Think of an individual who has been in the Indian film music industry for the last five decades and been contributing continuously. One can come up with name like Lata Mangeshkar and …. Yes next name has to be Majrooh Sultanpuri. Changing with the pace of the times but still retaining the simplicity of the words and lyrics makes this man a true master worker of songs in Indian Film Industry.
Majrooh's parents wanted him to be a physician, but he preferred to be a poet, and touch many more lives that he would have, had he been a physician. He used poetry as a medium to express his communist views before he was drawn into the world of Hindi film lyrics. He was one of those lyricists with a never-say-die spirit, and who has entralled us over the past 50 years with his fine lyricism. His lyrics ranged from soft melodies, ghazals, romantic duets, rock-n-roll, pop, qawaalis to bhajans.
Majrooh Sultanpuri (1919 - 24 May 2000), was an Urdu poet, lyricist and songwriter. He 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, and is considered one of the finest the finest avant-garde Urdu poets of 20th century literature.
In his career spanning six decades, he worked with music directors, from O.P.Nayyar, Usha Khanna, Laxmikant Pyarelal, R.D.Burman, Rajesh Roshan, Anand-Milind and Jatin-Lalit, to Leslie Lezz Lewis and AR 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. 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.
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.
After his release from jail, Kamal Amrohi asked him to write for his film ‘Daayra’. Then came his association with Guru Dutt and O.P. Nayyar. With O.P. Nayyar the rapport between the composer and lyricist were complete. It was also during this period that Asha Bhosle had her best to offer to the film industry as a singer. Songs like ‘Yeh hai reshmi zulfon ka andhera na ghabraiye’ and ‘Jaiye aap kahan jaenge, yeh nazar laut ke phir aayegi’ from ‘Mere Sanam’ and songs from several other films where Nayyar and Majrooh saab collaborated were a rage. This was also the time when the lyricist contributed at least 20 new words or sets of words hitherto unheard of in the film-lyrics vocabulary. These were words typical of the Urdu culture.
His other innovation in film-lyrics was what came to be known in film music circles as ‘romantic comedy duets’. In one of the usual filmi parties, S.D.Burman was discussing with him the futility of investing precious time in composing tunes for duets, which seemed to have lost the ear of cine-goers. Sultanpuri, by now had established his reputation as a person who did not mince words. He plainly told Burman that it was the fault of the Lyricists rather than the music directors if duets were losing popularity.
In his typical challenging way, he promised that he would write a duet soon and make it a success. Burman smiled and said, ‘Then why not write that duet for me?’ This was how S D Burman and Sultanpuri teamed up and, together, gave us such beautiful lyrics as heard in ‘Paying Guest’, ‘Nau do Gyaarah’, ‘Kala Paani’, to mention a few.
Sadly for the great man he has not found appreciation easy to come by. Majrooh saab has won only one Filmfare award.
Majrooh went on to write lyrics for popular films throughout the 1950s. Along with Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Majrooh was considered the most notable ghazal writer. Majrooh won his only Filmfare Best Lyricist Award for the song "Chahunga mein tujhe sham savere" in Dosti. He was also awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1993. He was the first lyricist to win the prestigious award named after Dadasaheb Phalke.
Association with Nasir Hussain
Majrooh and Nasir Hussain first collaborated on the film Paying Guest, which Nasir wrote. After Nasir turned director and later producer they went on to collaborate in several films, all of which had huge hits and are some of Majrooh's best remembered works:
- Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon
- Teesri Manzil
- Baharon Ke Sapne
- Pyar Ka Mausam
- Caravan
- Yaadon Ki Baraat
- Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin
- Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai
- Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak
- Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander
- Akele Hum Akele Tum
Majrooh also was instrumental in introducing R.D. Burman to Nasir for Teesri Manzil. The trio worked in 7 of the above mentioned films. Burman went on to work in 2 more films subsequent to Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai.
| The Best of Majrooh Sultanpuri | |
| Song | Movie |
| Babuji dhire chalna | Aar Paar |
| Aankhon hi aankhon mein ishara ho gaya | C.I.D. |
| Mana janab ne pukara nahi | Paying Guest |
| Chahunga mein tujhe | Dosti |
| Kabhi to milegi | Aarti |
| Jaane kahan mera | Mr. & Mrs. 55 |
| Aankhon hi aankhon mein | C.I.D. |
| Kabhi aar kabhi paar | Aar Paar |
| Ab kya misal doo | Aarti |
| Chod do aanchal | Paying Guest |
| Udhar tum hasin ho | Mr. & Mrs. 55 |
| Baar baar ohe kya samjhye | Aarti |
| Yaad aa gayi o nashili nigahen | Manzil |
| Chori ho gayi raat | Ishaar |
Majrooh Sultanpuri had a severe attack of pneumonia and died in Bombay on 24 May 2000
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