100 Years of Indian Cinema. What a momentous occasion! The magic of Indian movies has endured ten decades with diverse changes, it has spanned cultures,regions, languages, styles of film making. These movies have created moments of beautiful fantasy and festivity. These movies have narrated stories of courage and conflicts, of audacity and hope, love and longing, relationships and rifts, of remorse and retribution.
No colour of life remains untouched by the silver screen. Myriad moods, scenic settings, exquisite aesthetics, trends, fashions, idioms, attitudes-our movies may have influenced us more than we can imagine. I for one, draw a lot of inspiration and entertainment from the classic songs. Oh yes the music too is unique. All our movies are musicals at the end of the day. There is a song for every possible situation on Earth.
And long after the movie is forgotten or story blurred in the memory, the songs remain as little kernels of truth, tiny capsules of captive attention. Bringing you two of the most beautiful songs ever, from the same movie, the same actress, and the same singer-Madhubala and Lata who arguably define the best there ever was-but two different moods and cultures shown, two different settings and premises. That was after all the whole idea of movies. Same people, same faces, more or less the same stories but ever changing styles of depicting them, different nuances, quicksilver, fluid emotions, dotted forever on the sands of time.
This first song, for me is the most beautiful song of all times on Indian screen. Madhubala's porcelain beauty, her fire and ice, red and pale blue costume(a rather unusual combination) but so befitting. She looks like an ice maiden and dances as if skating on ice but one look at those eyes and they flash rebellion, audacity, recklessness all rolled into one tight knot of fire within. More than any other books or tutorials, perhaps it was songs such as these that sparked the first little ignitions of imagination, that fueled our passions and urged us to dare, to dream and to defy.
The second song though completely contrasting to the first one, has a special charm of it's own. For one it shows a typical Krishna-raas leela song in a Mughal Emperor's court. This song did not come out of the blue. It showcases the rich and tolerant culture of our land. Such mingling of cultures was a common tradition especially during Emperor Akbar's time who even married a Hindu queen called Jodha.
The lyrics of the song are beautifully Indian, inspired from so much folklore that revolves Krishna and Radha. Krishna after all was the naughtiest and most vibrant of all Gods. He was surrounded by women whose hearts he won by mischief and pranks but Radha was his eternal partner. What a beautiful simile then for Anarkali to see Krishna in her Emperor, who'd come humour her a bit, throw a pebble and there her whole pitcher would break and leave her in a mess, drenched in his love. His mere glance was enough to undo her veil and all she was left with was the magic of his mischievous eyes. Now the the song entrenched in Hindu traditions is performed by Madhubala, a Muslim, the music is by Naushad, the film maker was Kamal Amrohi, the lyricist was Shakeel Badayuni. This industry has been exemplary in it's secular values and beliefs. The fact is that I haven't seen a better Krishna Raas leela song till date. For anyone who has problems understanding India, just watch this song and go figure.
