Piya Tose Naina Laage Re...

Disclaimer:

This post does not pose as an exposition on the intricacies of Hindustani classical music, or cinematography. Rather, it is only an expression of an ardent fan’s general thoughts on one of the gems of Hindi film music.

R. K. Narayan’s The Guide was published in 1958, and it won him the 1960 Sahitya Akademi Award. In 1965, it was adapted for Bollywood by Vijay Anand and starred his brother Dev Anand in the role of Raju the Guide and Waheeda Rehman as Rosie Marco. It was a highly lauded production, and became the most-awarded film at the 14th Filmfare Awards, winning in 7 of the 9 categories under which it was nominated: Best Film (Dev Anand), Best Director (Vijay Anand), Best Actor (Dev Anand), Best Actress (Waheeda Rehman), Best Story (R. K. Narayan), Best Dialogue (Vijay Anand), Best Cinematography, Colour (Fali Mistry). A glaring error here was that S. D. Burman did not receive the award for Best Music Director; the award went instead to Shankar Jaikishan for Suraj, which in my opinion, was a decidedly inferior score.

Burman’s music for this film was one of his best offerings. IMHO he was one of the most versatile of Bollywood composers. The musical score for Guide boasted such hits as “Tere Mere Sapne Ab Ek Rang Hain”, “Piya Tose Naina Laage”, “Kya Se Kya Ho Gaya”, “Saiyaan Beimaan”, “Din Dhal Jaye”, “Aj Phir Jeene Ki Tamanna Hai” (another nomination which failed to bag the Filmfare Award for Best Singer), “Gaata Rahe Mera Dil”, and “Wahan Kaun Hai Tera” (and these are only the ones I love). Of these, the most stunning melodies are “Din Dhal Jaye” and “Piya Tose Naina Laage”. Mohammed Rafi’s honeyed tones express such a world of love and regret and longing that the song never fails to wring the heart. “Kya Se Kya Ho Gaya” and “Saiyaan Beimaan” are twin pieces, composed in the same raaga (Jhinjhoti) and while Rafi’s song speaks of baffled love and the hurt of betrayal, Lata’s notes cascade in “Saiyaan Beimaan” to prove true the dictum “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”. Her anger and contempt come forth without pause and the percussion instruments that are relatively muted in “Kya Se Kya Ho Gaya” here clash loudly from the commencement to create a jarring effect. The overall impression produced in the listener is one of breathlessness. Only a Lata Mangeshkar can combine the discordance of fury and the harmony of pure notes into such a devastatingly effective piece of music. Her anger does not make her shrill; nevertheless, it blazes and burns.

But the song that truly never ceases to amaze me is the melodiously beautiful “Piya Tose Naina Laage”. It is a wonder not only for the delightful composition based on raaga Khamaj, but also for its lyrics, sets, choreography, and Lata’s virtuosity. So intricately are these diverse elements linked that it is not possible to discuss them separately. I have not noticed any other song recount the mental state of the narrator as effectively as this one.

The song opens with the character of Rosie dancing alone on a very small open-to-elements stage before a very small audience. It’s a short performance, and her costume is minimal (reminiscent of the costumes in Teesri Kasam where she assays the character of a dancer in a nautanki). In subsequent sequences the sets and costumes become more elaborate, more colourful, the orchestra more elaborate. The size of the entourage, too, keeps growing; the choreography seems more polished, and Rosie’s confidence seems to grow in proportion. The variety of costumes may also, perhaps, be an indication of the changes in venue – as Rosie’s fame and popularity grow, she performs in different parts of the country and adopts the local costume to reflect the yearnings of the local maidens and thus to consolidate her fan base. The time frame indicated for her rise to popularity seems to be from just before Diwali to just after Holi, because those are the two festivals mentioned. The festival of lights fails to impress her. Holi, the festival devoted to temporarily overturning the accepted social customs and order too disappoints her – she seems to have expected his presence and to have been accosted by him in a socially acceptable setting; his absence distresses her physically, and to make matters worse, she has to put up with the unwelcome attentions of her teasing friends.

Shailendra’s lyrics capture perfectly the mood of the maiden waiting to be united with the man she loves. To my mind, this is a girl who has not yet confessed her love; yet she lingers over her chore of fetching water in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the man for whom she secretly yearns. Her whole being seems to revive like a watered flower when she catches sight of him. Her maidenly modesty does not allow her to call out to him, but her kangans clink as she starts in joyful surprise (the soaring notes after तुझ पे नज़र जब जाए... show how her heart lifts in ecstasy) and do all they can to induce him to look at her:

भोर की बेला सुहानी नदिया के तीरे

भरके गागर जिस घड़ी मैं चलूँ धीरे-धीरे

तुझ पे नज़र जब जाए! हो..

जाने क्यूँ बज उठें कँगना... खनक खन-खन खनक खन-खन

She pines for him all the time: day and night, the passage of seasons and festivals, are all taken over by her longing for him. Nothing and no one except his presence can bring her solace. At the end of each stanza, the lyrics draw attention to the taal (Rupak) through the repetition of the onomatopoeic words: “खनक खन-खन खनक खन-खन”, “झनक झन-झन झनक झन-झन”, “धिनक धिन-धिन धिनक धिन-धिन”, and the listener may be momentarily taken in by the final stanza which ends with the seemingly onomatopoeic words “मिलेंगे तन-मन, मिलेंगे तन-मन”. The harmony of the union of the lovers seems, thus, further underscored. The taal Rupak is itself unusual for use in a dance sequence, and this is itself a further reflection of the unusual situation of Rosie.

Lata’s voice, too, continues to spin the story of this girl. If one simply listens to the song without actually watching it, one feels very strongly the state of mind of the narrator reflected through the voice. Without compromising in any way on the sweetness of the notes, Lata’s voice portrays all the qualities of a maiden desiring and moving towards emotional and sexual maturity. The initial hesitation and careful modulation of voice grow in confidence and express clearly a growing desire for union. This also seems to reflect the journey of Rosie from a miserable, unfulfilled woman to a confident and successful performer. Such a woman has the autonomy to live her life on her own terms and may well demand, and get, whatever she wants. Her confidence in herself will, in time, translate into the anger of the woman who refuses to let any man cheat her of her privileges, even if it is the man who helped her get back on her feet. (The true genius of S. D. Burman becomes apparent when one notes that while this song is composed in raaga Khamaj, it also has traces of Jhinjhoti, which will later translate into the full blown “Saiyaan Beimaan”). What is also interesting is that the song seems to tell the story of the girl (in the song), Rosie, Waheeda, and even of Lata herself.

Note: The thoughts mentioned here are not mine alone; they have been supplemented with valuable inputs from my Bitter Half.