Romance in the time of melody

Romance is in the air. What better way than to celebrate it in song? Pyaar kiya toh darna kya.... This sums up reel love — from Mughal-e-azam to Yamla Pagla Deewana.
With retro music being the buzz word, love rules the waves. Romantic lyricism coupled with enchanting music make old songs gold. It’s not just the old people. Even GenX is humming the golden oldies today.And helping the young to appreciate the old melodies and the old go down melody lane are two young singers — Biju Nair and Sinchan Dixit.
They say more people are attending these shows. Their first Yaadein show was a hit. When people asked what next, they came up with Yaadein 2 and 3. On February 19, they’ll croon some romantic songs tuned by Shankar-Jaikishan at Ambedkar Bhavan.
Is love in movies different today? “We are young, yet we appreciate the beautiful lyrics about love written four to five decades ago.’’
Hasn’t love come a long way in Hindi films? “Yes, from silent expression to romantic outpourings. It only reflects the times. You had a very seductive number Roop tera mastana those days too,’’ they say.
Why retro songs? Says Biju: “I learnt to appreciate the golden music and lyrics when I participated in school and college competitions. Participants almost always selected retro songs. Gradually, I began liking those gems.”
Sinchan says: “I always loved the foot-tapping RD Burman songs. Like Biju, once I started participating in competitions, I realized everyone would sing mostly only the beautiful songs of the fifties and sixties. I too fell into the groove and started appreciating these songs.”
What do they think of a Munni badnaam huyi or Sheela ki jawani?
Says Sinchan, “Even when Kajrare was a huge hit, people at retro shows would ask for Kajra mohabbatwala.’’ Biju agrees. But both say these days melody is staging a happy comeback.