When Cupid strikes, a relationship blossoms. But when it comes to expressing love, our dream merchants often deem it fit to put the hero on the forefront, who conveys his feelings in myriad ways. The colourful spectrum of the ways in which they express their emotions ranges from their being chivalrous to even being tormentors. Earlier, in a blog post, I had touched upon the nine different ways in which a hero sets about wooing the love of his life.
But occasionally, our dream merchants overcome their patriarchal mindset and let the heroine also express such tender sentiments as affection, adoration, adulation, devotion, attachment, fondness, passion, or love. Occasionally, they capture the precise moment when it dawns upon her that she is falling in love with the hero.
However, such songs are rather few and rare. But howsoever limited the availability of such songs, the range of emotions these songs capture is very wide. Some are downright submissive or devotional in nature. The bliss of domesticity gets poignantly showcased. Some are mildly flirtatious in their tone. Some others capture a dispute between the two also getting resolved in the process. Many others, picturized on the bold and the beautiful amongst the tribe of the delicately nurtured, express their admiration for the party of the other part in a frank and forthright manner. Some of these get rendered while the heroine is enjoying the bliss of solitude, or even in the presence of the party of the other part, thereby leaving the latter with no option but to eventually succumb to the charms of the party of the first part.
I do not allude here to songs of a rather seductive nature, like ‘Raat akeli hai…’ (Jewel Thief, 1967), ‘Husn ke laakhon rang…’ (Johnny Mera Naam, 1970) or ‘Kajra re…’ (Bunty aur Babli, 2005). You are not apt to find any ‘item numbers’ listed here. Songs where the heroine is pining for the hero in his absence do not appear in this compilation. Nor do I wish to cover here the songs which capture both the hero and the heroine expressing their unabashed love for each other, because these are available a dime a dozen, so to say.
Consider the following which come to my mind in this context.
Kisi ne apna banake mujh ko…
Movie: Patita (1953)
Singer: Lata Mangeshkar
Composer: Shankar Jaikishan
Lyricist: Shailendra
Aap ki nazron ne samjha…
Anpadh (1962)
Singer: Lata Mangeshkar
Composer: Madan Mohan
Lyricist: Raja Mehndi Ali Khan
Bhanwra bada naadaan…
Sahib, Bibi aur Ghulam (1962)
Singer: Asha Bhosle
Composer: Hemant Kumar
Lyricist: Shakeel Badayuni
Tere pyar mein dildaar…
Mere Mehboob (1963)
Singer: Lata Mangeshkar,
Composer: Naushad
Lyricist: Shakeel Badayuni
Jaaiye aap kahaan jayenge…
Mere Sanam (1965)
Singer: Asha Bhosle
Composer: O. P. Nayyar
Lyricist: Majrooh Sultanpuri
Tum hi meri manzil…
Khandan (1965)
Singer: Lata Mangeshkar
Composer: Ravi
Lyricist: Rajendra Krishan
O mere sona re…
Teesri Manzil (1966)
Composer: R. D. Burman
Lyricist: Majrooh Sultanpuri
Dheere dheere machal…
Anupama (1966)
Singer: Lata Mangeshkar
Composer: Hemant Kumar
Lyricist: Kaifi Azmi
Ye kaun aaya…
Sathi (1968)
Singer: Lata Mangeshkar
Composer: Naushad
Lyricist: Shakeel Badayuni
Na jiya laage na…
Anand (1971)
Singer: Lata Mangeshkar
Composer: Salil Chowdhury
Lyricist: Gulzar
Le to aaye ho humein…
Dulhan Wohi Jo Piya Man Bhaye (1977)
Singer: Hemlata
Composer and Lyricist: Ravindra Jain
Tere bina jiya jaaye na…
Ghar (1978)
Singers: Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar
Composer: R D Burman
Lyricist: Gulzar
Ankhiyon ke jharokhon se…
Ankhiyon Ke Jharokon Se (1978)
Singer: Hemlata
Composer and Lyricist: Ravindra Jain
Sona kitna sona hai…
Hero No. 1 (1997)
Singers: Udit Narayan, Poornima
Composer: Anand-Milind
Lyricist: Sameer
Dil deewana…
Maine Pyar Kiya (1989)
Singer: Lata Mangeshkar
Composer: Raam-Laxman
Lyricist: Asad Bhopali
Dheeme dheeme gaoon…
Zubeida (2001)
Singer: Kavita Krishnamurthy
Composer: A.R. Rahman
Lyricist: Javed Akhtar
Khatti meethi…
Shirin Farhad Ki To Nikal Padi (2012)
Singer: Shreya Ghoshal
Composer: Jeet Ganguli
Lyricist: Amitabh Bhattacharya
Uff…
Bang Bang (2014)
Singers: Harshdeep Kaur & Benny Dayal
Composer: Vishal-Shekhar
Lyricist: Anvita Dutt
Moh moh ke dhaage…
Dum Laga Ke Haisha (2015)
Singers: Papon, Monali Thakur
Composer: Anu Malik
Lyricist: Varun Grover
Kaun tujhe…
M S Dhoni – The Untold Story (2016)
Singer: Palak Muchhal
Composer: Amaal Mallik
Lyricist: Manoj Muntashir
Pal…
Jalebi (2018)
Singer: Shreya Ghoshal
Music: Javed – Mohsin
Lyrics: Prashant Ingole & Kunaal Vermaa
Over time, with changes in our social attitudes, the heroines have gradually evolved from being mostly devotional to being more open, frank, and even flirtatious and goofy; bindaas is the word that comes to my mind!
On several occasions, the heroine tries to mollify a hero whose feelings have been willy-nilly hurt by her. For a list of such songs, please see this lovely post from Dusted Off.
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ashokbhatia 
Can’t agree more. Very well written ! Rgrds
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Thank you for going through and commenting! Regards
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Thank you for the shout-out and the link to my post, AKB. And kudos on a job well done! That’s a great list of heroine-forward songs. Here’s another one I like a lot, Roz shaam aati thhi (just remembered it).
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Thanks. Yes, it is a superb song!
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Dear Ashok, I read your recent blog and the three related posts with interest. But why look at love only in terms of fasaoing or manaoing or in the context of separation? Is it not the case that ‘love’ – as opposed to ‘infatuation’ which is what is mostly depicted in our films – blossoms when the man and woman ‘discover’ each other and start planning on a life together? Some of the finest Hindi poetry by the likes of Shailendra, Rajendra Krishan and Indeevar were written to depict such feelings. I think that love songs of that genre are vastly superior to the run of the mill boy-chase-girl-chase-boy numbers that have since come to rule the roost. I look forward to another related post by you where songs like Bade Arman Se Rakha Hai Balam, Pyar Hua Ikrar Hua, Duniya Walon Se Door and Kitna Haseen Hai Mausam are celebrated. I am sure that even in post 2000-films, we have a few songs that are as contemplative and reposeful as the once I have cited.
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Dear KK, many thanks for your thought-provoking comment. This is indeed a very vast topic. I would also add lyricists like Neeraj and Hasrat Jaipuri to the ones mentioned by you. Besides the old songs mentioned by you, recent ones which come to my mind immediately are ‘Tujh mein rab dikhta hai’ (Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi) ‘Mast magan’ (2 States) and ‘Raatan lambiyan’ (Shershaah). The closest I have come so far to the genre of love songs is: https://ashokbhatia.wordpress.com/2022/12/29/some-spontaneous-sounding-love-songs-from-bollywood. Perhaps, a day will dawn when I can cover soulful love songs which capture the ‘iqrar’ spirit!
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