Singer : Lata Mangeshkar & Choir artists. 

Music : Salil Chowdhury 

Lyrics : Shailendra. 

Tell me, have you ever listened the sound of light?

Do you know, how smoke sounds? 

Have you come across the songs of soil, wood, grass, leaves, flowers and/or breeze ever? 

No??! 

Then you have yet to watch a Bimal Roy film ornamented with Salil Da's music and Kamal Bose's frames. Those films where woods are lovely, dark and deep.. and even if I have promises to keep, I cheat, borrow or steal time to be with them after every little while to revivify myself. By just seeing the nature shown on the celluloid, my breaths automatically get more oxygen. Fragrant oxygen. Yes, these movies have their own earthy fragrance that I could feel everytime while being with them. We mortals are made of total 5 elements - earth, water, fire, wind and space. All these elements are in harmony with our prana, our breaths, exhalation. Have you ever tried to feel, how reflective they are? They are responding to each of our breaths, throbs and thoughts. Have you ever clearly listened them echoing one's sentiments? 

I can say, I have! 

It's quite precise and pure. Also surreal and seraphic at the same time! One of the most sublime reflections of nature I have experienced in my lifetime is the choir created by Salil da. You can not define but experience it and the best and most beautiful thing about it is you need not to close your eyes for that! You can see the smoke, the light, the fire, the soil, the sky, the stars... just everything around you singing, echoing, reflecting to whatever they are being witness of through the lence of Bimal Roy.  

We have listened flute, santoor, glockenspiel, guitar, sitar, shehnai etc lending their playback to cool breeze, rain, stream, river, flowers, leaves or the soil itself. But that was Salil da who provided sound to the smoke, light, stars and sky with his celestial choir. 

And for that, he needed a voice that was as pure and pious as nature itself. 

Just that voice. 

Just ... 

No harmony playing behind. 

Sheer surge of the sentiments.. 

..... 

.... 

And there flows Shailendra's poetry.. 

khaak ho jaayen hum pyaar ke naam par..

Pyaar ki raah mein roshni to rahe... 

That sublime voice, just that voice, sings on behalf of the water trying to come out from two forlorn eyes.. and it's echoes in the form of choir-humming feels coming from the light and smoke ! 

A small village in countryside deprived even from basic facilities. An honest but skint postmaster trying to make ends meet so badly in reduced circumstances. An ever ailing mother, an amiable brother and an ethereally beautiful girl Seema.. (Sadhana Shivdasani). A girl who is all grace.. who's simple yet very sweet.. who's carrying every little chores of  household on her delicate shoulders with utmost care and concern.. 

And an ethical and idealist young man, "saath (60) rupalli ka school master" Rajat (Basanta Chowdhury). 

And that one of the most simple, sublime and soulful lovestories our silver screen ever had. Two innocent lovebirds who are very friendly, understanding and comforting to each other. 

And the set of circumstances.. 

Parakh was not just a social/political satire. Salil Choudhary's storyline and Shailendra's screenplay/dialogues (His only film as dialogue writer) have beautifully crafted a parallel lovestory also wherein they have exquisitely cultivated delicate layers of a soft-hearted demsel's mindscape who's surrendering to the turn of events and sacrificing her love at one point. 

Now this is the girl who is completely and deeply immersed in nature, and so is nature! All alone in her hut, poor girl is shedding silent tears and here, nature with its all elements becomes her intimate and sobs her sentiments alongwith. 

Yeah..  

Who else than Salil Da could think so! 

Wait, he not only thought but has composed the situation that way with the help of Shailendra's sublime poetry having unprecedented metaphors, and of course, with his awe-inspiring choir. And with that, 

whatever Bimal Roy has created on screen is far beyond the reach of any vocabulary. 

Western flute comes to give the playback for that earthy house made of woods and soil. And again that voice.. wetting the corners of your eyes .. nothing to show on the face that is off the screen. 

Just flames.. light... fire.. 

and choir.. 

and Shailendra.. 

Aag ke phool aanchal mein daale hue.. 

Kab se jalta hai yeh aasman dekh le.. 

Sky... 

stars... 

merging into the water... held inside those two forlorn eyes.. 

and again that voice .. 

"Mere man ke diye... "

In the entire universe there was/is/will be just one voice that is synonymous to nature itself. That has sheer essence of earth, water, fire, wind and space..

That's Lata ji for us. She's prana.. she's oxygen for our breaths, our exhalation process. 

Salil da knew that the most.

Movie : Mazaaq 

Voices : Asha Bhonsle, Vinod Mehra 

Composer : R. D. Burman 

Lyricist : Yogesh 

And you are the luckiest if that person is the Kishore Kumar!! 

That 12 years old child was indeed very lucky to get the chance to play younger version of Kishore Kumar in film 'Ragini' in 1958. Destiny has planned a far greater reward for him in form of some of the most memorable melodies he was going to get from same Kishore Kumar in future. At the age of 20, he lost an opportunity to win All India Talent Contest organised by United Producers and Filmfare from more than ten thousand contestants in 1965, otherwise, perhaps, he would have gotten Nasir Hussain as his first director and R D Burman as his first composer for film 'Baharon ke sapne.' He was the first runner-up and the winner was Rajesh Khanna with whom he shared the screen later in 'Amar Prem' - the epic made by Shakti Samanta. Playing a little role, Nandu babu's elder version in 'Amar Prem' paid him off in 1973, when the same Shakti Samanta gave him his first hit as hero - 'Anuraag'. Its music came from same Burman Gharana, bade Burman dada this time. And then success followed him - Vinod Mehra - with all musical hits. 

Today would have been his 78th birthday! Let's celebrate Vinod Mehra with one of his lesser discussed lilt composed by R D Burman. There is a special reason to choose this song instead of taking some hugely popular melodies picturised on him. This song from film 'Mazaaq' was the only song wherein Vinod Mehra joined Ashaji in recording studios too!! 

'Mazaaq' was not fortunate enough to leave its mark as a great movie but it was profusely fortunate to get one more best rain song composed by Rahul Dev Burman and penned by Yogesh ji. Vinod Mehra was one more lucky guy besides Randheer Kapur who has received some speldid eternal classic songs from R D Burman which boosted up his movies. Here also, in this movie, he was given an utterly beautiful song to become a part of! And he tried his level best to justify the job he was asked to do. Now We shouldn't compare him with Big B and Gulzar for their dialogues​ in Silsila and Raincoat songs considering their height and depth respectively. Their ohh-so-mesmerising base too. Still, VM sounds pretty good in this song. 

Prelude starts with charming guitar notes, enchanting flute, mellow sound of glockenspiel and entriguing violins notes and ends at a moment when a sudden strum depicts an endearing 'takkar' on screen which makes this entire saga flow......

Ashaji breezes in with such a sweet and sensuous voice which is undoubtedly best while expressing an allure outblooming. Mausami Chatterjee one more time gets an extremely beautiful drizzling lilt by Pancham besides Manzil.  

टकरा गये दो बादल अम्बर पे

तो बरसने लगी बून्दें बिखर के..

A thrilling encounter breaks all the barriers and makes the emotions glide.

'Baadal' comes three times in mukhda and each of times it sounds naughtier and more playful than the previous one.

"To barsne lagi boonden bikhar ke.." 

This outpouring too gets bolder with each of repetation. Ashaji's singing lifts the romance up to its peak bit by bit. 

First interlude starts with gushing violins. Delighting sound of glockenspiel makes everything fresh and vibrant just like lovely little raindrops. Soothing flute comes as if to soften the fervour she is feeling. Guitar is at its grandeour throughout pairing itself with glockenspiel. Violins again sway in to give break to Vinod Mehra. He goes in quite a smooth and natural way and just as he stops, that "aahh" by Ashaji works as a sudden, naughty yet so likable pinch on your senses. 

छोड़ो जाओ, बड़े वो हो तुम

नाम मेरा जोड़ दिया, मौसम से सनम..

मौसम फिर भी, मौसम है सनम

नाम मेरा जोड़ा ना बता ख़ुद से क्योंं बलम..

मुझसे मिलाओ ये नैन तो

ऐसे न जलाओ मेरे मन को..

This "woh" was quite a fascinating thing in vintage movie songs containing an X factor which was accessible only to the heroine and which sounded so cute and lovable. Here again Ashaji's exquisite rendition finely beats the beauty of lovely lush of beautiful rainwashed flowers, trees and also the pretty face lypsanching on screen. Specially that variation at the end of "mausam phir bhi mausam hai sanam.." amazing..

So tweely she complains about "naam mera joda na bataa khood se kyon balam..." Her immense desire of merging her identity into her man's name sounds so innocent and adorable.  

When she repeates the mukhda, the scene is shot damn beautifully. A heart overflowen with love and affection gets its way out through the eyes. What an ecstasy!

Reso reso gives quite an unconventional start to second interlude. Soft swirl on vibraphone and again crisp sound of reso followed by violins and guitar strums. How brilliantly all the sounds direct onscreen activities!

Whenever Vinod Mehra speaks, guitar and glockenspiel played in the background depict the mindset of his amused listener. So delicate, feathery yet vibrated.

And again Ashaji breaks in to blow you away..

जाने आई कैसी ये उमर..

बन के कली खिलने लगी सूनी राह पर..

तन में मन में, उठी ये लहर 

तुझसे सजन टकराए मन, जाऊँ मैं बिखर..

आग लगे रे सावन को, छू गया मेरे दामन को.

Visuals perfectly portrays the essence of each word of lyrics. 

"Jaane aai kaisi ye umar" and there shown those fragrant Rose buds. 

"Ban ke kali khilne lagi sooni raah par..." makes bud-like Mausami walk barefooted on wet soil in between the green grass on both her sides. 

"Tan mein man mein uthi yeh leher.." plucks her from there and puts at her dremscape and 

"tujhse sajan takaraye man jaun main bikhar" fetches her back to present!

"Aag lage re saawan ko chhu gaya mere daaman ko" sings her stimulated ardour so subtly. 

This movie - Mazaaq never saw any considerable success. It came and went in no time. But this song undoubtedly​ is being acclaimed for its ultimate charm. It doesn't resemble just a heavenly drizzle, it holds entire monsoon in itself.

Film : Teen Devian.

Singer : Mohammed Rafi. 

Music : Sachin Dev Burman. 

Lyrics : Majrooh Sultanpuri. 

Movie : Baharon ke Sapne

Singer : Lata Mangeshkar

Music : R D Burman

Lyrics : Majrooh Sultanpuri

Before a couple of months, while scrolling down Facebook videos I changed upon watching a hugely popular TV talk show wherein the guests invented were Waheeda Rehman, Asha Parekh and Helen. All three of them were so fondly sharing some of their most cherished memories. The host in between asked them how come the best of the female actors of golden era had become besties and not rivals of each other. I still remembe the answer given by Asha Parekh at that time. She said in any of the films made at that times there were roles conceived/designed for the particular artist only. The kind of fims and characters done by one actor were not same as the other one would do. And so, there was no sense of competition.  How true and convincing it sounds! Yeah, checking out the list of the films done by Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand and also remembering all those wonderful heart warming photos of all three of them together often seen on internet confirm Asha Parekh's statement. 

Today's 80th birthday of the legendary, 'The Hit Girl' Asha Parekh and I'm leisurely checking the list of all her hits. Dil De ke Dekho, Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hun, Meri Surat Teri Aankhen, Bharosa, Ziddi, Mere Sanam Teesri Manzil, Love in Tokyo , Do badan Aaye Din Bahar ke, Pyar Ka Mausam, Pagla kahin Ka, Kanyadan, Caravan, Chirag, Kati Patang, Aaya Sawan Jhoom ke, Aan Milo sajna.. and so on...  Such a lovely lot of musical mega hits with  bubly and beautiful Asha Parekh as a lead female actor who shined out substantially with her emotive best performances. In this entire list, there's just one film that I have yet to watch - Baharon ke Sapne. 

But... 

3 songs. It takes just 3 songs to portray one of the finest female characters ever conceived in Hindi films if the lyricist is Majrooh Sultanpuri. Yes!  As I just have mentioned, I haven't watched Baharon ke sapne yet. And still I have felt all the colours of Geeta's 'roohani' beauty depicted by Majrooh's black and white pen and paper. Whenever I think about her character, it feels me like the soil after first rain of the season. Yes, the soil. Strong enough to carry all the burdens over it.  Soft enough to soothe your feet. Wet enough to hold your footprints close to its heart. Capable enough to give you back thousand times more whatever you give it and fragrant enough to fill your breaths with sheer essence of life.!! And by watching all three songs I can say that Asha Parekh has lived that character by utmost perfection. 

My goodness! How much lucky this man (Ram - Rajesh Khanna) was to have such a woman in his life who love, love loves him all the way and wants back nothing but him him and him only ! From the very childhood she cares for him ( just recall their flashback scene in aaja piya..),  

she inspires him (Raina nahin apni par apna hoga kal ka savera..), 

she soothes him (thake hue in haathon ko de de mere haathon mein..), 

she comforts him at any cost (sukh mera le le, main dukh tere le lun..) 

and she tenders him a godly stature while saying - jal uthe sau diye jab liya tera naam.. 

She can do just anything and everything for him. She hardly cares about any pain while offering - 

but the only thing breaks her is - Ab bideswa jaiyo na....

This melody is ultimate from each of aspects. Lyrics, music and visuals everything is so heart stirring.! 

Long but lovely prelude. Santoor and flute are Pancham's favorite instruments whenever he composes drizzling.  Here too he uses the same for all the love Geeta has been drizzling over Ram since years with  the same soothing notes depicting her ever comforting attitude  - aa ja piya, tohe pyaar dun.. 

Soon violins sway in to give a starting call to mandolin strums which add movements to the masti on screen with help of bongas and guitar. Drizzling notes of Santoor, tweeting notes on flute, dancing notes on glockenspiel and swaying violins follow the hero leaving carelessly along with Asha Parekh. All it stops at a moment with a single note on glockenspiel. 

And that mesmerizing whisper.. 

..so serene.. so emotive.. full of adore and much more that you can not define but  love with your every bits of self..

And then - 

Aur mohe tarsaiyo na.. 

Lataji has put something in "aur mohe tarsaiyo na" which goes deeper inside your heart and comes out wetting the corners of eyes if you are truly engrossed in the melody. 

After composing a long prelude, Pancham and team has planned to keep both the Interluds short and here too santoor gives it a languid start. Rhythm switched to dholak when lyrics were being rendered comes back to bongas and guitar again. Then joins mischievous flutes. But considering the plan of Pancham and party, glockenspiel and violins complete their calls in no time. 

Lataji croons pouring all her heart out..  

But what stirs you much is the last line of stanza.. 

Majrooh takes here the reference of the another lines written on behalf of Geeta. 

.. remembering that you would be able to sense all those silent sobs she hides behind her loving smile and a lovely little touch of her finger on his nose tip. She's not lamenting. She's just conveying that be the rest of world harsh, wicked and merciless to him, how much he was missed and how much he is loved by her. He's so precious and so is his presence in her life at any point of time! 

For providing a rural piquancy, Pancham chooses dholak as a rhythm option and still keeps it so melow to provide supremacy to the moving lyrics and also to the most mellifluous voice our senses could ever have in our lifetime.  Second interlude brings some vibrant guitar strums. But soon breaks in shehnai which gives an earthy rustic feel to the song. And flute invites Lataji to proffer same sublime feel which Majrooh has worded for other two songs. 

You and just you are the ultimate treasure of my life. I want nothing but you and will live my life the way you lead it. No complaints, no demands. Just hold my hand forever and let my love-drenched eyes soak the vivifying elixir of your presence  all along the way. 

Have you really notice one thing throughout the song? How affectionately she keeps  staring at him.!! Without caring a bit about who's watching and how her hero is responding. She keeps on showering her love and still he hardly seems getting wet!! Perhaps because to him, his life is like that salt field on screen. Barren and burning hot, clumsy and colourless. But when she cared even? She keeps on drizzling.. She will keep on. And that's why I immensely love this song. 

While listening to the songs of Baharon ke sapne you meet a different Pancham. And here too he makes you speechless!

Meena Kumari. 

Tell me the name of the films/characters flashing in your mind while remembering her. Deepa would say, for me, she's internal 'Chhoti Bahu'. Agree. In fact can't agree anymore. There are some other timeless movies and immortal characters that she lived to class and perfection. She was one of those grand actors who would carried the whole film on her not - so - delicate shoulders and you would hardly care to notice who the men accompanying were. Still before a couple of years when I was told to write about a movie I never thought that I would choose a Meena Kumari movie. I spent more time to decide 'on what' I would write than actually 'what' I would write. During that process, in one of my transmissions, a listener requested to listen a Bahu Begum song in his letter. I played it and somehow, it got stuck not only to my lips but to my thoughts throughout the day. And at night, I ended up writing on Bahu Begum. I saw movie by forwarding it in between and then started writing. I kept on writing. OMG! I kept on and on and on.... And realised it was getting excessively lengthy!!  Somehow ended it little abruptly and then shared with some like minded and highly knowledgeable friends. I still remember Deepa's exclamation - I never knew you would choose to write on Bahu Begum! I said, me neither!! 😁😁 

And later when I exclaimed same to self, my closed eyes reminded me a video cassette. Yes. A video cassette that was always there in a drawer of our TV cabinet. Little me used to climb on chair to reach there and everything I used to see that video cassette placed there written 'Bahu Begum' on it. 

After writing on Bahu Begum, I kept on thinking and saying, see!! How Bahu Begum came from nowhere!. But no! Bahu Begum was always there in my subconscious since very childhood. 

Now, this too is becoming excessively lengthy so again stopping it abruptly. 

Sharing the write-up below. It would definitely take your precious time and convenience to complete its reading. 

So, aaram se .... 😁

"We are, as a species, addicted to story". This sentence was almost framed in my mind as I used to read it daily as CEO prasar Bharati's pinned tweet when Ruskin Bond's storytelling series Bonding Over the Radio was being broadcasted. From the very childhood when a child starts getting the literal meaning of spoken words, it gets fed the meaning of life with beautiful bedtime stories having simple, digestive morals coming at the end in almost every household. 

"Once there was a princess... " 

And 'what next' was one of the most captivating things that kept many of us  glued at nights first in the form of bedtime stories and then with books. 

This "what next" is the real zing thing of anyone's life which keeps its allure intact.  We don't know what will come in the next second and that keeps us animated or, sometimes, extant. And perhaps that's why as species, we love stories with 'twist and turns' more. And perhaps that's why 'Noukadubi' has a larger mass appeal than 'Gora'. (Gora is personal favourite though) Right now I can remember 2 Hindi and 2 Gujarati movies based on Noukadubi. There can be many more. 

Well, and perhaps considering that, when a legendary lyricist of Golden era ventured out into film producing, he choosed to write quite a riveting story with a Muslim social background. Jan Nisar Akhtar had handpicked the cast & crew for his one and only production 'Bahu Begam', where he could not go wrong. M. Sadiq would be a secure choice for writing screenplay and dialogues after proving his finesse in  similar movies like Noorjehan, Taj Mahal and also Chaudahvin Ka Chand. And as per Jan Nisar's assumption - a cook who knows all the ingredients well can justify the recipe in a better way - direction of the film too fell in the lap of M. Sadiq only. There could be no better choices to play lead characters in a Muslim social than Meena Kumari, Ashok Kumar and Pradeep Kumar considering their previous record including two more love triangle tales they have been part of in 60s only - Aarti (1962) and Bheegi Raat (1965). 

But the bestest decision made by the producer was his selection of composer and lyricist of the film who took over the whole film on their shoulders, IMO. I can watch Bahu begum anytime on account of  my eternal love for Sahir+ Roshan formula. 

The film begins with a beautiful rain song in the country yard of a dilapidated haveli of Nawab Mirza Sultan ( D K Sapru).

पड़ गये झूले सावन रुत आई  रे 

सीने में हूक उठे अल्लाह दुहाई रे .. 

Sahir and Roshan start their job right from there to pick and take the story further portraying the mindset of these dancing damsels.. 

आये कोई अलबेले

ऐसी रुत में हमें झुलाने

आये कोई अलबेले

थामे तो छोड़े नहीं नाज़ुक कलाई रे.. 

 Cupid, somewhere from the sky listens and says, "Granted". Along with Nariman Irani's camera, a soft hearted swain peeps into the big portieres of Nawal Sultan Mirza's mansion. 

Yusuf (Pradeep Kumar) is head over heels in love with Zeenat Jahaan Beghum (Meena Kumari), a gorgeous daughter of Navab Sahab, who has played some tongue-in-cheek humour on him a couple of times. His visits to his friend Achchhan Miyan (Johnny Walker) who is a new tenant of Nawab Sahab's haveli, has been almost multiplied just to take a glance of his beloved. A glimpse, a couplet and some drops gravitated to him from beautiful wavy, rain-soaked hair of his lady love makes him dare to go to her terrace for the first time. Zeenat is both bemused and amused by such bravery. Yeah, the film is set in early 60s. The exchanges, the costumes, makeup - everything take you right there.

Pink kurta, mendi green achkan, perfectly done eyebrows, dark blue eyeshadows and nicely applied foundation which is one shade lighter than heroine's. Well.. any taker of Pradeep Kumar's get up now?  

In order to send him back, Zeenat accepts his proposal to meet him somewhere outside. 

Zeenat's father is one of those penurious Nawabs of Lucknow whose only precious belonging left with them is their prestige and which they love to coddle over and on.  It reflects perfectly in Zeenat's exchanges with her aunt - Kariman bua (Leela Mishra). "Bua, khichdi nahin, daal pulaav Kaha Karo! Aakhir kuchh to Nawabi ki shaan tapkna Chahiye khane se!" 

The scene always reminds me 'Aala Khaachar' of our renowned Gujarati poet Ramesh parekh : ).

Bilqis (Zeb Rehman) the confidant of Zeenat and Achchhan Miyan help this lovey dovey couple to set their meet outside. The couple commits to each other with one of the best melodies made in 60s. 

हम इंतज़ार करेंगे तेरा क़यामत तक

ख़ुदा करे के क़यामत हो, और तू आए..

They depart, with one more promise to meet every Friday on Shah Baba's shrine.

Yusuf is too restive to stay away from Zeenat any more and he makes his friend Achchhan Miyan convey his desire of  marrying Zeenat Jahan to his maternal uncle - his mamu Mir Qurban Ali (Balam). Yusuf is too innocent to think that his mamu will go to Zeenat's father with the marriage proposal on his behalf. Mamu is a cunning creature, a termite who has secretly eaten up most of the property of Yusuf's father, taking benefit of a clause in his will that Yusuf will have the access of his property only when he gets married to someone. When Achchhan Miyan tries to persuade him to go to Nawab Sultan Mirza, he agrees. And then takes shape a devastating ploy. 

Here, enters the third corner of the love triangle in the story. Nawab Sikandar Mirza.

 Ashok Kumar looks so convincing as a rich and reputed Nawab with high moral standards who just has a loving little sister, Suraiya (Naaz) in the name of his family.

 Naaz is a sister anyone would love to have. Charming and cherubic. As caring as a mother, as cute as a daughter. She's lost her mother at very tender age and now is seeking for a motherly love from her would- be sis in law which is yet to find by her doting elder brother who has brought her up like a parent. 

After establishing the characters, the screenplay writer now starts fixing the twists in the story on the name of fate.

Due to fate only, Nawab Sikandar Mirza goes to the same goldsmith, on the same day and the same time when Zeenat Jahan joins her friend Bilqis for purchasing some ornaments for her sister's wedding and tries a set of bangles knowing that she is not at all in condition to buy it. Due to fate only, Nawab Sikandar Mirza gets a glimpse of her beautiful angelic face from the narrow gap of two curtains. Something happens for the first time and his eyes gets stuck to the bare and beautiful face of this burka clad baano. 

She catches this keek pretty soon and turns off at once. But now Nawab Sahab is absolutely enamored just after the first sight and without wasting any time, he propels one of his mates to find out who that lady is which he discovers in no time. 

And in no time, the pace of the film accelerates. Almost everyone in Navab's  close circle, including his sister Suraiya come to know about his new affection and having no elderly person at his home, the proposal of marriage is taken to Zeenat's father by his friends. Nawab Sultan Mirza is on cloud nine. The proposal has come from the richest and most respected Nawab of Lucknow and there is no point to spare a second thought but accepting the proposal at once. The film is made taking the background and the era wherein asking for daughter's approval for her own marriage, would be the some unworldly practice. 

One the other side, comes the day of the awaited meeting for the love birds - Friday. Yusuf is all eyes, waiting eagerly for Zeenat to come sitting on the corner of a flower shop near Shah Baba's Dargah. Zeenat comes close, ravelling her face from burka, giving him an endering glance and joins him to the holy shrine of Shah Baba. In this over crowded place, the feelings flow through Sahir's pen on behalf of Yusuf, looking at Zeenat with sheer affection. Roshan is absolutely unmatched in this genre and so are Mohammad Rafi and Manna Dey! 

अरज़-ए-शौक़ आँखों में है, अरज़-ए-वफ़ा आँखों में है..

तेरे आगे बात कहने का मज़ा आँखों में है

वाक़िफ़ हूँ खूब इश्क़ के तर्ज़-ए-बयाँ से मैं

कह दूँगा दिल की बात नज़र की ज़ुबाँ से मैं..

मेरी वफ़ा का शौक़ से तू इम्तहान ले

गुज़रूंगा तेरे इश्क़ में हर इम्तहाँ से मैं..

Just after this night,  take place two deadly delusive incidents which scrawl the nemesis of  Zeenat Jahan. Yusuf, while visiting his friend Achchhan Miyan, gets to hear conversation of Zeenat's father and Kariman Khala, and by that he assumes that Nawab Sultan Mirza has accepted his marriage proposal. This frenzied fella, drenched into utter excitement rushs to his mamu and thanks him wholeheartedly. Mamu accepts the credit without hesitating a bit and pretty soon he convinces his naive nephew, now highly obliged,  to go to Allahabad for the recovery of 10,000 rupees which he says, he wants to give him as wedding present. 

Here at her haveli, Zeenat finds her bed  lavishly laden with many new expensive clothing and ornaments.

 When she asks Kariman bua about that, she is informed that her marriage has been fixed. After a little conversation with her she comes to a conclusion that she is getting married with Yusuf only. Her love of life. She is overjoyed.  naturally! 

And comes the wedding day. Achchhan Miyan, wandering in the marketplace, comes to find that Zeenat is getting married to navab sikander Mirza and not his friend Yusuf! He is foxed!! At once he runs to Yusuf's mamu Jaan and asks him if hey really got the commitment from Zeenat's father that he is going to give his daughter's hand in Yusuf's! Mamu is shrewd enough to to get the seriousness of this condition and manages to send him behind the bars so that the marriage can take place without any trouble. 

Nawab Sikandar Mirza comes with a grand Baarat to wed Zeenat Jahan begum with the band playing Naushad Sahab's dhoon in background.. "mere Mehboob mein kya nahin..". And just like it happens in old traditional Indian marriages, the bride sends her bestie to have a look of groom so that her fantasies can get a costume. Bilqis's eyes are searching Yusuf's face in the crowd as she has already met and seen him. She is thunderstruck to discover that  Dulhabhai is not Yusuf but Nawab Sikandar Mirza! 

She rushes to Zeenat, crying, and tells her how the fate has ruined all her dreams. 

Zeenat is stunned. She pleads Bilqis to let her go to Shah Baba's shrine. She wants to meet Yusuf, ask him what happened?! 

Why this?? 

She assures her that if she will not be able to meet him, she will come back, surrender to her fate and sacrifice all her emotions on the name of pride and  prestige of her family. In the context of 60s movies, this was a suicidal step. But then the life without Yusuf is nothing but death for her.

 And she leaves home on her wedding day - having a baraat already arrived at her home and waiting for the rituals to take place in presence of almost half of the town -  saying, "marne se pahele ek baar mujhe jeene ki Koshish kar lene de"! 

 She arrives at Shah Baba's shrine as today too is jumme raat - Friday. Their anticipated day of meetings. 

अब जां-ब-लब हुॅं  शिद्दत-ए - दर्द - ए - निहां से मैं..

ऐसे में तुझको ढूंढ के लाऊं कहां से मैं... 

Something that could have come from Sahir's pen only. To me, these are one of the most engrossing couplets ever written   by Sahir after "mere shauke khana kharab ko teri raheguzar ki talaash hai". 

Rafi, Manna Dey and chorus repeat the words on and on revealing the state of this poor girl searching her man insanely.. 

ढूंढ के लाऊं कहां से मैं

ढूंढ के लाऊं कहां से मैं.. 

The pain takes over, hammering hard at every passing moment. And she falls off.. loses her senses.. fate. 

Bilqis, here tries to cover it up by arranging the pillows on the bed and covering them with bridal clothes. She anyways, keeps the ladies out of the room by saying Zeenat is fainted because of excessive heat. Rituals of marriage start, kazi comes to take the brides approval as per the custom along with some other gentleman and Zeenat's father. He keeps on repeating the question. But on the other side of curtain, there is no one to answer. Kariman bua cries, curses Bilqis, asking where the hell she has let go the bride at the time of her wedding. Finally, Nawab Sultan Mirza comes in to ask and assist her daughter who is perhaps feeling 'shy' to say "yes" to vakil Sahab. He is horror-struck after discovering that his daughter is missing.!!  And the only person who knows where Zeenat has gone is Bilqis. He comes close in order to touch her feet where he feels, the honour and prestige of his family is lying.

 Bilqis, poor Bilqis, hyperventilates with "hhhhaaa..."

"Han ho gai.." .. declares the vakil standing outside restlessly to listen just one word from the other side of the curtain. 

And somehow Kariman bua decides to cover it up. 

How.. ?? 

And somehow Kariman bua decides to cover it up. 

Kazi Sahab proceeds with the wedding rituals and declares that Zeenat, far away from these going-ons, laid unconscious at Dargah, is now married to Nawab Sikandar Mirza! 

Nawab Sikandar Mirza's baraat is back rejoicing with one more Naushad tune being played by band!! "chhod babul Ka Ghar mohe pi ki dagar..."

All the ladies at his haweli are pretty excited to see 'Bahu Begum'  including Suraiya who has been waiting for all these years for this moment. Palanquin enters inside and Suraiya impels Nawab Sahab to bring her Bhabhi Jaan out of it. Nawab Sahab sits beside it, waits for a moment, looks at Suraiya, bashfully, and opens the sliding of the palanquin. 

The next moment is all dismay...

He is flabbergasted, nonplussed to find that the palanquin is empty!!! Within moments, he gets himself back and declares that Bahu begum has been fainted because of heat. He sends the palanquin direct in the room. He is furious, frustrated, pained and above all, clueless. What has happened and specially, what would happen when everyone outside will come to know!

 Here comes Suraiya, his motherly younger sister to assure him. Says they will tell everyone that Bahu begum is ill. She will not be able to meet anyone. Nawab Sahab isn't sure about till when they will be able to cover it up. And she assures again with the most sublime words anyone would need to listen in lifetime at any critical situations : "Kal ka Allah malik hai". 

Zeenat, at Shah Baba's shrine, gets her consciousness back and asks the ladies around her, where am I? What would be the time? And they say it's midnight. She shrieks in panic, hastens back to her haveli. Sees her father. Absolutely shattered. Devastated. What else she would expect? Still she gathers courage, regrets her unforgivable offence, blubs hard, saying, it was all fate. But there could be no mercy for the daughter who has ravaged the pride and prestige of two families and she is thrown out on roads. 

She gathers herself, heaves to knock one more door at midnight. She is unaware that Yusuf is not in town and his mamu Jaan  breaks her one last hope by saying, Yusuf is a womanizer. He is fond of playing with the emotions of many innocent girls like her. He tries to molest her but she manages to scram from there. 

Now the last door is left. Nawab Sikandar Mirza's. 

Nawab Sahab is bearing up the unforseen blows of despair sitting inbetween a mehfil arranged for the guests of wedding.  Sahir's words so effectively depicts his mindset. 

सिर्फ अपने ख्यालों की परछाई है

या कोई जलवा ए नाज़ पर्दे में है.. 

बार-बार उस तरफ उठ रही है नज़र

क्या खबर कौन सा राज़ पर्दे में है..

When the mehfil gets over, he listens a faint, distant voice from a bare corner. 

"Nawab Sahab, main kuchh arz karna chahti hun".  He is quite bewildered finding Zeenat hiding her self behind a pillar! He almost yells at her. But before he could ask something and she could reply, a big crowd comes there and Nawab Sahab has to leave with them saying there is none except a mad beggar lady. He manages to come back to her within moments, only to find she is disappeared. 

Zeenat is on road. Alone, severed, dispensed by just everyone. Path ahead is full of dark and despair and she is straying to nowhere.. adrift..

She collpses and again when she opens her eyes, she finds herself at a deadly, deleterious place - a brothel. 

Pathos in Sahir's poetry tears you apart.. 

निकले थे कहाँ जाने के लिये, 

पहुंचे है कहाँ मालूम नहीं 

अब अपने भटकते क़दमों को, 

मंजिल का निशान मालूम नहीं 

हमने भी कभी इस गुल्शन में, 

एक ख्वाब-ए-बहारां देखा था 

कब फूल झरे, कब गर्द उड़ी, 

कब आई खिज़ां मालूम नहीं 

दिल शोला-ए-ग़म से खाक हुआ, 

या आग लगी अरमानों में 

क्या चीज़ जली क्यूं सीने से 

उठता है धुआं मालूम नहीं 

बरबाद वफ़ा का अफ़साना 

हम किसे कहें और कैसे कहें 

खामोश हैं लब और दुनिया को 

अश्कों की ज़ुबां मालूम नहीं.. 

Well.. to me this is peak of melancholy..

Future and film has many more twists left for Zeenat Jahan which she has yet to been through. But leaving the thread here only. You will have to watch the film to discover  "what next". 

As I mentioned in the beginning only, the film is all about the songs. Despite having all adept actors, the ridges of the story are said through songs only! Check the list of songs and you will find what film is all about! 

1 : Pad gaye jhoole sawan rut aai re.. Portrays the mindset of a dreamy damsel. 

2: Hum intezar karenge... A love story has begun. 

3: Vakif hun khoob ishq ke tarz e bayaan se main.. A commitment. 

4 : Ab Jaan-b-lab hun shiddt e soze nihaan se main..She looses him at the most critical time. 

5 : Sirf apne khayaalon parchhai hai.. A mystery is being covered up. 

6 : Nikle the Kahan jaane ke liye.. she's ended at a ghastly point. 

7: Duniya kare sawal to hum kya jawab den.. Her shunned heart is moaning... 

8 : Hum intezar karenge.. and the past is back to daze her again!! 

In my humble opinion, songs narrates the story far more effectively than the dialogues and screenplays here. And that's why we call it the golden era of film music, where lyricists and music directors were mightier than the actors in most of cases. We can make a long list of the actors who should have owed their entire careers to the MDs and lyricists. Their careers mostly sum up in songs to remember instead of scenes to remember.  And of course, besides Meena Kumari,  this post is also  a humble tribute to all those gods of music - our composers and lyricists whose names were capable enough to help out some stony faces to float on and over in the sea of cinematic world.

मधुरेण समापयेत् । 

End it up with sweetness. This is one of the sweetest  message our vaidik culture has conveyed to the world. This is not just a small 'सुक्त' - quote but the way of living to follow in every walks of life. At the end, let it be mellow, let it be melodic, let it be sweet. The thought itself has been emerged from our own soil, so it always appeals us more whenever being practiced. Be it our food or our films, we love it when ended mellifluously. And perhaps that's why we all loved almost all Nasir Husain films - Tumsa Nahi Dekha, Dil Deke Dekho, Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai, Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hun, Teesri Manzil, Pyar Ka Mausam, Yaadon Ki Baaraat, Hum Kisise Kum Nahin, Zamane ko dikhana hai.. all..

Let the critics tell his stories repetitive, but the way he presented them was most intriguing. Simple sagas of lost and found, meeting of the departed, sulking and coaxing were never so fascinating and captivating than they were portrayed in Nasir Hussain films. He very well knew what to add in a perfect feast. All the spices - tastes for different masses. Little this and little that. And then a 'desserted' end. For example, take one of his most celebrated movie Yaadon Ki Baaraat. 

Again his favourite storyline of lost and found with perfect blend of suspense, romance, action and emotions woven with quite  mesmerizing cords of melodious soundtrack by none other than R D Burman. Nasir Hussain was one the greatest MasterChef whom we can call the initiator of masala movies in Bollywood. He was a trendsetter. A director with a keen ken of the penchant of people. And that's why he ruled. He ruled the silver screen for almost over three decades with his 14 scintillating smashers. 

Nasir Hussain Khan was born in Bhopal. He was the fourth of 5 children born to Jaffer Hussain Khan - a history teacher and his wife Aamna. Films or theatrical work was never in the good book of his orthodox family and still adolescent Nasir Hussain started working in skits performed locally. In his teens only he lost his father which allowed him to pursue his interest in performing arts. Also he was an ardent reader. As soon as he shifted to Lucknow for his graduation, he started writing short stories and radio plays and also performed in some of them. 

In 1948, Nasir Hussain moved to Mumbai to chase his dreams. First he met well known film producer Sashdhar Mukherjee (Joy Mukherjee's father) and told him about his writing credentials. Sashadhar Mukherjee hired him as a writer for his Filmistan studio. After co-writing some movies with Qamar Jalalabadi, Nasir Hussain registered his first huge hit 'Anarkali' in 1953 as a writer. But he got noticed widely for his sweet rom-coms Munimji (1955) and Paying Guest (1957). During the shoots of Munimji, he met an assistant choreographer named Margaret francina Lewis. Nasir Hussain lost his heart to her and received hers in return. Both tied a knot and Margaret became Ayesha Khan after getting married with Nasir Hussain. 

1957 brought all the amens for Nasir Hussain together. Producer S. Mukherji gave him the direction also of Tumsa Nahi Dekha besides writing it. This light musical comedy proved itself a big hit which established actor Shammi Kapoor as a star and cemented Nasir Hussain's career as writer and director. Shammi Kapoor and Nasir Hussain once again worked together in Filmistan's next venture Dil Deke Dekho. By this film only, Bollywood got its popular female music director Usha Khanna and its credit remains to Nasir Hussain.

In Dil Deke Dekho, Shammi Kapoor was paired with a pretty Gujju girl Asha Parekh who was once a child artist. And with this film, a beautiful bonding started between director and actress which lasted professionally for his 6 next films and personally for decades, or say lifetime. Nasir Hussain however, fell in love with Asha Parekh and so did she. So deeply. 

The duo never got married though as Asha Parekh never wanted to be labelled as a home breaker. She never got married with anyone else too. In 2017, her biography 'The hit girl' launched wherein she has admitted that Nasir Hussain was the only man she ever loved. 

1961 was the year when Nasir Hussain setup Nasir Hussain films and turned to be a producer/ director with Dev Anand and Asha Parekh starrer musical movie Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai. Huge success of this movie was followed by another big hit Phir Wohi Dil Laya hun. Nasir Hussain gripped his favourite form of story and cultivated it in different ways for different films. A happy-go-lucky hero woes his lady love, sings beautiful songs with her, fights with villain and at the end - "मधुरेण समापयेत्।" Yeah, always a happy ending with an exception of Baharon Ke Sapne. People loved his breezy style, beautiful plots and utterly melodious soundtracks. Film by film, Nasir Hussain proved himself not only the master in matching the expectations of audiences but also set benchmarks for the whole legion of directors to follow. 

Teesri Manzil. 1966. Nasir Hussain wanted to write and direct the film himself. But in a film party, Dev Anand, who was to become the hero of the film, had an alteration with him and Nasir Hussain offered the direction of the film to Vijay Anand with the condition that the hero too will be replaced. Shammi Kapoor was lucky to get signed for this blockbuster hit. With Teesri Manzil,  quite a magical and magnificent collaboration was started which completely changed the scenario of Hindi film music. R D Burman and Nasir Hussain.

Soundtrack of Teesri Manzil was a smashing hit. And after that, the duo worked together in Nasir Hussain's eight next films -  Baharon Ke Sapne, Pyar Ka Mausam, Caravan, Yaadon Ki Baaraat, Hum Kisise Kum Nahin, Zamane ko dikhana hai, Manzil Manzil and Zabardast.

One more such awesome association was of Nasir Hussain and lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri which was started in 1957 with Filmistan's Paying guest wherein Nasir Hussain was the writer and majrooh Sultanpuri was the lyricist. Both of them worked together for ten movies. Needless to say, his most special partnerships was with Asha Parekh who worked in total eight of his films but also it would be interesting to notice that there was one more actor too who appeared in total eight Nasir Hussain films. Comedian Rajendra Nath! 

Despite having immensely beautiful soundtrack and awesome screenplays and performances, Baharon Ke Sapne could not earn well on box office, but Nasir Hussain bounced back with his breezy musical hit Pyar Ka Mausam (1969). Its huge success was followed by the runaway hit Caravan(1971) and the cult Yaadon Ki Baaraat(1973). In the same year came Aangan which went comparatively dull but again success stroke with Hum Kisise Kum Nahin (1977).

 In 1981 Nasir Hussain directed his first flop film Hum Kisise Kum Nahin. Wonderfully vibrant Rishi Kapoor, pretty presence of Padmini kolhapure or superb soundtrack by R D Burman, neither of them could prevent the fall and the film tanked badly.  Failure continued itself with two more films - Manzil Manzil(1984) and then Zabardast(1985) which turned out to be his last directorial venture. Later he wrote and produced Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar which were directed by his son Mansoor Khan. 

This legendary craftsman of many cute and also cult movies was not much in action in his terminal year. He  breathed his last on 13th March, 2002 and lived forever in the loving memories of masses till date with his stellar creations. Nasir Hussain was an era himself. He has gifted abundant golden moments to our slacken, soften and sentimental selves to flow with the tum bin jaun kahan and  tumne mujhe dekha hokar meherban... To love with aaja piya tohe pyar doon and chura liya hai tumne jo dil ko... We cried with aanchal mein saja lena kaliyan and na ja o mere humdum... and had a glide with ni sultana re and dekhiye sahibon woh koi aur thi. 

Many more magical melodies are gushing to be penned out but stopping with the one on the name of Nasir Husain :

Jal uthe sau diye.. 

jab liya tera naam...

Yeah, मधुरेण समापयेत्।

What else could be sweeter,  lovelier than this!!

Season nowadays is so fragrant and colourful. And as far as our country is concerned, nature cannot take the sole credit for that! Besides bright green grass and leaves, myriad array of awesome flowers and sugary sound of chirping birds what makes the season more springly is enchanting hues of flamboyant attires, fascinating fragrance of garlands, bouquets and perfumes and sound of scintillating bands and some folksy tunes. From mid Jan to mid March, wedding ratio goes at its peak and there is a single Indian composer who rules the season with his timeless melodies since decades. 

Let's match this fact with the wedding rituals. 

- Mehndi / sangeet - O Meri Johara jabeen.. 

- Baaraat - aaj mere yaar ki shaadi hai..

- Shadi - mere banne ki baat n puchho mera banna hariyala hai..

- Bidaai - Babul ki duaayen leti ja.. 

Tell us, how many wedding functions have you attended where these songs composed by Ravi were not played or sung?! And why just wedding functions, Ravi's utterly melodious compositions have walked hand in hand at each phrase of life with us throughout. 

From his gorgeous treasure, we had a tender expression of emerging fondness : 

Kaun aaya ki nigaahon mein chamak jaag uthi.. 

kisi patthar ki murat se muhabbat ka irada hai.. 

Alluring urge of a wooing heart :

husnwale tera jawab nahin.. or

Chaudahvin ka chaand ho..

Sublime spill for lovey-dovey rendezvous :  

Ye raaten ye mausam nadi ka kinara.. or

maine ek khwab sa dekha..

Grievance of an interim or ultimate departure: 

aaj ki mulaqat bas itnee..  or 

chalo ek baar phir se ajnabi ban jaayen...

Pang of pinning state :

jab chali thandi hawa... or 

woh dil kahaan se laun...

and

An unconditional acceptance of whatever life has to offer :

vaqt se din aur raat..  and

sansaar ki har shay ka itna hi fasana hai..

Ravi's bale was full of melodious gifts for just everyone! For a little child - "chanda mama door ke.. " and a homeless begger - "garibon ki suno woh tumhari sunega.." 

For a loving sister - "raakhi dhagon ka tyohar.." and also an endearing wife - "tumhi mere mandir, tumhi meri puja.."! This composer has made an assuasive  bhajan "tora man darpan kahlaye" and a jazzy club song "aage bhi jaane na tu" with equal expertise. 

This awesome composer of golden era, Padma Shri Ravi Shankar Sharma, popularly known as Ravi was born in Delhi on 3rd March, 1926 in a middle class family. From very childhood he was extremely fond of singing. Considering his passion for music, his father brought him a harmonium but his singing assignments hardly went beyond some religious gathering in his neighborhood. To support his family Ravi has to take job in Indian Postal and Telegraph department at very young age. But destiny has yet to open all its cards and the first one unfolded was Ravi's meeting with  Mohammad Rafi who encouraged him to peruse his desire of being a playback singer. Ravi took a big break from job and departed for the city of dreams - Mumbai. After struggling for many penniless days and sleepless nights (spent on Malad railway platform) finally he got his first job at Filmistan as a tabla player and chorus singer. 

In 1952, he got to held the singing microphone for the first time, of course, as chorus singer for film Anand Math. The song was Vande mataram.. and its composer was Hemant Kumar who discovered Ravi's immense talent and offered him to be his assistant. Ravi assisted him in films like Samrat, Shart, Jagriti, Champakali and then came the blockbuster hit Nagin. 

After Nagin's tremendous success, in which Ravi had hugely contributed,  Hemant Kumar only insisted him to work as an independent composer. Devendra Goyal, Ravi's close friend gave him his first film  Vachan as an independent music director in1955. Ravi composed a superhit soundtrack and the film celebrated its silver jubilee. Journey of Ravi's musical career started and accelerated from first note only and rest is the history. 

This superbly talented music director has composed marvelous soundtracks for approx 70 Hindi films and several Malayalam films. The saga of Hindi film music would have been incomplete without his contribution and still he always remained underrated compared to his contemporaries. Be that mighty singers like Mohammad Rafi and Manna Dey or modest Mahendra Kapoor, Ravi's music arrangement has never overpowered the singer and that I would say, was his signature style. He mostly kept the music quite soft and mellow which allowed the poetry and singing flourish so beautifully. For example,  Chaudahvin ka chand.. Rafi sahab's sublime voice enfolded with minimalist music arrangement, spilling .. floating.. sinking deep, deeper in sheer essence of Shakeel's beauteous poetry..  For this song, Shakeel Badayuni received Filmfare award for best lyrics. But besides Dada Burman and Madan Mohan, how many composers have brought out such fleecy, feathery renditions from Rafi sahab's voice box? 

Also Mahendra Kapoor whose singing career burgeoned beautifully under Ravi's magical baton. Ravi's music showcased soothing, subtle yet pretty absorbing shades of his singing abilities which was quite different from his songs with Kalyanji-Anandji or even O P Nayyar. And same with Asha Bhonsle whose singing sounded agile and intoxicating with O P Nayyar, bold and bewitching with R D Burman and at the same time, Ravi's music unveiled very graceful and elegant style of Asha Ji's crooning. As comely, as supple and sedate as Sadhana's milky white attire and her poise and panache persona lip-syncing Asha ji on screen.. kaun aaya... 

Ravi and Sahir Ludhiyanvi, said to be very close friends to each other, worked together for 17 films and gifted us some gorgeous, timeless soundtracks like Gumrah, Humraaz, Waqt, Kaajal, Aaj aur kal, Aadmi Aur Insaan, Aankhen, Dhund and Ek Mahal Ho Sapnon Ka. Sahir's poetry sounded mightiest when supported by tender yet elegant tunes of Ravi. 

As mentioned, Ravi, during his entire career, has composed quite fascinating score for each of zoners, but the one appeals me the most are his songs describing beauty of nature. 

- Neele gagan ke tale.. 

- Yeh wadiyan yeh fizayen... 

- Yeh hawa.. yeh fiza.. aa bhi jaa... 

- Sansar ki har Shay ka... 

- Yeh raaten yeh mausam nadi ka kinara..

All mesmerizing melodies with lovely lush of violins, Santoor, Flute, mandolin, guitar and mostly the soft singing lifted with little reverb creating a hauntingly beautiful effect. 

You know, I have been writing since morning, first in office, then at home, taking big breaks in between. Things coming to mind and it's getting lengthier. Thought, what would I put to end the write-up?! And posting the same thing that flashed first on my mind-scape.