Ghajini (2008) lyrics and translation: Latoo

Our journey through the Ghajini soundtrack by A. R. Rahman continues with song five of six from the album to the Aamir Khan starrer which releases this Christmas (all posts on the film here), Latoo (pronounced 'lut too'). A common meaning for the word is 'top' (one that spins), although in the song, it means 'a dazed state'. The analogy is interesting, because as was the case in the song Behka, the lyrics here contain very direct references to water and earth, and subtle ones to wind and light. This is likely over analyzing, but because tops have always been of great interest to physicists for their very direct relationship with forces of nature, perhaps therein lies a hidden thread that will be revealed in the film? Who knows? :)

At the surface, Latoo is simple, especially given the lyrics in the first half. Things get very interesting in the second half, though (from 'Masti mein ti' onward). I initially thought these phrases employed dangling syllables (defined at #1 in this post). But there is more to them here, I think. Some letters of the Urdu and Hindi alphabet do carry meanings, and trying to piece them in context here was really quite fascinating (it's like a mental word search in some ways). So I think there are meanings behind these phrases, and have incorporated my interpretations in the translation.

Again, it's not that the interpretation alters sense -- it just derives some from what might be perceived as not having much sense. I hardly think it's a coincidence.

On to the song, which begins in remarkable fashion with the infamous words of Neil Armstrong: "That's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind," followed by, "Houston...the Eagle has landed." What follows is a song that is unlike anything we've heard from Shreya Ghosal. She has several dance tracks to her credit, but none in which she could take away part of the limelight from counterpart Sunidhi Chauhan for owning the genre. Here, she challenges that history. She is in excellent form, and delivers effortlessly. The choreography should be very interesting, and the trailer (assuming we get one featuring the song) worth looking forward to -- any guesses on whether it will involve Asin Thottumkal or Jiah Khan?

I'm also really looking forward to tomorrow's pick, which is one of the more challenging and fun to translate. For now, here are the lyrics and my translation to Latoo (click to enlarge). This link has some interesting pictures of Aamir's journey to attain his Ghajini look.


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