Song and Dance has been an integral part of Indian cinema since the talkies. Mainstream Hindi movies along with commercial regional cinema have effectively used music and songs cleverly weaved into the narrative either to keep the storyline moving or to convey a character’s thoughts and feelings. Pain, joy, love, challenges, victory, defeat and every other emotion possible have all been essayed on screen through music and the lyrics accompanying them.
Lyricists like writers were a much sought after breed. Back in the day during the peak creativity years as cinema was evolving, the film industry attracted and recruited phenomenal talent and a lot of published authors and poets found themselves in the studios penning the most intense and philosophical lines as they found another outlet for their creativity.
These hugely talented lyricists met and mingled with highly creative directors, script writers and movie stars which was to lead to some of the best work cinema or published poetry has seen as young an old stalwarts came together to create something everlasting.
Whilst the talkies, as they were called, started in the early 1930’s, the period between 1940 and 1960 is referred to as the Golden Age of Indian Cinema. This is not to negate the works that came through the classic 70’s or thereafter and with the resurgence in content, technology and craft in recent years but historically the period between the 40’s and 60’s is called the Golden Age for good reason.
This period was the height of innovation and technique as a young recently independent and poor nation struggled to find normalcy in the aftermath of the freedom struggle. Social disparities, societal constructs, political upheaval, industrialisation all provided a lot of fodder for the creative minds of the day and literature and cinema benefitted.
While there have been great lyricists and music directors through the ages, this will feature on the creative output and the minds that worked between the 40’s and 70’s.
To understand song writers and poets, it would also be fitting to shed some light on the music composers of the day. They came from diverse backgrounds, the great SD Burman from the Tripura Royal family, Naushad one of the most prolific composers of his time, the powerful duos of Shankar- Jaikishen, Laxmikant -Pyarelal, MadanMohan etc. All these were stalwarts in Indian classical and adapted it to light folk and western instrumentation to create a unique sound.
These music directors were powerful entities in themselves and worked with a chosen clique of singers, musicians, arrangers and lyricists. Lyricists themselves were also powerful and had on occasion refused to work with certain music directors or had them replaced on projects if they didn’t think they were suitable. All this led to coteries, ego clashes and some of the most creative work of that era.
Shailendra (1923-1966)
While the more famous names Sahir Ludhinavi, Majrooh Sultanpuri and in later years Anand Bakshi come to mind as some of the top most Hindi lyricists, Shailendra was a titan, ‘geeton ka rajkumar,’ the prince of songs. He was Raj Kapoor’s main songwriter and worked on all of his films. An idealist, he had first refused to work for Raj Kapoor when he was offered the opportunity at a mushiara after the reading of his poem ‘Jalta hai Punjab.’ Besides RK Studios he worked with Dev Anand and Naveketan and Bimal Roy.
Shailendra’s film credits include Awaara, Shree 420, Sangam, Anari, Chori Chori, Dil Ek Mandir, Guide, Kala Bazaar, Teesri kasam, Mera Naam Joker, Madhumati, Junglee, Dil apna preet parayi, Harayali aur Raasta, Bandhini, Door gagan ki chaaon mein, Yahudi, Aah amongst many others.
His lyrics had far deeper meaning and a philosophical approach. His ‘wahan kaun hai tera musafir’ song from Guide preaches wisdom of the ages and exhorts the traveller to just take it easy and live life in the present. The monumental ‘ae bhai zara dekh ke chalo’ from Mera naam Joker which basically throws light on the impermanence of it all and compares life to a circus show as Shakespeare did when he wrote ‘ All the world’s a stage…’
‘tu jahan aaya hai woh tera ghar nahin galli nahin gaon nahin kucha nahin
basti nahin rasta nahin duniya hai
aur pyare duniya yeh circus hai…’
in a later stanza he describes the cycle of life and karma and triumph and defeat ‘upar se neeche neeche se upar toh aana jaana padta hai and ‘hero se joker ban jaana padhta hai…’
His understanding of human character and its failings and triumphs allowed him express himself writing for a variety of filmi situations and emotions. He was equally at home with light folk based tunes such as ‘ramaiya vastavaiya, ‘paan kahaye saiyaan hamar ‘ ‘chalat musafir’ a tip of the hat no doubt to his childhood in Mathura, and the romantic songs from Shree 420, Madhumati and Sangam. His track for Barsaat became the first ever title song to be featured on film. When he was taken in his fledging days by Raj Kapoor to K A Abbas’ house for the narration of Awaara which lasted two and a half hours, when asked by Raj Kapoor whether he’d understood the script and story, he summed it up in two lines ‘gardish mein hoon aasman ka tarra hoon, awaara hoon.’
His understanding of phoentics introduced new words to the lyric lexicon such as zindagani, a word not used before. He wrote ‘khoya khoya chaand’ composed by SD Burman by asking RD Burman to play percussion on a matchbox. He also introduced the concept of riddles and answers in his lyrics like the song ‘ek sawaal mein karoon’ where one character asks a question and the other answers or counters with another question of their own.
Shailendra’s poems are more reflective of society and its taboos, poverty, societal struggles as well as a commentary on the politics of the day. He shot straight from the hip, was a man who stood up for and never compromised his principles. His lyrics were accepted by producers as they were, with no changes. He also used poetry as a platform to voice the cry for freedom during the Independence struggle.
His songs have an optimism about them even though they talk of the daily struggles and hardships the poor and oppressed face. Like this one from Awara
‘abad nahin barbad nahin gaata hoon khushi ke geet magar,
zakhmon se bhara seena hai mera, hasti hai magar yeh mast nazar…’
Guide’s ‘wahan kaun hai tera’ is an introspective philosophical look at life and its meaning
‘wahan kaun hai tera musafir jaayega kahan
dum le le ghadi bhar yeh chaiyan payega kahan
kehte hain gyaani duniya hai paani
paani pe likhi lihayi sab ki hai dekhi sab ki hai jaani haath kisi ke na aayi
kuch tera na mera musafir jaayega kahan…’
His ‘Ae Bhai zara dekh ke chalo’ from Mera Naam Joker talks of the impermanence of all things including life. Life is compared to a circus show and how everyone plays their part but ultimately are just puppets in the hands of the Creator. It also exhorts the listener to be positive and strong and overcome the obstacles and struggles life puts in one’s path
‘ girne se darta hai kyun,marne se darta hai kyun,
thokar tu jab tak na khayega, zindagi kya cheez hai nahin jaan payega
rota hua aaya hai rota chalajayega…’
‘ jeena yahan marna yahan’ from the same film is another example…
‘kal khel mein hum ho na ho gardish mein taare rahenge sada
bhoolenge hum bhoolenge tum par hum tumhare rahenge sada
rahenge yahin apne nishan iske siva jaana kahan…’
The song was completed by his son Shaily on his passing. Raj Kapoor said later it captured the spirit of Shailendra.
Shailendra will never be forgotten and his songs and poems will live on forever. Not for nothing did Gulzar call him India’s greatest lyricist.
Sahir Ludhianvi (1921-1980)
Another great son of the soil, poet and lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi, born Abdul Hayee, penned some of the greatest songs in Hindi cinema for producers and music directors like Guru Dutt, S D Burman, Yash Chopra, Khayyam, Dev Anand amongst others. Sahir Ludhianvi was already a published poet when he entered the film industry. His book Talkhiyan written when he was 22 was published in 1945. It became one of the most popular published works second only to Ghalib. A revolutionary with communist leanings, he like others of the day used his pen as a weapon and wrote about the daily struggles of the poor and oppressed. He captured the the pain of the daily wage labourer, the farmer, the prostitute, partition and victims of the system. His next work, the long Parchaeeyaan also came out soon after catapulting him among the top poets of the day.
He was born in Ludhiana but later went to Lahore. His strong revolutionary ideas and communist leanings forced him to leave Lahore when a warrant was issued for his arrest and he made his way to Bombay where he lived till his death.
He started writing lyrics in 1949 but it was only in 1951 that with Naujavan and later Dev Anand’s Baazi, with music by SD Burman directed by Guru Dutt that he found success.
Credited for raising the profile of lyricists, he was the one who insisted on lyricists being credited on film posters and had All India Radio announce and credit lyricists of the songs they would play on the radio. He also insisted on being paid Re. 1 more than Lata Mangeshkar, arguably the greatest playback singer of the Indian film industry. He was instrumental in replacing the top music directors of the day Shankar -Jaikishen with Khayaam for the Raj Kapoor starrer Phir Subah Hogi based on Fyodor Dostoveski’s Crime and Punishment saying the movie required music by one who had not only read the book but understood it as well. His ego and persona did come in the way of his relationships though, which eventually led to the break up of his extremely successful partnership with S.D. Burman with whom he did 15 odd films between 1951-57.
His songs from Pyaasa are monumental. Just these two gems are enough for his name to be written in golden letters as one of India’s greatest.
‘ yeh mehlon, yeh taqton yeh taajon ki duniya
yeh insaan ke dushman samaajon ki duniya,
yeh daulat ke bhooke rawazon ki duniya
yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaaye toh kya hai… ‘
One of Nehru’s favourite lines from the song ‘yeh kooche yeh nilamghar dilkushi yeh loot te hue karwaan zindagi ke, kahan hai kahan hai muhafiz khuda ke, jine naaz hai hindustan pe kahan hain..’
His relationship with Amrita Pritam which could not be sustained found its way into the following from ‘Gumrah’
‘tarruff rog ban jaaye to usse bhulan behtar
talukk bhoj ban jaaye toh usko todna accha
woh afsana jisse anjaam tak laana na ho mumkin
usse ek khoobsurat modh dekar chorrna accha…’
This philosophical song from ‘Hum Dono’ teaches you how to really live life in the present and take its ups and downs in one’s stride. It puts into words the fine art of living…
‘main zindagi ka saath nibhata chala gaya
har fiqr ko dhuein mein udata chala gaya
gham aur khushi ka farq na mehsoos ho jahan
main dil ko uss muqam pe laata chala gaya
jo mil gaya ussi ko muqaddar samajh lya
jo kho gaya ussi ko bhulata chala gaya…’
The optimistic song from Humraaz is a primer on how to live one’s life
‘na mooh chuppa ke jiyo aur na sar jhuka ke jiyo
ghamon ka daur bhi aaye toh muskare ke jiyo
ghata mein chupke sitarein fana nahin hote
andheri raat ke dil mein diye jalake jiyo
na jaane kaun sa pal maut ki amanat ho
har ek pal ki khushi ko gale laga ke jiyo
His romantic songs weaved the elements of nature beautifully to express the longing, desires and feelings of the heart like this gem from the movie ‘Railway Platform’
‘Chaand madham hai aasman chup hai
neend ki god mein jahan chup hai
duur vaadi mein doodhiya baadal jhuk ke parbat ko pyaar karte hain
dil mein naakaam hasratein lekar hum tera intezaar karte hain’
His other lighter and romantic songs like ‘ae meri zohra zabeen’ from Waqt ‘ abhi na jao chorkar from ‘Hum Dono’ or the light folk tunes from ‘Naya Daur’ and the intense poetry from ‘Kabhie Kabhie’ showcase his versatility and depth as a songwriter and poet.
His main pal do pal ka shaayar hoon from Kabhie Kabhie has the lines ‘kal koi unko yaad kare kyun mujhko koi yaad kare’ but Sahir Ludhianvi has written his name in golden letters across the sky…
There is talk of a biopic on his life with Sharukh Khan slated to play Sahir. Lets hope the movie rolls and we get to relive and celebrate his life and his work…
Majrooh Sultanpuri (1919-2000)
One of the most prominent lyricists through the ages, Majrooh Sultanpuri or Asrar Ul Hassan Khan, was an Urdu poet born in the 1920’s just like the illustrious lyricists listed above. He was at the forefront of the Progressive Writers Movement and was even jailed with other leftists of the time in 1949 and spent two years in prison because he refused to apologise. He came to Bombay in 1945 and after resisting the lure of Hindi Cinema, he finally wrote a few lines for the great composer Naushad for the film Shah Jahan on the basis of which he was signed on and didn’t look back in all the sixty years he spent in the industry.
Schooled in a Madrassa he actually studied to be a doctor. He practiced as a hakim and the language used by hakims in those days was Farsi. His knowledge of Farsi and Urdu made him a formidable force.
His work in the Dilip Kumar starrer Andaz was highly successful as was the song he wrote at Raj Kapoor’s request for Teesri Kasam ‘ Duniya banane wale kya tere mann mein samayi ‘ KL Saigal had said he wanted Majrooh’s song ‘jab dil hi tooth gaya’ to played at his funeral which was actually played in accordance with his wishes.
He worked with all the greats including Naushad, SD Burman, Shankar- Jaikishen, Laxmikant- Pyaarelal, Kalyanji -Anandji and RD Burman. He also worked with the next generation of directors through the 80’s and 90’s including Anu Malik, Anand -Milind Jatin -Lalit etc
While his poetry or shaiyari was a commentary on the Independence struggle and the socio political landscape of his time, his songs were rich in capturing the diversity of human experience. His songs in Yaadon ki baraat, Qayamat se Qayamat Tak, Teesri Manzil, Baharon Ke Sapne, Tumsa Nahin Dekha and so many others will always be remembered. His understanding of the finer nuances of human relationships gave birth to some of the most romantic tunes of the day that are still heard, hummed and sung by many to this day like this one from Teesri Manzil produced by Nasir Hussain with whom he did 13 films from Paying Guest to Akele Hum Akele Tum – ‘o lekar yeh haseen jalwe tum bhi na kahan pahunche aakhir toh mere dil tak kadmon ke nishaan pahunche’ or the irrepressible optimist lover’s call ‘vaadiyan mera daman raaste meri baahein jao mere siwa tum kahan jaaoge’ from Abhilasha. Poets of the day used metaphors and similes from nature to highlight human feelings and emotion and Majrooh Sultanpuri did it admirably as is evident in all his songs especially from Mere Jeevan Saathi .
His work in Dosti though was outstanding and the songs he created whether the pathos filled ‘Chahunga main tumhe shaam savere’ or the philosophical ‘rahi manwa dukh ki chinta’ touched a chord and left an indelible mark.
‘Duur hai manzil duur sahi, pyaar hamara kya kum hai
pagh mein kaante lac sahi per yeh sahara kya kam hai
humraah tera koi apna toh hai
sukh hai ik chaaon dhalti aati hai jaati hai dukh toh apna saathi hai’
One of his most quoted couplets best mirrors his life… ‘main akela hi nikla tha janib e manzil magar log saath aate gaye aur karvaan banta gaya…’
Hasrat Jaipuri (1922-1999)
Born Iqbal Ahmed in Jaipur he came to Bombay in 1940. He had already started writing poetry and was discovered at a mushiara by Prithviraj Kapoor who recommended him to Raj Kapoor. He started his career writing for Raj Kapoor’s ‘Barsaat’ and together with Shailendra remained in the RK Camp throughout his life. When Shailendra turned producer with the Raj Kapoor starrer Teesri Kasam, he requested Hasrat to write the lyrics for the film.
A published poet both of Hindi and Urdu poetry, Hasrat Jaipuri made his mark in the film world penning lyrics for the great Raj Kapoor. Films like Barsaat, Mera Naam Joker, Prem Rog, Ram Teri Ganga Maili and Shammi Kapoor starrers like Junglee, Andaz etc cemented his place in filmdom. In fact the philospohical ‘zindagi ek safar hai suhana’ from the Shammi Kapoor starrer Andaz but ‘picturized’ on the superstar of the day Rajesh Khanna, went on to become a hugely popular hit hummed to this day.
‘zindagi ek safar hai suhana yahan kal ya ho kisne jaana
maut aani hai aayegi ek din jaan jaani hai jayegi ek din
aisi baaton se kya ghabrana yahan kal kya ho kisne jaana…’
His early days in Bombay though were a far cry from the dizzying success he saw later. He lived on the footpaths and worked as a bus conductor for the princely sum of Rs 11/- a job he did for 8 years. He never charged women for tickets apparently and said the experience helped him tremendously in his writings as he saw the daily trips and the coming and going of so many passengers as a metaphor for life itself. It was his poem Mazdoor ki laash written about a daily wage labourer who used to sleep next to him on the footpath that caught the attention of the great Prithviraj Kapoor at a mushiara. He introduced hime to Raj Kapoor who was working on Barsaat at the time. The rest is history.
Shakeel Badayuni ( 1916-1970)
Born in Badaun UP, Shakeel Badayuni moved to Bombay in 1944 after having attended Aligarh Muslim University and winning a lot of shayari competitions. While other poets were writing about the issues of the day, the poor and the freedom struggle, he focussed on romance and matters of the heart. Asked to sum up his shayari in one line by the great Naushad, he said ‘hum dard ka afsana duniya ko sunna denge, har dil mein mohabbat ki aag laga denge… ‘ He went on to work with Naushad for 24 years forming one of the most successful collaborations of all time with movies like Mughal -e- Azam, Baiju Bawra, Mother India, Deedar, Ganga Jamuna, Mere Mehboob. He also worked with other music directors like Ravi and S D Burman for films like Sahib Biwi aur Ghulam, Chaudhvi ka Chaand etc.
The qawaali from Mughal-e Azam showcases his craft and understanding of romance ‘agar dil gham se khaali ho to jeene ka mazaa kya hai agar na ho khoon e jigar to ashq peene ka mazza kya hai mohabbbat mein zara aanso bahakar hum bhi dekhenge…’ as does ‘Chaudhvi ka chaand ho ya aftab ho jo bhi ho tum lajaawab ho…’and of course the evergreen ‘pyaar kiya toh darna kya… His versatility was evident with Ganga Jamuna where he was equally at home in Bhojpuri and dialects of the heartland as he was in Urdu.
These nuggets from his poems encapsulate his life… jab hua zikr zamaane mein mohabbat ka toh mujhe shakeel apne dil e nadaan pe rona aaya…
mujhe fakr hai meri shaayari meri zindagi se judaa nahin…
Anand Bakshi (1930-2002)
Prolific lyricist Anand Bakshi is credited with writing over 3500 songs and in a career spanning several decades he has written songs for 636 films with about 205 directors capturing almost every emotion and feeling known to man. Born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, his family arrived in India in 1947 and settled in Delhi. He joined the Navy at 14 was relieved of his duties at 16 and then later joined the Army at 20. He left the Army in 1956 to try his hand as a songwriter, singer and composer.
To compete with the stalwarts of the day like Shailendra, Hasrat Jaipuri, Sahir Ludhianvi, Kaifi Azmi and Majrooh Sultanpuri was no mean feat and it was along time before he got a break writing for some decent films. His determination to get work was such that once after perstering Roshan the music director to listen to his songs, Roshan told him to come to his house in Santa Cruz at 10 the following morning. The next day it was raining heavily in Bombay and all transportation services had ceased. Anand Bakshi was up at 6 and decided to walk from his shared room in Borivilli to Santa Cruz and arrived at the appointed hour.
It took 50 films and and almost nine years to get his first super hit Himalay ki god mein which released in 1965 proving that patience, persistence and determination pays. The film catapulted him into the big time. Jab jab phool khile also came out in 1965 where each song was a major hit. In aaye din bahar ke he went against the trend of normal romantic or ‘sad’ songs by writing a song written keeping the enemy or the one who has hurt you in mind ‘ mere dushman tu mere dosti ko tarse…’
His understanding of all styles of music from classical to folk to pop and his ability to write so that the common man could understand the lyrics by simplifying language from the high flowing poetry that the other stalwarts were writing, made him extremely popular.
Milan and Farz in 1967 and then Aradhana cemented his position as the premier lyricist of his time. By the 70’s he was writing songs for about 80% of the films and was the then superstar Rajesh Khanna’s lyricist of choice. While most of his songs were of the romantic nature a few philosophical gems did come out of his pen like these immortal songs:-
‘yeh jeevan hai iss jeevan ka yehi hai chaon dhoop
thode gham hai thodi khushiyaan yehi hai rang roop
yeh na socho iss mein apni haar hai ke jeet hai
usse apna lo jo bhi jeevan ki reet hai…’
‘zindagi ke safar mein guzar jaate hain jo makam woh phir nahin aate
kuch log ik roz jo bichar jaate hain woh hazaron ke aane se milte nahin
umr bhar chahe koi pukara kare unka naam woh phir nahin aate…’
Amar Prem is another movie which had a lot of songs with a varied look at life and society and love. From the thought provoking ‘ chingari koi bhadke’ to the tongue – in- cheek ‘yeh kya hua’, or the social ‘kuch toh log kahenge with the line tu kaun hai tera naam hai kya seeta bhi yahin badnaam hui phir kyun sansaar ki baaton se bheeg gaye tere naina’
His song ‘gaadi bula rahi hai’ beautifully used the train as a metaphor for life and he says his biggest award was when he received a post card from the hinterland written by a poor man who had lay down on the tracks to give his life when he heard the song play from a hutment nearby and the lines ‘gaadi ka naam na kar badnaam patri pe rakh ke sar ko, himmat na haar kar intezaar aa laut jaaen ghar ko, yeh raat ja rahi hai woh subah aa rahi hai…’ made him change his mind and saved his life. Each verse in the song is an inspiration to keep going no matter what like these exhorting the traveller to overcome difficulties with a song in one’s heart:-
‘sar pe hai bhoj seene mein aag, labh pe dhuan hai jaano,
phir bhi woh ga rahi hai nagme suna rahi hai
aage toofan peeche barsaat upar gagan mein bijli
soche na baat din ho ya raat signal hua ke nikli
woh dekho aa rahi hai woh dekho ja rahi hai’
or these inspiring lines full of grit, optimism and encouragement saying the power to shape one’s destiny lies in one’s hands
‘sunn yeh paigham yeh hai sangram jeevan nahin hai sapna
dariya ko phaand parbat ko cheer raasta bana le apna
neendien uda rahi hai jaagi jaga rahi hai…’
and of course the clincher ‘jeena sikha rahi hai marna sikha rahi hai…’
Unlike the other poet/lyricists of the day, he came with no intellectual baggage. He didn’t claim to be a poet or shaiyar but would write simple songs to fit the mood, situation and sensibilities of the music composers and the film director. He was a prolific writer and would write many verses for each song for directors to pick and choose sometimes writing 39-40 verses for a song.
‘main koi barf nahin hoon jo pighal jaaoonga chaand suraj ki tarah waqt pe nikala hoon mein chaand sooraj ki tarah waqt pe dhal jaaoonga…’ sums up his life, his work and his impact on generations to come.
All these lyricists came from an era where songs were composed over various ‘sittings.’ The director, producer, music director/s, story writers and lyricists sat together to understand the story, the situations, the characters and then went on the create. Each song could take roughly a month from conception to the final outcome. There were many other great lyricists of the day like Kaifi Azmi, Indeevar and many that followed like Gulzar and Javed Akhtar each contributing immensely to the rich and varied
Javed Akhtar recounts meeting Majrooh Sultanpuri towards the end and asking him how he was doing. Majrooh replied ‘andhon ko aaiyana bech raha hoon…’ I’m selling mirrors to the blind…’ Unless people start listening to the spoken word and reading the written lines and unless educational systems don’t encourage reading, writing and a deep appreciation of literature and the fine arts and unless Government institutions and private houses don’t build monuments and museums showcasing our finest poets and writers, we will be nothing but a robotic society having acquired bookish knowledge but having lost an education…
Ravi Sasan 