Sahir Ludhianvi (8 March 1921 – 25 October 1980) was a popular Urdu poet and Hindi lyricist and songwriter. Sahir Ludhianvi is his pseudonym. He won the Filmfare Award twice, in 1964 and 1977, and in 1971 was awarded the
Padma ShriPadma Shri is the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan...
.
Early life
Sahir Ludhianvi was born into the wealthy family of a
MuslimA Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
GujjarThe Gurjar are an ethnic group in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Alternative spellings include Gurjara, Gujar, Gurjjara and Gūrjara. The spelling Gurjara or Gurjar is preferable to the rest....
as
Abdul Hayee on 8 March 1921 in
Ludhiana,
PunjabPunjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
in India. His mother name was Sardar Begum. Sahir's parents had a very loose and estranged relationship. In 1934, when he was thirteen years old, his father married for the second time. At that time, his mother decided to take the bold step of leaving her husband, forfeiting all claims to the financial assets. Sahir's father then sued his mother for child custody but lost. He threatened to make sure Sahir did not live with his mother very long, even if that meant taking the child's life. Sahir's mother then found friends who kept a close watch on him and didn't let him out of sight. Fear and financial deprivation surrounded the formative years of this young man. His parents' divorce brought him and his mother face to face with poverty and struggle in life.
The house where Sahir was born, a red sand-stone haveli, stands in Karimpura, a Muslim neighborhood of
Ludhiana, with a small plaque announcing its importance upon the arched mughal darwaaza — the only effort by the city to remember him.
Sahir studied at and graduated from Khalsa High School in Ludhiana. Upon matriculation, he joined the
Satish Chander Dhawan Government College For BoysSatish Chander Dhawan Government College For Boys is an educational institution which was setup in Ludhiana City of Undivided British Punjab in the year 1920...
,
Ludhiana. He was quite popular for his
ghazalThe ghazal is a poetic form consisting of rhyming couplets and a refrain, with each line sharing the same meter. A ghazal may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love in spite of that pain. The form is ancient, originating in 6th century...
s and
nazmUrdu Nazm is a major part of the Urdu poetry, that is normally written in rhymed verse and also in modern prose style poems. Nazm has many different forms as,* Doha * Geet * Hamd * Hazal * Hijv...
s in the college. He was famously expelled from the college within the year 'for sitting in the Principal's lawn with a female class-mate'. About his expulsion, some accounts erroneously mention
Amrita PritamAmrita Pritam was a Punjabi writer and poet, considered the first prominent woman Punjabi poet, novelist, and essayist, and the leading 20th-century poet of the Punjabi language, who is equally loved on both the sides of the India-Pakistan border, with a career spanning over six decades, she...
as the girl, but she never lived in Ludhiana. They met after the partition of India, when she arrived in
DelhiDelhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
from
LahoreLahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
in 1949.
In 1943, after being expelled from college, Sahir settled in
LahoreLahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
. Here, he completed the writing of his first
UrduUrdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
work,
Talkhiyaan (Bitterness). He then began searching for a publisher and, after two years, he found one in 1945. After his work was published, he began editing four Urdu magazines,
Adab-e-Lateef,
Shahkaar,
Prithlari, and
Savera; these magazines became very successful. He then became a member of the Progressive Writers' Association. However, inflammatory writings (communist views and ideology) in
Savera resulted in the issuing of a warrant for his arrest by the
Government of PakistanThe Government of Pakistan is a federal parliamentary system, with an indirectly-elected President as the Head of State and Commander in Chief of the Pakistani Armed Forces, and an indirectly-elected Prime Minister as the Head of Government. The President’s appointment and term are...
. So, in 1949, Sahir fled from
LahoreLahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
to
DelhiDelhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
. After a couple of months in
DelhiDelhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, he moved to and settled in Bombay. A friend of his recalls Sahir telling him "Bombay needs me!".
His most famous love affair, however, was with
Amrita PritamAmrita Pritam was a Punjabi writer and poet, considered the first prominent woman Punjabi poet, novelist, and essayist, and the leading 20th-century poet of the Punjabi language, who is equally loved on both the sides of the India-Pakistan border, with a career spanning over six decades, she...
, who became his most ardent fan. She has openly acknowledged her love for Sahir in interviews and her books. Apart from Amrita, several other women too came in his life but he could never decide on accepting any of those as his life partner. He remained a bachelor all his life.
In recent years there have been many attempts to chronicle his life and times. Many books about him were published both in India and Pakistan. In 2010 Danish Iqbal wrote a Stage Play
'Sahir' about his life which was directed by NRI Director Pramila Le Hunt. This Play became a commercial success and had a dream run in Delhi. For perhaps first time, in the history of Indian Theatre, songs were used as narrative to recreate the life and struggles of Sahir. Many of his misty eyed contemporaries, Ramesh Chand Charlie, Kuldeep Nayyar and few others, thronged the performance with nostalgic ache in their heart.
Attempts are being made to convert this Play into a film on Sahir. Because the Play
Sahir had characters like Guru Dutt, Yash Chopra and Amruta Preetam, it would be a tough task for the casting and depiction but it would be a nostalgic journey down the memory lane both for the public and his friends and admirers.
Lyrics and Bollywood
Sahir lived on the first floor of the main building of an Andheri outhouse. His famous neighbours included the poet,
GulzarSampooran Singh Kalra , known popularly by his pen name Gulzar , is an Indian poet, lyricist and director. He primarily writes in Hindi-Urdu and has also written in Punjabi and several dialects of Hindi such as Braj Bhasha, Khariboli, Haryanvi and Marwari.Gulzar was awarded the Padma Bhushan in...
and Urdu litterateur,
Krishan ChanderKrishan Chander was an Urdu and Hindi Afsaana Nigaar, or short story writer. He wrote mainly in Urdu, but was well-versed in Hindi and English....
. In the 1970s, he constructed
Parchaiyaan (Shadows), a posh bungalow, and lived there till his death. Journalist Ali Peter John, who knew the poet personally, says real-estate sharks have been eyeing Sahir's abode after the death of his sister. His belongings and trophies are in a state of ruin, according to the journalist.
Sahir Ludhianvi made his debut in films writing lyrics for the film
Aazadi Ki Raah Par (1949). The film had four songs written by him and his first song was
Badal Rahi Hai Zindagi... Both the film and its songs went unnoticed. However, with
Naujawaan (1951), he gained recognition. S.D. Burman composed the music for
Naujawaan. Even today, the film's lilting song, "ठंडी हवाएँ लहराके आएँ...," remains popular. His first major success came the same year with
Guru DuttVasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone , popularly known as Guru Dutt, was an Indian film director, producer and actor. He is often credited with ushering in the golden era of Hindi cinema...
's directorial debut,
BaaziBaazi is a 1951 Indian Hindi film directed by Guru Dutt. Dev Anand's Navketan production house produced the movie, and as per a commitment given by Dev Anand to Guru Dutt in their days of struggle, the movie was directed by Dutt....
(1951), again pairing him with Burman. Thus he became part of the
Guru Dutt teamThe Guru Dutt team is a group of people Guru Dutt created for some of his finest works. The death of Guru Dutt cut short more works. What the team created is considered to forever have left its mark on Indian cinema as well as world cinema.-About:...
, and after the success of
Naujawaan and
Baazi, the combination of Sahir Ludhianvi and S.D. Burman came out with many more everlasting songs.
Sahir worked with many music composers, including
RaviRavi Shankar Sharma , often referred to mononymously as Ravi, is an Indian music director, who has composed music for several Hindi and Malayalam films...
, S.D. Burman,
RoshanIn Sanskrit Roshan means light particularly the brightness but then its usually referred as light Roshan is also a gotra in the Khatri community in India that is often used as a family name...
and
KhayyamMohammed Zahur "Khayyam" Hashmi, better known as Khayyam, is an Indian music composer whose career spanned four decades .He has won three Filmfare Awards for Best Music in 1977 for Kabhi Kabhie and 1982 for Umrao Jaan, and a lifetime achievement award in 2010...
, and has left behind many unforgettable songs for fans of the Indian film industry and its music.
PyaasaPyaasa is a 1957 Indian film produced and directed by Guru Dutt. The film tells the story of struggling poet, Vijay , trying to make his works known in post-independence India...
marked an end to his successful partnership with S.D. Burman over what is reported to be S.D. Burman's displeasure at Sahir receiving more admiration (and thus credit for the success) from audiences for the words of the lyrics than S.D. Burman did for his memorable tunes. Later, Sahir Ludhianvi teamed up with composer Datta Naik in several films. Datta, a Goan, was a great admirer of Sahir's revolutionary poetry. They had already worked together to produce the music for
Milaap (1955). Sahir wrote many unforgettable gems for Datta.
In 1958, Sahir wrote the lyrics for Ramesh Saigal's film
Phir Subah Hogi, which was based on
Fyodor DostoevskyFyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky was a Russian writer of novels, short stories and essays. He is best known for his novels Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov....
's novel
Crime and PunishmentCrime and Punishment is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It was first published in the literary journal The Russian Messenger in twelve monthly installments during 1866. It was later published in a single volume. This is the second of Dostoyevsky's full-length novels following his...
. The male lead was
Raj KapoorKnown as Ranbir Raj Kapoor Rāj Kapūr, 14 December 1924 – 2 June 1988), also known as The Show-Man, was an Indian film actor, producer and director of Hindi cinema. He was the winner of nine Filmfare Awards, while his films Awaara and Boot Polish were nominated for the Palme d'Or at the...
and it was presumed that Shankar-Jaikishan would be the music composers. However, Sahir insisted that only someone who had read the novel could provide the right score. Thus,
KhayyamMohammed Zahur "Khayyam" Hashmi, better known as Khayyam, is an Indian music composer whose career spanned four decades .He has won three Filmfare Awards for Best Music in 1977 for Kabhi Kabhie and 1982 for Umrao Jaan, and a lifetime achievement award in 2010...
ended up as the music composer for the film, and the song
Woh Subah Kabhi Toh Aayegi with minimal background music remains an all-time hit.
KhayyamMohammed Zahur "Khayyam" Hashmi, better known as Khayyam, is an Indian music composer whose career spanned four decades .He has won three Filmfare Awards for Best Music in 1977 for Kabhi Kabhie and 1982 for Umrao Jaan, and a lifetime achievement award in 2010...
went on to work with Sahir in many films including
Kabhie Kabhie and
Trishul.
Admirers and critics rate Sahir's work in
Guru DuttVasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone , popularly known as Guru Dutt, was an Indian film director, producer and actor. He is often credited with ushering in the golden era of Hindi cinema...
's
PyaasaPyaasa is a 1957 Indian film produced and directed by Guru Dutt. The film tells the story of struggling poet, Vijay , trying to make his works known in post-independence India...
as his finest.
PyaasaPyaasa is a 1957 Indian film produced and directed by Guru Dutt. The film tells the story of struggling poet, Vijay , trying to make his works known in post-independence India...
, some say, bears resemblance to Sahir's early years as a poet. The onscreen poet, Vijay played by
Guru DuttVasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone , popularly known as Guru Dutt, was an Indian film director, producer and actor. He is often credited with ushering in the golden era of Hindi cinema...
, bears a strong likeness to the man whose poetry gave the film its soul.
With success, Sahir started displaying arrogance. He insisted on writing the lyrics first and then having them set to music unlike his other contemporaries who would be happy penning their verses to the tunes. His other insistence of being paid 1 Rupee more than
Lata MangeshkarLata Mangeshkar is a singer from India. She is one of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India. Mangeshkar's career started in 1942 and has spanned over six and a half decades. She has recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and has sung songs in over thirty-six regional...
created a rift between him and S D Burman and Lata. His attempt at promoting a new singer
Sudha MalhotraSudha Malhotra is an Indian playback singer. She also acted in some Bollywood films and as a play singer worked in popular Bollywood movies in the 1950s and 60s, like Arzoo, Dhool Ka Phool, Ab Dilli Door Nahin, Girl Friend, Barsat Ki Raat, Didi, Kala Pani, Prem Rog, Dekh Kabira Roya...
who was also his love interest was another example.
Sahir Ludhianvi's work in the 1970s was restricted to films mainly directed by
Yash ChopraYash Raj Chopra is an Indian filmmaker, film director, screenwriter, and a highly successful Bollywood producer. Waqt, Deewar, Kabhi Kabhie, Silsila, Lamhe, Chandni, Darr, Dil To Pagal Hai, and Veer-Zaara are some of his highly popular movies...
. Though his output in terms of number of films had thinned out, the quality of his writing commanded immense respect.
Kabhie Kabhie (1976) saw him return to sparkling form. These songs won him his second Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist, the first being for
Taj Mahal (1963).
Last days
On 25 October 1980, at the age of fifty-nine, Sahir Ludhianvi suffered a massive heart attack and died in the arms of his friend Dr R.P. Kapoor. He was buried at the
Juhu Muslim cemetery. His tomb was demolished in 2010 to make space for new bodies.
Sahir's final works were released for the Hindi film
Lakshmi (1982). He will always be remembered along with
Kaifi AzmiKaifi Azmi was an Indian Urdu poet. He is considered to be one the greatest Urdu poets of 20th century. Together with Pirzada Qasim, Jon Eliya and many others he participated in many memorable mushairas of 20th century.-Early life:...
as the poet who brought
Urdu literatureUrdu literature has a long and colorful history that is inextricably tied to the development of that very language, Urdu, in which it is written...
to Indian motion pictures. Over twenty-five years after Sahir Ludhianvi's death, his poetry and lyrics remain an inspiration for lyricists of the day. Composers and singers of Sahir's time swear by the depth, intensity and purity in his poetry. As singer,
Mahendra KapoorMahendra Kapoor was an Indian playback singer.In a career spanning five decades, his repertoire extended to 25,000 songs in various regional languages, including memorable hits like ‘Chalo ek baar phir se Ajnabi ban jayen hum dono’ Gumrah, ‘Neele gagan ke taale’ Hamraaz, and in various...
said in a
Vividh BharatiThe Vividh Bharati Service of All India Radio was conceptualized to combat Radio Ceylon in 1957. Within no time it proved to be a popular channel of every household. Vividh Bharati radio channel was launched on October 3, 1957. The service provides entertainment for nearly 15 to 17 hours a day...
interview, "I don't think a writer like Sahir Ludhianvi will be born again."
Sahir also wrote songs for
Laila Majnoon and
Daag
Personality
It was ironically appropriate; while the poet's heart bled for others, he never paid enough attention to his own life.
His friend, Prakash Pandit once recalled how, after the
Partition of IndiaThe Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...
, Sahir was unhappy without the company of his
HinduHindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
and
SikhA Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
friends (they had all fled to India). A secular India was Sahir's preference to an Islamic
PakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
.
Sahir Ludhianvi was known to be very egotistic , perhaps as a result of his
zamindar background; he fought for, and became the first lyricist or songwriter, to get royalties from music companies. Sahir insisted on writing the songs before the song was composed, against the Bollywood norm. However, some of his songs were written after the tunes were ready. For example,
मांग के साथ तुम्हारा (
Naya DaurNaya Daur is a 1957 Indian drama film starring Dilip Kumar, Vyjayanthimala, Ajit and Jeevan. Originally filmed in black and white, the film was colourized and re-released on 3 August 2007.-Plot:...
1957 - music by O.P. Nayyar). At the height of his popularity, Sahir is known to have demanded a rupee more than what was paid to
Lata MangeshkarLata Mangeshkar is a singer from India. She is one of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India. Mangeshkar's career started in 1942 and has spanned over six and a half decades. She has recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and has sung songs in over thirty-six regional...
for singing it. It was on Sahir's insistence that
All India RadioAll India Radio , officially known since 1956 as Akashvani , is the radio broadcaster of India and a division of Prasar Bharati. Established in 1936, it is the sister service of Prasar Bharati's Doordarshan, the national television broadcaster. All India Radio is one of the largest radio networks...
started crediting lyricists along with singers and music composers for songs it aired.
Poetry
"मै पल दो पल का शायर हूँ, पल दो पल मेरी कहानी है
पल दो पल मेरी हस्ती है, पल दो पल मेरी जवानी है
मुझसे पहले कितने शायर आए और आकर चले गए,
कुछ आहें भरकर लौट गए, कुछ नग़मे गाकर चले गए
वो भी एक पल का किस्सा थे, मै भी एक पल का किस्सा हूँ
कल तुमसे जुदा हो जाऊँगा, जो आज तुम्हारा हिस्सा हूँ"
A colossus amongst film lyricists, Sahir Ludhianvi was slightly different from his contemporaries. A poet unable to praise
Khuda (God),
Husn (Beauty) or
Jaam (Wine), his pen was, at its best, pouring out bitter but sensitive lyrics over the declining values of society, the senselessness of war and politics, and the domination of materialism over love. Whenever he wrote any love songs, they were tinged with sorrow, due to realisation that there were other, starker concepts more important than love. He could be called the underdog's bard; close to his heart were the farmer crushed by debt, the soldier gone to fight someone else's war, the woman forced to sell her body, the youth frustrated by unemployment, the family living on the street and other victims of society. His lyric from
Payasa when lead actor Guru Dutt (Vijay) was passing through a red light area by singing this song, moved even Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, Honourable Prime minister of India that time.
- "ये कूचे, ये नीलामघर दिलकशी के,
- ये लुटते हुए कारवां ज़िंदगी के,
- कहाँ है कहाँ है मुहाफ़िज़ खुदी के?
- जिन्हें नाज़ है हिंद पर,वो कहाँ हैं?"
Sahir Ludhianvi's poetry had a "Faizian" quality. Like
Faiz Ahmed FaizFaiz Ahmad Faiz was a Pakistani intellectual, poet, and one of the most famous poets of the Urdu language. He was a member of the Anjuman Tarraqi Pasand Mussanafin-e-Hind and an avowed Marxist. In 1962, he was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize by the Soviet Union...
, he too gave Urdu poetry an intellectual element that caught the imagination of the youth of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. He helped them discover their spine. Sahir asked questions and was not afraid of calling a spade, a spade; he roused people from an independence-induced smugness. He would pick on the self-appointed custodian of religion, the self-serving politician, the exploitative capitalist, and the war-mongering super-powers.
Sahir's poetry reflected the mood of the age. Whether it was the arrest of progressive writers in
PakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, the launch of the satellite Sputnik or the discovery of Ghalib by a government lusting after minority votes, Sahir reacted with a verve not seen in many writers' work.
Kahat-e-Bangal ("The Famine of Bengal"), written by a 25-year-old Sahir, bespeaks maturity that came early. His
Subah-e-Navroz ("Dawn of a New Day"), mocks the concept of celebration when the poor exist in squalor.
Perhaps Sahir is the first renowned Urdu poet, who, could express his view towards The Tajmahal
in a complete different way. He wrote
"मेरे महबूब कहीं और मिला कर मुझसे,
बज़्म- ए-शाही में ग़रीबों का गुज़र क्या माने.
सबत जिन राहों पर है सतबते शाही के निशां
उसपे उल्फत भरी रूहों का गुज़र क्या माने?"-
The poet asks his lover to meet him anywhere else but Tajmahal. A tomb which has been a symbol of luxurious monarchy for years, there is no need to make journey of love by two beautiful but not famous hearts there.
Sahir will always be remembered as a poet who made his creation a lesson for all ages of Urdu poetry to come. In this way he contradicts his own creation: "kal aur ayenge naghmo ki khilti kalian chunnewale, koi mujhse behtar kehnewale, koi tumse behtar sunne wale;kal koi mujhe keun yaad kare, keun koi mujhe yaad kare, masroof zamana mere lie keun waqt apna barbad kare?"
Translation:
Tomorrow there will be more who will narrate the love poems.May be someone narrating better than me.May be someone listening better than you. Why should anyone remember me? Why should anyone remember me? Why should the busy age waste it’s time for me?
Personal life
Sahir Ludhianvi remained a bachelor all his life, he had two failed love affairs with journalist
Amrita PritamAmrita Pritam was a Punjabi writer and poet, considered the first prominent woman Punjabi poet, novelist, and essayist, and the leading 20th-century poet of the Punjabi language, who is equally loved on both the sides of the India-Pakistan border, with a career spanning over six decades, she...
and singer/actress
Sudha MalhotraSudha Malhotra is an Indian playback singer. She also acted in some Bollywood films and as a play singer worked in popular Bollywood movies in the 1950s and 60s, like Arzoo, Dhool Ka Phool, Ab Dilli Door Nahin, Girl Friend, Barsat Ki Raat, Didi, Kala Pani, Prem Rog, Dekh Kabira Roya...
. These relationships had left him an embittered man. He took to drinking heavily and drank himself deep into alcoholism. The tragedies and pathos of his personal life most truly reflected in his poignant poetry.
His relationship with Amrita Pritam was so passionate that at one time, while attending a press conference, Amrita wrote his name hundreds of times on a sheet of paper. The two of them would meet without saying a word and Sahir would puff away with his cigarettes, and after he left, Amrita would smoke the cigarette butts left by him. After his death, she hoped the smoke from her cigarettes would meet him in the other world.
It is said that when Sahir was courting Amrita Pritam, he built a taller house in front of Amrita Pritam's residence in Ludhiana to show her father that he could afford a house. This statement is a fallacy derived from the Hindi film
Tere Ghar Ke Samne. Sahir's economic position at the time was pitiful, so 'building a house' would be out of the question; and secondly, Amrita Pritam does not belong to Ludhiana but to Amritsar; and the "love of her life" was another Urdu
shayar, Imroz, as detailed extensively in her autobiography, written in Punjabi for which she got a Sahitya Academy Award.
Famous works
- English translations of Sahir's poetry: LUDHIANVI, Sahir (1921–1980)
- SHADOWS SPEAK tr. with intro. Khwaja Ahmad Abbas
Khwaja Ahmad Abbas , popularly known as K. A. Abbas, was an Indian film director, novelist, screenwriter, and a journalist in the Urdu, Hindi and English languages...
{Abbas, Khwaja Ahmad} pref. Sajjad ZaheerSyed Sajjad Zaheer was a renowned Urdu writer, Marxist thinker and revolutionary.- Life :...
{Zaheer, Sajjad} English text only. P.P.H. Bookstall (Bombay) 129pp (intro. 7-12) 1958 paper only.
- THE BITTER HARVEST tr. Rifat Hassan {Hassan, Rifat} Urdu & English texts. Aziz Publishers (Lahore) 169pp (pref. i-iii) 1977 cloth only.
- SORCERY/ (Sahir) tr. with pref. Sain Sucha {Sucha, Sain} Urdu & English texts. Vudya Kitaban Forlag (Sollentuna, Sweden) 114pp (pref. 1-6, essay in Urdu 106-114) 1989 paper only.
- Gaata jaye Banjara - A Collection of film lyrics
Bollywood songs
Sahir Ludhianvi penned some of the finest Bollywood songs.
- आना है तो आ (Naya Daur 1957), composed by O.P. Nayyar, sung by Mohammed Rafi
Mohammad Rafi , was an Indian playback singer whose career spanned four decades. He was awarded National Award and 6 Filmfare Awards. In 1967, he was honoured with the Padma Shri awarded by the Government of India....
.
- ये दुनिया अगर मिल भी जाए तो क्या है (Pyaasa 1957), composed by S.D. Burman, sung by Mohammed Rafi
Mohammad Rafi , was an Indian playback singer whose career spanned four decades. He was awarded National Award and 6 Filmfare Awards. In 1967, he was honoured with the Padma Shri awarded by the Government of India....
.
- तू हिंदू बनेगा ना मुसलमान बनेगा (Dhool Ka Phool
Dhool Ka Phool is a 1959 Indian Bollywood film. Produced by B. R. Chopra it was directed by BR's brother Yash Chopra, this being Yash's first movie as a director, having been an assistant director in BR's earlier film Naya Daur. The film stars Mala Sinha, Rajendra Kumar, Nanda, Leela Chitnis,...
1959), composed by Datta Naik, sung by Mohammed RafiMohammad Rafi , was an Indian playback singer whose career spanned four decades. He was awarded National Award and 6 Filmfare Awards. In 1967, he was honoured with the Padma Shri awarded by the Government of India....
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- ये इश्क़ इश्क़ है (Barsaat Ki Raat
Barsaat Ki Raat is a 1960 Bollywood film starring Bharat Bhushan, Madhubala, Shyama, Mumtaz Begum and K.N. Singh. It was directed by P. L. Santoshi....
1960), music by RoshanRoshanlal Nagrath , better known simply by his first name Roshan, was a Bollywood film music composer. He was the father of the actor and film director Rakesh Roshan and music director Rajesh Roshan and grandfather of Hritik Roshan.-Early life and education:Roshan was born in Gujranwala, Punjab,...
, sung by Mohammed RafiMohammad Rafi , was an Indian playback singer whose career spanned four decades. He was awarded National Award and 6 Filmfare Awards. In 1967, he was honoured with the Padma Shri awarded by the Government of India....
.
- ना तो कारवाँ की तलाश है (Barsaat Ki Raat
Barsaat Ki Raat is a 1960 Bollywood film starring Bharat Bhushan, Madhubala, Shyama, Mumtaz Begum and K.N. Singh. It was directed by P. L. Santoshi....
1960), music by RoshanRoshanlal Nagrath , better known simply by his first name Roshan, was a Bollywood film music composer. He was the father of the actor and film director Rakesh Roshan and music director Rajesh Roshan and grandfather of Hritik Roshan.-Early life and education:Roshan was born in Gujranwala, Punjab,...
, sung by Mohammed RafiMohammad Rafi , was an Indian playback singer whose career spanned four decades. He was awarded National Award and 6 Filmfare Awards. In 1967, he was honoured with the Padma Shri awarded by the Government of India....
.
- अल्ला तेरो नाम ईश्वर तेरो नाम (Hum Dono
Hum Dono is a 1961 Hindi film produced by Dev Anand and Navketan films. Written by Vijay Anand, the film is directed by Amarjeet. The film stars Dev Anand in a double role, and also has Nanda, Sadhana and Leela Chitnis....
1961), composed by JaidevJaidev Hindi:जयदेव वर्मा , was a music composer in Bollywood films, most known for his work in films: Hum Dono , Reshma Aur Shera , Prem Parbat and Gharonda ....
- चलो इक बार फिर से अजनबी बन जाए हम दोनों (Gumrah 1963), composed by Ravi
Ravi Shankar Sharma , often referred to mononymously as Ravi, is an Indian music director, who has composed music for several Hindi and Malayalam films...
- मन रे तू काहे ना धीर धरे? (Chitralekha 1964), composed by Roshan
Roshanlal Nagrath , better known simply by his first name Roshan, was a Bollywood film music composer. He was the father of the actor and film director Rakesh Roshan and music director Rajesh Roshan and grandfather of Hritik Roshan.-Early life and education:Roshan was born in Gujranwala, Punjab,...
, sung by Mohammed RafiMohammad Rafi , was an Indian playback singer whose career spanned four decades. He was awarded National Award and 6 Filmfare Awards. In 1967, he was honoured with the Padma Shri awarded by the Government of India....
.
- संसार से भागे फिरते हो, भगवान को तुम क्या पाओगे (Chitralekha 1964), composed by Roshan
Roshanlal Nagrath , better known simply by his first name Roshan, was a Bollywood film music composer. He was the father of the actor and film director Rakesh Roshan and music director Rajesh Roshan and grandfather of Hritik Roshan.-Early life and education:Roshan was born in Gujranwala, Punjab,...
, sung by Mohammed RafiMohammad Rafi , was an Indian playback singer whose career spanned four decades. He was awarded National Award and 6 Filmfare Awards. In 1967, he was honoured with the Padma Shri awarded by the Government of India....
.
- ईश्वर अल्ला तेरे नाम (Naya Raasta
Naya Raasta is a 1970 Bollywood drama film directed by Khalid Akhtar. The film stars Jeetendra, Asha Parekh and Farida Jalal.-Cast:*Jeetendra ... Chander*Asha Parekh ... Shallo*Balraj Sahni ... Bansi...
1970), composed by Datta Naik, sung by Mohammed RafiMohammad Rafi , was an Indian playback singer whose career spanned four decades. He was awarded National Award and 6 Filmfare Awards. In 1967, he was honoured with the Padma Shri awarded by the Government of India....
.
- मै पल दो पल का शायर हूँ (Kabhi Kabhi 1976), composed by Khayyam
Mohammed Zahur "Khayyam" Hashmi, better known as Khayyam, is an Indian music composer whose career spanned four decades .He has won three Filmfare Awards for Best Music in 1977 for Kabhi Kabhie and 1982 for Umrao Jaan, and a lifetime achievement award in 2010...
- कभी कभी (Kabhi Kabhi 1976), music by Khayyam
Mohammed Zahur "Khayyam" Hashmi, better known as Khayyam, is an Indian music composer whose career spanned four decades .He has won three Filmfare Awards for Best Music in 1977 for Kabhi Kabhie and 1982 for Umrao Jaan, and a lifetime achievement award in 2010...
- aye meri zoharjabin (waqt)
- aagey bhi jane na tu (waqt)
- Saathi haath badhana-naya daur
- Na tu zameen ke liye hai na aasman ke liye (Music Ravi )
- Mere dil mein aaj kya hai tu kahe to main bata doon ( Ravi )
Stage Plays, Documentaries and TV Productions on Sahir
In recent years there have been many attempts to bring him in sharp focus by using Theatre and Television.
1. M S Sathyu directed Stage Play
Amrita: A Sublime Love Story had the first part of the narrative built around his enigmatic presence. Written by Danish Iqbal this Play was staged in Delhi, Gurgaon, Patiala and Banglore etc.
2. Pramila Le Hunt directed Play
Sahir is a lyrical tribute to the life and times of this great poet and his revolutionary spirit. Written by Danish Iqbal in 2010 this Play became a commercial success and had a dream run in Delhi. For perhaps first time, perhaps in the history of Indian Theatre, songs were used as narrative to recreate the life and struggles of Sahir. Many of his misty eyed contemporaries, including Ramesh Chand Charlie, Kuldeep Nayyar and few others, thronged the performance with nostalgic ache in their heart.
3. Few TV Series on Modern Poets had episodes devoted to Sahir.
Awards
- 1964: Filmfare Best Lyricist Award
The Filmfare Lyricist Award is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films.The awards were first given in 1953, however the Award for the best lyricist was first given in 1958.-Superlatives:...
: Jo Wada Kiya ( Taj Mahal)
- 1977: Filmfare Best Lyricist Award
The Filmfare Lyricist Award is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films.The awards were first given in 1953, however the Award for the best lyricist was first given in 1958.-Superlatives:...
: Kabhi Kabhie Mere Dil Mein"Kabhi Kabhie Mere Dil Mein" is a song from 1976 Bollywood movie Kabhi Kabhie directed by Yash Chopra...
(Kabhi Kabhie)
External links