Big B's abiding imprints on our collective musical memories

Unlike Hollywood, where musicals are a separate genre, no Hindi film is complete without a full suite of songs and they are what keeps a film alive in the minds of the people long after it has met its fate at the box office. Amitabh Bachchan fans may not recall the plots of his old landmark films, but the songs still strike a chord.

On the Big B's 80th birthday, let us revisit some of his musical hits from his first decade of super and megastardom, where the songs were not just romantic interludes with his lady love of the moment, but also served various other purposes.

These helped him to express a range of moods, reveal his innermost yearnings, his philosophy of life, advancing the plot as action takes place in the background or surreptitiously, or evoke humour to lighten the mood.

"Dekha na hai re socha na hai re" - "Bombay To Goa"

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