The recent war of words between the political leaders has turned out to be a contest of making out a meaner, sharper abbreviation using English alphabet. It appears that their vocabulary is not enough to say what they have in mind. Rather, they mindlessly concoct abbreviations or try to fit new words on already available letters in the short forms. We have had SCAM, KASAB, names of political opponents as well as abbreviations of party names being re-worked.
Hindi films, too, had instances of clutching on alphabet to churn out popular songs, down the years. Surprisingly, many of them became very popular. In the films, the lyrics of a song are meant to express true love and the word-smiths have found innovative ways of using letters of the alphabet to convey the message.
As we explore this genre , a lot of surprises are in store. Read on....
As early as 1958, almost 60 years ago, the musically and lyrically inclined purists were shocked that a song , which sounded like reading from a children's Basic Reader could become so popular.
The song was from the film Dilli ka thug, starring Kishore Kumar ( who else could pulled it off?) and Nutan , exchanging love messages through alphabet. Written by Majrooh Sultanpuri, the song was composed by Ravi and became a rage, coming second in the Binaca Geet Mala that year !
The song?
C.A.T cat, cat maane billi, R.A.T. rat rat maane chooha
Alif Zabar AA, Alif Ber AE
In Hindi it is said, Dhai akshar prem ke, because it takes two and a half letter to write it. Hindi films had a rich tradition of expressing love through associations with nature (ek tha gul aur ek thi bulbul ), metaphors( dil ek mandir hai) and similes ( kora kagaz tha ye man mera).
However, the love songs in the films were changing rapidly in the 80s.They were more upfront in place of having similes, metaphors and other oblique references, which were a thing of the past. As they say, if you feel it, say so: don't beat about the bush.
A prime example of this trend was in the film Kaalia ( 1981), an Amitabh-Parveen song ( Majrooh, again) which needed to spell out love , literally, by calling out the alphabet !
L O V E Love.
Simple, isn't it?
DISCO = Dance Item Singer Chorus Orchestra
When we were kids, there were many popular rhymes like "Akkad bakkad bambe bo" and "chandu ke chacha ne , chandu ki chachi ko".
There was also a Hindi rhyme made out entirely of English alphabet !
Yaad aayi?
It was BBG TPOG IPKIG UPOG ( Bibi ji, Tea peeyo ji, I pee ke aayi ji, you peeyo ji).
Probably Javed Akhtar, the lyricist of the film Kuchh Na Kaho ( 2003) was going through a writer's block and thought he will pass off a "traditional" rhyme for his own. But such is the bankruptcy in art and maybe we get what we deserve. Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai mouthing what their parents or grandparents had done, may many years ago.
All said and done,now that the politicians have resorted to word-play to get votes, hopefully the hindi film lyricist will go back to literary and artistic manner of wording their song.
Till then, TATA
Hindi films, too, had instances of clutching on alphabet to churn out popular songs, down the years. Surprisingly, many of them became very popular. In the films, the lyrics of a song are meant to express true love and the word-smiths have found innovative ways of using letters of the alphabet to convey the message.
As we explore this genre , a lot of surprises are in store. Read on....
As early as 1958, almost 60 years ago, the musically and lyrically inclined purists were shocked that a song , which sounded like reading from a children's Basic Reader could become so popular.
The song was from the film Dilli ka thug, starring Kishore Kumar ( who else could pulled it off?) and Nutan , exchanging love messages through alphabet. Written by Majrooh Sultanpuri, the song was composed by Ravi and became a rage, coming second in the Binaca Geet Mala that year !
The song?
C.A.T cat, cat maane billi, R.A.T. rat rat maane chooha
Those were the days when in a large number of areas, the language used was Urdu. In courts and for property deals, documents were in Urdu.
In films , the name of the film was always mentioned in Urdu. It was, therefore, natural that a creative lyricist will attempt to use the Urdu alphabet. As we know, Urdu is written from right to left and the Alif , Be , Pe etc. are the letters in Urdu. The song written by Rajinder Krishan , however, deals with the vowels of Urdu. If you listen to the song, it will be clear that a child is being taught the phonetics of using Urdu vowels, by Joy Mukherji, in a musical manner !Alif Zabar AA, Alif Ber AE
Next up is a return to English ; not for adopting it, for shunning it !
Hema Malini was at her bubbly best , exhorting Dharmendra to stop teaching her English and instead, learn her language of love.The song was written by Anand Bakshi. The film is Raja Jani ( 1972) and the chemistry between the two remained a subject for film periodicals till they married !
For the record, Dharam-Hema did 43 films together, starting with Sharafat (1970) upto Tell me O Khuda ( 2011) , making it one of the most enduring relationships of tinsel town.
For the record, Dharam-Hema did 43 films together, starting with Sharafat (1970) upto Tell me O Khuda ( 2011) , making it one of the most enduring relationships of tinsel town.
However, the love songs in the films were changing rapidly in the 80s.They were more upfront in place of having similes, metaphors and other oblique references, which were a thing of the past. As they say, if you feel it, say so: don't beat about the bush.
A prime example of this trend was in the film Kaalia ( 1981), an Amitabh-Parveen song ( Majrooh, again) which needed to spell out love , literally, by calling out the alphabet !
L O V E Love.
Simple, isn't it?
The Eighties brought another craze in the Indian youth, a new dance form: Disco !
Such was the rage of disco dancing that every young boy and girl leapt on to the dance floor for a pelvic thrust . Just as there was Twist in the 60s and Cabaret in 70s , Disco was the dance of 80s. Heralded by a music album by Nazia Hasan and Zoheb Hasan in Disco Deewane, the ambassador of the dance form was truly, Mithun Chakraborty. However, with the emphasis on beats and music, lyrics had to take a secondary status. that is why in his film Disco Dancer ( a super hit, musically ) and had a song, written by Anjaan, explaining the full form of DISCO using the alphabet to creative effect.DISCO = Dance Item Singer Chorus Orchestra
Not satisfied with making out a full form of a dance type, Hindi film writers, kept on inventing phrases to entice the now dwindling film-goer. The hook-phrases such as "Kero mama" , "Hawa Hawai" and "Oye Oye" surfaced from nowhere to become popular tag-lines of more popular songs.
One such tag-phrase was ILU ILU ...an acronym invented for I Love U, by none other than Anand Bakshi.
Lo and behold, there was a full-fledged song Ilu Ilu, in Saudagar 1991, starring Vivek Mushran and Manisha Koirala.
One such tag-phrase was ILU ILU ...an acronym invented for I Love U, by none other than Anand Bakshi.
Lo and behold, there was a full-fledged song Ilu Ilu, in Saudagar 1991, starring Vivek Mushran and Manisha Koirala.
In the Nineties, the whole scenario had changed.Anything could be set to tune and when nothing could occur to less-than-fertile minds, the English alphabet became the last resort. There is a film during the shooting of which, there was another shooting, that of a black buck.
The film was Hum Saath Saath Hain (1999), there was a song which had the singer spell out from A to H, just to get to I and say I Love You. The lyricist ( does Mitali Shashank deserve to be called one?) had run out of ideas, it seems.
Wonder whether this was the reason of the black buck episode !
Wonder whether this was the reason of the black buck episode !
:)
When we were kids, there were many popular rhymes like "Akkad bakkad bambe bo" and "chandu ke chacha ne , chandu ki chachi ko".
There was also a Hindi rhyme made out entirely of English alphabet !
Yaad aayi?
It was BBG TPOG IPKIG UPOG ( Bibi ji, Tea peeyo ji, I pee ke aayi ji, you peeyo ji).
Probably Javed Akhtar, the lyricist of the film Kuchh Na Kaho ( 2003) was going through a writer's block and thought he will pass off a "traditional" rhyme for his own. But such is the bankruptcy in art and maybe we get what we deserve. Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai mouthing what their parents or grandparents had done, may many years ago.
By now, I am sure you must be thinking that we have reached the rock-bottom of hindi lyrics. And despite the language of films being Hindi , no one has ever though of using Hindi alphabet ka, kha ga, gha ...or so I thought.
Till I heard this Amitabh Bhattacharya song from the 2016 film, Bombay Velvet, starring Ranbir kapoor and Anushka Sharma.
Interestingly , this song is said to be a highly sensual song.
But am I to judge?
Listen yourself.
Interestingly , this song is said to be a highly sensual song.
But am I to judge?
Listen yourself.
All said and done,now that the politicians have resorted to word-play to get votes, hopefully the hindi film lyricist will go back to literary and artistic manner of wording their song.
Till then, TATA
1 comment:
Well thought out blog Amitabh. Too late to add some more songs- will do it tomorrow
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