"Udein Jab Jab Zulfein Teri" from Naya Daur (1957) is one of the lighter moments in B.R. Chopra's idealistic film about a changing India. A lively musical exchange between two young lovers played by Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala, the song is sung by Mohammed Rafi and Asha Bhosle.
In this video, Ravikant, Shikha Jhingan, Antara Mondal and Neville Tuli explore the song's folk roots and its place in the film's larger argument. The form of the 'boliyan' used in the song can be traced to filmmaker-composer Sardul Kwatra, who introduced this very tune in his Punjabi film, Posti (1950). O.P. Nayyar's minimalist music, the use of the ghungroo and the khatka of the dholak, underlined its rusticity and the theme of tradition vs modernity. Examining the song from various perspectives, the panelists also highlighted how the duet as a form was perfected in cinema at this time, with Rafi and Bhosle’s playful interplay creating the magic that Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala carry on screen.
This session was part of the series 'Deconstructing the Film Song: A Musical Glue for Nation-Building,' presented by the Tuli Research Centre for India Studies (T.R.I.S) as part of the 7th Self-Discovery via Rediscovering India Festival.
Chapters:
0:00 - "Udein Jab Jab Zulfein Teri" — the song (Naya Daur, 1957)
4:46 - Neville Tuli — seventy years on, nothing has really died
5:50 - Antara Mondal — a bold, foot-tapping declaration of love
7:01 - Costumes, Vyjayanthimala & the indigenous vs technology fight
7:53 - Ravikant — the jatt–jatti theme and its open ending
8:26 - A Punjabi collaboration: B.R. Chopra, Sahir Ludhianvi & O.P. Nayyar
8:58 - An impossible romantic fantasy — and today's AI debates
9:51 - Shikha Jhingan — the boliyan & Sardul Kwatra's Posti
10:50 - O.P. Nayyar's minimalism: ghungroo and the dholak's khatka
11:57 - Not a love song but a community's evening of teasing
12:35 - Rafi and Asha: how Bombay cinema perfected the duet
13:26 - Neville Tuli — continuity, identity & why this workshop exists
14:35 - From the audience: sawal-jawab in Marathi tamasha cinema
15:40 - Instruments on screen and the contrast with “Main Bambai Ka Babu” which uses Western instruments
