1. Duniya bananewale kya tere mann mein samayee (Teesri Kasam): Shailendra, who produced this exquisite Raj Kapoor-Waheeda Rehman film, wrote some of his choicest songs for Raj Kapoor’s cinema. This word-travel on the vagaries of creation has endured the test of time, like much of what Shailendra wrote.
2. Oh Jaane wale ho sakey toh laut ke aana (Bandini): The evocative Mukesh number about an exit, a departure, a farewell, will break your heart over and over again. Nutan’s expression of anguished farewell are remembered to this day. Shailendra expressed the feminine side of love’s loss beautifully in this and Oh re Manjhi mere sajan hai uss paar.
3. Yeh mera deewanapan hai (Yehudi): The guiding force of Shailendra’s writing was its simplicity. Yehudi was arguably the worst film of Bimal Roy, Dilip Kumar and Meena Kumari’s career. What stood out was this Rafi solo which Dilip Kumar sang with grace.
4. Tu pyar ka sagar hai (Seema): A devotional lyric with so much feeling, it felt like poetry too deep for tears. Manna Dey, who sang the Bhajan to perfection ,told me, “I would give the credit for this song’s enduring relevance to Shailendra.”
5. Aaja sanam Madhur chandni mein hum (Chori Chori): Shailendra wrote with great passion for Raj Kapoor’s cinema. This number, sung to flawless peaks by Lataji and Manna Dey, was a great favourite of both the singers.
6. O sajana barkha bahaar ayee (Parakh): Lataji once told me this was her favourite go-to romantic song. And that Shailendra’s words went a long in making this the ultimate love song.
7. Mera joota hai japani (Awara): What was it about Raj Kapoor that brought out the best in Shailendra? This everlasting ode to nationalism propagated oneness long before it became fashionable. But why Japanese shoes?
8. Kaaton se kheench ke yeh aanchal (Guide): The anthem of feminism, Waheeda Rehman, who danced her way into immortality with this song said the Guide team didn’t find the song very special when they first heard it. But then Shailendra’s words did it for them. Kal ke andheron se nikal ke, dekha hai aankhen malte-malte…. A new dawn for the lady, a new era for the poetry of liberation.
9. Kissiki ki muskurahaton pe ho nissar (Anari): The best lesson of a life well lived, the song brings a smile to the saddest face. One of Hindi cinema’s best-written lyrics on the quality of a fruitful existence, the only comparable lyric is Sahir’s Woh subah kabhi toh aayegi.
10. Jeena yahan marna yahan (Mera Naan Joker): Shailendra left us before this brilliant ode to showbiz and fame could be completed, his two sons wrote the remaining lies.
