Sahir Ludhianvi- His Life and Times

 He was known for some wonderful lyrics in Hindi films ranging from Abhi na jao chhod kar in Hum Dono to Kabhi Kabhie mere dil mein, and many more in between. His was a long struggle, supported by his mother and few others. How he tried hard to break in after participating in the freedom struggle pre 1947, and being labelled a commie and being persecuted, is a long and interesting story.

Brought to life by Danish Husain and his team at WOPA, who staged a musical play called 'Main pal do pal ka shayar hoon', after one of his songs. With a unique style of presentation, alternating between his songs being sung on stage, and he himself narrating pieces of autobiographical tidbits, it was a delight for the senses. 

The team, wih Vrinda, Sreejoni etc. singing and also narrating in third person, in a conversational style, the effect was magical. How he fought for the rights of lyricists to be acknowledged in credits on radio and paid well in films, is a part of the story.

Guru Dutt's film Pyaasa brought him his first recognition in films, and he went on to do some awesome song writing. My only regret is that the show left out two of my favourite films.. Humraaz and Gumraah, where I thought he wrote some brilliant songs. Chalo ek baar phir se is a favourite from Gumraah.

A bonus? Co-writer of the play, Mir Ali Husain, was a junior of mine at Osmania and IIMB.

Lost in Translation

 Lyrics of Hindi songs can be really funny when translated straight. Examples-

How will Radha not burn?

My heart burns in wet wet nights.

On the lips, only your name's there.

Crazy guy has got a heartfelt song.

Want to tell you, want to tell you, today for the first time..

..and we are just getting started.

Lost in Translation?

It's fun translating things into another language..so I decided to translate a few song lines into Hyderabadi from Hindi (for those unaware, these are two distinct languages- like French and Chinese)-

Jab pyar kiya to darna kya?
 Pyar karinge, kaiku to bi daringe?

Naam gum jaayega
 Gum hote yaaro, hoshiyar rehna.

Papa ko Mummy se pyar hai
 Bawa ku ammi se pyar hai..

Nahi nahi, abhi nahi, abhi karo intezaar..
  Nakko nakko, abbii nakko bolrun na..

Thoda ruk jayegi to tera kya jayega?
  Thoda ruke to qayamat aa jati?

Gore rang pe na itna gumaan kar..
 Hume kaale hain to kya hua dilwale hain..

Akele akele kahaan ja rahe ho?..
 Badkamma Badkamma Badkamma ekkada potau ra? (Telugu is also a part of Hyderabadi)

Modern Lyrics

Old Hindi songs had lyrics such as these-

the guy sings, "How lucky your mascara/kajal/bindiya is- wish I could be as close to you as they are"

or, "I wish I was the anklet/ghungroo on your feet" .

These days, the girl and the guy would both have to sing along these lines-

"I wish I was the app on your phone,
I wish I was the text you read,
I wish I was far away,
So you would send me a 'poke'
If I am not connected on Facebook,
I am considered a joke."

In Hindi, romance would go-

Mujhe apni timeline pe jagah do,
WhatsApp se mila lo,
Instagram se sawaro,
O mere Candycrush ke saathi....

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

Songs by Neeraj

His (pen) name was Neeraj. He wrote a few of my favourite songs from Hindi films.

1. Movie- Gambler

Songs- Chudi nahin yeh mera dil hai, dekho, dekho, toote na, and one of my all-time favourites,
Dil aaj shaayar hai, gham aaj naghma hai, shab ye ghazal hai sanam...one of the remarkable things about this one is the near-absence of music, the lyrics are so powerful that you don't notice the absence.

2. Tere Mere Sapne (Dev Anand, old) - a nice movie, incidentally.

Songs- hey, maine kasam lee, hey, tune kasam lee, nahin honge judaa hum..

and, Jeevan ki bagiya mehkegi, lehkegi, chahkegi, khushiyon ki kaliyan jhoomengi (the lead couple singing about their impending child)

3. Prem Pujari

Again, an all time favourite, Phoolon ke rang se, dil ki kalam se, tujhko likhi roj baati, kaise bataun, kis kis tarah se, pal pal mujhe tu sataatee..

and Shokhiyon mein ghola jaaye phoolon ka shabaab, usme phir milai jaaye thodi si sharaab, hoga yun nasha jo taiyyar, woh pyaar hai..

Don't know if it's a coincidence that all these are Dev Anand (and SD Burman) films.

4. Sharmilee

Songs- Khilte hain gul yahaan, khil ke bikharne ko,..and

Kaise kahen hum, pyaar ne hum ko kya kya khel dikhaye

Yogesh

This man was almost unknown to even guys who saw Bollywood movies by the dozens. He appeared in song credits sporadically, but was not talked about afterwards, like other lyricist bandhus (brothers). Probably was a shy recluse, not a go-getter. But look at the lyrics he wrote. In a word, amazing.

Anand- Kahin door jab din dhal jaaye, saanjh ki dulhan badan churaye, chupke se aaye and Zindagi kaisi hai paheli, kabhi to hasaye, kabhi ye rulaye

Rajnigandha- Rajnigandha phool tumhare mehke yun hi jeevan mein, and even better, Kai baar yun hi dekha hai, yeh jo man ki seema rekha hai, man todne lagta hai

Chhoti Si Baat- Na jaane kyun, hota hai yeh zindagi ke saath, achanak ye man, kisi ke jaane ke baad kare phir uski yaad...

and Rimjhim gire saawan, from Manzil, and the Baaton Baaton Mein songs like Uthe sabke kadam dekho rum pum pum, and Na bole tum na maine kuch kaha.

These days lyricists are not even credited in TV shows and radio shows. Is it because they write forgettable stuff?

Gulzar's Birthday Today

Gulzar has been a prolific artist in Hindi films ever since he hit the bull's eye with the song Mora gora rang laile, mohe shaam rang dede (take my fair skin colour and give me a dark hue...opposite of the Fair & Lovely theme). He has come a long way, and many awards later, continues to write.

Pleasant, touching and meaningful lyrics are his forte, and his films always left a mark where it mattered- in your heart. One of my favourite Gulzar songs is from Parichay- Musafir hoon yaaron, na ghar hai na thikaana. Another perennial favourite is Aanewala pal jaanewala hai from Golmaal.

Some of his gems are Hawaon pe likh do hawaon ke naam-Do Dooni Chaar, Hazaar raahen mudke dekhi, kahin se koi sadaa na aai-Thodi si Bewafai, Woh shaam kuch ajeeb thi- Khamoshi, Thoda hai thode ki zaroorat hai - Khatta Meetha, Naam gum jaayega-Kinara, Dil dhoondta hai phir wahi phursat ke raat din, a haunting song of nostalgia from Mausam, Tere bina zindagi se koi shikwa nahin (Aandhi, brilliant music by RD Burman and rendition by Lata and Kishore Kumar), Hasne ki chaah ne kitna mujhe rulaya hai - sung by Manna Dey in Aavishkar, Aapki aankhon men kuch mehke hue se khwaab hain..-Ghar, Mera kuch samaan tumhaare paas pada hai (Ijaazat).

Just in case you thought he was too serious, he made Angoor, one of the funniest Hindi movies superbly acted out by Sanjeev Kumar and Deven Varma, both in double roles, inspired by a Shakespeare classic.

I celebrated his birthday by eating Tunde kabab (famous for the Lucknow nawab) with a friend at Sheraton in Saket. Topped up with a mutton biryani. 

Anand Bakshi- Volcano of Talent

Producing lyrics of high quality given the weird situations in Hindi films can't be easy. One guy who has done it with a lot of panache and consistently in the 70s is Anand Bakshi. Some of his best, like the lyrics for Amar Prem (Chingari koi Bhadke, Kuch to Log Kahenge, Yeh Kya Hua) went unrewarded at the Awards, but were highly regarded by the public. He created lyrics for the biggest hits like Sholay, Aradhana and also for meaningful films from Rajshree productions like Piya Ka Ghar. If I remember correctly, the song " Yeh Jeevan Hai, is Jeevan ka, Yehi hai, Yehi hai, Yehi hai Rang Roop, Thode Gham Hai, Thodi Khushiyan" is from that film- almost magical, with simple lyrics, nicely tuned (by Laxmikant Pyarelal?).

Mehbooba ("Mere Naina Saawan Bhadon"), Ajnabee, ("Ek Ajnabee, Hasina Se"), Jawani Diwani with blockbusters like "Saamne Ye Kaun Aaya", "Jaane Jaan, Dhoondhta Phir Raha Hun Tumhen Raat Din", tuned by RD Burman in inimitable style.

His crowning glory, and top of my charts, were his three songs from Kati Patang in the same period- "Pyaar Diwana Hota Hai, Yeh Jo Mohabbat Hai, and Yeh Shaam Mastaani" from whose second line this blog takes its name. Bakshi sahab, you were a great lyricist.

Lyrics That Touch the Heart

There are quite a few songs in Hindi films with beautiful lyrics or poetry that touch you. I have attempted to list a few-very few.

1. Tere bina zindagi se koi, shikwa to nahin, from Aandhi.

2. Yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaaye to kya hai..from a Guru Dutt film

3. Ajnabi, tum jaane pehchaane se lagte ho..from an old Kishore Kumar movie

4. Nafrat karne waalon ke seene mein pyar bhar doon, from Johny Mera Naam

5. Kaise kahen hum, pyaar ne hum ko, kya kya khel dikhaaye, from Sharmilee

6. Laakhon hain yahan dilwaale, par pyaar nahin milta, from Kismat

7. Khwaab ho tum ya koi haqeeqat kaun ho tum batlaao, from Teen Deviyan

8. Chalo ek baar phir se ajnabi ban jaaye hum dono, from Gumraah

9. Main zindagi ka saath nibhaata chala gaya, har fiqr ko dhuen mein udaata chala gaya, from Hum Dono

10. Musafir hoon yaaro, na ghar hai na thikaana, mujhe chalte jaana hai..from Parichay

11. Shokhiyon mein ghola jaaye phoolon ka shabaab, usme phir milayi jaaye thodi si sharaab, hoga yun nasha jo tayyar.. woh pyaar hai...from Prem Pujari