This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
Forgotten Melodies of the 1940s -38
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PRARTHANA (1943) was produced under the banner of Minerva Movietone and it was directed by Sarvottam Badami. The star cast included Motilal, Jahanara Kajjan, Sabita Devi, K N Singh, Nimbalkar, Ghulam Hussein, Sadat Ali, Abu Bakar etc. There were 10 songs in the film and five of them were rendered by Jahanara Kajjan. All the songs penned by Dr Safdar Aah Sitapuri were set to music by Saraswati Devi. The main features of all the songs were that they were all based on Hindustani classical raagas.
Prarthana (1943) is one of the six films Jahanara Kajjan did during her stint in Bombay (Mumbai) in 1941-44. Unfortunately, except for Prarthana (1943) where she had a major role, she got only marginal roles in other films in Bombay, probably more in order to exploiting her singing talent than to showcase her acting. She died unsung in 1945 in Bombay. I have already covered her brief profile in tumhre darshan ka nainaa taras gaye ho.
Two songs from the film, both rendered by Jahanara Kajjan, have been covered in the Blog. I am presenting the 3rd song from the film, also the third of the five songs sung by Jahanara Kajjan in the film. The song is a ghazal, ‘ek dhundhla saa mohabbat ka hai naqsha baaqi’ written by Dr Safdar Aah Sitapuri. This ghazal is composed by Saraswati Devi in Raag Jaunpuri.
It is a lovely ghazal sung in a semi-classical style by Jahanara Kajjan. The ghazal has a very strong matla (first she’r) which, in a broader sense, means that the protagonist having failed to get a positive response from the beloved, has left with only a foggy recollection of the journey of love. Now there are no more beautiful nights with the beloved and no more longing for the same. A beautiful melancholic thought from the poet.
Song-Ek dhundhlaa saa mohabbat ka hai naqsha baaqi (Prarthana)(1943) Singer-Jahaanara Kajjan, Lyrics-Safdar Aah Sitapuri, MD-Saraswati Devi
Lyrics
Ek dhundhlaa aa saa mohabbat ka hai naqsha baaqi ee
ek dhundhlaa aa saa mohabbat ka hai naqsha baaqi
ab na hasrat hai koi
aur na tamanna baaqi
ab na hasrat hai koi
aur na tamanna baaqi
hum rahen yaa na rahen
zikr-e-wafa hotey hain aen
hum rahen yaa na rahen
zikr-e-wafa hotey hain aen aen
naam to reh gaya duniya mein hamesha baaqi
ahd-e-raat(?) khizaaaaaon ne mujhe loooooot liya aa aa
ahd-e-raat(?) khizaaaaaon ne mujhe loooooot liya aa aa
dil ke veeraan gulistaan mein hai ab kya baaqi
dil ke veeraan gulistaan mein hai ab kya baaqi
ek dhundhlaa aa saa mohabbat ka hai naqsha baaqi
