Unko Yeh Shikayat Hai Ke Hum Kuch Nahin Kehte – When Silence Speaks Volumes

When in the dimly lit mehfil, the aging, tired and visibly broken Nargis, picks up the first aalap, gently, she closes her eyes as the notes climb higher.

Majboor bahut karta hai yeh dil toh zubaan ko..
kuch aisi hi haalat hai ke hum kuch nahin kehte

This exactly is the dilemma with this extraordinarily beautiful ghazal. When you come to speak about this song, words fall short and yet there is so much to say.

When in the dimly lit mehfil, the aging, tired and visibly broken Nargis, picks up the first aalap, gently, she closes her eyes as the notes climb higher. The camera in an extreme closeup captures every bit of the pain – the shock of greying hair below the dark sari, the faded bindi, the lines of struggle on the face.

unko yeh shika-a-a-a-yat hai ke hum……
kuch nahin kehte

The words come out, soaked in anguish and you get the feeling she is wrenching the words out of her heart. Sitting in the middle of a circle of listeners and musicians, in a crowd yet alone and lonely – she is singing for them who have come to her kotha to hear her and yet you know she is singing for just one person, the “unko”.

apni to yeh aadat hai ke hum
kuch nahin kehte

The shot cuts to Pran, with sinister intentions written all over him opening the door for Pradeep Kumar who stops in his tracks as he is about to get out of his car. Pran watches Pradeep Kumar’s visible surprise at hearing something acutely familiar. Pran knows he has trapped his prey – his narrow, paan-stained smirk says it all.

Pran knows he has trapped his prey – his narrow, paan-stained smirk says it all.

For Pradeep Kumar, it is a stepping back into yesterday, once more. That voice, those words he had never forgotten, just pushed them back into a distant past. Suddenly, they burst through as a deluge of memories.

Madan Mohan picked Raag Malgunji and Taal Dadra to bring this ghazal written by close friend and famed lyricist Rajinder Krishan to a beautiful outcome. Remarkable is how he demonstrated so much respect and restraint in the musical arrangement to manifest the beauty of the Lyrics. Starting with two soft Sitar bridges in the intro at 0.27 and 0.34, he makes Lata pick the alaap almost as an A Capella until you strain to hear the underlying Santoor.

Then at 0.38 almost as if it was begging to start, the Dadra makes an off cue entry and plods sincerely all through. The Sitar plays its bridges after every …’kuch nahi kehte’ as if reminding us of its presence.

Just before ‘Majboor magar karta hai yeh dil zubaaan ko’, listen to the single slightly extended Sitar bridge [1.42 till 1.44]  and the unusual stretch of the word ‘Zuba…..aan ko’ with a Lachak and the Ghisa’s on the Tabla. Just beautiful.

The storm isn’t outside – it is raging within

kuch aisi hi haalat hai ke hum
unko yeh shikayat hai ke hum……
apni to yeh aadat hai ke hum
us par yeh inaayat hai ke hum

The Kaafiyas – Shikayat and Aadat followed by Shikayat and Inaayat add to the delightful rhythm.

The Radeef {refrain} builds the pattern – Kuchh nahin kehtey, Kuch nahin kehtey.

Listen to the soft almost unnoticed entry of the Sarangi {at 1.19 till 1.28} where it comes into play. An instrument immutable to a Kotha, the sarangi gets a full 9 seconds interlude just before “Majboor bahut karta hai yeh dil toh zubaan ko..[2]….kuch aisi hi haalat hai ke hum kuch nahin kehte …..”

Then Madanji throws a surprise in the next interlude beginning {at 2.19} on a Sitar the Sarangi plays an underdog for a full 9 seconds just before kehne ko bahot kuch tha agar kehne pe aatey….[2}

Madan Mohan with lyricist Rajinder Krishan

And then he surgically deploys a threat.

Kuchh kehane pe tufan
Utha leti hai duniya
Utha leti hai duniya
Ab isape qayamat hai ke
Hum kuch nahin kehte

Notice the soft variation in the Dadra where Madan Mohan employs a Tak a Tirikit filler between Dha tin tin taa dhin dhin – a marvelous adaptation in Music. The use of the Triangle imbibes the piousness all through. The huge chandelier overhead rocks slowly as if on cue as Lata’s voice sharply raises the pitch with “tufaan utha leti hai duniya”. The storm isn’t outside – it is raging within.

And Lata’s closure is worth repeated hears – from 4.36 till 4.55 where she slows down to almost a dirge and stretches on the two words ‘kuch nahi keh…tey’ and ‘Shikaay….aat hai’ and in the latter one she almost raises the octave.

The beauty of these words lies in their ability to connect with the listener at his or her own level. You feel as if the words speak exactly what you would feel at some point of time when the world stops listening to you, when your words are picked up and swirled out of context, raising a storm that was never meant to be.

Says Sangeeta Gupta, the daughter of music director Madan Mohan, “In 1958, Adalat became a turning point as each song was appreciated by listeners and Madan Mohan’s peers alike. The Nargis-Pradeep Kumar and Pran starrer did not succeed but the music is remembered till today. The highlight of the score were the three ghazals, all solos by Lata Mangeshkar, which gave him the recognition of a fine composer of ghazals. Rajinder Krishan ji’s lyrics as always were inspiring for the  composer. An adlib version of Unko yeh shikayat hai also features in the film.”

The adlib version in the Inter Collegiate Mushaira

Explains reputed music collector and writer Peeyush Sharma, “In the initial few reels of the film, there is a scene of an Inter Collegiate Mushaira where Pradeep Kumar is an anchor and Nargis, a participant. Here she recites, in her voice, Unko yeh shikayat hai ke hum kuchh nahi kehte (mukhra and first verse). Needless to say, the ghazal and the singer leave an impact. Years have gone with the lovers being estranged. Age has caught up for signs of age are now visible in the lines on the face and greying hair. Thus, many years later when Pran, the pimp, brings the now aged, Pradeep Kumar to this mehfil he is surprised to hear the same nazm being sung right from the moment he alights from his car in the street below.”

On screen we see Pran’s devilish eyes luring his prey up the steps, reminding us of a similar set up in Amar Prem in the later years in Raina beeti jaaye  where Madan Puri did a Pran-type enticing welcome to the unsuspecting hero who is drawn to the kotha purely because of the magic of the voice. Remember the famous dialogue, “Arrey Anand babu! Ayeeye aayeeye Anand Babu. Aap aur is mandir mein? Mujhe pehchana nahi?”

I once remember telling Rakesh Anand Bakshiji, a dear friend too, that these dialogues are so firmly embedded in the soul of this particular song that I am certain your Dad wrote them too as a part of the Lyrics. Bakshiji took pride in writing lyrics that synced with the Character, Screenplay and Dialogues.

Madan Mohan listening to newly recorded song at home with Lata Mangeskhar on his Akai Spool recorder. Pic: Madanmohan.in

Adalat was a home project for Pradeep Kumar, as the story and direction were by his brother, Kalidas. The direction of the film was average and could not make the film convincing, so was the cinematography by H S Kwatra. The film was given an A certificate by censor board and that adversely affected its box-office prospects. It released in November 1958.

There is more to the music of Adalat. “Though released on disc, the song Jaana tha hamse door bahaane banaa liye was deleted from the film,” says Sangeeta Gupta. “The song Jaa jaa re jaa saajanaa is in two different tunes and versions sung by Lataji & Ashaji. In the film they are joined. Originally these were released on records as two separate songs.”

Adds Peeyush Sharma, “Another peculiar fact is that along with R L Suri and Ghanshyam, who were regular assistants to Madan Mohan, in this film one finds Chic Chocolate as an assistant too. Chic was the well known assistant of C Ramchandra.”

Another everlasting ghazal in Adalat is Lata Mangeshkar’s Yun hasraton ke daag mohabbat mein dho liye while Zameen se hamein aasman par (Rafi and Asha Bhosle) is remembered as one of the most romantic duets. Says Peeyush Sharma, “Rajendra Krishan was a man of all seasons. He could write all varieties of songs. In this film he is the lyricist, screenplay and dialogue writer.”

Adalat may not have left its mark at the box office. But for its ghazals especially, it has carved out its place as a milestone in Hindi film music.

More to read in The Song Story

When Cinema Matched Music Beat by Beat: Nadiya Kinare in Abhimaan

Love is… Claiming Rights: Teri Zulfon Se Judaai to Nahin Mangi Thi

The Mesmerizing Moods of Jaane Kya Tune Kahi (Pyaasa)

The Tender Musical Tête-à-tête in Chupke Se Mile (Genius of SD Burman)