Aaj jaane ki zod na karo…

Jasmine Singh

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There were few people you would undoubtedly remember when you had a heart break. You’d listen to them for hours, cry your heart out and feel light. They were the people to fall back on for a heartbreak- Jagjit Singh, Abida Parveen, Ghulam Ali, Begum Akhtar, Farida Khanum, Noor Jehan, Chitra Singh, Mehdi Hassan and Reshma…we bet you had an alibi in one of them. When you were about to fall in love, when you did fall in love, when you had a fight in love and khuda na khasta when you were hurt in love… there was a ghazal playing in the background of every mood! And now, when everything, right from love to break-up to kids happen so fast over a social networking site, listening to ghazals is probably not the thing. Even though many independent artistes have revived the old ghazals in a new style and format, we would still love to know kisko ashiqui ka woh zamaana yaad hai! 

A sad mashup 

In the name of ghazals, we have Bollywood mashup, but then there are youngsters who still swear by Abida Parveen. “Tere ishq nachaya, Yaar ho humne ja ba ja dekha, do you think anything can replace this,” shares Priyanka Madaan from SD college, Chandigarh who has all the ghazals secured in her hard disk. The latest and the so-called fresh version of old ghazals being used either as independent tracks or in Hindi films is a recent upgradation, youngsters see it as a way of establishing connect with old world charm, though some go by the old, soul stirring melody!

Old is gold 

For most youngsters Jagjit Singh and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan have immortalised pain and love both. “Hosh waalon ko khabar kya…you don’t need to be young or old to enjoy this melody,” offers Sanyam Setia pursuing MBA from Panjab University, Chandigarh who is glad that he heard the song in a film and fell instantly in love with it. Sanyam, however, owes his ghazal love to Bollywood films from where he heard most of the ghazals, whether it is Lambi judaai or Seene main jalan ankhon main toofan sa kyu hai.

With youngsters setting with a safe and secure corner for ghazals, new-age musicians have also realised their value. Faridoon Shahryar, whose singles have been widely appreciated by Bollywood actors and music lovers, firstly defines as pearls of immortality. His father Akhlaq Mohammed Khan, better known as Shahryar, straddled the worlds of pure and popular poetry with equal ease.

As a lyricist, he courted fame and riches with the unforgettable lyrics of Umrao Jaan. Says Faridoon, “Anything which is good will stand the test of time, like the ghazals have. However, I am not in favour of diluting ghazals, and I also know for a fact that youngsters do understand and appreciate ghazals in their rich form.” Faridoon points at the music download response which has always been phenomenal for the ghazals. “I can still see a niche audience enjoying the different types of ghazals, and also interested in looking up the meaning of the Urdu words.” 

jasmine@tribunemail.com

Dj wale babu koi ghazal banade

Yes, neither the fans nor the love for ghazals is fading anytime soon, the poignant lyrics, the soulful melodies are here…forever. Sameer Sandhu, one of the members of 3 The People, has recorded the sitar version of Aaj jaane ki zid na karo. “We have started a project called The Collective Project wherein we will be collaborating with various artistes including ghazal singers.” Sameer as of now plans to do an electronic version of the immortal ghazal Aaj jaane ki. For a ghazal lover, and many who are young, no matter what kind of music becomes popular the charm of ghazal stay on.”