Pick ANY Shammi Kapoor song … then imagine the song for a second without him … and it won’t take you even seconds to realize that the song has already lost its charisma! Right from the Black & White times to the Eastmancolor period … Shammi was the unbeaten lord of style. No other actor fro
m that time is known to have so distinct an impression. Be it acting or dancing – he had his own style that actors to this day are imitating! Beginning with Jeevan Jyoti in 1953 he gave innumerable and unforgettable performances in Tumsa Nahin Dekha, Dil Deke Dekho, Junglee, Dil Tera Diwana, Professor, China Town, Rajkumar, Kashmir Ki Kali, Janwar, Teesri Manzil, An Evening in Paris, Bramhachari, Andaz and Vidhaata to name a few.
Talking about songs … I think no one can ever match what Shammida has done in his songs. Take for example the song “Tarif karun kya uski” from “Kashmir Ki Kali”. I have no doubt that you have already seen the video. Remember how he has danced – for the full 5 minute song – in that little space at the tip of a Kashmiri boat? And the wonder is that even while performing in that little space … none of his movements are a repeat! In his enthusiasm of dancing he even steps out of the boat and falls into the lake at the end of the song as you know! Man .. that’s some talent! Then there’s the perfect portrayal of “Junglee” in “Junglee”. I cannot imagine anyone else in this world performing that song! Afterall it could only be done by the guy who possessed the quality mentioned in the song!
To choose a song to play tribute to such an icon was a toughie itself. Every song is a hit! But then I was watching Just Dance the other day .. I think it was the grand finale and Hrithik had invited his family to the show. Rakesh Roshan – his father – mentioned at a point that Shammi is a great inspiration to him and Hrithik – and then they played this song .. “bar bar dekho”. And I thought to myself … there it is! Problem solved! There are many many more of his hit songs .. but this one is from the early periods and has a catchy rhythm.
The moment I began making the song I knew that I had picked the right one. It just felt right. The rhythm is so … versatile that it sounds nice with the modern instruments too. Basically I had to add very few details on my part – the original song itself has a lot of stuff. One interesting thing that you must notice is that the rhythm of the song changes for both the stanzas .. “haan ji haan .. aur bhi honge dildar yahan” and “balle balle .. uth ke mister kyun chale”. You will notice the change from the faster and more sparkling rhythm of the main part of song “bar bar dekho .. hazar baar dekho” and a notch slower rhythm of the stanza .. as I have mentioned in some earlier posts .. this kinda tempo change always gives the song a lively nature and feels pleasant to a listener.
This time I won’t describe the song .. the instruments .. the effects .. let’s just say we’ll get the feel of it at runtime! I just hope you guys have as much fun listening to it as I had making it! 🙂
silkenSounds 