Lata Mangeshkar's career spanned more than 70 years recording thousands of songs. This iconic song is regarded to be one of songs by which Lata Mangeshkar is remembered. Lata herself considered this song to be among her top six favourite songs in 2016 and among her favourite 20 in 2012. In 2014, on the fiftieth anniversary of the song, she tweeted: ""Namaskar Is varsh 'Lag ja gale ke phir ye hasee'n raat' is geet ko 50 saal pure ho rahe hain. aisa madhur geet aaj bhi purana nahi lagta" The singer Amit Mishra claims that "My favourite song by Lata ji is Lag Ja Gale and I can hear it a million times on repeat mode"
Lyrics
In the song, the singer expresses that this evening may the last time she will see her beloved. Below, the song is transcribed in Devanagari, Nastaʿlīq and English
The Hindi expression "ho na ho" implies that it may or may not happen in future. "Gale lagna" refers to embracing such that the necks touch, it can apply to two persons of the same sex as well. The song expresses profound sadness on the impending partition, which is perhaps final. The Hindi expression "ho na ho" implies that it may or may not happen in future. In Hinduism, death is the parting for this life. The parting, although expresses separation of two lovers in the movie, can also mean death in the Indian context. Some individuals remember having sung this song for the dying grandmother. Others member a close relative, with impending death due to cancer, dancing her last dance with this song. It is sometimes sung at Indian funerals. It is also considered to be an iconic song composed by Madan Mohan.
It is said that for the movie Woh Kaun Thi, the song was originally rejected by the movie director. He decided to include it when he heard it the second time. When the former star Sadhana passed way in 2015, she was often recalled by referring to her as the actress of this song.
Renditions
In 1966, two movies used the song: in the Tamil movieYaar Nee?, it is rendered as "Ponmeni Thazhuvamal", and in the Telugu movieAame Evaru? it is rendered as "Andala ee reyi". The singer Shreya Ghoshal performed the song in concert several times in the 2010s. Its rendition by the Sanam Band has been so popular that some teenagers think they originally sang it. It has also been sung by several singers in Pakistan. A rendition of the song sung by Jonita Gandhi featured in 2018 film Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 3.
