Punjab, particularly the area around Ludhiana, has given us unforgettable Hindi films personalities like Mohammad Rafi, Sahir Ludhianvi, Jaidev, Sunil Dutt, Khaiyyam, Vicky Kaushal, Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar, Rajesh Khanna, Ayushmann Khurrana, Diljit Dosanjh, Johars and Chopras. Among all these, Dharmendra arguably commanded more popularity than anyone. For example, among his 300 films or so, he had more hit and superhit movies than any other. With all this, he was never the recipient of a Filmfare Award for acting. He was like my hero, Mohammad Rafi, in this respect who never coveted awards and honours. In 1997 he finally became the recipient of Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award, at the age of 61 years (He was born on 08 Dec 1935 in Nasrali village in Ludhiana). In the year 2012, he was conferred with the third highest civilian award, the Padma Bhushan, by the government of India.

There is a popular anecdote about him that whilst seeing one of Meena Kumari movies in a cinema in Phagwara, Punjab, he boasted to his friends that one day he would act opposite her. It wasn’t easy. He had to struggle when he reached Bombay and at one time, he actually gave up, not getting any break. Co-star Manoj Kumar motivated him to continue his struggle. In 1960, at the age of 24 years, he finally made his debut in Arjun Hingorani’s Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere opposite Kumkum. The movie was a flop. In 1961, he tasted success with Shola Aur Shabnam opposite Tarla Mehta. I sang two songs of his from this movie.

Song #1
Jaane kya dhoondati rehti hain yeh aankhen mujh mein

In his later day interviews, Dharmendra talked about this song from Ramesh Saigal’s Shola Aur Shabnam as his #1 favourite song of Mohammad Rafi.

Kaifi Azmi’s lyrics are powerful. Khaiyyam composed it in his favourite Raag Pahadi.

One associates Dharmendra with his bubbly, carefree and cavalier image. However, his serious acting and reserved should won him many accolades.

Song #2
Jeet hi lenge baazi hum tum

Dharemendra paid rich tribute to Mohammad Rafi and said in an interview that Rafi sahib helped him become popular.

This duet of Mohammad Rafi singing for Dharmendra and Lata Mangeshkar singing for Tarla Mehta (she joins in the second stanza after she realises that the person singing this song must be her childhood sweetheart) was also penned by Kaifi Azmi. It was composed by Khaiyyam in Raag Bhairavi:

His Boast About Meena Kumari

She was two years older. In 1965, he finally got an opportunity to act with her in Ram Maheshwari’s Kaajal. She won her last Filmfare Award with this role that was opposite Raaj Kumar (she had won the inaugural Filmfare Best Actress Award in 1954 for Baiju Bawra). However, the best of her songs in the movie (Tora man darpan kehlaye and Chhu lene do naazuk hontho ko) were not with him (He was married to Padmini in the movie.

His dream of acting opposite Meena Kumari came true in 1966 superhit movie (the top movie of that year) Phool Aur Patthar. There was no song to remember them by.

Song #3
Tumhen dekha hai maine gulsitan mein

His boast about Meena Kumari, as seen by me in a song, came true in 1967 movie Chandan Ka Palna. The song was created for him by Anand Bakshi, RD Burman, and Mohammad Rafi. Their histrionics are worth seeing on a honeymoon night:

J Om Prakash’s Aaye Din Bhara Ke was a major success for Dharmendra opposite Asha Parekh. Its best and most popular song for him by Rafi saheb was Mere dushman tu meri dosti ko tarse, which Dharmendra sings for Asha Parekh in a party after a misunderstanding. I don’t sing such negative songs for Lyn.

Song #4
Aya sawan jhoom ke

The kind of songs that I sing for Lyn are, for example, this from 1969 J Om Prakash movie Aya Sawan Jhoom Ke, also starring Dharmendra and Asha Parekh. The song was put together by Anand Bakshi, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Mohammad Rafi, and Lata Mangeshkar:

Song #5
Majhi chal, O majhi chal

Indeed, I sang a second song from the same movie since it is a positive, motivational song. I also liked the picturisation of it:

Dharmendra and Sharmila Tagore movies

She is nine years younger to Dharmendra. The first movie that they did together was the 1966 Hrishikesh Mukherjee movie Anupama, the recipient of National Film Award for Best Feature Film in 1966. Both of them played their roles with great sensitivity. Sharmila Tagore played the title role of a girl whose mother was lost during her birth and hence her father dislikes her. She grows into a recluse. Later, she falls in love with Dharmendra, a writer and teacher.

Song #6
Yaa dil ki suno duniyawalon

The father, Tarun Bose hates everything associated with his daughter Sharmila and hence dislikes Dharmendra, too.

This song, sung by Hemant Kumar on the lyrics of Kaifi Azmi and composition of Hemant Kumar in Raag Pilu brought out the kind of restrained and serious acting that Dharmendra was capable of.

Indeed, in later years, Hrishikesh Mukherjee claimed that the pairing of Dharmendra with Sharmila Kumar was the best in Hindi movies. They did 10 movies together. The best was their 1969 movie Satyakaam, the winner of National Award for Best Feature Film that year. It also had the most accomplished performance by Dharmendra.

Song #7
Naa jaa kahin ab naa jaa

Dharmendra and Sharmila Tagore’s 1968 movie Mere Hamdam Mere Dost became a superhit movie and had superhit songs penned by Majrooh Sultanpuri and composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal.

I sang two of these sung by Mohammad Rafi for Dharmendra.

Here is the first one in very high pitch:

Song #8
Hui shaam unka khyaal aa gaya

This is the second song from the 1968 Dharmendra and Sharmila Tagore movie Mere Hamdam Mere Dost that I sang. Because of a misunderstanding between them, the two fall apart in the story of the movie and he goes to Mumbai to be as far away from her as possible. However, he soon realises that he cannot get her out of his mind and after getting himself drunk he sings this. Manohri’s saxophone is the highlight of this song:

Song #9
Gar tum bhula na doge

Yes, Sharmila Tagore is nine years younger to Dharmendra. They have the same birth date, ie, 08 December; as if even God had wanted them to be together.

The movies that they did together are Anupama (1966), Devar (1966), Mere Hamdam Mere Dost (1968), Satyakam (1969), Yakeen (1969), Chupke Chupke (1975), Ek Mahal Ho Sapno Ka (1975), Sunny (1984), Chaitali, and Devdas (Gulzar’s).

This song from their 1969 movie Yakeen shows him, yet again, sure of himself. If he had set his eyes on her (with the title song of the movie: Yakeen karlo mujhe mohabbat hai tumse tumse), he must have her for life.

It is a Hasrat Jaipuri, Shankar Jaikishan, Mohammad Rafi song:

Dharmendra’s Madan Mohan Songs

Side by side as his bubbly image was also his sensitive portrayal of roles. Naturally, the composer of choice for songs of such movies was Madan Mohan. The first of such movies for Dharmendra was the 1962 movie Anpadh. This movie didn’t have a song lip-synced by Dharmendra, but the songs featuring Mala Sinha were counted among the best of Madan Mohan, eg, Aapki nazaron ne samajha, and Hai isi mein pyaar ki aabru.  Chetan Anand 1964 movie, Haqeeqat, made on the 1962 Indo China War was, hence, the first movie in which Dharmendra gained popularity through Madan Mohan’s songs. The song that really made Dharmendra famous was Kar chale hum fida jaan o tan saathiyo.

Song #10
Main nigahen tere chehre se hatayun kaise?

In the same year, 1964, Dharmendra lip-synced two of the best songs of Rafi saheb for the Mohan Kumar movie Aap Ki Parchhaiyan starring the doe-eyed Supriya Pathak. The first one is a favourite of mine with the above title. The lyrics were penned by Raja Mehdi Ali Khan. Madan Mohan composed it in Raag Darbari Kanada. Indeed, he composed a similar Lata Mangeshkar song, too, of the same movie in the same raag: Agar mujhse muhabbat hai mujhe sab apne gham de do.

Here, then is Main nigaahen…

Song #11
Yahi hai tamanna tere ghar ke saamne

The second song of the same movie that I sang was the song in which Dharmendra was wooing Supriya in his signature style:

Song #12
Aakhri geet mohabbat ka suna loon to chalun

The 1965 movie Neela Aakash had, once again, his heroine of Anpadh acting opposite him. Raja Mehdi Ali Khan and Madan Mohan created for Rafi saheb singing for Dharmendra an unforgettable song that saw Dharmendra coming up with remarkably serious acting.

Have a look at the song:

Song #13
Ik haseen shaam ko dil mera kho gaya

Four years ago, this was the first Dharmendra song that I sang. It is from the 1967 DD Kashyap movie Dulhan Ek Raat Ki. Nutan was his heroine.

This, too, was penned by Raja Mehdi Ali Khan and composed by Madan Mohan:

Dharmendra’s Only Movie with Sadhana

The 1970 Ramesh Saigal movie Ishq Par Zor Nahin was the only movie that Dharmendra did with Sadhana. He was the only hero of olden days who could withstand the onslaught of the superstar Rajesh Khanna who, too, joined the movies after an All India Talent Competition in which he won the first position. Earlier, Dharmendra had won the second position in a similar contest (the first one was Suresh Puri who hardly made it big).

Song #14
Mehbooba teri tasveer kis tarah main banayun?

Anyway, this movie with Sadhana was a flop. However, everyone loved this song that Dharmendra lip-synced.  It was penned by Anand Bakshi and composed by SD Burman:

Handsome and He-Man Image

Dharmendra was widely regarded as the handsomest man in the Hindi films. Indeed, whilst giving him the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in the year 2012, Dilip Kumar rued that stars like him were jealous that Dharmendra was so handsome. He didn’t have to woo his heroines by falling head over heels. They were the ones who would do it.

Song #15
Aaj mausam bada beimaan hai

Have a look at this song from the 1973 A Bhim Singh superhit movie Loafer. The movie was a superhit primarily because of the carefree, he-man acting of Dharam paaji. Mumtaz was sent by the villains to get him to a secluded spot so that they could then kill him. Dharmendra was unruffled, at his coolest and handsomest. In the song when he sings that the mausam is beimaan (rogue), she playfully points that not the mausam (weather), but he was beimaan!

The song was put together for him by Anand Bakshi, Kaxmikant Pyarelal, and Mohammad Rafi. It is one of my favourites. You can watch it by clicking on ‘Watch on YouTube’:

Song #16
Kaliyon ne ghunghat khole

The 1966 CL Rawal movie Dil Ne Phir Yaad Kiya had a love triangle between Dharmendra, Nutan, and Rehman (a handsome man in his own right). There is this famous song that all three sing in a boat rowed by Dharmendra: Rafi saheb singing for him, Lata Mangeshkar singing for Nutan, and Mukesh singing for Rehman; the title song of the movie.

However, the song that I love is a honeymoon song between the handsome Dharmendra and a little shy Nutan. You can make out as to why she would be in love with him.

The song was penned by GL Rawal, composed by Sonik-Omi and sung for Dharmendra by Rafi saheb:

Wooing Actresses from the South

Wooing actresses from the South was and is a typical Punjabi fascination. Take Raj Kapoor, for example. He was a hard-core Punjabi born in Peshawar (now in Pakistan). He was romantically involved with Padmini and did movies with Vyjayanthimala (who finally married another Punjabi, Dr Bali) and Hema Malini. In his own production, Sangam, he chose Vyjaynthimala.

Dharmendra enacted Kaajal with Padmini, wooed Vyjayanthimala in movies, and finally acted with and married Hema Malini even though he was already married to Prakash Kaur at the age of 19 years. It is rumoured that he, on paper at least, converted to Islam so as to marry Hema Malini whilst still married to Prakash Kaur.

Indeed, from the time he acted with Hema Malini in their first movie together, the 1970 movie Tum Haseen Main Jawan, he was drawn to her despite being a married man. They finally married on 02 May 1980 after ten years of love affair. They acted in 33 movies together until their last one in 2011 Tell Me O Khuda, which was directed by Hema Malini.

Their most popular song together is: Main jat yamla pagla deewana, an Anand Bakshi, Laxmikant Pyarelal song from their 1975 movie Pratiggya. Sadly, I haven’t sung any of his songs for her.

Song #17
Main kabhi kavi na ban jayun tere pyaar main 

However, I have sung two of his songs for another South Indian actress Vyjayanthimala. The first one is a favourite of mine.

It is from the 1968 movie Pyaar Hi Pyaar. It was penned by Hasrat Jaipuri and composed by Shankar Jaikishan and sung by Mohammad Rafi:

Song #18
Dekha hai teri aankhon mein pyaar hi pyaar

This is the title song of the 1968 movie Pyaar Hi Pyaar and also penned by Hasrat Jaipuri, composed by Shankar Jaikishan, and sung by Mohammad Rafi.

Proud Poor Man/Middle Class Image

Dharmendra did many such movies wherein he represented an honest, poor or middle class man. He won many a heart through this portrayal especially when he exposed the wrong-doings of the rich or the super rich.

For example, in the 1968 T Prakash Rao movie Izzat (Dharmendra had a dual role in this wherein he wooed both Jayalalitha and Tanuja together. The song in the movie in which he made fun of the rich was: Kya miliye aise logon se jinki firat chhupi rahe, nakli chehra saamne aaye asli surat chhupi rahe.

Song #19
Mujhe dard-e-dil ka pata na tha

A similar situation is there in the 1965 Phani Majumdar movie Akashdeep. He works as an ordinary labourer in the mill run by Ashok Kumar whose sister Nanda falls in love with him because of his ideals. However, the same ideals keep him from accepting her love when he learns of her reality.

This song was put together by Majrooh Sultanpuri, Chitragupt, and Mohammad Rafi wherein he bemoans that he ever fell in love with a rich man’s sister:

Dharmendra’s End

Like a typical Punjabi, Dharmendra was passionate about everything that he did. Sadly, this included hitting the bottle hard. One of the rumours said that he could drink up to 12 bottles in a day.

From the turn of the century, all this had a telling effect on his health. In the year 2001 he developed serious back problems and went through prolonged hospitalisation. His loneliness resulted into his writing poetry. Probably, the inspiration to fine tune his poetry came from Meena Kumari who, too, heavily drank and wrote poetry.

In the year 2010, having become aware of the fact that drinking would eventually kill him, he left drinking altogether. However, he continued his poetry. Rather than writing, he used to video record his poetry and share it with his friends.

Here is a poignant example:

Recently, on 31 Oct 25 he was hospitalised in Breach Candy Hospital due to respiratory problems. However, he was discharged within a few hours.

Within ten days, he was again admitted with respiratory problems. The very next day, many of the news channels and media declared him dead so as to be among the first to give out the authentic news. Knowing him, he would have probably told death, “Kutte, main tera khoon pi jayunga.” It appeared to us that death had run away scared.

However, the end finally came on Monday, 24 Nov 25.

It was very sad to see him go. His acting and life represented two ends of the spectrum: a comic, lively, bubbly, disdainful romantic at one end, and serious, intense, sensitive actor on the other end.

Most actors had buckled under when Rajesh Khanna swept the audiences away. However, Dharmendra kept coming up with one superhit movie or the other even at the height of Rajesh Khanna era.

Song #20
Yeh dosti hum nahin 

One of his most successful movies was the 1975 Ramesh Sippy blockbuster Sholay. His acting was almost totally comic even in the face of danger and death.

This song of the movie describes his essence as a loyal friend, a typical Punjabi trait.

I used this song to pay homage to another friend Jaswant Lagwal as passionate in everything and very heavy drinker.

The song was penned by Anand Bakshi, composed by RD Burman, and sung by Kishore Kumar for Dharmendra and Manna Dey for Amitabh Bachchan:

Dharmendra ruled our hearts for decades since 1960 movie Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tera until the 2024 movie Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya wherein he did a small role as Jai Singh Agnihotri.

His last recorded song is reported to be from his own 1999 production Dillagi starring his son Sunny and Urmila Mantodkar and of course, Dharmendra.

However, the song that aptly describes the way he lived is from the 1972 movie Lalkar, put together by Indeevar, Kalyanji Anandji, and Mohammad Rafi:

Kandaghat Live Fest or KLF is the biannual Music Fest of the Facebook Group Yaad Kiya Dil Ne or YKDN. Since the inception of YKDN (named after the Patita song: Yaad Kiaya Dil Ne kahan ho tum, we have been regularly having online Music Fests on the Facebook itself. From the year 2015, we started meeting physically in Kandaghat (Shimla Hills, Himachal Pradesh) and now are very close to KLF #14 (It has been named Live Fest as opposed to the virtual online fests.

The videos of KLF are available on Fest Songs – Sunbyanyname playlist on YouTube.

Members Who Left Us Bereaved

Herkrishan Kaur

She was my mother and actually mother to the members of YKDN and KLF. Her house, Whispering Winds, Kandaghat, has been the venue (the only venue of the first KLF in 2015) for at least one of the nights of the KLFs. As the oldest member of YKDN and KLF, she shared cutting of the cake of YKDN with the youngest member for three consecutive KLFs.

She left us on the 09th of Aug 2017. She had formed one to one bonds with all members and everyone was sad to let her go.

Here is what I wrote about her within a week of her leaving us:

Now that, our mother, you reside with God,
And physically are a world apart,
There are voids in our home and life,
And an unfillable hole in our heart.

‘Whispering Winds‘ was made with your blood & sweat,
You made it a heaven on earth;
Not just we, your children, family & friends,
Even gods and goddesses know your worth.

So, adieu, mom, in the physical sense only,
You will always be there in our thought;
We promise you that the world you made,
Shall never be reduced to nought.

May you guide us with your kind hand,
From your seat in the Heaven above,
May gods shower on you now and always,
Their special care, peace and love.

Jaswant Singh Laghwal

After retiring from the Indian Navy, Jaswant settled down in Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh with his wife, Kavita. He was an active member of the YKDN group. The descriptions of his songs were comprehensive and interesting.

He attended the KLFs in 2016 and 2017.

Unfortunately, he suddenly passed away on the 25 Mar 2020.

Here is what I wrote about him at his passing:

Yaaron mein yaar mila Jaswant Lagwal,
Halanke uske sang bitayen hain thode hi saal,
Par mere dil mein basa hai gehra khayal,
Apne dil ki ameeri se usne hamen kiya malamaal.

Uske chehre pe hansi har waqt rehti thi khil,
Dilkash raushni ubharti thi jab woh jaata tha mil,
Tum bagair jeena hamara hua hai mushkil,
Tumhara andaz raha hai suhana aur kaatil.

Hamari hansi tumse thi ab aansu dekho hamare,
Apni hi baat nahin kar raha, mujh sang hain saare,
Yaad rakhenge tumhen jab tak hain chand aur sitare,
Kisi tarah jee lenge tumhari yaadon ke sahare.

Gaye ho to sun lo hamari chhoti si fariyaad,
Wohi muskarata chehra dikhana jab tum aao yaad,
Dosti to rahegi azeez dost jaane ke bhi baad,
Har YKDN mein bana rahega tumhare hone ka swad.

The following video has a lot of pictures of Jaswant and his wife Kavita:

Sreehari

Sreehari Chava was my sister, Manik’s husband. He was a rare DLitt. Because Manik is a pillar of YKDN, Sreehari, too, took interest in YKDN and KLFs. Both of them attended the KLFs in 2018 and 2019.

Sreehari formed warm relationships with many members of YKDN and many participants of KLFs.

He stayed with us in Whispering Winds and even sat with me in our prayer room. Even during our first visit to their house in Nagpur, it didn’t look like we were meeting for the first time.

He left us last year on the 21st of September; a demise both sudden and shocking.

We shall miss him like anything.

JP

Jatinder Pal Singh Hanspal was my Punjab Engineering College (PEC Chandigarh) batchmate. I don’t recall having met him in the college because my stream was Mechanical and his was Electrical (He retired as the Chief Electrical Engineer of Punjab). However, once we came in touch with each other on 21 Apr 2021 because of our mutual love for music and songs, we became inseparable within a week.

He attended his first KLF in Nov 2022.

There is a separate and comprehensive write-up about him in JP Singh Hanspal – A Musical And Poetical Journey With Me. The fact is that he was the most talented member of our group. I have written more poetry on him than on any other member.

After attending the last KLF, ie, KLF #13, from 14 to 16 April 25, he left us suddenly at about 10 AM on 27 April.

The KLF #14 is being held from 03 to 05 Oct 25 to pay homage to him and Vipan Kohli. His wife, Renu Hanspal and his elder son Maninder (Sunny) shall be attending the Fest.

We made sure and Renu recorded her maiden performance in KLF. Even Maninder is a fine singer and would pay tribute to his late father through a song:

Here are glimpses of JP’s participation in KLF:

Vipan

God has made on earth very few people as warm-hearted and as gentlemanly as Vipan Kohli. He was, simply, my right-hand man in YKDN and KLFs. Indeed, when I mooted the idea of KLF in 2015, Vipan made sure that the idea saw the light of the day. He mustered all like minded people and was instrumental in motivating them to travel all the way to Kandaghat.

Vipan was the gel that kept the group together. He remembered everyone’s birthdays and anniversaries. His own descriptions of songs in YKDN were thoughtful, detailed, and apt. Other than JP and I, he was the only other member of the group who commented on everyone’s posts both on Facebook and on WhatsApp.

He suddenly left us on the 05 Aug 25.

We shall miss him. The KLF #14 is being held to pay homage to him together with homage to JP.

Participants of KLF #14

Achla, Anita, Anupam, Ashwani, Dolly, Gurbinder, Gurdeep, Hem Nalini, Maninder (Sunny), Meena, Nikki, Nutan, Ravinder, Rekha, Renu, Sharanjit, Surekha, Suresh, Surinder Grewal, Surinder Oberoi, and Toya have decided to participate together with our maestro musician (on keyboard), Gul.

As always, a welcome message (curtain opener) from me for our Fest from 3rd to 5th Oct (both days included):

परिंदा हूं, पतझड़ का भी हूँ शुक्रगुज़ार,
तिनके कहाँ से लाता अगर हरदम होती बहार?

दोस्तों ने तमन्नाओं से भी बढ़कर दिया है,
मांगा भी ना था मोती, मिला है पूरा मीना बाज़ार l

दोस्तों के आने पर सब होते हैं खुश,
पर किसी को मेरे जैसा नहीं रहता इंतज़ार l

खुदा ने भी क्या मालामाल किया है मुझे,
दोस्तों का नाज़ दिया और बहनों का प्यार l

आपके हुनर की तो दाद देनी पड़ेगी,
आती है आपके आने से नगमों की बहार l

नूतन जी और डॉली जी की तारीफ़ तो बनती है,
Whispering Winds में देखेंगे उनके किचन का चमत्कार l

Josen और Sharanjit तो हमेशा ही रहे हैं,
हमारी सब की शुक्रगुजारी के हकदार l

बस अब आने को दस दिन ही बचे हैं,
Kandaghat के आलम को अपने जादू से करें गिरफ्तार l

मेरी भूल- चूक दोस्तो, माफ़ करना,
मैं हूँ अनाड़ी, लेकिन आप हो समझदार l

💕🙏🎶🍾🎊👌

दोस्त हैं तो ज़िंदगी है,
दोस्त हैं तो जान है l
हैरानी है कई लोग,
इस बात से हैरान हैं l

दोस्तों की चाहत से
यारों, हम तो कुर्बान हैं l
दोस्त नहीं तो कुछ भी नहीं,
दोस्त हैं तो जहान है l

लोगों की क्या क्या हैं ख्वाहिशें,
मेरे लिए दोस्त हीरों की खान है l
ज़िंदगी में मेरी अपनी नहीं कामयाबी,
बस दोस्त ही पहचान है l

खुशी जो आती है हर साल,
दोस्तों का ही एहसान है,
बाकी, Surinder, और क्या कहूं,
किस बात से आप अनजान हैं?

🎯💕☺️😊🥰

Achla

She joined KLF in April 2023. It would be right to say that she came into the group like a breath of fresh air. To say that she is a very fine singer is an understatement. Her interest in singing competes with her teaching skills. She is fond of Lata Mangeshkar, Madan Mohan, and Talat Mahmood. She sings them with great ease and elan.

Have a look at her debut participation:

Anita & her husband Anupam

Anita and Achla made their debut appearances in KLF 2023 together since they are good friends. Anita is actually Ranjana’s sister. We were privileged to have Ranjana and her husband, Shyam also attending KLF 2023. She has an equally fine taste in songs. Indeed, she warmed the cockles of my heart by singing my favourite lyricist Shakeel and that too, in Raag Darbari Kanada.

Being a fan of Mohammad Rafi, she is quite comfortable with high pitch.

Her husband, Anupam Kunal, would be attending for the first time. Here is Anupam Kunal. He is a practising Chartered Accountant. He loves music, old as well as new songs. His favorites are Rafi, Madan Mohan, Lata and Kishore:

Have a glimpse of Anita’s singing:

Ashwani & Meena

Ashwani Sharma is my batchmate from PEC. He is justifiably called the Bhishma Pitamah of aeronautical engineering. Having won various awards and honours in his lifetime, he has now taken upon himself to mentor and mould young minds in his profession.

He is a linguist. He is well versed in a dozen languages including from South India. His mastery of Urdu and Urdu poetry leaves us stunned. He is to Urdu what Shashi Tharoor is to English. He knows, by heart, lyrics of 10000 old Hindi songs. He is a lively singer. When he breaks into Punjabi, he often brings the house down.

He is also a great Master of Ceremonies for various events.

I was honoured to have foreword of my book of poems, Dhanak (Rainbow) penned by him. He introduced my book at its book launch on 07 Apr 2023 in Kandaghat.

His wife, Meena, would be attending for the first time.

Here are glimpses of Ashwani’s performance:

Dolly & Sharanjit

Dolly is the inspiration behind Sharanjit emerging as the country’s top glass maker (GCS Industry). He has the proud privilege of being the pioneer in indigenous production of toughened glass. From a scratch he not only built an enviable industry, but is justifiably credited with having established NOIDA into an industrial hub, very close to New Delhi.

Music is in his veins, especially percussion instruments. He forayed into singing at a late stage of life, but can proudly hold his own in Fest after Fest. KLF inspired him into founding a Fest of his own in his Greater NOIDA villa. As of Feb this year, he has completed three such annual Fests called DKM or Doston Ki Mehfil.

Dolly has been a worthy judge in many of KLF contests. Personally, I couldn’t have been honoured better than by having her launch my book of poems, Dhanak on 07 Apr 2023 at Kandaghat. She is filled to the brim with the milk of human kindness and because of her innate self-sacrificing nature, she has earned my highest respect.

Here are glimpses of Sharanjit’s debut performance in KLF in Nov 2022:

Gurbinder

Gurbinder Riar is the newest participant of KLF. She is the wife of Late Col. Bhupinder Riar. She earned a lot of regards from her students as a teacher and has some corporate experience, too, in Public Relations.

She is a close friend of our regular Surekha Saini.

Here is wishing her a rollicking time in this KLF and future ones.

Gurdeep & Surinder

Gurdeep is a rare singer (the only one) who made her appearance in Sharanjit’s Doston Ki Mehfil (DKM-2) before performing in KLF #13. She fitted into the KLF family like a glove. Everyone thinks that she is one of the best finds in Fests.

She is a great singer with excellent stage presence. Even after having oodles of singing talent, she is very rooted and warm-hearted. Her geniality is infectious. Everyone is involved.

Here is her debut performance in KLF:

She is married to Col Surinder Oberoi, the gentlest of human beings. I won’t have it that Surinder won’t sing in KLF. So, here he is performing with me in KLF:

Hem Nalini

Hem Nalini is an advocate. She is totally into old songs many of which would be challenge for all of us except perhaps Ashwani.

She has, however, one thing in common with us: she loves to meet people and have fun together.

Nikki

Nikki is the wife of Late Commodore HS Bajwa, a very fine Electrical Officer in the Indian Navy.

She looks after two companies started by her husband. She is a painter of great repute. Her house in Mohali, with all her paintings, is nothing less than an arts gallery.

She has abiding interest in songs and music and has attended many KLFs almost from the beginning.

In the last KLF, ie, KLF #13, I made her record her own debut performance in singing:

Nutan and Ravinder

Nutan and RPS Josen are two of the most sought after people in KLFs. He is a great singer especially of Mukesh songs though other singers like Rafi, Manna Dey, and Hemant Kumar also he sings with equal ease and excellence.

He is an alumnus of Thappar Engineering College, Patiala and served as an Air Engineer in the Indian Navy.

Nutan had been watching her husband setting the stage on fire from the sidelines until she, too, came on her own in KLF #13. Here is her debut performance:

And here are glimpses of Ravinder’s performance in KLF:

Rekha and Suresh

Having given this list alphabetically, Rekha and Suresh have appeared so far down. However, she is a top-notch singer and he isn’t far behind.

I discovered her at Safdarjang Club in New Delhi when Rajendra Kumar Tandon, a music enthusiast and friend, organised a Music Fest there for us visiting New Delhi on the way back from Kandaghat to Mumbai.

Suresh, an engineer, held the post of Executive Director of BHEL before retiring and settling down in Green Park in New Delhi. Indeed, their house garden there has won the Best Garden award year after year.

In recent years, Suresh has contributed substantially in pictures and videos going into YouTube posts.

Here are glimpses of Rekha’s performance in KLF:

Not to be left behind, even Suresh made his debut in KLF as follows:

Surekha

Surekha has been attending the KLFs from the first one in 2015. She has been a very active member of YKDN.

She has been blessed with a large family of children and grandchildren and she is forever looking after one or the other. The best part is that she is the same age (spiritedly) as the oldest as well as the youngest members of the family.

If there is one word that describes her fully, it is bindaas.

Her choice of songs, both Hindi and Punjabi, often involves everyone in either singing with her or start dancing.

Here are glimpses of her performance in KLF:

And see this at minute 57:13:

Surinder Grewal

He has been attending KLFs from the very beginning.

He is a doctor who graduated from Medical College, Amritsar. He divides his time between Ludhiana and United States.

He has been a very active member of YKDN.

His baritone voice has put a lot of us under his spell.

Here are glimpses of his participation in KLF:

Toya

Toya is the youngest and newest to join KLF this year.

She is as shy as she is accomplished singer. She has the voice and singing talent that comes closest to Lata Mangeshkar. She calls herself an untrained singer. However, she would put even highly trained singers to shame.

Here are glimpses of her very fine talent:

Gul

Finally, our music maestro: Gul Mohammad, the ace keyboard player. One feels blessed to have him in the group.

Not just in playing keyboard with great dexterity, he is also a very good singer.

Have a look:

Uday Thakur on Tabla and Harsh on the Octapad shall be accompanying him. They are the local Solan talent.

It is easy to say that with such diverse talent available, we are in for a most incredible Kandaghat Live Fest from Friday, 03 Oct to Sunday, 05 Oct 25.

Being your hosts, Lyn and I wish you an exciting, fun-packed, highly satisfying and enjoyable KLF.

We travel all the way from Mumbai to Kandaghat to be with you for KLF. In short, tumne pukara aur hum chale aaye!

I am fond of Mohammad Rafi; indeed, so fond of him that I consider him the best, the most accomplished, and most versatile singer that the world ever produced. A few years ago, when I started to learn singing at a very late stage in my life (I am 71 years old now and I started to learn singing only about three to four years ago), I realised that there is no better singer to learn from than Rafi saheb. Such is the aura of his singing that if an ordinary, amateur, and untrained singer like me can sing at about five percent of his ability, I can start patting myself on the back. Rafi saheb was the A to Z of good singing. When a great contemporary, Manna Dey, was asked to rank Rafi as a singer, Manna Dey’s prompt and thought provoking response was, “I rank Mohammad Rafi as #1 to #10.” By this, he obviously meant that all other singers were and are ten ranks below.

Raag Pahadi is the raag of my place in the hills, the Himalayas: Whispering Winds, Kandaghat. It is not related to any other hills. It is the most adorable raag of the Hindi films music director, the only raag that is also a dhun. Most of the songs composed in this raag are romantic melodies. But, there are some that are also sad and even melancholic numbers.

Just as it is in all genre’s of songs, Rafi saheb sang the best and the most memorable songs in Raag Pahadi. The first song for which my favourite lyricist, Shakeel Badayuni, received his Filmfare Award was composed by Ravi in Raag Pahadi: Chaudvinh ka chand ho and sung by Rafi saheb.

With this, lets start our journey into a dozen songs sung by Rafi saheb in Raag Pahadi.

Song #1
Zara sun haseena – e – nazneen

I sang this on 03 Aug 2021 on the birth anniversary of my favourite lyricist: Shakeel Badayuni. Ravi composed it in Raag Pahadi. Shakeel and Ravi combine made many songs together describing the husn (beauty) of the beloved; indeed, the best in this genre’.

It is from the 1963 Niranjan movie Kaun Apna Kaun Praya starring Vijay Kumar and Waheeda Rehman.

Please enjoy: Zara sun haseena-e-nazneen…

Song #2
Jaane kya dhoondati rehti hain

After the romantic melody in Raag Pahadi, lets straightway get to a sad song in the same raag.

One thing that would hit you about it is that even though it is among the difficult songs of Rafi saheb, I sang it at a fairly early stage of my learning to sing.

Khayyam utilised the complete range of Rafi saheb in this song from Mandra to Teevra. These very powerful lyrics are by Kaifi Azmi with the most telling line: Jo bik gaya woh khareedaar nahin ho sakta.

It is from the 1961 Mohan Saigal movie Shola Aur Shabnam starring Dharmendra and Tarla Mehta.

Please enjoy: Jaane kya dhoondati rehti hain yeh aankhen mujh mein…

Song #3
Chahunga main tujhe saanjh savere

Satyen Bose’s 1964 movie Dosti was only the second movie (after Parasmani) of a new music director duo: Laxmikant Pyarelal. The movie won six of the seven Filmfare Awards for which it was nominated: Best Movie: Trachand Barjatya and Best Music Director Laxmikant Pyarelal.

This song and Jaanewalo zara mud ke dekho mujhe were composed by LP in Raag Pahadi. Indeed, it is among the most unforgettable Raag Pahadi songs in Hindi movies.

The song won Rafi saheb another Filmfare Award and also for Majrooh Sultanpuri, the lyricist.

Please enjoy: Chahunga main tujhe saanjh savere…

Song #4
Parbaton ke pedon par shaam ka basera hai

This was my first duet in Raag Pahadi. Rafi saheb sang it with Suman Kalyanpur.

This is from the 1964 movie Shagun starring Kamaljeet and Waheeda Rehman. Ten years after doing this movie, they got married.

This was penned by Sahir Ludhianvi and composed by Khayyam. At this stage, let me tell you that Pahadi was the pet raag of Khayyam. In the movie Noorie, for example, he composed as many as three songs in Pahadi.

Please enjoy: Parbaton ke pedon par….

Song #5
Chal udd jaa re panchhi

This is from the AVM production, the 1957 Krishnan – Panju movie Bhabhi starring Balraj Sahni, Pandhari Rai, and Nanda.

This is, indeed, an iconic song. It occurred in the movie in various parts. The song was penned by Rajinder Krishan and composed by Chitragupta.

Mohammad Rafi’s alaaps at various parts of the song, especially at the end, are out of this world.

Please enjoy: Chal udd jaa re panchhi…

Song #6
Suhani raat dhal chuki

This is, perhaps the most iconic song of Mohammad Rafi in Raag Pahadi. Last year, being the birth centenary year of Mohammad Rafi, I sang 100 of his songs. This was the first, on 01 Jan 24.

It is from the 1949 AR Kardar movie Dulari starring Madhubala, Geeta Bali, and Suresh.

The song was penned by Shakeel Badayuni and composed by Naushad.

Please enjoy: Suhani raat dhal chuki…

Song #7
Tukde hain mere dil ke

This is from the 1965 Amar Kumar movie Mere Sanam starring Biswajeet and Asha Parekh. The movie was a remake of Come September starring Rock Hudson and Gina Lollobrigida.

The song was penned by Majrooh Sultanpuri and composed by OP Nayyar.

The picturisation of the song was widely appreciated.

Please enjoy: Tukde hain mere dil ke…

Song #8
Do sitaron ka zameen par hai milan aaj ki raat

The 1960 FU Sunny movie Kohinoor was devised to be a happy and lively movie since Dilip Kumar had gone into depression by acting in such melancholic movies as the 1957 movie Devdas. Meena Kumari acted opposite him.

The song was penned by Shakeel Badayuni and coomposed by Naushad. Being a duet, the female part of it was sung by Lata Mangeshkar.

Please enjoy: Do sitaron ka zameen par hai milan aaj ki raat…

Song #9
O door ke mussafir hamko bhi saath lele re

This, too, was penned by Shakeel Badayuni and composed by Naushad.

It is a sad Pahadi.

It is from the 1955 movie Udan Khatola starring Dilip Kumar and Nimmi.

Please enjoy: O door ke mussafir…

Song #10
Janewalo zara mud ke dekho mujhe

This, too, is a sad Pahadi. I mentioned it above in Song #3 from the 1964 Satyen Bose movie Dosti, which won six out of the seven awards it was nominated for.

This, too, was penned by Majrooh Sultanpuri and composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal.

Please enjoy: Janewalo zara mud ke dekho mujhe…

Song #11
Chaudhvin ka chand ho

This is, by far, the best and most popular song in Raag Pahadi. As I said earlier, it won the lyricist Shakeel Badayuni the first of the hat-trick of Filmfare Awards. Ravi composed the song.

This was the title song of the 1960 M Sadiq movie Chaudhvin Ka Chand starring Guru Dutt and Waheeda Rehman.

Please enjoy: Chaudhvin ka chand ho…

Song #12
Jo waada kiya woh nibhana padhega

The 1963 movie Taj Mahal was also directed by M Sadiq. It starred Pradeep Kumar as Emperor Shajehan and Bina Rai as Mumtaz.

The song won Sahir Ludhainvi his first Filmfare Award as the Best Lyricist. The composer, Roshan, too, won the Filmfare Award for the sound track of this movie.

I sang this song to Lyn on our anniversary on 12 Dec 2024. Being a duet, the female part was sung by Lata Mangeshkar.

Please enjoy: Jo waada kiya woh nibhana padhega…

I hope you liked my rendition of the top twelve songs of Mohammad Rafi in Raag Pahadi.

Please keep accessing this blog for the best in Hindi songs.

 

Part I (2019 to 2022) of this post was published on 26 Mar 24 with the following introduction:

“In the year 2015, ten years ago, the love of my life, Lyn, started showing signs of losing her memory. On that year’s wedding anniversary, on 24 Mar 2015, I wrote Lyn and I – Scene By Scene and consolidated the story of our lives from our courtship days in the year 1979 until our marriage in Coimbatore on 24 Mar 1981, which led to our marriage by our parents on 12 Dec 1982. This story was up to date as on 24 Mar 2015, our 36th wedding anniversary.

We are, therefore, a couple who have two anniversaries of our wedding: one on 24 Mar 1981, and the second one on 12 Dec 1982 consecrated by our parents.

In Feb 2019, I took her to NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences) and they confirmed that she was suffering  from Alzheimer’s Disease, Moderate stage.

I made a ten-pointer programme to alleviate her condition and, if possible, to heal her. Music became an essential part of therapy for her. I didn’t know ABC of singing (though quite well-versed in music and songs). I tried to learn singing and make myself better.

The basic reason for my singing is to sing to Lyn. When she smiles, laughs, or gestures encouragingly, it is the biggest reward for me. I shall always sing for and to her.”

Here is then Part II (2022 to Mar 2025) of my songs to her on our two wedding anniversaries:

24 Mar 2023

Song #19
Dekha hai teri aankhon mein pyar hi pyar

This was the title song of the 1968 movie Pyar Hi Pyar starring Dharmendra and Vyjayanthimala.

It was penned by Hasrat Jaipuri and composed by Shankar Jaikishan.

Mohammad Rafi sang for Dharmendra.

Please enjoy: Dekha hai teri aankhon mein…

Song #20
Aye meri zohrajabeen

Many men younger than me have sung it as oldies singing to their wives. So, it was only apt that I should, too.

This song was composed by Ravi in Raag Pilu on the lyrics of Sahir Ludhianvi. It was sung by Manna Dey as playback for Balraj Sahni singing to his wife Achla Sachdev in a doston ki mehfil at home on their wedding anniversary.

It is from the first of the big multi-starrers in Hindi cinema, the 1965 movie Waqt.

Please enjoy: Aye meri zohrajabeen…

12 Dec 2023

Song #21
Aur kuchh der thehar

This is from superstar Rajesh Khanna‘s debut movie Aakhri Khat, a 1966 movie directed by Chetan Anand. He was offered this role in the movie after winning the All India Talent Contest organised by United Producers and Filmfare. Indrani Mukherjee acted opposite him.

Lyrics are by Kaifi Azmi and composition is that of Khaiyyam.

Of course, the original was sung by Mohammad Rafi.

Please enjoy: Aur kuchh der thehar…

Song #22
Ae mussavir mere mehboob ki tasveer bana

This is a rare song of Mohammad Rafi.

Its lyrics are by Tajdar Taj and composition is that of Ratandeep Hemraj.

It is from the 1970 unreleased movie Insaan Aur Insaan.

Please enjoy: Ae mussavir mere mehboob ki tasveer bana…

Song #23
Raat bhar ka hai mehmaan andhera

In the condition in which she is, this is an inspirational song. Indeed, it is one of the most inspirational songs ever made. Both the Raag and Tal chosen by OP Nayyar are difficult: Raag Jogiya, Tal Dipchandi (Moghali).

This was a beautiful 1958 Shaheed Latif movie Sone Ki Chidiya (penned by Ismat Chugtai who later wrote Garam Hawa). The movie is about Nutan who is an impoverished orphan. A relative’s family adopts her. Everyone in the family treats her like a servant. And then, she comes into money with her talent. Now, everyone treats her as a Sone Ki Chidiya. She wants to commit suicide being ill treated by the family both when she is poor and then when she becomes rich. Balraj Sahni inspires her with this song.

Once again, the original singer was Mohammad Rafi.

Please enjoy: Raat bhar ka hai mehmaan andhera…

Song #24
Hamko to jaan se pyaari hain tumhari aankhen

This song has lot of personal value for Lyn and I. It was shot in St Mark’s Square in Venice where Lyn’s first cousin held a special mass for her during our visit to Italy in 1983. I was sent there to accept an Electronic Warfare equipment for the Indian Navy and I took her with me on a shoe-string budget.

It is from the 1973 movie Naina based roughly on Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca. It starred Shashi Kapoor, Maushmi Chatterjee and Rajshree.

Lyrics are by Hasrat Jaipuri, composition is by Shankar Jaikishan, and the original singing was by Mohammad Rafi.

Please enjoy: Hamako to jaan se pyaari hain tumhari aankhen….

Song #25
Hum to mohabbat karega

Lyn is happiest when I sing comic or light-hearted songs to her. Here in this, I tried to be like Kishore Kumar who both enacted and sang this song, on the lyrics of Majrooh Sultanpuri and composition of Ravi for the 1958 movie Dilli Ka Thug starring Kishore Kumar and Nutan. In the same movie, they have the immortal duet between them: Ye raaten ye mausam nadi ka kinaara ye chanchal hawa.

Please enjoy: Hum to mohabbat karega…

Song #26
Kisi raah mein kisi mod par

I am very fond of this Mukesh-Lata duet singing for Jeetendra and Sharmila Tagore in an open truck.

The song was penned by Anand Bakshi and composed by Kalyanji Anandji in Raag Charukeshi.

It is the title song of the 1970 Dulal Guha movie Mere Humsafar.

Song #27
Tu jungle ki morni te main baagan da more

Another couple who had a lot of chemistry between them was Shashi Kapoor and Nanda. Indeed, Shashi Kapoor, in an interview, stated that Nanda was the best actress that he worked with.

This duet is from their 1969 movie Raja Saab. Mohammad Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur sang for them. Both the lyrics by Anand Bakshi and the tune by Kalyanji Anandji have a Punjabi touch about it.

Please enjoy: Tu jungle ki morni te main baagan da more…

Song #28
Mohabbat hi na jo samajhe woh zalim pyar kya jaane?

I took this Talat Mahmood song from the 1952 V Shantaram movie Parchhain starring himself and his wife Jayshree.

Noor Lakhnavi penned the lyrics and C Ramchandra composed them.

I chose these lyrics to indicate her Alzheimer’s condition.

Please enjoy: Mohabbat hi na jo samajhe…

24 Mar 2024

Song #29
Ehsaan tera hoga mujh par

And now we have songs during the Birth Centenary Year of the greatest singer on earth: Mohammad Rafi.

It is a beautiful composition of Shankar Jaikishan in Raag Kalyan on the lyrics of Hasrat Jaipuri for the 1961 movie Junglee starring Shammi Kapoor and Saira Bano.

Please enjoy: Ehsaan tera hoga mujh par…

Song #30
Gulabi aankhen jo teri dekhin

Rajesh Khanna re-ushered the era of Kishore Kumar into Hindi movies. However, even he would have acknowledged that the songs Rafi saheb sang for him were classic, popular, and added to the success of the movies.

This was from the super-hit movie, the 1970 movie The Train starring Nanda opposite Rajesh Khanna.

Lyrics were by Anand Bakshi and composition was that of RD Burman.

Please enjoy: Gulabi aankhen jo teri dekhin…

Song #31
Is rang badalti duniya mein

This is from the 1964 movie Rajkumar with Shammi Kapoor in the title role opposite Sadhana.

This song scene had set many a heart of the viewers aflame.

It was penned by Hasrat Jaipuri and composed by Shankar Jaikishan.

Please enjoy: Is rang badalti duniya mein…

12 Dec 2024

Song #32
Jo waada kiya woh nibhana padhega

And here I am again with my favourite Raag Pahadi.

This won the lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi a Filmfare Award.

The composition is that of Roshan. The duet is between Mohammad Radi and Lata Mangeshkar.

It is from the 1963 movie Taj Mahal with Bina Rai as Mumtaz and Pradeep Kumar as Shahjehan.

Please enjoy: Jo waada kiya woh nibhana padhega…

Song #33
Tumhen dekha hai maine gulsitaan mein

Many a times you come across a Mohammad Rafi song that didn’t become as popular as others, but nevertheless with superb rendition, lyrics and composition.

This is one of them.

Lyrics are by Anand Bakshi and composition is that of RD Burman.

It is from the 1967 Ismail Memon movie Chandan Ka Palna starring Dharmendra and Meena Kumari.

Please enjoy: Tumhe dekha hai maine…

Song #34
Nain ladh jayin hain to manwa main kasak

It is a classic composition of Naushad Ali on the lyrics of Shakeel Badayuni for the only production of Dilip Kumar: Gunga Jumna starring him with Vyjayanthimala.

Naushad Ali based the composition on a Poorbi qawwali about a Maslim’s desire to visit Medina.

It is a very difficult song to sing because of high tempo and being in Poorbi language.

Please enjoy: Nain ladh jayin hain…

24 Mar 2025

Song #35
Ye jo chilman hai

Once again, with the magic of Mohammad Rafi singing for Rajesh Khanna.

This is from the HS Rawail movie Mehboob Ki Mehndi, which didn’t do as well as Mere Mehboob. The movie starred Leena Chandavarkar opposite Rajesh Khanna. The movie’s songs became quite popular.

The lyrics are by Anand Bakshi and the composition is that of Laxmikant Pyarelal.

Please enjoy: Yeh jo chilman hai…

Song #36
Maine poochha chand se

This is a beautiful composition of RD Burman for Sanjay Khan’s movie Abdullah starring him in the title role with Zeenat Aman as the object of his love.

Lyrics are by Anand Bakshi.

Mohammad Rafi sang for Sanjay Khan.

Song #37
Tere husn ki kya tareef karun

As always, the main song on our anniversary is penned by Shakeel Badayuni and composed by Naushad Ali.

This is from the 1964 super-hit movie Leader starring Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala.

Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar sang for them.

Please enjoy: Tere husn ki kya tareef karun…

I hope you liked my songs sung to Lyn for our wedding anniversaries from the year 2023 to Mar 2025 in Part II of this post.

It is some time to go for the Part III.

In the year 2015, ten years ago, the love of my life, Lyn, started showing signs of losing her memory. On that year’s wedding anniversary, on 24 Mar 2015, I wrote Lyn and I – Scene By Scene and consolidated the story of our lives from our courtship days in the year 1979 until our marriage in Coimbatore on 24 Mar 1981, which led to our marriage by our parents on 12 Dec 1982. This story was up to date as on 24 Mar 2015, our 36th wedding anniversary.

We are, therefore, a couple who have two anniversaries of our wedding: one on 24 Mar 1981, and the second one on 12 Dec 1982 consecrated by our parents.

In Feb 2019, I took her to NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences) and they confirmed that she was suffering  from Alzheimer’s Disease, Moderate stage.

I made a ten-pointer programme to alleviate her condition and, if possible, to heal her. Music became an essential part of therapy for her. I didn’t know ABC of singing (though quite well-versed in music and songs). I tried to learn singing and make myself better.

The basic reason for my singing is to sing to Lyn. When she smiles, laughs, or gestures encouragingly, it is the biggest reward for me. I shall always sing for and to her.

Here is then Part I (24 Mar 2019 to 12 Dec 2022) of my songs to her on our two wedding anniversaries:

Song #1 
Na ye chand hoga na taare rahenge

I sang it to her on 24 Mar 2019, the very first anniversary of our wedding after NIMHANS broke the devastating news to us.

It is from the 1954 movie Shart starring Deepak and Shyama. SH Bihari‘s lyrics both for the Hemant Kumar and Geeta Dutt versions actually say everything that I wanted to tell her: we shall be together and even death won’t do us apart.

On 03 May 2019, during  the fifth edition of Kandaghat Live Fest (a Music Fest of our Facebook group Yaad Kiya Dil Ne), for the first time I presented this song in a Fest.

Please enjoy: Na ye chand hoga na taare rahenge…

COVID – 2019

At the end of the year 2019, the same year in which she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, our situation got worse. The world was faced with a pandemic: COVID 2019 and we were left to fend for ourselves, just the two of us without any help available. During this period, I developed an advanced stage inguinal hernia and the hospitals nearby declined to take me as a patient (such was the mortal scare of COVID during those early days in the first few months of the year 2000). Finally, when it became excruciatingly painful, I left Lyn at my son’s house and went to the Navy’s hospital for the surgery.

During this period, therefore, I missed posting any anniversary songs for her, both on 12 Dec 2019 and on 24 Mar 2020.

Song #2
Ek pyar ka nagma hai

As I said, we were married on 12 Dec 1982 at Kandaghat by our parents. On 12 Dec 2000, therefore, was our 38th Wedding Anniversary. The following video is in five parts: One, pre-wedding to wedding; Two, today’s prayer with Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji; Three, cake cutting; Four, our song Baby I’m a want you; Five, another song Ek pyar ka nagma hai. Despite, her Alzheimer’s and COVID, Love and Togetherness won.

Please enjoy this video:

Song #3
My Own Composition on the tune of Punjabi Tappe’

More than one year of being cooped up for COVID, and it came to our 40th Wedding Anniversary, on 24 Mar 2021.

I did something special: I penned a song for her and composed it on the tune of Punjabi tappe’.

Have a look at it:

Song #4
Hum ek hamari ek

On the same wedding anniversary, six days later, I made a song entirely by myself, its lyrics, composition, and music.

Here is my own effort:

Song #5
Ye nayan dare dare

By this time, I was singing somewhat regularly to and for Lyn. As is the case with most of us, this then was one of the first songs sung to Lyn. It is from the 1964 movie Kohra starring Biswajeet and Waheeda Rehman. Kaifi Azmi‘s lyrics were composed and sung by Hemant Kumar:

Please enjoy: Ye nayan dare dare:

 

Song #6
Husn e jaana idhar aa

COVID was still on and I was looking after Lyn all by myself.

I knew it won’t be long before I shall be singing Shakeel Badayuni – Naushad song to her. Shakeel happens to be my favourite poet and lyricist. All these years, I have known that Shakeel said exactly what I want to say to Lyn in her condition.

This song was originally sung by Mukesh for Rajendra Kumar singing to Vyjayanthimala, my favourite actress, in the 1968 movie Saathi. Her situation in the movie was similar to Lyn’s.

Anyway, see it for yourself:

Song #7
Jaane bahar husn tera bemissal hai

Having sung a Shakeel Badayuni song to Lyn, my passion for his songs resurfaced periodically. Indeed, from this point onwards, my main songs to her for our wedding anniversaries invariably happened to be that of Shakeel.

I told you that the basic reason for my learning singing was to sing to her. In addition to my favourite Shakeel Badayuni, I am also fascinated by Raag based songs, something that was ushered into Hindi movies by Naushad Ali.

This is from the 1963 movie Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya, the title of the movie taking its name from the mukhada of the 1960 K Asif movie Mughal-e-Azam, put together by Shakeel Badayuni and Naushad Ali.

This was composed by Ravi in Raag Malkauns. The song has this wedding night scene between Shammi Kapoor (a North Indian man) and B Saroja Devi (a South Indian actress) and has similarity between Lyn and I.

I sang to her on our wedding anniversary 12 Dec 2021, still by ourselves during COVID.

Please enjoy: Jaane bahar husn tera bemissal hai….

Song #8
Yeh hawa ye raat yeh chandni

Our 41st Wedding Anniversary, on 24 Mar 22, seemed to turn the tables on COVID situation. After much havoc, deaths, and misery, the light across the tunnel appeared.

We rejoiced by my singing as many as five songs for and to her on this day.

The first one was a Talat Mahmood song composed by Sajjad Hussain. The maestro, Madan Mohan, was so fascinated by Sajjad’s composition that he used the same for his Tujhe kyaa sunayun main dilruba.

This was from the 1952 movie Sangdil starring Dilip Kumar and Madhubala (at one time, reel and real life lovers). Rajinder Krishan penned the lyrics.

Please enjoy: Yeh hawa ye raat yeh chandni:

Song #9
Zindagi pyar ki do char ghadi hoti hai

This was the second of the five songs for our anniversary on 24 Mar 2022.

This is from the 1953 iconic movie Anarkali starring Bina Rai in the title role with Pradeep Kumar as Salim, prince to emperor Akbar.

Lyrics are by Rajinder Krishan and the composition is that of C Ramchandra. Hemant Kumar is the singer and the song tells about how a few moments spent in love is better than an entire lifetime.

Please enjoy: Zindagi pyar ki do char ghadi hoti hai…

Song #10
Chhalke teri aankhon se

The third of the five songs for that wedding anniversary was from the 1965 super-hit movie: Arzoo. Rajendra Kumar in disguise as an old man sings in the party thrown by Sadhana‘s father.

Lyrics were by Hasrat Jaipuri and composition was that of Shankar Jaikishan. I found that Hasrat Jaipuri’s lyrics were well suited for me to sing to Lyn since these are always romantic melodies. No wonder Hasrat Jaipuri has been crowned as Shehanshah-e-Rumaniyat (the Emperor of Romance).

And then, most of his romantic songs were sung by Mohammad Rafi. I am one of the millions who believe that Mohammad Rafi was simply the best singer that the world had ever seen.

Please enjoy: Chhalke teri aankhon se…

Song #11
Husn waal tera jawab nahin

The fourth of the five songs for that wedding anniversary was by Shakeel Badayuni. He has the only hat-trick of Filmfare awards, ie, from 1961 (the second ever Filmfare award for a Lyricist) to 1963. The first two of these were composed by Ravi. This was the second one.

Mohammad Rafi sang it for the 1961 movie Gharana starring Rajendra Kumar and Asha Parekh.

Please enjoy in my voice: Husn waale tera jawab nahin…

Song #12
Itna hai tumse pyar mujhe

And the final song of that anniversary, ie, fifth one of five, was this duet between Mohammad Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur singing for Rajendra Kumar and Vyjayanthimala for the 1966 super-hit movie Suraj.

This was penned by Hasrat Jaipuri and composed by Shankar Jaikishan.

Please enjoy: Itna hai tumse pyar mujhe…

12 Dec 2022

And that brings us to the second anniversary of that year, on the 12th Dec. I sang as many as six songs to her.

Song #13
Teri aankhon ke siwa duniya mein rakha kya hai?

The first of the six songs was this gem by Madan Mohan in Raag Jhinjhoti. It was penned by Majrooh Sultanpuri by using (by permission) a line of a nazm by Faiz Ahmad Faiz made famous by Noorjehan singing it: Mujhse pehli si mohabbat mere mehboob na maang.

The song was sung by Mohammad Rafi for the 1969 Raj Khosla movie Chirag starring Sunil Dutt and Asha Parekh.

Please enjoy: Teri aankhon ke siwa duniya mein rakha kya hai?

Song #14
Mere mehboob tere dam se hai duniya mein bahar

This is from the 1970 movie Bhai Bhai starring Sunil Dutt and Asha Parekh. It was penned by Hasrat Jaipuri and composed by Shankar Jaikishan. It was sung by Sunil Dutt singing to Asha Parekh in a party.

Mere mehboob tere dam se hai duniya mein bahar…

Song #15
Aaj ki raat badi shokh badi natkhat hai

The third of the six songs sung on the Dec 2022 anniversary has special meaning for me. This is from the first movie (released on 01 Jan) of the year 1966: Nai Umr Ki Nai Fasal. This R Chandra movie starred Rajeev and Tanuja and has some of the best songs sung by Mohammad Rafi. I saw the movie on a portable screen in our colony in Jawahar Nagar in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh.

Indeed, I feel that this ghazal has the best ever lyrics by Neeraj. These were composed by Roshan in Raag Pilu and sung by Mohammad Rafi.

Please enjoy: Aaj ki raat badi shokh badi natkhat hai…

Song #16
Tum bin jayun kahan

I have always been impressed with this song sung on separate occasions in the 1969 movie Pyar Ka Mausam starring Shashi Kapoor and Asha Parekh. Kishore Kumar sang it for Bharat Bhushan and Rafi saheb sang it for Shashi Kapoor.

The lyrics were by Majrooh Sultanpuri and the composition is that of RD Burman.

Please enjoy: Tum bin jaayun kahan?

Song #17
Ab kya misaal doon main tumhare shabaab ki?

The 1962 movie Aarti starring Pradeep Kumar, Meena Kumari, and Ashok Kumar has some of the most unforgettable songs penned by Majrooh Sultanpuri and composed by Roshan.

This was composed by Roshan in Raag Khammaj and sung by Mohammad Rafi.

You would notice that by this time I had decided to sing more and more songs of my favourite singer: Mohammad Rafi.

Please enjoy: Ab kya misaal doon…

Song #18
Mujhe ishq hai tujhi se

The final day of our wedding anniversary on 12 Dec 2022 saw yet another Shakeel Badayuni song from the 1962 movie Umeed starring Joy Mukherjee and Nanda. 

It was composed by Ravi and sung by Mohammad Rafi.

You would see, in this song, Lyn enjoying my singing to her more than in any other song as if she knows how important Shakeel is to me.

Please enjoy: Mujhe ishq hai tujhi se…

I hope you liked my songs sung to Lyn for our wedding anniversaries from the year 2019 to 2022 in Part I of this post.

Please await Part II of songs from the year 2023 to 2025.

 

This tribute to Madan Mohan is in continuation of my Tribute to Madan Mohan – My Own Singing and Tribute to Madan Mohan – My Own Singing – Part II.

Madan Mohan was born on 25 Jun 1924 at Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, where his father Rai Bahadur Chunilal was working as an Accountant General with the Kurdistan Peshmerga forces. Madan Mohan spent the early years of his life in the Middle East. After 1932, his family returned to their home town of Chakwal, then in Jhelum district of Punjab, British India. He joined the Army as a Second Lieutenant in the year 1943. He served there for two years until end of World War II, when he left the Army and returned to Bombay to pursue his musical interests. In 1946, he joined the All India Radio, Lucknow as Programme Assistant, where he came in contact with various artists such as Ustad Faiyaz Khan, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Begum Akhtar, and Talat Mahmood.

He was very fond of singing, and so in 1947 he got his first chance to record two ghazals penned by Behzad Lucknawi, Aane Laga Hai Koi Nazar Jalwa Gar Mujhe and Is Raaz Ko Duniya Jaanti Hai. Soon after, in 1948 he recorded two more private ghazals penned by Deewan Sharar, Wo Aaye To Mahfil Mein Ithlaate Huye Aaye and Duniya Mujhe Kahti Hai Ke Main Tujhko Bhoolaa Doon. In 1948, he got his first opportunity to sing a film duet Pinjare Mein Bulbul Bole and Mera Chhotasa Dil Dole with Lata Mangeshkar under composer Ghulam Haider (composer) for the film Shaheed (1948 film), though these songs were never released or used in the film. Between 1948 and 1949, he assisted music composers SD Burman for Do Bhai, and Shyam Sundar in Actress and Nirdosh.

As Music Director, he scored his first big break with the film Aankhen in 1950. He was soon to emerge as a music director par excellence especially for ghazals. Indeed, music director OP Nayyar once said about Madan Mohan that two of his ghazals were better than all that OP Nayyar composed. Some of the best songs of Lata Mangeshkar (she fondly called him “Madan Bhaiyya”) were composed by him on the lyrics of Raja Mehdi Ali Khan and Rajinder Krishan.

Some of my favourite songs of Madan Mohan are: Aaj soch to aansu bhar aaye, Betaab dil ki tamanna yehi hai, Tum jo mil gaye ho (Hanste Zakham 1973), Aapke pehlu mein aa ke ro diye, Naino mein badra chhaye, Jhumka gira re, Tu jahan jahan chalega (Mera Saya 1966), Aapki nazaron ne samajha, Hai isi mein pyaar ki aabru, Vo dekho jala ghar kisi ka (Anpadh 1962), Aapko pyaar chhupane ki buri aadat hai, Tere paas aake mera waqt nikal jaata hai (Neela Akash 1965), Agar mujhase mohabbat hai, Main nigaahen tere chehre se hatayun kaise (Aap Ki Parchhayiyan), Ai mere dil mujhe bata de (Bhai Bhai 1946), Ari vo shokh kaliyon muskara dena vo jab aayen (Jab Yaad Kisi Ki Aati Hai 1967), Baad muddat ke yeh ghadi aayi, Haal-e-dil youn unhe sunaya gaya, Jab jab tumhe bhulaya tum aur yaad aaye, Kisi ki yaad mein duniya ko jhain bhulaye huye, Main teri nazar ka saroor hoon, Phir wohi shaam wohi gham wohi tanhaayi hai, Teri aankh ke aansu pi jaayun, Wo chup rahen to mere dil ke daag jalate hain (Jahan Ara 1964), Hamare baad mehfil mein (Baghi 1953), Bainya na dharo O balma, Ham hain mataa-e-kuchcha-e-bazaar ki tarah, Mai ri main kaase kahun, Tumse kahun ik baat (Dastak, 1970), Bairan neend na aaye mohe (Chacha Zindabad 1959), Basti basti parbat parbat gaata jaaye banjara, Chand madham hai aasman chup hai, Dekh tere Bhagwan ki haalat (Railway Platform 1955), Bhooli hui yaado mujhe itna na satayo, Vo bhooli dastaan lo phir yaad aa gayi (Sanjog 1961), Chanda ja re ja re, Main to tum sang nain mila ke (Manmauji 1962), Chhadi re chhadi kaise gale mein padhi, Dil dhoondata hai fursat ke, Ruke ruke se kadam (Mausam 1975), Chhod kar tere pyar ka daaman, Jao hamane dastaan apni sunaayi, Lag jaa gale ke phir, Naina barse rimjhim rimjhim, Shokh nazar ki bijliyan  (Woh Kaun Thi 1964), Do dil toote do dil haare, Doli chadate hi Heer ne bain kiye, Milo na tum to ham ghabraayen, Ye duniya ye mehfil mere kaam ki nahin (Heer Ranjha 1970), Ham chal rahe the wo chal rahe the (Duniya Na Maane 1959), Ham pyar mein jalane waalo ko chain kahan (Jailor 1958), Hamsafar saath apna chhod chale, Tujhe kya sunayun main dilruba (Aakhri Dao 1958), Hamse aaya na gaya, Kaun aay mere man ke dwaare, Meri veena tum bin roye, Tu pyar kare ya thukraye (Dekh Kabira Roya 1957), Har taraf ab yahi afsaane hain, Hai tere saath meri wafa main nahin to kya (Hindustan Ki Kasam 1973), Hoke majbuur mujhe usne bhualaya hoga, Kar chale ham fida, Khelo na mere dil se, Main ye soch kar uske dar se, Zara si aahat hoti hai (Haqeeqat 1964), Husn haazir hai mohabbat ki saza paane ko, Is reshmi paazeb ki jhankar ke sadake, Tere dar pe aaya hoon (Laila Majnu 1976), Ik haseen raat ko dil mera kho gaya, Kabhi ai haqeeqat-e-muntazar, Sapano mein agar mere (Dulhan Ek Raat Ki 1966), Ishq ki garmi-e-jazbaat kise pesh karun. Mere mehboob kahin aur mila kar mujhase, Naghma o sher ki saugat, Rang aur noor ki baraat (Ghazal 1964), Jaa jaa re jaa saajna, Jaana tha hamse door, Unako ye shikayat hai, Youn hasaraton ke daag (Adalat 1958), Kabhi na kabhi kahin na kahin koi na koi to aayega, Mujhe le chalo aaj us jagah, Sawan ke mahine mein (Sharaabi 1964), Koi shikwa bhi nahin koi shikayat bhi nahin (Neend Hamari Khwab Tumhaare 1966), Main paagal mera manwa paagal (Aashiyana 1952), Meri yaad mein tum na aasnu bahana (Madhosh 1951), Na tum bewafa ho na ham bewafa hain (Ek Kali Muskaaye 1958), Sapne mein sajan se do baaten, Do ghadi wo jo paas aa baithe (Gateway Of India 1957), Teri aankhon ke siwa duniya mein rakha kya hai (Chirag 1969), Tumhari zulf ke saaye mein shaam kar loonga (Naunihaal 1967), Tu mere saamne hai teri zulfen hain khuli (Suhagan, 1964), and Vo jo milate the kabhi hamsase deewano ki tarah (Akeli Mat Jaiyo 1963).

When I learnt singing, I soon got to sing Madan Mohan. Here I present six more of his songs that I sang:

Song #13
Har taraf ab yahi afsaane hain

Just like J Om Prakash made many his movies’ titles starting with the letter ‘A’, Chetan Anand made many movies starting with the letter ‘H’: Haqeeqat made after the 1962 Indo China War was the first with the letter ‘H’. It ws followed by Heer Ranjha, Hanste Zakhm, and then Hindustan Ki Kasam. The last one is the 1973 movie from where I have taken this song. The movie depicts the role of Indian Air Force in the 1971 Indo Pak War, in the Western Sector.

Chetan Anand’s preferred actress Priya Rajvansh was the heroine opposite Raaj Kumar who was an IAF pilot in the movie.

As in Haqeeqat, Heer Ranjha, and Hanste Zakhm, Kaifi Azmi was the lyricist, Madan Mohan the composer.

This song was superbly sung by Manna Dey.

Please enjoy: Har taraf ab yahi afsaane hain…

 

Song #14
Teri Aankhon ke siwa duniya mein rakha kya hai?

This is the kind of song that I would like to sing to Lyn.

Madan Mohan composed it in Raag Jhinjhoti, Tal Dadra.

The director of the 1969 movie Chirag, from where this song is taken, made the lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri take permission from Faiz Ahmad Faiz to use this line from Faiz’s nazm Mujhse pehli si mohabbat mere mehboob na maang made immortal by the singer Noorjehan.

Mohammad Rafi, as he always did, sang the song so well that it became unforgettable.

Please enjoy: Teri aankhon ke siwa duniya mein rakha kya hai…

Song #15
Tum jo mil gaye hao

Ultra Entertainment has blocked this song (containing snippets of original video) to be displayed here. But, you can click on ‘Watch on YouTube’ and it will take you there to watch.

This is from the 1973 Chetan Anand movie Hanste Zakhm starring Naveen Nischol and Chetan Anand’s favourite heroine Priya Rajvansh.

It is one of the most unique compositions of Madan Mohan on the lyrics of Kaifi Azmi.

The singer, once again, is Mohammad Rafi. Just one line has also been sung by Lata Mangeshkar.

Please enjoy: Tum jo mil gaye hao…

(In case you read the message Video unavailable, please click on Watch on YouTube. Thank you)

Song #16
Main teri nazar ka suroor hoon, tujhe yaad ho ki na yaad ho

The 1964 Vinod Kumar movie Jahan Ara had some of the best songs (ghazals) of Madan Mohan. These were on the lyrics of Rajinder Krishan. Indeed, the success of this movie was largely due to these songs. Mala Sinha in the title role nearly got the Filmfare Award. She enacted emperor Shahjahan’s daughter through his most beloved of four wives: Mumtaz, in whose memory he erected one of the seven Wonders of the World: the Taj Mahal.

When Mumtaz was dying, she took a promise from Jahan Ara that she would look after the father and not marry. She was in love with Mirza Yusuf Changezi (played by Bharat Bhushan). But, their love couldn’t go further because of Jahan Ara’s promise to Mumtaz.

Hence, this song and many others in the movie portraying their predicament and sob-story; eg, Phir wohi shaam wohi gham wohi tanhayi hai, and Teri aankh ke aansu pi jayun.

In this movie, Madan Mohan favoured Taal Mahmood to sing these songs. Mohammad Rafi sang only one: Kisi ki yaad mein duniya ko hain bhulaye huye in Raag Kedar.

Please enjoy: Main teri nazar ka suroor hoon…

Song #17
Yahi hai tamanna tere dar ke saamne

This is from the 1964 Mohan Kumar movie Aap Ki Parchhaiyan starring Dharmendra and Supriya Choudhury.

Madan Mohan stunned us by composing two songs of the movie in the same Raaga and Tal: Darbari Kanada and Dadra. The songs were: Rafi’s Main nigaahen tere chehre se hatayun kaise and Lata’s Agar mujhse muhabbat hai mujhe sab apne gham de do.

Mohan Kumar’s Aap Ki Parchhaiyan suffers from the same malaise that most of the movies of that era did: the second half used to drag on and on without the end in sight. Indeed, whilst watching most of the movies now, one can see the second halves in fast-forward mode. Another such movie was DD Kashyap’s 1961 movie Maya starring Dev Anand and Mala Sinha.

Anyway, most of these had excellent songs.

This was penned by Raja Mehdi Ali Khan and sung by Mohammad Rafi.

Please enjoy: Yahi hai tamanna tere dar ke saamne….

Song #18
Tum bin jeevan kaisa jeevan

This was penned by Kaifi Azmi and composed by Madan Mohan in Raag Hemant, Tal Punjabi Theka (Sitarkhani) for the 1972 Hrishikesh Mukherjee movie Bawarchi with superstar Rajesh Khanna in the title role.

The singer was Manna Dey.

It is one of Madan Mohan’s difficult songs attempted by me.

Please enjoy: Tum bin jeevan kaisa jeevan….

So that this post won’t become too long, I shall end here today. Next time I shall give you another six songs of Madan Mohan sung by me in Part IV.

Poverty, in India, was gender neutral. But, as seen by Hindi movies, it forced men into menial jobs, but it forced women to the oldest profession on earth. So, poor men in Hindi movies would sing such songs as “Main rickshawwala, main rickshawala, main char ke barabar main do taang wala, kahan chaloge babu, kahan chaloge lala?”

Only real music aficionados like me would remember such songs that portrayed dignity of labour whilst being poor.

Poor women, in Hindi movies, had absolutely no choice but to become prostitutes. They were forced, but their songs were super-hits. Indeed, all heroines had to pass the litmus test of being in the kotha to be considered as serious actresses: Meena Kumari, Nargis, Suchitra Sen, Vyjayanthimala, Padmini, Mumtaz, Smita Patil, Rekha, and Hema Malini. Their songs competed with one another’s, eg, Suchitra Sen’s Rehte the kabhi jinke dil mein with Nargis’s Yun hasraton ke daag, and so on.

There were hardly any actresses who were not forced into it but actually enjoyed their profession. Shashi Kapoor’s Utsav and Lekh Tandon’s Amrapali were different. Those two brought out how courtesans were actually respected in our ancient culture.

However, over centuries, it became such a hated profession that Rajinder Singh Bedi’s Dastak portrayed the turmoil of a couple who rented a room in a red-light area.

Lastly, men falling in love with prostitutes was a common theme and resulted in the producers laughing all the way to the bank. Pyaasa, Devdas, Kala Pani, and Amar Prem are some examples. Prostitutes were always shown as golden hearted. There was no other kind.

Many people regarded the rain dance in the saree as the ultimate titillation. But, I can prove that nothing was more profitable for the producers than prostitution. Both kinds of songs could be there: one, depicting her art, eg, Jab chhaye mera jaadu, koi bach na paaye, Yeh hai reshmi zulfon ka andhera na ghabrayiye, and Jaata kahan hai deewane sab kuchh yahan hai! Two, the miserable ones: Rehte the kabhi jinke dil mein, and Jaana tha hamse door bahane bana liye.

Mehboob Khan’s Mother India (it nearly won an Oscar) tried to depict the Indian woman in her poverty, trying to fight her destiny through honesty and hard work. But, by that time, the ubiquitous picture of poor Indian woman choosing prostitution to beat poverty had already done the damage.

Q.E.D.

Movies are supposed to depict real life. This is one instance of movies changing real life.

Song #1
Jaata kahan hai deewane sab kuchh yahan hai sanam

This song was censored from the 1956 movie C.I.D. It was a Guru Dutt production directed by Raj Khosla.

It was the debut movie of Waheeda Rehman, the first of the five movies that Guru Dutt signed Waheeda Rehman for after seeing her in a college in Hyderabad. He was preparing her for her role as a golden hearted prostitute in his 1957 iconic movie Pyaasa.

The song was censored due to her openly soliciting as a prostitute as also for the use of the slang “fifi” in the song. It was made to look like as if “fifi” was an innocent Goan slang. However, it came out that “fifi” had become popular as an effeminate man as also to refer to a female part.

The song couldn’t see the light of the day during those days. However, these days, such songs would be totally acceptable.

The song was penned by Majrooh Sultanpuri and composed by OP Nayyar. It was sung by Guru Dutt’s wife Geeta Dutt whom he married on the 26th of May 1953.

Song #2
Yun hasraton ke daag muhabbat mein dho liye

Prostitutes and courtesans were always a very profitable theme for the Hindi movies. But, the success of C.I.D. and Pyaasa with debutante Waheeda Rehman as a golden-hearted prostitute threw the floodgates open for prostitutes in the Hindi movies. Rajinder Krishan, the lyricist, wrote the story and the screenplay for the 1958 movie Adalat directed by Kalidas.

Nargis who was fighting poverty and unfortunate circumstances in the 1957 Mehboob Khan movie Mother India acted as a prostitute one year later. Whilst Mother India tried to correct the image of Indian woman as the hard-working, self-sacrificing woman, Adalat and subsequent movies confirmed that they were ill treated to the extent of being sold in brothels. Hindi movies’ makers loved this latter image and laughed all the way to the banks just as commercial Hindi movies on poverty made the film-makers rich.

Rajinder Krishan made sure that his best lyrics were penned for the songs of the movie. The songs were composed by the maestro Madan Mohan who excelled to such an extent that OP Nayyar, in later life, said that two of the songs of the movie (this and Unako yeh shikayat hai ki hum kuchh nahin kehte) composed  were better than all his works.

As an aside, I bring out that Nargis’s lover in the movie, before she was forced into a brothel, was a barrister to show the contrast between his most respectable profession and her latter day status. It is because of the utmost respect earned by Mahatma Gandhi as a barrister. Nowadays, in India, between the two professions there isn’t a contrast; earn money whichever way.

Song #3
Rehate the kabhi jinke dil mein 

Once the Hindi movies’ makers get hold of a cash cow, they don’t let it go until they have milked it dry. Take the case of an honest man turned dacoit in Dilip Kumar’s only production, Gunga Jumna. In latter films heroes from Sunil Dutt to Vinod Khanna vied with one another to play the dacoit. So also with becoming prostitutes. In the 1966 Asit Sen movie Mamta, Krishan Chander merely rejigged Rajinder Krishan’s story of Adalat and passed it off as a remake of the 1963 Bengali movie Uttar Falguni.

In this song Majrooh Sultanpuri writing for Roshan and Lata Mangeshkar singing for Suchitra Sen brings out her condition due to unfortunate circumstances that made her choose the brothel.

Song #4
Beqasi hadd se jab guzar jaaye

Even when OP Nayyar praised Madan Mohan for the 1959 movie Adalat’s two songs, he himself came up with this gem in Raag Desh in the 1960 RK Rakhan movie, in which Padmini played the role of a courtesan and surprised (shocked) her lover Ashok Kumar. The lyrics of the song by Jan Nisar Akhtar point towards her helplessness in being forced into the role. None of OP Nayyar’s songs were sung by Lata Mangeshkar. This too was sung by Asha Bhosle.

The highlight of the song is also Padmini’s histrionics:

Song #5
Neel gagan ki chhaon mein

Lets change scene from being forced into prostitution to being proud of being a courtesan. Take the 1966 Lekh Tandon movie Amrapali, for example.  The story of the movie draws from our culture. Amrapali, played by Vyjayanthimala, was a nagarvadhu (courtesan) in Vaishali (Bihar). Her excellence in her art made her the rajnartaki (the favoured courtesan of the kingdom). She nursed Ajatashatru (played by Sunil Dutt) when he was wounded and he fell in love with her. Little did she know that he was the emperor of Magadha. He destroyed Vaishali in order to get her.

The songs of the movie were penned by Shailendra and composed by Shankar Jaikishan so well that these are still considered some of the best. Credit must also go to Vyjayanthimala for carrying the movie almost entirely on her shoulders.

Please enjoy in Raag Bhupali, this beautiful song sung by Lata Mangeshkar and outstandingly danced in the king’s court by Vyjayanthimala:

Song #6
Jab pyar kiya to darna kya?

The actual story of Amrapali took place in 500 BC. Nearly 2000 years later, in the court of Mughal-e-Azam, Akbar, a courtesan named Anarkali has his only prince Salim fall in love with her. Akbar imprisons her and Salim rebels against his own father with a battle against him so as to rescue the love of his life.

Such was our culture regarding the importance of courtesans; and it was not restricted to the Mughals. In the 1984 Shashi Kapoor movie Utsav (based on Sanskrit play Mrichakatika (The Little Clay Cart) by Shudrika of ancient times (some evidence points to his being an Ahira king!), in ancient Ujjain, courtesan Vasantsena (played by Rekha), in the court of the king. She is respected and idolized by the king’s subjects. She has a chance meeting with a Brahmin Charudutt. In the song Man kyun behka re behka aadhi raat ko (it won two Filmfare awards: one for the lyricist Vasant Dev and the other for the singer Anuradha Paudwal), Charudutt’s wife Aditi (played by Anuradha Patel) is grateful to the courtesan Vasantsena for reigniting sexual desire in her husband!

Anyway, lets get back to Pyar kiya to darna kya penned by Shakeel Badayuni, and composed by Naushad Ali in Raag Durga. This song sung by Lata Mangeshkar for Madhubala as Anarkali is actually the most iconic song ever in Hindi films performed by a courtesan in the emperor’s court:

This movie, shot in black and white was the first movie to be digitally colorised at phenomenal cost.

Song #7
Jaa jaa re jaa balamwa

Talking about courtesans in the king’s or emperor’s courts, lets talk about the 1956 movie Basant Bahar, Raja Nawathe’s answer to Vijay Bhatt’s 1952 movie Baiju Bawra. In Baiju Bawra, Naushad had all 13 soundtracks based on one raag or the other. Shankar Jaikishan came up with similar soundtracks in Basant Bahar and actually excelled in Ketaki gulab juhi champak bana phule (in Raag Basant Bahar), for example. In this, Manna Dey had the ignominy of defeating Bharat Ratna Bhimsen Joshi in a singing competition. Duniya na bhaye by Mohammad Rafi in Raag Todi, Punjabi Theka is a favourite, too.

But, my all time favourite is this one by Lata Mangeshkar. Indeed, I have selected it as her Top Song #2 in her five of my favourite songs by her.  This is in Raag Jhinjhoti, Tintal. It was penned by Shailendra and composed by Shankar Jaikishan. Kumkum as the courtesan Radhika performed it for the Emperor Chandra Shekhar played by Chandrashekhar:

Song #8
Woh chup rahen to mere dil ke daag jalte hain

Lets turn to the sub-theme of men jilted in love either visiting courtesans on their own or taken there by their well-wishers. There are hundreds of songs in this genre’, too. My vote goes to this classic one from the 1964 Vinod Kumar movie (his debut attempt) Jahan Ara.

Shahjahan’s daughter Jahan Ara (played by Mala Sinha; she nearly won the Filmfare Award for her role) is in love with Mirza Yusuf Changezi (Bharat Bhushan) since childhood. However, Mumtaz, Shahjahan’s favourite wife (one of his four) had taken a dying promise from her that she (Jahan Ara) would look after her father, Shahjahan, and not marry.

So, Yusuf is a jilted lover. In order to get over his separation from Jahan Ara, he is coaxed into visiting a courtesan Roshan Ara (played by Minoo Mumtaz).

The song she sang to make him forget his sad silence is one of the best and most difficult of Lata Mangeshkar’s. It was penned by Rajinder Krishan and composed in Raag Ramdasi Malhar by Madan Mohan. Indeed, Minoo Mumtaz perfected this role. In another movie, the 1961 movie Chhote Nawab, she has Mehmood visiting her as a courtesan rather than being with his beloved, Ameeta. Her song, in that case, expressed Ameeta’s feelings: Ghar aaja ghir aaye badra saanwariya, composed by RD Burman in Raag Malgunji, his first with Lata Mangeshkar.

Anyway, please enjoy the Jahan Ara song:

Song #9
Raina beeti jaaye Shaam na aaye

What about hero falling in love with the courtesan? Once again, there are hundreds of songs in this sub-theme. But, there is none to beat Shakti Samanta’s 1972 movie Amar Prem. It called it as Eternal Love the relationship between Sharmila Tagore as courtesan and Rajesh Khanna as a kind hearted drunkard Anand who is used to visiting kothas. He, in a song tries to question the double standards of the society by comparing her to goddess Sita: “Hamne unako bhi chhup chhup ke aate dekha inhin galiyon mein.”

His first encounter with her is this song by Lata Mangeshkar singing for Sharmila Tagore in Raag Todi. This, too, has been listed under the most difficult songs of Lata Mangeshkar:

Song #10
Chalte chalte yunhi koi mil gaya tha

Now, in the end, lets turn to two movies that were made on the lives of two courtesans; ie, these didn’t have courtesans as breaks in between but as the whole movie.

The first one is the 1972 Kamal Amrohi movie Pakeezah (The Pure One or The Chaste One).  Kamal Amrohi wanted to make a movie as a dedication to his wife, Meena Kumari. The movie was the longest in the making Hindi movie that was completed in 15 years. During this period, Ghulam Mohammad, the original music director of the movie died and some of the movie and its songs were then completed by Naushad Ali.

Nargis (Meena Kumari) is a courtesan of Lucknow. She dreams of marrying Shahbuddin (Ashok Kumar), but, it is opposed by Shahbuddin’s father on the grounds that his son cannot marry a tawaif (courtesan). She gives birth to a daughter and dies. This girl grows up into another tawaif (courtesan) Sahibjaan (also played by Meena Kumari). In a train journey, Raj Kumar as Salim Ahmed Khan sees her naked feet and falls in love with her. In the end of the movie, Shahbuddin accepts her as his daughter and she and Salim are happily married.

This song was penned by Kaifi Azmi, composed by Ghalam Ahmad and sung by Lata Mangeshkar. It has reference to Meena Kumari and Raaj Kumar’s encounter in the train:

Song #11
Dil cheez kya hai aap meri jaan leejiye

Finally, lets turn to the 1981 Muzaffar Ali movie Umrao Jaan in which the actress Rekha excelled to such an extent that she won both the National and Filmfare awards. Indeed, her portrayal of the courtesan Amiran in the movie is quoted as the most impressive performance by an actress in such a role.

In the year 1840 Amiran was kidnapped from her home in Faizabad (UP) and is sold into a kotha in Lucknow. She emerges as an extraordinary poet and courtesan. The movie is about all her poetry performed by her as songs.

The very first one is this: Dil cheez kya hai aap meri jaan leejiye. It was penned by Shahryar, composed by Khayyam and sung, for a change, by Asha Bhosle. Khayyam, too, won both the awards. Asha Bhosle, for this song, won the National Award:

Hindi movies’ makers obsessions with courtesans is unlikely to die in a hurry. Heroines, even today, are keen to do such roles.

In addition, thanks to Sunny Leone’s efforts in popularising pornography in India, it is unlikely that the one of its kind projection of Indian woman as Mother India would register with the West. As projected in Hindi movies, the courtesans and the golden hearted prostitutes are the ones that are the representative image of the Indian woman.

What is the biggest weakness of a woman? Well, as seen in Hindi songs, it is jewellery. Indeed, if she loses jewellery, she tries to look for the lost piece in song and dance form. Several examples: Jhumka gira re Bareilley ke bazaar mein, Dhoondo dhoondo re sajna mere kaan ka baala, and Nigah maarda jayin ve mera laung gwacha.

Song #1
Jhumka gira re Bareilley ke bazaar mein

This is from the 1966 Raj Khosla movie Mera Saya featuring his favourite actress Sadhana performing this number penned by Raja Mehdi Ali Khan and composed by Madan Mohan:

Song #2
Dhoondo dhoondo re sajna, dhoondo re saajna mere kaan ka bala

This is a great favourite with me; a song from Dilip Kumar’s only production and an iconic movie: Gunga Jumna starring Vyjayanthimala with him. He has been driven to become a dacoit; the first Hindi movie with this idea. She visits him in his den in the forest. This song is about the coming of age when Vyjayanthimala steps into womanhood from being a girl.

These excellent lyrics (the word bala in the song depicts a maiden girl as well as the earing that she lost) were penned by Shakeel Badayuni, composed by Naushad and sung by Lata Mangeshkar. Vyjayanthimala’s dance leaves you in awe:

Song #3
Mujhe naulakha mangwa de re O sainyan deewane

He (Amitabh Bachchan) is the son of a very rich man, in the 1984 Prakash Mehra movie Sharabi. She, Jaya Prada, asks him through an exclusive dance only for him to get her jewelry worth Rupees Nine Lakhs (an astounding sum in 1984).

Lyricist Anjaan, composer Bappi Lahiri, and singer Asha Bhosle put the song together:

Song #4
Mera laung gwacha

This is a Punjabi folk song. Many artistes have sung this. Neha Bhasin really made it very popular:

Women, in this respect, are very materialistic. Men bemoan the loss of…hold your breath…heart. Eg, Dil mera aaj kho gya hai kahin…aapke paanv ke neeche to nahin. Jewellery or other material things are farthest from their minds. Even Johnny Walker sang, “Ek mussafir ko duniya mein kya chahiye, sirf thodi si dil mein jagah chahiye!”

Song #5
Dil mera aaj kho gaya hai kahin

This is from the 1964 Devendra Goel movie Door Ki Awaz starring Joy Mukerji and Saira Bano.

Lyrics are by my favourite Shakeel Badayuni and composition is that of Ravi. This was sung by Mohammad Rafi:

Song #6
Jaane kahan mera jigar gaya ji

This is from the 1955 Guru Dutt movie Mr and Mrs 55 starring Guru Dutt and Waheeda Rehman. The song is picturised on Johnny Walker as Johny and Yasmin as Julie.

It was penned by Majrooh Sultanpuri and composed by OP Nayyar. It was sung by Mohammad Rafi for Johnny Walker and Geeta Dutt for Yasmin:

Song #7
Ek mussafir ko duniya mein kya chahiye

As I wrote, no jewelry for men; they are only loking for dil mein jagah.

This is again from the 1964 Devendra Goel movie Door Ki Awaz starring Joy Mukerji and Saira Bano. It was penned by Shakeel Badayuni and composed by Ravi.

It was picturised on Johnny Walker:

Women have no idea to what extent men will go to please them. No small things such as Jewelry, clothes, and ghar. They can get women, chand, sitaare, and do jahan ki khushiyan.

Song #8
Chalo dildar chalo chand ke paar chalo

The pull of a man telling her about chand and sitaare, sometimes, has its effect on her. As in this song from Pakeezah, a movie written, produced and directed by Kamal Amrohi as a tribute to his wife, Meena Kumari. This song was penned by Kaif Bhopali and composed in Raag Pahadi by Ghulam Mohammad who died during the making of the movie for as long as 15 years. Listen to the song. She is ready to go to chand with him with or without jewelry:

Song #9
Saat samundra paar se, gudiyon ke bazaar se

Also, women, when they are small are less materialistic, eg, this song of the 1967 movie Taqdeer. Papa is abroad and the girls want him to bring back a  doll from the Doll Bazaar. However, they are ready to let go of the doll if he would return early, he being their biggest gift.

This was put together by Anand Bakshi, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Lata Mangeshkar and Sulakshna Pandit:

सात समुद्र पार से,
गुडियों के बाज़ार से,
अच्छी सी गुड़िया लाना,
गुड़िया चाहे ना लाना,
पापा जल्दी आ जाना l

Song #10
Hamse to achhi teri payal gori

Knowing that women love jewelry more than men, men are forced to sing:

हमसे तो अच्छी तेरी पायल गोरी,
जो बार बार तेरा बदन चूमे I

This is from the 1970 Naresh Kumar movie Ganwar starring Rajendra Kumar and Vyjayanthimala. It was penned by Rajinder Krishan and composed by Naushad Ali. The song was sung by Mohammad Rafi and Asha Bhosle:

Song #11
Maine tere liye hi saat rang ke sapne chune

Remember Anand? Why did his beloved leave Rajesh Khanna? Simply because he was offering her dreams and she wanted jewelry:

मैंने तेरे लिए ही सात रंग के सपने चुने….

Hahahaha!!

Poor Anand! He was left with her dried flower in his book of poetry!

Q.E.D.

🤓😇😂🚀

दोस्तो,

आज पहली दफ़ा अपने चहेते गीतकार शकील की वजह से दरी पैर के नीचे से निकल गई l बैठे बैठे उनका एक गीत सुन रहा था और गीत से पता लगा के शकील या तो vegetarian थे या बाद में बन गएl

कैसे पता चला?

Simple. उन्होने गाने में लिखा था:

“दिल लगा कर हम यह समझे ज़िंदगी क्या cheese hai”

अगर vegetarian ना होते तो पक्का लिखते:

“दिल लगा कर हम यह समझे ज़िंदगी क्या ham है या bacon है l”

Q.E.D.

So here it is:

Song #1
Dil laga kar hum yeh samajhe zindagi kya cheese hai

I am giving you my own rendition of this. Originally sung by Mahendra Kapoor on the lyrics of Shakeel Badayuni and composition of C Ramchandra for the 1965 NA Ansari movie Zindagi Aur Maut starring Pradeep Kumar and Faryal.

The one on top is merely in good humour; the double entendre being between Hindi चीज़ (thing) and English Cheese.

Song #2
Sajna hai mujhe sajna ke liye

The first sajna has the meaning of dressing up or beauty treatment. The second sajna is the lover or the loved one. So, in this song from the 1973 Sudhendu Roy movie Saudagar, Padma Khanna as Phoolbanu sings the song for Amitabh Bachchan as Moti. The song was written and composed by Ravindra Jain and sung by Asha Bhosle:

Song #3
Ke jaan chali jaaye jiya nahin jaaye

The double entendre is in the mukhada itself: the first jiya is dil or heart and the second jiya is to do with living.

This song is from the 1969 Mohan Kumar movie Anjaana starring Rajendra Kumar and Babita. It was penned by Anand Bakshi and composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal. The singers are Mohammad Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur:

Song #4
Choli ke peechhe kya hai

This is double entendre at its suggestive or provocative best. This is from the 1993 Subhash Ghai’s iconic movie Khalnayak (Villain). Madhuri Dixit is the one who enacted it. She provocatively asks “Choli ke peechhe kya hi, chunri ke neeche kya hai.” You are sensuously carried to your height of imagination and then she brings you down with,”Choli mein dil hai mera. Chunri mein dil hai mera.”

This is one of the record 302 movies that Anand Bakshi as lyricist and Laxmikant Pyarelal as composer did together. The singers are Alka Yagnik and Ila Arun:

Song #5
Khada hai, khada hai, dar pe tere aashiq

I would avoid putting up this type though the fact is that such risqué songs are a plenty in Hindi movies and are often seen as the ones that directly add to the box office attraction of the movie.

This is from the 1994 David Dhawan movie: Andaz. The song is provocatively enacted by Anil Kapoor singing it to Juhi Chawla. Bappi Lahiri covered himself in glory composing trash songs and this is one of them. Indeevar, who had made such gentle songs as Jeevan se bhari teri aankhen, from the year 1987 onwards, giving in to lure of money, made over 500 such trash songs with Lahiri:

Song #6
Kahin pe nigahen kahin pe nishana

This is from Waheeda Rehman’s debut movie: the 1956 movie C.I.D., produced by Guru Dutt and directed by Raj Khosla. Waheeda Rehman was Guru Dutt’s find from a college in Hyderabad. All of 17 years, Guru Dutt was so impressed with Waheeda Rehman that he signed her up for his next five movies.

Guru Dutt was preparing her for the role of a golden hearted prostitute in his next movie Pyaasa and gave her this role of a prostitute here too. When one of the bad guys’ ruffian reaches her to entrap Dev Anand, through this song she is warning Dev Anand to escape. The lyrics of the song, through their clever double entendre are warning him and also suggesting the escape route.

These double meaning lyrics were penned by Majrooh Sultanpuri, composed by OP Nayyar and sung by Shamshad Begum:

Song #7
Raaz ki baat keh doon to jaane mehfil mein phir kya ho?

This is from the 1973 movie Dharma starring Pran in his multi roles as Sevak Singh / Dharam Singh “Dharma” / Chandan Seth / Nawab Sikandar Mirza. Rekha, the heroine is also in double role as Asha Singh and Radha. Bindu, the vamp, is trying to expose Rekha in this song. But, she has sought protection from Pran as the don Chandan. Bindu, in her double entendre is trying to tell the party the truth about Rekha and Pran is trying to tell her to come to her senses. Finally these double entendre by both reach a climax and Pran cleverly reveals to Bindu that he is, indeed, the don Chandan and it won’t be in Bindu’s interest to resort to such skullduggery!

The song was penned by Verma Malik, composed by Sonik Omi and sung by Mohammad Rafi for Pran and Asha Bhosle for Bindu:

Song#8
Apni to har aah ek toofan hai

Whilst I have given a song from Guru Dutt production C.I.D., here is one from Dev Anand’s Navketan Films’ production: the 1960 movie Kala Bazar starring Waheeda Rehman with him.

This is really brilliant double entendre is by the Lyricist Shailendra. He and she are travelling by train and she is in the upper berth. His singing “Ooper wala” is actually about her but made to look like as if it is about the Ooper Wala: God.

The song was sung by Mohammad Rafi on a superb composition by his favourite composer: SD Burman.

Here is my own rendition of it:

Song #9
Kis kis ko pyar karun?

This is from the 1969 Pramod Chakravorty movie Tumse Achha Kzun Hai starring Shammi Kapoor and Babita.

The way Mohammad Rafi as playback for Shammi Kapoor sings Kis, it is more like an invitation to Kiss. The lyrics are by Rajinder Krishan and the composition is that of Shankar Jaikishan:

Song #10
Inhi logon ne le leena dupatta mera

This is from the 1972 Kamal Amrohi movie Pakeezah starring, in the lead role his wife Meena Kumari. The film took a decade and a half to make. Ghulam Mohammad, the composer, died whilst the movie was being made and some of the songs in the movie were composed by Naushad.

Even though Majrooh Sultanpuri is credited with the lyrics, the lyrics are a lift off from folk-lore. Dupatta is supposed to be the izzat of a maiden. Having lost it is, at one hand, pointing to her having stepped into prostitution, but on the other hand demurely bringing out her experience with the cloth merchant who sold it, the dyer who gave it colour, and hold your breath, the policeman who robbed it off her. Brilliant indeed.

The same song was used in 1941 movie Himmat and 1943 movie Aabroo:

Song #11
Mera naam hai Shabnam

Bindu, the vamp again. This time in the 1971 movie Kati Patang starring Rajesh Khanna and Asha Parekh and Prem Chopra. The story was roughly based on I Married a Dead Man, a 1948 novel by American crime writer Cornell Woolrich under the pseudonym William Irish.

This Shakti Samanta movie had, in the beginning, turning down a family marriage proposal with Rajesh Khanna without seeing him at all. It was because she was in love with Prem Chopra. But, soon she became aware of his villainous reality and ran off to a hill station under another name. Bindu knew her reality and as a singer-dancer in a hotel she, through the double entendre in this song, was trying to expose her:

Song #12
Titli udhi udh jo gayi

This song was sung by Sharda Iyengar for the 1966 movie Suraj. The song was enacted by Vyjayanthimala and Mumtaz.

Lyrics are by Shailendra and composition is that of Shankar Jaikishan.

Most of Shailendra songs have very deep meaning. So, for once, he was told to make a simple, children type song. Everyone felt that he delivered a plain song. It dawned upon everyone later that he was talking about the relationship between body and soul!

I have given you only representational songs for each type of double entendre. I hope you liked these.

Wait for Aaj Ka Geet Gyan #2 on a different topic.

Garland of Victory is an apt name,
For someone who conquered every heart.
From the beginning, she courted fame,
And played to perfection each part.
A natyam of our Bharat nation,
Gave her and us total elation.

She made everything in and around her dance,
Her body, her lips, eyes, and hair.
We saw that at every possible instance,
Each performance was unique and rare.
A natyam of our Bharat nation,
Became for her life her own station.

The biggest in the Hindi and Tamil cinema,
She acted easily with them all.
At times, she was seen as enigma,
At mere 5ft 3in, she looked royal and tall.
A natyam of our Bharat nation,
Turned her into the biggest sensation.

She has received the second highest award,
I would have easily given her the highest.
For her talent, dedication, and working hard,
Made her simply the finest and the best.
A natyam of our Bharat nation,
Made her an icon of our generation.

Once in an era one comes across an artiste who not just entertains but influences our lives as never before.  We start searching for newer and better adjectives to describe his or her art. We consider ourselves fortunate to have lived that era with him or her when he or she displayed his or her talent.

There is no other artiste who represents this phenomenon better than the god of songs: Mohammad Rafi.

I am putting up Part V of a post that I published Part IV of on his death anniversary on 31 Jul 23.

I have always maintained that there has been no singer, male or female, like Mohammad Rafi. With his singing, he conveyed to us, what can one do to lyrics and composition simply by singing with his kind of passion, modulation, range, style and aura. Indeed, he made many songs immortal by just singing them. Irrespective of the awards and honours bestowed on other singers, more often than not due to political reasons, many like me feel that Mohammad Rafi was beyond awards including Bharat Ratna. Therefore, to be able to sing the songs earlier sung by Mohammad Rafi is a blessing and honour. This doesn’t, by any stretch of imagination, mean that anyone of us can match his prowess. It only means that we can take lots of joy and pride in the fact that we lived in the era when he was alive and fondly sing his songs to relive their magic. The songs of Part I have been:

1. Aaj purani raahon se koi mujhe awaaz na de.
2. Man tadpat Hari darshan ko aaj.
3. Chhalke teri aankhon se.
4. Hai duniya usi ki zamana usi ka.
5. Paas baitho tabiyat behal jayegi.
6. Tujhe kya sunayun main dilruba.

The songs of Part II have been:

1. Zara sun haseena-e-nazneen.
2. Ek haseen shaam ko dil mera kho gaya.
3. Ajahun na aaye balma sawan beeta jaaye.
4. Jo guzar rahi hai mujhpe use kaise main batayun.
5. Jaan-e-bahar husn tera bemisaal hai.
6. Tum ek baar mohabbat ka imtihaan to lo.

The songs of Part III have been:

1. Aane se uske aaye bahar.
2. Govinda aala re aala.
3. Mittar pyare nu.
4. Nigaahen na phero chale jayenge hum.
5. Aise to na dekho.
6. Mujhe le chalo aaj phir us gali mein.

The songs of Part IV have been:

1. Husn waale tera jawab nahin.
2. Itna hai tumse pyar mujhe.
3. Dil ka bhanwar kare pukaar.
4. Baharon phool barsao.
5. Tum mujhe yun bhula na paoge.
6. Jeet hi lenge baazi hum tum.

Lets start with Part V songs.

Song #25 – Dil ki awaz bhi sun

OP Nayyar

I had promised you a lot more songs from Omkar Prasad Nayyar and here I am again. You will see that the more you see the range of his songs and quality of his compositions, the more you’ll be convinced that he ranks among the greatest composers and music directors that the Hindi films have seen. His being the Music Director of a movie, invariably assured its success. Take this 1968 movie Humsaya from where I have taken this song and you’ll know what I mean:

“Dil Ki Awaaz Bhi Sun” Mohammed Rafi
“Mujhe Mera Pyar De De, Tujhe Aazma Liya Hai” Asha Bhosle, Mohammed Rafi
“Badi Mushkil Se Kaabu Mein Dil-E-Deewana Aaya” Asha Bhosle, Mahendra Kapoor
“Kitna Haseen Hai Yeh Jahan” Asha Bhosle
“O Kanhaiya Kanhaiya” Asha Bhosle
“Woh Haseen Dard De Do” Asha Bhosle
“Aaja Mere Pyar Ke Sahare” Asha Bhosle

Lyricist – Shevan Rizvi

OP Nayyar’s favourite, SH Bihari, was one of the lyricist of the above songs. Hasrat Jaipuri too. However, this song was penned by Shevan Rizvi.
His song in the 1958 Al Hilal was on everyone’s lips. The song was composed by Bulo C Rani: Hamen to loot liya milke husn walon ne. Another song that I can recall is Jaate jaate ek nazar bhar dekh lo.

Mohammad Rafi

Mohammad Rafi was the God of Songs. He sang at levels that were unimaginable by others. In every song, including this, his singing was the fastest way to transport the emotions of the song in you.

Here, he sang for Joy Mukherjee in a movie that was produced and directed by Joy. He had two female leads Mala Sinha and Sharmila Tagore for the simple reason that he had a double role in the movie (Humsaya, that is). In one role he was an Indian Air Force Officer and in the other as his Chinese look-alike. Mala Sinha was the Chinese!

The Lyrics

दिल की आवाज़ भी सुन मेरे फ़साने पे न जा
मेरी नज़रों की तरफ़ देख ज़माने पे न जा

इक नज़र फ़ेर ले जीने की इजाज़त दे दे
रूठने वाले वो पहली सी मुहब्बत दे दे
(इश्क़ मासूम है – २), इलज़ाम लगाने पे न जा

वक़्त इनसान पे ऐसा भी कभी आता है
राह में छोड़के साया भी चला जाता है
(दिन भी निकलेगा कभी – २), रात के आने पे न जा

मैं हक़ीक़त हूँ ये इक रोज़ दिखाऊँगा तुझे
बेगुनाही पे मुहब्बत की रुलाऊँगा तुझे
दाग दिल के नहीं मिटते हैं मिटाने पे न जा

My Own Poetry

Main Bewafa Nahin Hoon

इस से पहले के बेवफाई का मुझे दो तगमा,
अपने एहसास में आने दो वह प्यारा नग़मा;
जो दिल की धड़कन के साज़ से जुबां तक पहुंचा,
कहाँ आगाज़ हुआ था और कहाँ तक पहुंचा.
इस से पहले के बेवफाई का …..

पास रह कर भी तुम दूर चले जाते थे,
मेरी मजबूर तमन्ना को और भी तरसाते थे,
दिल की आवाज़ बन के रह जाती थी सदमा.
इस से पहले के बेवफाई का …

ये दीवार मैंने नहीं तुम्ही ने तो बनायी थी,
कहाँ थी तुम जब पास सिर्फ तन्हाई थी?
मेरी खामोशी उस वक़्त थी मेरे दिल की मेहमान,
इस से पहले के बेवफाई का …

अब हम नहीं, तुम नहीं और हयात भी नहीं,
उल्फत की राहों में सुलगते जज़्बात भी नहीं,
सिसकियाँ भर के खत्म हो गए सब अरमान.
इस से पहले के बेवफाई का …

The Song

Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy: Dil ki awaz bhi sun…

Song #26 – Kaise kategi zindagi tere bagair?

This ghazal by the Ghazal King Madan Mohan is from an album called Tere Bagair that was released in 2009. Some of the songs in this album including this one were sung by Mohammad Rafi. Then there are others that were sung by Lata Mangeshkar, Talat Mahmood and Asha Bhosle. There is one by Kishore Kumar too.

Madan Mohan was born on 25 Jun 1924 at Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, where his father Rai Bahadur Chunilal was working as an Accountant General with the Kurdistan Peshmerga forces. Madan Mohan spent the early years of his life in the Middle East. After 1932, his family returned to their home town of Chakwal, then in Jhelum district of Punjab, British India. He joined the Army as a Second Lieutenant in the year 1943. He served there for two years until end of World War II, when he left the Army and returned to Bombay to pursue his musical interests. In 1946, he joined the All India Radio, Lucknow as Programme Assistant, where he came in contact with various artists such as Ustad Faiyaz Khan, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Begum Akhtar, and Talat Mahmood.

He was very fond of singing, and so in 1947 he got his first chance to record two ghazals penned by Behzad Lucknawi, Aane Laga Hai Koi Nazar Jalwa Gar Mujhe and Is Raaz Ko Duniya Jaanti Hai. Soon after, in 1948 he recorded two more private ghazals penned by Deewan Sharar, Wo Aaye To Mahfil Mein Ithlaate Huye Aaye and Duniya Mujhe Kahti Hai Ke Main Tujhko Bhoolaa Doon. In 1948, he got his first opportunity to sing a film duet Pinjare Mein Bulbul Bole and Mera Chhotasa Dil Dole with Lata Mangeshkar under composer Ghulam Haider (composer) for the film Shaheed (1948 film), though these songs were never released or used in the film. Between 1948 and 1949, he assisted music composers SD Burman for Do Bhai, and Shyam Sundar in Actress and Nirdosh.

As Music Director, he scored his first big break with the film Aankhen in 1950. He was soon to emerge as a music director par excellence especially for ghazals. Indeed, music director OP Nayyar once said about Madan Mohan that two of his ghazals were better than all that OP Nayyar composed. Some of the best songs of Lata Mangeshkar (she fondly called him “Madan Bhaiyya”) were composed by him on the lyrics of Raja Mehdi Ali Khan and Rajinder Krishan.

The song was penned by Rajinder Krishan. It was originally used in the 1968 Pakistani hit movie Jahan Tum Wahan Hum.

Please enjoy my rendition of: Kaise kategi zindagi tere bagair…

कैसे कटेगी ज़िन्दगी
तेरे बगैर तेरे बगैर
पाउँगा हर शै में कमी
तेरे बगैर तेरे बगैर

फूल खिले तोह यु लगे
फूल नहीं यह दाग हैं
तारे फलक पे यु लगे
जैसे बुझे चिराग हैं
आग लगाये चाँदनी
तेरे बगैर तेरे बगैर
कैसे कटेगी ज़िन्दगी

चाँद घटा में छुप गया
सारा जहाँ उदास है
कहती है दिल की धड़कने
तू कही आस-पास है
ा के तड़प रहा है जी
तेरे बगैर तेरे बगैर
पाउँगा हर शै में कमी.

Song #27 – Jaag dil-e-deewana

Here is another song in Raag Bhairavi and close to my heart. Whilst Mohammad Rafi has delved in high pitch in many of his songs, there are songs like this and Dil ka bhanwar kare pukaar that he had sung in restrained pitch. The effect was heavenly.

This is from the 1965 Phani Majumdar movie Oonche Log starring Ashok Kumar, Raaj Kumar, Feroz Khan, Vijaya and Tarun Bose. Phani Majumdar was the same director who gave us the 1962 movie Aarti starring Pradeep Kumar, Meena Kumari and Ashok Kumar with such beautiful songs as: Aapne yaad dilaya to mujhe yaad aaya, Kabhi to milegi kahin to milegi, Ab kyaa misaal doon main tumhare shabab ki, and Baar baar tohe kyaa samjhaaye. He also made Kanyadaan, and the old KL Saigal movie Street Singer.

The movie Oonche Log was the first big hit of the then newcomer Feroze Khan who as Rajnikant fell in love with KR Vijaya as Bimla, made her pregnant, and made her abort the child for fear of getting his father, Ashok Kumar as Major Chandrakant annoyed. This made her commit suicide. This song was enacted by Feroze Khan still not accepting her absence.

This song was penned by Majrooh Sultanpuri, composed by Chitragupta, and sung by Mohammad Rafi.

Please enjoy my rendition of: Jaag dil-e-deewana…

(जाग दिल-ए-दीवाना रुत जागी वस्ल-ए-यार की
बसी हुई ज़ुल्फ़ में आयी है सबा प्यार की ) – २
जाग दिल-ए-दीवाना

(दो दिल के कुछ लेके पयाम आयी है
चाहत के कुछ लेके सलाम आयी है ) – २
दर पे तेरे सुबह खड़ी हुई है दीदार की
जाग दिल-ए-दीवाना …

(एक परी कुछ शाद सी नाशाद सी
बैठी हुई शबनम में तेरी याद की ) – २
भीग रही होगी कहीं कली सी गुलज़ार की
जाग दिल-ए-दीवाना रुत जागी वस्ल-ए-यार की
बसी हुई ज़ुल्फ में आयी है सबा प्यार की
जाग दिल-ए-दीवाना

Song #28 – Chahunga main tujhe saanjh savere

This is one of the best of Laxmikant Pyarelal from the 1964 Satyen Bose movie Dosti, a movie whose songs made L-P one of the most loved music duos in India and a movie whose songs are still fondly remembered even today. Majrooh Sultanpuri penned the lyrics and L-P composed it in the raaga of my place: Pahadi.

Lets start with the movie. Bombay based Rajshri was founded by Tarachand Barjatya in the year 1947. However, Rajshri Productions Pvt Ltd engaged in films production came about in the year 1962. Its first film Arti, in 1962 was highly acclaimed. However, the grand success of its second production Dosti in 1964 included winning the National Award for Best Feature Film and as many as six Filmfare Awards: Best Film, Best Music Director (the debut Filmfare Award for L-P), Best Story: Ban Bhatt, Best Dialogue: Govind Moonis, Best Playback Singer: Mohammad Rafi for the song I am giving you today, and finally Best Lyricist: Majrooh Sultanpuri for the same song.

Dosti was directed by Satyen Bose. It was Sanjay Khan’s debut film and had Sudhir Kumar Sawant, and Sushil Kumar Somaya in lead roles. The film focuses on the friendship between two boys, one blind and the other a cripple.

Laxmikant Pyarelal started off with 1963 movie Parasmani and they made such popular songs for their very first movie that these are fondly remembered even today:

1.	“Hansta Hua Noorani Chehra”	Asad Bhopali	Lata Mangeshkar, Kamal Barot	3:40
2.	“Mere Dil Mein Halki Si”	Asad Bhopali	Lata Mangeshkar	4:56
3.	“Ooi Maa Ooi Maa Yeh Kya Ho Gaya”	Asad Bhopali	Lata Mangeshkar	3:24
4.	“Salamat Raho Salamat Raho”	Indeevar	Mohammad Rafi	5:57
5.	“Woh Jab Yaad Aaye”	Asad Bhopali	Mohammad Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar	4:43
6.	“Chori Chori Jo Tumse Mili”	Faruk Kaiser	Mukesh, Lata Mangeshkar	4:01

The duo that started off so outstandingly well in their very first movie had indeed great future ahead for them. Dosti was only their sixth movie (they did a total of 635 movies between 1963 to 1998) after Parasmani (1963), Harishchandra Taramati (1963), Sati Savitri (1964), Sant Gyaneshwar (1964) and Mr X in Bombay (1964). All these movies too had excellent and memorable songs; eg, Main ek nanha sa main ek chhota sa bachcha hoon and Suraj re jalte rehna from Harishchandra Taramati; Tum gagan ke chandrama ho main dhara ki dhool hoon, Jeevan dor tumhi sang bandhi, Sakhi ri pi ka naam naam na poochho, and Itni jaldi kya hai gori saajan ke sang jaane ki from Sati Savitri; Jaago re prabhat aaya, Jyot se jyot jalaate chalo, and Ek do teen chaar bhaiya bano hoshiyar from Sant Gyaneshwar; Mere mehboob qyaamat hogi, Khoobsurat haseena jaan-e-jaan jaan-e-mann, Chali re chali re gori paniya bharan ko, and Julmi hamaare saanwariya ho Raam from Mr X In Bombay.

The 1964 movie Dosti was a landmark for Laxmikant Pyarelal as the movie’s songs enabled them to receive their first Filmfare Award for Best Music Director. Out of the six songs of the movie, Mohammad Rafi sang six and Lata Mangeshkar sang one. These two playback singers, the best in their fields, stayed with Laxmikant Pyarelal till the end and even sang for them in low budget movies.

Here are the iconic songs that Majrooh Sultanpuri, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar made together for Dosti:

1.	“Chahoonga Main Tujhe Saanj Savere”	Mohammad Rafi	04:55
2.	“Meri Dosti Mera Pyar”	Mohammad Rafi	04:23
3.	“Rahi Manwa Dukh Ki Chinta”	Mohammad Rafi	04:07
4.	“Mera To Jo Bhi Kadam”	Mohammad Rafi	04:03
5.	“Gudiya Humse Roothi Rahogi Kab Tak Na Hasogi”	Lata Mangeshkar	03:31
6.	“Jaanewalo Zara”	Mohammad Rafi	04:06

Lastly, before we take up the song, lets for a minute talk about the lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri.

Majrooh was a contemporary of my favourite: Shakeel Badayuni.

Majrooh Sultanpuri was born on 01 Oct 1919 as Asrar ul Hassan Khan in a Tarin Pashtun family, in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh. His father was an officer in the police department, but, preferred to send his son for traditional madrasa (Urdu school) rather than provide him with English schooling.

He tried his hand at being a quack until he was noticed in a mushaira in Sultanpur.

He was a disciple of the great Urdu poet Jigar Moradabadi. When he visited Bombay in 1945 to participate in a mushaira, the director Abdul Rashid Kardar noticed him and invited him to write for the movies. Majrooh turned it down as he looked down upon movies! He was persuaded through his mentor Jigar Moradabadi and then there was no turning back.

Many traditionalists of the Urdu literature, however, felt that Majrooh sold his soul to the Hindi films and that he could have emerged a great poet in the likeness of Ghalib and Jigar.

The takhalus Majrooh means “injured” or “wounded”.

Majrooh was awarded, in 1993, the highest award – Dadasaheb Phalke award – for his lifetime contribution towards lyrics and poetry. He was the first lyricist ever to be given that award. For the film Dosti, that made Laxmikant Pyarelal famous, he was awarded the Filmfare Best Lyricist Award for the song: Chahunga main tujhe saanjh savere.

For someone who didn’t want to join Hindi movies, Majrooh emerged as a natural lyricist, very popular, very romantic and enchanting.

Laxmikant Pyarelal and Majrooh Sultanpuri paired in a number of movies to make songs: Dosti (1964), Mere Lal (1966), Dillagi (1966), Shagird (1967), Patthar Ke Sanam (1967), Duniya Nachegi (1967), Mere Hamdam Mere Dost (1968), Wapas (1969), Pyasi Sham (1969), Meri Bhabhi (1969), Dharti Kahe Pukar Ke (1969), Abhinetri (1970), Jal Bin Machli Nritya Bin Bijli (1971), Bikhre Moti (1971), Ek Nazar (1972), Anokhi Ada (1973), Imtihaan (1974), Mere Sajana (1975), Anari (1975), Aaj Ka Mahatma (1976), Dus Numbri (1976), Master Dada (1977), Kali Raat (1977), Parvarish (1977), Swan Ke Geet (1978), Naach Utha Sansar (1978), Phaansi (1978), Prayaschit (1979), Ladies Tailor (1981), Ek Aur Ek Gyarah (1981), Watan Ke Rakhwale (1987), Janam Janam (1988), Humshakal (1992), Badi Bahen (1993), West is West (2011) and Soundtrack (2011).

These movies that Majrooh and LP did together produced some really enchanting songs such as Bade miyan deewane, Dil wil pyar wyar, Kanha kanha aan padhi, Woh hain zara khafa khafa, Ruk ja aye hawa, and Duniya pagal hai ya main deewana (all from 1967 movie Shagird); Koi nahin hai phir bhi hai mujhako, Tauba ye matwali chaal, Mehboob mere, and Patthar ke sanam (all from 1967 movie Patthar Ke Sanam); Chhalkaye jaam, Chalo sajna jahan taq, Na jaa kahin ab na jaa, Allah ye ada kaisi, Hui shaam unka khyaal aa gaya, Hamen to ho gaya hai pyaar, and Tum jao kahin (all from 1968 movie Mere Hamdam Mere Dost); and Ye kaisa gham sajna and Yaaro mera saath nibhao (both from 1969 movie Pyasi Sham).

Before we take up the song, let me tell you briefly as to how it came about in the movie. Ramu (Sushil Kumar) is a cripple and good at playing harmonica. Thrown out of his home, crippled and penniless, he roams around the streets of Mumbai. Here he comes across Mohan (Sudhir Kumar), a boy who is blind and has a similar tale of woe. Mohan is a singer. Both meet on the streets of Bombay and form a good pair. One day, Ramu gets into trouble for no fault of his own and is bailed out on the condition that he would keep no contact with Mohan. That’s how this song came about.

Please enjoy Mohammad Rafi sing a composition of Laxmikant Pyarelal on the lyrics of Majrooh Sultanpuri, a song from the 1964 Satyen Bose movie Dosti: Chahunga main tujhe saanjh savere….

चाहूँगा मैं तुझे साँझ सवेरे
फिर भी कभी अब नाम को तेरे
आवाज़ मैं न दूँगा, आवाज़ मैं न दूँगा

देख मुझे सब है पता
सुनता है तू मन की सदा (२)
मितवा …
मेरे यार तुझको बार बार
आवाज़ मैं न दूँगा, आवाज़ मैं न दूँगा
चाहूँगा मैं तुझे साँझ सवेरे

दर्द भी तू चैन भी तू
दरस भी तू नैन भी तू
मितवा …
मेरे यार तुझको बार बार
आवाज़ मैं न दूँगा, आवाज़ मैं न दूँगा

Song #29 – Saathi haath badhana

Alright, as promised, this is another composition of OP Nayyar. He composed this on the lyrics of Sahir Ludhianvi for the 1957 movie BR Chopra Naya Daur starring Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala.

The movie had some really popular songs of that era:

1. “Aana Hai To Aa” – Mohammed Rafi
2. “Dil Leke Daga Denge” – Mohammed Rafi
3. “Main Bambai Ka Babu” – Mohammed Rafi
4. “Yeh Desh Hai Veer Jawanon Ka, Albelon Ka” – Mohammed Rafi, S. Balbir
5. “Mangke Saath Tumhara, Maine Mang Liya Sansar” – Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle
6. “Uden Jab Jab Zulfen Teri, Kunwariyon Ka Dil Machle” – Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle
7. “Sathi Hath Badhana, Sathi Hath Badhana” – Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle
8. “Reshmi Salwar, Kurta Jaali Ka” – Shamshad Begum, Asha Bhosle

I had my sister, Suman Saxena, visiting me in Kandaghat. She is a very fine, devoted, and popular singer. We sang this duet together that was originally sung by Mohammad Rafi and Asha Bhosle:

साथी हाथ बढ़ाना, साथी हाथ बढ़ाना
एक अकेला थक जायेगा मिल कर बोझ उठाना
साथी हाथ बढ़ाना …

१) हम मेहनतवालों ने जब भी मिलकर कदम बढ़ाया
सागर ने रस्ता छोड़ा परबत ने शीश झुकाया
फ़ौलादी हैं सीने अपने फ़ौलादी हैं बाहें
हम चाहें तो पैदा करदें, चट्टानों में राहें, साथी …

२) मेहनत अपनी लेख की रखना मेहनत से क्या डरना
कल गैरों की खातिर की अब अपनी खातिर करना
अपना दुख भी एक है साथी अपना सुख भी एक
अपनी मंजिल सच की मंजिल अपना रस्ता नेक, साथी …

३) एक से एक मिले तो कतरा बन जाता है दरिया
एक से एक मिले तो ज़र्रा बन जाता है सेहरा
एक से एक मिले तो राई बन सकती है परबत
एक से एक मिले तो इन्सान बस में कर ले किस्मत, साथी …

४) माटी से हम लाल निकालें मोती लाएं जल से
जो कुछ इस दुनिया में बना है बना हमारे बल से
कब तक मेहनत के पैरों में ये दौलत की ज़ंज़ीरें
हाथ बढ़ाकर छीन लो अपने सपनों की तस्वीरें, साथी …

Song #30 – Aaja re aa zara

Love In Tokyo was the name of this 1966 movie by Pramod Chakravorty. It had Joy Mukherjee and Asha Parekh in the lead roles.

There were eight excellent songs in the movie that were composed by the best duo ever in Hindi movies: Shankar Jaikishan. One was penned by Shailendra: Koi matwala aaya mere dwaare and the others by Hasrat Jaipuri: Sayonara sayonara that became very popular, and Mujhe tum mil gaye hamdam. These were all sung by Lata.  Then there was O mere shah-e-khuba sung by Lata and Rafi. The other three were solos by Rafi: Aaja re aa zara, Love in Tokyo (Le gayi dil gudiya Japan ki), and Main tere pyar ka bimar.

This is a beautiful and sensuous number by Mohammad Rafi pictured on Joy Mukherjee and Asha Parekh.

Please enjoy my rendition of: Aaja re aa zara…

ये ज़िंदगी की महफ़िल, महफ़िल में हम अकेले
दामन को कोई थामे, ज़ुल्फ़ों से कोई खेले

आ जा रे आ ज़रा, लहरा के आ ज़रा
आँखों से दिल में समा
आ जा रे आ ज़रा …

देख फ़िज़ा में रंग भरा है
मेरे जिगर का ज़ख़्म हरा है
सीने से मेरे सर को लगा दे
हाथों में तेरे दिल की दवा है
आ जा रे आ ज़रा …

तेरे भी दिल में आग लगी है
मेरे भी दिल में आग लगी है
दोनों तरफ़ है एक सी हालत
दोनों दिलों पर बिजली गिरी है
आ जा रे आ ज़रा …

अपना सुलगना किसको दिखाऊँ
साँसों के तूफ़ाँ कैसे छुपाऊँ
आँखें क्या क्या देख रहीं हैं
दिल पे जो गुज़री कैसे बताऊँ
आ जा रे आ ज़रा …

In the fourth part, once again, I have given you a wide range of songs of the greatest singer Mohammad Rafi. I hope you liked my selection.

So as not to make the post longer than 30 minutes of your listening pleasure, I give you only six songs at a time.

Please await songs of Part VI.

 

No other music director has ruled the music scene in Hindi movies as much as Shankar-Jaikishan. Indeed, the name of Shankar-Jaikishan is the most popular name among Hindi music directors.

After it made its debut in Raj Kapoor’s 1949 movie Barsaat, the name Shankar-Jaikishan became synonymous with popular tunes. From the year 1957, when Shankar-Jaikishan won its first Filmfare Award for the movie Chori Chori (that is, eight years after its debut), and until 1973 when it won its last Filmfare Award for the movie Imaan, it was nominated as many times as eighteen for the award and won half the times. The best way to appreciate the excellence of its music is to have a look at some of the movies for which Shankar-Jaikishan missed getting the award though nominated: 1962 movie Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behati Hai, 1964 movie Dil Ek Mandir, 1965 movie Sangam, 1966 movie Arzoo, and 1972 movie Andaz.

Shankar Jaikishan are called by various epithets. However, after their death (Jaikishan died in 1971 and Shankar in 1987), the most befitting epithet for them has been ‘Music Director of the Millennium’.

I became fond of the duo from my teens. The duo’s songs were on everyone’s lips including the one that was voted as the most popular song of Hindi movies: Baharo phool barsao mera mehboob aaya hai.

The duo was imaginative, innovative, and capable of going beyond the traditional.  As an example, even though Naushad Ali was credited with introducing raag based songs in Hindi movies, S-J ended up using raagas to make the most popular tunes in Hindi movies. Jaikishan used Bhairavi to compose many of his songs and Shankar became adept at composing based on Shivaranjani. The traditionalists on classical music would have been amazed at how the duo used the raagas. An apt example is the Brahmachari song Dil ke jharokhe mein tujhko bithakar based on Shivaranjani.

The lyricists who penned most of their songs were Shailendra and Shankar Jaikishan. Unlike S-J who waited for eight years to get its first Filmfare Award, Shailendra won the very first Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist for the 1958 Bimal Roy movie Yahudi’s song: Yeh mera diwanapan hai. He won the next one too for the 1959 movie Anari song: Sab kuchh seekha hamne. Later, he won once again for the 1968 movie Brahmachari song: Main gaoon tum so jao.

Shailendra penned lyrics that took you deep. Indeed, many fans are still trying to find true meaning of some of the lyrics that he wrote; eg, Main nadiya phir bhi main pyaasi.

Hasrat Jaipuri, on the other hand, excelled in romantic songs. He is, justifiably, called Shehanshah of Rumaniyat (Emperor of Romance). So, if Raj Kapoor had to sing his heart out to Vyjayanthimala in the Ooty lake in the movie Sangam with O mehbooba, O mehbooba tere dil ke paas hi hai meri manzil-e-maqsud, it has to be Hasrat Jaipuri. If, Shammi Kapoor has to woo Sadhana with Is rang badalti duniya mein insaan ki niyat theek nahin, it has to be Hasrat. And, if it has to be Dharmendra making his love known to Vyjayanthimala with Main kahin kavi na ban jaayun, it has to be janaab Hasrat ji.

When I started singing to my wife, Lyn, I found that Hasrat Jaipuri’s songs are best suited to sing to her.

So, here I am with the first part of six songs that I sang for her. I have discovered that in a blog, six is the ideal number that fans would want to listen to.

Song #1
Jo guzar rahi hai mujh par

After learning a bit of singing (I am still learning), this was the first of HJ-SJ-Rafi songs that I sang.

The occasion was the Wedding Anniversary of Lyn and I two years ago: 12 Dec 21. Though sung in a different context in the movie, I found the lyrics eminently suitable for my mixed feelings about her being in severe Alzheimer’s condition in the midst of COVID when we were by ourselves for more than an year.

This is from the 1968 Vinod Kumar movie Mere Huzoor starring Raaj Kumar as Nawab Salim, Mala Sinha as Sultanat and Jeetendra as Akhtar Hussain Akhtar.

Salim had been in love with Sultanat. However, Akhtar had earlier saved the life of Salim and the latter had invited him to his palatial bungalow in Lucknow. Akhtar, in the train journey to Lucknow, sees and falls in love with Sultanat, a co-passenger.

This song was sung by Salim when Akhtar and Sultanat break the news about their impending wedding.

I found the lyrics, penned by Hasrat Jaipuri, as most apt for my wife, Lyn, being in advanced state of Alzheimer’s whilst celebrating our wedding anniversary last year.

Here are the lyrics:

जो गुज़र रही है मुझ पर उसे कैसे मैं बताऊँ -२
वो ख़ुशी मिली है मुझको मैं ख़ुशी से मर न जाऊँ -२

मेरे दिल की धड़कनों का ये सलाम तुमको पहुँचे
मैं तुम्हारा हमनशीं हूँ ये पयाम तुमको पहुँचे
उसे बन्दगी मैं समझूँ जो तुम्हारे काम आऊँ
वो ख़ुशी मिली है …

मेरे दिल की महफ़िलों में वो मुक़ाम है तुम्हारा
के ख़ुदा के बाद लब पर बस नाम है तुम्हारा
मेरी आरज़ू यही है मैं तुम्हारे गीत गाऊँ
वो ख़ुशी मिली है …

मेरी ज़िन्दगी में हमदम कभी ग़म न तू उठाना
कभी आएँ जो अँधेरे मुझे प्यार से बुलाना
मैं चिराग़ हूँ वफ़ा का मैं अँधेरे जगमगाऊँ
वो ख़ुशी मिली है …

Please enjoy my rendition of: Jo guzr rahi hai mujhpe use kaise main batayun…

Song #2
Chhalke teri aankhon se

This is from the 1965 Ramanand Sagar movie Arzoo starring Rajendra Kumar and Sadhana. Shankar Jaikishan and Hasrat created very popular songs for the movie such as:

1. Ae nargis-e-mastana
2. Bedardi balma tujhako
3. Aji rooth kar ab kahan jayiyega
4. Ai phoolon ki rani baharon ki malika.

This was perhaps the most popular:

छलके तेरी आँखों से शराब और ज़ियादा – ३
खिलते रहें होंठों के गुलाब और ज़ियादा – २

क्या बात है जाने तेरी महफ़िल में सितमगर – ३
धड़के है दिल-ए-खाना-खराब और ज़ियादा – २

इस दिल में अभी और भी ज़ख़्मों की जगह है – ३
अबरू की कटारी को दो आब और ज़ियादा

तू इश्क़ के तूफ़ान को बाँहों में जकड़ ले – २
अल्लाह करे ज़ोर-ए-शबाब और ज़ियादा
खिलते रहे होठों के गुलाब और ज़ियादा

Please enjoy: Chhalke teri aankhon se…

Song #3
Itna hai tumse pyar mujhe

This too I sang to Lyn on our wedding anniversary, 24 Mar 22.

This song is rated as one of the most popular duets in Hindi movies. It was sung by Rajendra Kumar and Vyjayanthimala.

It is from the 1966 T Prakash Rao movie Suraj starring the Jubilee hero Rajendra Kumar and Vyjayanthimala.

It was penned by Hasrat Jaipuri and composed by Shankar Jaikishan.

Here are the lyrics:

र: इतना है तुमसे प्यार मुझे मेरे राज़दार
जितने के आस्मान पर तारे हैं बेशुमार

सु: इत्नना है तुमसे प्यार मुझे मेरे राज़दार
जितने के इस ज़मीन पर ज़र्रे हैं बेशुमार

तेरे सिवा किसी को न लाया निगाह में
लाखों हसीन आये जवानी कि राह में
सदियों से कर रहा था तुम्हारा हि इंतज़ार
इतना है तुमसे …

मैं ने भी तेरे वास्ते कितने जनम लिये
तब दिल के रास्तों पे जले प्यार के दिये
एक दिन ज़रूर पाउंगी इतना था ऐतबार
इतना है तुमसे …

बेख़ुद बना दिया मुझे तेरे सलाम ने
जन्नत अगर मिले तो न लूं तेरे सामने
ये प्यार वो नशा है के जिसका नहीं उतार
इतना है तुमसे …

Please enjoy my rendition of: Itna hai tumse pyar mujhe…

Song #4
Baharo phool barsao

This is the second song from the 1966 T Prakash Rao movie Suraj starring Rajendra Kumar and Vyjayanthimala.

This was rated in a BBC radio poll in 2013 poll as the popular song in Hindi movies. It also happens to be one of the most popular songs of Rafi Sahib.

It was, indeed, a pleasure singing it:

बहारों फूल बरसाओ
मेरा महबूब आया है – (२)
हवाओं रागिनी गाओ
मेरा महबूब आया है – (२)

ओ लाली फूल की मेंहँदी लगा इन गोरे हाथों में
उतर आ ऐ घटा काजल, लगा इन प्यारी आँखों में
सितारों माँग भर जाओ
मेरा महबूब आया है – (२)

नज़ारों हर तरफ़ अब तान दो इक नूर की चादर
बडा शर्मीला दिलबर है, चला जाये न शरमा कर
ज़रा तुम दिल को बहलाओ
मेरा महबूब आया है – (२)

सजाई है जवाँ कलियों ने अब ये सेज उल्फ़त की
इन्हें मालूम था आएगी इक दिन ऋतु मुहब्बत की
फ़िज़ाओं रंग बिखराओ
मेरा महबूब आया है – (२)
बहारों …

Song #5
Tum mujhe youn bhula na paoge

I am so impressed with this song that I started my Raaga Based Song of the Day series with this song. The song has the most powerful of Hasrat Jaipuri’s lyrics. This includes both the Mohammad Rafi version and Lata Mangeshkar version.

These were composed by Shankar Jaikishan in Raag Jhinjhoti, Tal Kaherava.

Raag Jhinjhoti is a raag named after an apsara. Jhinjhoti is a Raag in Khamaj Thaat. In the modern Thaat system that was created by Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande (1860–1936), a Thaat is a mode in Hindustani classical music and is a basis for classifying Raagas. Bhatkhande visited a number of gharanas (ad-hoc schools that followed guru-shishya sytem (teacher-pupil system) for passing knowledge down the generations. Interestingly, these gharanas were not open to all and sundry and most often than not a shishya had to prove that he was worthy of being taken as a shishya) (You must listen to Baiju Bawra’s ‘Man tadpat Hari darsan ko aaj‘ (Raag Malkauns, Tal Tintal) to know how a shishya had to prove his single-minded deication).

Surprisingly, the word Raaga doesn’t mean music but colour or dye or shade. But if you think of colours signifying moods, Raagas in music do exactly that. For example, if the colour yellow is the colour of love and red of passion, each one of the raagas is based on mood, time of the day and even season. An easy anology is the Hindi saying: सावन के अंधे को हरा ही हरा दिखाई देता है I You will instantly know that Sawan (Monsoon) is being used as a season, colour and mood.

According to Pandit Bhatkhande, each one of the raagas is based on one thaat (mode) or the other. Although his research with gharanas made him short-list 32 thaats, he finally pruned the list to just ten thaats on which most raagas are based. These are: Bilawal, Kalyan, Khamaj, Bhairav, Poorvi, Marwa, Kafi, Asavari, Bhairavi and Todi. And that’s why I mentioned that Jhinjhoti belongs to Khamaj Thaat.

Almost all songs in Hindi movies based on this raag have an element of self-pity in them, eg, Ghungru ki tarah bajta hi raha hoon main, Koi hamdam na raha, Mere mehboob tujhe, Mose chhal kiye jaaye, and my second most favourite Lata song: Jaa jaa re jaa balamwa from Basant Bahar.

The 1970 movie Pagla Kahin Ka was the most challenging job taken up by Shammi Kapoor. He was a mentally deranged person but as the movie progressed, one was left wondering at the sick mentality of those ostensibly sound in body and mind.

Of course the song Tum mujhe yun bhula na paoge is one of the best of Mohammad Rafi.

I found the lyrics have yet another meaning when I sing it to my wife, Lyn, suffering from Alzheimer’s.

Please enjoy my own singing of Mohammad Rafi version of: Tum mujhe youn bhula na paoge…

तुम मुझे यूँ भुला ना पाओगे
हाँ तुम मुझे यूँ भुला ना पाओगे
जब कभी भी सुनोगे गीत मेरे
संग संग तुम भी गुनगुनाओगे
हाँ तुम मुझे यूँ भुला ना पाओगे
हो तुम मुझे यूँ …

(वो बहारें वो चांदनी रातें
हमने की थी जो प्यार की बातें ) – २
उन नज़ारों की याद आएगी
जब खयालों में मुझको लाओगे
हाँ तुम मुझे यूँ भुला ना पाओगे
हो तुम मुझे यूँ …

(मेरे हाथों में तेरा चेहरा था
जैसे कोई गुलाब होता है ) – २
और सहारा लिया था बाहों का
वो शाम किस तरह भुलाओगे
हाँ तुम मुझे यूँ भुला ना पाओगे
हो तुम मुझे यूँ …

(मुझको देखे बिना क़रार ना था
एक ऐसा भी दौर गुज़रा है ) – २
झूठ मानूँ तो पूछलो दिल से
मैं कहूंगा तो रूठ जाओगे
हाँ तुम मुझे यूं भुला ना पाओगे

जब कभी भी …

Song #6
Ajahun na aaye balma

This was composed by Shankar Jaikishan in Raag Madhuvanti, Tal Kaherava.

The song is from 1964 Hrishikesh Mukherjee movie Saanjh Aur Savera that had Guru Dutt and Meena Kumari in lead roles. The song is however pictured on Mehmood and Shubha Khote with Mohammad Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur singing for them.

Music Directors loved to compose for Mehmood and Shubha Khote and some really fine classical Raaga based songs are pictured on them. In the same year, for the 1964 movie Ziddi that is, SD Burman composed a song for them which is considered the purest example of Darbari Kanada in Hindi movies; the song was sung by Manna Dey and is: Pyaar ki aag mein tan badan jal gaya.

Madhuvanti belongs to Todi Thaat. As you must have guessed it Madhu means honey and the raag is as sweet as honey in sringar ras depicting love and romance. It is an evening raag like Yaman aur Kalyan.

About Taal Kaherava I have already told you. But since we are in early stages of our learning here it is again:

Kaherava is most popular 8 beat Tal in Hindustani music, with two vibhags of four matra each, first vibhag being clap, second being wave (khali), which makes it:

Clap, 2, 3, 4, wave, 2, 3, 4. Theka is 

Dhaa Ge Naa Tee Naa Ka Dhin Naa.

What about other popular songs in Raag Madhuvanti? Madan Mohan composed Rasm e ulfat ko nibhayen to nibhayen kaise in the same Raag and Taal.

Please enjoy in Raag Madhuvanti, Tal Kaherava, Mohammad Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur sing a composition of Shankar Jaikishan, penned by the great Hasrat Jaipuri and picturized on Mehmood and Shubha Khote: Ajahun na aaye balma sawan beeta jaaye..

अजहुँ ना आए बालमा, सावन बीता जाए
हाय रे सावन बीता जाए

नींद भी अंखियन द्वार न आए
तोसे मिलन की आस भी जाए
आई बहार खिले फुलवा
मोरे सपने कौन सजाए
आ … अजहुं …

चांद को बदरा गरवा लगाए
और भी मोरे मन ललचाए
यार हसीन गले लग जा
मोरी उम्र गुज़रती जाए
आ … अजहुं …

I hope you liked my choice of six songs of Hasrat Jaipuri that I sang to my wife, Lyn in the Part I of this post.

Please await songs of Part II.

I hope you enjoyed my selection and my own singing of Part I of Raaga Based Songs. I gave you six of them.

Before I give you another six in this part, let me recapitulate something simple about raaga based songs:

In the year 1913, Dadasaheb Phalke produced and directed a Hindi movie: Raja Harishchandra. It was a silent movie. Eighteen years later, Ardeshir Irani made the first Hindi movie with sound: Alam Ara. Now that we had sound in the movies, we soon introduced songs. But, these movies had actors singing live on the sets. Playback singing was introduced for the first time in Nitin Bose’s 1935 movie Dhoop Chhaon by RC Boral and Pankaj Mullick.

This opened floodgates for actors just lip-syncing and enacting songs. Tunes of songs were to be made in such a way so that the viewers would love them. Compositions of songs were not new to us; these were only to be introduced in the film’s story. Initially it was much easier as most singing and dancing were for pleasing the gods. Compositions of songs are arrangements of notes; the rhythm is provided by Tal.

For many centuries before the advent of movies with sounds, we devised raagas (classical compositions) for singing hymns. Soon, the music directors discovered that these classical compositions could be used for songs in the movies too. For example, the ninth Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Teg Bahadur, devised a raaga called Jaijaiwanti. In 1957, Madan Mohan composed a song for the farcical comedy: Dekh Kabira Roya in this raag: Bairan ho gayi raina that was sung by Manna Dey.

I started learning singing only about two years ago. The purpose was to sing to my wife Lyn (short for Marilyn) suffering from Alzheimer’s. Since raaga based songs fascinated me, I tried to learn these too.

Here, I give you six more such songs.

Song #7
Tum mujhe youn bhula na paoge
Raag Jhinjhoti, Tal Kaherava

I am so fond of this song that I started my Raaga Based Song of the Day series with this song.

Raag Jhinjhoti is a raag named after an apsara. Jhinjhoti is a Raag in Khamaj Thaat. In the modern Thaat system that was created by Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande (1860–1936), a Thaat is a mode in Hindustani classical music and is a basis for classifying Raagas. Bhatkhande visited a number of gharanas (ad-hoc schools that followed guru-shishya sytem (teacher-pupil system) for passing knowledge down the generations. Interestingly, these gharanas were not open to all and sundry and most often than not a shishya had to prove that he was worthy of being taken as a shishya) (You must listen to Baiju Bawra’s ‘Man tadpat Hari darsan ko aaj‘ (Raag Malkauns, Tal Tintal) to know how a shishya had to prove his single-minded deication).

Almost all songs in Hindi movies based on this raag have an element of self-pity in them, eg, Ghungru ki tarah bajta hi raha hoon main, Koi hamdam na raha, Mere mehboob tujhe, Mose chhal kiye jaaye, and my second most favourite Lata song: Jaa jaa re jaa balamwa from Basant Bahar.

The Jati of the raag is Shadhav – Sampoorna Vakra. Nishad is Varjya in Aaroh, Nishad is Komal in Avroh. Rest all Shuddha Swaras. Jhinjhoti is normally to be sung in the second prahar of the night, ie, between 9 PM to midnight.

Kaherava (also written as Kherwa, Kherawa and Kaherawa) is the most popular 8 beat Tal in Hindustani music, with two vibhags of four matra each, first vibhag being clap, second being wave (khali), which makes it:

Clap, 2, 3, 4, wave, 2, 3, 4.

Theka is:

Dhaa Ge Naa Tee Naa Ka Dhin Naa.

The 1970 movie Pagla Kahin Ka was the most challenging role taken up by Shammi Kapoor. He was a mentally deranged person but as the movie progressed, one was left wondering at the sick mentality of those ostensibly sound in body and mind.

Of course the song Tum mujhe yun bhula na paoge is one of the best of Mohammad Rafi. This song was sung separately by Lata Mangeshkar, too. However, here, I am giving you my rendition of the Rafi version. Since my wife, Lyn, has lost her memory due to Alzheimer’s, my singing this song to her has a new meaning.

Please enjoy: Tum mujhe youn bhula na paoge…

तुम मुझे यूँ भुला ना पाओगे
हाँ तुम मुझे यूँ भुला ना पाओगे
जब कभी भी सुनोगे गीत मेरे
संग संग तुम भी गुनगुनाओगे
हाँ तुम मुझे यूँ भुला ना पाओगे
हो तुम मुझे यूँ …

(वो बहारें वो चांदनी रातें
हमने की थी जो प्यार की बातें ) – २
उन नज़ारों की याद आएगी
जब खयालों में मुझको लाओगे
हाँ तुम मुझे यूँ भुला ना पाओगे
हो तुम मुझे यूँ …

(मेरे हाथों में तेरा चेहरा था
जैसे कोई गुलाब होता है ) – २
और सहारा लिया था बाहों का
वो शाम किस तरह भुलाओगे
हाँ तुम मुझे यूँ भुला ना पाओगे
हो तुम मुझे यूँ …

(मुझको देखे बिना क़रार ना था
एक ऐसा भी दौर गुज़रा है ) – २
झूठ मानूँ तो पूछलो दिल से
मैं कहूंगा तो रूठ जाओगे
हाँ तुम मुझे यूं भुला ना पाओगे

जब कभी भी …

Song #8
Ajahun na aaye balma
Raag Madhuvanti, Taal Kaherava

The song is from 1964 Hrishikesh Mukherjee movie Saanjh Aur Savera that had Guru Dutt and Meena Kumari in lead roles. The song is however pictured on Mehmood and Shubha Khote with Mohammad Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur singing for them.

Music Directors loved to compose for Mehmood and Shubha Khote and some really fine classical Raaga based songs are pictured on them. In the same year, for the 1964 movie Ziddi that is, SD Burman composed a song for them which is considered the purest example of Darbari Kanada in Hindi movies; the song was sung by Manna Dey and is: Pyaar ki aag mein tan badan jal gaya.

Madhuvanti belongs to Todi Thaat. As you must have guessed it Madhu means honey and the raag is as sweet as honey in sringar ras depicting love and romance. It is an evening raag like Yaman aur Kalyan.

The Jati of the raag is Audhav – Sampoorna. Rishabh and Dhaivat are Varjya in Aaroh, Gandhar is Komal, Madhyam is Teevra. Rest All Shuddha Swaras.

About Taal Kaherava I have already told you.

Please enjoy my rendition in Raag Madhuvanti, Tal Kaherava, of a Mohammad Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur song, a composition of Shankar Jaikishan, penned by the great Hasrat Jaipuri and picturized on Mehmood and Shubha Khote: Ajahun na aaye balma sawan beeta jaaye…

अजहुँ ना आए बालमा, सावन बीता जाए
हाय रे सावन बीता जाए

नींद भी अंखियन द्वार न आए
तोसे मिलन की आस भी जाए
आई बहार खिले फुलवा
मोरे सपने कौन सजाए
आ … अजहुं …

चांद को बदरा गरवा लगाए
और भी मोरे मन ललचाए
यार हसीन गले लग जा
मोरी उम्र गुज़रती जाए
आ … अजहुं …

Song #9
Meri yaad mein tum na aansu bahana
Raag Jaunpuri, Tal Kaherava

Jaunpuri is one of the raagas that have been named after names of regions such as Pahadi (my place), Marwa, and Bhupali. 

Guess what? Jaunpuri (name of the place in Saurashtra as well as in Uttar Pradesh) belongs to the Asavari Thaat. Many experts feel that Jaunpuri is the same as Shuddha Rishab Asavari. What are the attributes of Asavari Thaat? It is full of tyaag (sacrifice) and renunciation and pathos. It is a late morning raaga.

Who was the first one to devise this raaga? Well, the raaga has been attributed to Amir Khusrow in the reign of Emperor Akbar. One of the benefits of Raag Jaunpuri is believed to be a cure from headache (as claimed by Pandit Jasraj).

The Jati of Raag Jaunpuri is Shadhav – Sampoorna. Gandhar is Varjya in Aaroh. Gandhar, Dhaivat and Nishad Komal. Rest all Shuddha Swaras. Now, in Raag Asavari, both Gandhar and Nishad are Varjya in Aaroh. Many, therefore, believe that Meri yaad mein tum na aansu bahana is closer to Asavari than to Jaunpuri.

This song is from the 1951 JBH Wadia movie Madhosh starring Manhar Desai, Meena Kumari, Usha Kiran and Rajan. It was penned by Raja Mehdi Ali Khan and composed by Madan Mohan.

Please enjoy: Meri yaad mein tum na aansu bahana…

मेरी याद में तुम न आँसू बहाना
न जी को जलाना, मुझे भूल जाना
समझना के था एक सपना सुहाना
वो गुज़रा ज़माना, मुझे भूल जाना
मेरी याद में…

जुदा मेरी मँज़िल, जुदा तेरी राहें -२
मिलेंगी न अब तेरी-मेरी निगाहें
मुझे तेरी दुनिया से है दूर जाना
मेरी याद में…

ये रो-रो के कह्ता है टूटा हुआ दिल -२
नहीं हूँ मैं तेरी मोहब्बत के काबिल
मेरा नाम तक अपने लब पे न लाना
न जी को जलाना, मुझे भूल जाना
मेरी याद में…

Song #10
Jaane kya dhoondati rehati hain
Raag Pahadi, Tal Dadra

Today’s song is from the 1961 Ramesh Saigal movie Shola Aur Shabnam starring Dharmendra and Tarla Mehta together with M Rajan, Abhi Bhattacharya and Vijayalaxmi. Its lyrics are by Kaifi Azmi that have been composed by Khayyam and sung by Mohammad Rafi.

It is amongst the hundred movies or so that I watched on the net, fascinated by its songs and for once, I was not disappointed though, in the second half, the movie does drag on a bit; which was the case with most movies of that era.

The story is about Dharmendra and Tarla being childhood friends, very close and in love. They grow up after having been separated at childhood. He is poor and his friend M Rajan gives him a much-needed job in his timber business. M Rajan is engaged to be married to Tarla. Dharmendra doesn’t recognise Tarla who has grown up. His friend M Rajan asks him to sing when they meet and he sings their childhood favourite. She joins in the second stanza.

Another song from the movie became very popular: Jaane kya dhoondati rehati hain ye aankhen mujh mein, which was Dharmendra’s way of telling Talrla that he couldn’t possibly return to their loving days since he owed it all to his friend and benefactor M Rajan.

The lyricist of the song is Kaifi Azmi. I have as many as three blog posts on him: ‘The Best Songs Of Kaifi Azmi – A Great Lyricist And Poet’, ‘Part II’ and ‘Part III’. He was the only famous lyricist whom I heard live in a mushaira (in my college Govt College Dharamshala). I have found his poetry and lyrics so powerful that I wonder how could he write these in such simple words.

Of all the lyricists that I know of, Kaifi Azmi mastered the art of giving vent to the most intense and most powerful emotions through simplest words. One author who did that is my favourite: Ernest Hemingway. Likewise, taste this from Kaifi in this song: 

मिलने की खुशी ना मिलने का गम, खत्म ये झगड़े हो जाएं
तू तू ना रहे, मैं मैं ना रहूँ
इक दूजे मैं खो जाएं
मैं भी ना छोड़ूं पल भर दामन
तू भी पल भर रूठे ना, प्यार का बंधन ..

These are the kind of simple words that take you another world altogether; the world of pure love and enchantment.

Now, about music director Khayyam, the composer of this poignant song.

Khayyam and his wife Jagjit Kaur are from the town of Rahon, near Nawanshahr in Punjab. This is close (14 Kms) from my maternal grandparents place in Urapur. Khayyam is not just the gentlest of the music directors, he has affinity towards the raaga of my place: Pahadi. This song, too, he composed in Pahadi.

Mohammad Zahur Khayyam Hashmi decided to donate his entire wealth of about Rupees Ten Crores to the trust founded by him as KPJ Trust (K for Khayyam, P for their late son Pradeep (they lost him in 2012) and J for his wife Jagjit) to support budding artists and technicians in India.

Pahadi is an Audhav – Sampoorna Raag. Nishad and Madhyam are vrjya in Aaroh. Pahadi is not just a raag but also a dhun.

As far as Tal Dadra is concerned, Tal Dadra derives its name from Dadra style of singing prevalent in Dadra. It is a six or three beat Tal:
Clap, 2, 3, Wave, 2, 3; that is two vibhags of three matras each. The theka is:
Dhaa Dhin Naa Dhaa Tin Naa.

Please enjoy: Jaane kya dhoondati rehati hain…

जाने क्या ढूँढती रहती हैं ये आँखें मुझमें
राख के ढेर में शोला है न चिंगारी है
अब न वो प्यार न उसकी यादें बाकी
आग यूँ दिल में लगी कुछ न रहा कुछ न बचा
जिसकी तस्वीर निगाहों में लिये बैठा हो
मैं वो दिलदार नहीं उसकी हूँ खामोश चिता

ज़िंदगी हँस के न गुज़रती तो बहुत अच्छा था
खैर हँस के न सही रो के गुज़र जायेगी
राख बरबाद मुहब्बत की बचा रखी हैं
बार-बार इसको जो छेड़ा तो बिखर जायेगी

आरज़ू जुर्म वफ़ा जुर्म तमन्ना है गुनाह
ये वो दुनिया है जहाँ प्यार नहीं हो सकता
कैसे बाज़ार का दस्तूर तुम्हें समझाऊँ
बिक गया जो वो खरीदार नहीं हो सकता …

Song #11
Jeet hi lenge baazi hum tum
Raag Bhairavi, Tal Dadra

Since this is the second back to back song here from the same movie Shola Aur Shabnam composed by Khaiyyam and penned by Kaifi Azmi, I am not repeating the information about the movie, its plot, and about Tal Dadra.

This song was sung as a duet between Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar, she joining in after the first stanza.

Raag Bhairavi is the basic raag of the Bhairavi Thaat. Bhairavi makes use of all the komal swars, Rishabh, Gandhar, Dhaivat, Nishad. When singing compositions in Bhairavi raag, the singers however take liberty to use all the 12 swars. Bhairavi raag is named after the shakti or feminine aspect of the cosmic life force, which is personified as a consort to Lord Shiva. Bhairavi is a powerful raag filled with devotion and compassion. Its Jati is Sampurna – Sampurna, which means all seven swar (heptatonic) both in Aaroha and Avaroha. I have already told you that in a concert Bhairavi is usually the concluding raaga since it is supposed to cure mistakes of the earlier performances. Hence, if a concert has started at night (which is usually the case), Bhairavi would be played in the wee hours of the morning.

A pleasant sobering atmosphere full of love and piety is created with this raag and one feels so close to the Supreme. Its compositions include several Thumris, Bhajans, Ghazals, Songs etc. Since it is an ocean of immense possibilities the melodic combinations can include all the twelve notes with skill.

As far as the singers Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar are concerned, I have only this to say: People have brought out that the best duets are between A, B, and C. However, both Rafi and Lata have etched names for themselves as the best playback singers there ever were.

Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy in Raag Bhairavi Tal Dadra, Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar sing a composition of Khayyam on the lyrics of Kaifi Azmi in the 1961 Ramesh Saigal movie Shola Aur Shabnam starring Dharmendra and Tarla Mehta: Jeet hi lenge bazi ham tum…..

रफ़ी:
जीत ही लेंगे बाज़ी हम तुम, खेल अधूरा छूटे न
प्यार का बंधन, जन्म का बंधन, जन्म का बंधन टूटे न

मिलता है जहाँ धरती से गगन, आओ वहीं हम जाएं
तू मेरे लिये, मैं तेरे लिये – २
इस दुनिया को ठुकरायें – २
दूर बसा ले दिल की जन्नत – २
जिसको ज़माना लूटे ना, प्यार का बंधन

लता:
मिलने की खुशी ना मिलने का गम, खत्म ये झगड़े हो जाएं
तू तू ना रहे, मैं मैं ना रहूँ – २
इक दूजे मैं खो जाएं – २
मैं भी ना छोड़ूं पल भर दामन – २
तू भी पल भर रूठे ना, प्यार का बंधन …

Song #12
Chahunga main tujhe saanjh savere
Raag Pahadi, Tal Kaherava

I have given you enough about Raag Pahadi and Tal Kaherava. So, here, I give you some other information about the song and the movie.

This song sung by Mohammad Rafi is one of the best of Laxmikant Pyarelal from the 1964 Satyen Bose movie Dosti, a movie whose songs made L-P one of the most loved music duos in India and a movie whose songs are still fondly remembered even today. Majrooh Sultanpuri penned the lyrics and L-P composed it in the raaga of my place: Pahadi.

Lets start with the movie. Bombay based Rajshri was founded by Tarachand Barjatya in the year 1947. However, Rajshri Productions Pvt Ltd engaged in films production came about in the year 1962. Its first film Arti, in 1962 was highly acclaimed. However, the grand success of its second production Dosti in 1964 included winning the National Award for Best Feature Film and as many as six Filmfare Awards: Best Film, Best Music Director (the debut Filmfare Award for L-P), Best Story: Ban Bhatt, Best Dialogue: Govind Moonis, Best Playback Singer: Mohammad Rafi for the song I am giving you today, and finally Best Lyricist: Majrooh Sultanpuri for the same song.

Dosti was directed by Satyen Bose. It was Sanjay Khan’s debut film and had Sudhir Kumar Sawant, and Sushil Kumar Somaya in lead roles. The film focuses on the friendship between two boys, one blind and the other a cripple.

Laxmikant Pyarelal started off with 1963 movie Parasmani and they made such popular songs for their very first movie that these are fondly remembered even today.

Lastly, before we take up the song, lets for a minute talk about the lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri.

Majrooh is the fifth of our lyricists who was a contemporary of Shakeel Badayuni. Out of all these six (*including Shakeel), three have been from Uttar Pradesh, which says something about that region producing some great poets and lyricists.

Majrooh Sultanpuri was born on 01 Oct 1919 as Asrar ul Hassan Khan in a Tarin Pashtun family, in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh. His father was an officer in the police department, but, preferred to send his son for traditional madrasa (Urdu school) rather than provide him with English schooling.

He tried his hand at being a quack until he was noticed in a mushaira in Sultanpur.

He was a disciple of the great Urdu poet Jigar Moradabadi. When he visited Bombay in 1945 to participate in a mushaira, the director Abdul Rashid Kardar noticed him and invited him to write for the movies. Majrooh turned it down as he looked down upon movies! He was persuaded through his mentor Jigar Moradabadi and then there was no turning back.

Many traditionalists of the Urdu literature, however, felt that Majrooh sold his soul to the Hindi films and that he could have emerged a great poet in the likeness of Ghalib and Jigar.

The takhalus Majrooh means “injured” or “wounded”.

Majrooh was awarded, in 1993, the highest award – Dadasaheb Phalke award – for his lifetime contribution towards lyrics and poetry. He was the first lyricist ever to be given that award. For the film Dosti, that made Laxmikant Pyarelal famous, he was awarded the Filmfare Best Lyricist Award for the song: Chahunga main tujhe saanjh savere.

For someone who didn’t want to join Hindi movies, Majrooh emerged as a natural lyricist, very popular, very romantic and enchanting.

Before we take up the song, let me tell you briefly as to how it came about in the movie. Ramu (Sushil Kumar) is a cripple and good at playing harmonica. Thrown out of his home, crippled and penniless, he roams around the streets of Mumbai. Here he comes across Mohan (Sudhir Kumar), a boy who is blind and has a similar tale of woe. Mohan is a singer. Both meet on the streets of Bombay and form a good pair. One day, Ramu gets into trouble for no fault of his own and is bailed out on the condition that he would keep no contact with Mohan. That’s how this song came about.

Please enjoy Mohammad Rafi sing a composition of Laxmikant Pyarelal on the lyrics of Majrooh Sultanpuri, a song from the 1964 Satyen Bose movie Dosti: Chahunga main tujhe saanjh savere….

चाहूँगा मैं तुझे साँझ सवेरे
फिर भी कभी अब नाम को तेरे
आवाज़ मैं न दूँगा, आवाज़ मैं न दूँगा

देख मुझे सब है पता
सुनता है तू मन की सदा (२)
मितवा …
मेरे यार तुझको बार बार
आवाज़ मैं न दूँगा, आवाज़ मैं न दूँगा
चाहूँगा मैं तुझे साँझ सवेरे

दर्द भी तू चैन भी तू
दरस भी तू नैन भी तू
मितवा …
मेरे यार तुझको बार बार
आवाज़ मैं न दूँगा, आवाज़ मैं न दूँगा

I have found that the readers are not able to take in more than six songs at a time in one post. Hence, with this song, I complete the songs of Part II. I hope that you liked my choices and my singing.

Please await songs of Part III.