The Holi Songs That You Haven’t Heard, But Should

Do yourself a favour: let’s NOT  play Holi to the same handful of Holi songs  each year. Holi ke din dil khil gaaate hain(Sholay), Holi re  holi maston ke toli(Paraya Dhan), Rang barse(Silsila), Phagun aayo  re(Phagun)… there is  much more to Holi than these songs. There are  over 300 Holi songs in Hindi films.Here are the ones that you don’t know.But  should.They are  bhang-on!!!

1.     Ali re ali maston  ki toli(Zakhmee):  Sunil Dutt , Reena  Roy and a bevy of revelers,  this composition of  Bappi Lahiri has the  Holi mojo and  mazaa.Bappi was  proud of  this tune. He rarely got  a chance to do  Holi numbers. This one made terrific use of a traditional Holi chorus while Kishore Kumar sang for Sunil Dutt. Strangely Reeena Roy  just danced.

2.     Kora  mann  kori  kaya (Lakshmi): Reena Roy and Raj Babbar whooped  it  up in this charming 1982  Holi song  in a film  nobody  saw  . This forgoten Holi song composed by the  neglected  Usha Khanna  is sung  with great gusto by Lataji and Amit Kumar who are…well. Bhang-on!

3.     Holi hai holi sakhi(Khota  Paisa):  Rewind to 1958 for this unknown, unsung Holi number by Asha Bhosle . Composed  by Madan Mohan ,it is rare on  two counts:  it doesn’t follow the typical Holi tropes , and it is sung not by Madan Mohan’s muse Lataji but the  other sister whom he  rarely called to sing.

4.     Rang  rass barse haye  dhire dhire(Yaar Kasam):  This one is  a Holi-stic experience for  the   sheer pleasure of hearing two of the  finest male  singers  of contemporary times Yesudas and Hariharan  in a  mood for Holi revelry. Joining them is  composer-singer Usha Khanna, though she has not composed this one. The tune is credited to one Kishore Sharma.

5.     Khul  khul khelo rangeelo(Hari Darshan) :  Where else  would you get  to hear  Mahendra Kapoor  and Vani Jairam together?  The offbeat pair  shoots off a blizzard  of  colour in a composition by Kalyanji-Anandji. This is  the first song Vani sang for Kalyanji-Anandji, followed  by the  atrocious  Aa balam mujhe paa le sanam  in Dharm Aur Qanoon  which is the worst case  of mike-casting in the history of  playback singing.

6.     Kanha sangg khelun holi(Memories In March): Rituparno Ghosh’s film on sexual awakening contains this  beautiful track sung  by  Rekha Bhardwaj and composed  by  Debojyoti Mishra. It is an  unconventionally meditative tune for a  Holi song. But then we can’t expect  Rituparno to be  any other way.

7.     Morey bhar bhar ke pichkari(Dhanwan):  The  unusual  combination  of  Kishore Kumar and Usha Mangeshkar inspired composer Hridaynath Mangeshkar to have fun with this composition.The underrated  Hridaynath  also  composed a Holi song Holi aaye re  for Lataji in Yash Chopra’s Mashaal.

8.     Aise rang  de piya daag na lage koi(Babu): Rajesh Roshan’s breathe-easy  Holi song sung with  restrained joy. There is something  really special about celebrating  Holi without going overboard.Filmed on Rajesh Khanna  and  Hema  Malini, this is  Kishore Kumar and  Lataji’s best Holi song.

9.     Dekho aayee holi rang layee holi(Mangal Pandey The Rising):  Not quite  the monumental  Holi song  you would  expect  from A R  Rahman. But it has  a cadenced credibility in  its notes. And Aamir Khan lends   vocal support.

10.  Bhagi re  bhagi re brijbala(Rajput):  Vijay Anand’s  cinema  never failed to give us memorable music. Prior to this there  was the Holi special Piya tose naina  lage re   in Vijay Anand’s Guide. Very few  know  about this  rare Holi song bringing together the  untried  combination  of   Vijay Anand and  composers Laxmikant-Pyarelal.Singers Mahendra Kapoor, Asha   Bhosle  and Dilraj Kaur capture the Holi spirit perfectly.