#20 Teesri Manzil: Top 100 Bollywood Albums

Music: R.D. Burman

Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri

Label: Saregama HMV

Director: Vijay Anand

Like yesterday, today's entry too is the career-defining album of a newcomer. R D Burman was just four movies old when Nasir Hussain decided to give him a try, and convinced the movie's leading man Shammi Kapoor to audition Pancham in favour of his regulars for this kind of films, Shankar Jaikishan and O P Nayyar. The rest, to resort to the cliché, is indeed history – Burman's work for the movie became a massive success and the harbinger of a new, more sophisticated era in Hindi film music. O Mere Sona Re, one of the movie's hit tracks, is known to be the first Indian film song to have employed the electric organ; just one of the many innovations the composer went on to be associated with.

Best Song of Teesri Manzil: The male vocalist for the entire soundtrack was Mohammed Rafi, which isn't surprising given that it was a Shammi film. The only other voice to feature in the soundtrack was one that became a frequent part of Burman's works, Asha Bhonsle. And my favourite song from the album is a duet between the two – the scorcher of a dance track that was Aaja Aaja. Majrooh Sultanpuri's flirtatious lines met with a bombastic musical treatment from the composer, heavy on guitars (Dilip Naik, especially with that winner of a solo at the start) and percussion (drums by Leslie Godinho). While Shammi ruled the song video with his moves, Rafi and Asha matched the onscreen swagger to a tee behind the mic.

On a Related Note: Another of the album's exuberant tracks was O Haseena Zulfon Wali. The song opens with a shot of a drummer performing a solo. While the solo was originally played by Leslie Godinho again, the silhouette in the video belonged to Salim Khan (of Salim-Javed).

Information partly sourced from myswar.com

1. Tumne Mujhe Dekha Ho Kar (Singer: Mohammad Rafi)
2. O Mere Sona Re Sona Re (Singers: Mohammad Rafi, Asha Bhosle)
3. O Haseena Zulfonwali Jaane Jahan (Singers: Mohammad Rafi, Asha Bhosle) 
4. Aaja Aaja Mein Hoon Pyar Tera (Singers: Mohammad Rafi, Asha Bhosle)
5. Dekhiye Sahiban Woh Koi Aur Thi (Singers: Mohammad Rafi, Asha Bhosle)
6. Deewana Mujhsa Nahin Iss Ambar (Singer: Mohammad Rafi)

Listen to Aaja Aaja from Teesri Manzil here: 

(With contributions by Praveen VR, co-founder of musicaloud.com)

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