Movie Details of Chori Chori
Music: Shankar-Jaikishan, Traditional
Lyrics: Shailendra, Hasrat Jaipuri
Label: Saregama
Director: Anant Thakur
Raj Kapoor's fifth movie with his dream musical team of Shankar-Jaikishan and Shailendra-Hasrat Jaipuri won the composer duo their first Filmfare Award. The composers' work here featured a scintillating variety of genres – the musical influences ranging from world music to earthy folk to classical; there was even the rarity of a traditional Carnatic thillana (equivalent of the Hindustani tarana) sung by veteran singer M L Vasanthakumari. Instead of Mukesh (presumably because the singer was pursuing his acting dreams around this period), Raj Kapoor's singing voice here was Manna Dey; and Dey & Lata Mangeshkar got to deliver the album's most memorable tracks.
Best Song of Chori Chori: My top pick from the album is the Manna Dey-Lata Mangeshkar duet Yeh Raat Bheegi Bheegi. Shankar Jaikishan's haunting tune gained immensely from their arranger Sebastian D'Souza's spectacular employment of violins, guitars and Latino percussion that lent the song a very Western feel. Shailendra's romantic lines were delivered to a tee by the singers.
On a related note: The opening verse of the other Dey-Lata duet Aaja Sanam derives its tune from the Italian folk song Tarantella Napoletana.
The Chori Chori Playlist:
Listen to the entire album of Chori Chori here: