'ishq par zor nahii.n, satrangi re!

It should come as no surprise that in our blog's unscientific ranking, Mirza Ghalib is the poet who has "inspired" the most number of film lyricists.

We recently posted about a film song that was inspired by the Ghalib Ghazal:

nukta.cheeN hai, Gham-e-dil us ko sunaaye na bane
kyaa bane baat jahaaN baat banaaye na bane

The same Ghazal also contains this famous couplet:

'ishq par zor naheeN, hai yeh woh aatish 'Ghalib'
ke lagaaye na lage aur bujhaaye na bane

Fans and fanatics of A R Rahman's music, Gulzar's lyrics and Sonu Nigam's singing will recognize this couplet as having been used as-is in the film Dil Se (1998):



We have also previously noted that the lyrics of another song also refer to the same couplet.

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!

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)

dil Dhuu.nDhtaa hai phir wahii

Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib wrote:
jii Dhuu.nDtaa hai phir wahii fursat, ki raat din
baiThe rahe.n tasavvur-e-jaanaa.n kiye hu_e

Gulzar changed a word here a pause there and wrote a song around it for Mausam (1975)
dil Dhuu.nDhtaa hai phir wahii, fursat ke raat din
baiThe rahe tasavvur-e-jaanaa.n kiye huye




P.S. Gulzar wrote in an article in "Filmfare" that originally he had not changed "jii" to "dil", but the Music Director of the movie Madan Mohan showed him a copy of Ghalib's diiwaan which had "dil" instead of "jii" in the said Gazal!

ham bane tum bane

Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib wrote: ishq par zor nahii.n hai ye vo aatish Gaalib jo lagaa_e na lage aur bujhaa_e na bane.
Anand Bakshi used it in his song
"ham bane tum bane ek duuje ke li_e...ishq par zor nahii.n Gaalib ne kahaa hai isii li_e" from the film Ek Dooje Ke Liye (1981). One of the rare occasions when a poet has been credited in the song itself!

a_e dil mujhe aisii jagah le chal

Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib wrote

rahiye ab aisii jagah chal kar jahaa.n ko_ii na ho
hamsuKan ko_ii na ho aur hamzabaa.n ko_ii na ho

be dar-o-diiwaar saa ik ghar banaayaa chaahiye
ko_ii hamsaayaa na ho aur paasbaa.n ko_ii na ho

paRiye gar biimaar to ko_ii na ho biimaardaar
aur agar mar jaa_iye to nauhaKwa.n ko_ii na ho

Majrooh Sultanpuri turned it into a song for Arzoo (1950)

a_e dil mujhe aisii jagah le chal jahaan ko_ii na ho
apnaa paraayaa mehrbaa.n naamehrbaa.n ko_ii na ho




Incidentally four years later in Sohrab Modi's Film "Mirza Ghalib" (1954) his whole Ghazal was sung by Suraiya.

bhuule se muhabbat kar baiThaa

Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib wrote

dil hii to hai na sa.ng-o-Kisht dard se bhar na aa_e kyu.n
ro_e.nge ham hazaar baar ko_ii hame.n sataa_e kyu.n

Sahir Ludhiyanvi turned the first part of the misra into a song of the same name Dil Hi To Hai (1963)
bhuule se muhabbat kar baiThaa naadaa.n thaa bechaaraa dil hii to hai
har dil se Kataa ho jaatii hai bigaRo na Kudaaraa dil hii to hai

baiThe hai.n rahguzar par

Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib wrote:

da_ir nahii.n haram nahii.n dar nahii.n aastaa.n nahii.n
baiThe hai.n rahguzar pe ham Gair hame.n haTaa_e kyu.n?


Kaifi Azmi took the first half of the second misra and made that into a song for Chaalis Din/40 Days (1959)

baiThe hai.n rahguzar par dil kaa diyaa jalaa_e
shaayad vo dard samjhe shaayad vo lauT aaye.