Sanu instilled hope in everyone

A believer will begin anything he does with a reference to God.

But this playlist of mine happened to end with one.

It was titled Ooparwala Apne Saath Hai.

If the five songs from Sirf Tum (1999) in my collection were arranged in the alphabetical order, as well as in the ascending order of their durations (or the descending order, if you please), it would be the third – it was half-a-dozen minutes and a second long.

This Kumar Sanu solo instilled hope in all of us.

Sameer wrote the song, which was composed by Nadeem-Shravan.

It wAs (Man)hard to ignore

Jaanwar released in 1999.

When I was compiling my previous playlists of songs from Hindi films that released in the 1990s, I had not heard the subject of this post.

When I did, I included it in this one.

The song in question was Mausam Ki Tarah.

Alka Yagnik was one of the two people who lent their voices to it.

The person who joined her behind the microphone for it was Manhar Udhas.

The song was composed by the Shrivastava brothers, Anand and Milind.

No prizes for guessing that it was written by Sameer.

Raja’s duology completed Kohli’s hat-trick

If ‘Ishq’ (Urdu for ‘love’) and ‘Di’(Punjabi for ‘of’) were not the third and fourth word in the title of the subject of this post, it would have been called Pee Lo Whisky (which, ideally, is what everyone should abstain from doing).

It was the only song from the 1998 film Mard in my collection.

The song, which was written by Dev Kohli, was sung by Altaf Raja.

In fact, it completed the lyricist’s hat-trick (and the singer’s duology) on this blog.

The two men who composed it were the uncle-nephew duo, Dilip Sen-Sameer Sen.

The Raja of romance rocked!

The two tracks in this playlist that were from films that released in 1998 were rendered by the same man.

The singer in question was Altaf Raja.

And the first of those was Kar Lo Pyaar Kar Lo Pyaar.

Raja even featured in the song sequence in the film.

It was composed by Anand-Milind, and was the only song from Chandaal in my collection.

As a student of journalism, I was particularly chuffed by songwriter Dev Kohli’s line that went, “Padh lo aaj subah ka parcha” (which could be translated to, “Read this morning’s newspaper”).

Abhijeet (Poorni)made his Friday plan

From an alphabetical standpoint, Jumme Ke Jumme was the fourth – and final – song from Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi (1997) in my collection.

And as far as the descending order of their durations was concerned, it was the first – it was seven minutes and 11 seconds long.

Dev Kohli wrote the lyrics of the Anu Malik composition, whose opening verse could be translated to, “Come home every Friday. That is the day I am alone at home, so come home and give me a kiss”.

Poornima joined Abhijeet for this weird request for a home-delivered liplock.

Ila wASn’t adept at JuGglIng

If the three songs from the 1997 film Auzaar in my collection were arranged in the alphabetical order, Masti Ka Aalam Aaya Hai would be the last.

And if they were arranged in the descending order of their durations, it would be the first – it was seven minutes and 15 seconds long.

Anu Malik didn’t just compose the song, but he was also one of the two people who wrote it.

The other was Ila Arun, who sang it with a quartet comprising Gurdas Mann, Jo Jo, and a pair of Sabris – Afzal and Iqbal.

The crooner’s devotion was (Nig)amazing

My collection contains four songs from the 1996 film Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi.

If they were arranged in the alphabetical order, the subject of this post would be the third.

It was titled Maa Sherawaliye.

Sonu Nigam proved that he was truly worthy of being called ‘the modern-day Mohammed Rafi', given his versatility and ‘devotion’ to the art of rendering songs of all genres.

By no means would it be incorrect to state that this Anu Malik composition, which was written by Dev Kohli, was one of the most popular devotional songs on Hindi film soundtracks.

This completed a (SkiPped) hat-trick

The subject of this post is the second song from the 1996 film Himmat in my collection.

It was titled Kuku Kuru Kuku Kuru.

The next two words of the song were Sun zara.

Unfortunately, that was precisely what the majority of Hindi film music enthusiasts did not do.

It was the third Poornima-Kumar Sanu duet in this playlist, and it completed what could have been called ‘a skipped hat-trick’.

From an alphabetical point of view, this Anand-Milind composition, which Sameer penned, was the first of the two tracks from the film in my collection.

(Ud)It was sung by Sapna

Yaraana released in 1995.

Spread across my playlists, there were four songs from the film in it.

And the subject of this post – Jaadu Jaadu – was the first of those.

Mr Narayan was one of the two people who lent their voices tU(d)it.

The other was Sapna Mukherjee.

Two unrelated namesakes collaborated on the song – Rani Malik wrote the Anu Malik composition.

By the way, if the songs from the film in my collection were arranged in the descending order of their durations, it was the second – it was five minutes and 50 seconds long.

This was another Poornima-Sanu duet

By no means would it be incorrect to state that Kumar Sanu was a crooners whose gati (speed) showed no signs of slowing down in the 1990s.

And the subject of this post happened to be the only one from the 1995 film Veergati in my collection.

It was titled Khud Se Har Koi Rootha Hai.

It was the second consecutive song on this blog for which he was joined behind the microphone by Poornima.

The song was written by Indeevar, and was composed by Aadesh Shrivastava.

It was five minutes and 55 seconds long.

It was S(an)ung by Poornima

An article prevented this song from having a grammatically-correct title.

The track in question was Love In Rain, and the missing word was ‘the’.

Had it been there, it would have been the third word in the song’s title.

That, incidentally, made sense, because the film it was from was Teesra Kaun?

It released in 1994.

Speaking of incidentally, the song – from this blog’s point of view – completed the hat-trick for the lyricist (Sameer), the composers (Anand-Milind), and the male singer (Kumar Sanu).

The lady who joined him behind the microphone for it was Poornima.

Yagnik sang it with Sanu

Gopi Kishan released in 1994.

Spread across my playlists, there were four songs from the film.

If they were arranged in the alphabetical order, Yeh Ishq Hai Kya would be the last of those.

The involvement of Kumar Sanu in the song was no surprise, because he was the male voice of the soundtrack.

He was joined behind the microphone for it by the one and only Alka Yagnik (who was to female playback singers in the 1990s what Sanu was to the men.)

The song, which was written by Sameer, was composed by Anand-Milind.

This was a Sadhana-Sanu duet

Shatranj released on December 17, 1993 – a little over eight months after Divya Bharti, one of the film’s leading ladies, paased away.

My collection contains one song from the film.

It was titled Dil Mein Tere Pyaar Ka.

It is with this track that Kumar Sanu – one of the most prolific singers in the 1990s – made his first appearance on this playlist.

The lady who joined him behind the microphone for it was Sadhana Sargam.

Anand-Milind composed the song, so no prizes for guessing that the man who wrote it was none other than Sameer.

This duet (Vip)involved Anuradha too

The subject of this post was the only song from the 1993 film Jaanam in my collection.

It was titled Mere Dil Ka Pata.

And it happened to be the title track of the film.

Anuradha Paudwal was one of the two people who lent it their voices.

The man who joined her behind the microphone for the song was Vipin Sachdeva.

Interestingly, the last name of the man who penned it (Faaiz Anwar) happened to be the actual first name of the one who composed it – Anwar Sardar Malik (better known as Anu Malik).

It wA(zi)z sung by Paudwal

My collection contains one track from a 1992 film whose title was a palindrome.

I am talking about Kasak.

And the song in question was Dekha Jo Husn Aapka.

While the aforementioned words were a polite way to compliment the beauty of a woman, the same could not be said of the three words that followed them – Tabiyat machal gayi (which could loosely be translated to, “I was happy”).

Anuradha Paudwal and Mohammed Aziz were the two people who lent their voices to the song.

It was written by Indeevar, and composed by Rajesh Roshan.

Mr Bhattacharya did (Sadha)nail it

My collection contains just one song from Jigar, which released in 1992.

And the reason for that was it was associated with my profession – writing, which, incidentally, began with a passion.

The song was titled Pyaar Ke Kagaz Pe.

When I sat down to write the post, I did not know whether to rue the lost art of writing letters or admire the simplicity that is the hallmark of Sameer’s lyrics.

Though the song – which Anand-Milind composed – became quite popular, it was a run-of-the-mill song.

Sadhana Sargam and Abhijeet Bhattacharya lent their voices to it.

It was (La)tailor-made for Mangeshkar

Just one differently-spelled word separated Phool Bane Angaare (which released in 1963) from the 1991 film Phool Bane Angaray (the subject of this post).

And as was the case with the former, there was just one song from the latter in my collection.

The track in question was Gori Kab Se Hui Jawan.

It was a solo, and there is no two ways about the fact that it was perfect for the lady who lent her voice to it – the one and only Lata Mangeshkar.

Anjaan wrote the song, which was composed by Bappi Lahiri.

(Ud)It was rendered by Poornima

Baharon Ke Manzil released in 1991.

My collection contains just one track from the film.

It was titled Meri Jaan Dua Karna.

The two people who lent their voices to (Ud)it were Poornima and Mr Narayan.

The song was written by Dev Kohli* and composed by Raamlaxman.

It was half-a-dozen minutes and 44 seconds long,

[*Note: I sat down to write this post in November 2023. The lyricist was born in Rawalpindi, Punjab, British India (now in Pakistan) on November 2, 2023. He died at the age of 80 in Mumbai on August 26, 2023.]

Paudwal sang it with ‘Munna’

Spread across my blogs, Pal Mein Khafa Kabhi was the second song from Zahreelay (1990) in my collection.

The song’s title could be translated to ‘Upset one moment, and sometimes’.

Its next three words went ‘Pal mein magan’. It literally meant ‘absorbed in love the next’.

The two people who lent their voices to it were Anuradha Paudwal and Mohammed Aziz (who was fondly called Munna).

The latter’s involvement in the song was no surprise, because he was the male voice of the film’s soundtrack.

Majrooh Sultanpuri wrote the song, which was composed by Anand-Milind.

(Am)It was rendered by Lata

‘Lucky’ is the word that best describes a woman whose lover tells her that the day he forgets her will be the last day of his life.

By the way, that was nothing but the translation of the opening line of Main Jis Din Bhula Doon.

It happened to be the only song from the 1990 film Police Public in my collection.

The only duet on the soundtrack of the film, (Am)it was sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Mr Kumar.

The song, which was written by Asad Bhopali, was composed by Vijay Patil (a.k.a. Raamlaxman).