Hosh waalon ko khabar kya bekhudi kya cheez hai
Posted on: October 12, 2012
This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
Duniyaa jise kehati hai jaadoo ka khilonaa hai
Mil jaaye to mitti hai kho jaaye to sonaa hai
This couplet of a ghazal written by Nida Fazli, the modernist Urdu poet and writer, made him famous among mushaira goers. Later this full ghazal was sung by Jagjit Singh and Chitra Singh sometime in late 70s bringing Nida Fazli in the limelight in a wider canvass including Hindi film industry.
I was familiar with Nida Fazli as a Urdu poet mainly because of his occasional appearances on Doordarshan’s Urdu programmes. I think, in terms of the number of times he appeared on Doordarshan, he was next only to Ali Sardar Jafri. A fortnight back, I saw him as a commentator in DD Bharati programme ‘Urdu Shayari Ka Safarnama’ for which he was also the script writer. During the last few days, I must have read nearly a hundred of his ghazals, nazms and dohas. His poetry is written in a simple language with minimum of hard Urdu words. Yet they convey deep thoughts which one can relate to in our day to day life. Many of his poems have been prescribed in schools in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. I found most of his poems inspiring, motivating and conveying optimism. For example, two couplets below:
Dushman laakh sahi khatm na keeje rishtaa
Dil miley yaa na miley haath milaate rahiye
Apnaa gham leke kahin aur na jaaye jaaye
Ghar mein bikhari huyi cheejon ko sajaaye jaaye
It is said that when Jagjit Singh lost his only son in a car accident, he did not sing for about six months. Somehow he came in terms with the tragedy of his life and took to the heart the second couplet of Nida Fazli to start afresh.
Nida Fazli ( Muqtida Hassan Nida Fazli) was born in Delhi on October 12, 1938. He completed his schooling and post graduation in Gwalior, his native place. But instead of looking for a job, his interest was in poetry. It is said that one day while walking past a temple, amidst the ringing of bells, he heard the recitation of a devotional song of Surdas sung by a devotee, bringing out the bonding between Radha and her maids. This inspired him to write poems and the inter-personal relationships became his main theme then. Apart from Mir and Ghalib, he was also influence by Mahatma Kabir’s dohas (couplets) and his dictum “I write what I see and experience not what I read”. This dictum became his inspiration for writing poetry. Sometime in 1964-65, his parents decided to migrate to Pakistan. But Nida Fazli being ideologically opposed to partitions, declined to accompany his parents. So he was left out alone in Gwalior to fend for himself as his elder brother too joined his parents in migration.
Finding life in Gwalior difficult for a sustenance without much of a financial support, he left Gwalior for Bombay (Mumbai) in 1965 for the search of a job. After some initial struggle, he got enlisted as a columnist for Hindi periodicals ‘Dharmyug’ and ‘Blitz’. Because of his unconventional style of Urdu ghazals noticed in these magazines, he started getting invitations for reciting his ghazals in mushairas. One of the couplets of his ghazal speaks about the life in a metropolis like Bombay:
Shahar mein sab ko kahaan milti hair rone ki fursat
Apni izzat bhi yahaan hansne hansaane se rahi
Nida Fazli’s published the first book of his poems in 1969 and thereafter he wrote critical essays on the poetry of contemporary poets in a book “Mulaaqatein”. It is said that many Urdu poets including Ali Sardar Jafri, Sahir Ludhianvi and Kaifi Azmi did not like his criticism and boycotted for sometime the mushairas where Nida Fazli was to recite his poems. This reminds me of one of his couplets:
Kuchh log yoon hi shahar mein hamse khaffaa hain
Har ek se apni bhi tabeeyat nahi milti
Nida Fazli’s filmy journey as a lyricist started with ‘ Satranj Ke Mohre’ (1974). He has written lyrics for about 50 odd films. In the initial stage of his filmy carrier, he found lyrics writing to be a mechanical and restrictive work. Hence he did not pay much attention in pursuing this vocation. Later ( probably in 80s), he took a practical view of the fact that lyrics writing in films did give good money which he could use for furthering his creative work. The films which made him famous in Hindi film industry in his initial stage were ‘Aahista Aahistaa (1981), ‘Aap To Aise Na Thhe’ (1981) and ‘Razia Sultana’ (1983 ) among others. He also wrote lyrics of the title songs of some of the TV Serials like ‘Sailaab’, ‘Noorjahaan’ and ‘Khora Kaagaz’. He also became favourites of ghazal singers like Jagjit Singh with whom he collaborated in bringing out ghazal albums. He also wrote occasional articles in Hindi on BBC Hindi Service Website.
On the occasion of the birthday of Nida Fazli, I have chosen a ghazal ‘hosh waalon ko khabar kyaa bekhudi kyaa cheez hai’ penned by him for the film SARFAROSH (1999). Jagjit Singh sung this ghazal under the baton of music director Jatin-Lalit. The film was written, produced and directed by John Matthew Matthan. The star cast included Amir Khan, Sonali Bendre, Nasiruddin Shah, Mukesh Rishi, Govind Namdev, Smita Jaykar, Akhilendra Mishra, Makrand Deshpande etc. This was one of the few films of post 80s which I watched in a theatre when it was released. I had no idea about story line of the film except that it was an action film. The film was a typical bollywood film encompassing a total package – romance, action, thrill, melodrama and good songs. With a crisp screen play and fast paced direction, the film was a box office hit.
I had not gone with a high hope of watching the songs of my liking in the film. However, it was a pleasant surprise for me when I saw this ghazal being rendered by Nasiruddin Shah (in the role of the poet Gulfam Hassan) on the screen in a concert where Sonali Bendre ( in the role of Seema) introduces the poet to the audience which includes Amir Khan (in the role of ACP Ajay). This ghazal takes back Ajay and Seema to their college days by way of a flashback. Surprisingly, I had not seen or heard this ghazal during TV promos of the film. This is one of my few favourite filmy ghazals outside the golden era of Hindi films.
Happy birthday to Nida Fazli.
Note : This article is written with some inputs from interviews of Nida Fazli available on the various websites.
Audio
Video
Song-Hosh waalon ko khabar kya bekhudi kya cheez hai (Sarfarosh)(1999) Singer-Jagjit Singh, Lyrics-Nida Fazli, MD-Jatin Lalit
Lyrics
hmm hmm hmm hmm
haa aa aa aa aa aa
hosh waalon ko khabar kyaa
bekhudi kyaa cheez hai
hosh waalon ko khabar kyaa
bekhudi kyaa cheez hai
ishq keeje phir samajhiye
ishq keeje phir samajhiye
zindagi kyaa cheez hai
hosh waalon ko khabar kyaa
bekhudi kyaa cheez hai
unse nazren kyaa milin
roshan fizaayen ho gayin
hmm hmm hmm
hmm hmm hmm hmm
laa laa laa laa laa
unse nazren kyaa mili
roshan fizaayen ho gayi
aaj jaanaa pyaar ki
jaadoogari kyaa cheez hai
aaj jaanaa pyaar ki
jaadoogari kyaa cheez hai
ishq keeje phir samajhiye
ishq keeje phir samajhiye
zindagi kyaa cheez hai
khulti zulfon ne sikhaayi
mausamon ko shaayari
hmm hmm hmm
laa laa laa laaa
laa laa
laa laa laa
khulti zulfon ne sikhaayi
mausamon ko shaayari
jhukti aankhon ne bataayaa
maikashi kyaa cheez hai
jhukti aankhon ne bataaya
maikashi kyaa cheez hai
ishq keeje phir samajhiye
ishq keeje phir samajhiye
zindagi kyaa cheez hai
ham labon se keh na paaye
unse haal-e-dil kabhi
hmm hmm hmm
laa laa laa laa laaa
hmm hmm hmm
hmm hmm hmm
ham labon se keh na paaye
unse haal-e-dil kabhi
aur wo samjhe nahin ye
khaamoshi kyaa cheez hai
aur wo samjhe nahin ye
khaamoshi kyaa cheezae hai
ishq keeje phir samajhiye
ishq keeje phir samajhiye
zindagi kyaa cheez hai
2 Responses to "Hosh waalon ko khabar kya bekhudi kya cheez hai"
November 25, 2013 at 3:50 pm
I feel delighted as well as thankful for furnishing so much details about my favourite poet Nida Fazli in your blog.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
October 12, 2012 at 10:20 pm
Thank you Sadanandji for the beautiful song and the informative post.
Regards
Prakash
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