Today happens to be the Birth Anniversary of this favourite singer of mine. Salil Chowdhury had once said about his singing, “If God were to sing to us, He would sing us in the voice of Hemant Kumar.”
That’s exactly the effect of his singing and music on us; it transforms us to a world that is as quiet and peaceful as God’s Paradise. Indeed, this quietude happens to be his theme in many, if not most, of his songs. Taste this, for example:
लहरों के होंठों पे धीमा धीमा राग है
भीगी हवाओं में ठंडी ठंडी आग है
इस हसीन आग में तू भी जलके देखले
ज़िंदगी के गीत की धुन बदल के देखले
खुलने दे अब धड़कनों की ज़ुबाँ, सुन जा…
or
बस एक चुप सी लगी है नहीं उदास नहीं
कहीं पे साँस रुकी है नहीं उदास नहीं
बस एक चुप सी लगी है
Hemant Kumar was born as Hemant Mukhopadhyay on this day, 16th Jun, in 1920.
Hemant Kumar’s first film song in a Bengali movie Rajkumarer Nirbbasan was composed by SD Burman. Later, his best song in Hindi movies: Ye raat ye chandni phir kahan was also composed in Raag Kafi by SD Burman on the lyrics of Sahir Ludhianvi.
I have listened to him in person in a Summer Festival in Shimla in the year 1970. He was loaded with requests from the audience (through written chits) and he knew that even if he would sing for days and weeks without a break he wouldn’t be able to meet all the requests. So he sang one of his own:
या दिल की सुनो दुनियावालों
या मुझको अभी चुप रहने दो
मैं ग़म को खुशी कैसे कह दूँ
जो कहते हैं उनको कहने दो
Even before I could sing any other singer, I had this intense desire to sing Hemant Kumar. So, here I give you a compilation of six of his songs that I have sung:
Song #1
Na ye chand hoga na taare rahenge
I learnt singing late in my life and the basic reason for that is to sing to the love of my life: Marilyn or Lyn, my wife. She has been suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease since the year 2015. My singing to her brings back flickers of recognition on her face.
I sang this first song of Hemant Kumar in Kandaghat Live Fest in April 2019.
It was penned by SH Bihari. Hemant Kumar sang on his own composition in the movie 1954 B Mitra Shart starring Shyama and Deepak and Shashikala
Please enjoy: Na ye chand hoga na taare rahenge…
आ…, न ये चाँद होगा, न तारे रहेंगे
मगर हम हमेशा, तुम्हारे रहेंगे
न ये चाँद होगा…
बिछड़कर चले जाएं तुमसे कहीं
तो ये ना समझना मुहब्बत नहीं
जहाँ भी रहे हम तुम्हारे रहेंगे
न ये चाँद होगा…
ज़माना अगर कुछ कहेगा तो क्या
मगर तुम न कहना हमें बेवफ़ा
तुम्हारे लिये हैं तुम्हारे रहेंगे
न ये चाँद होगा…
Song #2
Yaad aa gayin woh nasheeli nigaahen
He sang only 17 songs for Dev Anand, which included 13 solos such as Ye raat ye chandni phir kahan and Hai apna dil to awaara. But they all became very popular.
My favourite is from the 1960 movie Manzil (one of the four movies that Dev Anand did with Nutan, that had the location of Shimla, just like in Tere Ghar Ke Saamne).
The movie Manzil revolved around this song, sung by Hemant Kumar for Dev Anand. He sang it thrice in the movie. In the beginning in Railway Colony, Shimla under happy circumstances and twice more in Bombay when he is separated from her.
The version I am giving you was lip synced by Dev Anand on a stage in an auditorium in Bombay.
It was penned by Majrooh (injured or wounded) Sultanpuri and composed by Sachin Dev Burman.
Please enjoy: Yaad aa gayin woh nasheeli nigahen…
याद आ गैइ वो नशीली निगाहें
यारों थाम लेना, थाम लेना मेरी बाहें
याद आ गई वो नशीली निगाहें
(जाम कब हमने पिया है
ये ग़म-ए-दिल का नशा है ) – २
क्या जानूँ गिरके सम्भलना
हाँ मेरा संग संग चलना
यारों थाम लेना, थाम लेना मेरी बाहें
याद आ गई …
(है उन्ही आँखों की निशानी
ये मेरी ज़ख्मी जवानी ) – २
मैं इन ज़ख्मों को सीके
क्या करूं होश में जीके
(यारों थाम लेना, थाम लेना मेरी बाहें
याद आ गई वो नशीली निगाहें ) – २
Song #3
Yeh nayan dare dare
Beautiful Lyrics
Lyrics are by Kaifi Azmi who mastered the art of conveying complex emotions in the most laconic way. Take this stanza itself. He talks about beautiful night, beautiful moon and then adds that she is more beautiful than all these.
Others would leave at that. He now asks: And more beautiful than you? Can he actually imagine someone more beautiful than his beloved? Yes, he can! He concludes: Aur tujhase haseen tera pyaar. Is that all? No, he comes up with a clincher: Tu jaane naa! (You don’t know it!)
Simply awesome.
He gives the same treatment to the second stanza. He starts by taking forward the emotions of the first stanza by saying One finds the happiness of one’s life in Love. However, some sad thoughts also lend happiness. And now he comes up with the deepest thought of the song: Even if I admit defeat; you shouldn’t!
Kohraa – the 1964 Movie
If one knows the story of Biswajeet being married initially to his licentious wife and then marrying Waheeda Rehman after the first wife disappears; and Waheeda Rehman staying in the shadow and fear of the first wife, the lyrics would obtain even greater meaning. One wonders how Kaifi Azmi packed such tremendous meaning into those few words.
The movie’s story was an adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier’s 1938 novel Rebecca, which even Alfred Hitchcock did in his movie Rebecca. The Hindi version was directed by Biren Nag.
My Own Poetry
Tu Nahin To Chandni Raat Ky Kare
चांदनी रात है पर तूं मेरे साथ नहीं,
बात तो कुछ है लेकिन वह बात नहीं।
भीगी फिजायें छू लेती हैं आके रुखसार,
उनसे क्या हो जब दिल में बरसात नहीं।
एक ज़माना था शाम ओ सेहर मिलते थे हम,
अब कभी मिलें ऐसे तो हालात नहीं।
लहरे उठती हैं उठ के चली जाती हैं,
दिल की धड़कन को बढ़ा दें इनकी औकात नहीं।
पेड़ों की छाओं में बैठे भी तो क्यूं हो जादू,
ठहरे कैसे ये समां जब हाथ में तेरा हाथ नहीं।
नज़रें रह रह के ढूंढती हैं तेरी नज़रें,
कहाँ है तू इतनी तो अंधेरी रात नहीं।
कैसे अब प्यार हमारा मुकाम तक पहुंचे,
ना तो तुम से न मुझ से जब शुरुआत नहीं।
हम नहीं मिलते यह ज़माने की है पाबंदी,
क्यूं कहती हो, रवि, तेरे दिल में जज़्बात नहीं।
Please enjoy: Ye nayan dare dare…
ये नयन डरे-डरे, ये जाम
भरे-भरे
ज़रा पीने दो
कल की किसको खबर, इक रात
हो के निडर
मुझे जीने दो
रात हसीं, ये चाँद हसीं
तू सबसे हसीं मेरे
दिलबर
रात हसीं, ये चाँद हसीं
तू सबसे हसीं मेरे
दिलबर
और तुझसे हसीं
और तुझसे हसीं तेरा
प्यार
तू जाने ना
ये नयन डरे-डरे, ये जाम
भरे-भरे
ज़रा पीने दो
ये नयन डरे डरे
प्यार में है जीवन की
खुशी
देती है खुशी कई गम भी
प्यार में है जीवन की
खुशी
देती है खुशी कई गम भी
मै मान भी लूँ
मै मान भी लूँ कभी हार
तू माने ना
ये नयन डरे-डरे, ये जाम
भरे-भरे
ज़रा पीने दो
कल की किसको खबर, इक रात
हो के निडर
मुझे जीने दो
Song #4
Tumhare nain dekh ke suna hai log jogi ho gaye
Laying Bare My Soul
Today, after a long time, I am laying bare my soul.
There are songs that are close to my heart. One is Shakeel – Naushad – Rafi ghazal Mere mehboob tujhe meri mohabbat ki kasam. The others are Hemant Kumar songs.
I have never put up Mere mehboob tujhe and I am very shy (reluctant) to put up Hemant Kumar songs. If you scan through my posts you’ll realise that I don’t easily put up Hemant Kumar.
Some of you have speculated about the reasons for my reluctance. Even I don’t know fully. Perhaps I feel that if I have to put up these songs close to my heart, the realm that I have built around them in my imagination would be shattered. Incidentally, it used to happen with seeing even videos of the songs close to my heart.
When I was in my late teens, I used to get this feeling in sleep that my soul is flying out of my body and visiting places, providing me aerial view of strange and unknown places. It was such a strong and real feeling that there were times when I tried to hold on to bed in the hope that somehow the soul won’t leave me alone in bed. However, it was beyond me and once I got used to being rid of my fears, I enjoyed the aerial journeys at night.
Our nearest neighbour in Dharamsala was the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) and his family. Once, I disclosed about my nocturnal aerial journeys to his wife. She mentioned that this phenomenon with some people had been recorded in books and is related to Astral. She, however, mentioned that the more people I shared it with, it would go away shortly. It lasted until a few years after I joined the Navy. So, it is perhaps registered in my mind that telling people about matters of my heart make their effect go away.
Rahgir – The Movie
Rahgir literally means passer-by. Some of you may recall how Rahi is what Kishore Kumar depicted in his movies, trying to find the Meaning of Life. To give him due credit he made movies like Door Ka Rahi to satisfy an inner quest and not for commercial purposes.
It is perhaps a Bengali thing; this movie too was first made in Bengali (the 1963 Bengali movie Palatak). Rahgir too was about finding the Meaning of Life. It was a 1969 movie directed by Tarun Majumdar and starring his wife Sandhya Roy (presently a Trinamool Congress pillar) opposite Biswajeet Roy. Biswajeet Roy received critical acclaim for the movie and it is talked about that it is the finest role that he enacted.
The Song
It was penned by Gulzar and sung by Hemant Kumar on his own composition. I rate his rendition here as one of his finest. The song echoes in my mind all the way from my teenager days of having my soul taking nocturnal journeys.
The Lyrics
तुम्हारे नैन देख के
सुना है लोग जोगी हो गए
तुम्हारे नैन देख के
किसी की आँखे गयी
किसी की प्यास गयी
किसी को जान मिली
हमारी साँस गयी
तुम्हारे नैन देख के
सुना है लोग जोगी हो गए
तुम्हारे नैन देख के
दो नीली आँखे
दो नीली आँखे नीली आँखे
जैसे सपनों में खोई हुई है
यह नीली आँखे
यह नीली आंखे नीली आँखे
जैसे राते दो सोयी हुयी है
किसी को साथ मिला
किसी की बात चला
किसी का दिन बिता
हमारी रात चली
तुम्हारे नैन देख के
सुना है लोग जोगी हो गए
तुम्हारे नैन देख के
लोग कहते है कहते है
इन आँखों से साहिल बहते है
लोग लोग कहते है
इन झीलों में शायद
प्यासे दिल रहते है
तुम्हारी आँख लगे
तो रात सोती है
तुम्हारे जागते ही सावेर होती है
तुम्हारे नैन देख के
सुना है लोग जोगी हो गए
तुम्हारे नैन देख के.
My Own Poetry
MERI ZINDAGI AAPKI AANKHON TALE
आपकी आँखों में मुझे वह झलक मिल जाती है,
ज़िन्दगी दफ़अतन और हसीन हो जाती है I
लोग देखते हैं प्यार दिलरुबा की आँखों में,
मुझे तो सारी कायनात नज़र आ जाती है I
ये आँखें नहीं हैं मेरी ज़िन्दगी की रहनुमा हैं,
ज़िन्दगी के मायने यकीनी मुझे समझाती हैं I
कई बार सोचता हूँ कह दूँ इनसे मैं दिल की बात,
क्या कहूं हया मेरी आंखों में छलक जाती है I
सबेरे का सूरज इनकी पलकें खुलने का इशारा है,
रात का अँधेरा पलक झुकने पे ले आती हैं I
ज़िन्दगी में लाखों ग़म इधर उधर बिखरे हों तो क्या,
ज़िन्दगी के सारे ग़म इनकी लौ भुलाती हैं I
मुझे अब इनके सिवा कुछ और न चाहिए, रवि,
जन्नत – ऐ – खुदा खुद बा खुद मिल जाती है I
Please enjoy: Tumhare nain dekh ke suna hai log jogi ho gaye… (No Karaoke is available. So, I used the music of the original song and replaced Hemant Kumar’s voice with my own:
Song #5
Zindagi pyar ki do char ghadi hoti hai
Filmistan Movies
Ashok Kumar got in with Bombay Talkies initially owned by Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani and after 1943 (when Himanshu died) owned solely by Devika. Sashadhar Mukherjee, his uncle, was an assistant sounds engineer with Bombay Talkies. When Devika Rani eloped with Najm ul Hassan, her co-star in Jeevan Mrityu, it was Sashadhar who found Devika and brought in a rapprochement with Himanshu. Ashok Kumar became her co-star. Sashadhar and he became co-producers with Himanshu. However, later, they formed their own company Filmistan after Himanshu died.
Anarkali happened to be their first major success in 1953. Later they made such hits as Nagin and Jagriti, Munimji and Paying Guest.
Anarkali
It was directed by Nandlal Jaswantlal and starred Pradeep Kumar as Salim and Bina Rai as Anarkali.
Vasant Prakash became the music director for the movie and recorded one song with Geeta Dutt (Aa jaan e wafa). He fell out of favour with Sashadhar Mukherjee and Chitalkar Ramchandra was taken as MD. The other eight songs including this were composed by him and these became some of the most memorable songs in Hindi movies.
Transience of Life and Love
Ben Johnson wrote this poem in the 16th century around the same time when Anarkali story took place. It was called The Lily of A Day and went like this:
It is not growing like a tree
In bulk, doth make man better be;
Or standing long an oak, three-hundred year,
To fall a log at last, dry, bald and sere.
A lily of a day,
Is fairer far in May,
Although it droop and die that night,
It was the plant and flow’r of light.
In small proportions we just beauties see;
And in short measures, life may perfect be.
Rajendra Krishan too wrote his lyrics in the same ilk:
ज़िंदगी प्यार की दो चार घड़ी होती है
चाहे थोड़ी भी हो ये उम्र बड़ी होती है
ताज या तख्त या दौलत हो ज़माने भर की
कौन सी चीज़ मुहब्बत से बड़ी होती है
ज़िंदगी …
दो मुहब्बत भरे दिल खाक धड़कते हो जहाँ
सबसे लम्बी वो मुहब्बत की घड़ी होती है
ज़िंदगी …
I wrote my Amaranth in similar manner; a lifetime existing in just moments of love:
Like a gentle rain
On a placid pond in wilderness
The memory of our tryst forms
Never dying ripples
Each one capturing
Those brief moments of togetherness.
Did you at that time know
That the twinkle in your eyes
The softness of your lips
Your looks, your scent, your laughter
Would remain with me forever?
Indelible…unfading.
And I would search for these
In the pearl drops on lotus leaves,
In yellow flowers of joy
By the gurgling brooks;
In the haunting song of cuckoo
Pervading the silent secrets of woods.
Did you know that I would
Eternalize each whisper,
Each colour, each touch, each look
Each song, and each ditty
And treasure them
As a Life Time’s Achievement Award
For my undying love for you?
Nothing Needs to be said Anymore
So please enjoy: Zindagi pyar ki do chaar ghadi hoti hai…
Song #6
Tum pukar lo, tumhara intezzaar hai
Hemant Kumar
Hemant Kumar has been my favourite singer since my boyhood days and yet I am often very shy writing about him; just like I am writing about Mere Mehboob Tujhe.
Anyway, you will probably agree with me that some of the best songs sung by Hemant Kumar are on his compositions. This is one of them. What is more is that the movie Khamoshi of 1970 was also produced by him. He commissioned Asit Sen (not the comedian) to direct it for him.
Many of Hemant Kumar songs are to do with Khamoshi, Chup, Sannata and the like; Bus ye chup si lagi hai comes to your mind straightway and so does Chup hai dharti chup hai chand sitaare.
The fact is that for someone trained in Rabindra Sangeet (there is never a jarring note), Silence and Tranquility come easily to Hemant Kumar.
Do you get the impression that there would be loud music? Or do you get the impression that the song in Raag Kafi would descend upon you like dew does in the night?
So, I think you have got the point: that’s Hemant Kumar for you; not only fond of Silence but asking of you to find your song (and hence your soul) in this Khamoshi. At this stage, I am often inspired to give you Wordsworth:
“The stars of midnight shall be so dear,
For her and she shall lean her ear,
In many a secret place;
Where rivulets dance their wayward round,
And beauty born of murmuring sound,
Shall pass into her face.”
Wordsworth could have written this about Hemant Kumar songs!
Khamoshi – 1970 Movie
This Asit Sen movie starred Rajesh Khanna as the man who has lost his noodles after being cheated in Love. Waheeda Rehman is a nurse at a mental asylum. Whereas, other nurses have found it beyond them to handle such cases, Waheeda Rehman has been the nurse of choice because of her empathy and sensitive handling.
Here the only problem is that closeness to Rajesh Khanna makes her dream too and then in the end, there is…..well….Khamoshi!
This is the main song of the theme of the movie. It was penned with great sensitivity by Gulzar and sung by Hemant Kumar as if playing gently with your own emotions:
तुम पुकार लो, तुम्हारा इन्तज़ार है,
तुम पुकार लो
ख़्वाब चुन रही है रात, बेक़रार है
तुम्हारा इन्तज़ार है, तुम पुकार लो
होंठ पे लिये हुए दिल की बात हम
जागते रहेंगे और कितनी रात हम
मुक़्तसर सी बात है तुम से प्यार है
तुम्हारा इन्तज़ार है, तुम पुकार लो
दिल बहल तो जायेगा इस ख़याल से
हाल मिल गया तुम्हारा अपने हाल से
रात ये क़रार की बेक़रार है
तुम्हारा इन्तज़ार है, तुम पुकार लो
My Own Poetry
I simply called it:
Sound of Silence
शोर ओ गुल में रूह की आवाज़ को भी सुन,
नूर ओ रंग में इस दबे राज़ को भी सुन।
बहुत दिलकश हैं ज़िन्दगी के हसीन नग़मे,
पर दूर कहीं बज रही है यह हल्की सी धुन।
फरेब-ऐ-नज़र है, सराब है, महज़ ग़ुबार है दुनिया,
जागते सोते चंद रोज़ के खवाइश-ऐ-ख्वाब न बुन।
रिश्ते, मुहबतें, याराने सब दिल ओ दिमाग की हैं बातें,
शहनाई की मुबारक धुन, घुंघरू की यह रूण झुन।
हमसफर रहे हैं अभी तक लालच, अना और खुद गर्ज़ी,
दौरान-ए-हयात में अब रहमत ओ रूहानियत भी चुन।
हंगामा-ए-जंगल में आवाज़ें बहुत रही हैं बुलंद,
गौर से, रवि, अब इस नन्हे परिंदे की भी सुन।
The Song
Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy: Tum pukaar lo, Tumhara intezzaar hai… sung by my sister (Suman Saxena) and me:
I hope you liked my choice of six songs sung by me.
Please await the next six songs.
