The Magician

Main pal do pal ka shayar hoon

 Pal do pal meri kahani hai

 Pal do pal meri hasti hai

 Pal do pal meri jawani hai

 

For a long time we did not have much literature available on the iconic film personalities of Hindustani cinema. It is difficult to say what was the exact reason for the same but maybe it had something to do with the reading habits of the people and a general lack of critical analysis of the personalities and films with respect to their social and cultural affect. Things however started to change in the last the 10 to 15 years and now we have a regular flow of books on cinema, though of uneven quality. I think Nasreen Munni Kabir’s Guru Dutt-A Life in Cinema (OUP 1996) was amongst the earliest of serious efforts to document the life of an icon of Hindustani cinema.

Akshay Manwani’s book Sahir Ludhianvi: The People’s Poet (Harper Collins 2013) is a welcome recent addition to the list. A book on Sahir, considered by some to be the greatest lyricist ever of Hindustani cinema, was long overdue. Sahir was already an established poet before he came to Bombay in 1949 (his first collection of poems, Talkhiyan, was published in 1943 to critical acclaim) and from 1951 onwards he wrote songs for more than 100 films till his  death in 1981.His best work was in the 50s and 60s (considered to be the golden era for Hindustani film music). His songs for Pyaasa , Naya Daur (both in 1957) and Phir Subah Hogi (1958) firmly established him as a ‘conscience keeper’ for the common man and went a long way in establishing these movies as ‘Classics’ of Hindustani cinema. However, there was much more to Sahir. Be it a romantic number (Hum aapkee ankhon mein from Pyaasa) or a comic song (Sar jo tera chakraye, again from Pyaasa), a bhajan (Allah tero naam from Hum Dono) or a qawwali (Na to karwan kee talaash hain from Barsaat ki Raat) or a patriotic number (Yeh desh hai veer jawanon ka from Naya Daur) - he excelled in all forms. During his time there was formidable talent writing in Bombay including Shailender, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Shakeel Badaiyuni, Kaifi Azmi amongst many other poets. Still, he was able to hold on his own by his sheer talent and depth of his words. Initially in his career, he formed a hit partnership with S D Burman (Baazi, Jaal, Devdas ) but they fell out after the success of Pyaasa (each claiming credit for the success of the film’s music) but  such was Sahir’s talent that he still went on to give memorable songs with the then  less-established  music directors like Ravi and Khayyam.

Akshay’s well researched book traces Sahir’s life right from his troubled child hood  (his father was a wayward wealthy landlord and Sahir’s mother soon moved out and brought up Sahir entirely on her own) and graduation in Ludhiana and his subsequent movement first to Lahore and then eventually to Bombay after a brief stay in Delhi. Sahir shared a deep bond with his mother and his health started deteriorating rapidly after her death in 1976. He went into a shell (as Yash Copra quotes Sahir, ‘Kuch mazaa nahin aa raha likhney ka’) and never came out of it.

The author has managed to interview a host of non-film and  film personalities who were directly or indirectly associated with Sahir - Dev Anand, Khayyam, Ravi, Javed Akhtar, Ravi Chopra, Ramesh Talwar  and of course, Yash Chopra, a fellow Punjabi and a close friend (as long as Sahir lived, all films directed by Yash Copra had songs by him).

Sahir did not marry but had his share of affairs and heart-breaks. His relationship with Amrita Pritam is well known and the interview with Imroze (Amrita Pritam’s husband) is one of the highlights of the book. In the 70s, the film industry was undergoing a change with the emergence of the angry young man persona of Amitabh Bachchan but yet Sahir-Khayyam duo was able to give us a gem in the form of Kabhi -Kabhi in 1976.The title song is one of my personal favorites and infact introduced me to the magic world of Sahir. Amitabh’s soliloquy (Kabhi-Kabhi mere dil mein khayal aata hai) still gives me goose pimples.

I would have liked the author to ask Sahir’s close associates like Yash Chopra and Javed Akhtar as to what did they do to preserve his legacy(I remember reading a few years back that  his grave in Bombay had been vandalized). Could they have converted his house into a memorial ? Still this is a commendable effort and I am sure will attract a host of new generation fans towards Sahir and his  immortal lyrics. Next I would like to see an English translation of Takhiyan. Will someone oblige?

Kal aur ayenge nagmon ki khilti kaliyan chunnewale
Mujhese behetar kahenewale tumse behetar sunnewale
Kal koi mujhko yaad karhey kyon koi mujhko yaad karhey
Masroof zamana mere liye kyon waqt apna barbadh kare
Main pal do pal ka shayar hoon

Arab Spring

 

Normally I would be very sceptical of picking up a book on the Middle East by a western journalist because often their views tend to be  biased and I guess are designed to cater to their local audience. Not so in the case of Paul Danahar’s insightful book The New Middle East: The world after the Arab spring (Bloomsbury). Paul Danahar was the BBC’s Middle East Bureau Chief from 2010 to 2013 and hence was a witness at close quarters to the startling events which started unfolding in the Middle East starting with Tunisia in January 2011 and then engulfed Egypt, Libya and Syria. Paul devotes a chapter analysing each of these countries, pre and post the people’s revolution and also looks at Iraq, Israel and the American Middle East policy and its implications in details in separate chapters. It is quite evident that the way the dictators of these countries had been brutally suppressing   their own people in the past (Be it Ben Ali of Tunisia or Muammar Gaddafi of Libya) this revolution was waiting to happen and it only need a spark for ignition. The spark   was provided by the death of a fruit seller in Tunisia who immolated himself on 17^th December 2010 after being repeatedly harassed by govt officials for bribe. He died on 4 January 2011 and ‘the old Middle East died with him’. The most remarkable thing about the overthrow of the dictator in Tunisia was that it was accomplished without any bloodshed or any external intervention. Alas, the same cannot be said of other countries caught in this awakening. Militia are still calling the shots in Libya, Syria is in the throes of a civil war with mounting causalities and Egypt is again facing a crisis after the recent coup by the Army.

The author traces the history (right from the inception of each of the state) of each country and offers a detailed political and social analysis of their society right upto 2013 including the reasons for the revolutions and what the future holds. As Jason Burke says in the blurb, ‘Anyone interested in the Middle East, its present, past or future, should read this book’.

I particularly found the chapter on Egypt very interesting. Two major forces (The Muslim Brotherhood and the army) have had a strong effect on every aspect of the Egyptian society since long and it is the tussle between these two that will continue to shape the future of Egypt. Both these organisations have been led by some amazing people in the past-Nasser and Sadat for the Army and Al-Banna (founder of Muslim Brotherhood) and Sayyid Qutb (described by some as the intellectual grandfather to Osama Bin Laden and his fellow terrorists’) for the Muslim Brotherhood. Knowing the details about their lives makes for a fascinating read. Muslim Brotherhood came into power in the elections held after Mubarak was forced to resign in 2011.However, after only a year the army is now back in power after a coup and even as I write , both are locked in a bloody duel for power.

Paul is very scathing in his criticism of the US in the chapter dealing with Iraq and rightly so. The country is still paying a heavy price (more than 1 lac Iraqi’s have lost their lives since the war was officially declared over by President Bush) for USA’s inept handling of the post Saddam era (‘The invasion of Iraq was a military success. The occupation of Iraq was a disaster’) which has lead to frequent clashes between the Shia and Sunni communities. The shocking behaviour of the American soldiers at Abu Gharib prison further alienated the Iraqi public. It is however  surprising that  the author makes no mention of his home country, Britain, which blindly (remember how Tony Blair was often referred to as George Bush’s poodle!) went along with all of USA’s disastrous decisions in Iraq. Surely they need to take their part of the blame.

You may find the chapter on Israel a tad lengthy as Paul delves deep into the Israeli society to understand the divisions within the society. However, it is clear that whatever may be the fault lines in the Israeli society, there does not seem to be any solution in sight for the contentious Palestine issue. The Obama administration does not trust the right wing Israeli Prime Minister, Netanyahu and vice-versa. Mahmud Abbas is getting nowhere with his conciliatory approach whereas Hamas, with its aggression, continues to get stronger in the Gaza strip. Also Paul seems to go soft when it comes to highlighting the atrocities committed by Israeli Army against the Palestinians. However, this seems to be a minor hiccup in this otherwise comprehensive book on understanding the recent changes in the Middle East.