Posted by:
Srinivas Ganti
Contributed by:
Srinivas Ganti
June 22, 2002
LATAnjali - 212
|
(Jalti Nishani, 1957) |
Posted by:
Srinivas Ganti
Contributed by:
Srinivas Ganti
June 22, 2002
|
Comments by Afzal Saheb and Nani. Inevitably the lyrics will raise the question of what the strange words in the song mean. I have already made some efforts at deciphering the words. First I sent the song's mp3 to a redoubtable rmim-er, whom census lists as knowing 18 languages, and who keeps giving us good reasons to believe on rmim that that figure of 18 may not be much of an exaggeration. But he wrote back saying that the words sounded strange to him, too. I had tentatively guessed that the words could be archaic or arcane urdu/persian/arabic/a mix of these. Next I contacted another redoubtable fellow who knows only 14 languages, but the number includes some of the suspected languages. He was foxed as well and guessed that the chorus has just sung 'anokhe bol'. His guess was : >I don't hear any recognizable language... these sound like 'anokhe bol' > >al badaloo >boom taake boom >dedee dinnaa diye doom > >al badaloo >boom taake boom >dedee dinnaa diye doom > >chaa.nd pe baadal chhaa gayaa... > This was a good deal more intelligent than anybody else had managed so far. The only problem was that Geet Kosh has listed the first two words as "alabadro mun(a)takiibul" and I know that Hamraaz has access to the film's song-booklet. He was in the loop, too, as some of us discussed the song. That meant the words were highly likely to be just the way they appear in Geet Kosh. Finally, it was left to the great and the good Afzal Khan to make an inspired guess, though he modestly called it worth not even two cents. I am quoting from his email below. I may add re. the mention of Arabian Nights that two gramophone 78 discs, including this song's, were released under the film-name "Birbal Paristan me.n". Either that film was scrapped or the film-name was changed. Eventually all the songs on those two discs were included in 'Jalti Nishani', which, old salts say, ran for a grand total of 7 days in the theatre. Some say it ran for just one day and was immediately withdrawn. - dn I have heard the song clip. Obviously, the film seems to be an Arabian Nights fantasy. One just cannot say for certain what the words are. But here is my take --- and it is not even worth two cents ! "Badr" means the moon or chaand (more specifically the full moon).The beloved is often compared to the full moon in Urdu/Persian poetry. "Al" is of course the definite article "the". The next word seems to be "muntaKHib" i.e. "the selected one" or "the chosen one" --- here used more in the sense of someone "exclusive". It would seem that the chorus contribution (interspersed with Lata's singing) is a refrain in praise of the heroine. In early to mid-fifties, the Arabian Nights fantasy was a fairly common genre of Indian films and such types of songs were not rare. I seem to remember another song where the chorus refrain went something like --> "Lab-e-la'aleen-e-Yaman, GHuncha dahan, seem-badan". Afzal
% \startsong \stitle{alabadro, muntaKHibul}% \film{Jalti Nishani}% \year{1957}% \starring{Geeta Bali, Kamal Kapoor}% \singer{Lata}% \music{Anil Biswas}% \lyrics{Qamar Jalalabadi ? }% % % Contributor:Srinivas Ganti % Transliterator:Srinivas Ganti % Credits:Afzal Khan, UV Ravindra, Dhananjay Naniwadekar % Comments: % \printtitle #indian % chorus : (alabadro muntaKHibul ? ab ye Dol)\-2 Lata:chaa.Nd pe baadal chaagayaa chorus:? ab ye Dol Lata:chaa.Nd pe baadal chaagayaa chorus:? ab ye Dol Lata: halakaa halakaa ujalaa ujalaa chaa.Nd pe baadal chaagayaa chorus:? ab ye Dol Lata:hus.N kisii kaa thaNDii aah chorus:alabadro Lata:aaine me.n jalaa charaag chorus:muntaKHibul Lata:hus.N kisii ka ThaNDii aah aaine me.n jalaa charaag Lata:haay re nazare.n bahakii bahakii chorus: bahakii bahakii Lata:haay re nazare.n bahakii bahakii ? sharamaa gayaa chaagayaa re chaagayaa, chaand pe baadal chaa gayaa Lata:haay javaanii haay shabaab mil na sakaa nazaro.n ko jawaab chorus:muntaKHibul Lata:haay javaanii haay shabaab mil na sakaa nazaro.n ko jawaab o~~~ shamaa\-e\-muhabbat chhupake chhupake chorus: chhupake chhupake chhupake chhupake Lata:shamaa\-e\-muhabbat chhupake chhupake koii jalaakar chalaa gayaa chalaa gayaa chalaa gayaa % #endindian \endsong % |
