LOVE SONG OF DEV ANAND-- ABHI NA JAO CHHOD KAR KE DIL ABHI BHARA NAHI

LOVE   SONG    OF    DEV    ANAND--- ABHI  NA  JAO  CHHOD  KAR

India has changed post liberalization, it has become faster and meaner, no time for love and romance. The survey of Hindustan Times indicates decline of left leanings and rise of right and moderates among youth. All this indicates rise of reason and fading of emotion. Today the nation of smss and quick joy regales on ‘Munni badnam hui’ and ‘Sheela ki jawani’ and perhaps is incapable of understanding the aesthetics and culture of yesteryears and even the cinema and song of yesteryears.But, i will celebrate the song and romance of the days gone by and therefore with the release of Hum- dono in colour talk about the song which rekindles romance in us even to this day. One of the most sophisticated songs of hindi cinema.It possessed all the ingredients of success. Being sung by Dev in his prime of youth and popularity with pretty Sadhna. Penned by the stalwart Sahir  Ludhianvi though known for his revolutionary poetry revealed the softer side of his personality, Jaidev with this song and the other of this film posed  a question to the entire music fraternity and sort of immortalised himself .

     The song is in conversational style, the subject very familiar among lovers. The scene opens with Dev Anand waiting for Sadhna, she arrives a wee late . Dev points at his watch, she smiles. The lovers sit in the garden and exchange gifts, Dev ties a ribbon to her hair symbolic of the bond between them and she presents him with a musical lighter, which is the signature tune of the film. As the evening descends  Mita ( Sadhna) gets up to go when Anand ( Dev) opens the song. The song has three stanzas, the first sung by Rafi for Dev the second by Asha for Sadhna and the third by both one after the other. The first stanza goes as follows:

“ Abhi  na jao chhod kar ke dil abhi bhara nahi

      Abhi abhi to aai ho—abhi abhi to

 Abhi abhi to aai ho, bahar banake chhai ho

     Hava zara mahak to le, nazar zara bahak to le

 Ye sham dhal to le zara , ye dil sambhal to le zara

   Mein thodi der ji to lun, nashe ke ghoont pi to lun

Abhi to kuchh kaha nahi, abhi to kuch suna nahi

  Abhi na jao chhod kar ke dil abhi bhara nahi”

There is a sincere plea from Dev to Sadhna to stay  a little longer, knowing very well that it was not possible considering the traditional times when young women were not expected to stay late, there is a tinge of naughtiness in the lines. He further coaxes her by saying that she has hardly been there and that she has arrived and enveloped the entire setting like the spring and therefore she should let her  presence   freshen and purify the air around so that his eyes could go wayward watching her all over, ‘nazar zara bahak tole’. He further cajoles her  to let the evening set in and perhaps she may stay a while so that his heart ( dil ) settles a little: shaken ( zest! ) as he is with her presence. And as if his survival depends on  her staying a while longer  he says ‘ mein thodi deir jee to lun’  meaning that he lives only whilst she is besides him otherwise he has no life and presence and that he lives on having ‘nashen ke ghoont ’ absorbing her by his side  getting intoxicated in love! And he sums up his anguish in the last lines of the stanza that how could she leave like this for they have hardly spoken to each other ‘abhi  to  kuch  kaha  nahi  abhi to kuch suna  nahi’, he very tactfully ignores the fact that they have spent the entire afternoon together where there was no necessity to talk, because there is no need to talk in love , but since he is a desperate lover looking for lame excuses to extend the stay he makes all flimsy but so loving moves. From the smiles that Sadhna gives it is clear that she is liking all the attention. The second stanza sung by Sadhna moves as follows:

Sitare  jhilmila  uthe  charag  jagmaga  uthe

   Bas ab  na  mujhko  tokana  na bhar  ke raah  rokana

 Agar  mai  ruk gai  abhi  to  jaa  na  paungi  kabhi

    Yahi  kahoge  tum  sada  ke  dil  abhi  nahi  bhara

 Jo khatam ho kisi  jagah  ye aisa  silsila  nahi

           Abhi  nahi  abhi  nahi

           Nahi  nahi  nahi  nahi

Abhi  na  jao  chhodkar  ke  dil  abhi  bhara  nahi  

Sadhna by now has  understood that this would not be a routine parting from her lover and therefore assessing the persuasiveness of Dev  she states that the stars have emerged  and also the lights ( in homes and streets ) have been lit  and therefore he should not interrupt her anymore (for the time beyond permissible limit has been crossed  for in those times by sunset and before the darkness descended all respectable girls reached home) nor hurriedly  stop her path ;and then she delivers the loveliest lines and indeed poetic, the lines which separate the sublime from ordinary  ‘agar  mein  ruk  gayi  abhi  to jaa  na paungi  kabhi  vehi  kaho  ge  tum sada  ke dil  abhi   nahi bhara ’  implying  that she would not be accepted at home if she exceeds  her limits today for him, this shows her own desperation , torn that she was as a typical woman of those times between her sense of obedience to social norms and her love, she in a peculiar  way taunts Dev  by stating that though she would never be able to go home and he would keep insisting her to stay a while and therefore there is a subconscious hint to him to make some permanent arrangement so that they could be together for ever and in fact that is the next scene in the film in which he asks for her hand in marriage from her father. She is philosophical in these lines ‘ jo  khatam  ho  kisi  jagah  ye  aisa  silsala nahin’ implying and imploring Dev that this was not their last meeting and that this relationship is for eternity which is not going to end at a certain place or time; she in way consoles him. The final lines are lyrical and are deftly devised to balance sermon with song and to rhyme the lines melodiously- abhi nahi abhi nahi, nahi nahi nahi nahi. The third  and final stanza raises the song from the lovers banter to some serious thoughtful  lines :

Adhuri  aas, adhuri  aas  chhodke  adhuri  pyaas  chhodke

         Jo  rouz  yuhi  jaogi  to  kis  tarha  nibhaogi

    Ke  zindagi  ki rah  mein  jawan  dilon  ki  chaah  mein

        Kai  muquam  aaenge  jo ham  ko  aazmaenge

   Bura  na  mano  baat  ka ye pyar  hai  gila  nahi

      Haan,  yahi  kaho  ge tum  sada  ke  dil  abhi  nahi  bhara

           Haan,  dil  abhi  bhara  nahi

           Nahi  nahi  nahi  nahi

Now Dev has realized that the regular approach will not work out and that he will have to deliver something different and more profound, because Sadhna has already stated that ‘agar  mein  ruk gayi  abhi  to  ja  na  paungi  kabhi’    so he becomes philolosophical and reminds her of the responsibilities of lovers toward each other during crisis such as the present, he tells her that she was leaving him longing for her midway  , his  desires remain unfulfilled and if she returns everyday in such a manner leaving him discontented how will she  fulfil her role as his beloved because in the path of life and the desires of young lovers there will be many moments of trials and tribulations such as the present and therefore he implies that if she was failing in her very initial test of love how will she face the many challenges ahead. However , very soon having realized that probably he has said  a bit much he retracts and says in his inimitable debonair manner that all that what he said was just in ‘love’  and is not a grouse/complaint. Sadhna, who by now had turned serious smiles and the lovers make up, together repeating the lines they move hand in hand leaving the audience asking for more.

  On the surface it remains a  duet song, but it has been immortalized on screen by the freshness and sophistication of its two players --- Dev Anand and Sadhna. The dilemma portrayed on screen is the perennial conflict of all lovers being encountered  globally, the song gives voice to their  unexpressed feelings and to this day whenever it is played there is universal identification . All of us have faced the same situation but could not express in the manner as enacted .And , many yearn  to be in that situation  in order to express to each other  in the manner portrayed.