On Mahashivratri, revisiting songs to play on festive occasion, from Bhole oh bhole to Namo Namo

’Om namah shivay sanson ki sargam pe dhadkan ye dohraye’ - Mashaal Dim all the lights. Listen to this serene ode to Lord Shiva by Lata Mangeshkarji in complete silence. It is one of the most therapeutic bhajans ever composed. This one was special for Lataji because her brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar composed it. And one of Lataji’s favourite actresses Waheeda Rehman sang it on screen. Javed Akhtar’s articulate supremely spiritual words prove that godliness has no religion. ‘Bhole oh bhole’ - Yaraana Kishore Kumar singing a bhajan is rare enough. But singing it with such depth and devotion…. It’s a pity that this number got eclipsed by Kishore romantic ballad ‘Chhu kar mere mann ko’ in Yaraana. Amitabh Bachchan regards ‘Bhole oh bhole’ as among his most favourite songs on screen. Rajesh Roshan who composed it reveals, “Bhajans became increasingly irrelevant in cinema as we moved towards this millennium. I was lucky to compose two Shiv bhajans, the first one ‘Jai bholenath’ was sung by Lataji and Kishore in my first soundtrack Kunwara Baap. This one in Yaraana was so feelingly sung by Kishoreda and so wonderfully enacted by Bachchan Saab.” ‘Jai jai shiv shankar’- Aap Ki Kasam RD Burman’s stunning score for this Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz starrer boasts of much better classics like ‘Karvaten badalte rahe’, ‘Zindagi ke safar mein’ and ‘Chori chori chupke chupke’. But it was this fun Mahadev song filmed on a faraway hillside with a crowd of bhang-doped Shiv bhakts that burst open the charts with a sound that erupted into a celebratory odyssey. Yesteryears’ superstar Mumtaz who participated in this historic number recalls every incident connected with the song. “Kakaji (Rajesh Khanna) and I had a lot of fun shooting this number. It was a fun song. We had to act as if we were high on Bhang. But of course we were completely sober. Who could do those intricate steps in a sozzled state?” ‘Bhole Shankar’ - Locket: Bappi Lahiri  was very proud of this bhang-filled hic-hic-hurray homage to Shankar Bhagwan. He felt it had the potential to be as big as RD Burman’s ‘Jai jai shiv Shankar’. And it probably did. But the song didn’t even make it to the screen. The film was completed under huge financial hardships. What was planned as a lavish tribute to Lord Shiva never happened. ‘Namo namo’ - Kedarnath: Jai ho jai ho Shankar, bholenaath shankara ,aadi dev shankara, he shivaay shankara….Sushant Singh Rajput was a Shiv Bhakt in real life. When he got the chance to lip-sync this Amit Trivedi tune in Kedarnath he was over the moon. Every time Sushant emoted to the powerful chants of the song he felt close to God. The writer is a Patna-based journalist. He’s been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.