Song of the Day: Oh Silver Penny!

I've had this song in my head for AGES, and was terribly frustrated because I had no idea what it was from or even who starred in it ... I don't think I ever saw the movie Prem Geet (1981), which starred Anita Raaj  and Raj Babbar, and therefore had nothing to go on in finding the song. I didn't have the lyrics to go on ... when I was little I thought the words were "Oh Silver Penny" ... something my sisters found hilarious and sang constantly. But then I couldn't remember the beginning lines of "Tere Geeton Ki Mein Deewani, Oh Dilbar Jaani" which would have led me to this song.

This song kept popping into my head at random times and I knew it was going to bother me until I figured it out. Finally, I messaged my sister on Facebook with a plea to help me find the Dilbar Jaani/Silver Penny song, and I tell you, the woman is a genius. Or a Bollypedia. She immediately messaged me back that it was from Prem-something and starred Raj Babbar and Anita Raaj. A little googling and voila! Here it is in all it's glory! A genie-costumed Anita Raaj (lovely, ain't she?) writhing about (not easy, especially in silver lame hot pants), bellydancing backgroundies w/ tambourines, fancy sets, etc. And wow! Does that say "Introducing Anita Raaj"? I believe it does! Her debut! Very exciting. It's also sung by the fabulous Asha Bhosle, my favorite playback singer by far.

Another hint from the genius sister was that the music for this film was by Jagjit Singh (of Jagjit and Chitra fame, yes). Very cool - that led me to check out the other songs from Prem Geet and they are indeed lovely.

So now I finally know the REAL words to this song and what it's from! And since it's a Bolly song from my earliest memories, I had to share, of course ...