A long, long time ago, probably back in my pichle janam, I made a list of songs of heartbreak. Not much to my surprise, all my songs (except one) were sung by women. And of course, I was accused of being unfair to men by a couple of my male readers who posted songs of male angst. Which just proved (once again) that men only sing of heartbreak when their significant others die.
I was promptly pounced upon by one reader who told me I wasn't looking hard enough. Men do suffer from heartbreak. So, yes, while it took almost two years, I did look. And yes, these are all songs of heartbreak. All sung by males (sorry, one woman sneaked in!) - but you know what? While the
women usually mourned the loss of their love in private, singing tearfully of their broken hearts, the men
seemed to think that it was a good idea to sing in public, at social events, at the engagement parties of their erstwhile lovers, sometimes even in the presence of the new husbands. Hmm...
Not only that, while the women cried bitter tears and were totally bereft at being deserted, the men, who are all equally heartbroken (or supposedly so), were angry/cynical/furious (in one instance) and sang of how unfaithful their women were. Yup, all bewafas. Every single one of them.
Flippancy aside, yes, betrayal can hurt. A lot. Heartbreak is worse when you think you have been played for a fool. It is the pain of losing your love combined with the humiliation of knowing (or thinking) that your lover has made you a laughing stock. I suppose anger is a justifiable emotion, then? Or is it?
But. Let's leave the motivations of the men behind, shall we? They are all equal opportunity offenders, and even my favourite Dev and Dilip are guilty. These are some lovely songs and here, in no particular order...
Not only that, while the women cried bitter tears and were totally bereft at being deserted, the men, who are all equally heartbroken (or supposedly so), were angry/cynical/furious (in one instance) and sang of how unfaithful their women were. Yup, all bewafas. Every single one of them.
Flippancy aside, yes, betrayal can hurt. A lot. Heartbreak is worse when you think you have been played for a fool. It is the pain of losing your love combined with the humiliation of knowing (or thinking) that your lover has made you a laughing stock. I suppose anger is a justifiable emotion, then? Or is it?
But. Let's leave the motivations of the men behind, shall we? They are all equal opportunity offenders, and even my favourite Dev and Dilip are guilty. These are some lovely songs and here, in no particular order...
1. Kya se kya ho gaya
Guide (1965)
Singer: Mohammed Rafi
Music: SD Burman
Lyrics: Shailendra
The betrayed: Dev Anand. The Betrayer? Waheeda Rehman.
Guide (1965)
Singer: Mohammed Rafi
Music: SD Burman
Lyrics: Shailendra
That he forged her name to cheques is no big matter. That she left him in hurt and anger, is huge. But of course, she is the one at fault for placing him behind bars for forgery and embezzlement.
Chalo suhana bharam toh toota,
Jaana ke husn kya hai
Jaana ke husn kya hai
Kehti hai jisko pyar duniya,
Kya cheez kya bala hain
Kya cheez kya bala hain
Dil ne kya na saha, Bewafa tere pyar mein
It is his love for her that has brought him to this sorry pass. (Of course it is!)
Gumrah (1963)
Singer: Mahendra Kapoor
Music: Ravi
Lyrics: Sahir Ludhianvi
The betrayed? Sunil Dutt. The Betrayer? Mala Sinha.
Now, this is prime example number one of what I was talking about in the introduction to this post. Yes, he has a right to feel aggrieved. He goes away for a while, and comes back to find his love married off to her sister's widower without so much as a by-your-leave. But does he ask what happened or why? Nope. When he is invited home by the new spouse of his erstwhile lover, he immediately breaks into Chalo ik baar phir se ajnabi ban jaaye hum dono. To which emotion, I'm sure, (after her hours of martyrish weeping) she must have heartily subscribed to... But does he stop there? Nope. He recites his way through
Mere humraah bhi rusvaiyaan hai meri maazi ki
Tumhare saath bhi guzri hue raaton ke saaye hain...
Poor woman. Her only crime (then) was pusillanimity.
3. Guzre hain aaj ishq mein
Dil Diya Dard Liya (1966)
Singer: Mohammed Rafi
Music: Naushad
Lyrics: Shakeel Badayuni
It's one of my guilty pleasures, this song. Because this goes a few steps beyond accusing the woman of infidelity. It actually wishes her the same hurt and pain. All because the 'hero' comes back rich and (he thinks) 'acceptable' to find that his beloved's brother dislikes him even now and has fixed his sister's marriage to someone else. What is the woman's fault? Who knows? The film, a rather painful 'adaptation' of Wuthering Heights, is avoidable. The songs are a mixed bag, and as I said, this is a guilty pleasure. I mean, what else can it be with lyrics like:
Oh bewafaa, teri bhi yun hi toot jaaye dil
Tu bhi tadap-tadap ke pukare haaye dil
Tere bhi saamna ho kabhi
Gham ki shaam se...
4. Meri bheegi bheegi si
Anamika (1973)
Singer: Kishore Kumar
Music: RD Burman
Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri
The betrayed: Sanjeev Kumar. The Betrayer? Jaya Bhaduri
The hero does have some reason to be angry here. First, he rescues a young girl, tied and gagged and unconscious, and takes her home. When she regains consciousness, she seems to have lost her memory, and insists he is her husband. Forced to play along, he calls her 'Anamika' (the nameless one) and begins to fall in love with her, when she does the disappearing act. When he meets her again, she is Archana, a married woman, who refuses to admit she had met him before. She has her reasons for her actions, and so does he - but, seriously? At a party? And he thought it was a good idea? Especially when he walks around singing:
Aag se naata, naari se rishta,
Kaahe man samajh na paaya
Kaahe man samajh na paaya
Mujhe kya hua tha ek bewafaa pe,
Hai mujhe kyon pyaar aaya
Hai mujhe kyon pyaar aaya
Teri bewafaai pe hanse jag saara,
Gali gali guzre jidhar se...
Gali gali guzre jidhar se...
...as if this is not going to make him a bigger laughing stock!
5. Koi mujhse pooche ke tum mere kya ho
Ye Raste Hain Pyar Ke (1963)
Singer: Mohammed Rafi
Music: Ravi
Lyrics: Rajinder Krishen
The betrayed? Sunil Dutt. The Betrayer? Leela Naidu.
In a cinematic representation of the celebrated Nanavati case, Sunil Dutt plays the cuckolded husband who comes home to find his wife has been seduced by his playboy friend played by Rehman. So he does have a reason to call her unfaithful and to sing:
Tere rukhsaar mein garmi ka kahin naam nahin
Teri aankhon mein wafa ka koi paigham nahin
Koi mujh se pooche ke tum mere kya ho
Wafa jisne looti wohi bewafa ho
Teri aankhon mein wafa ka koi paigham nahin
Koi mujh se pooche ke tum mere kya ho
Wafa jisne looti wohi bewafa ho
The debut production of the fledgling Ajanta Arts, Sunil Dutt's production house, the film veered away from the reality of showing the 'fallen woman' live out her life. While Commander Nanavati moved to Canada with his wife and family, the film had Leela Naidu's repentant character die in her husband's arms. (But, of course... how could she live?) The video clip has both versions of the song. The song the post is referring to begins at 5.07.
Shreeman Funtoosh (1965)
Singer: Kishore Kumar
Music: Laxmikant-Pyarelal
Lyrics: Anand Bakshi
Question: What would any man do if he saw the girl he loved dancing with another man? If we are to belive Hindi film tropes, then he will promptly burst into a song that accuses her of infidelity, of course! There isn't even a question of talking to her to find out what the hell is happening; that is, if dancing with someone is a crime - which it is not. So, Kishore, seeing his girl in Anoop Kumar's arms bursts into:
Koi bhi vaada yaad na aaya koi kasam bhi yaad na aayi
Meri duhaayi sun le khudaai mere sanam ne ki bewafai
Men!
7. Mere dushman tu meri
Aaya Din Bahaar Ke (1966)
Singer: Mohammed Rafi
Music: Laxmikant-Pyarelal
Lyrics: Anand Bakshi
Here I offer namoona no: 2 where the hero not only accuses her of being unfaithful but actually wishes her ill. Since no one in Hindi films believed in actually talking to each other, or they deliberately lied in the most painful martyred fashion for the silliest of reasons (else, how would we have a film?) one cannot actually blame the man for being furious at what he considers his beloved's deception. But to actually sing a song like this in public takes serious chutzpah. And after he sings these lines:
Tu phool bane patjhad ka, tujh pe bahaar na aaye kabhi
Meri hi tarah tu tadpe tujhko qaraar na aaye kabhi
Jiye tu is tarah ke zindagi ko tarse
Mere dushman tu meri dosti ko tarse
- I wonder why he thinks she would thirst for his friendship?
8. Dost dost na raha
Sangam (1964)
Singer: Mukesh
Music: Shankar-Jaikishen
Lyrics: Shailendra
For a change, the hero, Raj, is not accusing the heroine of being unfaithful. Not yet, anyway. He is narrating the story of a colleague in the army, who went back home to find his beloved married to his best friend to whom he had entrusted her care. Raj is full of scorn for the faithless woman and the unfaithful friend and he sings the song that his friend and colleague used to sing when he learnt of the betrayal...
Amaanatein main pyar ki gaya tha jisko saunpkar
Woh mere dost tum hi thhe, tumhi to thhe
and
Gale lagi seham seham bhare gale se bolti
Woh tum na thhi to kaun thi, tumhi to thhi
The issue here is, of course, that Raj could as well be talking of his friend and his beloved. Only, she has never loved him though he assumed she did. Which of course, leads him to be a complete idiot when he accuses her over and over again of having 'a past', even while she pleads O mere sanam, o mere sanam, ye dharti hai insaano ki, Kuch aur nahin insaan hain hum...
9. Kya hua tera vaada
Hum Kisise Kam Nahin (1977)
Singer: Mohammed Rafi
Music: RD Burman
Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri
The betrayed? Tariq. The Betrayer? Kaajal Kiron.
Way outside the purview of my blog usually, since the film released in 1977. But with regard to the post, I could hardly ignore this - the quintessential 'Let's make the girl feel really, really, really guilty' song.
Yaad hai mujhko tune kaha tha
Tumse nahin roothenge kabhi
Dil ki tarah se aaja mile hain
Kaise bhala chhootenge kabhi
Teri baahon mein beeti har shaam
Bewafaa ye bhi tujhe yaad nahin
Tumse nahin roothenge kabhi
Dil ki tarah se aaja mile hain
Kaise bhala chhootenge kabhi
Teri baahon mein beeti har shaam
Bewafaa ye bhi tujhe yaad nahin
Doesn't matter that she doesn't know that he is her childhood sweetheart. Never mind that he pretended to be a rich man and fooled her, so when she finds out the truth, she is naturally disinclined to believe anything else he says. She is bewafa because she doesn't magically know some x years later that the scrawny kid she tagged along with is this strapping young man in front of her. And Teri baahon mein beeti har shaam? When he has never seen her since she was a kid?!
10. Ik bewafa se pyar kiya
Awara (1951)
Singer: Lata Mangeshkar
Music: Shankar-Jaikishen
Lyrics: Shailendra
The betrayed? Nargis. The Betrayer? Raj Kapoor.
The shoe is on the other foot here. Raj, pretending to be a rich business man, 'gifts' his Rita a beautiful necklace, quite forgetting to mention to her that he had stolen it from her foster father. But when Raj gifts her a necklace without a case, and her foster father gifts her a case without a necklace in it, she is intelligent enough to put two and two together. Raj leaves without a word of explanation and Rita is left to face the music.
This sole female song is served up as a contrast to all the other songs that have gone before. Betrayed in love, the heroine's emotions mirror the song being sung by the dancer (Honey O'Brien) at her birthday party. But there the similarities end. a) It is her party. b) She is not the one singing the song. c) While the song refers to her lover as bewafa (unfaithful), she is not calling him that in public. Instead, the song bemoans her fate at having fallen in love with someone so fickle. She blames herself for having fallen for the blue eyes and the smooth charm. What have I done?
De gayi dhokha hamein neeli neeli aankhen
Sooni hai dil ki mehfil bheegi bheegi aankhen
Hoy humne aitbaar kiya, Ulfat ka ikraar kiyaa
Haay re hamne ye kyaa kiya, Ik bewafaa se pyaar kiyaa
Us se nazar ko chaar kiyaa, Haay re hamne ye kya kiya
The women grieve, the men get furious. I rest my case. :)
