The last week everyone remembered where they were on November 8, one year ago. That was an eventful day in the history of India due to demonitisation. Just as everyone remembers where they were at the time of Indira Gandhi's death, everyone recollects what they were doing when the PM announced "notebandi".
This year, on many TV channels, the anniversary of the event was mentioned, some berating it and some celebrating !
This birthday of an event is at par with the special annual days that we all celebrate: birthdays and anniversaries. So it is a good time to recollect the Birthday Songs of Bollywood !
One of the earliest song picturised on the occasion of a birthday was, befittingly, for none other than that of Emperor Akbar ! The 1945 film Humayun had this celebratory song on the birth of Humayun's son. The song was written by Pandit Madhur.
Another song of the 40s which comes to mind is the Andaz song. A modern day birthday party for the special "apple of the eye" , with a huge cake, well-to-do guests and a doting parents : the stuff that birthday parties were made of !
Majrooh Sultanpuri penned the delightful ditty which is so hummable.
The Fifties had their share of birthday songs. One of the more obvious ones was from the film Anand Bhawan ( 1952) which goes Nanhe Munne Raja ki saalgirah aayi re, written by Raja Mehdi Ali Khan. Also, there was the title song from Ram Janam ( 1951), written by Saraswati Kumar Deepak in the film Hua raam ka janm.
Then there was the Prem Dhawan song in Aasmaan ( 1952), PomPom baaja bole, which has reportedly given us the signature tune of a radio programme loved by all of us , the original hit parade Binaca Geetmala !
The Sixties had a whole lot of birthday songs. Birthdays of heroines of the films were a natural situation for a song, whether by the hero or the friends of the special one. Also, the celebration of birthdays of children by having a party was the in thing at that time, leading to many such songs.
The birthday party song in Door Ki Awaz 1964 is one of the most remembered song, more than 50 years later. Shakeel Badayuni came up with lyrics which became popular with both kids and adults !
Every decade has a song which becomes the representative of its genre. If in 40s , it was Andaz song and in the 50s it was the one from Sujata, in the 60s , there was a song which broke all records to become numero uno in this genre for years to come.
The Seventies continued the joie de vivre of the 60s with songs like Mere lal aaj tera from Subah o shaam and taare kitne neel gagan mein taare from Aap Aaye bahaar aayi. The song which had a Rajesh Khanna playing a cameo as Gangaram phoolwala was also a birthday song from Anuraag
( 1972) . At the height of his popularity, Rajesh Khanna had a character written for him in this film and even when this was not part of the story, which was about a cancer-stricken young boy, the birthday song by Anand Bakshi justified the cameo.
Despite the random sad/romantic song like Anand Bakshi's Koi Nazrana lekar aaya from Aan Milo Sajna , the birthday song continued to be happy songs like Hasrat's happy birthday to you Pinky from Aaj ki taaza khabar, Rajinder Krishan's Teri umar ki phulwari mein from Rakhwala and Ramesh Pant's Jeena to hai usi ka , a qawwali from Adhikaar on the occasion of a birthday.
Two more songs in 70s stand out. The first one is a short recitation in the film Naina ( 1973), written beautifully by Hasrat Jaipuri and sung on screen by Shashi Kapoor. The cake is there, glasses of liquor are also present and the song ends with the birthday boy extinguishing the candle !
The second song is the one which celebrates the birthday of mother. The Indeevar song was a refreshing change in the film Sajan Bina Suhagan ( 1978)
The 80s was a period when the general quality of film music was undergoing a change for the worse and so it was not a surprise that the birthday songs were but a shadow of the earlier ones. There were songs like Majrooh's Chhalkao jhoom ke paimana khushi ka from Phir Wohi Raat ( 1980), M.G.Hashmat's Zor se bajao from Paisa ye Paisa ( 1985), Ravindra Jain's Happy birthday to you from Lallu Ram ( 1985), Ramesh Pant's Aaj apni darling ka aaya janamdin from Duty ( 1986) and Anjaan's Baaje badhai more angna from Maa Beti ( 1986).
But the song which relives the childhood was the Anand bakshi's song in which Jeetendra congratulates himself on his birthday, amidst the animals ....Happy Birthday to me from Jyoti ( 1981)
This year, on many TV channels, the anniversary of the event was mentioned, some berating it and some celebrating !
This birthday of an event is at par with the special annual days that we all celebrate: birthdays and anniversaries. So it is a good time to recollect the Birthday Songs of Bollywood !
One of the earliest song picturised on the occasion of a birthday was, befittingly, for none other than that of Emperor Akbar ! The 1945 film Humayun had this celebratory song on the birth of Humayun's son. The song was written by Pandit Madhur.
ho chand chamaka andhere me aaj hai ho mere raaja kaa jangal me raaj hai
Another song of the 40s which comes to mind is the Andaz song. A modern day birthday party for the special "apple of the eye" , with a huge cake, well-to-do guests and a doting parents : the stuff that birthday parties were made of !
Majrooh Sultanpuri penned the delightful ditty which is so hummable.
da dir dara dir dara da dir dara da dir dara dir dara da dir dara meri ladali re meri ladali ri bani hai taaron ki tu raani taaron ki tu raani
The Fifties had their share of birthday songs. One of the more obvious ones was from the film Anand Bhawan ( 1952) which goes Nanhe Munne Raja ki saalgirah aayi re, written by Raja Mehdi Ali Khan. Also, there was the title song from Ram Janam ( 1951), written by Saraswati Kumar Deepak in the film Hua raam ka janm.
Then there was the Prem Dhawan song in Aasmaan ( 1952), PomPom baaja bole, which has reportedly given us the signature tune of a radio programme loved by all of us , the original hit parade Binaca Geetmala !
In 1957, there was a song written by Prem Dhawan for the film Ek Saal. The occasion was the birthday of the character played by Madhubala, who looks stunning , as always. The lyrics of the song were Tum jiyo hazaaron saal gori. The song could not gain much popularity. As you would have guessed, the lyrics had to be tweaked , a couple of years later, to appeal to public.
In the same year there was an RK Films' production , which did not have Raj Kapoor in it !
This was the film Ab Dilli Door Nahin was an exception to the rule. It was a childrens' film produced by Raj Kapoor, showing the travails of a kid goes to Delhi to meet Pandit Nehru for his help in having his innocent father out of jail !
The birthday song , picturised in flashback, was written by Hasrat Jaipuri.
This was the film Ab Dilli Door Nahin was an exception to the rule. It was a childrens' film produced by Raj Kapoor, showing the travails of a kid goes to Delhi to meet Pandit Nehru for his help in having his innocent father out of jail !
The birthday song , picturised in flashback, was written by Hasrat Jaipuri.
jiyo lal mere tum lakhon baras tum pe maiyya nisaar kahe baba ka pyar
Writing a birthday song for a situation in a hindi film appears to be a simple task, but it is not. This is so because the repetitive nature of wishes force the lyricist to give something "out-of-the-box" or unique for the listeners to remember it for a long time. That is why , this time the focus is on the wordsmiths who have penned these beautiful, memorable songs.
As mentioned earlier, the song which made history was similar to Ek Saal song. The wishful linking of years ( Thousands) to the number of days in a year ( 50,000) made the "mukhda" complete for the song-lovers and this became such a cult song tat it is considered still the best wish for the birthday person...
As mentioned earlier, the song which made history was similar to Ek Saal song. The wishful linking of years ( Thousands) to the number of days in a year ( 50,000) made the "mukhda" complete for the song-lovers and this became such a cult song tat it is considered still the best wish for the birthday person...
This eternal song was from Sujata ( 1959) with lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri.
tum jiyo hazaron saal, saal ke din hon pachaas hazaar ! The Sixties had a whole lot of birthday songs. Birthdays of heroines of the films were a natural situation for a song, whether by the hero or the friends of the special one. Also, the celebration of birthdays of children by having a party was the in thing at that time, leading to many such songs.
The birthday party song in Door Ki Awaz 1964 is one of the most remembered song, more than 50 years later. Shakeel Badayuni came up with lyrics which became popular with both kids and adults !
ham bhi agar bachche hote ham bhi agar bachche hote naam hamara hota gablu bablu khane ko milte laddu aur duniya kahti happy birthday to you
happy birthday to you
On the more emotional side was the Tumhen aur kya doon main dil ke sivaay, tum ko hamari umar lag jaye solo by in Aayi Milan Ki Bela, also in 1964. Written by Hasrat Jaipuri, this was one of the rare serious birthday songs.
Every decade has a song which becomes the representative of its genre. If in 40s , it was Andaz song and in the 50s it was the one from Sujata, in the 60s , there was a song which broke all records to become numero uno in this genre for years to come.
The song wishing birthday to Suneeta became a rage because simply replacing Sunita with Sangeeta or even by Sudhir , you can wish the special day to anyone in the style of Indian James Bond aka Jeetendra in Farz ( 1967) . The song ( also including a variant of the phrase "jiyo hazaaron saal" phrase )was written by Anand Bakshi, who showed why he is considered the lyricist of a common man !
Baar baar din ye aaye, baar baar dil ye gaaye tu jiye hazaaron saal, ye meri hai aarazu happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you
happy birthday to suneeta, happy birthday to you
Amongst the host of songs in this period, those which were outstanding were Qamar Jalalabadi's Badhai ho badhai janamdin ki from Mera Munna ( 1967), Majrooh's Janam Din aaya from baharon ki manzil ( 1968) and Munne mere aa from Abhilasha ( 1968), Anand Bakshi's Tumhi se shuru from Mera Dost (1968) and Prem Dhawan's O Nanhe se farishte from Ek Phool Do Maali. (1969).
But the song which really brings out the joy and laughter of a birthday was this Ram aur Shyam ( 1968) song. Incidentally, this Shakeel Badayuni song did not mention the birthday aspect in the lyrics and it was the director who supplemented the birthday situation with this song!
aayi hain bahaaren mite zulm-o-sitam pyar ka zamana aaya dur huye gham raam ki leela rang laayi aha ha shyam ne bansi bajayi aha ha ha
The Seventies continued the joie de vivre of the 60s with songs like Mere lal aaj tera from Subah o shaam and taare kitne neel gagan mein taare from Aap Aaye bahaar aayi. The song which had a Rajesh Khanna playing a cameo as Gangaram phoolwala was also a birthday song from Anuraag
( 1972) . At the height of his popularity, Rajesh Khanna had a character written for him in this film and even when this was not part of the story, which was about a cancer-stricken young boy, the birthday song by Anand Bakshi justified the cameo.
raam kare babua hamaar phulwa ko hamri umar lagi jaaye patajhad aaye, basantritu jaaye ho jaaye, champa chameli muskaaye
Despite the random sad/romantic song like Anand Bakshi's Koi Nazrana lekar aaya from Aan Milo Sajna , the birthday song continued to be happy songs like Hasrat's happy birthday to you Pinky from Aaj ki taaza khabar, Rajinder Krishan's Teri umar ki phulwari mein from Rakhwala and Ramesh Pant's Jeena to hai usi ka , a qawwali from Adhikaar on the occasion of a birthday.
Two more songs in 70s stand out. The first one is a short recitation in the film Naina ( 1973), written beautifully by Hasrat Jaipuri and sung on screen by Shashi Kapoor. The cake is there, glasses of liquor are also present and the song ends with the birthday boy extinguishing the candle !
kya jaane kami kis cheez ki mai har cheez me paata rehta hu khush hoke banata hu duniya ghabra ke mitata rehta hoon har saal janamdin mera to kuch dost manaya karte hai har saal mai apne hisse ka ek saal ka gawaanta rehta hoon
The second song is the one which celebrates the birthday of mother. The Indeevar song was a refreshing change in the film Sajan Bina Suhagan ( 1978)
apna sab ko roop dikhaun, jab eeshwar ke man me aaya tab na usne tujhko banaya, tujh mein apna roop sajaya ab tera maan, janamdin aaya happy birthday o mamma dear mamma happy birthday to you
The 80s was a period when the general quality of film music was undergoing a change for the worse and so it was not a surprise that the birthday songs were but a shadow of the earlier ones. There were songs like Majrooh's Chhalkao jhoom ke paimana khushi ka from Phir Wohi Raat ( 1980), M.G.Hashmat's Zor se bajao from Paisa ye Paisa ( 1985), Ravindra Jain's Happy birthday to you from Lallu Ram ( 1985), Ramesh Pant's Aaj apni darling ka aaya janamdin from Duty ( 1986) and Anjaan's Baaje badhai more angna from Maa Beti ( 1986).
But the song which relives the childhood was the Anand bakshi's song in which Jeetendra congratulates himself on his birthday, amidst the animals ....Happy Birthday to me from Jyoti ( 1981)
chidiya choon choon karti hai, tote taali bajate hai ye sab mere saathi hai, milkar shor machate hai ki bolche, bolche ki, happy birthday to me
The Nineties was bereft of such songs, save a couple of them from Shadyantra and Ye aag kab bujhegi ( both by Ravindra Jain ) and Prem Deewane ( Anand Bakshi ). The turn of the millenium was also no different. The mood had changed from piano on a birthday party to DJ and the emotional content has also dwindled. There were songs in various films in the last 25 years such as Kya Yehi Pyar Hai ( Jalees Rashid) , Bhoot Uncle ( Baba Sehgal) , Dillliwali Zaalim Girlfriend ( Alfaaz) , Kill Dil ( Gulzar) , Kismat Love Paisa Dilli ( Santokh Singh ) and Krantiveer ( Sameer) . However, none of the songs is a patch on the past.
Leaving you with the latest birthday song from the film Ishq Forever (2016), whose lyricist is Sameer.
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