Date: Sun, 5 Nov 1995 15:30:31 -0600 (CST) From: Ashish Bokil ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAGIC MOMENTS WITH GULZAR AND R.D.BURMAN: An Introduction Ashish Bokil ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- chand panktiyon ki baat thhee .... hazaaron likhi gayi hain ... hazaaron aur likhi jaayengi ....kehne waalon ke naam badalenge .. alfaaz badalenge .. gaur pharmaane ke tevar badalenge ... gaur pharmaane waalon ke andaaz badalenge .. haalaat badalenge ... magar baat waheen, waisi hi, khaamosh ho jaayegi ... puraanepan ka jaamaa pehane uktaane ko hazaaron saal kam to nahee hote ... har taraf uDate hue panktiyon ke baadalon ke beech, ghane kohre se Dhanki huyi baat chupchaap raah dekh rahi thhee ... ek khwaab ki ... naye taane-baane ki .. kisi naye shayar ki ... Talash Gulzar sahab ke naam pe aakar tham-si gayi.. yahaan pe thhee uDaanon ki oonchaai, jazbaaton kaa sailaab, gol chakkar mein ghumte khayaalon ke pulinde..aur tazurbe ki gehraayi .... baat isase aage na baDh saki ... abhee bhee is shakhsiyat ke saare pehaluon se waaqif hone ki koshish mein mashgool hai ..aur maayoos nahee hai ... bahut kuchh hai dhhoondhane ke liye ... mehsoos karne ke liye .... In Gulzar's own words, one lifetime is not enough to fully explore all the various shades of any one emotion...he does have a special affinity for some concepts like 'RAAT', 'CHAAND', 'RAAHEN/RAHEE/RASTEY', 'KHWAAB' etc. but more than the concepts themselves, it's his way of relating to them that is so exciting if not unique, e.g. "raat chupchaap dabe paaNv chali jaati hai raat khaamosh hai, rotee nahiN, haNstee bhi nahiN ... chaaNd ki chiknee dalee hai ke ghulee jaati hai..." (He's later used this poem in 'Dil Padosi hai') and "Roz saahil pe khade hoke ise dekhaa hai shaam kaa pighlaa huaa surkh-o-sunehree roghan roz matiyaalE sE paanee mein ye ghul jaataa hai..." (from 'Woh Jo Shaayar thhaa') and (something not produced musically yet) "sooraj ke zakhmoN se ristaa laal lahoo door ufaq se behte-behte is saahil tak aa pahunNchaa hai kiraneN mittee phaaNk rahee haiN saaye apnaa pind chhuDaa kar bhaag rahe haiN ThoDi der mein lehraayegaa chaand ka parcham raat ne phir run jeet liyaa hai! aaj kaa din phir haar gayaa." and, "dekho aahistaa chalo, aur bhi aahistaa zaraa dekhnaa, soch-samajhkar paaNv rakhnaa zaraa zor se baj naa uthhe pairoN ki aawaaz kahiN kaanch ke khwaab hain bikhare hue tanhaayi mein khwaab toote na koyi, jaag na jaaye dekho jaag jaayegaa koi khwaab to mar jaayegaa." (again, not sung yet) It does indeed fall in place with what Guri mentions ... "Gulzar has been drawn to these concepts as ones familiar/close to 'him'... concepts to be intracted with (or used as) 'tools' which say what he wants to say about LIFE (as he sees it, of course...and that relates to his poetic 'style' or 'form' if you will)...and since he has found these concepts so very multifaceted as to allow so much to written with/about, he continues his 'affair/marriage' with these concepts... :)) " ... and, it's not just these concepts, it's his way of personifying things that's interesting (to say the least), e.g. "ye gol sikke, damakte hue khanakte hue kisee pe mohraa huaa raja ka chehraa kisee pe mohree huee rani ki tasveer har ik kee pusht pe auqaat uskee likkhee hai ye haathoN-haath liye jaate haiN jahaaN jaayeN bachaa ke rakhnaa ye mohraa huaa chehraa ye miT gayaa to ginaayeNge khoTe sikkoN mein Now here we have an example of 'the other' aspect of his works: the 'upamaa's that he uses...he uses them with those above-mentioned concepts as well ... these supposedly non-poetic words .. the desecration of some `standard' notion of poetry that people have fixed in their mind ... these upamaas define his 'form' a lot more overtly ... the "khaali bartan" .. for example ... and generally become the reason people 'love' his poetry or 'hate' it - in other words they excite strong emotions. And that's what he seems to be content with when one talks to him or meets him...he says, "ab itne arsay kaam karte huye ye samajh to aa hi jaati hai ke 'maiN kitne paani meiN hooN'" ... jism se shaayad koi ruh ko alag kar de ... to bejaan insaan badan kaa bojh uthhaakar basar kar letaa hai ... zubaan pe kaDvaahat bhale hi ho ... vajood barkaraar rehtaa hai ... shaayad ye ho bhee sake ... magar shaayar ko shaayari se pare karnaa naamumkin hai ... yahee uske hone kaa bahaanaa hai ... uski shaqhsiyaat ki vajah hai .. uski nazar hai ... yeh shayar janam se jo saath hai mere isee ne chaandni ki ret bhar-bharke mere seene mein daali hai hameshaa zindagi se dard chun-chunkar meri aankhon pe maare hain hameshaa bheenchkar daanton se chheela hai meri rooh ko isee ne saans ki kharaashon ko kureda hai undelaa hai mere kandhon pe jalta khaulta shoraa yahi kehta tha mujhko, "dard se pehchaan milti hai" khud apne dard se ghabra gaya hai aaj ye shayar mujhse kehta hai, "chal aa khudkushee kar len" and, abhi naa pardaa giraao, thhehro, ke daastaaN aage aur bhi hai abhi naa pardaa giraao, thhehro! abhi to TooTee hai kachchee miTTee, abhi to bas jism gire haiN abhi to kirdaar hi bujhe haiN abhi sulagte haiN rooh ke gHam, abhi DhaDakte haiN dard dil ke abhi to ehsaas jee rahaa hai ye lau bachaa lo jo thhak ke kirdaar ki hathheli se giri hai ye lo bachaa lo yahiN se uthhegi justju phir bagoolaa bankar yahaaN se utthega kirdaar roshnee lekar kahiN to aNjaam-o-justju ke sar mileNge abhi naa pardaa giraao, thhehro baaton ke geharayi mein baithhane ki koshish main saazon kaa sailaab aawaaz ki lehron ke saathh aayaa aur uthhaakar aur bhee gehre paani mein bahaa le gayaa ... kaheen uthhaalepan kaa naam-o-nishaan nahee thhaa ... itni gehraayi mein doobte utraate hue saans lene mein ek ajeeb tarah ki khushgawaari thhee ... sangeet ke sailaab ne jaise lehron par uthhaa rakha thhaa aur gehrayi shakhsiyat mein uatar gayi thhee ... bheetar aur baahar ek jaisaa hi ehsaas ho to gehraayi takleefdeh nahee lagti ... kaun hogaa jo aise maahaul main hosh sambhalegaa ? ..."musaafir hoon yaaro.." se jo safar shuru huaa thhaa .... uske harek lamhe ne naye aasmaanon ki bulandiyaan tay ki hain ... It was fortunate that RD Burman and Gulzar came together to create some of the most touching songs we have forever to cherish ... it was just as misfortunate that the number is so less .. It was in a lot of sense with Gulzar that RD established his identity as the creater of soulful music ... that he was an innovator was no revelation, that he had a fantastic musical imagination was no revelation, that he could generate the softer melodies was also perhaps not a revelation, but there were more people who wanted to encash his abiliy to create beat thumping music than those who wanted to explore his versatiliy ... .... beetay na bitaayi rainaa, mitwaa bolay meeThay bain .., naam gum jaayegaa .., o maajhee re, apanaa kinaaraa nadiyaa ki dhaaraa hai... were the songs that elevate the listener to a height where he floats with the song oblivious to the surroundings ... immersed into the music that enables one to touch the soul of the lyrics ... is mod se jaate hain ..., tere binaa zindagi se koi shiqwaa to nahee ..., are the type of songs, which touch a raw nerve somewhere even if you don't fully reconcile with the lyrics ... that is in true sense the power of his music ... the experimentations followed ... the magical "tablaa tarang" that embellished the song from Ghar ... tere binaa jiyaa jaaye naa ..., the novelty effect to the train song in kitaab .. Dhanno ki aankhon main ...., and the multi-tracking effect in Dil PaDosi hai.. and Ijaazat ... mind blowing creations that have the everlasting capability ... ... the smoothies that he did ... Phir wohi raat hai.., raah pe rehte hain ...,the ever flowing ... aane waalaa pal ..., roz roz aanhkon tale ... give a rythm that was so characteristic of him ... he repeated it umpteen times .... but yet to become tiresome ... ( raah pe rehte hain still the inaugurating song for every long drive i take up . to be followed by all the rest of them ... to bring in that flow ... that same rythm that has become so much a part of life ... A gift this partnership has given me ...[perhaps i can take the liberty of saying "us"] ... that is there to stay till i breathe my last ... ek ajeeb saa rishtaa hai .... thheek hi to kahaa hai ... Rishtey bas rishtey hotey haiN Kuchh ik pal ke, Kuchh do pal ke kuchh paroN se halke hotey haiN barsoN ke taley chalte-chalte bhaaree-bharkam ho jaatey haiN kuchh bharee-bharkam barf ke se barsoN ke taley galte-galte halke-phulke ho jaatey haiN naam bhi hotey haiN ye rishtoN ke kuchh rishtey naam ke hotey haiN rishtey jo agar mar jaayeN bhi bas naam se jeenaa hotaa hai bas naam se jeena hotaa hai rishtey bas rishtey hotey haiN (Gulzar in film "Gehraayi") .... i can perhaps go on and on talking about these two masters of their respective arts ... but possibly never be able to do justice to them ... some day perhaps, i do hope, i can relate to as many aspects of these beautiful creations as there can be ... it is with this thoughts that i present you these magic moments which have become so dear to me ... Due acknowledgments to Guri for providing his wonderful perspective in many aspects ... and for being a source of many Gulzar poems that i have mentioned above ... thank you very much .. ashish :::::::::::::::::::::::::::..................:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: hum hi naadaa.N they jo oDhaa beeti yaadon kaa kafan ... varnaa jeene ke liye sab kuchh bhulaa lete hain log ... ^ ^ (0 0) Ashish S Bokil --ooO I Ooo-- Tel.# (512) 467-8735 (Res) 4559 Avenue A, # 201 \ / ashish@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu Austin TX 78751 - - ```````````````````````````"""""""""""""""""""'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''