Why I Love The Songs Of Ddlj

It is a dark overcast Sunday morning. A tummyache has woken me up at the unearthly hour of 8:30 AM. As I lie in bed later, I decide to play the songs of DDLJ; I think it is a lovely idea to laze in bed under the covers, and let Anand Bakshi & Jatin Lalit transport me to the world of Raj & Simran. The idea for this piece actually comes to me as I try to change the order of the songs on my playlist from alphabetical to chronological and realize how the storyline helps me remember the order of the songs perfectly. As I listen to the songs, for the first time I can fully appreciate the beauty of the soundtrack. The order of the songs as well as the lyrics of each song mirror perfectly the progress of the plot, and also serve to introduce the important characters and plot developments. Without further ado, here is Why I Love The Songs Of DDLJ: 1. Ghar Aaja (First play) The movie starts with Amrish Puri talking to us about himself and his family as the song plays in the background. As the scenes of London & the sounds of the Punjab overlap, we see how India must live on in the hearts of the diaspora. The call of the homeland is loud in his ear and we see that the action is definitely going to shift to Punjab sometime later in the movie. 2. Mere Khwabon Mein This song introduces us to Simran, the effervescent girl-next-door who has a song in her heart & romantic dreams in her head... Fareeda Jalal, who plays her mum, is a part of the song too. Having read her diary, FJ has just realized that it is time her daughter became her friend. The song very beautifully underlines the motherdaughter relationship. 3. Ruk Ja O Dil Deewane This song introduces us to Raj, the over-the-top carefree spoilt-bratty still-a-boybut-not-quite-a-man with a clean heart. Up to that point in the movie, Raj has taken no efforts whatsoever to woo her, in fact he has succeeded admirably in making a pest of himself. Simran hears him brag, emptily she thinks, about his piano-playing skills. Seeing an opportunity to put him in his place, she introduces him to the guests at the restaurant as a world-famous pianist who will now play something for them. He then proceeds to make a complete ass of himself. Simran has only just begun to walk away with a victorious smirk on her face than the music suddenly changes. The expression on Simran’s face as she slowly turns around in disbelief is priceless: With a few bars on the ebony & the ivory, Raj blows to smithereens Simran’s first impression of him, that of a playboy & a flirt. So in a way this song also introduces a hitherto unknown side of Raj to Simran, setting the stage for Cupid to shoot his arrow… 4. Zara Sa Jhoom Loon Main … Which he does in this song. But there is more to it, this song also announces the blossoming of Simran into a woman as she breaks free of her self-imposed restraints and begins to LIVE. She starts to fall in love with Raj, a love she knows is forbidden. ‘Hua nahin yeh pehle kabhi, Meri chaal badal gayee abhi abhi’ If Raj is confused about this sudden change in the first half of the song, these words clear the picture for him and he takes his cue from her in the second half. Also, in the scenes that immediately follow the song, Raj demonstrates his Indian value system when he tells Simran that he knows ‘Ek Hindustani ladki ke liye uski izzat kya hoti hai’. These same values will later ennoble their love story.

I don’t think he has fallen in love at this point though, I think it happens during the scene in the Church and later on the bridge. Raj’s ‘Mujhe tumse pyar ho gaya hai’ joke isn’t very funny, but it is a joy to see the emotions rush across Simran’s face, starting with disbelief, turning very briefly to hope and finally settling into crestfallen dejection. 5. Ho Gaya Hai Tujh Ko To This song is set right at the midpoint of the plotline for obvious reasons. Up to this point, neither Simran nor Raj have admitted their feelings to themselves. The parting of ways at the end of the trip and the spectre of never seeing each other again serve to catalyze the love reaction. The song is about how they acknowledge the recent changes in their life and try to sort them out so that by the end of the song, both Raj & Simran are finally aware that they have fallen in love ‘laakh kar le tu inkaar sajna’. 6. Ghar Aaja (Second play) The song plays for a second time as their train travels through the rolling fields of Punjab. The folksy flavour of this song makes it my favourite song of the movie. The song beautifully sets up the change of locale from London to Punjab. 7. Tujhe Dekha To Yeh Jana If ‘Ho Gaya Hai Tujh Ko To’ is the song in which Raj & Simran realise they are in love, this is the song when they finally declare it to each other, rather late in the movie. Consider the situations of Simran & Raj leading up to this song: • Simran is at a point where she can see the rest of her life thrown into a loveless oblivion at the whims of her father. Raj, whose love for her she is not yet sure exists, is her only hope. • Raj has been spurred into action by his father who advises him to stop his ‘tun-tuna bajana’ and go get Simran. He knows she is getting married and is also not sure of her love for him as he takes off from London to seek it. So when they finally come face-to-face, the tension is terrific, but it melts away to nothing the next moment as they see the love in each other’s eyes and rush forward into an embrace. So, love happens, finally. 8. Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna The delicious secret of their love is celebrated in this song. It is the occasion of Simran’s ‘sagaai’, one that they are both sure will not take place. We are ofcourse party to the secret, and the undercurrent of mischievousness and romantic allusions that run through the song make it very special. At one point, Simran admonishes Raj to ‘Yeh dil ki baat apne dil mein daba ke rakhna’. 9. O Meri Zohra Jabeen For me, this is the song that introduces the possibility of a happy ending to the movie. It shows us the soft & romantic side of a patriarchal Amrish Puri, and how he loves his wife in his own way. It is the relationship between a typical Indian man & his wife of a generation ago, one that most of us recognise in our parents. In hindsight, this song is a precursor to the softening of Puri’s heart. We just know he is going to let go of Simran’s hand during that climactic scene. 10. ‘Ghar Aaja’ (Third & Fourth Plays) The song plays again towards the end, this time in a happy way, because Simran has finally ‘ghar aa gayee’ to Raj. The same song played at three different times in the movie has a distinct connotation each time, proof of the director’s brilliant handling of the song.

For all its songs and more, for all the special moments that populate its 180 odd minutes, DDLJ will remain one of my favourite movies of all time. Thank you, Mr. Chopra.