Cha Cha Cha! Bahut Accha! Award: dance-off!

A few hours ago, DJ AshishB, the talent behind the excellent Beats from the East show, sent me this video. After watching it all the way through with my mouth agape in a mixture of shock and delight, I knew the only reasonable thing to do next was to share it. Here is "It's My Challenge" by Bappi Lahiri from 1987's Pyaar Karke Dekho featuring Govinda in a dance-off.

As no doubt are you, I am fond of both tiny and oversized props and set pieces in songs, and I think the confrontational duet between Govinda and Paul Bhattacharya on top of (and back and forth over!) a pair of giant tablas alone is worth the almost nine minutes of this song. Light-up translucent guitars, golden cummerbunds, lightbulb-encrusted moon rocks, literally record-breaking dance moves, and lyrics like "Breakdancer! Breakdancer!" and "Naacho! Gaao! Naacho gaao naacho gaao wow wow wow!" are icing on the cake. See how many nods to great popular songs and/or dances of the past you can catch; I see Michael Jackson clothing, a Saturday Night Fever-y dance floor, 50s "Rock around the Clock"-ish guitar riffs, and at least one move from Flashdance.

As usual when I come to know of a spectacular song picturizaiton, I am of two minds: I am dismayed that it's taken me five years of watching Hindi films to know about this, but I am also abuzz with the continual promise that there is always more to discover. A big mwah! to Ashish for making my Tuesday.

Comments

Ashish B. said…
@bethlovesbolly WOW!!! @ the blog post!! Now i'm outta words!! you put it perfectly !!!! Love it!!
Rum said…
Beth you've made my busy week a lot happier now! I love the pre 'dard e disco' swishing around in water, but that Govinda has to dunk his head in a water bucket was even better! I think when i have the essay crackdown all i need to do is hold up one of my dad's vintage records and punch through it! THANKS FOR THIS!
Anarchivist said…
"But I'm quite used to being humiliated. I can even go and stick my head in a bucket of water if you like. I mean if that's what you really want. Would you like me to stick my head in a bucket of water?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4P3pvKmbsg&feature=related
Anonymous said…
OMG, Beth. How do you find such gems, man?! This one is so much fun. :)
cadiz12 said…
you find some GREAT videos, Beth.

personally, my life is just not complete without a golden cummerbund--which i recently put together is probably a Hindi-inspired word: kamar-bandh! i know, duh. but it was new to me.

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