Appreciating Gulzar – Masoom

As I continue to listen to Gulzar’s songs, old and new, every time one hears a song, there is a new meaning that one discovers. Today I was listening to songs from Masoom, Shekhar Kapur’s first Hindi film as a director.

Each one of the songs is a delightful piece by itself, besides the music of the LoRD. Let’s have a few sample lines from the different songs.

One of my favourite songs, not just of this movie, but of all time is the one sung by Arati Mukherjee – Do Naina Aur Ek Kahani.  This song in the film is picturised as a lullaby sung by the mother Shabana Azmi for her two daughters. The lines are ostensibly a story for the kids. But there is something deeper in it. Have a look. There is antara which goes like this

chhotee see do jheelon mein wo
bahatee rahatee hai
o chhotee see do jheelon mein wo
bahatee rahatee hai
ko_ii sune yaa naa sune
kahatee rahatee hai
kuchh likh ke aur kuchh zubaani

Between two lakes (jheelon – tear drops? remember the song starts Do Naina aur Ek Kahani) flows the story (story of life?). Whether any one listens to it or not, the story goes on and on, sometimes in letters sometimes in voice.

The rest of the song you will see borders on distress and sadness.

Another favourite song, also with explicit nonsense lyrics, reminiscent of Sukumar Ray’s Aabol Taabol is Lakdi Ki Kathi. Song sung by kids having fun. Gulzar has done this many times. Earlier was one in Kitaab – remember VIP underwear banian?

ghodaa thaa ghamandee
pahunchaa sabjii mandee
sabjee mandee baraf padii thi
baraf mein lag gai thandee

The arrogant horse reaches the market, the market is covered with snow, in the snow the horse catches a cold. To what end was the arrogance? Only to catch a cold? Nice.

Finally I will end with Huzur Is Kadar.

koi manachalaa gar pakad legaa aanchal
zaraa sochiye aap kyaa kiijiyegaa
lagaa dein agar badhake zulfon mein kaliyaan
to kyaa apanii zulfein jhatak diijiyegaa

This song was one of those drinking songs when one is a little elevated from the ground.

(All lyrics taken from www.smriti.com and due credit to all respective contributors)

One Loner In The City

Ek Akela Is Shahar Mein
Raat Mein Aur Dopahar Mein
Aabodaana Dhoondta Hai Aashiyana Dhoondta Hai

Din Khali Khali Bartan Hai Aur Raat Hai Jaise Andha Kuan
In Sooni Andheri Aankhon Mein Aansoon Ki Jagah Aata Hain Dhuan
Jeene Ki Vajah To Koi Nahi Marne Ka Bahana Dhoondta Hai

In Umar Se Lambi Sadkon Ko Manzil Pe Pohonchte Dekha Nahin
Bas Daudti Phirti Rahti Hain Humne To Theherte Dekha Nahin
Is Ajnabi Se Shahar Mein Jaana Pehechana Dhoondta Hai

An old classic, so why we listen to it now? Simply. Also partly because of an interesting conversation with some friends on the “Khali Bartan” i.e. empty vessel metaphor. Some friends remarked at the funny side of the literal translation. However, the deeper meaning was merely in the eyes of the beholder, as one would say. Each one to his own interpretation.

I would read it as, “the day is loud but hollow (like an empty vessel) and the night is a bottomless abyss (andha kuan)” The melancholy continues with “In the blank dark eyes, even the tears are replaced by smoke / there is no reason to live, trying to find an excuse to die“

The movie was one of the classics from the 70’s. The other version of this song, the happier “Do Deewane Shaher Mein” starts with hope and happiness and now “Ek Akela Is Shahar Mein” reflects the change in the situation for protagonist.

This is one of the main points of the Golden Age. The story of the film can be discerned from the sound track.

Sukhwinder – Once Again

In a discussion with friends on a mailing list, we were talking of the return of the Golden Age of music. Most people, when asked about Hindi film music, immediately go into a chant about the ’50s and ’60s and the Golden Age. Much true of course. There was a big nadir in the ’80s and early ’90s with the likes of Laxmikant Pyarelal, Nadeem Shravan, Anand Milind making those raucous melodramatic romantic scores with the nasal Kumar Sanu doing the honours.

However, the last 15 years has seen some transformation and one can say this is truly a new Golden Age again. AR Rahman has been a big influence obviously. But so has Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Jatin Lalit, Salim Suleiman and when he is in the mood of doing something original Pritam.

In the singers list, probably one of the best singers of all time, Sonu Nigam has maintained a high standard of performance. And maintaining and often going beyond is one of my favourite singers of all time Sukhwinder Singh. I had blogged earlier about how some of his most popular songs have contributed catch phrases that are part of our modern pop culture.

The music of Kaminey has reinforced that. The near-cult song Dhan Ta Nan gets Sukhi in great form. In an interview, Vishal Bharadwaj gives a really deep insight into his singing. He says that Sukhi gets into each word, each labz. He gets into the spirit of each word and when he sings the entire meaning comes out in tune.

Here are some of my favourite Sukhi solo numbers (besides the popular cult numbers like Chaiya Chaiya, Jai Ho, et al)

1. Rut Aa Gayee Re (1947 – Earth)
2. Phir Raat Kati (Paheli)
3. Omkara (title track)
4. Pagdi Sambhal Jatta (The Legend of Bhagat Singh)
5. Jaane Tu Meri Kya Hai (Jaane Tu Ya Na Jaane)

In the old days we had Mohd Rafi, Kishore Kumar and Mukesh. But behind all of them was Manna Dey who would come in for one song in the film and it would always be the most evocative song of the album. Sukhi brings that today, sitting with Sonu, Shankar Mahadevan, KK and Shaan.

Kaminey

In continuation of the exploration of the music of Kaminey (Dhan Ta Nan and Fatak) and specifically the lyrics written by Gulzar, here’s Gaurav Sabnis on the title track sung by Vishal Bharadwaj.

My favourite lines, which in true Gulzar style has as many interpretations as your imagination allows it, are as follows:

Jiska bhi chehra chheela (But whenever I peeled off anyone’s face))
Andar se aur nikla (Underneath it, there was more/something else (pun))
Masoom sa kabutar (What I thought was an innocent pigeon)
Naacha to mor nikla (When it danced, showed itself to be a peacock)
Kabhi hum kaminey nikley (Sometimes I was the crook)
Kabhi doosrey kaminey (And sometimes, the others were crooks)

(Note: Translations given by Gaurav)

Rediscovering Pink Floyd with Songbird

Songbird, an Open Source Music Player offers the feature called MashTape where for the song that is being played, it pulls hajaar stuff from the web including bios, reviews from Amazon, videos from youtube, etc. I had installed it earlier but had not used it so extensively. Now, I was issued a new laptop and while setting up my favourite applications, decided to opt for Songbird as against default Windows Media Player.

So did that and then imported all my music into the library. I started with Pink Floyd. Immediately, I was offered all kinds of content. As I started going through them, I realised that this is not just an application where you leave the music playing in the background and continue to do your work. This application engages you. And you engage with it. In the process, you go deep into your music.

I would like a feature for lyrics and for microblogging about the song / artist that I am listening to. There is a last.fm addon but I haven’t figured how it works.

Anyway, let’s have some Pink Floyd. Anyone remember this album.

Dan Epstein of Amazon.com gives the editorial review (which Songbird has pulled up for me). It says

The last release from the Roger Waters-led incarnation of the band, The Final Cut is easily the most darkly provocative entry in the entire Pink Floyd catalog.

Dark it definitely is. And personal. The criticism, at times rabid, of Maggie Thatcher, the Falklands War, etc. is overpowering to ignore.

Atom Heart Mother, Pink Floyd

I first heard AHM when I must have been in 5th or 6th standard. An old cassette of a family friend found its way to my hands and I was extremely fascinated with the cow. So I put it on my tape recorder and heard Roger Waters intone If. The only piece in the album with any lyrics. And what a song. I take the liberty of posting the lyrics here.

If I were a swan, I’d be gone
If I were a train, I’d be late
If I were a good man, I’d talk with you more often than I do

If I were asleep, I could dream
If I were afraid, I could hide
If I go insane, please don’t put your wires in my brain

(Gilmour flirts with the guitar here)

If I were the moon I’d be cool
If I were a road, I would bend
If I were a good man, I’d understand the spaces between friends

If I were allowed, I would cry
If I were with you, I’d be home and dry
And if I go insance, will you still let me join in with the game.

Over and out for now.

Prasoon Joshi – Hey Kaala Bandar

There were days when one didn’t know which way to turn – there was Shailendra, Majrooh, Shakeel Badayuni, Hasrat Jaipuri, Sahir, Gulshan Bawra, Raja Mehdi Ali Khan, Rajinder Krishan, Anand Bakshi – legendary poets writing for the masters of music – Salil Chowdhury, SJ, Naushad, SD Burman, RD Burman et al. From that age, today we have only Gulzar and Javed Akhtar holding the fort.

Personally, I prefer Gulzar’s metaphors “zariwale neele aasman” to Javed Akhtar’s verbosity “albele albele tan, lachchkile lachchkile tan”.

One person who seems to be proving to be a strong contender is Prasoon Joshi. His usage of the metaphor is quite impressive.  I am have been listening to the soundtrack of Delhi-6, especially Hey Kaala Bandar. I present my observations of the lyrics (the melody part, not the English rap lyrics).

Here’s one snip

Ghoonghat Ki Gehrai Mein
Tan Failaye Kaun Hai
Jab Safed LibaaS mein
Kaala Sa Sach Moll Hai

Another snip from the song

Kasme To Moongfali Hai
Jab Jee Chhahe Hum Khaate
Upar Se Na Na Na Karte
Par Thaali Aage Sarkate

“Moongfali” – peanuts, eh? In the Mumbai local trains and bus stops, the peanut fellow comes in small 1 rupee / 2 rupees rolled packets. They are sold as “timepass”. So in effect what Prasoon is saying that we make promises as timepass, whenever we want – it’s just another trivial part of our lives.

“Thaali Aage Sarkate” – holding up the plate while saying no. A typical trait in everyone – saying no, I have eaten and yet not resisting when more helpings are given.

Going down to the end of the song

Saare Reeti Rivaaz Hatakar
Dekho Apne Ghar Ke Andar
Shaayad Kahin Kissiko Kone Mein
Ghoom Raha Hai Kaala Bandar

It is my conjecture that “Kaala Bandar” refers to the monkey man scare in Delhi. I would like to be corrected. Assuming this conjecture, the above snip has some insightful words – “Saare Reeti Rivaaz Hatakar” meaning jettisoning rules and customs; by extension throwing away one’s dogma; and even more, opening up one’s eyes.

He is saying, you open up your eyes and you will see the monkey inside you – all the hoaxes, the fears, the inhibitions, the dread.

Nice stuff. And then Prasoon Joshi closes the piece with these two lines

Jaane Kaunse Rang Mein Range
Hamaam Mein Hum Saare Nange

Touche

Sukhwinder Singh – Chhaiya to Jai

Consider the following list, not exhaustive

1. Kaava Kaava
2. Chaiyya Chaiyya
3. Ramta Jogi
4. Chak De India
5. Dard-e-Disco
6. Fashion Ka Jalwa
7. Jai Ho

They are all Sukhwinder songs, no doubt. And all hit numbers. But there is more – the phrases specifically are so well entrenched into our consciousness. No doubt the lyricist is to be complemented. But a major reason for these phrases to have such enduring resonance in our minds is the voice that sung them originally.

Sukhwinder Singh is one of those apecial singers who gets tunes made for him i.e. music directors do not call him for all and sundry songs. They call him when there is something significant, something challenging, something that only Sukhwinder can do.

Among the others in the current generation, there’s Sonu Nigam, Shaan and KK who invoke the best out of all music directors.

But back to Sukhwinder. (I am not linking you to the wikipedia page as it is very shoddily written. Instead I have linked to the imdb page.) Now, “Jai Ho“, the song from Slumdog which has been nominated for Best Song at the Academy Awards has the full Sukhi (as he is called by his peers) energy and vitality required for the song. As I have written about Jai Ho in the previous post, the song opens up the undying spirit of the young street smart slum boy. And the singer had to bring it out and it was done.

So next time there is a phrase that becomes a war cry, it would most probably be a Sukhwinder song

Jai Ho!!

Little Boxes

For nostalgic reasons, I downloaded the song used in the Maruti Zen Estilo commercial – Little Boxes, written by Malvina Reynolds and made famous by Pete Segar.

Anjan Dutta has his own Bengali version as well

Here are the lyrics

Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes made of ticky tacky
Little boxes
Little boxes
Little boxes all the same
There’s a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they’re all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same

And the people in the houses all go to the university
And they all get put in boxes, little boxes all the same
And there’s doctors and there’s lawyers
And business executives
And they’re all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same
And they all play on the golf course and drink their martini dry
And they all have pretty children and the children go to school
And the children go to summer camp
And then to the university
And they all get put in boxes, and they all come out the same
And the boys go into business and marry and raise a family
And they all get put in boxes, little boxes all the same

There’s a green one, and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they’re all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same

Some trivia on this song from songfacts.com

Guess This

Guess this legendary piece of work

1. November 16 1959 (46 years ago Thursday) this muscial opened at Lut-Fontane Theatre in New York

2. The Hollywood movie was released in 1965 and ranks third in the all time list (ticket sales and gross collections adjusted for inflation) after Gone With The Wind and Star Wars. Amazon.uk reports it as the “most widely seen movie made by Hollywood”. It won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director and of course Best Music

3. In February 2005, the musical opened for the first time ever in the country where the story is set.

4. Johnny Coltrane, the legendary sax player, took one of the songs from the musical (movie version) and adapted it as his signature tune

Enough clues, what is it?

Songs that have had the greatest influence on pop culture

The Americans elected Dubya twice. The same Americans selected Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 songs that have shaped Rock and Roll. Like their choice for president, we don’t like their choice of songs. Run DMC, LL Cool J, Dr. Dre, Arrested Development do not rock and roll make, racial emancipation may be.

So we take matters into our own hands. Here’s calling out to non-Americans and by implication like minded gentry to help build this list.

Send me the rock and roll songs that you feel have done any of the following

1. The greatest influence on culture
2. That you identify yourself the most.
3. That you would wish you had with you when you get marooned in a desert island

Right here on my blog, we would be building the list vote by vote. So write in using the comments section and keep checking on the final list that gets built.