Movie : Masoom. 

Singer : Aarti Mukherjee. 

Lyricist : Gulzar. 

Composer : R D Burman. 

Gulzar. 

This wizard of words so obviously believes that eyes not only have their own language but also have their own soul and singnificance. They don't care to carry all those instructions which your 'wiser' brain keeps giving. So, ultimately it is up to you that what language you would rely on. The one being spoken by mouth or the one being released by eyes. Or even different at different times.!! As sometimes it's feel like "Jhoothe naina bole saachi batiyaan" and sometimes​, "naino ki mat suniyo..naina thag lenge.!". As Gulzar says, also eyes can behave like anything -  as a pair or as individuals. It generally happens like  "do naino mein aansoo bhare hai". But it can also happen like "ek aankh roye kabhi dooji aakkh roye!!!". Eyes can hold anything or everything according to their own wish. Be it "Maheke huve se raaz" or as 'Masoom' depicts, "thoda sa baadal, thoda sa paani, aur ek kahaani..." 

Masoom is all about thoda sa baadal and thoda sa paani. Something held and something revealed or released. Be it DK's ( Nasiruddin Shah) past or their future. Be it Indu's ( Shabana Azmi) love or grief.. Or be it masoom Rahul's ( Jugal Hansraj) sobs or silence. Just like Pancham and Gulzar, Shekhar Kapur -  in his directorial debut - has done quite an incredible job. IMO he never needed any Bandit queen or Elizabeth to prove his magnificence after making 'Masoom'. Also, all the characters- right from little Mini to Saeed Jafri have contributed greatly with their exquisite performances to make this movie an ultimate classic. R D Burman himself used to say that he could hardly understand the depth of poetries. But whenever he composed for any Gulzar poetry, the song reached to an another level. And this song stands out as one of the best examples for the same. Even if at one moment you stop listening it, its pathos stay with you unfailingly wherever you go and whatever you do as your inner most core absorbs all those unsheded tears dripping from the lyrics and music and makes your heart feel heavy. 

If you would notice, the song starts with some fainted sounds of grasshoppers besides Aarti Mukherjee's intense voice. No rain is to show but how brillently it portrays a rainy night! The season in Malhotras' house is monsoon nowadays​. Aarti Mukherjee's voice is piercing straight in first five words as if she is crying her heart out on behalf of Shabana. Right from there, guitar enters and stays till the end to keep the cords of your senses vibrated with each of its chords. This is after all a Lori sung by a hurt and pained mother for her innocent daughters. May be for this reason, Pancham has avoided using percussions much. It actually lets lyrics and strings flourish at their best. Guitar here builds rhythm so beautifully that you never miss them either. Everything is so soft and low including those violins swaying behind Aarti Mukherjee's voice.

In first interlude​,  flute sounds both calming and then haunting. At the same time, Shekhar Kapur has made that poor boy open the door and see a mother showering all her love on her daughters. It startles you till deep to see that little boy staring it silently who has lost her mother and who is seeking motherly warmth like anything. His eyes so cravingly tries to search her extremely loving mother in this quite unfriendly 'auntie' too! (Where is says to Shabana : Meri maa bhi aisi phoolonwaali saari pahenti thi.)  Vibraphone sound comes like an intuition which makes DK to turn where this boy is standing alone. It is followed by 12 string guitar then violins and again 3 guitar strums. And with first stanza tabla enters for the first time in the song. But they stay only in first two lines of each of stanzas. When lyrics gets back to kahaani, it floats on strings only. 

छोटी सी दो झीलों में वो बहती रहती है..

कोई सुने या ना सुने कहती रहती है..

कुछ लिख के और कुछ ज़ुबानी..

This words not only depict the situation of Shabana who is bearing a pulsatile pang silently right since she comes to know about her husband's​ betrayal but also those lake-sum green watery eyes of this boy which speak more than his words. They have a lot to say to whomsoever​ reads them. And those eyes which can read them seem damn helpless here.. For a moment, Nasiruddin Shah's numbed expressions shake your concepts of right and wrong, flaw and fault, mistake (though shattering) and betrayal. Dark clouds of a deadening guilt in his eyes seem to hold all the water inside themselves.

Guitar and flute have never created such a gloomy effect which they bring in second interlude. Mystically magical. Again, violins enter with dusky notes and then create rippling effect as if to take you inside that boy's mindscape where his fondest and saddest memories are flashing. 

थोड़ी सी है जानी हुई थोड़ी सी नई..

जहाँ रुके आँसू वहीं पुरी हो गई..

है तो नई फिर भी है पुरानी.

Visuals and words bring images of that loveliest time this boy has spent with his mother. Also by showing the same temple, woods and their boating, director gives the hints of the period which this boy's parents had spent together. All those cherishable moments mother relives with his son and now the son rewinds it all alone in his welling eyes. "Jahan ruke aansoo wahin poori go gai.". But tears are still falling down from all four eyes here!!  And perhaps by this, Gulzar wants to say, picture abhi baaki hai..

Third interlude starts with soaring taar shehnai and flows with guitar and violins. The visuals are hugely disturbing to leave your heart torn apart completely​. Those flames burn you too just as that little boy standing aghast, wordless, watching her mother's funeral. His silent tears choke your throat with a lump. He is not screaming, not crying and that makes you cry. 

एक ख़त्म हो तो दूसरी रात आ जाती है..

होंठों पे फिर भूली हुई बात आ जाती है..

दो नैनों की है ये कहानी.

And this reveals shabana's sinking condition. Pain seems neverending and devastating. In Gulzar poetry, night is synonym of darkness and hopelessness. (Remenmber, Subah n aayi kain baar neend se jaage..thi ek raat ki yeh zindagi guzaar chale). She is unable to forget and also ignore her husband's flaw which personifies itself in that little boy who is utterly lovable and awfully innocent to her too!!

Aarti Mukherjee's voice, Gulzar's words, Shekhar Kapur's camera, each character's performance and Pancham's stupifying composition numb your senses everytime. The song never easily leaves you..

The same article was previously hosted by very popular page Thesongpedia. 

#Masoom #RDBurman #Gulzar #AartiMukherjee #ShekharKapoor #ShabanaAzmi #NaseeruddinShah #JugalHansraj