Tu Na Raha..Kuchh Na Raha..

This blog began its journey last year on Pancham's birthday. Today, the Journey has completed its first year, and I am putting up its 125th post. A year that was personally fulfilling and enjoyable as I came across such facets & compositions of RD, which I had never known about. Hope you all have enjoyed it too so far.

On his birthday today, here is the 125th post containing one of my most favourite compositions. Keeping with the trend of last week - a roller-coaster ride of emotions featuring Asha Bhosle & Aruna Irani.

Aruna Irani has been one of the few actresses who could successfully perform across all the genres that a female actress gets to perform in Hindi cinemas. A heroine, a vamp with golden heart, an outright negative character, a mother - she has done all - and very efficiently.

She was also one of the few lucky actresses who got a good share of RD's compositions. One of the earliest one was from Bombay to Goa - a duet with Amitabh - created based on a strand from a Chaplin's composition. The song however was not retained in the movie. She also got a number of lovely compositions in Caravan. There were many other songs, but the song displayed today, I think, had one of her best performances - again as a Cabaret dancer.

The composition is a roller coaster ride of conflicting emotions & time zones - romance & melancholy - past & present. RD again used only the initial strand from "A Soldier's Story" from "The Good, The Bad & The ugly", and created an inimitable classic, that I never get tired of hearing.

To match the situation, Gulshan Bawra in his 2nd movie with Pancham came up with some lovely verse. Keeping in with the conflicting emotions, the composition is two paced - slower in present mixing so well with faster interludes of the flashbacks. Asha Bhosle carries off both the emotions with a panache, with her laughter, sobs, recitation, completely infusing the soul in her rendition. If this was not enough, the song is also special as it is one of the few songs where one can hear Pancham singing in his original voice - rendering vocals for Rakesh Roshan.

Why wait further.. so here it is: