Saturday 7 April 2012

Qamar Dehlvi or Dagh Jalalabadi?


Qamar Jalalabadi had a great eye for catchy couplets in the works of the asaateza (ustad-s) of Urdu poetry which could be reused to great effect in dramatic film situations as well as comic ones.  Qamar saahib collaborated with OP Nayyar in a song sung in the film Basant (1960) by Mohammed Rafi, Shiv Dayal Batish and Asha Bhosle where he put this 'poetrickery' :-) to good use.

The situation in the song is one witnessed often in the films of that era: the heroine is being wooed by the loser "villain" in a birthday party to which the hero has not been invited due to his station in life.  The hero, not to be outdone, comes to the party anyway, disguised as a poet, singer or qawwal, accompanied by his best friend and his woman.



The mukhda of the song is taken as-is, without modification, by Qamar Jalalabadi from a Ghazal by Dagh Dehlvi:

hamne unke saamne pahle to Khanjar rakh diyaa
phir kalejaa rakh diyaa, dil rakh diyaa, sar rakh diyaa

qatrah-e-Khoon-e-jigar see ki tawajjoh 'ishq kii
saamne mehmaan ke jo thaa muyassar rakh diyaa

zindagi meiN to kabhi dam bhar na hote the judaa
qabr mein tanhaa mujhe yaaroN kyuuNkar rakh diyaa

dekhiye ab ThokareiN khaati hai kis kis ki nigaah
rozan-e-deewaar meN zaalim ne patthar rakh diyaa

zulf Khaali, haath Khaali, kis jagah DhooNDeiN ise
tum ne dil lekar kahaaN, ai banda.parwar, rakh diyaa?