Posted on Trivia – The Spice of Life on 15/01/2022
[ The New Year began with COVID for me and my family. Life has been rather morbid and morose for the past ten days, surrounded by medicines, pulse oximeters, masks, thermometers and lab reports. I just did not have the stamina to sit up and write; finally, today I feel better and motivated enough to resume blogging. Here’s wishing all the readers a very Happy Makar Sankranti! ]
Have you ever wondered about how parsimoniously male beauty has been addressed in Hindi film songs? Come to think of it, when it comes to describing beauty, it is always the fairer sex(!!) that is heaped with hyperbolic praise. The number of songs that are exclusively dedicated to the man’s looks are negligible. Even the few that are there are more in the category of mutual admiration. The man praises the lady’s beauty to the skies and the lady once in a while returns the compliments (e.g. Tere Husn Ki Kya Tareef Karun from Leader). And as we know, it is the external physical beauty – the one that is skin deep – that is the focus. Seldom is there a reference to inner beauty.
I, therefore, felt that I must at least enlist the few songs that are there in honour of the man. Further, I have limited myself to solos as well as duets sung only by female playback singers. I did not want to include any songs of mutual admiration. This of course meant dredging deep. The songs are of the golden era. They are not arranged in any particular order.
1) Mera Baanka Balamuwa Laakhon Mein Ek (Ehsan, 1954) Lyricist: D.N.Madhok; Music Director : Madan Mohan; Playback Singer : Asha Bhosle. This song is from a lesser known movie. Unfortunately, the video of the song also is not available. However, the lyrics say it all. The man is said to be a dandy. He is incomparable (lakhon mein ek), more adorable than the moon and he is suave.
Chanda Se Pyaara Balma Hamaara Baata Karat Jiya Lut Lut Jaaye Zulmi Nazariya Jo Daale Phiraike Muh Se Nikal Jaaye Haay ki Jiyaa..
2) Mere Mehboob Mein Kya Nahin (Mere Mehboob, 1963) Lyricist: Shakeel Badayuni; Music Director : Naushad; Playback Singers : Asha Bhosle & Lata Mangeshkar. This evergreen female duet from Mere Mehboob is one of its kind. The entire song describes the prince charming in very elevated terms. What a pity though that such exemplary similes and metaphors are used for a wooden Rajendra Kumar!!
meraa mehboob ek chaand hain husn apnaa nikhaare huye aasmaan kaa farishtaa hain woh roop insaan kaa dhaare huye rashk-e-jannat hain wo mehjabeen... meraa dilbar hain aisaa jawaan ho bahaaron mein jaise chaman uski chaalon mein aisi lachak jaise phoolon ki daali hile uski aawaaz mein wo khanak jaise sheeshe se sheeshaa mile uske andaaz hain dilnasheen bholi soorat adaa naazneen...
3) Chandan Sa Badan (Saraswati Chandra, 1968) Lyricist: Indeevar; Music Directors : Kalyanji Anandji; Playback Singer : Lata Mangeshkar. Set to Raag Yaman, the female version is sung by Lata whereas the male version, which is more popular, is rendered by Mukesh. It is interesting how with very little change of lyrics, the song has immortalized the description of beauty irrespective of gender. This is one of the few songs which speaks of inner beauty along with physical beauty.
It would be engaging to see how the lyrics have been used in both versions. By and large the mukhda is the same. In the male version, it is ho jaun agar main deewana but in the female version it is dil deewana. That is understandable because it would otherwise be main deewani which does not gel well with the rest of the song. The same words – angaare – have been used in the first stanza but very differently in both the versions. The eyes are described in both versions again differently because the lady puts kaajal and the man does not!
Chandan sa badan chanchal chitvan, dhire se tera ye muskana mujhe dosh na dena jag walo ho jaau agar main divana ye kaam kaman bhanve teri palko ke kinare kajrare mathe pe sinduri suraj honthon pe dehakate angaare saya bhi jo tera pad jaye aabad ho dil ka virana
Chandan sa badan chanchal chitvan, dhire se tera ye muskana mujhe dosh na dena jag walo, ho jaaye agar dil divana ye vishal nayan jaise neel gagan, panchi ki tarah kho jao main sirhana jo ho teri baahon ka, angaaron pe sau jaoon main mera bairaagi man dol gaya, dekhi jo ada teri mastana
4) Aankhon Se Jo Utri Hain Dil Mein (Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hun, 1963) Lyricist: Majrooh Sultanpuri; Music Director : O.P.Nayyar; Playback Singer : Asha Bhosle. This is a lilting melody featuring Asha Parekh on screen. The song elaborately describes how handsome the man is. According to the lady, everything about him is so very special – his smile, his naughty eyes, his speech, his gaze. There is a certain degree of humour in the picturization that can only be enjoyed as one watches the song.
Wo uske labon par shokh hansee rangeen sharaarat aankhon mein saanson mein mohabbat ki khushbu wo pyaar ki dhadkan baaton mein duniya meri badal gayee banke ghata nikal gayee tauba woh nazar mastaane ki..
5) Kehte Hain Chand Jisko (Sanjog, 1961) Lyricist: Rajinder Krishan; Music Director : Madan Mohan; Playback Singer : Asha Bhosle. This is a lesser known song of the movie. It features Shubha Khote and Pradeep Kumar. Pradeep Kumar’s looks are complimented but I am not sure the description in the song and his looks are actually in sync. The lyrics if merely read would appear to be describing the lady and not the man. The tune of the song somewhat reminds me of Ai Dil Mujhe Bata De.
Nazrein jo tum utthaao har cheez muskuraaye palkein jo tum jhukaao taaron ko neend aaye
6) Hansta Hua Noorani Chehra (Parasmani, 1963) Lyricist: Asad Bhopali ; Music Directors : Laxmikant Pyarelal; Playback Singers : Lata Mangeshkar & Kamal Barot. This fast paced duet from the debut film of Laxmikant Pyarelal as music directors established them firmly in the saddle. Again the physical beauty that is being described – Noorani chehra(bright face), sunahara rang (golden complexion) and kali zulfein (black crop) – seems somewhat fantastic as the hero just does not measure up.
Hansataa huaa nooraani chehraa kaali zulfein rang sunaharaa teri javaani taubaa taubaa re dilarubaa dilarubaa dilarubaa dilarubaa
7) Tumsa Nahin Dekha (Tumsa Nahin Dekha, 1957) Lyricist: Sahir Ludhianvi ; Music Director : O.P.Nayyar; Playback Singer : Asha Bhosle. This is a short female version of the song sung by Asha Bhosle. It is the male version that is more popular. The lyrics of the antara are however the same. Ameeta is thinking of Shammi but poor Pran is the one on the scene and he begins to feel very pleased as he (believes!!) he is being praised for his ada (style!) and looks.
uff ye nazar uff ye ada kaun na ab hoga fida zulfein hain ya badliyan aankhen hain ya bijliyan jane kis kiski aayegi sazaa yun to hamne lakh hasin dekhe hain tumsa nahin dekha
8) Dekhne Mein Bhola Hain (Bambai Ka Babu, 1960) Lyricist: Majrooh Sultanpuri ; Music Director : S.D.Burman; Playback Singer : Asha Bhosle. This is a foot tapping Punjabi song which warns all the girls in the village to be wary of the handsome, young man from Bambai. He is sure to steal your hearts, she predicts. Dev Anand was indeed the heart throb of many!!
Dekhne mein bholaa hain dil kaa salonaa bambai se aayaa hain baabuu chinnannaa niki munni noor begam use na banaanaa ji haseenon ka shahzaadaa hain hansi naa udanaa ji dil uda le jaayegaa chodo bachpanaa
9) Haay Unki Woh Nigaahen (Aakhri Dao, 1958) Lyricist: Majrooh Sultanpuri ; Music Director : Madan Mohan; Playback Singer : Asha Bhosle. This is an enjoyable romantic number with Nutan praising her man completely oblivious that he is very much around (in the driver’s seat). It is his eyes that have stolen the lady’s heart.
Hay unki wo nigaahein, dil dekhe jinki raahein koi unse jaake puuchhe hum kyun na unhe chaahe
10) Kaamdev Jaisi Teri Suratiya (Tum Haseen Main Jawaan, 1970) Lyricist: Indeevar ; Music Directors : Shankar Jaikishan; Playback Singer : Suman Kalyanpur. This song explicitly compares the man to Kaamdev or the God of Love – the most desirable and handsome among the deities (also perhaps the Indian Cupid). The name of the movie too means you are beautiful, I am young!!
Baatein hi sunkar itni lajaun nain milale to kya hoga hanske jo dekhe pagal karde ang lagale to kya hoga roop tera dekhun mann me muskaun aankh to sharmayi sharmayi rahegi kamdev jaisi teri suratiya dil mein samayi samayi rahegi
This brings me to the end of my list of songs of the woman praising the man’s physical beauty. As I said at the beginning, songs of mutual admiration which are quite a few have been discounted. I hope all the men who read this post would be elated for the scales have always tipped rather unfairly in favour of the woman. Perhaps, if more female lyricists jump into the fray, we will have more praise heaped on the man!!
Disclaimer
anitamultitasker.wordpress.com claims no credit for any image, screenshots or songs posted on this site. The images and screenshots are the copyright of their original owners. The song links are shared from Daily Motion, YouTube and other platforms only to make the post audio visual. The copyright of these songs rests with the respective owners, producers and music companies.
Trivia 
I wish you all a speedy recovery and a happy healthy new year!
A very good indeed.
Off hand can’t think of a song, though Jiya Le Gayo Jee Mora Sanwariya somewhat appears to fit.
The antara goes,
Tune papihe nahi dekhe more saiyan
Dekhe to lega unki balaiyan
Don’t know if it’s a fit or not!
Anup
🙂
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Thanks for your wishes, Anupji! There are hardly any songs of this category. I also had to juggle my list quite a few times to arrive at this one. The song you mention is perfect. The praise could be in any part of the song.
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Great list! The first song that occurred to me when I saw the title of your post was Udein jab-jab zulfein teri, but that of course doesn’t count, since it’s a male-female duet (though, since the female is the one who begins by praising the man and he only reacts to that praise, perhaps it should count?).
I can’t think of any other songs right now, but I’ll come back if I do.
Sorry to hear you’ve had Covid, but glad to hear you’re better. I hope you heal completely soon.
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Thanks a lot for your wishes, Madhuji! The song from Naya Daur was in the reckoning but since it was a duet I was compelled to exclude it. It is such a pity that women have been so busy in listening to praise, that they have found no time to admire their admirers!!
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Anita,
I hope you are perfectly OK now. This post is a nice male ego booster who were always ignored in getting praise for ‘beauty’. It is surprising that this should be so, because it is against mathematical logic. Female solos outnumber male solos by more than a factor of three, but ladies spend more time singing sad songs of separation, or cursing the ‘Bedardi baalma’.
AK
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I am much better, AKji! Thanks! You are right about how women fail to see the brighter side of life at least in films. They are quite stingy when it comes to praising others. They should be more large hearted!!
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Lovely songs! From your description of this type of lyric, the only example that sprang to my mind was “Dekhne Main Bhola Hain,” which you have included. By the way, the instrumental part in that song from “Aakhri Dao” has always struck me as very odd. It sounds like it is borrowed from a cowboy or western swing song! But the out-of-place character certainly contributes to the humorousness of the effect.
As a teenager I had a dress of a similar cut to Hema’s in “Kaamdev Jaisi.” I thought I really looked like hot stuff in it, but it was made of some strange metallic yellow-and-silver fabric that eventually defied all repair. RIP that dress </3
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LOL! That dress sounds a classic, Shelomit. 🙂
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Thanks a lot for reading and commenting, Shelomit! The music is a little out of place but lifts your mood nevertheless. You seem to somehow reaffirm my belief that we women are so preoccupied with our own looks that we forget to praise the man. Here poor Dharmendra is being praised to the skies and your entire focus is on Hema Malini’s outfit!!😂
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Dharmendra is admittedly very pretty, but if the filmmakers want me to pay equal attention to him, they’ve got to invest as much inventiveness in his costuming as they did Hema’s ( ;
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Anitaji,
Good to know that you are recovering now and back to blogging with a refreshing post
Possibly, this is the first post that I am reading about male beauty.
There are innumerable songs praising female beauty but those praising the Male are so few.
Mere mehoob mein kya nahin and chandan sa badan were the ones that came to my mind when I started reading the post.
Then I could recollect this weird one from a forgettable Akshay Kumar movie of the 90s – Mr Bond.
The song goes- Handsome man handsome man.
And how about this one?
Mera saanwla salona mehboob – Shreeman Funtoosh 1965
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Thanks, Dr. Deshpande for the two songs. Both are new to me. But the song from Shreeman Funtoosh is obviously more hummable.
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Hai sharmau kis kis ko batau…mara gaon Mera Desh film. describe vinod khannas Beauty..
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Welcome to Trivia, Rajendra Ji! Thanks for adding this wonderful song. It fits perfectly. The context of the song is very interesting as the detailed description is for the authorities to identify Vinod Khanna who is a dreaded dacoit.
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