The ‘reel’ world on the internet is right now reeling under the influence of a vintage Lata Mangeshkar song ‘Tadpaoge tadpa lo hum tadap tadap ke tumhare geet gayenge’.
The breezy catchy number composed by Chitragupta was part of a film titled Barkha in 1959. It was filmed on veteran actress Shubha Khote who is now 87.
Speaking to her now feels otherworldly.
She is aware of the her song’s sudden surge of popularity. “I wouldn’t call it my song. But yes, I had the privilege of lip-syncing it on screen. It was my privilege to have Lataji sing for me. Normally she sang only for the heroine. But on this occasion she sang for me although I was not the heroine, Nanda was. I think it was because of Lataji’s family relations with the composer Chitragupta.”
Did Shubhaji think the song ‘Tadpaoge tadpa lo’ would be so popular 66 years after it was first released?
“Never! It is a miracle. The credit goes to Lataji. Her songs are ageless. Recently one of her other songs (’Mere dil yeh pukare aaja’ from the film Nagin) also became an international craze. I am so happy youngsters have rediscovered ‘Tadpaoge tadpa lo’ at a time when popular music has moved so far away from melody.”
Shubha is the elder sister of the late comic actor Viju Khote. She doted on her brother and never got over his loss. “As actors both the siblings were born into the profession. Our father Nandu Khote was a professional theatre and film actor. He did films in the silent era as well. Viju and I were born into the profession. Whenever we worked together in a film like Waqt Hamara Hai or in the serial Zabaan Sambhal Ke we ceased to be siblings. We were thorough professionals on the sets.”
