Mohabbatein 22-year anniversary: Iconic songs that make this movie timeless

For an entire generation of millennials, Mohabbatein was the blue print of what rebellious love should look like. Themes of love over discipline and self-control may not have aged well, but the centre piece of Mohabbatein was its music. Perhaps that's the main reason why the film has retained its iconic status for 22 years. On the film's anniversary today, we look back at the 5 songs that made this love saga a timeless classic.

The song, tune and lyrics that made Mohabbatein as iconic as it turned out. While credit must be given to composers Jatin-Lalit and lyricist Anand Bakshi, fact of the matter is it was Lata Mangeshkar's ethereal vocals that created the real magic. Lata ji was 73 when she sang this song and patrons have been tom tomming about this feat for 2 decades now. We don't blame them, this song is quite literally the soul of the film and a veritable anthem of love the world over.

Perhaps the second most popular track from the film, Aankhein Khuli Ho features a proper ballad between the film's three young leading-pairs - Uday Chopra-Shamita Shetty, Jugal Hansraj-Kim Sharma and Jimmy Shiergill-Preeti Jhangiani. In the context of the film, this song signifies the absolute abandon with which one must love. Again, this song had beautiful jugalbandi between Lata Mangeshkar and Udit Narayan. And let's not forget the Helen homage right at the end, when Shah Rukh Khan and Helen dance like there's no tomorrow.

This song represents the defiance and passion that's a central theme for Shah Rukh Khan's character in Mohabbatein. The song even starts with SRK proclaiming to Amitabh Bachchan, "Ab ye rukne wali nahi, ab ye jhukne wali nahi." It's the perfect cue for the film's young leads to sing about untamed and unbridled love. Another feat for this song is the fact that it did not feature the film's more established singers Lata Mangeshkar and Udit Narayan. Instead the vocals were done by relative newbies like Shweta Pandit, Manohar Shetty, Sonali Bhatawdekar, Ishaan, Pritha and Udbhav.

Perhaps the least popular song from the stacked Mohabbatein album, the great thing about Soni Soni is the fact that, the chorus of the song has over the years, become a cult hit, but it's not the lead mukhda of the song. The lyrics, Hum tere deewane hain, hum aashiq mastane hain, have won over listeners for two decades now. Of course, this is the quintessential Holi song in the film and it's just as infectious as any other song on the Mohabbatein album.

You could say that Chalte Chalte, is the dark horse of the Mohabbatein album. Understandibly, over the years, the song has aged really well and in the 22 years since it first came out, it's garnered quite the following. The track features the film's young leads, Uday Chopra-Shamita Shetty, Jugal Hansraj-Kim Sharma and Jimmy Shiergill-Preeti Jhangiani acknowledging that their feelings and love are true and passionate. Again, the lesser known band of young singers Shweta Pandit, Manohar Shetty, Sonali Bhatawdekar, Ishaan, Pritha and Udbhav managed to impress one and all.