BEST OF HINDI SONGS SHOT IN MY HOME STATION SHIMLA

Shimla Scene Songs

Why these songs?

This April, I was on holiday to my home place Kandaghat, just 30 kms short of Shimla. I have been born and brought up in these surroundings and hence, I am at peace with the verdure, breeze, hills and surroundings. Song is on my lips at all times here.

Shimla is the place where you go to express your love and romantic feelings. It appears that as soon as I decided to join the Indian Navy in 1973, the Hindi Film Industry descended on Shimla in a big manner. One of them was a great movie maker: Yash Chopra who made the film Daag starring Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore and Rakhi. This song from the movie Daag has exactly the lyrics that tell of this quality of air of Shimla that your heart’s emotions find expression in song.

It is penned by Sahir Ludhianvi and music is by Laxmikant Pyarelal. When one of India’s first pop singers Ajit came to Shimla for the Summer Festival, he sang it there, knowing its Shimla connection. Please enjoy: Mere dil mein aaj kya hai Tu kahe to main bata doon…

 

[lineate][/lineate]Mere dil me.n aaj kyaa hai[lineate][/lineate]tuu kahe to mai.n bataa duu.N[lineate][/lineate]terii zulf phir savaaruu.N[lineate][/lineate]terii maa.Ng phir sajaa duu.N[lineate][/lineate]mere dil me.n …[lineate][/lineate]

 

[lineate][/lineate]Mujhe devataa banaakar, terii chaahato.n ne puujaa – (2)[lineate][/lineate]meraa pyaar kah rahaa hai,[lineate][/lineate]mai.n tujhe khudaa banaa duu.N[lineate][/lineate]terii zulf phir …[lineate][/lineate]

 

[lineate][/lineate]KoI Dhuu.NDhne bhii aae, to hame.n naa Dhuu.N.Dh paae – (2)[lineate][/lineate]tuu mujhe kahii.n chhupaa de,[lineate][/lineate]mai.n tujhe kahii.n chhupaa duu.N[lineate][/lineate]terii zulf phir …[lineate][/lineate]

[lineate][/lineate]Mere baazuo.n me aakar, teraa dard chain paae – (2)[lineate][/lineate]tere gesuo.n me chhupakar,[lineate][/lineate]mai.n jahaa.N ke Gam bhulaa duu.N[lineate][/lineate]terii zulf phir …[lineate][/lineate]

 

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ksapDF0DtG4%3F

 

But wasn’t Shimla (then spelled Simla) always attractive? For example, Tere Ghar Ke Samne was a 1963 movie, a good ten years before Yash Chopra’s Daag. It was produced by Dev Anand and directed by his brother Vijay Anand. It starred Nutan opposite him. In the movie, two families have deep rooted enmity until Dev Anand decides to architect a house in front of Nutan’s whose father is at daggers drawn with Dev Anand’s. In the movie Dev Anand goes following his heart-throb Nutan on a scooter and reaches Shimla. He has no idea in which house she is staying at and hence he goes through the streets of Shimla singing this song penned by Hasrat Jaipuri with music by SD Burman. Does he find her through the medium of this song? You bet he does.

Please Enjoy: Tu kahan ye bata is nasheeli raat mein …

[lineate][/lineate]Tuu kahaa.N, ye bataa,[lineate][/lineate]is nashiilii raat me.n[lineate][/lineate]maane naa meraa dil diivaanaa[lineate][/lineate]haay re … [lineate][/lineate]maane naa meraa dil diivaanaa[lineate][/lineate]

 

[lineate][/lineate]He … ba.Daa naTakhaT hai samaa – 2[lineate][/lineate]har nazaaraa hai javaa.N[lineate][/lineate]chhaa gayaa chaaro.n taraf, merii aaho.n kaa dhuaa.N[lineate][/lineate]dil meraa, merii jaa.N, naa jaanaa … tuu kahaa.N …   [lineate][/lineate]

 

[lineate][/lineate]O o … aaii jab Tha.nDii havaa – 2[lineate][/lineate]maine puuchhaa jo pataa[lineate][/lineate]vo bhii kataraake gaI, aur bechain kiyaa[lineate][/lineate]pyaar se, tuu mujhe, de sadaa … [lineate][/lineate]tuu kahaa.N …[lineate][/lineate]

 

[lineate][/lineate]He … chaa.nd taaro.n ne sunaa – 2[lineate][/lineate]in bahaaro.n ne sunaa[lineate][/lineate]dard kaa raag meraa, rahaguzaaro.n ne sunaa[lineate][/lineate]tuu bhii sun, jaaneman, aa bhii jaa … [lineate][/lineate]tuu kahaa.N …[lineate][/lineate]

 

[lineate][/lineate]O o … pyaar kaa dekho asar – 2[lineate][/lineate]aae tum thaame jigar[lineate][/lineate]mil gaI aaj mujhe, merii manachaahii Dagar[lineate][/lineate]kyuu.N chhupaa, ek jhalak, phir dikhaa … [lineate][/lineate]tuu kahaa.N …[lineate][/lineate]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUgMMgANjV0

Shimla small gauge train, simply called Toy Train has been a major tourist attraction.

Here is excerpt from Wikipedia: “Shimla (then spelt Simla) was settled by the British shortly after the first Anglo-Gurkha war, and is located at 7,116 feet (2,169 m) in the foothills of the Himalayas. By the 1830s, Shimla had already developed as a major base for the British. It became the summer capital of British India in 1864, and was also the headquarters of the British army in India.

Prior to construction of the railway, communication with the outside world was via village cart. The railway was constructed on a two foot gauge (610mm) by the Delhi-Ambala-Kalka Railway Company commencing in 1898. The estimated cost of Rs 86,78,500, however, the cost doubled during execution of the project. The 96.54 km (59.99 mi) line was opened for traffic November 9, 1903. Because of the high capital and maintenance cost, coupled with peculiar working conditions, the Kalka–Shimla Railway was allowed to charge fares that were higher than the prevailing tariffs on other lines. However, even this was not good enough to sustain the company and then, the Government had to purchase it on January 1, 1906 for Rs 1,71,07,748.

In 1905 the line was re-gauged to 2’6″ gauge under guidelines from the Indian War Department seeking to ensure uniformity in all imperial narrow gauge systems. In mid-August 2007, the government of Himachal Pradesh declared the railway a heritage property in preparation for its review in September. For about a week starting on September 11, 2007, an expert team from UNESCO was on a visit to the railway to review and inspect the railway for possible selection as a World Heritage Site. On July 8, 2008, the Kalka–Shimla Railway was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the World Heritage Site Mountain Railways of India. The Mountain Railways of India (including Darjeeling Himalayan Railway and Nilgiri Mountain Railway) and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai have already been declared as world heritage properties.”

In the year 1973, when I joined the Indian Navy, my journey to the Naval Academy at Cochin (now spelt Kochi) began on this railway. In 1974 the movie Dost was released starring Dharmendra and the movie started with the famous song: Gaadi bula rahi hai, seeti baja rahi hai on the train from Shimla to Taradevi. Anand Bakshi penned the lyrics of the song and Laxmikant Pyarelal composed the music.

It was sung by Kishore Kumar.

Enjoy: Shimla Toy Train with the song: Gaadi bula rahi hai, seeti baja rahi hai…

https://youtube.com/watch?v=i46jlVrrwdQ%3F

Aa Gale Lag Ja was a movie released at a time when I joined the Naval Academy at Cochin. A large part of the movie was shot in Shimla. The movie starred Shashi Kapoor and Sharmila Tagore. The song that I am giving you was sung by Kishore Kumar for Shashi Kapoor. And since Shashi Kapoor and Sharmila went out in the snow and extreme cold, he fell unconscious and she had to save his life by “giving him her body warmth”. A son was, therefore, born to them as a result of this extraordinary way of saving life. Later, in the movie, their son singing this song brings the estranged couple together.

Sahir Ludhianvi penned the lyrics and RD Burman composed the music.

As an aside I must add that many young boys fell into the snow and tried to die but no one gave them equivalent medical treatment as was given by Sharmila Tagore to Shashi Kapoor.

Please enjoy: Tera mujhase hai pehle ka vaada koi, Younhi nahin dil lubhata koi…

https://youtube.com/watch?v=vO35DVm_5ts%3F

If Chopras came to Shimla for making movies, how can Mehras be left behind? When Prakash Mehra made his Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (Conqueror of Destiny) in 1978, I was already a commissioned officer in the Indian Navy and we had shifted to Kandaghat, 30 kms short of Shimla. My brother and I went by bus to Shimla to see the movie that was the third highest grosser of the decade after Sholay and Bobby.

This song became super hit. Amitabh Bachchan in the movie, when small, was orphaned and abused and was taken in by the kindness shown to him by the young daughter of a wealthy man who later becomes the film’s heroine Rakhi. Later, when Amitabh himself emerges as a wealthy person, he gives away all his wealth to an orphanage recalling that he himself was an orphan. He sings this childhood song in memory of his childhood friend. It is very touching indeed, and the Shimla scene is in the flashback. Please enjoy the absolute super hit number: O saathi re tere bina bhi kya jeena..

https://youtube.com/watch?v=OssRAVZhsRk%3F

It was not just Yash Chopra, but, it seems, all Chopras of Hindi Films love Shimla. Vidhu Vinod Chopra was born in Srinagar in Kashmir but both his most popular movies 1942 – A Love Story and 3 Idiots were shot in Shimla Hills.

Lets talk about the first one: 1942 – A Love Story; it starred Manisha Koirala already from the Hills of Nepal and Anil Kapoor. All songs of the movie had the freshness of the Shimla Hills. Lets listen to one of them: Pyar hua chupake se..

It shows the hills beyond Kufri. Jawed Akhtar penned the lyrics and Rahul Dev Burman composed the music. The song was sung by Kavitha Krishnamoorthy. Please enjoy: dil ne kahaa chupake se, ye kyaa hu_aa chupake se…

I know Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 1942 – A Love Story does not meet the requirement of oldie goldie; but, since it takes you back to that era, I hope you will allow it to pass muster. Here is Monisha Koirala from the salubrious climate of Nepal coming to the wonderful Shimla hills and singing chupake se. Jawed Akhtar penned the lyrics and RD Burman composed the music. Enjoy: Kavitha Krishnamurthy sing chupake se…

I can go on and on with songs shot in Shimla. But, here is the last one. It is the title song of the 1974 J Om Prakash’s directorial debut movie Aap Ki Kasam starring Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz. Anand Bakshi penned the lyrics and Rahul Dev Burman who received his only Filmfare Awards nomination for this movie, composed the music.

Enjoy the scenic skiing range of Kufri with the song: Karvate badalate rahe saari raat ham, Aap ki kasam…

In the 1978 Prakash Mehra movie Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, when Amitabh Bachchan as Sikandar was small, he was working for a rich man Ramnath whose daughter (later Rakhi) falls in love with his simplicity. One day, he is teasingly asked as to why he has such tomato red cheeks. He answers, “Because I am from Shimla”.

Ladies and gentlemen, whether or not you have crimson cheeks in Shimla, it is a place that inspires songs. I have given you only a few; there are dozens.