From the darker side of Bollywood - classic songs about loss and despair. These songs have the most beautiful haunting melodies that will weave their spell even without any Hindi knowledge.

A few songs from Mughal-e-Azam, from Taxi Driver and Kaaghaz Ke Phool: I'm sure this is not the definitive list of tragic Bollywood songs, but what it does contain is from the great masters... and sad... wonderful.
Mughal-e-Azam's story is about the conflict between love and duty, and the title of the main song "Pyaar kiya to darna kya" translates to:
"If you've fallen in love, what is there to fear?".
I seem to remember from the film (that I saw a while ago) a more poetic translation: "Love cannot be controlled by chains or prisons" - but maybe that was my imagination :-)

Talat Mahmood (photo) sings as Manglu the cynical cab driver, the iconic lost person, the drifter that does not belong. The song "Jaayen to jaayen kahan" (Where should we go?) was a huge hit in the rapidly changing India of 1954, and it still hasn't lost much of its power.
Then there's Kagaaz Ke Phool's tale of self-destructive genius, and Geeta Dutt singing "Waqt Ne Kiyaa" (What has time done?). The world is of paper flowers and broken hearts. The movie wasn't a great success at the time, and director Guru Dutt descended into depression and suicide in 1964. The dark side of Bollywood.

Tragic Bollywood [February '07]

downloaded 516 times