Phulonki raang se dil ki kalam se ………
This romantic all time hit song from film Prem Pujari (1970) is written by poet Neeraj. It is a very well composed song and soulfully sung by Kishore Kumar. The song is themed on evergreen Dev Anand, like him the song is also evergreen. Though the film dint do great business at box office, the songs became super duper hits.
Prem Pujari is a 1970 Bollywood film produced, directed and written by Dev Anand under the banner of Navketan films. The movie stars Anand, Waheeda Rehman, Shatrughan Sinha, Prem Chopra, Madan Puri and Amrish Puri. The music director is S. D. Burman. The songs are known for the purity of their lyrics, therefore regarded as “evergreen” classics.
This song is sung by Kishore Kumar with superb versatility. The song is romantic yet pensive in mood. Kishore Kumar had the knack of modulating his voice suitably for the actors. He was the voice of Dev Anand, Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bacchan. I think because Kishore Kumar was not only a singer but also an actor, music director, movie director too, his versatility was found into various dimensions therefore he could adapt to the song’s different dimensions.
The song’s lyrics are really splendid and touch the heart. It’s yet another brilliant score of Sachin Dev Burman and Dev Anand. The song is composed mainly in Raga Pahadi and mixed with some other ragas. Pahadi is a popular raga based on folk music. As its name suggests, it originates from the mountainous region of Himalayas. It resembles two other ragas which exude the rich cultural heritage of folk music; one is Mand from the Rajasthan region and Pilu from the Hindi heartland. It is a light raga and resembles more like a ‘dhun’. It is popularly used in Hindi film songs. This raga can simulate multiple echoes; for example kora kagaz tha yeh man mera….mera….mera. Few other famous songs are from Humrz (1967) “nile gagan ke tale, dharati ka pyar pale’ and ‘parbatonke pedon par sham ka basera hai’ from Shagun (1964).
Pahadi is usually sung in the lower and middle octaves. The songs composed in Pahadi are usually having shades of tranquility and serenity. The songs composed in this raga have the power to unite separated lovers to achieve eternal union.
The lyrics of the song are penned by the genius Gopaldas Saxena ‘Neeraj’ (popularly known as Niraj or Neeraj). He is among the best-known poets and authors in Hindi literature. His style is considered unique; he used to write very poignant and yet, easy to understand poems. He was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2007. This song is subtle and romantic; imagine writing letter to your loved one with ink of flower colors and pen of heart….
It’s worth noting from Satya Saran’s book on S.D.Burman titled ‘Sun Mere Bandhu Re’ that S.D. Burman was miffed with actor Dev Anand for spoiling a beautiful melody “Phoolon Ke Rang Se” from “Prem Pujari” by directing the song in an unappetizing manner. It seems S.D.Burman used to get terribly attached to his songs; he used to be concerned on how the songs were shot, their picturization etc. In short, he understood the meaning of scenes, so he was very angry with Dev Anand for spoiling this beautiful song with an unappealing picturisation.
Listen to this classy number.
