Remembering Sahir Ludhianvi on his birth centenary: The man who chose to challenge
Sahir Ludhianvi may not have given his songs feminist voices often enough, but when he did, these voices were loud, proud and challenging.
The first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of Sahir Ludhianviâs writing is his progressive writing, his socialist spirit and of course his romantic shayari.
This year Sahir sahabâs birth centenary and International Womenâs Day come together on the eighth of March, and today my thoughts turn towards his advocacy for womenâs rights, through popular film music.
The general drift of classical Urdu poetry dictated that a manâs feelings about a woman take centre stage. The poet would praise his belovedâs beauty, chide her âbewafayiâ and romanticise their relationship. But Sahirâs narrative of relationships was often equal, where the lover and beloved conversed (through lyric) on equal terms. And sometimes one even saw the ânazaaraâ through the womanâs eyes of the âfemale gazeâ.