Aaj aayee sajanwa ajab ratiyaa
Posted on: June 29, 2026
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.
| Blog Day : | 6555 | Post No. : | 20401 |
‘Sikandar’(1941) was produced under the banner of Minerva Movietone and was directed by Sohrab Modi. The star cast included Prithviraj Kapoor, Vanmala, Sohrab Modi, Sheela, Meena (Shorey), K N Singh, Sadiq Ali, Shakir, Yakub, Gajendra Singh, Jillo Bai, Zahur Raja, Noor Jehan (Sr), Prakash, etc. This was the first Hindi film for actress, Vanmala and Meena and the first film for Prithviraj Kapoor in Mumbai after his return from New Theatres, Kolkata. Another noticeable feature about Prithviraj Kapoor in this film is that his voice sounds different than what I have heard in his films of the 1960s.
The film was released during the World War II. At the same time, Mahatma Gandhi had given a call for Quit India Movement. These background created a kind of the nationalist fervour. The invasion of Sikander on the Paurava kingdom ruled by King Puru (Porus) was compared to the British colonial rule. The film is known for its elaborate sets and the realistic-looking battle scenes. The film is also noted for the dual between King Puru and Sikander in terms of long dialogues. Surely, all these factors brought more audience to the theatres when the film was released.
I had known the story of the dual between King Puru and Sikander during my school days and I had felt proud of King Puru who, in the midst of the defeat, faced Sikander bravely. At the same time, I had a soft corner for Sikander who appreciated the fearlessness of a defeated king. My softness towards Sikander must have come from the fact that while he not only set free King Puru but also withdrew his army frm Paurva kingdom, whereas in the same history book, there were many instances of other invaders who were not only cruel but they also looted the country of its treasures.
The story of the film with some detail is as under:
After making Persia (present day Iran) under the control of Greek, Sikander (Prithviraj Kapoor), falls in love with Rukhsana (Vanmala), a Persian girl and spends most of his time with her, forgetting his royal duties. Aristotle (Shakir), his mentor tells him to keep aloof from her as it is women who leads to the downfall of an aspiring king who has to conquer many more countries. However, Rukhsana is of the view that a man is incomplete without a woman. Finally, Sikander falls for Aristotle’s view and he goes with his army towards Taxila in which Rukhsana joins in the guise of a man. The King of Taxila, Ambhi (K N Singh) surrenders to Sikander by paying him the tributes. He joins Sikander in his campaign to conquer further east marching to Paurava kingdom.
Praarthhana (Meena), the sister of King Ambhi considers his brother a traitor and meets King Puru (Sohrab Modi) of Paurava Kingdom who gives her the shelter. Here she falls in love with King Puru’s elder son, Samar (Sadiq Ali). During the course of Sikander’s army towards Paurava kingdom, Rukhsana goes in a village where she gets an idea from the Rakhi celebration which she watches. She visits King Puru’s court where he welcomes her by saying that any daughter of Persia is the daughter of India. She ties Rakhi on the hand of King Puru and reveals him that she is in love with Sikander and asks from him a boon that Sikander will not be harmed during the war. Having treated Rukhsana as his sister, King Puru promises her that Sikander will not be killed by his hands.
Sikander and his army cross the River Jhelum in the night which was not expected by Puru and his army. During the battle, Puru gets an opportunity to kill Sikander but refrains from doing so to keep his words to Rukhsana. King Puru is defeated with heavy inflicts on his army. Puru is brought in Sikander’s court where Puru charges Sikander for violating the war conventions. Sikander tells him that everything is fair in love and war and asks him as to how he expected to be treated. Puru promptly replies that he should be treated in the same way as a king treats another king. Sikander is very pleased with his reply and appreciates his bravery and courage in the midst of his defeat. He sets him free and orders his army to withdraw from the kingdom of Paurava. He extends the hands of friendship between Greece and Paurva kingdom which Puru accepts.
King Puru returns to his palace and there are celebrations all round. But Puru sits in his palace with lights off. Rukhsana comes and asks him as to why he is sitting with lights off when outside people are celebrating with lights. He tells her that he is upset because the history will record that King Puru was defeated by Sikander who pardoned him without knowing the fact that he had given up the opportunity to kill Sikander in keeping with his words given to her.
The one positive results in the war between King Puru and Sikander is that Sikander’s army has refused to advance further towards India after experiencing the heroics of King Puru’s army in which thousands of soldiers of Sikander’s army died. In this, Rukhsana also plays a decisive role as her speech has made his army in a mutinous mood. A dead eagle falling before Sikander decides him to go back to Yunaan (Greece). The film ends with Sikander uniting with Rukhsana and Samar with Praarthhana.
The film had seven songs written by Pandit Sudarshan which were set to music by Meer Sahib and Rafique Ghaznavi. It is not clear whether they composed the music jointly or they composed the songs individually but accreditation to each song is not known. Four songs have been covered on the Blog. I present the 5th song, ‘aayee aayee sajanwaa ajab ratiyaan’ rendered by Sheela who sings for herself.
The context of the song is that Sikander (Prithviraj Kapoor) is so pleased with a defeated Puru’s repartee that he not only makes him free, but he also withdraws his army from Puru’s kingdom and extend a hand of friendship between Yunaan (present day Greece) and Paurav Kingdom (present day territories between River Jhelum and River Chenab). King Puru returns in a sad mood with his army. But the citizens are happy about the outcome of the war and there is a celebrations all round. On this occasion, Sukhmani (Sheela) sings the song of celebration.
Video Clip:
Audio Clip:
Song-Aaj aayee sajanwa ajab ratiyaan (Sikandar)(1941) Singer-Sheela, Lyricist-Pt Sudarshan,MD-Meer Sahab, Rafiq Ghaznavi
Lyrics:
aaj aayee
haan haan
aaj aayee sajanwaa ajab ratiyaan
aaj aayee sajanwaa ajab ratiyaan
aaj aayee sajanwaa ajab ratiyaan
is rasiyaa par bal bal jaaoon
is rasiyaa par bal bal jaaoon
is rasiyaa par praan chadaaoon
is rasiyaa par praan chadaaoon
aisee har roz aatee hain sab ratiyaan
aisee har roz aatee hain sab ratiyaan
aaj aayee
haan haan
aaj aayee sajanwaa ajab ratiyaan
aaj aayee sajanwaa ajab ratiyaan
aaj aayee sajanwaa ajab ratiyaan
chaandee kee ratiyaan mein jaltee hain heere
chaandee kee ratiyaan mein jaltee hain heere
neelam ke sadkon pe chalte hain heere
neelam ke sadkon pe chalte hain heere
nas nas mein samaayee ghazab ratiyaan
nas nas mein samaayee ghazab ratiyaan
aaj aayee
haan haan
aaj aayee sajanwaa ajab ratiyaan
aaj aayee sajanwaa ajab ratiyaan
aaj aayee sajanwaa ajab ratiyaan
chaandee kee ratiyaan mein geet goonjat hai
chaandee kee ratiyaan mein geet goonjat hai
sone kee bagiyaa mein sapne phalat hain
sone kee bagiyaa mein sapne phalat hain
kaisee sundar salonee sulabh ratiyaan
kaisee sundar salonee sulabh ratiyaan
aaj aayee
haan haan
aaj aayee sajanwaa ajab ratiyaan
aaj aayee sajanwaa ajab ratiyaan
aaj aayee sajanwaa ajab ratiyaan
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
Leave a comment