Soul Searching – Tere Naina Talaash Kare – Talaash

The thirst of becoming rich and respectful, the ambition to rise high in the society, brings Raj Kumar (Rajendra Kumar) to work for the elite Ranjit Rai (Balraj Sahni). Improving his work and position at work he soon becomes top fav of the boss. Only to find that the boss wants Raj Kumar to get married to his only daughter, the svelte and sophisticated Madhu (Sharmila Tagore). To make matters worse, she looks exactly like the village belle Gauri (Sharmila again) the love of his life. Raj Kumar now stands at the crossroads, which one should he choose?

Khoyi khoyi aankh hai jhuki palak hai
Jahaan jahaan dekhegaa tu wahin jhalak hai
Khoyi khoyi…….

The soft tones of Manna Dey summarise the above situation, lip syncing for Shahu Modak (sitting with a swarmandal in his hand) performing at party hosted by Ranjit Rai at his place. Suddenly the atmosphere wakes up to a scintillating tabla and the magic of Dada Burman begins. Madhumati, the dancer is all set to seam the floor with the Bharatnatyam steps. Dada Burman doesn’t forget to hem the song with tinkle of the ghungroos. In sync with the dance steps. Not a single step is missed (if you watch the entire song closely, you will understand this) we can hear the ghungroos only along with the dancer’s steps. That’s the perfection of Dada Burman. The interludes, we have a jashn of sarod, sitar and sarangi, topped with the tabla tarang. And when it is Bharatnatyam, how can Dada the perfectionist not add the mridangam!!
Majrooh Sultanpuri’s lyrics keeps the mystery on in your mind.

Yahan do roop hai har ek ke
Yahan nazrein uthana zaraa dekh ke
Ho jab uss ki mohabbat mein gum hai tu
Wahi soorat nazar aayegi chaar su
Kaun kya hai, mann ke siva ye koi kya jaane
Tere naina…..

Each person has 2 faces here, one for the world and the other for himself. Keep a vigil because when you are blinded by love, you might not be able to make out the reality of that person. But your mind knows which face of that person is real. Go search for it.

The interlude now has a rapturous mridangam piece and a sort of jugalbandi of sitar and sarod. By the time the interlude finishes, you will want to hear it again. Marvel magic of Dada Burman.

Ye jawan raat le ke tera naam
Kahe haath badha koi haath thaam

O kaali alka ke baadal mein bijliyaan
Gori bahon mein chahat ki angdaiyan
Jo ada hai ishara hai pyaar kaa
O diwane tujhe chahiye aur kya
Par ruk jaa mann ki sada bhi sun diwane
Tere naina…..

The youthful night yearns for someone’s company. The grace of long, lustrous hair, like clouds, the fair arms like the lightning. What else one wants? But don’t follow your heart so blindly, hear what your mind says. Go search for it. Judge through your eyes. You will get the answer from within. Soul searching is what you need!!

Based on Raag Chayanat which is a late evening or early night Raag. The melody remains dominant in this Raag and it gives you a feeling of drifting smoothly. Manna Dey’s voice adds so much more flow to the song. His elaborate singing suits the beautiful instrumentation used by Dada Burman. This soul search is certainly buoyant and heavenly.