Metropolitan Cities in India: Ten Songs

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Some months back, I published a song list on songs that mention a city/town, Tier 2 or below, in India: Bikaner, Bareilly, Nainital, Agra… and when I was going over that list, it struck me that there were also songs that focussed on India’s metropolises, the Tier 1 cities. India has six metropolitan cities: Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, and every now and then, they find a mention in a song. Bombay, by virtue of being the hub of the Hindi film industry, probably leads the pack when it comes to metro city songs; but there are others too (though I must admit I haven’t found any songs, at least from old films, that mention Bengaluru/Bangalore).

Without further ado, the songs. These are all from pre-1970s Hindi films that I’ve seen. Also, the name of the city is mentioned either within the first two lines of the song, or in the repeated antara.

In my small-town songs list, I had added a further stipulation: that no two songs should feature the same town. In this case, that wasn’t possible, since India doesn’t have ten metropolitan cities, only six. So I’ve not enforced any restriction on the number of songs pertaining to a single city; what I have done, however, is to try and spread the songs more or less evenly across the cities. Delhi and Bombay, by virtue of their relative significance for film-makers, end up being rather more common than the other cities, but they’re there nonetheless.

Here goes, then, in no particular order, though the songs have been grouped together on the basis of the cities.  

1. Ae dil hai mushkil jeena yahaan (CID, 1956): Bombay. This song deserves the first spot on this list as far as I’m concerned, because it was the one that first occurred to me. An iconic ‘city song’, an insightful tribute to Bombay, Ae dil hai mushkil has Johnny Walker’s character ruing the rat race that is Bombay: where ‘insaan ka nahin kahin naam-o-nishaan’ (there is not a trace here of humans, of humanity), even though the city teems with people. But then his girlfriend (played by Kumkum) chimes in and sings the praises of Bombay: it will treat you the way you treat it, is her opinion.

2. Main Bambai ka babu, naam mera anjaana (Naya Daur, 1957): Bombay. Johnny Walker again, this time playing a character diametrically opposite that of the cynical one of Ae dil hai mushkil. This man proudly proclaims his identity as a Bombay-wallah, a cosmopolitan, English-speaking man. An ambassador, if you will, of Bombay in the countryside—but not a proponent of the dog-eat-dog philosophy that seems to be the main feature of Bombay as per Ae dil hai mushkil. This man is, contrary to the urban/modern = evil theme that underpins Naya Daur, a good man. A man who (even though he does it in a comical way) stands for justice and truth.

3. Dekhne mein bhola hai (Bombai ka Babu, 1960): Bombay. The ‘Bambai ka babu’ of Johnny Walker’s Naya Daur song becomes the title of a film three years down the line: Dev Anand in this film played the eponymous city slicker who is forced to flee Bombay after he accidentally kills a man. He washes up in a sleepy little village in the high Himalayas, where he ends up being mistaken for the long-lost son of a family. And he becomes the target of the local girls’ teasing, his assumed ‘sister’ (Suchitra Sen) praising the ‘Bambai ka Babu’: suave, handsome, attractive… as she sings, “Dil udaa le jaayega, chhodo bachpana” (He will steal your heart away, leave your childishness aside).

4. Dilli se aaya bhai Tingoo (Ek Thi Ladki, 1949): Delhi. Bombay may have been the most popular choice for Hindi filmmakers, but Delhi is probably the second-most popular choice as a city setting. Films like Chandni Chowk, Ab Dilli Door Nahin, and Delhi Junction are quite obviously films where Delhi plays an important part in the plot—but there are others too, like Ishaara, Dharamputra, Waqt, etc, where too the national capital was the setting.

This delightful song has no direct connection to Delhi, really; bhai Tingoo and his various friends may well have come visiting from any other city. But what makes Dilli se aaya bhai Tingoo special is the combined effect of it. Honey O’Brien, so vivacious. Music director Vinod, conducting the orchestra. And an all-girl band playing the music online.

5. Dilli hai dil Hindustan ka (Patang, 1960): Delhi. A song that, unlike the other two Delhi songs I’ve listed, is really about Delhi. In fact, it’s a somewhat over-the-top paean to Delhi: how Delhi is a pilgrimage for all countries (eye roll, even though I love Delhi), how Delhi is the heart of India. Its history, and (of course) its connection to Gandhi and Nehru. I don’t like this song much (Mala Sinha makes odd faces, the tune isn’t great, the chorus is a little raucous in places…) but at least it makes the city the focus of the song. The icing on the cake, such as it is, is the picturization, which (along with footage of the Qutb Minar complex and India Gate) shows large-scale illuminated models of the Red Fort, Qutb Minar, and Parliament House.

6. Gaadi Dilli waali chali (Delhi Junction, 1960): Delhi. One final song about Delhi, and then I’ll move on to other cities. Delhi Junction was (as its named suggests) a film set in Delhi, with some scenes set in unusual locales like Safdarjang Airport. This was one of a slew of B-grade suspense films in which Shakila and Ajit acted, and it wasn’t anything to write home about. Shakila did, however, get to lip-sync to this performance song, where her character, a college girl, sings and dances onstage with her friends. The reference to Delhi, while repeated, isn’t actually so very pertinent; the song really is all about the train, how it steams through the countryside, how it blows its whistle… that it’s headed Delhi-wards is just by the way.

7. Eent ki dukki paan ka ikka (Howrah Bridge, 1958). Kolkata. Despite a good bit of research, I couldn’t find any other songs that mention Kolkata/Calcutta. But there’s this, a classic ode to the ‘City of Joy’, from a film that was set almost wholly within the city. Eent ki dukki paan ka ikka is, like Ae dil hai mushkil, a song that actually is about the city. This isn’t like most of the songs listed above, where Delhi or Bombay could well have been substituted with another city or town, and it would have made no difference, because the song wasn’t about the city (wasn’t about any city) after all. This one is a paean to Calcutta throughout, to Tollygunge and Chowringhee; the lake and Howrah Bridge; the sweetness of rassogollas and the spirit of the people. Qamar Jalalabadi’s lyrics capture Calcutta brilliantly. 

8. Sun sun Madras ki chhori (Mujrim, 1958): Chennai. Or Madras. From what I’ve been able to gather (I cannot vouch for this, so anybody who knows the city’s history well might help me): both ‘Madras’ as well as ‘Chennai’ are names that were applied to this area from pre-colonial times. The British, of course, used the name ‘Madras’, and applied it furthermore to a large part of peninsular India: the Madras Presidency.

Neither the city nor the larger province is, however, referenced in this song from Mujrim. Ragini and Padmini, appearing in an onstage performance, simply use two very different regions—Madras and Punjab—to showcase a romance between North and South. These two characters may be chalk and cheese, their way of life drastically different; but even though they’re worlds apart, their song is the same (such a sweet ode to ‘unity in diversity’!) Not really anything about Madras, but anyway.

9. Main Baangali chhokra, main Madrasi chhokri (Ragini, 1958): Madras. A song which has more than a passing resemblance to Sun sun Madras ki chhori (and, coincidentally, from the same year too). Like the song above, this one too features Padmini, in a duet that is an onstage performance. And, like the former song, also about cross-border (read state border) romance. Kishore Kumar here is the nutty Baangali (I love that he gets to sing a couple of lines in Bengali as well), and Padmini is ‘Miss Pillai’, trying to wheedle the reluctant Bengali into saying yes to her.

And, as in the case of Sun sun Madras ki chhori, nothing actually about the city of Madras; but never mind. It’s a delightful song anyway.

10. Hello hello Hyderabadi (Bada Bhai, 1957): Hyderabad. And, as a bonus, two more metropolis cities included in the first two lines and the antara. Hello, hello… Hyderabadi/Kalkatta tumse aankh lada aur Bambai hoga shaadi (Hello, hello Hyderabadi… our eyes met in Calcutta, in Bombay we will get married). I dithered a bit about this song; Hyderabadi is not the same as Hyderabad; but I figured that if one accepts Shirdiwaale Sai Baba and Ajmerwaale khwaaja and Hum hain Banarasi babu, Hello hello Hyderabadi certainly fits. There isn’t anything in the song about the Hyderabadi, though he (and his sweetheart) definitely seem to be the jet-setting type, perpetually on the move. One of my favourite Helen songs, this one.

What songs do you know of that would fit this list? Songs from after 1970, or from regional language cinema, are also welcome!

43 thoughts on “Metropolitan Cities in India: Ten Songs”

  1. You do come up with innovative ideas for song lists. The best song about a Bombay, now Mumbai, is of course the first song on your list- in lyrics, in music, in singing, even picturisation. While reading your post two songs came to my mind immediately. One is about Delhi, of course an old Delhi, from the film Chandni chowk. The other is from the film Johnny Walker, which you have mentioned. The song of course does not mention the city names in the mukhda, rather the three antaras mention the three cities of Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. Here are the links- https://youtu.be/1sJVWGGP1fM?si=MckpjH-pCki3F6qE. https://youtu.be/gnvefcQO5Kg?si=GIL7r27IPElmwBIG.

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    • I am wondering how I forgot about Zameen bhi wohi hai wohi aasmaan or Bachke balam chal ki raasta hai mushkil – both are from films I’ve seen, so these should at least have occurred to me! Thank you for these, Roma.

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      • Thank you. Since you had mentioned both the films in your post, I thought that you had not included them perhaps because the mood of the Chandni Chowk song is nostalgic instead of the full of pep and vigor kind that a song about a metropolis usually brings to mind. The other one, of course does not mention the name of the metropolis in the mukhda, or even the refrain, so it would not have met your self imposed criteria.

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        • No, no. It wasn’t that the mood of the song wasn’t right, it was just that the song had completely slipped from my memory. To be honest, the only song from Chandni Chowk that I remember is the brilliant Tera dil kahaan hai.

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  2. Hi Dusted Off,

    This is a great list !

    I hadn’t heard song # 10 on your list, so I learned something new – thanks!

    There is one more, rather unique song that mentions 3 top cities all in one song – Bombay, Delhi and Kolkatta.

    The cities are not mentioned in the antara, but instead, each stanza is dedicated to a city.

    There is also a reference to Taj Mahal and the Yamuna river flowing beside it, although the city (Agra) is not mentioned.

    The song is:

    Bachke Balam Chal Ki Rasta Hai Mushkil

    From the movie Johnny Walker (1957)

    Very melodious song composed by O.P. Nayyar and penned by Hasrat Jaipuri

    Unfortunately, the picturization does not live up to the lyrics – the scenes appear to have been shot with a “green screen” background.

    Regardless, it is a nice song, and the lyrics are great.

    There is another song about Delhi that I can’t recall.

    It is a melancholy song from the late 1940s – either by G.M. Durrani or Mohd. Rafi.

    I believe it includes the phrase “yeh dilli ki galiyaan“

    I need to rack my brain, or crawl through the Radio Ceylon archives later.

    Hope you like the Johnny Walker song above.

    Cheers.

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    • I am so glad you enjoyed this list, Pratick! Thank you for your kind words – and for the song you posted. I logged into WordPress today to discover that before you posted the Johnny Walker song, another reader (Roma, above) had also posted it, but her comment had gone into moderation for reasons best known to WordPress. Lovely song, yes – and one I should have remembered, given that I have actually seen this film. Thank you, again, for that.

      And if you recall which song that was – Yeh Dilli ki galiyaan – please let me know. I tried searching, but all I could get was the excerpt (‘Yeh Dilli ki madhosh galiyaan…) from the Johnny Walker song.

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    • I think perhaps the sad song with the lines ” ye Dilli ki galiyan” is the song from Chandni Chowk (1954), zameen bhi wahi hai wahi aasman, composed by Roshan. It does have the lines ye Dilli ki galiyan. I have given a YouTube link in my post above.

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      • OMG – this was the song !

        Thanks Roma.

        This is indeed the song I was thinking of.

        It had been bugging me for last couple of days – thankfully I checked this thread before I went crazy, LOL.

        What a beautiful song, isn’t it?

        Mohd. Rafi’s haunting voice is just heavenly.

        Thank you again, Roma.

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  3. Great list as always! Other than the songs for Bombay and Delhi, the other songs were all new to me but very pleasant to listen to.

    All the songs I can think of are from beyond your time frame –

    Bambai se aaya mera dost from Aap Ki Khatir https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcrPfRLsJzU

    Yeh hai Bambai nagariya from Don https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7aEAWfn9Nk&list=RDt7aEAWfn9Nk&start_radio=1

    Sheharon mein ek shehar suna tha Dilli from Chandni, which amusingly includes a scene of Rishi and Sridevi being escorted by Delhi Police because of the crowds that had gathered for them https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDV1G19aai0&list=RDgDV1G19aai0&start_radio=1

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    • Thank you, Snigdha! I did hope people would post songs from more recent films, because I knew of several songs that would fit. A special shout-out for Bambai se aaya mera dost, because that was so popular when I was a kid. It could be heard literally everywhere, and I think it was one of the first songs I recall being a favourite of mine. :-)

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  5. Interesting post Madhu!
    There were two new songs for me in this post, like the hyderabad song and dilli wali gaadi chali.
    My favourite from your list is the first one, ae dil hai mushqil. It is interesting to note in that song that Rafi uses the Hindi word for the city and Geeta Dutt uses the English word for it. I wonder if Majrooh wrote the lyrics that way or Geeta Dutt changed it or was it just a slip of the tongue and O.P.Nayyar left it at that.
    I was also wondering about the term “metropolitan cities of India.” Is it an official designation? Does the Indian government formally classify cities this way, or is it more of a customary/popular term?

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    • Thank you for reading, Harvey – I’m glad you found this interesting. And yes, it’s significant that Kumkum’s character says ‘Bombay’ while JW says ‘Bambai’. I would think that was Majrooh wrote it: as a subtle hint that she is the more urbane one, while he is perhaps the outsider, not yet completely used to Bombay? I have no idea!

      I think the official designation for metros is ‘Tier 1 city’, though ‘metropolitan city’ is the commonly used term. That, also, is rather complicated, because the term can be used in different senses: on the basis of geographical spread or population or GDP, etc. Some sources say there are four, some go all the way up to nine (including cities like Pune and Ahmedabad).

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  8. Enjoyed the list. Most of the songs that occured to me are either on the list or added by others.

    I’ll have to think

    Anup

    PS – waiting for your comment on Madhumati post

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  9. I found this song from Actor (1951) on Calcutta as it was known then. The song is Kalkatte se aaya jahaz from the aforementioned film, sung by Sulochana Kadam, who would become a famous lavani singer in Marathi and highly loved for her throaty voice.

    This another song bambai purani kalkatta purana from Umar Qaid (1961) not only sings about Mumbai and Kolkatta but also mentions Dilli and Banaras.

    Maybe the song which Pratick and Roma mentioned is dilli ki galiyon me jiya nahin laage, main dekhungi Bambai from Doli (1947), sung by Zohrabai Ambelewali and G. M. Durrani. Zohrabai sings that in Bambai “Saigal bhi hai Suraiya bhi hai”, but till the film got released, K. L. Saigal had sadly passed away.

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    • Thank you so much for these, Harvey! I have actually watched Umar Qaid, so the Bambai purani Kalkatta purana song should have occurred to me. Kalkatte se aaya jahaaz and Dilli ki galiyon mein jiya nahin laage were both new to me, so a special thank you for introducing me to these songs. Both nice songs.

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  10. A great addendum to your earliest list, Madhu. And I must confess that Ae dil hai mushkil jeena yahaan was the first song that came to mind. It’s so iconic, isn’t it? And of course, the song from Howrah Bridge.

    Most of the songs that refer to metropolitan cities are more recent ones:

    From Hum Hain Raahi Pyaar Ke, where Juhi and the kids she runs into are forced to take part in a competition just to avoid the cops – two cities for the price of one :)

    Bambai se gayi Poona, Poone se gayi Dilli

    And then, from the Salman Khan-Raveen Tandon starrer comes this song that doesn’t necessarily mention ‘Bombay’ in its lyrics, but all the various places in Bombay where he’s searched for her: Kabhi Linking Road, kabhi Warden Road, kabhi Cadell Road, kabhi Peddar Road…

    The song is: Tumse jo dekhte hi pyaar hua. Of course, none of these road names exist any more. Sadly.

    From Piya ka Ghar, there is Bambai shehar ki tumko chalo sair karaa doon, and the picturisation of the song does full justice to the city.

    But, of course, the other view of Bombay (again, no mention of the name in the lyrics, but it is about Bombay): Seene mein jalan from Gaman.

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    • Of course, none of these road names exist any more. Sadly.

      It’s the same sort of situation here. :-( Given that we seem to be creating new roads anyway (with all the new flyovers etc coming up), why not apply all these favourite names to these new roads? Why change the names of existing roads, especially when they have interesting historical connections? (Of course I know why they do it. As if by changing a name, you erase the history attached to something. So juvenile).

      Thank you for these great suggestions, Anu! Bambai se gayi Poona had been going through my mind when I was doing the Small Town songs list, but of course it fits here as well.

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  11. Yeh dilli hai mere yaar from Delhi 6 , has become the ubiquitous song for all Delhi memes and reels .

    Yeh bambai sheher haadson ka sheher hai from Haadsa , on the fast and furious was of Bombay

    These two songs are explicitly about the city they refer to . In the following the names find a mention but the song could be a generic one ( like the Madras and Hyderabad songs you mentioned )

    Jaipur se nikli gaadi dilli chale halle halle from Gurudev

    Dil kare dhak dhak , Bombay se Baroda tak from Rafoochakar

    Kolkata , much loved as it is by the local population, has numerous songs in Bengali films!

    Same may be true for Madras as well , though the Tamil are unlikely to wear their hearts on their sleeves like the Bengalis do :) 

    It is difficult to find songs about Bangalore as it has only risen to a Metropolitan status in the last 30 years and we know that Hindi Film Songs have veered wildly in these three-four decades . 

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    • Thank you for these songs, Anubha – especially for Yeh Bambai shehar haadson ka shehar hai. I kept on remembering that song when I was compiling this post; it used to be pretty popular back in its day.

      Incidentally, another blog reader, Usha, has posted a few songs about metropolitan – including a pretty good ‘see the sights of Bangalore’ one – in the comments. Do check it out. :-)

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      • Also, since nobody else has added this song yet, and Sidharth Bhatia posted it only on my Facebook link rather than here on the blog:

        From Kya Yeh Bambai Hai, Yeh Bambai Shehar ka Bada Naam Hai:

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  12. wow! This is lot of research by you. Another song on Bombay. “Bambai se aaya Mera dost, dost ko salaam karo”

    delhi song new – tere liye hi tau signal tod taad ke, aaya dilli waali girlfriend chod chaad ke

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  13. Madhu ji,

    There seem to be quite a few songs especially light hearted ones on Dilli/Delhi and Bambai/Bombay.

    Since WordPress will mark my comment as spam if I add the links, I will only mention the film and the mukhdas of the songs:

    1. From Sansaar (1951) Lucknow chalo ab rani
      Bambai ka bigda paani
    2. From Sabz Baag (1951) – Dilliwaale bure nahin
    3. From Dilli Ka Daada (1962) – Aji hum Dilli ke daade hain

    Anita

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    • Thank you for these! I should have remembered Lucknow chalo ab raani because I had shortlisted that for my small town songs list – but forgot completely that it mentioned Bombay too. The other two songs were new to me.

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  14. Nice post!

    Here are two songs from the post-70s, though average, they are fcoused on the city that they describe:

    Shaharon mein se shahar suna shahar Calcutta – Jagir

      Bombay Bombay – Kroadh

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    1. Two more Bambai songs, giving two different perspectives

      Dekh li teri bambai roz musibat yahan nayi – O Bewafa

      Bam bam bambai bambai humko jam gayi – Swarg

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