Bollywood songs have a powerful way of impacting popular culture with their lasting imprint.
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This may sound like a piece of trivia, but sometimes such trivia makes for some interesting and entertaining reading. Ever heard of the famous Bollywood chartbuster song of 1966, ‘Jhumka gira re Bareilly ke bazaar mein‘ from the Sunil Dutt-Sadhana film ‘Mera Saya’?
Now even after 55 years, the song is still as popular as ever. In fact its popularity has grown over the years and it wouldn’t be wrong to say that as long as this song remains fresh and alive in the hearts and minds of music-lovers, the popularity and fame of Bareilly my hometown, will remain fresh and alive for posterity.
The late poet Mehndi Ali Khan was inspired to write this song after his wife dropped and lost her ear-rings ‘Bareilly ke bazaar mein’, sung by Asha Bhosle. Perhaps this is how ordinary, everyday events in a quirky sort of way, become a part of ‘pop history’. But what if the gentleman concerned was too scared to scold his wife over her carelessness, and so decided to write a song instead. Nobody will ever come to know the real truth. And that’s how such matters gets relegated to the shadowy realm of mere conjecture
I doubt there is any other song, which has ingrained itself so deeply and sharply in the collective memory and consciousness, the name of a city and a piece of jewellery as permanently and prominently as ‘Bareilly ke bazaar mein jhumka gira re’
But before we go any deeper into knowing more about the ‘downfall and loss’ of ‘jhumkas’ we ought to understand the basic difference in the approach to songwriting between Hindi film music and popular Western music.
The late poet Mehndi Ali Khan was inspired to write this song after his wife dropped and lost her ear-rings ‘Bareilly ke bazaar mein’, sung by Asha Bhosle. Perhaps this is how ordinary, everyday events in a quirky sort of way, become a part of ‘pop history’
Now in the case of western music, a song is an independent entity, not dependent on a film for its life and popularity, unless that film happens to be a musical. However, on the other hand, in
Bollywood, the song is part of the story-telling process. In that sense Bollywood music is situational and acts as a prop to ensure the success and continuity of a film. Of course a song may and does have an independent existence, because film music is a staple offering over All India Radio (AIR), especially Vividh Bharati. But the identity of a particular song is permanently linked to the film for which it was created.
I doubt is there is any other song, which has ingrained itself so deeply and sharply in the collective memory and consciousness, the name of a city and a piece of jewellery as permanently and prominently as ‘Bareilly ke bazaar mein jhumka gira re’
In passing I would like to recount a story of a 1954 Hollywood song and the legend associated with that song. It was written by Sammy Cahn and sung by one of the most iconic singers of Western popular music, Frank Sinatra. And it featured in a romantic comedy film by the same name: ‘Three coins in the Fountain’, starring Clifton Webb and Dorothy McGuire.
In the movie there is a scene where tourists stand with their backs to the Trevi Fountain in Rome and toss coins over their left shoulder into the fountain. The practice stems from an ancient legend that prophesies that those who toss coins into the fountain will return to Rome, the eternal city.
Even today, tourists visiting Rome make it point to toss coins into the fountain so that their wish and desire to return to Rome is fulfilled. After every two-three days the fountain is stopped so that the fountain is cleared of the debris of coins, which is donated to various charities.
Coming back to the present time and India, Bareilly, a divisional headquarters pf Rohilkhand Division in western Uttar Pradesh, is famous for its ‘soorma’(an ancient and indigenous type of eye-liner) , a special kind of embroidery known as ‘zardozi’ and cane and bamboo furniture.
As a symbolic gesture the civic authorities decided to install a 14-feet enlarged replica of ‘jhumka’ at at a roundabout park on the highway welcoming the city from Delhi.
Jhumkas or ear-rings, in fact, have no direct connection with Bareilly. But no one can deny the fact that this song has has made the city hugely popular, so much so that Jhumkas and Bareilly have become synonymous.
And then, what happens next? ‘Phir, jhumka gira re…….’!!!