Sahir Ludhianvi: A tribute
VognoDuut757
My rebellious notes make the world think
that my heart abhors the lyrics of love,
that I find solace in strife and war,
that my very nature relishes blood-letting,
that my world cares not for life's finer things,
that the noise of revolt is music to me.
These lines, translated from Urdu, were written more than 50 years ago,
under the title Mere Geet. They remain largely obscure because they are not
among the work their author became more famous for: film lyrics. The above
lines -- and the reason the poet gives for that state of mind -- reflect,
however, an important facet of his personality. The author of these lines,
Sahir Ludhianvi, was different. Unable to sing hymns to Khuda (God), Husn
(beauty) and Jaam (wine), his pen would rather pour out his anguish and
bitterness over social inequities, political cynicism, the artificial
barriers that divide mankind, the senselessness of war, the domination of
materialism over love.
His loves, and love poems, were tinged with sorrow, with the realisation
that there are stark realities more important than romantic love. This facet
was seen in his lines for the film Didi:
Zindagi Sirf Mohabbat Nahin Kuch Aur Bhi Hai
Zulf-o-Rukhsaar ki Jannat Nahi Kuch Aur Bhi Hai
Bhookh Aur Pyaas ki Maari Hui Is Duniya Mein
Ishq Hi Ek Haqeeqat Nahin Kuch Aur Bhi Hai.
And in
Pyaar Par Bas To Nahin Hai Lekin Phir Bhi
Tu Bata De Ki Main Tujhe Pyaar Karoon Ya Na Karoon
in the film Sone Ki Chidiya (1958).
Born Abdul Hayee on March 8, 1921, Sahir was the only son of a Ludhiana
zamindar. His parents' estrangement and the Partition made him shuttle
between India and Pakistan. It also brought him face to face with a struggle
called life. A member of the Progressive Writers' Association, he edited
Adab-e-Latif, Pritlari, Savera and Shahrab. An arrest warrant issued by the
Pakistani government of the day made him flee to Bombay in 1949. By now, he
had managed to publish his anthology Talkhiyaan (Bitternesses). Besides
Talkhiyaan and the hundreds of film songs he penned in a career spanning
three decades, Sahir also authored the anthologies Parchaiyaan, Ao Ki Koi
Khwab Buney and Gaata Jaaye Banjara.
Sahir debuted in films with his lyrics for Naujawan (1951). Even today, the
film's lilting song Thandi Hawayen Lehrake Aaye makes hearts flutter. His
first major success came the same year with Guru Dutt's directorial debut,
Baazi, again pairing him with composer S.D. Burman. Together, S.D. Burman
and Sahir created some of the most popular songs ever: Yeh Raat Yeh Chandni
Phir Kahaan - Jaal (1952); Jaaye to Jaaye Kahaan - Taxi Driver (1954); Teri
Duniya Mein Jeene se Behtar Ho Ki Mar Jaayen - House Number 44 (1955); and
Jeevan ke Safar Mein Rahi - Munimji (1955). The duo reached their creative
zenith with Pyaasa (1957).
All good things, as they say, come to an end. S.D. Burman and Sahir parted
ways after Pyaasa and never worked together again. Sahir, already a stalwart
as the sixties approached, wrote gems for films like Hum Dono (1961),
Gumraah (1963), Taj Mahal (1963), Waqt (1965), Humraaz (1967) and Neel Kamal
(1968), teaming up with composers Ravi, Jaidev, N. Datta, Roshan, Khayyam,
R.D. Burman and Laxmikant-Pyarelal. Sahir's work in the 1970s was mainly
restricted to films directed by Yash Chopra. Though his output in terms of
number of films had thinned out, the quality of his writings commanded
immense respect. Kabhi Kabhie (1976) saw him return to sparkling form. These
songs won him his second Filmfare award, the first one being for Taj Mahal.
Sahir's poetry had a Faizian quality. Like Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Sahir too gave
Hindustani/Urdu poetry an intellectual element that caught the imagination
of the youth of the forties and fifties and sixties. He helped them to
discover their spine. Sahir asked questions, was not afraid of calling a
spade a bloody spade, and roused people from an independence-induced
smugness. He would pick on the self-appointed custodian of religion, the
self-serving politician, the exploitative capitalist, the war-mongering big
powers. Aren't they familiar? Close to Sahir's heart were the farmer crushed
by debt, the young man sent to the border to fight somebody's dirty war, the
lass forced to sell her body, the youth frustrated by unemployment, families
living in dire poverty... The underdog remains; his bard is gone.
Whether it was the arrest of progressive writers in Pakistan, the launch of
the satellite Sputnik, or the discovery of Ghalib by a government lusting
minority votes, Sahir reacted with a verve not seen in many writers' work.
Kahat-e-Bangal (The Famine of Bengal), written by a 25-year-old Sahir,
bespeaks maturity that came early. His Subah-e-Navroz (Dawn of a New Day),
mocks the concept of celebration when the poor exist in squalor.
Writing for films occupied much of Sahir's time and energy in and after the
fifties. Never one to compromise while writing for a "lesser" medium, Sahir
wrote such gems like Aurat ne Janam Diya Mardon ko Mardon ne Use Bazaar Diya
for Sadhana (1958) and Tu Hindu Banega na Musalmaan Banega Insaan ki Aulaad
Hai, Insaan Banega for Dhool Ka Phool (1959). Then who can ever forget Yeh
Duniya Agar Mil Bhi Jaaye To Kya Hai or Jinhe Naaz Hai Hind Par Woh Kahaan
Hain from Pyaasa? Pyaasa, a movie that many suspect was his biography, was
the high point of Sahir's genius. By now, Sahir was disillusioned over the
state of the nation. His dissatisfaction with Congress policies found voice
in songs like Jinhe Naaz Hai Hind Par Woh Kahaan Hain and Chino Arab
Humara - Phir Subah Hogi (1958). This combination of political awareness and
humanitarian compassion is found all through in Sahir's poetry, whether
written for films or not.
Ever a sensitive soul, Sahir reacted to the world around him, pouring his
sentiments into the songs he penned for films. Coming from his pen, even the
most mundane would have a message. For example, this song from Neelkamal:
Khali Dabba Khali Botal Le Le Mere Yaar Khali se Mat Nafrat Karna, Khali Sab
Sansar. His poetry could at once be sublime - Tora Man Darpan Ehlaye Bhale
Bure Sare Karmo ko Dekhe Aur Dikhaye from Kajal (1965), introspective - Man
Re Tu Kahe Na Dheer Dhare from Chitralekha (1964), invoking - Allah Tero
Naam Ishwar Tero Naam Sabko Sanmati de Bhagwan from Hum Dono, esoteric -
Khuda-e-Bartar Teri Zameen Par Zameen ki Khatir Jung Kyon Hai from Taj
Mahal, and philosophical - Jahan Mein Aisa Kaun Hai Ki Jisko Gham Mila Nahin
again from Hum Dono. There lay Sahir's spirituality. Ingrained in this
spirituality was a quest for a greater humanity, better people, a livable
world. Paradoxically, it always involved, and was about, the material rather
than the metaphysical.
A colossus among song writers, Sahir fought for, and became the first film
lyricist to get, royalty from music companies. He would deeply involve
himself in the setting of tunes for his songs. Any wonder why they are extra
melodious? There was a negative trait too: Sahir would insist he be paid a
rupee more for each song than Lata Mangeshkar was.
Call it a left-over of his zamindar background, or an example of success
gone to the head, this egotism of Sahir has been heard of and written about.
A bachelor to the end, Sahir fell in love with writer Amrita Pritam and
singer Sudha Malhotra, relationships that never fructified in the
conventional sense and left him sad. Ironically, the two ladies' fathers
wouldn't accept Sahir, an atheist, because of his perceived religion. Had
they seen the iconoclast in him, that would have been worse; being an
atheist was worse than belonging to the 'other' religion. Sahir, perhaps,
had an answer to such artificial barriers in these lines written for Naya
Raasta (1970):
Nafraton ke jahan mein humko pyaar ki bastiyaan basaani hain
Door rehna koi kamaal nahin, paas aao to koi baat bane
A young Amrita Pritam, madly in love with Sahir, wrote his name hundreds of
times on a sheet of paper while addressing a press conference. They would
meet without exchanging a word, Sahir would puff away; after Sahir's
departure, Amrita would smoke the cigarette butts left behind by him. After
his death, Amrita said she hoped the air mixed with the smoke of the butts
would travel to the other world and meet Sahir! Such was their obsession and
intensity.
Over two decades after his death, Sahir's songs remain immensely popular.
His poetry continues to inspire radical groups and individuals and strikes a
chord in sensitive people, leftist or not. Why else would a Vajpayee invoke
Sahir while taking a dig at Pakistan?
Woh waqt gaya woh daur gaya jab do qaumon ka naara tha
Woh log gaye is dharti se jinka maqsad batwaara tha
Sahir died after a heart attack he suffered while playing cards. One
suspects the poet, whose heart bled for others, never paid enough attention
to his own life. There was a card-player nonchalance about himself, as seen
in this Hum Dono song:
Main zindagi ka saath nibhata chala gaya
Har fikr ko dhuwein me udata chala gaya
Had Sahir (whose 22nd death anniversary falls on October 25) not allowed
drink and cigarette smoke to consume himself, had he lived a fuller life
like contemporaries Majrooh Sultanpuri and Kaifi Azmi did, it would have
been interesting to watch him react to changing social values, to politics
touching its nadir, to 'secular' becoming a dirty word, to the abuse of
religion to spread hatred and get votes, to the supposed failure of
communism, to the never-ending dowry deaths, to the intellectual inertia of
the intelligentsia.... Perhaps he would have influenced thought as he did in
the past. Maybe his message to the masses would have been the same as it was
decades ago:
Tumse Quwwat Lekar, Main Tumko Raah Dikhaoonga
Tum Parcham Lehrana Saathi, Main Barbat par Gaoonga.
Aaj se Mere Phan ka Maksad Zanjeere Pighlana Hai
Aaj se Main Shabnam ke Badle Angaare Barsaoonga.
(Drawing from your strength, I shall show you the way
You wave the flag, comrades, I shall sing for you
My art will now melt your chains
From now on my poetry will rain embers)
-Feature desk
Torpedo
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