Classic Bollywood: GHAR – Four Fab Songs

In 1978, Rekha and Vinod Mehra shared the screen in Ghar (trans: Home). The story won the Filmfare award for the best story. Written by Dinesh Thakur, this film explored the trauma of a rape victim portrayed brilliantly by Rekha. This film marked the transition of Rekha from being a B grade bimbette to an actress. She got nominated for the award for Best Actress along with Zeenat Aman for Satyam Shivam Sundaram (talk about Raj Kapur’s clout!). A really maudlin performance by Nutan got her the best sctress award.Rekha did her first film in 1966 with the Teulgu film Rangula Ratnam. Her debut in Bollywood was in 1970 with the film Sawan Bhadon opposite Navin Nishchol. You have to see that film to appreciate how it is possible to re-invent oneself as an actress. Eight years later in Ghar Rekha the actress was born.

The film has some amazing songs. The combination of lyricist Gulzar and composer RD Burman produced many gems. But I will always rate this as a film where the chemistry was unbelievable.

My favorite song from Ghar has to be the classic Aapki AankhoN MeiN Kuchh Mehke Huey Se Raaz HaiN आपकी आँखों में कुछ महके हुए से ख्वाब हैं (trans: Your eyes are lined with the aroma of mysteries.). The voice of Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar. What is also interesting about this song is that it is based on Raga Kedar which normally so typical of devotional music (remember the Kedar based classic Hamko Man Ki Shakti Dena हमको मन की शक्ति देना from Jaya Bhaduri’s debut Hindi film Guddi). There is of course anothe great example of using Raga Kedar to creat a romantic mood in the film Ek Musafir Ek Hasina. The song was Aap Yunhi Agar Hamse Milte Rahe

The second song I have always loved is Tere Bina Jiya Jaaye Na तेरे बिना जिया जाये ना (trans: It is so hard to live without you). Watch Rekha who plays the pining housewife, arrange her husband’s photos like a deck of cards that gets blown away with a gust of wind.

Phir Wohi Raat Hai, Raat Hai Khwabon Ki फिर वही रात है रात है ख्वाबों की (trans: It is the night that dreams are made of, once again… ). Set to the Latino beat that was so dear to RD Burman.

Aajkal Paaon Zameen Par आजकल पाँव ज़मीन पर नहीं पड़ते मेरे (trans: Have you noticed lately that I don’t walk on the floor anymore) talks about the heady feeling of being in love. See the video here. This look of Rekha reminds me of the other film Khoobsoorat (check out this clip) made in 1981 that had her singing in films for the first time – the song is Kaida Tod Ke Socho Ek Din. Rekha clearly will not be remembered as a great singer but as one who was never afraid to experiment.

Ghar is what the Gulzar-RD Burman-Kishore magic is all about. I have always wondered whether this is a film one should watch because it shows the transition of Rekha as an actress or just listen to the music. I think I’ll vote for the music.

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