Songs Addressed to Animals / Birds

As a blogger, I always keep on thinking of novel ideas for the posts. Such themes tend to be fresh and appeal to the readers. I hope I can fit today’s theme in the category of novel themes. The idea of the post suddenly spurted in my mind. Though I was preparing for another post, I thought of going for this one instead.

Animals, birds have occasionally been one of the important characters in Hindi films. It may not be the central character in the movie, but the story revolves around it. As far as the black and white movies are concerned, I can think of the film, Heera Moti (1959) which had the bulls, Heera and Moti in the story. But I couldn’t find a song entirely dedicated to the bulls. Among the other films, I could recollect, Haathi Mere Saathi (1971), and a few other films. The film, Maa (1976) starring Dharmendra also had a lot of animals. Aankhen (1993), Hum Aapke Hain Kaun (1994) also had a monkey and a cute dog respectively in the narrative. I think dogs can be taken as the most frequent animal to appear in a Hindi movie. Teri Meherbaniya (1985), Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon (2002), Chillar Party (2011), Entertainment (2014), Dil Dhadakne Do (2015), Maa (1992) to name a few movies featuring Dogs as one of the important characters.

I think a separate post can be dedicated to Hindi films dedicated to a central theme of Snakes. इच्छाधारी नागिन, or a similar character has been employed in a number of Hindi films. Off hand, I could recollect Nagin (1976), Nagina (1986), Nigahen (1989) etc. Also a few Hindi films also had snake as a God and a number of films, Naag Mani, Naag Devta, Cobra Girl, Naag Mohini, Naag Champa etc would be cited as befitting examples.

When I was researching for the post, I came across a few offbeat scenarios like, a Chimpanzee in Zimbo and Zimbo Comes to Town, a turtle in Katti Batti, an eagle in Coolie etc. Films like Life of Pi and Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon had a tiger and a parrot respectively, both created by CGI. Kaal (2005) also focused on tiger poaching.

Today’s list focuses on songs directly addressed to animals or birds. The songs just mentioning the names of animals or birds are Not a part of today’s list. So songs like, O Meri Maina, Naach Meri Bulbul, Teetar Ke Do Aage Teetar won’t be a part of the list.

It’s time now to move to the list. Here’s the list of songs directly addressed to an animal or a bird. I have not repeated the animal or bird on the list. Each one has just one song on the list.
The songs are in no particular order, though animals appear first followed by birds.

Here we go …………

1. Dog – There are a lot of movies featuring dogs. I’ve already mentioned a few of the movies in the introduction. The animal usually gets to perform a good deed or even a miracle during the climax. I added the song which I could immediately recall.

Beta Wow Wow Wow – Mem didi (1961) Lata Mangeshkar / Salil Chowdhury – Shailendra
The dog is so cute! A simple girl, portrayed by a very young Tanuja, dreams of an affluent in-law. And then she will enjoy it with her dog. The dog will be served food in a gold utensil.
The dog seems like a trained one. It stands on its hind legs, carries an umbrella and performs very well in the song. And the song so wonderfully incorporates barking of the dog rhythmically in it. A cute song in all!

2. Horse – I guess, in comparison to the dogs, horses have appeared in very few Hindi films. I could be wrong of course! I could think of Sholey, where Dhanno is one of the major entertainers of the movie. I came across the film, Khoon Bhari Maang, while I was researching for the post. After the transformation, only Rekha’s horse and dog recognise her.
For today’s list, I’ve selected an iconic song. It’s from an historical film, where a horse proved to be a game changer.

O Pawan Vegse Udnewale Ghode – Jai Chitod (1961) Lata Mangeshkar / S N Tripathi – Bharat Vyas
The song is addressed to the brave and clever horse of Maharana Pratap. He carried his King safely away from the battle of Haldighati, but he succumbed to his wounds which he suffered during the battle. The queen horse

3. Cat – After dog and horse, I’ve a cat on the list. Off hand I don’t remember any Hindi film with cats playing an important role. While researching I came to know about ‘Na Tum Jano Na Hum’, having a pet cat with Genelia D’Souza.

Meow Meow Meri Sakhi – Pooja Ke Phool (1964) Lata Mangeshkar / Madan Mohan – Rajendra Krishan
I haven’t watched the movie, so I’ve no idea if the cat is portrayed as a friend of the character played by Nimmi. But in the song she appears to be very close to the cat and shares a special bond with it. She talks about her beloved, to the cat and asks how he looks. Nimmi plays a blind girl who’s perhaps also shy and demure. The tune of the song is good. But the cat hasn’t got much footage. My daughter also felt the same about it.

4. Monkey – Monkeys have been in a central role in quite a few Hindi movies. Firstly I thought of the Hindi movies in the ‘Zimbo’ series. In Zimbo and Zimbo Comes to Town, a cute and talented chimpanzee named Pedro acted as the central character. It was of course credited in the titles.
Parivar (1987) and Aankhen (1993) were the other prominent films featuring monkeys. In both the movies, the monkey actually performed quite a few stunts, including driving a car if I remember correctly. Anyways, let’s listen to the song on the list.

O Zalima Chala Kahan – Zimbo (1958) Rafi / Chitragupt – Majrooh
It actually sounds like a romantic song! The man, played by Shaikh (?) runs around trees with Pedro, the chimpanzee. The lyrics quite support the teasing song. Pedro performs a few stunts during the song. It hangs down the tree branches, makes faces, runs around the trees, does somersaults as well. You will enjoy the song.

5. Snake – Snakes, as I have already said in the introduction, have been an integral part of Hindi cinema. I’ve already mentioned a lot of movies based on Naag Kingdom. Snakes have made an appearance in some of the mythological or religious movies. But as my criteria was a song which is actually addressed to snakes, I sidetracked a lot of songs with the mention of snakes.
For today’s post, I’ve selected,

Naag Devta Ho Naag Devta – Sati Anasuya (1956) Asha Bhosle / Shivram Krishna – Bharat Vyas
Sumitra Devi was a beautiful lady, though she appeared in lead roles only in a few A grade Hindi films. We see her as a devotee of Naag Devta in the song. She prays to the Devta and praises him. In my opinion, we should praise the lyricist, Bharat Vyas as well for consistently penning meaningful songs for mythological, historical and religious Hindi films. He never wrote clichés.

6. Elephant – Elephants have been an important character in the screenplay of a few of the movies. Haathi Mere Saathi and Banphool are the prominent examples from the 70s, and in recent times, a film Junglee (2019) also revolved around elephants.
I think it’s quite obvious to select,

Chal Chal Chal Mere Saathi – Haathi Mere Saathi (1971) Kishore Kumar / Laxmikant Pyarelal – Anand Bakshi
I have vague memories of watching the film on Doordarshan years ago. Though I don’t remember much of it, this song is what everyone remembers. The cute and trained elephants do a great job in the song. And in entirety the song does leave an impact on the viewers. The song does talk about the loyalty of the elephants, though I must say, it can be extended to all the animals in general.

7. Bullocks – I was looking for songs addressed to bulls or cows. As I said in the introduction, I could only think of Heera Moti (1959) though there wasn’t a song dedicated to the pair of bulls. And when I was researching for the post, I came across a film called Gaai Aur Gori. I hadn’t heard of the movie at all, but when I looked for the songs, I found a befitting song,

Bhaag Mere Ramu, Jaag Mere Shyamu – Gaai Aur Gori (1973) Lata Mangeshkar / Laxmikant Pyarelal – Anand Bakshi
Jaya Bhaduri and her friends are traveling in a bullock cart and she herself is running it. She cheers the bulls up in between by calling their names. Not a particularly great song, but fits the bill. Please follow the link to watch it on YouTube.

After listing the songs addressed to animals, let’s have a look at the songs addressed to birds.

I think, though birds have occasionally appeared on the silver screen, very few have been a central character in the movie. I could immediately recollect the popular Masakali (which means a dancing pigeon) song from Delhi 6. The pigeon had already stirred the air in the late 80s with the film Maine Pyar Kiya. It had helped the couple receive each other’s love letters. And had been their friend throughout the film.

Let’s visit the songs. Each song addresses a different bird. And songs addressed to just a bird, that is songs addressed to Panchhi are Not a part. Not included on the list, a precise mention of a name is mandatory.

8. Koyal (Koel) – I was expecting a lot of songs for Koyal or Koel. But though the word is mentioned in many songs, very few are actually addressed to Koyal. So I selected a lesser known song.

Ae Kaari Koyaliya – Sapna (1952) Geeta Dutt / Shyam Babu Pathak – Bharat Vyas
It’s not a popular song, but it fits perfectly to today’s theme. She finds the Koyal in a similar position like her’s and empathizes with her. The song has a good tune and is among the lesser known songs of Geeta Dutt.

9. Papeeha – In contrast to Koyal, there were many songs directly addressed to Papeeha. I had a confusion regarding the Koyal and Papeeha. A few of the images looked similar and I thought that the birds could belong to the same genus. Koyal and Papeeha should be two different birds, as the former sings Kuhu Kuhu while the latter Peehu Peehu.
I had a few options for this spot, but I preferred the melancholy song sung by a forgotten singer, Parul Ghosh. It reminds me, next year I am going to publish a post based on her Hindi film songs. I think the readers would have other songs to add addressed to Papeeha.

Papeeha Re Mere Piya Se – Kismet (1943) Parul Ghosh & Unidentified male voice (? Kavi Pradeep) / Anil Biswas – Kavi Pradeep
I don’t think the song needs an introduction. It’s one of the iconic songs of the 40s. A desperate and lonely lady wants to convey her feelings to her beloved. She requests the Papeeha to convey her message to him.
It’s picturised on Chandraprabha and perhaps the actor who lip syncs to the male voice is a junior artist. At least I couldn’t recognise him. And there’s a lacuna as far as the male singer is concerned because even HGFK doesn’t mention a name.

10. Crow – Very interestingly, Crows formed a common thread between Hindi and Marathi songs. In Marathi songs as well, crow finds a place. अभंग and विराणी by Sant Dnyaneshwar feature Crows, so do Bhajans by Meera Bai.
Crows are assigned to work as messengers, as do the pigeons. Here’s the song addressed to the crow.

Kaga Re Ja Re Ja Re – Wafa (1950) Lata Mangeshkar / Vinod – Aziz Kashmiri
The lady is in distress and appeals to the crow to carry her message to her beloved. The pathos laden melody may not be popular, but it surely is a gem.

11. Peacock – Peacock is our National Bird and I was expecting songs addressed to it. But most of the songs only mention it and very few are directly addressed to peacock. I could find just a couple of songs addressed to it, and one of the songs was a non-film song by Manna Dey (I think it’s quite easy to guess). So though I couldn’t find a song picturised the peacock, I found a rather popular song which is addressed to it. I wonder if you could guess it before we proceed?

Bakkad Bam Bam Bam – Kathputli (1957) Lata Mangeshkar / Shankar Jaikishan – Hasrat Jaipuri
While I couldn’t find a song actually picturised on peacocks, I found this beautiful song with Vyjayantimala’s excellent dance performance. The song is extremely melodious and though it may not depict a literal conversation with the peacock, it does talk about the rains and the aura of monsoon. It’s the season when peacock dances. And no need to say Vyjayantimala has really danced well.

12. Maina (Myna) – Though the bird, Maina or Myna finds a mention in a number of songs, most of those are not actually addressed to it. Songs like, O Meri Maina are addressed to a lover and not the bird. Also it is mentioned in connection with its pairing to the parrot, as Tota – Maina Ki Kahani etc. But I was pleasantly surprised to find a song not only actually addressed to it but also picturised on a Maina.

Bol Bol Bol O Maina – Albeli (1974) Lata Mangeshkar / Kalyanji Anandji – Maya Govind
I wasn’t aware of this Vinod Mehra and Rehana Sultan starrer movie. And obviously I wasn’t aware of the song as well. It’s a good song, good tune and completely fits the bill. The girl treats Maina as her friend and shares her feelings with her. Quite an enjoyable song!

13. Pigeon – Pigeons have been employed as a messenger from times immortal. Ancient times saw it actually carry letters from one kingdom to the other. The theme was carried forward by films, where we could witness the same scenario on screen.
And which could be a more perfect song to suit the occasion?

Kabootar Ja Ja Ja – Maine Pyar Kiya (1989) Lata Mangeshkar & S P Balasubramaniam / Ram Laxman – Asad Bhopali
The song has attained an iconic status, and the pigeon is there nearly throughout. The song was extremely popular and started the trend of similar songs in Hindi films. The pigeon even follows Prem to Suman’s village and accompanies him. I remember waiting for the song while watching the movie. I have watched it in theaters at least four times. Now I can’t think why? It makes me laugh at myself. But seriously different times I think.

14. Parrot – As I have already mentioned about parrots, most songs mention it in connection with its partner, Maina to equate to an on screen couple.
But nevertheless, after the grand success of the song from MPK, the early 90s witnessed yet another bird carrying a lover’s message to its beloved.
Is it hard to guess? Of course not!

Tota Tota Sajan Se Kehna – First Love Letter (1991) Lata Mangeshkar & S P Balasubramaniam / Bappi Lahiri – Anjaan
The song is actually addressed to a parrot, which is quite attentive throughout. I don’t have much to say about the song, except that it fits the theme.

15. Bulbul – Bulbul is also a singing bird, found mentioned in Hindi film songs quite frequently. But for a long period, I was unable to find a song addressed to Bulbul. And most of the songs that I could locate belonged to the 40s. So here it is, I don’t think it’s a great song, though it’s of course a good song.

Bulbul Aa Tu Bhi Gaa – Shehanshah Babar (1944) Khursheed / Khemchand Prakash – Munshi Shyam
A lady in distress! She compares herself with Bulbul, the latter has a melody in her voice, while her heart is full of disappointment. A pathos laden song.

It’s your turn now. Readers please add a new animal/ bird or simply repeat a one already mentioned on the list.
Have you thought of a song to add?

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 and Dailymotion, only for the listening convenience of music lovers. The copyright of these songs rests with the respective owners, producers and music companies.