ham dekhnewaaloN kii nazar dekh rahe haiN

Ustad Dagh Dehlvi was as prolific as his verse was captivating. He had this great ability to compose couplets that were easy to understand (at least for the average Urdu/Hindi speaker of his day), and capture very simple, yet alluring images in those couplets. That's very much the same goal that film lyricists have: they want the songs they write to be memorable, and a song that's easy to understand is easy to memorize, hai na?. Little wonder, therefore, that a number of his works have been adapted into film songs time and again. In this post, we visit the matla of a Ghazal by Dagh that has been used not once but twice by different lyric writers in different films. The couplet is simply too good! -- sab log jidhar woh hain udhar dekh rahe hain ham dekhnewaalon ki nazar dekh rahe hain The first recorded use of this verse we know of is in the film Gyarah Hazaar Ladkiyan (1962) by none other than Majrooh Sultanpuri. The song is set as a cabaret song in a restaurant, with Helen on the screen lipsynching Asha's vocals for music director N. Dutta. Gyarah Hazaar Ladkiyan is a movie that was ostensibly based on the life of the emerging new woman of India -- the 11,000 working women in various jobs in the roaring metropolis of Mumbai (then, Bombay). Here's the song. Doesn't Helen look cute? As we can see, Majrooh used Dagh's words verbatim, with no modification or alteration. About a decade later, in the film Sabak (1973), Saawan Kumar (credited as "Sawan") reused the same couplet, with a very small modification; he writes: woh jidhar dekh rahe hain, sab udhar dekh rahe hain ham to bas dekhnewaalon ki nazar dekh rahe hain Such a minor change that it is 100% obvious where the couplet is copied from, right? This time it's Suman Kalyanpur singing under Usha Khanna's baton. The "singer" on the screen is Poonam, Shatrughan Sinha's wife! Not sure Dagh could have ever imagined that his verse would figure in cabarets and party songs!

aur bhi dukh hain zamaane mein muhabbat ke siwaa: Sahir inspired TWICE?

In a previous post Asad saahib discussed how Majrooh Sultanpuri took a line from this very famous nazm by Faiz Ahmed 'Faiz' and wove another wonderful poem around it. The line was:

teri aaNkhoN ke siwaa duniyaa meN rakkhaa kyaa hai

The original Faiz nazm is a striking critique of people who lose themselves in the dreamy world of love and ignore the many real issues that plague the real world. Here's how Faiz puts this:

anginat sadiyoN ke taareek baheemaana tilism
resham-o-atlas-o-kimKhwaab meN bunvaaye hue

jaa ba jaa bikte hue koocha-o-baazaar meN jism
Khaak meN lithRe hue, Khoon meN nahlaaye hue

jism nikle hue amraaz ke tannooroN se
peep behti hui galte hue naasooroN se

lauT jaati hai udhar ko bhi nazar kyaa keeje
ab bhi dilkash hai teraa husn, magar kyaa keeje

aur bhi dukh haiN zamaane meN muhabbat ke siwaa!
raahateN aur bhi haiN wasl ki raahat ke siwaa

The Faiz nazm dates, I think, to sometime in the late 1930s to early 1940s. The inimitable Madam Noorjehan had sung this nazm, set to tune by the peerless Pakistani composer Rashid Attre, for the film Qaidi (1962). The song has become a timeless classic. Let us take a few minutes, oh, I don't know, maybe 3 and a quarter minutes(?), to listen to this beauty:

Noorjehan's rendition is excellent, indeed, but take a look at this recitation of Faiz's poem by none other than the Grande Olde Dame of Hindi filmdom, Zohra Sehgal. She is 99 years old(!) in this video when she recited this. Just look at her memory -- the ability to recall the words! Look at that power of recitation! The poem literally comes to life:

In 1959, a song written by Sahir Ludhianvi for the film Didi was composed by Sudha Malhotra (who, at the time, the rumor goes, was hopelessly in love with Sahir) and recorded in the voices of Sudha herself and Mukesh. The lyrics of the last stanza of the song bear an uncanny resemblance to Faiz's nazm, begging the question, "was there a flow of inspiration from Faiz to Sahir?" See for yourself, the words of the stanza sung by Mukesh in the film:

zindagi sirf muhabbat naheeN, kuchh aur bhi hai
zulf-o-ruKhsaar ki jannat naheeN, kuchh aur bhi hai
bhook aur pyaas ki maari hui is duniyaa meN
ishq hi ek haqeeqat naheeN, kuchh aur bhi hai

tum agar aaNkh churaao to yeh haq hai tumko
maiNne tumse hi naheeN, sabse muhabbat ki hai

Compare Sahir's lines "zindagi sirf muhabbat naheeN, kuchh aur bhi hai" and "ishq hi ek haqeeqat naheeN, kuchh aur bhi hai" with Faiz's "aur bhi dukh haiN zamaane meN muhabbat ke siwaa" and you'll catch my drift.

The song itself can be heard here. What an exquisite beauty!

But that's not what we're here to discuss today. What we're here to discuss is the fact that the "aur bhi dukh haiN zamaane meN muhabbat ke siwaa" concept seems to have grabbed Sahir quite strongly. So strongly, in fact, that he used the same idea again a few years later in another film song. This time too, the song was a duet, this one composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal, for the film Izzat (1968), and sung by Rafi and Lata. The words in question appear in the stanza sung by Rafi, and the inspiration from Faiz's poem is quite unmistakably stark. He sings:

muhabbat kar to leN lekin muhabbat raas aaye bhi
diloN ko bojh lagte haiN kabhi zulfoN ke saaye bhi
hazaaroN Gham haiN is duniyaa meN, apne bhi paraaye bhi
muhabbat hi kaa Gham tanhaa naheeN, ham kyaa kareiN

Don't you agree that the inspiration is very obvious? Please do leave us a comment!

koii hamdam na rahaa koii sahaaraa na rahaa.

The original written by J S Kashyap for Jeevan Naiya (1936)

kishore used the same song with the same tune and the mukhRa for Jhumroo (1961), Majrooh changed the words of the antaras

Here's the original



and the more popular version

mujhako yaaro maaf karnaa maiN nashe meN huuN

In Main Nashe Mein Hoon (1959) Shailendra borrowed

yaaro mujhe mu'aaf rakho maiN nashe meN huun


From Meer Taqi Meer's famous GHazal, mujhko yaaro mu'aaf rakho maiN nashe meN hooN, ab do to jaam KHaalee hee do, maiN nashe meN hooN'

Four years earlier Sahir Ludhiyanvi had used the line maiN nashe meN huuN as part of the antara in the song "ab vo karam kareN ki sitam" from the film "Marine Drive" (1955)

kal kya hoga kisko pata

hamko miTaa sake ye zamaane meN dam naheeN,
hamse zamaanaa KHud hai, zamaane se ham naheeN
goes the famous maqta by Jigar Muradabadi
Sung here by Mohd. Rafi




In 1978 for the film Kasme Vaade Gulshan Bawra borrowed the same concept.
he ham jahaaN halla gulaa hoga vahiiN
hamse hai duniya duniya se ham naheeN

terii suurat se nahiiN miltii

terii suurat se kisii kii nahiiN miltii suurat
ham jahaaN meN terii tasviir liye phirte haiN
(Imam Bakhsh 'Nasikh')


Hasrat Jaipuri used Nasikh's couplet as the mukhRa for the Ziddi (1964)

milti hai zindagi meiN mohabbat kabhi kabhi

In Aankhen (1968) Sahir Ludhianvi had written a beautiful GHazal "milti hai zindagii meN mohabbat kabhii kabhii"

This was inspired from a GHazal of Nasir Kazmi:

hotii hai tere naam se wahshat kabhii kabhii

barham hu_ii hai yuuN bhii tabiiyat kabhii kabhii

ae dil kise nasiib ye taufiiq e iztaraab

miltii hai zindagii meN ye raahat kabhii kabhii

tere karam se ae alam e husn e aafriiN

dil ban gayaa hai dost kii KHilwat kabhii kabhii

josh e junuuN meN dard kii tuGHyaaniyoN ke saath

ashkoN meN Dhal ga_ii terii suurat kabhii

tere qariib rah ke bhii dil mutma_in na thaa

guzrii hai mujh pe ye bhii qayaamat kabhii kabhii

kuchh apnaa hosh thaa na tumhaaraa KHayaal thaa

yuuN bhii guzar ga_ii shab e furqat kabhii kabhii

ae dost ham ne tark e mohabbat ke baavajood

mahsuus kii hai terii zaruurat kabhii kabhii

-Nasir Kazmi

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?

jaag dard-e-ishq jaag

Hafeez Jalandhari wrote:
jaag soz-e-ishq jaag, jaag soz-e-ishq jaag
toone aaNkh band kee, kaa_enaat so gayee
husn KHudpasand kee din se raat ho gayee
zard paR gayaa suhaag, jaag soz-e-ishq jaag

Here it is in Malka Pukhraj's voice.


Rajinder Krishen changed the word "soz" to "dard" and wrote the mukhRaa for Anarkali (1953) as "Jaag dard-e-ishq jaag"

kyaa huaa ik baat par barsoN ka yaaraanaa gayaa

Majrooh Sultanpuri's song in Teri Kasam (1982) inspired by Khatir Ghaznavi's (1925-2008) Ghazal

go zaraa sii baat par barsoN ke yaaraane ga_e
lekin itnaa to huaa kuchh log pahchaane ga_e

maiN ise shohrat kahuuN yaa apnii rusvaa_i kahuuN
mujh se pahle us galii meN mere afsaane ga_e

yuuN to wo merii rag-e-jaaN se bhii the nazdiik tar
aaNsuoN kii dhund meN lekin na pahchaane ga_e

vahshateN kuchh is tarah apnaa muqaddar ho gayiiN
ham jahaaN pahuNche hamaare saath viiraane ga_e

ab bhii un yaadoN kii Kushbuu zahen meN mahfuuz hai
baaraha ham jin se gulzaaroN ko mahkaane ga_e

kyaa qayaamat hai ki Kaatir kushta-e-shab bhi the ham
jab hui subah to mujrim hum hi gardaane ga_e


here is a rendition in Mehdi Hasan's voice

man re tuu kaahe na dhiir dhare

"man re tuu kaahe na dhiir dhare" is an exceptional song.
Great rendition by Rafi, wonderful tune by Roshan and lovely poetry by Sahir make this song an all time great. In its January 26, 2006 issue the Outlook Magazine carried out a survey on the 20 Best Hindi Songs Ever, where "Outlook asked 30 leading composers, lyricists and singers to name their all-time favourite Hindi film songs" and this one emerged on top. Earlier Lata Mangeshkar had sung this song in her album "Shraddhanjali" as a tribute.

One of the verses in this song is:

is jiivan kii cha.Dhatii Dhalatii
dhuup ko kisane baa.ndhaa
ra.ng pe kisane pahare Daale
ruup ko kisane baa.ndhaa
kaahe ye jatan kare

This verse echoes two misras of a nazm "bint e lamhaat" written a year earlier by Akhtar ul Imaan.

bhalaa kisii ne kabhii raNg-o-buu ko pakRa hai
shafaq ko qaid meN rakkhaa, sabaa ko baNd kiyaa


Here is the whole nazm:
bint-e-lamhaat

tumhaare lahje meN jo ye garmii-o-halaavat hai
ise bhalaa saa ko_ii naam do wafaa kii jagah
GHaniim-e-nuur kaa hamlaa kaho andheroN par
dayaar-e-dard meN aamad kaho masiihaa kii
ravaaN davaaN hu_e KHushbu ke qaafile har suu
KHalaa-e-subah meN guuNjii saher kii shahnaa_ii
ye aik kohraa saa, ye dhundh sii jo chhaa_ii hai
is iltihaab meN is surmagiiN ujaale meN
sivaa tumhaare mujhe kuchh nazar nahiiN aataa
hayaat naam hai yaadoN kaa talKH aur shiiriiN
bhalaa kisii ne kabhii raNg-o-buu ko pakRaa hai
shafaq ko qaid meN rakkhaa, sabaa ko baNd kiyaa
har aik lamha gurezaaN hai jaise dushman hai
na tum milogii na maiN, ham bhii donoN lamhe haiN
vo lamhe jaa ke jo vaapas kabhee nahiiN aate.

23 May, 1963

maine rakha hai mohabbat

In 1952 Faiz Ahmed Faiz wrote the Ghazal
raNg pairaahan kaa KHusbuu zulf lahraane kaa naam
mausam-e-gul hai tumhaare baam par aane kaa naam

which had the following lines

mujhse kahte haiN chaman waale GHariibaan-e-chaman
tum koii achchhaa saa rakh lo apne viiraane kaa naam

Javed Anwar recycled the second lines of this verse as
tum bhii kuchh achchhaa saa rakh lo apne diiwaane kaa naam in a song for Shabnam (1964)

Dar na muhabbat kar le/do lafzoN kii hai

Majrooh Sultanpuri wrote the following song for Andaz (1949)

duniyaa faanii tuu bhii faanii
letaa jaa ulfat kii nishaanii
do lafazo.n kii ek kahaanii
ek mohabbat ek javaanii
yaad ise tuu kar le\- 2
Dar naa mohabbat kar le\- 2



In The Great Gambler (1979) thirty years later Anand Bakhshi used it as:
do lafzoN kii hai dil kii kahaanii
yaa hai muhabbat yaa hai jawaanii

nagarii merii kab tak yuu.nhii barabaad rahegii

har shaam hu_ii sub'ha ko ek Kwaab-e-faraamosh
duniyaa yahii duniyaa hai to kyaa yaad rahegii
-yaas yagaana changezi


Josh Malihabadi used a misra for a song of "Man Ki Jeet"
nagarii merii kab tak yuu.nhii barabaad rahegii
duniyaa yahii duniyaa hai to kyaa yaad rahegii

kisne chilaman se maaraa

Saher Bhopali {Siraj Mir Khan} 1857-1918 wrote

siine me.n dil hai dil me.n daaG, daaGo.n me.n soz-o-saaz-e-ishq,
parda ba parda hai pinhaa.n parda nashee.n kaa raaz-e-ishq

baa.ndh ke saf ho.n sab khaRe, teG ke saath sar jhuke
aaj to qatlgaah me.n dhuum se ho namaaz-e-ishq

farsh-e-zamii.n pe mustafaa, arsh-e-barii.n pe kibriyaa
pahu.nchaa kahaa.n se kahaa.n silsila-e-daraaz-e-ishq

Majrooh Sultanpuri used the first sher as an antara in the song "kisne chilaman se maaraa nazaaraa mujhe" from Baat Ek Raat Ki (1962)

dil ek mandir hai

jaane waale kabhii nahiiN aate
jaane waale kii yaad aatii hai.

Thus starts the title song of "Dil Ek Mandir' by Hasrat Jaipuri. The couplet above was written by Sikandar Ali Wajd.

kuchh log mohabbat karke

Ameer Minai wrote these famous lines:

qariib hai yaaro roz-e-mahshar, chhupegaa kushtoN kaa KHuun kyuuNkar
jo chup rahegi zubaan-e-KHanjar, lahuu pukaaregaa aastiiN kaa


The same idea was expressed by Anand Bakshi in 'kuchh log mohabbat karke" from the film Lava (1985) as :

chup rahe zubaan-e-KHanjar, chhuptaa nahiiN ye ilzaam
letaa hai lahuu kaa qatra qatra qaatil kaa naam

mai.n terii nazar kaa suroor hoo.N / woh jo ham me.n tum me.n qaraar thaa

The Ghazal bearing the following opening couplet can be said to be The Best Known Ghazal from Momin Khan Momin's deewaan:

woh jo ham me.n tum me.n qaraar thaa, tumhe.n yaad ho ke na yaad ho
wahii yaa'ni waa'da nibaah kaa, tumhe.n yaad ho ke na yaad ho

In fact, the rhyme-anchor (a.k.a radeef) 'tumhe.n yaad ho ke na yaad ho' is arguably one of the two Most Famous radeef in the entire history of Urdu poetry, the other being 'aahista aahista'.

In the film Jahan Ara (1964), lyricist Rajinder Krishan used a radeef that is almost identical to Momin's:

mai.n terii nazar kaa suroor hoo.N, tujhe yaad ho ke na yaad ho
tere paas rahake bhii door hoo.N, tujhe yaad ho ke na yaad ho

The song was beautifully composed by Madan Mohan and sung by Talat Mahmood



There is also a lesser known tandem version of the same lyric with a different tune sung by Lata Mangeshkar, which appears at the beginning of the song "jab jab tumhe.n bhulaayaa, tum aur yaad aaye" (Lata + Asha duet):



If you were able to endure that entire mujra song, allow us to reward you with a fantastic rendition of Momin's Ghazal by the Pakistani singer Nayyara Noor; it's a pure joy to behold:

charaaG dil ka jalaao bahut a.ndheraa hai

Firaq Gorakhpuri's exquisite Ghazal was an inspiration for a great filmi Ghazal written by Majrooh Sultanpuri.

sukuut-e-shaam miTaao bahut a.ndheraa hai
suKan kii sham'a jalaao bahut a.ndheraa hai

dayaar-e-Gam me.n dil-e-beqaraar chhuuT gayaa
sambhal ke Dhuu.nDhane jaao bahut a.ndheraa hai

ye raat vo ke suujhe jahaa.n na haath ko haath
Kayaalo duur na jaao bahut a.ndheraa hai

laTo.n ko chehare pe Daale vo so rahaa hai kahii.n
ziyaa-e-ruKh ko churaao bahut a.ndheraa hai

havaa_e.n niim shabii ho.n ki chaadar-e-a.njum
naqaab ruK se uThaao bahut a.ndheraa hai

shab-e-siyaah me.n gum ho ga_ii hai raah-e-hayaat
qadam sambhal ke uThaao bahut a.ndheraa hai

guzashtaa ahd kii yaado.n ko phir karo taazaa
bujhe charaaG jalaao bahut a.ndheraa hai

thii ek uchaTatii hu_ii nii.nd zi.ndagii usakii
'Firaq' ko na jagaao bahut a.ndheraa hai

For the film Chiraag(1960) Majrooh Sultanpuri used the same refrain - bahut a.ndhera hai.

ibn-e-batuuta baGal meN juutaa

Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena had written a poem for children:

ibn-e-batuuta pahen ke juutaa, nikal paRe tuufaan meN
thoRii havaa naak meN ghus ga_ii thoRee ghus kaan meN
kabhii naak ko kabhii kaan ko malte ibn-e-batuuta
isii biich meN nikal paRaa unke paaNv kaa juutaa
uRte uRte juutaa unkaa jaa pahuNchaa jaapaan meN
ibn-e-batuutaa khaRe rah gaye mochii kii dukaan meN

Gulzar wrote ibn-e-batuutaa baGal meN juutaa in Ishqiya (2010)