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 – 50
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Khud samajh lo ke iltijaa kya hai
Hamhin keh den to phir mazaa kya hai
Iltijaa= Request, desire
The matla (first) she’r of the above ghazal penned by Arzoo Lucknawi is apparently addressed to the ‘maashooqa’ (beloved) by ‘aashiq’ (lover) saying that the former should get a hint, may be the way he talks and treat the beloved, as to what is his request or what he is desirous of. There is no fun if he reveals his request/desire.
What a lovely she’r written in simple words ! It is like a love riddle posed to the beloved where lover expects the correct answer. Just note as to how the the matla she’r which started like a love riddle ends in a philosophical tone. After all, the basic tenet of love is the trust. There is no place for doubt or guess work. When both feels the same in their hearts, there is no need to even whisper ‘I love you’.
Gham bhi mit jaayega khushi ke saath
Dil milen hon to boojhna kya hai
Incidentally, these feelings in the she’r are also reflected in a different way when Sahir Ludhianvi writes two lines in the song, kashti ka khaamosh safar hai:
dil ne dil ki baat samajh li ab munh se kyaa kahnaa hai
aaj nahin to kal kah lenge ab to saath hi rahnaa hai
The first two she’rs quoted above are the part of a ghazal written by Arzoo Lucknawi for an obscure film RANGBHOOMI (1946) which was produced under the banner of Bhavnani Productions and was directed by Mohan Bhavnani. The star cast included K N Singh, Nigar Sultana, Jagdish Sethi, Sulochana Chatterjee, Maqbul, Navin Yagnik, Gope etc.
I got a hint from a poster of the film available on internet that the film was based on Munshi Premchand’s novel of the same name. I browsed through randomly, some pages of the novel available on the internet. The novel was written by Munshi Premchand in 1924. So even in 1946, the situation in rural India had not changed drastically under the colonial rule. So Mohan Bhavnani, the producer-director of the film may have thought that the subject was relevant for a social film. Here is the gist of the story of the novel:
The central character in the novel ‘Rangbhoomi’ is a blind man, aptly named Surdas who begs for a living. He is also the owner of a piece of land which is used by villagers as a common property. A businessman in the village has been trying to capture Surdas’s land for setting up a cigarette factory. This land has become a ‘rangbhoomi’ (arena ) where issues of different nature in the village is fought. This land turns into a tension between rulers and the ruled where rulers are a mix of upper class Indian landlords and the whites. The ruled are the Indian working class, farmers and the other poor class of the society. At the end, Surdas becomes the rallying point of the entire ruled classes to outwit the rulers (landlords and the whites).
The film had 8 songs penned by Pandit Phani (5) and Arzoo Lucknawi (2). The lyricisist for the remaining one song is not known. All the songs were set to music by Premnath.
Here is the first song in the form of a ghazal to appear in the Blog. The ghazal is rendered by Shamshad Begum and Mohammed Rafi. A couple of videos of the audio clips of the ghazal which I found on YT were incomplete as they did not have the last stanza of the ghazal. I have made a fresh clip from a mp3 clip which I have now uploaded on YT.
Enjoy this love ghazal of a different shade.
Song-Khud samajh lo ke iltija kya hai (Rangbhoomi)(1946) Singers-Shamshad Begum, Mohammed Rafi, Lyrics-Aarzoo Lucknowi, MD-Premnath
Both
Lyrics
khud samajh lo ke iltijaa kya hai ae
khud samajh lo ke iltijaa kya hai ae
ham hi keh den to phir maza kya hai ae
ham hi keh den to phir maza kya hai
hai har ik saans ik naya paighaam
hai har ik saans ik naya paighaam
kya bataayen ke dil mein kya kya hai ae
kya bataayen ke dil mein kya kya hai ae
saath jab tak na ho baraabar kaa aa
saath jab tak na ho baraabar kaa aa
saath jab tak na ho baraabar kaa
zindagi mein bhara hua kya hai ae
zindagi mein bhara hua kya hai
tum hamein chaaho
ham tumein chaahen
tum hamein chaaho
ham tumein chaahen
jab yeh tai hai to phir gila kya hai ae
jab yeh tai hai to phir gila kya hai
gham bhi nibh jaayega khushi ke saath
gham bhi nibh jaayega khushi ke saath
dil miley hon to poochhna kya hai ae
dil miley hon to poochhna kya hai ae
khud samajh lo ke iltijaa kya hai ae
ham hi keh de to phir mazaa kya hai ae
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
