Pyar Kya Hota Hai - Ek Kali Muskayee by Madan Mohan, Lata Mangeshkar

Pyar Kya Hota Hai - Ek Kali Muskayee is the kind of song that earns its place in a playlist and then refuses to leave. Madan Mohan's arrangement gives the track a layered quality that rewards repeated listening.

The performance by Madan Mohan, Lata Mangeshkar is the centrepiece here — controlled where it needs to be, open where it counts. Joy Mukherjee, Naina Joglekar, Ashok Kumar, Mahmood, Om Prakash, Lalita Pawar, Nirupa Roy, Suresh gave the film its soul, and Pyar Kya Hota Hai - Ek Kali Muskayee is the song that most directly channels that feeling into music.

By the end of 1968, Pyar Kya Hota Hai - Ek Kali Muskayee had moved well beyond its original audience and into everyday playlists. There is no right time to listen to Pyar Kya Hota Hai - Ek Kali Muskayee. There is only the moment you press play and realise it was the right choice.

Running to 5:21, the song is exactly as long as it needs to be, which is the hardest length for a songwriter to find. Pyar Kya Hota Hai - Ek Kali Muskayee has earned its place in the catalogue of Hindi music that genuinely matters. The listeners who found it early already knew.