Cricketer Suresh Raina, a music lover and singer, could pursue these songs during this time of personal and professional difficulty.
There are cricketers who sing. And there are cricketers who are good enough to sing for a film with professional crooners. Suresh Raina belongs to the latter category.
In 2015, Raina was among the vocalists for the crime comedy Meeruthiya Gangsters, along with the likes of Mika Singh and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.
Raina is passionate about singing. He practises vocals and plays the sax. It’s fitting that if you conflate his first and last names, you get Su-Ra, very close to the Hindi word ‘Sur’ (melody).
These are not happy times for Raina. He flew to Dubai to play the IPL. But within days, he returned to India following his uncle’s death, reportedly at the hands of robbers, and then his own alleged rift with the Chennai Super Kings over a claustrophobic hotel room.
Luckily, there is always music. Here are five songs Raina could sing to purge his angst.
Tanhayee. Film: Dil Chahta Hai. Lyrics: Javed Akhtar. Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. Vocals: Sonu Nigam
Songs with depth and genuine emotion are rare in modern Bollywood. Tanhayee is an exceptional number. It captures the punch-in-the-gut agony of heartbreak. It also has a cricket connection. Parts of the song were shot at Sydney’s striking Waverley Cemetery, all white rock against a blue sky and bluer sea. Among those at rest here is the famed Australian batsman Victor Trumper, considered by some as greater than Don Bradman.
Kya Hua Tera Vada. Film: Hum Kisise Kam Nahi. Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri. Music: RD Burman. Vocals: Mohammad Rafi, Sushma Shreshtha
Raina has sung this song on shows and his inner algorithm may now throw it up in his mind again. Such are the ways of the brain. The lyrics of the song are apt for his current situation. Kya hua, tera vada, woh kasam, woh irada. What happened to your promise, those wows, those plans? N Srinivasan, MS Dhoni, Stephen Fleming, are you listening?
Ruk jana nahi. Film: Imtihan: Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri. Music: Laxmikant Pyarelal. Vocals: Kishore Kumar
Indians across generations have drawn strength, and a fear of bell bottoms, from this 70s hymn to marching forward regardless of defeat. As a singer and a sportsman, Raina will recognize the wise counsel offered by the song. What’s more, a Clark Kentish Vinod Khanna is shown lugging an ordinary suitcase in the song. Raina, like most Indian cricketers, only uses luxury luggage. Not stopping is so much easier when you are pulling a stylish Louis Vuitton Horizon 70.
Dheere Dheere Chal, Chaand Gagan Me. Film: Love Marriage. Lyrics: Hasrat Jaipuri. Music: Shankar Jaikishen. Vocals: Mohammad Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar.
Of late, Raina has been extolling the virtues of taking things slow. “The world has slowed so you can rediscover yourself,” he tweeted on August 28. With no IPL to play, and back in the warm embrace of family and home, the time is right for him to sing this soul-caressing tune. However, he must avoid walking like Dev Anand to prevent injury.
Ek Chatur Naar. Film: Padosan. Lyrics: Rajendra Kishan. Music: RD Burman. Vocals: Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey, Mehmood.
Some people see humour as disrespectful, but if the world is to have any shot at surviving, it must learn to laugh. Ek Chatur Naar is among the funniest songs in history. Imagine Raina on the Sunil Dutt side, coached by a hysterical Kishore Kumar and Dwayne Bravo (also a musician). And then imagine N Srinivasan and the CSK management on the other side, all engaged in an animated contest of one-upmanship. Which is what the IPL and Indian cricket often is.