ashko.n ne jo bha.Dakaaii / saawan jo agan lagaae

Remember this song?



Of course you do. 'chi.ngaarii koii bha.Dake' is considered one of Anand Bakshi's best writings and is often cited as a profound piece of poetry. Profound probably it is. Original it is not.

Back in 1957, Qamar Jalalabadi wrote 'jab raat nahii.n kaTatii' for Hansraj Behl's 'Changez Khan'. Fourteen years later, Anand Bakshi borrowed one specific thought from this song and more generally the pattern (x causes y, then z helps; but if z causes it, who does) and came up with the famous 'Amar Prem' song.

Here are the specific lines:

Qamar says:
jo aag lagii dil me.n, ashko.n ne bujhaaii hai,
ashko.n ne jo bha.Dakaaii aag, wo kaise bujhegii

Anand Bakshi wrote:
chi.ngaarii koii bha.Dake, to saavan use bujhaaye
saavan jo agan lagaaye, use kaun bujhaaye

'jab raat nahii.n kaTatii's video can be seen at YouTube (embedding is disabled). It was composed by Hansraj Behl and sung ever so hauntingly by Lata M. Go on, listen to it. It's every bit worth the extra click.

[Thanks Asad for inviting me to be a part of this blog. It is one of my favorites and I hope I will be able to add to this unique documentation of HFM's lyrical influences.]

rasm-e-ulfat kisii suurat se nibhaaye na bane

The following Ghazal of Mirza Ghalib's is wildly popular and has been sung by many singers --

nuktacheeN hai, Gham-e-dil usko sunaaye na bane
kyaa bane baat jahaaN baat banaaye na bane

maiN bulaataa to hooN usko magar ay jazba-e-dil
us pe ban jaaye kuchh aisi ke bin aaye na bane
... ... ... ...
'ishq par zor naheeN hai yeh woh aatish 'Ghalib'
ke lagaaye na lage aur bujhaaye na bane

Jigar Moradabadi also has a Ghazal that follows the same metric structure (a.k.a behr), but has a slightly different rhyming pattern (a.k.a radeef-qaafiya). This Ghazal has been sung, among others, by Jagjit Singh. The matl'a of this Ghazal is --

daastaan-e-Gham-e-dil unko sunaayi na gayi
baat big.Di thi kuchh aisi ke banaayi na gayi
... ... ...
'ishq par kuchh na chalaa deeda-e-tar kaa jaaduu
is ne woh aag lagaayi ke bujhaayi na gayi

Lyricists Shams Lucknowi and Anjum Pilibhiti appear to have married the second line of Jigar's matl'a with Ghalib's radeef-qaafiya pattern and come up with the words of this lovely Shamshad Begum song from the film Humayun (1945), tuned by the master tunesmith Ghulam Haider.

rasm-e-ulfat kisi soorat se nibhaaye na bane
baat kuchh big.Di hai aisi ke banaaye na bane

husn majboor idhar 'ishq pareeshaan udhar
aisaa kuchh uljhaa hai daaman ke chhu.Daaye na bane

meraa ghar jal gayaa majboor haiN dunyaa waale
hai yeh woh aag jo paani se bujhaaye na bane

kyaa karooN, kyaa na karooN, donoN tarah mushkil hai
aap jaaye na bane, unko bulaaye na bane

Observe how Shams and Anjum have used Ghalib's "bulaana aur na jaanaa" imagery in the final couplet. Note also the familiar metaphor of "aag lagnaa aur bujhaa na paanaa" that is used in all three Ghazals.




As a bonus, here's a rendition of the Jigar Moradabadi Ghazal by an unknown artiste we found on YouTube. The lad had a very pleasant voice, whoever he is. If you know his name, be sure and let us know, please!

o kaalii Topii waale zaraa/o laal dupaTTe waalii teraa

Majrooh Sultanpuri wrote "o kaalii Topii waale zaraa naam to bataa" in Kali Topi Lal Rumal(1959)


Indivar copied the phrase but managed to massacre the grammar in "o laal dupaTTe waalii teraa naam to bataa" in Aankhen(1993)

jaate ho to jaao/aa_e haiN duur se

In "Jaate ho to jaao par jaaoge kahaaN" from Milap (1955) written by Sahir, the first antara is the same as the mukhRa used by Majrooh in Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957)

na aadamii kaa ko_ii bharosaa

na aadamii kaa ko_ii bharosaa written by Shakeel Badayuni for Aadmi (1968), had the following lines

na husn meN ab vo dilkashii hai na ishq meN ab vo zindagii hai
jidhar nigaaheN uThaa ke dekho sitam hai dhoka hai beruKii hai


which echoes this sher of Iqbal from one of his Ghazals

na vo ishq meN raheeN garmiyaan na vo husn meN raheeN shoKiyaaN
na vo Gazanavii meN taRap rahii na vo Kam hai zulf-e-ayaaz meN

Two years before, in 1966 this Iqbal GHazal was sung by Lata in Dulhan Ek Raat Ki.

tum jiyo hazaaroN saal saal ke din hoN pachaas hazaar

Mirza Ghalib prayed for Bahadur Shah Zafar's long life when he wrote

tum salaamat raho hazaar baras
har baras ke hoN din pachaas hazaar

Majrooh rewrote it as tum jiyo hazaaroN saal, saal ke din hoN pachaas hazaar in Sujata (1959)

amiya halaahal madbhare shyaam shvet ratnaar

Rasleen wrote
amiya halaahal madbhare shyaam shwet ratnaar
jiyat marat jhuki jhuki parat jehi chitwat ik baar

a mixture of sanskrit and khaRii bolii and then translated it in faarsii as well.

sawaadash sam hayaa aab-e-baqaa hamsar ma-e-ahmar
bamurdam ziistam beKHud shudam zaaN nargis-e-maste

The former found its way in Rani Roopmati (1959)

jhanan jhanan jhan baaje paayaliya