Friday, July 13, 2012

Your weekly dose of 80's Bollywood Cheese



This song is so bloody awesome that it just barely qualifies for 80's cheese but then again the word cheese is used to convey oodles of love and not an ounce of disrespect. This week we present Jab Chaye Mera Jaadoo sung by the inimitable Asha Bhonsle. The funky/addictive music was composed by no less of an authority than Rajesh Roshan (Hrithik's uncle) and although I don't know who the two lovely young ladies are in the song itself - their enthusiasm makes the experience complete and for that we thank you.

~ The song starts off in yet another one of those 'I want to party there with every friend I have in the world' clubs deep in the seedy underworld of Bombay.

~ The slow motion jumping? Great touch Mr Dev Anand (who starred, directed and produced this craziness)

~ :30 second mark, item girl #2 makes her entrance and what a grand entrance it is! Most movies (both now and back then) were content with one item girl but this is one of those rare occasions when two is SO much better than just one.

~ I am not a fashionista by any stretch of the imagination but the magical color combinations worn by our two item girls (hot pink & bright red) could easily be reproduced today and look amazing. I am talking to you Ayesha & Nafisa!

~ 1:15 mark - love love love the mullet here! In fact, I love all the background dancing in this song, guys and girls alike.

~ 2:00 mark - nice shot of our item girls through the legs of other dancing girls while our hero, Wing Commander Bhagat (alias Jim Darcy) played by Dev Anand walks in.

~ 3:00 mark - great special effect when our esteemed Wing Commander lights a cigarette that magically makes every strobe light in the place come on at once.

But like most songs that get mentioned in this segment this one holds up exceptionally well even today. The lyrics are actually quite poetic and the music composition is just fantastic even if you don't have a clue as to what they are singing about. And of course the top reason to re-introduce these songs 30 years on is that you could play this at any party and you will be guaranteed a stampede to the dance floor.


'Lootmaar' was expected to capitalize on the mega success of 1978's 'Des Pardes' which was also a Dev Anand production but despite a cast comprising of a virtual Who's Who of Bollywood stars & villains - Dev Anand, Tina Munim, Mehmood, Nirupa Roy, Amjad Khan, Prem Chopra, Kader Khan, Ranjeet, Shakti Kapoor, Simple Kapadia, Shreeram Lagoo and Rakhee - it underwhelmed at the box office. Fortunately for us, the movie left behind this amazing song to be enjoyed for many years to come.