Togetherness Is A Terrific Place – Ye Kahan Aa Gaye Hum – Silsila

Romance is an adventure journey. It has many ups and down. But it is also somewhat like difficult path which leads to beautiful destination. Romance also doesn’t mean losing oneself in this journey but it is about carrying your individuality along and getting in tune with your partner. No two people are alike. Differences along the journey are bound to arise. But adapting and balancing is what beautifies and deepens the ties. Unconditional support and independence is what it takes to be in a beautiful relationship. Blossoming of love, flowering of passion celebrates togetherness. And this togetherness is a terrific place to be!!

Love is a beautiful emotion which grows when nurtured with patience and understanding but it is also about igniting the passion. An intimate realm of togetherness that is inherent. But sometimes it is the fate which comes in between this togetherness. The relationship which you claim to be yours suddenly seems like an alien. Then it is fate again which brings the 2 people together wherever they might be!!

Just like Amit (Amitabh Bachchan) and Chandni (Rekha) in Silsila (1981). A couple passionately in love but destiny has a different take in their story. It compels Amit to marry Shobha (Jaya Bhaduri), the pregnant fiance of his dead brother Shekhar (Shashi Kapoor). Amit and Chandni move on in their life, but fate brings them together again. Though married to their respective partners (Rekha is married to Sanjeev Kumar), they are drawn towards each other. The obligations of their present life, the confinements of the society, the guilt of cheating, stands between them. But their love, desire and attraction for each other overcomes the battle of emotions which they are going through. Their love for each other overwhelms the dilemma they are facing. Burying every obstacle beneath their emotion, they decide to give in to their desires and plunge in this re-found love.

Amit is a writer/poet and he shows the desire and enticement to meet Chandni with –

Main aur meri tanhai
Aksar ye baatein karte hain
Tum hoti toh kaisa hota
Tum ye kehti, tum wo kehti
Tum iss baat pe hairaan hoti
Tum uss baat pe kitna hansti
Tum hoti toh aisa hota, tum hoti toh waisa hota
Main aur meri tanhai, aksar ye baatein karte hain

The above monologue in Amitabh’s own voice begins with a few guitar strums, his baritone enhances the depth of desire he feels for Chandni. The longing to be with her, to spend moments with her even if they are very trivial. His loneliness is brimful with her thoughts.
As the chorus begins to hum in the background, the screen is lit up with snow, tulips and gardens in the background. The lavish YRF trademark. More strums make us aware of Lata’s high pitched but effortless voice ably backed up by bongo and congas.

Yeh kahan aa gaye hum
Yunhi saath saath chalte
Teri baahon mein hai jaanam
Mere jism-o-jaan pighalte
Yeh kahan aa gaye hum
Yunhi saath saath chalte

This place where we are together is terrific. Dreamy and magical. It is the togetherness that is making it magical. Her place in his arms feels so right, wherever they might be. They have to be together to experience the bliss called love. The soft intimacy that liquefies the soul. Some marvellous thoughts of lovers penned by Javed Akhtar and set to tune by Shiv-Hari (Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma and Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia).

Yeh raat hai ya tumhaari zulfein khuli hui hain
Hai chandni ya tumhaari nazron se meri raatein dhuli hui hain
Yeh chaand hai ya tumhara kangan
Sitarein hain ya tumhara aanchal
Hawa ka jhonka hai ya tumhare badan ki khushboo
Yeh pattiyon ki hai sarsaraahat ke tumne chupke se kuch kaha hai
Yeh sochta hoon main kab se gumsum
Ke jab ki mujhko bhi yeh khabar hai
Ke tum nahin ho, kahin nahin ho
Magar yeh dil hai ke keh raha hai
Ke tum yahin ho, yahin kahin ho

The poet in him compares her tresses with the night sky, moonlight with the glow in her eyes, moon seems to be round just as her bangle, the starlit sky is just like the glimmer dress she wears, the zephyr is like the fragrance of her body, the rustle of leaves is like her whisper. His mind tells him that she is nowhere around him but his heart feels her presence in everything he sees around. While he in his thoughts is admiring her beauty, she takes a step further to find the fullness of their love.

O tu badan hai main hoon chhaaya
Tu na ho toh main kahan hoon
Mujhe pyaar karne waale
Tu jahan hai main wahan hoon
Hamein milna hi tha humdum
Kisi raah bhi nikal ke

We are inseparable like the body and its shadow. We survive for our love. I exist because of your love for me. Your absence makes my existence blurred. We were destined to meet, no matter which path we travelled upon.
The chorus again hums in the background in a haunting manner while their passion flowers with the showers of love.

O meri saans saans mehke
Koi bheena bheena chandan
Tera pyaar chandni hai
Mera dil hai jaise aangan
Hui aur bhi mulayam
Meri shaam dhalte dhalte

Their mingled fragrances, the glow of love in their hearts, makes their relationship tender and warm. Just like the soft and glowing moon light spreading around. Illuminating the hearts.
Yash Chopra has given a sensitive angle to this relationship of Amit and Chandni through Silsila. Clinging on the cobwebs of relationships, their love for each other glistens like the droplets formed on that gauze. They are entangled in the web yet they are drawn towards each other. The helplessness in their relationship, the forced situations make their minds rebel. Wanting to destroy the wall of customs between them, Amit wants to proclaim openly –

Majboor yeh halat, idhar bhi hai udhar bhi
Tanhaai ki ye raat, idhar bhi hai udhar bhi
Kehne ko bahut kuch hai, magar kis se kahe hum
Kab tak yunhi khamosh rahein aur sahein hum
Dil kehta hai duniya ki har ek rasm utha de
Deewar jo hum dono mein hai, aaj gira de
Kyun dil mein sulagte rahein, logon ko bata de
Haan humko mohabbat hai, mohabbat hai, mohabbat
Ab dil mein yehi baat, idhar bhi hai udhar bhi