Burmanda's Gems

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Piya tose Naina laage re ...

A Well Polished Gem - (By Tadatmya Vaishnav)

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GUIDE

 Piya Tose Naina Laage Re

- Ritu Chandra

(Play music with the page)

AFSAR - Naina Deewane, ik nahin maane

HOUSE NO 44 -  Phaili hui Hain Sapno ki Baahen 

Today we begin our journey into the wonderful world of Dada Burman’s music with a song from one of his most celebrated soundtracks. Yes, you got it right.  Guide is our film for today. This Dev Anand-Waheeda Rehman starrer was a landmark film in the history of popular cinema, and its soundtrack, one of Sachinda’s most acclaimed scores.

 Guide has a whole line-up of evergreen classics. The soundtrack boasts of a variety of male voices. Rafi, Kishore, Manna Dey and SD Burman himself all make memorable appearances. On the female front however, Lata is the queen of all she surveys. While Asha Bhakts rue the exclusion of Asha from the project, Lata more than makes up with three memorable solos to the boot. Today’s choice is one of these three solos. This song that has gone down in history as one of the finest dance numbers is also a personal favourite with me….Piya tose naina laage re.

 We choose Piya tose naina laage re not only for the intrinsic beauty of this roopak taal based tune, but also because this song is a great showcase of SD Burman’s sweeping musical vision.  It was this quality along with a strong feel for the visual medium that made Dada the first choice for the most visually inclined film-makers of his times

This 4 stanza/8 minute piece is a marathon song that traces the rise of Rosy (the film’s female protagonist played by Waheeda) from a small time artist to the sensational dancing star Nalini.  The song starts off suddenly without any prelude (a habit that was quite common with Dada) and then moves ahead with rich orchestral interludes. The composition itself has two meters running simultaneously in the antaras. One with a long drawn out alaap  as in Aayi holi aayi   and the other with a fast raat ko jab chaand chamke both blend back into the mukhda seamlessly with extremely catchy bols, set to the rhythm of Dhi na k dhi n dhi n. These bols have been woven into the overall lyrical theme of the song beautifully by the lyricist Shailendra.

 The orchestral interludes in this song are rich and varied. Though these music pieces are tailor-made for a dance choreography, unlike most dance pieces they do not remain limited to a frenzy of ghungroos, tabla and  sarangi/harmonium. The orchestral interludes, here, in typical SD Burman style, are uncluttered and spontaneous. However they still use a wide variety of instruments and are richly layered. Violins, Sitars, ghungroos, tabla, drums (note the lovely use of a north eastern drum  in the portion before bhor ki bela suhani) and the flute all fit into the overall composition like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle. Strings, as with most of Dada’s songs, are used with great felicity. Note the extremely catchy short string pieces strewn all over the song. In particular, the part where the song returns to the mukhda as in..

 Piya tose ,

~~~~little string pieces ~~~~~~

Piya tose naina (tabla starts) laage re

 The tabla is heard distinctly throughout major portions of the song and there is a gentle swaying rhythm to the tabla tempo. A trait that is faintly reminiscent of Sachinda’a favourite bhatiyali rhythms. There are portions where the tabla takes a backseat and the drums or some other percussion takes over, however it always makes a high profile and arresting entry back into the forefront particularly when the song returns to the mukhda.

The lyrics by Shailendra are sweet and heartfelt in his trademark style. This is one of those songs where Shailendra excels in ‘Shringar Ras’, which otherwise is considered by many to be a bastion of the likes of Majrooh Sultanpuri.  Just like the composition. the lyrics also follow twin tracks. The long meter depicts the Holi and Diwali (major festivals of the north) and the fast tracks depict day and night. Shailendra’s mastery is apparent in the manner he makes a crisp return to the mukhda.

Lata Mangeshkar’s rendition, finally, is the icing on the cake. She gives the song a delicacy and innocence that is very heart-warming. Note the way she stresses on naina each time she sings the mukhda.  Very dulcet.

Any discussion about Piya Tose Naina laage re would be incomplete without mentioning its unforgettable picturisation.  While Waheeda is elegance and grace personified, the choreographer Hiralal like the rest of this team thinks out of the box.  The end result is one of the most scintillating dance sequences in the history of Indian Cinema.

More about Piya Tose Naina Laage Re

Trivia

- The extremely catchy Dhinak dhin dhin that seems to flow so spontaneously was actually put there by design!. Maruti Rao Keer, (a percussionist in SD’s team), recalled how Dada worked to include this bit knowing his audience would love it.

- Special mention must be made of Rahul Dev Burman who along with Basu and Manohari  assisted Dada in this film. The orchestra in more ways than one was Pancham’s triumph as well.

- Santoor maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma who assisted Dada during this period played the tabla in this song.

- Waheeda Rehman worked very hard on the dances of this film. She would get up at 4:00 in the morning to rehearse. She also drank lots of milk to get the strength to execute those rigorous steps!. After all this hard work when the songs were canned and the film went on the editing table, Waheeda had just one fear… that the long dance sequences could be edited out.  Finally she made a request to Dev Anand.Cut my scenes if you like but please don't edit out my dances. Dev Anand promised her he wouldn’t and the dances stayed. And thus what we have today a set of dances that have become textbook material for dances in popular cinema.

- This one is for the collectors. There are stories of the existence of one version of this song in the voice of the master himself. Now wouldn’t that be a treat for all connoisseurs of Dada's singing? Any pointers in this direction would be greatly welcome. Mail us at feedback@sdburman.net

    Basics

• Song : Piya tose naina laage re
• Film : Guide
• Lyrics: Shailendra
• Year of Release : 1964
• Music : Sachin Dev Burman
• Hear Online at : :  http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/l/XX0100060F
• Availability : The soundtrack of Guide is easily available. The complete 4 stanza version of this song was also released by HMV as a part of their Classic Sountrack series. This song also makes a wide appearance in other related compilations also.

Related Links

For those interested to know more about Guide check out the following film reviews

1. http://ibosnetwork.com/columns/rev_guide.htm  (Excellent review by Saket Sharma )
2. http://www.upperstall.com/films/guide.htm (Upperstall’s write-up on the film)
3. http://thaxi.hsc.usc.edu/rmim/cisb//ASCII/1454.isb (Complete lyrics in Itrans)

Feedback

A Well Polished Gem

Tadatmya Vaishnav  (Dec ember  2003)

What was meant to be a short feedback on a much cherished song ended up being a full-fledged write up on it!  Such is the eloquence  Piya tose naina laage re  inspires . Tadatmya Vaishnav takes us through an engaging journey on his early reminiscences of the song and his thoughts and feelings on this Burman beauty...... (More)