S D Burman and Majrooh Sultanpuri- The Creator of Many Immortal Songs

What a day is October 1, the birth anniversary of two of the Golden Era of Bollywood music’s most creative and consistent artists. While music director SD Burman, born in 1906, continued to create melodic magic till his death in 1975, the 1919-born lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri remained active for over five decades, till he passed away in 2000. And the best thing about both these geniuses who shared birthdays was that they combined to create many outstanding songs together.
 Over the years, of course, a large chunk of their films featured Dev Anand, examples being ‘Paying Guest’, ‘Nau Do Gyarah’, ‘Kala Pani’, Manzil’, ‘Solva Saal’, ‘Bombai Ka Baboo’, ‘Baat Ek Raat Ki’, ‘Jewel Thief’ and ‘Teen Deviyan’. On the birth anniversary of the two legends, I look at 15 compositions born of their partnership.
Incidentally, the coming together of the two owed much to the break in the partnership of SD Burman and Sahir Ludhianvi. After the success of Pyaasa (1957), Burman and Ludhianvi fought bitterly to gain credit for the success of the music of Guru Dutt's iconic film. Faced with what he believed to be the obstinacy of the lyricist, Burman decided he would never work with Ludhianvi again. Thus began a partnership with Sultanpuri that lasted till Burman's final years.
Besides the Dev Anand films, SD and Majrooh combined on such classics as ‘Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi’ (which had Kishore’s ‘Ek Ladki Bheegi Bhaagi’, the Kishore-Manna Dey song ‘Babu samjho ishaare’ and the Kishore-Asha superhit ‘Haal Kaisa Hai Janaab Ka’) and ‘Sujata’ (which had Talat Mahmood’s unforgettable ‘Jalte Hain Jiske Liye’, Geeta Dutt’s ‘Nanhi kali sone chali’, Asha and Geeta’s ‘Bachpan ke din’ and SD’s own rendition of ‘Sun mere bandhu’). The Lata song ‘Pawan Deewani’ from ‘Dr Vidya’ was a major hit too.
Here I would like to share this information that the first song written by Majrooh and composed by Sd Burman was " Woh Sapne wali Raat sung by Geeta Roy in the film Pyar (1950). After a gap of 7 years, they worked together in Paying Guest (1957).They worked together for more than 15 years, creating some memorable compositions. While there was a difference of 13 years between the two (Burman was born in 1906, Sultanpuri in 1919), they were inextricably linked by a common birthday. 
The two of them also worked in films like ‘Lajwanti’, ‘Sitaron Se Aage’, ‘Talaash’, ‘Phagun’ and ‘Sagina’ (remember ‘Saala mein to saahab ban gaya’?) But their biggest hit arguably was in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s 1973 film ‘Abhimaan’, which had ‘Tere mere milan yeh raina’ (Lata-Kishore), ‘Teri bindiya’ (Lata-Rafi), ‘Lutey koi man’ (Lata-Manhar Udhas), Kishore’s ‘Meet Na Mila’ and three Lata solos ‘Nadiya Kinarey’, ‘Ab Toh Hai Tumse’ and ‘Piya bina’.
Maana Janaab Ne Pukaara Nahin' — Paying Guest (1957)

Song of Paying Guest 1957

Aankhon Mein Kya Ji' — Nau Do Gyarah (1957)

Song of Nau Do Gyarha 1957

Chhod Do Aanchal - Paying Guest (1957)

Song of Paying Guest 1957

Hai Apna Dil To Awara' — Solva Saal (1958)

Song of Solva Saal 1958

Hum Bekhudi Mein — Kala Pani (1958)

Song of Kala Paani 1958

Koi Aaya Dhadkan Kehti Hai' — Lajwanti (1958)

Song of Lajwanti 1958

Accha Ji Main Haari' — Kala Pani (1958)

Song of Kala Paani 1958

Ek Ladki Bheegi Bhaagi Si' — Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958)

Song of Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958)

Jalte Hain Jiske Liye' — Sujata (1960)

Song of Sujata(1960)

Chal Ri Sajni Ab Kya Soche - Bombai Ka Babu

Song of Bombai Ka Baboo (1960)

Pawan Diwane - Dr. Vidya (1962)

Song of Dr. Vidya (1962)

Na Tum Humein Jano

Song of Baat Ek Raat Ki (1962)

Aise To Na Dekho - Teen Deviyan

Song of Teen Deviyan (1965) 

Hothon Pe Aisi Baat - Jewel Thief (1967)

Song of Jewel Thief (1967)

Meet Na Mila Re Mun Ka - Abhimaan

Song of Abhimaan (1973) 

Hasrat Jaipuri - A Love Letter written in Real Life becomes Immortal in Reel

Do you know that the immortal song Yeh Meraa Prempatra Padh Kar” sung by Mohammad Rafi in Sangam was actually written for the real girl living next door to Hasrat Jaipuri in Jaipur. In an interview, Hasrat Jaipuri informed this truth but It is not known for sure whether the love letter was actually delivered to her or not?
Hasrat Jaipuri was born on 15th April 1922 at Jaipur. He began writing verse when he was around twenty years old. Around the same time, he fell in love with a neighbourhood girl name Radha. His love was silent but his emotions were not, he thought of expressing them by writing a letter in poetic form. The words were Yeh Mera Prem Patra Padh Kar, ki tum Naaraaz Na Hona. Ki Tum Meri Zindagi Ho.
There was a situation in the film where Rajendra Kumar had to sing a song, for that situation Hasrat Jaipuri suggested the words to Raj Kapoor and informed him of the real incidence also the veteran film producer-director Raj Kapoor liked it enough to include it in his Sangam (1964 Hindi film) and the song ended up becoming a 'hit' song in India.
Hasrat Jaipuri the great Lyricist started his Film career with the immortal song Jiya Beqaraar Hai for the film Barsaat in 1949. It was also the first film of Shankar Jaikishan, That was the beginning of a lifelong association." Yet, there was an unstated agreement that Jaikishan would often prefer Jaipuri to pen lyrics for his tunes, while Shankar would turn to Shailendra. 
He wrote  a whole range of songs like "Sayonara sayonara" (Love In Tokyo)," Aao twist karen" (Bhoot Bungla)." Ajhoon na aaye baalma" (Sanjh AurSavera), "Duniya Bananewale"(Teesri Kasam) to Romantic songs like Yeh Mera Prem Patra (Sangam)."Zindagi ek safar hai suhana" (Andaz), "Teri pyari pyari soorat ko" (Sasural), "Pankh hote to ud aati re" (Sehra), "Tere khayalon meinhum" (Geet Gaya Pattharon Ne), " Tu kahan yeh bataa" (Tere Ghar KeSaamne), Sau Saal Pehle Mujhe Tum Se Pyaar Tha (Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai) and Bahaaron Phool Barsao (Suraj )
He worked in  350 films and 2000 recorded songs, his last releases were Saazish with Jatin-Lalit and Sher Khan (with Bappi Lahiri), and at the time of his death, he was working on a few small films and a book of Shaayari.
He won innumerable awards, honours and mementoes. Among them were two Filmfare trophies (for `Baharon Phool Barsaoo’ from Suraj and `Zindagi ek safar hai suhana’ from Andaz) and two awards - the Doctorate from the World University Round-Table and the Josh Mahilabadi award from the Urdu Conference for his literary work as a poet. Also the Dr Ambedkar award for a film song, `Jhanak jhanak tori baaje payaliya’ from Mere Huzoor, which was written with a blend of Hindi and Brij Bhasha. Apropos that, the poet once said, "Hindi and Urdu are like two great and inseparable sisters"
He died on 17th September 1999. He still remains the King Of Romance.

In this Blog I have selected some of my favourite Romantic Songs of Hasrat Jaipuri Ji.

Song of Barsaat 1949

Song of Patita (1953)

Song of Chori Chori (1956)

Song of Sasural 1961

Song of Junglee 1961

 

Song of Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai  1961

Song of Maya 1961

Song of Professor (1962)

Song of Tere Ghar Ke Samne (1963)

Song of Asli Naqli (1963)

Song of Sangam (1964)

Song of Brahmchari (1968)

Song of Andaz 1971

The Songs of Gulzar

Gulzar, originally Sampoorna Singh Kalra started to work as a garage mechanic in Worli while writing poetry in his spare time. Gulzar, as any other dreamer who comes to Bombay for the first time, was bitten by the film bug. It is said that Gulzar's first song was Mora Gora Rang Le Le from 1963 film Bandini. that's not a true the first song written by him was from Kabuliwala 1961, "Ganga Aye Kahan Se" the Hindi translation of a Bengali song.sung by Hemant Kumar. After that Bimal Roy asked him to write songs for Prem Patra 1962 film.
He then began writing for films for directors like Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Asit Sen. Some of the films that Gulzar has written include Anand (1970), Guddi (1971), Bawarchi (1972) and Namak Haram (1973) for Hrishida and Do Dooni Char (1968), Khamoshi (1969) and Safar (1970) for Asit Sen.
With Mere Apne in 1971, he donned the role of a filmmaker. Gulzar went on to make Parichay (1972) and Koshish (1972). With Sanjeev Kumar, he made Aandhi (1975), Mausam (1975), Angoor (1981) and Namkeen (1982) He also made film with Jeetendra (Parichay, Khushboo (1975), Kinara (1977), with Vinod Khanna: Achanak (1973), Meera (1979) and Lekin (1990) and Hema Malini: Khushboo (1975), Kinara (1977), Meera (1979)
As a lyricist, Gulzar had a close association with the music director Rahul Dev Burman. Both of them gave some gems of the songs. Later he is associated with Vishal Bhardwaj  in Maachis (1996), Omkara (2006) and Kaminey (2009); A. R. Rahman in Dil Se.. (1998), Guru (2007), Slumdog Millionaire (2008) and Raavan (2010) 
 Rahman and Gulzar won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Jai Ho" at the 81st Academy Awards. The song received international acclaim and won him a Grammy Award (shared with Rahman) in the category of Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. Gulzar has written lyrics and dialogues for several Doordarshan TV series including Jungle Book, Alice in Wonderland, Hello Zindagi, Guchche and Potli Baba Ki with Vishal Bhardwaj. 
Gulzar is married to actress Raakhee. The couple has a daughter, Meghna Gulzar (Bosky). Meghna Gulzar grew up with her mother and father and, after completing her graduation in filmmaking from New York University, went on to become a director of films such as Filhaal, Just Married, Dus Kahaniyaan and Raazi
He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2004 and the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2002. He has won a number of National Film Awards and 20 Filmfare Awards. He was also given Baba Saheb Phalke Award.

Song of Kabuliwala 1961

Song of Prem Patra 1962

Song of Bandhini 1963

Song of Khamoshi (1970)

Song of Do Dooni Chaar (1970)

Song of  Mere Apne (1971)

Song of Guddi (1971)

Song of Anand (1971)

Song of Parichay (1972)

Song of Anubhav (1972)

Song of Aandhi (1975)

Song of Mausam (1976)

Song of Kinara (1977)

Song of  Gharaonda (1977)

Song of Masoom (1983) 

Song of Maachis (1996)

Song of Slumdog Millionaire (2009)

Anand Bakshi - The Juggler of Words

Over 3500 songs in  638 films in his career over five decades, he was the most vibrant lyricist that the industry has witnessed. The beauty of Bakshi’s mesmerising lyrics was that it retained its currency till he lived in the first decade of the new millennium.He was a master wordsmith.His contribution to the rhythmic songs of the golden era of Hindi cinema, which began in the 1950s and lasted till the mid-1970s will be noticed among the dozen odd top lyricists.
He 6.was born in Rawalpindi, now in Pakistan, on 21 July 1930 He  was fond of writing poetry since his youth, but he did this mostly as a private hobby. He worked in the Army for many years and simultaneously tried to market his songs in the Mumbai film world.Took voluntary discharge from the Army, E.M.E.  on 27-8-1956, at Lucknow.Arrived in Bombay to find work in films as a singer and or lyricist in Oct. 1956.
He got his break writing songs in a Brij Mohan film titled Bhalaa Aadmi (1958), acted by Bhagwan Dada. He wrote four songs in this film. His first song in this film was "Dharti Ke Laal Na Kar Itna Malaal" which was recorded on 9 Nov 1956.he first found success in 1962 with Mehendi Lagi Mere Haath, which was produced by (LimeLight), Music by Kalyanji & Anandji,  He got his real big breakthroughs in 1965 with Himalay Ki God Mein, and a huge breakthrough again in 1965 with the super-hit film Jab Jab Phool Khile, starring Shashi Kapoor;and in 1967 film Milan
He found great popularity with films like Amar Prem, Sholay, Amar Akbar Anthony, Ek Duuje Ke Liye and many more through the ’70s. He went on to work with renowned directors like Dev Anand,Raj Kapoor, Subhash Ghai and Yash Chopra and wrote the lyrics for Hare Rama Hare Krishna,Bobby, Taal, Yaadein and Dil Toh Paagal Hai among others. Mention must be made about Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ, 1995).
Sahir Ludhianvi taught him how to weave poetry into lyrics. He even introduced him to producers. Once he even asked Yashji (Chopra) to try him as a lyricist. But he wrote for Yashji’s Chandni (1989) only after Sahir saab passed away. 
He was associated with music composers such as Laxmikant-Pyarelal, R D Burman, Kalyanji Anandji, SD Burman, Anu Malik, Rajesh Roshan and Anand-Milind, and his songs have been sung by all the top singers as well as other singers such as Shamshad Begum, Ila Arun, Khursheed Bawra, Amirbai Karnataki, Sudha Malhotra and more. He is known to have worked with more than one generation of music composers.He wrote the first recorded songs of many first time male and female leads who went on to become stars, and also of singers such as Shailendra Singh, Kumar Sanu, Kavita Krishnamurthy etc
His jodi with Laxmikant Pyarelal was very popular They worked together in more than 220 films.First time he was associated with L P was in 1964 film Mr X In Bombay,the song Mere Mehboob Qyamat Hogi sung by Kishore kumar became very popular.The next film worked together was Lootera in 1965.

After  L P,the other composer was R D Burman with whom he did maximum films.Their first film was Teesra Kaun in 1965.
Anand Bakshi wrote for five decades, watching the windmill of time roll over and over. New actors replaced old ones, his close buddies like Kishore Kumar, Pancham and Laxmikant left for the heavens even as he watched helplessly. But Anand Bakshi’s gallery of fame kept gathering up successes like Hum, Darr, Lamhe, Mohra, DDLJ and Dil to Pagal Hai, as he kept adjusting his stance with the changing time.He stayed young and kept his screen heroes and heroines even younger. 
Late in his life, he suffered from heart and lung disease as a consequence of lifelong smoking. In March 2002, he caught a bacterial infection at Nanavati hospital during a minor heart surgery. He finally died of multiple organ failure on 30 March 2002, 8:00 PM at Mumbai's Nanavati Hospital, at the age of 72. The last released movie with lyrics by Anand Bakshi (after his death) was Mehbooba.

Song from Phool Bane Angaare (1963)

Song from Mr. X in Bombay (1964)

Song from Himalay Ki God Mein (1965)

Song from Jab Jab Phool Khile (1965)

Song from Milan (1966)

Song from Taqdeer (1967)

Song from Raja Aur Rank (1968)

Song from Aradhana (1969)

Song from Jeene Ki Raah (1969)

Song from Do Raaste (1970)

Song from Kati Patang (1971)

Song from Amar Prem (1972)

Song from Bobby (1973)

Song from Sholay (1975)

Song from Julie (1975)

Song from Ek Duuje Ke Liye (1981)

Song from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995)

Neeraj-The great Poet and Lyricist

Gopal Das Saxena"Neeraj "(4 January 1925 – 19 July 2018 )was introduced to the film industry by producer R. Chandra when he turned director with “Nayi Umar Ki Nayi Fasal”. The film was inspired by Neeraj’s poem “Karwaan Guzar Gaya Ghubar Dekhte Rahe”. After that he wrote songs for Cha Cha Cha which released earlier in 1964 with the songs SUBAH NA AAYI SHAM NA AAYI,Ek Chameli Ke Mandve Tale and Wo hum Na The Wo Tum Na
It was Dev Anand  who introduced him to S.D. Burman for “Prem Pujari”. Neeraj took a leave of six days from Dharam Samaj College in Aligarh where he was teaching Hindi and reached Bombay at the invitation of Anand. In an interview he said “He put me in luxurious hotel in Santa Cruz and paid me Rs.1000 even before signing me. Next day he took me to S.D. Burman, who showed apprehensions about a poet’s ability to write to tunes and a given situation. Dev Anand said that he should not worry. He should give the tune and if Neeraj failed he would remain his guest for six days and enjoy Bombay. Burman da gave me a tune and said the song should start with ‘Rangeela Re’ and it is about a girl who sees her beloved coming to a party with another girl. It should have elements of frustration in love, jealousy and satire. I worked the whole night and came up with “Rangeela Re Tere Rang Main Yun Ranga Hai Mera Mann, Chhaliya Re…” Next day he went to Dev Anand’s office and showed what he had written. After reading it, he embraced Neeraj and exclaimed how he could do it in one night. “He immediately took me to Burman da’s home and proudly presented me to him and said: See, I told you, Neeraj has done it. When Burman da listened to it he said ‘Dev you go, now we will sit together.’ After he left, Burman da admitted that he gave me this complex situation to make me give up.
After that S D Burman recommended him to Sharmeeli producer to sign him the lyricist for the film.When he was writing for Prem Pujari he was contacted by Raj kapoor to write a song for Mera Naam Joker.Neeraj wrote A e Bhai Zara Dekh Ke Chalo and even set it to a wonderful tune. "The song is a philosophy of life, which is a circus and we are all jokers,'' 
Neeraj worked with S D Burman in many films like Tere Mere Sapne and Gambler.
Gopaldas Neeraj called himself an unfortunate poet which led to his stopping himself from writing film songs and restricting himself to just writing and getting his poems published. The reason that he gave for this was that at least two or three prominent music directors of the Hindi Film Industry for whom he wrote very successful and popular songs, had expired. He mentioned the death of Jaikishan of the Music Duo Shankar-Jaikishan as well as of Sachin Dev Burman, for both of whom he had penned highly popular film songs. The deaths of these Music Directors when they, along with Gopaldas Neeraj were at the peak of their fame left him very dejected and he made a decision to quit the film industry.
His friendship with Dev Anand continued he wrote songs for the last film of Dev Anand "Charge sheet"
 Gopal Das Neeraj passed away on Thursday 19 th July 2018 evening at the AIIMS trauma centre, his family said. He was 93.
Neeraj used to say" People talk of my five years in film industry. They tend to forget my 65 years of contribution to literature".

Song from Cha Cha Cha (1964)

Song from Nayi Umar Ki Nayi Fasal 1965

Song from Kanyadan (1969)

Song from Chanda aur Bijli (1969)

Song from Prem Pujari (1970)

Song from Prem Pujari (1970)

Song from Pehchan (1970)

Song from Sharmilee (1971)

Song from Tere Mere Sapne (1971)

Song from Mera Naam Joker (1970)

Song from Gambler (1971)

Song from Kal Aaj Aur Kal (1971)

Song from Chhupa Rustam (1973)

Rajendra Krishan-The Lyricist who gave us many Immortal Songs

Those who love Bollywood songs are not unknown to the great Rajendra Krishan.He gave us many immortal songs like "Chup chup khade ho zaroor koi baat hai" (Badi-Behen), "Man doley mera tan doley" (Nagin), "Ai dil mujhe bata de,tu kis pe aa gaya hai" (Bhai-Bhai), "Main chali main chali dekho pyaar ki gali" ( Padosan)."Chal ud ja re panchhi ki ab yeh des hua begaana..." and penned such stirring lyrics as "Suno suno ai duniya waalon, bapu ki yeh amar kahani..."
He was born on June 6, 1919 to Parvati and Jagannath Duggal in Jalalpur Jattan of Gujarat district (now in Pakistan). 
When he was studying in the eighth class he was attracted towards poetry. In his early work life he had a clerk's job in the municipal office in Simla, where he toiled up to 1942.In the mid-1940s, Krishan shifted to Mumbai to become a screenwriter. His first screenplay was Janta (1947). His first film as a lyricist was Zanjeer (1947). He was first noted for the script and lyrics of the Motilal-Suraiya starrer Aaj Ki Rat (1948). After the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, Krishan wrote a song Suno Suno Aye Duniyawalon, Bapu Ki Yeh Amar Kahani. The song was sung by Mohammed Rafi and composed by Husnlal Bhagatram, and was a great hit. He also tasted success as a lyricist with the films Badi Bahen (1949) and Lahore (1949).

with Raj Kumar 

When he was active the great 4 lyricists of Bollywood  Sahir Ludhianvi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Shailendra, and Shakeel Badayuni were also there.He was an equal amongst giants like them.He gave lyrics to a wide variety of songs, ranging from Ghazals to Bhajans, Geets to Nazms with great flair. His songs are simple, inventive and full of meaning. He could write a swinging song like Mr John, o Baba Khan and in the same film Barish (’57) a philosophical song, Dane dane pe likha hai khanewale ka nam, lenewale karod, denewale ek Ram. The songs he wrote for Anarkali (’53), Yeh zindagi usiki hai and Jaag dard-e-ishq jaag have attained legendary status. His Nagin (’54) songs Man dole mera tan dole and Mera dil ye pukare aja are reverberating in our hearts even today. Apart from the three music directors mentioned above, he also wrote for other great composers like Sajjid Hussain (Saiyan ’51, Sangdil ’52), SD Burman (Bahar ’51, Sazaa ’51, Ek Nazar ’51), S Mohinder (Papi ’53), Chitragupt (Bhabhi ’57, Kangan ’59), Salil Choudhry (Chaya ’61), Laxmikant-Pyarelal (Intaqam ’69). He could pen love-ballads and comedy songs with equal ease and effect. In the first category come the standards like Ye hawa ye raat ye Chandni (Sandgil), Koun aya mere man ke dware payal ki jhankar liye (Dekh Kabira Roya ’57), Mera Qarar leja mujhe beqarar kar ja (Ashiana ’52) and Ai dil mujhe bata de (Bhai Bhai ’56). As the whole world knows C Ramchandra and Madan Mohan put a special ingredient into the songs they gave to Lata. One can not remain unmoved when listening to the following songs Rajendra Krishan wrote for her: Ham pyar me jalnewalon ko chain kahan aram kahan (Jailor ’58), Sapne me sajan se do bate ik yad rahi ik bhool gayen (Gateway Of India ’57), Dil se bhulado tum hamen (Patanga ’49)), Balma bada nadan re (Albela ’50), Ai chand pyar mera (Khazana ’51) and Wo bhuli dastan lo phir yad agayi (Sanjog ’61). 
Rajendra Krishan won Filmfare Award for best lyricist for the movie Khandan (1965) for the song "Tumhi mere mandir, tumhi meri pooja".
Rajendra Krishan knew Tamil language and wrote 18 scripts for AVM Studios films.He wrote dialogues for more than 50 hindi films like Bari Behen ,Nagin,Shaadi ,Bharosa,Khandan,Pyar Kiye Jaa ,Padosan,Bombay to Goa,Naya Din Nai Raat
Besides literature he had the hobby of Horse race.In fact he won a Jackpot in the 60s winning a huge amount which made him the richest Lyricist.He died on 23 September 1987 in Mumbai. After his death, HMV brought out an LP containing 12 of his songs.

Song from Badi Bahen (1949)

Song from Albela (1951)

Song from Anarkali (1953)

Song from Nagin (1954)

Song from Bhaabi 1957

Song from Adalat (1958) 

Song from Jailor 1958

Song from Chhaya ( 1961)

Song from Khandan (1965)

Song from Sikandar-E-Azam 1965

Song from Black Mail 1973