Abba's Jnanpith Award And A Few Songs....

Well, its finally happening. After a long wait, my father Prof Shahryar will be receiving the prestigious Jnanpith Award for the year 2008 from the hands of Mr Amitabh Bachchan on September 18 at a grand function in New Delhi. Jnanpith Award is the highest literary honour in India. Noted writer Gulzar has written a book on my father 'Suno Shahryar' which will also be unveiled at this function.



It has been a tough time for us, as Abba is battling with a serious ailment and has been undergoing treatment. We as a family have been trying to ensure that the best of care and attention is given to Abba. When he came to Bombay in April, I used to recite one of his couplets to him constantly to boost his confidence:

Laakh khursheed sar-e-baam, agar hai, to rahe,
Hum koi mom nahin hain jo pighal jayenge

(The sun may be fiercely hot and it must be tough to survive, but I am not wax, that will melt so easily)

There's a famous Ghazal in 'Umrao Jaan'... Dil cheez kya hai, aap meri jaan lijiye, bas ek baar mera kaha maan lijiye. One of my my favourite lines from this Ghazal is 'Mushkil nahin hai kuch bhi agar thhaan lijiye' (Nothing is impossible, if one makes up the mind to achieve the goal). I have constantly mentioned this line to Abba for the last five months. We always told him, he has to go and accept this huge honour all by himself. On stage. In glory. We as a family seem to have succeeded in that. My elder brother Humayun has been making detailed planning to ensure that all goes well. He has been simply amazing.

Well, in one of my earlier posts in April (http://faridoonshahryar.blogspot.com/2011/04/gift-positive-smile-to-elderly.html) I had mentioned about Muzaffar Ali's Zooni. A film based on Kashmiri poetess Habba Khatoon that starred Dimple Kapadia and Vinod Khanna. The film could never get completed because of the Kashmir problem but it had some amazing songs composed by Khayyam sb and lyrics by my father. I would like to share a video from that film which has one of Abba's songs 'Rukhe Dildaar Deedam' playing in the background.



I'd also like to share one of my favourite Ghazals from Umrao Jaan, Justuju jiski thi, usko to na paaya humne



Here's 'Seene mein jalan ankhon mein toofan sa kyun hai, is shaher mein har shaqs pareshaan sa kyun hai'. A Ghazal from Gaman, with music by Jaidev sahab and lyrics by Abba. This is the first song of singer Suresh Wadekar and arguably his best till date.



Ajeeb saniha mujh par guzar gaya yaron, main apne saaye se kal raat darr gaya yaaron. Hariharan's first ever song. Film: Gaman. Music: Jaidev. Lyrics: Shahryar.



'Hum chup hain ke dil sun rahe hain'

Film: Faasle. Producer-Director: Yash Chopra. Music: Shiv-Hari. Lyrics: Shahryar

'

Janam janam mere sanam

Film: Faasle. Producer-Director: Yash Chopra. Music: Shiv-Hari. Lyrics: Shahryar



Abba wrote lyrics for Muzaffar Ali's 'Anjuman' starring Farouque Shaikh and Shabana Azmi. Music by Khayyam. Shabana sang the songs. Bad decision though, for some very fine compositions (both musically and at the level of lyrics) were spoilt. Sharing a few songs nevertheless:

Tujhse Hoti To Kya



Aisa nahin ki isko nahin jaante ho tum

Film: Anjuman. Music: Khayyam. Lyrics: Shahryar



Main raah kabse nayi zindagi ki takti hoon

Film: Anjuman. Music: Khayyam. Lyrics: Shahryar



Here's a Down Memory Lane interview that I recently conducted with Abba on his film career