Turkish Serial

 I happened to watch completely a serial with 164 episodes! Originally Turkish, with subtitles, though a few words seemed familiar as we have derivatives in Urdu/Hindi.

The actors were very good, so was the characterisation. That helped me when I thought of giving up. The plot was OK, but got a bit repetitive. The major themes were love and betrayal, with an Al Capone type villain who controls almost everything, killing people at will and corrupting everyone who is willing.

Love triumphs, of course, like in Indian movies, but after several tribulations, and ups and downs-even though the hero is a police officer in Istanbul.

Some good acting, and scenic views of the Bosphorus- the heroine is rich- also helped. Black Money Love is the serial, on Netflix, if you are wondering..

Urdu Words on Song

In songs, actually, is what I meant. Some Urdu words that are appealing when used in film songs-

Dagabaaz ho banke piya,...a very old song.

Iqraar karna mushkil hai, inkaar karna mushkil hai..Manisha sang it in a remake (there were many) of Sleeping With the Enemy.

Beqaraar dil tu gaaye ja khushiyon se bhare woh taraane (Ashok Kumar sang in Kishore Kumar's voice, and Sulakshana Pandit sang for Tanuja).

Mohabbat. Yeh jo mohabbat hai yeh unka hai kaam..

Qayamat- Kamar patli, nazar bijli, suraahidaar gardan, qayamat se meri jaan kam nahin ho..

Haseena- O haseena zulfonwali jaane jahan,..

Bekhudi- Bekhudi mein sanam uth gaye jo kadam.

Hyderabadi Conversation

Kya karra re tu?

Kaiku?

Aise kochhanaa nahin poochhna miyan. Kya tobhi karinge na. Chal merku bore marra, picture dekhke ainge Abids jaake.

Picturaan dekhneku time kahaan hai yaaro, yahaan din raat kaam karaare bossaan..uski to..

Gaaliyan nakko do yaaron, salary bhi deraa na uneich?

Kaheki salary? Idhar se aati, udhar chale jati, maloomich nahi hota kab aayi, kab gayi bolke.

Diwali ka bonus milta honga na tumku?

Kaunsi Diwali? Idhar apna diwala nikalne ku aaya..aur patakhe bhi nahin phodna kate abbi.

Lucknowi Andaaz

We have the last bastion of good behaviour, Lucknow, still standing amidst the falling standards of good behaviour in our country. This was an encounter with one of its citizens. (In Hindi/Urdu)-

Me: Aap ki taareef?

Lucknawi: Ama, hum apni tareef nahin kiya karte. Phir bhi, aapne poochha to bata hi dete hain, is nacheez ko Banda Nawaz kehte hain.

Me: Aap ko nahin lagta Nawaz sahab, ki Uttar Pradesh hud se zyada badh gaya hai, aur ise chhota karna chahiye, taaki woh tarakki kar sake?

BN: Logon ko Awadh ki biryani khane se fursat mile tab  hi to soch paenge hum iske baare mein?

Me: Aaj kal ki shaayari ke baare mein aap ka kya khayal hai?

BN: Dard wahi hai, sahab, magar shaayar nahin rahe jo use bayaan kar saken.

Me: Zubaan se to aap Nawaab lagte hain. Karte kya hain?

BN: Sahi farmaya aapne janab, magar sirf zubaan ke hain..warna aapki sahi khaatirdaari na karte?

Me: Kyun sharminda kar rahen hain mujhe? Bahut shukriya aapki zarranawazi ka,..phir mulaqaat hogi kabhi..

Place Names in Songs

Place names in songs sometimes bring in the patriotic fervour, as in 'Yeh mera India, I love my India,' or 'Hai preet jahan ki reet sada, main geet wahan ke gaata hoon, bharat ka rehne wala hoon, bharat ke geet sunata hoon.' (Shah Rukh Khan and Manoj Kumar respectively).

Sometimes, the reference is to an ornament which fell in a marketplace (Jhumka gira re, Bareilly ke bazaar mein), or exotic locations where love blossoms (Night in London, An Evening in Paris, or Love in Tokyo). The hero sometimes proclaims his antecedents, as in Rampur ka basi hoon main, lakshman mera naam.

Bambai se gayi Poona, ...se gayi Patna, phir bhi na mila sajna, is the lament of Juhi Chawla in a song.

In the old-time farmaish or 'request' song shows on radio, even the names of towns the requests came from were very entertaining. The most famous among them was Jhumritalaiya, but there were many frequent ones like Rajnandgaon, Jabalpur and Kathgodam. Shekhupura in Pakistan figured regularly in All India Radio's Urdu service, for some reason.

Dil Machal Raha Hai

Machal, or machalna of the dil, maybe akin to fluttering of the heart. A word used well in some Hindi film songs, as illustrated by-

Dil machal raha hai, rang badal raha hai..

Machalti hui, hawa mein chham chham hamare sung sung chali ganga ki lehren..

'Machle hue jazbaat, baat hasin hone do', from the middle of a lovely song, Pyaar manga hai tumhise, na inkaar karo..one of Kishore Kumar's best romantic numbers from a vague movie called College Girl. Tuned by Bappi Lahiri. Surprised?

Dheere dheere machal, ai dil-e beqaraar, kio aata hai...after a lot of research, I found that this gem of a song is shot on Surekha and Tarun Bose.(in Anupama)...both look great in this, but I never saw any of them anywhere again, other than this song. Maybe they were Bengali actors, and didn't act in many Hindi films. One of Lata Mangeshkar's best solos, tuned by Jaidev. Also, a female piano song.

Apni Dhun Mein Rehta Hoon

I discovered a new website thanks to an article I was reading in the Mint Lounge (the saturday paper that I have come to like). It is www.rekhta.org which is essentially a one-stop site for re-discovering all your Urdu ghazals, nazms etc. Done in a format where you can search for the ghazal by Poet or by Lyrics, it is in both English and Hindi scripts. I found it brilliant, and so might you, if it interests you.

I tried finding two of my favourite ghazals- Apni Dhun mein rehta hoon and Dil mein ek leher si utthi hai abhi, and found the lyrics in a jiffy. Meanings of words difficult to fathom are available if you click on the word. Very useful. My Urdu will improve by leaps!

The first (Apni Dhun Mein) is a ghazal you can find Ghulam Ali singing (if you want to listen to it while I continue in my dhun), at http://gaana.com/#!/albums/anmol-sitare-vol-7-hindi

Takia Kalaam

I think it is known as a takia kalaam in Urdu..something that is repeated in dialogue or verse. Many of us have a tendency to use a word or phrase very often when we speak. Teachers are particularly susceptible, but not the only culprits. Some of these phrases are-

You know, whatever, Getting it? (this was used by our bio teacher in school), You know what I mean, Am I right? (used by a friend) and similar ones.

One that students in the north (or from the north) use a lot is Matlab (not the software). This is used anywhere, at the beginning, end or at a pause in a sentence.

Students are usually quick at picking up these along with traits or mannerisms peculiar to people, and farewell parties at many B schools are filled with fun imitations of profs. We had one who said Makting instead of Marketing, and we still use this among friends. Some of us had actually adapted a song with various profs and courses figuring in it.

We also have regional accents that are tickle-inducing. One I remember is someone asking Bos gaya kya, meaning bus gaya kya (Oriya version), and getting an answer that Boss had gone (Mallu version from the guy answering). Well, well..

A Lovely Ghazal by Ahmed Faraz

Ranjish hi sahi dil hi dukhane ke liye aa
Aa phir se mujhe chhod ke jaane ke liye aa

Kuch to mere pindar-e-mohabbat (pride in my love) ka bharam rakh
Tu bhi to kabhi mujhko manaane ke liye aa

Pehle se marasim na sahi phir bhi kabhi to
Rasm-o-reh-e-duniya hi nibhaane ke liye aa

Kis kis ko bataayenge judaai ka sabab hum
Tu mujhse khafaa hai, toh zamaane ke liye aa

Ek umr se hun lazzat-e-giriyan (luxury of crying) se bhi mehroom (deprived)
Ai raahat-e-jaan mujhko rulaane ke liye aa

Ab tak dil-e-khushfaham ko tujhse hai ummeeden
Yeh aakhri shammein bhi bujhaane ke liye aa


This a classic by Faraz sung by many ghazal singers- Jagjit's version is well-known. Found it in a collection of Urdu poets.

Urdu Words

Urdu words fascinate me no end. I don't always understand them but here are a few I looked up or defined based on my best guesses.

Tilismath- Magic (Hyderabad has a unani medicine called Zinda Tilismath)

Jazbaat- Emotions

Zarra- Particle (not to be confused with Zorro)

Tarkash- Quiver, a container for arrows

Tamanna/Arzoo- Wish

Justaju-Quest

Maikada- made famous by Pankaj Udhas (India's answer to Punk) in his ghazal 'Ek taraf uska ghar ek taraf maikada' , means 'Bar'

Happened to see two songs starring heroines who disappeared after a (presumably) brief career- Vimi in Hamraaz, and Kumud Chugani in a nice song from the movie Vaasna. No idea what became of them.

Zulfein

Listening to a CD compilation titled Zulfein. Chhedon na meri zulfein, sab log kya kahengee..hum to deewana tumko kaali ghata kahenge, a fabulous duet, is one of the many in the CD. Some others include the little-heard. Yeh zulf kaisi hai, zanjeer jaisi hai.., Ude jab jab zulfein teri kanwariyon ka dil machle, Yeh reshmi zulfein, yeh sharbati aankhen...and the naughty Main tasveer utaarta hoon...in zulfon ke saaye mein main raate guzaarta hoon...all in all, a nice collection.

Dhadkan, mehek, mulaqaat (chhoti si mulaqaat pyaar ban gayi, ...ya ya yippee yippee ya, ya, ya is a delightful song) and someone told me that Uttam Kumar did a disco in the film on this. The thought is hilarious, akin to Randhir Kapoor's hilarious moments (unintended) on the dance floor in Harjaee for the song (Pehle milan mein hoti hai kashmakash,...etc.)

Tumhari nazar kyon khafaa ho gayi,.. Khataa baksh do, gar khataa ho gayi..is another full of beautiful sounding Urdu words.

Shikayat. Paon choo lene do phoolon ko inaayat hogi, ....humko bhi shikayat hogi makes good use of this word. Shikwa is another synonym of sorts used very well in Aandhi's famous Tere bina zindagi se koi shikwa to nahi, shikwa nahi...

Ajnabi...tum jaane pehchaane se lagte ho is a classic, particularly the music that follows the first word.

Urdu words in songs

Just figured out that a lot of lovely-sounding Urdu words used to adorn songs in Hindi movies, because poets were often lyric writers. Trying to list out some of them.

Dilbar- There was a flop movie starring Sushmita, where only the song that goes Dilbar, Dilbar, stays in the mind. Many old movies used this word in the lyrics, such as Dilbar dil se pyaare (from Caravan?)

Arzoo, Tamanna, Razamand (shaadi ke liye razamand kar li, maine ek ladki pasand kar li), Mehbooba, Daaman, Dastan

Mohabbat (yeh jo mohabbat hai, is one of the best), Ibaadat, Taqdeer, Hasrat,

Khwaab (Khwaab ho tum ya koi haqeeqat, kaun ho tum batlao from Teen Deviyan),Haseen,

Afsana (Afsana likh rahi hoon, dil-e-bekaraar ka),

Bekaraar (Bekaraar dil, tu gaaye ja...Khushiyon se bhare ye taraane is one of my favorites)

Situm (Waqt ne kiya kya hasin situm, hum rahe na hum, tum rahe na tum)

Muqaddar (Woh muqaddar ka sikandar, the title song, was the last one I remember using this effectively)

The evergreen song from Dev Anand's Prem Pujari, Shokhiyon mein ghola jaye phoolon ka shabab, usme phir milayi jaye thodi si sharaab, combines a few of these in one line.

Ek hasin nigah ka dil pe saya hai, jadu hai junoon hai kaisi maya hai is also an unusual song from Maya Memsaab, tuned by Hridaynath Mangeshkar, if I remember correctly.

Yaari hai imaan mera yaar meri zindagi, was a cult song that made Pran famous. Intaha ho gayi, intezaar ki, from Sharabi, was very evocatively portrayed on the beautiful Jayaprada.