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Sahir Ludhianvi: The People’s Poet

April 2, 2014 | By

Sahir Ludhianvi is probably the only songwriter in Hindi films whose poetry was accepted in its purest form. So great was his stature as an Urdu poet that he never had to mould his poetry to suit the demands of film songwriting; instead producers and composers adapted their requirements to his poetry.

An interview with Akshay Manwani, author of Sahir Ludhianvi: The People’s Poet (the book is available on Flipkart, Amazon, Infibeam, Rediff Books and Amazon Kindle Edition)

Sahir Ludhianvi: The People's Poet is available on Flipkart

Sahir Ludhianvi: The People’s Poet

A Progressive poet who loved and lived the good life; a ‘revolutionary poet’ who wrote some of the most enduring love songs of Hindi cinema; an atheist who created several remarkable devotional songs; an egotist who alienated several big-ticket music directors, yet stood up for a number of immensely talented newcomers; an idealist who waged a lone battle to have the contribution of lyricists acknowledged… Sahir Ludhianvi was an enigma: a difficult man to understand, and even harder to sympathize with, but one who has never ceased to fascinate.

Sahir Ludhianvi is probably the only songwriter in Hindi films whose poetry was accepted in its purest form. So great was his stature as an Urdu poet that he never had to mould his poetry to suit the demands of film songwriting; instead producers and composers adapted their requirements to his poetry. His songs in films like Pyaasa, Naya Daur and Phir Subah Hogi have attained the status of classics. Read more about the songs of Sahir

Akshay Manwani’s well-researched biography Sahir Ludhianvi: The People’s Poet includes an in-depth analysis of his poetry and songs, translations of some of his finest works, both in cinema and out of it, and interviews with a galaxy of luminaries like Javed Akhtar, Yash Chopra and Dev Anand.

It traces the poet’s rich life, from his troubled childhood and equally troubled love relationships, to his rise as one of the pre-eminent personalities of the Progressive Writers’ Movement, and tracks his journey as lyricist through the golden era of Hindi film music, the 1950s and 1960s.

Akshay Manwani

Akshay Manwani

In conversation with Silhouette Magazine, Akshay Manwani talks about the inspirations that led him to explore the life of this path-breaking poet and why Sahir’s poetry transcends the barriers of time and continues to appeal to even the present-day generation.

Antara: What made you think of writing a book on Sahir Ludhianvi?

Akshay: Way back in 2008, I was doing some freelance work for a website where I was asked to write some short profiles of film lyricists. It was then that I discovered that there was very little written about the likes of Sahir Ludhianvi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Shakeel Badayuni, Shailendra – all of who are giants of Hindustani songwriting. However, Sahir’s personal life – his dysfunctional childhood, his failed romantic liaisons – stood out in contrast to the others and that’s what made his life worth documenting. His was an interesting story to tell.

Antara: Does the book deal primarily with Sahir’s association with cinema or also his poetry per se, which was outside of the film industry?

Akshay: The book is a wholesome perspective of Sahir’s personal life, his non-film poetry and his film songwriting. The reason one has to discuss Sahir’s personal life and his non-film poetry while talking about his lyrics is because a lot of Sahir’s personal life and his non-film poetry found its way into his songwriting. For example, the reason Sahir could be so scathing in a song like ‘Aurat ne janam diya mardon ko’ from Sadhana (1958) is because he had seen how his mother had been treated by his father. Similarly, one has to be familiar with Sahir’s poem ‘Chakley’, which was later turned into ‘Jinhe naaz hai Hind par woh kahaan hai’ for Pyaasa.

Jinhe naaz hai Hind par woh kahaan hai (Pyaasa, 1957)

Antara: What do you think made Sahir stand apart from other contemporary lyricists?

Akshay: The heavy socialistic/social flavor of his lyrics and very blunt style of writing made him peerless. He didn’t say things in a round about kind of way. If he had to criticize the nation, he wrote ‘Jinhe naaz hai Hind par woh kahaan hai’.

When he had to preach the message of communal harmony, he wrote ‘Tu Hindu banega na Musalmaan banega’. He was also unafraid of criticizing the Almighty in a song like ‘Aasmaan pe hai khuda aur zameen pe hum’ from Phir Subah Hogi (1958).

The other thing about him is that he was able to give some of the lesser commercially successful directors their best work because of their association with him. For example, Khayyam sa’ab himself told me that it was only with Phir Subah Hogi that he got acceptance in the industry. Similar was the case of Sahir’s association with music directors like Ravi, Roshan, N Dutta and Jaidev.

Aurat ne janam diya mardon ko (Sadhana, 1958)

Antara: With which music director would you say he did his best songs – SD Burman, Roshan, Khayyam or Ravi?

Akshay: This is difficult to say because with each one of them Sahir produced beautiful compositions. Before Pyaasa with SD Burman, he produced some beautiful romantic and philosophical songs in films like House No. 44, Funtoosh, Baazi, Devdas and Munimji.

With Khayyam he had Phir Subah Hogi, Shagoon and Kabhi Kabhie. With Roshan he produced unforgettable classics in films like Barsaat Ki Raat, Taj Mahal and Chitralekha.

Similarly, with Ravi he had Gumraah, Aaj Aur Kal, Waqt and Humraaz. But yes, after Sahir fell out with Burman da following the success of Pyaasa, and the two did not work with each other again, Sahir’s lyrics had greater social flavor than in his work with Burman da.

Chalo ik baar phir se (Gumraah, 1963)

Antara: In other words, it means that Sahir’s lyrics became more rooted in the social context, after his fall out with Burman da?

Akshay: Yes, I mean that after Sahir fell out with Burman da, his songwriting became more political. His social comments more incisive. If you look at Sahir’s work with SD Burman in films like Baazi, Jaal, House No. 44, Devdas, Munimji, Funtoosh or Taxi Driver – the songs are either romantic (Yeh raat yeh chandni phir kahaan, jeevan ke safar mein raahi) or philosophical (Jaaye to jaaye kahaan, Dukhi mann mere).

If he had to say something important, he would incorporate it in a fun, satirical way – like ‘Duniya ki gaadiyan chalti hain jhooth par, duniya ko maar de baate ke boot par‘ (from the song ‘Oonche sur mein gaaye ja’ from House No. 44).

But after his work in Pyaasa, where the songs became more popular because of the lyrics, Sahir’s songwriting became more direct. Take his songs in Naya Daur or Phir Subah Hogi or Sadhana or Hum Dono or Taj Mahal. He would just say what he had to.

Jurm-E-Ulfat Pe (Taj Mahal, 1963)

AntaraHow challenging was it for you to source material and facts on Sahir during your research?

Sahir Ludhianvi (centre)

Sahir Ludhianvi (centre) on his birthday, flanked by Salma Siddiqui, the late Urdu writer Krishan Chander’s wife (right) and Mahendra Nath, Krishan Chander’s brother (left).

Akshay: Tracing Sahir’s early life – his childhood, his college years was the most difficult part. This was because there were no family members or friends left from Sahir’s early years to speak to me. Also, whatever material is there in the Urdu language on Sahir’s initial years, there is very little factual information in it.

For example, in which year and month did he go to Lahore for the first time? When did he write his acclaimed poem Taj Mahal? Compared to this portion of his life, researching his film work was much easier because people like Yash Chopra, Dev Anand and music composer Ravi were still around at that time when I was researching the book.

However, the problem in meeting film personalities is getting appointments from them and that was indeed a difficult process for me.

Antara: What makes Sahir’s poetry relevant to even the present day generation?

Akshay: There is an eternal quality to Sahir’s poems. In March 2011 when Delhi’s chief metropolitan magistrate Vinod Yadav went on to discharge Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi from the two-decade-old Bofors pay-off case, the magistrate quoted Sahir’s song from Gumraah (1963), ‘Chalo ik baar phir se’, using the lines, ‘Woh afsaana jisey anjaam tak laana na ho mumkin / Usey ek khoobsurat modh dekar chhodna achchha,’ to explain that the country could not afford to spend hard-earned money on Quattrocchi’s extradition, which had already cost Rs 250 crore.

Sahir’s poems or songs address issues from female emancipation (Aurat ne janam diya mardon ko or Jinhe naaz hai Hind par), to world peace (Parchhaiyaan), to increasing materialistic values in society (Yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaaye to kya hai?), to communal harmony (Tu Hindu banega na Musalmaan banega), to speaking out against injustice and the killing of innocents (Khoon phir khoon hai).

Have any of these issues been successfully addressed in our societies? No. Sahir’s poetry is a tug at society’s collective consciousness and a reminder that if things are to improve, then ‘Woh subah humhi se aayegi‘.

Woh subah kabhi toh aayegi (Phir Subah Hogi, 1958)

Sahir Ludhianvi: The People’s Poet is available on Flipkart, Amazon, Infibeam,  Rediff Books and Amazon Kindle Edition)

More to read on Sahir Ludhianvi

Sahir Ludhianvi: The Rebel, The Lover – an exploration of Sahir’s existential poetry by Vijay Kumar

Jinhe Naaz Hai Hind Par Voh Kahaan Hain: Songs of Sahir – a journey through Sahir’s songs

Khayyam: Making Poetry Come Alive With Melody – some of Sahir’s most melodious songs

Tere Mere Sapne Ab Ek Rang Hain – Eternal Melodies of SD Burman-Rafi – SD Burman, Sahir and Rafi together created some of the greatest songs

Pyaasa: Pristine Poetry On Celluloid – a review of one of Sahir’s best known films

Creative Writing

Whether you are new or veteran, you are important. Please contribute with your articles on cinema, we are looking forward for an association. Send your writings to amitava@silhouette-magazine.com

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 edited and published Incomparable Sachin Dev Burman, the biography of SD Burman written by HQ Chowdhury. 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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One thought on “Sahir Ludhianvi: The People’s Poet

  • nutsure

    Every time I listen to his songs I feel something new is being said. Writing about someone who is Sahir I feel like pygmy holding an incense stick mumbling words of awe. Always wondered what was so complex about him, who wrote in such simple way with profound meaning…

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