I am not an SRK fan. These days I am not any superstar’s fan. Give me average looking actors working through hardships in scripts (at least ) which are close to life. Yes! I have switched gears to semi-realism because, in all honesty, realism will kill me. So the new breed of semi-realistic actors who may or may not be working in parallel cinema, the likes of Irfan Khan, Ayushmann Khurana, et al. are my favorites these days. Or let me say in past few years.
With the release of Race 3, Thugs of Hindustan and other below average movies, my disappointment in Hindi cinema is palpable. Friends suggested, turn to regional cinema. The problem is, I am not even a Bahubali person. And hence, the circle of preferences decreased in size further. These low IQ movies (must I say, zero IQ) also had low on life songs. My ears were dying to hear a melody with soul-stirring lyrics. Andhadhun’s music came close to this, but lyrics… naah!
I kept on going back in time to quench my thirst for meaningful poetry. In the process, I discovered Ranjish.com where Urdu gazals have found a safe haven. You must listen to Ranjish.com for the sheer ingenuity of the effort. The deep baritone voices which recite the hauntingly beautiful gazals pick you up in time and place you in a timeless universe. But still, the lack of good quality songs in Hindi cinema kept troubling me.
Enter Zero, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6bx9HGprCg
This is not a blog post but a love letter to Irshad Kamil for quenching my thirst for a beautiful song. Finally, there is a song which can be heard on repeat mode without getting tired. This song comes closest to defining the madness of Love, the passion that Love is, the beast, as I always maintain, Love is. The beauty of this song is in the lyrics which touch the soul via the heart. I haven’t stopped hearing this song ever since its release. This song will never bore us because the derivative of this song is Love. In fact, in this single song, we can hear not just the bold confession of Love but also a daring Love taking on Divine face to face.
The song begins with a beautiful comparison of lips with colors, of fragrance with the smell of tresses and how uninspiring and torpid the world is without the beloved. What steals the show is the blatant declaration of love. The entitlement on one’s beloved doesn’t sound repulsive but passionate. I will give full marks to Ajay-Atul’s music for creating this earnest milieu. And one goes announcing this, jab tak jahan mein subah shaam hai tab tak mere naam tu, jab tak jahan mein mera naam hai tab tak mere naam tu! Abhay Jodhpukar’s silky voice weaves the magic perfectly.
‘Wow’ touches another level as the song proceeds.
The poet touches the intricate characteristics of Love. Love is an intensity which confuses and is the damn solution of all confusions. It doesn’t work seamlessly but in abrupt explosions which making it passionate, mad and obdurate, all at the same time. Once it has decided, nothing and absolutely nothing will stop it from achieving the end goal. The poet, as it looks superficially, even surpasses the beauty of nature while talking about the depth of love. In fact, this is what love is about. Once you have experienced the mad passion one can say that nothing is the same again. The beauty is forever locked in the eyes of the beloved. Only the gaze of beloved can release Love, give it wings. Now, this is the passion which was missing in the lyrics for the longest time I can remember.
The second stanza is all the way Irshad. He has got it right. Lovers are like Sun and Earth, locked forever in a gravitational embrace. For Earth, there is only Sun. The Sun has other planets for himself but his love for Earth is evident in the abundance of Earth. Sun and Earth are lovers stuck in the infinite expanse of Universe. And here again the unabashed entitlement of love.
Next comes a revelation; your acceptance or denial isn’t going to break the deal. Love has always been such. It doesn’t need anyone’s validation or reciprocation. It exists. A ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ has no meaning in the Universe of Love. Yes, the song ends with this revelation that Love has its own Universe where the laws of our Universe don’t apply!
The song has been rendered impeccably by Abhay Jodhpurkar and the melodious music has been given by Ajay-Atul. They are technically 10 on 10. However, this song belongs only to Irshad Kamil. Thank you, Irshad for writing this piece. This is Zamzam for a soul starving for harmony and melody. You quenched it!