{"id":7934,"date":"2023-08-12T01:16:51","date_gmt":"2023-08-11T19:46:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/?p=7934"},"modified":"2023-08-12T01:16:51","modified_gmt":"2023-08-11T19:46:51","slug":"bharat-vyas-hindi-poetry-thrived-in-his-film-songs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/bharat-vyas-hindi-poetry-thrived-in-his-film-songs\/","title":{"rendered":"Bharat Vyas: Hindi Poetry Thrived in His Film Songs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Bharat

Bharat Vyas<\/p><\/div>\n

Introduction<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>
\nThere cannot be two opinions that a significant number of Hindi film songs composed in the six decades between the 1930s and the 1970s achieved great popularity and fame owing as much, if not more, to their words as to their tunes and their instrumental scores. From the highly accomplished and talented pioneer of Hindi film music in the 1930s to the 1970s, over an era spanning 50 years, almost all the songs regarded as \u201cmost loved ones\u201d by aficionados of Hindi film music had excellent lyrics in them.<\/p>\n

Lyricists in Hindi film music have the toughest job of all. They are, almost all of them, ‘Poets’. But, unlike poets, who are inspired by nature, thoughts, events and emotions to give free rein to their creative imagination and dexterity with words, film song writers are compelled, or if I may say, severely restrained in their scope. A film director conceives ‘song situations’ to suit his story and enhance its value by creative picturisation of the song. The composer then creates five or six tunes to suit that situation, and one of them is finally selected. The director and the composer freely allow their creativity to blossom. But, the lyricist\/poet, having no such freedom or licence, has to then write words to perfectly suit not only the situation on screen, but also seamlessly synchronise with the tune created by the composer. They are always expected to deliver beautiful lyrics under such strained conditions, often unable to impart poetical expression to the song. This is the reason why even top lyricists sometimes need to come up with lyrics that are sub standard.<\/p>\n

Although lyricists ought to have received the acclaim that such brilliance conferred on them, most of them rightfully did not get their due. Some lyricists did become very famous and even iconic.\u00a0 But, sadly, a few highly competent and imaginative poets and lyricists, had to remain on the sidelines despite their wizardry with words, owing to the peculiar nature of the manner in which success was measured in the Bombay film industry. The audience in general, remembered mostly the singer and the music composer. Wikipedia, till today, names only the music composer in its short credit snippet and the singers in the song list. The lyricist finds a mention only in the ‘Soundtrack’ section.<\/p>\n

One of such prominent poets and lyricists was poet, director, music director, singer and lyricist, Bharat Vyas whose brilliance was not matched by material success, a paradox that many other lyricists of his time also faced. \u00a0Perhaps, in his case, a contributory fact was that, because of the genre of some of his early films, he was typecast as good only for mythological, religious and historical films (he was lyricist for three films on the lives of saints \u2014 Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Jagatguru Shankaracharya<\/em> and Sant Raghu)<\/em>. \u00a0 This may have influenced producers to conclude that he was not a \u00a0lyricist for the kind of films that succeed at the box office.\u00a0 In the Bombay film industry, it was natural to regard such films as B grade, not certain of commercial success and as a consequence, the artists associated with it were also never considered as top class, \u00a0despite their obvious talents. There were many such highly competent composers and lyricists, considered not reliable for delivering hits and successes, typecast as belonging to a particular genre and thus routinely condemned to mediocrity, without their talent being actually tried out or experimented with in writing for commercially oriented films.<\/p>\n

Early life
\n<\/strong>
\nBharat Vyas was born in Bikaner on January 6, 1918.\u00a0 He lost his father at a very tender age of 2 years. He studied B.Com in Calcutta but his interest in acting landed him roles in stage performances. His work in his own play \u2018Rangeela Marwad\u2019<\/em>, staged in the hallowed Alfred Theater in Calcutta, received favourable atttention. After completing his studies he came to Bombay. It is interesting to note here again that initial bond with Calcutta, something common to several such Hindi film music personalities of Bombay in the initial years of their careers.<\/p>\n

Career
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Toofan

Toofan Aur Deeya<\/em> poster<\/p><\/div>\n

Bharat Vyas\u2019 first assignment as a lyricist\u00a0was for Duhaai<\/em> (1943), a film made by his elder brother Brij Mohan Vyas, for which\u00a0one of the music directors was Pannalal Ghosh, the famous flautist.\u00a0 Bharat Vyas had a long and fruitful association with producer, director and actor V Shantaram, famous for the string of musical hits Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje<\/em> (1955) that flowed from his Rajkamal Kalamandir (earlier Prabhat Film Company). Shantaram was a pioneer who put Maharashtra on India’s film map. Music composers Vasant Desai and C Ramchandra were his trusted team members.<\/p>\n

Shantaram and Vyas collaborated for movies such as Toofan Aur Deeya <\/em>(1956), Do Ankhen Barah Haath<\/em> (1957) and Navrang <\/em>(1959), all carrying songs that became hits, meaningfully written with depth, compassion and in a language that was regarded as ‘elevating’.<\/p>\n

Vyas always chose to write in clear Hindi. When Shantaram and Vyas were discussing the lyrics of the songs for Do Ankhen Barah Haath<\/em>, Shantaram wanted Vyas to reframe a song to reflect a universally acceptable and secular prayer song, not reflecting any particular region or religion. Vyas then rewrote the song, beginning it with\u00a0Aye maalik tere bande hum<\/em>. Shantaram was very happy with the latter version. It is a great tribute to Shantaram’s perspicacity and Vyas’ ability that this song has been one of the finest spiritual songs ever written for Hindi films and remains highly popular even to this day.\u00a0 It is still sung as a morning prayer in many schools in India and even in a few schools in Pakistan (with only a few words changed)! The male version of this song was sung by V Shantaram himself with a chorus.\u00a0 No praise is too high for the composer Vasant Desai too for creating a tune and music for this song that leaves a lasting impression on one’s mind.<\/p>\n

Aye maalik tere bande hum<\/strong><\/em> (Do Ankhen Barah Haath<\/em>, 1957) Vasant Desai \/ Bharat Vyas \/ Lata<\/span><\/p>\n