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asksabhaniblog · 7 years ago

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Rajinder Krishan(06/06/1919-23/09/1987): Story of a popular Lyricist

LOVERS OF old Hindi film music still swoon with sheer pleasure when they listen to melodious gems like Chup chup khade ho zaroor koi baat hai (Badi Behen); Jaag dard-e ishq jag (Anarkali); Mann doley mera tan doley (Nagin); Ai dil mujhe bata de,tu kis pe aa gaya hai (Bhai Bhai); Main chali main chali dekho pyaar ki gali (Padosan). The common thing in these and hundreds of other songs of that era is that they all flowed from the pen of a lyricist who is now rarely remembered and about whom not much is known by the public.

He was none other than the great song writer, Rajinder Krishan. Rajinder Krishan was a master-lyricist of the Hindi Film Industry. His songs are cherished and his poetic ability appreciated by Hindi songs' lovers. The songs, which he penned, are viewed as specimen works by many aspiring lyricists. He was an equal amongst master poet-lyricists like Sahir Ludhianvi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Shailendra and Shakeel Badayuni and penned such stirring lyrics as Suno suno ai duniya waalon, bapu ki yeh amar kahani. By the time his career ended, he had penned lyrics for about 300 films, innumerable screenplays and dialogues for the ever popular film Padosan.

Given his accomplishments, it is strange that an Internet search for him turns up little information. Many articles mention wrongly that he was born in Shimla. I think it’s about time that the lovers of his songs knew some more about this man who could produce lyrics of immense pain and loss like, Chal ud ja re panchhi ki ab yeh des hua begaana and then turn around and pen a loony song like Ek chatur naar karke singar (Padosan).

Rajinder Krishan was born Rajinder Krishan Duggal on June 6, 1919, to Parvati and Jagannath Duggal in Jalalpur Jattan of Gujarat district (now in Pakistan). He had three brothers Madholal, Banwari Lal and Hargobind and one sister. His initial years and education were in this small town and it was here that he imbibed the best of Hindi and Urdu literature. He said that he was as indebted to the poetry of Urdu poets like Firaq Gorakhpuri and Ahsan Danish as he was to that of Hindi poets like Pant and Nirala.

It was only in search of employment that he moved to Shimla somewhere in the late nineteen thirties to live with his brother Madholal Duggal and his family. Being the eldest, Madholal, tried his best to get Krishan to study some more and to try and get a reliable job. Krishan though had his own ideas about what he wanted from life and did not pay much heed to his brother’s advice.

A smart dresser and a lover of poetry, Krishan was to be found most evenings in the Coffee House on The Mall Road in Shimla, hobnobbing with others who shared his literary interests. He was a constant presence in all the poetry contests and gatherings that took place in Shimla. Needless to add that these interests of his, led to many disagreements with Madholal and also resulted in Krishan, walking out of his brother’s house in anger and protest. He was to return later on his father’s cajoling and much to his eldest brother’s relief that he eventually managed to get a (clerical) government job and got married to Sumitra. He then moved into 10 Nabha House next door to Madholal who lived in number 11. These houses still exist in the Shimla of today, although the surrounding areas have changed. Incidentally, the other neighbors included the villainous Madan Puri, Amrish Puri and their family.

Krishan however was born to another destiny and the drudgery of the clerical job and his domestic responsibilities only sharpened his desire to break free. Sometime in1942, much against the wishes of his extended family, Krishan left Shimla to try his luck in Bombay’s (now Mumbai) film industry. Leaving his wife and daughter, Pyari, with his brother and with about 100 rupees in his pocket, he embarked on an uncertain future. Upset as his brother, Madholal, was about his decision to leave his secure government job, he let him go and took on the responsibility of looking after his brother’s family, in addition to his own family. And this on his meager salary of about Rs.40.

His change of heart came about after he read one of the short stories that Krishan had written and left for his brother to read. Madholal himself used to write in his spare time but after reading this story by Krishan, he understood the true genius of his younger brother and it is said that Madholal himself never took up the pen again to write!

What Krishan faced over the next few years in far away Bombay, were extreme financial distress and professional hardships. Try as he would, he could not make a place for himself in the film world and at one point, was reduced to selling socks and handkerchiefs that he would buy in wholesale and then peddle around the city. It was many years before he could get his family to Bombay to live with him.

During the early years of struggle he made some friends who were to prove to be his lifelong friends. One such man once came to ask Krishan for some help. Madholal was on his maiden visit to his brother then and was aghast that without any hesitation, Krishan handed over Rs. 10,000 to that man. When asked for the reason for such largesse, he told him that this man and his wife had supported him in his darkest days in Bombay and it was at their home he would knock to get a free meal when he had no money to buy food.

It was with the Motilal-Suraiyya starrer, Aaj Ki Raat, that he finally got the fame he deserved and the success he desired. This, then set him on course to a greater success and left a legacy of such songs as:

Chali chali re patang meri (Bhabhi) Jadugar saiyyan ( Nagin) Baharein phir bhi aayengi (Lahore)

A keen lover of horse racing, he went on to make history of another sort when in the late 60s,he won a tax free jackpot of approximately 49 lakh. However, in spite of his busy schedule and fame, he kept in touch with Madholal and his children, whenever he got time to come to the north India. His other brothers had all moved to Bombay in years, following Krishan’s spectacular success in the film industry. Whenever, he visited, he rued the fact that the vegetables in Bombay never had the taste of the ones that grew in Punjab and took care to go back armed with such Punjabi favourites as fresh mooli (radish) and sarson ka saag. He enjoyed his life in Bombay where he was the toast of the film world, but at heart, he remained the simple man who had caught a train from Shimla to follow his destiny.

I know all this because I am his great niece. Madholal was my maternal grandfather and my mother spent a large part of her childhood and teen years in Krishan’s company. Sincemy childhood, I remember that whenever he visited he wanted my mother to make tandoori rotis and show his city bred children how the tandoor worked. He brought with him a whiff of the fantasy world of Bombay film industry and thanks to him we got to attend the premier of a few of his later films and see the film stars who attended the weddings of his children.

I feel privileged to share these details from the life of Rajinder Krishan, the lyricist par excellence, with other lovers of Hindi songs.

1. Allah-Rakha (1986) (lyrics) 2. Khel Mohabbat Ka (1986) (dialogue & story) 3. Dharm Adhikari (1986) (dialogue) 4. Ponga Pandit (1975) (dialogue) 5. Naya Din Nai Raat (1974) (dialogue) 6. Geeta Mera Naam (1974) 7. Jwar Bhata (1973) (dialogue & lyrics) 8. Banarasi Babu (1973) (lyrics) 9. Blackmail (1973) (lyrics) 10. Kahani Kismat Ki (1973) (lyrics) 11. Bombay to Goa (1972) (dialogue) 12. Maalik (1972) (dialogue) 13. Shehzada (1972) (dialogue) 14. Rakhwala (1971) (lyrics) 15. Man Mandir (1971) (dialogue, screenplay, & lyrics) 16. Reshma Aur Shera (1971) (lyrics) 17. Gopi (1970) (dialogue & lyrics) 18. Jawab (1970) (dialogue & lyrics) 19. Tumse Achha Kaun Hai (1969) (lyrics) 20. Doli (1969) (dialogue) 21. Ek Shriman Ek Shrimati (1969) (dialogue) 22. Pyar Ka Sapna (1969) (dialogue) 23. Sachaai (1969) (dialogue) 24. Waris (1969) (dialogue) 25. Brahmachari (1968) (lyrics) 26. Gauri (1968) (dialogue) 27. Padosan (1968) (dialogue, screenplay, & lyrics) 28. Sadhu Aur Shaitaan (1968) (dialogue) 29. Nai Roshni (1967) (dialogue & lyrics) 30. Pyar Kiye Jaa (1966) (dialogue) 31. Khandan (1965) (dialogue & lyrics) 32. Main Bhi Ladki Hun (1964) (dialogue & lyrics) 33. Jahan Ara (1964) (lyrics) 34. Sharaabi (1964) (lyrics) 35. Pooja Ke Phool (1964) (dialogue) 36. Bharosa (1963) (dialogue & lyrics) 37. Yeh Raaste Hain Pyar Ke (1963) (lyrics) 38. Bluff Master (1963) (dialogue) 39. Man-Mauji (1962) (dialogue & lyrics) 40. Prem Patra (1962) (dialogue) 41. Rakhi (1962) (dialogue & lyrics) 42. Shaadi (1962) (dialogue & lyrics) 43. Chhaya (1961) (dialogue) 44. Nazrana (1961) (dialogue & lyrics) 45. Bindya (1960) (dialogue) 46. Maa Baap (1960) (dialogue) 47. Patang (1960) (dialogue & lyrics) 48. Adalat (1958) (lyrics) 49. Barkha (1959) (dialogue) 50. Asha (1957) (lyrics) 51. Dekh Kabira Roya (1957) (lyrics) 52. Bhai-Bhai (1956) (dialogue & lyrics) 53. Taj (1956) (lyrics) 54. Pehli Jhalak (1955) (dialogue) 55. Azaad (1955) (lyrics) 56. Pehli Jhalak (1955) (lyrics) 57. Nagin (1954) (dialogue & lyrics) 58. Anarkali (1953) (lyrics) 59. Ladki (1953) (dialogue & lyrics) 60. Aaram (1951) (lyrics) 61. Albela (1951) (lyrics) 62. Bari Behen (1949) (dialogue)

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