Saathiya (Title track)

So I was on the road today, when some FM channel started playing 'Do pyaar karne waale' from Jungle. And I thought, there are some songs that I could listen simply for Sonu Nigam's voice. Now add AR Rahman and Gulzar to the mix, and the song is sure to feature in my all-time favorites (think 'Satrangi Re' from Dil Se). Saathiya title track is no different. So it was a happy moment for me when it won a Filmfare Award each for its musical trio of Sonu, Rahman and Gulzar (Filmfare has often disappointed me in the past).

The lyrics of this song are hardly what you'd call linear or simple. In fact, I feel they are less like Gulzar's Bollywood work, and more like his poems - metaphors, allegories and analogies galore! But the thought is pretty simple - it's a love song from a boy to girl. A boy with a pretty vivid imagination too! Such is his love, that his entire world revolves around this girl. 

Lyrics, and translation

Translating this song literally will kill its beauty. So please ignore the literal translation, and focus on the feelings behind it.

Saathiya, saathiya, maddham-maddham teri geeli hansi

Saathiya, saathiya, sun ke humne saari pi li hansi

[[Literally: My beloved, your laughter is soft and fluid, which I drank upon hearing it.

'Geeli' (wet) is not an adjective used very often for laughter. These lines could could mean that our hero drank up the laughter like someone who has been thirsty. Or it could mean that he is drunk on (intoxicated by) this girl's laughter. Or it could mean that like a liquid seeps inside surfaces, the laughter has soaked his soul. You prefer!]]

Hansti rahe tu hansti rahe, haya ki laali khilti rahe

Zulf ke neeche gardan pe, subah-o-shaam milti rahein

Saundhi si hansi teri, khilti rahe, milti rahe

[[May you keep smiling forever, your cheeks blushing

May the mornings and evenings keep meeting at the nape of your neck, under your hair.

May your fragrant laughter keep blooming for ever.

I wish more poets would think beyond the eyes and lips of a girl! How sensuous is the description of the dark hair brushing the fair neck of the girl - how beautiful is its comparison to the meeting place of mornings and evenings! The blush of the girl's cheeks is like the redness of sky at dusk or dawn.]]

Peeli dhoop pahan kar tum, dekho baag mein mat jaana

Bhanvre tumko sab chhedenge, phoolon mein mat jaana

[[Don't go out in the garden, dressed in (yellow) sunshine

All those insects will bug you, don't go near the flowers

(PS: Bhanvra is a black insect that eats flower nectar. What's it called in English?)]]

Maddham-maddham hans de phir se

Sona-sona phir se hans de

[[Smile that soft, beautiful smile of yours yet again]]

Taaza gire patte ki tarah sabz laan* par lete hue

Saat rang hain bahaaron ke, ek ada mein lapete hue

Saavan bhaadon saare tumse

[[Like a freshly fallen leave, lying still on the green lawn.

Yet containing all the shades of spring in every glance

(It's as if) all my seasons are because of you


*Laan = lawn]]

Mausam-mausam hanste rahna

Maddham-maddham hanste rahna

[[Keep smiling that soft smile of yours in every season]]

Saathiya, saathiya ...

Kabhie neele aasmaan par, chalo ghoomne chalein hum

Koi abr mil gaya to, zameen pe baras lein hum

[[Some time, let's go on a stroll through this blue sky

And rain down on the earth, when we come across a cloud

(At times, I wish it was just you, me and the sky and the rain - we would be one with each-other, and one with the nature)]]

Teri baali hil gayi hai

Kabhie shab chamak uthi hai, kabhie shaam khil gayi hai

[[A flicker in your earring

Makes my nights glitter, makes my evenings bloom]]

Tere baalon ki panaah mein, ye siyaah raat guzre

Teri kaali-kaali aankhein, koi ujli baat utre

[[I wish I could spend these dark nights in the shade of your hair

And see your dark eyes sparkle when a bright idea flits through your mind]]

Teri ik hansee ke badle, meri yeh zameen le le

Mera aasmaan le le

[[I could sacrifice my earth and sky in exchange for even one of your smile]]

Saathiya, saathiya ...

Barf giri ho vaadi mein, oon mein lipti simti hui...

Barf giri ho vaadi mein, aur hansi teri goonje

Oon mein lipti simti hui, baat kare dhuaan nikle

Garm-garm ujla dhuaan, narm-narm ujla dhuaan

[[Some time, when the valley is snow-clad; shivering despite being clad in woolen clothes...

Some time, when the valley is snow-clad, I wish it was echoing with your laughter

And I can see you clad in woolen clothes, smoke coming out of your mouth as you speak

A warm, bright, soft smoke]]

My three cents

1. The line 'Teri ik hansi ke badle, meri yeh zameen le le, mera aasmaan le le' is by far my favorite line of the song. So simple, yet all-giving. He's ready to give everything up just to see his beloved smile once. That's how deeply a girl wants to be loved. Plus, this line is sung with such intensity by Sonu Nigam, it's as if he really means it. Wow, I get goosebumps every time I listen to it!
2. My favorite part - Gulzar's use of colors throughout the song - haya ki laali khilti rahe (red), peeli dhoop pehen ke tum (yellow), taaza gire patte ki tarah (green), kabhie neele aasmaan par (blue), yeh siyaah raat guzre (black), barf giri ho vaadi mein (white), saat rang hain bahaaron ke.
3. The song is picturised (and performed) well. Even Manish Malhotra's costumes for Rani are in tandem with the colors (see 2 above).

Satrangi Re (Dil Se)

In my opinion, Satrangi Re's distractingly beautiful cinematography and a stunning Manisha Koirala take away from it. Because the song in itself is so incredibly exquisite, it ought to be heard in isolation as well.

At the hostel in Banasthali, we used to shut all doors and windows of our room and make it pitch black. Then we played this song on full volume. That took the song to another dimension altogether. Today before writing the post, I recreated that atmosphere. And I must tell you, we were not crazy back then. Go, give it a try!

A 'Satrangi Re' montage.