Chhaayaageet #259 - “Woh to ek geetkar hai. Woh sangeet kaise de sakta hai?”
That guy is a lyricist. How can he compose the music?
The lead actor is on his way to Bihar. He is deeply moved by the life of a legendary revolutionary who gave up his life for the country. The entire world needs to know his story. To ensure every detail is perfect, he tracks down a surviving comrade of the revolutionary - a man who was present during the famous incident in which they were both convicted, along with other comrades.
He finds him living in a state of poverty in Patna. That’s not fair. How can someone like him be treated like this? Without hesitation, the lead actor brings him to Bombay to serve as an advisor for the film. They both work on the story together.
With the story finally ready, he approaches the filmmaker, an old friend of the lead actor. The lead actor says to the filmmaker, “Yeh kahani mere dil ke bahut kareeb hai. Saari duniya ko iske baare mein pata chalna chhaiye.” This story is very close to my heart. The entire world needs to know about it.
The filmmaker reads the script and is impressed. It is a no-brainer for him. He decides to produce the film.
As they begin discussing the cast, the conversation quickly turns to the music. The filmmaker is fond of the popular composers of the era. He suggests the biggest names in the industry. “Sangeet ke liye Shankar-Jaikishan, Ravi ya OP Nayyar ko lete hain. Film pakka hit hogi,” For the music, let’s take Shankar-Jaikishan, Ravi, or OP Nayyar. The film will definitely be a hit, the filmmaker suggests.
The lead actor has other ideas. He has a specific person in mind. He has heard his music in the past, especially the patriotic songs. He brings up his name instead of the other popular composers.
The filmmaker is taken aback. He didn’t even know this guy as a composer. “Woh? Woh to ek geetkar hai. Woh sangeet kaise de sakta hai?” That guy? That guy is a lyricist. How can he compose the music?
The lead actor corrects him. “Mein maanta hoon usne gaane zyaada likhen hai aur sangeet kum diya hai par iss film ka sangeet wohi de sakta hai.” I know that even though he has written more songs than he has composed, his music is exactly what the film needs.
“Theek hai. Usse kuch gaane compose karwa lenge.” Thats fine. We will have a few songs composed by him. The filmmaker is ready to compromise.
“Saaare gaane wohi compose karega. Warna mein ye film nahin karoonga.” He will compose all the songs. Else I am not doing this film. The lead actor lays it out firmly.
Realizing his friend will neither act nor write the film, the filmmaker agrees.
Together, they go to the house of the composer.
“Hum ek krantikari par film bana rahe hain aur aapko geet likhne hain.” We are making a film on a revolutionary, and you have to write the songs. The lead actor tells him.
“Zaroor, yeh toh mera saubhagya hai,” Sure, this is my good fortune, the composer replies, assuming he is only being hired for his lyrics.
But the lead actor smiles and corrects him. “Aap sirf geet nahi likhenge, aap sangeet bhi denge.” You will not just write the songs, you will also give the music.
The composer panics a bit at the sudden responsibility of handling the entire soundtrack. “Mujhe iss baare mein thoda sochna padega,” I will have to think a little about this, he says hesitantly.
The lead actor looks him in the eye, knowing this is the only way to capture the soul of the revolution. “Agar aap sangeet nahi doge, hum yeh film nahi banayenge.” If you don’t compose the music, we won’t make this film.
With that weight on his shoulders, the composer agrees.
The composer sits before his harmonium, his brow furrowed in deep thought. He is struggling with the most crucial part of the film: the climax, where the three revolutionaries are led to the gallows. He wants the music to capture the gravity of the moment, but he is afraid of making it too mournful.
“Main is dukh ki ghadi ko sangeet mein kaise dikhaun? How do I show this sadness in the music? the composer says, looking troubled.
He turns to the advisor, the man who lived through those days. The advisor slowly closes his eyes, transporting himself back to the cold stone walls of the jail. A faint smile plays on his lips as the memory returns.
“Wahan dukh nahi thha,” the advisor whispers. “Jab woh phansi ki taraf badh rahe thhe, toh unke chehron par sirf khushi thhi.” There was no sadness there. When they were moving towards the gallows, there was only happiness on their faces.
The lead actor and the composer lean in, trying to grasp every word he mutters. The advisor continues, describing how the three friends walked with their heads held high, chanting a poem that compared their sacrifice to their wedding with death.
The imagery strikes the composer, and he realizes that the song shouldn’t be a funeral march, but a victory anthem.
Prem Dhawan composed the music and wrote the lyrics for all the songs in the film Shaheed (1965), including the patriotic song O Mera Rang De Basanti Chola. Manoj Kumar was the lead actor and also one of the story writers of the film. The playback for the song was provided by Mukesh, Mahendra Kapoor, and Rajendra Mehta. The song was picturized on Manoj Kumar, Prem Chopra, and Anant Marathe. Kewal Kashyap was the producer of the film.
Manoj Kumar was deeply fascinated by the life of Bhagat Singh, but he didn’t want to rely on plain textbook accounts. He felt a responsibility to capture the true story and tell it to the entire world. To do this, he knew he needed a firsthand witness. That’s the reason he reached out to Batukeshwar Dutt, Bhagat Singh’s close comrade and the man who stood beside him during the Central Assembly bombing. Once he found him in Patna, he convinced him to come to Bombay as an advisor to the film. It took Manoj Kumar four years to do all the research before he decided it could be made into a film.
He reached out to his close friend, Kewal Kashyap, to produce it, who readily agreed to do it. For the composer selection, Kewal Kashyap wanted to go with the mainstream composers of the time to derisk the film and increase the chances of a hit just based on music. Manoj Kumar wanted someone who had dealt with patriotic songs and also served as a freedom fighter. Prem Dhawan fit the bill on all those points. Prem Dhawan was and is probably the only lyricist, composer, and choreographer all packaged in one person. After a big argument, Kewal Kashyap agreed to take Prem Dhawan.
Being the same person who wrote and composed the songs, Prem Dhawan could iterate very fast on different suggestions that he got from Batukeshwar Dutt and Manoj Kumar. He also used words from poetry that Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev used while they were in jail. The climax moment in the film is when all three are being led to the gallows. Only Batukeshwar Dutt knew how three of them felt as they walked towards their death. Prem Dhawan took his feedback and wrote a timeless anthem.
At the 13th National Film Awards, Shaheed was the most celebrated film, sweeping three major awards. Kewal Kashyap received the award for the Best Feature Film in Hindi. The award for Best Screenplay was shared by Din Dayal Sharma and Batukeshwar Dutt. While they were the credited writers in the film, this award was a huge personal victory for Manoj Kumar, who had done the bulk of the research and writing. He refused to put his name out as one of the writers. Prem Dhawan did not win any awards for Shaheed but was honored with the Padma Shri in 1970 for his immense contribution to patriotic music.
This is the slow version of the song.
Lyrics: Prem Dhawan
Music: Prem Dhawan
Singers: Mukesh, Mahendra Kapoor, Rajendra Mehta
*ing: Manoj Kumar, Prem Chopra, Anant Marathe
Producer: Kewal Kashyap
Film: Shaheed (1965)