Aye gham-e-dil kya karoon...

Today, I got my hands on my old tapes sitting around in my room and so it was time to listen to my favorite ones. This comes from the tapes I got as a gift from K-mami. God bless her! She chose such a quality gift to give me/us. These tapes have got fantastic collection of Talat Mahmood songs.

I adore this one for it's music. It's so upbeat and fantastic for a sad song. I wish I get to see the video of this song some day. Shammi Kapoor looks so young and handsome in the photo.

And while I was searching for who was the lyricist of this song, I found this awesome piece of info on this film, apparently one of Shammi Kapoor's first films and the lyricist Majaz.

Source: By swarapriya on hamaraforums

"Thokar" is the movie in which Shammi Kapoor made his debut. He was only 22 then. He did have acting experience touring with Prithvi Theatre Company (his father's) playing bit roles in various plays. By this time, both his father, Prithviraj Kapoor, and his older brother, Raj Kapoor, have firmly established themselves in the movie industry as formidable forces to reckon with. So when he decided to make a plunge into acting in movies, not just one, but five producers signed him.

Unfortunately for Shammi, eventhough he was in the hands of reputable directors, and was a leading man opposite several established actresses (like Madhubala, Nutan, and Suraiya) it wasn't an auspicious start for him. None of these movies were commercial successes.

One great feature about "Thokar" is its music composed by Sardar Malik. The songs "Aye Gham-E-Dil Kya Karoon" are outstanding. These were written by the famous poet Majaz (his picture is given below). In real life Majazji was Asraar Ul Haq. He was uncle of the great lyricist of today, Javed Akhtar. Javed Akhtar's father, himself another great lyricist, Jan Nisar Akhtar, was married to Majajz's sister.

Majazji was considered to be a romantic poet. He was regarded by many as Keats of India. Among others he was a contemporary of Sahir Ludhianvi. Eventhough Sahir initially didn't have good opinion of Majazji as a person (Majaz was an alocoholic), his poems won over him and they became very good friends until Majaz's death in 1955 at the young age of 44. For several years preceding his death, Majazji who depeneded on heavy drinking suffered several nervous breakdowns and also was institutionalized for some time. Inspite of all kinds of hardships, the genius in Majaz was still alive and stayed sober enough to write. His works were published in several books. One of his famous books is "Awaara". The song "Aye Gham-E-Dil" is one of the songs from that book.

Government of India honored Majaz's meomory by issuing a commemorative stamp recently in March 2008.

shaher ki raat aur main naashaad-o-naakaara phiroon
jag-magaati jaagati sadkon pe aawaara phiroon
(aye gham-e-dil kyaa karoon
aye vehshat-e-dil kyaa karoon
kyaa karoon, kyaa karoon) (2)
aye gham-e-dil kyaa karoon

yeh roopehli chhaanv yeh aakaash par taaron ka jaal (2)
jaise soofi ka tasavvur jaise aashiq ka khayaal
aah lekin kaun samajhe kaun jaane jee ka haal
aye gham-e-dil kyaa karoon
aye vehshat-e-dil kyaa karoon
kyaa karoon, kyaa karoon
aye gham-e-dil kyaa karoon

raaste mein ruk ke dam loon yeh meri aadat nahin (2)
laut kar vaapas chala jaaun meri fitarat nahin
aur koi hamanava mil jaaye yeh qismat nahin
aye gham-e-dil kyaa karoon
aye vehshat-e-dil kyaa karoon
kya karoon, kyaa karoon
aye gham-e-dil kyaa karoon


Film: Thokar (1953)
Singer: Talat Mahmood
Music Director: Sardar Malik
Lyrics: Majaz
Picturized on: Shammi Kapoor, Shyama