Gulzar's poetry [Was: Your favorite lyrics?]
Sudeep Amin
Gulzar songs that I like. Another one is 'Mora gora ang lai le' from
Bandini which had beautiful lyrics. Gulzar wrote great songs in his early
days. I know a lot of people like Gulzar's penmanship but somehow I
sometimes feel if it was not for Panchamda's music Gulzar would have not
been so popular (please don't flame me on this as this is a personal opinion
that I know most people would disagree). Listening to Gulzar's song's I
almost get the feeling the he was trying hard to make it sound like poetry.
There is always the 'ankhon ne jo suna, or 'kanon se khusboo' or really
abstract concepts with heavy use of vague metaphors.There is no seamless
feeling of the songs conveying the essence of a situation (while maintaining
the meter) without the words getting in the way, like you would see with
Sahir or Rajinder Kishan or Majrooh (my order of preference). I feel Gulzar
was more a poet than a song writer. But this could totally be a personal
opinion and the fact I am not a Urdu connosieur. Or maybe it is just that
Gulzar is a much misunderstood song writer. I wish someone would start a
thread with the translation of the best Gulzar songs with discussion on his
poetry to help me (us?) appreciate Gulzar more.
- Sudeep
"Abhijit" <nanhaf...@yahoo.co.in> wrote in message
news:1117754697.1...@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Sometimes back I started a series "Power of Words" highlighting lyrical
> strength of a particular song. While we are discussing favourite
> lyrics, I thought this song needs a special mention, hence I am
> reviving the series with this Gulzar's "definition of love" tuned so
> beautifully by Hemant. Lyrics taken straight from giitaayan.com,
> translation and mistakes therein are mine.
>
> "
> ham ne dekhii hai in aa.Nkho.n kii mahakatii khushabuu
> haath se chhuuke ise rishto.n kaa ilzaam na do
> sirf ehasaas hai ye ruuh se mahasuus karo
> pyaar ko pyaar hii rahane do koii naam na do
> "
>
> I have 'seen' the fragrance of these eyes
> Don't touch it and let affairs condemn it
> It's just an emotion, feel it with your soul
> Let love be love, there's no need to name it
>
> "
> pyaar koii bol nahii.n, pyaar aavaaz nahii.n
> ek khaamoshii hai sunatii hai kahaa karatii hai
> naa ye bujhatii hai naa rukatii hai naa Thaharii hai kahii.n
> nuur kii buu.Nd hai sadiyo.n se bahaa karatii hai
> sirf ehasaas hai ye, ruuh se mahasuus karo
> pyaar ko pyaar hii rahane do, koii naam naa do
> "
>
> Love is not just words, nor is it any sound
> It's a silence that listens and chats around
> It can't be put out, it doesn't stop anywhere
> It's a drop of lustre that's been flowing forever
> It's just an emotion, feel it with your soul
> Let love be love, there's no need to name it
>
> "
> muskaraahaT sii khilii rahatii hai aa.Nkho.n me.n kahii.n
> aur palako.n pe ujaale se chhupe rahate hai.n
> ho.nTh kuchh kahate nahii.n, kaa.Npate ho.nTho.n pe magar
> kitane khaamosh se afasaane ruke rahate hai.n
> sirf ehasaas hai ye, ruuh se mahasuus karo
> pyaar ko pyaar hii rahane do, koii naam naa do
> "
>
> Smiles blossom in the eyes sometimes
> And eyelids conceal many glories
> Lips dare say nothing, yet block
> Within their shivers many silent stories
> It's just an emotion, feel it with your soul
> Let love be love, there's no need to name it
>
>
>
> dp wrote:
>>
>> For romantic songs, my favourite is, "aaj kal paaon zameen par nahi
>> padte meri" by Gulzar (movie?). Best part for me is that first line
>> asserts that her feet don't stay on the ground and immediately in the
>> next line she asks her lover if he has ever seen her flying, as if to
>> say, surely it is not possible that I am actually flying!
>
Abhijit
Sudeep Amin wrote:
> Agreed, this is another great song and I love the lyrics. One of the few
> Gulzar songs that I like. Another one is 'Mora gora ang lai le' from
> Bandini which had beautiful lyrics. Gulzar wrote great songs in his early
> days. I know a lot of people like Gulzar's penmanship but somehow I
> sometimes feel if it was not for Panchamda's music Gulzar would have not
> been so popular (please don't flame me on this as this is a personal opinion
> that I know most people would disagree). Listening to Gulzar's song's I
> almost get the feeling the he was trying hard to make it sound like poetry.
> There is always the 'ankhon ne jo suna, or 'kanon se khusboo' or really
> abstract concepts with heavy use of vague metaphors.There is no seamless
> feeling of the songs conveying the essence of a situation (while maintaining
> the meter) without the words getting in the way, like you would see with
> Sahir or Rajinder Kishan or Majrooh (my order of preference). I feel Gulzar
> was more a poet than a song writer. But this could totally be a personal
> opinion and the fact I am not a Urdu connosieur. Or maybe it is just that
> Gulzar is a much misunderstood song writer.
I appreciate your viewpoint even though I have a different opinion.
Gulzar sure is 'haTake' if I can use this term. To me this is
important. Had he not been what he is while writing songs, we wouldn't
have had a "is mo.D se jaate hai.n". When I discovered the meaning of
this lyrics, I was literally flying. He does give this joy of discovery
which is so rare from the industry called Bollywood. I can't imagine a
plain substitute for "is mo.D se jaate" which goes something like "ham
kitane din baad mile.n, chalo phir se ek nayaa jahaa.n basaaye.n,...".
The industry is big, its customer-base is enormous. If it can't support
a form of creative art of Gulzar-type, I wonder what would! Already
stereotyping of characters, actors, singers, storylines, dialogoues,
etc is depriving us of the diversity we would normally expect of the
Hindi films business. That Gulzar has a sizeable fan-following suggests
there is a market for "haTake" style which can sustain non-typical
forms of arts.
> I wish someone would start a
> thread with the translation of the best Gulzar songs with discussion on his
> poetry to help me (us?) appreciate Gulzar more.
>
Some of his lyrics had been analysed in the past in this forum itself.
You may want to search.