LIST: Top 10 Romantic Songs

It is virtually impossible to pick out just 10 songs from the entire history of Hindi cinema and put them together in a list. So, to begin with, this is a personal selection, albeit based on certain broad parameters. In the context of Hindi cinema, songs don't just need to be good melodies, but must also augment the narrative and express feelings and thoughts that perhaps cannot be conveyed through dialogue. Hence, the effectiveness of a song and its ultimate value to the film its in, depends not just on the lyric, melody and rendition, but also the situation itself, the performance of the actors involved and the director's vision in terms of picturisation and placement of the song in such a manner that it helps enhance the story and take it forward. Many classic compositions of Hindi cinema, when seen on screen, look like mere 'embellishments' if weighed against these parameters.

I have listed the songs in chronological order to avoid giving them numbers. And it would be futile to write descriptions when you can watch them instead!

Jalte Hain Jiske Liye (SUJATA, Bimal Roy, 1959) 

Majrooh Sultanpuri / S D Burman 

TALAT MAHMOOD 

Sunil Dutt & Nutan

Waqt Ne Kiya (KAAGAZ KE PHOOL, Guru Dutt, 1959)

Kaifi Azmi / S D Burman 

GEETA DUTT 

Waheeda Rehman & Guru Dutt

Abhi Na Jaao Chhod Kar (HUM DONO, Amarjeet, 1961) 

Sahir Ludhianvi / Jaidev 

MOHAMMAD RAFI & ASHA BHOSLE 

Dev Anand & Sadhana

Tere Mere Sapne (GUIDE, Vijay Anand, 1965) 

Shailendra / S D Burman 

MOHAMMAD RAFI 

Waheeda Rehman & Dev Anand

Tum Pukar Lo (KHAMOSHI, Asit Sen, 1967) 

Gulzar / Hemant Kumar 

HEMANT KUMAR 

Waheeda Rehman & Dharmendra

Meri Jaan Mujhe Jaa Na Kaho (ANUBHAV, Basu Bhattacharya, 1971) 

Gulzar / Kanu Roy 

GEETA DUTT 

Tanuja and Sanjeev Kumar

Tere Bina Zindagi Se (AANDHI, Gulzar, 1975) 

Gulzar / R D Burman 

LATA MANGESHKAR & KISHORE KUMAR 

Suchitra Sen & Sanjeev Kumar

Aap ki Aankhon Mein Kuch (GHAR, Manik Chatterjee, 1978) 

Gulzar / R D Burman 

LATA MANGESHKAR & KISHORE KUMAR 

Rekha & Vinod Mehra

Ye Kahan Aa Gaye Hum (SILSILA, Yash Chopra, 1981) 

Javed Akhtar / Shiv-Hari 

LATA MANGESHKAR & AMITABH BACHCHAN 

Rekha and Amitabh Bachchan

Katra Katra Milti Hai (IJAAZAT, Gulzar, 1987) 

Gulzar / R D Burman 

ASHA BHOSLE 

Rekha & Naseeruddin Shah

Comments

[paromeeta mathur banerjee]

Would like to add 'Yeh Raat Bheegi Bheegi' from Chori Chori.

[Supriya]

beautiful collection.....