Magnetic
strum of guitar followed by colossal sound of saxophone and then the complete
multi-piece orchestra - that is how the song ‘Yeh din kya aaye, lage phool
hasne’ from the film ‘Chhoti Si Baat’ starts and it takes me to heaven, albeit
for a short duration of some six minutes.
This song
did not win any awards but it has won hearts. I am sure I am not the only one ‘fan’atic
about this song.
Wise man
says, quality of voice texture is determined by relaxation, among other things.
Simple, soulful and soothing renditions by Mukesh Chand Mathur, simply known as
Mukesh, exemplify this. This is epitomized in ‘Yeh din kya aaye’. Just sit back
and relax – this song will take you to musical nirvana. Frankly speaking, I am
a bigger fan of Kishore Kumar and Mohd. Rafi but a few songs from Mukesh would
captivate me so much that there is no escape and I happily give in. In fact,
Mukesh sang fewer songs (around 1300) compared to many of his contemporaries
but whatever he sang, they stood out. ‘Yeh din…’ was one of his last songs.
‘Chhoti Si Baat’ was released in 1975 and Mukesh passed away in 1976 at an
early age of 53.
And then
comes Yogesh Gaur who has penned the lyrics of this beautiful song. Even
without the musical composition, this piece of work is of great poetic substance.
Read the transliteration -
Yeh din kya
aaye lage phool hasne
Dekho
basanti basanti, hone lage mere sapne
Yeh din kya
aaye lage phool hasne
Sone jaisi
ho rahi hain har subah meri
Lage har
saanjh ab gulaal se bhari
Chalne lagi
mehaki huyi pavan magan jhoom ke
Aanchal tera
choom ke
Yeh din kya
aaye lage phool hasne
Wahaan man
baawara aaj ud chala
Jahaan par
hain gagan salona saawla
Jaake wahi
rakh de kahin man rangon mein khol ke
Sapne yeh
anmol se
Yeh din kya
aaye lage phool hasne
Dekho
basanti basanti, hone lage mere sapne
Yeh din kya
aaye lage phool hasne
Also, it is
so apt for the situation in the movie. Arun (Amol Palekar) tries to woo Prabha
(Vidya Sinha. BTW, she is one of the few actresses who could pull off a
complete movie by being saree-clad only J ) and he is just tasting some
success.
Among Gulzars,
Anand Bakshis, Javed Akhtars, Yogesh Gaur may tend to go unnoticed but he too
is a fantastic lyricist. His other
jewels include ‘Kahin door jab din dhal jaaye (Anand)’, ‘Zindagi kaisi hai paheli
(Anand)’, ‘Kai baar yunhi dekha hai (Rajnigandha)’, ‘Rimjhim gire saawan
(Manzil)’ etc.
Probably,
the most important factor making ‘Yeh din kya aaye’ ageless is Salil
Chowdhuri’s music. A Hindi film music director since his twenties, it is
needless to mention his long list of filmography to describe this genius. Probably just three names are enough if your
memory has got a little rusty -
Madhumati ( ‘Dil Tadap Tadap Ke’, ‘Suhana Safar Aur Yeh Mausam’, ‘Aaja
Re Pardesi’) in 1958 and Anand (‘Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli’, ‘Kahin Door Jab Din
Dhal Jaye’, ‘Maine Tere Liye Hi Saat Rang Ke Sapne’, ‘Na Jiya Lage Na’) in 1971
and Chhoti Si Baat (‘Jaaneman Jaaneman Tere Do Nayan’, ‘Na Jaane Kyon Hota Hai
Yeh Zindagi Ke Saath’, ‘Yeh Din
Kyaa Aaye’) in 1975.
Sholilda
first created a tune for ‘Yeh din kya aaye’ which is pristine and pure. Then,
from guitar, saxophone to sitar, he combined everything in the right proportion
to create this masterpiece.
Hats off to
Mukesh, Yogesh Gaur, Salil Chowdhuri and the middle-of-the-road cinemas of
Bollywood of seventies !
Want to listen to (well, watch as well) the song (again) ? Here you go : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbYhuhXnZdY