Shakti Samanta’s Kati Patang was never more than half a step away from sorrow. Yet, the classy Rajesh Khanna-Kishore Kumar do managed to bring a smile to viewers’ faces with “Aaj na chhodenge”, a Holi song where everybody but the heroine Asha Parekh gets into the hues of the festival. The film, when it released some 45 years ago, knew no show that was less than houseful as Delhiites came out in groups to watch the film. Eros, Alankar and, later Savitri cinema, too all strung a cord with Kati Patang . And the film’s Holi number provided a trail of good cheer.
More than a decade after Kati Patang , two films with relatively lesser known Holi numbers, J. Om Prakash’s Akhir Kyon and K. Viswanath’s Kaamchor , each got attention from cine-goers. The Rajesh Khanna-Smita Patil-Rakesh Roshan starrer Akhir Kyon got a sedate start at most halls in the city. Majestic in Chandni Chowk though was different. Here, people came in droves, as much to see the tearjerker “Dushman na kare” as to see the zestful “Saat rang mein khel” where Smita Patil lent grace to pink and even Roshan appeared charming. It was a far cry from the song “Mal de gulaal mohe” in Kaamchor where he played a second fiddle to Jayaprada, whose luminous eyes were lined with a tear in the first part only to be replaced with moments of frank titillation in the second. “Lok laaj ki deewar aaj sanam tod do,” she lip-synced to Lata Mangeshkar’s words before reverting to type immediately by picking a little gulal from the hero’s feet to colour her maang. The song worked; the film worked, sending many an emigrant worker at Robin Talkies in Old Sabji Mandi into nostalgia mode.
The mind’s eye goes back to them at this time of the year rather than the timeless songs from Amitabh Bachchan’s films. They were hits everywhere. It is these films that had a cute, little association with fans that come to the mind. And why not? After all, Delhi is the city that comes alive during Holi with even the political bigwigs taking time off to apply gulal and share their gujias. If at one time L.K. Advani and Atal Behari Vajpayee were seen revelling in the festive spirit, at another even the otherwise sedate Sonia Gandhi is reported to have let her guard down to celebrate the festival. Then there have been visitors, ranging from the businessmen from Pakistan to tourists from Europe who all soak in the magic of Holi.
Of course, not all of them use pichkaris. Few are known to play with balloons too. But nobody seems averse to a bit of colour. Talking of colours, my mind — yes that restless being — goes back to Shamshad Begum’s “Holi Aayi re kanhai” in Mehboob’s Mother India . The film did great business everywhere. The scene in Delhi though was quite a different affair. Boys and girls, men and women, hummed along Shamshad’s nasal rendition. The film enjoyed repeat audiences everywhere, ranging from Filmistan to Khanna to Palace to Laxmi. At times, it ran in daily four shows, at others in morning shows. It mattered not a bit to Delhiites who soaked in the colours of Holi even in a film otherwise celebrating the strength of womanhood. Women’s day, did anyone whisper?
