Saturday, June 30, 2012

Aaj Jaane Ki Zid Na Karo...


mag·i·cal/ˈmajikəl
Adj:giving a feeling of enchantment
Synonyms: bewitching, charming, spellbinding

There was once this song. It was made many- many years ago- 1973 to be precise-A simple love song that caught the imagination of millions of music lovers. The perfect combination of lyrics, melody, melancholy and romance…It would often get requested in dying hours of parties when it was almost time to leave. Everyone who was or had been in love could relate to it.

Given its popularity many singers sang it – different voices, different styles. Each lover of this song seems to have their own favorite. I had mine, too. It was sung by the Ghazal queen Farida Khanum.

And then one day I listened to a version sung by Shafqat Amanat Ali. And It was MAGICAL. The way he sang it, transformed the meaning of the song for me. It gave it a new ethereal, spiritual dimension. It was no longer a simple ballad that talked about common love. It was now the agony that the thought of being separated from someone you have devoted your life to would produce. It was realization of the impermanence, the fleeting nature of time;of the purity of love itself that takes the mortal existence to a higher level of being all together.



The powerful singing even compelled me to do a very inspired translation of the beautiful lyrics- my own interpretation of the love and longing that the song represents.

Do not talk of leaving tonight
Just be here, sit by my side
Devastated and lost that’s what I’ll be
If you even talk of leaving me

How can I not urge you not to go
You are my life, don’t you know
My dearest, promise me, you have to agree
Tonight you won’t talk of leaving me

In the shackles of time, lives are bound to be
Rare moments like these, set us free…
If you let them just flit away
You’ll miss them…. every day
So tell me you won’t go…and will be here today

So vibrant, this hour, oh so divine,
Grace and passion rise in an embrace, sublime
For the ‘morrow there is no worry no care
When tonight is ours to feel and share
So be mine, I won’t let you out of sight
Don’t insist on going away tonight!


They say that you know that you are in love when the hardest thing to do is say good-bye. No wonder then that I can’t stop listening to Shafqat’s  Aaj Jaane ki Zid na Karo, because his voice makes you fall in love with it ,each time!

Some facts about the song
- The song was written by Fayyaz Hashmi and composed by the famous music composer Sohail Rana for the Pakistani film “Badal aur Bijli”
- It was originally sung by Habib Wali Mohammad
- The version sung by Farida Khanum is probably the most popular, though many other singers including Asha Bhonsle, Talat Aziz and Anup Jalota have sung it as well
- The song is in Raag Yaman


6 comments:

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  3. Something to add here that you might like. This program was "A Tribute to Sohail Rana". Almost all top singers were invited to this program but they gave the final performance to Shafqat. All others sang while standing up but Shafqat was the only one that sat down and Sohail Rana sat with him, this is the only song where Sohail Rana is not really running the show, shows his confidence in Shafqat.

    Another thing is that whle preparing for the show, Shafqat arrives and Sohail Rana tells him that as a tribute to his father, they should listen to his song on a tape recorder, and they did it. It's in the "Making of .." the program.

    By the way, I guess you must be on your way to writing a blogspot on "ras ke bharay tore nain" :)

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    1. Thank you so much Omer. I knew this was from "A tribute to Sohail Rana" but not all that you just told, which is simply wonderful. Is there a way to watch "the Making"- could you give me a link?

      And yes, definitely going to write about "Ras ke Bharey" very soon.

      Thanks again!

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  4. Hi , I came to this page - just reading/trending from Gopi... its interesting to see your insights into the song - when I could "perceive" none. comes as a bit of shocker - but here's the thing - it is a known fact that our brains "will" conjure up differences when there exist none. Ditto -- you have found a "depth" to this song - all by yourself and very little credit goes to the singer of the song itself - (as a matter of fact its one of the rare songs where I found Shafqat out of tune - atleast in the early/starting stages ... ) Anyways -I'm just commenting that we are capable of conjuring our meanings/images/even excellence and what's intriguing is that we're willing to "assign"/attribute to a "priming" agent. Regards.Y

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  5. Very interesting take Y... thanks for this comment. Food for thought, indeed. Appreciate your dropping by and commenting. The subjectivity in interpreting music is what adds to its beauty, though... dont you think so? :)

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