Sahir Ludhianvi: Encyclopedia - Sahir Ludhianvi

Sahir Ludhianvi

Sahir Ludhianvi, whose real name was Abdul Hayee (October 25, 1921-1980) was a popular Indian poet of Urdu ghazals and nazms but mostly known for being one of the most important Bollywood lyricists.

Sahir Ludhianvi - Early Years

Sahir was born in Ludhiana, in the present day Indian Punjab. He belonged to a wealthy family but when his father married for the second time, Sahir and his mother left his father, both living a life of poverty. Sahir went to Khalsa High School in Ludhiana and later to Government College where Amrita Pritam became his most ardent fan and some say she would even smoke the butts of cigarettes that Sahir had thrown away. She has openly acknowledged her love for Sahir in interviews and her books. He was quite popular for his ghazals and nazms in the college. He was expelled from the college (some say it was the work of Amrita Pritam's father who did not approve Sahir as a potential match for his daughter because she was a Punjabi and Sahir a Muslim and also because Sahir was poor).

He went to Lahore,Pakistan and had a chequered early career as editor of 'Adab i Latif', 'Shahkaar' and 'Savera' there. Also his first collection of Urdu poetry titled "Talkhiyaan" (Bitterness Galore) was published at this time, when he was 23. But his inflammatory writings (communist views and ideaology) in 'Savera' resulted in an arrest warrant being issued by the goverment of Pakistan and so he left Lahore for Delhi somewhere in 1949). (Another famous Urdu poet exiled from Pakistan for his writings is Ahmed Faraz).

From Delhi, Sahir finally moved to Bombay (now Mumbai).

Sahir Ludhianvi - Poetry lyrics and Bollywood

Sahir's poetry reflected the mood of the age. His poetry, similar to that of Faiz Ahmed Faiz (who was already an established poet when Sahir came of age), had the same lyricism and forcefulness. Sahir also participated in various mushairas and was a crowd-puller. But while Faiz was to appeal to the intelligentsia, Sahir's poetry was to flower as lyrics in the Bombay film industry where it found the medium that expanded Sahir's audience to far beyond the elite minority.

The song 'Mohabbat tark ki maine' (sung in the lilting, silken, shimmering voice of Talat Mahmood) written by him was his first recorded song. The first to be released was, however, 'Thandi hawain' sung by Lata Mangeshkar.

Sahir often insisted on writing the songs before the song was composed, against the Bollywood norm. However, some of his songs were written after the tunes were ready. For example, Maang ke saath tumhaara (Naya Daur, 1957 - music by O P Nayyar).

In 1958, Sahir wrote lyrics for Ramesh Saigal's movie Phir Subah Hogi, which was based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment. The male lead was Raj Kapoor and it was presumed that Shankar-Jaikishan (favorite duo of Raj Kapoor for music) would be the composers. However, Sahir insisted that only someone who has read the novel could provide the right score. Thus, Khayyam ended up as music director for the film and the song "Woh Subah kabhi to aayegi" (sung by Mukesh), with minimal background music remains an all-time hit. Khayyam went on to work with Sahir in many movies including Kabhie Kabhie.

It was on Sahir's insistence that the All India Radio started naming the lyricists along with the singers and the composers for the songs being aired. Before Sahir, the music director, followed by the playback singers usually took credit for the popularity and success of songs in movies. Sahir worked with many music directors including Ravi, Sachin Dev Burman and Roshan and has left behind many unforgettable songs for fans of Indian Film Industry and film music. Pyaasa marked an end to his successful partnership with Sachin Dev Burman over what is reported to be Sachin Dev Burman's displeasure at Sahir receiving more admiration (and thus credit for the success) from audiences for the words of the lyrics than Sachin Dev Burman did for his memorable tunes.

At the height of his popularity, Sahir is known to have demanded excess payment of one rupee for writing the song over what was paid to Lata Mangeshkar (a very popular playback singer for Hindi songs) for singing it.

Sahir lived on the first floor of the main building of an Andheri outhouse. His famous neighbours included Gulzar and Urdu litterateur Krishan Chander.

Failed love affairs (Amrita Pritam and Sudha Malhotra, an actress and a singer) had left Sahir an embittered man and he also had taken to drinking heavliy. The tragedies and pathos of his personal life most truly reflected in his poignant poetry. He remained single all his life and died at the age of 58 of a heart attack.

Sahir Ludhianvi - Famous works

• English translations of Sahir's poetry: LUDHIANVI , Sahir (1921-1980)

• SHADOWS SPEAK tr. with intro. Khwaja Ahmad Abbas {Abbas, Khwaja Ahmad} pref. Sajjad Zaheer {Zaheer, Sajjad} English text only. P.P.H. Bookstall (Bombay) 129pp (intro. 7-12) 1958 paper only.

• THE BITTER HARVEST tr. Rifat Hassan {Hassan, Rifat} Urdu & English texts. Aziz Publishers (Lahore) 169pp (pref. i-iii) 1977 cloth only.

• SORCERY/ (Sahri) tr. with pref. Sain Sucha {Sucha, Sain} Urdu & English texts. Vudya Kitaban Forlag (Sollentuna, Sweden) 114pp (pref. 1-6, essay in Urdu 106-114) 1989 paper only.

Sahir Ludhianvi - Bollywood songs

Sahir penned the some of the finest Bollywood songs.

• Chalo ek baar phir se ajnabi ban jaaye (Humraaz), composed by Ravi
• Man re tu kaahe na dheer dhare? (Chitralekha, 1964), composed by Roshan)
• Main pal do pal ka shaayar hoon (Kabhie Kabhie), composed by Khayyam
• Yeh Duniya Agar Mil Bhi Jaye To Kya Hai (Pyaasa), composed by S.D.Burman

Sahir Ludhianvi - Published collections of Urdu poetry

• Talkhiyan ("Bitterness")
• Parchhaiyan ("Shadows")

Categories: Indian songwriters | Urdu poets | Indian poets | 1980 deaths | 1921 births

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