Today’s first post is the analysis of the song, Yeh din toh aata hai, from the Bollywood movie, Mahaan (1983). The song has been analyzed on the basis of its context and visualization.
Movie – Mahaan (1983)
The song, Yeh din toh aata hai, was featured in Satya Chitra International’s partly comic action-drama Mahaan (1983), produced by Satyanarayana and A Suryanarayana and directed by S Ramanathan. The movie starred Amitabh Bachchan, Waheeda Rahman, Zeenat Aman, Parveen Babi, Amjad Khan, etc.
Amit (Amitabh Bachchan) is a lawyer and helps put his smuggler friend, Vikram (Amjad Khan), behind bars. The lawyer is happily married to a painter, Janki (Waheeda Rahman), who is fascinated by an expensive necklace, worn by one of her subjects – a queen. Amit buys a less expensive lookalike necklace for her, which she accepts because it is a token of his love for her.
Soon, Vikram ensnares his friend Amit, in a revenge bid, into a murder case and he and Janki have to flee. Both get separated when a train she is travelling in encounters an accident. Amit thinks she’s dead. But she still performs Karva Chauth fast for his health. She has brought up their son, Shankar (Amitabh Bachchan once more), very well and he has become a police inspector.
On the other hand, there is an Amit look-alike, Guru (Amitabh Bachchan again), who’s an aspiring actor. He always terrorizes his lawyer father (Mukri) and gets away with everything with the help of his mother (Urmila Bhatt). On one such occasion, Guru blackmails his father into giving him Rs. 2000 to set up a dance drama. In the next shot, Guru performs a song with his co-artists. Guru’s father is furious after watching the dance drama. But on insistence of his wife (Guru’s mother), he calms down and tempts Guru with an irresistible offer. I will talk about this offer later when another song comes up.
Madhu (Parveen Babi) is in love with Shankar, since the time he had saved her from some smugglers. It turns out that she is also Shankar’s mother, Artist Janki’s client. Unknown to everyone, Madhu has been brought up by the absconding Amit. Madhu, disguised as an old woman, takes a lift from Shankar on his motorbike, one day to Surajkund where she performs this song.
Song – Yeh din toh aata hai
The lyrics of this song, Yeh din toh aata hai, were penned by Anjaan and set to tune by R D Burman (Rahul Dev Burman or Panchamda).
The song goes, thus, “This time comes rarely during youth.”
Video – Yeh din toh aata hai
Cinematography is by A Vincent. Dance choreography is by Kamal.
The video opens with several female dancers moving on a platform clapping and dancing to the tune of the music that has already begun. Parveen Babi’s overcoat and wig falls on Amitabh Bachchan and he seems to be shocked. Amitabh Bachchan turns around and sees Parveen Babi clapping and beginning to dance.
All the clapping takes the song forward. She begins to sing and continues to dance. A couple of male dancers perform with violins in their hands. A crowd has accumulated around the dancers. Parveen Babi approaches Amitabh Bachchan as she dances. Then, she goes into a daydream where he joins her in the dance performance in a gypsy dress.
Amitabh Bachchan’s dance steps are very simple and at particular points, hilarious, perhaps unintentionally. The lead pair performs together for some time and then he leaves her signifying that her daydream is over. The song and the video end as the 2 are seen on his motorbike leaving the place.
Artists
Asha Bhonsle and R D Burman sang this song for Parveen Babi and Amitabh Bachchan. Other actors are also seen in the video.
Cultural Influence
There is some influence of the gypsy culture, the use of the duffli or the tambourine signifying the same. The song and the artists are good. The video is watchable for the same.
