This song is featured in Sadma, which marked the Hindi debut of Balu Mahendra and Illayaraaja. While Sridevi and Kamal, the lead actors of the film, were already familiar faces, Sadma catapulted Sridevi’s reputation as a performer, earning her widespread acclaim as a terrific actor. It also catalyzed Sridevi’s Bollywood career. Despite Kamal’s reasons for not continuing in Bollywood, this film likely would have bolstered his career in the industry, which is unfortunate for Bollywood but beneficial for Tamil Cinema.

Ek Dafa Ek Jangal Tha is a story told in a sing-along style. The Tamil and Hindi versions of this song differ significantly. Illayaraja’s decision to create a completely new composition for the Hindi version instead of reusing the Tamil version speaks volumes about his musical expertise. I’ll also include the Tamil version of this song so you can compare the differences.

Song – 20

Song: Ek Dafa Ek Jangal Tha
Movie: Sadma
Singer: Kamalahaasan, Sridevi
Lyricist: Gulzar
Actors: Kamal Hassan, Sridevi, Silk Smitha, Gulshan Grover, Srvind Deshpande and many others
Director: Balu Mahendra

Here’s the Tamil version of the song as well.