What is a “spectacular song” ? Picture perfect bodies grooving to “dhakchik dhakchik” music ? In the wake of Dhoom3 song called “Malang” where the makers claim it as it being “most spectacular” song ever, here is what I think what makes a song spectacular (in no particular order):
a) Melodious music.
b) Good camera angles which elevate/enhance the mood of the song.
c) Choreography ..(need not be pelvic thrusts – it could just be just as simple as a walk – but in sync with the beat)
d) Emotions/Grace/Movement of the actors/dancers/performers.
e) Chemistry between male and female leads.
Based on above I think below are the spectacular songs (I hate using word “most” or “top 10″ top 5″ top xyz” ..please add yours to the list ..)
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What can I say about below song? The Ashok Kumar’s acting – the way he takes steps, the way he lights his cigar, his expressions – the scene when he approaches the “Jhoola” and suddenly the lady on the swing is gone…and most importantaly – Lata’s voice ..
Yeh Duniya Agar Mil bhi jaaye to kya hai –
Not a favorite of mine in particular as far as lyrics and acting goes – but the song is filmed in a good way.
Again, one more song – which I love very much but hate the actresses lazy dancing, nonetheless – this is one of the spectacular songs in Bollywood – for various reasons..
One more lazy dancing – but – AH, what a beat – what a song !! The aura of this almost takes one back to the 18th century (at-least me).
One of the most Dhamakedaar songs – Dev and Vyjayanthimala – one of the finest dancers we ever had !
Hrithik in style and the unusual Circus song – nice music too. The choreography is too nice.
Madhuri !!! (what more can I say)
For its sheer nostalgia !! (probably the first picturesque song of Hindi cinema in Romantic genre) : –
good choices ritz. i will add pyaar kiya to darna kya from MEA in the list. though i fully agree with your views on madhubala in that song. i remember when you first talked about it. it is one of the most epic/inspiring comments ever on tq and my fav 😀
on the malang song, i think the cast is all wrong as far as the theme of the film goes. if yrf really wanted gymnasts, then isha sharvani and tiger shroff were ideal cast. isha sharvani is a professional gymnast and she is superb in the song bawre also which you have included in your article.but then they cant get the BO numbers that aamir-kat may get.so its understandable but then as you said, one shouldnt make arguments that the performance is authentic and so on.
Good post Ritz and I hope the taunt is not towards me 😉 and I liked your choices as well.
I would add one of my recent favorites in terms Grandeur, Spectacular and Choreography
Jodha Akbar (Aishwarya Rai & Hrithik Roshan) – Azeem O Shaan Shahensha
I don’t like the Azeem O Shan Shahenshah song or the picturization. Its as bad/cheesy as the song God Allah Aur Bhagwan.
Love the song Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Haseen Sitam and its picturization and the whole cinematography. Its truly spectacular.
Dil Se song I used to like the picturication before but now it looks like MTV Music video style picturization.
Anjaana Anjaani has a very wannabe feel to it and I hate the ulta camera angles.
Love the song Suraj Hua Madham but don’t like the picturization. Its very standard picturization and hate the whole transparent shirts thing.
” Azeem O Shan Shahenshah song or the picturization. Its as bad/cheesy as the song God Allah Aur Bhagwan.”
you need to get your head examined
Its the same thing. Everyone coming and singing in praise of the superhero in Krrish 3 whereas its the King here with stupid cheesy lyrics. Could the lyrics be any more cheesier?
“Tere ho kya bayain
Tu shaan-e-hindustan
Hindustan teri jaan
Tu Jaan-e-Hindustan”
“Sapne viran ma
Har agan ma
Prem hai tumhra
Har Har maan ma”
“Daya jo tumhari
Mahabali hai
Desh ma sukh ki
Pawan chali hai”
“Tere mazhab hai jo mohabat
Kitne dilon per teri hukumat
Aaaa…
Jitna kahen hum utna kam hai
Tehzeebo ka tu sangam hai “
dont know whats wrong with the lyrics there. this song used to be played by news channel whenever sachin scored a 100 . would take it anyday over the sooraj hua madham category!
if you have problem with lyrics then understandable but the choreography & picturization was top notch. I have hardly seen few such songs with so many artists performing in synchronization.
Dil Se use to look good because now everyone else tries to adapt the same theme in pop albums. So can’t blame that song at all.
Its not just the lyrics. Its the whole cheesy picturization of people singing in praise of the King. Look at the way the song starts at 24 sec where people start coming in front singing just like the langda guy comes forward and sings God Allah Aur Bhagwan. And then at 2:24 there are the three persons who were previously badmouthing Akbar not knowing who he was. And there is the heroine entry at 3:30.
Syncronized dancing and forming flower like arrangements is no big deal. Any sporting event manages to do that now but they can’t retrofit into some Mughal era setting.
WTF are the dance steps at 5:39? Yes it has lot of extras and they spent a lot but I find it more cheesy than spectacular.
there is not that much synchronisation in the steps if you observe closely. the song has glitches in choreography. its true it must be difficult bcos it has over 1000 extras.thats why i didnt take its name in the list. but to compare this to God allah bhagwan is absurd and laughable.the latter belongs to the category of farah khan style picturisations where there are just big number of ppl casted randomly with no imagination, art or purpose (oso, mhn , tmk and so on) and the pretence is to make it look grand and big. the things which you pointed as cheesy are the way indian ppl perform/behave in a crowd or atleast used to behave. you found even the langda who came forward in nayak scene , cheesy. i thought that was a great scene and that is how an indian behaves.
I love that scene from Nayak Baba 😀 I even posted it as a comment in Sputnik’s inspirational movies thread.
Great post Ritz .Some very good choices .I remember u mentioned about the Ayenga Ayenga song somewhere before .Loved that song since then .Watched yeh duniya agar song first time and don’t think Its anything special .Same with Pyaar hua ikraar hua. I agree with the rest of the choices .
Ritz – I don’t know whether you have seen “Lootera” or not but it has one beautiful song that fills all your four criteria except Choreography as there isn’t any.
a) Melodious music.
b) Good camera angles which elevate/enhance the mood of the song.
c) Choreography ..(need not be pelvic thrusts – it could just be just as simple as a walk – but in sync with the beat)
d) Emotions/Grace/Movement of the actors/dancers/performers.
e) Chemistry between male and female leads.
Shikayatein Lootera Full Video Song | Sonakshi Sinha, Ranveer Singh
from the golden oldies I loved this song and picturization
Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Haseen Sitam
@Baba,
Oh, yes – one can replace “Mohe panghat pe” with “Pyar kiya to darna kya”..
Agree, Pyaar kiya to darna kya has more grandeur !!
Hope Kat minimizes the damage done by Aamir (he is very weak in dancing).
@Tulmul –
I had to search net what u mean by G D. etc. I guess I have become quite old. But keeping away from social networks FB etc – has its own benefits 🙂
I agree with you on Goldie boss !! He is one of my fav.
@cr7
Glad that you liked the song “ayega ayega”
@FS
No yaar, there was no taunt or whatsoever.
On the song “Azeem-O-Shaan” – yes – it is in the same category – thanks !!
I like it very much.
[Btw: Just today someone I avoided argument on this topic with someone way senior that me (hindu vs muslim …just because he was 30 years older than me – a staunch follower of Sangh Pariwar)]
FS – That song from Lootera is one of my fav too this year. But the thing is I still havent seen the video and I believe in “test of time” 🙂 . So lets see how we remember this song over years !!
Some others are
Dil se from Dil se
Anjaana Anjaani from Yuva
Suraj Huwa Madham from Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gam
@FS
Waqt ne kiya..
Infact every song of Pyasa has fantastic picturization and is very touching for me !! 🙂
Its from Kagaz ke phool ritz. Have not seen Pyaasa yet.
@Cr7
Most importantly, I am glad that we are able to bridge the gap of fan-dom (aamir vs srk etc) on this forum with exchange of opinions like this – what say bro?
@FS – Bhai hold on – I am bit held up in other things and will reply later 🙂
[ And with that I am expecting CR7 to be on my side when D3 bombs 😛 ]
(Just kidding –
This post has nothing to do about D3 or aamir or srk or xyz …..just pure love for music )
Spectacular post and agree with all your choices except two.
I would replace Mohe Panghat Pe with Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya from the same movie. I think the Sheesh Mahal bit gives it the Spectacular feel. And I have been told by many people that people used to go to MEA multiple times just to watch that song.
Never liked the Bhaavre song though I like the lyrics somewhat. Its too busy for me and I don’t like Hrithik’s dancing in it.
And on a related note the word “Spectacular” always reminds me of this from Seinfeld 🙂
Brilliant post Ritz… Totally agree with your choices..Fit quite spectacularly.
I think this one is one of the most spectacular songs I have ever come across
my fav song from school time 😀
https://youtube.com/watch?v=96W02lbV6jA
One of the most spectacular songs of the last decade
spectacular X 100
https://youtube.com/watch?v=_IpHET9PkHE
Agree with you on Muqabla Muqabla and Chod Aaye Hum being spectacular.
Disagree on Sara Zamana, Chappa Chappa and Hare Krishna Hare Ram. I like the song Hare Krishna Hare Ram and its picturization but I don’t think there is anything spectacular about it. Chappa Chappa is good but again nothing spectacular.
Sara Zamana is horrible picturization with Amitabh’s stupid dancing and those dhinchak lighting dress.
I was in awe of the dhinchak lights dress of Amitabh as a child 😀 I still like it as childhood likings are hard to change
Some Good Songs with good visuals
Pehli Pehli Baar Mohabbat – Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik – Sirf Tum
I liked Dilbar Dilabar form Sirf Tum as well
Songs closest to my heart for its pure simplicity – that’s spectacular for me.
Arey Rey Video Song – Happy Days (Varun Sandesh, Tamanna)
Mungaru Male – Mungaru Maleye
and
HAPPY DAYS Songs – PADAMETUPOTHUNNA
not able to get good quality videos 🙁
Love the first song from Happy Days. It is beautifully picturized. Dislike only the faces in the sky scene in it.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=PSpot2bArRA
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_j0F8zEOlUU&gl=IN&hl=en&guid=&client=mv-google
@Reddemon
Thanks for the Jeans song. Although it is not from Bollywood – Ash looked awesome in it.
@Suprabh –
Agree absolutely on “Mukkala Muqabla” , “Radha kaise na jale”.
Jumma Chumma was pasteurized in a different way too – I still consider it as bit offensive. But a good pick nonetheless.
Regarding “Saara Zamana” – while I understand your taste – I like the below song more in same genre (more because of the dancing by actor and the song lyrics ..and the unique idea of filming it on a gramophone disk …):
https://youtube.com/watch?v=kqFr2f6ZTUw
good choices i wd remove luck by chance song and wd rather have jumma chumma from HUM … rest many songs like waqt ne kiya etc hve already been put in comments sections by others
Thanks Manish !
@FS
Liked the songs you posted. In my opinion, South industry in general pays more attention to cinematography and technicalities (which BW guys may hate but cant deny that the south industry is technically more advanced).
And also in music – south is “comparatively” less affected by the current wave of Aashiquie2 type of chutiyaa songs…and they are more closer the soil..
Few other songs which I think are spectacular:
One of the finest actress and dancers ever in Bollywood – Waheeda !!
https://youtube.com/watch?v=U9cCQlsssYU
Which is followed by “Kya se kya ho gaya” (which has good picturization as well)
Few more:
I love Dilip here. A very nice choreography in this:
I consider myself fortunate to see this movie in theater (in its re-run…this along with Aah of Raj Kapoor and Guide have special place for me for that reason – I saw these movies along with a crowd who loved these and applauded the scenes/laughed or even cried with me … )
Meena Kumari I dont like as a dancer – but I love the song and the choreography in this
Two songs by which I was surprised – for the sole reason that even kids younger than my age were applauding the songs more than me in the theater … (they may or may not be spectacular ..but these are special memories when kids did “seetis” for the laal dupatta” song or they were singing with me for the Baiju Bawra song !
https://youtube.com/watch?v=oj3t5jOTYmw
@Ritz
Nice post thoda alag hai ek ya dou songs ko chod kar tonight or tomorrow I will post my favorite in this post as per your’s criteria.
Thanks Aryan – looking forward to it.
On the post – I thought of posting Chaiyan Chaiyan from Dil Se (one of the most important album post 90s) – but I think the video is not as good as the song or lyrics is. I did not like the malaika things and dancing on train top. I think the below song is better filmed than that.
Pehla Nasha Song
Thanks aryan
My childhood/teenage-hood fav !!
“Jurassic park mein sundar se jode , jazz music gaayein milake
Picasso ki painting mera picha pakadke , texas mein naache milke
cowboy dekhe mujhe , playboy chhede muze , sex mere tan mein hua, mix mere mere man mein hua”
Thanks Sup – I have been singing this iconic song since yday !
spectacular is a small word for this song
I realize I was biased in a way.
Jumma Chumma is one of the most spectacular songs of all time. No doubt.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=PSpot2bArRA%3Ffeature%3Dplayer_embedded