Undoubtedly, (Ud)it wAs(h)a (Vaisha)lively number

A song involving teasing may not be every Hindi film music buff's choice, but Radha Kaise Na Jale, from Lagaan, was different. And that’s why it continues to be popular.

For starters, the vocal duel, if it may be called that, was about Radha's envy, the reason for which was the attention showered upon the gopis by Lord Krishna.

(Ud)It was rendered by Ms Bhosle and Mr Narayan.

Vaishali Samant (A)shared singing credits with them.

Javed Akhtar penned the track, which was five minutes and 34 seconds long.

It was composed by A R Rahman.

It wasn’t A VUnderful song

It wouldn’t be incorrect to say that O Ri Chhori, which was five minutes and 59 seconds long, was the weakest song on the soundtrack of Lagaan.

And it is possible that the listeners would have skipped it if the English portion of the track, which was rendered by Vasundhara Das, weren’t understandable.

Its Hindi portion was sung by Mr Narayan and Alka Yagnik.

Undoubtedly, the credit for ensuring that even the least impressive track is etched in the listeners’ memories, goes to A R Rahman, who composed it.

It was penned by Javed Akhtar.

Lata Sa(dha)n(a)g (Naray)an outstanding bhajan

Since the soundtrack of Lagaan had a song for everyone, it would be unfair to leave those who dig devotional songs out.

Of the six songs in the film, O Palanhaare was the shortest – it was five minutes and 19 seconds long.

It was among the best bhajans of all time (from the standpoint of Hindi films).

It would not be incorrect to state that Lata Mangeshkar's rendition was the highlight.

She was joined behind the microphone by Udit Narayan and Sadhana Sargam.

It was penned by Javed Akhtar and composed by A R Rahman.

It wAS an oUtStanding track

To paraphrase the opening lines of the song from Lagaan, “Har fan kahe, critic kahe, punch aur melody hain jinke compositions mein, loop pe geet unhi ki baje.”

The longest track in the film, (M)itwas six minutes and 47 seconds long.

The opening lines of this post were written for none other than A R Rahman, who bagged the National Award and the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director in 2001 and 2002, respectively.

The song was penned by Javed Akhtar.

(Ud)It was rendered by four Sing(h)ers, namely Mr Narayan, Alka Yagnik, Sukhwinder and Srinivas.

This song was SUng KlASSily

Agriculture is the mainstay of the Indian economy. That’s why Rain, rain, go away cannot, and will not, hold water in this country.

Only an invocation of the rain gods – like Ghanan Ghanan, which was from Lagaan and the desi antithesis of the aforementioned nursery rhyme – will.

The song was rendered by Alka Yagnik, Kishori Gowariker*, Shaan, Shankar Mahadevan, Sukhwinder Singh and Udit Narayan.

It was six minutes and 11 seconds long.

Javed Akhtar penned the track, which was composed by A R Rahman.

(*Note: She is the mother of Ashutosh Gowariker, the film’s director.)

It (Srini)vas the composer’s (Rah)mantra

Chale Chalo – Hindi for keep going forward – was a song from Lagaan, the 2001 film whose tagline was Once Upon a Time in India.

It was six minutes and 40 seconds long. Although a song of that duration has the tendency to become preachy, this track didn’t.

Being a song about teamwork, it would be unfair if there were no mentions of the team that collaborated on it.

Javed Akhtar penned it.

The song wasn’t just composed, but also rendered by A R Rahman. He was joined behind the microphone by Srinivas and a chorus.