Holi is perhaps the most celebrated festival in cinema, both in terms of sequences and songs. And obviously, Holi songs are there in abundance, and it is purely subjective which songs are the most memorable. Some remain in memory for their musical attributes (sometimes even without watching the movie), some for their audiovisual splendour, others because they are in interesting narrative situations, and finally, there are songs from films that are blockbusters and are most watched down the years.
From ‘Rang Barse’ to ‘Balam Pichkari’: 10 standout Holi songs
The Contemporaries
Badri ki Dulhania / Badrinath Ki Dulhania / Music: Tanishk Bagchi / Lyrics: Shabbir Ahmed
Four singers form the ensemble singing team of this song that is a spin on a traditional folk number first adapted by Shankar-Jaikishan in the 1966 Teesri Kasam. Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt enact this (almost) title-song with youthful gusto.
This mischievous number is perhaps the benchmark Holi song of the millennium. In this piquant situation, Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone give it their all, showing a powerful chemistry as their romance reaches a pinnacle.
A man goes back in a time-machine to make his loveless parents fall in love with each other. This was the backdrop for perhaps the most interesting Holi song of the decade, sung with gusto by Sunidhi Chauhan for Aishwarya Rai Bachchan along with Ritu Pathak.
Do me a favour let’s play Holi / Waqt—The Race Against Time / Anu Malik / Aatish Kapadia
One of the writers of Khichdi and Sarabhai Vs. Sarabhai dabbles in the funkiest Holi song. After a rather long folksy prelude, we come to composer Anu Malik belting out the English ‘Do me a favour, let’s play Holi’ and then Sunidhi Chauhan comes in with all the gimmickry. Together, they have given us a cult fusion song on the festival.
Lahu munh lag gaya / Goliyon Ki RasLila—RamLila / Sanjay Leela Bhansali / Siddharth-Garima
This superbly passionate melody composed by the filmmaker himself demonstrates the intense subliminal passion between Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone in titular roles. Shail Hada’s voice intensifies the determined adoration of Ram, and Lila’s expressive eyes do the rest of the job.
The Classics:
Arey jaa re hat natkhat / Navrang / C. Ramachandra / Bharat Vyas
Mahipal, the leading man, begins this classic with a long prelude that can only be called ‘Rap’ nine years before the more hyped ‘Rail gaadi’ from the 1968 Aashirwad! Sandhya dances with classic and characteristic frenzy even as colours are splayed both in the vibrant outdoors and inside a royal court!
O meri pehle hi tang / Souten / Usha Khanna / Saawan Kumar
Arguably, the first Holi song that was uninhibitedly erotic. And the first of a less than handful numbers mentioning the ‘choli’ as well! Rajesh Khanna and Tina Munim gave us a Holi-drenched sizzler in this melodrama that was also buzzed as being the start of their short-lived real-life affair. And Anuradha Paudwal was brought in because Lata Mangeshkar refused to be a part of this Kishore Kumar duet, thanks to the words!
Holi ke din / Sholay / R.D. Burman / Anand Bakshi
Who does not know this classic—and very situational vis-à-vis the story—dance number from Sholay? This time, Kishore and Lata joined hands and this song stood tall with its intense melody in the face of the much more popular hits ‘Jab tak hai jaan’, ‘Yeh dosti’ and ‘Mehbooba o Mehbooba’.
Mal de gulaal mohe / Kaamchor / Rajesh Roshan / Indeevar
Supremely melodic, this was a classic Rajesh Roshan composition given a ‘Holi’ punch with its superb percussion and deep orchestral flourishes. Again a Lata-Kishore duet, it was perhaps the most magical song in this lovely score and saw a pensive Rakesh Roshan and his love (Jaya Prada) thinking of each other and their desires even as Suresh Oberoi and Neeta Mehta danced to their hearts’ content.
Rang barse / Silsila / Shiv-Hari / Dr. Harivanshrai Bachchan
It is perhaps ironic that this Holi song, with all its extramarital ambience, remains the most durably iconic in this brilliant debut score of Shiv-Hari. There is virtually no Holi celebration playlist since its release, all of 44 years ago, that does not include this hot number not being played. Amitabh Bachchan’s rendition makes it simply the finest example of ‘casting’ in singing, for even a more professional singer would not have been able to ‘scale’ (pun intended) these heights.
