Shammi Kapoor to Bombay Velvet: What Happens in the Club Doesn't Always Stay in the Club

New Delhi: Bombay Velvet has hit the screens after much ado and the Anurag Kashyap-directed film revives an old Bollywood favourite - the nightclub. The Bombay Velvet club that Ranbir Kapoor's Johnny Balraj runs and Anushka Sharma's Rosie Noronha sings in is the scene of much of the film's action and provides Rosie an uber-glam backdrop in which to belt out Amit Trivedi's jazz-infused soundtrack.

The night club song, once such an essential ingredient in Bollywood films, made increasingly infrequent appearances as the Seventies rolled into the Eighties, and has only intermittently been resurrected ever since.

Bombay Velvet has been mostly ignored at the box office and denounced by critics but its music is busting the charts. Remember these other club songs?

In Which The Vamp Sings

Club culture started out as the domain of the dark side. Bad things happened in clubs and bad people inhabited them. While the heroines danced around trees, the nightclub's spotlight was focused on the vamps.

In a Shri 420 song, the film's lead actress Nargis leaves the club teary-eyed as Nadira takes to the telling Raj Kapoor Mudh Mudh Ke Na Dekh:
 

As club dancer Suzy, the heroine's evil twin, based out of Paris, actress Sharmila Tagore was mesmerising in Le Ja Mera Dil from An Evening in Paris:
 

In Caravan, Monica (Helen) longs for her lover, with whom she has conspired to kill his wife, and sings Piya Tu Ab To Aaja. Helen pulls of dancing in feathers and a gold outfit in a giant cage like nobody else could or can.
 

In 2013 film Zanjeer, actress Mahie Gill as Mona Darling gets to seduce the hero, Ram Charan Teja, with her Katilaana moves:
 

In Which The Good Girl Sings

For several years, the nightclub was the preserve of the vamp. But with time, the heroines of Bollywood went from being fascinated and sometimes a little shocked spectators to taking centrestage.

In Howrah Bridge, Madhubala plays Edna who is a nightclub entertainer - one of the earliest occasions in which the heroine invaded the bastion of the vamp. In the song Aaiye Meherbaan , she flirts with Ashok Kumar as the villainous K N Singh glowers at a separate table.
 

The impossibly glamorous Parveen Babi, with the stereotype-shattering Anita of Deewar on her resume, shimmied with several versions of herself in Jawani Jaaneman from Namak Halaal:
 

In Aao Huzoor from Kismat, Babita soared in alcohol-bestowed freedom.
 

In Aaj Ki Raat from Shah Rukh Khan's Don, good girl Roma (Priyanka Chopra) and bad girl Anita (Isha Koppiker) had a dance-off:
 

More recently, undercover cop Priyanka doubled as a cabaret dancer in Gunday. Her song Asalaam-e-Ishqum set the screen on fire:
 

In Which The Item Girl Sings

Some club songs were simply item numbers by another name. Like Jaan Pehchaan Ho from Gumnaam featuring Laxmi Chhaya which made its way into the film independent of the storyline.
 

It received a new lease of life when it was used in the opening credits of 2001 Hollywood film Ghost World.

Helen's Aaj Ki Raat in Anamika was also among her most popular item numbers.
 

However it was Parineeta's Kaisi Paheli Zindagani, featuring the ultra-glam Rekha, which truly recreated the old fashioned club culture.
 

In Which The Club Is Replaced With The Bar

In the '90s, the club and cabaret was replaced with bar dance numbers, in which the sophistication of the club was switched to glamour of an earthier, more rustic sort.

Isha Koppikar's Khallas from Ram Gopal Varma's Company made the item number legit again after some years of languishing.
 

Awari from Ek Villain and Kajra Re from Bunty Aur babli are typically bar dance songs which were woven into the film's plot.
 

Others like Mayya Mayya from Guru, Mahi Ve from Kante and Kaisa Jadoo Dala Re from Khakee were standalone songs.
 

Songs like Aa Hi Jaiye from Lajja and Osaka Moraya from One Two Ka Four mimicked the club style of music.
 

Deepika Padukone's Lovely from Happy New Year was one of the highlights of the film.
 



In Which Shammi Kapoor Brings The Club Down

But why should girls have all the fun? Shammi Kapoor owned the club like no other. Watch and learn from him in Aaja Aaja Main Hu Pyaar Tera from Teesri Manzil.
 

He played the drums with flourish while sing Dil Deke Dekho.
 

He was a fairly decent desi Beatle in Dekho Ab To from Janwar.
 

In Which Even Shammi Kapoor is Eclipsed

But even Shammi Kapoor's dance floor pyrotechnics were put to shade by the ultimate club song - Rajkumar's If You Come Today from Kannada film Operation Diamond Racket, with enough swag and shenanigans to gladden the frostiest of hearts.