Category: Music

Indian singers famous in Pakistan

The popularity of Pakistani singers in India is a very well known thing. But the other thing I have always wanted to know is which Indian singers are heard in Pakistan.So thought of writing a blog post to know little more. Of course there is no hidden agenda Smile with tongue out. Just out of curiosity wanted to know this.

It will be great if you could write the name of the singer in the comments. It will be even more awesome if you could few lines as well.

Please note that Bollywood playback singers don’t qualify as an answer.

Hoping to hear from Pakistani friends !

Challa/Jhalla – Jab Tak Hai Jaan

Bollywood music is not something that even deserves a blog post but when there is some really really big confusion being spread about some of the legendary symbols of folk, it needs to be talked about.

There is a new song stupidly, wrongly, absurdly titled Challa from the movie Jab Tak Hai Jaan. Lyrics are by Gulzar and the music has been composed by none other than awein hi overrated A R Rahman sahab.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q5duWVfDJo

Now the problem with this song is that it has been titled Challa whereas the word he has pronounced (and probably Gulzar has written) is Jhalla. These two are totally different words and have different meanings. Gulzar & Rabbi both are Punjabis and they very well understand the difference. There has been some mess up somewhere in between and it is a big one.

Impact ? Some experts have declared that Challa & Jhalla mean almost the same thing. I am writing this post to address this stupidity. Please…these are two different words and mean absolutely different things. And of course a song Jhalla shouldn’t be titled Challa.

Challa literally means ring…a token of love exchanged between lovers. A girl whose lover is away from her…talks to Challa and tells her pain. In Punjabi folk it is a metaphor which has been used in this kind of context. Later there were other versions written by some other people. But the original one finds its roots in the regions of Sandal Bar (in the present day Pakistan). It developed there as a folk few hundred years ago. Here is a post explaining the meaning of the complete song.

Jhalla on the other hand literally means manaic or foolish. But in Punjabi this word is (mostly) not used in this context. It is used for someone who is passionately in love with someone or someone who is in pain due to separation from his/her loved one. Someone who is so impacted by the pain that he appears like a mad to the rest of the world.

Now tell me how these two words mean the same thing ?

Alwida Mehdi Hasan sahib…

My oldest memories of listening to Mehdi Hasan sahib date back to school days when we used to listen to his duet with Noorjehan jado teri dunia ton pyar tur jayega, das fer dunia te ki reh jayega on Radio Pakistan, Lahore. Almost every alternate day this song played on Radio Pakistan, Lahore or Islamabad.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2JDwd9ZNbs

I loved Noorjehan’s voice but didn’t know much about Mehdi Hasan. While growing up I became a big fan of Pakistani music and regularly used to listen to it on radio but didn’t know about all the singers.

Years gone by and here I was doing my Engineering in 2000. My roommate was a huge fan of Jagjit Singh and from there I also started listened to some ghazals of Jagjit Singh. I don’t remember how but I started listening to Ghulam Ali and became a huge fan of him. I have listened to Ghulam Ali much more than Jagjit Singh. So that was how I started listening to Ghazals. I had heard a lot about the greatness of Mehdi Hasan but had never listened to him properly.

I think it was 2005 (if i remember correctly) that I listened to ranjish hi sahi and I became an instant fan of his rendition.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgKDqh2ccuU

Then for quite some time I didnt really listen to Mehdi Hasan sahib. It was until 2007 when I came across one CD titled Mehdi Hasan – 40 immortal Ghazals. Once again I loved Mehdi sahib’s rendition of  Saleem Kauser’s main khiyal hoon kisi aur ka. That continued for quite some time but again only one ghazal.

Then came a time in 2007 or 2008 when I was alone for almost 2 months. All of my roommates either moved abroad or to some other cities in India. I was already his fan but now being alone gave me a plenty of time to listen to him. That was when I became his huge huge admirer. His style and handling of ghazals was so different from everyone else and just amazing. It was a different world. The CD I mentioned above had live versions of main khiyal hoon kisi aur ka, abke hum bichde & go zara si baat par. 

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hndkyTIe-14

For complete 2 months, daily evenings were enlightened by magic of these three ghazals. Then started the journey to other gems like ranjish hi sahi (once again), main hosh mein tha, shola tha jal bujha hoon, yeh dhuaan sa kahan se uth-ta hai amoungst others. This journey continues till date while exploring the different live versions of his ghazals. He was, remains and will remain the king of ghazal singing. His style, the way he rendered poetry and his command on ghazal singing are absolutely magical. Now that he is no more with us, an era has ended. This void will never be filled. There is no one and there will be no one who can sing like him. There was and will be only one Mehdi Hasan. His music will remain alive with us for ever. I think the best tribute to him would be to listen to and remember the beautiful music he created make the coming generations aware of his magic. It is a sad day. I have no words to explain the feeling of loss that all the music lovers must be going through. Perhaps Faraz sahib aptly put it: ab ke hum bichde to shayad kabhi khwabon mein milein

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgNf4xxGr0o

We will miss you Mehdi Hasan sahib…may your soul rest in peace.

 

Junoon !

Last Thursday I had a chance to watch Junoon (if we may call it so !) live at Blue Frog, New Delhi. It was a good show but not the same Junoon as it was with Ali Azmat and Brian being part of it. Salman Ahmed is an awesome guitarist but Ali’s vocals were something that along with Salman’s guitar made Junoon what it was in its good days. Their choice of lyrics, compositions, singing…everything was awesome. It is really sad to see that these guys parted ways. We don’t know the reason for their split and would probably never know but what we can do for sure is cherish the great music they created during their best times.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p2dRkVURQM

We are brothers

Someone’s comment on youtube on a video of Atta Ullah Khan:

sometimes i think that i HATE pakistan…but when i go to songs of ataullah khan ,nusrat fateh ali khan ,abida parveen,,,THEN I THINK F*** HATE….”WE ARE BROTHERS”…

xxx xxx

New Delhi