1. Chanda re mere bhaiyya se kehna behna yaad kare (Chambal Ki Kasam, Lata Mangeshkar): My most favourite bhai-bahen song, so immaculately composed (Khayyam), so wonderfully worded (by the great Sahir Ludhianvi) and so pitch-perfectly rendered by Lata Mangeshkar, this is the most flawless creation celebrating that special day set aside for sisters and brothers. I asked Lata Ji how she was able to attain such summits of emotional expression in this song, and she confessed, “It is a song about a sister being separated from her brother. I thought of what Raksha Bandhan would be like if own brother Hridaynath were not with me to celebrate the occasion. Bass, jazbaat wahin se nikal pade.”
2. Raakhi dhaago ka tyohar (Raakhi, Mohd Rafi): Most Raksha Bandhan songs are sung by female singers. This one is unique in that it is the male voice reminding us of the importance of that day: Bhai bahen ka pyar rahega jab tak hai sansar, Raakhi dhaago ka tyohar. Composed by Ravi Sharma the song does not have popular recall value because of its gender reversal. The underrated Rajendra Krishan wrote this Rafi senti-melody.
3. Rang birangi rakhi lekar aye behna (Anpadh, Lata Mangeshkar): Lataji says this song about sibling-bonding was easy to render since composer Madan Mohan was her rakhi brother. Every Raksha Bandhan, he came to his choti bahen to have her tie that sacred string on his wrist. Madan Mohan composed this song keeping his bond with Lataji in mind.
4. Bhaiya mere rakhi ke bandhan ko nibhana (Choti Bahen, Lata Mangeshkar): The pristine Nanda lip-syncing this Lata Mangeshkar song to her screen brother Balraj Sahni was a vision in filial affection that audiences remember to date. Composed by the hit machine duo Shankar-Jaikishan, this is one of the most popular Raksha Bandhan songs of all time. Incidentally, Nanda had a hard time erasing the sisterly image. If in 1959 she played Choti Bahen, ten years later she featured in the title role of Badi Didi.
5. Behna ne bhai ki kalai mein pyar bandha hai (Resham Ki Dori, Suman Kalyanpur): This theme song from the film on sibling togetherness featured the little-known Kumud Chugani as the sister singing to ‘brother’ Dharmendra on Raksha Bandhan in Suman Kalyanpur’s voice. Maze ki baat yeh hai, this song is a Raksha Bandhan evergreen, although it was put across on screen by an unpopular face. Credited to Shankar-Jaikishan, the tune conveys Shankar’s trademark influence.
6. Abke baras bhej bhaiyya ko babul (Bandini): Asha Bhosle got this song about her sister waiting for her brother to take her home from her sasural, by default. Composer Sachin Dev Burman was not on talking… singing… terms with his favourite ‘Lota’. Hence Asha. Hence one of the most moving melodies of her career. The highest compliment we can pay the songstress is to say she doesn’t let us miss her elder sister in the song.
7. Chhor chale ghar tera babul piya ke ghar jaana (Mere Bhaiyya): The Salil Choudhary-Lata Mangeshkar collaboration is often mentioned for many milestone melodies like Aaja re pardesi (Madhumati) and Na jiya lage na (Anand). No one recalls this, a monumental classic where the sister sings a bidaai song to her brother. Yogesh’s lyrics build a montage of moving domestic images in the departing sister’s mind of things she would miss at home. You simply ‘moist’ hear this teary-eyed classic.
8. Behna oh behna teri doli main sajaoonga (Adalat): When it comes to the brother’s perspective on sisterly love we invariably fall back on Kishore Kumar’s Meri pyari behaniya from the film Sachcha Jhootha and Phoolon ka taaron ka (Hare Rama Hare Krishna). This Mukesh number composed by Kalyanji-Anandji (the duo shared a special affinity with Mukesh) from the Amitabh Bachchan hit in 1976 is a sleeper weepie. We hardly ever heard Mukesh sing for Amitabh Bachchan in any other film other than Kabhi Kabhie. Mukesh’s melancholic voice colours the emotional lyrics in prominent shades of brotherly allegiance.
9. Maiya mere bhaiya na aaye re (Aaakhri Daku): How on earth did this enormously moving song of sisterly sorrow end up in this dud of a film? Lataji is at her supremely soulful summit singing for a sister who refuses to get into the doli without her brother. There is a visual vibrancy to the words. Lataji paints emotions in this gem of a number where composers Kalyanji-Anandji have gone beyond their trademark style.
10. Phoolon ka taaron ka sabka kehna hai (Hare Rama Hare Krishna): Not too fond of this over-cute number. But must be included for its perennial popularity. There are two versions of this R D Burman bhai-bahen song. One has Lataji singing for the junior Dev Anand (Master Satyajeet). The other is the swoon-worthy Kishore Kumar version that Dev Saab sang to “sister” Zeenat.
ALSO READ: Lata Didi’s Very Own Kid Brother, Hridaynath, Was Her Favourite
