Monday, April 01, 2019

A is for Aaja aaja, giu me a kiss

April blogathon is ON! Until very recently, I was in two minds whether I should do it or not. And then I went back and read some of the posts from last year and remembered how much I had enjoyed sourcing for the random songs and dissecting them. And suddenly, I was filled with renewed enthusiasm. So here goes!

***

Okay, so everyone from my generation (oh, how I hate and love that phrase) should know this song. The amazing lyrics from this 1991 movie Love go something like this:

Aaja aaja, giu me a kiss 
Na na na na, till I am a miss
Hona yehi kal bhi hai
Toh kyun bole abhi nahin abhi nahin
Kal piya hone toh de
Shaadi se pehle kabhi nahin kabhi nahin

Sallu and Revathi made such an unusual pair, didn't they? I still can't make up my mind about whether they were cute together or she looked too old for him (she's a year younger than him, btw). The movie was a remake of the Telugu blockbuster Prema, starring Venkatesh and Revathi.

So this giu and take song starts on a very weird note...


And because she says no, they immediately change and go for a jog at the beach so he can burn off his josh-e-jawaani.


Look at him, treadmilling it out just so she can stay ahead!

The song gets weirder and weirder...


Because she won't allow any hot stuff, he's got alternatives.

Then they decide to have a photoshoot...

... where they showcase Salman Khan's second-to-none chest hair. And also his legendary elbow.

And then things get damn weird... and gross!

Blearrrghhhh!

This disturbs me. Why Revathi agreed to do it disturbs me. Workplace harassment, that's what it is.

Then they get into a contest about who can get weirder about proclaiming their love.

Revathi, channeling her inner Monjulika vibes, obviously wins this round.

She also uses some eyeliner and gives him an instant makeover.



Years later, Arbaaz Khan would copy that look. 

This was also one of the signature SP Balasubramaniam - Salman Khan songs. At what point did we, as a nation, shrug our collective shoulders and accept SP's bhaari-bharkam voice on matchstick man Salman Khan? To the point that when someone else sang for him, we felt violated because it was just plain wrong. 

Giu it up, everybody, for Aaja aaja!






5 comments:

Charan Deep Singh said...

Kitschy stuff this song is

Chengiz said...

Yes!! Glad April blogathon is back!

Havent heard this song in like 25 years!

I like how kissing is not okay before marriage but eating his half digested food is no problem.

Arun said...

May the Supreme Blogger always continue Her bounty upon you!

Sandhya said...

I am not surprised SPB pronounced 'give' as 'giu'. I grew up in Andhra Pradesh (SPB is from Andhra Pradesh too, as you may know) and would say 'giu' (it was an accepted form of pronunciation), facepalm! It was only after I started working for an MNC did I realize the mispronunciation of the word. Blame it on mother tongue influence in the region! :)

Waiting for your next post :)

Sayesha said...

Charan,
:D

Chengiz,
LOL at the half-digested food! :D

Arun,
Thank you!

Sandhya,
Aaah yes I think I discovered the pronunciation difference between v and w pretty late in life too!