Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Parveen Pyar!: My top 5 favorite Parveen Babi songs

Parveen Babi. Beautiful and tragic. The ultimate beauty queen of the 80s. I often wonder if we view some of the yesteryear actresses with rose-colored glasses ... Parveen was a model-turned-actress that would probably be getting the kind of criticism that actresses like Deepika Padukone receives if she were in today's industry. She was far more of a glam doll than a serious actress, and yet, we still remember her with admiration and awe. And also a tinge of sadness that she succumbed to mental illness before she could really reach the height of her career. But we will always have her wonderful, discolicious, glittery, sequins-laden and gorgeous image in our heads thanks to her hit songs in the 80s. Here's my tribute to the beautiful Parveen Babi on her birthday -- my Top 5 Favorite Parveen Songs:

1. Aayi Aayi Mein To Aayi - Jaani Dost


2. Yeh Din To Aata Hai - Mahaan


3. Pyar Karnewale - Shaan


4. Meri Nazar Hai Tujhpe - The Burning Train


5. Raat Baaki - Namak Halal


Hope you will all share your favorites in the comments! Happy birthday Parveen Babi, wherever you are, I hope you are dripping in sequins and gemstones and dancing away on a light-up disco floor.

3 comments:

  1. My favorite is "Main To Beghar Hoon" from Suhaag.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdInp05Ruxo

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fantastic selections all. Even before I was reading Cindy's comment I was thinking of "Main to beghar hoon", which is certainly my favorite Parveen song as well - along with "Main hoon sharabi," from *Ashanti*, with Mithun (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkNx9MpxDYk). But, that starts to be MY list, and I have no quibble whatsoever with YOUR list.

    It's funny - Parveen Babi has never been a great favorite of mine. And yet, she's marvelous. It's true that I love her era and the sorts of films she starred in - but there is a cause-and-effect there, as she is part and parcel of what makes that era great even if she is not, for whatever reason, a top-tier favorite for me. It's as I noted recently when I tried to compile a list of my 10 favorite women of Hindi films - if there were only 10 women worth mentioning, Hindi films would not have held my attention for so long.

    carla (filmigeek)
    http://filmigeek.net

    ReplyDelete
  3. hey great choices! some of my other faves are 'Baahon mein Teri' (Kaala Patthar), Jab Tum Chale Jaonge (Bullet), Jalta Hai Badan (Razia Sultan), Jabse Tumko Dekha (Kaalia).
    Loved Parveenji very much. May she rest in peace.

    ReplyDelete