Chhaayaageet #214 - "Paaji, aap jante hain screen pe ye gaana kaun gaa raha hai?"
"Sir, do you know who is going to sing this song on the screen?"
As soon as the song is over, the composers signal "OK" to the singers in the recording booth. The male singer takes everyone's leave and heads towards his car. He has not eaten anything all day, not even a drop of water. It is the holy festival of Ramadan, during which devout Muslims fast during the daylight hours. The singer is looking forward to reaching back home to his family as quickly as possible and breaking the fast together.
The female singer realizes that she made a small mistake during the recording. She asks the composers if they can do one more take. But the male singer is already out of the studio.
The composers ask a guy to run out to the street and bring the singer back to the studio.
The guy runs down the steps of the studio hoping the male singer hasn't left. He sees the singer getting into his car.
Guy: "Paaji, aap ko phir se andar bula rahe hain." Sir, you are being called inside again.
Singer: "Kyon, kya baat hai?" Why, what happened?
Guy: "Woh chahti hain ki ek aur take karein." She wants to do one more take. He conveys the message, referring to the female singer.
The male singer is a little visibly upset. The song was already OK-ed. Moreover, it is not being filmed on the lead hero and heroine. It is a street song. The duet is to be filmed on extra characters who are street performers. Not that it is not an important song, but it was already OK-ed.
Singer: "Aaj nahin. Aur gaana OK bhi kar diya gaya hai." Not today. Plus the song has already been OK-ed. The singer declines without letting his displeasure show in his voice or demeanor.
The guy does not know what else to do. He has been asked to bring the singer back to the studio. He tries one last effort.
Guy: "Paaji, aap jante hain screen pe ye gaana kaun gaa raha hai?" Sir, do you know who is going to sing this song on the screen?
Singer: "Kya Dilip Kumar gaa raha hai?" The singer asks mockingly. Is Dilip Kumar going to sing it?
Guy: "Nahin Paaji. Ye aap ka jo khadim hai na, woh screen pe gaa raha hai. Aur aap ek take nahin de sakte?" No sir. This servant of yours is going to sing the song on the screen. And you cannot give one take?
The singer is surprised to hear this. He almost scolds the guy, "Arre, tune mujhe pehle kyun nahin bataya tu gaa raha hai? Chal." Why didn't you tell me before that you are going to sing this? Come, let's go.
The guy and the singer head back upstairs into the studio. By this time the musicians have dispersed everywhere. Someone is getting ready to take a smoke break. A few others are walking out to get tea.
The male singer rounds up all of them one by one saying, "Chalo bhai jaldi chalo. Chalo chalo ek aur take karna hai." Come brothers come soon. Come we need to do one more take.
He gets all the musicians back in their places. The singer obliges all of them with three more takes, ensuring that he sings the song just as this guy would end up singing it on screen.
Noted lyricist Gulshan Bawra performed as the street singer in the song Deewane hain deewanon ko in Zanjeer (1973) along with an extra cast member, Sanjana. The film was directed by Prakash Mehra, story by Salim Khan, and screenplay by Salim-Javed. Kalyanji Anandji scored the music and songs of the film. The lyrics of all the songs in the film were written by Prakash Mehra himself, except Yaari hai imaan mera which was written by Gulshan Bawra. The song is filmed as a street song with Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bhaduri as onlookers. The legendary Raj Kapoor was surprised as to how Zanjeer became successful despite not having a single song being filmed on the lead hero.
Zanjeer remains a landmark film in the annals of Hindi cinema giving rise to the persona of the angry young man. It is the first collaboration between Salim-Javed and Amitabh Bachchan. It marked as a turning point for Mr. Bachchan's career and also for Hindi cinema. The remake of Zanjeer in the south is also seen as a turning point for South Indian cinema as it inspired the career of Rajnikanth.
Zanjeer won Filmfare Awards for Best Lyricist (Gulshan Bawra for Yaari hai imaan mera), Best Story (Salim-Javed), Best Screenplay (Salim-Javed), Best Editing (R Mahadik), and nominations for Best Film (Prakash Mehra), Best Actor (Amitabh Bachchan), Best Supporting Actor (Pran), Best Music Director (Kalyanji-Anandji), Best Male Playback Singer (Manna Dey for Yaari hai imaan mera).
Music: Kalyanji-Anandji
Lyrics: Prakash Mehra
Singers: Mohammad Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar
*ing: Gulshan Bawra, Sanjana, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bhaduri
Director: Prakash Mehra
Film: Zanjeer (1973)