Hangaama e gham se tang aakar
Posted on: February 15, 2014
This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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Rare Performances – Things Unique and Unexpected #4
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Poets as singers may not be an uncommon expectation. Poets are known for their singing prowess in mushairas and in kavi sammelans. They are expected to present their verses in ‘tarrannum’. However, not many have ventured into singing in the films. It is quite strange, because they are the one’s who best know the words, their intent, and their meaning. They also have a fair idea about an underlying melody that hides behind the meter and rhyme that they have created. Lyricist DN Madhok was famous for providing a basic ‘dhun’ to the music directors, for every song he wrote. But still, one does not find many singing in the films in their own voice.
The most famous example is Kavi Pradeep. He has sung numerous of his songs, in his own voice, forfilms. Well, all of the songs he has sung in his own voice, are of the background variety. He does not make an appearance in the film to perform his songs.
Another example is of the poet Bharat Vyas. He has sung some songs in films, notable one being “Kaviraja Kavita Ke Mat Ab Kaan Marodo” in the film ‘Navrang’ (1958). In this song, the poet has rendered it as a play back for comedian Agha performing on screen.
Then we also have the one situation in which Anand Bakshi appears on screen and performs one of his own songs. However, the playback is in the voice of Rafi Sb. The song is “Bijli Giri Kahaan Se”
from the film ‘Picnic’ (1966). Likewise, Shailendra has performed his songs on screen on two occasions. However, once again, the playback voice is of another singer. It is Talat Mehmood in the playback for the ‘Boot Polish’ song –
“Chali Kaun Se Des Gujariyaa Tu Ban Than Ke”, and it is Manna Dey for the ‘Musaafir’ song –“Tedhi Tedhi Humse Phire Saari Duniya”.
Not many other examples come to mind. I request friends and readers to add more to this list.
Coming to today’s presentation, it surely is a very rare, very surprising and very unexpected. The poet is Shakeel Badayuni. This is a ghazal from the film ‘Paak Daaman’ (1957). I stumbled upon this a while back as I was searching something else in the Geet Kosh. The name in the singer’s column stopped me short and caught my attention. And when the ideas started forming about this series, as I discovered other unique performance, this song came to my mind immediately, to add to the list.
And that is not the only thing that is special about this post. With this song, we arrive at the 500th song of this romantic poet. This is a great milestone, and Shakeel Sb has now joined the elite club of 500 or more songs posted on this blog. In terms of numbers, Majrooh Sb has the highest number, and will actually be reaching his 8th century song fairly soon. Following him closely is Rajinder Krishan who is also already across the 700th milestone. Then we have Anand Bakshi who has clocked 600 songs already and is nudging closer to his 700th song. And he is followed by Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri, both of whom are well past the 500th song mark. And also closing in quickly to the 500th milestone is Sahir Ludhianvi. Quite an impressive club of prolific lyricists, this one is. 🙂
Shakeel Badayuni was born in Badayun, Uttar Pradesh on 3rd August, 1916. His father wanted him to have a good career, thus he arranged Arabic, Urdu, Persian, and Hindi tuition for Shakeel at home. In 1936, young Shakeel joined Aligarh Muslim University. As a student, he started participating in inter-college, inter-university mushairas and won both awards and recognition. During his AMU days, Shakeel started getting lessons of Urdu poetry from Hakim Abdul Waheed ‘Ashk’ Bijnori.
After completing his B.A., he moved to Delhi on a government job. He continued to participate in mushairas, and slowly his fame started to
spread. He started to get invitations to mushairas from other cities. One such invite in 1943, brought him to Bombay. His poetry and his presentation was to impress AR Kardar, who was present at the mushaira. Impressed with this young poet, Kardar arranged for a meeting with Naushad. The film ‘Dard’ was being planned, at that time. Naushad talked with Shakeel, and then asked him to summarize his poetry and his philosophy in a single verse. Shakeel responded with the lines “Hum dard Ka Afsana Duniya Ko Suna Denge, Har Dil Main Mohabbat Ki Ek aag Laga Denge”. Naushad Sb took the young poet on board.
The film was released in 1944. Amongst the ten wonderful songs written by Shakeel in the film, one song took the public by storm – “Afsaana Likh Rahi Hoon,. . .”. The rest, as they say, is history. The film also cemented the friendship between Shakeel and Naushad Sb, and they were together to work on 30 films in the subsequent twenty five years, together creating more than 300 songs of incomparable merit.
Shakeel won the Filmfare award for best lyrics for three years running, in 1961, 62 and 63, a record of sorts that stands to this date. The songs are – 1961, “Chaudhvin Ka Chand Ho. . .”; 1962, “Husn Waale Tera Jawaab Nahin”; 1963, “Kahin Deep Jale Kahin Dil”.
In a time and era of nationalism and humanism in the 1940s, Shakeel was a romantic poet to the core. Over the years, his most wonderful writings have been about ‘Husn’ and ‘Mohabbat’. He once commented about death – ‘Maut yakeenan haseen hogi, wo aati hai, aata nahin’ (death must decidedly be beautiful, being referred to as a feminine gender).
The film ‘Paak Daaman’ is a Wadia Brothers production from 1957, directed by SM Yusuf. Music is from the baton of Ghulam Mohammed. Cast of actors includes Chitra, Sudesh Kumar, Kumar, Krishna Kumari, Renu Makkad, Adeeb, Moti Sagar, Mirza Musharraf, Sheikh, Baalam, Wazir Muhammad Khan, Praveen Pal, Indu, Kesarbai, Meena, Shri Bhagwan, H Prakash, Bande Hasan Qawal, Sardar Mansoor, Mehrunnisa, Mumtaz, Maqbool, M K Hasan, Mitthu Mian, Korega, Roopmala, Julian, Omkar, and Jago etc. This ghazal is part of a mushaira that is apparently part of the story line. As per the list of records, this mushaira has four formal ghazals, presented in tandem. This one is the first ghazal in the set. The other three are sung by Mubarak Begum, Mohammed Rafi Sb and Chaandbala.
Listen to this impressive poetry, rendered in the voice of the poet himself. This is the only instance in Hindi films, that Shakeel Badayuni has recorded a song in his own voice. An absolutely rare piece of music indeed. Enjoy.
hangaamah e gham se tang aa kar izhaar e masarrat kar baithe
mashoor thi apni zinda dili daanistah sharaarat kar baithhe
Such was the frustrations in extreme
Of the clamor and mayhem of miseries
That a smile expressed itself
For the lack of anything better
My famous audacity
Led me to this deliberate mischief
NOTES:
hangaamah = tumult, disturbance
gham = sorrow, unhappiness
izhaar = expression; to express
masarrat = happiness, smile
mashoor = famous
zinda dili = boldness, audacity
daanistah = deliberate, purposeful
koshish to bahut ki hamne magar paaya na gham e hasti se mafarr
veeraani e dil jab hadd se badhi ghabraa ke mohabbat kar baithhe
Despite the best of efforts
I could find no respite
From the unpleasant sorrows of existence
And when the loneliness of the heart
Became unbearable
With a fretful anxiety
I just fell in love
NOTES:
koshish = efforts, trials
hasti = existence
mafarr = respite, refuge, shelter
veeraani = desolation, loneliness
veeaani e dil = loneliness of the heart
hadd = limit
har cheez nahin ik markaz par ik roz idhar ik roz udhar
nafrat se na dekho dushman ko shaayad ye mohabbat kar baithe
(Watch and be warned)
That everything changes
Nothing remains fixed to one place
Or one thought
Today it’s here, but tomorrow
It could be elsewhere
Do not see your opponents with dislike
Maybe, tomorrow
The same opponent may love you
NOTES:
markaz = center, fixed place
nafrat = hatred, detestation
allaah to sab ki suntaa hai jur’at hai ‘shakeel’ apni apni
haali ne zubaan se uff bhi naa ki iqbaal shikaayat kar baithhe
The Almighty is most caring, most benevolent
He listens to every plea put up to Him
It is a matter of one’s courage
To reach out to Him
Haali was concerned, but did not speak
But Iqbal put up a vociferous complaint
NOTES:
jur’at = courage, boldness
shakeel = handsome, symmetric; also the ‘takhallus’ (signature) of the poet
Haali = refers to the poet and writer Altaf Hussian ‘Haali’ (1837 – 1914);
the word ‘haali’ means contemporary, of the present times
Iqbal = refers to poet and writer Muhammad Allama Iqbal (1877 – 1938)
NOTES: reference to these two poets and writers is not very clear and needs more research and analysis.
Song-Hangaama e gham se tang aakar (Paak Daaman)(1957) Singer-Shakeel Badayuni, Lyrics-Shakeel Baadayuni, MD-Ghulam Mohammad
Lyrics
hangaamah e gham se tang aa kar
izhaar e masarrat kar baithhe ae
mashoor thi apni zinda dili
daanistah sharaarat kar baithhe ae
koshish to bahut ki hamne magar
paaya na gham e hasti se mafarr
veeraani e dil jab hadd se badhi
ghabraa ke mohabbat kar baithhe ae
har cheez nahin ek markaz par
ik roz idhar ik roz udhar
nafrat se na dekho dushman ko
shaayad ye mohabbat kar baithhe ae
allaah to sab ki suntaa hai
jur’at hai ‘shakeel’ apni apni
haali ne zubaan se uff bhi naa ki
iqbaal shikaayat kar baithhe ae
hangaama e gham se tang aa kar
izhaar e masarrat kar baithhe ae
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Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
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हंगामा ए ग़म से तंग आ कर
इज़हार ए मसर्रत कर बैठे
मशहूर थी अपनी ज़िंदा दिली’
दानिस्ता शरारत कर बैठे
कोशिश तो बहुत की हमने मगर
पाया ना ग़म ए हस्ती से मफ़र
वीरानी ए दिल जब हद से बढ़ी
घबरा के मोहब्बत कर बैठे
हर नहीं इक मरकज़ पर
इक रोज़ इधर इक रोज़ उधर
नफरत से ना देखो दुश्मन को
शायद ये मोहब्बत कर बैठे
अल्लाह तो सबकी सुनता है
ज़ुर्रत है ‘शकील’ अपनी अपनी
हाली ने ज़ुबान से उफ़्फ़ भी ना की
इकबाल शिकायत कर बैठे
हंगामा ए ग़म से तंग आ कर
इज़हार ए मसर्रत कर बैठे
11 Responses to "Hangaama e gham se tang aakar"
February 15, 2014 at 4:48 pm
Oh, translation is already there! In my eagerness I went straight to the song! Sorry for the trouble. and thanks again
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February 15, 2014 at 5:23 pm
What an irony. He got Filmfare awards under Ravi and his mentor Hemantda and not under Naushad. Naushad must have cursed his luck. Many a times Naushad use to double up as lyricist but the credit went to SB.
I remember he was hospitalized in Bombay Hospital; I was there. I think Shakeel said he was happy to embrace death as death is feminine in Urdu/Hindustani!!!!
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February 15, 2014 at 6:00 pm
Bharat Vyas also sang:
nadiya kinare Ram bagiya for Chandralekha-1948;
is nashwar sansar me and o Geeta ke Bhagwan (Duet with Renuka Devi) for Ghulami-1945;
chhip chhip kar mat dekho ji for Man Ki Jeet-1944;
ghayal karke humse puchhti ho and mai aagre se jutha laaya re (Duet with Shanta Thakkar) for Prem Sangeet-1943
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February 15, 2014 at 6:06 pm
Anand B sang 2 songs each for Charas and Mom Ki Gudiya;
Sholay, Balika Badhu and Maha chor
Naiya teri majhdhar hoshiyar was picturised on Shailendra
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February 16, 2014 at 11:22 am
It is a very special and unique post… filled with a sort of encyclopaedic information… Containing too many un-heard facts which most of us might not be aware of. Thanks for such a nice presentation
.
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February 16, 2014 at 5:13 pm
Brilliant posting!! Research is extensive and is full of unknown information. Take a bow Sudhir-ji!!!
When I saw the posting, I thought it was on Talat’s NFS.
Paak Daaman also had a beautiful song by Rafi Saab, “Mubaarak ho Dulh Dulhan Ki Yeh Shaadi, Mile Dil Se Dil, Zindagi Muskuraa Di.” Quite often I send this song to newly married couples as my greeting.
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February 17, 2014 at 12:35 pm
Sudhir Sir, Thanks for a very superb and rare post. Sometime somewhere I read that the title song of Pehchan (1970) “Paise ki pehchan yahan” is picturised on the lyricist Neeraj where he lip-synced in the voice of Rafi saab. I dont know whether this information is true or not as I am not able to identify that character. Requested to our experts to throw light on this….
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9 | Bharat Upadhyay
February 18, 2014 at 12:48 pm
Wah Shakeel Saheb , Kya shayari hai !!!
Many singers have sung this popular Gazal, including
Talat Mehmood
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFFe_4cvYHY
Beghum Akhtar
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August 3, 2020 at 3:18 pm
The above is another example of Lyricist /poet performing the song on screen. This is Gulshan Bawra and playback is Rafi Sahab.
Reference to the poets here :
allaah to sab ki suntaa hai jur’at hai ‘shakeel’ apni apni
haali ne zubaan se uff bhi naa ki iqbaal shikaayat kar baithhe
The reference here to ‘Haali’ and ‘Iqbal’ is because of a contrast in the styles of poetry. Haali’s was more traditional metaphors laden whereas Iqbal’s metaphors were more direct and description of history was very vivid.
Certainly there was never anyone like Iqbal before him or after. All the great poets of 20th century were in awe of ‘kalaam-e-Iqbal’ and acknowledged Dr. Allama Iqbal in their own way, be it Sahir or Majrooh, in this case it is Shakeel Badayuni. The word ‘Jur’at’ is the clue here. This signifies great daring. I suspect SB would have used a more heavy word like “Shuja’at’, if it had fitted in the meter. Shuja’at is more glorified and decorated word for bravery, it could also be construed as veiled criticism of Haali. This ‘Gustaakhi’ was never likely to happen, not in the tehzeeb. Hence it is ‘Jur’at’ , and no doubt ‘Allah’ is the ‘al-Sam’ee’ with the ability to listen as no one else’s.
Regards.
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March 6, 2021 at 8:33 pm
The video clip of Shakeel Badayuni’s part of mushiara (though not a good quality video).
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
February 15, 2014 at 4:45 pm
On the face of it, this is so nice. The rendering and music are grand. We can appreciate better if we have an English translation. Can some one help? Thanks.
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