This duet is just a walk in the park…

The process of choosing a film, browsing through its song catalogue and picking one from it for a detailed observation has its own hidden surprises. As it happened in this case. This film, ‘The Gentleman’, released a good two decades ago has a lot of firsts to its credit, as it tumbles out, on a retrospective study.

For the trivia-loving folks, here is the list. This was the last Hindi film Chiranjeevi acted, the third and final in a period of about four years, out of which two were remakes of Telugu hits and scored at the box-office. It was the second time, Juhi Chawla, who played the female lead to many southern stars including Rajinikanth paired with him.

May be, in Hindi film history, this must be the only film which had two top names to score music- Annu Malik and AR Rahman, who was just about shooting his way to the top echelons. Interestingly, both of them had three songs each. While Rahman repeated the tunes of the Tamil original, the song selected for this column is of Malik who was famous for the epidemic-like quality his tunes had, especially during that period of the ‘90s, when he was ruling.

In that era of Kumar Sanu and Udit Narayan, Vinod Rathod, who had a high-pitched tinny voice, did not get too many opportunities. Annu Malik gave him a few chances, which he used well, till the film ‘Border’, which was to be released a good three years later. Same is the case with Sadhna Sargam, who later went to sing many songs for AR Rahman. Under the dominating presence of Alka Yagnik, she had fewer outlets to impress the listeners with her voice.

However, the energy level is at a higher one in this song right from the start as Sargam croons the opening stanza, which is repeated with full gusto by the male voice in an effortlessly macho style. A youngish Chiranjeevi, unchallenged in Telugu cinema then, makes a good combination onscreen with Juhi Chawla, known for her infectious charm and toothy smile. The location, lush green and endowed with abundant foliage is superbly juxtaposed with the multi-hued flowers in the following frames.

Director Mahesh Bhatt transports the audience to the famous Tulip Garden of Holland where the young lovers swear undying love… “Mohabbato ki kahani, Kahani tujhe sunayenge, Tujhe bulayenge, khwabo mein aur jagayenge, Hawa chalegi to aanchal, Anchal ki yaad aayegi, Ghata jab uthegi to Kajal kajal ki yaad aayenge…” go the lyrics, just about raising the passion levels.

The windmill makes its appearance once the camera is done with the nature shots. Mega Star just trudges around, baggy trousers in tow, completely at ease with the damsel who darts in and out of his grasp, a contrast to the way he would have been in a typical Telugu film song.

The ubiquitous super impositions follow, heightening the intensity levels the hero and the heroine choose to transmit. No wonder then, the heroine asserts “tumhare naam ko dhadkan, dhadkan ke saath rakh lenge….”

The pace of the song is languid, tuneful and uncomplicated to the final scene as the rich variety of colours that a setting sun throws up merges with the burst of hues the flowers showcase. The soft finish to the number is what makes it linger in one’s mind.

By:K Naresh Kumar