O nirdayi preetam
Posted on: November 23, 2009
It is often said that one needs to use heavy duty Urdu words to come up with romantic ( as well as other kinds of) songs, and people agree. But the facts are, most of the lyricists in the formative years of Bollywood movie songs were more familiar with Urdu and they created such songs using words they were more comfortable with. Listeners who were not familiar with Urdu were often clueless about many words in these songs. Many listeners, such as yours truly, did not know what words like “ulfat”, fitrat” etc meant. People would guess about the meanings of these words in the context of the topic. Sometimes their guess would turn out to be correct, and sometimes not.
When it came to studying Hindi language, which is an important language in most Indian schools, school goers studying Hindi as a subject studied words that were much different from the words that one came across in Bollywood movie songs. In the schools, you would not learn words like “Husn”, “Harkat”, “Yaar” etc. One would instead be taught words like “Sundarta”,”Gati”,”Mitr” etc.
Even today, when it comes to formal occasions, where Hindi is to be spoken or written, such as functions, examinations etc, the language used there is different from the language of Bollywood movies.
Bollywood has created many myths around its movies, like Bandits raiding villages on the horseback, village belles assembling in village panghat, etc. Similarly, it is a myth that people in India speak the language spoken in Bollywood movies and that a boy sings a song promising the moon to a girl when he wants to express his love to her. Real facts are, if a boy seriously wants to impress a girl, then many of the words used in movies, viz “Husn”, “Shabaab”,”Haseena” etc are strict no no. Such words cannot be used in family gatherings and indeed they are not used in the Hindi TV serials that have proliferated these days.
I have come round to the view that Hindi words would have been quite appropriate for expressing romantic thoughts. Hindi (and its ancestor Sanskrit) is rich in words expressing romance. In fact, many Sanskrit stories of the past, viz Kalidas’ “Meghdoot”, “Abhigyaan Shakuntalam” , and Bilhan’s “Rajtarangini” etc are examples of superb stories written in words that are extremely sensuous and impressive.
In Bollywood too, we have had some examples of songs written in Hindi (different from the usual fare). For instance, I have posted the well known “Jyoti Kalash chhalke” (Bhabhi Ki Choodiyaan) in this blog. I have posted a few other songs as well.
Here is a song that I came across only recently. After listeneing to this song once, I was simply floored. What an amazing song ! This song is written in pure Hindi, and I found that I understand every word of it ! It is written by Bharat Vyas, who was one of the few lyricists in Bollywood who were Hindi experts ( others being Pradeep and Pt Narendra Sharma).
C Ramchandra has composed this amazing song. And just listen to Lata’s voice. Divine voice with impeccable rendition!
This song is an amazing song in all respects. Just because this song is not better known does not detract from its quality. This is one of the highest quality songs that Bollywood has ever produced. It is amazing stuff. I consider myself privileged that I managed to stumble upon this superb song.
The song is from “Stree” (1961). It is picturised on Sandhya and others. V. Shantaram was the hero of this movie.
Audio
Video
Song-O nirdayi preetam (Stree) (1961) Singer-Lata, Lyrics-Bharat Vyas, MD- C Ramchandra
Lyrics
ye kyaa
tum sab dekh rahi ho
achchaa
ye le
hmm hmm
hmm hmm
hmm hmm hmm
preetam, nirdayi
kyaa likhoon
arre dono hi likh daal
Nirdayi, preetam
o nirdayi preetam
o nirdayi preetam
pranay jagaa ke
hriday churaa ke
chup huye kyun tum
o nirdayi preetam
ye chandaa sheetal kahlaataa
phir kyun mere ang jalaataa
ye chandaa sheetal kahlaataa
phir kyun mere ang jalaataa
phool saa komal, baan madan ka
phool saa komal, baan madan ka
shool banke tan mein chubh jaataa,
tumhre shur ke birhaa taap mein
aag bani poonam
o nirdayi preetam
o nirdayi preetam
aa aa aa aa
aa aa aa aa
tum madhuban ke bhramar sayaane
tum madhuban ke bhramar sayaane
ban ki kali teraa hriday na jaane
gunjan mein kyaa, man mein kyaa thaa
preet yaa chhal thaa, kyaa pahchaane
gunjan mein kyaa, man mein kyaa thaa
preet yaa chhal thaa, kyaa pahchaane
chit ke chor, kathor hriday ke
kyun mile the ham
o nirdayi preetam
o nirdayi preetam
pranay jagaa ke,
hriday churaa ke,
chup huye kyun tum,
o nirdayi preetam
o nirdayi preetam
9 Responses to "O nirdayi preetam"
May 13, 2013 at 1:25 am
arrrrre! mumtaz extra ke roop me ! woooooow gana??? set aise jaise kaalidaas ki shakuntla ke paas pahunch gai main . dekh rhi hun. abhi to inn khoobsurat drishyon ko peeye ja rhi hun v shantaram ji ki pratibha unki film ke hr drishy me dikhai deti hai. wooooooooooow
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May 13, 2013 at 1:25 am
ye chandaa sheetal kahlaataa
phir kyun mere ang jalaataa
phool saa komal, baan madan ka
phool saa komal, baan madan ka
shool banke tan mein chubh jaataa,
tumhre shur ke birhaa taap mein
aag bani poonam
o nirdayi preetam…….vishuddh tatsam shbdon ka prayog bahut km hua hai hindi gano me………….. iskee tulna kisi bhi sahityik rchna se kr dun toooo atishyokti n hogi. bahuuut khooob!
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December 20, 2020 at 3:48 pm
Amazing song. What a divine voice. Lata ji’s. No doubt she is considered an incarnation of Maa Saraswati. Great tune created by the great C.Ramachandra.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
August 28, 2012 at 12:40 am
Working link :
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August 28, 2012 at 12:48 am
There is Mumtaz, talking to sandhya, just before the songs starts.
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August 28, 2012 at 1:04 am
This reminds me of Mumtaz with Sandhya in “Sehra-63”. Pankh hote to ud aati…….. Then VS launched her in Boond Jo Ban Gayi Moti as a lead actress.
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August 28, 2012 at 8:41 am
‘ Pankh hote to udd aati re ‘, is the actually my most favourite song. Aaj woh song bhi dekhna hoga.
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