Song: Na jaane kyun hota hai…

Movie: Chhoti Si Baat (1976)

Music: Salil Chaudhary | Lyrics: Yogesh | Singer: Lata Mangeshkar

‘Kehne jaisi baat to hai aur kehne ki hai chaahat bhi, lekin hothon ko azeez hai chup rehne ki aadat bhi’- Anand Sahastrabudhe.

Love evokes uproar and silence at the same time! It all gathers within, starts gushing out, reaches the lips full throttle, and just as you are about to say it, something pulls it down…all the way to the ‘start’ mark! And then there’s silence…like a wave that has crashed on the shore…leaving behind the wet and glistening sand!

Arun has suffered at the merciless hands of fear and hesitation. Prabha, aware of the spell she has cast on him, is following her daily routine at Frank Lloyd & Co. After a futile search for success among the planets and stars in his horoscope, Arun decides to go to Khandala and get trained in the ‘matters of the heart’ by Colonel Julius Nagendranath Wilfred Singh. Prabha, unaware of this, starts missing the shy chap who struggled to sit beside her on the bus, who followed her all around, and who she laughed at along with her colleague. It dawns upon her that the missing man has cast his spell too, and the Trumpet echoes her realization to the entire world! The choir sings the melody of her heartbeats and the Tuba, in a let’s-get-to-the-point mood, draws our attention to Lataji’s voice, as Prabha confesses to herself, “Na jaane kyun hota hai ye zindagi ke saath, achanak ye mann, kisike jaane ke baad, kare phir uski yaad, chhoti chhoti si baat…”

They used to be at the same bus-stop; same bus, same journey. Now that he’s away, it’s all so different! Nagesh offers her a lift, she refuses. The bus arrives, she refuses that too! The Organ in the first interlude weaves a beautiful complex phrase, just like her entangled thoughts- “Where is he? I hope he’s alright. What if he isn’t? Should I ask at his office? Is he transferred? Did he leave the job? DID HE GET MARRIED?” While she is lost in the crowd of thoughts, Arun has found some path-breaking moves with the Colonel at a game of Chess! Or shall we say- the battle of Love? The bus moves…without her…it’s just her at the bus stop which proudly displays the poster of ‘Zameer’, yet another B.R.Chopra production. (It’s all about promotions eh?)

“Jo anjaan pal dhal gaye kal, aaj wo rang badal badal, mann ko machal machal, rahe hain chhal, na jaane kyun wo anjaan pal; saje bhi na mere nainon mein, toote re haaye re sapnon ke mahal!” 

We treat our past so casually! It is because of yesterday that there’s today; we forget this so easily. Our past makes our present, it’s an inseparable part of who and what we are; it’s a part of our identity! Prabha simply overlooked all the moments that Arun so fondly treasured. He expressed his affection so innocently and unknowingly through his sweet little attempts, that it now seems impossible to live without them… and him! She was ignorant of those past moments but they are now showing up as vivid memories, tugging at her heart, bothering her, pestering her. Ignorance is bliss but not always! Those moments are so beautiful, they are now her dreams! She had just started building her castle of love, and Arun shattered it by going God-knows-where!

The second interlude has an enchanting blend of brass and choir. While Arun is trying to master the game of ping-pong and inch closer to becoming Mr. Perfect, his heart is compelling him to return to its master- Prabha!

She cuts a forlorn figure, gazing into infinity while at her office desk, as Salil da composes, “Wohi hai dagar, wohi hai safar, hai nahin, saath mere magar, ab mera humsafar, idhar udhar dhoondhe nazar, wohi hai safar, kahaan gayi shaamein madbhari, woh mere, mere woh din gaye kidhar?”

William Faulkner writes, “A girl is nothing and suddenly she is everything!” Arun felt this long ago and even said it, though without words. Now Prabha feels, “A man is nothing and suddenly he is everything!” She’s searching for him desperately. She’s sure and wants to say it aloud to him, but he’s busy being invisible! That’s perhaps why Yogesh sahab has penned the word ‘humsafar’, specifically in this stanza. And it’s not just humsafar, it’s ‘mera’ humsafar! Arun is now her bright sunny morning and her delightful evening but his absence has reduced the day to a thorny stack of hours!

Lataji’s harkat on ‘kyun’ in the mukhda makes the listener wonder, “O but why? Why does this happen with life?” The way Salil da has composed the bridge lines (saje bhi na… and kahaan gayi shaamein…) in both the stanzas is just a peek into his magnanimous stature as a composer. The simplicity of love has been so gracefully presented by Yogesh sahab! And all this has been so sensitively filmed by Basu da!

Love is a lucky charm, and when your heart decides to use it, all you can do is thank the Almighty that you were lucky enough to be charmed!