Jeewan naiyya behti jaaye
Posted on: September 23, 2011
This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
Pankaj Babu’s last association with Hindi film world was in 1954. After the film Kasturi, in 1954 he did not work for any more Hindi films. His association with the Bengali cinema lasted for some more years, till 1972, beyond which he was content with the peace, and with teaching music. The Padam Shri award for this remarkable musician came in 1970, followed in 1972 by Dada Saheb Phalke award for lifetime contribution to Indian Cinema.
In 1952, Art Films of Asia Ltd. released a much expected ‘Zalzalaa’ (upheaval, earthquake). The film was produced and directed by Paul Zils, and has a notable star cast that includes Kishore Sahu, Dev Anand, Geeta Bali, Uma Dutt, Krishna Kant, Sunalini Devi, Bela Pramanik, Jagdev, Mohinder Nath, Manju, Satya Kumar, David Cooper etc. This is one of the last few films for which music was composed by Pankaj Babu.
The film, based on the novel, Four Chapters by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, is an episode from the Indian war of independence against the British. Kishore Sahu leads a secret group of revolutionaries, whose aim is to dislodge the British rule by means of guns and violence. Geeta Bali is a member of this group. Dev Anand is a son of a rich businessman. He accidentally gets entangled with this group, in a case of mistaken identity. But then, on knowing what this group is working towards, he joins the group. The story line weaves through episodes of struggle against the British authorities, marked with expected emotional turn outs of intra group rivalry, fickle group members and even treason. There are romantic undertones developing between Dev Anand and Geeta Bali, which is resented by some group members, and for some others, it becomes a reason to express their own feelings more openly. It turns out finally that even the leader, Kishore Sahu has a soft corner for her. The climax of the film is an encounter with the British police. This encounter occurs because one of the group members has betrayed them to the authorities. In the final shootout, most group members including Dev Anand and Geeta Bali, sacrifice their lives to save the leader. The parting message by Dev Anand to Kishore Sahu is that this violent approach by a handful of people is not adequate to bring about the upheaval, the Zalzalaa this group has dreamt about. It will be realized only through a grass roots movement that involves the entire people of the country, to be successful.
I had seen this film on Doordarshan, when I was a very small child, but the impressions and memories have carried through with me. At that time, I was not aware of that the music composition is by Pankaj Babu. Just over the last three days, as I started to collect references for him, in preparation for this series of postings, I was pleasantly surprised to find this film listed in his filmography. And my mind went back to this song, whose somewhat haunting sounds are an exhortations to keep rowing the boat of life, that somehow has kept with me for all these years.
The meaningful lyrics are by Ali Sardar Jafri. The song itself is a chorus sung by the boatmen, with Pankaj Babu as the lead singer. Listen to this soft and haunting sound, that is sure to grow on you, as you listen to it.
Song-Jeewan naiyya behti jaaye (Zalzalaa) (1952) Singer-Pankaj Mullick, Lyrics-Ali Sardar Jafri, MD-Pankaj Mullick
Lyrics
hayee ho
hayee hayee
hayee ho
hayee hayee
jeewan naiyyaa
naiyyaa behti jaaye
naiyyaa behti jaaye
hayee ho
hayee ho
hayee ho
zulmi thapede
thapede sehti jaaye
thapede sehti jaaye
hayee ho
hayee ho
hayee ho
aaye musaafir
jaaye musaafir
dil ka dhokha khaaye
hey musaafir
raah mein lootey jaayen musaafir
lekin naiyyaa
naiyyaa behti jaaye hey
naiyyaa behti jaaye
hayee ho
hayee ho
hayee ho
jeewan naiyyaa
naiyyaa behti jaaye
naiyyaa behti jaaye
hayee ho
hayee ho
hayee ho
door kinaaraa
gehraa paani
tej bhanwar lehren deewaani
raag hawaawon
raag hawaawon ke toofaani
lekin naiyyaa
naiyyaa behti jaaye hey
naiyyaa behti jaaye
hayee ho
hayee ho
hayee ho
doob gayee
doob gayee
maut ki wo gehree andhiyaari
doob gayee
doob gayee
sab saans ki taaren
doob gayee
andhe ho gaye
andhe ho gaye raste saare
lekin naiyyaa
naiyyaa behti jaaye hey
naiyyaa behti jaaye
hayee ho
hayee ho
hayee ho
manzil manzil badhte jaao
badhte jaao
badhte jaao
toofaanon se mat ghabraao
mat ghabraao
mat ghabraao
mil kar saathi zor lagaao
hayee ho
hayee ho
hayee ho
hayee ho
hayee ho
hayee ho
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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