Tag Archives: Mohammed Zahur Khayyam – Poet – Writier – Lyricist – Music Composer

In 1962 Mohammed Rafi cheered troops on China border

December 26, 2022Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Freedom Fighters (under research project)Dilip Kumar, Indian Muslims during the Indo China War 1962, Indian Muslims Positive Story, Jaan Nisar Akhtar, Kaifi Azmi, Khayyam - Indian Music Composer, Mohammed Rafi, Mohammed Zahur Khayyam - Poet - Writier - Lyricist - Music Composer, Muslims of India during the Indo China War of 1962, Positive News of Indian Muslims, Positive Stories of Indian Muslims, Sahir Ludhianvi, Saquib Salim, Shakeel Badayuni, The Muslims of India during the Indo China War of 1962mpositiveone@gmail.com

Mumbai, MAHARASHTRA /ALL INDIA :

Contrary to the popular notion that wars are fought by the armies alone, the whole nation including Bollywood personalities and leading artists get involved in the national efforts to fight the enemy.

The Chinese invasion in October 1962 was a shocking moment for India. Traditionally, India had supported China at every international forum for at least half a century. The invasion was the least expected from China and India was not at all prepared for it. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru urged the nation to stand united in that hour of emergency and in response Indians donated generously to the National Defence Fund.

The film industry did not lag. Film Industry’s war efforts were led by legendary filmmaker Mehboob, singer Mohammed Rafi and music composer Mohammed Zahur Khayyam Hashmi (Khayyam).

In less than a week they collaborated to produce two music videos, which were to be played in film theaters, on the radio, and on the roadsides to raise funds for the war.

One of those two songs, “Awaz do hum ek hain…”, by Jaan Nisar Akhtar is now a popular political slogan in India. On Nehru’s call to the nation, Jaan Nissar Akhtar wrote the song to which music was given by Khayyam and the voice by Mohammad Rafi. The song is an invocation to Indians to unite in the face of an invader became a national passion and remains so till today.

The song starts with:

ek hai apni zameen, ek hai apna gagan

ek hai apna jahaan, ek hai apna watan

apne sabhi sukh ek hai, apne sabhi gham ek hai

Aawaz do ham ek hai

(We have a common earth, we have a common sky

We have a common world, we have a common motherland

All our joys are common, all our sorrows are common

Say it aloud that we are one!)

The powerful lyrics were turned into a national rage by the soulful singing of Rafi. Jago watan khatre me hai, sara chaman khatre me hai (wake up our motherland is under threat, whole garden is under siege) and dushman se nafrat farz hau, ghar ki hifazat farz hai (hating your enemy is a duty, to guard your home is a duty), aroused patriotic emotions among millions of Indians. The song asks the youth to join the army and fight the aggressor.

The song was picturized on Rajendra Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Raj Kumar, and Kamal Jeet.

Another song produced along with this was written by Sahir Ludhianvi, “watan ki abroo khatre main hai…” (dignity of the nation is under threat). It was also produced by Mehboob and sung by Mohammed Rafi. The song specifically points to the Panchsheel pact and other friendly gestures made by India towards China. It says,

Wo jinko saadgi mein hamne

Aankhon par bithhaaya thha

Wo jinko bhai kehkar

Hamne seene se lagaaya thha

Wo jinki gardanon mein haar

Baahon ka pehnaaya thha

Ab unki gardanon ke waaste

Talwaar ho jaao

(The people we honoured because of our innocence

The people we embraced and called brothers

The people we received with love

Now, do become swords for their throats)

The song also points toward the internal threats at the time of war.

Khabar rakhna koi gaddaar

Saazish kar nahin paaye ae

Nazar rakhna koi zaalim

Tijori bhar nahin paaye ae

(Be vigilant that no traitor conspires against the nation

Be vigilant that nobody makes money out of our war efforts)

The song was picturized on Dilip Kumar, Rajendra Kumar, Raj Kumar, and Kamal Jeet in a video produced by Mehboob.

Lorries with speakers would roam around playing these songs and prompting people to donate generously. It is said that when one such procession reached the house of Shammi Kapoor his wife actor Geeta Bali started crying. She rushed inside her house and told Shammi that she needed to do something for the nation. Geeta took all her jewelry, even the pieces she wore, and gave it away for war.

Rafi felt that singing in the safety of Mumbai was a disgrace in the line of his national duty. He discussed with Dilip Kumar and urged PM Nehru to send them to the border. What would they do there? Rafi felt that his songs could boost the morale of Indian soldiers and the presence of Dilip Kumar would assure the troops that the whole nation is standing behind them.

It was a dangerous mission. It was unprecedented for the artists to perform at the war front. In the cold, Rafi and Dilip reached the war frontier. He sang songs, interacted with soldiers, and boosted their morale. Dilip Kumar later recalled, “needless to say he was the star attraction with the jawans and the young newly commissioned officers”.

After the war ended with a ceasefire the collected funds were used to recover the economy and modernizing the Army.

On 27 January 1963, Mehboob organized an event in Delhi where he invited.all the prominent film stars to perform in the presence of President S Radhakrishnan and PM Jawaharlal Nehru. The event is often remembered for the rendition of “Aey mere watan ke logo…” by Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammad Rafi sang two songs. One was written by Shakeel Badayuni and its music was composed by Naushad, “Apni azadi ko hum hargiz mita sakte nahi.” The song was later adapted into the film Leader and the other was “Kar chale hum fida….” written by Kaifi Azmi and composed by Madan Mohan, which was later adopted in Haqeeqat, a movie based on the India-China war.

The fact that Rafi went to the war frontier and stayed there for a few days to play what turned out to be a big morale booster for the troops remains an unprecedented manifestation of one’s sense of responsibility towards his country.

source: http://www.awazthevoice.in / Awaz, The Voice / Home> Culture / by Saquib Salim / December 24th, 2022

Khayyam (1927-2019) | A composer who couldn’t be straitjacketed in any style

August 20, 2019Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Education, Leaders, SCHOLARSHIPSKhayyam, Khayyam - Filmfare Awards, Khayyam - Hridaynath Mangeshkar Award, Khayyam - Indian Music Composer, Khayyam - Music Composer, Khayyam - Poet - Lyricist - Writer, Khayyam - Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Khayyam (aka) Mohammed Zahur Khayyam Hashmi, Khayyam Jagjeet Kaur KPG Charitable Trust, Mohammed Zahur Khayyam, Mohammed Zahur Khayyam - Poet - Writier - Lyricist - Music Composer, Mohammed Zahur Khayyam Hashmi, Padma Bhushan - Mohammed Zahur Khayyammpositiveone@gmail.com

Rahon, PUNJAB / Mumbai, MAHARASHTRA :

A composer who understood the nuances of Urdu and Hindi as much as the ‘sargam’ itself

If there is one word or phrase to pin down Khayyam’s music , it would be ‘literary’ or ‘poetic’. He was a music composer who understood the nuances of Urdu and Hindi as much as the ‘sargam’ itself. So, in the ideal spirit of collaboration, the songs were deeply resonant both in the thought and feeling of the writer as much as Khayyam’s own melody. No wonder some of his films had the poet or the artist as a protagonist, points out film and music expert Pavan Jha. The acme of it were Umrao Jaan (1982, Rekha as a courtesan) and even more so Kabhi Kabhie (1977 Amitabh Bachchan as a ‘shayar’), two of the biggest successes of his career in Hindi cinema that began in the late 40s.

Yash Chopra’s Kabhi Kabhie also marked the peak of his steady association with poet-writer-lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi, the other high point of which came earlier in Phir Subah Hogi (1958) and later also in Trishul (1978).

While remaining resolutely “Indian”, Khayyam’s music spanned a range — from the classical to semi-classical, folk to ghazal. “From pahadi to Punjabi, Braj to Awadh his musical influences encompassed the entire North India. He composed one of Mohammed Rafi’s best non-film bhajans — Paoon padoon tore Shyam,” says Jha. His contribution to the light classical non-film music may have come under the shadow of the film music but was just as significant. He was the one to have composed I Write, I Recite for Meena Kumari with the actress singing her own ‘nazms’ in the album.

Changing with the times

When it came to film music itself, he never got straitjacketed in any specific style, kept adapting with the times, the subject and characters of his films. So, in a film like Kabhi Kabhie, along with a melancholic and romantic title track and Main pal do pal ka shayar hoon he also created the youthful and energetic Tere chehre se, Pyaar kar liya to kya and Chahe chale chhuriyan. In Phir Subah Hogi he composed the devastatingly satirical Aasman pe hai khuda, a brilliant comment on the sad state of the nation, which resonates till date. As do Chin-o-arab hamara and the sad yet hopeful Wo subah kabhi to aayegi. Yet in the same film soundtrack he also had the beautiful love song Phir na keeje meri gustaakh nigahee ka gila.

Though he came out with great work in every decade that he spent in the Hindi film industry, it was not until the 70s and 80s — with Kabhi Kabhie and Umrao Jaan — that he catapulted into the big league of music composers. His amazing repertoire in the two films is what most would recollect him for, but there have been gems studded all over his abundantly rich discography. Like the Sahir creation Parbaton ke pedon par shaam ka basera hai in Shagoon (1964), Majrooh Sultanpuri’s Shaam-e-gham ki kasam sung from the heart by Talat Mehmood in Footpath (1953) or Majrooh’s Rafi-Suman Kalyanpur duet Thehriye hosh mein aa loon from Mohabbat Isko Kehte Hain (1965). There are the beautiful Aankhon mein humne, Aaj bichade hain and Hazaar raahein in Thodisi Bewafai (1980) and Dikahyi diye yun, Karoge yaad to and Phir chhidi raat in Bazaar (1982).

Kaifi Azmi was another writer-lyricist with whom Khayyam created magic in Shola Aur Shabnam (1961) with songs like Jeet hi lenge baazi hum tum and later in Akhri Khat (1966) with Bhupendra singing Rut jawan jawan, raat meherbaan. Of the present lot of lyricists, though he had a great friend and admirer in Gulzar, he collaborated briefly with him in Thodisi Bewafai and later, in the 90s, on the television programme Dard (Dil ka ek chehra dikhayi dega, sung by Jagjit Kaur and Bhupendra). There was an abandoned venture of the two, called Kharidaar, in which actor Rekha is supposed to have sung one song. Also, Khayyam and his wife, singer Jagjit Kaur, are said to have organised the sangeet for Rakhee-Gulzar wedding.

Among the playback singers he worked a lot with Talat Mehmood, Mukesh and even more so with Mohammed Rafi. Perhaps one the best examples of teaming up with Rafi was the mellifluous and haunting Kahin ek naazuk masoom ladki in Shankar Hussain (1977). Not to forget Aur kuchh der theher in Akhri Khat and Jaane kya dhoondhti rehti hain ye aankhein mujh mein in Shola Aur Shabnam, the latter taking Rafi’s voice from low notes to the high in a magical seamless musical stretch.

Lata Mangeshkar sang the lilting Baharo mera jeevan bhi sanwaro in Akhri Khat under his baton, Aap yun faaslon se and Apne aap raaton mein in Shankar Hussain and Aye dil-e-nadaan and Khwaab ban kar koi aayega in Razia Sultan (1983). He was one of the crucial figures to have helped shape Asha Bhonsle’s formidable career. The two peaked in Umrao Jaan but it was in an earlier film called Footpath that Asha got the major break of getting to sing for the lead. He also gave the film industry the booming vocals of Kabban Mirza in Aayee zanjeer ki jhankar in Razia Sultan and unique voice of Jagjit Kaur, also his wife, in songs like Tum apna ranj-o-gham apni pareshani mujhe de do in Shagoon(1964) and Dekh lo aaj humko jee bhar ke, koi lauta nahin phir marr ke in Bazaar(1982), a prophetic song in retrospect.