The soft-spoken bard

Shakeel Badayuni was born on August 3,1916 to Mohammed Jamaal Ahmed Sokhta Quadri in Badayun in Uttar Pradesh. His father arranged for Arabic,Persian,Urdu and Hindi tuitions at home itself,and Shakeel was also otherwise very fond of reading. An early influence was a distant relative,Zia-Ul-Quadri Badayuni,a shaayar who wrote Islamic religious verse. All these factors along with the environment of the times developed the lad’s poetic inclinations.

After joining Aligarh Muslim University in the mid-1930s,Shakeel began participating in mushairas,frequently winning such competitions. He completed his Bachelor in Arts,married distant relative Salma,and went to Delhi on a job as a supply officer.

And yet it was the mushaira that kept giving him fame – that too at a national level. In the days when Leftist poets like Majrooh Sultanpuri,Jigar Moradabadi and Ali Sardar Jafri ruled and often wrote cynical verse against the system,Shakeel’s poems were more personal and positive with a strong whiff of romance. Angst was replaced by verse like Mujhe faqr hai ki meri shaayari meri zindagi se juda nahin,recited with humour and wit balanced with the literary element to forge a distinct identity.

And it was at a mushaira in 1946 that Naushad and filmmaker A.R.Kardar,who had introduced Majrooh in Shahjehan,heard the 30-year-old writer and asked him if he wished to write in films. Shakeel happily accepted. Asked by Naushad and Kardar to encapsulate his skills,Shakeel replied,“Hum dard ka afsana duniya ko suna denge / Har dil mein mohabbat ki ek aag lagaa denge” (I will tell the world the story of my pain and set every heart afire with love). Shakeel’s future was clinched.

Shakeel’s first song,Afsana likh rahi hoon,from Dard,released in 1947,was a rage. Singer Uma Devi (later to become famous as character artiste Tun Tun) is said to have made her singing debut with this all-time hit song. Shakeel’s second film was Dulari,which had the immortal Suhani raat dhal chuki. And Shakeel never looked back.

The hits kept coming all through a career that was cut short only by Shakeel’s untimely death at 53 on April 20,1970. Recalls Shakeel’s son Javed Badayuni,“My father had developed both,diabetes and tuberculosis. That took him away well before the government could honour him.”

A bond with few equals

Towards the end,Naushad would go to the TB sanatorium in Panchgani (a hill-station near Mumbai) for his sittings with Shakeel for their last three films – Ram Aur Shyam,Aadmi and Sangharsh. “Though the latter two films released afterwards,it as far as I know,was for Ram Aur Shyam that work was completed last. The last song recorded by Naushadsaab and my father,was the Rafi hit for Dilip Kumar,Aaj ki raat mere dil ki salaami le le,” says Javed.

Naushad and Shakeel had a deep personal bond. “The building in which we now stay was once a cottage owned by a Catholic gentleman,” says Javed. “Naushadsaab was a tenant living on the ground floor and he arranged that our family (my parents,three sisters and a brother) stayed on the first floor. We continued living here after Naushadsaab built his own house just behind ours.”

“For almost 20 years,Naushadsaab worked in every film with my father,” adds Javed. “I recall Vijay Bhatt,the famous director,wanting Pradeepji for Baiju Bawra as devotional Hindu songs like O duniya ke rakhwale were needed. But Naushadsaab was insistent that Bhattsaab hear my father’s lyrics. After hearing them,Bhattsaab was overjoyed and so Baiju Bawra went on to become a musical milestone in their careers with unforgettable songs like Bachpan ki mohabbat ko,Jhoole mein pawan ki,Man tadpat Hari darshan ko aaj,Tu ganga ki mauj and Mohe bhool gaye saawariya.”

Their tuning was so strong that Naushad went professionally off-key after Shakeel’s death. Though he worked with multiple lyricists like Majrooh,Rajendra Krishna,Jan Nissar Akhtar,Hasrat Jaipuri and Anand Bakshi,the spark had gone.

“Naushadsaab admitted that he missed my father,” agrees Javed. “In 20 years after Andaz (which had Majroohsaab’s songs),my father never worked with anyone else – a rare phenomenon in Hindi film music. The only exceptions were Saaz Aur Awaz,in which my father had suggested that he work with his friend Khumar Barabankhvi,and Saathi,during which my father was ill and Naushadsaab thought of re-creating the Andaz magic with Mukesh as his main voice and Majroohsaab’s lyrics.”

He goes on,“Naushadsaab and my father had a perfect understanding. He would give my father complete freedom to write his verse before setting it to music. Day and night ceased to matter at work,and there were compositions that would take weeks to finalise,” says Javed. “The line Chhup na sakega ishq hamara / Chaaron taraf hai unnka nazaraa / Parda nahin jab koi Khuda se / Bando se parda karna kya from Pyar kiya to darna kya in Mughal-E-Azam took days to finalise. I was told that my father wrote and rewrote the song 105 times. Naushadsaab’s servants would carry bucketfuls of waste papers every morning! Similarly a song in Mere Mehboob took one month!”

Javed recounts how H.S.Rawail,producer-director of Mere Mehboob,told Naushad to use a proper orchestra for the title-song of the film instead of the mere three instruments he wanted. And the composer simply said,‘Wait till you hear the song. Iss mein sirf Shakeel-saab ki shaayari ka kamaal hai!’ “Naushadsaab did not want my father’s verse to be overshadowed by the music!” explains Javed.

Naushad,Shakeel and Mohammed Rafi formed a trio that loved to play badminton,go on picnics and hunting trips and fly kites together. Says Javed. “They were very fond of biryani and khichda and would host parties at their homes in rotation! And Johnny Walkersaab would frequently join them in the kite-flying competitions.” Dilip Kumar,writers Wajahat Mirza,Khumar Barabankhvi and Azam Bajatpuri were among Shakeel’s other close friends within the industry.

The all-rounder

While Javed feels that Shakeel was best at romantic songs,he is quick to add that his father was versatile. The romantic classics included Pyaar kiya to darna kya (Mughal-E-Azam),Beqaraar karke and Zaraa nazaron se keh do jee (both from Bees Saal Baad),Na jaao saiyyan and Bhanwra bada nadaan (both from Sahib Bibi Aur Gulam),Dhoondo dhoondo re saajna and Nain lad jahiyen(both from Gunga Jamuna),Husnwale tera jawaab nahin (Gharana),Tu mera chand main teri chandni (Dillagi),Jab jag uthe armaan (Bin Badal Barsaat),Tumhein paake humne (Gehra Daag),Ae husn zaraa jag (Mere Mehboob),Sawan aaye ya na aaye (Dil Diya Dard Liya) and many more.

Being a near fixture with Dilip Kumar because of the Naushad predominance in the star’s movies,Shakeel also was a master of the sad song,with immortal classics like Aaj purani raahon se (Aadmi),Koi saagar (Dil Diya Dard Diya),Meri kahani bhoolne wale (Deedar) even in outside films like Raha gardishon mein har dum (Do Badan) and Raat ki mehfil sooni sooni (Noorjahan).

But the writer also penned qawwali,mujra,Holi and festival songs,cabaret,patriotic and all kinds of songs needed in Hindi films. “His special forte were children’s inspirational songs like Nanha munna raahi hoon (Son Of India) and Insaaf ki dagar pe (Ganga Jamuna) as well as playful numbers like Hum bhi agar bacche hote (Saaz Aur Awaz),” says Javed. “And his mastery over Awadhi as well as Hindi and Urdu kept him in great form in every genre from folk to ghazal,his core strength.”

A unique forte was the poet’s genius at devotional as well as other songs with a Hindu ethos. Naushad had once thrown light on this special depth. “Shakeelsaab’s father was a Muslim imam who respected all religions and inculcated those values in his son,” the composer had once said. “And so Shakeel had studied Hindu culture and mythology. Otherwise,songs like those from Baiju Bawra,Madhuban mein Radhika naache re (Kohinoor),Mohe panghat pe (Mughal-E-Azam),Insaaf ka mandir hai yeh (Amar) and the Holi songs in films like Mother India could not have been possible.” It is said that Madhuban mein Radhika inspired Dilip Kumar so much that he insisted on actually learning the sitar as he had to play it in the film during the song.

To the honour born

“My father was a loving and soft-spoken man who never ever scolded us!” says Javed. “He was a born scholar and would often call us children and try and teach us to sing and explain how songs were written. Like all lyricists who wrote in films to have a better living for their families,he never stopped writing non-film poetry or participating in mushairas,and some would be even attended by Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar,who too would recite poetry there! He had written five books of ghazal (called Diwan) and they were compiled later into the very popular Kuliyat-E-Shakeel. Even today’s artistes like Pankaj Udhas and all other famous artistes sing my father’s works. Begum Akhtar always sang my father’s ghazals,including his two world-famous ones,Ae mohabbat teri awaaz and Mere humnafas. When he passed away,my father had 108 films to his credit,five of which were never released or completed.”

Such was Shakeel’s fame at his peak that luminaries like India’s past presidents Dr Zakir Hussain and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed and late Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri would insist on his recitals when they attended cultural events of the literary kind,and even invite him to mehfils.

A melodious combination

While Shakeel was Naushad’s musical bulwark,he freely wrote for many other composers. According to Javed,he did no less than 30 films with composer Ghulam Mohammed including hits like Mirza Ghalib (in which Shakeel wrote four original songs),Laila Majnu,Kundan,Malik and others.

His most successful association after Naushad was,however,with music director Ravi in a string of South hits like Gharana,Ghunghat and Grihasti as well as Phool Aur Patthar,Chaudhvin Ka Chand and Do Badan. Hemant Kumar (Bees Saal Baad,Sahib Bibi Aur Gulam,Bin Badal Barsaat),S.D.Burman (Kaise Kahoon,Benazir),C.Ramachandra (Zindagi Aur Maut,Wahan Ke Log) and Roshan (Bedaag,Noorjahan) were among the other composers who worked with him. “Khayyam tuned his ghazals in private films but they never worked on a film together,” says Javed.

Towards the end of his career,Shakeel had a musical hit with Sonik-Omi in Beti (1969) and some popular songs in Kalyanji-Anandji’s Baazi (1968). “My father had signed two films each with Shankar (-Jaikishan) and Laxmikant-Pyarelal. Of Shankarji’s Pyar Ka Rishta and Dil Daulat Duniya,Indeewarji completed the last song of the former film but my father passed away before starting work on the latter. With L-P,two songs were recorded for Humdard,which was never completed,and the other film,Jurm Aur Saza (1974) was his last release.”

Even after 41 years since Shakeel passed away,his songs and poetry remain as fresh and celebrated as ever. The soft-spoken bard lives on through his magical words.

rajiv.vijayakar@expressindia.com