Our country is known for its diversity especially when it comes to celebrating a festival and each state has its own favorite festival. For example, Navaratri is famous in Gujarat, whereas Durga Puja is very popular and is a much celebrated festival in Kolkata. Ganesh Chaturthi has been one of the most awaited festivals in India especially in Maharashtra, and is celebrated with immense joy, devotion and enthusiasm by all ages and people from various backgrounds as they celebrate this beautiful festival in praise of the lord Ganesha.
However, unlike earlier days when Ganesh Chaturthi was celebrated only in Maharashtra, it is not so now as the festival has gained its popularity in other states of India as well and is now celebrated in full swing across the country during the ten-day-long celebration.
The style and traditions celebrated may be different or may vary, but the annual celebration of Lord Ganesha is observed with rituals and devotion across the globe. Countries like Canada, Mauritius, Nepal, Singapore, USA, UK, Myanmar and France to name a few have been celebrating on a large scale traditionally. The Indian population come together in big numbers and worship the Elephant God as our Ganesha is lovingly nicknamed.
As the nation Bharat celebrates this splendor festival, Bollywood or the Indian film industry too make it very memorable to sum up the excitement with the zest and lot of enthusiasm. The sounds of the most popular Arati ‘Sukh Karta Dukh Harta….’ ring in our ears while the DJs in the community pandals across almost every street, play the Ganesha songs and aratis from Hindi films and the atmosphere is simply magical.
Let’s take a look at some of the best-featured and most memorable Ganpati songs and aarti scenes that add to the magnificence of the festival of the Lord Ganesha in our Hindi films.
We go back to the black and white film ‘Pujarin’ released in 1969, the song sung by Mahendra Kapoor, ‘ He Ganpati Bappa Moriya’ is a grand tribute to Lord Ganesha.
In 1980 in the film ‘Takkar’ the song Murti Gansh Ki is sung by Kishore Kumar and Mahendra Kapoor.
In Humse Badkar Kaun, the film released in 1981, it is said the villain Amjad Khan also was moved by the beautiful song ‘Deva O Deva Ganpati Deva tumse badkar Kaun’ is said to have changed his image from being the villain. The song became famous for its manjeera twangs and the drum beats which was composed by Ram Laxman and the lyrics were penned by Ravinder Rawal with the playback by Asha Bhosle, Mohammed Rafi, Bhupinder Singh, Shailendra Singh and Sapan Chakravarti.
We also remember Sunil Dutt’s tragedy film ‘Dard Ka Rishta’ released in 1982 which has the all-time favorite song ‘Ganpati Bappa Morya’.
The next song that comes to our mind is picturized on the legendary actors Amitabh Bachchan and Mithun Chakraborty. Both have danced to the beautiful song, ‘Ganpati Apne Gaon Chale from the film Agneepath released in 1990. Composed by the duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal and sung by Anupama Deshpande, Kavita Krishnamurthy and Sudesh Bhosle.
The Arati song from the film Vaastav in 1999 had the beautiful song ‘Shendur Lal Chadhayo’ that depicts the perfect mood and spirit adding the Maharashtrian flavour to the occasion. This song topped the chart that year as soon as it was released. Starring in the film was Sanjay Dutt and the song was composed by Jatin Lalit and sung by Ravindra Sathe.
Another beautiful devotional song from the film Virudh Family Comes First released in 2005 that touched your heart with its every beat was the Song, ‘Shree Ganeshaya Dhimahi’ composed by Ajay Atul and sung by Shankar Mahadevan starring Amitabh Bachchan.
Don 2 released in 2006 had the very energetic Visarjan Song, ‘Morya Re’, with King Khan Shahrukh Khan shaking his leg while he walks through the streets of Mumbai in the song sequence. The scene became popular and became the core of the film as well.
A song sequence that was not actually a bhajan from the film ‘Wanted’ released in 2009. The song ‘Tera Hi Jalwa’ was dedicated to the Lord Ganesha and the greatness, starring Salman Khan. The song was composed by Sajid Wajid and sung by Earl Edgar D’Souza and Wajid Ali.
The most popular and mesmerizing dance with grace that comes to our mind is our own Greek God Hrithik Roshan’s dance steps to the tune of ‘Deva Shree Ganesha’ from the film Agneepath released in 2012, honoring the Lord Ganesha.
Taking the look at the latest trend of Ganesha songs that continued , was from the film’ ABCD – Any body Can Dance’ .The song Shambhu Sutaya released in December 2012 was sung by Sachin-Jigar. The beautiful song was released in the album Shankar Mahadevan’s ‘Best of Me’.
Then the ‘Gajanana’ Ganesha song that was a super hit was from the very splendor and magnificent 2015 film ‘Bajirao Mastani’, an epic historical romantic film directed by none other than Sanjay Leela Bhansali and the soundtrack was composed by Prashant Ingole sung by Sukhwinder Singh.
‘Hey Ganaraya’ song by Divya Kumar from ABCD 2 of 2015 featuring Varun Dhawan in the song sequence went on to become a super hit caller tune as well. The much-appreciated dance directed by Remo had a classical base to it with superb lyrics by Mayur Puri and a soundtrack by Sachin-Jigar.
The legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan’s Ganpati Arati in the film Sarkar 3 of 2017, had an essence that was unmatched with Amitabh Bachchan’s voice singing the Ganpati Arati.
The Bappa Song from the film Banjo of 2016 in praise of the Lord Ganesha starring Riteish Deshmukh and Nargis Fakhri. Riteish’s dance to the tune of the Bappa brought goosebumps to the audience and no matter in which part of the world you are, the street dance welcoming the lord is always close to your heart. Sung by Vishal Dadlani and lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya.
Another Ganpati song from the movie Mumbai Saga "Danka Baja" is a wholesome blend of festive mood and devotion. This Ganpati dance banger is sung by Dev Negi and lyrics by Prashant Ingole.
‘Gann Deva’ from the 2020 film ‘Street Dancer 3D’ had the latest track sung by Divya Kumar, music composed by Sachin-Jigar and Gulshan Kumar’s T Series in association with Remo D’Souza’s Entertainment Pvt Ltd.
The most recent of the Ganesha Song was from the film ‘Antim’ released in 2021. Titled ‘Vignaharta’ song which means the conqueror of obstacles. Salman Khan, Aayush Sharma and Varun Dhawan brought in the zeal of Ganpati celebration in this dance sequence and was the first song to be released during its promotion.
It's not just in the Hindi films that you see the grand celebrations of Lord Ganesha but also in the homes of film celebrities such as Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Shilpa Shetty, Akshay Kumar, Ekta Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and many other celebrities who celebrate the Ganesh Utsav in a very grand manner
Also known as the Vinayak Chaturthi, the revered deity, the protector of his devotees, the wise giant elephant head, a broken tusk with a round body carries the wisdom with His favourite modaks on his palm or by his side. The Lord who is worshipped immensely is believed to remove every obstacle and is a favourite God of all.
As the festival draws to its closure for that year, Ganesha's significance is interpreted in different ways and the deity or the idol of Lord Ganesha after the ten-day celebration is immersed into any water body.
