Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs

Posts Tagged ‘Gulzar


This article is written by Peevesie’s mom, 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 :

5607 Post No. : 18085

Hullo Atuldom

Like they say in some sponsored programs, I shall also say:- today’s song has been selected with the help of my daughter who is known as Peevesie to the followers of the blog. (I always feel we should acknowledge all those who help us). She is the one who pointed out that the director of the film (Paheli 2005) from which today’s song is, was someone who tried his hand at films which didn’t have the regular run-of-the-mill stories.

The director- Amol Palekar- was popular among the film viewers as someone who portrayed the guy-next-door type of characters with finesse, so much so that the audiences felt he was one of them. I am sure we can recall Ram Prasad (in minimum 2 films), Sanjay (also in 2 films of the ’70s), Vinod, at the mere mention of his name, I need not even spell out the names of the films. But, he was also known to play characters with negative shades in films like “Bhumika” (1977), “Khamosh” (1985) and “Teesra Kaun?” (1994). A look at his list of films released after 1980 shows that he was busy into making certain type of films which were diametrically opposite to ‘Naram Garam’ (1981), ‘Jeewan Dhara’ (1982), ‘Shriman Shrimati’ (1982), ‘Rang Birangi’ (1983), & many more such typical films of the ’80s. “Akriet” (1981) in Marathi, was his directorial debut, which was followed at regular intervals by ‘Ankahee’; ‘Thoda sa Roomani Ho Jaye’, and about 20 others, the last of them being the Marathi film ‘We are On! Houn Jau Dya’ which came in 2013 & which he had jointly directed with Sandhya Joglekar. Many of the films that he made are National Award winners. In addition to being an actor, producer, director he is also a trained painter, who has had a few one-man shows, being an alumnus of Mumbai’s J.J. School of Art. He was born in Bombay in 1944 & turns 79 today. Wishing Ramprasad Dashrathprasad Sharma (do I need to mention which film?) a very Happy Birthday.

Coming to “Paheli” (2005), it was produced by Shahrukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment & Gauri Khan has been credited as the producer. It had a huge cast of Rani Mukherjee, Juhi Chawla, Shahrukh Khan, Anupam Kher, Suniel Shetty, A.K. Hangal & Amitabh Bachchan in a cameo. Naseeruddin Shah & Ratna Pathak Shah’s voices were used for the puppets. M.M.Kreem was the music director & Gulzar was the lyricist. Shreya Ghoshal, Hariharan, Sukhwinder Singh, Sonu Nigam, Madhushree & Bela Shende (two new names for me) were the singers used.

Sadanandjii’s post of 15th February 2023 gives us a lot of information about the story, who wrote it originally and the way it was treated by Mani Kaul & later by Amol Palekar. I don’t think I can better that post. So let us get to the song directly.


Song-Dheere jalna dheere jalnaa (Paheli)(2005) Singers-Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal, Lyrics-Gulzar, MD-M M Kreem
Sonu Nigam + male chorus
Male + Female chorus

Lyrics

dheere jalna
dheere jalna
dheere jalna aa
zindagi ki lau pe jalna
dheere dheere dheere dheere dheere dheere jalna
zindagi ki lau pe jalna
kaanch ka sapna
gal hi na jaaye
soch samajh ke
aanch rakhna
dheere jalna aa
dheere jalna
dheere jalna aa
dheere jalna
dheere jalna
dheere jalna
dheere dheere dheere dheere dheere jalna
hona hai jo hona hai wo hone se to rukta nahin
aasmaan toh jhukta nahin ee

dheere jalna
dheere jalna
dheere jalna aa
zindagi ki lau pe jalna

tere roop ki halki dhoop mein
do hi pal hain jeene hain
teri aankh mein dekh chuka hoon
wo sapne hain seene hain
aankhon mein sapnon ki
khirche hain chubhti hain
dheere jalna
dheere jalna
dheere jalna aa
dheere dheere dheere dheere dheere jalna
hona hai jo hona hai wo hone se to rukta nahin
aasmaan to jhukta nahin ee ee

dheere jalna
dheere jalna aa
zindagi ki lau pe hmmh hmm
dheere dheere dheere dheere hmm hmmmm
hmm hmm hmm
jalna

socha na thha aa aa
zindagi aisee
phir se milegi jeene ke liye ae ae
aankhon ko o o
pyaas lagegi
apne hi aansu peene ke liye

dheere dheere dheere dheere dheere jalna aa
zindagi ki lau pe jalna
dheere jalna dheere jalna dheere jalna aa
zindagi ki lau pe jalna
kaanch ka sapna
gal hi na jaaye
soch samajh ke
aanch rakhna aa aa
dheere jalna dheere jalna dheere jalna aa
<

dheere jalna dheere jalna dheere jalna
dheere dheere dheere dheere dheere jalna
hona hai jo hona hai woh
hone se to rukta nahin
aasmaan to jhukta nahin


This article is written by Peevesie’s mom, 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 :

5590 Post No. : 18064 Movie Count :

4845

Hullo Atuldom

The blog has songs from “Shri 420” (1955), “Shrimati 420” (1956) & “Ustaad 420” (1969) – from which “Shrimati 420” is one short from being YYIIPPEEEED. Hindi films have a few more ‘420’ (char sau bees). There is a “Khiladi 420” which came in 2000 & “Chachi 420” which released in 1997. These are the 420/s that I know of, there may be one or two more films with ‘420’ in their title.

We shall focus on “Chachi 420” today, on the occasion of Kamal Haasan’s birthday. He is turning 69. He was born in a Tamil Iyengar family to a lawyer-freedom fighter father & homemaker mother. Two of his brothers- Charuhasan & Chandrahasan have also acted in Tamil films. Kamal’s nieces Anu Hasan & Suhaasini are also actresses as also his own daughters Akshara & Shruti. He was married to Bharat Natyam danseuse Vani Ganapathy and then Sarika Thakur (of Hindi Films fame). All-in-all a family of entertainers.

Kamal Haasan has also produced & directed films, has hosted a few reality shows on TV in addition to being an actor in Tamil (his base language), Malayalam, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada & also Bengali. He has a huge fan following all over South India and it is very normal to see huge cut-outs of him whenever a film of his is due to release. There are fans of his among the film-fraternity too & many of them have accepted mini to maxi roles just to be in the same frame as him. “Hey Ram!” (2000) is a case in point where Shahrukh Khan & Rani Mukherjee had small roles; even Hema Malini, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri were there in that film. He had also appeared in a Silent Film – “Pushpak” in 1987 which also had Tinnu Anand, Farida Jalal, Amala etc in the cast. It was a successful entertainer. He has experimented playing a variety of characters like a Dwarf in ‘Appu Raja’ (original Tamil title- ‘Apoorva Sagodharargal’), 4 lookalike brothers separated at birth in ‘Michael Madan Kama Rajan’ & 10 varied characters in ‘Dasaavatharam’.

“Chachi 420” was a film which had him in the role of ‘gentle lady’ for nearly half the film. It was co-written, produced & directed by Kamal Haasan. It starred Amrish Puri, Om Puri, Paresh Rawal, Johnny Walker along with Ayesha Jhulka (I think it was a guest appearance). Tabu was the heroine and Fatima Sana Shaikh was the child star. (Fatima played Geeta Phogat in the 2016 released “Dangal”.)

The film was a remake of Kamal Haasan’s 1996 released Tamil film “Avvai Shanmughi” which itself was inspired by “Mrs Doubtfire” (1993). This sentence will give the followers of the blog an idea about the movie.

For those who haven’t seen ‘Mrs Doubtfire’ or ‘Avvai Shanmughi’ or ‘Chachi 420’ here is the synopsis :-

“Wealthy Janki (Tabu) falls in love with poor Jaiprakash (Kamal Haasan), much to the displeasure of her parents, and ends up getting married, and living with her husband. She subsequently gives birth to a daughter. Differences surface between the couple, and Janki leaves Jaiprakash and moves back in with her parents. Jaiprakash wants to see his daughter, but is prevented by Durgaprasad (Amrish Puri), Janki’s dad, so he assumes the guise of a woman, calls himself Laxmi, and starts working as a nanny for his daughter. Complications arise when Durgaprasad gets attracted to Laxmi and wants to marry ‘her’.”

The dialogues by Gulzar were another highlight (imo) & the way they have been delivered- the film should be seen to enjoy that aspect. Vishal Bharadwaj was the music director & Gulzar wrote the songs.

“Macarena” a song by the Spanish pop duo Los del Rio was very popular in the early 1990s. It inspired a few Indian film makers & musicians too. “Chachi 420” also had a take-off on it . Today we shall have that song. It is filmed as “Karva Chauth” celebration song. Kamal Haasan sings for himself & Asha Bhonsle sings for Tabu (who had her birthday on 4th november. Belated wishes to her).

Let us enjoy the song – in all these years of hearing this song there are a lot of words which I haven’t deciphered specially at the start of the song. But, it is enjoyable.


Song-Jaago Gori (Chaachi 420)(1997) Singers-Kamal Hasan, Asha Bhonsle, Lyrics-Gulzar, MD-Vishal Bhardwaj
Shruti Hasan
Unknown male voice

Lyrics

Dale a tu cuerpo alegría
ae
Macarenaaa
Dale a tu cuerpo alegría
ae
Macarena
Que tu cuerpo es pa’ darle alegría
y cosa buena

jaago gori
gori jaago
jaago gori
gori jaago
haaye kundi bajaaye bulaaye sainya aa aa

main to na jaaun
na jaaun sang sainya ke
na jaaun
main to na jaaun
sang sainya ke
sainya ki moonchen karen gudgudi

roop badal ke syaane sainya aa
byaahta ko aaye byaahne sainya aa
sainya re ae ae ae ae
sainyya re
haaye
roop badalke syaane sainya
byaahta ko aaye byaahne sainya
aa aa aa aa

ae ae ae
main to na daasi
na daasi banoon sainya ki
sainya ki
main to na daasi banoon sainya ki
sainya hamaare hain matahari
chhee chhee chhee chhee
jaago gori ae ae ae ae
gori jaago
jaago gori e

dha dha dha
dhadhadhadha
dhage dhitakadda
dha ge
tatatadhagit
katakata
takaddum
takata
katadha
katadha
dakaddum
katada
tatadha
tatadha
dhadhakaddum
takadha
tatadha
tatadha

Dale a tu cuerpo alegría
ae
Macarenaaa aa aa

Dale a tu cuerpo alegría
ae
Macarenaaa aa aa

mohe na bhaaye ae ae
pee ki galiyaan aan aan aan aan
pee ki galiyaan aan aan aan
bhool bhulainyaan
mohe na bhaaye
pee ki galiyaan aan aan aan aan
pee ki galiyaan
bhool bhulainyaan
katti kaato
haan kaato
katti karlo
haan karlo
katti kaato
katti karlo
piya se kyun rootha roothi karee
jaago gori
gori jaago o o
jaago gori
gori jaago
haaye kundi bajaaye
bulaaye sainya aan aan aan
ho

naa naa
main to na jaaun
na jaaun sang sainya ke na jaaun
sainya ki moonchen karen gudgudi
hey hey sainya ki moonchen karen gudgudi
hi hi hi hi


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 :

5546 Post No. : 18008

‘Raincoat’ (2004) was produced by Shri Venkatesh Films and was directed by Rituparno Ghosh. Ajay Devgan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan were in the lead roles supported by Anu Kapoor, Mauli Ganguly, Pradip Adhikari, Kailash Koppikar, Surekha Sikri, Sameer Dharmadhikari, Kameshwar Mishra etc. The film was adapted from the story, ‘Gift of Magi’ (1906) by O Henry which has been acknowledged in the film’s credit titles. The shooting of this film was completed in 16 days in Kolkata.

The film is a poignant love story of two childhood friends, Ajay and Aishwarya Rai who get separated by the destiny. Now both married with different spouses facing financial difficulties. They meet in Kolkata and their story starts. The gist of the story of the film has already been covered in the article by K Satish Shenoy. When I had watched the film for the first time, I had no idea as to how the film would end. But it turned out to be an unexpected one. Ajay Devgan pretends to be a successful TV Serial producer to Aishwarya Rai, while she in turn, pretends to be the wife of a wealthy husband with servants, drivers, etc. In reality, both have unhappy marriage and are in financial difficulties. Their reason for pretension is not because they want to show off to each other. Both have feelings for each other this pretension is out of concern to avoid the stress for each other. Hence, it is challenging for both the lead actors and the director to maintain a delicate balance between the light humour and the poignancy. This is one of the best films I have watched in the recent period. Both Aishwarya Rai and Ajay Devgan have given excellent performances which are contrary to their images in the mainstream Hindi films.

The film had 8 songs including two songs with additional versions. All the songs were written by Rituparno Ghosh. One song has already appeared on the Blog. I am presenting the second song from the film ‘piya tora kaisa abhimaan’ to appear on the Blog. The song has two versions – one rendered by Shubha Mudgal and the second version is rendered by Hariharan. Both the songs written by Rituparno Ghosh have the shades of Brajabuli dialect. Shubha Mudgal version appears in two parts against the background of the Ajay – Aishwarya’s flashbacks as well as their meetings in Kolkata. Hariharan’s version appears on the screen partially.

In Shubha Mudgal version, Gulzar recites his poem in between two stanzas. Film’s music director, Debjyoti Mishra, in his interview which appeared in The Times of India, August 20, 2020, has revealed that Rituparno Ghosh gave Gulzar a Bangla poem written by Shakti Chattopadhyay and requested him to write a poem in Hindi incorporating the same feelings and emotions as is in the Bangla poem. Instead of translating the Bangla poem, Gulzar wrote a fresh Hindi poem, keeping the feelings and emotions in the Bangla poem. He recited the poem interspersed with the song with his specialty in using metaphors and imagery in this poem.

In this song, Rituparno Ghosh has equated the love between Aishwarya Rai and Ajay Devgan with that of Radha-Krishna whose love for each other is eternal because their love did not result in their union. So, when Krishna married Rukmini, Radha’s love for Krishna remained the same. There are beautiful verses in the both the versions of the songs written by Rituparno Ghosh which I am discussing below:

saghan saawan laayi kadam bahaar
Mathura se doli laaye chaaron kahaar
nahin aaye kesariya balma hamaar
angana bada sunsaan

The heavy rains of saawan has made kadamba trees blossom.
Four kahaars (palanquin carriers) have brought palanquin from Mathura.
Alas, my kesariya balam (Krishna) did not come.
The ceremonial place is deserted.

Note: ‘Kahaar’ is a caste in North India who are water carriers, boatman, even fishermen. They are generally used for carrying palanquin.

apne nayan se neer bahaaye
apni Jamuna khud aap hi banaawe
lakh baar usmein hi nahaaye
poora na huyi asnaan
sookhe kesh rukhe besh manwa bejaan

I cried and shed tears from my own eyes.
I cried so much as if I bathed in the water of Jamuna River.
I bathed umpteen times, but I have not felt like completing my bath.
My hair and face have dried up. My heart has become lifeless.

bol sakhi kaahe kari saajo singaar
na pahinab aabhushana kaanchan haar
khali chandan laga ang maa hamaar
chandan garal samaan

Ae sakhi, why should I dress up to look nice?
I will not wear jewellery nor the gold pedant.
I will apply sandalwood paste all over my body.
Because sandalwood is like poison.

garal=poison

Note: Applying sandalwood paste is like becoming a saintly woman, who has renounced all worldly things. There is a saying ‘chandan garal samaan’ which means sandalwood is like a poison. According to a mythological belief, sandalwood trees are the abode of venomous snakes who encircle the sandalwood trees for shades but cannot poison the sandalwood trees. In this context, Rahim had said in one of his Dohas, ‘chandan vish vyaapat naahi, lipat rahat bhujang’.

And this article will not be complete if I do not discuss the unusual metaphors Gulzar Saab have used in his poems to bring out the pains of separation and longing.

aur seelan iss tarah bahati hai jaise
khushk rukhsaaron pe gile aansoo bahaten hain

The water from dampness (on the wall) is flowing like wet tears flowing on the dried cheeks. [Only Gulzar Saab can imagine ‘gile aansoo’ (wet tears). Probably, Gulzaar Saab is differentiating with those tears which do not come out in the open and flow].

ye baarish gungunati thhee isi chat ke munderon par
ye ghar ki khidkiyon ke kaanch par ungli se likh jaati thhee sandese
bilakhti rahti hai baithi huyi ab band roshandaanon ke peechhe

Rain used to give a humming sound on the terrace.
They would write messages over the glass frames of the windows.
Now, they sit behind the closed roshandaans, weeping.

Roshandaan: There seems to be no equivalent meaning in English for Roshandaan. The closest meaning would be a Ventilator with a glass frame which the old houses would generally have on the roof, high on the main walls of the house or above the windows for sunlight and breeze. During rains, roshandaan is kept closed.

dupharen aisi lagti hai bina moharon ke khaali khaane rakhen hain
na koi khelne waala hai baazi aur na koi chal chalta hai

The afternoons feel like an empty chess board with no chess pieces.
No one plays the game and no one makes a move.

Female version
Video Clip:

Male Version:
Video Clip (Partial):

Audio Clip:

Song-Piya toraa kaisa abhimaan (Raincoat)(2004) Singer-Shubha Mudgal/ Hariharan, Lyrics-Rituparno Ghosh, MD-Debjyoti Mishra

Lyrics

I. Female Version (Shubha Mudgal)
Lyrics (Based on Video Clip):Shubha Mudgal, Gulzar (poetry recitation)

piya tora kaisa abhimaan
piya tora…aa aa
kaisa
abhimaan

kisi mausam ka jhonka thhaa
(aa aa aa aa aa aaa)
jo iss deewaar par latki huyi tasweer tirchhi kar gaya hai
(aa aa aa aa aa aa aaa)
gaye saawan mein ye deewaaren youn seeli nahi thhee
(aa aa aa aa aa aa aaa)
na jaane iss dafa kyun inmein seelan aa gayi hai
(aa aa aa aa aa aa aaa)
daraaren pad gayin hain
(aa aa aa aa aa aa aaa)
aur seelan iss tarah bahati hai jaise
(aa aa aa aa aa aa aaa)
khushk rukhsaaron pe geele aansoo behte hain
(aa aa aa aa aa aa aaa)

saghan saawan laayi
kadam bahaar
Mathura se doli laaye
chaaron kahaar
nahin aaye…………ae
nahin aaye….ae ae
kesariya balmaa aa hamaar
angna bada sunsaan
ye baarish gungunaati thhee
isi chhat ke munderon par
ye baarish gungunaati thhee
isi chhat ke munderon par
ye ghar ki khidkiyon ke kaanch par
ungli se likh jaati thi sandese
bilakhti rahti hai baithhi huyi
ab band roshandaanon ke peechhe

apne nayan se neer bahaaye
apni Jamuna khud aap hi banaawe
apne nayan se neer bahaaye
apni Jamuna khud aap hi banaawe
aa aaaa aaaa aaaa
dupaharen aisi lagti hain
bina moharon ke khaali khaane rakhe hai
na koi khelane waala hai baazi
aur na koi chaal chalta hai

laakh baar usmein hi nahaaye……….
poora na huyi asnaa…….n
phir poora na huyi asnaa…..n
sookhe kes
rukhe bhes
manwa..aa bejaan

na din hota hai ab na raat hoti hai
sabhi kuchh ruk gaya hai
kisi mausam ka jhoka thhaa
jo iss deewaar par latki huyi tasweer tirchhi kar gaya

piya tora kaisa abhimaan
tora..aa aa aa
piya tora….
tora
tora…..aa
kaisa abhimaan
piya……aa
piya…….aa
piya……..aa

——————————–
II. Male Version (Hariharan)
——————————–
Lyrics:(based on Audio Clip)

piya tora kaisa abhimaan
piya tora…..aa aa aa
kaisa abhimaan
saghan saawan layi
kadam bahaar
Mathura se doli laaye
chaaron kahaar
saghan saawan laayi
kadam bahaar
Mathura se doli laaye
chaaron kahaar
nahin aaye……..ae ae ae
nahin aaye….ae
kesariya baalam hamaar
angna bada sunsaa…n
piya tora……..aaaaa
piya tora kaisa abhimaan

apne nayan se neer bahaaye
apni Jamuna khud aap hi banaawe
apne nayan se neer bahaaye
apni Jamuna khud aap hi banaawe
laakh baar usmein hi nahaaye ae
poora na hoyi asnaa…..n
poora na hoyi asnaa…..n
sookhe kes
rookhe bhes
manwa aa bejaan
piya tora aa…aa
piya tora
piya tora kaisa abhimaan
piya tora..aa kaisa abhimaan

bol sakhi kaahe kari saajo singaar
na pahin ab aabhusana kaanchan haar
bol sakhi kaahe kari saajo singaar
na pahin ab aabhusana kaanchan haar
khaali chandan laga ang maa hamaar
chandan garal samaan
piya tora…aa aa
piya tora kaisa abhimaan
piya tora…..aa aa kaisa abhimaan
abhimaan
kaisa abhimaan


This article is written by Sudhir, 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.

This is the 17,900th song on our blog.

Blog Day :

5477 Post No. : 17900

Pray, what may be the most dear thing in this life?

Something that will never grow old, or stale. Something that will never be lost in life. Something that will only grow fonder with the passage of time. What is that thing?

Memories of Happiness. The most wonderful possession a person can have. The most valuable treasure that will last a lifetime. A treasure that will never diminish. It will only grow with the passage of time. For all the happy moments we experience and we relish, as the moments pass, they become memories. To stay in our treasure chest of memory cells, forever. To be visited and revisited over passing years, the thoughts of the happy times that are in the past now, bring back smile to the lips, a twinkle in the eyes, a fond quickening of the heart beats, as these happy memories flash on our mind’s screen, as and when.

These Memories of Happiness get created when one passes through unforgettable moments of happiness. Especially moments those are enjoyed with people who are near and dear to the heart – dearly loved ones, family and friends. And this basket of Happiness Memories keeps on filling up more and more.

Sometimes rare events happen in life that bring more happiness to the mind. About six weeks ago, I was part of a gathering of very dear friends. It was a rare and opportune get together. And I came away from this meeting with my arms and mind loaded with more Memories of Happiness that I felt I could accommodate in my memory banks. But these memory banks are unconditionally expandable. They create more space to store, the more we bring in to store.

The moments were rare, the gathering was joyful and the memories of that day are divine – well, almost. The occasion was the get together of the Bandwagoneers of the ASAD blog. Many travelled long distances to be present, to participate and to share. All of us keep in touch on a fairly regular, almost daily basis otherwise. But actual face meetings, where one can see and touch and hear the sound live – such occasions have been very rare. For one reason that the entire team is so spread out across the nation that it is not easily feasible to make such meetings happen.

But make it happen this time, we did. It seems that with the passage of time, our options and opportunities to travel are actually becoming more and more limited. I remember Atul ji used to visit Delhi, if not frequently, but often, for his work at the Railways Ministry in Delhi. Likewise, Mahesh ji has earlier traveled to Delhi on work a couple of times. I remember pre-pandemic days when Bakhshish ji and I would be visiting Bombay at least twice a year or so. Some things changed with the pandemic. The necessity to telecommute brought in rapid advancement in networking, and the connectivity requirements brought in many a software that support virtual meetings and conferencing across geographies. The communication patterns changed and transitioned so much that the need for humans to travel out physically has been reduced. And this physical transformation also fuelled a mental transformation, wherein starting from professional work and permeating into personal lives also, people have started preferring remote conferencing.

Ah but, where the matters of heart are involved, where the friends and family need to converse, there is still this urge to be able to meet in person and have a face to face interaction.

And so it finally took shape and happened. For Bakhshish ji and myself, coming to Bombay is such a fulfilling and a rejuvenating experience. There is a large friend circle, and there is an interaction need that it seems only natural that we would like to visit there. Circumstances prohibited us from travelling for many years, but then the urge for meeting friends in person just grew over the past few months. Once we could firm up travel plans, after that the flow of events simply took shape and took over. It is just like one says – you resolve to get something done, and just that resolve makes so many things happen to facilitate desired endeavors and activities.

After a flurry of back and forth messages, going up and down, both on the networks and in terms of actual planning, we finally zeroed in on the schedule and venue. Information was shared with all concerned members of the bandwagon, and it was then just a go.

Friday, the 2nd of June, the meeting time set at 11 am, and we were to converge at dear Arun ji’s place at Four Bungalows. Team members consented to join, and expectations were set up with eagerness. And the icing on the cake was the surprise arrival of some, that added so much more joy.

Bakhshsish ji and I were staying with Subhash Bhai at Matunga. Time to reach Arun ji’s place was 11 am. Subhash Bhai agreed to join us, and so we three travelled to Andheri and on to Versova. It was a kind of unstated decision that since Bakhshish Singh ji was accompanying us, our target to reach Arun ji’s place should be 12 noon. 😀  And so we arrived precisely at 12 noon, give or take a few minutes (as is chalta hai 😉 ).

As we rang the bell, with the expectation to see a round bespectacled face with a big smile, the opening turned into a huge pleasant surprise. We did see a bespectacled face welcoming us with a beaming smile, albeit this face belonged to Nalini ji. And that was the big happy surprise because in earlier communications, she had expressed inability to join and had declined the invite. And this big happy surprise set the ball rolling for the many hours of togetherness that followed.

Entering the apartment, we found practically all expected attendees to be present. There was a lot of cheer and handshakes and hugs and back thumping all around. It is always such a pleasure to meet Arun ji, for a there is a special feeling in my heart for him. When I meet him, I am always so comforted to see his smiling face and smiling eyes above the thick bushy moustache that I immediately have to hug him. So after the joyful Nalini ji surprise to start with, I had the hug time with Arun ji, and then we proceed into the apartment.

Folks that were already present – Sadnand ji, Nitin ji, Avinash ji. And Satish ji. It is always such a pleasure to meet Sadanand ji with a big smile on his face, always ready with a crack to make you laugh. Nitin ji is a dear person to meet as always. And then the first time face meeting with Avinash ji. Avinash ji was supposed to have joined one of our earliest gangouts in Bombay, but inclement weather kept him confined that time, and he could not travel. But make it he did, this time. In fact he had arrived the previous evening and had stayed with Arun ji.

I mentioned these three bandwagoneers together, for the reason that all three have faces that are almost spherical with partial balding already taking roots on the pate. And then I come to Satish ji. Dear dear Satish ji, a person that I have been so eagerly looking forward to meet. In fact, I was also very much wanting to and almost half expecting to see Pradeep Shetty ji also. Ah but yes, he did make a virtual appearance later in the proceedings. I will come to that.

There is a special bonding I feel with these two gentlemen, whom I have not met in person before. But both are very special for me, in that there is a daily very special greetings exchange with these two very early in the mornings. The timing and connect is so synchronized and so definite like the sunrise itself, that at some earlier time, I mistakenly addressed them by the other person’s name. well, it has not happened now of late. And so, yes, meeting with Satish ji was such a special thing for me that day.

The quorum is always complete with the arrival of Bakhshish Singh ji (for obvious reasons) no matter how many are present or will join. And so we settled down and the conversations flowed. We were gathered that day with an absence of any agenda – a conscious decision that Arun ji had discussed earlier. And so we were there, and waiting now for the other expected joinees.

We were waiting for three very special people to come. The most important – Atul ji, our fearless leader. He had informed earlier that his flight was being rescheduled by the airline and he was expected almost an hour or so later than his earlier communicated schedule. So he was the next to arrive, reaching directly from the airport.

Another person who has a very special place in my heart. All for the manner in which he manages all the activities of the blog. Seems to completely indefatigable and tireless, with such an unfaltering focus on the continued success of the blog. And the self evident performance is there for all to see. In an age and time of continuing transformations of activities and fortunes of online endeavors, ASAD stands out as a bright beacon that I daresay, is an envy of many other bloggers. We shall soon be celebrating the 15th anniversary of sustained activity, which could well be a celebrated record in comparison to similar online efforts. And we continue to merrily chug along and keep conquering newer and higher milestones. All the due credit goes to Atul ji and his tireless stewardship of this musical bandwagon. It is an honor to be associated with him and this blog.

Personally, I had a agenda of my own, to address two items related to the blog. But for that I needed to have a go ahead from Atul ji. So as soon as he came in, and after the meetings and greetings, I requested a separate five minutes from him, and we conversed in the adjoining room. I explained to him what was on my mind, and he readily agreed. I said want to talk about this with the group, with his permission, and he said yes once again. I will mention these items little later in this write up.

Now we were waiting for Peevesie and Peevesie’s Hubby. In real life, it is Vaidehi and Ishan. Vaidehi had been in communication with her mom since morning. They were both attending some important work related discussions, and had promised to join after that. Only that their timing kept on getting delayed. Then Arun ji suggested that we should take lunch, and they can join as soon as they arrive. As usual, I was requested to begin and to continue holding the fort (I mean the plate) till their arrival and so give them company too. A matter after my own heart so I readily accepted the honor.

So the lunch was served. Arun ji mentioned the great help that had been provided by Nalini ji, in sorting out the menu, and Avinash ji, in helping to manage the logistics. Due to other family commitments that were in conflict that day, the Event Management Company of Arun ji’s daughters, was not able to participate. But nonetheless, the lunch arrangement was well planned, well laid out and a roaring success. I can definitely say that from my perspective. 😀  The innovative idea of Nalini ji to suggest and make arrangement for Aam Ras, was a definite high point of the lunch.

And so the lunch proceedings happened. I held on to my plate and after some wait, the expected film couple arrived. The first order of the agenda after their arrival and intros and greetings, was to briefly celebrate Arun ji’s upcoming birthday, which was then just a week or so ahead. Vaidehi had brought a little gift and flowers, and we all sang the Happy Birthday song for the birthday boy.

Lunch proceedings continued with yours truly holding the fort and giving company to the newest addition to the gathering.

Once we settled down after lunch, and with permission from Atul ji, I asked for attention of the gathering for my agenda items. The first item was presenting two hard disks to the group, one to Atul ji, and one to Arun ji to keep as a sharing item with folks in Bombay. I explained to the gathering about the contents of these disks. Our blog had recently complete 17,800 posts. The hard disks contained ALL the 18,000 plus songs that have been posted on our blog since initiation. The songs are arranged in three ways – serially by post number, by film name, and by year and film name, for ease of access. This collection is important since the on the blog, all the songs may not be always available, as the online links keep on changing over time.

Then I proceeded to talk about my second agenda item. This was concerned with some feedback about the blog that I had received and I wanted to share with all group members. So I told the gathered members, the background and the details.

Earlier in the year, in the month of February, an exhibition had been arranged in Delhi by a friend, Ravikant ji. Ravikant ji is an Associate Professor at CSDS (Center for Study of Developing Societies) in Delhi. His main area of research interest is art and culture, which includes films and music. In Delhi, we are actively associated in working together in this area. He had organized an exhibition in February (21-28) titled ‘Intermediations’. The focus of this exhibition was the interplay of the film medium with the print medium and the broadcast medium. The tag line for this exhibition was ‘Panna, Parda, Baaja’, referring to print media, cinema and radio. The main theme of this exhibition was archiving. Every day in the afternoon/evening we had talks and panel discussions. I too was invited to be on the panel on one of the days. And I had talked about the archiving of Hindi film music from the perspective of our blog. I had described how our blog was set up, how it is sustained, and what are our singular achievements. I specifically mentioned how Atul ji set up this activity, and the manner in which it is being sustained. I also told the audience about Arun ji, about his notebooks, and his continued effort to research and gather information related to people and films. All this in recognition the archiving objective of this major entertainment media in our country.

Ravikant ji had insisted that I should attend all sessions. One significant outcome of this interaction was that I met with a lot of people for the first time. People who are managing other blogs and archives, people who are writers and research workers in related fields, people who are anchors and presenters on AIR and other music shows etc. It was very exhilarating experience to be able to meet so many likeminded people all at once.

And the fun part of my introductions with these people – no one knew me of course, by name. But when I mentioned that I am associated with AtulSongADay blog, my goodness, their reactions were unbelievable. Most people knew of our blog. Most people continuously use our blog as a reference archive. Most people are in awe about the manner in which this blog is scaling newer and newer heights. Everyone greatly praised our effort, especially our team work once I mentioned that this is a group working together. People were not familiar with specific names, but some people did mention both Atul ji and Arun ji by name.

So this was a very uplifting and satisfying experience for me. But then, there was also some feedback that some friends mentioned. Number one – that it appeared that we were posting more to capture some number milestone, at the cost of content of the posts. And number two – that of late, the readers find very little discussion about the songs themselves. I expressed this feedback and the sentiment to the present group members and there was a brief discussion on this topic.

I think these are important inputs for all of us. It seems that the people who are visiting the blog are looking for more content, that simply getting the demographic info about the song and the film. I found it important enough to bring this feedback with me to this gathering of our group. I had first mentioned this to Atul ji in my brief one-on-one conversation with him, and then with his approval I shared with the rest of the team.

All this while, as the birthday song was being sung, as the hard disk was being presented, as the conversations were in progress, a lot of photographs were taken of the day’s proceedings. Especially Ishan, who is an expert with camera, captured a lot of images. As did many of us with our phone cameras.

As the afternoon moved on, Vaidehi and Ishan excused themselves and took leave, as they had more meetings to attend related to their work. It is such a pleasure always to meet the youngest member of the group. And this time, it was in accompaniment with interest earned – the latest addition in form of Ishan. A thorough gentleman and a very friendly person – it was a real pleasure to be introduced to him. Goodbyes were made with Vaidehi promising to return to the return to blog with more of her pen(wo)manship.

Shortly thereafter Satish ji announced that it was time for his flight and that his cab was arriving in a few minutes. There were more handshakes and hugs as he stood up to depart. A quiet person, with such a pleasant smile and an affable presence, it seems so comforting to be in his company. I hope that we plan to meet again very soon.

Then Atul ji announced that his flight time was at hand, and that his daughter had booked a cab for him to go to the airport. So with due goodbyes and handshakes etc. Atul ji departed for the airport. A wonderful day of meeting great friends was now coming to a close. The remaining group members, we talked for some more time. As these conversations were going on, a video phone call came. It was Mahesh ji calling in to connect into the group, and with him, Pradeep Shetty ji also was there. I have mentioned earlier about wanting to meet Pradeep ji. And so this call was a heaven sent answer to my thoughts. The network was creating difficulty but still we were able to exchange greetings and have a live conversation – one step further from exchanging morning greetings.

Evening was closing in, and we decided to call it a day. There still is so much to talk about and share. Music has this effect on people, and that is the glue that keeps this group together. And the heart expressed the desire that these meetings should happen more often. There already has been a big gap due to other circumstances.

It was a wonderful day of meeting so many good friends all under one roof. As we were doing the good byes for the day, my mind working over the day’s happy proceedings, coined the a new realization. That we were departing from Arun ji’s home with a wonderful ton of Memories – of Happiness. Gosh, what a memorable day it had been, spent in the company of so many dear friends one continuously communicates with on a daily basis, and today it was as if an assembly designed and crafted in heavens.

And these memories are now forever tucked into our mind’s storage, to be revisited as and when the mind felt it to be. A day that will never be forgotten. Rather to put it straight – a day that is forever now one of my most wonderful Memories of Happiness.

The song I present today is from the 1966 film ‘Biwi Aur Makaan’. The lyrics are by Gulzar and music is from the mind of Hemant Kumar. The singing voices are those of Manna Dey, Hemant Kumar, Balbir and Ghulam Mohammed. On screen, the song is picturized on a group of ‘जिगरी दोस्त’ whose motto is ‘all for one, and one for all’. The group consists of Mehmood, Biswajit, Keshto Mukherjee, Ashish Kumar and Ajit Chatterji. The story line deals with the problem of young unmarried men trying to get rental accommodation in a world where the landlords prfer to rent out premises to married couples only. The outcome of the scheming brain of Pande (Mehmood) is a hilarious set of events that involves an artificial gender change for two of the men.

The film is produced under the banner of Geetanjali Films Bombay and is directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee. This song tells of the wonderful value of friendship – that there are no obligations between true friends. A ha, a topic that I want to write about more in detail, but I think I should stop and not test the patience of readers any more.

A wonderful ode to friendship – the kind of friendship and camaraderie that is existing among the member of our musical bandwagon.

This song, and this write up – dedicated to our entire group – with everlasting Memories of Happiness.

Amen

 

Video (Somewhat shorter in beginning)

Audio

Song – Jab Dosti Hoti Hai To Dosti Hoti Hai  (Biwi Aur Makaan) (1966) Singer – Manna Dey, Hemant Kumar, Balbir, Ghulam Mohammed, Lyrics – Gulzar, MD – Hemant Kumar

Lyrics
(Based on Audio)

yaar kisan ye to hadd ho gayi
yaaron ki to gat ho gayi
sirf ehsaan hi baaki reh gaye
dosti yaari radd ho gayi
pyaar mein duniyadarri kaisi
muft ki cheez nagad ho gayi
chhee chhee yaar ki ye pehchaan
dosti mein kaisa ehsaan
jab dosti hoti hai to . . . .(deep breath)

ehsaa..aan nahin hota
jab dosti hoti hai
to dosti hoti hai
aur doston mein koi
ehsaan nahin hota
jab dosti hoti hai
jab dosti hoti hai
to dosti hoti hai
aur doston mein koi
ehsaan nahin hota
jab dosti hoti hai

arey jal bin tadpat machhli jaise
nal bin tadpat paani
jal bin tadpat machhli jaise
nal bin tadpat paani
kya.. kya
kya.. kya.. kya.. kya
kya.. kya
jal bin tarpat machhli jaise
nal bin tarpat paani
ho o
jal bin tarpat machhli jaise
nal bin tarpat paani
aur haath paani bina chalte. . .
ashnaa..aan nahin hota
jab dosti hoti hai
to dosti hoti hai
aur doston mein koi
ehsaan nahin hota
jab dosti hoti hai

ye paanchon ki panchaayat
jo soche sahi hoga
hum pandav hain bharat ke
jo keh den wahi hoga
ye paanchon ki panchaayat
jo soche sahi hoga
hum pandav hain bharat ke
jo keh den wahi hoga
oy jam ke ek jamaa doo..oo..oon
doodh ka dahi hoga
to doodh ka dahi hoga
mera kya prabhu kehat hai peeda
jeevan kaaj karam kashteera
bhai mera kya prabhu kehat hai peeda
jeevan kaaj karam kashteera
aur haath kasht bina ye jeevan. . .
asaa..aa..aan nahin hota
jab dosti hoti hai
to dosti hoti hai
aur doston mein koi
ehsaan nahin hota
jab dosti hoti hai

ungli se ungli ka jab tak jod salaamat
saath salaamat
chhoti aur badi hai to kya
paanchon hain to haath salaamat
ek ek ke hain paanch muqaddar
taqleef hotey ghabraana mat
saaje jod jawaani bachpan
paanch se paanch miley to pachpan
paanchon saath hain to. . . (deep breath)
nuksaa..aa..aan nahin hota
jab dosti hoti hai
to dosti hoti hai
aur doston mein koi
ehsaan nahin hota
jab dosti hoti hai
jab dosti hoti hai
to dosti hoti hai
aur doston mein koi
ehsaan nahin hota
jab dosti hoti hai


This article is written by Peevesie’s mom, 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 :

5446 Post No. : 17848

Hullo Atuldom

Hemanta Mukhopadhyay a.k.a. Hemant Kumar was a music director/ singer whose career spanned from the late 1930s (not sure about this, am open to being corrected) to 1989. He was fond of singing & music is said to have quit academics to focus on a career in music.(detailed biography is available in this post by our Sudhirji) .

His first film song was in Bengali under S D Burman’s music direction. His first film as music director was also in Bengali. He is said to have moved to Mumbai at the behest of Hemen Gupta who called upon Hemant Kumar to compose music for his (Hemen Gupta’s) Hindi directorial debut ‘Anandmath’ in 1951. I am sure that there are many followers of this blog who know about Hemant Kumar’s musical journey which began in Bengali films and spread to other languages like Odia, Marathi, Gujarati, Assamese, Tamil, Punjabi, Bhojpuri, Konkani, Sanskrit, Urdu in addition to Hindi films. He has sung many non-film songs, & was an exponent of Rabindra Sangeet and perhaps the most sought after male singer. His velvet voice was extensively used as playback for Uttam Kumar (in Bengali), Dev Anand, Sunil Dutt, Pradeep kumar etc (in Hindi).

The blog has 320 of his Hindi songs as music director, 228 (including 8 of his NFS) of his 322 as singer. All these I am mentioning are only from Hindi films, his numbers from other languages- I am unaware of.

For this post, remembering him on his 103rd birth anniversary, we shall have a song from the 1969 released “Raahgeer” (also written as “Rahgir”). This was a movie that was produced by Hemant Kumar under the banner of his Geetanjali Pictures. It was directed by Tarun Majumdar had music by Hemant Kumar (himself) and Gulzar was the lyricist. Asha Bhonsle, Usha Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey, Lata Mangeshkar, Aarti Mukherjee, Sulakshana Pandit, & Hemantda as the playback singers. Biswajit, Sandhya Roy, Nirupa Roy, Shashikala, Kanhaiyalal, Iftikaar etc in the cast. There were 10 songs in the film and the following six are already on the blog.

Song Date of post Remarks
Janam se banjaaraa hoon bandhu 19 September 2011
Tumhaare nain dekh ke suna hai 27 October 2013 Post by Sudhirji. 8900th post of the blog. 200th song of Hemantda as music director & is a full biography of the legend
Mitwa re bhool gaye thhe 6 July 2016 Post by Avinashji. Has brief synopsis of the movie
Vaidh ke palle pade 13 July 2018
Baabu ghabraate hain 17 July 2018
Panchhi re udey gagan gagan mast magan 25 June 2022 Post by Avinashji.

Today’s song is in the voice of Hemant Kumar.


Song-Kabhi ruk gaye hain kabhi chal diye (Raahgeer)(1969) singer-Hemant Kumar, Lyrics-Gulzar, MD-Hemant Kumar
Chorus

Lyrics

mujhko dosh na dena bandhu
mera koi do o o sh nahin
kisko de kar
aaya thha dil
kis’se maanga
ho o osh nahin

kabhi ruk gaye hain
kabhi chal diye
na jaane kise dhoondhte hain safar mein
kabhi ruk gaye hain
kabhi chal diye
kise kho diya thha
na jaane dagar mein
kise kho diya thha
na jaane dagar mein
na jaane kise dhoondhte hain safar mein

akele rahe zindagi bhar akele
na dil saath aaya
na gham saath aaye
hmm mm mmm hmm mm mm
hmm mm mm hmm mm mm

akele rahe zindagi bhar akele
na dil saath aaya
na gham saath aaye
yahi raaste jinki manzil nahin thhi
yahi raaste jinki manzil nahin thhi
yahi saath thhe
bas yahi saath aaye
kabhi ruk gaye hain
kabhi chal diye

kabhi maang kar le liye gham kisi ke
kabhi apne gham kar diye hain paraaye
hmm mm mmm hmm mm mm
hmm mm mm hmm mm mm

kabhi maang kar le liye gham kisi ke
kabhi apne gham kar diye hain paraaye
ye bedard yaaden
ye hamdard aansoo
ye bedard yaaden
ye hamdard aansoo
badi door tak chhodne saath aaye
kabhi ruk gaye hain
kabhi chal diye

kinaara mila jo kinaara nahin thha
bahaana thha koi
sahaara nahin thha
yahi ek dil
jisko samjhe thhe apna
yahi ek dil
jisko samjhe thhe apna
na jaane thha kiska
hamaara nahin thha aa aa aa aa


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 :

5435 Post No. : 17822 Movie Count :

4763

Today, June 05, 2023, is the 50th anniversary of World Environment Day led by United Nations Environment Programme since 1973.

The main components of environment are atmosphere (air), lithosphere (rocks and soil), hydrosphere (water) and biosphere (living things). We have been told as to how the degradation of each of these components of environment have taken place during the last 5 decades. Some of the environmentalists have personally undertaken the studies of degradation over a period of time and their results are eye opener.

How does the degradation of environment take place? Aitareya Upanishad says that this world is made up of five elements – earth, water, sun, air, and sky. A proper balance has to be maintained between these elements and the living creatures. Any major imbalances between these elements vis-à-vis living creatures can cause environmental degradation, putting the human life in danger. One can visualise how a rising population on earth can create a disequilibrium in all the five elements leading to degradation of environment.

The conservation of environment has been one of the important topics in India’s culture and traditions since the Vedic period. In Yajurveda, there are verses highlighting the importance of protecting environment. It says that destruction of forests is dangerous for human life and for the nation. The pollution of natural environment causes destruction of vegetation which can damage the human life. Apart from Vedas, the conservation of environment is also discussed in Upanishads, Puranas, Bhagwat Geeta, Kautilya’s Arthashastra etc.

A verse in Matsya Purana has beautifully described the importance of a tree:

दश कूप समावापी, दस वापी समो हदः।
दशहदसमः पुत्रः, दस पुत्र समोद्रुमः।

A pond is equivalent to 10 wells, 10 ponds are equivalent to one reservoir, 10 reservoirs is equivalent to one son and 10 sons are equivalent to one tree.

Guru Jambheshwar, the founder of the Bishnoi sect in the early 15th century had given 29 commandments to his followers. One of these commandments is to protect animals, birds, and trees. Bishnoi sect meticulously follows these commandments. I had visited four Bishnoi villages in December 2013 which are in the radius of 25-30 kms from Jodhpur. It was a pleasant surprise for me to watch Blackbuck Deers (in the list of endangered wildlife species), Gazelles, peacocks. wild fowls etc, roaming freely around villages without any fear of human beings because Bishnoi villagers would not harm them.

Khejarli was one of the four Bishnoi villages I visited, the name of the village being derived from khejari trees which are abundant in the village. Khejari trees effectively stop the spread of sand dunes thus controlling the expansion of desert. In the early 18th century, Khejarli village was probably the first to start the ‘Chipko’ like movement in India. It was also the first bloodiest environmental protection movement in the history of any country. Amrita Devi Bishnoi of Khejarli village and her three young daughters laid down their lives to protect the Khejari trees which the Maharaja of Jodhpur had ordered to be cut for building his new palace. The motto of the villagers, who belonged to Bishnoi sect, was that it was cheap to sacrifice a head then cut a tree. In this ‘Chipko’ movement, 363 villagers sacrificed their lives to protect Khejari trees. Soon Maharaja realised his mistake and ordered stoppage of felling Khejari trees. There is a memorial made in red sand stones in honour of the martyrs of Khejarli village.

Probably, the sacrifices of Bishnoi of Khejarli village may have inspired the Chipko Movement started by Sunderlal Bahuguna, Gaura Devi and others in Uttarakhand in 1970. It was a non-violent movement in which women participated in large numbers by embracing the trees in forest which were given on contract for cutting. Most of the time, contractors’ men had to go back without cutting the trees. Finally, Government of India issued a notification in 1980 for a complete ban on felling the trees in Uttarakhand for the next 15 years or until the green cover is fully restored.

A study by Hannah Ritchie shows that from the beginning of the 20th century till 2018, the world has lost the forest coverage by 10 per cent. And it is not due to urbanization alone. The fact is that the loss in forest coverage was overwhelmingly due to increase in agricultural and grazing land. Urbanisation accounted for just 1 percent of the habitable land. This means that the increased population needs more to eat than places to live. Of course, this may not be entirely true in the Indian context. Being a developing country, now with a largest population in the world, urbanisation may be one of the key reasons for the deforestation in India. The authorities may claim that planted trees compensate for forests lost, but that does not mean complex flora and fauna destroyed along with cutting of trees have been restored. The reason is when trees in the forest are cut, the plants and shrubs underneath the trees also get destroyed. The new trees planted in the place of the trees already cut may not provide flora (plants and shrubs) which is essential for the survival of the fauna (animal, birds and insects).

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of World Environment Day, I have selected the film ‘Sherdil – The Pilibhit Saga’ (2022) for exploration. The film is jointly produced by T-Series and Reliance Entertainment and is directed by Srijit Mukherji. Pankaj Tripathi, Sayani Gupta, and Niraj Kabi have played the pivotal roles in the film. The film got theatrical release on June 24, 2022 and later released on OTT platforms on August 20, 2022. I have watched the film on OTT platform mainly because Pankaj Tripathi was in the lead role and I admire his acting prowess.

The film is a satirical drama which is based on a real-life reported incidence in 2017 in a poverty-stricken village at the edge of Pilibhit Tiger Reserve where farmers indulged in a practice of sending one of their elderly persons to the forest to be mauled by tigers to claim the compensation of Rs.10 lakhs from the Government. They had to do this as villagers had lost their crops either damaged by wild animals or by flood/draught for the consecutive years. The bureaucratic red tape prevented the villagers from getting the financial compensation from the Government.

The gist of the story of the film is as under:

Gangaram (Pankaj Tripathi), the Sarpanch of the village takes the onus of becoming a ‘tiger martyr’ so that the amount of compensation can take care of the poverty-stricken village. He convinces his wife and the mother by lying that he has cancer which is in 4th stage, and he has only 3 months to live. So why not he gets killed by a tiger and get compensation. His family is not convinced but nonetheless, he leaves for the Tiger Reserve forest against the wishes of his family. He spends nearly a week in the Tiger Reserve forest without sighting any tigers.

One day, Gangaram meets Jim (Niraj Nabi), a poacher-hunter who offers Gangaram to locate the tiger who would kill him. Jim does locate the tiger. However, when Gangaram goes near him, tiger walks away from him because he had just completed his meal from his hunting. In this failed plan, Jim and Gangaram are surrounded by the forest officials who have been after Jim for many years to nab him. In the encounter, Jim gets killed and Gangaram is arrested. In the court, he tells his real reason as to why he was in Tiger Reserve forest. A journalist covering the court proceedings flashes the news which creates a pan-India outrage over the reason which forced Gangaram to take the extreme step. Considering the circumstances which made Gangaram to take unusual step, the court pardons him and he is released.

Overnight, he becomes a celebrity. He starts getting advertisements and brand endorsements. His forest journey is documented by a writer as a book. Naturally, his village after becoming a national spotlight, gets all reliefs from Government agencies. The film ends with Gangaram travelling with the officials of tourism departments in a vehicle in the Tiger Reserve to locate the spots where he spent nights which can be developed as tourist spots for Tiger Safari. Gangaram gets down from the vehicle to relieve himself when a tiger pounces upon him and he gets killed.

‘Sherdil – The Pilibhit Saga’ (2022) has 7 songs. All the songs are played in the film in the background during Gangaram’s forest journey. 3 songs are traditional while remaining 4 songs have been penned by Vinod Dubey (2) , Gulzar (1) and Rahgir (1). I am presenting the first song, ‘ jungle maange dhoop paani, dhoop paani bahne de’ from the film to appear on the Blog. The song is rendered by KK which is set to music by Shantanu Moitra. The song is about conservation of forest which is written by Gulzar using some colloquial words in the beginning of the song. In the film, the song is played in the background as the credit titles get rolled on the screen. However, the promo video of the song was released incorporating the various stages of forest journey by Gangaram.

The song under discussion is about saving the environment. Gulzar Saab has beautifully and metaphorically written the songs conveying the importance of saving forests, rivers, animals, birds etc. It is said that KK was very much pleased with the way the song has been written and composed. He had said that he would sing this song in his concerts to spread among the youth, the message for the conversation of environment. I feel that this song is worthy of inclusion in the school curriculum of Hindi poems to inculcate among the students, the respect for the environment from the very beginning of their schooling.

There is an interesting coincidence about the song under discussion. In ‘Maachis’ (1996), KK sang his first Hindi film song, chhod aaye ham wo galiyaan which was written by Gulzar. The song under discussion which was also written by Gulzar, became KK’s last recorded Hindi film song before his untimely death on May 31, 2022.

Video Clip:

Audio Clip:

Song-Jungle maange dhoop paani Dhoop paani rahne de (Sherdil – The Pilibhit Saga)(2022) Singer-KK, Rituraj, Lyrics-Gulzar, MD-Shantanu Moitra
Chorus

Lyrics

arre mutthi mutthi boyee de
mutthi mutthi boyee de
arre mutthi mutthi boide beejaa
arre maati maange boota
boyee de re bhaiya
arre boota boota
boyee de
ugaaide re bhaiya

boota boota ugne de re
boota boota ugne de
bhoomi apni maange re ae
maange uske gehne re
patta patta boota boota
jungle jungle rehne de
jungle maange dhoop paani
dhoop paani rahne de

in hare
pedon ki
daaliyaan aan kat gayin
kuchh puja mein
kuchh shaadiyon mein jal gayin
oh oh oh
kat gayi
chhaaon bhi
dhoop bhi
pedon ki ee
jo bachi
daaliyaan
wo sati ee ee ee ho gayin
jo god mein lekar chita mein jal gayin
ho o o
mar gaye
mor sab
udd gaye ae panchhi tere ae
mujhe aawaaz deti hai hawaayein junglon ki re
mujhe dariyaaon ka rona sunaayi de raha hai re..ae ae ae ae
kat gayin
chhaaon bhi
dhoop bhi ee ee pedon ki

na re raa aa
aa re raa aa
na re re ae raa aa
aa re raa aa
na re re ae
na re raa aa
aa re re ae
ra re re ae ae ae ae
ra re ra aa aa aa aa
ra re re ae ae ae ae
ra re ra aa aa aa aa
na re raa aa
aa re raa aa ae….ae

khushk hone lag gayi hai ye zameen
chal hare pedon ki chhaaon boyenge
odh ke ye thhanda thhanda aasmaan
ped ke patte bichaa kar soyenge
phir mujhe bhoomi ki boli sun’ne de
ugne de phir boota boota ugne de
de de re bhoomi ke gehne de de re ae
ugne de phir boota boota ugne de ae ae
de de re bhoomi ke gehne de de re ae
de de re bhoomi ke gehne de de re ae

mujhe aawaz deti hai hawaayein junglon ki re
mujhe dariyaaon ka rona sunaayi de raha hai re..ae ae ae ae
kat gayi
chhaaon bhi
dhoop bhi ee
pedon ki
oh oh kat gayi
chhaaon bhi
dhoop bhi ee
pedon ki
boota boota ugne de re
boota boota ugne de
bhoomi apni maange re

(ra ra ra aa aa ae)
maange uske gehne re
(re re re ae ae)
patta patta boota boota
(ra ra ra aa aa ae)
jungle jungle rehne de
(re re re ae ae)
jungle maange dhoop paani
dhoop paani rahne de


This article is written by Avinash Scrapwala, 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.

This article is his 800th post in the blog.

Blog Day :

5412 Post No. : 17751

#the Decade of Seventies – 1971 – 1980 #
————————————————————————
# Bhoole-Bisre Geet # (Basu Chatterjee-R.D. Burman)
————————————

In this post I am presenting a song from the ‘1979’ movie ‘Ratnadeep’.

I have no recollection of this movie during my growing up years. I was about eleven years old when this movie was released.

This state of oblivion about the movie and its songs continued for many more years. The song ‘kabhi kabhi sapnaa lagtaa hai’ was an exception that I may have inadvertently listened to without knowing about its details. Later, I discovered that there was another song of this movie that I was aware of (while being unaware that the song was from this movie).
(But I am not presenting that song today 🙂 ).

‘Ratnadeep-1979’ was directed by Basu Chatterjee for ‘Gayatri Movies, Bombay’. It was produced by R. Kannan and R. Jagannath.

This movie has Hema Malini, Girish Karnad, Dheeraj, A.K. Hangal, Sulochana, Prema Narayan, Nandita Thakur, Yunus Parvez, Pinchoo Kapoor, Master Sagar, Poornima Jairam, R.S. Chopra, Gautam Sareen, Amal Sen, Aroop, Manmauji, Ranjeet Sood, Chandu, Vishnu Sharma, Mohammad Ali, Khoka Mukherjee, Kashinath and others.

Basu Chatterjee who was director of this movie also wrote the screenplay and dialogues of this movie.
This movie was based on short story by Prabhat Kumar Mukhopadhyay.

“Ratnadeep-1979” was passed by Censor Board on 12.12.1979.

Going by the filmography of director Basu Chatterjee I have noted that as many as five movies directed by him were released in the year ‘1979’. This must be the highest number of movies directed by Basu Chatterjee and released in one calendar year.

Here are the names of these movies.

SNo Title of the movie Passed by Censor Board Lyricist/s Music Director
01 Baaton Baaton Mein 31.03.1979 Amit Khanna, Yogesh Rajesh Roshan
02 Jeena Yahaan 16.07.1979 Yogesh Salil Chaudhary
03 Manzil 14.05.1979 Yogesh R.D. Burman
04 Prem Vivaah 30.08.1979 Anand Bakshi Laxmikant-Pyarelal
05 Ratnadeep 12.12.1979 Gulzar R.D. Burman

The movies he produced and directed or the movies he directed always had good music too if not great. This year 1979 was no exception.

Basu Chatterjee collaborated with many music directors but mostly with music director Rajesh Roshan.

In the year ‘1979’ for the five movies he directed he had two movies with R.D. Burman, and one each with Rajesh Roshan, Salil Chaudhary and Laxmikant-Pyarelal.

R.D. Burman composed music for ‘Manzil’ and ‘Ratnadeep’ directed by Basu Chatterjee and released in the year ‘1979’.

Lyrics for the movie ‘Manzil’ were penned by Yogesh and lyrics for the songs of ‘Ratnadeep’ were penned by Gulzar.

Both the movies have some great songs including the most liked and loved by all ‘rimjhim girey saawan’ from ‘Manzil’.

However, none of the songs from both the above movies made it to the ‘annual list of ‘Binaca Geetmala’ of that year i.e. 1979’. There were as many as ‘eleven’ songs composed by Pancham which featured in this list of thirty-nine songs. These included songs from ‘Shalimaar-1978’, ‘Jurmaana-1979’, ‘The Great Gambler-1979’, ‘Devtaa-1978’, ‘Azaad-1978’ and ‘Golmaal-1979’. That is how tough the competition was. Only one song composed by R.D. Burman featured in the ‘Top-10’ of this list of ‘annual Binaca-Geetmala’ list of ‘1979’. This song was ‘ham bewafaa hargeez naa thhe’ from ‘Shalimaar-1978’.

Today I am presenting a ‘lesser-heard’ or may be ‘never heard song by many’ from the movie ‘Ratnadeep-1979’.
According to me this song deserves to be a ‘well-known’ song for the ‘special folk touch’ of the composition, the singing of this song by the ‘singers’ and its’ lyrics by none other than Gulzar Saab.

I have not watched this movie so can’t say much about the picturisation of this song. Also the video of this song is not available as of now.

Let us now enjoy the second song from ‘Ratnadeep-1979’ which is sung by Bhupinder Singh and Sapan Chakravarty.

Enjoy the music; enjoy the composition which is celebrating the arrival of the beloved of the girl …

This song grows upon us as we listen to it a few times.


Song-Saajan aaye ho sajni ke saajanwaa aangan aaye ho (Ratnadeep)(1979) Singers-Bhupendra Singh, Sapan Chakravarty, Lyrics-Gulzar, MD-R D Burman
Male chorus,
Female chorus ,
All chorus

Lyrics

ho saajan aaye ho
ho aaye ho o
sajni ke saajanwaa
aangan aaye ho
ho saajan aaye ho
sajani ke saajanwaa
aangan aaye ho

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

ho saajan aaye ho
sajani ke saajanwaa
aangan aaye ho

ho saajan aaye ho
sajani ke saajanwaa
aangan aaye ho
ho saajan aaye ho
sajani ke saajanwaa
aangan aaye ho o

saajan galey lagaayen
to sajani maala ban lehraaye

o o o o o o
ho o o o o
o o o o o o o
saajan galey lagaayen
to sajani maala ban lehraaye
phool phool mein aisi phooley
khud khushboo ban jaaye
saajan
ho saajan aaye ho
sajani ke saajanwaa
aangan aaye ho
ho saajan aaye ho
sajani ke saajanwaa
aangan aaye ho
ho saajan aaye ho
sajani ke saajanwaa
aangan aaye ho o

sajani pair lagey
saajan ke
jaise pair ka altaa aa
sajani pair lagey
saajan ke
jaise pair ka altaa aa
saajan ke munh lagey to
aise
jaise paan mein kathhaa
saajan
ho saajan aaye ho
sajani ke saajanwaa
aangan aaye ho o

ho saajan aaye ho
sajani ke saajanwaa
aangan aaye ho
ho saajan aaye ho
sajani ke saajanwaa
aangan aaye ho o

saajan ke sang
baat karen yoon

saajan ke sang
baat karen yoon
sajani chhaaya hoye
saajan ke nainon mein
sajani
sapnaa ban ke soye
saajan
ho saajan aaye ho
sajani ke saajanwaa
aangan aaye ho o
ho saajan aaye ho
sajani ke saajanwaa
aangan aaye ho o

aaye ho
sajani ke saajanwaa
aangan aaye ho o

ho saajan aaye ho
sajani ke saajanwaa
aangan aaye ho

ho saajan aaye ho
sajani ke saajanwaa
aangan aaye ho
ho saajan aaye ho
sajani ke saajanwaa
aangan aaye ho o


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 :

5362 Post No. : 17586 Movie Count :

4726

Vishal Bhardwaj’s Trilogy of Shakespeare Plays – 3: ‘Haider’ (2014)
————————————————–
In this article, I am exploring ‘Haider’ (2014), the last film of the Shakesperean trilogy by Vishal Bhardwaj which is adapted from ‘Hamlet’ (1599).

In a talk with ‘Mumbai Mirror’ just before the release of ‘Haider’ (2014), Vishal Bhardwaj said that he took a long gap (8 years) from Shakespearean trilogy. For the final film on Shakespearean trilogy, he had two plays in mind – ‘King Lear’ and ‘Hamlet’. Finally, he chose ‘Hamlet’. The film was majorly shot in around Srinagar and Pahalgam in winter months probably to give a feel of gloomy atmosphere inherent in the story. As with his earlier two films of Shakespearean trilogy, Vishal Bhardwaj molded ‘Hamlet’ with intra-family drama in Kashmir in the background of militancy in 1995.

The main characters in ‘Hamlet’ (1599) and their counterparts in ‘Haider’ (2014) are presented in a tabular form below:

Vishal Bhardwaj felt that the idea of ghost in the film may not be believable to the current generation. So, he developed an additional character in Roohdaar who has spent time with Dr Hilaal in detention camp.

In Hamlet In Haider Remarks
King Hamlet of Denmark Dr Hilaal Meer (Narendra Jha) In ‘Hamlet’, there is no character of King Hamlet. His names comes only when his death is announced. In ‘Haider’ (2014), Dr. Hilaal Meer has been shown treating an injured militants in his house. He also appears in army detention camp and also with Haider in his childhood in flashback.
Prince Hamlet, the son of deceased King Hamlet of Denmark and nephew of Claudius. Haider (Shahid Kapoor), son of deceased Dr Hilaal Meer and nephew of Khurram Meer. The tragic hero. Vishal Bhardwaj has made the character of Haider in ‘Haider’ (2014) much more aggressive than Prince Hamlet of ‘Hamlet’ (1599)
Claudius, younger brother of King Hamlet. Khurram Meer (Kay Kay Menon), younger brother of Dr Hilaal Meer. The villainous character responsible for the death of his elder brother. While Claudius becomes the king of Denmark and marries the widow queen, Khurram marries widow of his elder brother and becomes a political leader.
Gertrude, Queen of Denmark, and mother of Prince Hamlet. Ghazala (Tabu), wife of Dr Hilaal Meer and mother of Haider.
Polonius, Counsellor to Claudius. Parvez Lone (Lalit Parimoo), Police Inspector who works in close association with Khurram.
Ophelia, daughter of Polonius. Arshia (Shraddha Kapoor), daughter of Parvez Lone, a journalist and the beloved of Haider. Arshia in ‘Haider’ (2014) is more independent than Ophelia in ‘Hamlet’ who is shown as a meek character.
Ghost of Prince Hamlet’s father There is no ghost but a character, Roohdaar (Irrfan Khan) does the same role as of ghost in ‘Hamlet’.
Laertes, son of Polonius who is based in France. Liyaqat, (Aamir Bashir) son of Parvez Lone who is based in Bengaluru.
Horatio, Prince Hamlet’s friend. No equivalent character. Vishal Bhardwaj has combined the role of Arshia both as the beloved and friend of Haider.

‘Haider’ (2014) was jointly produced by Vishal Bhardwaj Pictures and UTV and was directed by Vishal Bhardwaj. The cast included Shahid Kapoor, Tabu, Shraddha Kapoor, Kay Kay Menon, Irrfan Khan (special appearance), Ashish Vidyarthi (special appearance), Lalit Parimoo, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Aamir Bashir etc. The Censor Board has given the film U/A certificate (minor can watch the film under parental guidance) after some cuts suggested in the films and the director agreed to them.

This is one of a few films’ story which I found difficult to summarise as almost every scene in the film is important link to the continuity of the story. So, I have omitted it after finding that the summary of the story itself was more than 1000 words!

In my view, this film should be treated more as an intra-family drama of a Kashmiri family than the commentary on the political situations that prevailed in the mid-1990s in Kashmir. In the divided Meer family, the Khurram (Claudius in ‘Hamlet’) uses Army’s counter-insurgency operations to achieve his political ambition and clear the way for making formal the adulterous relationship with his elder brother’s wife, Ghazala (Queen Gertrude). His nephew, Haider (Prince Hamlet) uses militancy to take revenge against his uncle, Khurram for his betrayal of his father, Dr Hilaal Meer (King Hamlet of Denmark) and for killing him. So, portrayal of and commentaries on militancy and army’s counter-insurgency operations become inevitable part of the film. In ‘Hamlet’, all the main characters are killed or commit suicide. In ‘Haider’ (2014), Khurram (Claudius) and Haider (Prince Hamlet) have been shown seriously injured. The films end with a scene in which a seriously injured Khurram lies on the snow with his lower part missing due to a blast while Haider, also seriously injured walks away from the camera in the midst of dead bodies of militants and para military forces. The director has left to the imagination of the film audience to come o a conclusion as to what will happen to them.

Vishal Bhardwaj has tried to realistically present as to how a majority of innocent Kashmiris who have nothing to do with militancy have been caught in the ‘catch-22’ situation. They cannot antagonise militants and the army out of fear. However, I wish Vishal Bhardwaj had balanced this realistic approach with the other side of the realities by giving some footage in the film as to how difficult is for the army/paramilitary forces to decide between guilty and innocent in hostile and treacherous environments where trust is in deficit. One of the cardinal principles of army and para-military forces is that suspects are treated as guilty until proven otherwise. Also, there is no even a small footage in the film of the extreme hardship the minority communities suffered exactly during the time-frame chosen in the film.

‘Haider’ (2014) has 8 songs of which two songs are from the published poems of Faiz Ahmed Faiz and rests are written by Gulzar. All the songs are set to music by Vishal Bhardwaj in melodramatic mood in keeping with the story of the film.

I have selected a story-telling song from the film, ‘bismil bismil bulbul-e-bismal’ which corresponds to ‘Mousetrap’, a play within the play in ‘Hamlet’. In both ‘Hamlet’ and ‘Haider’ (2014), the play/song is a turning point for Hamlet/Haider to take revenge against his uncle. The song is written by Gulzar and rendered by Sukhwinder Singh and chorus. The song is presented in an opera style for which Norway-based Sudesh Adhana was entrusted with choreography of the song. Renowned puppeteer, Dadi Pudumjee specifically made puppets for this song, one of which was the tallest puppet (100 feet) used in any Hindi film.

The song was picturised at the ruins of Martand Sun temple (located on the way to Pahalgam from Srinagar). Since the shooting was scheduled in the peak winter season, every morning and even during the shooting, the snow accumulated on the dancing arena had to be cleared. On the days of the song picturisation, there used to be 5000-6000 people, many coming from mofussil areas for watching the shooting which created problems for the crew. Finally, Vishal Bhardwaj decided to make them sit in the raised arena of the temple complex in an orderly fashion and made them a part of the song sequence.(As revealed in his TV talk).

The song comes in the film at a time when Haider is emotionally upset after he becomes aware of the conspiracy of his uncle, Khurram in for his father’s death as told to him by Roohdaar (Irrfan Khan). Haider performs the dance in the presence of his uncle, Khurram and mother, Ghazala in celebration of their marriage. Haider’s intention in this dance performance is to gauge from the expressions of his uncle to confirm what Roohdaar had told him was true.

According to Sukhwinder Singh, Vishal Bhardwaj wanted the elements of Kashmiri folk music and folk dance for this song. He hired local musicians to play the Sarangi and the Rabab and recorded with them in a studio there. While picturising the song, he even invited these musicians to the shoot, and they joined Shahid Kapoor in playing Rabab. Vishal blended Kashmiri folk music with western opera music (Source: E-Times, 26/09/2014).

Video Clip:

Audio Clip:

Song-Bismil Bismil Bulbul e Bismil(Haider)(2014) Singer-Sukhwinder Singh, Unknown male voice, Lyrics-Gulzar, MD-Vishal Bhardwaj
Chorus

Lyrics (Based on Audio Clip)

bismil bismil bulbul-e-bismil
bismil bismil
mat mil mat mil
gul se mat mil
mat mil mat mil
ae bismil bismil bulbul-e-bismil
mat mil mat mil
gul se mat mil
bismil bismil bulbul-e-bismil
ae dil-e-bulbul
bulbul-e-bismil

mushkil dil bhi mushkil hoti hai
dil dhadke dil dil dhadke to,/em>

dil dhadke dil dil dhadke to
dhadkan-e-dil bhi harkat-e-dil ho..ti hai
khushboo-e-gul mein ishq bhara hai
mat mil mat mil
gul se mat mil
ae bulbul-e-bismil
mat mil mat mil
gul se mat mil
aye bulbul-e-bismil

ho o o o o
sun le zamaana samjhaata hoon
teri kahaani dohraata hoon
ae dil-e-bulbul
bulbul-e-bismil
ae dil-e-bulbul
bulbul
bulbul-e-bismil

ik joda thha
nar maada kaa
bholi thhi bulbul
nar saada thhaa
ik joda thhaa
nar maada kaa
bholi thhi bulbul
nar saada thhaa

barf gira karti thhi jab
bhar jaati thhi kohsaaron mein
ik baaz bada badneeyat thhaa
haan ik baaz bada badneeyat thhaa
udta thha..aa sabz anzaaron mein
pankhon mein uske maut chhupi thhi
mehfil mehfil dhoondh raha thhaa
mehlon ki manzil
mehfil mehfil dhoondh raha thhaa
mehlon ki manzil

bulbul ke khwaabon mein jaa kar
zaher ke dank lagaaye thhe
khushboo-e-gul mein zaher bhara..aa
aur maada ko bhijwaaye thhe
zaher ke dank lagaaye thhe..ae
bulbul ke khwaabon mein jaa kar
maada ko bhijwaaye thhe
zaher ke dank lagaaye thhe
ho o o o waadi mein chhidka baarood
jheel mein jaal bichha daale
chhuriyon se bechaare nar ke…ae
chhuriyon se bechaare nar ke…
dono pankh kata daale
are dil dil dil dil jhooth kahe ye
jhooth kahe buzdil
mat mil mat mil
gul se mat mil

ae bulbul-e-bismil
ae bulbul-e-bismil
ae bulbul-e-bismil

zakhmi nar ko qaid kiya
qaid kiya
qaid kiya

zanjeeron mein bandhwaaya
Baaraamula ke Sheerinpur se
phir paani mein phinkwaaya..aa
jhelum..m
jhelum
laal laal hua
laal laal hua
laal laal hua laal
jhelum..m
jhelum
laal laal hua
laal laal hua
laal laal hua laal
Kashmir ke paani ki taaseeren
ghul gayi zanjeeren taqdeeren

zinda hai wo zinda hoga..aa
muzrim bhi sharminda hoga..aa
zinda hai wo zinda hoga
muzrim phir sharminda hoga
zinda hai wo zinda hoga
muzrim phir sharminda hoga

hosh mein aaja
hosh mein aaja
ae bulbul-e-bismil
ae bulbul-e-bismil
khushboo-e-gul mein
zaher bhara hai
hosh mein aaja
hosh mein aaja
ae bulbul-e-bismil
hosh mein aaja
hosh mein aaja
ae bulbul-e-bismil


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 :

5358 Post No. : 17571 Movie Count :

4723

Vishal Bhardwaj’s Trilogy of Shakespeare Play – 2: ‘Omkara’ (2006)

In this article, I am exploring the second film of Vishal Bhardwaj’s Shakespeare trilogy, ‘Omkara’ (2006) which is based on ‘Othello’ (1603).

There is a trivia which was narrated by Vishal Bhardwaj in a TV interview about a couple of years back. At Goa International Film Festival, he met Naseeruddin Shah who enquired as to what he was currently doing. Vishal Bhardwaj said that he had just completed a script based on Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’. Naseeruddin Shah retorted that ‘Othello’ was the weakest character in Shakespeare’s play and it will not work in Indian context. Vishal Bhardwaj gave him a copy of the script to read. Next day morning, Naseeruddin Shah came to Vishal Bhardwaj and said that he had read the script in the night and he would do the character of Bhaisaheb in the film. This shows the power of screenplay writing which makes a so-called weak Shakespeare play strong.

For ‘Maqbool’ (2004), Vishal Bhardwaj had to wait for nearly two years to get a producer/financier after the script was ready. But it was a smooth sailing for him in ‘Omkara’ (2006). He not only got a producer, he also got all the main actors as per his requirements. In ‘Omkara’ (2006), Vishal Bhardwaj has blended his artistic approach with commercial elements to avoid the repeat of the box office failure of ‘Maqbool’ (2004). His strategy worked and ‘Omkara’ (2006) fared very well on the box office front.

‘Omkara’ (2006) was produced by Kumar Mangat Pathak (Ajay Devgan’s Manager and the executive producer of most of Ajay Devgan Films) and was directed by Vishal Bhardwaj. The cast included Ajay Devgan and Kareena Kapoor in the lead roles supported by Saif Ali Khan, Konkana Sen Sharma, Vivek Oberoi, Bipasha Basu (special appearance), Naseeruddin Shah, Deepak Dobriyal, Pankaj Tripathi, Kamal Tiwari etc. The Censor Board certified the film for Adult viewing (A).

In ‘Omkara’ (2006), Vilash Bhardwaj molded the story of ‘Othello’ (1603) with the rural backdrop of Uttar Pradesh where ‘Bahubalis’ played prominent role in the politics. A comparison of main characters in ‘Othello’ with that in the film, ‘Omkara’ (2006) is presented in a tabular format below:

In Othello In Omkara Remarks
Othello is a dark-skinned Commander of the Venetian army in Venice. Omi Shukla or Omkara (Ajay Devgan), the head of a criminal gang is the son of a Brahmin father and low-caste mother. In both ‘Othello’ and ‘Omkara’, the race/caste is not the main reason for tragedy. It is the jealousy and revenge for which race/caste is discreetly used for instigation against Othello/Omkara.
Iago, a soldier, and Othello’s trusted adviser. Ishwar ‘Langda’ Tyagi (Saif Ali Khan), a henchman of Omkara. In ‘Othello’ Iago kills his wife, Emilia while in ‘Omkara’ Indu kills her husband, Langda.
Desdemona, the white-skinned wife of Othello who abducted her. Dolly Mishra (Kareena Kapoor), the high caste fair-skin wife of Omkara who was abducted by him from the wedding venue.
Cassio, Othello’s white-skinned lieutenant in the army. Keshav ‘Kesu Firangi’ Upadhayay (Vivek Oberoi), the trusted and a fair-skinned handsome aid of Omkara. The reason for appointing Cassio as lieutenant is because of his courage while Kesu’s promotion as Bahubali is mainly because of his charming nature and vote drawing ability from the younger generation.
Emilia, wife of Iago and Attendant to Desdemona. Indu Tyagi (Konkana Sen Sharma), wife of Langda and so-called sister of Omkara is a close companion of Dolly Mishra. By making Indu, the so-called sister of Omkara, her character is more powerful in ‘Omkara’ than Emilia in ‘Othello’.
Roderigo, the lover of Desdemona. Rajju (Deepak Dobriyal), the bridegroom who was to marry Dolly. Rajju thinks that Langda will help him get back Dolly. But Langda is actually using him in his plan to take revenge against both Omkara and Kesu.
Brabantio, a senator of Venice and the father of Desdemona. Raghunath Mishra (Kamal Tiwari), a lawyer and the father of Dolly.
Duke of Venice, the Administrator of Venice Bhaisaheb (Naseeruddin Shah), a politician.
Bianca, a courtesan in Venice. Billo (Bipasha Basu), a dancer and the mistress of Kesu.
Language used in the play is poetic. Language used in the film is local dialect of Western UP. In keeping with the setting of the story in rural UP.

The gist of the film’s story is as under:

Omkara (Ajay Devgan) is the head of a criminal gang operating under the patronage of Bhaisahab (Naseeruddin Shah), a local politician. Langda Tyagi (Saif Ali Khan) and Kesu (Vivek Oberoi) are the close confidants of Omkara. The film opens with Langda attacking a marriage procession (baaraat). Dolly (Kareena Kapoor), the bride is kidnapped by Omkara before bridegroom, Rajju (Deepak Dobriyal) reaches the marriage venue.

Raghunath Mishra (Kamal Tiwari), Dolly’s father and a lawyer with his men rushes to Omkara’s house and asks him to handover his daughter. Omkara, however, claims that Dolly chose him rather than Rajju. The matter goes to Bhaisahab where Dolly tell her father that she willingly eloped with Omkara. Raghunath Mishra feels betrayed by his daughter and leaves by telling Omkara that a daughter who betrays her father can betray him also. Dolly stays with Omkara.

In an election, Bhaisahab is a candidate. Omkara’s gang arranges a video of a sex scandal of Bhaisaheb’s political opponent resulting in his reputation getting tarnished. Bhaisaheb wins the election. In token of his appreciation, Bhaisaheb selects Omkara as a candidate for a local election. In order to canvas for his election, Omkara makes Kesu as his Bahubali over the claim of Langda who is senior to him. This sows the seeds of anger and jealousy in Langda who secretly plans to get revenge on both Omkara and Kesu.

The gang celebrates the election victory with a nautanki performance by Billo (Bipasha Basu), the dancer who is the mistress of Kesu. Seeing this opportunity, Langda pressurises Kesu to drink and a drunk Kesu gets instigated by the cigarette smoke emanating from Rajju’s mouth affecting Billo. A brawl between Kesu and Rajju takes place injuring Kesu. The matter goes to Omkara who is enraged by Kesu’s behaviour. Omkara punishes Kesu by sidelining him from important assignments.

To restore his position in the gang, Kesu approaches Langda for a way out. He suggests to Kesu to approach Dolly who can plead with Omkara to pardon him. Dolly agrees to put a word to Omkara provided he teaches her an English song. Kesu starts visiting Dolly and spends time with her for rehearsing an English song. Once, Omkara sees Kesu coming out of Dolly’s room and asks Langda about this. Langda, using this opportunity create suspicion in the mind of Omkara suggesting an affair between Kesu and Dolly. As a proof, a ‘kamarbandh’ jewellery gifted by Omkara to Dolly is found with Billo which was given to her by Kesu. In fact this was clandestinely managed by Langda through Indu. Suspicion overtakes rationale in the minds of Omkara. He assigns Langda to kill Kesu.

On the first night of his marriage, Omkara confronts Dolly of her ‘infidelity.’ In uncontrolled anger, he kills Dolly by suffocating her with a pillow. Indu enters the room and see the dead body of Dolly when she finds kamarbandh jewellery. She admits that she has taken it from Dolly’s room and handed it over to Langda. A realization comes to their minds that Langda has given it to Kesu to create the suspicion in the mind of Omkara. Angered by Langda’s conspiracy, Indu slashes Langda’s throat with a sickle resulting in his death. A seriously injured Kesu returns when he watches Omkara killing himself with his revolver out of guilt.

The film had 5 songs written by Gulzar and set to music by Vishal Bhardwaj. I present the first song ‘beedi jalaile jigar se piya’ to appear on the Blog. The song is picturised on Bipasha Basu, Saif Ali Khan, Vivek Oberoi, and Deepak Dobriyal with a large crowd. It is a nautanki song in celebration of the election win. The song is choreographed by Ganesh Acharya. The song starts with a prelude of scat (wordless vocables) singing by Sunidhi Chauhan and Sukhwinder Singh.

I have watched the video clip of the songs many times since the release of the film. I thought the song to be an item number. When I watched the full film, I realised that this song was an essential part of the film. Gulzar saab’s lyrics are raunchy which is understandable as it is for a nautanki song.

Gulzar Saab, at the launch of the music album of the film, had said that his lyrics of the song reflected the feudal system that prevailed in UP. When I started interpreting the song with Gulzar Saab’s statement, the line, ‘dhuaan na nikaari o lab se piya ye duniya badi jhaag hai’ I felt as if a serf (or a peasant) telling his other colleagues to keep their mouth shut in front of a powerful feudal lord. Similarly, the line in the song ‘na kasoor, na fatoor bina zuram ke hazoor mar gaye’ apart from the raunchiness, also give the impression of a powerful feudal lord sitting in front of a pleading serf. Likewise, the line in the song, ‘aisa kaate ke daant kaa nisaan chhod de’ though sounds erotic, it can also be visualised with a feudal lord sitting with his German Shepherd dog who let loose his dog to bite a serf as a part of the punishment. Such thing used to happen under zamindari system.

I do not know whether Gulzar had considered in his lyrics feelings of Langda after he was overlooked by Omkara for promotion as Bahubali in favour of Kesu. But at some places in the song, lyrics give such an impression. For instance, the line ‘naa kasoor naa fatoor bina zuram ke hazoor mar gaye’ gives an inner feeling of Langda that he has been denied promotion by huzoor (in this case, Omkara) without his fault.

As per the audio album, the song under discussion is rendered by Sukhwinder Singh, Sunidhi Chauhan, Nachiketa Chakraborty and Clinton Carejo. However, I did not find the voice of Clinton Carejo in the song. Probably, he may have rendered some occasional chants in the background of the song and also a line or two in the prelude. The chanting by the crowd in western concerts is mainly by the fans of the performers. Vishal Bhardwaj has added this element in this nautanki song to give such a feel.

The raunchy lyrics with Urdu and local dialects, the bawdy dances, the elements of folk music in orchestration, the chants in the background from the crowd and the lighting effects give a feel of a real nautanki performance in a rural setting in modern India.

This song also represents as to how far the nautanki folk music has progressed from the harmonium, sarangi/clarinet, dholak with sitting crowd under petromax light as in paan khaaye sainyya hamaaro in ‘Teesri Kasam’ (1966) to the digital music with chanting by the standing crowd under electric lights.

Video Clip:

Audio Clip:

Song-Beedi jalaile (Omkara)(2006) Singers-Sukhwinder Singh, Sunidhi Chauhan, Nachiketa Chakraborty, Lyrics-Gulzar, MD-Vishal Bhardwaj
Sunidhi and Sukhwinder, Male Chorus, Unknown voices

Lyrics (Based on Audio Clip):

[scat singing]

[scat singing]

ae ae ae ae ae ae ae

naa gil..aaf
naa lih..aaf
naa gilaaf naa lihaaf
thandi hawa bhi khilaaf
sasuri..ee
naa gilaaf naa lihaaf
thandi hawa bhi khilaaf
sasuri..ee

o itni sardi hai kisi kaa lihaaf laile..ae..ae..ae
o jaa padosi ke chulhe se aag laile..ae
o jaa padosi ke chulhe se aag laile..ae..ae
haan beedi jalaile….e
jigar se piya..aa
jigar ma badi aag hai
[scat singing]
beedi jalaile jigar se piya
jigar ma badi aag hai
[scat singing]
dhuaan na nikaari o lab se piya aa aaaa

(scat singing)
dhuaan na nikaari o lab se piya
ye duniya badi ghaaghh hai
o beedi jalaile jigar se piya
jigar ma badi aag hai

naa gilaaf naa lihaaf
thandi hawa bhi khilaaf

sasuri..ee
o itni sardi hai kisi ka lihaaf laile
o jaa padosi ke chulhe se aag laile

jaa padosi ke chulhe se aag laile
ae ae ae
(ai ai ai ai

naa kasoo….r
naa fatoo…..r
naa kasoor naa fatoor
bina zuram ke hazoor
mar gaye
o mar gaye
(o aise ik din dupehri bulaayi liyo re
baandh ghoongroo kachehri lagaayi liyo re
bulaayi liyo re
bulaayi liyo re dupehri

(lagaayi liyo re
lagaayai liyo re kachehri
angeethi chadhhaile..ae

(chants)
jigar se piya
(chants)
jigar ma badi aag hai
(ai ai ai ai ai)
beedi jalaile jigar se piya
jigar ma badi aag hai…ai

(ai ai ai ai)

o o o o
naa to chakkuon ki dh..aar
ho naa daraanti naa kat..aar
naa to chakkuon ki dhaar
naa daraanti naa kataar

aisa kaate ke daant kaa nisaan chhod de
ke kataayi to koi bhi kisaan chhod de
o aise
zaalim kaa chhod de
makaan chhod de re billo
zaalim kaa chhod de
makaan chhod de re
aise zaalim kaa
o aise zaalim kaa
aise zaalim kaa chhod de
makaan chhod de
naa bulaaya..aa
naa bataaya..aa
naa bulaaya naa bataaya
maa ne neend se jagaaya haay re…ae
aise chaunkele haath mein naseeb aa gaya..aa aa aa
wo elaaichi khilaai ke kareeb aa gaya..aa aa aaa

(scat singing)
koyla jalaayile
(chants)
jigar se piya..aa
(chants)
jigar ma
aag hai

[chants]

itni sardi hai kisika lihaaf laile..ae..ae..ae
(chants)
o jaa padosi
o jaa padosi
jaa jaa padosi
o jaa padosi ke chulhe se aag laile

——————————-
Meaning of some words used in the lyrics
————————————

Gilaaf=Protective cover, Jacket

Lihaaf=Blanket, Quilt

Fatoor (Fitoor)= Obsession

Daraanti=Sickle

Chaunkele=Startled, Coward, Timid


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 :

5344 Post No. : 17522 Movie Count :

4714

Kalpana Lajmi (31/05/1954 – 23/09/2018) was known for making Hindi films with unconventional woman-oriented stories. She started making feature films with ‘Ek Pal’ (1986) for which she was also the producer along with Bhupen Hazarika. This was followed by ‘Rudaali’ (1993), ‘Darmiyaan’ (1997), ‘Daman’ (2001), ‘Kyon’ (2003) and ‘Chingaari’ (2006).

A student of Psychology at St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, Kalpana Lajmi started making documentary films from 1970s. In between, she also worked with Shyam Benegal as an apprentice in ‘Charandas Chor’ (1975), Assistant Costume designer in ‘Bhumika’ (1977) and as Assistant Director in ‘Mandi’ (1983). By the way, Shyam Benegal was her maternal uncle, being the first cousin of her mother and painter, Lalita Lajmi.

Kalpana Lajmi’s life took a new turn when she met Bhupen Hazarika sometime in 1971. Her maternal uncle, Director Atmaram (younger brother of Guru Dutt) invited Bhupen Hazarika for dinner at his house when Kalpana Lajmi was also present. It was love at first sight for her when she saw 45-year-old Bhupen Hazarika who had already separated from his wife. She was mesmerised by his charisma, passion, talent, and intellect. Subsequently, she remained in contact with him through telephone. Her parents were not happy with her relationship with Bhupen Hazarika who was older than her father. About 2 years later, on the pretext of shooting a documentary film in Kolkata, she permanently shifted to Bhupen Hazarika’s house in Kolkata as his life partner. [Based on the book, ‘Bhupen Hazarika – As I Knew Him’ (2018) by Kalpana Lajmi]. Despite occasional turbulences in their live-in relationship due to their strong personalities, Kalpana Lajmi remained with Bhupen Hazarika for 40 years till he breathed his last in November 2011.

After the death of Bhupen Hazarika in 2011, Kalpana Lajmi kept herself busy with her new film ‘Kaanch’ (2012, unfinished). Unfortunately, shooting of the film was held up as producer ran out of money. The film remained incomplete. Subsequently, she took up writing a book on her life with Bhupen Hazarika. Here health started deteriorating sometime in 2017 due to kidney problem which was diagnosed as kidney cancer. Her book ‘Bhupen Hazarika – As I Knew Him’ (2018) was published but she could not be present at the time of the release of the book on September 8, 2018, (on the occasion of Bhupen Hazarika’s 91st birth anniversary) as she was in the hospital and doctors did not allow her to move out of the hospital.

Kalpana Lajmi succumbed to kidney cancer on September 23, 2018.

‘Ek Pal’ (1986) was Kalpana Lajmi’s first feature film as a director which was co-produced by her with Bhupen Hazarika, The film was based on a short story by Bangla poet and novelist, Maitreyi Devi. The film’s screenplay was jointly written by Gulzar and Kalpana Lajmi. Gulzar also wrote dialogues and songs. The film was financed by Hemendra Prasad Barooah, Assam’s top tea baron and the childhood friend of Bhupen Hazarika. Most of the shooting of the film was done in Assam in around his tea plantations. The names of the characters in the films had Assamese names.

The film is a love triangle with a difference that the woman protagonist is not caught between her two lovers but with her husband and a past lover. A moment (Ek Pal) of weakness on the part of the woman protagonist with her past lover has consequences on the relationship with her husband. Shabana Azmi, Nasiruddin Shah and Farooque Shaikh are the main actors. Other supporting actors are Dr Sreeram Lagoo, Deena Pathak, Shreela Mazumdar, Amal Sen, Sunila Pradhan, Deepa Lagoo etc. The gist of the story is as under:

Priyam Chaliha (Shabana Azmi) is born in a middle-class family living in Shillong. On the occasion of Bihu festival, she with her parents visit their native place, Jorhat, and stay in their ancestral house. During the festival gathering, Priyam meets Jeet Barooah (Farooque Shaikh), son of a tea baron. She is impressed with his charm and Jeet also gets infatuated by her grace.

After the completion of the festival holidays, Priyam returns to Shillong with her parents (Sreeram Lagoo and Deena Pathak). Jeet follows Priyam to Shillong and continue their romantic sojourns. At the same time, Ved Hazarika (Nasiruddin Shah), who works as an Engineer in tea plantation often visits Priyam’s house. He appears matured and balanced person for whom the work is worship.

In the meanwhile, Jeet, who wants to enjoy the companionship with Priyam without the firm commitment of taking their relationship to a marriage, wriggle out of the relationship by informing Priyam that he is flying to Harvard for higher studies. Priyam is shocked and in a moment of emotional upheaval, she tells her father about her relationship and break up with Jeet. At that moment, her father reveals that Ved has asked him for her hand in marriage. Priyam and Ved get married.

After some time, Priyam finds often alone as Ved is busy with his work, whole day with his visits to factory, plantations, and office work at home. She finds quite a contrast between the time she spent with Jeet and now with Ved. At the same time, she knows that Ved is a caring husband. Adding to her misery is her miscarriage which makes her more depressed in her lonely life.

After few years, Jeet return to India during Deewali festivals and tries to resume his relationship with Priyam with his savvy style despite knowing that she is already married. Priyam is not willing to resume this relationship beyond the level of courtesy. At this juncture, Ved is transferred to Kenya on his company’s work for a year. Jeet with his persuasive skill reignites Priyam’s suppressed feeling of love and passion. In a joyous moment, Priyam succumbs to Jeet’s advances and find herself pregnant. She reveals her pregnancy to Jeet who asks her to abort the pregnancy. Jeet is exposed as he is not willing to take responsibility for an illegitimate child but would like to continue on extra-marital relationship with her.

Disillusioned with the attitude of Jeet, Priyam leaves Shillong to stay with her parents in Shillong. She reveals the truth about her pregnancy to them. They are shocked. Despite a lot of talk from her father about the traditions, values, society etc, Priyam is determined to bear her child knowing that in this way her husband will get hurt for which she is alone responsible.

Ved returns to India. He is overjoyed finding Priyam pregnant. Inside the four walls of their bedroom in the night, Priyam reveals the truth to Ved and tell Ved that he was alway good to her. It was she who was guilty of adultery for which she would take the responsibility. She gives him option to accept her with the child or leave her. During their conversation, Priyam accidentally falls and get seriously injured jeopardising her life as well as the life of a stillborn. Ved rushes her to the hospital for emergency surgery saves the lives of both mother and the child. The film ends with Ved taking Priyam and the child back to his home in Jorhat.

As usual, the trio, Shabana Azmi, Nasiruddin Shah and Farooque Shaikh gave excellent performances of their respective characters. Farooque Shaikh in the role of Jeet reminded me of his role of Basudev in ‘Katha’ (1983).

According to Kalpana Lajmi, the success of critically acclaimed ‘Ek Pal’ (1986), cemented her relationship with Bhupen Hazarika as equals – professionally, creatively, and personally.

The film had 6 songs with two multi-version songs written by Gulzar (5) and Kaifi Azmi (1). The songs were set to music by Bhupen Hazarika with the folk-based music of Assam and Bengal. I present the first song from the film, ‘jaane kya hai jee darta hai’ to appear on the Blog. The song is written by Gulzar and rendered by Lata Mangeshkar. The song sounds unique both in terms of lyrics and the musical composition.

The background of the song is that Shabana Azmi is in emotional turmoil when her father (Shreeram Lagoo) tells her what her husband (Nasiruddin Shah)’s reaction would be when he comes to know of her illegitimate pregnancy. Would he accept her? That’s when the song gets played in the background.

Lyrics of the song was sent to me by Prakashchandra about a month back.

Video Clip:


Audio Clip:

Song-Jaane kya hai jee darta hai (Ek Pal)(1986) Singer-Lata Mangeshkar, Lyrics-Gulzar, MD-Bhupen Hazarika

Lyrics (Provided by Prakashchandra)

jaane kya hai jee darta hai
ro dene ko jee karta hai
apne aap se dar lagta hai
dar lagta hai
kya hogaa
jaane kya hai jee darta hai
ro dene ko jee karta hai
apne aapse dar lagta hai
dar lagta hai
kya hogaa

saans hamaari…ee saans nahin
maangi maangi lagti hai
pyaas lage to…o
pyaas hamaari ee
aadhi aadhi lagti hai
jaan hamaari aur kisi se
baantee huyee lagti hai ae
apne aap se dar lagta hai
dar lagta hai
kya hogaa

paule paule naakhoonon se
andar andar chheele
shaitaani se chutki kate
ang bhi pad gaye neele
paule paule naakhoonon se
andar andar chheele
shaitaani se chutki kate
ang bhi pad gaye neele
bairi mera..aaa…..
sangi mera…aaa
meri bhookh aur pyaas
lahoo meraa aa maans hai mera
meraa haad aur maans
jeewan deke paal rahi hoon
paal rahi hoon jeewan main
apne aap se dar lagta hai
dar lagta hai
kya hogaa
jaane kya hai jee darta hai ae
ro dene ko jee karta hai ae
apne aap se dar lagta hai
dar lagta hai
kya hoga
kya hoga
kya hoga


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This blog discusses Bollywood songs of yesteryears. Every song has a brief description, followed by a video link, and complete lyrics of the song.

This is a labour of love, where “new” songs are added every day, and that has been the case for over FIFTEEN years. This blog has over 18300 song posts by now.

This blog is active and online for over 5000 days since its beginning on 19 july 2008.

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