Are Ja Ja - Mehman by Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle

Are Ja Ja - Mehman arrived from the Mehman album and quickly became one of the most replayed tracks of 1973. Credit goes to Ravi for a score that understands exactly what the song needs and nothing more.

Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle delivers the lyrics with a nuance that turns an already strong song into something genuinely moving. Biswajeet, Rekha, Anwar Hussain, Helen, Manmohan Krishna, Abhi Bhattacharya, Sulochana, Mukri gave the film its soul, and Are Ja Ja - Mehman is the song that most directly channels that feeling into music.

When it came out in 1973, Are Ja Ja - Mehman felt timely. Years later, it feels timeless. Listeners have described the experience of Are Ja Ja - Mehman differently — romantic, melancholic, uplifting — which suggests the song is large enough to hold many truths.

In 4:19 minutes, Are Ja Ja - Mehman builds, opens up, and resolves in a way that feels complete rather than truncated. It is, simply, one of the better songs to come from Hindi in recent memory — and the numbers agree.