Gulabi Aankhen jo Teri Dekhi..

By the time "The Train" was released, for some reason RD had decided to use only Kishore Kumar's voice for Rajesh Khanna, largely.

Of course, from 1970 till Rafi died, RD & Rafi did work together on a number of movies and gave some amazing memorable numbers - but only 3 of these were for Rajesh Khanna.

We will come to those songs later - but as a response to a friend's humorous comment regarding romancing the spouse, there are a whole lot of gems of RD out there to facilitate the romance. If, however, I have to restrict my choice to this movie, then the obvious choice, would be this number - one of the last hits of Rafi-RD-RK combine.

The location is also ideal - Observation Post Garden in Aarey, now known as Chhota Kashmir. Despite a very Shammi Kapoor / Jitendra kind of choreography, the song has an appeal, due to its lyrics and foot-tapping rhythm. So here it goes:

Bura ye jaadu teri aankho kaa
Ye meraa qaatil ho gayaa
Sambhalo mujhko O mere Yaron,
Sambhalna Mushkil Ho Gaya
Gulaabi Aankhen Jo Tero Dekhi
Sharabi yeh Dil Ho Gaya

Kis Liye Maine Pyar Kiya

In 1969, Rajesh Khanna & Nanda starred together in the only songless movie by Yash Chopra - Ittefaq.

The Train, another suspense movie followed Ittefaq, and also did good business. Unlike Ittefaq, though, this movie had followed the song-and-dance formula of Hindi movies and RD did more than adequate justice to the plot & the situations.

Apart from the Meri Jaan Maine Kaha, which I shared yesterday, the movie also had a lovely Lata solo - one of her all time hits, which I would like to share here.

O Meri Jaan, Main Ne Kaha..

After Kati Patang, RD was soon to scale new heights with another Shakti Samant movie - Amar Prem.

Before that there was another movie though - another milestone in his career.

Those having spent their childhood in 70s in Mumbai would know that Sarvajanik Ganapati festival in mid 70s in Mumbai had a tradition - to exhibit movies all week long using 16mm projectors, huge boxes that would create a sound rising above the din of the streets, and white cloth - tied from one pole to another, as the screen.

That is how I had seen this movie first. Despite innumerable intervals that such screening had - essentially to facilitate the change over of reels, if the movie still managed to scare us, the credit was to the entire ambiance created through dark scenes, presence of that 70s mascor of evil - Shetty, and perfect use of background score. This was "The Train" - A Rajesh Khanna & Nanda starrer.

The movie had some chart-toppers, yet what made the movie special for RD's fans was this being the first time when he joined Asha for a duet. An exuberant cabaret number sung with gusto by Asha, that only, nay - ONLY Helen's vivacious dancing skills could have done justice to, is an absolute treat.

So here it goes: