Dekho na dekho na
Posted on: January 6, 2013
This article is written by Ava Suri, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
The purists among music lovers often like to keep a cut-off for their listening habits. ‘I don’t listen to songs later than this year,’ they often say. I don’t disagree with those cut-offs. There are times when we just don’t want to listen to the cacophony that our music often descends to. But then, like a proverbial ‘keechad me kamal’ a beautiful song pops up among all this noise. The sufiana songs from the present times are meaningful and pleasing to the ear. The songs written by Gulzar and Javed Akhtar, set to tunes by AR Rahman are beautiful and worth listening to again and again.
We have lost most of our matchless singers of the 50s, 60s and 70s. The ones still alive are not singing much and a new crop of singers have come in. True, they are not a patch on our beloved singers like Mohammad Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Lata and Asha. The advanced technology that aids in voice control, digital recording and mixing software is also on their sides. Yet I like Sonu Nigam. I feel Sunidhi’s voice gets a bit strident sometimes. But in some songs she sounds good.
Yet… We do get to listen to lovely songs and beautiful poetry.
Prasoon Joshi was an advertising copywriter and a novelist. He branched into writing lyrics and dialogues for films to great success. He has written lyrics for films like Hum Tum, Rang de Basanti, Taare Zameen Par (dialogues too) and Fanaa.
I listened to this soft and romantic song on my computer as an mp3 song. I do believe listening to songs without looking at the video really enhances the effect of the song. You appreciate the song more, listen closer and notice the musical cadances better. I loved the lovely poetic phrases like “Yeh saazish hai boondon ki” and “sawan ye seedha nahi khufia bada” and “Jugnu jaisi chahat dekho jale bujhe”.
I am not very familiar with the work of Jatin and Lalit Pandit, but in this movie, the music was really good.
Much later, I saw the movie on the television and liked it. It was not great, but it had a different, a very romantic theme. The end of the film was botched up, I felt, story wise. The songs were all good, and I had a soft spot for this song that I already loved. It is beautifully picturised. Kajol and Aamir are both excellent actors and they emote perfectly to this evocative song.
We are living in sad times. The society is undergoing a lot of change. The times are hard and we are facing hard questions. Change is welcome, and will happen for sure. I am hoping our children are able to create a better world to live in. Above all I hope that the wide chasm between educated and uneducated, the haves and the have-not, the urban and the small-town, the small-town and the rural, all fade away and we have equal opportunities for all sexes and classes.
2013 is upon us. It would be nice if this year brings us all cheer and happiness. I am a firm believer in love, and that love will conquer all. So here are the lyrics to the lovely song from Fanaa which celebrates love, even if it is transient.
Audio
Video
Song-Dekho na dekho na (Fanaa)(2006) Singers-Sunidhi Chauhan, Sonu Nigam, Lyrics-Prasoon Joshi, MD-Jatin Lalit
Lyrics
yeh saajish hain boondon ki
koi khwaahish hain chup chup si
yeh saajish hain boondon ki
koi khwaahish hain chup chup si
dekho na
dekho na
dekho na
dekho na
hawa kuchh haule haule
zubaan se kya kuchh bole
kyon doori hain ab darmayaan
dekho na
dekho na
dekho na
dekho na
rimjhim rimjhim sana nana
rimjhim rimjhim sana nana
rimjhim rimjhim sana nana
rimjhim rimjhim sana nana
phir na hawayen hongi itni besharam
phir na dagmag dagmag honge yeh kadam
haay
phir na hawayen hongi itni besharam
phir na dagmag dagmag honge yeh kadam
hooo saawan yeh seedha nahi khufia bada
kuchh toh baraste huye keh raha
samjho na
samjho na
samjho na
samjho na
hawa kuchh haule haule
zubaan se kya kuchh bole
kyon doori hain ab darmiyaan
dekho na
dekho na
dekho na
dekho na
jugnu jaisi chaahat dekho jale bujhe
meethi si mushkil hai koi kya kare
jugnu jaisi chaahat dekho jale bujhe
meethi si mushkil hai koi kya kare
hmm
honthon ki arzi aaise thukraao na
saanson ki marzi ko jhuthlaaon na
chhoo lo na
chhoo lo na
chhoo lo na
chhoo lo
hawa kuchh haule haule
zubaan se kya kuchh bole
na doori hain ab darmiyaan
dekho na
dekho na….
dekho na
dekho na
dekho na
dekho na
dekho na
hmm hmm hmm
hmm hmm hmm dekho naaaa
10 Responses to "Dekho na dekho na"
January 7, 2013 at 12:46 pm
Ava ji
Thanks for writing such a sensitive & beautiful post. Your lines touched my heart. Thanks again for that.
I will have to listen to this song, which I havn`t listened to this day.
By the way,I like very much, the other two songs of this movie(“Mere haath mein teraa haath ho,Saari jannathein mere saath ho…Tere pyaar mein,ho jaaoon fanaa” and “Chaand sifaarish”)
Prakash
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January 7, 2013 at 9:46 pm
Insha-allah! Hope the world becomes a better and a safer place to live in some day.
I like the songs of Fanaa. And yes, I’m a Sonu Nigam fan too. We cannot compare the songs or singers of today to the ones we had few decades ago, but having said that there are some nice songs here and there even now.
I really like the line ‘yeh saazish hai boondon ki’ – it sounds so nice
This movie was based on Ken Follet’s Eye of the Needle, if I remember correct. It’s been a long time since I read the book and I must have seen the movie too in 2006-2007 when it had released.
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January 12, 2013 at 8:42 pm
Oh I did not know the story of this movie was based on any book. I must try and see if I can find that book.
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January 16, 2013 at 5:15 pm
Ava ji,
Yes, there are wonderful songs that come out each year. But then the staying power of all the songs is not all that great. Maybe it is something also to do with retention capacity of the human brain; that we start exercising more filtering, and retain less and less, as the years progress. There are some, what I believe, are absolute gems, that have stayed on with me, even though they belong to the not-so-good post 1980 era. The wonderful “Kehna Hi Kya Ye Nain Ek Anjaan Se Jo Miley” from ‘Bombay’ (1995), and the exquisite “Zaraa Zaraa Mehakta Hai, Behakta Hai” from ‘Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein’ (2001). (The latter song, incidentally, in my opinion, was very brutally murdered on the screen by the director – such flippant and useless picturization of a sound that is so lovely). Then the songs of ‘Raja Hindustani’ are very dear too.
Coming to ‘Fanaa’ (2006) I was absolutely floored by “Chaand Sifarish Jo Karta Hamaari”. When I first heard this song somewhere on the radio, my mind went back two or three decades, trying to recognize this song from some film of the 60s or 70s, that I may have missed. And when I found that it is from a 2006 film, I was zapped.
And then there is this case of the song from the film ‘Dus’ (2005). There is a very heavily weternized rhythm, actually an item song that is probably played with the credits of the film – “Dus Bahaane Kar Ke Le Gaye Dil”. At first I never did pay any attention to this song, finding it just a cacophony of sound. And the visuals are even worse. But then one day, I got forced to hear this song, sitting in someone else’s car. And what caught my attention were the words. On getting home, I pulled this song on the net and listened to it again, and wrote down the lyrics. And I was totally amazed and taken aback. A song that constituted 95% noise only, contains lyrics that have a very deep philosophical meaning, at places sounding almost like Sufism. I quote one line specifically –
“खुद को जो
खोया तो
वो हो गया हासिल”
– an epitome of Sufi philosophy.
I recall a remark that Nalin ji Shah often makes in his presentations. That the Hindi film music is like the Indian parliament. In the 1950s, one had to make an effort to find a corrupt politician. On the other hand, in the 2010s, one has to make an effort to find an honest politician. The same is the case with the Hindi film song. 🙂
But yes, thanks for this post and thanks for brining up this consideration. 😀
Cheers and regards
Sudhir
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January 16, 2013 at 5:19 pm
Ah yes, I would like to add one more to the ones I listed above. “Dil Ye Chhota Sa, Chhoti Si Asha” from ‘Roja’ (1992).
Rgds
Sudhir
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January 16, 2013 at 5:21 pm
Sudhir ji
Ye comment toh khud mein ek khoobsoorat post ban gayee hai
Thanks for that
Prakash
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
January 6, 2013 at 9:47 pm
Beautifully written, Ava.
I must plead mea culpa to being amongst those who have a mental cut-off. But I agree that there are plenty of “keechad mein kamal” also, if one does keep an open mind and bother to listen to more recent songs too.
As for your point about wishing for a more egalitarian society, all I can say is “Amen”. Many of society’s problems are because of haves-havenots in every respect. I don’t think society should – or will ever be – equal. But it needs to allow for everybody to co-exist with dignity and respect.
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January 6, 2013 at 9:54 pm
Well, I wish the gap would lessen. It used to be that way a few decades back. But the gap just seems to increase.
Anyway. This post is really more about the song. So thank you for the appreciation.
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