Aankhen Sharab Ki - Man Ki Aankhen by Manna Dey, Lata Mangeshkar

Aankhen Sharab Ki - Man Ki Aankhen arrived from the Man Ki Aankhen album and quickly became one of the most replayed tracks of 1970. Laxmikant, Pyarelal sets the tone from the very first bar — it is clear from the opening notes that this song means business.

Manna Dey, Lata Mangeshkar inhabits this song completely, making every phrase feel like it was written specifically for this voice. The story told by Waheeda Rehman, Dharmendra, Mohan Choti, Sujit Kumar, Fariyal, Manmohan Krishna, Leela Chitnis, Lalita Pawar in Man Ki Aankhen finds its musical expression here — Aankhen Sharab Ki - Man Ki Aankhen is where the film's heart beats loudest.

In 1970, Hindi produced many songs, but Aankhen Sharab Ki - Man Ki Aankhen was one of the handful that genuinely cut through. There is a quality to Aankhen Sharab Ki - Man Ki Aankhen that makes it feel like company — the kind of song you put on when words feel insufficient.

Running to 4:40, the song is exactly as long as it needs to be, which is the hardest length for a songwriter to find. It is, simply, one of the better songs to come from Hindi in recent memory — and the numbers agree.