Ek Ladki

One Girl

PRE-NOTE: Hey, it’s Michael here. It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post (in fact I’ve only written one so far). Because of COVID-19, I’ve been granted enough free time to catch up on sleep and start focusing on my hobbies. Without further ado, I begin my review of Ek Ladki, a song from the 2002 movie “Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai”.

(TL;DR) Overall Rating: 12.5 / 15

Music: 3/5

So starting with this blog, I’m going a bit more structured and giving ratings on certain categories. This includes the must-have category of the actual music/instruments.

As opposed to many of the Hindi songs that I listen to, the chorus dominates in this song more than in any other song. With only a soft beat to accompany Udit Narayan, it’s very easy for anyone to catch themselves singing or humming along. Adding to Udit’s majestic voice is Alka Yagnik’s high pitched shrills (?). She doesn’t add much in terms of lyrics but she does add substance by giving a more somber tone to the song.

However, there are some things that I don’t like. The music doesn’t stand out on it’s own. If you were to subtract the voices and leave only the music, you’d just hear a bunch of shrills and beats. For a song to get a 4 or a 5 in the music category, the music alone must tell a story.

Lyrics: 5/5

I can’t express how good the lyrics of this song are. Maybe it’s because looking at the latest songs makes me cry in disappointment (yeah, looking at you Genda Phool) but the lyrics in Ek Ladki actually fit the intent of the song and the whole film. Let’s start with the song.

In my opinion, Ek Ladki is about a guy’s unrequited wishes with his childhood friend (but really his sweetheart). This is exemplified when Uday starts to talk about Anjali (the sweetheart in question) when the roommate starts asking questions about her. The songs meant to be a moment of reminiscence for Uday as it’s been a while since he’s ever seen her. In the lyrics, he recounts how charismatic of a girl she was:

Phool Barsein Log Tarsen
Jaaye Woh Ladki Jahaan

Flowers start to shower, people start to thirst

wherever she goes by

It’s clear my dude Uday has some feelings but because this songs so early into the film, we can pass it off as yearnings of a dear childhood friend. I like the moments when he describes her; it’s just so wholesome. You don’t see that kind of wholesomeness in contemporary Hindi songs, and in general you don’t see much songs about “dosti” (“Friendship”).

It’s also clear that the lyricists had a lot of fun coming up with things for Uday to say. Most of the lyrics are vibrant, childish just like the nature of the friendship between Uday and Anjali.

Hai Khafa To Khafa
Phir Khud Hi Woh Maan Bhi Jaati Hai

Sometimes she’s angry
Then she coaxes herself, and gets fine by herself

Some might say the line’s cringe because Uday is “simping” for Anjali, but I find it pleasant. It reminds me of how I thought platonic friendships were when I was little: no quarrels, just a lot of sweet talk. So when I’m hearing these lyrics, I feel a bit refreshed. It makes me feel good that people can be nice to each other. However, my favorite lyric is the following:

Ab Main Kahin Woh Hai Kahin
Par Hai Dua Aye Hum Nasheen

Now I am somewhere, and she is someplace else

but I’ll pray, my humnasheen (beloved)

I am a great fan of lyrics that depict the unknown (e.g. the future, death, miracles, etc.). It gives me the same excitement that I get when I start thinking about my tomorrow, a day of potential tragedies, miracles, and revelations. Here, Uday doesn’t know if he’ll ever see Anjali again. His conflicted feelings towards Anjali as a friend and a potential lover makes this lyric powerful and it reminds me of my crush. It’s also beautiful how Udit Narayan vocalizes the lyric, extending the “dua” (pray) to indicate the seriousness of Uday’s yearning to reunite with Anjali. I find myself singing this line over and over again in my kitchen because it’s just that powerful.

Video 4.5/5

Let’s get the only negative comment out of the way. The video isn’t something that would make you watch it everyday. It’s more so a one-time-only-and-then-listen-to-audio kinda song. With that being said, the music video is sort of like a dream. The video switches from the “real world”, which is Uday reminiscing to his roommate, to the dream-like world with Anjali. The video exercises the lyrics. For example, when he describes the flowers showering, he actually throws flowers in her face (might be a bit annoying but eh it’s a song). Uday’s expressions were perfect and although Anjali doesn’t sing, her gestures nicely complement the lyrics.

Last Thoughts

Not a bad song at all. I’ve listened to better songs (stay tuned) but I’ve had my good share of moments with Ek Ladki. I’ve learned from this song to value your friends because you never know when it’ll be the last time you’ll see them for a while (*cough cough* COVID-19). The song made me think a lot more about my crush, which is nice albeit distracting. But sometimes these kind of distractions are good.