Mention the ’90s in front of anyone born between 1975 and 1990, and youโll have to stop doing everything because all your attention will be demanded by these Boomers. This could lead to an extended reminiscing of how they used to read lyrics from the booklet inside cassette covers, wait endlessly on limited television channels for the latest indipop chartbusters, live a whole life without Google, and so on (and on and on).
The sheer chance of things happening was the high point of the ’90s. You couldnโt go out and demand to watch/listen to a song. You couldnโt immediately verify trivia. You couldnโt search for top songs or films instantly. And so recollecting every little detail from life back automatically gets โ90s kids so excited that it confuses millennials.
Mumbai radio jockey Rohini Ramnathan, from 91.1 Radio Nasha, has been playing on this exact nostalgia in her show Meri 90s Ki PlayList, where she invites guests to share their best memories and belt out their favourite songs from the ’90s. The guest list has included so many comedians, we’ve been listening in. Here are the highlights. Take a shot every time you think, โWhoa! Really?โ
Rohan Joshi Decodes Yeh Kaali Kaali Aankhein
Joshi loves Baazigar. โThe movie started with an F1 raceโฆin those times,โ Joshi is excited. But what will blow your mind is his theory: In the song Yeh Kaali Kaali Aakhein, Kajol didnโt have black eyes, she didnโt even have gore gaal! Thatโs because, through the song, Shah Rukh Khan was trying to give her a clue about his whole plan (whut!?)
We can’t tell if it’s fortunate or unfortunate that Joshi did not have Instastories back in the day to share his genius interpretation with the world.
Anu Menon Woman Crushing on Urmila Matondkar
None other than Urmila Matondkar for Anu Menon. Going gaga over her oomph in Tanha Tanha Yahan Pe Jeena moves from the film Rangeela to lusting after her black swimsuit look. Both Menon and Ramnathan get dreamy… which gets interrupted when they think of Jackie Shroff in his speedos!
Itโs Shah Rukh Khan for Ashish Shakya, All. The. Way.
Ashish Shakya shares his playlist with two Shah Rukh Khan songs; back to back. Ramnathan reminds Shakya that there were more people, beyond SRK. So he jumps to Karishma Kapoor, only to come right back to Khan in Le Gayi, Le Gayi from the super iconic Dil Toh Pagal Hai. Fitness, health, costumes, dances, stage setsโฆ this movie blew Shakyaโs mind. And then, of course, a whole generation signed up for Shiamak Davarโs dance classes that summer!
Border Made Abish Mathew Feel Like an Indian
The one definitive โ90s film that defined the era for Abish Mathew was Border. For Mathew, it is the most iconic film from the โ90s because thatโs the first time he felt patriotic, felt like an Indian, felt like, โmereko bhi army join karna hai!โ An out and out tear-jerker, Mathew says youโll cry till you’re dehydrated. The movie had such an impact, he found himself wishing he was more like Sunny Deol himself. Weโll just leave that here.
Raveena Tandon is the Stuff of Legends for Sumukhi Suresh
โShe is the stuff of legends,โ Sumukhi Suresh declares. Sureshโs favourite song? Sheher ki Ladki from the film called Rakshak starring Raveena Tandon and Suniel Shetty. Both Ramnathan and Suresh remember her whacky wig styles and her dressesโcolour wiseโmore fluently than nursery rhymes. Sureshโs ultimate observation: no one can pull off a wig like Raveena Tandon.
Kanan Gill Remembers Shiamak Davar (but not for his dance)
While everyone else obsesses over hardcore Bollywood when you say โ90s, Gill brings in the perfect garnishing with the indipop songs he definitely wants in on his #Meri90sKiPlaylist. Who is he referring to? Shiamak Davar. For the millennials thinking, โBut… he’s a choreographer??โ Well, back in โ90s most of our icons were multitaskers and Davar had a singing streak. Youโll love listening to and watching this song, which was basically used, reused, and re-reused by Davar for all his future dance performances.
Akshay Kumar Cost Fan Varun Thakur Eight Stitches
On his episode, Varun Thakur declares himself the biggest Akshay Kumar fan there can be. And if you havenโt already heard that Akshay Kumar’s jumping over an Ambassador in the climax fighting scene in the movie Khiladi was the reason for the eight-odd stitches on Thakurโs chin, you have to watch the video below.
What was Thakur trying to replicate? Watch 5:30 onwards:
Sonali Thakker, the True Connoisseur of โ90s Indipop
Ramnathan says that if thereโs one person who knows โ90s songs like the back of her hand, itโs Sonali Thakker. Her first request is this indipop song by Aslam and Shibani Kashyap called Ho Gayi Hai Mohabbat Tumse. Thakker explains how this song was a great boost to two things: tourism for Kerala’s backwaters, and Shibani Kashyapโs career. But the whole song, sung by a male artist, called Aslamโฆ who is he? Where is he now?
Kunal Rao Loves What Came Out of Baba Sehgal Singing for AR Rahman
Indipop was love for Kunal Rao in the โ90s. So was Baba Sehgal. But there was also AR Rahman. Having acknowledged all the icons, Kunal Rao canโt gush enough about that one rare moment when AR Rahman and Baba Sehgal came together to give us Rukmini Rukmini from the film Roja. What he doesnโt understand is how anyone was allowed to get that raunchy then!
Rahul Subramanian is an Atul Agnihotri Fan
โYaar, to be honest, main bohot hi bada fan tha iss legend ka. Unka naam hai Atul Agnihotri.โ (Aye! Donโt judge!) Subramanian has his reasons. He asserts that Agnihotri was way more good looking than a lot of the others. Then, with a poker face, talks about the ridiculous lyrics of Rain is Falling Chhama Chham Chham and wonders what happened to the poor guy. โThode misguided thheโฆโ
If heโs being sarcastic, we can’t tell. What do you think?
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