A Song for Kajol’s Effervescence

In the Bollywood world, music and films go hand in hand. Songs are very strongly associated with the actors on whom they are picturised. As far as the music is concerned, the actors may only lip-sync and dance to the beat but they can and sometimes do add meaning to the music by the way they emote on screen. Singers like Kishore Kumar would bring aspects of the actor into their music such that it sounds as if the actor is really singing. I don’t believe that is the case in today’s music. However, the bonds between popular music and the actors are still a very strong.

On that theme, I am starting a sequence of posts to present music which best represent the personality of actors or actresses for whom it is written.

Who can see a movie of Kajol and not remark on her effervescent personality? An accomplished and successful actress, she has played part young-and-giddy and part serious roles in films such as Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Kabhie Khushi Kabhi Gham. In the more recent My Name is Khan, her normally ebullient personality is a bit more subdued but still, one can see her liveliness bubbling under the surface.

Album : Minsara Kanavu (1997)

Music : A.R.Rahman

Lyrics : Vairamuthu

Song : Manna Madurai

Singers : Chitra, Unni Menon, Shreeni

In searching for a song to best represent her, I unerringly descended on this…yes, a Tamil song! Why? Because I have never forgotten this song not only because the music is good, but also because the atmosphere on the screen is joyous.  And because Kajol bubbles like champagne. And because language doesn’t matter if the mood is right.

Mamma madurai–Chitra, Unni Menon, Shreeni

And don’t forget to note Prabhu Deva’s great dancing…oh, how the man can dance!!!

For those who prefer the Hindi versions, you can listen to the whole album here. I must say that I like A.R.Rahman’s older albums much better than the recent ones. This is indeed an excellent album. The Hindi version of this song is called Awara Bhanwre. Enjoy !!