Forgotten Songs of HOLI

Holi is a festival of colours. It is an inseparable part of Indian culture and, Bollywood never misses a chance to infuse the ‘Holi factor’ in the form of dance numbers with stars going footloose and crazy. The first song of Holi was from the 1931 film ‘Ghar Ki Laxmi’. The Mukhdaa of the song goes like – “Mo Pe Daar Gayo Saari Rang Rang Ki Gaagar, Kaisa Dhokha Diya. . .”. This and many other songs of that era are now lost.
When we talk about the songs of the 30s and 40s how can we forget the great K L Sehgal.  He was an institution, with no parallel in the entire heritage of Hindi film music.Here I have taken a Non-film song of Sehgal on Holi. It was recorded in 1933.

                                         k.l.saigal..hori ho vraj dulare..geet.1933-34

.I present a song from this very first decade of Hindi films – a song from film ‘Aurat’ from 1940. ‘Aurat’ is a magnum opus by producer-director Mehboob, a much-celebrated film of its era.

Song of Aurat 1940

In the 50s many Holi songs were picturised. Almost all the Top stars of that time wanted one Holi song in his or her film. Nargis sang a Holi song in the 1950 film Jogan, sung by young Geeta Dutt. In this Holi song, Geeta Dutt’s honey and sugar voice ooze masti in full measure. With music by Bulo C Rani, Jogan’s bhajans became the benchmark for decades to come.

Song of Jogan 1950

India’s first technicolour film Aan exploited the colourful festival of Holi to fully utilize its highly expensive use of 16mm Gevacolour. Jai Tilak (Dilip Kumar) plays Holi with Mangala (Nimmi), a simple village girl. As he throws away her scarf in the melee, it mistakenly lands on the tempestuous and arrogant princess Rajshree (Nadira) who is touring the city on her royal elephant, making her assume something else!

Song of Aan (1953)

Another popular song was picturised on Dilip Kumar with Meena Kumari in the 1960 film Kohinoor

Song of Kohinoor 1960

There is no Holi song picturised on Dev Anand but there is one Holi song where Dev Anand was not playing but  out looking a Holi dance, The song is from the 1953 film Rahi

Song of Rahi (1953)

 This song is from “Maashooka” (1953). This song is sung by Suraiyya, Mukesh and chorus. Shailendra is the lyricist. Music is composed by Roshan.

Only the audio of this song is available. Seeing that Suraiyya and Mukesh had acted in this movie, it is easy to guess that the song was picturised on themselves.

Song of Maashooka” (1953)

Another memorable Holi song of the 50s is this song from 1957 film Mother India. Sung by Shamshad Begum, one of the top most singers of the 50s. The song captures Radha (Nargis) and Shamu (Raaj Kumar) in their happier times

Song of Mother India 1957

A romantic Holi song composed by Hemant Kumar and picturised on the elegant Bina Rai and the princely Pradeep Kumar. Talk about Holi compositions with a touch of the classical and this song from Durgesh Nandini which had some great music will be remembered for sure.

Song of Durgesh Nandini (1956)

Legendary filmmaker V Shantaram cast his wife Sandhya in this unusual role where she plays both the real and the fantasy characters. In the backdrop of Holi, this song has one of the most remarkable solo dance sequences performed by Sandhya, where she role plays both Radha and Shyam.

Song of Navrang (1959)

Shashi Kapoor - The Man who made many Meaningful Films not Money

Shashi Kapoor spent all his earnings from commercial potboilers in producing memorable films like “Junoon”, “Kalyug”, “Vijeta”  " Utsav" and  “36 Chowringhee Lane”. under his banner Filmvalas. All of these films were critically acclaimed but were commercially unsuccessful. The last film under this Banner was Ajooba starring Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor was a disaster.
Shashi Kapoor and his wife, Jennifer Kendal, wanted to make accessible arthouse films. They decided to start their own banner, The name was inspired by “Shakespeare Wallah", the title given to Shashi Kapoor’s father-law Geoffrey Kendal. The first film under their banner Film Valas was "Junoon" released in 1978. The film was directed by Shyam Benegal. The film is based on Ruskin Bond's fictional novella, A Flight of Pigeons, set around the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The film's soundtrack was composed by Vanraj Bhatia and cinematography by Govind Nihalani. The film was critically acclaimed and got many Awards. Won National Film Awards for Best Feature Film, Best Cinematography and Best Audiography. The film was an average in Box office. Junoon cost ₹34-odd lakh. It was a happy experience even though he didn’t make any money on it. Junoon eventually covered its investment. It would have even made a profit had he been a good businessman.
After Junoon came Kalyug and 36 Chowringhee Lane both released in 1981. Aparna (Sen) came to him with the story. He loved the script, and he wanted Shyam Benegal to direct it, but she said she was going to direct the film. That was a suicidal film—it was in English, made for between ₹ 18-24 lakh. (Its) cinematographer Ashok Mehta wasn’t cheap to work with. Vanraj Bhatia gave the music—whatever was state-of-the-art had to be used. He never compromised with the budget.
Kalyug was released on 24th July 1981. It was known as a modern-day version of the Indian epic Mahabharat, depicting an archetypal conflict between rival business houses. Kalyug went on to win the Filmfare Award for Best Film in 1982. The film was not a flop but recovered its cost.
Vijeta was the next film of this banner but Utsav was also planned simultaneously. Girish Karnad had written a great script. Shashi wanted Amitabh (Bachchan) to play the part he eventually played. But Amitabh couldn’t do the role. The movie got postponed because of dates. In January 81, Shashi went to Delhi for a film festival, where he met Dilbagh Singh, chief of air staff of the Indian Air Force. The Air Force was celebrating its golden jubilee. Dilbagh Singh said I will give you whatever you want to make a film promoting the Air Force. Govind (Nihalani) too wanted to do something on the Air Force. Vijeta happened overnight. The shooting started in April. The Air Force provided the facilities, but Shashi paid for the film. The film was once again an average earner. It got Filmfare award for Best Cinematographer, Best Editing and best sound recording.
Utsav released in 1984 started on a disastrous note. A set near Udupi in Karnataka was blown off in a cyclone. The income-tax department raided Rekha on the first day of the shoot. It cost ₹2 crore, though it was originally supposed to be about ₹ 1.2 crores. Utsav also had an English version, so there were two takes of everything. Shashi dubbed the film in London. His wife was in a hospital at the time (Jennifer Kendal was suffering from cancer, and died in London in 1984).
Shashi Kapoor was financially wiped out by Utsav. Instead of filling his coffers, it worked him into a completely negative zone. He was in debt, he now wanted to make a commercial film to wipe out his debts. He started Ajooba with Amitabh and Rishi Kapoor this time he directed the film. The film was made in Russian also. This film was produced in association with Gorky Film Studio in Moscow. There are several Russian stars whose speech is not in sync with Hindi dialogues. Supposedly Amitabh Bachchan worked in this film gratis, as a favour to his longtime collaborator and friend Shashi Kapoor. The film had a budget of ₹80 million, which was amongst the highest at the time.
In India, the film flopped at the box office, despite managing to do a net business of ₹45 million. Later, by selling the satellite rights Shashi Kapoor able to recover all his investment and subsequently it became an earner as of today. In contrast, the film was a financial success in the Soviet Union, where it was released in two parts. It was the last successful collaboration between the Indian and Soviet film industries.
Shashi Kapoor's son Kunal Kapoor said in an interview "Ajooba wasn’t and isn’t a good film. We didn’t let him make another one after that. We were so much in debt. Sanjna (Kunal Kapoor’s sister) was still a child. Karan (his brother) and I were supporting the house. I started making commercials. We are all bad businessmen. We are brilliant at spending money".

Song of Junoon 1978

Song of Kalyug 1981

Song of Vijeta 1982

Song of Utsav 1984

Song of Ajooba 1991

Ghulam Mohammed’ - The man who gave the Immortal Music of Pakeezah

 The music of Pakeezah by the late Ghulam Mohammed was a benchmark score. Arriving bang in the midst of the peak era of R. D. Burman and Kishore Kumar, He died on 17 March 1968, four years before his magnum opus, Pakeezah (1972) was released. The film was started in 1958 but got delayed and finally released after 14 years.
When Pakeezah was resumed in 1969, many exhibitors suggested Kamal Amrohi to change the music according to the then famous trend and style. To this, Amrohi said that he would have readily done this if only Ghulam Mohammed was still breathing alive. But, now he cannot betray a man, who gave him such melodious songs, after his unexpected and untimely death. So he kept his music intact but used fewer songs as planned to keep up with the fast-changing times.
Ghulam Mohammad composed 9 songs of this film by the time the film shooting started in 1960. In fact, the first song "Inhi Logo Ne Le Liya Dupatta Mera" was picturised. Earlier the film was planned in Black & White but due to the delay and change of trend, the film shot in colour. The black & white version of the song was never used, but many of the shots are extremely similar to the final version. Notice how different young Lata’s voice sounds in this song compared to parts of the soundtrack recorded years later. Even more, interestingly, Inhi Logon Ne was originally taken from the film Himmat (1941) in a version sung by none other than Shamshad Begum!
The movie Pakeezah itself is pure cinematic magic–Kamal Amrohi was notorious for his artistry and attention to detail. Pakeezah’s breath-taking production design, Ghulam Muhammed’s haunting semi-classical thumris, 
Did you know the beautiful Mohammed Rafi-Lata Mangeshkar duet, Chalo Dildar Chalo (raga Pahadi), was actually also recorded as a female solo? Intended for use as a dancing number, the fascinating solo version was cut from both the film and record releases, 
One index of Ghulam Mohammed’s creativity is the melodic variety within his songs. Given the brevity of a film song, it is quite usual for every antaraa to have the same tune. But this base case is extremely unusual for Ghulam Mohammed. His songs rarely have a repeated melody throughout. If there are three antaraas, one of them is usually different from the other two; occasionally, all three are different from each other. “Dhadakate Dil ki Tamanna ho” from Shama (1961) has three antaraas with two tunes among them; Pakeezah’s “Mausam Hai Aashiqaanaa” has four antaraas with three different tunes among them.

Song of Pakeezah 1972

Song of Pakeezah 1972

Song of Pakeezah 1972

Song of Pakeezah 1972

Song of Pakeezah 1972

Song of Pakeezah 1972

The Undying Appeal of the Songs of Golden Era

People say that good music is not being created nowadays but that's not correct, every now and then a good song pop up but these songs have no shelf life. These songs are without soul. Today's composers and lyricists shun the silences that needed for the original thought. Today's music makers believe in creating Hit songs rather creating great art.
In the Golden Era, there was a desire to make tunes of lasting values. To achieve that they were always played with the fresh idea and experimenting with new instruments and sounds. Singers were also putting great effort to cultivate original expressions.
If we look back and see that in the first four decades of cinema and its music (1931-1970), some 4,400 Hindi films were released with about 36,000 songs in them, giving us an average of over 8 songs per film. All this just highlights the importance we have attached to our film music.
For your information, Indrasabha released in1932 remains a film with the highest number of songs in a film with no less than 69 tracks. 
Here is a representation of a few films and the number of songs that were embedded into them in the first decade of Indian filmdom:

• Satyawadi Raja Harishchandra (1931/27 songs)
• Chatra Bakavali (1932/49 songs)
• Gulru Zarina (1932/33 songs)
• Muflis Ashiq (1932/32 songs)
• And Shaadi Ki Raat (1935/35 songs) 

This mood spilt over somewhat into the 1950s, with Jogan(1950/15 songs), Albela (1951/12 songs), Sansaar(1951/14 songs), Baiju Bawra (1952/13 songs), Anarkali (1953/12 songs), Nagin (1954/13 songs), and so on, with ten songs being quite a common occurrence. This number has been going progressively down over the decades. In recent years it was in Hum Apke Hain Kaun released in 1994 had 14 songs.
Over the centuries, we have had bhajans and kirtans in homes and in mohallas, qawwalis in dargahs, and plays based on epics such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata in full measure. All these have involved music, as well as folk songs, theatre, puppetry, bidaayi geet, and a wide variety of region-centric street performances. The music is in our blood. Indian films cannot be liked without music.
Since cinema is a very powerful audio-visual medium, we must consider the film song in its visual context too. It is here that beautiful and talented people can elevate the melody, as so many did. Meena Kumari, Nutan, Nargis, Vyjayantimala, Madhubala, Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor, Dharmendra, Suchitra Sen, Shashi Kapoor.etc.
Hindi film songs became so popular among the cine-goers, it attracted more and more audience to cinema theatres. The filmmaker took the talented music directors and lyricists to create songs to attract more public to the cinema. Film song which is packaged as products that not only promote the sale of the film but stand alone as commercial products. 
The songs of the Golden era are so expressive and passionate that they refresh the mood and tired senses. Some of the songs are heart touching, some of them are witty, some are amusing you name the mood and you will find a good old song.
The time is called golden era where style and subtleness ruled, and when the renowned music directors legends like S.D Burman, Naushad, Salil Chowdhary, Shankar-Jaikishan, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Madan Mohan, O.P.Nayyar, Chitragupt, R D Burman composed magical numbers. Every significant composer from Hindi cinema of that era has left behind a remarkable footprint of tunes based on classical ragas, songs that just refuse to perish, for they have no expiry date.
Singers such as Saigal, Mohammad Rafi, Geeta Dutt, Shamshad Begum, Suraiya, Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Suman Kalyanpur, Manna Dey, Talat Mehmood and many more ruled. The fact is that listening to old Hindi songs in which the lyrics are so wonderful, they are the best medicine for the listeners. 
The lyrics of these old songs also played an important role. The lyrics were penned with the simplicity of words and expression, speaking about the deep spiritual truths about our existence and surroundings. There was pleasure in songs – whether a patriotic song, romantic song or devotional songs, they all celebrated life. Solos expressed the transience of love and life. Lyricists such as Shailendra, Hasrat Jaipuri, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Neeraj, Anand Bakshi, Sahir Ludhiyanvi, Shakeel Badayuni, Pradeep, Kaifi Azami and Gulzar penned remarkable, soul-stirring poetries some of which were replete with clichés and metaphors contributing to the golden era.
Have you ever thought, why these songs were so popular?. Why hasn’t their popularity collapsed? Young contestants often sing old songs in competitions, even if the judges too are young people, and many of these contests are shown on television. At parties, many young people love the work of Madan Mohan, SD Burman, OP Nayyar, Sahir, Shakeel, Mukesh, Shamshad, Rafi, Lata, Asha, Geeta and Talat, even though they were born decades after many of these giants passed on. Get into a taxi in Delhi or in Mumbai, chances are the driver is listening to a radio program of retro Hindi film songs.
Here are some of these Immortal songs of the Golden Era

Anmol Ghadi (1946)

Song of Mahal 1949

Song of Andaz (1949) 

Song of Barsat (1949)

Song of Anarkali (1953)

Song of Taxi Driver (1954)

Song of Shree 420 (1955)

Song of Shree C. I. D. (1956)

Song of Janam Janam Ke Phere (1957)

Song of Solva Saal (1958)

Song of Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1959)

Song of Barsaat Ki Raat (1960)

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How the film Hare Rama Hare Krishna was Concieved ?

Hare Rama Hare Krishna is a 1971 Indian film directed by Dev Anand starring himself, Mumtaz and Zeenat Aman. The film was a hit and a star-making vehicle for Zeenat Aman, who played a westernized hippie and won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award, The movie dealt with the decadence of the Hippie culture. 
The story for Hare Rama Hare Krishna actually came to Dev Anand's mind when he was in Kathmandu Nepal on a visit after protests against his previous film Prem Pujari in Calcutta. He was low in spirits because his film had been opposed and some communists had burnt Prem Pujari's posters.
Those days society was undergoing changes, the churning encompassing all, rich and poor, old and youth, boys and girls. The hippie culture had made inroads and the drug culture had grown into a huge menace. In Nepal, many such young people from all over the world used to come as drugs were easily available there.
The story idea was born out of a chance encounter Dev Anand had with an Indian girl puffing a Chilam. She was born in Canada whose name was Janice, the original name was Jasbeer Kaur. She was among a group of young foreigners.  She narrated her story, which laid the foundation for the making of HRHK, a subject that he described in his autobiography as a “movie that represents a new world phenomenon, the young, reckless people.” Young and reckless was how the jean-clad and pot-smoking youth had come to be signified in a still-growing but conservative Indian society.
The most compelling of all characters in the film was, obviously, Janice/Jasbir, certainly, because someone like her had not been too commonly seen on Indian screens. At a time when actresses were either gold-hearted or vamps, Janice was a refreshing change. It’s difficult to think of too many women characters before Janice that asked the audience to ‘Dum Maro Dum’ (Smoke up).
Dev Anand was keen that Mumtaz played his sister’s role in HRHK but she declined, preferring the romantic lady. Mumtaz did not want to play the role of Dev Anand's sister and insisted she play the role opposite Dev Anand. Everyone kept telling her that the film was about a brother and sister. Zeenat ended up with the better role causing Mumtaz to be bitter.
His first meeting with Zeenat, at a party hosted by filmmaker Amarjeet, was momentous. As Zeenat smoked and displayed a “devil-may-care attitude” in the presence of Dev Saab, he was convinced she would be his “sister”. Dev auditioned Zeenat Aman for the role and the rest is history. A star was born as Zeenat slipped into the role with the finesse of a seasoned actor.

 Dev Anand wrote in his biography, Zeenat was comfortable in the company of the “real” hippies, who played their role so well in different shots in HRHK, living their self when swinging and dancing, with Zeenat as the cheerleader.
Dev Anand wanted his children Suneil and Devina to play the younger roles of Prashant and Janice. They were too shy and told their father they were not going to do that.
One interesting thing is that the title Hare Rama Hare Krishna was patented by Manoj Kumar, Dev Saab wanted this title only, so Manoj Kumar gave him. Another interesting thing for the readers is that Usha Uthup was to sing the song Dum Maaro Dum but lost it due to political reasons. She ended up singing in the chorus.
This film was the second film Dev Anand had directed and it was a big hit and 48 years now since released and the film still is wanted forever. It's an evergreen movie.

Song of Hare Rama Hare Krishna 1971

Song of Hare Rama Hare Krishna 1971

Song of Hare Rama Hare Krishna 1971

Song of Hare Rama Hare Krishna 1971

Song of Hare Rama Hare Krishna 1971

Song of Hare Rama Hare Krishna 1971

Song of Hare Rama Hare Krishna 1971

Qamar Jalalabadi - Who wrote “Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu” and “Aayiye Meherbaan”

Qamar Jalalabadi (9 March 1917 – 9 January 2003) was born as Om Prakash Bhandari in a Punjabi family in the Jalalabad town near Amritsar. Right from the age of seven he starting writing poetry in Urdu. 
He wrote more than 700 songs for nearly 160 films, from 1940 to 1980. Besides songs, he wrote either the script or dialogues of "Shaheed"(1948), “Munimji” (1955), “Phagun” (1958), “Ujala” (1959), “Maya” (1961) and “Taj Mahal” (1963). 
His other notable songs include “Ik Dil Ke Tukde Hazaar Hue” (Pyar Ki Jeet, 1948), “Ik Pardesi Mera Dil Le Gaya” (Phagun, 1958), “Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu” (Howrah Bridge, 1958), “Dum Dum Diga Diga” (Chhalia, 1960) and “Main To Ik Khwaab Hoon Is Khwaab Se Tu Pyaar Na Kar” (Himalay Ki God Mein,1965).
He worked with S D Burman in 1946 in the film “Eight Days” where the comic song “O Babu Babu Re” became quite popular. He went on to work with music director Sardar Malik on many films. One of their hits was “Sunti Nahi Duniya” (“Renuka”, 1947).
. In 1942, he wrote lyrics for his first film Zamindar which was a Pancholi Pictures production and the songs of this film were very well received, especially the song sung by Shamshad Begum "Duniya me garibonko aaraam nahi milta", which also had a line or two written by writer and poet Behzad Lucknawi.
As a lyricist, Qamar Jalalabadi was very versatile. On one hand, he wrote mesmeric duets like "sun meri saanwari mujhko kahin tum bhool na jana…" sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Mohd. Rafi (film: Aansoo 1953) and on the other hand he penned comic relief songs like "khush hai zamana aaj pehli tarikh hai" endured with full throttle gusto by Kishore Kumar (film: Pehli Tarikh-1954). This song turned into a veritable anthem and was played on Radio Ceylon on the first of every month for decades, and it probably still is.His brush with comedy was seen next in Aansoo Aur Muskan with, " Guni jano, Bhakt jano…" sung by Kishore Kumar as an actor in the movie.
In his long career span he worked for several Film Companies like; Prabhat Film Company, Pancholi Pictures, Filmistan Ltd., Famous Pictures, Minerva Movietone, Prakash Pictures, Wadia Films Ltd., Filmkar Ltd., Sippy Films, N.C Sippy Films, Shri Shakti Films, Mitra Productions and many more. He composed the title track of the popular television serial Vikram aur Betaal.
He was an acclaimed Adabi Shayar and graced many Urdu recitals all over the nation. Apart from that, he was the founder and member of the Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS) and the Film Writers Association in India.

Song of Pyar ki Jeet (1948)

Song of Pehli Tareekh 1954

Song of Howrah Bridge (1958)

Song of Howrah Bridge (1958)

Song of Phagun (1958)

Song of Chhalia (1960)

Song of Johar Mehmood In Goa (1965)

Song of Himalay Ki God Mein (1965)

Song of Upkar (1967)

Song of Holi Ayee Re (1970)

Song of Aansoo Aur Muskan (1971)

Sahir Ludhianvi- A Journey as lyricist through the golden era of Hindi film music

Sahir(born on March 8th, 1921) made his debut as a lyricist with the film "Azadi Ki Raah Par" in 1948. The film had four songs written by him. His first song was "badal rahii hai zindagii". However, it was the year 1951 that would bring him fame and recognition. Two films, released in 1951, had songs that sky-rocketed in popularity and are hummed even today. First was "Thandi Hawaayen Lehraa Ke Aayi" from Naujawan. The second was a landmark film, marking the directorial debut of Guru Dutt - Baazi. Both films, coincidentally, had music by S. D. Burman.
This was followed by the chartbuster Yeh raat yeh chandni phir kahan for Jaal. Sahir took film lyrics to the heights of genuine poetry. The songs of Dharamputra rewrote history as the genius of B.R. Chopra and the enthusiasm of Sahir coalesced to yield timeless numbers like Main jab bhee akeli hoti hoon, Bhool sakta hai bhala kaun yeh pyari aankhein, Mere dilbar mujhse khaffa na ho.
The popularity of songs of Naujawan, Baazi, Jaal and Dharamputra fine-tuned Sahir’s working relationship with Dev Anand, S.D. Burman, Guru Dutt and B.R. Chopra to form formidable combinations that dominated the film scene for several decades. Sahir’s mastery over the Urdu language, immaculate diction, intensity of feelings and emotions and enchanting style of expression made him a lyricist of a different kind — a class apart. In Guru Dutt’s Pyasa, his songs Yeh duniya agar mil bhee jaye to kya hai, Jinhen naaz hai Hind par woh kahan hain, Jane woh kaise log thhey jinke pyar ko pyar mila won him acclaim.

But so long as Sahir and Burman were together, theirs was a matchless combination. For both of them we call out in their joint contribution from film ‘Saza’ : ‘Tum na jaane kis jahan mein kho gae’.While 1957 saw the end of Sahir’s partnership with SD, it saw the beginning of his partnership with OP Nayyar in Naya Daur and Tumsa Nahi Dekha. 

Sahir did work with other composers including Ravi, Roshan, Khayyam and Datta Naik. Datta Naik also credited as N. Datta, a Goan, admired Sahir's poetry and their collaboration produced the score for Milaap (1955), Chandrakanta (1956), Saadhna (1958), Dhool Ka Phool (1959). 
In 1958, Sahir wrote the lyrics for Ramesh Saigal's film Phir Subah Hogi, its music was given by Khayyam. The song Woh Subah Kabhi Toh Aayegiwith its minimal background music remains popular. Khayyam collaborated with Sahir in many films including Kabhie Kabhie and Trishul.
From about 1950 until his death( 25 October 1980), Sahir collaborated with Baldev Raj Chopra (1914 - 2008), a film producer and director. Sahir's last work for Chopra was for Insaaf Ka Tarazu. Yash Chopra, an independent director and producer, also engaged Sahir for his film Daag.

 In Yash Chopra’s Daag, he came down heavily on the feudalistic and chauvinistic attitudes of society in the song Jab bhee jee chahe nayee duniya basa lete hain log/ Ek chehre pe kayee chehrey laga lete hain log. In Zara Hind ke rehbron ko bulao yeh koochey ye galiyaan yeh manzar dikhao, he highlighted the condition of the downtrodden. In Rehne ko ghar nahin hai sara jahan hamara, he expressioned his disillusionment with Nehru’s socialism. To those who fanned the fires of hatred and communalism during Partition, he counselled sanity, saying Malik ne to insaan ko insaan banaya/ Hum ne use Hindu ya musalmaan banaya. Even his light-hearted numbers like Insaan ka nahin kahin naam-o-nishan.. Yeh hai Bombay meri jaan, were satirical.

Be it a patriotic number like Yeh desh hai veer jawano ka... or a bhajan like Alla tero naam Eshwar tero naamor a captivating qawwali like Na to karvaan ki talash hai na to hamsafar ki talash hai or a lullaby like Tere bachpan ko jawani ki dua deti hoon aur dua de ke parishaan si ho jati hoon — his songs were always suffused with a rare passion. 

For Kabhi Kabhie, Sahir wrote Kal aur aayengey naghmon ki khilti kaliyaan chunnewale/ Mujh se behtar kehnewale tum se behtar sunnewale.. Main pal do pal ka shayar hoon.. he did not foresee that his lyrics would win for him a place in the immortals of Indian cinema.

Sahir won a Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist for Taj Mahal (1963). He won a second Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist for his work on Kabhie Kabhie (1976). He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1971. On 8 March 2013, the ninety-second anniversary of Sahir's birth, a commemorative stamp was issued in his honour.

Song of Naujawaan 1951

Song of Sazaa 1951

Song of Baazi 1951

Song of Jaal 1951

Song of Devdas 1955

Song of Munimji  1955

Song of Pyaasa 1957

Song of Naya Daur 1957

Song of Sone Ki Chidiya 1958

Song of Sadhanaa 1958

Song of Dhool Ka Phool 1959

Song of Barsaat Ki Raat 1960

Song of Hum Dono1961

Song of Taj Mahal 1963

Song of Gumraah 1963

Song of Kabhi Kabhi 1976