#Retro Bollywood

[aahanna]

"The Mystery Girl" - Sadhana Shivdasani

[kajra-re]

Shabana Azmi, Swami, 1977.

[siya-sayani]

Jitna chahe Taylor swift, kanye, Ariana sunlo par....

🌷🌷🌷🌷🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌷🌷🌷🌷

Babu pyaar to tumko Hindi cinema k gaano se hi hoga, tum roge bhi to isike gaano pe zyada. Urdu Hindi mei gaane nhi sune to mehsoos kya kiya? Agar wo shabd aasun na laade to dard jiya kya?

[slippyteas]

𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘯, 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴

[aadhiskanmani]

[the-devi-wears-prada]

~ 🪕~

[forever70s]

Saira Banu

[tinysoultimetravel]

When E.E Cummings said, "Yours is the light by which my spirit's born - you are my sun, my moon, and all my stars."

When Mohammad Rafi saab sang, "Chaudhvin ka chand ho, ya aaftaab ho, jo bhi ho tum Khuda ki kasam, laajawab ho."

When Bashir Badr said, "ik deevar pe chaand tika tha, main ye samjha tum baithe ho."

When Wajid Shaikh said, "Teri yaad chaand ki shakal mein ubhar kar aati hai."

- the age old tradition of comparing your lover to the moon.

[chaand teri roshni ka halka sa ek saaya hai]

[youremyheaven]

Sufi Love Through the Lens of Bollywood Music

Bollywood music is heavily influenced by Sufism and Sufi notions of love permeate the lyrics of most romantic songs. I want to explore some important Sufi concepts and how they manifest themselves in these songs and within the context of these movies.

Chand Sifarish from the movie Fanaa

"Zid hain ab toh hain khud ko mitaana, hona hain tujh mein fanaa"

trans: "I insist on ridding myself of me, I want to annihilate myself in you"

Bollywood romantic songs often emphasize on yearning, seeking and longing for the lover and Sufi poetry which speaks of a soul's yearning to unite with God serves as a useful metaphor to speak of the same. The intense, maddening, spiritual kind of love, although seldom portrayed accurately on screen is ever present in song lyrics. The concept of "twin flames" has been popular in the West for the last couple of years and is by and large, very misunderstood. From a purely spiritual perspective, The Lover and The Beloved are in each other all along (similar to the Jungian concept of anima & animus but slightly different) and yearn to unite with each other. In order for union to be possible however, one must first destroy their "ego" which they call "self".

2. Raabta from Agent Vinod

"Tera milna hai us rab ka ishaara maanu, Mujhko banaya tere jaise hi kisi ke liye"

trans: Meeting you was a signal from God, that he had made me for someone like you

There is a lot of emphasis on the soul's innate knowing and its longing for love which is its longing for God and how seeking union with the Beloved is the inner knowing to realise one's God nature and unite with God in Sufism. This song captures that feeling of things being "destined" and how God has always guided your union.

3. Katra Katra from Alone

"Khud se khaali ho jaoon, aaja tujhse bhar jaoon. Tinka, tinka jal jaoon. Aise jala do"

trans: "let me empty myself, let me fill myself with you. i want to burn up, twig by twig and you burn me."

This is a very erotic song and speaks of love in a very carnal way. However, this idea of dissolving yourself in your lover is a very Sufi one. What is love, if not absolute submersion in the object of your desire?

4. Satrangi Re from Dil Se

This movie itself is very deeply spiritual and I suggest watching it. However this song beautifully captures the 7 stages of love and two people going through it, in a very poetic and profound way. Go watch it!!

Some poignant lyrics include:

Dil ka saaya humsaaya

trans: The shadow of my heart is your shadow

(In my post about twin flames, I had touched upon this but I'll make another post about how the Jungian concept of shadow work and integrating your shadow is to understand your twin and merge them within your consciousness)

Koi noor hai tu (Are you a light?)

Kyun door hai tu (Why are you so far away)

Jab paas hai tu (When you're near me)

Ehsaas hai tu (Then you're a feeling itself)

Koi khwaab hai ya parchai hai (Are you a dream or a shadow?)

These lines alone capture the bittersweet, all consuming, indescribable and maddening feelings that a twin triggers in us.

I also highly suggest reading the lyric translation of this song as a whole because it captures the twin flame experience so exquisitely.

5. Tujh mein rab dikhta hai from Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

"Tujh mein rab dikhta hai

Yaara main kya karoon

Sajde sar jhukta hai

Yaara main kya karoon"

trans: I see God in you my beloved, what do I do? My head bows down in worship to you my beloved, what do I do?

in my post I had mentioned the 7 stages of love, one of which is worship for the beloved. this song beautifully captures that feeling, of being absolutely devoted and enraptured by the beloved, that nothing less than worship could equate to how you feel for them. its beyond love, beyond admiration, its a holy kind of emotion, its devotion.

🧜🏼‍♀️🦢🦋👼🏼🧚🏼‍♀️🕊🐳👸🏼🧚🏼‍♂️🦋🦢🧜🏼‍♀️🕊🧚🏼‍♀️🦋👼🏼🐳🕊🕊🧚🏼‍♀️👸🏼🧚🏼‍♂️🧜🏼‍♀️🦢🦋

i wanted to keep this post brief so that it can be an accessible entry point but lmk if you want more posts of this kind!! i hope this was interesting💛💛

[itsfookingloosah]

let's say, hypothetically, ek ladki bheegi bhaagi si. And for the sake of drama, let's add, soti raaton mein jaagi si. Now, if we were to conclude, mili ek ajnabee se koi aage na peeche.

Tum hi batao yeh koi baat hai?

[mainlagtihoonsridevi]

SRIDEVI in and as CHANDNI (1989)

[aahanna]

TODAY'S MEN = let's split the bill, you spend too much, I don't have enough money to be a provider bla bla

MEN IN 80's - SAJAUNGA LUT KR BHI TERE BADAN KI DAALI KO

[kajra-re]

Shabana Azmi, Swami, 1977.

[aashufta-sar]

Girls be like I am absolutely fine and then go listen to lag ja gale by lata mangeshkar on loop

[aadhiskanmani]