Jab Tak Hai Jaan Video Songs

[Shari Alvine]

JabTak Hai Jaan is the soundtrack album, composed by A. R. Rahman, to the 2012 Hindi film of the same name, directed by Yash Chopra that stars Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma. The film was produced by Aditya Chopra under his banner Yash Raj Films. The album has nine tracks and was released on 10 October 2012 on the firm's official record label YRF Music.

The soundtrack was the first collaboration between Chopra, Rahman and the lyricist Gulzar. In May 2011, Rahman was signed to compose the music as well as the background score of the film.[1] The first song of the soundtrack was completed in December 2011.[2] In February 2012, Rahman said in an interview with The Times of India that he had completed three songs for the film.[3] Rahman summarised the soundtrack album, saying, "It's a combination. They wanted to do my kind of songs at the same time they wanted the old charm and soul of music that Indian audience would love and which I wanted to do for a long time."[4]

"Yashji saw one of my concerts in London, we invited him. He felt that I should give music in his film. It was kind enough of him to call me. It is a great honour for me. I had not worked with him and now my whole thing...meaning career wise is complete. I am very happy to have worked with him. We had great time, it was a great experience. And he (Yash Chopra) seemed happy. I hope people feel the same."

The song "Saans" was titled "The Breathe of Love" by Khan when it opened as video promotion on the day of music launch. Rahman said that, initially, the patch version of the song was composed with dummy lyrics. He added that the song highlights traditional beats but has an edge to it. According to the plot of the film, the song needed tautness that is exemplified by the tensed violins. In the film, Samar helps Meera (played by Katrina Kaif) to revive her maternal bondings so she knows more on love through her mother. This makes Meera reciprocate her feelings to Samar, expressed as the song "Saans". The reprise version of the song occurs when Meera and Samar meet after ten years.[10]

"Ishq Dance" and "Ishq Shava" are dance-oriented numbers sequentially filmed, the former with the leading duo and nearly 80 freestyle dancers in an underground club, and the latter on board a barge on the River Thames, essentially keeping Tower Bridge as the backdrop during the night.[11] The composer said that instead of a trance or dubstep genre, he fused tribal and contemporary with acoustics. The song also involves more strummed Spanish guitars in its preludes.[12]

"Heer Heer" is a solo performance in the film by Meera. Initially the song was recorded as patch, to be used only in the film. However, Gulzar insisted Rahman record it as a complete track after adding more lines to the folk poetry. In the film, Meera learns Punjabi and the song through Samar. She performs the song to impress her father and show that, though in London, her roots are still in her Indian culture. On the counterpart, the song also relates the heartfelt situation between her and Samar. The straight Punjabi lyrical track implicitly refers to the folklores of Mirza Sahiban and Heer Ranjha where the lyricist claimed to put imagery in several lines of the song.[13]

"Jiya Re" is sung by the character Akira (played by Anushka Sharma) in the song. Gulzar said that the song was character-oriented.[14] The song was shot in the landscapes of Ladakh and Kashmir. Akira's further documentary filming journey with Samar began after this song.[15] The singer, Neeti Mohan, made her debut as a playback singer with this song in the soundtrack.[16]

Often regarded as the swan song,[17] the title track, "Jab Tak Hai Jaan" marks the union of the lead characters and was planned to be shot with a large budget in the Swiss Alps. The death of the director led the cancellation of filming and the song was used in the closing credits.[18]

The poem "Jab Tak Hai Jaan", written by Aditya Chopra and recited by Shahrukh Khan, was used in the opening credits of the film. Several reports said that the theatrical trailer that incorporated this song was reminiscent of the song "Apertura" in the film The Motorcycle Diaries, especially the use of a charango in the music.[19][20]

On 12 September 2012, when the film opened, part of the lyrics of the poem "Jab Tak Hai Jaan", written by Aditya Chopra, were released before the launch of the soundtrack. On 27 September 2012, the film director's 80th birthday, Shahrukh Khan paid homage to Chopra in an event connected to his film where the song "Challa" was deciphered. Chopra said it was his favourite track from the album and even recited a few lines of it.[21] The video promotion of the first song of the soundtrack album, "Challa2, sung by Rabbi Shergill in Punjabi, was released on 1 October 2012 and had over a million views within a day of its release. The first trailer of the film also used the instrumental part of "Challa".[22] The making of "Challa" was released officially on 5 October 2012. Later, it was also made available as a complete track for digital download. A small portion of the song "Heer Heer", sung in Punjabi by Harshdeep Kaur, was leaked on the Internet on 7 October 2012.[23] The video promotion of the second song, "Saans", was launched on 9 October 2012 in an event held in the Ball Room, Taj Land Ends, Bandra, Mumbai. The romantic number was launched in the presence of Khan and Katrina Kaif, web conferencing the event over Skype where Khan named the song "The Breathe of Love". The event was supposed to have included the actress but her shooting schedules for Dhoom 3 in Chicago prevented such an appearance.[24] The video promotion of "Jiya Re", highlighting Anushka Sharma and featuring Khan, was released on 17 October 2012.[25] The complete soundtrack album was released on 10 October 2012 on YRF Music. Video teasers of "Ishq Shava" were released on 26 October 2012 and "Heer Heer" on 6 November 2012.[26]

The soundtrack of Jab Tak Hai Jaan received generally positive critical reception. In a poll conducted by Indiatimes, the song "Saans" won the title of "Most Romantic Song of the year 2012".[27]

After the second day of release, the album reached number one on the Top 10 World Albums chart on iTunes, making it the third Indian album to achieve this feat after Enthiran and Rockstar. Notably, all three were composed by Rahman.[38]

Gauhar Jaan was born as Eleen Angelina Yeoward on 26 June 1873 in Azamgarh, to family of Armenian descent.[4][5] Her father, Robert William Yeoward, worked as an engineer in a dry ice factory, and married her mother, Adeline Victoria Hemmings, in 1872. Victoria, was the daughter of Hardy Hemmings, a British soldier and a local Hindu woman named Rukmini in Allahabad and had a sister Vela, Vicky as she was called had been trained in music and dance.[citation needed]

In 1879 the marriage ended, causing hardships to both mother and daughter, who moved to Banaras in 1881, with a Muslim nobleman, 'Khursheed', who appreciated Victoria's music more than her husband. Later, Victoria converted to Islam and changed Angelina's name to 'Gauhar Jaan' and hers to 'Malka Jaan'.[6]

In time, Victoria (now 'Malka Jaan') became an accomplished singer, Kathak dancer and a tawaif in Banaras, and made a name for herself, as Badi Malka Jan; she was called Badi (elder) because at that time three other Malka Jans were famous: Malka Jan of Agra, Malka Jan of Mulk Pukhraj and Malka Jan the Chulbuli, and she was the eldest amongst them.[7]

Malka Jaan moved back to Calcutta in 1883, and established herself in the courts of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, who had settled at Metiaburj (Garden Reach), near Kolkata and within three years purchased a building at 24 Chit pore Road (now Rabindra Sarani), for Rs. 40,000. It is here that young Gauhar started her training, she learnt pure and light classical Hindustani vocal music from, Kale Khan of Patiala, 'Kalu Ustad', and Ustad Ali Baksh Jarnail (founding members of Patiala Gharana) and Kathak from legendary Brindadin Maharaj (granduncle of Birju Maharaj), Dhrupad dhamar from Srijanbai, and Bengali Keertan from Charan Das. Soon she also started writing and composing ghazals under the pen-name 'Hamdam' and became proficient in Rabindra Sangeet.[8]

Gauhar Jaan first visited Madras in 1910, for a concert in the Victoria Public Hall, and soon her Hindustani and Urdu songs were published in a Tamil music book. In December 1911, she was famously invited to perform at the coronation of King George V at Delhi Durbar, where she sang a duet, Ye Hai Tajposhi Ka Jalsa, Mubarak Ho Mubarak Ho, with Jankibai of Allahabad.[7]

Eventually, in her final days, she moved to Mysore, at the invitation of Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV of Mysore, and on 1 August 1928,[8] she was appointed as a 'Palace musician', though she died within 18 months, on 17 January 1930 in Mysore.[10]

In her lifetime, she recorded more than 600 songs from 1902 to 1920, in more than ten languages,[11] including Bengali, Hindustani, Gujarati, Tamil, Marathi, Arabic, Persian, Pushto, French, and English. She would round off her performances for a record by announcing 'My name is Gohar Jan'.[3][12]

She popularised light Hindustani classical music with her thumri, dadra, kajri, chaiti, bhajan, tarana renditions, and also mastered the technique of condensing performing the elaborate melody Hindustani classical style to just three and a half minutes for a record. Her most famous song are, thumri sung in Bhairavi is Mora nahak laye gavanava, jabse gaye mori sud huna live,[13] Ras ke bhare Tore Nain, Mere dard-e-jigar[14] and Bhajans like, Radhey Krishna Bol Mukhse.[citation needed]

It is said that Begum Akhtar in her early days wanted to pursue a career in Hindi films, but after listening to the singing of Gauhar and her mother, she gave up the idea completely and devoted herself to learning Hindustani classical music, in fact, her first teacher was Ustad Imdad Khan, who accompanied the mother-daughter duo on sarangi.[citation needed]

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