b***@aol.com
2005-02-03 19:39:31 UTC
Anuradha Choudhary has written this piece in Filmfare magazine.
Does anyone know the name of the CD Gulzar refers to featuring the 4
versions of the song?
Bhagwant
Gulzar : Dil ki Dastaan
ANURADHA CHOUDHARY
Gulzar on how this haunting song was written
composed and visualised
The lyrics were inspired by one of Ghalib's couplets, Jee dhoondta
hai phir wohi fursat ke raat din. In the couplet, Ghalib dreams about
his beloved and longs for days of leisure. I tried to recreate that
feel and explore the concept of leisure I imagined he was talking
about. I took that one line and developed the idea. And I ended up
defining leisure as it meant to me.
I was extremely lucky to have worked with a stalwart like Madan Mohan
on this tune. Madan Mohan belonged to an era when maestros were treated
like maestros. Such was his reputation that every singer, be it Lataji
or Ashaji, would go to his music room for rehearsals much before the
scheduled recordings.
I've heard Lataji say his notes would keep changing with every
rehearsal; it was, of course, said with a lot of respect. He would work
so creatively on a single tune that he would exhaust all variations and
permutations of notes.
He worked out four tunes for Dil dhoondta hai and finally chose one.
The decision was entirely his own. Yeh nahin ki the director or singer
said they liked it, so he chose it. He would play you any number of
tunes, but he'd decide which was the best. Incidentally, Sanjeev
Kohli, his son, has recently released a CD, which contains all the four
tunes of Dil dhoondta hai.
Lyrics of Dil Dhoondta Hai
Dil dhoondta hai phir wahi fursat ke raat din - (2)
baithe rahe tasavvur-e-jaanaan kiye hue
Dil dhoondta hai phir wahi fursat ke raat din...
Jaadon ki narm dhoop aur aangan mein letkar - (2)
aankhon pe khinchkar tere aanchal ke saaye ko
aundhe pade rahe kabhi karwat liye hue
Dil dhoondta hai phir wahi fursat ke raat din...
Ya garmiyon ki raat jo purvaiyaan chalein - (2)
thandi safed chaadaron pe jaageen der tak
taaron ko dekhte rahen chhat par pade hue
Dil dhoondta hai phir wahi fursat ke raat din...
Barfili sardiyon mein kisi bhi pahaad par - (2)
vaadi mein gunjati hui khamoshiyaan sune
aankhon mein bhige bhige se lamhe liye hue
Dil dhoondta hai phir wahi fursat ke raat din...
If you're wondering how Jee dhoondta hai became Dil dhoondta hai
that, again, was Madanji's work. When he composed the tune, he
changed the word. I was horrified, how dare anyone take such liberties
with Ghalib? But then Madanji showed me a publication where the couplet
had appeared as Dil dhoondta hai. It wasn't as if he changed the word
on his whim. Madan Mohan knew what he was talking about. Most music
directors those days knew a lot of poetry by heart. So Dil dhoondta hai
it remained.
The song had two versions: one was a duet and the other, a solo. The
duet was a happy tune while the solo, in Bhupinder's voice, was sad
and nostalgic. The solo remains my favourite. Yet, the duet has been
appreciated by a number of connoisseurs. They say it's a difficult
number to sing, that it has a difficult taal. I'm sure they know
better, but me, I love the solo.
The duet was picturised on Sanjeev Kumar and Sharmila Tagore, and I
decided to do so with an overlap of the past and present. So, as
Sanjeev revisits his familiar haunts, his memories of precious moments
with Sharmila play alongside. Each scene had to be filmed twice because
we had to shoot the young and old Sanjeev. So with every shot, we had
to do a make-over on him. We used the masking technique to picturise
the song on screen. It was quite innovative, I thought, and it was the
first time this technique was used. It went on to become the highlight
of the song.
The other memory I have of shooting that song is that of Bosky. She was
just knee-high then and was with me in Pehelgam, Kashmir while we shot
the song. It was fun having her around.
Sometimes when I look back, I really wish we could work with similar
kind of leisure on our songs now. Jee dhoondta hai phir wohi fursat ke
raat din. Kash phir wohi Kashmir ho gaana banane ke liye, gaana likhne
ke liye.
Does anyone know the name of the CD Gulzar refers to featuring the 4
versions of the song?
Bhagwant
Gulzar : Dil ki Dastaan
ANURADHA CHOUDHARY
Gulzar on how this haunting song was written
composed and visualised
The lyrics were inspired by one of Ghalib's couplets, Jee dhoondta
hai phir wohi fursat ke raat din. In the couplet, Ghalib dreams about
his beloved and longs for days of leisure. I tried to recreate that
feel and explore the concept of leisure I imagined he was talking
about. I took that one line and developed the idea. And I ended up
defining leisure as it meant to me.
I was extremely lucky to have worked with a stalwart like Madan Mohan
on this tune. Madan Mohan belonged to an era when maestros were treated
like maestros. Such was his reputation that every singer, be it Lataji
or Ashaji, would go to his music room for rehearsals much before the
scheduled recordings.
I've heard Lataji say his notes would keep changing with every
rehearsal; it was, of course, said with a lot of respect. He would work
so creatively on a single tune that he would exhaust all variations and
permutations of notes.
He worked out four tunes for Dil dhoondta hai and finally chose one.
The decision was entirely his own. Yeh nahin ki the director or singer
said they liked it, so he chose it. He would play you any number of
tunes, but he'd decide which was the best. Incidentally, Sanjeev
Kohli, his son, has recently released a CD, which contains all the four
tunes of Dil dhoondta hai.
Lyrics of Dil Dhoondta Hai
Dil dhoondta hai phir wahi fursat ke raat din - (2)
baithe rahe tasavvur-e-jaanaan kiye hue
Dil dhoondta hai phir wahi fursat ke raat din...
Jaadon ki narm dhoop aur aangan mein letkar - (2)
aankhon pe khinchkar tere aanchal ke saaye ko
aundhe pade rahe kabhi karwat liye hue
Dil dhoondta hai phir wahi fursat ke raat din...
Ya garmiyon ki raat jo purvaiyaan chalein - (2)
thandi safed chaadaron pe jaageen der tak
taaron ko dekhte rahen chhat par pade hue
Dil dhoondta hai phir wahi fursat ke raat din...
Barfili sardiyon mein kisi bhi pahaad par - (2)
vaadi mein gunjati hui khamoshiyaan sune
aankhon mein bhige bhige se lamhe liye hue
Dil dhoondta hai phir wahi fursat ke raat din...
If you're wondering how Jee dhoondta hai became Dil dhoondta hai
that, again, was Madanji's work. When he composed the tune, he
changed the word. I was horrified, how dare anyone take such liberties
with Ghalib? But then Madanji showed me a publication where the couplet
had appeared as Dil dhoondta hai. It wasn't as if he changed the word
on his whim. Madan Mohan knew what he was talking about. Most music
directors those days knew a lot of poetry by heart. So Dil dhoondta hai
it remained.
The song had two versions: one was a duet and the other, a solo. The
duet was a happy tune while the solo, in Bhupinder's voice, was sad
and nostalgic. The solo remains my favourite. Yet, the duet has been
appreciated by a number of connoisseurs. They say it's a difficult
number to sing, that it has a difficult taal. I'm sure they know
better, but me, I love the solo.
The duet was picturised on Sanjeev Kumar and Sharmila Tagore, and I
decided to do so with an overlap of the past and present. So, as
Sanjeev revisits his familiar haunts, his memories of precious moments
with Sharmila play alongside. Each scene had to be filmed twice because
we had to shoot the young and old Sanjeev. So with every shot, we had
to do a make-over on him. We used the masking technique to picturise
the song on screen. It was quite innovative, I thought, and it was the
first time this technique was used. It went on to become the highlight
of the song.
The other memory I have of shooting that song is that of Bosky. She was
just knee-high then and was with me in Pehelgam, Kashmir while we shot
the song. It was fun having her around.
Sometimes when I look back, I really wish we could work with similar
kind of leisure on our songs now. Jee dhoondta hai phir wohi fursat ke
raat din. Kash phir wohi Kashmir ho gaana banane ke liye, gaana likhne
ke liye.