MAJROOH SULTANPURI –
Ae Dil Mujhe Aisi Jagah Le Chal…..

Jaakar kahin kho jaaoon main
Neend aaye aur so jaaoon main
Duniya mujhe dhoonde magar
Mera nishaan koi na ho.

Nevertheless, the nishaan, the tell-tale signs will not vanish. Instead, his songs will return repeatedly to haunt…. hunt…. for, Majrooh Sultanpuri’s demise marks the end of an era.

The end came, as it usually does, unexpectedly in the early hours of May 25 at Lilavati Hospital, Bombay. The first lyricist to be honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke award is survived by his wife, daughter and son (Andalib Sultanpuri). He was 78 and succumbed to a lung infection.

Majrooh, the pen-name of Asrar Hasan Khan, was the only lyricist, still in our midst, whose creation — Jab dil hi toot gaya / Hum jee ke kya karenge — had been rendered in the soulful voice of the legend of legends, Kundan Lal Saigal.

It was composed by Naushad for Abdul Rashid Kardar’s Shahjehan. This song had such a mesmerising effect on Saigal himself that he had requested its tune to be played on his last journey — from his death-bed to the pyre.

Strange to ponder that Majrooh had penned his own obituary in a song he wrote for Mamta in the ‘sixties. Mull over this antra of the evergreen hit Rahen na rahen hum: Jab hum na honge, jab hamaari khaaq pe tum rukoge chalte-chalte / Ashqon se bheegi chandni mein ek sadaa si sunoge chalte-chalte / Wahin par kahin hum tum se milenge ban-ke kali, ban-ke sabaa baagh-e-wafaa mein.

All the same, what wrings the heart is that Majrooh was in such fine fettle till the very end. Kya Kehna!, released last week, had lyrics penned by him, as did the film released yesterday — Hum To Mohabbat Karega.

A hallmark is invariably hard to define but Majrooh’s forte was in giving an image to the hero through his songs. In Mehboob Khan’s Andaz, he had the luxury of writing four songs to cast Dilip Kumar in the mould of the unrequited lover, the eternal loser, the tragedian — Hum aaj kahin dil kho baithe, Tu kahe agar jeevan bhar, Toote na dil toote na, and Jhoom jhoom ke naacho aaj — all rendered by Mukesh under Naushad’s baton. Dev Anand’s flippant, lover-boy image was given a fillip by  Maana janaab ne pukaara nahin (Paying Guest) and even more piquantly in Nau Do Gyarah. Hum hain rahi pyar ke, hum se kuchh na boliye / Jo bhi pyaar se mila, hum usi ke ho liye was the mukhda and revel in one antra of this song — Raah mein pade hain hum kabse aap ki kasam / Dekhiye to kam se kam…. boliye na boliye! And when Dev Anand returned over two decades later with a new hair-style in Jewel Thief, Majrooh conjured up a song that sat pat on where the puff used to be:

Yej dil na hota bechaara, kadam na hote awara / Jo khoobsoorat koi apna humsafar hota.

In the interim period, Majrooh also caught the poetic part of Dev’s persona with brief preludes — like this couplet preceding Khwab ho tum ya koyi haqeeqat in Teen Deviyan. The gem was Subah ko jis tarah ho sham ka ho ghuman / Zulfon mein ek chehra, kuchh zaahir, kuchh nihaan.

Shammi Kapoor got his ‘yaahoo’ image, thanks to writer-director Nasir Husain’s imagination and Majrooh’s inspired writing in Tumsa Nahin Dekha. Jawaaniyan yeh mast-mast bin piye; Sar pe topi laal, haath mein resham ka roomal, O! tera kya kehna; Aayen hain door se milne huzoor se; Chhupnewale saamne aa; and Dekho kasam se. This trend carried on and the most recent beneficiary was Tahir Husain’s son, Aamir Khan, in Qayamat Se Gayamat Tak (Papa kehte hain bada naam karega; Ae mere humsafar).

Majrooh was a versatile writer who could pen songs as per the demands of the situation. He was, initially, a bit of a perfectionist, given his literary background as the following incident illustrates. At a song-sitting of Guru Dutt’s Aar Paar, Majrooh was aghast when Guru Dutt made a minor correction in the first line of the mukhda written by him. The song in question was: Sun sun sun sun zaalima, pyaar humko tum se ho gaya / Dil se mila le dil mera, tujhko mere pyar ki kasam. “But this is grammatically incorrect,” protested Majrooh, adding, “If you make it sun, then you cannot use tum, it has to be tujh. It is tu sun and tum suno,” he concluded. Guru Dutt was, however, more keen on the play on ‘m’ than on grammar and he told Majrooh that grammar could be sacrificed for an alluring alliteration — so essential to melody. Majrooh complied.

On reflection, what amazes one about Majrooh’s career-graph was his chequered relations with producers. Except for Nasir Husain, who stood by him through thick and thin for decades — from Tumsa Nahin Dekha to Jo Jeeta Woho Sikandar — other producers and composers utilised his talent as and when it suited them.

And this trend began from Mehboob’s Andaz. While Naushad remained Mehboob’s permanent composer, Shakeel Badayuni replaced Majrooh. Indeed, even Naushad worked with Majrooh almost three decades after Andaz, in Venus Pictures’ Saathi. He was never a regular in any camp and that was no reflection on the quality of his work. When B.R. Chopra launched his banner with Ek Hi Rasta, Majrooh was signed to write the lyrics. That was to be his first and last film with B.R. Chopra. Tarachand Barjatya launched Rajshri on a big scale with Aarti which had music by Roshan and lyrics by Majrooh. Dosti was a personal triumph for Majrooh as he won awards for it, with new music duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal, for Chaahoonga main tujhe saanjh savere, which pipped the songs of Raj Kapoor’s Sangam, composed by the famous Shankar-Jaikishan duo, at the post. Dev Anand, Bimal Roy, S. Mukerji, Raj Khosla, all gave him assignments, but Majrooh was always in the dark about when the axe would fall. He forever had competition in Shailendra, Hasrat Jaipuri, Sahir Ludhianvi, Shakeel Badayuni, Rajinder Krishan, Raja Mehdi Ali Khan, Jan Nisar Akhtar, Asad Bhopali et al. Indeed, Raj Kapoor had no time to look beyond Shailendra-Hasrat till Shailendra was alive. Majrooh entered the R.K. camp, courtesy Randhir Kapoor, and wrote that pithy song, Ek din bik jaayega maati ke mol / Jag mein rah jaayenge pyare tere bol for Dharam Karam, directed by Randhir Kapoor.

Majrooh was generous to a fault. He would go out of his way to write songs for producers in distress, disregarding his price. His songs for Rajinder Singh Bedi’s Dastak — an FFC production — became a milestone in Madan Mohan’s life. He used his takhallus to telling effect in the climax song, sung by Rehana Sultana, Hum hain matae-e-koocha baazaar ki tarah — Majrooh likh rahe hain woh ahle wafa ka naam / Hum bhi khade huen hain gunehgaar ki tarah.

In a career spanning well over five decades, Majrooh maintained his personal and professional dignity and was thoroughly down-to-earth. Unlike the image usually associated with poets, he was a disciplined man with his feet planted firmly on terra firma. This accounts for his long innings and large and qualitative output. Among the hundreds of films he penned the lyrics for were Pukar (new), Jaanam Samjha Karo, Dharti Kahe Pukar Ke, Mere Humdum Mere Dost, Aakhri Dao (old), Abhilasha, Bhoot Bungla, Aulad, Chalti Ka Naam Gadi, Anamika, Andaz Apna Apna, Dilli Ka Thug, Kudrat and Arzoo (old). One is grateful that his songs are a source of solace. All the more so when one is faced with such feelings from his quill as: Sulagte seene se dhuaan sa uth-ta hai / Lo ab chale aao ke dum ghut-ta hai / Jala gaye tan ko baharon ke saaye main kya karoon haaye / Ke tum yaad aaye.

The answer, too, is provided by Majrooh himself through Asha Bhosle’s poser in Nasir Husain’s Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon — Khud dhoond rahi hai shama jise kya baat hai us parwane ki!”

– Dr. Shivaji Sen-Gupta

LATEST POSITION

The success of KYA KEHNA has spread joy in the industry…. KN…PH has got a further boost due to the additional song which has resulted in collections jumping up in the week that’s gone by….. Asia Cup cricket fever may affect box-office collections adversely from tomorrow.

Kya Kehna! has done splendid and is the best in Gujarat, Delhi, U.P. and C.I. 1st week Bombay 37,80,883 (91.46%) from 8 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 13,94,583 from 3 cinemas, Jamnagar 1,39,063; Pune 9,67,783 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 39,45,464 (94.81%) from 6 cinemas; Kanpur 3,70,806, Lucknow 4,47,573, Agra 2,80,000, Varanasi  2,12,108, Allahabad 1,13,172, Bareilly (6 days) 1,30,000; Calcutta 16,71,661 from 9 cinemas; Nagpur 4,72,419 (100%), Amravati (6 days) 1,77,744, Akola 1,61,039, Raipur 1,83,399, Bhilai (6 days) 1,16,666, Chandrapur 2,01,684, Bilaspur 1,35,080; Indore 2,40,000 (1 on F.H.), Bhopal 2,35,500; Jaipur 6,39,067 from 2 cinemas, Ajmer 1,47,793, Bikaner 2,07,959; Hyderabad (gross) 12,47,981 from 4 cinemas (1 in noon).

…………

Jung 2nd week Bombay 19,95,719 (51.89%) from 7 cinemas (10 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 4,82,034 from 6 cinemas, Baroda 89,282 (1st 1,84,609), Jamnagar (matinee) 13,904; Pune 5,33,763 from 6 cinemas; Hubli 65,387 (1st 83,265), Belgaum 67,849 (1st 98,384); Delhi 7,91,725 from 8 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,44,600 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 1,52,353 (1st 2,81,804), Agra 80,000; Allahabad 66,000, Bareilly 66,688; Calcutta 1,66,090 (1st 3,21,365); Nagpur 92,358 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur 59,387, total 2,12,263, Amravati (6 days) 83,008, Raipur 48,244, Bhilai (6 days) 21,750, Jalgaon 1,00,145, Yavatmal (4 days) 10,662; Indore 36,755, Bhopal 60,534; Jaipur 1,24,206, Ajmer (gross) 87,358, Bikaner 73,390; Hyderabad (gross) 2,73,612 from 3 cinemas; Guntur (gross) 80,927, total 1,68,352.

Chal Mere Bhai 3rd week Bombay 30,04,003 (48.83%) from 10 cinemas (8 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 6,82,637 from 6 cinemas (1 unrecd.), Rajkot 75,535 (2nd 1,57,800), Jamnagar 22,622; Pune 4,59,330 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 9,63,226 from 8 cinemas (3 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,32,253 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 2,72,450 (2nd 3,78,127), Agra (22 shows) 1,05,000, Allahabad 45,418, Varanasi 81,098, Bareilly 62,897 (2nd 91,181), Hardwar 19,000; Calcutta 2,06,550 (2nd 3,06,742); Nagpur 1,63,367 from 2 cinemas, Amravati (6 days) 87,358, Raipur (gross) 1,61,647 (2nd 2,55,377), Bhilai (gross) 83,706, Jalgaon 97,395, Wardha 27,429, Bilaspur 45,777 (2nd 83,420); Indore 98,000, Bhopal 49,480 (1 unrecd.); Jaipur 94,267.

Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai 19th week Bombay 7,00,756 (52.16%) from 3 cinemas (4 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 5,85,862 from 3 cinemas, Baroda 1,85,533; Pune 3,37,977 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); 6th week Bijapur 92,410; 19th week Delhi 5,12,889 from 4 cinemas; Kanpur 88,089, Lucknow 1,76,353, Agra 64,000, Varanasi 1,03,381, Allahabad 52,302; Calcutta 2,81,621 from 3 cinemas; Nagpur 3,18,428 from 3 cinemas, Jabalpur 85,540, total 23,22,346, Amravati 93,819 (18th 86,550), Akola 88,330, total 22,79,719, Raipur 78,188 (18th 75,000), total 22,83,103, 4th week Bhilai 34,714, 19th week Jalgaon 85,971 (18th 72,358), 14th week Wardha 43,994 (13th 37,948), 6th week Rajnandgaon 58,359, total 3,77,631, 18th week Chandrapur 81,872, total 23,54,531, 1st week Yavatmal (2nd run) 1,00,214, 19th week Bilaspur 32,322, 6th week Sagar 33,165, Betul 73,302, 1st week Ambikapur 1,60,460, 2nd week Karanja 51,883, total 1,54,159; 19th week Bhopal 1,07,111; Jaipur 61,657; Hyderabad (gross) 4,64,404 from 2 cinemas (2 on F.H.).

AIFPC DONATES 1 CRORE FOR ORISSA CYCLONE RELIEF

The All India Film Producers Council last week donated Rs. 1 crore to the prime minister’s Orissa relief fund. The amount was collected through a star-studded programme, ‘India 2000’, organised by the Hindi film industry in association with Global Online Entertainment at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi on 10th December.

The cheque was presented to prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee by Pahlaj Nihalani, Boney Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Sridevi and Aishwarya Rai.

BABY GIRL FOR SHAH RUKH KHAN

Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri have been blessed with a baby girl. The baby was delivered by Caesarean section on 22nd May at Breach Candy Hospital, Bombay.

SECOND SUNDAY NOT COMPULSORY HOLIDAY

The Association of Motion Pictures & TV Programme Producers has reverted its decision (of 3rd May) to enforce the second Sunday of every month as a compulsory holiday for artistes, technicians and workers. The new decision was arrived at in a joint meeting of the AMPTPP, AIFPC and FWICE on 22nd May, wherein the AIFPC contended that the provision for a compulsory holiday was no longer relevant as the production of films and TV serials had gone down drastically in the last few years.

Second Sundays will, therefore, not be observed as compulsory holidays now.

NAGPUR EXHIBITORS, CABLE AGENCIES ARRIVE AT LANDMARK DECISION

The joint meeting of the cable operators and cinema owners of Nagpur was held on 19th May at Hotel Tuli International, Nagpur. Dalipsingh Tuli, president, Cine Exhibitors Association, Nagpur, presided. The meeting was attended by almost all cable agency owners, namely Sachin Jain (Cable Network), George (Siti Cable), Nitin Patil (In Cable), Jagdish Palia (UCN), Dhawade (Universal Spectrum), Rajesh Joshi (Sargam), Motghare (Drishti) and Mazhar Sheikh (Bharat).

The CEA, represented by D.S. Tuli, S.B. Patil, Vijay Kher, Prashant Rathi, Sharma, Deewan, S.A. Sorathiya, K.K. Sawhney and Pali Sharma, described the problems faced by cinemas due to cable agencies showing new films on cable TV. This had resulted into decreased audience for the cinemas and also lower entertainment tax revenue to the government, they added.

After long-winding deliberations, the meeting arrived at a fruitful decision. It was unanimously decided that with immediate effect, the telecast of new films on cable TV would stop and no newly-released films would be transmitted by cable operators of the city (Nagpur) and that the decision would be strictly implemented. To co-ordinate the efforts, two representatives each from the two associations were named: Dalipsingh Tuli and K.K. Sawhney from the CEA, and Sachin Jain and Nitin Patil from the cable agencies. S.B. Patil, secretary, CEA, thanked all the cable agencies for their co-operation and for arriving at a good decision and said, the CEA expected their continued co-operation.

It would be pertinent to note here that the government revenue department and the police department had also helped in this effort. The police department had suggested the CEA to take up the issue with cable agencies and operators.

YOU ASKED IT

Producers say that there are no good stories available. But one sometimes sees ads issued by some writers who beg to be heard. Why don’t producers listen to their subjects? Why do the filmmakers go after the regular film writers?

– Do you guarantee that new writers will give good stories?

Do singers still get royalty from music companies?

– Very few singers get royalties from music companies. Nowadays, the music companies usually buy music of films outright.

Do you believe that a film title based on favourable numerological combination helps a film succeed at the box-office?

– I only believe that a good story contributes majorly towards a film’s success.

DO YOU KNOW?

* KYA KEHNA!, which was released with a total of 153 prints, is being screened with 175 prints in the 2nd week. Due to distributors’ demand, 22 prints have been added. The producers, Tips Films, took care to deliver all the prints to the all-India distributors at their offices!

* KN…PH has created a record by collecting 1,03,282/- in 19th week at Saraswati, Varanasi. More than 18th week (91,000/-).

* KN…PH has created a city record by collecting 1,08,072/- in 19th week at Alankar, Nagpur. It has also credited a theatre record at Natraj, Nagpur by collecting 45,374/- in 18th week (17th week was 44,588/-). It has created a theatre record by collecting 1,64,982/- in 1st week (3rd run) at Jaswant, Nagpur.

* KN…PH has created a city record by collecting 93,189/- in 19th week at Panchsheel, Amravati. Better than previous week (86,550/-).

* KN…PH has created a city record by collecting 88,330/- in 19th week at Manek, Akola. Total for 19 weeks: 22,79,719/-.

* KN…PH has created a city record in Raipur by collecting 78,188/- in 19th week at Anand cinema. Better than 18th week (75,000/-). Total: 22,83,103/-. The new song, added in 19th week, is being greeted by the showering of coins on the screen by the public that goes wild.

* KN…PH has created a city and Khandesh record  by collecting 85,971/- in 19th week at Ashok, Jalgaon. Better than 18th week (72,358/-) and 17th week (71,038/-). People went crazy over the new song added in the film, whistling, shouting, singing and dancing when it came on the screen!

* KN…PH has created a city record in Chandrapur by collecting 81,873/- in 18th week at Jayant Talkies. Total for 18 weeks: 23,54,531/-.

3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment

An Idea Whose Time Has Come

If you can’t afford to lose them, try to win them. With this perception in view, the controller of Palace Cinema, Delhi, has slashed admission rates at his cinema by up to 50 per cent! And this has been done because the cinema found the attendance of patrons dwindling week after week, thanks to cable television operators freely showing new films. Joginder Mahajan, the cinema’s controller, has slashed the admission rates from Rs. 50/- and Rs. 45/- to Rs. 25/- and Rs. 20/-. Almost like, ‘buy one, take one free’! The seat occupany of the cinemas is likely to double up because of this. Seems, this is the only way out if cinemas have to survive.