SHAILENDRA SAHIR SHAKEEL

SHAILENDRA - SAAHIR - SHAKEEL


My grudge is that our ‘Geetkars’ have not received that respect and recognition which they deserve by the nation who have regaled to their songs generation after generation.
Shailendra, Saahir Ludhiyanvi and Shakeel Badayuni were not only ‘geetkaars’ of hindi cinema who reigned the cinema scene from forties to early seventies ( though Sahir made songs till early eighties) but were true poets of superior standard. Their poetry has withstood the test of time as when we listen to them we not only acknowledge their poetic depth but are saddened with the standards of present times where there is only ‘sound’ but no ‘soul’.
Shakespeare wrote his plays hurriedly borrowing from the various Italian stories and history to meet the deadlines of the theatre owners. In many instances the play was performed the very day or next. It is to the credit of that genius that we do not notice any casualness in his work and today it is the foundation of English Literature and the Bard’s relevance to English speaking culture is the same as what Mahabharat and Ramayan are to Indian culture. But, whilst he was writing those plays he could have never imagined that his works would conquer many continents. After all who decides if a person deserves to be categorised as an artist/poet or a mere craftsman/geetkaar? It is the public ( Aawaam) , the people the masses who saw and heard Shakespeare made him a legend. Similarly our ‘geetkars’ ( lyricists who have given so much of joy and emotional tonic to the people that they deserve a higher status.

In my assessment the poets( Shayers/geetkaars) who wrote for Cinema in the 40s/50s/60s were of high calibre and their talent was even superior to that of many film makers for whom they composed songs. We are fortunate that they were compelled to write for cinema in order to survive economically otherwise we would have been deprived of ‘poetry’ of ‘high seriousness’. Cannot we make out from the songs that are played on TV sometimes that the visual display does not match the audio creation. The words used are very simple of everyday usage so that the common man could understand and relate to them. The vast movie goers also understood the ‘subtext’ of such songs as they had experienced it all, suffered depravity, poverty, rejection etc.

Shailendra started his career with Raj Kapoor’s ‘Barssat’ and thereafter never looked back. During his lifetime he was rated the best. He formed a formidable team with Raj Kapoor, Shankar Jaikishen, Hasrat Jaipuri,Lata Mangeshkar and Mukesh. Apart from the R K Banner he gave memorable songs with S D Burman and Salil Chaudhary for Dev Anand ,Bimal Roy films. Who can ever forget the music of Barsaat, Awaara, Shree 420, Sangam, Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai, Teesri Kasam, Anari, Madhumati, Bandini , Parakh, Guide, Kala Bazaar ……. The list is endless. I will not dwell here on the songs he wrote for that will require a separate dedicated space but it is sufficient to mention that the lyrics he wrote formed an integral part of the film.His songs added character to the film--- what is ‘Guide’ without “ gata rahe mera dil…”? Can we think of ‘Sangam’ without “ dost dost na raha” ? or ‘Madhumati’ without “ suhana safar ye mausam hansi..”, ‘Teesri Kasam’ devoid of “ sajan re jhoot mat bolo”?. The inherent simplicity with depth of meaning is the most endearing quality of his songs.
I wonder as what was the status of our ‘Bhakti’ poets during their lifetime? Tulsidas, Kabir, Rahim, Surdas,Raskhan, Tukaram etc because they created in popular voice and not in the language of the ruling class. They have been made famous not by the imminent scholars of Universities or by the ruling class of that era but by the common folks to whom they have provided spiritual sustenance; a source of survival! Deep in the Indian villages in ‘choupals’ such poets are remembered for they wrote for the masses. Are Shailendra-Sahir- Shakeel less important in their literary substance to Sumitra Nandan Pant, Mahadevi Verma, Harvansh Rai Bachhan or Maithalisharan Gupt? I do not think so . Or their folly for writing for films is so unpardonable that they will be denied their true status?
. Sahir could be categorised as a revolutionary poet. He used words which few could imagine or had courage to write at that time—‘Aurat ne janam diya mardon ko mardon ne uce bazaar diya’( Sadhna), ‘ye mahlon ye thakton ye tazon ki duniya’( Pyasa). His poetry appealed particularly to the youth who were frustrated with the unemployment post independence and the failure of the leaders who had promised a progressive India. Sahir’s romantic poetry is as famous and appealing as his songs on social subjects ,and his language was the fine balance between Hindi and Urdu- a true Hindustani ‘zuban’ . He was a very successful ‘geetkaar’ and produced many immortal songs with ‘Roshan’ ( Chitrelekha, Taj Mahal, Barsaat ki Raat ), ‘Ravi’( Sadhna, Waqt, Gumrah, Hamraaj), ‘Khayyam’( Kabhi Kabhi, Woh Subha Kabhi To Ayegi) and with Sachin Dev Burman (Jaal, Devdas, Munimji ,House no 44,Taxi Driver,Pyasa, Baazi)and even his son R D Burman( Aa gale lagja). Nav Ketan films of Dev Anand should be indebted to him for providing immortality to their music—
‘ jayen to jayen kahan samjhe ga kaun yahan ( Taxi Driver), ‘dukhi man mere sun mera kahna jahan nahi chaina wahan nahi rehna’ ( Funtoosh), ‘tadbir se bigdi hui taqdeer bana je kismet me bharosa ha to ye dav laga le ( Baazi) ‘ mein zindagi ka saath nibha ta chala gaya har fikr ko dhuan me ura ta chala gaya’ ( Hum Dono). However he composed lyrics for most of the films of B R Chopra and fo Yash Chopra right upto ‘Kala Patthar’, though he touched his peak with Guru Dutt’s ‘Pyasa’ in which Guru Dutt himself played the role of poet ‘Vijay’.His romantic songs are rated as one of the finest and are hummed even to this day—‘ abhi na jao chod kar ke dil abhi bhara nahin’ ( Hum Dono), ‘jane kya tune kahi jane kya maine kahi bat kuch ban hi gayi’ ( Pyasa),’’ mere dil mein aaj kya hei tu kahe to mein bata dun’( Daag),’chalo ik bar phir se ajnabi ban jayen hum dono’( Gumrah), ‘aye meri zohrazanbi tujhe maloom nahin tu abhi tak he hansi aur mein jawan’( Waqt ), ‘zindagi bhar nahi bhulegi ye barsaat ki raa( Barsaat ki raat). Sahir’s lyrics fo Kedar Sharma’s ‘Chitrelekha’ and in particular the Rafi song ‘ man re tu kahi na dhir dhare o nirmohi moh na jane jin ka moh kare’ stands tallest among songs of all eras probably a notch higher than his more popular philosophical song ‘mein zindagi saath nibha ta chala gaya har fikr ko dhuen me ura ta chala gaya’ of ‘Humdono’. Some of the very good songs of Sahir would have been even more popular had they been sung by Rafi instead of Mahendra Kapoor who was regular with Ravi , but an ordinary singer
Shakeel did most of his work with with Naushad, it is ironical that he received the three filmfare awards for songs composed with Ravi ‘ Bharonsa’ and ‘chaudhivin ka chand’ and Hemant Kumar composed ‘kahin deep jale kahin dil’ for ‘bees saal baad’. His poetry has more urdu words but he was at ease with the rural tongue and created compositions for ‘Baiju bawra’, ‘Mother India’ and ‘Ganga Jamuna’ which were soaked in rural soil. It is to his credit that he provided lyrics to wide ranging themes --a historical ‘Mugal e-azam’ a romantic film such as ‘Mera Mehboob’, a typical eastern UP song for ‘Ganga Jamuna’- ‘nein lar jahiyen to manwa ma khatak hoebe kari’. The depth of his understanding of Hindustani culture, knowledge of various north Indian dialects such as Awadhi, Bhojpuri and Braj could be ascertained from the songs he wrote relating to Hindu mythology and ethos to which the masses connect: ‘mohe panghat pen and lal ched gayo re’- ‘Mughal-e-azam’, ‘tu ganga ki mauj mein jamuna ka dhara ho rahega milan’-‘ Baiju Bawra’,’man tadpat hari darshan ko aaj’- ‘Biju Bawra’ are some examples. I think he was as good as Sahir in his love songs epitomized in ‘Mere Mehboob’- ‘mere mehboob tuzhe meri mohabbat ki kasam’ and longing for love ‘koi door se awaaz de chale aao’, from ‘Sahib Bivi aur Ghulam’ and finally the song which will never be forgotten as long as there exists women and beauty—‘Chaudhivin ka chand ho ya aftab ho job hi ho khuda ki kasam la jawab ho’.
It is not the elite ruling class who accord status of ‘poet’ to a person, but it is the people in the streets in a democracy, who do not even need literacy certificate to understand and enjoy the sound of music created by these poets. We need not conduct any opinion poll for we can fathom the popularity of such poets from far as their songs and sounds are heard in the nook and corner of our cities, towns and even villages. Their songs supply love songs to young and old alike and remain submerged in our consciousness even if we forget the film. The ‘Antakshari’ programme is testimony to their popularity, and perhaps the only original Indian live tv programme
It is my firm belief that very soon the poetry of Shailendra-Sahir-Shakeel will be taught in colleges and Universities imparting lessons on Indian Cinema. Their status as ‘Poets’ of serious stuff will soar and they will attain what they deserved , even though posthumously