Pehlaa nashaa pehlaa khumaar
Posted on: February 10, 2024
This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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In my last article, I had made a passing reference to the film, ‘Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar’ (1992) in the context of the prelude music of one of the songs of the film which is the inspiration for the prelude music of the song that was discussed in the aforesaid article. This film suddenly reminded me of its director, Mansoor Khan who had successfully directed ‘Qayaamat Se Qayaamat Tak’ (1988) and some more. From his filmography, he directed his last film, ‘Josh’ (2000) and was the co-producer of ‘Jaane Tu Yaa Jaane Naa’ (2008). It is a rare instance for a film director who has successfully directed four films in a row and vanished from the film industry. It was an interesting quest for me to know as to why he shunned the film industry.
It was Mansoor Khan’s interview which appeared on Society Achievers, after the release his second book, ‘One – The Story Of The Ultimate Myth’ (2023) which gave me some indication as to his present status. During the interview, he revealed that he has been living with his family in Coonoor, a hill station about 20 kms from Ooty in Tamil Nadu since 2004. He owns a 22-Acre organic farm, growing vegetables, dairy farming, running a cheese making unit and a homestay called ‘Acres Wild’. I have read the abstract from the book which has surprised me because he has discussed ‘out of the box’ subject. He is of the view that it is the biggest lie that humans are causing the collapse of living planet. It is only one culture of humans, that is civilisation, which is causing the collapse of the living planet. And the main culprit is the cities. In his first book ‘Third Curve: The End of Growth As We Know It’ (2013) he has questioned the civilisation’s economic laws that it is possible to grow infinitely on a planet with finite resources which are in a shape of a bell-curve. So, after shifting to Coonoor, Mansoor Khan has authored two books in the form of novels which have nothing to do with films.
Mansoor Khan (Born:30/05/1958) is the son of Nasir Hussain, an eminent writer, producer and director of the successful films from 1950s through 1980s and the first cousin of Amir Khan. Actor, Imran Khan is his nephew (his sister’s son). Surprisingly, Mansoor Khan did not have much interest in Hindi films. The only time he watched the Hindi films was when his father would arrange for the extended family members, the screening of his latest released films. He enjoyed the post-screening discussion on films during which he, his sister and Amir Khan would find holes in his ‘lost and found’ formula. At the end of the film show, Nasir Hussain will ask them whether they enjoyed the film. All would say ‘yes’ in chorus to his question. That was what mattered to Nasir Hussain.
From his younger days, Mansoor Khan felt that he was not born for city life and he preferred secluded place in the midst of nature. He was brilliant in his studies. He got admission in IIT, Mumbai for engineering degree in computer science. However, he was disillusioned with the education system which he felt did not fit well for a broader and enlightened views. He discontinued his studies in IIT within a couple of years and took admission in Cornwell University and then in Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the USA to pursue different subjects. He was interested in astronomy, anthropology and sailing. However, here also, he was disillusioned with education system. The technical stuff in the studies did not go well with his liking for the intuitive side of things. He left his studies half-way and returned to Mumbai sometime towards the end of 1970s.
For nearly 5 years, he did nothing except some experimenting with Video as a platform and electronic gadgets. He was still undecided as to what will be his preferred vocation other than film making. However, he felt bad about letting down his father who spent on him a lot of money for his education. He started helping his father by becoming his assistant for the film ‘Zamaane Ko Dikhaana Hai’ (1981) though his mind was not fully in the work. But for this film, he contributed his experience in electronic gadgets by creating a lighting pattern that was synchronised with R.D. Burman’s voice and music for the song, ‘dil lena khel hai dildaar kaa’ with a lit dance floor that flashed in rhythm beats.
It was a short video film, ‘Umberto’(1986) directed by Mansoor Khan which was based on a story of a man who does not want to do anything in his life that Nasir Hussain felt that his son can now direct a full-length feature film. By that time, Nasir Hussain was not keeping good health and he has almost withdrawn from directing films after his three films flopped in a row. So, he gave the responsibility of directing the film, ‘Qayaamat Se Qayaamat Tak’ (1988) to his son. Although, he was not ready to plunge into film direction, he had to agree because of his father’s health issue and also as a token of gratitude for spending a lot of money on his education. It was Mansoor Khan’s idea to make the film with a sad ending. But elders in the family were not in favour. With Amir Khan’s support, the sad ending was retained. The film became a big hit.
After his return from USA, Mansoor Khan had developed interest for writing. So, he had started writing a story which seems to basically on his own life as a ‘spoilt brat’ during his early younger days who turns responsible man later. Since he has written the story in English, he gave the title ‘Winners Take All’. It was Nasir Hussain who gave a new title in Hindi. ‘Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar’ when it was decided to make a film on it. It was the film which Mansoor Khan worked hard on his own initiative. This film also became a super hit. This was followed by ‘Akele Ham Akele Tum’ (1995) and ‘Josh’ (2002) which also became successful on the box office front.
While, Mansoor Khan has created a successful space in the film industry, he was very clear that this was not be the career he wished to pursue. It was during the making of the film ‘Josh’ (2002) that he decided to shift out of Mumbai to a secluded place amidst the nature and become a farmer. Soon after the release of the film ‘Josh’ (2002), he shifted to Coonoor in 2003 on his 22-acre plot to develop into a farmland. His wife and two children followed him after a year. After that, he remained cut-off from the Bombay film industry except that he became a co-producer for ‘Jaane Tu Yaa Jaane Naa’ (2008) with Amir Khan when the original film producer, Jhamu Sugandh backed out after facing financial crunch. So far, Mansoor Khan has been successful in warding off the temptation of the film industry. [Note: Some information about Mansoor Khan is based on the article ‘The New Guard’ by Gautam Chintamani which appeared on ‘Swarajya’ magazine on December 2, 2016.]
Coming back to Mansoor Khan’s second film ‘Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar’ (1992), it was produced by Nasir Hussain who also wrote the dialogues. The main cast consisted of Amir Khan, Aayesha Jhulka, Deepak Tijori, Pooja Bedi, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Mamik Singh, Kiran Jhaveri, Ahmed Khan, Deb Mukherjee, Ajit Vachani, Anjan Shrivastav, Asrani etc. This is a sport-based film with romantic drama.
The gist of the story of the film is as under:
The story revolves around two brothers – Sanjay (Amir Khan) and Ratan (Mamik Singh). Sanjay has a carefree attitude while his elder brother, Ratan excels in studies and in his bicycle racing. Their father, Ramlal (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) runs a small café who is also a coach in Model College. He wants Ratan to win the cycle race in the ensuing inter-college annual sports competition. The current cycle race champion, Shekhar (Deepak Tijori) and his friends from a high-hand Rajput College make fun of Ratan for dreaming to become the cycle race champion. However, due to his gearless cycle, Ratan is eliminated from the cycle race and Shekhar wins the race.
Sanjay has a close friend, Anjali (Aayesha Julka) from a girl’s Junior College who is secretly in love with Sanjay. Her father always tells her to keep distance from Sanjay and his rogue friends. Sanjay is in love with Devika (Pooja Bedi) who has recently joined the college. This creates jealousy in the mind of Anjali and starts friendship with Shekhar who has already having affairs with many girls.
Ramlal decides to purchase a new imported cycle with gears for Ratan for the next year’s annual cycle race. While practicing, Ratan and Shekhar get into a brawl. In the ensuing fights, Ratan accidentally falls into valley with serious injuries. He is hospitalised and is in coma. With this situation in the family, Sanjay shades his ‘happy go lucky’ attitudes and becomes a responsible son to his father who helps him in Café running. Ratan recovers from the injuries, but he is not fit to participate in the cycle race. Sanjay decides to participate in college’s cycle racing to fulfil his father’s wish to win the race. Anjali helps Sanjay in cycle race practice. It is at this time Sanjay realises that he is in love with Anjali.
The annual cycle racing competition starts, and Sanjay wins the race dethroning Shekhar thus fulfilling his father’s dream.
‘Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar’ (1992) had 7 songs written by Majrooh Sultanpuri and set to music by Jatin-Lalit. Two songs from the film have been covered on the Blog. I am presenting the 3rd song from the film, an evergreen song, ‘pehlaa nashaa pehlaa khumaar’ which is rendered by Udit Narayan and Sadhana Sargam. This is a song of the first romance, joie de vivre song, picturised on Amir Khan and Aayesha Julka. Mamik Singh, Pooja Bedi, Kiran Jhaveri and Deven Bhojani are also seen in the picturisation.
I liked everything about the song – lyrics, melody, orchestration, picturisation in slow motions, choreography, and the excellent outdoor location (Ooty).
Video Clip:
Audio Clip:
Song-Pehla nasha pehla khumaar (Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar)(1992) Singers-Udit Narayan, Sadhana Sargam, Lyrics-Majrooh Sultanpuri, MD-Jatin Lalit
Lyrics
chaahe tum kuchh naa kaho
maine sun liyaa
ke saathi pyaar kaa
mujhe chun liyaa
chun liyaa
maine sun liyaa
pehlaa nashaa
pehla khumaar
nayaa pyaar hai
naayaa intzaar
kar loon main kyaa apnaa haal
ae dil-e-beqaraar
mere dil-e-beqaraar
tu hi bataa
pehlaa nashaa pehlaa khumaar
udtaa hi phiroon
in hawaaon mein kahin
yaa main jhool jaaun
in ghataaon mein kahin
udtaa hi phiroon
in hawaaon mein kahin
yaa main jhool jaaun
in ghataaon mein kahin
ek kar doon aasaman
aur zameen
kaho yaaron kyaa karoon kyaa nahin
pehlaa nashaa
pehlaa khumaar
nayaa pyaar hai
naayaa intzaar
kar loon main kyaa apnaa haal
ae dil-e-beqaraar
mere dil-e-beqaraar
tu hi bataa
pehlaa nashaa pehlaa khumaar
usne baat ki
kuchh aise dhang se
sapne de gayaa
wo hazaaron rang ke
usne baat ki
kuchh aise dhang se
sapne de gayaa
wo hazaaron rang ke
reh jaaun jaise main
haar ke
aur choome wo mujhe pyaar se
pehlaa nashaa
pehlaa khumaar
nayaa pyaar hai
nayaa intzaar
kar loon main kyaa apnaa haal
ae dil-e-beqaraar
mere dil-e-beqaraar
9 Responses to "Pehlaa nashaa pehlaa khumaar"
February 10, 2024 at 5:01 pm
The song “Pehla Nasha” possesses a distinctive attribute owing to its unique picturization. The sequence was captured using slow motion technique. This approach parallels a previous experiment observed in the song “Jogi O Jogi” from the film “Lakhon Mein Ek.”
In this method, the audio recording was initially conducted at a faster rate and subsequently played back at a slower speed to synchronize with the lip movements of the actors.
Thoroughly enjoy the captivating movements of this song and its unique picturization.
Gandhi Vadlapatla
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February 10, 2024 at 6:28 pm
Gandhi Vadlapatla ji,
Thanks once again for your technical explanation for picturisation of songs in slow motion. I did not know that there was a technical aspect involved in synchronisation of sound track with picturisation for this song.
February 10, 2024 at 7:49 pm
Lovely writeup. I love his work. Good to know He is doing what he loves in Coonoor.
Surprised that this song is not covered still. It is an adorable one and one of the popular songs from 1990s.
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February 11, 2024 at 9:22 am
Gajendra ji,
Thanks for your comments.
I came to know that the song under discussion was not covered on the Blog only when I wanted to give a reference of this song in my earlier article. How could this lovely song of first love remain illusive so long.
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February 11, 2024 at 9:02 am
good song for the valentine week.
thank you for information on where Mansoor Khan vanished
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February 12, 2024 at 3:21 pm
Good reminder of a excellent movie and the life history of Mansoor Khan. I thought he went into coffee plantation and chocolate manufacturing.
Some more trivia about QSQT : Both happy and tragic end were filmed, as other members of the crew were not convinced that tragic end will be appreciated. They planned to change the end after seeing the initial response of the film goers. As the film became a hit, the end was never changed.
More trivia about JJWS: The whole film was shot twice, as Mansoor Khan did not like the look of the film, shot earlier. He re-made the whole film, to suit his own whim. Things heard and read at that time, I have not looked up, if it is mentioned anywhere in relation to these film.
Slow motion song technique has been around in the industry. ”O hansini” from Zehreela insaan is an example.
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February 12, 2024 at 8:12 pm
Mrs. Nahm,
Thanks for the trivia about QSQT and JJWS.
About JJWS, I had read the interview of Deepak Tijori during which he had revealed that he was rejected by Mansoor Khan during the audition and his role was done by Milind Soman. About 75% of the film was shot when the producer and director decided to stop the shooting. Later, Amir Khan suggested Mansoor Khan to relook at Deepak Tijori for replacing Milind Soman, which he agreed.
Also, I had read somewhere that the role of Pooja Bedi was originally assigned to a newcomer, Karishma Pahuja. However, at the time of shooting of the song, pehlaa nasha pehlaa khumaar’, she did not report for shooting. Hence the shooting of the song was cancelled. Later, Pooja Bedi was selected for her role.
With these kind of changes, one can say that JJWS must have almost reshot twice.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
February 10, 2024 at 4:45 pm
Kamath Sir,
Sir, What a wonderful write-up on Mansoor Khan. His journey from Bollywood to sustainable living in Coonoor is truly inspiring.
Mansoor Khan’s journey is undeniably remarkable and profoundly inspiring. From the glamour of Bollywood to the tranquillity of Coonoor, he has forged his unique path, driven by a profound love for nature and sustainable farming, all while challenging conventional norms through his insightful books. His shift from the bustling film industry to a life of sustainable living speaks volumes about his unwavering commitment to personal values and his aspiration to leave a lasting, positive impact beyond the realm of cinema.
This narrative stands as a powerful reminder for the younger generation, urging them to grasp the essence of genuine fulfilment in life and to draw inspiration from charting their own authentic journeys. Thanks,
Gandhi Vadlapatla
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February 10, 2024 at 6:19 pm
Gandhi Vadlapatla ji,
Thank you very much for your valuable input on sustainable living which you mentioned in your comments but I missed it in my article.
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