Hindi Song: Dil Mein Chupake Pyar Ka - Aan

SONGS I LOVE:

Another 50s Hindi song that kept playing in my head was from the musical, Aan (or Pride - image). I had tried for some time to check out the song from movie websites and from friends but to no avail.

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So a visit yesterday, with my Music Meister friend, to a neighbourhood coffee shop at Serangoon proved fruitful when his Indian friend wrote out the full song title in romanised Hindi. That did the trick and I heard it again for the first time after many years. *Mohammed Rafi's: Dil Mein Chupake Pyar Ka came alive on You Tube.

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In those early years of Hindi movies in Singapore the re-runs were either at the Garrick Cinema in Geylang Serai or the Queen's Cinema in Geylang Road. Aan or Savage Princess was called a 'swashbuckling, romantic film', that became a block-buster. The unique English title was used to draw US audiences who were always keen about the 'mysterious' East.

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The movie was produced in 1952 and was the first Indian film in 'Technicolor'. It was directed by the legendary Mehboob Khan and starred Dilip Kumar and Premnath (big stars they were). Music was by Naushad.

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Again it was my Malay neighbour who persuaded me to see the film after drumming the song into me for days. To appease him, we queued patiently for tickets at the Garrick and managed to get the 50-cent seats. We were 6 rows away from the screen, had to lean back and look upwards for the duration of the movie. I couldn't remember the plot, I could this particular song.

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I came out of the cinema with a stiff neck. Hamid laughed when I complained but I must thank him for the humbling experience and beautiful song. In Singapore, the interest and love for Bollywood movies never waned. Even today Singaporeans of all races watch them on television, DVDs and in the cinemas to 'escape the harsh realities of everyday life.' Similarly 50s and 60s Indian pop evergreens are still in demand in the music shops.

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*Mohd. Rafi was an Indian playback singer (doing voice-overs for movie stars) for four decades. Versatile and talented, he could sing in English, Persian and 10 Indian languages. Rafi had been honoured many times by the Indian government, Bollywood and other movie industries for his capability and music contribution.

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(Apparently Tamil movies are just as popular in the 60s as it is today, especially in Singapore because Tamil is one of the four official languages. In fact, for non Singapore readers, this island has both a TV channel and radio station that broadcast only in Tamil. The songs are popular too.)

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Thanks to yuanyuanyuanyin for You Tube videos and comments.

Image/Movie information: Wikipedia and Websites.
Original article: Andy Lim.

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For: Music Meister, Eusoof Angullia, Salma, Ahyar Jammari, Azizah and Abdul Hamid (wherever he is.)

Anyone with an extra copy of the vinyl?