Hindi cinema has always been partial to alcohol. A bevda hero standing outside the heroine’s house in the middle of the night, in a bid to convince her to accept him or the jilted lover lying wasted, are some of the well beloved images immortalised by Bollywood. Drugs on the other hand didn’t have such a mainstream presence. Demented villains or women with loose morals were the ones shown smoking up. There are a few songs dedicated to the theme and out of that limited package, those that went on to become a rage were even fewer.
As the just-released Udta Punjab gives us an opportunity to revisit some of those unforgettable gems, we compile a list of top five numbers that comes to the mind.
‘Dum Maro Dum’
Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1971)
A cult movie which gave us the ultimate dopey song composed by R.D. Burman and sung by Usha Uthup and Asha Bhonsle. Zeenat Aman in trendy shades, sleek attire and hair let loose, epitomised flower power. The song with an addictive rhythm and Uthup’s husky vocals and anti-establishment lyrics contributed to number’s anthemic quality.
Till date, this Dev Anand film is considered a milestone in dealing with substance abuse.
‘Jai Jai Shiv Shankar’
Aap Ki Kasam
This is possibly the most positive and happy portrayal of the subject but not without reason. It had the context of Shivratri, the festival celebrating Shiva and Parvati’s marriage. Lord Shiva is believed to favour cannabis and that is how bhang has come to be part of the festival. The music, again a stellar composition by R.D. Burman and rendered by Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar, was groovy with some fantastic choreography and picturization. Who wouldn’t love the way Rajesh Khanna and my all-time favourite Mumtaz are shown dancing and prancing and tripping high on bhang?
‘Fashion Ka Jalwa’ Remixed version
Fashion (2008)
Out of the most recent songs on the subject, this one is by far the best. This groovy number composed by Salim-Sulaiman and sung powerfully by Sukhwinder Singh and Satya Hinduja, does manage to convey the message. The hurt and angry Meghna (Priyanka Chopra) is shown as finding a temporary solace in alcohol and cocaine at a rave party.
‘Babaji ki Booti’
Go Goa Gone (2013)
Kunal Khemu, Anand Tiwari and Vir Das drink, smoke up and make merry in this song with some suggestive lyrics.
Composed by Sachin-Jigar, the psychedelic visuals contribute to the dopey song. The zombie film about three young men travelling to Goa trying to get over heartbreak with sex and drugs with the latter being an important part in the film.
Following a roller-coaster ride, the trio conclude that drugs ruin everything and make zombies of us all.
‘Manali Trance’
The Shaukeens
A smoking hot Lisa Haydon grooves to psychedelic beats telling people how marijuana is the solution to all their problems.
It is brilliantly sung by Neha Kakkar and who- else-better suited to sing it – but Honey Singh. Listen to it once and it grows on you.
There have been quite a films dealing with substance abuse including Charas, Jaanbaaz , Dev D, Jalwa, Shaitan, Dum Maro Dum, Paanch and not to forget Khamosh in which Pankaj Kapur played a drug addict.
Years later in Udta Punjab, his son, Shahid Kapur plays a cocaine-addicted singer.
