आपका क्या होगा जनाब ए आली

 Once in a while, Hindi movie songs can throw an expected pleasant surprise.

On gaana.com, Riya’s Retro podcast was playing a song from Amitabh Bachchan’s “लावारिस”, a movie I remember not liking much. “मेरे अंगने में” was a huge hit then. This particular song, Kishore Kumar’s “आपका क्या होगा जनाब ए आली” became a hit too, but I really did not care for it. I have never played any of these songs on my own. Lyrics of this one are by the producer-director Prakash Mehra.

Now Prakash Mehra, one of the most commercially successful directors, being a lyricist is not a big surprise. He has written a few songs, and some were hits. For example, “सलाम-ए-इश्क़” from “मुक़द्दर का सिकंदर”, or “मंज़िलें अपनी जगह हैं ” from “शराबी”. What took me by surprise was the lyrics of the antara.

आप भी मेरी तरह इन्सान की औलाद हैं

आप मुँह माँगी दुआ हम अनसुनी फ़रियाद है

वो जिन्हें सारा ज़माना समझे लावारिस यहाँ

आप जैसे ज़ालिमों के ज़ुल्म की ईजाद हैं

(ईजाद == creation)

Now, that’s a Rubaai structure for the antara! Something Sahir has done on many occasions. And Prakash Mehra’s effort is not bad at all. Nothing great. But ok enough. Just like his other songs. The second antara also has a Rubaai. Having noticed the Rubaai structure, I decided to check if it is in any meter. 

And it is indeed metrically correct. Now that’s a pleasant surprise! It’s not a meter prescribed for Rubaai, but it’s a very common meter used in Urdu for ghazal and Hindi movie songs. It’s called रमल मुसम्मन महज़ूफ. It goes 2 1 2 2 / 2 1 2 2 / 2 1 2 2 / 2 1 2. The Marathi version of a metrically equivalent वृत्त is named कालगंगा. 

In Urdu the most famous example would be the very first ghazal of Ghalib’s Deewaan - “नक़्श फरियादी है”. And, one example of a famous Hindi movie in this same meter is “आप की आँखों में कुछ महके हुए से  ख़्वाब हैं” by Gulzar.

Finding a Rubaai like antara with a correct meter in a song written by Prakash Mehra, a small and nice surprise for a weekend.