{"id":7442,"date":"2023-06-06T09:03:56","date_gmt":"2023-06-06T03:33:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/?p=7442"},"modified":"2023-06-19T22:12:44","modified_gmt":"2023-06-19T16:42:44","slug":"rajinder-krishan-hum-kuchh-nahi-kehte-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/rajinder-krishan-hum-kuchh-nahi-kehte-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Rajinder Krishan \u2014 Hum Kuchh Nahi Kehte (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\"Rajinder

Rajinder Krishan<\/p><\/div>\n

When agreeing to write my thoughts down about Rajinder Krishan the lyricist I didn’t take into account one simple factor. How does one find appropriate words to praise the words of another? Especially one as dynamic in quality of work as Rajinder Krishan has been. Isn’t it a little like expressing one’s admiration of a painter through a painting of one’s own? Or composing a melody to praise a composer whose work you admire? Will my effort even come close to doing justice? Well, it shouldn’t be for lack of trying at least! So here goes my tribute to lyricist Rajinder Krishan (RK), easily one among the most prolific lyricists of the ’50s and the ’60s.<\/p>\n

The world of gardening teaches one a lot about life. There are some plants that grow their best in the shade of larger ones; others are vines and will cling to sturdier ones for support and grow to their best life, sometimes to the point of smothering what used to be the sturdier plant. And sometimes even a slightly smaller tree growing in the shadow of much larger trees has to pay the price by being overshadowed by them.<\/p>\n

Humans mimic this behaviour. While there have been many who achieved success while growing in the shade of the stalwarts, there are others whose growth was probably stunted due to their presence. This happens in every walk of life, including the entertainment business.\u00a0\u00a0Among the lyricists, the ’50s and the ’60s were charged by the poetry of the 3 S’s \u2014 Shakeel Badayuni, Shailendra and Sahir Ludhianvi \u2014 with that talented maverick, Majrooh Sultanpuri, and others like Hasrat Jaipuri, Kaifi Azmi etc. And somewhere in all of the poetry being written, where comfortable partnerships with composers, and special creative niches were being built around him, Rajinder Krishan found his own space in which to flourish. A fact that should not be ignored. It couldn’t have been easy to be pitted against talent such as was reigning during that time and still being able to create a foothold in the industry without much support. Not only did this tree make its way in whatever space it found, but it also flourished by way of producing quality lyrics for all sorts of situations in all kinds of films to leave behind a rich, fragrant legacy for us to enjoy. Dare I suggest, partially fueled by the talent that surrounded him \u2014 because excellence does tend to breed excellence \u2014 and partially fueled by the need to create his own place under the sun, something he seemed to have done without any doubt at all!<\/p>\n

Rajinder Krishan remained active for almost four decades, but for the purposes of this essay, we will focus on his most productive period, a span of 25 years, from 1948-1973.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rajinder Krishan was a jack of all trades, having dabbled in Dialogue writing, Story and Screenplay writing as well as being a lyricist, but he started his career with a small acting role in Jhande Khan’s Shahanshah Akbar<\/em> in 1943 where he played the role of a pundit. The film bombed so badly that he decided acting was not for him, switching over to writing. I’m sure his millions of fans are thankful for that decision!<\/p>\n

Even though Rajinder Krishan worked with a diverse group of composers, singers, directors, and story writers and has a large portfolio as a lyricist, he seems to have no defining characteristics to his poetry. A Shailendra or a Sahir song can be recognized even by the untrained; for that matter even Shakeel and Majrooh, but Rajinder Krishan is like that consummate actor who morphs him or herself for each role until the actor disappears and the character emerges. Is this the reason the lyrics of Rajinder Krishan frequently get a response like, “Oh, wow! Is this RK?”<\/p>\n

In the following, do watch out for various moods from his pen, written for various composers.<\/p>\n

\"Rajinder

Rajinder Krishan, Laxmikant, Qateel Shifai and others (Pic: Bollywood Direct\/Twitter)<\/p><\/div>\n

The Beginning<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Rajinder Krishan arrived on the lyrical scene in Bombay’s cinema world in the \u201840s with Janta<\/em> (1947) and received his first recognition with Tere naino ne chori kiya<\/em> (Pyar Ki Jeet<\/em>\/1948\/Suraiya\/Husnlal-Bhagatram) and his non-film Suno suno aye duniyawaalo Baapu ki ye amar kahaani<\/em> (Husnlal-Bhagatram\/Rafi\/1948). What is commendable is that he worked perhaps for less than 10 films between 1947-1949 but some of those songs still endure after more than 6 decades!<\/p>\n

Pyar Ki Jeet<\/em> (Husnlal-Bhagatram\/1948), Badi Bahen<\/em> (Husnlal-Bhagatram\/1949), Lahore<\/em> (Shyam Sunder\/1949) and possibly the most popular of them all, Patanga<\/em>, his first with C Ramchandra in 1949 with no less than 10 songs! Songs like Mere piya gaye Rangoon<\/em> (C Ramchandra and Shamshad Begum) which achieved cult status during its time, and a second lilting duet by the same singers, O dilwaalon dil ka lagaana achcha hai, par kabhi-kabhi.<\/em><\/p>\n

Another charming classic of its times, Namaste, namaste, pehle to ho gayi namaste-namaste, phir pyar ho gaya hanste-hanste<\/em> (C Ramchandra, Rafi, Mohantara and Shamshad Begum), and, Bolo ji dil loge to kya-kya doge,<\/em> possibly the first Rafi-Rajinder Krishan duet with Shamshad Begum are from the same film.<\/p>\n


\nTere nainon ne chori kiya<\/strong><\/em> (Pyar Ki Jeet<\/em>, 1948) Husnlal-Bhagatram \/ Suraiya)<\/span><\/p>\n