Mohe aayee na jag se laaj
Posted on: November 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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Sometime in early 1980s, I had heard a non-film song, ‘mohe aayee na jag se laaj…..ke ghunghroo toot gaye’ which was rendered by Pankaj Udhas. At that time, I did not think much about this song but its hook line ‘ke ghunghroo toot gaye’ periodically reminded me of the song. After the death of Pankaj Udhas in 2024, his old non-film songs started ‘bumping up’ on the video sharing platforms during which I heard this song in full after many years and liked it, more so because of its lyrics. Since then, I was planning to cover this non-film song for the Blog. But I was not sure about the genesis of this song, particularly when I came to know that the song was written by Pakistani poet and lyricist, Qateel Shifai. So, I kept the song in hold until I got some clarity about it. After doing some reseach on the internet, I am now in a position to write the article on the song.
Originally, Qateel Shifai wrote this song for a Pakistani film, ‘Naaz’ (1969) which was rendered by Mala Begum with a different tune composed by Nisar Bazmi, the Hindi film music director, who migrated to Pakistan in 1962. I am not sure whether all the verses of the song were used for this film song. In India, the credit for making this non-film song popular surely goes to Pankaj Udhas who rendered the song in a ‘pleasing to ears’ tune. The song was first released in 1981 in his non-film album. Subsequently, the song has been re-issued from his live concerts with an additional verse.
Qateel Shifai has written this song from the angle of a female protagonist’s intense feelings towards her beloved. I give below the full lyrics of the non-film song rendered by Pankaj Udhas with English translations:
mohe aayee na jag se laaj
main itnaa zor se naachee aaj
ke ghunghroo toot gaye
[I did not feel any inhibition and when I danced with so much intensity that my anklets broke and came out of feet].
kuchh mujh pe nayaa joban bhee thhaa
kuchh pyaar kaa paagalpan bhee thhaa
har palak meree teer banee
aur zulf meree zanjeer banee
liyaa dil saajan kaa jeet
wo chhede paayaliyaa ne geet
ke ghunghroo toot gaye
[It was a bit of newly found youth in me and a bit of infatuation (obsessive love). Every blink of my eyes became an arrow and my tress became my chain (connecting with the beloved). I won the heart of my beloved when my anklets stirred a song and got broken].
main basee thhee jiske sapanon mein
wo ginegaa ab mujhe apanon mein
kehati hai meree har angdaayee
main piyaa kee neend churaa laayee
main banke gayee thhee chor
ke meree paayal thhee kamzor
ke ghunghroo toot gaye
[My beloved, in whose dream I lived, will now count me as his own. My yawning indicates that I have made my beloved sleepless (Yawning is also associated with someone who is remembering that person). I had gone to him (in his dream) like a thief when my weak anklets broke].
wo kaisi lagan baaton mein thhee
wo kiskee mahek raaton mein thhee
sandesa jo laayee purwaayee
mein to khud se bhee sharmaayee
jab ghar aaye thhe shaam
liyaa thhaa mujhko aise thhaam
ke ghunghroo toot gaye
[What a lovely and sweet conversions that was. What a fragrance that was spread in the nights. The message the easterly wind had brought made me to blush. When my beloved came home in the evening and clasped me so tight that my anklet broke and came out of my feet].
dharti pe na mere pair lage
bin piyaa mujhe sab ghair lage
mujhe ang miley armaanon ke
mujhe pankh miley parwaanon ke
jab milaa piyaa kaa gaaon
to aisaa lachkaa meraa paaon
ke ghunghroo toot gaye
[My feet does not firmly stay on the ground as without my beloved, everyone looks stranger to me. I wish my limbs are full of desire and I get wings like birds to meet my beloved. When I found my beloved’s village, my feet swayed so much that my anklets broke and came out of my feet].
Because of its popularity, a few Hindi films have incorporated this non-film song – either in the same lyrics or through transporting the meaning of the original lyrics in new words. These films are as under:
1. The first film to use Qateel Shifali’s lyrics was not a Hindi film, but a Marathi film, ‘Janaki’ (1979). Sudhir Moghe translated the lyrics. words by words, into a Marathi song, ‘mee sodunee saari laaj….ki ghunghroo tutale re’ which was rendered by Lata Mangeshkar and composed by Hridaynath Mangeshkar with a different tune.
2. Majrooh Sultanpuri wrote lyrics differently while retaining the overall theme embedded in Qateel Shifai’s lyrics with hook line in the song, ‘ke ghunghroo toot gaye’ in ‘Dharam Kantha’ (1982) which was rendered by Asha Bhosle and composed by Naushad with a different tune.
3. In ‘Param Dharam’ (1987), two stanzas of the lyrics of Qateel Shifai were retained with a new stanza added by Anjaan which was rendered by Salma Agha under the music direction of Bappi Lahiri in the tune sung by Pankaj Udhas in his non-film album.
4. In ‘Ek Hi Maqsad’ (1988), music director and singer, Pankaj Udhas reused his non-film song from his album (1981) retaining the mukhda, first and the last antara of Qateel Shifai which were rendered by Asha Bhosle. The second antara of the song was written afresh which was rendered by Pankaj Udhas.
5. A shorter version of the lyrics (only first two stanzas) were used in ‘Cabaret’ (2016) which was rendered by Niti Mohan and composed by Kaustav Narayan Niyogi in the tune sung by Pankaj Udhas.
6. One of the songs in ‘War’ (2019), ‘ke ghunghroo toot gaye’ was somewhat inspired from the original lyrics. The song was rendered by Arjit Singh and Shilpa Rao but set in a different tune by Vishal Shekhar with pop music background.
In addition, Ustad Rais Khan. a well-known Sitarist who was known for his association with with muisc director, Madan Mohan, has rendered this non-film song in the same tune as was rendered by Pankaj Udhas. For those interested in watching his video clip of the song, here is the link. Maqbool Ahmed Sabri of Sabri Brothers and Runa Laila have also rendered this non-film song with a different tune.
As I said earlier, I was toying with the idea of presenting Pankaj Udhas’s non-film song, the full lyrics of which I have given above. After getting to know that a major part of the song has been used in the film, ‘Ek Hi Maqsad’ (1988), I have decided to present the filmy version of the song for the reason that it is majorly rendered by Asha Bhosle and the lyrics of the song was written from the point of view of the female protoganist. Also, it has one stanza which is rendered by Pankaj Udhas.
‘Ek Hi Maqsad’ (1988) was produced by Raj Baweja and G H Navani and was directed by Pravin Bhatt. The cast included Raj Kiran, Divya Rana, Om Puri, Danny Denzongpa, Satish Shah, Rakesh Bedi, Bharat Bhushan, Sulbha Arya, Kim, Rita Rani Kaul etc. The film’s audio album was released in 1986 with its original title, ‘Aadha Ram Aadha Ravan’. The film was released on April 22, 1988 with the new title. The film’s director, Praveen Bhatt, the son of Vijay Bhatt of Prakash Pictures started his career as Cinematographer. He has directed four films. Producer-director, Vikram Bhatt is his son.
The film had five songs written by Mumtaz Rashid (4) and Qateel Shifai (1) which were set to music by Pankaj Udhas. Three of these songs had already appeared in non-film song albums which were composed and rendered by Pankaj Udhas in 1981 and 1983. I am presenting the first song, ‘mohe aayee na jag se laaj…ke ghunghroo toot gaye’, rendered by Asha Bhosle and Pankaj Udhas. In this song, the second antara has been added which is not the part of the original lyrics. This additional antara is rendered by Pankaj Udhas. It is not known as to who wrote the additional antara. The song has an excellent orchestration arranged by Amar Haldipur, who himself is a renowned violinist besides the music director of a few films.
The context of the song is that Raj (Raj Kiran ) and Indu (Divya Rana) are deeply in love with each other. There is a picnic in Indu’s girls’ college under the supervision of a college lecturer (Sulbha Arya). As soon as they reach the picnic spot, Raj reaches there in his motor cycle to meet Indu. However, her college lecturer objects to her meeting him and warns her that she will get rusticated from the college if she goes ahead to meet him. Indu ignores her instructions when all her college friends forces her to become ‘Anarkali’ to meet his ‘Saleem’. At this point, she sings and dances when Raj joins her.
Audio Clip:
Video Clip:
Song-Mohe aayee na jag se laaj (Ek Hi Maqsad)(1988) Singers-Asha Bhosle, Pankaj Udhas, Lyrics-Qateel Shifai, MD-Pankaj Udhas
Lyrics (Based on the Audio Clip):
mohe aayee na jag se laaj
main itnaa zor se naachee aaj
ke ghunghroo toot gaye
mohe aayee na jag se laaj
main itanaa zor se naachee aaj
ke ghunghroo toot gaye
ke ghungharoo toot gaye ae
ke ghunghroo toot gaye……..ae
ke ghunghroo toot gaye
mohe aayee na jag se laaj
main itnaa zor se naachee aaj
ke ghunghroo toot gaye
ke ghunghroo toot gaye ae
ke ghunghroo toot gaye………ae
ke ghunghroo toot gaye
kuchh mujh pe nayaa joban bhee thhaa aa aa
kuchh pyaar kaa paagalpan bhee thhaa
har palak meree teer banee…ee ee
aur zulf meree zanjeer banee
liyaa dil saajan kaa jeet
ho liyaa dil saajan kaa jeet
wo chhede paayaliyaa ne geet
ke ghunghroo toot gaye
wo phool fazaaon mein mahke…ae
bin piye na goree ham bahke
ye mastee bharee teree angdaayee ee ee ee
jaise koyee bijlee lehraayee
ye teree jawaanee kaa zor
ye teree jawaanee kaa zor
ke teree paayal thhee kamzor
ke ghunghroo toot gaye
dhartee pe na mere pair lage ae
bin piyaa mujhe sab ghair lage
mujhe ang miley armaanon ke ae ae ae
mujhe pankh miley parwaanon ke
jab milaa piyaa kaa gaaon
jab milaa piyaa kaa gaaon
to aisaa lachkaa meraa paaon
ke ghunghroo toot gaye
ke ghunghroo toot gaye ae
ke ghunghroo toot gaye ae
ke ghunghroo toot gaye
mohe aayee na jag se laaj
main itnaa zor se naachee aaj
ke ghunghroo toot gaye ae
ke ghunghroo toot gaye ae
ke ghunghroo toot gaye
ke ghunghroo toot gaye ae
ke ghunghroo toot gaye ae
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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