Aasha (1957 film)


Aasha, also transliterated as Asha, was a 1957 Bollywood film starring Vyjayanthimala and Kishore Kumar, and directed by M.V. Raman. The film became a box office hit. This film was partly coloured by both Gevacolor and Technicolor. The film was remade in Tamil as Athisaya Penn. Asha Parekh appears in the song 'Chal Chal Re Kanhai' and one scene after it with Vyjayanthimala.

Plot

The story is about Kishore who is a good-hearted person and always helps poor people even though he is from a rich Zamindar family. One day, he travels to Bombay to stay with his cousin Raj, who cheats a lot with girls. When they both go for a hunt in the jungle, Raj meets a man who demands he marry his jilted daughter. Raj murders the father and he frames Kishore for the crime. Kishore is forced to flee. Finally, Kishore and his lover Nirmala prove that Raj is the guilty one, and Raj tells the truth in front of everyone. Now the police arrest Raj and Kishore marries Nirmala amid happy celebrations.

Cast

The music for the film was composed by C. Ramchandra and the lyrics were written by Rajendra Krishan. The song "Eena Meena Deeka", sung by Asha Bhosle and Kishore Kumar in two different versions, became very popular. It was one of the Hindi cinema's first rock and roll numbers. The words of the song were inspired by children playing outside composer C. Ramchandra's music room. The children were chanting "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe", which inspired Ramchandra and his assistant John Gomes to create the first line of the song, "Eena Meena Deeka, De Dai Damanika". Gomes, who was a Goan, added the words "Maka naka". They kept on adding more nonsense rhymes till they ended with "Rum pum po!". It was later covered by Timid Tiger and Goldspot. It was also remixed by Mikey Mcclearly for Shaandaar. In 2017, Eastern Eye magazine declared Kishore Kumar's version of "Eena Meena Deeka" as one of his top 10 best songs commemorating Kumar's 30th death anniversary.
Track #Song titleSingersPicturized on
01"Eena Meena Deeka Daai Daamonikaa"Kishore Kumar, Asha BhosleVyjayantimala, Pran, Om Prakash, Meenu Mumtaz, Kishore Kumar
02"Eena Meena Deeka" Asha Bhosle
03"Zaraa Ruk Ruk Ke, Main To Dwaar Chali Sakhi"Lata MangeshkarKishore Kumar, Vyjayantimala
04"Chal Chal Re Kanhai"Lata Mangeshkar
05"Are Chhote Aur Bade Kaa, Insaaf Kahaan Kaa Hai"Kishore KumarKishore Kumar, Vyjayantimala
06"Haal Tujhe Apani Duniya Ka"Kishore KumarPran
07"So Ja Re Chanda So Ja"Asha Bhosle
08"Tu Na Aaya Aur Hone Lagi Sham Re"Lata Mangeshkar
09"Tumko Salaam Hain"Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar

Use in media

An advertising campaign by the JWT agency of London for the UK bank HSBC in October 2008 used the "Eena Meena Deeka" song from the film as background music.