rafta rafta woh meri hasti ka saamaaN ho gaye

Some times songs have to take many incarnations before the original version gets due credit! Here's an example of one such song. One of Mehdi Hassan's most famous Ghazals is this one: rafta rafta woh meri hasti kaa saamaaN ho gaye pehle jaaN, phir jaan-e-jaaN, phir jaan-e-janaaN ho gaye Quite a few are aware that this was originally a film song written by Tasleem Fazli for the Pakistani film Zeenat (1975). The tune was composed by Nashaad. Fazli's lyrics are quite good for a film song -- rafta rafta woh meri hasti kaa saamaaN ho gaye pahle jaaN, phir jaan-e-jaaN, phir jaan-e-jaanaaN ho gaye din-ba-din ba.Dhti gayeeN us husn ki ra'anaaiyaaN pahle gul, phir gulbadan, phir gul-ba-damaaN ho gaye aap to nazdeek se nazdeek-tar aate gaye pahle dil, phir dilrubaa, phir dil ke mehmaaN ho gaye pyaar jab hadd se ba.Dhaa saare takalluf miT gaye aap se phir tum hue phir tuu kaa unwaaN ho gaye A full two decades after Tasleem Fazli's song came out, during which Mehdi Hassan had sung it in many live concerts and recordings, Bollywood lyricist Sameer came up with a song for the film Baazi (1995) with shockingly similar and grossly sub-par lyrics. The music was by Anu Malik for the voices of Udit Narayan and Sadhana Sargam: dheere dheere aap mere dil ke mehmaaN ho gaye The less said about these words, the better. Fortunately, the Sameer song renewed buzz around Mehdi Hassan's Ghazal and the latter became popular once again. Good for the "original" version, right? WRONG! Because Tasleem Fazli's version isn't the original version. Almost a whole decade before that, Qamar Jalalabadi wrote a Ghazal with almost the same words for a(n Indian) movie titled Ham Kahan Ja Rahe Hain (1966), with music by Basant Prakash. Compare this Ghazal to Tasleem Fazli's (above). Do you think we can chalk the similarity down to mere coincidence? :) rafta rafta woh hamaare dil ke armaaN ho gaye pahle jaaN, phir jaan-e-jaaN, phir jaan-e-jaanaaN ho gaye rafta rafta woh meri taskeeN kaa saamaaN ho gaye pahle dil, phir dilrubaa, phir dil ke mehmaaN ho gaye rafta rafta unki aaNkhoN kaa nasha ba.Dhne lagaa pahle mai, phir mai-kada, phir mai kaa toofaaN ho gaye rafta rafta husn nikharaa aur nikhartaa hi gayaa pahle gul, phir gulbadan, phir gul-ba-daamaaN ho gaye This song was sung by Mahendra Kapoor and Asha. Oh, by the way, Taslim Fazli's last couplet is also similar to a sh'er of Dagh Dehlavi's: ranj ki jab guftaguu hone lagi aap se tum, tum se tuu hone lagi In spite of being the original, the Qamar Jalalabadi song continues to be very rare and practically unknown. isko kahte haiN qismat! We hope at least now we can give credit where it is due.

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.

aa.Nkh khulate hii tum/dhiire dhiire machal

In Munimji(1955) the following song by Sahir
"aa.Nkh khulate hii tum chhup gaye ho kahaa.N
had this antara


"abhii saa.Nso.n kii Kushbuu havaao.n me.n hai
abhii qadamo.n kii aahaT fazaao.n me.n hai"

Eleven years later Kaifi Azmi wrote
"dhiire dhiire machal ae dil-e-beqaraar ko_ii aataa hai"

which had the following antara
"usake daaman kii Kushabuu havaao.n me.n hai
usake qadamo.n kii aahaT fazaao.n me.n hai"

o mere shaah-e-Kuubaa.n

Hakim Momin Khan Momin wrote "tum mere paas hote ho goyaa, jab ko_ii duusaraa nahii.n hotaa". Mirza Ghalib famously remarked, "Give this sher to me and take my whole diiwaan".

Hasrat Jaipuri's song in "Love in Tokyo" (1966), o mere shaah-e-Kuubaa.n is clearly inspired by Momin's Ghazal

ham haal-e-dil sunaa_e.nge/aa aa bhii jaa

rahegaa ishq meraa Kaak me.n milaa ke mujhe
hu_e.n hai.n ibtedaa me.n ranj intehaa ke mujhe

Shailendra wrote this for Madhumati (1958) as an antaraa in the song
"ham haal-e-dil sunaa_e.nge suni_e ki na suni_e.

though the relevant verse was not retained in the movie, the complete audio version was released



Later Shailendra used it as a prelude to "aa aa bhii jaa" in Teesri Kasam (966)