Quintessential lyricist

In what we call the golden era of Hindi film music, Shailendra stood tall among the galaxy of established songwriters like Sahir Ludhianvi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Kaifi Azmi and Shakel Badayuni. All of them, besides being film lyricists, were also Urdu poets of repute. Shailendra, on the other hand, was more of a Hindi composer and practised his art in folksy Hindustani, which shows in his evergreen songs like ‘Mera joota hai Japani’, ‘Piya tose naina lage re’ and ‘Sajanva bairi ho gaye hamaar’. Appreciating his poetic talent, Gulzar confirmed that Shailendra was a quintessential lyricist unlike Sahir, who was basically a poet of nazms.

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Having lived a dark life of extreme poverty in his early years and of riches and high popularity in later years, Shailendra had seen a lot of emotional highs and lows. He became, therefore, a poet of multiple moods; above all, of intense longing. Love, which is the staple of all films, consumed much of his poetic energy and gave us some of the most memorable songs. If ‘Pyaar hua iqraar hua’ shows the feeling of trepidation in love and ‘Ye mera diwanapan hai’ the intensity of love, then ‘Din dhal jaye hai raat na jaye’ portrays the pangs of separation and ‘Toote huye khwabon ne’ the failure of love.

His longing for perfect love and a good life is best summed up in songs like ‘Ye raat bheegi bheegi’, ‘Kisi ki muskurahton pe ho nisaar’ and ‘Dil ki girah khol do’.

Besides romantic songs, Shailendra also wrote of filial love, religious devotion, patriotism and traditional faith. Remember his lullaby in film ‘Brahmachari’, the rakhi song in ‘Chhoti Behen’, prayer in ‘Seema’, farewell song to a patriot in ‘Bandini’, and that lyrical contemplation ‘Vahan kaun hai tera’ in ‘Guide’. But the romantic in him often turned factual when he wrote about the plight of the common man, his hopes and longings. ‘Dil ka haal sune dilwala’ is one such example which has an oblique reference to his old hungry days and the premature loss of his sister.

Incidentally, the dafli that Raj Kapoor plays in this song is a replication of what Shailendra used to do in his younger days. ‘Chhota sa ghar hoga’ is a picture of his childhood longing for better days. But the one l like most is the song from ‘Ujala’: ‘Suraj zara aa paas aa’. What a genial and ironical portrayal of hunger! The story goes that Shailendra used to smoke bidis to dispel the spasms of hunger so that his children could have at least one meal a day.

These songs are not only a reflection of his personal but also of political life. Right through the days he moved from Rawalpindi to Mathura and then to Bombay, he was a brooding thinker that ultimately made him a poet of social consciousness. He joined Gandhi’s Quit India Movement and was jailed briefly. Later, in Bombay, he also became a small-time labour union leader and participated in the cultural activities of IPTA (Indian Progressive Theatre Association).

The slogan ‘Har zor zulm ki takkar mein hartal hamara naara hai’, which is popular even today, is his creation. During all this time, he continued publishing his politically-motivated poems in Hindi magazines and attending poetical symposiums. It was at one of these mushairas where he read his poem ‘Jalta hai Punjab’ that he had a chance encounter with Raj Kapoor.

Raj Kapoor and Shailendra’s friendship is legendary (strangely, the day Shailendra died was RK’s birthday). But it was not a professional partnership alone; it was an ideological joint venture. Both had kindred hearts that throbbed for the downtrodden and the underprivileged. Back in the ’50s and ’60s, empathising with the poor, asking for their honour and equality and fighting against the system that exploits them was politically labelled as progressive. We had, therefore, a whole generation of artistes and poets who belonged to this stream of thought and worked in this direction. The stories of Raj Kapoor’s poor, innocent, at times terrified, heroes with a somewhat clownish demeanour were a metaphor for an average exploited common man. Shailendra happened to be the ideal translator of these human conditions into popular lyrics. His progressive mindset was pre-fertilised to produce a hybrid crop of protest, humanitarian love and social change.

Before joining the soft and romantic caravan of Hindi films, Shailendra was a hard-hitting revolutionary poet. That is why he initially refused to write for Raj Kapoor’s films. Due to his early death, most of his work remained unpublished. In 2013 came a brief anthology of his poems titled ‘Andar Ki Aag’, that showcases his spirit of angst and longing for a revolutionary change. In these poems, he makes a scathing attack on capitalists, the corrupt and hypocrite leaders who exploit the poor, and draws poignant pictures of poor labourers, farmers and soldiers. He is particularly hard on the post-Independence India that shows no signs of change or respect for its patriots. In one poem, he urges Bhagat Singh not to return to India as patriots were still being executed. In others, he cries against Partition and the violence that preceded and followed it.

The title poem of this anthology wallows in the same mood of disappointment as Faiz’s ‘Ye daag daag ujala’. Yet, there are poems in this collection that show courage and hope like ‘Kal hamara hai’. It translates as: ‘Though the heart is sinking because of the prevailing darkness, but sure there is light beyond this night. Every sea ends up at a shore, we will have our day tomorrow.’ These sentiments and images were later re-enacted in the song ‘Rahi tu ruk mat jaana’ from ‘Door Gagan ki Chhaon Mein’.

Shailendra’s songs have an enchanting beauty of intense emotions couched in simple language; that is why they touch a million hearts even today. Even Javed Akhtar confirms, “Shailendra is one of the many suns from which I borrowed light”.

— The writer is a retired professor of English at GNDU, Amritsar