Zaraa see baat pe har rasm tod aaya thhaa
Posted on: August 19, 2025
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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Blog Day : |
6241 | Post No. : | 19303 |
ye ilm kaa sauda, ye risaale, ye kitaaben
ek shaks ki yaadon ko bhulaane ke liye hain
—– Jaan Nisaar Akhtar
The meaning of the sher is that these exchange of knowledge, these journals, these books are meant to forget memories of a person. But I write this article for remembering today, Jaan Nisaar Akhtar on his 49th Remembrance Day. He was essentially a poet but circumstances forced him to write songs for films when an arrest warrant was issued against him in Bhopal being the follower of leftist ideology. He went underground eventually landing in Mumbai in 1949 leaving behind his wife and two small children. So, to manage the family, he started writing songs for Hindi films.
Syed Jaan Nisaar Hussain Rizvi (18/02/1914 – 19/08/1976), popularly known as Jaan Nissar Akhtar was born in Gwalior. His father, Muztar Khairabadi, a well-known Urdu poet was the Magistrate in the State of Gwalior. After completion of the matriculation from Gwalior, Jaan Nissar Akhtar joined Aligarh Muslim University and completed M.A. in Urdu. He returned to Gwalior and got a job as a lecturer in Victoria College. In 1943, he got married to Safia, sister of Urdu poet, Mazaj Lucknawi. In 1947, he shifted to Bhopal where he joined Hamidia College as Head of Urdu and Persian Department. In Bhopal, he joined the Progressive Writers’ Movement.
For the reason mentioned earlier, Jaan Nisaar Akhtar shifted to Mumbai in 1949 and continued his association with the Progressive Writers Movement. He develops close contacts with Sahir Ludhianvi, Kaifi Azmi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Ismat Chughtai etc who were associated with Hindi films also. He started getting assignments to write songs for few films like ‘Aarzoo’ (1950), Khel (1950) and ‘Anarkali’ (1953) that too as one or two songs. His first success as lyricist came when all his songs in the film ‘Yasmeen’ (1955) became popular. This was followed by ‘Baap Re Baap’ (1955), the first film he did with music director, O P Nayyar. All the songs of this film also became popular. In ‘CID’ (1956), his only song in the film, aankhon hi aankhon mein ishaaraa ho gayaa became very popular.
Jaan Nisaar Akhtar mainly worked with music directors like Bulo C Rani, O P Nayyar, N Datta, C Arjun, Khayyam, Jaidev, Sapan-Jagmohan. Usha Khanna and G S Kohli. I have liked his songs with poetic lyrics, some of which are as under:
ae jazb-e-ishq teraa kab aitbaar aaye – Haseena (1955).
raaz seene mein muhabbat ka chhupaaye rakhnaa – Ham Hain Raahi Pyaar Ke (1960-UR).
beqasi hadd se jab guzar jaaye – Kalpana (1960).
main abhi ghair hoon – Main Aur Mera Bhai (1961).
dhoondhhe nazar nazar mera chaand hai kidhar – Dilli Kaa Daada (1962).
ae dilrubaa nazren milaa – Rustom Sohrab (1963)
be-murawwat bewafaa begaana-e-dil aap hain – Susheela (1966).
aap youn faaslon se guzarte rahe – Shankar Hussain (1975).
Jaan Nisaar Akhtar produced his only Hindi film, ‘Bahu Begum’ (1967) which flopped, though songs written by his friend, Sahir Ludhianvi and set to music by Roshan are still popular.
Jaan Nissar Akhtar joined the Hindi film industry almost at the same time as his contemporaries like Sahir Ludhianvi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Shailendra, Shakeel Badayuni. However, his output in the terms of the number of songs were far less (around 300) than that of his contemporaries despite the fact that all of them were part of Progressive Writers’ Movements. According to his son, Javed Akhtar, his father did very few films compared with the time he spent in Hindi film industry because he did not know how to sell himself to the film industry.
Jaan Nissar Akhtar published his seven poetry collections. One of them, ‘Khaak-E-Dil’ which contained poems written by him during 1935-70 fetched him Nehru Award in 1974 and the Sahitya Akademy Award in 1976.
On the occasion of the 49th Remembrance Day of Jan Nisar Akhtar and the 6th Remembrance Day of Khayyam, I present their vintage ghazal composition, ‘zaraa si baat pe har rasm tod aayaa thhaa’ (1968) which is rendered by Mukesh. The remorse expressed by the poet in each couplet is soulfully rendered by Mukesh in his soft voice. Khayyam has woven the ghazal in a melody with minimum orchestration to give primacy to the ‘ashaar’ (verses) of the ghazal.
This ghazal is a brilliant combination of the poetry, the singing and the musical composition. Incidentally, this was one of Khayyam’s 200 odd non-film songs which he had composed during his sabbatical from Hindi films.
Audio Clip:
Song-Zaraa see baat pe har rasm tod aaya thha (Mukesh NFS)(1968) Singer-Mukesh, Lyrics-Jaan Nisaar Akhtar, MD-Khayyam
Lyrics:
zaraa si baat pe
zaraa aa see ee baat pe
har rasm tod aayaa thhaa aa aaa
zaraa see baat pe
har rasm tod aayaa thhaa aa aa
dil-e-tabaah ne
bhee kyaa mizaaj paayaa thhaa
zaraa see baat pe
muaaf kar naa sakee
meree zindagee mujhko o o
muaaf kar naa sakee
meree zindagee mujhko o o
wo ek lamhaa
ke main tujhse tang aayaa thhaa aa aa
wo ek lamhaa
ke main tujhse tang aayaa thhaa aa aaa
zaraa see baat pe
shaguftaa phool
simat kar kalee baney jaise ae ae
shaguftaa phool
simat kar kalee baney jaise ae ae
kuchh iss kamaal se
tooney badan churaayaa thhaa aa aa
kuchh iss kamaal se
tooney badan churaayaa thhaa aa aa
zaraa see baat pe
guzar gayaa hai koi
lamhaa-e-sharar kee tarah a a
guzar gayaa hai koi
lamhaa-e-sharar kee tarah a a
abhee to main
usey pehchaan bhee na paayaa thhaa aa aa
abhee to main
usey pehchaan bhee na paayaa thhaa aa aa
zaraa see baat pe
pataa naheen ke
mere baad unpe kyaa guzree ee ee
pataa naheen ke
mere baad unpe kyaa guzree ee ee
main chand khwaab
zamaane mein chhod aayaa thhaa aa aa
main chand khwaab
zamaane mein chhod aayaa thhaa aa aa
zaraa see baat pe
har rasm tod aayaa thhaa aa aa
dil-e-tabaah ne bhee
kyaa mizaaj paayaa thhaa aa aa
zaraa see baat pe
3 Responses to "Zaraa see baat pe har rasm tod aaya thhaa"
August 20, 2025 at 8:43 am
Good Morning,
Good song
Thanks for sharing.
Blessings
Uma🙏
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
August 19, 2025 at 4:01 pm
Wonderful write-up, Kamath ji. Jaan Nisaar Akhtar may have written fewer songs compared to his contemporaries, but each one shines with poetic finesse. Your article makes us remember both his struggles and his timeless artistry.
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August 19, 2025 at 7:14 pm
Gandhi Vadlapatla ji,
Thanks for your appreciation.
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