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All the songs that I am thinking of at this time are erotically charged and wistful – a reflection of the current state of my mind. Love, lust, desire, denial, loss… The inbetween–ness of having and not having…. of waiting for something you may never get…. of getting over something that you never had. Yes, my sexy Saturday song playlist is rather sad, but who said sad can’t be sexy?
1. Geela geela paani – by Lata Mangeshkar, from the Satya OST
This song is sexy in so many ways. To start with, it captures Mumbai during the rains, to me the sexiest season for our city. Then it has Urmila, who I adore. This completely sari clad version of hers is, if I may say so, even sexier than her Rangeela avatar. Thirdly, Lata’s dulcet voice and Gulzar’s profoundly sexy lyrics. Of course paani is geela – how can water not be wet? But so sexy? Hai. Finally, to me, what is most sexy of all, is the frisson of the the picturisation – Chakri and Urmila are right next to each other in adjoining flats. For Chakri, to desire someone right next door to him, and not to be able to touch her….at least in that moment.
2. Wicked Game – by Chris Isaac
This song gives me goosebumps. Chris Isaac’s voice, the black and white video and the lyrics, oh those lyrics! “What a wicked game you play, to make me feel this way….what a wicked thing to do, to let me dream of you….what a wicked thing to say….you never felt this way….No I don’t want to fall in love….with you.”
3. Chupke chupke raat din, by Ghulam Ali, from the Nikaah soundtrack
"Why is the measure of love loss?” asked Jeanette Winterson in Written on the Body? Perhaps because Ioss is sexy? Nothing as sexy as Deepak Parashar and Salma Agha, remembering happier times, while two candles on an uncut cake continue to shine bright to the soundtrack of Ghulam Ali on a record player. Sublime.
4. Waqt ne kayak by Geeta Dutt, from the Kaagaz ke Phool soundtrack
Continuing in the same vein as the previous song, but with even more pathos. The collective genius of Guru Dutt and Waheeda Rehman’s acting, VK Murthy’s shaft-of-light camera work, Kaifi Azmi’s lyrics and Geeta Dutt’s singing, come together sexily in this song. Yes… "Tum Bhi Kho Gaye, Hum Bhi Kho Gaye, Ek Raah Par Chal Ke Do Kadam."
5. Wings – by Gustavo Santaolalla, from the Brokeback Mountain soundtrack
I sob so much each time I revisit Brokeback Mountain and one reason is the soundtrack. This song, Wings, unofficially the movie’s anthem, takes me to Montana the moment I hear the first few bars. To the impossible love story of the two cowboys. To that last scene, where Heath Ledger hold’s Jake Gylenhall’s shirt, and breaks down. Sometime love doesn’t last forever. Only the memories do. Wings is my soundtrack to memories such as these. Sexy, sad and ethereal.
Tune in to the playlist of all of Parmesh Shahani's Sexy Saturday Songs here.
Parmesh Shahani is the head of the Godrej India Culture Lab and author of the book Gay Bombay. He lives and works in Vikhroli, Mumbai, which to him is the cultural capital of the universe.
