Remembering legendary poet Sahir

Manav Mander
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, March 9

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The Nehru Sidhant Kender Trust (NSKT) organised a musical evening ‘Sahir kahaan ho tum’ on Friday evening to mark the birth anniversary of legendary poet Sahir Ludhianvi.

Waheeda Rehman, veteran Bollywood actress, was honoured with the first ‘Noor-e-Sahir’ award. The award has been instituted by the NSKT as a tribute to the poet.

Sharing fond memories of the poet, Waheeda Rehman, on her maiden visit to the city, shared that she met Sahir on two occasions and observed that he was a very quiet person.

“He had penned lyrics for five of my films — Pyaasa, Shagun, Trishul, Mujhe Jeene Do and Kabhie-Kabhie,” she said.

Waheeda Rehman said: “There is no second opinion that vast changes have been incorporated in the cinema in all these years. Now, we have a variety of subjects for our films, but the music of old films is still mesmerising. Music and lyrics were the life of movies in old times. I feel songs of that era were melodious than today’s,” said the veteran actress.

She appeared in Delhi-6 in 2009 and has no plans for any new films. Going down the memory lane, she said she always wanted to become a doctor but keeping her health in mind, her father advised her to drop the idea of it. “So, I chose the film line,” she said.

Acclaimed singers such as Suprriya Joshii, Sarvesh Mishra, Anand Bahal, Naveen Anand and Nimrata Sharma enthralled the audience at Guru Nanak Dev Bhavan with their mesmerising performances.

Organised in association with the Ibaadat Foundation, New Delhi, the cultural event featured an informative and engaging panel discussion which was followed by an award ceremony.

Sahir Ludhianvi, who was born in Ludhiana on March 8, 1921, is considered to be the India’s best lyricist ever. ‘Sahir Kahaan Ho Tum?’ was a uniquely-conceived musical drama in an informal setting of people with passion for poetry. They talked about Sahir and social and cultural context of his life. The idea behind this concept was to educate and entertain the audience with the depth of his work.

Sahir’s songs, ‘mukhdas’ and ‘ghazals’ were beautifully interwoven in the show. These were sung by the Ibaadat’s team of consummate singers to specially-curated music. The team of singers comprised Supriya Joshi, Sarvesh Mishra, AnandBahal, (all from Mumbai), Naveen Anand (from Delhi) and Nimrata Sharma (from Ludhiana). The songs sung by them included ‘Chalo ik baar phir se ajnabi ban jaayein hum donon’, ‘Allah tero naam’, ‘Main zindagi ka saath nibhata chala gaya’, ‘Tum mujhe bhool bhi jaao’, ‘Tum agar mujh ko na chaho’, ‘Zindagi bhar nahin bhulegi’, ‘Wo subah kabhi to aayegi’, ‘Abhi na jaao chhorkar’ and ‘Ae meri zohra-zabeen’.

‘Noor-e-Sahir’ award

Waheeda Rehman, veteran Bollywood actress, was honoured with the first ‘Noor-e-Sahir’ award. The award has been instituted by the NSKT as a tribute to the poet.