Guest article by DP Rangan
(DP Rangan had written on the ecstasy side of love when the stars shine bright, sky is bluer than ever, flowers are in bloom, and the world smiles tenderly. But joy and sorrow are the two sides of the same coin – खुशी के साथ दुनिया में ह्ज़ारों ग़म भी होते हैं/ जहाँ बजती है शहनाई वहाँ मातम भी होते हैं.
In our films heartbreaks came in various forms and due to different reasons: the most common reason was the villain, say Pran, who was obsessed about the woman and would have at her at any cost, often abducting her and keeping her under captivity in some haveli, until a pundit was found and forced at gun point to complete the rituals fast; very often the villain was only interested in her Daddy’s wealth; sometimes the Daddy would lock her up as he could not stand her gallivanting with the hero of lower social status; at other times it was a simple lovers’ tiff. It is not possible to make an exhaustive link, but virah was an integral part of any romance.
Mr Rangan wrote last month on the ecstasy part love. Now he presents the other side – Agony – in Love. Thank you Mr Rangan for another nice article. – AK)
The second part of the theme of ‘love’ deals with the reverse of the coin. People usually envisage a happy ending of love affair between a male and female and many songs in our films portray it in such light as I displayed it in the previous part. Reality is to treat the entire affair as a hit or miss. For every successful happy finish, there are very many disappointments with unrequited love that end in the separation of lovers going their way apart. Love is not a bed of roses but full of thorns upsetting the apple cart. Rose bush by itself is an example of how one can be stuck with thorns by a casual approach in plucking them in full bloom.
Lyricists and music directors had worked in tandem to produce songs of pure agony laying bare frustrations in the conduct of love, and singers also did their part. The film goers experience it vicariously while viewing it on the silver screen in cinema theatres. On analysis I find female solos far exceed male solos and duets in the outpouring of grief through songs.
I will now commence my post with a few duets of anguish and sorrow. Most of the duets tend to be of distant type with heroes and heroines in love far apart and telepathy seems to link them as they sing synchronised in an unbroken sequence.
1. Khabar kya thi ki gham khaana padega by Mohammad Rafi and Shamshad Begum from Chandni Raat (1949), music Naushad, lyrics Shakeel Badayuni
Shyam starts the lament with a regret for having loved and Naseem Bhanu is equally good in reciprocating the melancholic mood.
2. Paas aa ke huye hum door yahi tha kismat ko manzoor by Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar from Meena Bazaar (1950), music Husnlal-Bhagatram, lyrics Qamar Jalalabadi
Both Shyam and Nargis blame ‘kismat’ for the distraught situation they are in.
3. Seene me sulagate hain armaan by Talat Mahmood and Lata Mangeshkar from Tarana (1951), music Anil Biswas, lyrics Prem Dhawan
A distant singing between Dilip Kumar and Madhubala, and a splendid song of pathos set to music by Anil Biswas displaying pangs of separation by both.
4. Mohabbat mein aise zamaane bhi aaye by Talat Mahmood and Lata Mangeshkar from Sagaai (1951), music C Ramchandra, lyrics Rajendra Krishna
Premnath pours out his grief from jail and Rehana Sultan from without.
5. Mujhe gale se laga lo, bahut udas hun main by Asha Bhonsle and Mohammad Rafi from Aaj Aur Kal (1963), music Ravi, lyrics Sahir Ludhiyanavi
Nanda (princess) and Sunil Dutt (doctor) separated by the cruel dictates of her father, Ashok Kumar, Maharajah of the state, long for each other through this song.
6. Kyon unhe dil diya haye ye kya kiya by Surendra and Shamshad Begum from Anokhi Ada (1948), music Naushad, lyrics Shakeel Badauni
Naseem Banu is lying on top of haystack carried by a bullock cart. Surendra is sitting in the car in repair and towed by the bullock cart. Both are next to each other and yet sing as if they are far away. Lyrics, singers and music composer have drawn together to create this slow pathos-laden evergreen song, which I am sure will have enough listeners even today. This probably formed the basis for another song by Naushad in the film Anmol Ghadi (1946) and sung by Surendra and Noorjehan, a distant song about frustrated love – Aawaaz de kahan hai.
Solos are aplenty in such sad songs for various causes as lover being away or he/she is indifferent (applies both ways). I will start with a few female solo songs.
7. Kis tarah bhoolega dil by Noorjehan from Gaon Ki Gori (1945), music Shyam Sunder, lyrics Zia Sarhadi
Noorjehan yearns for her lover who is away from the village in this song. Live video is available with poor audio and hence I have chosen this.
8. Unse hum kuchh kahte kahte rah gaye by Lata Mangeshkar from Dil Ki Basti (1949), music Ghulam Mohammad, lyrics Waheed Qureshi
Nigar Sultana is remembering her absent lover who kindled her love for him and disappeared.
9. Dil todne wale O dil todne wale by Lata Mangeshkar from Bholi (1949), music Pandit Gobind Ram, lyrics Ishwar Chandra Kapoor
Geeta Bali is appealing to the almighty why she always ends up being frustrated in her love. A moving tune which is full of grief.
10. Mushkil hai bahut mushkil by Lata Mangeshkar from Mahal (1949), music Khemchand Prakash, lyrics Naqshab Jarchavi
Madhubala, daughter of a gardener, is crying aloud at the absence of her lover Ashok Kumar and at her inability to forget the love she has for him. A great pathetic song which is timeless in its appeal.
11. Kaaga re ja re ja re by Lata Mangeshkar from Wafa (1950), music Vinod, lyrics Aziz Kashmiri
Nimmi is requesting the common crow to take her message and ask her bedardi lover why he had deserted her. Vinod created a masterpiece of grief and Lata Mangeshkar in tandem made it realistic in its appeal to the listeners. Another equally alluring song from the film is sung by Lata Mangeshkar – Apni apni kismet hai.
12. Aankhon se door hoke dil se na bhool jana by Lata Mangeshkar from Pyar Ki Manzil (1950), music Husnlal-Bhagatram, lyrics Rajendra Krishna
Munawar Sultana is appealing to Rehman not to forget her even in her absence. She bolsters her argument by saying he is her only refuge and her tears will not stop till he comes back. This is a slow tempo song typical of the composer.
13. Daaman pakad ke chhod diye by Lata Mangeshkar from Shagun (1951), music Husnlal-Bhagatram, lyrics Mulkraj Bhakri
Sulochana Chatterjee is complaining about the neglect by her lover Kamal Kapoor, breaking her heart.
14. Dil de ke sanam tumhein pachhtaaye by Lata Mangeshkar from Amber (1952), music Ghulam Mohammad, lyrics Shakeel Badayuni
Nargis is regretting having fallen in love with Raj Kapoor. She is describing the various kinds of misfortune that befell her.
Here are a few songs for the hero in grief for having fallen in love.
15. Bhoolnewale yaad na aa by Mukesh from Anokhi Ada (1948), music Naushad, lyrics Shakeel Badauni
Prem Adib is expressing his frustration for not being able to woo Naseem Banoo. Zeb Qureshi who loves him is looking on.
16. Mohabbat ke dhokhe mein koi na aaye by Mohammad Rafi from Badi Bahen (1949), music Husnlal-Bhagatram, lyrics Rajendra Krishna
Having fallen in love which according to him did not fructify, Rahman is advising all others not to commit this folly. He stresses that until he was in love, no tears were shed by him, but being in love led to copious tears.
17. Wo jigar kahan se laaun by Talat Mahmood from Dil-e-Naadan (1953), music Ghulam Mohammad, lyrics Shakeel Badayuni
This is one of the few films in which Talat Mahmood was the hero. He is frustrated because his love Peace Kanwal sacrifices her love in favour of her sister Shyama and expresses it in this song.
18. Ho gaye barbaad hum by Talat Mahmood from Ramman (1954), music Vinod, lyrics Aziz Kashmiri
Karan Dewan is expressing his anguish at failure of his love and declares he is ruined.
”
Songs posted here are polar opposite of the previous post on the theme of ‘Love’ and are equally entrancing, now conveying a sense of despair and resignation.
{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
1935 Devdas -Dukh Ke Ab Din Bitat Nahi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVFqwGzl7x4
by K L Saigal
Manojji
This is probably the second take of Devdas, I presume. All songs were full of pathos and the film is steeped in sorrow shortly after commencement. Thanks for posting a most appropriate song to start with.
Saigal Devdas is a 1935 movie. Lyrics by Kidar Sharma and music by Timir Baran. It is sung in the raag Desh.
Ranganji,
A nice way to celebrate the ballads of agonized hearts. Thanks for presenting the tandem tribulations and lamentations of the lonely hearts.
Posting a non-film song composed and sung by Manna Dey, lyrics by Madhukar Rajasthani
https://youtu.be/qRWnYd_uEUE
Ye kya hua kaise hua, Kishore Kumar, Anand Bakshi, R D Burman, Amar Prem
https://youtu.be/LUyeozn4LPs
Great thinking to bring out a lovely post with ‘ opposite songs ‘ of your previous post . A great selection of songs and most are pre 1954 movies. My guess is that for 100 songs for your previous post you may get only 5 songs in this post and the reason for this is obvious.
Do not know if this song can be covered here…
‘ Jab dil hi…’/ 1946 / SHAHJAHAN / Majrooh Sultanpuri/ Naushad / KL Saigal
https://youtu.be/7lZLePeN7BA
‘ Rehete thhey kabhi…’/ 1966 / MAMTA / Majrooh Sultanpuri / Roshan / Lata
https://youtu.be/x2plQQ80x3k
A nice sequel to the first part Rangan ji.
Sukh aur dukh are two sides of a coin, you have covered one last time, and covered the latter today.
Have you omitted the 60s on purpose?
If no,
Din dhal jaye haye raat na jaye from guide would fit here.
So would, Woh Dil kahan Se laaun, mera dil baharon ka woh phool hai, Yaad mein Teri Jaag jaag ke hum, mujhe Dard e dil ka pata na tha, etc.
Thank you for the post.
Anup
🙂
Venkataramanji @ 4 & 5
Fully appreciate your generous words of praise of the post. Inspiration for the post is thanks to AKji, who once again demonstrates he is a born preface writer of high calibre.
I presume Manna Dey is singing about his lost love and comparing it with Mumtaz Mahal. Amar Prem song is a song of agony springing from inner recess of Rajesh Khanna.
Josephji @ 6 & 7
Thanks for your views on the post of the sad aspect of love.
Shahjahan song is sung in a melancholic mood by the emperor after the demise of his consort and naturally it fits into the theme. Song from Mamta is another classic of Roshan and is full of pathos.
I do agree with your views on preponderence of songs on the theme love in bliss. Songs of agony are quite in number. Space restraints forced my hand for limiting selection.
Anupji@ 8
Thanks for your note of appreciation. I just selected songs at random and that they are of 50s is just happenstance.
Each and every song you mentioned do belong to this aspect of current post.
Thank you Rangan ji for this post. Many of the songs are new to me and I will be listening to them at leisure. Here’s one duet that I am very fond of and hope fits in with your criteria:
Kya Sitam Hai, zulm hai, bedaad hai…
Laila Majnu (1945)/ Rafiq Ghaznavi & Amirbail Karnatki/ Tanvir Naqvi/ Rafiq Ghaznavi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cs31-iTAmek
Ms. Neeruahaf
Thanks for your appreciation. I am not expert in interpreting lyrics properly. The way it is sung in a slow pace and the note of sadness permeating throughout would make it a proper song for the post and so back in time.
Like Devdas, Laila Majnu seems to have been pictured many times.
…cont’d. from @ 6 ,
The maximum ‘pain emotion’ songs in HFM have perhaps been those where there was a breakdown in love . Extreme pain in such a situation is what the entire team of the director , MD, Singer, musicians , Lyricist ,cameraman, actors, and all are trying to show .
A few songs of pain that could be covered here …
‘O doore ke…’ / 1955/ URAN KHATOLA / Shakeel Badayuni/ Naushad / Rafi
https://youtu.be/pD7HziV7204
Unfortunately , social norms also have been responsible for such painful breakdowns
‘ Guzra hua zamaana…’/ 1956 / SHIRIN FARHAD / Tanvir Naqvi / S Mohinder / Lata
https://youtu.be/I2RefAyeVRA
‘ Tumhe yaad hoga…’/ 1959 / SATTA BAZAR / Gulshan Bawra / Kalyanji Anandji / Hemant, Lata
https://youtu.be/uLNVAACUDjg
A profound theme as many songs from the golden era will fall in this category. I could see a completely different perspective on each song where mostly the actors are only mentioned and not much about the pillars: composers, lyricists and singers. It is my personal view that most of the great songs in our films never got their due respect in picturization.
Very few like Guru Dutt, Vijay Anand did a great job in picturization of a song.
I always prefer to listen to them rather than view them-i don’t remember most of the songs’ film name, actors on whom picturized etc..
Josephji @ 14 to 16
In Uran Khatola Nimmi chose to sacrifice herself to save the island from the fury of the Goddess. It is an extreme situation and Dilip Kumar displays grief in full scale in this song.
The other two songs are sung in grief and fits in the post
Sivanandamji
The tunes speak for themselves and I have tried to interpret the lyrics and gave a broad indication of what is the situation. The basic data of the song is part of the song title. I never delve deep into the lyrics considering my rudimentary knowledge of Hindi and Urdu will totally defeat me.
Thanks for your view on the post.
This topic has provided an opportunity for many soulful songs like those often rendered by Talat Mahmood . For example, the song from Dil e Nadaan (1953) rendered by Talat Zindagi denewale sun could reflect the
agony of love very effectively . Already a good number of songs by Talat are included here including another song from the same film. Perhaps some of the sad songs of Rafi and Mukesh could also make it here. A good collection !
Rangan Ji
Even I am not that proficient in understanding Urdu -I keep googling for many words that I hear! I later on realised my comments might have been a bit blunt–it was not on your post but to the way in which our film makers /actors rendered some masterpieces on screen in a bland way , not doing justice to the composers, singers ( many a times the singers emoted it so well than the actors on screen!!) and the lyricists. Your blog is excellent and makes us think of so many other songs.
Few songs that comes immediately to my mind on the Ballads of love-agony:
1) Mohobbat ki jhooti kahani pe roye-Mughal-E-Azam/ Naushad/Shakeel/Lata..superb rendition by Lata
2) Mohobbat zinda rehti hai mohobbat mar nahin sakti-Changez Khan/Hansraj Behl/ Qamar Jalalaabadi/Rafi–only our film makers can create a love story on a ruthless Mongol invader!! But what a great tune by the lesser known Hansraj Behl, evocatively rendered by the legend Rafi!
3) Subah na aayee, shaam na ayee-Cha Cha Cha/ Iqbal Quereshi/Gopaldas Neeraj/Rafi–what a beautiful start to the song with Neeraj’s lyrics- Khushi jisane khoji, wo dhan leke lauta
Hnsi jisane khoji, chaman leke lauta
Magar pyaar ko khojane jo chala wo
Na tan leke lauta, na man leke lauta
I can go on and on…..
Rangan ji,
Good write up. There are hundreds of eligible songs.
Jaane woh kaise log the jinke pyar ko pyar mila..
PYASA
Want ne kiya kya haseen situm..
KAGAZ KE PHOOL
Meri baat rahi mere man mein..
SBAG
Chain se humko kabhi aap ne jeene na diya..
PJPVNJ
Hum the jinke sahare
Woh huye na hamare..
SAFAR
Toot ke dil ke tukde tukde..
BOBBY
Meri kismet mein tu nahin shayad..
PREM ROG
Ab tere bin jee lenge hum..
ASHIQI
Tadap Tadap ke is dil se..
HDDCS.
Sorry for the long absence. I would try to be regular now.
DP Rangan, you have presented a fine bouquet of songs. This was bound to be better than the first one on the series, because, as we know ‘hain sabse madhur wo geet ….’. AK has in his introduction listed some of the reasons for virah songs in our films, which can never be exhaustive as he has also said. Our films has some set patterns which were used in so many films. One of them was one of the parent of hero going to the heroine and asking for the sacrifice. In some cases even the hero was approached with the same purpose. In the later films these conversations became aggressive with offer of money etc. Ashok Kumar was involved in a few films of this theme. Even Balraj Sahni had more than a couple of films of this theme.
Choice of songs is excellent. Mukesh, who was known for his soulful songs has just one song. For Lata and other great singers people would say this is just the tip of iceberg, but there is a limit for selection. Song no 5 is very special for me. This song has two versions in the film. One is a solo by Asha, link for which I am giving here. After about 7-8 years of our marriage my wife had gone alone to our home town as my mother was ill. There she had fever and was feeling sad when this song started playing. When Rafi starts singing she says she saw lips of my photo (on the show case) move. This song has been special for us since then. Actually, in the solo which I am posting Nanda is fed up of life and she is calling god to end her life though in love terminology. Later when Ashok Kumar separates them, she relapses in the same mood. Sahir here uses different terminology and Nanda’s call to god is direct ‘game jahan se utha lo’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzWlAOWQMCQ
There is another Asha solo in that film which says death is better than life, the mukhda being ‘maut kitni bhi sangdil ho magar zindagi se to meherbaan hogi’. I post the link here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF9-2K9JvAQ&
KB @20
Thanks for your views. Ladies apparently are mentally upset in love denial and disappointment situations and grief displayed through sad songs are heart wrenching. Such songs took prominence. I did post a song of Mukesh and Rafi in male solos. I am aware of deluge of songs but I had to keep the post to a reasonable size and hence could not post more. I left it to commentators to do needful.
Sivanandamji @21
I fully comprehend what you sought to convey. It is upto the actors involved in the song to merge their identity and act the part. Many may not be upto it. That is reality. The two songs you mentioned do portray grief. In Genkhis Khan, the lady who was comatose, raises like Phoenix from ashes at the conclusion of the song.
Dr Shetty @22
Fully appreciate your liking the post. As expected you have given link to numerous songs. All are part of the theme. Thanks for your presence after a hiatus.
Hans @ 23
Why this note of apology dear Hans. People have their own priorities and constraints to face and have to balance their time. Very happy to observe you came back for this post. I know people associate love with happiness and previous post on the theme may look mundane. I thought of the post to be aligned this way and AKji gave his concurrence. Song No. 5 did kindle your memory. Feel very elated. I liked the picture Aaj aur kal. Ashok Kumar acted very well. The first song you posted is a lament about her condition as a cripple and love had not blossomed at that stage. The second one is a cry from her heart for choosing to stay with her father rather than her lover doctor who restored her by making her walk again.
Hearing the song Mohabbat ke dhokhe mein koi na aaye i was stuck by the fact the super hit song pardesion se na akhiyan milana seems to be inspired by it. I don’t know if I am right but to my untrained music ears it seems the tune is similar.
Milind,
The two songs have similar meter, so it is possible to fit one into the other. But to me, the two tunes sound different.