Sahir Ludhianviâs Songs Were Full of Joy, Exuberance and Also a Subtly Delivered Message
On his 100th birth anniversary, a list of his film songs showing his vast range and repertoire.
Sahir Ludhianvi. Photo: India Post, GoI/Wikimedia Commons CC BY 3.0
Film08/Mar/2021
Mumbai: Mention Sahir Ludhianvi and Urdu poetry and Hindi film song buffs go all dreamy-eyed and start reciting his verses. A full 40 years after he died, the poet still retains his magical touch â Sahir means magician â and his poetry still has countless fans all over the world.
Though he was a well-known name in poetry circles, it was his film songs which brought him real fame, bringing his work to countless millions. It is these songs that are quoted the most â the music directors he worked with embellished them and made them wildly popular. (Ironically, Sahir broke off with many of the bigger names in music due to his claim that his songs were superior to the compositions.)
Aaj se main shabnam ke badley angaarey barsaaoonga
(From today, my art will strive to break the chains
From today, I will rain embers instead of dew drops)
March 8, 2021, will mark Ludhianvi’s centenary year. Be it the songs of
Pyaasa,
Hum Dono or
Chitralekha, Ludhianvi never held back. He attacked the aristocratic elite for exploiting the marginalised, oppressed classes. He turned on the custodians of religion when they threatened to tear asunder communal harmony by peddling hate.
Think of his immortal lines for the song in Yash Chopra’s
Dhool Ka Phool, where he begins on a sarcastic note – “jis ilm ne insaanon ko taqseem kiya hai, uss ilm ka tujh par koi ilzaam nahin hai”. His wrath towards hate-mongers at the end of the song is unmistakable:
100 years of Sahir Ludhianvi: An essential, timeless poetic voice
EDITOR S NOTE:
Firstpost s ode to the people s poet , through a collection of video tributes by seven leading Hindi film lyricists from Varun Grover to Kausar Munir, Irshad Kamil, Shellee, Raj Shekhar, Mayur Puri and Hussain Haidry. Each of these lyricists has picked the verses that speak most to them, explaining why Sahir s words resonate even three decades after his death.
MY FATHER had a great fondness for Mirza Ghalib. He would often read a couplet and provide an interpretation, which for a high schooler like me at that time was difficult to comprehend as Urdu had not been a part of my curriculum. By the time I entered college, Sahir was everywhere. His songs were heard on the radio, his movies attracted large audiences, and his poetry was the topic of conversations among friends. I was drawn to Sahir’s work in a way that I hadn’t been to Ghalib’s. One day I walked into a bookstore and bought Sahir