My Favourites: Songs with Conditional Clauses

A conditional clause is one in which one situation depends on another being fulfilled. A sentence with a conditional clause always has two parts – one, the conditional clause which states the condition, and two, the main clause, which results from that condition being fulfilled. For example, If it rains, then the event will be cancelled. The probability of the second part – the event being cancelled – depends on the condition – If it rains – being met. Think of it as an ‘if/then’ sentence. 
 
Songs that don’t fit the theme, despite having a [seeming] conditional clause, include: Tum agar mujhko nahin chahogi toh koi baat nahin… [“It’s okay if you don’t love me] or Ye duniya agar mil bhi jaaye toh kya hai? [What does it matter if the world accepts me?] That is because the ‘condition’ – ‘If you don’t love me’ or ‘If the world accepts me’ is not followed by a corresponding action. There’s nothing in the lyrics to indicate that if she doesn’t love  him {in the first scenario) he will do anything about it, or if the world doesn’t accept him (as in the latter scenario), there will be consequences to follow.

I came across many of these conditional clauses in old Hindi film songs; at the first instance, my reaction was, “Hmm, that’s interesting.” Then, I began noticing patterns – there were plenty of songs which set conditions, and the results could be plausible or implausible. So why not make a list of songs that fit this theme?
Aap yunhi agar mujhse milte rahe
Ek Musafir Ek Hasina (1962)
Singers: Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle
Music: OP Nayyar
Lyrics: Raja Mehdi Ali Khan

This is the song that first piqued my interest in this theme.
Aap yunhi agar mujhse milti rahe
Dekhiye ek din pyaar ho jaayega… sings the hero. (If we keep meeting like this/we will fall in love one day). The ‘falling in love’ depends on them meeting frequently. It is an interesting song because the lyrics speak of love and attraction – but in the film, at this point, the hero and heroine are not yet in love. She’s married (or thinks she is) and he’s an army officer who has amnesia. She’s trying to get him to a hospital so he can be treated; he has no clue who this beautiful woman is, but is not loath to be in her company. Why she’s so coquettish when she seems to spend half her time keeping him at a distance is anyone guess. The plot had more holes than Swiss cheese, but if OP Nayyar’s lovely songs (ten of them), a beautiful Sadhana, a handsome Joy Mukherjee are enough, then Ek Musafir Ek Hasina is worth a watch. 
 
Tum agar saath dena ka vaada karo
Humraaz (1967)
Singer: Mahendra Kapoor
Music: Ravi
Lyrics: Sahir Ludhianvi

Tum agar saath dene ka vaada karo
Main yunhi mast naghme lutaatha rahoon
Once again, it’s the hero setting the condition – if she would only promise to support him, he will continue to sing. Does she want him to? That, apparently, is not something that crosses his mind as he continues:
Tum mujhe dekhkar muskuraati raho
Main tumhe dekhkar geet gaata rahoon
While the woman looks on, stone-faced. It’s hard to decipher what she wants; she certainly doesn’t say a word.

Tu kahe agar
Andaz (1949)  
Singer: Mukesh
Music: Naushad
Lyrics: Shakeel Badayuni

What’s with men wanting to continuously sing songs to women? Thankfully, here, he’s actually asking her consent:
Tu kahe agar jeevan bhar
Main geet sunaata jaaoon
Dilip Kumar plays the piano with a little more verisimilitude than most heroes, Nargis drapes herself over the piano, while Cuckoo dances. He is making his feelings very clear, and one can’t blame him for thinking the lady reciprocates. Not when she’s smiling so prettily at him.

Agar pyaar mein muskuraaye na hote
Lalten (1956)
Singer: Geeta Dutt
Music: Hemant Kumar
Lyrics: Kaif Irfani

It is strange – or perhaps not, after all – that when it is the lady who’s setting the condition, it is to sing a maudlin song of heartbreak. If I hadn’t smiled in love, she cries, I wouldn’t be hiding my tears now.
Agar pyaar mein muskuraaye na hote
Toh palkon mein aansoo chhupaaye na hote
This is a conditional clause known as the past hypothetical. Because the deed is already done – she had smiled when she was in love – and there’s no way she can undo that action – due to which she’s crying in the present. If she could back in time to change one action?
 
Tu hai chanda toh main hoon chakor
Aaghosh (1953)
Singers: Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar
Music: Roshan
Lyrics: Indeevar

This is a conditional clause known as the second conditional. It sets unreal/improbable conditions – If you are the moon, I am the chakor partridge (in folklore, the bird yearns for the moon. But since that’s literally impossible – she’s not the moon – he’s talking of an unreal situation, one that is not about what will happen but what could happen in an alternate reality. 

The video link cuts short the song by a good minute. Here's the full audio.

Agar babu dil hai qaboo
Musafirkhana (1955)
Singer: Asha Bhosle
Music: OP Nayyar
Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri

This is a ‘zero conditional’, or in simple terms, it’s stating an obvious truth. It is used to express facts/ truths.
Agar babu, agar babu dil hai qaboo
Toh dar nahin tu mohabbat kar
“If your heart is in your control, dear sir,” she sings, “then don’t be frightened to fall in love.“ This always holds true – if you are brave then you can fall in love without being afraid of the world. 
 
Agar saaz chheda taraane banenge
Jawani Diwani (1972)
Singers: Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle
Music: RD Burman
Lyrics: Anand Bakshi

This song is another example of a ‘zero conditional’ sentence – it states a very simple truth:
Agar saaz chheda taraane banenge
Taraane banenge taraane banenge
Taraane bane toh?
Taraane bane toh fasaane banenge
If you play a musical instrument, a melody will be produced. [You could argue that if played badly, a melody is not what will ensue.] The song then follows a series of conditional clauses:
Fasaane bane toh?
Fasaane bane toh sunegi ye mehfil
Sunegi ye mehfil toh badi hogi mushkil… and so it goes.
 
Ae jaan-e-jigar chilman se agar
Qawwali ki Raat  (1964)
Singers: Mohammed Rafi, Mubarak Begum
Music: Iqbal Qureshu
Lyrics: Shehzan Rizwi

A song with a ‘first conditional’ clause:
Ae  jaane-e-jigar, chilman se agar
Halka sa ishaara ho jaaye
Paigham-e-mohabbat mil jaaye
Jeene ka sahaara ho jaaye
"My beloved, if only you would
Send me a gentle signal from behind the curtains
If I could get a sign of your love
Then I would be able to live"
It’s a simple statement of possibilities – that if his beloved would only signal to him, it would give him the strength to live on. And from the context, this is not a hypothetical, but a real possibility. A ‘first conditional’ is about what might happen in the future. 
 
Itihaas agar likhna chaaho
Rani Roopmati (1957)
Singer: Usha Mangeshkar
Music: SN Tripathi
Lyrics: Bharat Vyas

This song is an example of an ‘inverted conditional’. The consequence is state first, the condition comes in the second part of the sentence.
Itihaas agar likhna chaaho
Aazaadi ke mazmuun se
Toh seencho apni dharti ko
Veeron tum apne khoon se
“If you want to write history under the pen name, ‘Freedom’
Then soak your land, my brave men, with your blood”
History will only be written if their blood is spilt in defending their land.
From Rani Roopmati, where the eponymous Rani (Nirupa Roy) is exhorting her subjects and her soldiers to battle the invaders.

Main koi aisa geet gaaoon
Yes, Boss! (1997)
Singers: Abhijeet Bhattacharya, Alka Yagnik
Music: Jatin-Lalit
Lyrics: Javed Akhtar

This is yet another example of the ‘inverted conditional’. He speaks of all the things he will do for her – sing her a song that will arouse her desire, call her and welcome her with the utmost respect wherever she treads, call the earth the sky, decorate it with stars – if only she will ask it of him.
Main koi aisa geet gaaoon
Ke aarzoo jagaaoon
Agar tum kaho
Tum ko bulaaoon, palke bichhaaoon
Qadam tum jahaan jahaan rakho
Zameen ko aasmaan bulaaoo
Sitaaron se saja doon
Agar tum kaho
It is also a ‘mixed conditional’ in that most of what he claims he will do for her is impossible. It’s all very romantic, nevertheless, and a very pretty song picturised on a very pretty heroine (Juhi Chawla).
 
Agar mujhse mohabbat hai
Aap ki Parchhaiyan (1964)
Singer: Lata Mangeshkar
Music: Madan Mohan
Lyrics: Raja Medi Ali Khan

This song falls under the ‘first conditional’ category that states a real possibility as the condition, and offers a real consequence if that condition is met.
Agar mujh se muhobbat hai
Mujhe sab apna gham de do
In aankhon ka har ik aansoo
Mujhe meri kasam de do
“If you love me, then give me all your sorrows
Give me the tears that spring into your eyes
I beg you, upon that love, give them to me”
The film, starring Dharmendra, Supriya and Shashikala, verged on the old trope of a heartless daughter-in-law who illtreats her in-laws. This song was the saving grace in a family (melo)drama.
 
Badal jaaye agar maali
Bahaarein Phir Bhi Aayengi (1966)
Singer: Mahendra Kapoor
Music: OP Nayyar
Lyrics: Kaifi Azmi

On the face of it, this is an example of a ‘zero conditional’ clause, stating an obvious truth.
Badal jaaye agar maali
Chaman hota nahin khaali
Bahaaren phir bhi aati hain
Bahaaren phir bhi aayegi
That if the gardener changes/goes away, the garden does not destruct; Spring comes as is its wont, Spring will continue to come…
But as gardeners know – much to their chagrin – if they leave their garden untended, Spring might come along, but their garden will not yield much, if anything.

Judaaii ki khabar hoti deedar se pehle
Aansoo (1953)
Singer: Lata Mangeshkar
Music: Husnlal-Bhagatram
Lyrics: Qamar Jalalabadi

This is a song that fulfils the ‘third conditional’, that of past hypotheticals. ‘Had this happened/not happened in the past, then this wouldn’t be occurring now… ‘  Or in this case, even the consequence is rooted in the past. The problem with this kind of situation is that one cannot travel back in time to erase what happened then, but at least this singer is very self-aware: nothing can change now.
Judaaii ki khabar hoti deedar se pehle
Toh marne ki dua karte tumhaare pyaar se pehle
‘If I’d known we would separate before I even met you
I would have begged for death before falling in love with you”
There are too many conditions here that are difficult to meet for a satisfying conclusion. If she had known that they would have to separate, if she had known that she would be left to weep alone, she would have thought a thousand times before admitting her love.
It’s not a very reassuring statement for the man to hear, but assuming they are separating due to circumstances, he probably feels the same way.
 
Hum bhi agar bachche hote
Door ki Aawaaz (1964)
Singer: Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle
Music: Ravi
Lyrics: Shakeel Badayuni

Here’s a fun song that fulfils the ‘second conditional’ of impossible situations. ‘If I were a child too,” he sings, “my name would be Gaploo or Babloo, and I would get to eat laddus”.
Hum bhi agar bachche hote
Naam hamaara hoga Gaploo, Babloo
Khaane ko milte laddu
Happy Birthday to you
This song is a light-hearted take on an improbable situation – if he were a child. The interesting part of this situation is that he would obviously have been a child once, but that past hypothetical is not what he’s singing about. He’s wishing he were a child in the present, so he can eat sweets, and receive presents on his birthday, much like a child would.
 
Ab agar humse khudaaii bhi khafa ho jaaye
Laila Majnu (1976)
Singers: Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar
Music: Madan Mohan
Lyrics: Sahir Ludhianvi

This can be either a ‘first conditional’ or a ‘second conditional’ depending on your perspective. Because the lovers are adamant that even if the universe is upset with them, it is impossible that they will be separated from each other, that they will sacrifice their lives...
Ab agar hum se khudaaii bhi agar khafa ho jaaye
Gair mumkin hai ke dil dil se judaa ho jaaye
Jism mit jaayen ke ab jaan fanaa ho jaaye
Gair mumkin hai
But reality intervenes… one is not sure if the universe was upset with them, but alas, the lovers are separated. [This follows one of the tropes of Hindi cinema, where no sooner do lovers sing of never being parted are they torn asunder by circumstances or even death.]
 
What songs do you remember that fit this theme?