Timeless Sensation was the name of the songs collection. On the flight back from San Francisco, i tuned into this hindi oldies channel and never really got tired of it during the 15-hr marathon flight to Dubai, en route to Bangalore.
quietly taking in kishore kumar and latha mangeshkar lain over rajesh khanna, amitabh bachchan, sharmila tahore, hema malini and asha parekh, one realizes how badly the world misses the magic of those two voices. those golden pipes in perfect concordance with the tunes, themes and the times when a direct and full-on expression of romance shone ever so melodiously over the silver screen.
next time you fight the remote for that those few fulfilling entertainment moments on your TV, turn to youtube instead. pull up Sharmila Tagore in “Mere Sapnon Ki Rani” – wasn’t she a bombshell, not to mention Willys jeep was cool forever. rajesh khanna was the perfect babu in kati patang, showing how to woo a lady. which girl wont take him home? or ammitabh/rekha magic in Salaam-E-Ishq – could there be a more perfect pairing? or a more hearty smile than Dharmendra as in Sholay. and may be you could try the towering screen presence of the kapoor clan.
and in Salaam-E-Ishq, just as you struggle to take the eye off Rekha and from being swept out in the subdued rhythm of Lata’s voice, you get with the tsunami of Kishore hitting with disarming force. as those golden pipes open up and lay their fell swoop, for a brief moment, the cup of joy may just have gone over the edge a bit.