India, May 19 -- Some days ago, at an informal dinner, after everyone had discussed the ongoing elections to the hilt, one guest suddenly changed the subject. She asked, "What, according to each of you, is the most romantic song in a Hindi film?" There was one brave friend who responded, but others protested. "How can one choose only one?" came one argument. It was agreed then that everybody would name five choices.

This was easier said than done. Hindi films are so replete with romantic songs that choosing only five songs took my friends much longer than they thought. Each pick was strongly contradicted by someone else, and new suggestions were trashed by others. It seems everybody had some favourites, not only on the merit of the artis...