Sawan ke jhoole…Tum chale aao – Day 2373

Directors like Hrishikesh Mukherjee portrayed rain and his characters more realistically. Remember Raakhee just strolling in the forest and singing to no one in particular ‘Sawan ke Jhoole…’ in Jurmana? In most of these films, rain was a metaphor, a muse to express longing. Hema Malini is a dancer in Abhinetri and does her workout singing ‘O ghata sawari…’ while Rajesh Khanna -Zeenat Aman are in a playful mood during ‘Bheegi bheegi raaton mein…’ in Ajnabee.

Sometimes, the rain sequence was a turning point of the story like Amitabh Bachchan walking Raakhee home under an umbrella in Kaala Pathar, Anuradha Patel singing ‘Mera kuch samaan tumhare paaas…’ in Ijaazat or Vinod Khanna’s soulful ‘Lagee aaj sawan ki phir wo jhadi hai…’ in Chandni. Equally endearing is Shabana Azmi draped in a black shawl, shot amidst swaying trees and dew drops, singing ‘Phir se aiyo barkha bidesi …’ in Gulzar’s Namkeen.