Le jaa meri duaayen daaman chhudaane waale
Posted on: May 10, 2012
This article is written by Raja, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
Today happens to be the 10th death anniversary of Kaifi Azmi, one of the foremost Indian Urdu poets of the 20th century. It was on the 10th of May 2002 that Kaifi saab breathed his last.
As I write this piece today, I feel very inadequate to express my feelings about Kaifi saab. It is not even a case of a lamp showing light to the sun, I am even smaller than a small spark in this respect. So whatever I write today, I write with absolute humility and love for the person whose poetry and songs I have been fortunate to listen to all my life.
Kaifi saab was a giant in his time – if I may paraphrase from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, “he doth bestride the narrow world, like a Colossus”. That was Kaifi saab, an absolute colossus. Most people now probably know him as Shabana Azmi’s father but I am sure she will herself be the first to admit that he deserves to always be remembered for himself, his own personality and achievements and not in the reflected glory of somebody else’s.
There is a fair amount about Kaifi saab available on the internet and I will try not to repeat what is already out there. Kaifi saab’s leanings were well-known and his writing, much like Sahir Ludhianvi, was about the social issues of the times. He talked about the exploitation of the masses, the need for a new social order, the emotions of the people and the turmoil of the times. His poetry touched many – and his lyrics for Haqeeqat, such as “kar chale hum fida jaan-o-tan saathiyon” , is still considered to be the finest poem in Hindi cinema about soldiers and their sacrifice for their country.
In Hindi cinema, many of his lyrics have gone on to become timeless classics. Many of my favourite songs have been penned by Kaifi saab. For example, “jaane kya dhoondhti rehti hain ye aankhen mujh mein” for Shola Aur Shabnam (1961) is not just an absolutely haunting rendition by Rafi saab but also the words are mind-boggling. For example, just the lines below give me goose pimples.
aarzoo jurm wafa jurm tamanna hai gunaah
ye wo duniya hai jahaan pyar nahin ho sakta
kaise baazaar ka dastoor tumhen samjhaun
bik gaya jo wo khareedaar nahin ho sakta
Then, the songs of Kaagaz Ke Phool. Each one a gem. “Waqt ne kiya”, “Bicchde sabhi baari baari”. One needs to look at not just the rendition of these songs (which is superb anyway) but also the words, the meaning. They take the songs to a different level altogether.
There are many more I can think of.
Heer Ranjha of course – best-known for its poetry and songs. Kaifi saab’s script in the film is one of its highlights.
Kohra – what beautiful songs this film had. Ye nayan darey darey, one of the most romantic film songs I’ve heard.
Anupama – I can listen to songs of this film forever. Ya dil ki suno duniya waalon, dheere dheere machal aye dil-e-beqaraar, kuchh dil ne kaha…
Pakeezah – Another film whose songs I can listen to forever. Songs like chalte chalte, mausam hai ashiqana, chalo dildaar chalo…. I always find myself singing “shab-e-intezar aakhir, kabhi hogi muqtsar bhi”, my favourite line from chalte chalte.
Haqeeqat – other than “kar chale”, Kaifi saab penned other amazing songs for this film too. All of which I absolutely love. “Main ye soch kar uske dar se utha tha” is another favorite of mine. And “zara si aahat hoti hai”.
Naunihal – with one of my all-time, all-time favourite Rafi saab renditions “meri awaaz suno”. What lovely words this song has! And not to forget that other gem from this movie “tumhari zulf ke saaye mein shaam kar doonga”.
Hanste Zakhm, Arth, Razia Sultan…and many more. All these films had songs whose lyrics stood out. When you listen to the songs of these films, you want to listen to the words, you want to take in their beauty.
Which explains why, as somebody who absolutely loves songs with good lyrics, I’m always happy to listen to Kaifi saab’s songs – I’m assured of quality lyrics. (In fact, one of my pet peeves is that often when people talk of songs, they talk about the singer and the music director but miss out the song-writer. Sometimes they even talk about the actors lip-synching the song but the lyricist is just forgotten! Bahut, bahut na-insaafi hai).
I can go on and on but I think I will now stop here and get to the song for today.
This is from Lala Rukh (1958). It is not a very well-known film but a few songs from this film have been posted here already – and I really like them! So when I was looking for a Kaifi saab song for today, I thought I would add one from this film myself.
I haven’t seen the film, so I cannot talk about the storyline. Am sure one of our knowledgeable readers will be able to fill us in on that. The picturisation of this song is on Shyama (oh, how I love her!) and Talat Mahmood. He is leaving her (presumably to go to battle), leaving her shattered. This was a fairly common situation in movies in the past and lent itself rather comfortably to sad songs by the female actress involved. Usually it would be Lata but this time it happens to be Asha Bhosle’s voice. The music is composed by Khayyam saab – I am a big fan of his too.
I had never heard this song till today- and I will admit that this not my favorite genre – but, within the genre of sad songs in a female voice – I quite liked this. And Shyama of the 1950s is always good to watch anyway. I’ve seen one movie with Talat in it – Sone Ki Chidiya (also 1958). Loved that movie – maybe I’ll try to watch Lala Rukh. Could do worse than watch Shyama, Talat and listen to these songs.
Anyway, today is about Kaifi saab, not about anybody else. So all I’d like to say is wherever he is today, I hope Kaifi saab feels the love and respect that we, lovers of his poetry and lyrics, have for him and will always have for him.
Audio
Video
Song-Le ja meri duaayen daaman chhudaane waale (Lala Rukh)(1958) Singer-Asha Bhonsle, Lyrics-Kaifi Azmi, MD-Khayyam
Lyrics
Le ja meri duaayen
le ja meri duaayen
daaman chhudaane waale
tadpa ke jaane waale
daaman chhudaane waale
tadpa ke jaane waale
karti hai tujhko ulfat
Allah ke hawaale
tadpa ke jaane waale
Allah ke hawaale
tadpa ke jaane waale
furkat ka dard lekar
shaadi ki raat aayi
ghar lootne khushi ka
gham ki baaraat aayi
furkat ka dard lekar
shaadi ki raat aayi
ghar lootne khushi ka
gham ki baaraat aayi
apna banaake chhoda
nazren churaane waale
tadpa ke jaane waale
Allah ke hawaale
tadpa ke jaane waale
dil chun raha hai kaante
phoolon ki dosti mein
sau baar maut aayi
do din ki zindagi mein
dil chun raha hai kaante
phoolon ki dosti mein
sau baar maut aayi
do din ki zindagi mein
daaman pakad hi lenge
majboor dil ke naale
tadpa ke jaane waale
Allah ke hawaale
tadpa ke jaane waale
le ja meri duaayen
7 Responses to "Le jaa meri duaayen daaman chhudaane waale"
May 10, 2012 at 7:32 pm
Raja ji,
You have written an excellent piece on Kaifi Azmi,one of the most rebellious poets of our times.
Very few people know that Kaifi Azmi was NOT his real name.He was born as Syed Ather Hussain Rizvi.He was slated to be a Maulawi as per his father’s wishes,but he rebelled against his school teachers and appropriately was removed from the school in Lucknow.He joined the communist forum soon and wrote for its paper ‘Jung’.This is where he changed his name to KAIFI AZMI.
He was one of the Founder members of IPTA in Bombay and very active on stage activities.He had acted in film ‘NASEEM’-95.
He was one of the much decorated poets of his times.He was Padmashree,won Nehru Award(soviet Land),urdu Academi as well as Sahitya Academi Award,Ghalib puraskar,Lotus Award from Afro-Asia writers’ Assn.,Maharashtra Gaurav puraskar,National and Filmfare Awards etc.
He published Zankaar-43,Aakhi-e-shab-47,Aawara Sajade-73 and Sarmaya-92.All containing his poetry.
The story of his and Shaukat Azmi’s love marriage was once very famous.
-AD
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Thanks, Arunji.
I did not know that he changed his name to Kaifi Azmi. Looks like he was a rebel from a very young age. I did know about his communist leanings – they come across strongly in his poetry too.
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May 10, 2012 at 7:51 pm
Raja,
The couplet you quoted in your write-up is also my favourite.
I like the good poetry of all the poets who have served Hindi film industry. But I have soft corner for two of them – Sahir Ludhianvi and Kaifi Azmi.
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Same with me, Kamathji. I’m a big fan of both these poets, though I do like the others a lot too.
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December 18, 2016 at 9:35 am
@ Raja Saab – liked the post very much and enjoyed the song too !!
all the songs you mentioned as your favorites are my favorites too 🙂
thanks again !!
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
May 10, 2012 at 7:31 pm
This is an excellent post Raja. I love the poetry of Kaifi Azmi too. The songs he wrote for Arth are beyond compare. Koi ye kaise bataye, ke woh tanha kyon hai. ..and.. itni gurbat hai to phir faasla itna kyon hai.
His poetry, immortalised in many beautiful film songs also, will live forever.
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May 10, 2012 at 11:19 pm
Thanks, Ava.
You are right about Arth. The songs are lovely. Not just Jagjit Singh’s rendition but Kaifi saab’s lyrics too. I should have perhaps mentioned them separately in the post.
Kaifi saab has been a longtime favourite of mine. I first heard of him with “ye duniya ye mehfil” – and it just went on from there.
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