Friday, August 19, 2011

TGIF: Songs to hum - 5

On Friday afternoons, after I am done teaching (or preparing for teaching, as the case is this week) for the week, I sit in my office, put my feet up on my desk, lean back in my chair and softly hum songs to myself, unwinding and releasing the built-up tension of the week so far. Youtube is a good companion during these times and I have my own version of Chitrahaar, with the songs following some unfathomable pattern, changing per my mood and wishes. 

Here is today's trip through Youtube:

How could I not start with a Shammi Kapoor song? I should probably elaborate on this some other day, but for now let me just say that the songs of Junglee were the first songs I knew the lyrics to. All of them. Bar none. And I still know them after all these years. (More on that some other day, I promise). In that movie, this was my favorite song, though it not the one that is most commonly associated with Shammi Kapoor.


 

In the same movie, the song that typifies the style of dancing that Shammi would make his own was in this song (even more so than the song that made the word Yahoo a household word).  Isn't Helen just so pretty and dainty here?  (SP and I would sing this song time after time on long road trips...what fun!)



During the days when I shared rooms, at night we used to let a cassette (yes, it was that many years ago) play while we went to sleep. A song that used to play a lot was this one:



Going from that song to this one is not much of a stretch, especially if you listen to a lot of AR Rehman songs.



Switching gears, I like the way this song plays out, especially how the music and lyrics flow together, even with the two languages at play:



One of my students is from Guatemala.  One day, last semester, during a lull in the class he asked me if I could translate a Bollywood song for him.  This was the song that he used to listen to on a loop.  So, this one's for you, JL:



I think Vivek Oberoi is better in this song, though:



For simple fun and entertainment, there's a lot to be said for this "competition" between Vijay and Lawrence.  If you don't understand the lyrics, it does not matter, neither do I.



Finally, a blast from the past.  The sweetest song of all that I hope gets repeated in a day or two. :-)

2 comments:

Leela said...

I wouldn't mind listening to the encore of the VVS song either... and very soon!

Jaunty Quicksand said...

L,

The song was short and sweet (not!). We were hoping for a repeat of the 281. At least VVS got 2, so all he has to do in the second inning is get 81 and that should satisfy us, no?

Somehow I think not!