I was catching up on my CD viewing during a recent public holiday. I decided to watch my collection of Hindi songs from the films of the great Hrishikesh Mukherjee for the millionth time. My son Sanjiv decided to skip his afternoon nap and join me for the viewing. Once he decided to do so it became a venture fraught with possibilities.
As we heard the songs, one by one it became that they were lost on my son. The beauties of the numbers form the 1966 film Anupama or the classic songs of the 1970 film Anand did not leave him dumbfounded. When I asked him for an opinion he gave it freely –Bad. On an instinct, I switched to the song “ Rail Gadi, Chugh Chugh” from the movie Aashirwaad of 1968 vintage where a none too young Ashok Kumar mimics the sounds of an train and announces the arrival of one station after another. Suddenly Sanjiv was rolling down the bed in laughter. What is more he kept asking for repeated encores.
Suddenly, this song from Aashirwad which I used to routinely fast forward had occupied the same place in life for Sanjiv that had earlier been reserved for songs from films like Taare Zaamin Par (Bam Bam Bole). A four year old child in 2010 liked a song from a 2009 film as well as a 1968 film. Children seem to love the same thing down the ages. Whether it is songs or stories. That is the reason that stories form the Ramayana And Mahabharata have been handed down the ages. Reflecting a certain timelessness. Like children themselves.
1 comment:
Much like children, the Hrishikesh Mukherjee films themselves have a certain timeless quality about them. One cannot help but laugh or chuckle even after watching & savouring his laugh riots (Golmaal & Chupke Chupke, in particular)a zillion times.
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