Romancing the rain
Devinder Bir Kaur

The pitter-patter, the heavy downpour... there’s something about the rains. They evoke our senses in a magical way. And who better than Bollywood filmmaker for rendering this quality? Filmmakers have used rain sequences with unfailing regularity to arouse a touch of romance combined with an element of sensuality. And when the heroine clad in a white saree (generally) prances about in the artificially induced shower, soaked to the skin, it gives rise to some lilting and visually titillating rain songs.

The first rain song on celluloid that comes to mind is the evergreen Pyar hua ikraar hua hai from Shri 420 filmed on one of the greatest screen pairs, Raj Kapoor and Nargis. The song from this black-and-white classic has the two walking under an umbrella having just discovered their love for each other. The most memorable scene is when Nargis sings Phir bhi rehengi nishaniyan, and we see Raj Kapoor’s three children — Randhir, Ritu and Reema — in raincoats walking jauntily in the rain.

Earlier, too, Raj Kapoor’s film, appropriately titled Barsaat, had debutante Nimmi singing Barsaat mein, hum se mile tum sajan, tum se mile hum to her flippant lover Premnath.

Barsaat ki Raat showed a memorable encounter in heavy rain of Madhubala with hero Bharat Bhushan. It inspires him to immortalise the chance meeting in the song Zindagi bhar nahin, bhoolegi woh barsaat ki raat.

During the same period, Do Ankhen Barah Haath had Ghumad, ghumad kar aayi re ghata and Chhalia had Dum dum diga diga celebrating the bountiful rains. Years later, Oscar-nominated Lagaan had Ghanan, ghanan bringing forth the flavour of rain.

Rimjhim ke tarane leke aayi barsaat from Kala Bazar and O sajna, barkha bahar aayi from Parakh are other lilting melodies one remembers when one thinks of the beautiful baarish. Much later, when Amitabh Bachchan crooned Rimjhim ghire sawan, sulag sulag jaaye man in Manzil, the entire song showed him and Moushami Chatterjee walking merrily down crowded roads enjoying the Mumbai monsoon.

In the 60s, we got to see a totally soaked and sensuous-looking Meena Kumari in a white saree with her head covered with its pallu provoking Pradeep Kumar to sing Aise to na dekho ke behak jaayen kahin hum... in Bheegi Raat. Another love-cum-rain song Rimjhim ke geet sawan gaye in Anjana showed Rajendra Kumar and Babita struggling to control their feelings for each other.

Eroticism had arrived by then. So we saw Reena Roy and Jeetendra prancing about in the rain singing Ab ke sawan mein ji dare in Jaise ko Taisa. Zeenat Aman went a step ahead singing Hai hai ye majboori, ye mausam aur ye doori suggestively on a swing to a reluctant Manoj Kumar.

Record-breaking Dilwale Dulhaniyan Le Jayenge had a vivacious Kajol in a white mini-skirt and blouse dancing to Mere khwabon mein jo aaye awaiting her Prince Charming. In fact, Yash Chopra, producer of the film, has a special affinity for the rains and never fails to show several such sequences in his films. In his Dil To Pagal Hai, the song Ghode jaisi chaal, haathi jaisi dum showed Madhuri Dixit and Shah Rukh Khan and Shaimak Davar-trained artistes dancing to the tune of rain. A bandaged Karisma Kapoor also dashes from her wheelchair into the rain to express her joy.

Badal kyon garajta hai, dar kuchh aisa lagta hai in Betaab rehashed the cliched scene of rain and lightning with a scared Amrita Singh rushing into the arms of the young hero Sunny Deol for comfort and solace, but ending up igniting their dormant feelings. The beauty of a glasshouse and rain splashing on it made it a picture perfect sequence.

A similar scene was in 1942 — A Love Story. Set in pre-Independent India, the song Rimjhim rimjhim, runjhun runjhun was picturised on a yellow saree-clad Manisha Koirala with a dainty, frilled umbrella and her suitor Anil Kapoor. The glasshouse, the garden and the rain, create a typical hill station setting.

But who can forget a drunken Sridevi in a transparent raincoat and a cap dancing in the rain Kissi ke haath na aayegi ye ladki to an equally drunk Sunny Deol in Chalbaaz. The song is all madness and amusement and belongs solely to a sizzling Sridevi.

Another sizzling performance in the rain can be seen in Mohra. The song Tip tip barsa paani is picturised on Raveena Tandon and her then beau Akshay Kumar. Raveena’s jhatkas and matkas show her living up to her reputation of Ravishing Raveena.

The heroine by now has come to do a rain song mainly to cater to the gallery. But the white sari has given way to western costumes. Hence, Preity Zinta wears a micro-mini dress for the song Idhar chala, main udhar chala in the recent Koi Mil Gaya.

Thus, rain songs have come a long way from the sensual Pyar hua ikraar hua hai to the sexy Paani mein aag lagi. Nevertheless, the beauty of the rain and the songs associated with it will never cease to affect the parched souls of human beings — on screen and off it.

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