Do boonden saawan ki
Posted on: April 24, 2012
This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
Ramesh Saigal who had produced and directed socially relevant films like ‘Shikast (1952) and ‘Railway Platform (1956), ventured in to make one more such film based on the Russian novelist Dostoevsky’s ‘Crime and Punishment’. The film was PHIR SUBAH HOGI (1958). Raj Kapoor and Mala Sinha were the lead actors in this movie with Rehman, Jagdish Sethi, Leela Chitnis, Nana Pansikar and Mubarak in the supporting roles. The songs were written by Sahir Ludhianvi and composed by Khayyam. As far as I know, Sahir Ludhianvi teamed up with Khayyam for the first time in this film.
There is an interesting story about how Khayyam got into this film. After signing Raj Kapoor, Mala Sinha and Rehman for the film, Ramesh Saigal went to Sahir Ludhianvi who had earlier written lyrics for his film ‘Railway Platform (1955) to write lyrics for this film. Sahir asked him as to who will be the music director. Ramesh Saigal said that since Raj Kapoor was in the lead role, probably he may have to engage Shanker-Jaikishan. Sahir told him that since he was making a film based on a famous classic, he would write the lyrics only if someone who had not only read the novel but also understood the novel composed the music. Sahir suggested the name of Khayyam. Ramesh Saigal then took Khayyam to Raj Kapoor who asked him to compose a tune. Khayyam composed six different tunes. Raj Kapoor was so impressed with all his tunes that he left it for Khayyam to select any one for the song. One of these tunes was used for the song ’ phir subah kabhi to aayegi’.
This is the story which I have read in at least 3-4 places in different websites with some minor twists. In a lighter vein, I feel that Ramesh Saigal was probably interested in roping Shanker-Jaikishan as the music director for this film but could not muster enough courage to say so to Sahir Ludhianvi. So he brought Raj Kapoor’ s name to support the ‘candidature’ of S-J. But Sahir Ludhianvi was in a position to dictate terms to Ramesh Saigal especially after the phenomenal success of ‘Pyaasa’ (1957). It is a moot point whether Raj Kapoor would have insisted on S-J when he had no problems working with other music directors such as Madan Mohan, Roshan, C Ramchandra, S Mohinder even after S-J becoming a permanent fixture in the RK team.
Whatever may be the background for roping in Khayyam as the music director, the end result was outstanding as we got to listen to some immortal songs from this film. The songs like ’phir subah kabhi to aayegi’, ‘chin-o-arab hamaara’, aasmaan pe hai khuda aur zameen par ham’ are not only the poetic treat, they represent the synopsis of the film itself. One more song which fits into this category is ‘do boonden saawan ki’ from the film which, to my mind, is a lesser known song but its lyrics are soul touching so also the rendition by Asha Bhonsle. As I had mentioned in my earlier two write-ups on Asha Bhonsle songs, this song is another testimony of her being a singer par excellence.
Sahir’s lyrics in this song is a commentary on the social inequalities but he refrains from blaming any one by repeating in each stanza the line ‘ kisko mujrim samjhe koi kisko dosh lagaaye’ ( who is guilty and who is to be blamed?). I am reminded of a similar sentiment expressed in two lines of the great Marathi poet G D Madgulkar from his magnum opus ‘Geet Ramayan’ in the context of Ram-Bharat milap (meeting):
‘dev jaat dukhe bharata dosh naa kunacha
paradhin aahe jagati putra manava cha’
English translation of the Marathi verses is ‘if the providence is filled with grief, whom can we blame? Son of a man (I guess, here it means a human being) is subject to the whims of fate in this world.’
Audio
Video
Song-Do boonden saawan ki (Phir Subah Hogi)(1958) Singer-Asha Bhonsle, Lyrics-Sahir Ludhianvi, MD-Khayyam
Lyrics
do boonden saawan ki
haay
do boonden saawan ki
ek saagar ki seep mein tapke
aur moti ban jaaye
dooji gande jal mein girkar
apna aap gavaaye
kisko mujrim samjhe koi
kisko dosh lagaaye
ho o o
kisko dosh lagaaye
do boonden saawan ki
haay
do boonden saawan ki
do kaliyaan gulshan ki
haay
do kaliyaan gulshan ki
ek sehre ke beech gundhe aur man hi man itraaye
ek arthi ki bhent chadhe aur dhooli mein mil jaaye
kisko mujrim samjhe
koi kisko dosh lagaaye
ho o o
kisko dosh lagaaye
do kaliyaan gulshan ki
haay
do kaliyaan gulshan ki
do sakhiyaan bachpan ki
haay
do sakhiyaan bachpan ki
ek sinhaasan par baithe
aur roopmati kehlaaye
dooji apne roop ke kaaran
galiyon mein bik jaaye
kisko mujrim samjhe
koi kisko dosh lagaaye
ho o o
kisko dosh lagaaye
do sakhiyaan bachapan ki
13 Responses to "Do boonden saawan ki"
April 24, 2012 at 10:20 am
Kamath ji,
As usual a very interesting post written by you.What I like about your writing is that you seem to be studying the song and its aspects in full,before writing it.May be that is why it becomes very informative and readable.
I was surprised that you have quoted a verse from Ga. Di. Ma.’s(that is G.D.Madgulkar as referred to,in Marathi) Geet Ramayan.This is my most fav geet from this epic.It tells the helplessness of the man who is but a pawn in the hands of the destiny.
As I understand this couplet means-‘ the unhappiness that we suffer is slated for us by our destiny in advance,so no one else can be blamed for it.In view of this,the human being is helpless as his every action is controlled by the unchangeable preordinated destiny.’
This is said by Shri Ram when Bharat was lamenting about the deeds of his mother Kaikeyi,marking it as the cause of all the troubles Shri Ram faced.
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April 24, 2012 at 12:33 pm
Thank for appreciation and further elucidation of the meaning of the Marathi verses from Geet Ramayan.
.
‘Geet Ramayan’ is more about the human relationship than an epic story. Its contents are spiritual rather than religious. The two lines I mentioned above came to my mind instantly when I listened to the last stanza of Sahir’s poetry – ‘ek sinhaasan par baithe…….. ek galiyon mein bik jaaye’. It was as if I was reading lines like
‘do bhai bachpan ke
ek sinhaasan par baithe
aur ayodhya raja kehlaaye
dooja apne pitaa aadesh se
banwas mein jaaye
April 24, 2012 at 11:47 am
I can’t say for sure, as I am in the office and can’t check on the net much, but I think that doha appears at the start of the V Shantaram film ‘Boond jo ban gayi moti’
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April 24, 2012 at 3:32 pm
There is a poem named “boond jo gayi moti”. A drop coming from a cloud is anxious of her fate, she is wondering what she would be. But she enters a seep and become moti. The only lines I remember from this childhood peom read like this:
ek sundar seep ka thaa muhn khula
wo usi me ja giri, moti bani
log yun hi jhijaktey sochtey
jab bhi unko chhodna padta hai ghar
kintu ghar ko chhodna aksar unhey
boond sa kuch aur hi deta hai kar.
April 24, 2012 at 4:01 pm
Thank you kindly, Sunil, for this. I remember that poem now, a bit. I will ask my school group if they remember this poem.
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April 24, 2012 at 4:13 pm
Thank you very much Sunil, I was able to find this poem because of your reference.
Here is the entire version:
Jyon Nikalkar Badalon Ki God Se
Thee Abhi Ek Bund Kuch Aage Badhi
Sochne Phir-Phir Yahi Jee Main Lagi
Aah! Kyon Ghar ChodKar Main Yun Badhi
Hai Mere Bhagya Main Hai Kya Pata?
Main Bachungi Ya Milungi Dhul Main
Ya Jalungi Gir Angare Par Kisi
Chu Padungi Ya Kamal Ke Phul Main
Bah Gayi Us Kal Ek Aisi Hawa
Wah Samundar Or Ayi Anmani
Ek Sundar Seep Ka Munh Tha Khula
Wah Usi Main Ja Padi Moti Bani
April 24, 2012 at 4:20 pm
Yes.. this is the poem. But I remember it to be 2 page poem, so there must be more to it. Btw thanx for reminding me some more lines of this beautiful poem.
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April 24, 2012 at 2:09 pm
This has got to be one of the most under-rated songs ever! I’m ashamed to say that though I’ve seen this movie (and remember the other two songs very well – the title song and “cheen-o-arab”), this song just did not register in my head. Maybe I did not listen to it carefully.
Only now I’ve listened to it carefully – word by word. And what a song it is! Typical Sahir and his commentary on inequalities in society / quirks of fate.
Thanks so much for unearthing this, Kamathji. I like your write-up too – I’ve read the same thing about how Khayyam got the job.
Ironically, if things had not worked out this way, this could have been a Sahir-SJ combo, something that I’ve yet to see a song having. I remember asking this question before too – it does look as if these two never worked together, though they were contemporaries for over two decades and prolific in their own fields of expertise.
I’m always happy to see Khayyam’s work. I have a high regard for his music – quantity may be low, but quality is top-class.
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April 25, 2012 at 12:49 am
I am surprised. Raj Kapoor NEVER insisted on S-J to be taken in outside productions. TEESARI KASAM was more or less an RK Films production. Shailendra was the producer. But beside this there are only a few films in which S-J gave music for a Raj Kapoor starrer. CHORI-CHORI, ANARI or a few others. S-J were never short of work. In fact they did not give music for a few RK Films, like AB DILLI DOOR NAHIN (Duttaram) and JAGTE RAHO (Salil Choudhury). As to other points, let me point out that this poem (Nazm) was written by Sahir long before and was in his first book of poetry, Talkhiyan. Ramesh Saigal must have wanted to use this poem in the film and hence approached Sahir. Raj Kapoor couldn’t care less for Khayyam’s music to have tested him. And S-J NEVER used any other lyric writer than Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri. They used others only when Shailendra died.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
April 24, 2012 at 7:39 am
I have a feeling that this song was based on some doha, by rahim most likely. I do remember reading it in my Hindi class. Maybe some other knowledgeable reader can throw some light on this.
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April 24, 2012 at 8:48 am
I had also a feeling that I had heard similar tune, probably a Punjabi song or a non-filmy song sung by Jagjit Kaur. Since I could not locate anything like that on the internet, I did not mention this point in my write up.
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April 24, 2012 at 9:52 am
Let me see if I can find anything on internet
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November 12, 2012 at 4:19 pm
NO DOHAA . IT IS A SONG BY SAHIR.
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