Raat or Din Songs Series
I started this series on my Facebook group Yaad Kiya Dil Ne on 18 Aug 20. Since then, many other members have put up these songs. Here, I shall be giving you one of my own, per day.
This is the second song in the series. I hope you liked Song #1 – Saari saari raat teri yaad sataye.
Song #2
Jab raat hai aisi matwali
Shakeel and Naushad
Naushad gave a break to many artistes in Hindi movies, Majrooh Sultanpuri being one of the dozens of people. However, as soon as Shakeel from Badayun in Uttar Pradesh (427 kms NE of Majrooh’s place and 557 Kms NE of Kaifi Azmi’s place) arrived on the scene with the 1947 AR Kardar movie Dard and penned Afsana likh rahi hoon to be sung by Uma Devi (Tun Tun) – another artiste to whom Naushad gave a break – most of Naushad’s songs for the next several years were penned by Shakeel. And what songs they are!
Out of all genre’ of songs, I have dubbed Shakeel as the Poet/Lyricist of Irony; he excelled in it.
I have written volumes about this best pairing ever of Lyricist with Music Director that has given us Hindi movies’ most memorable songs. K Asif’s Mughal – e – Azam was released in 1960 and last year Dhirubhai Ambani Jio Convention Centre was inaugurated on the occasion of Mukesh Ambani’s son Aakash’s wedding. In the Dhirubhai Ambani Square whilst enacting Ras Leela of Sri Krishna with Radha, one of the songs enacted was Mohe panghat pe Nandlal chhed gayo re (Please see: Mohe Panghat Pe – Down The Ages; Remembering Shakeel And Naushad On Holi) . We attended that. We also attended Janamashtami at ISKCON temple in Kharghar (slated to be the biggest temple in Mumbai) and one of the songs prominently sung was Mohe panghat pe. That’s Shakeel – Naushad for you. In every life a little of them is there; Shakeel has an unmatched hat-trick of Filmfare Awards and Naushad was awarded the highest: Dadasaheb Phalke Award.
Ek Raat Ki Baat
Prince Salim (Akbar’s son) (Played by Dilip Kumar) rebels against his father due to Akbar’s (Mughal-e-Azam) resistance to Salim marrying the dancer in his court Anarkali (played by Madhubala). He is soundly beaten by his father and is sentenced to death.
Anarkali begs for his life with Akbar and is granted one night (as a wife) with Prince Salim on the promise that she would be condemned to death (instead of Salim) by being entombed alive (Mughals were very fond of this method of execution; if you recall they did it to Guru Gobind Singh’s sons because they refused to embrace Islam).
Akbar was aware that Salim would interfere with her being entombed alive and hence at the end of the night she would drug him (by making him smell the flower in her tiara) and then she would face death.
Shakeel would, therefore, have to come up with a song that would ostensibly sound happy but would be full of Irony. How he delivered:
ये दिल की लगी कम क्या होगी
ये इश्क़ भला कम क्या होगा
जब रात है ऐसी मतवाली – २
फिर सुबह का आलम क्या होगा – २
नग़मो से बरसती है मस्ती
छलके हैं खुशी के पैमाने – २
आज ऐसी बहारें आई हैं
कल जिनके बनेंगे अफ़साने – २
अब इसे ज्यादा और हसीं ये प्यार का मौसम क्या होगा – २
जब रात है ऐसी मतवाली
फिर सुबह का आलम क्या होगा – २
ये आज का रंग और ये महफ़िल
दिल भी है यहाँ दिलदार भी है – २
आँखों में कयामत के जलवे
सीने में सुलगता प्यार भी है – २
इस रंग में कोई जी ले अगर मरने का उसे ग़म क्या होगा – २
जब रात है ऐसी मतवाली
फिर सुबह का आलम क्या होगा – २
हालत है अजब दीवानों की
अब खैर नहीं परवानों की – २
अन्जाम-ए-मोहब्बत क्या कहिये
लय बढ़ने लगी अरमानों की – २
ऐसे में जो पायल टूट गयी फिर ऐ मेरे हमदम क्या होगा – २
जब रात है ऐसी मतवाली – २
फिर सुबह का आलम क्या होगा – २
Shakeel didn’t just write these; he crafted each word like a jeweler would diamonds. Lata Mangeshkar sang it for Nigar Sulatana (As Bahar she too coveted being Salim’s concubine) whilst this ironical Raat is unfolding. It was just a night and yet Shakeel could bring so much of meaning into it.
Another Lyricist who could bring a lot of meaning into just Ek Raat is Gulzar (my next choice of Raat song):
तुम जो कह दो तो
आज की रात चाँद डूबेगा नहीं
रात को रोक लो
रात की बात है
और ज़िन्दगी बाकी तो नहीं
Kuchh nahin rukta…the moving finger writes and moves on!
Waah Shakeel!
Among a hundred things I wrote on his Centenary four years ago (during this auspicious month of August), here is something about him:
Dil pe chot khaana mohabbat ka ek andaaz hai,
Chot khaa ke likhana yeh Shakeel ki awaaz hai,
Waise to kayi aur nagmaagar huyen hain lekin,
Shakeel ki saalgirah haseen shayari ka agaaz hai.
Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy: Jab raat hai aisi matwali…
I hope you liked my choice of Song #2 in Raat or Din series.
Please await Song #3 – Tere bina zindagi se koi.
