Jai Jai Shiv Shankar

Lutf-e-Maye tujhse Kya Kahoon Nadaan

Hai Kambakht, Tune to Pee hi Nahin

Well, playing Holi without having a couple of glasses of Bhang - the drink favoured by no less than Lord Shiva himself, could be considered a sacrilege. And so would be not playing this song - another of Pancham's evergreen composition. This is from Aap ki Kasam of 1974, the movie where J Omprakash (Rakesh Roshan's father-in-law) turned from a producer to a director.

The movie itself was not a hit, rather proving to be just another step in superstar Rajesh Khanna's climbdown from stardom. The music however turned out to be super-hit with this bhang induced song & dance sequence ruling the chart for most of the year - ranking second on Binaca Geetmala's annual list of hits for that year. 

Rajesh Khanna had once mentioned in an interview that he had gone to a temple with Pancham. The clanging bells had a distinct sound and a peculiar rhythmic beat which caught Pancham’s attention, and were used by him in the beginning of the song. Of course, as the song moves on, the number of instruments keep getting added, reaching a finale, which has an unmatchable chaotic rhythm & energy to it.

There is another reason to listen to the finale of this song, an interesting story recently recounted by Mr. Annu Kapoor on his Big FM programme.

Apparently, due to the number of instruments used by Pancham for this song, the budget of the song recording had gone haywire - reaching a figure of 50000 - an astounding sum for a song recording in early 70s. Upset with this, Mr. J Omprakash, at the time of rehearsal kept complaining to Pancham & everyone else - "pachaas hazar kharch ho gaye, par mazaa nahin aaya". This constant barb naturally affected RD, and he shared his anguish with one of his best friends in the industry & the male singer of this song - Kishore Kumar. 

Of course, a friend in need is friend indeed. Kishore Kumar did not let the matter go unheeded. In the final version of the song, as the instruments are reaching a crescendo, you can hear him shouting - Bajao re Bajao imandari se bajao Pachas hazar kharch kiye hain.