Tanha Tanha Yahan Pe Jeena – Song Of Togetherness – Rangeela

Tanha tanha yahan pe jeena, yeh koi baat hai
Koi saathi nahin tera yahan to, yeh koi baat hai
Kisi ko pyaar de de, kisi ka pyaar le le
Is saare zamaane mein yehi pyaari baat hai

There’s no point living your life alone as it is to be enjoyed with your loved one. If you deprive yourself a precious partner you won’t be able to live your life as you should. Share the gift called life by loving someone and getting someone’s love too because this is the most beautiful thing in this whole wide world.

What a wonderful thought it is of being with someone for the entire life and enjoying life with that person. This beautiful song by Asha Bhosle is from the movie Rangeela which was released in 1995. The film was a great box office success and music was one of the reasons behind it. The film marked the debut of A.R. Rahman as a music director in the Hindi Movie industry. The entire album was a hit and had something for everybody to enjoy. Kids, elderly, youth, couples; everybody enjoyed listening to these songs, sometimes on the loop.

One such song is Tanha tanha yahan pe jeena which enters your heart through your ears and stays forever. Whoever listens to this song once cannot forget it in his/her lifetime. The composition, the arrangement, the lyrics and the voice create magic. It does not end there, the picturisation is amazing too.

Kisi ka to sapna ho aankhon mein teri
Koi dilbar to ho baahon mein teri
Koi to bane hamsafar raahon mein teri
Yeh zindagi to vaise ek saza hai
Saath kisi ka ho to aur yeh maza hai

There should be someone’s dream that is living in your eyes. There should be someone close to your heart, in your warm embrace that can become your partner and walk alongside you. Otherwise this life will be like a punishment if one has to live it alone.

This song fetched Asha Bhosle a special Filmfare Award as she had long retired from accepting them. The song created such a rage that the woman with the golden voice became more and more popular in the younger generation as well. Her voice just resonates throughout the song (agreed that there are instruments which can do that, but the quality of the singer’s voice goes beyond every technical instrument and this song is a very good example of it).

Zameen aasmaan se voh kuch keh rahi hai
Lahere bhi saahil se kuch keh rahi hai
Chaandni bhi chaand se kuch keh rahi hai
Kisi na kisi se koi kuch to keh raha hai
Tu dil ki baat keh de, kehne mein kya hai

Listen, the earth is whispering something in the ears of the sky. Even these wild waves are expressing their feelings to the shore by dashing themselves against it as they are eager to meet it. The stars are talking to the moon in the sparkling language of love. The entire nature is talking about love and togetherness. Why don’t you too just say what is in your mind!

Every piece of this song is worth listening to whether it is the haunting prelude where there is just the flute playing followed by the violin and the subtle use of the sound of a wave or the interludes where the male voice is used for humming and a small note of sitar in between and again the flute that combines with the violin gaining such speed that we feel as if we are flying on top of a wavy beach. Even visually the choreographer has matched the song perfectly and does not miss even a single beat.

Kudos to the cinematographer for capturing the simple yet lovely locales of the beach, the grasslands and the rocky mountains as the backdrop for the beautiful Urmila (clad in vivid colours) dancing to the tunes and enticing Jackie Shroff. Their chemistry is something that takes the song to another level.

There comes a point in the song where the music lulls you and you think the song might end but the beats pick up the pace and the use of the sound of birds chirping (although very subtle) wakes you up from the misconception.

The song ends the way it starts, with the flute notes and it tempts you to replay the song; which you end up doing. I played this song on the loop while writing this article. How many times did you play it? Do let us know.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL8kz8t7pmg