(Part 1) Boat Songs

In the month of June this year, I published a series of posts based on the train songs, dedicating the entire month to it. A few months earlier, I published songs with a tonga rhythm. While all these posts were in progress, I was wondering what next?
Keeping the thought on the back burner I completed the other posts. I thought, after Ghoda Gadi and the train, why not think of some other means of travel. Obviously I thought of boat songs. As there are too many songs, I (as usual) thought of dividing them into a few categories. But I wasn’t sure whether I would be able to come up with the series of posts in a single month. The majority of the boat songs are romantic duets or solos. Some are group songs, some are sung while the character is alone. An interesting category would be songs by boatmen. Off hand I can’t think of many songs fitting the latter category. Anyways, I think now I should focus on today’s post.

Let me present my first category today.

Two is company

I don’t need to explain the phrase, but it’s better to clarify my point of view. The list has songs with a couple traveling on the boat. He or she or both rowing, and there is no third person on the boat. No boatman or an accompanying person! In the majority of the songs, the boat is a small simple one, with oars. In one song, it’s a motor boat, but the hero himself is driving it.

But a bigger motor boat and the couple singing a song on the rooftop is not allowed on the list. And it could be a duet or a solo, both are granted. And preferably the entire song should be picturised on the boat. Only one stanza or just a small part of the song on the boat IS NOT ENOUGH to qualify for the list.

Here we row, ten boat songs, where ‘two is company’

1. Kinare Kinare Chale Jayenge – Vidya (1948) Suraiya / S D Burman – Yashodanandan Joshi
Beautiful Suraiya and handsome Dev Anand are rowing the boat, singing the optimistic song. Both are rowing serenely, enjoying each other’s company. The lyrics are quite simple, though they highlight the courageous side of the character Suraiya plays in the movie. Madan Puri, a celebrated villain, watches on from a bridge and of course gets jealous of them.
An interesting trivia about the song is that, during the picturisation of the song, the boat capsized and both of them fell in water. Dev Anand saved Suraiya from drowning, and the love story started budding. It was their first film together, when Suraiya was already a star and Dev Anand was a newcomer. They later acted together in six more films.

2. Mast Pawan Hai Chanchal Dhara – Jeet (1949) Lata Mangeshkar / Anil Biswas – Prem Dhawan
Madan Puri and Suraiya Choudhary rowing the boat, while the latter sings this beautiful song. I was surprised to watch the outdoor shooting of the song in a real river even for a few close ups. The song is very melodious, with jaltarang forming a part of its melody.

3. More Raja Ho Le Chal – Nadiya Ke Paar (1948) Rafi & Lalita Deulkar / C Ramchandra – Moti
What a beautiful melody it is! And fabulously sung by the singers, one of the best known songs of Lalita Deulkar. It was the first song that I remembered while compiling the list. Dilip Kumar rowing the boat, and look at his realistic efforts as he pushes the oar to row the boat in the beginning. He looks very young and the chemistry between the two of them is amazing. Kamini Kaushal says a lot with her eyes. In contrast to the couple of songs above, this one’s picturised on a set and not on a real outdoor location.

4. Zindagi Ke Safar Mein Akele The – Nartaki (1963) Rafi / Ravi – Shakeel Badayuni
An extremely beautiful melodious song. Such a soothing, soft melody, sung with such apt expressions. Sunil Dutt rowing the boat himself, while Nanda enjoys his company and the surroundings. If you watch this song carefully, you will know why I was surprised to notice the first couple of songs (from the late 40s) being shot on a real outdoor location. Even for a song from the early 60s, only the longshots are from an outdoor location, the close ups appear to be studio shots.

5. Taaron Ki Zuban Par Hai – Nausherwan E Adil (1957) Lata Mangeshkar & Rafi / C Ramchandra – Parwez Shamsi
A perfectly melodious romantic song. Instead of a normal looking boat, the couple is travelling on a royal boat. It has an attractive shape and the prince himself is rowing it. The song anyways has a dreamy touch to it, the picturisation on a misty lake makes it more dreamy. Raj Kumar is for a change, smiling throughout the song and Mala Sinha looks beautiful.

6. Chand Bhi Koi Deewana Hai – Pyaas (1969) Asha Bhosle & Mahendra Kapoor / N Datta – Qamar Jalalabadi
A sublime song. What a great romantic melody. It’s picturised on Mumtaz and Sudhir, both roaming around on a boat in a beautiful lake. It’s late in the evening and the moon has risen. It’s sung very beautifully by the singers, a lingering melody to very apt lyrics. I couldn’t get a video with good audio quality.

7. Hue Hai Tumpe Aashiq Hum – Mere Sanam (1965) Rafi / O P Nayyar – Majrooh
It’s the only song on the list with a motor boat. Nevertheless the concept of ‘two is company’ still holds true for it. Asha Parekh pretends to be angry at Biswajit, but actually she is happy. Very nice tune, I particularly like the interlude music, so typically Nayyar’s!

8. Ye Chand To Mridang Hai – Shri Krishnarjun Yuddha (1971) Rafi & Shyama Hemadi-Chittar / Nandu Pyare – Pandit Madhur
A semi classical song from a mythological movie. Arjun and Subhadra, played by Abhi Bhattacharya and Jayashree Gadkar respectively, are enjoying a moonlight boat ride. Both are rowing the boat and singing the beautiful song. When Krishna, played by Mahipal, gets to know about it, he replaces Arjun just in time and saves him. Shyama Hemadi-Chittar was Suman Kalyanpur’s younger sister, who’s voice closely resembles her. It’s a very melodious song, a sort of hidden gem! Even though the entire song is not on the boat, at least 2/3rds is on the boat.

9. Tumne Piya Diya Sab Kuchh – Us Paar (1974) Lata Mangeshkar / S D Burman – Yogesh
S D Burman was perfectly in tune in the 70s as well. Listen to this peaceful melody, just one year prior to his death. Picturised on Vinod Mehra and Moushumi Chatterjee in a boat, it steals your heart. The pair looks nice and the song is a perfect fit for today’s list.

10. Jis Gali Mein Tera Ghar – Kati Patang (1971) Mukesh / R D Burman – Anand Bakshi
And to end the list, here I’m with the superstars Rajesh Khanna and Asha Parekh. He is rowing the boat himself while pouring his heart out. She is a bit anxious and sceptical, I guess about their relationship. While most of the songs on the list are romantic, this one’s not exactly romantic. Though he is passionately in love, the mood of the song is not romantic exactly. Please follow the instructions to watch it on YouTube.

Would you add a song?

Disclaimer –
Mehfil Mein Meri, claims no credit for any image, screenshots or songs posted on this site. Images on this blog are posted to make the text interesting. The images and screenshots are the copyright of their original owners. The song links are shared from YouTube, only for the listening convenience of music lovers. The copyright of these songs rests with the respective owners, producers and music companies.