Did you know this about Rang Barse?

Holi is almost here and Debajyoti Mishra has an interesting story to share about his favourite song, Rang Barse. “In Tollygunge, where I used to live, there was a place where non-Bengalis would gather to sing and make merry on Holi. Their songs would leave an impact on my mind,” recalled Debajyoti. The composer said when he later heard the song — Rang Barse Bhige Chunar Wali — and saw the picturisation in

Silsila

, he was already in college. “I saw the film at a south Kolkata single screen and loved what I saw. The song was a huge hit, but I knew it was based on a

bhajan

that people used to sing on Holi,” he said. Later, when the composer wished to use a similar tune in Souvik Mitra’s Curzoner Kalom, he said there were copyright issues.

“That’s when it came out that the song was actually based on a traditional bhajan by 15th-century mystic poet Meera. Even though lyrics were by poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan and the song was composed by Shiv-Hari, the original bhajan goes like — Rang barse o meeran, bhawan main rang barse/Kun e meera tero mandir chinayo, kun chinyo tero devro/Rang barse o meeran, bhawan main rang barse. The film number was tweaked around to fit into the script, but the bhajan was popular among people down the generations,” he said. Debajyoti was allowed to use the tune and the composer said, “Till date, the tune remains popular and I too am its ardent admirer.”