The 1998 film Ghulam will be remembered for many reasons. It remains director Vikram Bhatt‘s best film (from what I’ve seen), Aamir Khan sang a song in it, in some ways it marked the beginning of Aamir Khan moving away from his popular romantic hero image to being considered a serious actor, and while it was not her first film, it introduced the World with sufficient fanfare to Rani Mukherji. While Aati kya Khandala will remain the iconic song for which this film will be remembered, Jadu hai, tera hi jadu is the one I always think of when I remember this movie.
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Tag Archives: jatin-lalit
Jo haal dil ka
Jo haal dil ka is a very strange song. It’s strange only in the context in which it is presented. After all, heroines in wet, clingy clothes, mouthing sensual songs near waterfalls and other convenient water features is hardly strange for a Hindi film; It’s par for the course, but this song has no attempt at a gentle segue into moistness, or an excuse, such a swimming, bathing, picnics or whatever. This one jumps right in, and the hero is soaking wet throughout the song too. But mostly it’s strange because it is the one tangent from cinema reality into complete fantasy in an otherwise straight-edged film. Sarfarosh was hardly the epitome of realism, but for the most part t was set in a heightened and stylised real world. It’s quite an effective crime thriller. Jo haal dil ka is the strange neon cherry on an otherwise by-the-numbers action film.
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Pehla nasha
When Pehla nasha, from Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, first played on screens large and small in 1992, and Aamir Khan appeared in a loud red shirt and flung his sweater into the picturesque landscape behind him, in slow motion, you knew something had changed and that something new was beginning. Pehla nasha went on to establish many firsts, firsts that would change the way Hindi songs were made and visualised for the decades to follow.
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