Listening to Sahir Ludhianvi’s songs has always been more than just a musical experience for me. His lyrics invite you to pause, reflect, and sometimes confront uncomfortable truths about love, society, and the human condition. This collection brings those reflections together as a personal journey through the many moods of Sahir.
Sahir Ludhianvi
Over the years, I have found myself returning to the songs of Sahir Ludhianvi, sometimes for their poetry, sometimes for their courage, and often for the truths they quietly reveal about our times. The reflections in this piece were first written as short Facebook posts for our group Romancing the Song, each inspired by a particular song and the mood it evoked.
Brought together here, they form a personal journey through the many shades of Sahir, the romantic, the rebel, the philosopher, and the keen observer of society. His words, written decades ago, continue to resonate with remarkable clarity even today.
Jeevan ke safar mein raahi
Talk of songs that turned into proverbs and this will be among the most repeated ones. Interestingly, if you hear the first lines of the song without watching the scene, it sounds like the ultimate goodbye song. And more often than not, Jeevan ke safar mein raahi, milte hain bichhad jaane ko is hummed with a sigh as parting lines when you have to let go of a loved one.
But look at the scene and its diametrically opposite! Its about a drop-dead charming Dev Anand with his tousled hair and naughty grin teasing a bemused Nalini Jaywant who just oozes glamour and attitude. Sahir’s lyrics are deep and introspective but Burman Dada’s racy tune opens with Kishore Kumar’s mischievous yodelling and that sets the pace instantly. Another example of the maestro’s tremendous faith in Kishore Kumar’s ability to add the X-factor to a song.
Of course, one must keep in mind that the song will return in a pensive version as a tandem later by Lata Mangeshkar, perhaps more suited to the depth of the words. And maybe that’s why there is this tone of grim acceptance of the transitory nature of relationships. Sahir’s angst seeps through every word. But as is common with tandems, the male version is more popular.
Practically the entire scene is shot in closeup with back projection, interspersed with some shots of village belles and girls on the cycle getting scattered by the madly driven jeep. It’s a delight to watch Dev Anand and Nalini Jaywant – they just look so good together.
Enjoy jeevan ke safar mein raahi….a song that takes on new meaning every time you hear it.
Jeevan ke safar mein rahi (Munimji, 1955) SD Burman / Sahir / Kishore Kumar
Aankh khulte hi tum chhup gaye ho kahaan
While on Munimji, can’t help talking about this ethereal Sahir song sung by Lata Mangeshkar, for Dada Burman, featuring the porcelain beauty Nalini Jaywant. While I have loved this song forever, I first discovered how amazingly nuanced this composition was when Manek Premchand Sir featured it in his presentation on SD Burman and Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma at the launch of the books Incomparable Sachin Dev Burman and Yesterday’s Melodies Today’s Memories. Lata puts her soul into this plaintive appeal which rings out across the waves lashing against the shore, trying to reach out to the elusive lover across the lonesome sea. As Manek Sir had captioned this song in the video, “The solo violin also weeps for Nalini.”
I remember my daughter, then 13 years old, asked me if this song was written by Kaifi Azmi.
I said no, it is by Sahir. But why do you think it is by Kaifi?
She said, I thought it sounded same as Dheere dheere machal (Anupama)…
I was a bit taken aback. She tried to explain,
“In this song, we have the words Abhi saanson ki khushboo hawaon mein hai
Abhi kadmon ki aahat fazaaon mein hai
In Dheere dheere machal we have the words Uske daaman ki Khushboo hawaaon mein hai Uske kadmon ki aahat fazaaon mein hai
So I thought…,” she trailed off, a bit confused.
I was surprised not at the similarity, but at her ability to connect the dots.
I asked her when did you notice this? She said she noticed it when watching the video presentation by Manek Premchand Sir on SD Burman’s music. “I love dheere dheere machal, isi liye ekdum khayal aaya! Yeh gaana pehle suna nahin thha na.”
Some things stay in memory, like this one, almost 7 years old now.
Aankh khulte hi tum chhup gaye ho kahaan (Munimji, 1955) SD Burman / Sahir / Lata Mangeshkar
Rut phire par din hamaare
One of the unique contributions of Bengal to Hindi film music was the sanchari – a piece of a different tune interspersed between two antaras.
Interestingly, while Salil Chowdhury and Hemant Kumar used the sanchari more often in their Hindi compositions (well, their Bengali compositions would usually have it in film songs, the Adhunik/Basic or non-film songs and Pooja albums), Burman Dada did not tune his Hindi songs around it much. There are hardly a couple of examples. You can find a prominent use of the sanchari in Dada’s ‘Afsar’ song, ‘Nain deewane ek nahi maane’ (in the lines ‘jeevan beli, kare athakheli...’) but then that tune was inspired from a Tagore song ‘Sedin dujone dulechhinu boney‘ so a sanchari crept in.
But my pick today is that delectable Sahir song that got dropped from the film which went on to become a classic for all times to come. Yeah, I know, it’s an easy guess – Rut phire par din hamaare, phire na phire na phire na. Geeta Dutt, with her trademark Bengali lilt oozes the agony of a heart who is lost in the darkness while the world enjoys colour and light. Notice the agony in the words, expressing the darkness that surrounds Gulab:
dharti pe rang chhaya duniya ke bhaag jaage lekin wahi andhera ab tak hai apne aage
I love the way Geeta Dutt’s voice drops in the sanchari
pahunchi na apni naiya ab tak kisi kinare koi nahi jo humko apni taraf pukare
And then it rises again, just as the tide rises, crying out the helplessness of one who has no shore in sight
is par kuch nahi hai us par kuch nahi hai apne liye siwaye majdhaar kuch nahi hai
Sahir’s lyrics, Dada’s music, Geeta’s bhaav gayaki – and that flute. It leads her into the sanchari so enchantingly and stays with the lonely heart, giving her company. If only it had been used in the film. Waheeda had her reasons for asking it to be removed, Guru Dutt had his reasons for removing it. Whatever they were, that’s another story.
The film became one of the best of world cinema and this song fell by the wayside. Sigh. Anyway, whenever I hear this gem, I wonder how well the singer can act through the song, na?
(Note: the uploader in the video below has superimposed other shots in the video as the actual scene is lost forever. Bas gaana sun lete hain, eyes closed)
Na koi raah, na manzil na roshni ka suraag Bhatak rahi hai andheron mein zindagi meri Inhi andheron mein reh jaaoonga kabhi khokar main jaanta hoon meri humnafas magar yunhi… kabhi kabhi mere dil mein khayal aata hai
The darkness, the gloom, the despondency.
Where you wander aimlessly
Where you strive to lose yourself
To melt away into the darkness, away, far away from your own self
And yet it is not a “be-matlab ki zindagi”… as the poet emphasises to his lost love. An extremely personal conversation in the most public environment of a television broadcast and only the two know what each word weighs in meaning.
And of course, in one of the strongest twists of dramatic irony, we, the audience, know what those ‘khayal’ are about.
Kabhi kabhi mere dil mein khayal aata hai Ke zindagi tere zulfon ke chhaaon mein guzar na paati to shadaab ho bhi sakti thi…
Reminds me of Robert Browning’s immortal lines from ‘The Last Ride Together’:
“Had I said that, had I done this,
So might I gain, so might I miss.”
Magar yeh ho na saka aur ab yeh aalam hai ki Tu nahin tera gum teri justajoo bhi nahin….
It’s an emptiness, it’s a vacuum, it’s Life.
Sahir’s poetry, Khayyam’s music, Mukesh’s voice, Amitabh Bachchan’s narration – pure class!
The word ‘humnafas‘ figures only in the poem and not the song and needless to say, the two are inextricably linked. Sadly, no video is available for this clip.
If I remember correctly, I had read Sudha Malhotra saying, that Kabhi kabhie mere dil mein khayal aata hai was originally a Geeta Dutt-Sudha Malhotra duet but it remained unreleased. It was much later used in the film Kabhi Kabhie as the title song, with slightly altered lyrics, sung by Mukesh and Lata Mangeshkar.
That meeting when the past came face to face with the present – a still from Kabhi Kabhie
Zindagi bhar nahin bhoolegi wo barsat ki raat
Talk about imagery in a song and this ode to mulaqat tops! Sahir sketches the scene like a painting. You can actually see the barasta paani from Madhubala’s reshmi zulfein and the one drop that begs to stay on the soft as a flower cheek! Phew!
If only all mulaqats in a rainy evening with anjaan haseenas had been just as romantic. Haaye…!
I won’t go into the details of the lyrics – all of us know the song by heart. The gorgeous Madhubala swoons at the radio, clasping her hands and we swoon with her. Bharat Bhushan looks the dapper shaayar in his achkan. I just wish he had two more expressions, just for variety, you know.😊
Zindagi bhar nahin bhoolegi wo barsat ki raat(Barsat Ki Raat, 1960) Roshan / Sahir / Rafi, followed by Lata and Rafi
Manzil ki chaah mein
Manzil ki chaah mein (Devdas) draws inspiration from the Palki Bearer’s Song. It is the music that creates a touching backdrop to a remarkable scene when Mohd Rafi’s voice slowly fades in Kaheen ghani chhaon hai, lifting through the palki-bearers’ sing-song, set to lyrics by Sahir Ludhianvi.
This typical sing-song beat gives pace to the bearers to walk in unison. Mohd. Rafi’s rendition gave an added dimension to this unforgettable scene where Paro and Chandramukhi cross paths. Sahir ponders on the incessant flow of time and the change it brings in its stride — the only constant.
kai yahan khoyenge kai yahan payenge raahi kai abhi jayenge kai abhi aayenge
Paro (Suchitra Sen) looking at Chandramukhi (Vyjayanthimala) trying to recognize her through an intuitive, emotional connect, makes a matchless frame, which, not surprisingly, is among Suchitra Sen’s most popular photographs available on the web. They both have loved. In a way, they both lost, and yet, their love lives on.
The song is steeped in the basic realities of life — it’s a journey where happiness and sorrows sometimes run parallel, sometimes cross paths, sometimes merge and sometimes veer away from each other. And they continue to lead us, propel us on an eternal quest, unstoppable… Well, don’t we go through moments of sheer panic when we are caught in a crisis followed by ecstatic joy when the crisis is resolved? Can we stop feeling happy or sad, or just reach a point where nothing affects? Maybe some of us can. It’s tough though.
sukh ke bhi raaste dukh ke bhi raaste manzil ki chah me raahi ke vaaste
Manzil ki chaah mein (Devdas, 1955) SD Burman / Sahir / Mohd Rafi
Waada karo nahin chhodoge tum mera saath
When two dimpled hearthrobs skate and sing in tomato-red Arabian costumes, with one audaciously flirting with the other, you can’t help gliding along with the music.
Shashi Kapoor unleashes his charm on the ravishing Sharmila, who has an apology of a veil for the first one and a half minutes. That is shot down with an arrow (phew!) by Mr Charming!
Sharmila looks suitably surprised and politely and logically brushes aside all his wooing: Don’t touch. You are young, I am young, so keep your hands to yourself.
Chhuo nahin dekho zara peechhe rakho haath Jawaan tum ho, jawaan main bhi hoon
Point.
Sahir Sahab is in a full on romantic mood here. Just look at how our man pleads that there is none like you on this planet, so I got no choice, you see? And the lady cuts him down to size quite mercilessly.
Jawaan kai hain, lekin jahaan men koi tum sa haseen nahin hai Hum kya karen
Aise nahin phoolo zaraa dekho aukaat
(Ouch! she makes him return to terra firma)
Kisika to dena hoga de do mera saath
(and he has this ‘never give up’ attitude)
Red and gold costumes, curly locks and dimples – the Shashi-Sharmila pair sets a new style statement for fancy dress skating.
Well, it is supposed to be a competition, ok? However, the poor competitors have no choice but to keep skating in the periphery along the rails because these two need the floor to themselves. Chalo aise hi sahi.
In this musical tussle, we do spy a bench of judges furiously pencilling their judgement. Even those guys had no choice, na?
RD Burman excels in these romantic songs and when he has Lata Mangeshkar with Kishore Kumar – phir to kya hi kehne.
Infectious song that showcases Sahir’s playful self – it makes you smile all through. Enjoy!
Wada karo nahin (Aa Gale Lag Ja, 1973) RD Burman / Sahir / Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar
Editor in Chief, Learning and Creativity; Consulting Editor, Silhouette Magazine. A former business journalist, Antara writes extensively on the changing trends of music, direction and filmmaking in cinema. Her articles aim to provide well-researched information on the legends of cinema for the movie and music enthusiast. She is also the Founder-Editor of Blue Pencil, a New Delhi-based publishing house. She has co-authored a chapter on Hemant Kumar's Bengali music in the acclaimed book The Unforgettable Music of Hemant Kumar, written by Manek Premchand. Her articles have also been published in Dearcinema.com and Du-kool.com. Antara is Editor-Creative Director of Wisitech InfoSolutions Pvt. Ltd.
All Posts of Antara Nanda Mondal
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6 thoughts on “Moods of Sahir: A Personal Journey”
Soumyadeep Chakrabarti
A very deep and philosophical exploration of the poets inner mind revealing his thoughts and expressions. We tend the miss the subtle feelings while giving more emphasis to the musical nuances but here the author Antara has dived deep into the poets mind which makes the musical journey more fascinating.
Loved the Robert Browning connection in the lyrics of Kabhi Kabhi Mere Dil Mein. Much like Shailendra ji and Salil Chowdhury, Sahir Sab had a progressive outlook to life and thus his lyrics unfold newer layers as one gets to explore the lines with the progress of time. Somehow, the lines Jeevan ke safar mein rahi reminded me of Salilda’s Bengali lyrics A nodir dui kinare dui tarani,each of them expressing their solitude and despondency with their own thought provoking and philosophical phrases.
A wonderful tribute to one of the greatest lyricist and poets of all times.Demonstrates the authors deep understanding of Sahirs works originating out of deep love for his works
Thank you so very much Soumyadeep for such a humbling feedback. I agree with you – often in our passion to discover the craft of the song – be it the music, the lyrics or rendition or on screen picturisation, we often forget how the song impacts us. This journey was thus about how each song has grown to become part of life. I am so happy it resonated with you.
Loved this piece Antara ❤️ All the shades of Sahir and his immortal verse have been brilliantly showcased. 👌👏 Your in-depth knowledge of the art and craft of poetry simply shines through. I will go back to the article again to enjoy the cadences at a softer, more intimate pace. 🥰
Thank you so very much Ramen ji, so happy you liked my thoughts on these evergreen songs. Their magic lies in their celebration of universal values, which will never ever go “out of fashion”😁
And every time we hear them, we find something new. I am sure the makers did not give as much thought to the “nuances” as we seem to discover. Agar itna sochte to 6 mahine mein ek gaana banta 😂 Thanks again. Grateful 😊🙏
Over time, the number of listeners has grown phenominally while those among them paying due attention to lyrics has regrettably dwindled. These days, it appears to have become a trend to raise the quotient of instrumental accompaniment to the level of masking the words, almost as if ‘Words’ aren’t ‘Song’; only the music is. I have ‘tuned off’ from such music, although it could certainly be good. (Sophisticated Synthesisers have killed that art.)
Sahir, Shailendra, Neeraj, Majrooh, Ravindra Jain, Yogesh, Pradeep, and many others like them evoked ‘thoughts’ as we listened to their songs. That was, and still is the benchmark for me in a song. The music only comes next.
Your selection was appealing to me for this reason although it may appear ‘unconventional’ to many.
The present generation wants instant gratification in eveything, including Music and the Arts; the Smartphone gives it to them. And they are happy ‘listening’ to such music while being crushed in Metros, travelling in cabs, through the speakers while driving and even while walking on busy roads!
To each, his own.
I appreciate highly the way you have guided Miti into an understanding of this treasure and creating her own beautiful Visual and Aural ‘Music’ out of it. 👌🏼
Miti wants me to listen to some of her favourite trending. Sometimes I pretend to like them, when I actually don’t, because she puts a statutory warning before playing it, “Agar pasand na aaye to please criticise mat karna.” 😂
The problem is today songs are not created for characters. Hence, they lack soul and something to which the singer can relate to. Earlier, singers tuned their voice and texture to match the actor/character on screen. That practice is now gone. Songs only serve as collages to club together random shots and fast forward the storyline. Hence, it is the music that matters, lyrics are there as a supportive base to the tune. The words are not the hero anymore. Even if the words weren’t there, and only instrumental music played, I have a feeling we wouldn’t miss anything. Just as human musicians and acoustics have given way to digital pieces picked by the music producer to create a song, maybe there will be a time when lyrics will be done away with. Who knows.
Thank you for the appreciation, especially about Miti. I tried my bit and mercifully, she is able to appreciate both types of music, old and new.
A very deep and philosophical exploration of the poets inner mind revealing his thoughts and expressions. We tend the miss the subtle feelings while giving more emphasis to the musical nuances but here the author Antara has dived deep into the poets mind which makes the musical journey more fascinating.
Loved the Robert Browning connection in the lyrics of Kabhi Kabhi Mere Dil Mein. Much like Shailendra ji and Salil Chowdhury, Sahir Sab had a progressive outlook to life and thus his lyrics unfold newer layers as one gets to explore the lines with the progress of time. Somehow, the lines Jeevan ke safar mein rahi reminded me of Salilda’s Bengali lyrics A nodir dui kinare dui tarani,each of them expressing their solitude and despondency with their own thought provoking and philosophical phrases.
A wonderful tribute to one of the greatest lyricist and poets of all times.Demonstrates the authors deep understanding of Sahirs works originating out of deep love for his works
Thank you so very much Soumyadeep for such a humbling feedback. I agree with you – often in our passion to discover the craft of the song – be it the music, the lyrics or rendition or on screen picturisation, we often forget how the song impacts us. This journey was thus about how each song has grown to become part of life. I am so happy it resonated with you.
Loved this piece Antara ❤️ All the shades of Sahir and his immortal verse have been brilliantly showcased. 👌👏 Your in-depth knowledge of the art and craft of poetry simply shines through. I will go back to the article again to enjoy the cadences at a softer, more intimate pace. 🥰
Thank you so very much Ramen ji, so happy you liked my thoughts on these evergreen songs. Their magic lies in their celebration of universal values, which will never ever go “out of fashion”😁
And every time we hear them, we find something new. I am sure the makers did not give as much thought to the “nuances” as we seem to discover. Agar itna sochte to 6 mahine mein ek gaana banta 😂 Thanks again. Grateful 😊🙏
Over time, the number of listeners has grown phenominally while those among them paying due attention to lyrics has regrettably dwindled. These days, it appears to have become a trend to raise the quotient of instrumental accompaniment to the level of masking the words, almost as if ‘Words’ aren’t ‘Song’; only the music is. I have ‘tuned off’ from such music, although it could certainly be good. (Sophisticated Synthesisers have killed that art.)
Sahir, Shailendra, Neeraj, Majrooh, Ravindra Jain, Yogesh, Pradeep, and many others like them evoked ‘thoughts’ as we listened to their songs. That was, and still is the benchmark for me in a song. The music only comes next.
Your selection was appealing to me for this reason although it may appear ‘unconventional’ to many.
The present generation wants instant gratification in eveything, including Music and the Arts; the Smartphone gives it to them. And they are happy ‘listening’ to such music while being crushed in Metros, travelling in cabs, through the speakers while driving and even while walking on busy roads!
To each, his own.
I appreciate highly the way you have guided Miti into an understanding of this treasure and creating her own beautiful Visual and Aural ‘Music’ out of it. 👌🏼
This is so true NS Rajan.
Miti wants me to listen to some of her favourite trending. Sometimes I pretend to like them, when I actually don’t, because she puts a statutory warning before playing it, “Agar pasand na aaye to please criticise mat karna.” 😂
The problem is today songs are not created for characters. Hence, they lack soul and something to which the singer can relate to. Earlier, singers tuned their voice and texture to match the actor/character on screen. That practice is now gone. Songs only serve as collages to club together random shots and fast forward the storyline. Hence, it is the music that matters, lyrics are there as a supportive base to the tune. The words are not the hero anymore. Even if the words weren’t there, and only instrumental music played, I have a feeling we wouldn’t miss anything. Just as human musicians and acoustics have given way to digital pieces picked by the music producer to create a song, maybe there will be a time when lyrics will be done away with. Who knows.
Thank you for the appreciation, especially about Miti. I tried my bit and mercifully, she is able to appreciate both types of music, old and new.