SCRIPTING THROUGH
SONGS - SAGA
OF HINDI CINEMA
The story of Hindi Cinema is the story of
its songs. Truly; our colourful, mosaic culture of rhythm and melody is
captivated in reams of celluloid through
last century. Even when the films were silent the live orchestra played to give
sound to the songs at Opera House ,Mumbai. With the advent of ‘Talkies’ the singing stars rose to the fore,
the playback technology came later. K L Sehgal, Surrayya, Noor Jahan were the
singing stars. Even Ashok Kumar had to
sing with Devika Rani in the 1936, landmark Bombay Talkies film ‘Achut Kanya’-“
mein
ban ki chiriya ban ban bolun re…”
For many years and even till the last decade we remembered films through
their songs, whilst discussing and appreciating them. The stars were discussed
through the songs they sang on screen. Yes; Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand
were individually discussed for their
distinct dialogue delivery too. However,
the films of Raj Kapoor are remembered
through the music of Shankar Jaikishan, Shailendra/Hasrat Jaipuri,
Mukesh and Lata Mangeskar;though it is another thing that Raj Kapoor himself
was a gifted musician and each of his song bears his personality. Aawara ( Aawara hoon ya gardish mein hoon aasman ka
tara hoon ), Barsat ( Barsat
mein hum se mile tum sajan tum se mile hum Barsat mein ), Shree 420( mera joota hai Japani ye patloon
englishtani sar pe lal topi rusi phir bhi dil hai Hindustani ), Jis Desh mein Ganga Behti hai ( hoton
pe sachyi rahti hai jahan dil mein safai rehti hai …), Sangam ( bol radha bol sangam hoga ki nahi , mera man
ki Ganga aur tere man ti jamuna ka bol Radha bol…). Similarly,
the music of Naushad and Lyrics of Shakeel Badayuni made the films of Dilip
Kumar famous.
Once,
Devanand told a journalist that the biggest contribution of his banner ‘Navketan’ to the filmgoers are the
songs, about 300-400 of his various films. He was right ; starting from “dukhi man mere sun mera kahna…”
( Funtoosh ), “jayen to jayen kahan” ( taxi driver ), “teri duniyan mein jine se to
betar hai ki mar jayen” ( house no 44 ),” tadbir se bigri hui taqdir banale”(baazi),”hum
hain rahi pyar ke hum se kuch na bolia”( nau do gyaraha ),” gata
rahe mera dil” ( guide ),” khoya khoya chand khulaaasman” (
kala baazar ) “hum bekhudi mein tumko pukare chalegaye “( kala paani)” mein
jindagi ka saaath nibha ta chala gaya”( Hum Dono), “Aasma
ke niche hum aaj aapne peeche “( jewel thief ) and many more.
It
was only from the late fifties that the directors got a grip of the medium and
got used to the technology of Cinema , but still the music directors ,
lyricists and singers had their sway and were definitely superior artists than
the writers and directors of that time. The reason was that music as an art
form and later cinema music was well established and wide spread and also
understood. The cinema goers understood cinema better through songs and story
being unfolded through songs compared to the other dramatic aspects. Further;
the intellectual level of the song writers such as Sahir Ludhyanvi, Shailendra,
Majrooh Sultanpuri, Shakil Badayuni was of a much refined level, with a sense
of social commitment, which reflected in their songs. Dialogue writing was
still maturing. The directors had not exploited the full personality of this
potent modern medium. It
was not that there was shortage of good dialogue writers ; Rajender Singh Bedi,
Kamal Amrohi, Akhtar Mirza, Shahid Latif and Vijay Anand were excellent
writers, but they were rendered to the shadows by the enormity of music.
However; all the top directors such as Mehboob Khan, Bimal
Roy , Guru Dutt Raj Kapoor, Vijay Anand
not only gave priority to songs but were masters in song picturization
and they made landmark films with strong story and captivating dramatic
situation, they understood the value of songs in Hindi Cinema and used them
effectively as part of the narrative. The songs were essential turning points
in the script .The Indian audience could relate to this style/form as it was
brought up in singing drama tradition ( Ram lila, nautanki, tamasha )and
therefore we remember the films through
songs :Pyasa ( yeh mehlon ye takhton ye tazon ki duniya), Mother India (
basti basti dware dware dhoondu mein sawariyan …), Ganga Jamuna ( nain
lar jayen re manuva man kasak huabe kari ) .
Two examples I shall present for better
appreciation. Take Guru Dutt’s Pyasa;
the movie begins with the recitation of Urdu couplets in background
establishing the identity of the protagonist and setting the mood , Guru Dutt
happens to see Mala Sinha and there is a flash back song “hum aapki aankhon mein is dil ko
basa dein to” conveying their relationship and setting up a meeting.
Waheda Rehman who plays the prostitute is
introduced through the famous song,” jane kya tune kahi jane kya mane suni baat kuch
ban hi gayi..”, they meet in
strange circumstances when Guru Dutt rescues her from the police stating that
she was his wife. The song” jaane who kaise log the jinko pyar ko pyar
mila”, which Guru Dutt sings in the company of the established poets
sets the conflict and suspicion in the mind of Mala Sinha’s husband Rehman. The
song “jinhe naaz hai hind par wo kahan hein…” is set in a red light
area with young breast feeding mother being engaged in flesh trade and poverty
stricken people all over, this builds up the climax. The climax song is
immortal , when Guru Dutt reappears after being declared dead and there is an
assembly to honour him and his works being Presided by Rehman and others, the
light is from behind and he has spread his arms reminding of
‘crucification’;” ye mehlon ye takhton.. ye tazon ki duniya..”.Finally Gurudutt
walks against the sunset holding the hand of Waheeda Rehman and the song, “aaj
sajan mohe ang lagalo janam safal ho jaye “playing in the background. So we see that the songs were not only beautifully picturised but were so intelligently placed so that they are enmeshed with the story and
effect is cathartic whilst the audience rise from their seats
with a lump in their throat reminiscing
the title song. Guru Dutt directed all the songs of his films which he produced himself , even those such
as ‘Chowdhivin ka Chand’ and ‘Sahib Bivi aur Ghulam’ which were directed by M
Sadiq and AbrarAlvi respectively.
Guide. This Vijay Anand classic was ahead
of its time when made in 1966, it was a risky proposition dealing with the
subject of adultery. The songs are hummed to this day and are structured to
tell the story. It is an irony that the
film won seven filmfare awards ,but was not awarded the music trophy, which
went to Shankar Jaikishan for Suraj. The film opens with The S D Burman song, “
yahan
kaun hai tera musafir jayega kahan..”, during this time the casting is
shown and Dev’s journey from jail to a village where he finally settles as priest is covered. The
movie moves in flash back and the first
twist is marked with the song of Waheeda when she breaks free of her impotent
husband, “ katon se kheench ke ye anchal tor ke bandhan pehni payal… aaj phir
jeene ki tamanna hai aaj phir marne ka irada hai…”. Dev, the Raju guide
and Waheeda the estranged wife Rozy fall in love and Dev convinces her of his love ,”
tere mere sapne ab ek rang hain yo jahan bhi lejayen hum sung hein…”.
Dev brings Rozy home there is problem of her being accepted and continue with her
dancing but Dev insists to bring her to stage and she not only dances but
becomes famous , the song “piya tose naina lage re…”. There is
strain in relationship as Dev gambles and makes money on her success, he misses
her when drunk and sings ,’din dhal jaye par raat na jaye tu tau na
aye teri yaad sataye, din dhal…”, this is a turning point. Dev is
charged for forgery and is to be jailed,
prior to that he wants to meet Rozy ,
the police Inspector is his friend and obliges. At this juncture there
are two songs one after the other and narrate the story forward. One is by
Waheeda implicating Dev and the second by Dev implicating Waheeda, it is a
unique sequence and unforgettable . Lata sings,” mose chal kiye jye haye re haye re
sayyan beiman mose chal kiye jye….”, on
completion Dev sings in Rafi’s voice, “ kya se kya ho gaya bewafa tere pyar mein
chaha kya kya mila bewafa tere pyar mein…” Finally the film returns ,
to village where Dev has commenced his fast for rains and people are converging
to see the result, Waheeda too joins and then there is this song by S D
Burman,” allaha megh de pani de chaye dede tu Rama megh de…” representing the anxiety and agony of the
situation. We see here that the lovely songs of Shailendra have been utilized
very sensibly by the genius Vijay Anand.
It
was only in the seventies with the advent of Salim and Javed combination that
script writing and dialogue delivery gained importance . The rise of Amitabh
Bachhan and his strong and rich voice gave further fillip to performance . He
was perhaps the first star who was recognized for his rendition of dialogues,
after Dilip Kumar and ‘Sholay’ was a
landmark film whose dialogues are famous till date. Prior to that to some extent ’Mughal- e -Azam’ was known for the
dialogues of Prthiviraj Kapoor.
In the
present century many changes have come in structuring film from dramatic dialogues we moved to
realistic and relevant dialogues, the greatness of music diminished. More
background songs were being sung. But music never lost its importance , even
now when cinema is more spectacular and special effects is a new dimension, the
love of Indians for music has kept the film makers on toes. This is confirmed
by the fact that still very few songless films are made. Those who attempt too
are forced by distributers to reconsider and inject at least a background score
to make the film popular.
Songs are like the umbilical
cord to which Cinema shall remain
tied for ever in India.
