I can’t for the life of me remember the exact year.

But I have a feeling it must have been in the late 1960s.

The whole caboodle including yours truly went to see Love in Tokyo (Joy Mukherjee, Asha Parekh).

It was a much talked about movie those days.

The songs from the film were forever playing on the radio.

And here I was on a visit to my grandpa’s place during the summer vacation, excited about a visit to the movies.

I still remember the city bus no (30B) that we took to the theatre.

Not to Be

Alas, just a few minutes into the movie the lights came on.

Yes, it was one of those dreaded Indian moments – what hundreds of millions still lament in Mera Bharat Mahaan as a Power Cut.

I remember the theatre giving us some kind of coupons to be redeemed for a later show.

Alas, we never found the time to do so.

And I never got to see Love in Tokyo again.

At least, not in full.

Of course, in the decades since the ‘power cut’ mishap I have heard the Love in Tokyo song (Mohammed Rafi) countless times.

I still love this song as much as I did when I first listened to it, probably on Radio Ceylon or Binaca Geetmala, a million years back.

In my sober moments, and in in my frequent drunken stupors this song has been a great solace over the decades.

Love in Tokyo was one of the first tracks we purchased at the Apple iTunes store a few years back.

Watch the late Joy Mukherjee making an ass of himself in the picturization of this lovely song above.

Love in Tokyo was probably Joy Mukherjee’s biggest hit in a career that never really took off.

The other fine song from Love in Tokyo is Sayonara, Sayonara. (Lata Mangeshkar).

This admirable number too has ably withstood the test of time.

By the early 1970s, Joy Mukherjee withered away into obscurity and emerged into public consciousness only at his death in March this year.

By God, Asha Parekh was truly a lovely doll then. 😉

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Love in Tokyo
Joy Mukherjee

  Asha Parekh, Joy Mukherjee