Tu zinda hai to zindagee kee jeet mein yaqeen kar
Posted by: Atul on: July 10, 2026
- In: "Zindagi" song | Arijit Singh Songs | Duet | Hindi Songs in Non-Hindi Films | Motivational song | Song from regional movies | Song of Hope | Song with a message | Songs of 2020 (2021 to 2030) | Songs of 2024 | Sonu Nigam Songs | Sonu Nigam-Arijit Singh duet | Yearwise breakup of songs
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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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Hindi Songs in Bangla Films – 38
I am presenting one of the popular rallying non-film Hindi songs, ‘tu zindaa hai to zindagee kee jeet mein yaqeen kar’ which has been incorporated in a Bengali film, ‘Padaatik’ (2024). The song is rendered by Sonu Nigam and Arjit Singh in the film .
This ‘poem of hope’ was written by Shailendra in 1950 when he was the member of Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA). In 1953, music director, Salil Chaudhary, who was also the member of IPTA composed the music for this poem when IPTA decided to adopt the poem as its anthem. The song was rendered by Bombay Youth Choir in a fast tempo like a marching song to give a feeling of a rallying song for IPTA members. Music Director, Indradip Dasgupta, in the film’s version of the song, while retaining the tune of the original composition, has incorporated the prelude and interlude orchestrations which was almost absent in the original song.
‘Padaatik’ (2024) is a biopic on Mrinal Sen, a pioneer of the new wave cinema in Bengali, Hindi and Telugu. The film is directed by Srijit Mukherjee who has also written the screenplay, dialogues and edited the film. Chanchal Chowdhury, the Bangladeshi actor is in the role of Mrinal Sen while Monami Ghosh is in the role of Mrinal Sen’s wife, Geeta Devi.
I have not watched the film, ‘Padaatik’ (2024) as it is not available on any video sharing platform. What I understand from the online information, the film covers his initial struggling days to his cinematic journey of the new wave films and his relationship with his peers, Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak. Incidentally, the title of the film is the same as Mrinal Sen’s film, ‘Padaatik’ (1973) which literally means ‘pedestrian’, the wider meaning in the context of the film is the guerilla fighter. The film explored the disillusionment from the ideology, excesses of the Naxalite movement and the leftist politics in West Bengal.
The website, https://www.mrinalsen.org/ gives a concise biography of Mrinal Sen, an extract of which is given below:
Mrinal Sen was born on May 14, 1923, in the town of Faridpur, now in Bangladesh. After finishing his high school there, he left home to come to Calcutta for studying physics. During his student days, he got involved with the cultural wing of the Communist party. Though he never became a member of the party, his association with the Indian Peoples Theatre Association (IPTA) brought him close to a number of like-minded cultural people.
His interest in films started after he stumbled upon a book on film aesthetics. However, his interest remained mostly intellectual, and he was forced to take up a job of a medical representative, which took him away from Calcutta. This did not last very long, and he came back to the city and eventually took a job of an audio technician in a Calcutta film studio, which was the beginning of his film carrier.
Mrinal Sen made his first feature film in 1953, which he soon tried to forget. His next film, ‘Neel Akasher Nichey’ (1958), earned him local recognition, while his third film, ‘Baishey Shravan’ (1960) was his first film that gave him international exposure.
After making five more films, he made a film with a shoe-string budget provided by the government of India. This Hindi film, ‘Bhuvan Shome’ (1969) finally launched him as a major filmmaker, both nationally and internationally. ‘Bhuvan Shome’ also initiated the “New Cinema” film movement in India.
His next few films were overtly political and earned him the reputation as a Marxist artist. This was also the time of large-scale political unrest throughout India, particularly in and around Calcutta. This phase was immediately followed by a series of films where he shifted his focus, and instead of looking for enemies outside, he looked for the enemy within his own middle-class society. This was arguably his most creative phase and won him a large number of international awards.
During his career, Mrinal Sen’s film have received awards from almost all major film festivals, including Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Moscow, Karlovy Vary, Montreal, Chicago, and Cairo. Retrospectives of his films have been shown in almost all major cities of the world.
Since I had no opportunity to watch the film, I am not aware as to what context the song is played in the background. In the snippets of the song, Mrinal Sen (Chanchal Chowdhury) is seen walking in the midst of extreme violence let loose during the Naxalite movement in Calcutta (Kolkata). Probably, the song is played as a motivation as well as the hope for the future – both for the sufferers from the movement as well as for those who have been exploited for years. Boradly, the song conveys that so far as one is alive, have faith in yourselves to bring the heaven on earth. Metaphorically, Shailendra emphases the strength of human determination to make the world a better place to live like the heaven.
Lyrics by Shailendra as well as the way Sonu Nigam and Arjit Singh have rendered them have given me goosebumps.
I have also attached the audio clip of the original NFS for musical comparison. The song is rendered by male and female Chorus singers of the Bombay Youth Choir with two addtional stanzas.
Incidentally, the tune of the song was re-used by Salil Chaudhary for bhulaa do zindagee ke gham in ‘Mem Didi’ (1961),
Audio Clip(With montage from the film):
Video Clip (Partial)
Audio Clip(Original NFS, musically composed for IPTA):
Song-Tu zinda hai to zindagee kee jeet mein yaqeen kar(Padaatik)(Bangla)(2024) Singers-Sonu Nigam, Arjit Singh, Lyricist-Shailendra, MD-Salil Chaudhary/Indradeep DasguptaBoth
Lyrics (Based on Audio Clip):
tu zindaa hai to zindagee kee jeet mein yaqeen karagar kaheen hai swarg to utaar laa zameen par
tu zindaa hai…..
ye gham ke aur chaar din
sitam ke aur chaar din
ye din bhee jaayenge guzar
guzar gaye hazaar din
ye gham ke aur chaar din
sitam ke aur chaar din
ye din bhee jaayenge guzar
guzar gaye hazaar din
kabhee to hogee is chaman pe bhee bahaar kee nazar
agar kaheen hai swarg to utaar laa zameen par
tu zindaa hai
tu zindaa hai to zindagee kee jeet mein yakeen kar
agar kaheen hai swarg to utaar laa zameen par
tu zindaa hai…..
subah aur shaam ke range huye gagan ko choom kar
tu sun zameen gaa rahee hai kabse jhoom jhoom kar
subah aur shaam ke range huye gagan ko choom kar
tu sun zameen gaa rahee hai kabse jhoom jhoom kar
tu aa meraa shringaar kar
tu aa mujhe haseen kar
agar kaheen hai swarg to utaar laa zameen par
tu zindaa hai…..
tu zindaa hai to zindagee kee jeet mein yakeen kar
agar kaheen hai swarg to utaar laa zameen par
tu zindaa hai…..
hazaar bhes dhar ke aayee maut tere dwaar par
magar tujhe na chhal sakee chalie gayee wo haar kar
hazaar bhes dhar ke aayee maut tere dwaar par
magar tujhe na chhal sakee chalee gayee wo haar kar
nayee subah ke sang sadaa tujhe milee nayee umar
agar kaheen hai swarg to utaar laa zameen par
tu zindaa hai…..
tu zindaa hai to zindagee kee jeet mein yaqeen kar
agar kaheen hai swarg to utaar laa zameen par
tu zindaa hai…..
tu zindaa hai to zindagee kee jeet mein yaqeen kar
agar kaheen hai swarg to utaar laa zameen par
tu zindaa hai…..
buree hai aag pet kee bure hain dil ke daag ye
na dab sakenge ek din banenge inqlaab ye
buree hai aag pet kee bure hain dil ke daag ye
na dab sakenge ek din banenge inqlaab ye
girenge zulm ke mahal banenge phir naveen ghar
agar kaheen hai swarg to utaar laa zameen par
tu zindaa hai…..
tu zindaa hai to zindagee kee jeet mein yaqeen kar
agar kaheen hai swarg to utaar laa zameen par
tu zindaa hai…..
tu zindaa hai to zindagee kee jeet mein yaqeen kar
agar kaheen hai swarg to utaar laa zameen par
tu zindaa hai…..
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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