Piya Tu Ab To Aja- One of the Gems of R D Burman

 

Music and Song sequences can make a film hit and memorable. This song from the 1971 film from Caravan is one such example. This song was written by Mazrooh Sultanpuri, composed by R D Burman and sung by Asha Bhonsle. The song was performed by Helen, who is known for doing item numbers in Bollywood .

 Music scholar Nilanjana Bhattacharjya identified "Piya Tu Ab To Aja" as one of the culturally important Hindi film songs. The song has also been called "the catalyst" that made "Asha  Bhonsle the queen of cabaret numbers". R D Burman was nominated for the Filmfare Best Music Director and Asha Bhonsle was awarded the Best Female Playback Singer for this song.

The picturisation of this song is typical of the item numbers of the era portraying a "vamp" character who dances seductively for a nightclub audience. The audience used to get crazy when this dance number starts. I was a teenager when this film was released was also mesmerized with this song and dance number. Almost 50 years have passed, this song still makes people dance.

In Aug 2020, A video of two elderly women dancing to the tunes of Asha Bhosle’s hit 1971 song Piya Tu Ab Toh Aaja, from the film Caravan, has gone viral on social media. The saree-clad women launched a dance party in the middle of a street. Watch this viral video here.

Two elderly women dancing 

This song boosted the career of Asha Bhonsle, getting the maximum number of cabaret or item songs. This song also stamped the 'Jodi' of R D Burman and Asha Bhosle. They gave us many peppy and immortal songs after this.

Asha Bhosle recorded a new version in 2003 for the Kronos Quartet album You've Stolen My Heart: Songs from R.D. Burman's Bollywood.  It also appears on the compilation album The Very Best of Asha Bhosle, The Queen of Bollywood. Composer Lesle Lewis released a remix of the song on his 2003 album Special Appointment Club Hits. This number is also referenced briefly during the song "Dhoom Tanaa" from Om Shanti Om when Deepika Padukone, dressed in a gold bikini ensemble, dances in a cage.

Song of Caravan 1971

Second Look - Cha Cha Cha 1964

There are films which are Popular, commercially successful, some are critically acclaimed but not successful at the Box office. Many of such films are forgotten.; In this Blog, I wish to refresh your memory by bringing back these films. This would also help the new generation who are not familiar with these films
This film was written, produced, directed and acted by Chandrashekhar. The film was a Box office success. The film has Helen as its Heroine for the first time and the last time. The highlight of the film is its music by Iqbal Qureshi. This was also the first film of the Poet, lyricist Neeraj.

Two memorable songs are written by Neeraj. Sung by Rafi "Woh Hum Na The, Woh Tum Na The"and "Subah Na Aayi, Sham Na Aayi". Another outstanding song is "Ek Chameli Ke Mandve Tale"

This is a story of a girl Lali played by Helen who returns from abroad. She adjusts to life in India along with her devout Hindu mother, Laxmi; an easy-going father, Dinanath; two sisters, Kalpana and Geeta, and spends most of her time dancing along with her sisters and friends. On her way to the Mandir, she assumes a singer, Puranchand, is teasing her and she slaps him but ends up apologizing when she is told that he is blind. Guilt-ridden, she makes arrangements for him to be taken to Bombay, has his vision restored, and both fall in love with each other. Dinanath takes a liking to Puranchand and not only gets him a job but also wants him to wed Lali. About to inform his parents, Puranchand does not know that Dinanath has actually instructed Lali not to see him anymore as he is a Harijan (Lower-Caste).

The unique thing in this film a twenty minute non-stop songless sequences of dance like Twist, waltz, foxtrot and Cha Cha Cha 

Song of Cha Cha Cha 1964

Song of Cha Cha Cha 1964

Song of Cha Cha Cha 1964

Dance Competition of Cha Cha Cha 1964

Song of Cha Cha Cha 1964

Helen - The Original Dancing Diva of Bollywood

Started her career as a Chorus Dancer Helen became the first Dancing Diva of Bollywood. It was the dance song Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu from the film Howrah Bridge in 1958 made her the Cabaret Queen of Bollywood. She changed the entire scenario of dance in Hindi cinema from the early 50s to the late 70s to emerge many years later as a character actress in a few chosen films. 
She was born in Burma (21 Nov), now Myanmar, to a Burmese mother and Anglo-Indian father. The famous dancing star Cuckoo was a family friend. She introduced her as a dancer in the chorus in Shabista in 1951.  She got  her first hit song-and-dance number in Baarish (1957), Mr John, Baba Khan ya Lala Roshandaan Jo Bhi Dekhe Mera Jalwa Ho Jaaye Qurbaan. 

She was initially trained in the Manipuri style. Then she learnt Bharat Natyam from P.L. Raj, one of the leading choreographers of the time. Kathak followed this. She was the one who introduced the cabaret and the belly dance in Indian films.  
Helen vamped three generations of men, Prithviraj Kapoor (Harishchandra Taramati), Raj Kapoor (Anari (1959)) and Rishi Kapoor (Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan (1977)).
Hindi cinema found many uses for Helen. Since she was an outsider in almost every sense – by name, by national origin, by heredity – she could be anyone. And so a million fantasies were pinned on to one single form. She could be an Italian countess (Prince (1969)) or a German one (Ek Se Badhkar Ek (1976)) or an Anglo-Indian gold-digger (Gumnaam (1965)) or a tribal (Baadal) or an aboriginal Maharashtrian Koli fisherwoman (Inkaar (1977)) or a Chinese woman (Howrah Bridge (1958)) or a Roman Catholic Jenny (Imaan Dharam (1977)).

 She was nominated for the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award in 1965 for her role in Gumnaam. She played dramatic roles such as the rape victim in Shakti Samanta's Pagla Kahin Ka (1970).It was  a role in Mahesh Bhatt's film Lahu Ke Do Rang (1979), for which she won a Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award. In 1999 Helen was given India's Filmfare lifetime achievement award.
Helen officially retired from movies in 1983, but she has since then appeared in a few guest roles such as Khamoshi: The Musical (1996) and Mohabbatein (2000). She also made a special appearance as the mother of real-life step-son Salman Khan's character in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.. She also appeared in Humko Deewana Kar Gaye in 2006.

Helen was selected for the Padma Shri awards of 2009 along with Aishwarya Rai and Akshay Kumar.

Song of Baarish 1957

Song of Howrah Bridge 1958

Song of China Town (1962)

Song of Gumnaam (1965)

Song of Teesri Manzil (1966)

Song of Talaash (1969)

Song of Intaquam (1969)

Song of The Train (1970)

Song of Caravan (1970)

Song of Sholay (1975)

Song of Don 1978

Happy Birthday to Helen-The Cabaret Queen of Bollywood

Helen was Born on 21st Nov 1939.She is famous for her performances in flamboyant dance sequences and cabaret numbers. She was known as the Cabaret Queen of India and the Golden girl of India. Her father was of Indian Origin and mother of Burmese origin.Her father died during the Second World War. The family migrated to Mumbai in 1943 during World War II, but her mother's salary as a nurse was not enough, and Helen had to quit her schooling to support the family.

Mr. John O Baba Khan srom Baarish 1957

A family friend, an actress known as Cukoo, helped her find jobs as a chorus dancer in the films Shabistan and Awaara (1951). She was soon working regularly, and was featured as a solo dancer in films like Alif Laila (1952) and Hoor-e-Arab (1953) but got recognition from the song  "Mr. John O Baba Khan" in the film Baarish. 

Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu

 In 1958, she had her first major hit with her performance in the song "Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu" in Shakti Samanta's hit film, Howrah Bridge which was sung by Geeta Dutt. She was in great demand after this, performing as a cabaret dancer and vamp in film after film. She won nomination for the best supporting actress in 1965 for the movie 'Gumnaam'
v\Vamp roles and "item numbers" kept her busy through the 1960s.She was known to have acted in 500 movies by 1972 which was a huge record for her.She also performed numerous stage shows .
She never had success as Leading or character artist  in films though she played the heroine or played dramatic roles. She won a Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for Mahesh Bhatt's film Lahu Ke Do Rang (1979)

Helen retired from the screen for a number of years, but made a few guest roles in 1999 and 2000. In Mohabbatein, she plays the prim and proper head of a girls' school, who is pulled out onto a dance floor and surprises everyone with her lively dancing. She also made a special appearance as Salman Khan's mother in the movie Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. Helen is selected for the Padma Shri awards of 2009 along with Aishwarya Rai and Akshay Kumar. Helen married Salim Khan, his second wife in 1980. They adopted a girl, Arpita.

Best of Helen's Songs & Dances

Compitition Of Helen with Vaijyantimala -

Dr Vidya

Compitition Of Helen with Hema Malini 

Sharif Badmash

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Song from Shatranj 1969

Song from Inkaar 1978

Song from Intequqm 1969

Song from Gumnam 1965

Song from Yeh Raat Phir Nahin Aayegi 1966

Song from Madhosh 1974

Song from Sholay 1975

Song from Aansoo Ban Gaye Phool 1969

Song from Aaya Toofan

Song from Half Ticket 1962

Song from Jaali Note

Song from The Train 1970

Song from Zindagi 1964

Song from Dulhan Ek Raat Ki 1967

Song from Teesri Manzil 1966

Song from Don 1978

Piya Tu Ab To Aaja from Caravan