And, who can forget Hema’s fabulous performance in Laxmikant-Pyarelal’s Aap Beati song Neela Peela Hara Gulabi?Ĭhoosing one song each from the subsequent decades, there are Hridaynath Mangeshkar’s Holi Aayee Re from Mashaal (1984), Shiv-Hari’s Ang Se Ang from Darr (1993) and Aadesh Srivastava’s Holi Khele Raghuveera from Baghban in 2003. Burman’s famous Aaj Na Chhodenge from Kati Patang, filmed on Rajesh Khanna and Asha Parekh. Cut to the 1970s, and we had the Holi Aayee Re title track composed by Kalyanji-Anandji and R.D. Ramchandra’s Arrey Ja Re Natkhat from Navrang. From the late 1950s, there are Naushad’s composition Holi Aayi Re Kanhai from Mother India and C. These could be either the old ones or something released this century. And, finally, there are songs which aren’t related to the festival, but refer to any colour. Secondly, there are songs with the word ‘rang’ (okay, so Besharam Rang qualifies). The first will have Holi-related situations in the film, like the ones in Sholay and Silsila. So, what does one put into a Bollywood Holi playlist? There may be three classifications. Or they’ll choose Pritam’s composition Balam Pichkari from the 2013 film Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. This year, they’ll most probably pose for reels while swinging to Besharam Rang from Pathaan, which has no connection to Holi, or the new Coke Studio Bharat mish-mash Holi Re Rasiya. The millennials will play a different tune.

The generation growing up in the 1970s or 1980s will think of Dharmendra and Hema Malini dancing to Holi Ke Din in Sholay or Amitabh Bachchan chasing Rekha in the Silsila hit Rang Barse. Every Holi, some song scenes come immediately to mind.

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