Song of the Day: Rishi SQUEE!!!

Today's song of the day is another repeat offender ... one of my favorite songs from the 80s. It's no secret that I had a massive crush on Rishi Kapoor while growing up, and frankly I am completely unashamed about it. He is freakin' adorable, as evidenced by this fabulous song from Yeh Vaada Raha. There is just something about the way he looks at a girl when he's singing to her ... the slight eyebrow lift, the toss of the head and then the 1000 watt smile. What recipient of that smile wouldn't melt away into a puddle of goo?

Yeh Vaada Raha was a strange and somewhat traumatizing film for me ... I saw it when I was quite young and though I was totally entranced by the romance, yes even at age six I was a total romantic ... there were also some frightening scenes that still affect me today.

For example I CANNOT drive behind a truck full of logs, or lumber, or steel poles or whatever. I start freaking out whenever I find myself on a highway behind one of these trucks and have to get away immediately. And it's no wonder. In Yeh Vaada Raha our hero (Rishi Kapoor) and heroine (Poonam Dhillon) are driving behind one of these trucks when there's a horrible accident and all of the logs go crashing straight onto our beautiful heroine's face. She has to undergo extensive plastic surgery to restructure her face, and in the meantime her hero Vijay's evil mother (Rakhee) tells him that she died, since she didn't approve of her anyway. Let me tell you, when you are six years old, this is most disturbing:

Photo courtesy of the lovely Nicki from apunbindaas.blogspot.com

Luckily for our heroine Sunita, the kindly doctor (Shammi Kapoor) works hard and constructs a new face for her, as well as supports her as she forges ahead with her new life.

I used to look like this ...

But now I look like Tina Munim!

Now of course our hero never got over his first love Sunita, so you can bet their lives will cross paths at some point and they will feel a strange pull. I always thought Sunita (who strangely changes her name to Kusum) was being stupid for not telling Vikram who she is, but hey, these things are complicated I guess.

Anyway, all of this is secondary to the MOST IMPORTANT THING ... yes even more important than squeeing about how cuuuuuute Rishi is and how much I luuuuurve him. The songs!

This soundtrack by R.D. Burman is AMAZING and I absolutely love every single song. It features my favorite combo of Asha Bhosle and Kishore Kumar. The most popular and timeless song from the album is of course the title song "Yeh Vaada Raha" which goes on my list of Top Romantic Songs of All-Time. "Mil Gayi Aaj To" and "Jeene Ho To Jeete Hai" are fun and catchy, and "Aisa Kabhi Hua Nahin" is a soft, romantic solo by Kishore (I always want to sing "Su-ni-ta Su-ni-ta Su-ni-ta" when I meet someone with that name). When I was seven years old I played Tina Munim's part in a Bollywood dance performance to "Ishq Mera Bandagi" (I have to find that video somewhere), so of course I love that song too because of all the memories.

But the one that gets stuck in my head most often is the romantic duet "Maine Tujhe Kabhi Kuchh Kaha Tha" which features Rishi with the Poonam Dhillon version of his lady love. It is sweet, lilting and has that addictive almost bongo-esque beat that R.D. Burman is so brilliant at using. This song is so ultimately 80s and yet it still gets to me (so does Rishi's smile and head toss).

So here it is ... enjoy ... oh and remind me to make up some sort of secret handshake with my husband in case my face ever gets totalled and I need him to recognize me.