98. Don't let 'creativity' slip away

'Yeh dil tum bin kahin lagta' 
(Dharmendra & Tanuja)

Howsoever disturbing it is, break up between couples-could-be is the new normal. In the so-called fast-moving world, break-ups have emerged as another opportunity to ‘celebrate/creative’. Come to think of it, it may not be a bad idea. Why plunge in misery when one can explore new opportunities? This approach to life justifies the immense popularity of Pritam’s composition मेरे सैयां जी से आज मैंने ब्रेकअप कर लिया from the movie ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’. But there is more to it, that is often ignored.

Outwardly, it may seem a sane action, but I suspect it cannot be without a psychological cost being paid by affected parties. How such suppressed emotions end-up playing up with life could be anybody’s guess? In past, such emotive moments led poets and shayars to come out with their creative best, heartfelt reflections on the mental state. Cinema used such moments to enhance melancholy, evoke moving moments on screen.

Anand Bakshi expressed such moments as lost opportunity of making things work out - मुझे तेरी मोहब्बत का सहारा मिल गया होता, अगर तूफ़ाँ नहीं आता किनारा मिल गया होता in film ‘Aaye Din Bahar Ke’. Hasrat Jaipuri imagined himself in the situation when he wrote तुम मुझे यूँ भुला ना पाओगे, जब कभी भी सुनोगे गीत मेरे संग संग तुम भी गुनगुनाओगे for ‘Pagla Kahin ka’ (1970). Rather than letting pass the moment, poets worked to give words to suppressed emotions. 

Majrooh Sultanpuri could not accept separation and instead sought to invoke compelling feelings in ‘Pyar Ka Mausam’ - तुम बिन जाऊँ कहाँ,  के दुनिया में आके कुछ न फिर चाहा कभी तुमको चाहके. He went further to assert that रह भी सकोगे तुम कैसे, हो के मुझसे जुदा, ढह जाएंगी दीवारें, सुन के मेरी सदा. For lyricist S H Bihari being in love is the ultimate human vocation है दुनिया उसी की, ज़माना उसी का, मोहब्बत में जो हो गया हो किसी का in ‘Kashmir Ki Kali’. Noticeable in all these compositions is the creative genius of writers who were supported by highly talented composers of those days.

Moments of separation on screen helped poets to give expressions to their personal tragedies as well. Sahir Ludhianvi’s verse ये दिल तुम बिन, कहीं लगता नहीं, हम क्या करें; तसव्वुर में कोई बसता नहीं, हम क्या करें is one such enduring composition from ‘Izzat’. My submission is that even the most disturbing moments of life could spur imagination, something that celebrating break-ups miss out. In a market economy, even emotions are ‘products’ worth trading for. Tragic!

Someone might say that we are a bunch of emotional fools, but for me it is the creative-imaginative aspect in such situations that is important. I leave you with a Rajendra Kishan-Laxmikant Pyarelal composition जो उन की तमन्ना है, बरबाद हो जा; तू ऐ दिल मुहब्बत की किस्मत बना दे from ‘Inteqam’. Noticeable is the fact that actors had to come out with their best in such performances, making it a complete display of embedded emotions.

(Sahir Ludhianvi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Rajendra Kishan, Anand Bakshi, S H Bihari, and Hasrat Jaipuri have been accomplished Hindi poets/lyricists.)

First published in www.raagdelhi.com