A song for each penthouse

All of us can divide our life into penthouses(that’s what I call them) as we move from one set of people to another, and each penthouse has its own songs(read colors). We buy these penthouses on the “memory lane”, spend some great time in them with the people we share that era with and then move on. When we look back and open one of those penthouses, there is always a song playing on each of its wall, just behind the cherished photographs of the people who shared that penthouse with us. These are the songs which we have sung together, on whose tunes we have danced innumerable number of times and have shed tears listening to them. These songs give colors to the penthouses of our memories.

It was the year 1994 when everyone went crazy over a movie which had no dhishum dhishum(to everyone’s surprise). The image which remained with me was that of Nisha in a purple saree asking Prem – “Hum aapke hain kaun!”….and thus a long dead phoenix of a lost genre was reborn. The movie was nothing but a mirror which reminded us of the joys of a family and gave me a few memorable shades for my penthouse. The same year 1942 A love story and Andaz apna apna released and gave me “Kuch na kaho….” and a new wallpaper of comedy.

The very next year, the nation got a new National Anthem in the name of “Tujhe dekha to ye jaana sanam”. Raj and Simran erupted on the screen and “mere khwaboon main” gave everybody a reason to dream. It was a love story everyone wanted to be their own and god knows how many love stories were born as an aftermath. The same year Rangeela released and I got a dash of red via “Tanha tanha” for a wall.

1997 flagged off the next ten best years of my life during which I bought five penthouses on the memory lane. The first one was called the “Bachelor’s pent”. Going to DU was a “fashion” shock in itself and thus began my transitions at all levels. The first movie which was seen by bunking the classes was “Dil to pagal hai”. The sight of Karishma dancing to “le gayi le gayi” was so mesmerizing that I stood in the aisle of the hall till I was shoved in my seat by god knows who. The movie had plush evergreen memorable colors. The next three years saw such bright flashes of talent that on looking back, I find this penthouse as the most beautifully painted. Gupt, Border, Pardes, Virasat, Ghulam, Pyar kiya to darna kya, Pyar to hona hi tha, Taal, Sarfarosh were all huge musical Nerolacs, providing a huge variety of colors for the Bachelor’s pent.

1998 saw the release of yet another phenomenon. People went completely berserk and it looked as if the whole nation was under a deadly virus attack and the only quarantined areas were the theaters running this movie. “Skateboard surfing” Rahul, “Tomboyish” Anjali and “Seductive” Tina in a college straight out of Archie’s were the perfectly etched characters to sing the dizzying melodies….songs which I still use at times, to give the final touches to some walls. Then came “Hum dil de chuke sanam”, which made movies look graceful. The aesthetically decorated “Ankhon ki” was a beautiful shade of pink while “Chand chupa” was of the color of moonlight.

After B.Sc, it was time to move into a the “Master’s pent”. New faces, new friends and new walls to paint. The melody count was not in the same league as the earlier colors, but still there were the offwhites of “Kaho na pyaar hai”, the reds of “Mohobbatain”, the deep purples of “Dil chahta hai”, the greys of “Kabhi khushi kabhi gham”, the browns of “Lagaan” and the goldens of “Devdas”. I have lost count of the number of times we sang “jane kyun” and the number of times I saw Devdas, just to watch Madhuri dance to “Kahe chede”. “Dil Chahta Hai” elevated the definition of friendship to another level while “Lagaan” elevated India to another level.

Soon it was time to move out of the “Master’s pent” and after much running here and there I moved in the “Tech Paradise Pent”. The next two years at M.Tech were the most cherished and filled with unlimited fun….and colors. Koi mil gaya, Kal ho na ho, MunnaBhai MBBS, Dhoom, Veer Zaara, Jism & Hum Tum took hindi cinema away from the cliché. If pale yellow “ladki kyun” became a reason to irritate girls, then firebrick “jadu hai nasha hai” gave me my first ballroom dance. If crimson “kal ho na ho” made us laugh & cry at the same time, then turquoise “bole to” gave us a new version of the national language…..and how can we forget “Veer Zaara” and the timeless emeraldgreen melodies of Madan Mohan.

“TIL Pent” was the one I shared with the maximum number of people. Almost more than 150. It was the period with the least colors and huge number of photographs( in fact you can’t see the walls). So wherever we found some space we used songs of Zehar, Bunti aur Babli, Salaam Namaste and Parineeta for painting. This was one penthouse which was attractive and pleasant even without the colors.

Finally, I moved to Chennai and bought the “Utopia Pent”. The next two years gave me the most creative and original set of people to fill my walls and it was nothing less than a roller coaster ride. We experimented a variety of shades with the unforgettable Rang de Basanti’s “Paathshala”, the Gandhigiri dipped Lage Raho Munnabhai’s “Pal Pal”, the tears galore Kabhi Alwida Na Kehna’s “Mitwa”, the bomber meets blind princess Fanaa’s “Chand Sifarish”, the 32-60 romance Cheeni kum’s “Jane do na” and finally the racer turned amrican beggars Tararumpum’s title track. “Tararumpum” somehow became the Utopia Pent Anthem & finally we rechristened “Utopia Pent” to “Tararumpum Pent”.

Now……..the time is ripe to buy a new pent back home. I will call it the “Shadi ka Ladoo Pent”. I have started looking for colors too. How about a dash of red and grey to begin with?