Bollywood forgets Sahir Ludhianvi

In an era when Hindi film songs are either becoming increasingly obnoxious (Chor, lukkha, luchcha, ganda chor hai tu, luchcha hai tu, had se bada tuchcha hai tu, movie "R... Rajkumar"), or pedestrian (Aaj ki party meri taraf se, movie "Bajrangi Bhaijaan"), it's no wonder the industry almost forgot its most-celebrated poet, Sahir Ludhianvi, on his 35^th death anniversary on Sunday.

In that sense, he, like many of his ilk, is a victim of that typical Bollywood malady -- of forgetting legends who contributed to what is famously known as the "golden era" of the industry. Sahir, like his contemporaries Majrooh Sultanpuri, Kaifi Azmi, Hasrat Jaipuri and Shakeel Badayuni, to name a few, wrote songs that endeared them to the masses and yet maintained the highest standards in song-writing.

The prolific and versatile poet wrote songs for a range of music composers, unlike others, who mostly teamed up with specific composers (Hasrat/Shailendra-Shankar Jaikishan, Shakeel-Naushad, among others). In an illustrious career spanning almost four decades, Sahir, who was born Abdul Hayee on 8 March, 1921, wrote many ghazals and nazms, while his career in Hindi cinema began with the film "Azadi Ki Raah Par" in 1948.

The ability to work with many music composers did not, however, mean that he was not conscious of the music composer's competence. Khayyam, who composed many of Sahir's songs, had an interesting anecdote to share with this reporter some years ago on how he was chosen for the Raj Kapoor film "Phir Subah Hogi", whose lyrics were written by Sahir.

"During those days, his (Raj Kapoor's) most-preferred composers were Shankar-Jaikishan. But Sahir Ludhianvi, who penned the lyrics for the film, insisted that only a person who is familiar with the original story should compose music. As I was well-versed with the novel, I bagged the offer."

The film's songs were a hit; those who love old Hindi movie songs would easily remember "Woh subah kabhi to aayegi" and "Phir na kije meri gustakh nigahi ka gila".

Sahir was not comfortable sharing his collection of poems with Hindi film directors, though they were keen to use them in their films. Khayyam said Sahir had to be persuaded to share his songs from his first collection of poems "Talkhiyaan", for the film "Kabhi Kabhi". The "kabhi kabhi" song was actually modified to make it simpler for a larger audience to understand, just as Sahir did with another song, "Jinhe naaz hai hind par woh kahan hai", which was originally "Sanaa-khwaan-e-taqdees-e-mashriq kahaan hain?"

The versatile poet worked with many of the great Hindi film composers of his time -- Madan Mohan, S D Burman, O P Nayyar, Roshan, Jaidev, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Khayyam, Ravi, N Dutta and also R D Burman.

The movies that would instantly come to one's mind are "Pyaasa", "Naya Daur", "Dhool ka Phool", "Kabhi Kabhi", "Barsaat ki Raat", "Hum Dono", "Trishul", "Ghazal", "Waqt", "Daag" "Kaajal" and "Phir Subah Hogi".

Sahir, it seems, had some kind of premonition about his own songs. In the song "Main pal do pal ka shayar hoon" (picturised on Amitabh Bachchan) from the film "Kabhi kabhi", it comes out so vividly:

"Kal aur aayenge naghmon ki khilti kaliyan chunnewale,

mujhse behtar kehne wale tumse behtar sunnewale,

kal koi mujhko yaad kare kyoon koi mujhko yaad kare,

mashruf zamana mere liye kyoon waqt apna barbad kare".

There are many songs of the legendary poet that are worth recalling. Here is a version of the title song of "Kabhi kabhi" that is recited as a nazm by the poet himself: 

Kabhi Kabhi mere dil mein khayal aata hai
ke zindagi teri zulfon ki narm chaon mein guzarne pati
to shadaab ho bhi sakti thi
ye teergi jo meri zeest ka muqaddar hai
teri nazar ki shuaaon mein kho bhi sakti thi
ajab na tha ke main begaana-e-alam ho kar
tere jamaal ke ranaaiyon mein kho rehta
tera gudaaz badan teri neembaaz aankhen
inhee haseen fasaanon mein mah ho rehta
pukarti mujhe jab talkhiyaan zamaane ki
tere labon se halaavat ke ghoont pee leta
hayaat cheekhti phirti barhanaa sar aur main
ghaneri zulfon ke saaye mein chhup ke jee leta
magar ye ho na saka aur ab ye aalam hai
ke tu nahin, tera gham, teri justjoo bhi nahin
guzar rahi hai kuch is tarah zindagi jaise
ise kisi ke sahaare ki arzoo bhi nahin
zamane bhar ke dukhon ko laga chuka hun gale
guzar raha hun kuch anjaani rahguzaaron se
muheeb saaye meri samt badhte aate hain
hayaat-o-maut ki purhaul khaarzaaron se
na koi jadaa, na manzil, na roshni ka suraag
bhatak rahi hai khalaaon mein zindagi meri
inhi khalaaon mein rah jaoonga kabhi kho kar
main jaanta hoon meri hamnafas magar yun hi
kabhi kabhi mere dil mein khayaal aata hai.

Sahir Ludhianvi died of a heart attack on 25 October, 1980.

A legacy called Sahir Ludhianvi

Jihne naaz hai hind par woh kahan hai

One of the best things to happen to Hindi movie industry was the arrival of Urdu poets. Before that, songs were highly mediocre in nature, like Mere Piya Gaye Rangoon, Kiya Hai Wahan Se Telephoon, Tumhari Yaad Satati Hai, Jiya Mein Aag Lagati Hai (My husband has gone to Rangoon, Has telephoned from there, Your thought troubles me, And it sizzles my heart).
However, with the advent of Urdu poets, all that changed and Hindi movies saw some of the brightest poets and lyricists writing songs. Shakeel Badayuni, Kaifi Azmi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Shailendra, Hasrat Jaspuri, actually became so popular that they went on to become almost house-hold names. The greatest and most popular of them was Sahir Ludhianvi. His songs mesmerized people across the Indian sub-continent for decades and will probably continue to do so for many more years.
Sahir was born in Ludhiana, Punjab, on March 8, 1921 into a wealthy family of property owners, as Abdul Hayee. His childhood suffered a setback when his feudal-minded father married for a second time, forcing his first wife, i.e. Sahir’s mother to flee, along with the young child. Sahir was thirteen years young then.
Sahir studied at the Khalsa High School in Ludhiana and later at Government College, where Amrita Pritam, the famous author, became his most ardent fan. He was quite popular for his ghazals and nazms while in college. He was expelled from the college at the behest of Amrita Pritam’s father. The story goes like this- Amrita Pritam's father did not like Sahir as a suitable match for his daughter because she was a Punjabi and Sahir a Muslim and because he was poor.
Disillusioned with the expulsion, he left for Lahore, in 1943. He almost settled down there and started a career as editor of many Urdu publications. It is pertinent to mention that he was deeply influenced by communist world-view; he was a member of the Progressive Writers Association. In 1949, his writings in “Savera”, an Urdu magazine, were viewed as inflammatory and prompted the Pakistan government to issue arrest warrants against him. To escape arrest, he fled Lahore and came down to Delhi, and finally then to Mumbai. His friends recalled that Sahir was deeply upset with the partition and that in any case, he would have preferred secular India to an Islamic Pakistan.
Sahir made his debut in films writing lyrics for the film Aazadi Ki Raah Par (1949). The film had four songs written by him and his first song was Badal Rahi Hai Zindagi.... Both the film and its songs went unnoticed. But two years later, he gained recognition for his lyrics for the movie Naujawan (1951). The film's lilting song Thandi Hawayen Lehrake Aaye remains popular even today. However, his first major success came the same year with Guru Dutt's directorial debut, Baazi, again pairing him with composer S.D. Burman. The best of Sahir and S.D. Burman came in the movie Pyaasa (1957). His critics and admirers rate Pyaasa as his finest. He was very versatile and wrote a range of songs and worked with many music composers, like Ravi, Naushad, Roshan, O.P.Nayyar and Khayyam, Jaidev and Dutta.
In 1958, he wrote the lyrics for Ramesh Saigal's film Phir Subah Hogi, which was based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment. The male lead was Raj Kapoor and it was presumed that Shankar-Jaikishan would be the music composers. Sahir was insistent that only someone who had read the novel could compose music for the songs. Thus, Khayyam ended up as the music composer for the film. The song Woh Subah Kabhi Toh Aayegi even today remains an all-time hit. Khayyam went on to work with Sahir in many films including Kabhie Kabhie and Trishul. One of the characteristics of Sahir was his ability to bring constrasting emotions in the same song. For example, in the song Mohabbat bade kaam ki cheez hai, he glorifies love in the first stanza (mohabbat ke dam se hai duniya ki raunak…) only to ridicule it in the very next (kitabon mein chchapte hai chahat ke kisse…). Similarly, in the movie, his concern for the poor comes out very well when he says har cheez hai daulat walon ki, muflis ka sahara dil hi to hai, meaning everything on this earth belongs to the rich, for the poor the heart is the sole consolation.

Sahir was the first lyricist to insist on royalty for his songs from music companies. At the height of his popularity, he demanded an excess payment of one rupee more over and above paid to Lata Mangeshkar, the most popular playback singer and a legend by then. He was instrumental in ensuring that All India Radio mentioned the names of lyricist for songs that were aired; the earlier practice was to mention the names of playback singer and music composer alone. Sahir won Filmfare Awards twice, once for his songs for the movie Taj Mahal (1963) and another for the movie Kabhie Kabhie (1976). Apart from this, government of India honored with the National Award in 1971 for his contribution to Hindi cinema.

Sahir died on October 25, 1980 at the age of 49 as a result of a severe heart attack. At the time of his death, he had some collections of songs when became part of the movied Lakshmi in 1982.

Sahir leaves behind a legacy that will be cherished for ever. He was not the poet who would praise God, liquor or beauty forever. Instead, he was quite vocal in bringing out the bitterness, declines values of society, the foolishness of conflicts and the dominance of materialism over love. Even his love songs were often filled with sufferings of the poor, umemployment, war-mongerings arrogance of the rich and exploitation of the poor, particulary women.