#90 Hare Rama Hare Krishna: Top 100 Bollywood Albums

Music: R.D. Burman

Lyrics: Anand Bakshi

Label: Saregama HMV

Director: Dev Anand

One of the many things that set R D Burman apart from a lot of his peers was his tendency to experiment with the sounds in his songs. One prominent instance of the same was the 1971 film Hare Rama Hare Krishna. Dev Anand's sophomore directorial effort (first was Prem Pujari the previous year, which had music by the senior Burman) had the composer go with psychedelic sounds to suit the hippie theme of the movie, resulting in the cult song Dum Maaro Dum. The soundtrack's diverse soundscape also featured folk-flavoured pieces like Kaanchi Re and what would become the quintessential raksha bandhan song, Phoolon Ka Taaron Ka. 

Best Song of Hare Rama Hare Krishna: This would have to be Dum Maaro Dum, for obvious reasons. While one cannot help but wonder how it might have sounded had Burman composed it as a duet with Lata Mangeshkar and Usha Uthup (then Usha Iyer) as he originally intended, Asha Bhonsle totally rocked the rendition that deservingly won her the Filmfare for playback that year. 

1. Hare Rama Hare Krishna (Female Version) (Singer: Asha Bhosle, Usha Uthup)
2. Dekho O Diwano (Singer: Kishore Kumar)
3. Dum Maro Dum (Singer: Asha Bhosle)
4. Ghungroo Ka Bole (Singer: Lata Mangeshkar)
5. Phoolon Ka Taron Ka (Singer: Kishore Kumar)
6. Phoolon Ka Taron Ka (Singer: Lata Mangeshkar)
7. Kanchi Re Kanchi (Singers: Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar)

Listen to Dum Maaro Dum from Hare Rama Hare Krishna here:

(With contributions by Praveen VR, co-founder of musicaloud.com)

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