#392

        Song:   ae dil zubaan na khol sirf dekh le
                kisi se kuchh na bol sirf dekh le

        Film:   Naachghar (1959)
        Singer: Lata Mangeshkar, chorus
        Music:  N Dutta
        Lyrics: Sahir Ludhianvi
        *ing:   ?

Since I just  discovered  that  Sahir's  18th  death  anniversary
passed  recently  (on October 25), I thought I'd spend some posts
on my favorite songs penned by this impeccable poetic giant.

I don't know exactly what it is about this song that makes  it  a
huge  favorite  for  me.  It  is what I would call a very forlorn
melody. The faint sadness in its words, the  resigned  acceptance
of  everything...  it  all  comes  across  beautifully  in Lata's
haunting rendition, as it does in Sahir's poetry. There  is  some
soft,  acquiescent  humming  in  the background (which is all the
chorus is limited to), as if everyone listening is agreeing  with
the sentiments she's trying to express. Very beautiful. I'm not a
big fan of N Dutta, but this has got to be among his best.

The strong message that comes across, essentially, is "Deal  with
it",  through  some  very  sensitive imagery, as one would expect
from Sahir  :

        kitnaa sach hai kitna jhuuT hai
        kitnaa haq hai kitni luuT hai (my favorite lines)
        rakh sabhii ki laaj kuchh na keh
        kyaa hai yeh samaaj kuchh na keh
and
        maan le jahaa.n ki baat ko
        din samajh le kaali raat ko
        chalne de yuu.n hi yeh silsilaa
        yeh na bol kisko kya milaa
        ... etc.

As hard as it is for me to agree with this train of  thought,  it
is  equally  hard to ignore Sahir's convincing expression of this
rationale. Though this is quite simple poetry, and  probably  not
among   Sahir's   best   creations,  the  forcefulness  that  its
simplicity lends to it's message, is not something to  be  easily
bypassed.


Guest Author: Hrishi Dixit