Triklen

The magical Hindi film song!

2012-01-17T10:28:00.000-08:00

One evening, at a dinner party in my house in New York, an Indian friend declared that nothing could capture human emotions like the lyrics of Hindi film songs. I scoffed then. I find cliché’s very disquieting. I did not want to believe or accept easily that lyrics of Hindi film songs were the only delivery mechanism for human emotions. What about Shakespearean sonnets or the wordsmithery of Wordsworth or even U2’s “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for? Surely, the ability to emotionally overwhelm with words was not confined to Hindi film songs only. We’ve also had to bear my adorable Govinda’s “meri pant bhi sexy”. Then, in December last year, the indefatigable Dev Anand passed on. TV channels carried tribute upon tribute and I became fixated. He was gorgeous, stylish and dare I say, a tad unhinged in the latter part of his career. But I went under an aesthetic and emotional tsunami when I saw the songs that were picturized on him. And then, the words of my friend from New York began to ring in my ears. Hindi film songs, especially from the decades of the 50’s and 60’s convey human emotions in nuances and avalanches like few other mediums and sometimes do so in the same 4 minute song! I started scavenging You Tube immediately and found treasure!

The innocent loving complaint of Sandhya from V Shantaram’s Do Anken Barah Haath “Saiyyan Jhooton ka bada sartaj nikla” where she calls the lover a King of liars and a cheat but still longingly laments that he doesn’t talk to her. The same film gave us ‘Ay Malik tere bande hum”, a song whose simple lyrics are set to a soulful mourning lilt that cuts through like an honest knife and surprisingly, is still sung in school assemblies across India! Guru Dutt singing “Chaudhvin ka chand ho ya aaftab ho” in the film Chaudhvin ka Chand describes his lover in possibly every manner known to the hindi lyricist. Her hair is dark clouds, her eyes are glasses of alcohol (though “maiy ke pyaale bhare hue” sounds infinitely superior!) and then she herself is described as a form of alcohol that has the excitement of love! There is no way in hell that I can translate this song into English that would convey the razor sharp emotional quiver or the fleshiness of feelings. The same film gave us the fabulous all female qawwali “Sharma key ye kyun sab pardanashin aanchal ko sawara karte hain”, a teasing, competitive gender joust. You hear - ” Ye Shokh Nazar Ke Khanjar Bhi Seene Mein Utaara Karte Hain “ or “Ye Husn Ki Izzat Rakhane Ko Har Zulm Gavaara Karte Hain´. The qawwalis as a genre have such power. They cut across demographics and hierarchies. While this genre has a rich history in the Indian subcontinent, Hindi films need to be applauded for bringing them to the common, every man. Cut to the lovely qawwalis of the film Barsat. One, “Nigah-e-naaz ke maaron ka haal kya hoga” is set in a contest between men and women. The women folk - coquettish, confident of the power of their beauty, pitying the men and their helplessness in the face of it sing -‘hamarey husn ki bijli chamakney vali hai – na jaaney aaj hazaaron ko haal kya hoga” The men reply with an emotional appeal ‘hamin na hon to nazaron ka haal kya hoga” that love outlives beauty, essentially, they challenge the women to bring it on! The same film gave us “Na to caravan ki talaash hai”, a qawwali whose lyrics are full of graciousness, sacrifice and the power of love that can destroy one and uplift another – “yeh ishq ishq hai ishq ishq / tera ishq hai meri aarzoo, tera ishq hai meri aabroo” making love both a matter of desire and honor at the same time! Then comes the all powerful invocation to that naughty god of flirtation – Lord Krishna! It does not stop here. Radha, Mirabai, Sita, Buddha, the prophet Mohammed are all invoked in this gem of a qawwali. I’m no expert but I’m pretty sure this weave of lyrics is rarely possible in any tapestry in the world of lyrics!

Every human emotion is rarefied like gold in lyrics of Hindi films. Raju rues the loss of love in Guide’s “Din Dhal Jaye hai, raat na jaye, tu to na aaye teri yaad sataye”. I’m pretty sure many a metrosexual Indian male has heard this song while sighing over an actual or perceived loss of love with a stout of black label! The same film gave us “Aaj phir jeeney ki tamanna hai”, a playful yet fragile thrust towards life by Rosy, an anthem of freedom if you will. Compare this to Gloria Gaynor’s “I will survive”, another anthem of the sisterhood or most recently, Beyonce’s “Who run the world…..girls” and I’m pretty certain that “kal ke andheron se nikal ke, dekhaa hain aankhe malate malate , Phool hee phool zindagee bahaar hai, tay kar liyaa” speaks to a higher something within us, more gentle than visceral and yet equally strong. In Mughal-e-Azam’s qawwali “Teri mehfil me kismet azma kar ham bhi dekhenge” , two women compete for the affections of the prince. One competes like she’s in a competition while the other pleads a surrender -“Teri mehfil me kismat aazamaa kar ham bhi dekhege - Gam-E-Dil se zaraa daaman bachaakar ham bhi dekhege” versus “Tere kadamo pe sar apanaa jhukaa kar ham bhi dekhege”. In both cases, the women display strength directly through the lyrics, one is modern and in your face while the other is confident that the loveliness of suffering will refine and guarantee her love. And then there is the whole gamut of songs on unrequited love, star amongst which is Pyaasa’s “Bichhad Gayaa Har Saathi Dekar Pal Do Pal Ka Saath,Kisko Phursat Hai Jo Thaame Deewane Ka Haath, Humko Apna Saaya Tak Aqsar Bezaar Mila - Jane voh kaise log they jinkey pyar ko pyar mila". These lyrics have a precision of a surgical tool. They hit you in the heart, mind and soul as an if invasive surgery is being performed.

My favorites though, are all those beautiful songs that have a playful, teasing sensuality where the lyrics are so simple yet so effective that the instant happiness they bring upon hearing carries a lifetime guarantee. “Mana Janab ne pukara nahin, kya mera saath bhi gavara nahin?” or “Khoya Khoya Chand” or “Abhi na jao chod kar ke dil abhi bhara nahin” or “Zindagi bhar nahin bhulegi voh barsat ki rat”. Then there is a movie from 1973 called Hanste Zalkhm. If there ever was a collection of songs with a boiling pot of feelings, rendered in a highly modern, experimental way with fantastic use of orchestra, this film must get a special mention. ‘Yeh mana meri jaan mohabbat saza hai, maza isme itma magar kis liye hai”,a qawwali that epitomizes a man’s surrender to his lover, rendered especially poignant since she is a prostitute. They both find solace in each other from a world that’s bound and gagged by mores and sing ‘Tum jo mil gaye ho to yeh lagta hai ke jahaan mil gaya”. This is a song that has an amazing undulation of singing tone and volume and the great Rafi and Lata oblige beautifully. There is also “Betab dil ki tamanna yahi hai” or “Aaj socha to aansoo bhar aaye, muddate ho gayi muskuraye”. I can only sigh in wondrous rapture.

I end with RashtraKavi, Kavi Pradeep, the man who gave us “Aey Mere Vatan ke logon”, “De di hamen azaadi bina khadag bina dhal” and “Ao bachon tumhey dikhaen jhanki Hindustan ki”. He wrote a song in the film Nastik in the year 1954. It goes as under.

Dekh tere sansar ki haalat kya ho gayi bhagwaan
kitnaa badal gayaa insaan…

aayaa samay badaa bedhangaa
aaj aadmi banaa lafangaa
kahin pe jhagdaa kahin pe dangaa
naach rahaa nar ho kar nangaa
chhal aur kapat ke haathon apnaa
bech rahaa imaan,

kitna badal gaya insaan…

raam ke bhakt rahim ke bande
rachte aaj fareb ke phande…
kitne ye makkar ye andhe
dekh liye inke bhi dhandhe
inhin ki kaali kartooton se
huya ye mulk mashaan,

kitna badal gaya insaan…

Ladies and Gentlemen, let me be honest. If I had not mentioned the year the film Nastik was released and if some of you hadn’t already heard this song at some point in your life, would not all of us have believed that these lyrics were written recently? Such is the power of the hindi film song, it transcends, uplifts, provokes, seduces, saddens and most of all makes us thankful that the hindi film exists!

The Gender Weapon

2011-12-14T10:06:00.000-08:00

Gender discourse is a serious thing. It upsets, annoys and angers a lot of people. Personally, I am not a bra burner. I could be called a post -feminist feminist, someone who is conscious of the discourse and the bias but does not believe in “if he can do it well, I can do it better”. I generally see men as people, just the same way as I see women. Their sex is unimportant to me (except if they’re Hugh Jackman) which is why I find it very painful to see men pulverizing the reputation of women wantonly.

The arena of popular culture offers great insights into gender and how society perceives and parenthesizes the sexes. I am not a big fan of reality shows. Being an intensely private person, I find obsessive intrusions into people’s homes and lives too voyeuristic. However, I’ve watched a few episodes of Big Boss this season. I’m not a big fan but I am a habitual channel mover so I get to see bits and bobs of everything on the telly. I have had the unfortunate chance of seeing exactly those episodes which confirmed my belief that one of the easiest things for men to do when they are fighting with women is to cast aspersions on their character and motives, to demean them and to threaten them with consequences. There’s a man called Sky who is supposed to be a TV actor. I’m not sure how he could have navigated his way in the entertainment world with a name like that but who am I to smirk! He was embroiled in a nasty fight with a woman called Mehak. I don’t know what the fight was about but what I do remember distinctly is this man telling her that he knew who she was, what sort of family she came from, what all she had done to get here, how he knows people she also knows and that he’ll sort her out when she meets him outside! Then,there is a baby face guy called Sid. I don’t know what his claim to fame is but he was in a fight with a woman called Vida. Once again, the reason for the fight eludes me but what stayed with me was how he called her names, insulted her, cast aspersions on her character and called her a hag. The common theme in all these episodes is the ability of men to get away by saying the meanest, cheapest and most derogatory of things and to cast accusations and aspersions at will. They now have a porn star in the house. She seems like lovely person and, ironically, the least vulgar member of the house! Were Sky and Sid to know of her true identity, I can only imagine the things they could say to her and perhaps with a sense of license! Can a game not be won by staying within the realms of propriety? These very men became combustible when a woman questioned their family values and how they were brought up. So if it is good for the goose to hear, should the gander not have the same stomach?

I’ve often butted heads with dear friends who have a strange belief that film actresses have all had to sleep with someone to get to the top. This argument almost always gets me labeled naïve and out of touch with reality while the opposing camp thinks they’ve come out as worldly wise. I have a big problem with this argument on three levels. One, as long as there is no rape involved, sex between two consenting adults should not be anybody’s bloody business, least of all of those of us who are merely consumers of art. Two, how do these people know about the sex life of actresses who they’ve never met, most likely will never meet and definitely do not know? And lastly, what sort of world have they come to believe this is where successful women definitely must have slept with someone to get to the top!

I climbed the corporate ladder very successfully and quickly in the first few years of my working life. Interestingly, for most part of that period, my boss was a woman who taught me so much that I remain grateful to the day. I remember being shocked at hearing a senior colleagues talk about how a General Manger of one of our vendor’s had become really powerful all because she was sleeping with the owner of the company. I remember going to my boss and telling her how glad I was that I would never be accused of sleeping with her to account for whatever little successes I had encountered! This was my first introduction to how this ugly notion makes its way into office spaces. In one of my recent work places, it shocked me to see people speaking freely of a male Vice President and one of his female team members who couldn’t be faulted for anything and continued to get promoted all because she was supposed to be his girlfriend. It continued to baffle me how people reached that conclusion, maybe because the two people in question spent a lot of time together due to work, car pooled often, ate lunch together almost every day and travelled together for work. Surely, all this must mean that they are sleeping with each other! Could it simply be a case of two colleagues, a mentor and a mentee who’ve found a great way of working together and meeting their targets quarter on quarter while others have failed or would that be a flight of fancy?

Bill Clinton was asked why he had that affair with Monica Lewinsky and if I’m not mistaken he said, albeit only when pushed into a corner, because ‘he could”. Many men (and women) will indulge in the worst form of character assassination only because “they can”. People say the most personal and damaging things about others because the other person is not present to offer a defense. Sometimes they say it to their faces. It is far easier to inflict verbal cruelty and abuse under duress than to maintain a dignified argument. Many women have had to face this from their husbands. From being talked down to, to being called incapable, to being told they are bad mothers, to being accused of arrogance if they are doing well. And the mother of all reasons, having the spine and the heart to put up a fight against an injustice! How can meanness be a form of combat? How can vulgarity be acceptable as a tool for success? Why should character assassination be acceptable as a form of water cooler conversation? It should not. Women cannot be raped, burnt, owned, sold, beaten, deprived, starved, prevented, ostracized, whiplashed, stoned, murdered for honor or killed in the womb just because someone “can”.