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Songs for Maa
We have been celebrating Mother’s Day for years. It’s become a day to raise a toast to the parent who has brought you into the world. But the fact is, she deserves an ode every day.
Representative Image / Unsplash
Hindi cinema, which has been enlogizing the man for decades, has given us many songs, perky and playful, poignant and plaintive, which you can croon for her.
MERI MAA from ‘Taare Zameen Par’
Not many had even heard the word ‘dyslexia’ till Aamir Khan’s directorial debut. Taare Zameen Par-a title suggested by Salman Khan-familiarized us with the learning disorder and put “Meri Maa” on every Mother’s Day playlist.
Penned by Prasoon Joshi, sung by Shankar Mahadevan who composed it with Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonca, the song articulates the agony of an eight-year-old boy sent away to boarding school because of consistently poor grades.
It's the first time Ishaan has been separated from his mother, and as he voices his fear about darkness and heights, which had remained unspoken in her comforting presence, Darsheel Safary makes us cry with him. So did an Indian busker with his soulful rendition on the streets of London, underlining that music speaks a universal language.
LUKKA CHHUPI from ‘Rang De Basanti’
This song made even Lata Mangeshkar tear up as she articulated the grief of a mother who has lost her young son in a plane crash. A duet with composer AR Rahman, “Lukka Chhupi” instantly touches a chord because all of us have lost a loved one sometime in life and this game of hide-and-seek hrings back so many heart-wrenching memories.
Prasoon Joshi, once again the lyricist of this gem, admits he was moved to tears himself by Lata Mangeshkar’s soulful rendition. The song was in contention for the Oscars in the ‘Best Original Song’ category, such was its impact across continents.
JANAM JANAM from ‘Phata Poster Nikla Hero’
Written and directed by Rajkumar Santoshi. Phata Poster Nikla Hero, is along the lines of his cult classic Andaz Apna Apna. Atif Aslam was the poster boy of Tips Music till the cultural ban on Pakistani artistes. Besides his voice, what sets this song apart from other odes to the mother is Padmini Kolhapure.
This film was Padmini’s big Bollywood comeback. It released 30 years after Souten by which time the teenage Radha had grown up. She still impressed with her histrionics as Shahid Kapoor’s mother, sulking smiling, scolding and sighing through this song.
MUMMY O MUMMY TU KAB SAAS BANEGI from Khatta Meetha
Basu Chatterjee’s 1978 film was inspired by a Turkish film, Bizim Aile (Our Family), which had released three years earlier. Khatta Meetha was a laugh riot and this song became an instant hit with boys of all ages, some not even old enough to think of marriage, trailing behind their mothers, crooning, “Mummy O Mummy, Tu Kab Saas Banegi”
Gulzar’s wit, Kishore Kumar’s magical voice and Devan Verma’s comic genius all contributed to the evergreen success of this Rajesh Roshan composition which still crops up during family gathering to light-heartedly rile mummy.
MERI PYAARI AMMI from ‘Secret Superstar’
Another song from another Aamir Khan production Secret Superstar “Meri Pyaari Ammi” is sung by Meghna Mishra and composed by Amit Trivedi, who had penned it with Kausar Munir. It sums up exactly what a mother is. She is a confidante whom you can whisper your secrets to.
She is a co-conspirator who will go out of her way to make your dreams come true, even at a great personal cost. She is a best friend who will never let you down even if it means taking a step, she had earlier shied away from. No wonder then that Zaira Wasim’s dedicates her first award to her mother who she admits is the true secret superstar.
The last message from debutant director Advait Chandan stays with you as the screen goes blank… To Mother and Motherhood Cheers!
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