Deviating from my norm of choosing a film for its music, I searched out my DVD of Chupke Chupke looking for a good giggle. What an amusing film it is! Truly, if you haven’t seen it as yet, do – you’ll soon add it to your list of ‘cheer-me-up’ films.
In essence, it is a story about an elaborate practical joke played on an unsuspecting Om Prakash and the ensuing mayhem. It has a nice pace with never a quiet moment. Well scripted, well directed (Hrishikesh Mukherjee) and well acted, its a welcome change from the jaded and boring fare handed out by Bollywood much too often. The dialogue, in particular, is fun throughout. People who like Hindi would enjoy Botany correctly referred to as वनस्पति शास्त्र, a driver as a वाहनचालक , never as कदापि and a train as लोहापथ गामी अग्निवाहन!
Dharmendra in the leading role is excellent and heart-stoppingly handsome – in fact I doubt whether I find any Bollywood actor as handsome as I find him here. Amitabh is refreshingly different from his normal angry roles; for me, this is a much better display of his acting talent than many of his more famous films. A scene in the latter half of the film in which he shares his frustrations in convoluted sentences with Dharm & Asrani had me giggling helplessly! The ladies are equally good with a mature Sharmila much more natural in her role than she ever was as a young woman and more beautiful too! In short, a five-star film! Its available on Youtube on the Shemaroo channel for free, so go for it!
The music by S.D.Burman is melodious and if not up to par with his great compositions, there is enough to enjoy. Anand Bakshi’s lyrics are acceptable.
-
Sa Re Ga Ma – Mohammad Rafi, Kishore Kumar. Its lovely to hear both these incredibly talented singers come together! Kishore wins this bout hands down – and no I am not biased!
-
Baghon Mein Kaise Yeh Phool – Lata Mangeshkar, Mukesh. It’s truly a lovely song, well sung by both singers but I am not too keen on Mukesh’s voice for Dharmendra.
-
Ab Ke Sajan Mere Saawan Mein – Lata Mangeshkar. This has a nice melody, nice lyrics and even situational comedy!
-
Chupke Chupke – Lata Mangeshkar. A light, uplifting song sung very nicely by Lata. It doesn’t have as much variation as I would like but then it has a lulling quality instead.
I would have chosen Ab Ke Sajan but I have already used it for a post on Sharmila so here’s my second choice, Baghon Mein :
Music To My Ears 
Hi, I have a question about the music in this film. I’m having a very hard time getting an answer, so I thought it might be worth asking. About 18 minutes into Chupke Chupke, there’s a musical cue when Dharmendra and Sharmila’s characters say goodbye as she’s leaving on a bus. I could swear that I’ve heard this melody before, but I have no idea where. Or I could just be imagining that I’ve already heard it. It doesn’t quite sound like an SD Burman piece, either, to me. That’s only complicating matters, because I’m also wondering if it’s been recycled from another score (possibly by RD…?). Do you have any ideas? Nobody else does, and I’m driving myself crazy trying to find out! Thanks! 🙂
Hello Steve,
Though I thought it sounded familiar, I couldn’t quite put a finger on it. So I asked my very brilliant friend who has an amazing memory re films of that era. And in 5 mins, he answered my email…how clever is he!! Listen from 4:19 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXCxKoKJlfs Both films were made by Hrishekesh Mukehrjee with music by Sachin Dev Burman.
Cheers, Suja
Wow, thanks!!! It’s so very kind and considerate of you to reply. I greatly appreciate it. Thank you. Abhimaan was on my list of possible candidates, so at least I was on the right track. I saw the film only once, nearly three years ago. You’ve got a new fan in me. I’m so grateful.
Very, very interesting, though–I started asking people with no knowledge of Indian cinema, and I was led this this song which I hadn’t heard since I was a young boy. At least 20 years ago. So it seems that I in fact remembered the melody (if not the instrumentation) from a few different places. Fascinating! This song was originally recorded in 1962. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djU4Lq_5EaM
You are welcome 🙂 And thanks for the link to Bobby Vinton’s song. So SD (or his arrangers) did a straight lift of the melody!!! How interesting!! Thank you for following my blog but I am afraid I concentrate on Carnatic Music nowadays so if you are a fan of Hindi film music, there will only be a few posts of interest to you..
Cheers. Suja