10 Terrific Songs of Sahir Ludhianvi
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Sahir Ludhianvi (8 March 1921 – 25 October 1980) had the gift of a genius and perhaps the curse of one as well. His poetry drew people to him and his ego ruined every working relationship sooner or later. Whether it was because he insisted on getting a rupee more than Lata to establish equality with her or his ascribing the success of his songs to his skill alone that broke the best professional partnership he had with SD Burman. That he was a genius is without question.
At the age of 22, he had written his collection of Urdu poetry Talkhiyan (bitterness), a book that is perhaps second only to Ghalib’s in terms of popularity. In his fabulously well researched biography, Sahir Ludhianvi – The People’s Poet, journalist Akshay Manwani writes that Sahir’s reputation as a poet came in the way of his acceptance as a lyricist. While poetry is written without any constraints, lyrics for Bollywood have to fit the melody, the situation in the film and must be in the language of the actors singing those words.
The time was also ripe for Bollywood to accept several poets turned lyricist -many with strong roots in the Progressive Writers Movement. One can think of Majrooh Sultanpuri, Shakeel Badayuni, Rajinder Krishan, Shailendra, Kaifi Azmi, Hasrat Jaipuri who all contributed to the golden era of film music in Hindi cinema. The lyricists of ‘30s and ‘40s like Kidar Sharma, DN Madhok and Kavi Pradeep had written Sanskritized Hindi with strong nationalist undercurrents. Sahir and his peers made lyrics as a way of moving the story forward and not just a summary of the preceding scene.
Sahir’s break in Hindi films came from his meeting with SD Burman who was unaware of Sahir’s reputation as an Urdu poet. When Sahir went to meet him, SDB gave him the first few notes of a tune he was working on. Sahir spontaneously wrote, “Thandi hawaaein lehra ke aayein, rut hai jawaan, tum ho yahan, kaise bhulayein”. This song was used in Naujawan (’51) starring Nalini Jaywant and Prem Nath. It was Sahir’s ability to bring nature into his love songs that makes the songs immortal.
The Sahir-SD Burman combination took off with Baazi (’51) a film that marked the directorial debut of Guru Dutt. The song Tadbeer se bigdi hui takdeer bana le from Baazi became such a hit according to Dev Anand that at the Air Force station in Jodhpur, people would come in just to listen to the song. Sahir of course was peeved at his deep poetry being used in a nightclub setting. But who can argue with success. Listen to the way he urges the protagonist to use tadbeer (deliberation) to takdeer (fate) back on track. What a way to say nothing ventured nothing gained.
Sahir’s skill as a lyricist is tested in songs such as Aan milo aan milo shyam saanware in the film Devdas (’55). The song was visualized as a kirtan sung in the baul tradition of Bengal. SDB and Sahir repeated the feat in Pyaasa (’57) when they created the gem Aaj sajan mohe ang laga lo.
Sahir and SD was a magical combination. They were just getting better and better with each film. In the Dev Anand-Kalpana Karthik starrer House No 44, they came up with Chup Hai Dharti Chup Hain Chand Sitaare a song that again establishes Sahir’s style of using nature as a way of describing the depths of love. It is another song Teri duniya mein jeene se sung by Hemant Kumar (one of his best) that brings out the bitterness that was a part of Sahir’s life.
Sahir did 15 films with SD Burman between 1951 and 1957 and became the most successful duo of the fifties. Their success can outrival Shailendra-Shankar Jaikishan or the other popular combination of Naushad and Shakeel Badayuni.Sahir’s best work was left for the last film he did with SD – Pyaasa, a film that has ten songs – each with terrific lyrics. The film had Sahir being mentioned in the film posters along with SD Burman. Sahir went about announcing that the success of the film was entirely because of his lyrics – a comment that hurt SD enough to end their relationship. I had a tough time choosing just one song from this film. No wonder Pyaasa was rated as one of the 100 best films of all time by Time Magazine. The toss-up was between Jinhe Naaz Hai Hind Par Who Kahan Hain and the one I finally chose
While 1957 saw the end of Sahir’s partnership with SD, it saw the beginning of his partnership with OP Nayyar in Naya Daur and Tumsa Nahi Dekha. Naya Daur had Dilip Kumar and Vyjayantimala in the lead and set the stage for what came to be known as “Tonga songs” like Yun to hamnein laakh haseen dekhe hain that remains the trademark of OP Nayyar’s music.
1957-58 saw Sahir producing some of his most memorable lyrics. Based on an adaption of Fyodor Dostoevsky's, Crime and Punishment, the Raj Kapoor starrer Phir Subah Hogi saw the first of Sahir-Khaiyyam films. The powerful lyrics of woh subah kabhi to ayegi were based on Sahir’s poem Ummeed. But the pinnacle of their success came in Kabhi Kabhi (’76)
It is not possible to talk about Sahir’s body of work without writing about Hum Dono (’61). Set to music by Jaidev who was once an assistant of SD Burman, this film had a prayer Allah Tero Naam and several Rafi classics Kabhi Khud Pe Kabhi Haalaat Pe or Main Zindagi Ka Saath Nibhata . My favorite lyrics would be this one:
Sahir’s list of ten best songs would not be complete without a mention of the gem he composed for the film Chitralekha (’64). Music Director Roshan composed the song in Raga Yaman and invited Rafi to take this to another level.
Sahir did produce the odd gem with music director RD Burman. I had to choose between Tera Mujh Se Hai Pehle Ka Naata Koi from Aa Gale Lag Ja (’73). But I voted finally for the RDB-Kishore song that brings out brings out the best from Sahir even when he was well past his prime. The song is from Joshila (’73)
If you could pick only ten songs of Sahir, which ones would you pick?
Do put down your list in the comments.
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