{"id":8550,"date":"2024-04-20T07:18:39","date_gmt":"2024-04-20T01:48:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/?p=8550"},"modified":"2024-04-20T07:18:31","modified_gmt":"2024-04-20T01:48:31","slug":"shakeel-badayuni-the-eternal-romantic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/shakeel-badayuni-the-eternal-romantic\/","title":{"rendered":"Shakeel Badayuni: The Eternal Romantic"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Shakeel

Shakeel Badayuni<\/p><\/div>\n

My childhood memories are inextricably intertwined with the radio. And my father. Because anytime my father was home, the radio was on, filling the living room with old Hindi film songs. These songs formed the soundscape of my life.<\/p>\n

My favourite songs were those whose lyrics resonated with me. For many years, I filled notebook after notebook with lyrics which I jotted down, reading them over and over again. Because words have magic. They transport me to worlds I do not know, and express emotions I feel but cannot say. But, while I was familiar with the names of the lyricists, thanks to the radio, there were very few songs that I could identify as written by a particular lyricist solely by listening to the words. Yet, I \u2018knew\u2019 them \u2013 through their verse, their words, the emotions they expressed that touched my core. And among the myriad poet-lyricists of the golden period of Hindi film music, the name of Shakeel Badayuni shines like a lodestar.<\/p>\n

Shakeel \u2018Badayuni\u2019 was born Shakeel Ahmed on 3 August 1916 in Badayun, Uttar Pradesh. He was conversant in Persian, Arabic, Urdu, and Hindustani. While no one in his immediate family had a talent for poetry, Zia-ul-Qadiri Badayuni, a distant relative was famed for his religious poetry. Poetically inclined, young Shakeel began attending musha\u2019iras<\/em> where his uncle recited his poetry. Soon, he began writing his own ghazals. <\/em>In 1936, Shakeel joined Aligarh University. His poetry had brought him some renown and he was much in demand at inter-college musha\u2019iras. <\/em><\/p>\n

In 1940, when he was barely 24, he married Salma, a distant relative. In 1946, like many other young men who flocked to Bombay to earn their fortune, Shakeel too left his job in the government supply department in Delhi to try his luck in the film industry.<\/p>\n

\"A

A R Kardar<\/p><\/div>\n

At a musha\u2019ira,<\/em> he chanced to meet producer AR Kardar, who introduced him to music director, Naushad Ali. The story goes that Naushad asked Shakeel to describe his skill, and the latter recited:<\/p>\n

\u201cHum dard ka afsaana duniya ko suna denge<\/em>
\nHar dil mein mohabbat ki ek aag laga denge.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

Impressed, Naushad signed him on for Dard. <\/em>Success followed almost instantaneously \u2013 the songs of Dard, <\/em>especially Uma Devi\u2019s Afsana likh rahi hoon<\/em> dil-e-beqaraar ka <\/em>proved to be immensely popular. This laid the foundation for a long and very fruitful collaboration with Naushad.<\/p>\n

Unlike his peers, Sahir, Shailendra or Majrooh (or even juniors like Kaifi Azmi and Jan Nisar Akhtar), Shakeel was consistent in his preoccupation with romantic poetry. Shakeel remained a thorough romantic at heart, saying that his poetry wasn\u2019t that removed from his life. In his own words:<\/p>\n

Main Shakeel dil ka hoon tarjuman<\/em>
\nKeh mohabbaton ka hoon raazdaan<\/em>
\nMujhe fakhr hai meri shayari<\/em>
\nMeri zindagi se juda nahin<\/em><\/p>\n

[I am Shakeel, the interpreter of the heart<\/em>
\nI am Love\u2019s secret keeper<\/em>
\nI am proud that my poetry<\/em>
\nIs not separate from my life<\/em>]<\/p>\n

The nearest he came to \u2018inquilaabi<\/em>\u2019 [revolutionary] thought in his poetry was when he wrote [in Mere humnafas mere hum nava<\/em><\/a>]:<\/p>\n

Mera azm itna buland hai ki paraaye sholon se dar nahin<\/em>
\nMujhe khauf aatish-e-gul se hai ye kahin chaman ko jalaa na de<\/em><\/p>\n

[My confidence is so great that I fear not others\u2019 flames<\/em>
\nI dread the fire hidden within the blossom that might set the garden ablaze<\/em>]<\/p>\n

\"Mohd

Mohd Rafi with Shakeel Badayuni and Ravi (Pic: mohdrafi.com)<\/p><\/div>\n

Yet, it would be incredibly shortsighted to dismiss Shakeel as merely a romantic poet. Adept at writing lines to fit the tune, Shakeel\u2019s pen was equal to the task of crafting lyrics to fit any situation in a Hindi film \u2013 whether it was a lori<\/em> or a bidaai, <\/em>a ghazal<\/em> or a qawwali,<\/em> a bhajan <\/em>or a mujra. <\/em><\/p>\n

Shakeel made history when he achieved a hat-trick at the Filmfare Awards, winning Best Lyricist for three consecutive years. (Chaudhvin ka Chand<\/em> (1960) Gharana<\/em> (1961) and Bees Saal Baad<\/em> (1962). Shakeel also wrote poetry outside of films. His poetry anthologies such as Naghma-e-Firdaus<\/em> (1948), Shabistan<\/em> (1958), Ranginiyaan<\/em> (1961), etc., are filled with verses by a poet who always heeded the call of his heart.<\/p>\n

Today, on his 54th<\/sup> death anniversary, I present a few of my favourite Shakeel Badayuni songs.<\/p>\n

Mohe bhool gaye saanwariya<\/em><\/strong><\/a>
\nBaiju Bawra<\/em> (1952)
\nMusic: Naushad
\nSinger: Lata Mangeshkar<\/p>\n