Lo Ek Kali Muskayee - Ek Kali Muskayee by Madan Mohan, Mohammed Rafi

Some songs are made for a single moment. Lo Ek Kali Muskayee - Ek Kali Muskayee is made for all of them. Credit goes to Madan Mohan for a score that understands exactly what the song needs and nothing more.

Madan Mohan, Mohammed Rafi's vocal here has a quality that is difficult to describe but impossible to miss — it simply feels true. The connection between Joy Mukherjee, Naina Joglekar, Ashok Kumar, Mahmood, Om Prakash, Lalita Pawar, Nirupa Roy, Suresh and this song is part of what makes it resonate beyond the film itself.

1968 marked the release of Ek Kali Muskayee, and Lo Ek Kali Muskayee - Ek Kali Muskayee was the track that ensured the album would be remembered. Some music is background. Lo Ek Kali Muskayee - Ek Kali Muskayee demands attention — not aggressively, but in the way a good conversation does.

Running to 4:46, the song is exactly as long as it needs to be, which is the hardest length for a songwriter to find. The track stands as evidence that Madan Mohan, Mohammed Rafi and Madan Mohan, working together, are capable of something well above the ordinary.