Qamar Jalalabadi: The Unforgettable Lyricist

Guest article by DP Rangan paying a tribute to Qamar Jalalabadi on his 21^st Remembrance Day (b. 9 March 1917 – d. 9 January 2003)

(Among the main markers of a film song – the film, the singer, the lyricist and the music director – the lyricist, whose words gave birth to the song, is remembered the least. SOY regulars used to comment about lack of due recognition to the lyricists on the blog. No longer; thanks to several guest writers many lyricists have since been well covered. Today’s guest writer, DP Rangan, himself has contributed a number of articles on them.

Qamar Jalalabadi is very well known to the lovers of old film songs for his successful association with  Husnlal-Bhagatram, Kalyanji-Anandji, OP Nayyar and others. Many of his songs are of timeless quality. Thank you Mr Rangan for another thorough article on an eminent lyricist of yesteryears, Qamar Jalalabadi. – AK)

A seven year old lad of Jalalabad (now in Pakistan) is busy compiling songs in Urdu. He has developed a flair for shayari, but his skill is frowned upon by his unsympathetic  family. He continues in the same vein and pours out more songs. When he is around nine years old he comes across an individual with similar disposition named Amar Chand and has intimate discussions with him on his passion. Recognising the talent hidden in the boy, he is all encouragement and asks him to change his name and suggests Qamar  (meaning Chand). The imaginative boy coins the name Qamar Jalalabadi (adopting the village Jalalabad where he lived) for himself and is known by this moniker thereafter.

He was born Om Prakash Bhandari on March 9, 1917 in Jalalabad, the last of thirteen children. His father Lala Harjasrai Bhandari was a storekeeper for granaries in the British India and later shifted to looking after ancestral lands. The boy with his passion for compiling verses, studied in a Urdu medium school and achieved proficiency in it which was to help him later in his life. Completing his studies up to the tenth standard, he started writing articles for Urdu journals, such as Daily Milap, Daily Pratap, Nirala, Star Shahkaar et al.  He was also making a name for himself in writing shayari. His career as a lyricist for films started with Pancholi Films’ Zamindar (1942) in Lahore on the recommendations of Syed Imtiaz Ali Taj of Anarkali Bazaar. Qamar was one of the four lyricists for the film. From such humble beginnings, he rose to dizzy heights as a lyricist, and also diversified into other fields as screen writer, dialogue writer and story writer. He was very active till 1973. Thereafter, his career tapered and lasted till 1994. I would substantiate it by analysis of his filmography subsequently.

From Lahore he migrated to Poona in 1944 and joined Prabhat Studios.  He wrote 11 songs for the film Chand set to music by the debutant pair of Husnlal-Bhagatram followed by Ram Shastri, Gokul and Lakharani . The songs he penned for these movies became famous and led him to Bombay where he stayed put for the next over 50 years for pursuing his career.

It is time enough now to have a look at his progress in brief. I will begin with a word of caution. I found it very difficult to assess the number of films he was associated with any degree of accuracy. After extensive analysis, I came across 161 films where he was involved actively.

Starting with Zamindar in 1942 he continued with the industry without a break till 1979, which must be a record of sort.  He had a sole assignment in the years 1942, 1964, 1976 and 1978. Thereafter, it declined sharply with just five movies from 1981 to 1994.  His busiest years were as follows:

He was not a mere song writer.  He was also active in other areas, such as screen writer, dialogue writer and story writer.

He produced two films, Chhoti Bhabhi (1950), in which he was the story writer, dialogue writer and lyricist; and Aansoo (1953) in which he wrote the lyrics too. In 20 films he did not write lyrics at all and many of them were major films as – Munimji (1955), Phagun (1958), Ujala (1959), Goonj Uthi Shehnai (1959), Maya (1960) and Taj Mahal (1963).

Film songs were integrated with movies and music directors set to tune songs as the plot in the movie demanded. In the process lyrics did not get as much attention as it deserved.  People were easily swayed by the tunes and appreciating lyrics demanded a degree of skill in interpreting them and how far they were in tandem with the situation. QJ was a class by himself and wrote songs to suit all the moods – romantic, pathos-ridden, patriotic, comic and light. In his long career he was associated with all the leading music composers of the 1940s, 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond.  Starting with Ghulam Haider in Zamindar (1942), he had enduring partnership with others like Husnlal-Bhagatram, Khemchand Prakash, Sudhir Phadke, C Ramchandra, Hansraj Behl, O P Nayyar, Kalyanji-Anandji. A few like S D Burman, Shyam Sunder, Madan Mohan, Roshan, Ravi, Anil Biswas had QJ writing songs for one or two films at the most. I can mention plenty of other music directors too, but it would be mere statistics. What is evident is his capacity to work with a wide gamut of music directors in his long innings.

He was a part of music composition team for some music directors for very many movies.  The music directors with whom he had the most association were Kalyanji-Anandji (25 films from 1960 to1975), Husnlal-Bhagatram (21 films from 1944 to 1963), O P Nayyar (12 films from 1958 to 1994), Hansraj Behl (7 films from 1950 to 1979).

I will now present a few songs from films where he was a lyricist, omitting 20 films for which he did not write lyrics, to establish his mastery in portraying the situation succinctly.

1. Duniya mein gareebon ko by Shamshad Begum from Zamindar (1942), music Ghulam Haider

Out of 11 songs, QJ wrote 2 songs by himself and 2 in association with Behzad Lakhnavi.  In this song, the last three lines were written by Behzad Lakhnavi. The song describes the plight of the poor in brief but effective words portray a realistic picture of how they live in day to day situations. The song was well received at the time and his very first venture was impressive.

2. Ae chand bata mujhko by Zeenat Begum and G M Durrani from Chand (1944), music Husnlal-Bhagatram

Prem Adib and Begum Paro were the leading lights. QJ wrote all the 11 songs and music was set by Husnlal-Bhagatram for whom this was their first venture. QJ wrote dialogue too for the film, thus exhibiting his talent in other fields just in his fourth film.  He wrote all shades of songs – romantic solo and duets (Aye hain balma, kya yahi jawani hai, chupka chupke mere dil mein), sad songs (Ae dil mujhe rone de, Panchhi meri khushi ka zamana kahan gaya), patriotic fervor (Watan se chala hai, watan ka sipahi) and fast-paced song (Oh mere dilruba aa ja mere dilruba). The song posted is a happy duet by Adib and Paro. Husnlal- Bhagatram were equally good at excelling in their composition of music for these variegated songs of QJ.

3. Main hoon Jaipur ki banjaran by Mohammad Rafi, Lalitha Deolkar & chorus from Sajan (1947), music C Ramchandra

A Filmistan movie with Ashok Kumar and Rehana in lead roles. This is a trivial and light-themed song.  QJ  has penned this song in like mood. There is another well-known song by Mohammad Rafi – Humko tumhara hi aasra.

4. Haye re ud ud jaye mora reshmi dupattawa by Shamshad Begum, Noor Jehan and Zohrabai Ambalewali from Mirza Sahiban (1947), music Pandit Amarnath

A Punjabi folklore and a tragedy. Trilok Kapoor (younger brother of Prithviraj Kapoor) and Noorjehan were the tragedy couple. A group of girls are singing merrily while travelling in a bullock drawn cart as part of a caravan.

5. Ek dil ke tukde hazaar huye, koi yahan gira koi wahan gira by Mohammad Rafi from Pyar ke Jeet (1948), music Husnlal-Bhagatram

Out of eight songs, four were written by Rajendra Krishna and the rest four by QJ. The songs were well appreciated. This song explains the pain of partition of India in 1947.  It starts with nation’s breakup and then dispersal of people in the next line – Koi yahan gira koi wahan gira. Further lines explain this graphically. Great lyrics by QJ.

6. Ye duniya roop ki chor bacha le mere babu by Shamshad Begum from Shabnam (1949). Music S D Burman

A well-known movie starring Dilip Kumar and Kamini Kaushal; this song lip-synchronised by Kamini Kaushal is a light-themed one with lyrics in major Indian language. QJ is adept in writing this song in a coordinated manner and S D Burman has composed in the same spirit.  Looks like an opera staged for public.

https://youtu.be/XmzI4T6kmVc

7. Shaheedo tumko mere salam by Mohammad Rafi from Bazaar (1949), music Shyam Sunder

The songs of this movie (16 in all) are well known even to this day. Shyam and Nigar Sultana are in main roles. This is a song belonging to the patriotic category. Look at these lines.

Kat jo gayi par jhuki na gardan ye thi shaan tumhari
Hath kate par gira na jhanda dilwalo ke kaam

8. Khush hai zamana aaj pehli tareekh hai by Kishore Kumar from Pehli Tareekh (1954), music Sudhir Phadke

The film is about the troubled life of an average family with insufficient financial resources to weather every month. This song sung with gusto by Kishore Kumar in his style is well known and was played on Radio Ceylon at 7.30 am every first of the month.  QJ’s lyrics is to the point and splendid.

https://youtu.be/CJLeU4S2K_o

9. Chand sitare karte ishare by Talat Mahmood from Adal-e-Jahangir (1955), music Husnlal Bhagatram

A historical movie depicting some excerpts from Mughal Emperor Jahangir with Pradeep Kumar and Meena Kumari as the leading pair. There are 8 songs all penned by QJ. Most of the songs are very pleasing to the ear and the music is of a high calibre. This is a nice romantic duet.

10. Mohabbat zinda rahti hai by Mohammad Rafi from Changez Khan (1957), music Hansraj Behl

Premnath and Bina Roy are the main pair. This song is a desperate call for revival of the lady and in the end she recovers fully and joins him.  QJ has written a most appropriate song for the occasion and Mohammad Rafi as usual has sung it in a majestic manner and it is good a tune by the music director.

11. Tu dil mera lauta de by Geeta Dutt and Mohammad Rafi from Mai Baap (1957), music O P Nayyar

This is the first association of QJ and O P Nayyar.  Minoo Mumtaz and Johnny Walker are flitting around while singing the song. This is a light-hearted song of romance, and the lyrics are written accordingly. Another song – Main hun Mr. Johnny is in like vein.

Songs like Mera naam chin chin chu, Aaiye meherban from Howrah Bridge established Qamar Jalalabadi’s credentials as a lyricist in penning songs well suited to the music style of O P Nayyar.

12. Chhota sa baalma, ankhiyan neend churaye le gayo by Asha Bhonsle from Raagini (1958), music O P Nayyar

A song based on classical raags and a contrast from his usual style. OPN had given quite a few such songs proving he was equally good at serious songs. QJ’s lyrics make it more meaningful.

13. Tu hai mera prem devta by Mohammad Rafi and Manna Dey from Kalpana (1960), music O P Nayyar

Song in praise of Lord Siva in Raag Lalit is another gem by O P Nayyar and Padmini’s dance is entrancing. QJ’s genius in his song-writing skills on such a devotional theme is beyond praise.

https://youtu.be/zQKdL0PnHxw

14. Main to ek khwab hun, is khwab se tu pyar na kar by Mukesh from Himalay Ki Gode Mein (1965), music Kalyanji-Anandji

Kalyanji-Anandji’s association with QJ started in 1960 from ‘Chaalia and continued till Apne Dushman’ in 1975 spanning 25 films.  Mukesh’s songs in Chaalia became very popular.

This is the only song written by QJ for this movie. The music directors were intrigued by the lyrics and they stated that they tuned songs with positive intent so far and this is the first time they come across – tu pyar na kar and were quite hesitant. Indeevar who wrote two of the other songs was present in the meeting and he stated that this song would become a hit and persuaded them to tune it and so it turned out to be. The only time the Music Directors Association gave an award to the music directors was for this movie and this song in particular. QJ in one of his interviews also corroborated this.

15. Gunijano re bhakt jano by Kishore Kumar from Ansoo Aur Muskan (1970), music Kalyanji-Anandji

Kishore Kumar sung and acted in the scene where this song was depicted.  His caricature of a sadhu with whiskers was a treat to watch and QJ rose to the occasion penning a masterly turnout of phrases in the song, particularly towards the end. It was out and out a parody with gullible audience following suit with full devotion. The music directors were faultless in creating a tune in true bhajan style. The signboard of the Ashram where this mockery takes place reads as – Swami Kishoranandam Keertan Ashram, Khar, Bambaipur.

Such is the sheer brilliance of countless songs he created in his long innings, I can go on and add endless number of them, but I have to halt at some stage. I leave it to the blog followers to do the rest.

QJ was also an acclaimed shayar and was an integral part of several mushairas all over the country. He was a founder member of Film Writers’ Association & IPRS, Mumbai.  He had a huge fan mail from all over India. He would reply to each and every one of them meticulously attaching an autographed copy of his photo with his response. He was essentially a family man and a devoted parent. He was also religious and used to read scriptures like Bhagavat Geeta regularly. He had a long innings and died of old age and diabetes on 9^th January 2003 in Mumbai.  If ever a Hall of Fame is created for lyricists he would certainly be included in it.  He will rank at par with other top lyricists like Pyarelal Santoshi, Shakeel Badayuni, Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri, Rajendra Krishna, D N Madhok etc.