{"id":1340,"date":"2014-04-02T07:04:37","date_gmt":"2014-04-02T07:04:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/?p=1340"},"modified":"2023-08-09T13:36:16","modified_gmt":"2023-08-09T08:06:16","slug":"sahir-ludhianvi-peoples-poet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/sahir-ludhianvi-peoples-poet\/","title":{"rendered":"Sahir Ludhianvi: The People\u2019s Poet"},"content":{"rendered":"

An interview with Akshay Manwani<\/strong>, author of\u00a0Sahir Ludhianvi: The People’s Poet<\/em><\/strong> (the book is available on Flipkart<\/a>, <\/span>Amazon<\/a>, Infibeam<\/a>, Rediff Books<\/a>\u00a0and Amazon Kindle Edition<\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Sahir

Sahir Ludhianvi: The People’s Poet<\/p><\/div>\n

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<\/a>; 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.<\/p>\n

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<\/em> and Phir Subah Hogi<\/em> have attained the status of classics. Read more about the songs of Sahir<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Akshay Manwani\u2019s well-researched biography Sahir Ludhianvi: The People’s Poet<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n

It traces the poet\u2019s 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\u2019 Movement, and tracks his journey as lyricist through the golden era of Hindi film music, the 1950s and 1960s.<\/p>\n

\"Akshay<\/a>

Akshay Manwani<\/p><\/div>\n

In conversation with\u00a0Silhouette Magazine,\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Akshay Manwani<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n

Antara: <\/b>What made you think of writing a book on Sahir Ludhianvi?<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

Akshay: <\/b>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\u2019s personal life \u2013 his dysfunctional childhood, his failed romantic liaisons – stood out in contrast to the others and that\u2019s what made his life worth documenting. His was an interesting story to tell.<\/p>\n

Antara: <\/b>Does the book deal primarily with Sahir\u2019s association with cinema or also his poetry per se, which was outside of the film industry?<\/i><\/p>\n

Akshay:<\/b> The book is a wholesome perspective of Sahir\u2019s personal life, his non-film poetry and his film songwriting. The reason one has to discuss Sahir\u2019s personal life and his non-film poetry while talking about his lyrics is because a lot of Sahir\u2019s 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 \u2018Aurat ne janam diya mardon ko\u2019<\/i> from Sadhana<\/i> (1958) is because he had seen how his mother had been treated by his father. Similarly, one has to be familiar with Sahir\u2019s poem \u2018Chakley\u2019<\/i>, which was later turned into \u2018Jinhe naaz hai Hind par woh kahaan hai\u2019<\/i> for Pyaasa<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Jinhe naaz hai Hind par woh kahaan hai<\/em> (Pyaasa<\/em>, <\/strong>1957)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n