Prancing around on foreign shores

Hit songs from successful films are automatic choices for a columnist to ensure easy recall by the readers and music lovers, irrespective of the era they come from. In this case, the song from one of noted cine icon Jandhyala’s relatively lesser-accepted films, Chinni Krishnudu, is a personal favourite because it was spun into a hummable one by the musical giant Rahul Dev Burman, a rare development in southern cinema.

Jandhyala Veera Venkata Durga Siva Subrahmanya Sastry, popularly Jandhyala, is a special name in the Telugu film industry, who was known for his screenplay writing, directing and acting before he died at a young age of 51, by then, prodigiously serving the industry for nearly 25 years.

Burman Da, who had already marked his stellar presence in Tamil, standing out well among the sequence of Ilaiyarajaa hits was grafted in to wield the baton for this 1988, release starring Ramesh Babu, actor Mahesh Babu’s elder brother and Khushboo, the emerging bombshell of southern cinema.

“Jeevitham, swapna saagara geetham” is a vintage RDB trademark, which announces its worth with the high pitched humming of Asha Bhonsle as the lead pair jump in slow motion, all excited to be in the land of the Big Apple, seemingly less-crowded and unhurried, nearly three decades ago.

The crazy scooting of the two from one end of the lawn to the other, the cinematographer’s natural urge to shoot as much of the scenic amazements that the US landscape provides direct the camera work to what it wants to be – a voyeuristic delight for the small-town Telugu film watcher.

The hero, dressed in a dapper suit, is part of the touristy visuals where he emerges from within a metro train, gawking at the skyscrapers and moving around hand-in-hand with the visibly over-the-top heroine. There is no pretension about what the song attempts to portray- the wonderful place that America is.

Asha Bhonsle’s special slot in the RDB scheme of things is clear as the male voice of SPB, in a typically Kishore Kumar fashion, makes an entry only by the end of the second minute or so. The unmistakable north Indian lilt to the rendition, especially when Asha croons at a high pitch makes one feel it is a Hindi number dubbed into Telugu. However, it surely does not take away the energy of the song, which is sustained with an array of instruments – the percussion being the base with the accordion playing effective interludes.

The svelte-looking heroine matches the hero’s sartorial looks pretty well as the camera moves between night and day, capturing neon-lit signages and aeroplanes taking off. SPB adds to the promo feel of the song when he praises the land where the hero and heroine cavort by calling it ‘a creation of beauty’. Giant escalators in huge shopping malls, a recent trend in India are already present carry the loving couple up and down as Ronald Reagan, the then US President beams approvingly!