I can’t forget this song ‘Ramaiya Vastavaiya‘ and always will be shining in my heart. I pay homage to Rafi Saab, Lataji, Mukesh Saab and other artists who made this song evergreen.
| Shree 420 (Hindi) 1955 | Ramaiya Vastavaiya (Telugu) 2013 | Jawan (Hindi) 2023 |
| Director: Raj Kapoor Producer: Raj Kapoor Music: Shankar-Jaikishan Main Cast: Raj Kapoor, Nargis, Tun Tun, Iftekhar. Choreography: Gopi Krishna | Directed by Harish Shankar. Producer: Dil Raju Main Cast: N. T. Rama Rao Jr, Shruti Haasan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu. Music: S. Thaman | Director: Atlee Producer: Gauri Khan Music: Anirudh Ravichander Main Cast: SRK, Nayanthara, Vijay Sethupathi. Lyrics: Kumaar Choreographer: Vaibhavi Merchant |
When Raj Kapoor started making ‘Shree 420’, the music team used to go to Khandala to compose music for the songs. During such trips by Shanker, Jaikishan, Shailendra, and Hazrat Jaipuri, they used to stop at a roadside Dhabha for chai and snacks. There was a Telugu person called “Ramaiah” working there. Shanker used to talk to him in Telugu and give orders to him only, not to anyone else. Shanker knew Telugu very well as he was born and grew up in Hyderabad, though his family is originally from UP.
During one such visit to the Dhaba, Shanker called Ramaiah to take the order. Ramaiah signalled to wait as he was busy with other customers. There was some delay in his coming. Shanker became impatient and began humming “Ramayya Vastavayya… Ramayya Vastavayya” calling Ramaiah to come quickly.
To his words, Jaikishan started making tabla sounds on the serving table. This went on for a while till Shailendra added “mainey dil tujhuko diya”. The lines and tune were told to Raj Kapoor and the actor was very impressed. He created a situation and lyrics were written keeping these lines intact.
Sheela Vaz was born in 1934. She was the actress who danced in the ‘Ramayya Vastavayya’ song. She is known for her dance performances in songs like ‘Ramayiya Vastavaiya’ from Shree 420 (1955) and ‘Le Ke Pehla Pehla Pyar’ from CID (1956). She died on June 29, 2022 in Mumbai.
Only the first line “Ramaiya Ae Vastavaiya Aiya Ho…Ramaiya Ae Vastavaiya Ho” were used in the song of the movie ‘Jawan’ of SRK. It is not the original song & very cleverly used by Jawan. This song is sung by Anirudh Ravichander, Vishal Dadlani & Shilpa Rao to suit listening tastes of the modern generation.
About the Author
Dr. K. Raja Gopal Reddy is a seasoned internationally qualified Insurance professional.
What you are reading here, may not answer all the questions we have, but has the absolute power of asking unsettling questions which increase the interest in the strange world, and show the contradictory wonders lying just below the surface of the commonest things of life. Look at this disturbing but beautiful thought of Friedrich Nietzsche “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him”.
Dr. Reddy can be reached at: raja66gopal@gmail.com
