The night is still. The sleep is hard to come by. A soft, soothing song wafts through the air enveloping the tired mind. Under its magical spell the mind slowly drifts into the tranquil ocean of dreams away from the stresses and the strains of this life - at least till the next morning!

Lori or a lullaby is a unique form of songs specifically designed to entice sleep. Though while gyrating to glory in 'Pardesi babu', Govinda proudly proclaims -Jahan maa ki lori sune bin, raaton ko na aaye nindiya, It happens only in India; I am sure that's not the case! Over the centuries all over the world lullabies have been sung and have served the purpose of putting troublesome babies and their tired parents to sleep. But for the sheer variety and virtuosity Hindi film music has excelled in bringing forth the best of this genre, so here is a trip down the memory lane to visit those sweet, 'sleepy' spots!

Earlier Loris

 The first and foremost lori that comes to mind from the early era of Hindi film music is the inimitable Kundanlal Saigal gem - So jaa raajkumari so jaa. Set to tune by another master - Punkaj Mullick for the film 'Zindagi' this Saigal song still sounds as charming as ever.

From the same era, the 'Kismat' song composed by Anil Biswas and sung by Ameerbai Karnataki- Dheere dheere baadal dheere dheere so endearingly urges the clouds to tread ever so softly in the sky lest the loved one wakes up by its noise! Though not a lori in a strict sense this song still kindles those same sleepy feelings! Aaja ri nindiya aa ja from 'Zeenat' is a more traditional lori from that era made memorable by Noorjehan's earthy rustic musical charm.

The Boom

The fifties and the sixties represented the booming period for loris in films. The lori became an essential requirement for almost every soundtrack. As the commonest setting for such a song was a mother putting her son or the daughter to sleep, female domination of this genre was but natural. So we had Suman Kalyanpur singing Chaand kanwal mere chaand kanwal in 'Saanz aur savera', Asha Bhosle crooning Khoyaa khoyaa chanda in 'Door gagan ki chhaon mein' and Geeta Dutt whispering Nanhi kali sone chali in 'Sujata' to aid the screen mothers 'hypnotize' their little ones!

Best Of The Best

 If you tell me to select the best ever lori composed for a Hindi film then I would have to decide it by the toss of the coin between Lata Mangehkar's two evergreen lullabies - 'Dheere se aaja ri ankhiyan mein'