Kishore Kumar’s ‘Ghungaroo ki tarah bajata hi Raha Hoon mein‘ is one of the most melancholic yet melodious songs. It’s one of my favorites. Though it’s not a duet, I used to sing this song regularly at our family and public gatherings with my father in law Sahasa simha Dr. Vishnuvardhan ji as he too admired the song equally.
I stopped singing this song to a large extent as I did not have a heart to sing this after we Kannadigas lost our ‘Hrudayavanta’.
One of my schoolmates, Raksha Bhavikatti asked me to sing the song and share it , which I did. Guess what? She promptly shared it with none other than Leena Chandavarkar ji, one of the most beautiful actresses and perhaps the cutest of them all. She hails from Dharwad, the same city where I come from. In fact she stayed in front my house and my family knew her family well. She left the city for the world of Cinema when she was just 15 and I was not even born. I literally grew up on the stories of her beauty, talent and how my family knew her.
Watching her movies and songs is absolutely a true delight. As an actor, it’s amazing to see how she was so at ease while acting with the tragedy king, Dilip Kumar for the film ‘Bairag’ one of her earlier movies. In fact her talent is noticeable in all her movies.
I am aware that most of the film artistes are generally unreachable in every sense. So obviously I was ambivalent.
Would she read the text message sent by my friend? If she does, when would that be? Would she care to hear my song? The song which was sung by her legendary husband, Kishore Kumar, one of the greatest singers, whose songs, millions of people have been singing since decades. All these questions hounded me, but just for few minutes as I received a text from ‘her’ within 15 minutes. She addressed me as beta (son) and blessed me. A treasure which I will cherish forever.
She was loved by the audience and the genius himself. Leena ji asked in her song ‘Jane kyon log mohabbat Kiya karate hai’? (‘Why do people love’?) The answer is very simple. It is inevitable, because people will love those who are beautiful from inside out and she is just one of those few ones…
Write up: Anirudh, Actor, Singer, Writer and Director
