Song: ‘Koi Hota Jisko Apna’
Film: Mere Apne
Singer: Kishore Kumar
Lyrics: Gulzar
Composer: Salil Choudhary
Cast: Meena Kumari, Deven Kumar, Vinod Khanna, Shatrughan Sinha, and others.
Mere Apne, released in 1971, wasn’t Vinod Khanna’s best film. It fared above average at the time of its release, considering it had a storyline that was similar to the films back then — a lone woman who becomes a martyred figure of sorts for many young men, and uniting many. While the film essentially focused on Meena Kumari’s role as the titular grandmother, adding more to the ‘Queen of Tragedy’ roles she had played before, this song focused more on one of her foster children’s love failure.
Vinod Khanna’s character, Shyam, reminisces his days with his love, Urmila. While she leaves in a rickshaw with her things, he looks back at those days when love was all that they cared about, revisiting their favourite haunts.
Sung by Kishore Kumar and Gulzar’s lyrics, the song narrates the young man’s desire to have someone by his side, someone who can understand him and someone whom he could call his own. He is someone who doesn’t shy from talking about his sadness and the “tears that keep overflowing”.
His sadness is witnessed by Meena Kumari’s Nani Ma. While he rests on bed, tearing up over his loneliness, she stands behind him, giving him all the tender love and care to mend his broken heart.