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The song, Aaja aaja from the 1966 hit Teesri Manzil, has made its way to the top 100 songs on the list of Cinema@100, a Hindustan Times’ initiative, celebrating 100 years of cinema

The song, Aaja aaja from the 1966 hit Teesri Manzil, has made its way to the top 100 songs on the list of Cinema@100, a Hindustan Times’ initiative, celebrating 100 years of cinema.

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Directed by Vijay Anand and produced by Nasir Hussain, the song starred actors Shammi Kapoor, Asha Parekh and Helen. Composed by none other than the legendary RD Burman, both the song and the film were one of Pancham Da’s biggest breaks during his initial years in the music industry.

Such was the phenomenon associated with the soundtrack that he went on to compose music for all of Hussain’s films after this, until Zabardast (1985).

Aaja aaja had a rock n’ roll base and the breathlessness of the singers Mohd Rafi and Asha Bhonsle was used as rhythm for the song, making it all the more unique. Such was the craze for the song that it even made legendary music composer Anil Biswas say, “Had Pancham not been younger to me, I would have touched his feet.” The unforgettable lyrics of the song were penned by Majrooh Sultanpuri, who in fact suggested RD Burman to Nasir Hussain as he strongly believed that Burman would create phenomenal music for this film.