Sholay@50: Why ‘Yeh Dosti’ is Sholay’s most popular song today

Most films, even the biggest blockbusters, are forgotten with the passage of time. What often remains embossed in public memory are the songs. Sholay, which was released today 50 years ago, is an exception.

The film is primarily remembered for its dialogues and characters. Audience repeatedly thronged to the theatres to hear Gabbar, Basanti and others. They wanted to hear one-liners such as, “Tera kya hoga Kaalia” and “Arre o Samba” over and over again. The dialogues of Sholay were sold in a separate album and were played on loudspeakers in cities, small towns and kasbahs for months. A generation of filmgoers can still recite them like childhood poems which you never forget.But it would be erroneous to say that the songs, written by Anand Bakshi and composed by RD Burman, were not popular. The best available barometer to gauge the popularity of a song from a 1970s Hindi film is to see its rank in the annual programme of Binaca Geet Mala. The wildly popular weekly countdown show was presented by Ameen Sayani and was broadcast every Wednesday on Radio Ceylon from 1952-1994.

The annual Binaca programme of 1976 featured three Sholay songs. 'Mehbooba mehbooba' (singer: RD Burman), which was inspired by a Greek track, came sixth. 'Yeh dosti hum nahi todenge' (singers: Manna Dey and Kishore Kumar) ended up on the ninth slot and the frisky 'Koi haseena jab rooth jaati hai to' (singers: Kishore and Lata) finished 20^th.

However, in an online poll carried out by TOI last week, 52% said that 'Yeh dosti' is their favourite Sholay track while only 32% opted for 'Mehbooba mehbooba'. It’s true that 'Mehbooba mehbooba' continues to be a great party track. Even the Holi song is played at the festival gatherings every year. But there’s something deeper about ‘Yeh dosti,’ the reason why it has become the ultimate ode to friendship across generations.

It’s simple and sincere, hummable and touching. The words ring true. Both Manna and Kishore seem to relish what they are singing. 'Yeh dosti' is a song for every reason and all seasons.Interestingly, back in August 1975, film critic Raju Bharatan, while reviewing 'Sholay' for 'The Illustrated Weekly of India', a notable magazine of its time, panned both the movie and its music. He wrote, “There is not one song that can be singled out as a noteworthy composition.

Either RD Burman has run out of ideas or he has lost the urge to create. The pivotal song, 'O jab tak hai jaan', is not only ordinarily composed but also badly rendered.

”Sholay will not figure among RD Burman’s top 20 films. The very nature of the movie, an elaborately mounted action epic, did not provide an opportunity to create the score that RD was capable of. But good music always survives the ravages of time. And in the case of director Ramesh Sippy’s magnum opus, songs like 'Yeh dosti' and 'Mehbooba mehbooba' bear eloquent testimonies to that. No one changes the FM channel when these songs are played.By the way, Sholay had a sixth song which was never filmed. ‘Chand sa koi chehra’, a qawwali, was recorded in the voices of Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey, Bhupinder and Anand Bakshi.You can hear the song on YouTube.