Mera Yaar Mila De (Saathiya)

As Gulzar often says, if a lyricist is devious and smart enough, he would build multiple layers into his songs. As you scratch the surface, another layer will reveal itself. And this way he would sneakily say the thing he wanted to say, along with the thing the director wanted him to say.

The song begins with an anguished cry - a cry of someone lost, someone in despair.

On the screen we see Adi (Vivek Oberoi) frantically looking for Suhani (Rani Mukherjee) - in the background the track begins - "Banjar hai sab banjar hai, hum dhoondhne jab firdaus chale / Teri khoj talaash mein dekh piya, hum kitne kaale kos chale". On the face of it, this song is a lover's search for his beloved.  And the deft picturisation by Shaad Ali makes us believe it is, indeed, about a lover's quest.

But if we strip the song off its picturisation, the words are all about the quest for God. Gulzar's desposition for the Sufi way often manifests itself in his songs and poetry. This one is no different. To him, God resides not in idols or stones ("kankad, patthar, but") - but in a loving and devoted heart. It's not by looking for firdaus (Eden/heaven) or looking at the stars ("maine tote-tote taare chune") that you can find Him. When your love for God becomes an obsession, and transcends even that; when you destroy your identity in that quest; is when you can truly find Him / be one with Him.

Lyrics and translation:

Banjar hai sab banjar hai hum dhoondhne jab firdaus chale

Teri khoj-talaash mein dekh piya, hum kitne kaale kos chale

Banjar hai sab banjar hai

[[Seeking heaven, all I see is this wasteland

How many joyless miles must I travel looking for you?

It's just wilderness all around ...]]

Mainda yaar mila de saaiyaan, ik vaar mila de saaiyaan

[[God, please unite me with my beloved. All I want is to see him but once.]]

Maine pota-pota falak chhaana, maine tote-tote taare chune

[[I have shattered the stars to pieces and searched through every inch of sky with my own fingertips]]
(Thanks Anurag Bhardwaj for correcting the Punjabi bits for me :) )

Taaron ki chamak ye subaho talak, lagti hi nahin pal bhar ko palak

[[The incessant starlight till the morning, doesn't let me sleep even for a second.
(even the gentle starlight is agonizing for someone in love)]]

Maine pota-pota falak chhaana, maine tote-tote taare chune

Sirf ek teri aahat ke liye kankad, patthar, but saare sune

Hun mende te ruswaaiyaan

[[I have shattered the stars to pieces and searched through every inch of sky with my own fingertip

Seeking the sound of your footsteps, I've borne the silence of pebbles, stones and idols alike.

And yet I find only disgrace and ridicule]]

[Mainda yaar mila de saaiyaan, ik vaar mila de saaiyaan]

Aa dekh meri peshaani ko taqdeer ke harfe likkhe hain

[[Come, and see the words of fate written on my forehead ]]

Pairon ke nishaan jab dekhe jahaan sau baar jhukaaya sar ko wahaan

[[Wherever I see even the hint of your footsteps, I bow my head a hundred times]]

Aa dekh meri peshaani ko taqdeer ke harfe likkhe hain

Main kitni baar pukaarun tujhe, tere naam ke safhe likkhe hain

[[Do you not see the words of fate written on my forehead?

How many times must I call out to you? Pages have been written only of your name.]]

Tera saaya kahin to bolega, main sunta raha parchhaiyaan 

[[In the hope of hearing your voice, I've spent my life listening to shadows]]

My two  three cents:

1. To Shaad Ali's credit, he absolutely nails the picturisation. "How many joyless miles must I travel looking for you?" - the way Adi travels through cities/village by whatever means - buses, trucks, tractors. And the way religious symbols keep popping up in the visuals - a saadhu showing him the way, a photo of Mother Mary in the hospital, an abandoned church in the back - it all ties up really well.
2. The line 'Tera saaya kahin to bolega main sunta raha parchhaiyaan' reminds me of 'Main hawa pe dhoondhoon uske nishaan' from Chhaiya-Chhaiya - Listening to something intangible, in the hope of finding some sign of his loved one/God.
3. Of course, both Chhaiya-chhaiya and this song are Sufi in nature - so the underlying theme is very similar - though the songs themselves are as happy and as despairing as can be. But one thing that I found very interesting is the line "Jinke sar ho ishq ki chhaon, paaon ke neeche jannat hogi" (for those in love, heaven is easily achievable) in Chhaiya-chhaiya. In turn, in this song, "Banjar hai sab banjar hai hum dhoondhne jab firdaus chale" (seeking heaven, all he finds are wastelands). So, it's not by looking for heaven that you find it, it's by being one with your loved one. And then the heaven is at your feet.

Chupke Se (Saathiya)

"All happy families are alike. Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." - Begins the novel Anna Karenina by Tolstoy. The same could be said of couples as well. And if you follow closely the lyrics and poetry by Gulzar, you'll notice a lot of non-perfect couples, and very few perfectly happy ones.

So there is someone who has been just a touch unfaithful (Hazaar raahein mud ke dekhin), someone very much in love but forced to part ways with their loved one (Mera kuchh saamaan), a wife waiting, in vain, for her husband who doesn't show up (Khaali haath shaam aayi hai), a hero yearning for a woman who refuses to be with him (Aye Ajnabi, Satrangi Re), a couple living separately but still in love (Tere bina zindagi se koi), or even a ghost wondering if he will be able to stay with the woman he loves, forever (Dheere Jalna). The same pattern of less than perfect relationships can be traced throughout his non-filmy poetry as well. It's as if his universe is populated with these couples, living apart but constantly striving to come together.

This particular song features a star-crossed couple - married, but forced to live separately due to circumstances. And needless to say, anyone who has ever been in love can identify with what Gulzar has said about separation pangs.

Lyrics, and English Translation:

Doston se jhoothi-moothi doosron ka naam le ke,

teri-meri baatein karna

Yaara, raat se din karna

 Lambi judaai teri bada mushkil hai,

aahon se dil bharna

Yaara raat se din karna

(The hero says -)

 [[Every time I talk about us, I have to use the false cover-up of others' names

And with each passing day, it is becoming more and more difficult to fill the empty space in my heart with sighs and wait for another night to turn to day]]

 [My comments: It's quite uncanny how Gulzar takes something very usual amongst youngsters (at least of yerster-years) and slips it into his songs - namely, covering up one's secret love life by hiding behind others' identities. I have always loved this line the most, for saying so much in so few words!]

Kab ye poori hogi door ye doori hogi

Roz safar karna - Yaara raat se din karna

[[When will this distance go away

When will this journey that I have to make everyday, the journey of turning another night into day, end?]]

Chupke se, chupke se, raat ki chaadar tale

Chaand ki bhi aahat na ho, baadal ke peechhe chalein

Jalein katra-katra, galein katra-katra

Raat bhi na hile aadhi-aadhi, 

Raat bhi na hile aadhi-aadhi aye

Chupke se, chupke se, raat ki chaadar tale

(The heroine says -)

[[Hush, my love, let's meet secretly under the veil of the night

Let's hide behind the clouds, lest the moon comes to know and creates a scene

Let us burn together and melt bit by bit

While the night waits with bated breath]]

[My comments: Gulzar's association with the moon is legendary. Almost as noticeable in his songs is the recurrence of lovers meeting under the moon light. Right from his first song Mora Gora Ang Lai Le, where the heroine begs to be made darker, so she can easily meet her lover at night; to a more recent O Humdam Suniyo Re, where the moon (hero) frequents his lover's street at nights.] 

Farvari ki sardiyon ki dhoop mein

Moondi-moondi akhiyon se dekhna

Haath ki aad se

Nimmi-nimmi thand aur aag mein

Haule-haule maarwa ke raag mein

Meer ki baat ho

[[(I wait for the day when) In the soft sunlight of February, you would look at me, shading your half-open eyes with your palm

When the mild winter meets fire, I wish we could sit together and talk about Mir, with the Raag Maarwa playing in the background]]

[My comments: For a beautiful interpretation of this paragraph, I must guide you towards this amazing post by the equally amazing Pavan Jha who is an encyclopedia of anything and everything Bollywood.

I must also mention how it reminds me of the para "Jaadon ki narm dhoop aur aangan mein let kar" from "Dil Dhoondhta Hai"] 

Din bhi na doobe, raat na aaye, shaam kabhi na dhale

Shaam dhale to subah na aaye, raat hi raat chale

 [Chupke se ...]

[[(When we are together) I wish the day would never end, the night never come, and the evening stays with us

And even if the evening ends, I wish the next morning doesn't come and the night goes on and on]]

[My comments: Who else is reminded of "O Saathi Re, din doobe na" from Omkara?] 

Tujh bina pagli ye purwai

Aa ke meri chunri mein bhar gayi

Tu kabhie aise hi gale lag jaise ye purwai

Aa gale lag jaise ye purwai 

[[Without you, even the winds go crazy

I wish that some day, you will embrace me like this breeze

Come, engulf me completely like the crazy winds...]]

Saathiya sun tu

 Kal jo mujhko neend na aaye paas bula lena

God mein apni sar rakh lena, lori suna dena

[Chupke se ...]

[[Listen, my love!

I wish a day comes when, if I am unable to sleep, you would make me lie next to you

Or sing a lullaby to me, with my head in your lap

Till that day comes, meet me secretly under the veil of the night ...]]

Of course, I need not talk again and again on how I love the movie and its music! The coming together of ARR and Gulzar has always spelled magic, well may be except in JTHJ.

 

For my take on other songs from the movie Saathiya, click here.

Raat Ka Nasha Abhi (Asoka)

For an industry obsessed with love, Bollywood music industry has pretty little to show for love's carnal side. Even less so, something that is sensuous without being vulgar. Songs such as this one are few and far between.

The music by Anu Malik is very fresh, and for a change doesn't seem copied from anywhere. Lyrics penned by Gulzar describe beautifully the tale of the night of togetherness and the yearning of the day after, when the lovers are apart. One wishes though, that someone else with a more seductive voice had sung it.

Lyrics, and translation:

Raat ka nasha abhi, aankh se gaya nahin

Tera nasheela badan baahon ne chhoda nahin

Aankhein to kholi magar, sapna wo toda nahin

Haan, wahi, wo, wohi

Saanson pe rakha hua tere hothon ka sapna abhi hai wahin

[[The ecstasy of the night before, has not yet left my eyes

My arms have still not let go of the intoxication of your body

And though my eyes are wide open, that dream is still there

Yes, the same one ....

The dream that your lips told my breath still lingers within me]]

Tere bina bhi kabhi, tujh si machal leti hoon

Karvat badalti hoon to, sapna badal leti hoon

Tera khyaal aaye to, bal kha ke pal jaata hai

Paani ki chaadar tale, tan mera jal jaata hai

[[At times I pretend that it's you I'm sulking with

For every night spent tossing and turning, I invent a new dream to console me

When I think of you, that moment just refuses to leave

And even inside a veil of water, my body burns]]

[Haan, wohi, wo, wohi

Saanson pe rakha hua tere hothon ka sapna abhi hai wahin]

Tere gale milne ke mausam bade hote hain

Janmon ka waada koi, ye gham bade chhote hain

Lambi si ik raat ho, lamba sa ik din mile

Bas itna sa jeena ho, milan ki ghadi jab mile

[[Oh, such beautiful lines! I wouldn't even try to translate them word for word.

When compared to how eternally momentous the time we spend together is; these small things such as being apart in this lifetime don't even matter. Because I know we are destined to find each other in every single life.

As for this life, I only ask for one prolonged day and one lasting night of togetherness - I don't need anything else.]]

[Haan, wohi, wo, wohi

Saanson pe rakha hua tere hothon ka sapna abhi hai wahin]

Aye Ajnabi (Dil Se)

Rahul, this one's for you -
Because it's like I'm only half-alive when you're not here.
Because I miss you so much everything else seems unimportant and uninteresting.
Because even this festive season seems like a drag without you.
Because without you, even breathing seems like an effort.
Because I miss you so much, it's as if my whole being is aching to be with you.
Because, if it weren't for you, I'd never have realized that all these clichés I was so quick to diss were actually true.

Honestly, I had no intentions (as yet) of posting this song on this blog. I have always loved this song, but today it's been playing on a loop in my head, and it's today that I fell in love with it all over again. How fitting are the words of this song! It's a song of separation, of yearning, but above all of love. And how haunting is the melody! I'll go on to say, at the risk of sounding redundant because I've said this already, that Dil Se is one of A.R. Rahman's finest albums.

Do read the translation too, there are some 'Words of wisdom' inserted here and there :P. Yes, they break the flow of the song. Yes, I'm sorry about that. :-|

Dil dhoondhta hai phir wahi (Mausam)

At times, music works like an incredibly potent time-travelling machine. This particularly song, for example, takes me back to the time when we were kids, living in the (at that time) picturesque little Doctor's Colony of Rewa. Not because the Rewa is an idyllic town situated in the Himalayas (it's not); but because Mom had a cassette with this song, which she often played - and in my mind the song has become deeply correlated with my childhood home with its quaint backyard and garden.

It's not as if, at the age of 8 or 10, we were able to comprehend the depth of the lyrics or enjoy the pace of Bhupinder's unhurried vocals. If anything, I probably hated this 'sad' song... But I digress!

The song is an ode to the days when life was leisurely, when minds were uncluttered, when skies were bluer, and when you could lay idle without thinking that's you're getting left behind in a supersonic world.