Sahir Ludhianvi. (1921-1980).
For a moment, imagine and visualize the scene from Guru Dutt`s 'Pyassa.
"Jinhe naaz hai Hind par wo kahan hain!"
The song succinctly portrays the decadence in Indian society, even as the accompanying visual is the camera through a street of brothels.
Or remember a dashing Devanand in 'Hum Dono, bellowing curls of smoke and singing.
Take a romantic Amitabh Bachchan ambling about a bed of flowers and crooning in the sylvan color riot of Yash Chopra`s 'Kabhi Kabhi.
Sahir, like his name, was a "magician" of words.
He wove fascinating images in songs and ghazals, spellbinding his listeners and readers for decades.
For about thirty years, he remained associated with the Hindi film industry. He composed hundreds of songs for Hindi/Urdu films. Most of his songs became hugely popular and are even today sung and hummed by people of all generations.
Sahir`s most remarkable act is that through his lyrics, he catapulted the standards of Hindi film songs to a level that became the benchmark for quality poetry. His lyrics have immortalized many songs in the memory of Hindi film lovers.
It was ironically appropriate; while the poet's heart bled for others, he never paid enough attention to his own life, and had a card-player's nonchalance about life and death.
In fact, his life-long bachelorhood might have more to do with his end, and a dim realization that he would be a conjugal misfit. His friend, once recalled how, after the Partition of India Sahir was unhappy without the company of his Hindu and Sikh friends they had all fled to India. A secular India was Sahir's preference to an Islamic Pakistan.
Sahir Ludhianvi was known to be very egotistic perhaps as a result of his princely background; he fought for, and became the first lyricist or songwriter, to get royalties from music companies. Sahir often insisted on writing the songs before the song was composed, against the Bollywood norm. However, some of his songs were written after the tunes were ready.
For example, मांग के साथ तुम्हारा Naya Daur - music by O.P. Nayyar.
At the height of his popularity, Sahir is known to have demanded excess payment of one rupee for writing the song over what was paid to Lata Mangeshkar for singing it However, in exchange for this, he was deeply involved in the setting of musical tunes as well as writing lyrics to go with them - and so produced melodious musical tunes.
It was on Sahir's insistence that the All India Radio started naming the lyricists along with the singers and the music composers for the songs being aired Before Sahir, the music composer, followed by the play-back singers usually took credit for the popularity and success of the songs in films.
"मै पल दो पल का शायर हूँ, पल दो पल मेरी कहानी है
पल दो पल मेरी हस्ती है, पल दो पल मेरी जवानी है
मुझसे पहले कितने शायर आए और आकर चले गए,
कुछ आहें भरकर लौट गए, कुछ नग़मे गाकर चले गए
वो भी एक पल का किस्सा थे, मै भी एक पल का किस्सा हूँ
कल तुमसे जुदा हो जाऊँगा, जो आज तुम्हारा हिस्सा हूँ"
A colossus amongst film lyricists, Sahir Ludhianvi was slightly different from his contemporaries.
A poet unable to praise Khuda (God), Husn (Beauty) or Jaam (Wine), his pen was, at its best, pouring out bitter but sensitive lyrics over the declining values of society, the senselessness of war and politics, and the domination of materialism over love.
Whenever he wrote any love songs, they were tinged with sorrow, due to realisation that there were other, starker concepts more important than love. He could be called the underdog's bard; close to his heart were the farmer crushed by debt, the soldier gone to fight someone else's war, the woman forced to sell her body, the youth frustrated by unemployment, the family living on the street and other victims of society.
His lyric from film Pyassa when lead actor Guru Dutt (Vijay) was passing through a red light area by singing this song, moved even Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru.
"yea kuche,(road) nilam ghar(auction house) dilkashi(pleasure) ke,
Yea lut te huye caravan zindegi ke,
kahan hai kahan hai muhafiz khudi(self satisfied) ke,
jinhe naaz(pride) hai Hind(India) par,wo kahan hai."
Sahir Ludhianvi's poetry had a "Faizian" quality. Like Faiz Ahmed Faiz he too gave Urdu poetry an intellectual element that caught the imagination of the youth of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. He helped them discover their spine.
Sahir asked questions and was not afraid of calling a spade, a spade; he roused people from an independence-induced smugness. He would pick on the self-appointed custodian of religion, the self-serving politician, the exploitative capitalist, and the war-mongering super-powers.
Sahir's poetry reflected the mood of the age. Whether it was the arrest of progressive writers in Pakistan the launch of the satellite Sputnik or the discovery of Ghalib by a government lusting after minority votes, Sahir reacted with a verve not seen in many writers' work.
"The Famine of Bengal", written by a 25-year-old Sahir, bespeaks maturity that came early. His "Dawn of a New Day", mocks the concept of celebration when the poor exist in squalor.
Perhaps Sahir is the first renowned Urdu poet, who, could express his view towards The Tajmahal in a complete different way. He wrote
"Mere mahboob kahi aur mila kar mujhse, bazm- e- sahi me gharibo ka guzar kya mane. sabat jis raho par hai satbate sahi ka nishan uspe ulfat bhari ruho ka guzar kya mane."-
The poet asks his lover to meet him anywhere else but Tajmahal. A tomb which has been a symbol of luxurious monarchy for years, there is no need to make journey of love by two beautiful but not famous hearts there.
‘Ye Chaman Ye Raj, Ye Jamuna ka Kinara……..Ek Shahenshah ne Daulat ka Sahara le kar, hum Gareebon ki Mahobbatka ka Udaya Majjak.”
“ Samandar Kar Deeya Nam Uska, Nahak Keh Keh Kar,Wo T0 ThE Kuchh Aansoo Meri Aankhon Se Beh Beh Kar.”
“Main Aaj Bhi Jee Sakta Hoon, Ishk Naakaam Sahi, Dooniya Na Kaam Nahin.”
Sahir will always be remembered as a poet who made his creation a lesson for all ages of Urdu poetry to come.
In this way he contradicts his own creation:
"kal aur ayenge naghmo ki khilti kalian chunnewale, koi mujhse behtar kehnewale, koi tumse behtar sunne wale;kal koi mujhe keun yaad kare, keun koi mujhe yaad kare, masroof zamana mere lie keun waqt apna barbad kare?"
Although Sahir Ludhianvi remained a bachelor all his life, he had two failed love affairs with journalist Amrita Pritam and singer/actress Sudha Malhotra. These relationships could not be cemented in marriage.
In fact, Sahir Ludhianvi was an atheist. These relationships had left Sahir Ludhianvi an embittered man. He took to drinking heavily and drank himself deep into alcoholism. The tragedies and pathos of his personal life most truly reflected in his poignant poetry.
His relationship with Amrita Pritam was so passionate that at one time, while attending a press conference, Amrita wrote his name hundreds of times on a sheet of paper. The two of them would meet without saying a word.
Sahir Ludhianvi was basically a romantic poet. He had failed in love many times and therefore, his poetry is full of tragic emotions. He excels in portraying tragedy without going overboard. He talks of romance and the ensuing disillusionment. Then he talks of romance, and the inevitable frustration that follows it. His poetry is an amazing canvas of romantic shades.
The style is simple, straight, and direct. He minces no words. He expresses his thoughts directly without sublimating emotions. Sahir at times gets angry too. His anger can be against God or society. He challenges God and he challenges moribund traditions of society. He will be remembered forever through the annals of History for his contribution
to sher and shayari.
