‘Hum Dekhenge’: Of ghazals and nazms

Editor’s note: The early ’80s were the golden years of the ghazal (and its sister form, the nazm) with the rise of stalwarts such as Jagjit Singh, Pankaj Udhas, Talat Aziz, and others. It went out of style in the mainstream by the end of the decade, but its themes of romance and yearning, set over lush melodies, continue to resonate among its loyal aficionados. In this fantastic essay, Narendra Kusnur digs deep and guides us through the history and, indeed, the technical intricacies and rhythmic conventions of this most sublime form of poetry. 

And, as always, here’s a heartrending playlist of all the songs mentioned here.

Written by: Narendra Kusnur

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Every year, followers of ghazals look forward to the Khazana festival, held at the Trident Hotel in Mumbai. This year will be special as it marks 25 years of the event, which has featured a mix of established names and upcoming talent. The concerts, which raise funds for cancer and thalassemia patients, will be held on July 24 and 25.

Festivals like Khazana and many one-off concerts have kept ghazals alive. In recognition of their efforts, we thought of this piece on ghazals.

Though ghazals had been part of Hindi films for many years, and artists like Begum Akhtar in India and Mehdi Hassan in Pakistan recorded private albums, the real craze began in the late 1970s. In India, the Jagjit-Chitra Singh duo made the form more accessible to the masses, and in Pakistan, Ghulam Ali had many hit songs. In 1982, the use of Ghulam Ali’s ‘Chupke Chupke Raat Din’ in the film Nikaah, and songs composed by Jagjit Singh in the film Arth attracted more people to the genre. Let’s hear ‘Chupke Chupke Raat Din’, written by Hasrat Mohani, and Jagjit’s ‘Tum Itna Jo Muskura Rahe Ho’, penned by Kaifi Azmi in Arth.

By the early 1980s, artists like Pankaj Udhas, Anup Jalota, Talat Aziz, Rajendra-Nina Mehta, Penaz Mazani, Bhupinder, and Hariharan had ensured that ghazals had an audience of their own. Let’s check Talat Aziz’s ‘Kaise Sukoon Paaon’, written by Saaed Shaheedi, and Penaz Masani’s ‘Yun Hi Bazmon Mein Khamoshi’, by Saeed Raahi.

The ghazal fad lasted a few years but subsided after 1987 when there was too much clutter, and Hindi film music made a comeback. As the joke went, anybody with a harmonium and shawl wanted to become a ghazal singer. Though the number of listeners declined, Jagjit Singh and Pankaj Udhas continued to draw full houses. Today, many young singers are practising the art, though their concerts are often attended by older aficionados. Fewer youngsters are seen at shows, and to attract them, there have been attempts to present ghazals with western orchestras, as Pratibha Singh Baghel and producer Deepak Pandit do in ‘Kabhi Kisi Ko Muqammal’, an old ghazal written by Nida Fazli.

Now that we’ve heard some popular ghazals and got into the mood, let’s talk of certain things one must know about the form. The ghazal originated from 7th century Arabic poetry, and comes from a term referring to the art of talking to a lady. Later, it moved to Persian and Urdu literature. Most ghazals have themes of romance or separation, but there have been many ghazals which talk of protest or the environment.

At concerts, one mainly gets to hear two forms—ghazals or nazms. While ghazals consist of rhyming couplets and use intricate poetry, nazms have free-flowing verse. There is a third form, the geet, which basically means a simple song, which perhaps lacks the poetic splendour of the ghazal or nazm.

The basic condition for a ghazal is that it should have a series of rhyming couplets, called shers. In the first sher, or the matla, the two lines should rhyme, and in the subsequent shers, the second line should rhyme with the first sher. Let’s check Pankaj Udhas’s 1981 song ‘Jheel Mein Chaand’, written by Mumtaz Rashid, before getting into details about rhyming.

Let’s revisit the first two couplets.

Jheel mein chaand nazar aaye thi hasrat uski

Kabse aankhon mein baitha hoon surat uski

Ek din mere kinaaron mein simat jaayegi

Thehre paani si yeh khamosh mohabbat uski

Here, ‘hasrat’, ‘surat’ and ‘mohabbat’ are called the kaafiya and ‘uski’ is the radeef.

Confused? Though it may seem very technical, it’s actually simple once one gets the hang of it. Let’s take only one more example, by listening to Jagjit Singh’s 1980 ‘Sadma Toh Hai Mujhe Bhi’, written by Qateel Shifai.

The first two shers of the couplet are: 

Sadma to hai mujhe bhi ke tujhse judaa hoon main

Lekin ye sochta hoon ke ab tera kyaa hoon main

Bikhra pada hai tere hi ghar mein tera wajood

Bekaar mehfilon mein tujhe dhoondta hoon main

So ‘judaa’, ‘kyaa’ and ‘dhoondta’ are the kaafiya and ‘hoon mein’ forms the radeef.

There are three more terms one needs to know, and for that let’s listen to the Queen of Ghazals, Begum Akhtar, sing ‘Ae Mohabbat Tere Anjaam Pe Rona Aaya’, written by Shakeel Badayuni.

Hearing the song, one would have gathered that ‘naam’, ‘shaam’, ‘gaam’ and ‘dil-e-nakaam’ are the kaafiya, and ‘pe rona aaya’ is the radeef. But see the last couplet.

Jab hua zikr zamaane mein mohabbat ka ‘Shakeel’

Mujhko apne dil-e-nakaam pe rona aaya

The last couplet is called the maqta, and very often, it is here that the poet takes his own name or pseudonym—in this case ‘Shakeel’. In ghazal jargon, this is called takhallus. Of course, all ghazals do not carry the poet’s takhallus. Finally, one often hears the term behr, which means metre—and defines the length and flow of each line.

The ghazals mentioned above have rhyming shers. But there are occasions when the song does not have couplets or a specific rhyming pattern. These are called nazms, and to get an idea of their poetic structure, let’s listen to two of them. Farida Khanum’s famous ‘Aaj Jaane Ki Zid Na Karo’ is written by Faiyyaz Hashmi, Mehdi Hassan’s ‘Zindagi Mein Toh Sabhi Pyaar Kiya Karte Hain’ is by Qateel Shifai. There are no couplets, and the rhyming is erratic, but feel the magic of the words.

In ghazals, it is important to acknowledge the poet. After all, he or she forms the backbone of the ghazal, and the singer expresses his or her views. The genre has seen many famous poets. The older masters are led by Mirza Ghalib, Meer Taqi Meer, and Daagh Dehlvi. From the 20th century, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Ahmed Faraz, Shakeel Badayuni, Qateel Shifai, Gulzar, Javed Akhtar and the younger Farhat Shahzad have been prolific. Let’s listen to one Ghalib ghazal—Jaswinder Singh’s ‘Aah Ko Chahiye’—and one by Faiz—Nayyara Noor’s ‘Hum Ke Thehre Ajnabee’.

Some listeners may have difficulty understanding specific words, but today, there are many websites providing the meanings of songs. Once the basics are in place, one can go deeper into many areas.

For instance, there’s the use of ghazals in films. Many KL Saigal, Talat Mahmood, and Lata Mangeshkar songs were in the ghazal format. Then, during the 1980s peak, films like Arth, Bazaar, Saath Saath, and Umrao Jaan used such songs. Let’s listen to Lata Mangeshkar’s ‘Yun Hasraton Ke Daagh’, composed by Madan Mohan and written by Rajendra Krishan in the 1958 film Adalat, and then Talat Aziz’s ‘Zindagi Jab Bhi Teri Bazm’, composed by Khayyam with words by Shahryaar the 1981 movie Umrao Jaan.

Next, one can look at youngsters singing classic ghazals, and compare them with the more famous renditions. For instance, let’s check Noorjehan on Nasir Kazmi’s ‘Niyat-e-Shauq’, followed by Prithvi Gandharv’s adaptation of the song.

Or there is Mehdi Hassan’s immortal ‘Ranjish Hi Sahi’, penned by Ahmed Faraz, and its version by Papon.

So far, the emphasis has been on ghazals. But there are many iconic nazms, and here are two that are on many playlists. Pankaj Udhas’s ‘Chitthi Aayee Hai’, composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal and written by Anand Bakshi in the 1986 film Naam, is normally considered a film song, but works as a nazm in every way. Then, there is Iqbal Bano’s ‘Hum Dekhenge’ written by Faiz Ahmed Faiz to protest against the Zia-ul-Haq regime of Pakistan in the 1980s.

Some songs were played often in live concerts and on Doordarshan in the 1980s. These included Rajendra-Nina Mehta’s nazm ‘Taj Mahal Mein Aa Jaana’, written by Prem Warbatoni, and Chitra Singh’s ghazal ‘Aankh Se Aankh Mila’, by Saeed Raahi. 

The search can be endless, nostalgic and rewarding. But let’s end this column by dedicating songs to two legendary personalities who passed away this year. The first is poet Bashir Badr, who breathed his last on May 28. Here, we play his ghazal ‘Kabhi Yun Bhi Aa Meri Aankh Mein’ sung by Jagjit.

And finally, here’s a tribute to the great Asha Bhosle, who passed away on April 12. Like her sister Lata Mangeshkar, she had an incredible command over the ghazal medium. The choice here is ‘Salona Sa Sajan’, composed by Ghulam Ali and written by Shabih Abbas in the 1983 album Meraj-e-Ghazal.

The best thing about ghazals is that they grow on you, and an understanding of the basic terminology is an asset. As always, we end the essay with a list of songs we have mentioned, for quick reference.

Ghulam Ali – Chupke Chupke Raat Din

Jagjit Singh – Tum Itna Jo Muskura Rahe Ho

Talat Aziz – Kaise Sukoon Paaoon

Penaz Masani - Yun Hi Bazmon Mein Khamoshi

Pratibha Singh Baghel – Kabhi Kisi Ko Muqammal

Pankaj Udhas – Jheel Mein Chand

Jagjit Singh – Sadma Toh Hai Mujhe Bhi

Begum Akhtar – Aye Mohabbat Tere Anjaam Pe Rona Aaya

Farida Khanum – Aaj Jaane Ki Zid Na Karo

Mehdi Hassan – Zindagi Mein Toh Sabhi

Jaswinder Singh – Aah Ko Chahiye

Nayyara Noor – Hum Ke Thehre Ajnabee

Lata Mangeshkar – Yun Hasraton Ke Daagh

Talat Aziz – Zindagi Jab Bhi Teri Bazm

Noor Jehan – Niyat-e-Shauq

Prithvi Gandharv – Niyat-e-Shauq

Mehdi Hassan – Ranjish Hi Sahi

Papon – Ranjish Hi Sahi

Pankaj Udhas – Chitthi Aayee Hai

Iqbal Bano – Hum Dekhenge

Rajendra-Nina Mehta – Taj Mahal Mein Aa Jana

Chitra Singh – Aankh Se Aankh Mila

Jagjit Singh – Kabhi Yun Bhi Aa Meri Aankh Mein

Asha Bhosle – Salona Sa Sajan

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Narendra Kusnur has been a music journalist for over 40 years—including a decade-long stint covering the beat at the Mid-Day newspaper. He currently writes for The Hindu, Free Press Journal, Hindustan Times, and Rolling Stone India—besides the in-house magazines of prestigious institutions—such as NCPA and Shanmukhananda Hall.