The Hottest Rain Song Ever

Nearly two decades on, this Mohra number still sizzles

Choreographer Rekha Prakash answers the phone, and passes it on to her husband, choreographer Chinni Prakash. He passes it back to Rekha, who asks us to hold on and is about to pass it back to Chinni. But then we hear Chinni tell Rekha something to the effect of, “It’s about Tip Tip Barsa Paani.”

Rekha to Chinni, Chinni to Rekha, and almost Rekha to Chinni again. Finally, Rekha stays on the phone.

This is what happens when husband and wife are both choreographers and have worked on the same film (in this case, Mohra, 1994, along with choreographer Saroj Khan). Chinni worked on Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast Mast. Rekha on Tip Tip Barsa Paani.

The movie was a success and so were its songs. Especially its songs. Mast Mast was a rage across India. It even won Chinni a Filmfare Award for choreography. But in that unacknowledged category of Hindi film rain songs, it is Tip Tip that rules, even now. It is possible that it plays more often on air now than Mast Mast. Besides, Raveena looked more mast mast in Tip Tip.

If you were a young man in the 90s, you will remember the wicked thrill each time Tip Tip aired on television. It was like winning a lottery, a 5 minute 50 second joyride for your hormones. That was a great era for rain songs. Though they had become formulaic by then, the women still looked natural, unlike now.

Till Tip Tip came along, the ultimate rain song was Kate Nahin Katate from Mr India. It paired Sridevi, in a turquoise sari, with Anil Kapoor. Tip Tip had Raveena Tandon, wearing a sari almost the same yellow as a Tour de France jersey, and Akshay Kumar. Tip Tip is hotter than Kate Nahin Katate. One, Raveena revealed more. Two, Raveena and Akshay were in a real romance with each other, which lent the song greater voyeuristic value. Three, Tip Tip is a catchier song, whose appeal has endured longer than Kate Nahin Katate’s.

“There are very few numbers that last so many years,” says Rekha, “Even now, it’s there on ring tones, radio or TV.” Asked if there is competition between her and her husband, she says, “No, we are professionals.” Told that many records show only Chinni as the choreographer of Mohra, she says, “I’m very happy about it.”

In narrative terms, Tip Tip is an attempt by journalist Roma Singh (Raveena’s character) to woo police inspector Amar Saxena (Akshay). Roma has fallen for Amar, but the police inspector is proving hard to get. Read my eyes, she implores him at a Hanging Gardens spot (likely Café Naaz, the scenic but cheesy first-date venue of naïve Bombay lads at one time). “Rather than this kind of reading,” conscientious Amar tells romantic Roma, “I’d rather do some police duty.” Roma says, “Well, I’ll give you a police duty. Tonight at 8 pm, a girl is going to commit suicide from the fourth floor of an under-construction building in Versova Society. If you show up, you might be able to save her.”

It’s a rainy night, and Amar shows up with an umbrella, perhaps a metaphor for other kinds of protection. And yes, there is a girl. But she has seduction, not suicide, on her mind. The girl is Roma, of course, drenched in the downpour. And then you hear the distinctive opening clangs of the song, produced by music director Viju Shah’s keyboards.

“It was supposed to be a romantic song,” says Shah, “I set the tune and we took it to Anand Bakshi [the lyricist]. He came up with the words ‘tip tip barsa paani’, and it became a rain song. Often, words dictate the picturisation. It happened with Oye, Oye in Tridev [another mega hit by the combo of Mohra director Rajiv Rai, Viju Shah and Anand Bakshi]. The words were tirchchi topiwale… aur topi pehnnee padi Naseersaab ko (The words were ‘O, one with the slanted hat’, and so Naseersaab had to wear a hat).”

Rekha says that Tip Tip was shot over five days at Filmistan Studios in Bombay, and Raveena performed it despite running 103º Fahrenheit temperature. (Funnily, there are also internet mentions of 103º and 104º fevers when Sridevi did Kate Nahin Katate.)  

“Full credit to Raveena,” says Rekha, “She was getting wet, then drying off during a break, getting wet again. There were fans blowing to provide the effect of wind. And she had high fever. Hats off to her. I didn’t say it to her then. Because I was guru and she my shishya (pupil). But I’m saying it now.” Well, ‘hats off’ then.

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Akshay Sawai