Obscene, Top-Scene!

Choli Ke Peechhe, Khalnayak

Is Iqbal Durrani to be blamed? 1994, Govinda-Karisma starrer Khuddar. The song, I remember created ripples everywhere. The censor board immediately clipped it and asked the producers to change the word before the release. My memory of the song is a CENSORED sign flashing across the television screen as and when the song appeared for the countdown shows. Sexy, sexy, sexy mujhe log bole, hi sexy, hello sexy kyun bole?  was finally changed to Baby,baby,baby mujhe log bole! Farcical, as always!

Bollywood’s obsession with double meanings and sugar-coated vulgarity has been an interesting topic for discussion.  For that matter, I remember a film, Kyaa Dil Ne Kaaha, (a Tusshar Kapoor-Esha Deol disaster!) where someone said, you need to add the word “Bistar pe” (as in, on the bed) before or after any Hindi movie name, and what you get is sheer vulgarity! And think of a Hum Dil De Chuke Sanaam, bistar pe or a Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, bistar pe or Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, bistar pe or a more sophisticated, Guzaarish, Bistar pe!  Now that’s Bollywood for you!  But what cannot be cured, has to be endured, right? And surely, with all our criticisms and snobbery aside, we have always enjoyed the vulgarization in Hindi films.

The Not--so-coy-Mistress!

 Apart from the names, the tinsel town has always had a strange curiosity for the secrets behind a choli. After Khuddar, the song that had usurped the sweet dreams of the censor board members was Khalnayak’s Choli ke peechhe kya hain. Ila Arun (one of my most favorite moaners, of course!) and Alka Yagnik, Madhuri Dixit and Neena Gupta glorified, sensationalized and deconstructed the lifelong secret, with oomph. However, no major changes were allowed for the song and it still remains a chartbuster. But this had definitely propelled the onslaught of folk smut in the industry like never before. Arun’s rustic raunchy movements and intonations lured the music directors to use her earthly voice in the films, making the listeners go mad, although wrapped in royal fun. And then there was Main aathra baras ki ho gayee, main kya karoo? Meri chunri lambi ho gayee, main kya karoo? Meri choli chhoti ho gayee, main kya karoo? from Mamta Kulkarni’s Dilbar ; with the tailors having their share of fun, the song has now blurred into oblivion.

1994 was the historical year. After the stupendous success of Sexy, sexy, sexy, there was Vijaypath. A song in the movie goes, Kal saiyan ne aise bowling kari, raat bhar so nahi paayi; maine chauthi ballmaari, paanchvi main jhel nahi paai or Aankhen goes a level higher with the lyrics, Khet gaye baba, bazaar gayee ma! The lyricists and the music directors have never compromised their fun quotients and perhaps never considered the moral stance behind such lyrics. Indivar, Maya Govind and Sameer have always entertained the masses. And it had magically worked! The songs were banned from being played on AIR or national channels at that time, but it never dissuaded the people behind these masterpieces from composing them. Dalaal’s Chad gaya upar re, atariya pe lotan kabootar re, was hilarious. With pelvic thrusts and a gang of women lifting their sarees to the strategically placed cameras or an Amanat’s Subah ko leti hain, sham ko leti hain, kya bura karti hain? Yeh aapne sajaan ka naam leti hain worked wonders for the masses. 

The trend is not new. Khuddar used F.O. for its song. In Haathkaadi another abbreviation used was LML where the male voice goes, kya hota hain yeh LML? And the female voice answers, Let’s Make Love baby!  Years have passed by, technologies have undergone major changes, and the entire aspect of looking at a film has changed. But selling sensational tracks in the names of folk has not changed yet. And if you are aware, the latest hit from Rowdy Rathore is even more dangerous: Are pritam pyaare, banduk me na to goli mere, are pritam pyaare saab aag to meri choli me re, zaara hookkah utha, zara chillam jala…pallu ke neeche chhupake rakhkha hain, dikhdun to hungama ho, pallu ke neeche dabake rakhkha hain, dikhadun to hungama ho!

There are a number of songs that can make hungama any day. The list is endless. And with a liberal outlook in every sphere, even the censor board feels no need to clip the wings of poesy today. With the virtual world available to every human being, the lyrics of such melodious numbers surely mean no harm to the society any more.