Challa (Jab Tak Hai Jaan)

I didn't like this album. I was angry that the combination of Rahman and Gulzar coming together for a Yash Chopra movie could produce such mediocre music. I mean, you don't expect this from a team that gave you Dil Se, Saathiya, Guru and Raavan. Even Fiza and Yuvvraj had better songs!

So I ignored the album. I never listened to it. And the number of times 9XM played Jiya Jiya Re made things even worse. I couldn't stand another minute of Anushka prancing about in her shorts sprouting words that seemed they were written almost half-heartedly.

And in ignoring this album, I also ignored Challa. Well, also because having heard Bullah Ki Jaana etc.; this song was a little underwhelming coming from Rabbi (plus it had Rahman's music so it should have been better, right?). And Rabbi's voice just didn't suit Shah Rukh Khan. All in all, the song had a lot working against it.

In any case; at a later date I happened to listen to this song without all these factors pulling it down, and realized that it's *just* the sort of song to bring together Rahman, Rabbi and Gulzar; all of whom seem deeply rooted in the Sufi way of love and devotion. It's a song about searching for that supreme power that guides, loves and protects us all - without manifesting itself in a physical form. It's a song about wondering if such a power really exists; and how we go about like mad men looking after it; as if it's a physical thing that could be seen, smelled, heard or touched.

It's this wandering of this mad man (jhalla, pronounced challa in Punjabi) that this song talks about. 

Lyrics and Translation:

Challa ki labda phire
Challa ki labda phire
Yaar oda ghar keda
Lokaan to ponchda phire

[[What do I search for, like a man gone crazy?
I go about asking people, if they know which house is His]]

[[Khuda ka ghar - mandir, masjid - Gulzar has written about this is many poems. How these houses of Gods have been unable to protect men when they needed it most - at the times of riots and such. So, to look for God's house is specially foolish of our challa.]]

Challa hansda phire
Challa ronda phire
Challa gali-gali rulda phire

[[At times laughing, crying at times
I go about, from street to street]]

Challe tu sabda
Challe tera koi nai
Challa gali-gali rulda phire

[[I belong to everyone, yet I own no one
And I go about, from street to street]]

Challa ki labda phire

[[What do I search for, like a man gone crazy?]]

Rang satrangi de
Bulbulan di boli
Dhop de paireen chale
Chhavan di le doli

[[I expect that He will have the colors of the rainbow
And the voice of a canary
And even when He walks in the sun
It's as if a shadow is following Him around]]

Oye kaale-kaale badlan ch chaand labda
Goongiyaan hawavan di aawazan sunda
Yaaron aas-paas vasda ae yaar mera
Vikhda ni odi khushbuvaan sunghda

[[And I look for the moon in the black clouds
I listen to the silent voices of the winds
I'm sure that He lives nearby
And though I haven't seen him, His fragrance always lingers nearby]]

[[You can see a lot of "Chhaiya-chhaiya" in this quartet and the one right above it. The essence is the same - looking for God, seeing him manifest himself in colors, smells and sights.

The thought behind"goongiyaan hawavan di aawazan sunda" can be traced back to many a Gulzar poem, specially this one

Wo jo shayar tha, chup sa rehta tha
Behki behki si baatein karta tha
Aankhein kaanon pe rakh k sunta tha
Goongi khamoshiyon ki aawazein!
Jama karta tha chaand k saaye]]

Challa ki labda phire...

[[What do I search for, like a man gone crazy?]]

Na visaal hoya kadi
Na judaai hoyi
Ishq de qaidi di
Na rehaai hoyi

[[I have never met Him, nor have we ever been separated
Afterall, what freedom does a prisoner of love seek?]]

Lokon sufne ch milne da vaada usda
Saari-saari raat na akh lagdi
Mere saa vi thode-thode ghatt aunde
Meri nabz vi thodi ghatt vajdi

[[It is his promise of meeting me in my dreams
That keeps me awake at night
My breath is becoming slower with time
And so does my heartbeat]]

[[The top two lines in quartet seem like a tribute to Ghalib:
taa fir  na  intezaar meiN neeNd aaye 'umr bhar
aane  ka 'ahad  kar  gaye  aaye  jo KHwaab meiN]]

Challa ki labda phire...

[[Yet, what do I search for, like a man gone crazy?]]

Dhan Te Nan (Kaminey)

(For best effect, I suggest you listen to Dhan-te-nan while reading this piece)

There is something about the mad energy of Dhan-te-nan that makes us all pump our fists in the air and go Dhan-te-nan with Shahid Kapoor and Chandan Roy Sanyal.

A little background first - Charlie (Shahid) and Chandan are both small-time crooks with big dreams - it's the city of dreams after all. Times are hard and becoming a bookie is the way to easy money. This is Charlie's one big dream - having enough dough so he can start betting on horses. And guess what? Today was Charlie's lucky day! He has just come unexpected across a huge bag of cocaine; which means he'll soon have enough money to start what he had always wanted to do. With luck and Laxmi both at his (and Chandan's) sides; high on dreams and coke; they go out to celebrate their good stars. And it is this infectious high that has translated so well on the screen (and the song).


Lyrics and Translation:
(Often I have tried to "translate" Gulzar's words and often I have ended up ruining them. So this time let's try this in a different way. I won't try to translate the words, I'll just give my take on them - my interpretation, if you will. This will mean two things - first, we will be saved the pain of seeing the lyrics ruined. And second, I will be able to add context whenever it's needed.)

Aa ja aa ja dil nichodein
Raat ki matki todein
Koi goodluck nikaalein
Aaj gullak to phodein

[[So Charlie has recently come across some money that'll set him up on the road to finally becoming a bookie and start betting on horses. What he needs now is luck - good stars, if you will. And he's ready to break open the sky for that piece of luck.]]

Dil dildara mera teli ka tel
Kaudi-kaudi paisa-paisa paise ka khel
 [[I must admit that this line always left me puzzled. I mean, what? Why would anyone's heart be like oil? And then I realized the answer is there in the very first line of the song "Aaja aaja dil nichodein". You see, like the "telis" used to squeeze the seeds till the last drop of oil came out; our Charlie needs every last bit of his heart's desire and luck to win at this game (of money).]]

Chal-chal sadkon pe hogi dhan-ten
Dhan-te-nan ta-na-na-na

[[Let's go and conquer the street! Dhan-te-nan!! Here we come, Mumbai!!!]]

Aa ja ke one-way hai ye zindagi ki gali ek hi chance hai
Aage hawa hi hawa hai, agar saans hai to ye romance hai

[[The only way to go in life is forward. We are losing time one second at a time and this life time is our only chance. The dream will only last as long as our breath does.]]

Yahi kahte hain, yahi sunte hain
Jo bhi jaata hai, jaata hai, wo phir se aata nahin

[[And this is what we keep hearing and what they keep saying - "That which is gone, is gone. It's not coming back." Aane waala pal, jaane waala hai / Ho sake to ismein, zindagi bita do, kal jo ye jaane waala hai]]

Koi chaal aisi chalo yaar abke samandar bhi pul pe chale
Phir tu chale uspe ya main chaloon shahar ho apne pairon tale

[[Le't's play a trick - let's do something so incredible that even the sea does our bidding. Let's be someone who the entire city looks up to.]]

Kai khabrein hain, kai kabrein hain
Jo bhi soye hain kabron mein, unko jagana nahin

[[Gulzar often uses the term "kabr" (graves) for people who are dead inside. Their bodies are like graves or tombs for their dead souls. Here again - The world is full of dull and dead people. Let's not wake them up - what business do they have in this vibrant and thriving city of ours!]]

Aaj aaja kal nichodein, raat ki matki todein

[[Let's squeeze every bit of tomorrow out of today and go out and go dhan-te-nan on the streets]]