Sahir Ludhianvi was one of those rare talents who not just maintained the vulnerability of Urdu in his lyrics but also perfectly captured the essence of the situation.
It seems to be a thing of some mystical era when emotions were weaved into words to form songs, when lyricists were much more than song-writers and when songs were much more than a string of words.
We look back to the Golden Era of Bollywood, graced by some exceptional talents and songsmiths, including Shailendra, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Shakeel Badayuni, Hasrat Jaipuri, Gulzar, Anand Bakshi, and Sahir Ludhianvi who struck chords and touched hearts with not just every song they crafted but with every word they weaved.
One of the legendary lyricists and magical poets stood apart from the rest in this Golden Era of Bollywood was Sahir Ludhianvi. He created poetry that spoke of the anguish, agony, confusion and dejection of the present day generation, struggling to find its feet in a fast-changing social scenario, and yet sparked a ray of hope amid the pervading gloom.
Sahir was a victim of troubled childhood due to his parents’ divorce which pushed him to poverty and struggle when he was just 13. The early experiences with conflict and adversity made him express his angst in ghazals and nazms which made him quite popular, right from his school and college days.
Sahir published his first Urdu work, Talkhiyaan (Bitterness), in 1945 which established him as a notable Urdu poet. He debuted in Bollywood as a lyricist with Azadi Ki Raah Par (1949). He wrote four songs for the film with ‘Badal rahi hai zindagii’ being his first song.
He was one of those rare talents who not only maintained the vulnerability of Urdu in his lyrics but also perfectly captured the essence of the situation.
Sahir gained recognition with Naujawaan (1951) for which S. D. Burman composed the music. The lilting Lata Mangeshkar number “Thandi hawayein” became a trend-setting composition.
But he shot into fame with Guru Dutt’s directorial debut, Baazi (1951), ironically with a ghazal that was turned into a club song by the maverick S D Burman.
Writes HQ Chowdhury in Incomparable Sachin Dev Burman, “It is not clear which particular song Sahir wrote first for Dada (SD Burman) as both Naujawan and Baazi went on the floors around the same time; the films were also released the same year. It is true, Dada took Sahir to AH Kardar and also spoke to Dev Anand about him. Not that Sahir had not written for films earlier. But with Dada it was the beginning of a highly successful combination at the same level as Naushad-Shakeel and Shankar-Jaikishan-Shailendra.
The “anguish” of “Jaayen toh jaayen kahaan” (Talat Mahmood singing for Dev Anand in Taxi Driver, 1954) and “Teri duniya mein jeene se toh behtar hai ki mar jaayen” (House No. 44, 1955) – sung with deep pathos by Hemant Kumar (the Taxi Driver song had an equally melancholic Lata version too); the dreamy masti of “Phaili hui hai sapnon ki baahein” in Lata Mangeshkar’s dulcet voice (House No. 44) – all these songs transport you to a different world altogether, creating a mood that lasts.
The passionate romantic beckoning of “Yeh raat yeh chandni phir kahaan” (Jaal, 1952), again by Hemant Kumar, became a cult song and the Sahir-Burman partnership spun a string of powerful lyrical poetry bound in melodies that perfectly captured the mood of the situation in which the songs were placed.
Guru Dutt’s Pyaasa (1957) saw these two geniuses touch the peak of their partnership with songs that went beyond the film’s script to touch the pulse of a nation that was trying to find answers to its changing social landscape, post independence.
Jaane woh kaise log thhe jinke pyaar ko pyaar mila speaks of an agony and dejection that is not only personal but also social in its context.
The songs and poetry spoke of an impending gloom that was setting in following “the disillusionment of India’s poor with Nehruvian socialism in “Jinhe naaz hai Hind par voh kahaan hain,” besides castigating the crass materialism prevalent in society with “Yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaaye toh kya hai” (Bollywood Melodies: A History of the Hindi Film Song).
The overtly “leftist ideology” apparent in the songs of Pyaasa, continued to sparkle through some of the later films of the 1950s including “Saathi haath badhana” (Naya Daur, 1957) and the clear stand against religious fundamentalism in “Tu Hindu banega na Mussalman banega, Insaan ki aulad hai insaan banega” (Dhool Ka Phool, 1959).
Two other songs in Dhool Ka Phool are equally rebellious Tu mere Pyar ka Phool hai ya meri bhool hai and Daman mein aag laga baithey. Or sample the Cheeno Arab Hamara, Hindustan Hamara from Phir Subah Hogi – from being the rebellious to the romantic, Sahir was the poet who took the society head on with his words, exploring its sharp divisions, its injustices, its hunger and poverty, its collapse of values… giving a new perspective to the archetypal “film song” writing.
The story goes that Sahir claimed that the songs of Pyaasa were popular because of their lyrics which understandably did not find favour with Burman dada. This brought this amazingly creative partnership to an abrupt end.
“His name evokes awe and respect on par with Lata Mangeshkar or Naushad, something no other lyricist has quite managed. Sahir did not write lyrics of songs; he wrote intense poems that composers gladly accepted for their tunes,” writes Ganesh Anantharaman in his book Bollywood Melodies: A History of the Hindi Film Song.
Take for instance, Jaidev, who scored music for very few films but his compositions perfectly suited the depth of Sahir’s poetry.
“Abhi na jao chhodkar, ke dil abhi bhara nahin”.
Sahir next went on to strike up another enriching association with Roshan, and the duo came up with Roshan’s career-best songs such as “Zindagi bhar nahin bhoolegi woh barsaat ki raat” (Barsaat Ki Raat, 1960), “Jurm-e-ulfat pe hammein log sazaa dete hain” (Taj Mahal, 1963).
Music director Khayyam too created some of his best compositions with Sahir, from the early “Woh subah kabhi to aayegi” (Phir Subah Hogi) to “Kabhie kabhie mere dil mein khayal aata hai” and Main pal do pal ka shayar hoon (Kabhie Kabhie).
Sahir Saab worked with the King of Ghazals Madan Mohan only in a few films including Railway Platform, Ghazal and Laila Majnu but created ghazals that are still hailed as classics.
Sample the three ghazals/nazms on ‘peshkash’ written in the same meter with same radif* for the film Ghazal (1964). Madan Mohan composed each one in a different tune to suit the mood for the particular film situation. Each of the three ghazals written so meaningfully, composed with lot of care and sung so beautifully… all over 52 years ago and they still sound so fresh.
A journey of Sahir Ludhianvi’s songs is incomplete without a mention of his eclectic work with music director Ravi.
On a concluding note, we revisit Sahir’s words that spoke of the bitter reality as it was razor-sharp – verses that were used without orchestra as poetry recital in Pyaasa, giving them the value they deserved – as pure poetry and not as poetry cloaked in the garb of a song.
This article is republished from Learning and Creativity.
Sahir’s songs are not just songs… they are life! When you hear them, you wonder how did the poet know this is exactly what I would have liked to say but never knew the words.
From being the rebellious to the romantic, he was the poet who took the society head on with his words, exploring its sharp divisions, its injustices, its hunger and poverty, its collapse of values… giving a new perspective to the archetypal “film song” writing.
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