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!