If one has a walk down memory lane through Indian films, one of the most interesting aspects, is the usage of alcohol. As anyone who comes from a ‘good’ family would know, alcohol is bad for a person, his wife, his children, his village, the society, and mankind in general.
Even though alcohol was established as the cause of all evil, every film used it, because drinking could have strange effects, which would move the story forward. Some of the standard usages of alcohol would be:
The Seduction drink: The heroine drinks, her one eye on the hero, and to make him ‘burn’, she would gobble it and then sing a song and dance in a skimpy dress. At the end of the song, the hero slaps the heroine, and she ‘regains’ her consciousness and her culture, and all’s good. Sometimes, it would be the vamp who does it. Dancing seductively, she would draw the hero to commit the ‘ek hi bhool’ of his life.
The Rape drink: The villan eyes the heroine. He thenpursues her, while there is lightning 
and thunder outside, after taking a few gulps from the black, evil drink. However, this turns to be his bane, as the hero jumps in at the last minute to save the heroine, or
swears to take revenge for his sister’s izzat, which ultimately proves to be the demise of the villain.
The ‘Dhoka Song‘ drink: This is by far the most interesting one of the lot. The heroine is with another man (mostly the villain). The hero is at the party, and an old
man says “We have Rakesh here, who is a brilliant singer. Mr. Rakesh, why don’t you sing us a song?” The man gulps a few drinks (neat, always!) and then begins to sing the song. The song is about indifelity, and why one should never fall in love.
It must be noted here that the hero being a man of good honour and conduct, drinks only when there is a problem of some sort, not on a regular basis. It must also be noted that the hero does not like to mix Thums Up, add some water, and then order for peanuts. The hero only has his drink neat, thank you.
Dhoka songs have always been safe territories for filmmakers. In a country with a population of one billion and a sex ratio of 850/1000, there are bound to be some frustrated men around. With people like Himesh Reshammiya making it a different genre altogether, these songs are immensely popular among the youth. I find it strange
that many of us find it easier to think of girls as unfaithful creatures, rather than as loving people (Girls who are reading this, kindly give me the required brownie points for this remark!)
I have my favourite Dhoka songs as well.
Then there is ‘Aaj rapat jaaye’ from Namak Halal, and Preity Zinta’s act in Koi Mil Gaya which makes your mind wander ‘idhar-udhar’. Then there is Kajol running around drunk in Switzerland in DDLJ, among the few that I can recollect now.
There is ‘Ae kaash kahin aisa hota’ from Mohra, which was my reigning favourite till a few days back. The meaningful lyrics (a rough translation of which is given below)
“Oh how I wish that the human body had two hearts in the chest
Even if one broke in love, there would be no problem in living”
The lyrics made the song easy to relate to. Then there was Raveena Tandon, who puts the ‘oooo’ in ooomph, with her looks. There is Kumar Sanu, pouring out emotions straight from his heart, and through his nose. The song was the ultimate Dhoka song.
But a few days back, a friend brought to my attention another song. This one by Babbu Mann.
Those of you who do not know who Babbu Mann is, may kindly visit his website, where it is clearly mentioned that “Now he is entrenched Punjabi pop singer, composer, lyricist, playback singer and actor as well.” (Mind you, he is not just ‘established’, but ‘entrenched’.)
Mann acquired cult status for his work in the devotional album ‘Singh better than King‘, and the the hush-hush love story, aptly titled ‘Hashar: A love story‘. Lest he be stereotyped into a romantic singer, the website reminds us that “The song “Ek Raat/One Night Stand” shocked many listeners, but nevertheless, the song has a very catchy beat.”
So that was about Babbu Mann. Now about the song, “Dil Ta Pagal Hai.”
The song is the ultimate ‘Dhoka song’ in the universe. It’s difficult to point out just one reason why the song is a chartbuster.
Is it because of the costume, which adds an element of ‘blues’ into the bhangra? Is it the Peter Pettigrew style of covering the girl with flowers (00:46)? Or is it the way the hero comes out of his fantasies? (1:04, 3:42) Or is it the way he grabs the heroine with power, and turns her around, sending her into circles of tizziness (2:23)? The sheer power of the man makes you wonder if the girl is playing ‘Ringa Ringa Roses’ with herself.
But then, there is also pain. There is sadness, and there is alcohol. There is the evil bitch of a heroine, who has ditched our man, there is the melancholic depression, the happy moments in the past, and the hapless bridegroom who has no idea how many ‘guls’ the girl had earlier ‘khilaoed’ with Babbu Mann. He’s the man!
Watch the video, and you have yourself a wonderful week of work!
Remember, if things get bad, there is always the bottle.
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