Kehna hee kya
Posted on: January 13, 2026
This article is written by Nahm, 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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A R Rahman – The Musician of 21st Century – 11
Finally, I come to this wedding song, semi-qawwali from the 1995 film Bombay. It is an essential song in the ARR series, as a personal favourite for all these years. The essence of this composition is undoubtedly K. S. Chitra’s rendition of this Hindi version. I can’t say much about the Tamil version, as the words are not comprehendible to me. Each language has its own sounds, and nuances of them. An ignorant person cannot fathom them. May be the regulars knowing Tamil will be able to describe, what I am unable to say here.
K. S. Chitra has rendered this so beautifully, that filming is becoming secondary to the rendition. Though nicely filmed in the rural setting of what Arunkumar Deshmukh Sir would call, a Muslim social setup. Sir referred to this film ‘Bombay” also in his write up for this song.
This is a southern Indian Muslim rural set up, culturally very close to the Hindu cultures in the region. Of course, the actual ritual is different, with Nikah and later dua can be for half hour and whole process is done, in one hour at most. Then you can give another hour or two for greetings and blessings. The groom is supposed to go to all the elders present on the occasion and personally take their blessings and dua’s. Groom goes to the female section also for this purpose accompanied by female relatives. It is a custom rarely seen in Muslim social films.
Then there is this greeting method, of embracing. Embracing is a form of greeting and expression of affection, among men and among women. The same embracing by random Muslims is seen in this song when they meet Arvind Swamy, the male actor playing a Hindu character. He is greeted with similar affection as he is a neighbourhood boy from the same village.
I think most of Hindi films have been showing Muslim characters in contrived or type caste, more so in Muslim social films. And it has not changed over the years. There have been more normal, close to life characters in say in “Chachi 420”, the friend of Kamal Hasan. The comic element there is more than acceptable. A female doctor who is a family friend, in “Ham aap ke hain kaun” is good enough. Even the domestic servant in a Rajashri Production film named Anwar, played by Shakti Kapoor is fine. I might be mixing the films here. A neighbourhood tailor in “Aashiqui” is good too. A maligned and bitter, but resourceful cop in “Sarfarosh” is very good. A patient diagnosed with terminal cancer, in “Munna Bhai MBBS” is not so good, as he is told off for having lived austere life, due to his circumstances. Never having indulged in sinful activities, he is ridiculed for it.
But I would like to draw the line, at dehumanising, demonising or even Mongolising of historical characters, whatever be the motive of doing it in so called period/historical movies. There is excessive glamorising also in these kinds of movies, but that is the essential character of entertainment industry, and they make it in this manner, characterizing larger than life. Say in a movie like “Mughal-e-Azam”. Just because that sold, and succeeded, that cannot justify going in the total opposite direction and demonizing these characters. And in the process, also causing grave damage, and hurt in trivializing a historically significant personality, of the likes of Amir Khusro. There is also a trend of over-glamorising the negative characters, in some films. This is bad all around, however much moolah it earns for the film industry. Impressionable minds of younger generation, need heroes, larger than life, glamorized, but not villains. This trend is counter-productive for the industry and for the society.
I have seen “Shatranj Ke Khiladi’ and “Junoon”, though the culture of north Indian Muslims is seen only in movies. I do have north Indian friends, but they invariably settled in Mumbai. And Mumbai has a way of neutralising the most hardened of cultural value systems.
I have recalled a seriously funny story/article I have read in Urdu, relating to the culture of Muslims of North, but I cannot relate it here. May be in some other song post I will find the spirit to do it 😊. It is not really the content, but the way it is presented in that prose, full of the local dialectic analogues, it made a very decent 10-minute read, and the culture was dripping from every word and sentence. Even if I had saved it somewhere, it would be a headache to translate in any language, English included. Sort of a, P. G. Woodhouse, humorous and very serious at once.
Not to ruffle any feathers here, I will move on to the song, from a movie which is no less controversial.
I can contest many incidences shown in the film “Bombay”, as real facts. I have lived through the relevant period, in the heart of Mumbai, the events shown in the film unfolding. I do not care to discuss them here, as it is all water under the bridge.
About Pyar, Ishq and muhobbat, though the hindi films and songs are based on this filmsy/afsaanvi emotion, are overrated. I believe in Licence Raj in this matter. Get a license first and go ahead with the extremes of Pyar, Ishq and Muhobbat. The issue of inter-religious marriage is sorted this way. “Na rahegaa baans na bajegi baansuri”.
Marriage should be a practical decision, taken with a level head. It is also the foundation of family system. The best way IMHO is to weigh all the pros and cons first, take an educated decision, no “bhawnaaon mein bahna”, marry the choice/selection, and then respect, love, and cherish the life partner. This is the correct order and tried and tested method since time immemorial.
There is information overload and entertainment overload, add to the melee infotainment overload. So, one needs to be more circumspect, in dissecting among the good, the bad and the ugly.
The song “kehna hi kya” is a super composition, elegantly filmed, well written and very well performed by Manisha Koirala. The expressions coming and going from her beautiful but pale face. This song was always in the list of ARR songs for posting, and I held it back to post the other wedding song from “Saathiya” first.
I come to K. S. Chitra, the singer again. I believe the experience in south Indian languages makes the artists more equipped and accomplished singers. I attended a show last weekend titled “Rafi @101”. The lead singer there was one who is known for singing SPB songs. But here it was Rafi songs all the way, and he did well, better than expected. The phonetic sounds in Tamil language makes them tougher, and sometimes they find Hindi words easier to pronounce, with their trained voices. K. S. Chitra is near perfect in this re-recorded Hindi song. Her songs “Piya Basanti Re” (NFS with Sultan Khan) and the hauntingly beautiful solo from “Parineeta” are an everlasting memory.
All things considered, this qawwali fusion is among ARR’s best creations.
Audio:
Video:
Song-Kehna hee kya (Bombay)(1995) Singer-K S Chitra, Lyricist-Mehboob Kotwal, MD-A R Rehman
Lyrics:
Gum sum Gum sum gup chup
gum sum gupchup
gum sum gum sum gup chup
gum sum gupchup
halchal halchal ho gayee teree
honthh hain tere chup
khalbal khalbal ho gayee teree
baithhee hai tu chup
pyaare pyaare chehre
ne kar ke ishaara
dekha teree aankhon ne hai
sapnaa koyee payaara
ham se goree na tu sharmaa
keh de ham se zaraa
aise goree na tu sharmaa
keh de ham se zaraa
kehnaa hee kya aa
yeh nain ik anjaan se jo mile
chalne lagey
muhobbat ke jaise yeh silsiley
armaan naye aise dil mein khiley
jin ko kabhee main na jaanoon
wo ham se ham unn se kabhee na miley
kaise miley dil na jaanoon
ab kya karen
kya naam len
kaise unhen main pukaaroon
kehnaa hee kya aa
yeh nain ik anjaan se jo miley
chalne lagey
muhobbat ke jaise yeh silsiley
armaan naye aise dil mein khiley
jin ko kabhee main na jaanoon
wo ham se ham unn se kabhee na miley
kaise miley dil na jaanoon
ab kya karen
kya naam len
kaise unhen main pukaaroon
ga ma pa ma paa
aaa aaaaa aaaaa
ga ma pa ma nee ee
eee eee
pa ni sa ni pa dhaa
ma ga pa ma re saa
re ae ae
…….
………
……..
aaaa aaaaaa
pehlee hee nazar mein
kuchh ham kuchh tum
ho jaate hain yoon gum
nainon se barse
rimjhim rimjhim
ham pe pyaar ka saawan
sharm thhodee thhodee
ham ko o o
aaye to nazren jhuk jaayen
sitam thhoda thhoda ham pe ae
shokh hawaa bhee kar jaaye
aisee chaley
aanchal udey
dil mein ek toofaan uthhey
ham to lut gaye khade hee khade
kehnaa hee kya aa
yeh nain ik anjaan se jo miley
chalne lagey
muhobbat ke jaise yeh silsiley
armaan naye aise dil mein khiley
jin ko kabhee main na jaanoon
wo ham se ham unn se
kabhee na miley
kaise miley dil na jaanoon
ab kya karen
kya naam len
kaise unhen main pukaaroon
gum sum gum sum gupuchup
gum sum gup chup
gum sum gum sum gupuchup
gum sum gup chup
halchal halchal ho gayee teree
honthh hain tere chup
khalbal khalbal ho gayi teree
baithhee hai tu chup
pyaare pyaare chehre
ne kar ke ishaara
dekha teree aankhon ne hai
sapnaa koyee pyaara
ham se gori na tu sharmaa
keh de ham se zaraa
aise gori na tu sharmaa
keh de ham se zaraa
in honton be maangaa
sargam sargam
tu aur teraa hee pyaar hai
aankh dhoonde hai jis ko
har dam har dam
tu aur tera hee pyaar hai
mehfil mein bhee ee
tanhaa hai
dil aise dil aise
tujh ko kho na de ae
darta hai yeh aise yeh aise
aaj milee aisee khushee
jhoom uthhee duniya yeh meree
tum ko paaya to paayee Zindagee
kehnaa hee kya aa
yeh nain ek anjaan se jo miley
chalne lage
muhobbat ke jaise yeh silsiley
armaan naye aise dil mein khiley
jin ko kabhee main na jaanoon
wo ham se ham unn se kabhee na miley
kaise miley dil na jaanoon
ab kya karen
kya naam len
kaise unhen main pukaaroon
kehnaa hee kya aa
yeh nain ik anjaan se jo miley
chalne lage
muhobbat ke jaise yeh silsiley
kehnaa hee kya aa aa
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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