Rain-lots and lots of rain. Pelting rain and a heady dose of romance, pure Bollywood style. Welcome to the monsoons in India.
For most Indians, getting drenched on the way to work, or while returning home during the monsoons is something that is taken for granted. No umbrella or raincoat can really protect you from the Indian monsoons!
As hopeless it may sound, we Indians are a quirky lot and love the rain- mostly.
“What really helps is Bollywood and its repertoire of ‘baarishwala gaanashhana’. When we are stuck in traffic, or looking out helplessly as movie plans with that special someone is cancelled because of the rains, Bollywood comes to our rescue!”
So here is a special seasonal tribute to the monsoons, Bollywood isshtyle- direct dil se from The Uncommon Box. Here are 7 of the most rain soaked popular songs in Hindi films that are quite the favourites!
Monsoon Gaana Number #1:
Rim Jhim Girey Saawan
Singer: Lata Mangeshkar
Movie: Manzil (1979)
Music: R.D. Burman
Who remembers the lanky and young Amitabh Bachhan, with co-star Bong beauty Mousumi Chatterjee, walking endlessly the streets of Mumbai, soaked to the skin in suit and sari respectively? Ever wonder where they were exactly going????
Well, if you remember this all-time favourite song of antaksharis for generations, you will remember the how well this song takes you through the utterly delightful feeling of getting soaked with your bestie or romantic interest!
Monsoon Gaana Number #2 :
Rim Jhim Rum Jhum
Movie: 1942, A Love Story (1994)
Singer: Kavita Krishnamurthy, Kumar Sanu
Music: R.D. Burman
The swan song of Panchamda aka R.D. Burman, the music of this film hit the top of the charts instantly the year the movie was released. But the rain song picturised on the beautiful Manisha Koirala and Anil Kapoor, is still a tune that comes to mind. The lovely poetry of Javed Akhtar describing the rain, adds to the charm of this number.
But yes, Manisha Koirala was really pretty in this song!
Monsoon Gaana Number #3 :
Tip tip barsa paani
Movie: Mohra (1994)
Singers: Alka Yagnik, Udit Narayan
Music: Viju Shah
Lots of cleavage, heaving, and thrusting happen in this song that got it as close to orgasming in the rain without actually doing it! The curvy Raveena Tandon in a wet yellow sari, romancing Akshay (he-never-seems-to-age) Kumar is the stuff of many boyhood dreams!
The song went onto do stupendously well for its music and picturization, so typical of the 90s.
Interestingly, both songs 2 and 3 were released in the same year! India must have anticipated a good monsoon season that year, according to satellite pictures!
Monsoon Gaana Number #4 :
Dekho na
Movie: Fanaa (2006)
Singers: Sunidhi Chauhan, Sonu Nigam
Music: Jatin Lalit
Poles apart from song 3, is the lilting sensual number Dekho na. Aamir Khan romances the blind Kashmiri girl Kajol, and the rest is musical history. Simple orchestration and beautiful lyrics by Prasoon Joshi capture the sensuousness of the rains so well. Well, again some interesting trivia- this happened to be the last movie of the Jatin-Lalit duo, who fell apart after this.
Monsoon Gaana Number #5 :
Barso re megha
Movie: Guru (2007)
Singer: Shreya Ghosal
Music Director: A.R. Rahman
The grey eyed Aishwarya Rai dancing nimbly to the song is the lingering image of this number, set against the backdrop of rural Gujarat. It’s raining at its best in the countryside, with A.R. Rahman’s music catching the rhythm of the raindrops through the beats of this song.
Quite a favourite dance number this one as well!
Monsoon Gaana Number #6 :
Ek ladki bheegi bhaagi si
Movie: Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958)
Singer: Kishore Kumar
Music Director: Sachin Dev Burman
When it is the question of the rains, there are countless songs to choose from in Bollywood- starting from Kishore Kumar working in his garage, singing about the ‘ladki bheegi bhaagi si’– the gorgeous Madhubala.
This black and white cult classic is the best example of romance from an era where the sweetness of a blossoming love was portrayed.
Monsoon Gaana Number #7 :
Aaj rapat ja ye toh humey na uthaiyyo
Movie: Namak Halal (1982)
Singer: Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhonsle
Music: Bappi Lahiri
What began with Amitabh Bacchan, coincidentally ends with him as well. The list began with him walking, and by the end of the list, he is dancing and prancing to glory. Keeping up admirably with him is the lissom Smita Patil, who seamlessly made her transition from parallel cinema into mainstream Bollywood and got her own special rain song with the superstar. This unconventional pair worked the rains and all the jumping, splashing and rolling one could have imagined in the rains, well these two have a go at it!
And yes, observe how the colour of the heroine’s sari completely runs out thanks to the heavy studio rain!!!
This was our list of songs- hope some of your favourites made their way into this as well. But truly, whatever be the season, rain songs make their way into Hindi films because we sure love the feel of water on us.
So here’s Team The Uncommon Box wishing you a happy monsoon this year and – yes, ‘Jum ke barse zaara’ is what we love don’t we, especially on holidays, when we can laze around in this chai-pakora weather!
Do you have a favourite rain song too? Share it with us in the comment section below.
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