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By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
It is said that music is the poetry of the air. While music is the medicine of the mind, poetry is the music of the soul. For the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, without music, life would be a mistake. Perhaps music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life and poetry is said to be all that is worth remembering in life.
To borrow Laura Simoes, what poetry and music do to the mind must only be experienced, and such experience is complacent to not only transcend entertainment, rather acquiesce the listener to substantiate a state of wholeness … in mind and body.
The discovery of song and the creation of musical instruments both owed their origin to a human impulse which lies much deeper than conscious intention: the need for rhythm in life… the need is a deep one, transcending thought, and disregarded at our peril. (Richard Baker)
Perhaps this correlation between Music and Poetry, prompted Abdulrazzak Adenwala, a prominent SF Bay Area civic activist to hold a unique musical event dedicated to the poetry of one the greatest modern Urdu poet, lyricist and songwriter – Majrooh Sultanpuri (October 1, 1919 − May 24, 2000).
Surprisingly, Adenwala is himself a singer and he chose his first musical program under the banner of Funkada USA, Majrooh, who was one of the dominating musical forces in Indian Cinema in the 1950s and early 1960s and was an important figure in the Progressive Writers' Movement. He is considered one of the finest avant-garde Urdu poets of 20th century literature.
This was Funkada USA’s first program that was first conceived as “Ek Shaam Purane Naghmo Kay Naam” but Adenwala and his friends dubbed it Funkada Musical Evening Dedicated to Majrooh Sultanpuri.”
The program, held at the Mehran Restaurant, Newark, CA, on November 3, 2012, was attended by more than 70 guests.
As Adenwala later explained, it took more than two months to arrange this eventful event with the cooperation and support of his friends. I know what Adenwala was talking about because in Kuwait I was also involved many cultural shows with my friend, late Zulfiqar Ahmed a.k.a. Zulfi, who left us for eternal abode in his 40s. We used to sponsor cultural shows in Kuwait under the banner of Funkada. Adenwala’s program refreshed my old memories and I could well realize how much difficult and pain taking it is to arrange a cultural program while overcoming all the obstacles created by the friends and foes.
I was amazed to see the array of singers and guests. It was personal effort of the organizer to arrange this show that was described in a survey by the majority as “very good,” “good” and “average.” Only three of the 19 guests who participated in the survey called it a poor program.
The four-hour program included Majrooh Sultanpuri’s songs presented on Karaoke by Ayesha Malik, Asghar Aboobaker, Abdulrazzak Adenwala, Ghazala Siddiqui, Zafar Siddiqui, Jalil Shaikh, Mohammad Saleem, Ranjeet Singh and Talat Khan.
Ayesha Malik stole the show with her solo and duet performances.
Adenwala charted a list of 36 songs of Majrooh Sultanpuri to entertain the audience. There was little deviation from the charted list but mostly it was followed. (See the roster of the selected songs)
Adenwala surprised the audience with his vast knowledge and photogenic memory to give the background of each song. He also spoke about Majrooh’s career in the Indian film industry.
In his career spanning six decades, Majrooh Sultanpuri worked with music directors, from Naushad, Madan Mohan, S.D.Burman, Roshan, Ravi, Shankar-Jaikishan, O.P.Nayyar, Usha Khanna, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Anu Malik, R.D.Burman, Rajesh Roshan, Anand-Milind and Jatin-Lalit, to Leslie Lezz Lewis and A.R.Rahman. He won the Filmfare Best Lyricist Award in 1965 for "Chahunga Main Tujhe" in film Dosti, and the highest award in Indian cinema, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for lifetime achievement in 1993.
In 1945, Majrooh visited Bombay to attend a mushaira at the Saboo Siddique Institute. Here his ghazals and poetry were highly appreciated by the audience. One of the impressed listeners was film producer A.R. Kardar. He contacted Jigar Moradabadi who helped him to meet Majrooh. However, Majrooh refused to write for films because he didn't think very highly of them. But Jigar Muradabadi persuaded him, saying that films would pay well and would help Majrooh to support his family. Kardar then took him to music composer Naushad who put the young writer to test. He gave Majrooh a tune and asked him to write something in the same metre, and Majrooh wrote Jab Usne Gesu Bikhraye, Badal Aaye Jhoom Ke.... Naushad liked what he wrote and Majrooh was signed on as the lyricist of the film Shah Jehan (1946). The songs of the film became so immensely popular that K.L. Saigal wanted Jab Dil Hi Toot Gaya to be played at his funeral. But before he could react to the large-scale appeal created by these lines, he fell ill. The harsh Bombay weather made him leave the city and return to his hometown in the North. [Wikipedia]
Shah Jehan was followed by S. Fazil's Mehndi, Mehboob's Andaaz (1949), and Shahid Latif's Aarzoo. Just as Majrooh was establishing himself as a lyricist and songwriter of repute, his leftist leanings got him into trouble. The government wasn't amused by his anti-establishment poems and he was jailed in 1949 along with other leftists like Balraj Sahni. Majrooh was asked to apologise, but he refused and was sentenced to two years in prison. While he was in prison, his eldest daughter was born. During this time his family experienced considerable financial difficulties. Raj Kapoor commissioned a song ("Ek din bike jayega maati ke mol") from Majrooh for which he paid him Rs. 1000. [Wikipedia]
Majrooh's political beliefs were further manifested when his second daughter married the son of the Urdu writer and socialist Zoe Ansari. Toward the end both Majrooh and Zoe Ansari were disenchanted with the direction socialism had taken in the Soviet Union and China. Their desire to better the lives of the masses found an outlet in their writings. [Wikipedia]
Vote of thanks
At the end of the four-hour musical program, Adenwala thanked all the artists and volunteers to make the event successful. He particularly thanked Ziaullah sahib who was assigned the tough job of looking after the financial matters of the event.
See more pictures in Picture Gallery
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