Sunday 5 February 2012

THE BEST OF 'YAAD' SONGS

Love is a many splendoured feeling; even if you don't get anything out of Love (eg, the 1955 movie Udan Khatola's song written by Shakeel Badayuni: "Muhabbat ki raahon mein chalna sambhal ke; yahan jo bhi aaya gaya haath mal ke" (Walk cautiously on the paths of Love; anyone who walked this way, lost everything), you at least get Yaad (Memory or Rememberance). Indeed, poets of yore, thought of Yaad as a person. In this the best is Raja Mehndi Ali Khan who wrote for the 1965 movie Bekhabar (Out of Touch or Devoid of Reality) as folows:

Phir teri yaad naye geet sunane aayee
Dil ki duniya mein naye deep jalane aayee

Ye khayalon mein bhi khwabon mein bhi tadpati hai
Muskurati huyee ye keh ke chali aati hai
Main tujhe ishq ke sholon se bachane aayee
Phir teri yaad naye geet sunane aayee

Yaad-e mehboob idhar aa main tujhe pyar karoon

Tu agar jaan bhi mange to na inkar karoon
Ek diwane se kyun pyar jatane aayee?
Phir teri yaad naye geet sunane aayee


(Once again your memory has come with a new song,
She has come to light new lamps in the world of my heart.

She makes me miserable in my thoughts, in my dreams,
Smilingly, she approaches me with these words:
"I have come to protect you from cinders of love"

My beloved's Memory, come, I shall make love to you,
If you ask me for my life, I shall not flinch to say 'No'
Why have you come to express Love to a Crazy-in-Love?)

Is this my best choice? As always, the best actually is Mere Mehboob by Shakeel, my favourite lyricist (Read The Best Of Old Hindi Songs - Rafi, Shakeel, Naushad And Dilip Kumar Together) I can't, however, put it up being too sacred a song to be put up on this blog:

Yaad hai mujhako meri umr ki pehli vo ghadi
Teri aankhon se koi jaam piya tha maine
Meri rag rag mein koi barq si lehraayi thi

Jab tere marmari haathon ko chhuya tha maine

(One only has to imagine the scene:
I remember that first time of my life
I drank from the wine-glass of your eyes
In every sinew I had an electric feeling
When I held the marble of your hands)

However, here is Mohammad Rafi's rendition of Phir Teri Yaad:



Hemant Kumar Mukhopadhyay has been my favourite singer. He was born in Varanasi but shifted to Calcutta, His was a life given to music having recorded his first song for All India Radio in 1933. His first album in Bengali was released in 1937 and since then there was no looking back. All his songs transport you instantly into the world of the song. Here is my favourite Yaad song for the 1960 movie Manzil. The lyrics are by Majrooh Sultanpuri and music by SD Burman. No one knew how to act like a Sharabi (drunkard) better than Dev Anand (he acted in the movie by this name):



Rajinder Krishan was born in a Punjabi Duggal family in Jalalpur Jattan in Gujarat and then shifted to my hometown Shimla. His interest in poetry made him participate in many poetry competitions in Shimla and then, in mid 1940s, he shifted to Bombay to become a screenwriter. His first screenplay was for the 1947 movie Janta. He won a jackpot of Rupees 46 Lakhs in horse racing and became very rich. However, richer than all his riches was his poetry. He wrote this Yaad song for the 1961 movie Sanjog for which Madan Mohan gave music and Mukesh sang. The song is "Bhooli hui yaadon mujhe itna na satayo; ab chan se rehne do mere paas na aayo".

Daman mein liye baitha hoon toote hue taare,
Kab tak main jiyunga inhi khvaabon ke sahare,
Diwaana hoon ab aur naa diwaana banao
Ab chan se rehne do....





Suraiya Jamaal Sheikh was popularly known as Suraiya and sang many beautiful songs for the Hindi films in 1940s and 50s. She was born in Gujeranwala, Punjab (now in Pakistan). She sang Rajinder Krishan's song 'Yaad aa raha hai dil ko bhoola hua zamaana' for the 1949 movie Amar Kahani that starred her. Please read the superb lyrics:

Yaad aa rahaa hai dil ko
Bhoola huaa zamaanaa

Har shay pe zindagi thi har cheez par jawaani
Aaankhon mein ik kahaani honthon pe ik taraanaa
Yaad aa rahaa hai dil ko....

Unaki adaayen dil ko ab yaad aa rahi hain
Chupake se unakaa aanaa aur mujhako choom jaanaa
Yaad aa rahaa hai dil ko..

Dil ko khabar nahin thi ban jaayegaa kisi din
Do dil kaa muskuraana rone kaa ek bahaanaa
Yaad aa rahaa hai dil ko...

Unfortunately I couldn't find the song by itself. It is the last song in the three songs in the following link:
 


Talat Mehmood was born in Lucknow (UP) on 24th Feb 1924. He was the most famous singer of ghazals in the Hindi movies and had a unique style of his own. He started singing the ghazals of great Urdu poets such as Daag, Mir, Jigar at the age of 16 on All India Radio in Lucknow. In 1941 he cut his first disc with HMV. He was very handsome and also acted in thirteen movies from Rajlaxmi in 1949 to Sone Ki Chidiya in 1958 opposite Nutan. Meri yaad mein naa tum aansoo bahana is one of his best songs for the 1951 movie Madhosh starring Manhar and Meena Kumari. Raja Mehdi Ali Khan provided the lyrics and Madan Mohan Kohli the music. Raja Mehdi Ali Khan was born in Karimabad in what is now Pakistan and his first film as Lyricist was Do Bhai in 1946. Madan Mohan was a contemporary of Raja Mehdi Ali Khan having been born on 24 Jun 1924 in Baghdad, Iraq. He joined the army and was commisioned in 1943. However, his love for music claimed him and he got his first big break in the Hindi movies in 1950 movie Aankhein. There was no looking back after that. Listen to this Yaad song put together by the three of them:




Alright, now it is time to get back to Mere Mehboob; though not really the title song. I have written enough about Shakeel, Naushad and Rafi and hence I don't have to do it again. And what can you write abaout Lata Mangeshkar, the most versatile female singer in the Hindi movies industry, who has sung more than 50,000 songs in various languages and has received every conceivable award including Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan, Bharat Ratna and Dadasaheb Phalke Award. Indeed, from 1980s she has opted out of receiving any Filmfare annual award so as to give encouragement to young emerging singers. The song Yaad mein teri jaag jaag ke ham raat bhar karvatein badalte hain is a beautiful number:



As the name suggests Majrooh Sultanpuri was born in Sultanpur in UP in 1919. Between 1946 and 2000 (when he died) he earned a name for himself as the finest avant-garde poet of Urdu language. Some of his songs are: Babuji dheere chalna, Achha ji main haari, Ai dil mujhe aisi jagah le chal, Dekho mausam kya bahaar hai, and Humein tumase pyaar kitna. Roshan, the music director, was born on 14 Jul 1917 in Gujeranwala, Punjab (now in Pakistan) and was the father of actor, director Rakesh Roshan and music director Rajesh Roshan, and grandfather of actor Hritik Roshan. He came to Hindi movies in 1948 and composed some delectable music until he died in Nov 1967. The song Aapne yaad dilaya to mujhe yaad aaya is a duet between Rafi and Lata and is in the 1962 movie Aarti. Enjoy:




Lets move on to the versatile and lovable Shailendra. He was born in Aug 1923 and died in Dec 1946 at a very young age. He joined Indian Railways and came to Bombay in 1947 where in a poetry recitation the great Raj Kapoor noticed him. Rest is history. He paired with Shankar Jai-Kishan and wrote some of the most beautifully romantic songs for Raj Kapoor that were invariably sung by Mukesh. Here is an unforgettable Yaad song from the 1959 movie Kanhaiyya starring Raj Kapoor and Nutan. The song is: Yaad aayi aadhi raat ko. Enjoy:





Shailendra paired with Shankar Jai-Kishan to write some very soulful numbers for Dil Ek Mandir starring Rajendra Kumar, Meena Kumari and Raj Kumar. This one is an all time favouite of mine:

Yaad na jaae, beete dinon ki
Jaake na aaye jo din, dil kyun bhulaaye, unhen
Dil kyun bhulaaye
Yaad na jaaye ...


Din jo pakheruu hote, pinjare mein main rakh detaa
Paalataa unako jatan se
Moti ke daane detaa
Seene se rahataa lagaaye
Yaad na jaaye ...

Tasveer unaki chhupaake, rakh duun jahaan ji chaahe
Man mein basi ye suurat
Lekin mite na mitaaye
Kehane ko hain vo paraaye
Yaad na jaae ...



Indeed, that's the theme of this article: Yaad doesn't ever leave you.

As we come to the end of the article, you must be wondering how many really good Yaad song I have left out. Well, I can't go on and on and it is pretty late in the night. Here is the song from the 1959 movie Satta Bazaar and you can't help keep singing it whenever you hear it. Gulshan Bawra wrote the lyrics and Kalyanji Anandji provided the music. My favourite singer Hemant da paired with Lata ji to sing one of the best Yaad songs that leaves you with a lump in your throat. The song is 'Tumhein yaad hoga kabhi hum milenge'; it is picturised on Suresh and Vijaya Choudhury:



Yaad never dies. Yaad takes us back to those times that were. As JM Barrie wrote, "God gave us memories so that we might have roses in December." The lyricists, music directors and most singers of that era are no more but the roses are still here, as fresh as ever.

1 comment:

  1. These classics bring back the memories of the Golden times of Indian Cinemas.Beautiful thoughts in action here !

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