20 UNDERRATED SOUNDTRACKS: “Tu Pyaar Ka Saagar Hai” Manna Dey (Seema, 1955)

I’ve never been able to attribute an adjectival condition of pain to music before I heard the OST to Seema. The music associated with this brand of neorealism and social reform that hit shores in the 50s is the most interesting to study and listen to in depth I think, because the effect it had is traceable in the vestiges of modern parallel cinema along with commercial cinematic ventures (a negative effect being excess, predictable melodrama maybe for example). And perhaps one must be able to tie a personal condition into what a song like “Tu Pyaar Ka Saagar Hai” can be and can mean. A solemn Balraj Sahni and a crowd of destitute women and children sing this with the acceptance and hope a restless, unbelieving Nutan cannot. The eternal question of God and godliness intertwined with what might be the human condition in searching for an answer—this song extends beyond bhajans or bhavnas.

Tu pyaar ka saagar hai,
Tu pyaar ka saagar hai;
Teri ek boond ke pyaase hum,
Teri ek boond ke pyaase hum;
Ghaayal mann ka paagal panchhi
Udne ko beqaraar, udne ko beqaraar,
Pankh hai komal, aankh hai dhundli.
Jaana hai saagar paar,
Jaana hai saagar paar.

You are an ocean of love, you are an ocean of love,
We are thirsty for a single drop, we are thirsty for a single drop,
O the mad bird of the wounded heart,
So restless to fly, so restless to fly;
Wings are delicate, eyes are fogged,
It must cross this ocean, it must cross this ocean.

It’s an honestly beautiful song and Seema an almost perfect film.

“Sun Sahiba Sun” Lata Mangeshkar (Ram Teri Ganga Maili, 1985)

Trust dudes like Raj Kapoor to make films like this. Smh, I know it’s supposed to be like a parallel to one of the stories in the Mahabharata and a poem by Kalidas but ugh, the pure/impure thing has to leave. It was like continuous exploit upon exploit and honestly no thanks. Also, my mom and I were talking about this song and all the films about pahari women and the pardesi babu and apparently how if you’re from any somewhat isolated region considered “uncivilized”, you have to face rape, abandonment, a terrorist plot, and pregnancy before marriage and the only way it’ll get better is when your Brahmin city boy comes back for you. But hey if you wanna see the film, see it for nice, scenic propaganda located in my home state of Uttarakhand!