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Phaili hui hain sapno ki baahen ...

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Phaili Hui Hain Sapno ki Baahen

- Madhura Purohit

Jhoola dhanak ka dheere dheere hum jhoolen,  Ambar toh kya hai taaron ke bhi lab choo len

This celestial song that takes you for a glimpse of the world over the rainbow is one of the finest of Sachin Dev Burman's creations and this month's  inhouse 'chef's recommendation'.

MADHURA PUROHIT  takes us on a journey over stars with Phaili hui hain  sapno ki baahen....

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HOUSE NO 44 - Phaili hui hain sapno ki baahen

    The first time ever that I heard Phaili hui hain sapno ki baahen  was late in the night... and I think the half asleep child that I was, thought that this was a song heard only my dreams ( I should admit that my dreams are not normally akin to Hindi films complete with soundtrack!). Fast forward a few years to when I heard this song again, this time in the morning (so no dream sequence possible this time round) and was moved again by the simplicity of the tune and its uncanny ability to transpose me outside of myself. I have to admit that to the 12 year old that I was, things like MDs etc were way out of ambit- a song was considered to have made the mark, if one kept a cassette ready just so that one could record it if on the offchance Vividh Bharati played it again ! Needless to say, this song more than made the grade.

I should inform you at this point, that my one bestetting sin is a hyperactive imagination, so it was hardly a surprise that the first thing I should do with my favorite song (of the time) was to imagine what the picturisation must have been. The scenario to me was something along the lines of...... a dark, windy night with the breeze rustling along the gentle slope of mountain with the long fronds of some tall grasses swaying in time to the music !

Time went on and my tastes I should like to think matured. Songs that one had thought were the best of the best, seemed loud or just plain boring but this one song from my childhood never wavered from my list of favorites. Ofcourse, I did have a moment of horror when I realized that SDB was also the guy who sang the vaguely foreign song ( hotaa tu piipal ..Sune mere Bandhu re.)  My roommate of the time and I used to spend Friday evenings at the local Starbucks and play the role of armchair intellectuals discussing amongst other things music and SDB's music in particular. Talking about House No 44 got me thinking that while I knew the songs in this film, I hadn't the faintest idea of anything else - such as whether the film situation lives up to the promise of the music. So, I sat down and watched House No 44, waiting with barely concealed imaptience for 'The Song' ... imagine then, my horror when I found that the song has been filmed in broad day light with Kalpana Kartik dancing or doing Mass PT, one can never be quite sure ! (See picture above) It was enough to give one nightmares for days thereafter. In the manner of all SDB addicts I have been able to rationalize the fiasco of that day and the only vaguely sensible explanation I can come up with - is that most of my favorite SDB songs have tremendous potential that the director never really tapped into... which is why a song that so impresses one in the audio comes across as a horror show with Ms Kartik in the role of Impidementa a la Asterix !

Enough said about the picturization of said song, the impediment that was Madame Kartik and the fact it was day and not night ... let's discuss the song itself. Sahir's delicately crafted words have been given a magical touch by Burmanda's haunting melody, add to that Lata's beautiful voice and you have a song that dreams are made of. I shall be the first to confess that I am not really a lyrics oriented person, but even I, have been moved by these lyrics... Phaili hui hai sapnon ki bahein.... aajaa chal dein kahin door... always make me want to go tramping off into the hills towards some far distant horizon. Listen to how beautifully Lata brings alive these immortal lines of Sahir... but the glue that makes the whole into a listener's delight is SD's tune !!

I shall leave you with this song........

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 More about Phaili hui Hain

• Song : Phaili hui hain sapno ki baahen
• Film : House No 44
• Lyrics: Sahir Ludhianvi
• Year of Release : 1955
• Music : Sachin Dev Burman
• Availability : The soundtrack of House no 44 has been released commercially though it is not very widely available. This song also makes an appearance in the SD Burman Legends series. The video of the song is widely available.

 Trivia

• Legend says that Dada Burman was so pleased with Lata's amazing rendition of this song that he rewarded her with one of his precious paans, a gesture that was considered to be SD Burman's ultimate sign of appreciation.

 Links

   Hear the song online at

   http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/s/?q=Phaili%20hui%20hai&c=0303

Acknowledgements

We'd like to thank Prof. Surjit Singh for providing us with the picture of Kalpana Kartik in this song. Thanks to Srinivas Ganti in helping providing the song clip.

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