Washed out

The rain song has run into rough weather, with monsoon no longer associated with romance in a cynical, pot-holed world

When the ethereal Sadhana sang, O sajna barkha bahaar aye, in Lata Mangeshkar's timeless voice, the magic of cinema in all its glory unfurled on screen. Today, the meteorological tables have turned. One needs to frown and think back hard about the last time one heard a romantic rain refrain on screen.


Kareena Kapoor in Chameli

The song, Behta hai mann kahin, in Sudhir Mishra's Chameli, was sung by Sunidhi Chauhan and composed by Sandeep Shandilya. Kareena Kapoor in her hip-hugging Manish Malhotra sari swayed to the rhythm of the song, uncaring that the rain threatened to wash away all her makeup.

Magical
Recalling that last great rain song, Chameli director Sudhir Mishra says fondly, "Kareena was absolutely magical in the Behta hai mann number. I guess the romance of the rain has vanished in a city like Mumbai thanks to the innumerable potholes and the traffic snares that Mumbaikars face in this season.

The rains were always regarded as ultra-romantic in the past. We had a great affection for the rains and therefore great rain songs like Pyar hua iqrar hua in Shri 420. Today, rain is associated with much slush and delays.
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Who cares about romanticising rains when a downpour means only musibat?" Mishra had shot Behta hai mann with Kareena in both, real and artificial rain.

The rains also meant heroines in clingy saris. Filmmakers would often insist on making the leading lady wear thin white saris in rain songs.

Heroines would cheat their way out of sleazy, monsoon demands by wearing bicycle shorts and other innerwear for those telltale rain songs. Today, in a much bolder world, the rains are not needed to objectify or commodify the leading lady. They are in a state of undress, anyway, no excuses needed.

Rain songs as aesthetic, poetic experiences are almost extinct now.

Subhash Ghai shot the title song of Taal in real, torrential rains with Aishwarya Rai getting wet for a few weeks, taking no artificial liberties like artificial rain. Never mind if Aishwarya Rai Bachchan caught a violent cold after the drenching.
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The effort seemed well worth it. Says Ghai, "Sadly, youngsters are uninterested in exotic rain dances now. They want to see money rain down in slow motion, not raindrops."

Nature
Sanjay Gupta has never shot a rain song in his cinema. His new-age music-video styled songs and dances create ample room for aesthetic skin-show. Rain is not required. Says Gupta, "I had recorded a rain song with Nadeem-Shravan for my first film Aatish.

But I never got down to shooting it. We just don't make films of the kind that require rain sequences. The presentation of romance is far more realistic today and somehow those lovely rain songs seem old-fashioned now."

Actresses do miss doing the rain routine. Urmila Matondkar, who swung with graceful sensuality to the sound of the divine Lata Mangeshkar's Geela geela paani as she waltzed in sari, through the crowded rain-drenched streets of Mumbai, was disappointed when the song was edited out of Satya. Director Ram Gopal Varma felt the song was slowing down the pace of the film.

Urmila still recalls Geela geela pani with tremendous warmth and affection. "Geela geela pani respresents the most basic and purest form of connectivity with nature.

It conveys an almost childlike joy of splashing in the rain. While shooting, I wanted people around me to share my primeval joy of feeling the rain touch my face.
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A still from Mohra

I'm so glad I did that number." Urmila sounds a warning against the desecration of the rain song in present times. "It could lose its allure if it is done caricatur-ishly. The artiste needs to carry it off with a lot of dignity or the rain song loses it intrinsic poetry and beauty."

Raveena Tandon whose Tip tip barsa paani with Akshay Kumar in Mohra still sends pulses soaring, doesn't think the rain song has lost its allure. "My rain songu00a0 in Mohra was done aesthetically. I always made sure that my rains songs were sensual and not sexual. To me rain songs are synonymous with romance."

Motivation
Sanjay Leela Bhansali started his career by co-directing the rain song Rim jhim rim jhim run jhun with Farah Khan in Vinod Chopra's 1942: A Love Story. Many years later,when Bhansali turned director in Khamoshi, he shot the number Baahon ke Darmiyaan in the rain with Salman Khan and Manisha Koirala.

Recalls Bhansali, "Bahon ke darmiyaan was not a typical rain song. But the romance of the rain was brought out in the poetry of Majrooh Sultanpuri saab. We've somewhere lost the whole mystique of the rain in our movies.
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I grew up with images of Sadhana singing Lataji's, O Sajna barkha Bahaar, to the sound of Mohammed Rafi's Zindagi bhar nahin bhoolegi woh barsaat ki raat and Hema Malini giving on-screen life to Lataji's Ho ghataa saawri thodi-thodi baawri in Abhinetri.

I was spellbound by the way Chetan Anand Saab shot Navin Nishol and Priya Rajvansh in a taxi in the Mumbai rains for Tum jo mil gaye Ho in Hanste Zakhm. To me, these are the ultimate rain songs. I don't find any motivation to shoot such rain numbers in our movies anymore."

Has the rain song lost its way in Hindi cinema? The last time a diva burnt up the screen in the pouring rain was when Aishwarya Rai Bachchan danced to Barso re megha in Mani Ratnam's Guru.

It was a golden moment of Hindi cinema's endearing love affair with the rains. Today, that affair that seems to have cooled off and become a mere memory.

Memorable rain songs
O Sajna barkha bahaar aye Parakh(Lata Mangeshkar)
Rimjhim gire saawanu00a0 Manzil (Lata Mangeshkar/Kishore Kumar)
Chayee barkha bahaar pade angna phuhar
Chirag (Lata Mangeshkar)
Kali ghatau00a0 chaye Sujata (Asha Bhosle)
Barkha rani zara jam ke barso Sabak (Mukesh)
Zindagi bhar nahin bhoolegi Barsaat Ki Raat (Mohd Rafi)
Ek ladki bheegi-bhaagi si Chalti Ka Naam Gadi (Kishore Kumar)
Bheegi bheegi raaton mein Ajnabee (Lata-Kishore)
Rimjhim ke geet saawan gaye Anjaana(Lata-Rafi)
Sawan ka mahina Milan (Lata-Mukesh)
Hai hai yeh majboori Roti Kapda Aur Makaan(Lata Mangeshkar)
Behta hai man Chameli (Sunidhi Chauhan)
Barso re megha Guru (Shreya Ghosal)

Today, rains mean potholes, not romance Chameli Director Sudhir Mishra