When one thinks of songs for Father’s Day today, the image of Aamir Khan lip-syncing to Papa Kehte Hain in the 1988 film Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak immediately comes to mind. Written by Majrooh Sultanpuri and composed by Anand-Milind, the song gave singer Udit Narayan his breakthrough. The hit was recently recreated by composer Aditya Dev using Udit’s voice in the film Srikanth, where Rajkumar Rao plays a visually impaired industrialist.
This song would surely top many father’s song playlists. But before we mention other Hindi and English tunes, let’s talk about the new track Kiss The Bride by American rock band Bon Jovi, from its new album Forever released on June 7. Here, a father wishes his daughter on her wedding day – “A father’s prayer only angels hear, may your days be many, the way be clear, may the road be kind, your eyes stay bright, may your life be as beautiful as you look tonight.
” In some ways, this is like the ‘bidaai’ song Sahir Ludhianvi wrote in the 1968 film Neel Kamal – “Babul ki duwayein leti jaa, jaa tujhko sukhi sansaar mile, maike ki kabhi yaad na aaye, sasural mein itna pyaar mile”. Filmed on Balraj Sahni and Waheeda Rahman, it was composed by Ravi and sung by Mohammed Rafi. ‘Bidaai’ songs can be emotional and tearful, but they make listeners nostalgic too.
Examples of traditional numbers are Babul Mora, written by Wajid Ali Shah, or Kaahe Ko Byahe Bides, written by Amir Khusrau. In films, there’s Mukesh’s Chal Ri Sajni c.