The song 'Gori tera gaon bada pyara' (Your village is so lovely, O fair one!) is from the film Chitchor (Thief of Heart, Hindi, 1976). It was the debut Hindi film for Malayalam playback singer K J Yesudas and he won the national best male playback singer award for the song. Ravindra Jain, who was born blind and yet became a professional musician, wrote lyrics of rich imagery and also composed the music for the song. The cinematography in widescreen—which was still new to Indian cinema those years and perhaps the first for a romantic musical film—by K.K. Mahajan presented better the natural surroundings and expressions of the actors. The film was directed by Basu Chatterjee. Amol Palekar and Zarina Wahab, who were in the early phase of their careers, played the lead roles in the film outstandingly. Amol is an engineer visiting Zarina's village in connection with the construction of a new bridge and is enchanted by its beauty. Master Raju won the National Award for the Best Child Artist for his role. The movie Chitchor, produced by Rajshri Productions, opens with The Mother's picture and a dedication to her. I have translated the Hindi lyrics into English, incorporating knowledgeable corrections and suggestions to my draft kindly provided by Ashesh Joshi (Auroville), and displayed them as subtitles to enable the wider audience to understand and appreciate the song better.
For non-profit cultural and educaitonal purposes
Click to view the video: https://youtu.be/JOmB1E7NNpw
