby (1973)

Aruna Irani plays the role of Neema, who turns into a friend and guide for Raju in the film Bobby. The song is placed at the climax of the film, a classic rich boy-poor girl tale, where on realising that Raju (Rishi Kapoor) is being forced to leave Bobby (Dimple Kapadia) and marry a girl who isn’t his choice, Neema hints to Raju that maybe the only way out of this desperate situation is to elope with Bobby. Aruna Irani also appears in another song in this film ‘Main shayar toh nahin’. 

Trivia : Bobby was a trend setting films and was a major box office success as it got the second highest collection of all 70s Hindi films (No prizes for guessing that Sholay was the highest earner in that decade!). Also, the film was remade in Persian as Parvaz dar Ghafas in 1980.

4. Sapna mera toot gaya    Khel Khel Mein (1973)

When one has shared one’s dreams with someone and that person is gone, those dreams feel hollow and one feels shattered. Aruna Irani nails these emotions as she reminisces about Rakesh Roshan in this song. The song switches between memories in the antaras and back to reality with the mukhda. The slight pause before the mukhda as one is jerked back to the present works to emphasise the despair of broken dreams and the utter emptiness that takes their place. Aruna Irani’s eyes speak volumes in these pauses as she does full justice to the total starkness and despair in this song. 

Trivia: Aruna Irani holds the record for the most nominations in the category of Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress. 

5. Panditji mere marne ke baad Roti Kapda aur Makaan (1974)

Composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal, this song is a gem in an album where every song is a treasure. This song has slipped past many people’s notice, and I was very keen to include it in this list because of that.  A classic diversion song where Aruna Irani diverts the attention of Manmohan to help Manoj Kumar flee. The lyrics are unusual with the intro lines leading up to the mukhda to make it a very catchy beginning. Lata Mangeshkar sings this Verma Mallik song with the right mystery and pathos as the song leads up to the character Poonam played by Aruna Irani dying at the end of the song while helping Manoj Kumar escape.

5. Rang le aayenge Bhanwar (1976)

A song full of passive aggressive asides by Randhir Kapoor, ably aided by Aruna Irani towards a hapless Parveen Babi who cannot say the truth and has to bear the onslaught of their accusations. A classic party scene where the hero has a lot of angst against the heroine, and she has no option but to listen amidst a room full of curious party goers. This is a brilliant creation by R D Burman, written by Anand Bakshi and sung by Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosale, with underlined pathos by the heart wrenching sarangee. Although the song’s focus is on Randhir Kapoor and Parveen Babi, Aruna Irani steals the show with the sharp sarcasm in her expressions and the inner intention to create a rift between the couple. 

Trivia: I have come across some articles that claim that Aruna Irani and actress Bindu are first cousins. However, there has been no way of confirming this, so I leave it to my readers to comment below if they know this as true!

Note: A helpful reader has since confirmed that Aruna Irani and Bindu are indeed cousins with this link from The Kapil Sharma Show. 

7. One two cha cha cha Shalimar (1978)

This is a very catchy song that helps to starts off a very unusual film on a brilliant pace. Written by Anand Bakshi and music by R. D. Burman, this song is sung by Usha Uthup. Aruna Irani has a guest appearance in this film for this song. She plays the role of a dance teacher, and the song is filmed in a dance school where she is shown teaching the steps for the Cuban dance form Cha Cha Cha. This is one of her briefest appearances on screen in a film, but she makes an indelible mark on the minds of the audience. Shalimar, for many of us, is Aruna Irani’s One two cha cha cha. 

It was very difficult to narrow down my favourite Aruna Irani songs to a mere seven. I have had to leave out many of my favourites like Kya gazab karte ho ji (Love story), Sham-e-furqat ka dhal gaya saya re (Sanyasi) Humein tumse pyar kitna (Kudrat) because they were not from the 70s, except for Sanyasi! Do comment below with your favourite Aruna Irani songs, no matter which decade you select them from!