Flirting is a great mood upper. So are flirty songs in Bollywood. Aap ko pehle bhi kahin dekha hai from Bhappi Sonie’s 1970 hit Tum Haseen Main Jawan is fun, flirty and frothy. Shankar-Jaikishan wrote the music for this comic melodrama, which, despite being terribly dated, still evokes chuckles. The film had three lyricists, and Hasrat Jaipuri wrote this song that Mohd. Rafi and Asha Bhosle sang with endearing chutzpah.
But the film’s real USP is that it is the first to star Dharmendra and Hema Malini together, narrowly beating Sharafat that released a few days later.
The decade would go on to change their lives, scripting one of the most unconventional love stories in Bollywood. In 1980, they got married, but Dharmendra continued to live with his first wife, Prakash Kaur, and Hema lived independently with her daughters.
Somehow, the words of this song seem prophetic of their blossoming chemistry: Aapko pehle bhi kahin dekha hai/ Khwab mein ya rubaru par dekha hai/ Aao hil-mil jayein, mauj udalein zindagi mein/ Tum haseen main jawan....
This isn’t a song many remember today while talking about the Dharam-Hema pairing, Dream girl probably tops the list. Rafi has sung far greater songs for the actor. Listen to Jaane kya dhoondti rehti hai yah aankein mujhmein in Shola aur Shabnam, 1961, for a very young Dharmendra, or Aaj mausam bada beimaan hai in Loafer (1973). But it’s a song that started a story off camera.
Not to miss Rafi’s breezy and Asha’s breathy perfection. And S-J’s distinctive use of the sitar, segueing into a waltzy western vibe in the interludes. It sounds like one of the club songs with Shammi Kapoor and Helen shakin’ a leg. Dharmendra oozes charm, while Hema is great fun in her neon blue wig.
Dharmendra, who died on November 24 this year, two weeks short of his 90th birthday, had a film career spanning 65 years. He debuted with Dil Bhi Tera, Hum Bhi Tere in 1960 and he has a Christmas release coming up this year, Ikkis.
Born in a Punjab pind on December 8, 1935, the farmer’s son had a fairy tale life as a Bollywood superstar who could make women swoon, knock the living daylights out of baddies and yet manage to make people go ROFL with his impeccable comic timing.
The Indian ‘Greek god’ was also a sex symbol in his early years. His infectious appeal probably helped him pull off his second marriage without eroding his goodwill.
What is lesser known is his love for Urdu poetry, primarily through his association with actress Meena Kumari, herself a gifted poet. In response to Waheeda Rehman’s confession on a reality show that she’d had a crush on Dharmendra, he wrote a charming couplet: Bhari bazm mein raaz ki baat keh di ke hum bhi kabi unpe fida tthey/ Chupke se kaan mein keh diya hota toh ek dard-e-dil aur bhi badhta!
They don’t make them like Dharmendra anymore.