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The 87 most popular/ significant Hindi-Urdu songs of 1961

Dev Anand and Sadhana see their reflections in a pool in Hum Dono Rangeen, the colourised 2010 version of Hum Dono (1961)

Raj Kapoor without Mukesh

It is incorrectly believed that only Mukesh (and Manna Dey) have sung for Raj Kapoor. Mohammed Rafi sang a number of songs that Raj Kapoor lip-synced on the screen. Among them was Baazi kisi ne pyaar ki jeeti yaan haar di for the film Nazrana. Ravi scored the music and Rajinder Krishan wrote the lyrics.

Sachin Dev Burman without Lata

In 1957 a rift developed between Sachin Dev Burman and Lata Mangeshkar, which got resolved only in 1963. In those more-than-six years Lata did not sing for Sachin Dev Burman at all.

The first steps towards a patch up took place in 1960-61 when SD's son Rahul Dev Burman was asked (by comedian-filmmaker Mehmood) to compose music for a film, Chhote Nawab, independent of his father, whose assistant he then was (and continued to be till at least 1969, in Aradhana, well after establishing himself in the top rung in 1966).

Pancham [lit. the fifth note, G/ sol/ pâ], as RDB was also called, composed a song rooted in Indian classical music. Chhote Nawab was RD’s first film as music director. So, he sang the tune out to his father. When SD heard the song he immediately picked up the phone, called Lata and said, ‘Our Pancham is going to become [an independent] music director. Will you sing a song for him? Zuroor ga (You definitely should.) I am telling you so.’ Lata agreed and the song, ‘Ghar aaja’ was critically appreciated. It had the kind of music and lyrics that characterised the RDB-Gulzar songs of the late 1970s and 1980s. Though Chhote Nawab was not an A list film, RDB made it to no.5 on the annual charts on his independent debut.

Sachin Dev Burman and Lata Mangeshkar patched up and started working together again in 1963 with Bandini, with ‘Mora gora rang,’ the song that launched Sampooran Singh Gulzar’s career (all other songs in the film were penned by Shailendra).

When were these films released?

Incidentally, Geet Kosh tells us that Chhote Nawab was released in 1961, not 1960 as stated by Geetmala ki Chhaon Mein. The film’s censor certificate is of no help, because it only tells us that it was renewed in 1983. The evidence points towards 1961. (Obviously, this film did not have much re-release value and lay in the cans for years before the certificate was renewed.)

And when was Maya released? Ameen Sayani’s commentary on vol.17 puts it in 1961. The GCM jacket says 1960. Geet Kosh supports Mr Sayani. The film’s censor certificate was renewed in 1971. Hence Indpaedia has opted for 1961.

‘Songs in the shade’ (chhaoñ songs)

Sadhana in Hum Dono Rangeen, the colourised 2010 version of Hum Dono (1961)

The Geetmala ki Chhaon Mein CDs list 21 songs that were ‘in the shade’ (chhaoñ songs) this year. Prof Bhargava has compiled a list of 13 runners-up. The two lists have 5 songs in common. Thus, between the two, there are 29 unique songs in the ‘next rung.’

GC: Geetmala ki Chhaon Mein is a set of 50 CDs issued by Saregama in instalments that continued into 2014. The set concentrated on songs that had ‘remained in the shadow’ (chhaoñ) of the main annual list of Binaca and its successor Geet Malas. These, thus, were the ‘next rung’ of songs, which were popular but did not make it to the main annual list.

AB: Bhargava, Anil, Binaca Geetmala ka Sureela Safar (Hindi; 2007; Rs.1,200), Vangmaya Prakashan, Jaipur-302015. vangmaya_jpr@yahoo.com)

Volumes 16 to 20 of Geetmala ki Chhaon Mein contain songs from the years 1960 to 1963. However, the songs have not been organised according to the year or any other comprehensible criteria. That Indpaedia had to rearrange them yearwise is not the issue. That the years printed on the jacket sometimes did not match the commentary on the disc, or was otherwise incorrect, added to our workload.

‘Sureela Safar’ has placed some songs released in one year in the next year’s Runners Up list. Perfectly understandable. Songs don’t lose their popularity at the stroke of midnight on December 31.

The issue is that in some cases GCM has listed a song in the year of its release but ‘Sureela Safar’ has placed the same song in the subsequent year. In such cases Indpaedia has listed the song under the earlier year, the one mentioned by GCM. However, if a song has been mentioned on ‘Sureela Safar’s’ Runners Up list alone Indpaedia has respected ‘Sureela Safar’s’ judgement about that song continuing to be popular in the next year as well.

Raags in songs

Few film songs that have a root in Indian classical music remain faithful to a raag throughout their length. Indpaedia volunteers have sometimes mentioned raags even when there is merely a hint of that raag in a song. (‘Raag’ is frequently spelt ‘raga,’ while ‘taal’ is also spelt ‘tal.’)

Wherever a taal has been mentioned, it is the one verified by ChandraKantha.com, and sometimes the raags, too.

The songs were suggested, inter alia, by songsofyore

Binaca Geetmala’s 32 top songs of 1961

	Song	Film	Music Director	Lyricist	Singer(s)
1	Teri pyari pyari soorat ko kisi ki nazar na lage	Sasural	Shankar Jaikishan	Hasrat Jaipuri	Mohammed Rafi
2	Abhi na jaao chhorh kar, ké dil abhi bhara nahin (Raag Kalyãn/ Taal Dãdrã)	Hum Dono	Jaidev	Sahir Ludhianvi	Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle
3	Ho maiñ ne pyar kiya	Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai (1960)	Shankar Jaikishan	Hasrat Jaipuri	Lata Mangeshkar
4	Mera nãm Raju gharana anãm (Raag Bhairavi/ Taal Keherwã)	Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai	Shankar Jaikishan	Shailendra	Mukesh
5	Matwali aankhoñ wale o albele dilwale	Chhote Nawab	R D Burman	Shailendra	Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar
6	Dil mera ek aas ka panchhi	Aas Ka Panchhi	Shankar Jaikishan	Hasrat Jaipuri	Subir Sen
7	Ek savaal main karooñ, ek savaal tum karo	Sasural	Shankar Jaikishan	Shailendra	Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar
8	Koi humdam na raha, koi sahara na raha (Raag Jhinjhoti/ Taal Keherwã)	Jhumroo	Kishore Kumar	Majrooh Sultanpuri	Kishore Kumar
9	Sãrañgã teri yaad mein (Yaman Kalyãn/ Taal Dãdrã)	Saranga	Sardar Malik	Bharat Vyas	Mukesh (Mohammed Rafi version exists on LP, not used in film)
10	Husn wale terâ jawâb naheeñ	Gharana	Ravi	Shakeel Badayuni	Mohammed Rafi
11	Hoñthon pe sachchai rehti hai (Raag Bhairavi/ Taal Dadra)	Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai	Shankar Jaikishan	Shailendra	Mukesh
12	Kabhi khud pe, kabhi hâlât pe rona ayaa (Gãra)	Hum Dono	Jaidev	Sahir Ludhianvi	Mohammed Rafi
13	Itna na mujhse tu pyar badha ki maiñ ik bâdal	Chhaya	Salil Chowdhury	Rajinder Krishan	Talat Mahmood, Lata Mangeshkar
14	Maiñ khush-naseeb hooñ mujhko kisi ka pyar mila	Tower House (1962)	Ravi	Asad Bhopali	Mukesh, Lata Mangeshkar
15	Madhuban mein Radhika nache ray (Raag Hameer/ Teen Taal)	Kohinoor (1960)	Naushad	Shakeel Badayuni	Mohammed Rafi, Ameer Khan
16	Begaani shaadi meiñ Abdullah dîwana	Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai	Shankar Jaikishan	Shailendra	Lata Mangeshkar, Mukesh
17	Jeevan mein ek baar aana Singapore (Dekho ji dekho sun lo ye baat)	Singapore (1960)	Shankar Jaikishan	Hasrat Jaipuri	Lata Mangeshkar
18	Tasveer teri dil meiñ, jis din se utâri hai	Maya	Salil Chowdhury	Majrooh Sultanpuri	Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar
19	Bikhara ke zulfein chaman mein na jaana	Nazrana	Ravi	Rajinder Krishan	Lata Mangeshkar, Mukesh
20	Haan deewana hoon main	Saranga	Sardar Mallik	Bharat Vyas	Mukesh
21	Tum roothi raho main manata rahooñ	Aas Ka Panchhi	Shankar Jaikishan	Hasrat Jaipuri	Lata Mangeshkar, Mukesh
22	Neeli neeli ghata, o bheegi bheegi hava	Hum Hindustani	Usha Khanna	K Manohar	Mukesh, Asha Bhosle
23	Kabhi tanhaiyoñ mein yoon hamari yaad aayegi (Palãsi/ Taal Keherwã)	Hamari Yaad Aayegi (1962)	Snehal Bhatkar	Kedar Sharma	Mubarak Begum
24	Do sitaroñ ka zameeñ par hai milan (Pahãrhi/ Taal Dãdrã)	Kohinoor (1960)	Naushad	Shakeel Badayuni	Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi
25	Teri duniya se door, chale hoke majboor	Zabak	Chitragupt	Prem Dhawan	Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar
26	Jiya o jiya kuchh bol do	Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai	Shankar Jaikishan	Hasrat Jaipuri	Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar
27	Do hansoñ ka joda bichhad gayo re (Raag Bhairavi/ Taal Hinch)	Gunga Jumna	Naushad	Shakeel Badayuni	Lata Mangeshkar
28	Humeiñ kash tumse muhabbat na hoti	Mughal-e-Azam (1960)	Naushad	Shakeel Badayuni	Lata Mangeshkar
29	Baazi kisi ne pyaar ki jeeti yaan haar di (Ek pyasa tujhe maikhanaa diye jata hai)	Nazrana	Ravi	Rajinder Krishan	Mohammed Rafi
30	Daadi amma daadi amma maan jao	Gharana	Ravi	Shakeel Badayuni	Asha Bhosle, Kamal Barot
31	O basanti pawan pagal na ja re (Raag Basañt Mukhãri/ Rupak Taal)	Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai	Shankar Jaikishan	Shailendra	Lata Mangeshkar
32	Chhodo kal ki baateiñ kal ki baat puraani	Hum Hindustani	Usha Khanna	Prem Dhawan	Mukesh

The next 29 songs

Song	Film	Music Director	Lyricist	Singer(s)	GC	AB
Sapne suhané ladakpan ke	Bees Saal Baad	Hemant Kumar	Shakeel Badayuni	Lata Mangeshkar	GC
Banké piya kaho hãñ (Dagabaaz ho)	Burmah Road	Chitragupt	Majrooh Sultanpuri	Lata Mangeshkar, Usha Mangeshkar	GC
Aansoo samajh ké kyoñ mujhe aankh say tu né gira diya (Raag Kalyãn/ Taal Dãdrã)	Chhaya	Salil Chowdhury	Rajinder Krishan	Talat Mehmood		AB
Ghar aaja ghir aaye badra, sãñvariyã (Raag Malgunji/ Rupak Taal)	Chhote Nawab	Rahul Dev Burman	Shailendra	Lata Mangeshkar	GC
Jab se tumhen dekha hai	Gharana	Ravi	Shakeel Badayuni	Asha Bhosle, Mohammed Rafi	GC	AB
Meré banné ki baat na poochho mera banna hariyala hai	Gharana	Ravi	Shakeel Badayuni	Asha Bhosle, Shamshad Begum		AB
Mori chham-chham baajey pâyaliyâ, aaj milé haiñ moré sãñvariyã	Ghunghat (1960)	Ravi	Shakeel Badayuni	Lata Mangeshkar		AB
Gori ghunghat mein mukhda chhipao nã	Ghunghat (1960)	Ravi	Shakeel Badayuni	Asha Bhosle		AB
Nain lad jayee heiñ, to man-wã mã kasak hoi	Gunga Jumna	Naushad	Shakeel Badayuni	Mohammed Rafi	GC	AB
Lakhoñ taré aasman mein	Hariyali Aur Rasta	Shankar-Jaikishan	Shailendra	Lata Mangeshkar, Mukesh	GC
Allah tero naam Ishwar tero naam (Raag Gaur Sãrañg/ Taal DîpChañdi) (Moghuli))	Hum Dono	Jaidev	Sahir Ludhianvi	Lata Mangeshkar	GC
Main zindagi ka saath nibhata chala gaya	Hum Dono	Jaidev	Sahir Ludhianvi	Mohammed Rafi	GC
Ja ja ja meré bachpan	Junglee	Shankar-Jaikishan	Shailendra	Lata Mangeshkar	GC	AB
Saath ho tum aur raat jawan	Kaanch Ki Gudiya	Suhrid Kar	Shailendra	Asha Bhosle, Mukesh	GC
Aye mere pyare watan	Kabuliwala	Salil Chowdhury	Prem Dhawan	Manna Dey	GC
Ganga aaye kahan se	Kabuliwala	Salil Chowdhury	Gulzar	Hemant Kumar	GC
Koi pyar ki dekhe jadoogari, gulfam ko mil gayi sabz pari (Pahãrhi/ Taal Keherwã)	Kohinoor	Naushad	Shakeel Badayuni	Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi		AB
Main abhi ghair hoon	Main Aur Mera Bhai	C. Arjun	Jan Nissar Akhtar	Asha Bhosle, Mukesh	GC
Jaa ré jaa ré ud jaa ré panchhi (Raag Bhairavi/ Taal Keherwa)	Maya	Salil Chowdhury	Majrooh Sultanpuri	Lata Mangeshkar	GC
Saaz bajta rahey, raqs hota rahey	Modern Girl	Ravi	Rajinder Krishan	Asha Bhosle		AB
Yeh mausam rangeen sama	Modern Girl	Ravi	Gulshan Bawra	Mukesh, Suman Kalyanpur	GC	AB
Ek voh bhi Diwali thi, ek yeh bhi Diwali hai	Nazrana	Ravi	Rajinder Krishan	Mukesh		AB
Balma mane na (Raag Mãlkauñs/ Taal Keherwã)	Opera House	Chitragupt	Majrooh Sultanpuri	Lata Mangeshkar	GC
Pyaase panchhi neel gagan mein geet milan kay gayeiñ	Pyaase Panchhi	Kalyanji-Anandji	Qamar Jalalabadi	Mukesh		AB
Dhalti jaaye raat	Razia Sultana	Lachhiram	Anand Bakshi	Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle	GC
Badli badli duniya hai meri	Sangeet Samrat Tansen	S.N. Tripathi	Shailendra	Lata Mangeshkar,Mahendra Kapoor	GC
Bhooli huyi yadon mujhé itna na satao (Yaman / Taal Dãdrã)	Sanjog	Madan Mohan	Rajinder Krishan	Mukesh	GC
Woh bhooli dastan lo phir yaad (Chãrukéshi)	Sanjog	Madan Mohan	Rajinder Krishan	Lata Mangeshkar	GC	AB
Larhi re larhi tujhse aankh jo ladi	Shola Aur Shabnam	Khaiyyaam	Prem Dhawan	Jagjit Kaur	GC

26 additional songs with a classical background

NOTE: The song Lau lagãti geet gãti from the film Bhabhi Ki Chudiyan was written by Narendra Sharma.

Song	Film	Music Director	Lyricist	Singer(s)
Añkhiyan sañg añkhiyãñ lãgi aaj, jhoomé baar baar (Raag Malkauñs/ Teen Taal, Keherwã)	Bada Aadmi	Chitragupta	Prem Dhawan	Mohammed Rafi
Jyoti kalash chhalké, hué gulabi lãl sunehlé, rang dal bãdal ké (Raag Bhoopali/ Taal Keherwã)	Bhabhi Ki Chudiyan	Sudhir Phadke	Narendra Sharma	Lata Mangeshkar
Lau lagãti geet gãti (Raag Kalyãn/ Taal Dãdrã)	Bhabhi Ki Chudiyan	Sudhir Phadke		Lata Mangeshkar
Meri lãj rakho, Giridhari, main lãkh jatan sé hãrî (Raag Shivarañjini/ Taal Keherwã)	Bhabhi Ki Chudiyan	Sudhir Phadke	Narendra Sharma	Lata Mangeshkar
Tum se hi ghar ghar kehlãya (Dar bhi thã, deewãreiñ bhi) (Raag Darbãri Kãnarhã/ Taal Keherwã)	Bhabhi Ki Chudiyan	Sudhir Phadke	Narendra Sharma	Mukesh
Chham chham nãchat ãyi bahãr, pãt pãt né lee añgdayee (Raag: Bahar, others; (Taal: Teen Taal, Keherwa, Punjabi Theka)	Chhaya	Salil Chowdhury	Rajinder Krishan	Lata Mangeshkar
Mujhé mil gayi hai muhabbat ki manzil (Raag Tilak Kamod/ Taal Keherwã)	First Love	Dattaram Naik	Gulshan Bawra	Mukesh
Lage na mora jiya, sajna nahin aaye (Shivarañjini)	Ghunghat (1960)	Ravi	Shakeel Badayuni	Lata Mangeshkar
Na mãnooñ na mãnooñ, dagabaaz tori batiyañ na mãnooñ re (Raag Pîloo/ Taal Dãdrã)	Gunga Jumna (1961)	Naushad	Shakeel Badayuni	Lata Mangeshkar
Tora man barha papi sañvariya re (Matlab ka tû meet, bédardi) (Pahãrhi/ Taal Keherwã)	Gunga Jumna (1961)	Naushad	Shakeel Badayuni	Asha Bhosle
Kabhi khud pe kabhi hãlãt pe ronã aayã (Raag Gara/ Taal Dãdrã)	Hum Dono	Jaidev	Sahir Ludhianvi	Mohammed Rafi
Prabhu tero nãm jo dhyãyé phal payé (Raag Dhãni/ Taal Keherwã)	Hum Dono	Jaidev	Sahir Ludhianvi	lm
Ban ke chakori gori, jhoom jhoom nacho ri (Raag Bihãg/ Taal Keherwã)	Hum Matwale Naujawan	Chitragupta	Majrooh Sultanpuri	Mukesh
O pavan vég se urhne-wale ghorhe tujh pe savãr hai jo, mera suhãg hai voh (Raag Mãlkauñs/ Taal Keherwã)	Jai Chitaur	S. N. Tripathi	Bharat Vyas	Lata Mangeshkar
Hum bhi haiñ (Hai aag hamãre seené meiñ) (Raag Bhairavi/ Taal Dadra)	Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai	Shankar Jaikishan	Shailendra	Lata Mangeshkar, Geeta Dutt, Manna Dey, Mukesh, Mahendra Kapoor
Piya milan ki aas-ré (Kãgã sab tan khãiyo, ki chun chun khaiyo maas…mohé piya milan ki aas) (Raag Shivarañjini/ Taal Keherwã)	Piya Milan Ki Aas	S. N. Tripathi	Bharat Vyas	Lata Mangeshkar
Tum hi mere meet ho (Raag KîrwãNi/ Taal Keherwã)	Pyaase Panchhi	Kalyanji-Anandji	Qamar Jalalabadi	Suman Kalyanpur, Hemant Kumar
Wafa jin sé ki (Ho gayé do rooj) (Raag Tilak Kamod/ Taal Keherwã)	Pyar Ka Sagar	Ravi	Prem Dhawan	Mukesh
Dharti kyûñ viprît hui aur kyûñ viruddh ãkãsh hua? Ruk ja o ban bãsi Ram (Raag Puria Dhaneshri)	Sampoorna Ramayan	Vasant Desai	Bharat Vyas	Manna Dey, Lata Mangeshkar
Hum Ram Chandr ki chañdr kãl meiñ bhi kalañk dikhlãté…Hé Ram tumhari Ramayan tab tak hogi sampûrn nahiñ (Darbari Kanarha)	Sampoorna Ramayan	Vasant Desai	Bharat Vyas	Asha Bhosle, Lata Mangeshkar
San sanan x 3, jã ré O pawan (Chandrakauñs/ Taal Dãdrã)	Sampoorna Ramayan	Vasant Desai	Bharat Vyas	Lata Mangeshkar
Chali ré chali ré maiñ to des parayé (Kin gharhiyoñ méiñ preet lagãî) (Raag Tilak Kamod/ Taal Jhap Taal) -	Saranga (1960)	Sardar Malik	Bharat Vyas	Asha Bhosle
Dharhakte dil ki tamanna ho, mera pyar ho tum (Raag Pîloo/ Taal Keherwã)	Shama	Gulam Mohamad	Kaifi Azmi	Suraiya
Jaane kya dhoondti rehti hain yeh ãñkheiñ mujh meiñ (Pahãrhi/ Taal Dãdrã)	Shola Aur Shabnam	Khaiyyaam	Kaifi Azmi	Mohammed Rafi
Jeet hi lenge baazi hum tum, khel adhoorã chhooté nã (Phool ko DhooñDe pyasa…) (Raag Bhairavi/ Taal Dadra)	Shola Aur Shabnam	Khaiyyaam	Kaifi Azmi	Lata Mangeshkar. Mohammed Rafi
Kãnhã, ja re, baaT takat thak thak gayé naina (Raag Kédãr/ Taal Keherwã)	Tel Malish, Boot Polish	Chitragupta	Prem Dhawan	Manna Dey, Lata Mangeshkar

Binaca Geet Mala 1961: greatest hits

Contents

The 87 most popular/ significant Hindi-Urdu songs of 1961

Raj Kapoor without Mukesh

Sachin Dev Burman without Lata

When were these films released?

‘Songs in the shade’ (chhaoñ songs)

Raags in songs

Binaca Geetmala’s 32 top songs of 1961

The next 29 songs

26 additional songs with a classical background

See also

For lists of popular songs

For lists of popular Hindi-Urdu films

For raags and taals

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