The Offbeat Holi Playlist

Tired of the usual Holi songs every year? Subhash K Jha lists some lesser known songs that capture the colours of the festival.

SD Burman's song Piya Sang Khelun Holi Phagun Aayo Re (Phagun) is pensive, as the lady waits for her soulmate to arrive during the Holi festivities. Lata Mangeshkar counted this among her favourite Holi songs.

Everyone loves Amitabh Bachchan's Rang Barse in Silsila but Holi Khele Raghuveera Awadh Mein, composed by Aadesh Shrivastava in Baghban, is far more exhilarating. Mr Bachchan loved singing the traditional tunes set to a modern tempo.

Jaspal Singh and Hemlata belt out a charmer in Aayo Phagun Hathilo from Gopaal Krishna. The Ravindra Jain composition is embedded in the traditional Radha-Krishna frolic during Holi.

R D Burman had the opportunity to compose several Holi songs. Holi Ke Din from Sholay was a chart-topper but Aao Re Aao Khelo Holi Biraj Mein in Balika Badhu, sung by Sapan Chakravarty, conveys an authentic raw sound.

RD Burman’s Aaj Na Chhodenge Bas Humjoli in Kati Patang fuses two contrasting moods of revelry and rumination rendered to sublimation by Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar.

Laxmikant-Pyarelal's Neela Peela Hara Gulabi in the film Aap Beati, sung by Lata Mangeshkar, is a must-listen.

Hema Malini, who has danced on screen to many Holi songs, says filming them was never easy. "Holi songs were always very messy. The one that people most remember is Holi Ke Din Hain in Sholay."

A charming Holi song by Mohammed Rafi is Dil Jhoom Rahe Masti Mein composed by O P Nayyar for an obscure film called Bin Maa Ke Bachche. Pushpa Pagdhare sings the song with Rafi.

Lataji's Kinun Sang Khelun Holi from her album of Chala Wahi Des, Meera Bhajans, was composed by her brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar. It captures the pain of separation as Meerabai wonders with whom she will play Holi in the absence of her beloved.