Nostalgic Notes :
Jaan Pehchaan Ho – Gumnaam (1965)
Often while struggling through a waft of emotions, we find ourselves delving into playlists, those that span nearly a century, that of Bollywood songs. Why not? After all, Bollywood has always served us a delightful bouquet of music. The best part, this trait of songs which has been quite unique to the industry, never served as a deterrent to the narrative; instead, it was mostly fused beautifully in the main plot. Every note of these painfully constructed medleys holds a nostalgic anecdote, and we thought, why not bring to you every month, the glory of those golden days and the hidden gems that weaved them into the tunes that are timeless.
Keeping that in mind, we are initiating this very special segment with one of the most popular thrillers of Hindi cinema, Gumnaam. An adaptation of Agatha Christie’s popular work And Then There Were None, Gumnaam was not just lauded for its taut plot, but also for the haunting score which is popular to date. The title track, Gumnaam Hai Koi still evokes feelings of nostalgia and mystery in equal parts. However, apart from the title track, there is yet another track from the classic, which even though may not have registered on our music sense, but went on to become quite popular, internationally. We are talking about Jaan Pehchaan Ho, which was crooned by none other than Mohd Rafi sahib. Did you know that the song featured one of the most famous music group of the time, i.e. the 1960s – Ted Lyons and his cubs?
Not only that, the song has quite a few interesting anecdotes attached to it. The song, which may not have many followers back home, has achieved a cult status in the west. So much so, that it was a part of the opening sequence of 2001 movie Ghost World, starring Scarlett Johansson. In fact, it was this feature which actually made people sit up, take notice, and flutter the archives of Bollywood music to ultimately trace the Rafi song back to the thriller of 60s.
Jaan Pehchaan Ho has achieved a status which is quite hard to beat. The song is also a part of first-person shooter Far Cry 4. One can hear it when the player reaches the fortress. Come to think of it, the song has quite a few tones which fit the game aptly. If you thought that’s about it, you may be a tad wrong. Heineken, the beer brand, used the song for one of its commercials, titled The Date. Though it’s not the original footage as in the Ghost World, but is a recreation of the same, and the beats automatically take you back to the course, the master of which was Rafi with his whacky voice making the song a catchy number. Not to take away the credit from Shankar-Jaikishan who delivered an absolute delight of a music which perfectly tapped to the tone of the movie.
Gumnaam is still considered a movie which delivered a stunning shocker in a subtle manner, with every frame. Of course, every anecdote related to it has to be quite special too. Jaan Pehchaan Ho too remains a hidden gem from the movie which deserves many more accolades.