Sahir & Shairi, Films of Sahir Ludhianvi Options

[swarapriya]

Sahir & Shairi

Films of Shair Ludhianvi

Main Pal Do Pal Ka Shair Hoon
Pal Do Pal Meri Kahaani Hai
Pal Do Pal Meri Hasti Hai
Pal Do Pal Meri Jawaani Hai

….

Kal Aur Aayenge Naghmon Ki
Khilti Kaliyaan Chun Ne Waale
Mujh Se Behattar Kahne Waale
Tum Se Behattar Sun Ne Waale


The poet who wrote these words, Sahir Ludhianvi, in reality would be remembered for ever as long as people who love literature and especially poems like this exist. It is the greatness of his humility that he speaks of other poets who write better than him will come sometime tomorrow. That is a definite possibility. But for now, he probably is the greatest of those we know.

Abdul Hayee, better known as Sahir Ludhianvi, was born in 1921 into an aristocratic Muslim family in Ludhiana, Punjab. But he spent much of his childhood in poverty. This transition from worldly comforts to a meager existence took place when he was still very young. At 13, his father took a second wife. His mother left Sahir’s father in protest of his decision to marry again, taking Sahir with her. For the rest of his childhood Sahir lived in constant fear because his father has vowed to kill him to spite his mother.

With hard work Sahir managed to survive and was admitted to a college only to be dismissed for bad behavior because he disobeyed the principal’s rules by sitting on the lawn with a female student. He enrolled in another college and fell in love with one of his college students, named Amrita Pritam, who responded by reciprocating his love. Sahir found himself expelled from the college for the second time because of his writings in the college magazine that the school authorities found to be disruptive. His hopes of marrying Amrita, who was a Sikh by her faith, came to an abrupt end because her father was against his daughter marrying a Muslim. Frustrated and dejected, Sahir decided to give up college and move to Lahore. This was in 1943.

It took two years for Sahir to find a publisher to publish his book “Talkhiyaan”, a collection of poems Sahir has been writing for the last several years. These poems, written from the depths of his heart receive attention, making his name immediately recognizable. This led him to employment. Sahir worked as a magazine editor and his writings and the magazine became popular. Eventually he was able to simultaneously edit as many as four different magazines. His writings adorned all of them. Readers loved Sahir’s beautifully thought out poems, which in turn increased his popularity, thus leading to the popularity of the magazines.

At this time Sahir become a member of the Progressive Writers’ Association (PWA). Immensely influenced by the organization’s communist ideology, he started publishing writings against the repressive government in the magazines he was editing. It was 1949. India and Pakistan have been two separate and independent countries for nearly two years. Incensed by Sahir’s writings, branding them to be inflammatory, in 1949 the Government of Pakistan issued a warrant for his arrest. Sahir managed to flee to Delhi. From Delhi he eventually moved to Bombay in search of work. Based on his credentials as a writer, it did not take long for Sahir to land a job writing lyrics for movies. First movie he wrote lyrics for was, “Azad Ki Raah Par”, released in 1949.

In 1949, Sahir was just 28 years old. In that short span of life, he underwent more ups and downs than many people experience in a lifetime. These experiences undoubtedly left a mark on Sahir, turning him into the type of writer he was. His lyrics and poetry had such moving intensity, leaving an indelible mark on those who read or heard his work. He wrote with purity, depth, sadness and hope about declining societal values, the senselessness of the political machine and the havoc to countless lives brought on by war. His command of the written word was so complete that his readers felt as though he was addressing their individual hearts.

His first lyrics written for the film “Azad Ki Raah Par (1949)” failed to make any impression. The movie was a flop and the songs also did not do well. The very next year, in 1950, Sahir had an opportunity to work with the music director S.D. Burman in the film “Afsar”. His success with the film secured work for him on three different films in 1951, all with the great Burmanda: “Naujawan”, “Baazi”, and “Sazaa”. Songs from these films became huge hits, especially from “Baazi”. After this series of successes there was no looking back for Sahir. The Burmanda-Sahir collaboration resulted in several beautiful songs. They worked together on 15 films and their collaboration reached a peak with “Pyaasa”. Sadly this was the last time the duo would work together.

In nearly 30 years of film work, Sahir worked on about 80 films. Songs from most of these films exhibit his literary skills and most of them are still popular today. His most significant work came in Guru Dutt’s “Pyaasa (1957)”. The very next year his work for “Phir Subah Hogi” solidified his position as being unparalleled when it came to writing about the hypocrisies and declining values of society.

While Sahir’s professional life flourished, his love life, sadly, continued to involve heartache. His love for singer Sudha Malhotra, who was Hindu, never materialized because of their different religions.

By 1970’s Sahir’s work output declined. During this period, most of his songs were written for Chopra Brothers’ films, especially Yash Chopra. But even with only a few assignments he had, Sahir always wrote from his heart. Yash Chopra’s “Kabhi Kabhie” made in 1976 is a glittering example of this.

Sahir passed away when he was only 59 years old after a massive heart attack during a card game.

Sahir won the Filmfare award twice as the best lyricist, in 1964 for “Taj Mahal” and in 1976 for “Kabhi Kabhie”. He was also awarded Padmashri by the Government of India.

In the next few months I would like to share with you Sahir’s great poetry through the songs from the films he wrote for. First, let is look at his filmography …

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Apr 16 2010, 10:24 AM

[swarapriya]

Jaal (1952)

“Jaal” was Guru Dutt’s second film as a director. He repeated most of the cast members and technicians from his first film “Baazi (1951)”. Dev Anand, Geeta Bali, K.N. Singh, and Badruddin (not yet Johnny Walker) were all repeats from “Baazi”. So also, the music director S.D. Burman and the lyricist, Sahir.

Raj Khosla was again the assistant director. When Guru offered the job to Raj, interestingly, Chetan Anand offered Raj to stay with him, but Raj decided to go along with Guru. Guru and Raj, who was introduced to Guru by Dev, became very close friends. After Guru passed away, in an interview Raj confides that it was the best thing he did to decide to go and work with Guru as Raj was able to learn many fine points from Guru.

V.K. Murty, who was assistant to Ratra for “Baazi”, became a close friend of Guru when he was shooting the movie. Murty was signed by Guru to be the chief photographer for “Jaal”. The association of Murty and Guru lasted until the death of Guru. Murthy photographed all of Guru’s films except “Chaudhvin K Chand” for Guru.

Interestingly, like in “Baazi”, Guru also appears briefly in this movie as well. He is part of the group of fishermen. He is one of the actors in the chorus of the song, “Zor Lagaake” which Geetaji sang beautifully. Incidentally, Raj Khosla also appears briefly in the movie as part of Dev’s team involved in treachery.

Baburao Patel, Filmindia’s editor, was very critical of Guru’s potential as a director after “Baazi” was released. In the November 1952 issue, reviewing “Jaal”, Patel has to eat his own words and had some nice words to say about Guru.

The story of “Jaal” was credited to Guru himself. However, it was heavily borrowed from a 1948 Italian film, “Bitter Rice”. Guru Dutt also wrote the screenplay.

The movie was shot mostly outdoors. It was filmed near Ratnagiri. It is on the coast between Bombay and Goa. Boats, village fairs, churches, fishermen at work, all were party of the natural surroundings that gave “Jaal” its authentic beauty representing the beauty of simple and quiet village people.

A word about the songs. This film has some of the memorable songs written by Sahir and composed by Burmanda. Each song is an utter beauty. Of course the standout song is “Yeh Raat Yeh Chaandni”, duet as well as solo versions. Interestingly, this Hemantda’s song Guru originally wanted to have Raj Khosla sing. It was an ardent desire of Raj to become a singer. Guru wanted to help his friend. Burmanda did record the song in Raj’s voice. But Burmanda was so unhappy about the result that he told Guru that Raj’s voice is too raw and is not ready for such an assignment. Guru was very upset with Burmanda. But better senses prevailed and Hemantda was selected to sing the song. I for one, applaud Burmanda’s choice. Otherwise music lovers all over the world would have been robbed of such superb and unforgettable rendition.

Speaking about “Yeh Raat Yeh Chaandni” one thing is very remarkable about it, apart from Hemantda’s beautiful singing, richly romantic lyrics, and fine nonimposing music. It is the way the song was picturized. This is one of the unforgettable techniques of Guru. He was a master at picturizing songs that were visual treats. In the movie, the song sung very seductively by Hemantda for the hero Dev Anand, starts as the night falls and the moon rises. The sounds of crooning are carried as a gust of wind opens Geeta Bali’s door and reaches her ears. The drawn out song is simply irresistible as she joins the embrace of her lover by the end of the song by walking in almost a trance like state. The duet version is also has a powerful impact making picturization.

I am uploading these songs in two back-to-back posts. Here is the first set …

This post has been edited by swarapriya: May 8 2010, 01:03 PM

[parag_sankla]

Jaal (1952)

“Jaal” was Guru Dutt’s second film as a director. Interestingly, like in “Baazi”, Guru also appears briefly in this movie as well. He is part of the group of fishermen. He is one of the actors in the chorus of the song, “Zor Lagaake” which Geetaji sang beautifully.

It has been close to sixty year since this song was recorded, still the lines "Zor lagaake haiyya" are evergreen. The group of people who move heavy objects (like industrial equipments) still use these words to energize them. I have myself seen 30 odd movers in industry moving chemical reactors chanting "Zor lagaake haiyya". That is the power of the words by Sahir sahab, the Burmanda composition and of course the "magical" voice of Geeta ji and chorus.