2001: Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham Soundtrack
By Zeahaa Rehman
How Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’s Soundtrack Has Kept the Movie Alive in the Hearts of Viewers for Two Decades
“Let’s sing ‘Bole Chudiyan.’” This sentence, or an approximation of it, is commonly heard during almost every desi wedding.
Many desi weddings consist of a groom bringing a baraat to his bride’s house and taking her away with him. Since the chorus of ‘Bole Chudiyan’ consists of a girl requesting her lover to take her heart—preferably as a groom—because even her bangles agree that she is his, it has become a mainstay at desi weddings. The song’s popularity at weddings, in turn, has kept Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham—the Bollywood film whose soundtrack it belongs to—alive in the hearts of audiences across all generations for the 20 years that have passed since its release in 2001.
For me, Bole Chudiyan is inextricably linked to desi weddings and the joy and togetherness that I associated with them. As soon as I hear its opening lines, I can feel the itchy embroidered fabric—that most of my wedding clothes were made of—scratching my upper arms; the stack of bangles sliding across my wrists; the fancy pins tightly pulling my hair back.
Bole Chudiyan and the Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Ghum soundtrack reminds me of sitting in a circle singing and clapping along during dholkis, of watching dance performances during mehendis; and of wanting to also smear henna or haldi over the bride and groom’s face but being too young to. Listening to it fills me with the anticipation I felt, waiting to hear the dhols that signaled the groom and his baraat’s arrival—and getting to throw rose petals over them if I was close enough to the bride; then waiting for the bride’s elder cousins to bring her inside shortly after to sit beside him; and then waiting to going up the stage to get my picture taken.
Weddings were an opportunity for me to meet all my extended family in one place; to frolic in the wedding hall with my cousins when I was younger, or catch up (read: gossip) with them as I got older; and to revel in the joy that doing this brought me. I can’t experience them anymore given that I live in Canada, most of my extended family lives in Pakistan, and I can’t always plan my visits around weddings. So, I relive them instead through Bole Chudiyan and the Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Ghum soundtrack.
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Ghum (literally “Sometimes Joy, Sometimes Sorrow”), affectionately referred to as K3G, is a 2001 Bollywood film that celebrates its 20th anniversary December 14, 2021. Though the film’s tagline is: “It’s all about loving your parents,” K3G is equal parts romance, comedy, and family drama. The film begins with Rahul Raichand, the adopted younger song of billionaire businessman Yashvardhan “Yash” Raichand and Nandini Raichand, falling in love with Anjali Sharma, a girl with a lower socioeconomic status. After Yash disowns Rahul for marrying Anjali instead of the more appropriate Naina, Rahul leaves both his house and country to settle in London, England. 10 years later, Rahul’s younger brother, Rohit, upon learning the true reason behind his brother’s departure, sets out to London to find Rahul and reunite the family—while also wooing Anjali’s younger sister, Pooja “Poo” Sharma.
Western media often brands Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995) as the biggest Bollywood movie, due to its status as the longest-running movie in the history of Indian cinema. However, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham has had equally if not larger cultural impact than DDLJ, enjoyed popularly with audiences across all ages, both in South Asia and especially amongst South Asian diaspora, for more than two decades. Even 20 years after its release, K3G continues to inspire the memes, parodies, and fashion of an entire generation of South Asians.
K3G’s popularity can be attributed to several factors: a plot that holds up; its relatable themes; and the unparalleled chemistry between its cast. However, only a few people can consistently rewatch the film and appreciate these factors, if not due to the inaccessibility of video players or broadband internet in much of South Asia, then for the energy needed to rewatch the film’s runtime of 210 minutes. How then did K3G sustain its popularity for two decades? The answer lies largely in its sublime soundtrack.
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’s soundtrack comprises of 11 songs, whose genres range from pop to ballads to bhangra. It predominantly features the voices of Lata Mangeshkar, Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, Sonu Nigam, Kavita Krishnamurthy, and Amit Kaur—all highly celebrated (and decorated) Indian playback singers.
The soundtrack was composed by Aadesh Srivastava, Sandesh Shindalya, and music director duo Jatin-Lalit, and their work on K3G earned them a Filmfare nomination—Bollywood’s Oscars—for Best Music Director. Nearly all the songs on the soundtrack were written by Sameer Anjaan, save for ‘Suraj Hua Maddham’, which was penned by Anil Pandey.
The first song in the film is ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.’ Sung by Lata Mangeshkar, the Nightingale of India, the song becomes a bhajan of sorts. The lyrics never explicitly mention ‘God,’ nor its many synonyms in Hindi, but instead hint through lyrics about the singer doing this unnamed being’s ‘pooja,’ lighting diyas in their wake, making their house being this being’s temple—common worshiping rituals in Hinduism—and accepting that every joy, every sorrow is their boon. This lyricism allows Nandini—who ‘sings’ the song in the movie—to sing it partly to God, whose avatar she is worshiping, and partly to her husband, Yash. That, in turn, subtly establishes that Nandini sees her husband as a God-like figure who can do no wrong. Two minutes in, the music gives way to violins that, juxtaposed with the helicopter sounds, eventually build up to one of the most memorable entrances of a male lead character in Bollywood.
The next song is ‘Say Shava Shava.’ It begins at Yash Raichand’s lavish birthday celebration at the Raichand mansion. It then transports the viewer back and forth between the mansion and Chandni Chowk—a well-known but less posh neighbourhood in Delhi—where Anjali and her family reside to illustrate the differences between the Raichands and the Sharmas. As the song’s location switches, so does it sound: the song switches to dhols and tumbi to create a distinctly Punjabi sound in Chandni Chowk, compared to the dhol beat infused with jazz elements at the Raichand mansion. The duality within the song is hinted at in its very title, which pairs the English word ‘say’ with ‘shava shava,’ a distinctly Punjabi phrase.
Despite their socioeconomic difference, Rahul and Anjali fall in love and confess their feelings through ‘Suraj Hua Maddham’ (“The Sun Dimmed”). The song’s violins and guitars mimic the characters’ fluttering hearts and its simple melody allows the singers’ excellent vocals—and the lyrics sung with them—to stand out.
Another aspect of ‘Suraj Hua Maddham’ that stands out is the theme of Karan Johar’s previous production, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai at the 4:40 mark of its nearly 7-minute duration. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, funnily enough, also starred Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol as ‘Rahul’ and ‘Anjali, respectively, and its plot consisted of the two falling in love. A throwback to the film, then, is a clever nod to the song’s lyrics where the two wonder if they had known and loved each other in their previous lives.
An oft-overlooked part of ‘Suraj Hua Maddham’ is the vocalization at the beginning of the song, which reappears at the song and intensifies as the song ends. Reminiscent of Lata Mangeshkar’s in ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham,’ the vocalization serves a unifying thread in K3G’s songs of despite their vastly different sounds.
After professing their love for each other, Rahul and Anjali further their courtship at a wedding—as is Bollywood tradition—through ‘Yeh Ladka Hai Allah’ (“This Boy, Oh God”). The song consists of a flirtatious back-and-forth between the two leads over a simple desi beat as Rahul attempts to woo Anjali, who playfully spurns his overtures. What elevates this song from an ordinary wedding song to a masterpiece, however, is the momentary call-back to ‘Suraj Hua Maddham’ in the middle of the song. Not only does it signal that the banter in the song is merely that: banter, but it also reminds the listener of the previous events that have brought these two characters together.
Circumstances eventually lead Rahul to marry Anjali despite Yash being against the match. In his anger over Rahul’s disobedience, Yash disowns Rahul. As Rahul leaves the house with Anjali, Lata Mangeshkar brings Nandini’s inner dialogue to life in part 2 of ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’’s sad version. The song’s lyrics about a mother praying for a child’s safe journey sung in Mangeshkar’s sorrowful voice combined with create a haunting tune that causes more than a few tears to well up in the viewer’s eyes.
The film’s mood remains somber until Rohit leaves India in search of Rahul. In order to connect with Rahul, Rohit meets—and clashes with—Anjali’s sister, Pooja, at her college, inspiring ‘Deewana Hai Dekho’ (“Look, He’s Obsessed”), Alka Yagnik lends her voice to Pooja, who is curious about who Rohit is and why she feels strangely drawn to him. Meanwhile Sonu Nigam lends his voice to Rohit, who gives her hints rather than a straightforward answer. Though it is easy to write off ‘Deewana Hai Dekho’ as a pop song, several listens reveal it to be an incredibly well-produced song that undergoes several tempo changes to adjust to its ever-changing setting—from a brief cheerleading interlude to a cacophony of brass instruments—yet is very cohesive and catchy.
Rohan and Pooja conspire to have Rohan become a paying guest at Rahul’s house to get closer to him. As Rohan walks into the house and sees his brother after 10 years, Sonu Nigam takes over for Lata Mangeshkar to lament the baggage separating loved ones despite being physically close in Part 1 of ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham’’s sad version. The longing and agony in Nigam’s voice perfectly capture Rohan’s inner struggle between wanting to confess everything to his brother versus maintaining his ruse to reunite his family.
Alka Yagnik and Sonu Nigam reappear as Rohan and Pooja in ‘You are My Soniya’ (“You are My Sweetheart”). There, the two confess their feelings for each other. A pop song, ‘You are My Soniya’ features an earworm of a guitar riff and a saxophone solo during its bridge that surprisingly does not feel out of place for the nightclub it occurs in. Instead, the vocal scatting along with the other jazz elements in the song make ‘You are My Soniya’ a certified bop.
Fast forward to a few weeks later, and Rohan dares Pooja to reveal her feelings to everyone—including their family—at the Karva Chauth function they are attending. Pooja accepts his dare but accomplishes it through song The result is the best—and best-known—song of K3G’s soundtrack: ‘Bole Chudiyan’. It is hard to pinpoint exactly what makes ‘Bole Chudiyan’ so good. Is it the sounds of ghungroos, tambourines and maracas to simulate the sound of bangles; the playful touches of flute throughout the song; the combination of violins with a dancy dhol beat? Is it the excellent lyrics by Sameer or the even more excellent voices of Amit Kaur, Udit Narayan, Sonu Nigam, and Kavita Krishnamurthy? Perhaps it is the very end of the song, when the dhols speed up as the vocalization present in ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’ reappears. Not only does this highlight the intensifying emotions of the characters but it once again serves as a thread that unites the songs on K3G’s soundtrack.
It also serves as a foreshadowing of sorts because the next song, as the film reaches its climax, is a reprise of the sad version of ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.’ As Nandini sees Rahul after 10 years, Lata Mangeshkar expresses her inner dialogue through lyrics about longing to hug her child and never let them out of her sight. The love and heartbreak Mangeshkar’s voice once again brings tears to the viewer’s eyes that don’t stop flowing until the film ends.
Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham was the best-selling soundtrack of 2001 with nearly 4.8 million copies sold. It was nominated for several awards including 4 Filmfare Award nominations (Best Music Director, Best Lyricist, Best Male Playback Singer and Best Female Playback Singer for ‘Suraj Hua Maddham’) and though the film’s music videos have been on YouTube for only of 7 of the film 20 years, all of them have an upwards of 50 million views, with ‘Bole Chudiyan’ boasting over 680 million views.
However, these numbers still can’t quite convey K3G and its soundtrack’s significance in South Asian pop culture.
Prior to the pandemic, hundreds of movies were released in India each year and its soundtrack often serves as its marketing material. To make a film stand out then, its music directors usually include at least one radio-friendly song. This has led to numerous instances where the films’ songs or soundtracks eclipse them in popularity and impact (See: almost every movie starring Emraan Hashmi). There are only a few instances of Bollywood films that have accumulated fame and acclaim without an equally popular soundtrack or item song. It is increasingly rare to have a film that stays with audiences for years and has an equally impactful—and untouchable—soundtrack. Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham is a film that has accomplished exactly that, for two decades.
The film’s soundtrack has seared its accompanying scenes into the listener’s minds and made K3G and its soundtrack inseparable It is impossible to say ‘Shava Shava’ without remembering Amitabh and SRK dancing together; to sing along to ‘Suraj Hua Maddham’ without imagining Kajol and SRK frolicking in Egypt; to bop to ‘Bole Chudiyan’ without picturing Kareena telling Hrithik to take her heart away.
Twenty years ago, Lata Mangeshkar promised that we would never be separated, regardless of joy or sorrow. And two decades later, Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham and its soundtrack has stayed with audiences and delivered on that promise.
Zeahaa Rehman is a Pakistani Canadian journalist whose work deconstructs everything from pop culture to politics with an intersectional lens. She has been published by The Walrus, Healthline, Chatelaine, The RepresentAsian Project, and more. You can follow Zeahaa on Twitter.