Bengali film song · 1989

আর কত রাত একা থাকবো

Aar koto raat eka thakbo

“How many more nights will I stay alone?”

One light left on. One voice singing into the night.

The song

Aar Koto Raat Eka Thakbo comes from the Bengali film Chokher Aloy (চোখের আলোয়), released in 1989. Bappi Lahiri composed it and Asha Bhosle sang it. Its title is a question a lonely person asks the dark, and the song is a slow, long-breathed lament about waiting for someone who is not there.

The recording runs about 6 minutes 10 seconds on streaming services, long for a film song, which gives the refrain room to repeat like a sleepless night.

Credits

Voice
Asha Bhosle
Music
Bappi Lahiri
Lyrics
Pulak Bandyopadhyayfrom one lyrics site, see note
Film
Chokher Aloy1989, directed by Sachin Adhikari
On screen
Debashree Roy, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Tapas Paul
Length
6:10

Listen

These open the official releases in a new tab.

Reading the title

বাংলা

আর · কত · রাত · একা · থাকবো

গানটি একাকীত্ব আর অপেক্ষার কথা বলে। কেউ রাতের অন্ধকারকে প্রশ্ন করছে, আর সেই প্রশ্নের কোনো উত্তর আসে না।

Banglish

aar · koto · raat · eka · thakbo

Gaanti ekakitwo aar opekkhar kotha bole. Keu raater andhokarke proshno korche, aar shei proshner kono uttor ashe na.

Only the title is quoted here. The summary is in my own words and is not a transcription of the lyrics.

Count the nights

45nights left
0days
00hours
00minutes
00seconds

One moon for each night from 29 September to 13 November. A moon goes dark when its night has passed.

Note on the research

Singer, composer, film, cast and year are confirmed by several music listings. The lyricist credit comes from a single lyrics site, and I could not confirm it in a second source, so check the film's record label before citing it. I did not reproduce the lyrics here; the streaming and lyrics pages below have them.

Sources

  1. Kotha R Sur, song page and credits
  2. Wikipedia, Chokher Aloy
  3. Shazam, track listing and duration
  4. YouTube, film version

for one heart awake at night