"Here Today...Tomorrow Nowhere"

In a song I love for its blend of indescribably beautiful lyrics and soulful tune, Dharmendra appears in a memory, mixed with nostalgic sunlight filtering in through windowless chinks of an ancient, abandoned fortress.

- DOLA MITRA

It is from the 1977 film Kinara directed by Gulzar and stars Dharmendra as an archaeology professor who dies in a car accident; Hema Malini, a dancer who loves him; and Jeetendra who comes into their lives inadvertently. As the camera pans over vast expanses of the surrounding ruins, we hear the words “naam ghoom jayega/chehera yeh badal jayega/meri awaaz hi pehchan hain/gar yaad rahen,” as though emanating from the depths of an unknown realm from the past. While it is sung by the character of Hema Malini if I were to critique the film, I would urge the director to use the song as voiceover to the images to heighten its quality of extraordinary spirituality. Though the lyrics, by Gulzar himself, defies translation, here is what the words more or less mean in English: “Our names will be lost in the oblivion of time/our appearances will change/only the sound of my voice will remain as my identity/it is this that you will remember well.” Music composer R.D. Burman's tunes elevate the lyrics to the level of the divine. It is a paradox that this song, about transience, is indelibly imprinted in our hearts and minds, like a lasting memory.