Bollywood has had a special connection with holi and holi songs almost always ended up being chart busters…

How many of you don’t remember the very infamous Gabbar Singh of Sholey shriek out Holi kab hai, kab hai holi? All of us do; irrespective of the fact whether we were born in that era or not. Say “ Holi“ and you will remember this scene for sure. The Hindi film industry has been able to capture the various moods and shades of holi through a plethora of songs produced over the year. Some of these songs have gained immense popularity and some have stayed a bit low. From streets to bylanes, you will hear these chart busters being played on loop on loudspeakers. The major role in this is played by an impressive picturisation, apt choreography and a touch of folk element which creates this mass appeal.

Some holi songs made an indelible mark while other faded into oblivion without getting noticed. Read on to know which songs we loved and which numbers we loathed.

Soni soni ankhiyon wali

This song from Mohobbatein sung by Udit Narayan, Jaspinder Narula, Shweta Pandit, Sonali Bhatawdekar, Pritha Mazumdar, Udhbav, Manohar Shetty and Ishaan garnered huge popularity mainly because of the success of the movie. The movie cast included Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Uday Chopra, Jugal Hansraj, Jimmy Shergill, Shamita Shetty, Kim Sharma, Preeti Jhangiani and Aishwariya Rai. The song was composed by the master duo, Jatin-Lalit, penned by Anand Bakshi and produced by Saregama-HMV. The movie came under the banner of Yash Raj films and was Aditya Chopra’s second directorial venture after Dilwale Dulhanai Le Jaaenge and thus this movie had a lot of pre-hype and completely lived up to its expectations. BL likes!!

Koi bheega hai rang se

The song from Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost, although being sung by the melodious duo of Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik died without a trace. The song is set up in a Lagaan like village set up but the lead characters Abhishek Bachchan and Lara Dutta do not look like the traditional gaon-wale. Coupled with that were some lackluster dance steps which even further killed the song. The movie on a whole was a super flop although the story was narrated by Amitabh Bachchan. The song was penned by Sameer and composed by Anu Malik and Ranjit Barot. The movie died without any trace. BL loathes!!

Holi khele raghuveera

The song from Baghban sung by Amitabh Bachchan, Udit Narayan, Sukhwinder Singh and Alka Yagnik is one song that depicts the fact that Holi has no age limit. An elderly Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini play Holi along with their kids and their family. The song is penned down by Sameer and the music was by Adesh Srivastav and Uttam Singh. Baghban, directed by Ravi Chopra and produced under BR Choprs films banner had an ensemble cast of Salman Khan, Rimi Sen and Mahima Chaudhry. Holi khele raghuveera was a huge hit and is still played in Holi parties. BL likes!!

Do me a favour lets play holi

The song from Waqt-A Race Against Time, sung by Anu Malik and Sunidhi Chauhan provided a peppy holi number maybe for the first time. The tune was far from being folk and was typically stereophonic. This was the USP of the song and thus, it led to being a massive hit. The song was penned by Sameer and composed by Anu Malik. The movie starred Akshay Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra and Shefali Shah. Akshay Kumar and Priyanka Chopra put a lot of zing to this song. Waqt, made by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, moved on to be a huge hit because of the storyline and the superb acting by the lead characters. BL likes!!

Holi re

The song from Mangal Pandey-The Rising was sung by Aamir Khan, Udit Narayan, Madhushree, Srinivas and Chinmayee. The song is set in the 1750’s when the thought of the sepoy mutiny had just started. The song went down unnoticed as the movie itself did not do well. The movie was a huge flop and did not live up to its expectations as Aamir Khan was making a comeback to movies after 4 years. The movie starred Aamir Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Amisha Patel and Hollywood star Toby Stephens. The song could not garner up much hiatus in the minds of the audience even though being composed by AR Rahman and being penned by Javed Akhtar. The movie as well as the song was a dead pan. BL loathes!!

Ey gori

The song from Delhi Heights was sung by Kailash Kher and Sonu Kakkar and describes a very common and typical Holi set up inside any society compound on the day of Holi. The people come out from their own flats and gather in the common area beneath the flat or maybe on the roof top and celebrate Holi with zest. This emotion was captured very nicely in this Holi song and thus the audience could connect with the song and it became popular. The song was written and composed by first time music director Rabbi Shergill. The movie starred Jimmy Shergill, Neha Dhupia, Rohit Roy, Simmone Singh and Madhavan. The movie had a very average response from the audience although the songs became a huge hit. BL likes!!

Holi hai holi

The song from RGV Ki Aag was sung by Ravindra Upadhayaye, Sweta Pandit, Farhad Bhiwandiwala, Shreya Ghoshal and Sudesh Bhosle. This song could not even muster up a trifle in the minds of the ever crazy Holi-dance-crowd. The basic reason was the super super flop nature of the movie. The movie was an attempt at remaking Sholay. This movie is termed as a horror piece for any cinema goers. The song was penned by Sarim Momin and was composed by Prasanna Shekhar. The movie, made by Ram Gopal Verma had his name itself in the title of the film. Can’t be talking more about the song else the horror of this movie might haunt our website for ages. BL loathes!!

Tapkey masti

This song from London Dreams, sung by Feroz Khan, was composed by the master trio of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and was written by Prasoon Joshi. This movie was an average grosser but the soundtrack of the movie created ripples in the music industry. All the songs from the movie were chart busters and this song specially showcased very aptly what Salman Khan is famous for, his adrenaline rush acting and dancing. Along with him this movie also starred Ajay Devgn, Ranvijay, Aditya Roy Kapoor and Asin. The movie was by Vipul Amrutlal Shah and thus had great expectations but the story was an old wine in a new bottle and other than the songs, nothing intrigued the audience that much. This song has become a regular Holi number. BL likes!!

Chhan ke mohalla

This song from Action Replayy, sung by Sunidhi Chauhan and Ritu Pathak, composed by Pritam and penned by Irshad Kamil. The song is very well portrayed by Aishwariya Rai Bachchan and she looks stunning in a simple white and green salwar-kameez. The Holi colors were nicely used and the sets were really well made and this gave the perfect ambience for a Holi sequence. Apart from her the movie casts Akshay Kumar, Ranvijay, Neha Dhupia and Aditya Roy Kapoor. The choreography is nice and compliments the situation and the lyrics perfectly. The movie was another Vipul Amrutlal Shah presentation, from which everyone had huge expectations but eventually the movie bit the dust. The movie was a huge flop and so was the soundtrack. BL loathes!!

Ik junoon

We know this is not a Holi song, but this is one recommendation song from our side which is going to be played again and again this Holi. And you already know why. It so very nicely depicts the Tomatina festival which is sort of an Italian Holi. The song from the Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara was sung by Vishal Dadlani, Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani, Alyssa Mendonsa and Gulraj Singh. The song was penned by Javed Akhtar and composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. This song depicts the very nature of our Indian Holi in Italian customs. We play Holi with this much zest itself and as the song says Paint It Red we too would do the same this Holi. The movie was one of the highest grossing movies of the year and this song was one of the highlights of the film. BL likes!!

So go ahead BollywoodLifers, enjoy a happy holi and for everyone out there, play safe!!

src: bollywoodlife.com