Sahir Ludhianvi: A Poet For Every Moment
My first article of 2024 is a preview of a play to be staged in Mumbai on the life of eminent lyricist and poet, Sahir Ludhianvi. I spoke to the director of the play, Danish Husain who essays the role of the poet on stage about his production titled ‘Main Pal Do Pal Ka Shayar Hoon‘ and the making of his storytelling-style biographical adaptation of Ludhianvi’s life. Here’s the full piece:
In 1969, the poet-lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi was invited as an esteemed guest to recite a poem on the death centenary of the 18th-century poet, Mirza Ghalib. Ludhianvi, a progressive, was known for speaking his mind, especially when shallow societal norms were in question. He went onstage and recited ‘Jashn-e-Ghalib’. To the shock of those present, the verses questioned the double standards of the politicos hosting the celebration and the mistreatment of Urdu over the years since the independence of India:
Jis ahad-e-siyaasat ne yeh zinda zabaan kuchli
Us ahad-e-siyaasat ko marhoomo ka gham kyun hai?
Ghalib jisey kehtey hain, Urdu hi ka shaayar thaa
Urdu par sitam dhaa kar, Ghalib pe karam kyun hai?
(The government that crushed this effervescent language
Why should that government grieve over the dead?
The man called Ghalib, was a poet of the Urdu language
Why should they be unfair to Urdu and benevolent towards Ghalib?)
Many such storied incidents, including interactions Ludhianvi had with filmmakers and musicians of the day, will be part of Main Pal Do Pal Ka Shayar Hoon, a biographical adaptation, to be presented at the NCPA this month. The format of the play is a combination of monologues and dramatised re-enactments of episodes from Ludhianvi’s life, interspersed with his songs and poetry. Danish Husain, who is directing the production in addition to essaying the role of the poet, says, “The whole idea was to create a gossip room, something like a town square where there are people sitting and talking … and everybody passing by wants to stop and listen. I wanted to make it a cosy space where five artistes jam and fanboy over Sahir Ludhianvi. Sometimes it’s a jam session and sometimes the setting is a recording studio.” Wizard of words Ludhianvi, most popular as a lyricist of Hindi cinema, was a superlative Urdu poet and a prominent voice of the Progressive Writers’ Movement. He was born Abdul Hayee but took on the takhallus (pen name) Sahir, meaning magician or wizard, based on a couplet by Allama Iqbal. His last name, Ludhianvi, came from his place of birth, Ludhiana. He was the first lyricist to collect royalties from music companies and insisted that All India Radio start crediting lyricists along with singers and composers on the air. Initially turned down by several filmmakers owing to his brutally critical poetry on social institutions, Ludhianvi landed his first big break for the film Naujawan (1951), writing the hit song ‘Thandi Hawayein Lehra Ke Aayein’ which was set to music by S. D. Burman.
He became known for lyrics that went beyond the scope of the film to express his views on socially relevant matters while still adhering to the requirements of the plot. Husain says, “He would find ways of bringing his own politics into the song and the story and do this double number where the song while pushing the film’s story forward also said something universal which transcends the context of the film. He did not leave his politics of socialism, speaking up for the downtrodden and representing the marginalised through his songs.” A searing critique of the nation state, ‘Jinhe Naaz Hai Hind Par Woh Kahan Hain’ from Pyaasa (1957) is a good example of music with a message. It is a direct reference to the failing ideals of Nehruvian nationalism and holds an unflinching mirror to a crumbling post-independence society of the ’50s. The song was adapted from Ludhianvi’s poem ‘Chakle’, which he had written long before he became a lyricist. There is a section in Husain’s play in which Ludhianvi, while sitting onstage, directly addresses the audience to discuss how he brought together different elements—a thought here, an ideology there—to create a poem or the lyrics of a particular song. “I was nervous about this section. What if it bores people? Is it too cerebral? Maybe we should skip it, we thought.” Instead, they received the loudest applause for this at the play’s premiere. “We were thrilled,” says Husain.
Nostalgia and more
Main Pal Do Pal Ka Shayar Hoon was conceived during the programming for a retrospective of Husain’s theatre group, The Hoshruba Repertory, at Prithvi Theatre in September 2023. The noted actor-director’s quest for a new play was aided by the suggestion of Amita Talwar, Founder of the NGO, Art for Causes, to create something on the life of Ludhianvi. Screenwriter and lyricist Mir Ali Husain had written a script on Ludhianvi for Talwar which Husain immediately began studying to adapt it for the stage. The script was in the first person and Husain sought to change that: “I felt that given Sahir is such a charismatic and complex personality, it would be interesting to have a second or a third person to know what they thought about Sahir.” The other influence on the play was Himanshu Bajpai’s dastangoi work Dastan-e-Sahir. With permission from both creators, Husain fused the two scripts while doing his own research on Ludhianvi and created the script for this play. The premiere was extremely well-received. Some audience members remarked that it was the best onstage adaptation of Ludhianvi’s life, some swayed to the songs and for others, it sparked a newfound curiosity about the maverick poet. “People flew in from Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi. A week after the show, I met someone who had attended it and they said they had since been listening only to Sahir’s songs for the past week,” shares Husain. Now, he is excited to bring the popular play to the Tata Theatre. “The NCPA is a great venue to perform in,” he says. “The way the whole space is designed just lends itself well to performance. I have fond memories of performing at the Centrestage Festival of Premiering Plays. It is exciting to return to the NCPA after a year. The last play I performed here was Ek Punjab Yeh Bhi.”
Ludhianvi’s songs and poems are woven into the script per the timeline of his life. His poem ‘Aao Ke Koi Khwab Bunein’ is composed by celebrated classical musician Aneesh Pradhan and was originally sung by Shubha Mudgal. The musical arrangement of the play is minimal, with just three instruments onstage: one guitar, one percussion instrument, either a dholak or a cajon, and a harmonium. The performing artistes also play different characters from Ludhianvi’s life. “I wanted to make sure that it does not become an endless medley of songs. I also wanted to situate the songs in the context of the story being told. Each song in the play comes at a definite point of time in his life and there is often a story behind the song,” Husain explains.
A towering presence
To become the poet onstage was not easy. “There are hardly any videos of Sahir Ludhianvi except for a few grainy ones with not much happening in them. A lot of the mannerisms came through the writing of his friends who describe him. He was a tall man but very self-conscious about that so he would often stoop. My advantage is that I’m not a really tall man. And then Javed [Akhtar] saab told me how he would speak with a wry smile on his face, his lips would twitch towards one side or that when he would get nervous or thoughtful, he would take out a comb and start combing his hair. So, I incorporated mannerisms like these, but I don’t overdo them.” The biggest compliment Husain received was from people who had personally known the poet. After the first five minutes, they forgot about Husain, they said. Only Sahir Ludhianvi remained onstage.
Though celebrated for his flourish with the written word, Ludhianvi was criticised for his egoistic nature and a certain indecisiveness. He was a complex character, impossible to exhaustively represent within limited time. “When you’re making a story on the life of a real person, what you are essentially doing is sampling. You take the audience through the various epochs of his life, but you can’t really do a deep dive. There are aspects of Sahir’s struggle as a poet, about his involvement in the literary world, the Progressive Writers’ Movement, his contemporaries, the world of Urdu poetry, instances where he fearlessly takes on the film industry, his fight for royalties, his internal struggle where he refuses to get along with some music directors. Sometimes he is magnanimous and gracious and there are times when he appears to be mean to people. And then there is his decline into depression followed by an early death when he was only 59. Hopefully, once people watch the play, it will arouse some curiosity and they will study more about this man. If that happens, my job is done.”
‘Main Pal Do Pal Ka Shayar Hoon’, meaning ‘I’m a Poet Only for a Moment or Two’, was a deliberate choice for the title of the play because it is among Ludhianvi’s most easily recognised songs, one he wrote for the film, Kabhi Kabhie (1976). Husain’s play, however, and the response to it, reminds me of the other lyrics from the same film that better describe Ludhianvi’s legacy 43 years after his demise.
Main har ek pal ka shayar hoon
Har ek pal meri kahani hai
Har ek pal meri hasti hai
Har ek pal meri jawani hai
Main har ek pal ka shayar hoon.
I’m a poet for every moment
My story will last for every moment
My existence will last for every moment
My youth will last for every moment
I’m a poet for every moment.
This article appeared in the January 2024 issue of NCPA On Stage magazine.