In the month of June last year, I published a list of ‘Songs addressed to Zindagi’.
It was to be followed up with the song lists on ‘What’s Life?’ and ‘Let’s talk about Life’ that were supposed to have ‘songs defining life using various metaphors’ and ‘songs describing the course of life, its uncertainty and other aspects’ respectively.
Over the period I was lost in other posts and ultimately forgot the follow up posts. The Pahalgam attack on the tourists and the recent unfortunate incidence of plane crash in Ahmedabad underlined the uncertainty in our lives and brought me back to these themes.
Hindi film songs have always talked about life from different angles. So we get a gamut of genres, right from the happy and light hearted songs to soulful and philosophical ones. Today’s post highlights the Hindi film songs where life and its events are mentioned lyrically using a metaphor.
There could be at least a few readers, who might have lost touch with grammer and have forgotten the details of figures of speech.
So here’s in short about – Metaphor (रूपक)
रूपक अलंकार एक ऐसा अलंकार है, जहाँ उपमेय (जिसकी तुलना की जाती है) और उपमान (जिससे तुलना की जाती है) को एक ही रूप से प्रस्तुत किया जाता है, जैसे कि वे एक ही हैं। दूसरे शब्दों में, रूपक अलंकार में, उपमेय और उपमान के बीच का भेद मिटा दिया जाता है और उन्हें एकरूपता से व्यक्त किया जाता है।
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two seemingly unrelated things by figuratively applying the qualities of one to the other.
(Both the definitions are taken from Internet)
I hope you have understood the basic concepts of metaphor.
Let’s now go to the song list. The songs are in no particular order. A few songs portray two sides or faces of life, quite contradictory to each other.
1. Life is a beautiful Journey
Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana – Andaz (1971) Kishore Kumar / Shankar Jaikishan – Hasrat Jaipuri
Which song could be better to open the list. The song became immensely popular in the 70s and still continues to be. The song defines life as a beautiful journey, but at the same time it’s unpredictable and uncertain. The song has a deep meaning though its presentation is in a light hearted manner. Rajesh Khanna and Hema Malini riding on a bike in the (crowded) streets of Mumbai and also on the seashore. The song talks of life as a wonderful journey where we know the end, but we shouldn’t be afraid. Rather, that should encourage us to live in the present moment, make the most of it and enjoy life.
2. Life is a Story
Ek Pyar Ka Naghma Hai – Shor (1972) Lata Mangeshkar & Mukesh / Laxmikant Pyarelal – Santosh Anand
Though the song has a touch of sorrow, it’s basically a song sung by a couple enjoying family time on a beach. The song defines life as a poem of love and a flow of waves, it’s nothing but a love story. The waves go up and down, flowing continuously, similarly life shows ups and downs, but it continues. The song has deep meaning, the more you try to decipher, the more you get. Santosh Anand was an underrated lyricist, though he did get opportunities with big banners like RK later.
3. Life is a Yo Yo
Yeh Zindagi Hai YoYo – Aaram (1951) Manmohan Krishna & Chorus / Anil Biswas – Rajendra Krishan
Manmohan Krishna used to sing for himself in the 50s and this is one of the songs. The song seems to be based on ‘For he’s a jolly good fellow’ the tune of which can be heard in the first interlude. The song equates life with a yoyo, the ups and downs of yoyo are said to be the ones we experience in life and its continuous movement is the story of life. The picturization of the song is amidst a chawl, where neighbours also join him, a few even dance.
4. Life is a Puzzle
Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli – Anand (1971) Manna Dey / Salil Choudhary – Yogesh
Rajesh Khanna has quite a few songs to his credit that talk about life. This is second on today’s list. Anand was a movie that portrayed a positive attitude by a cancer patient and his philosophy of living life. He sings ‘life is a puzzle, it makes you smile sometimes and makes you cry at others’. A good philosophical song. A fascinating puzzle that lures all, and we all keep on solving it all over life.
5. Life is a Punishment
Bas Ek Sazaa Hi To Hai Zindagi – Jailor (1958) Mahendra Kapoor / Madan Mohan – Rajendra Krishan
I don’t know the exact story of this movie. Sohrab Modi plays a Jailor in the movie and one of the prisoners sings the song while performing his assigned work in jail. The song defines love as a punishment, few pass it crying the others enjoy smiling. It perhaps means it’s up to oneself to have one’s own perspective of looking at things. Some are able to find positivity even among dire circumstances, while some can perceive only the negativity.
6. Life is a Dream
Zindagi Khwaab Hai – Jagte Raho (1958) Mukesh / Salil Choudhary – Shailendra
One of the iconic songs of Mukesh and Motilal. Motilal’s portrayal of a drunkard is perfect, Shailendra’s lyrics are good. Mukesh’s rendition touches our minds. Incidentally Mukesh again sang a song called Zindagi Khwaab Hai for the film, Chhoti Chhoti Baatein. The song however was not included in the movie.
7. Life is a Coincidence
Zindagi Ittefaq Hai – Aadmi Aur Insaan (1970) Asha Bhosle & Mahendra Kapoor / Ravi – Sahir
The song says, Life is a series of coincidences. Happiness, friendships, relationships, are all coincidences. It is a philosophical song, though it doesn’t look like one in the face. And I tend to agree with the conclusion that life is but a coincidence.
Picturised as a party song with Dharmendra playing the piano, a vibrant and bubbly Mumtaz singing the song and Saira Banu, Firoz Khan, Manmohan Krishna and Kamini Kaushal all enjoying it in the audience.
8. Life is a Path
Ek Raasta Hai Zindagi – Kaala Patthar (1979) Kishore Kumar & Lata Mangeshkar / Rajesh Roshan – Sahir
I had to listen to the song several times to understand it. Of course with Sahir as a lyricist, it couldn’t have been just another song. The song defines life as a path where one needs to travel relentlessly, there’s no scope for stop or rest. The verses sung by Lata Mangeshkar perhaps denote distractions one might come across along the path. And one should be determined to overcome such luring obstructions. The song also adds that the path would always be busy with people either leaving you or joining you.
9. Life is a Gamble
Yeh Zindagi Hai Ek Jua – Zindagi Ek Jua (1992) Asha Bhosle / Bappi Lahiri – Prakash Mehra
The song sounds quite straightforward when you listen to it for the first time. It takes a little time to decipher the deep meaning of it. The song says, life is a Gamble, we may lose sometimes, winning otherwise. We may find a companion amidst a mob of enemies. We have to bet on one after the other throughout. Even if someone appears to win a game and the other loses, it’s the time that will decide the ultimate fate. So things that may appear simple can have intricate dimensions not apparent in the beginning.
After Tezaab’s success, Madhuri Dixit and Anil Kapoor appeared in quite a lot of films. Most of them didn’t repeat the success, though some are still remembered for the songs.
10. Life is a Struggle
Jeevan Ek Sangharsh Hai – Jeevan Ek Sangharsh (1990) Mohammad Aziz & Kavita Krishnamurthy / Laxmikant Pyarelal – Javed Akhtar
Though the song talks more about the agonies of the family per se, the song has an universal appeal. Life is a struggle, one has to make his/her own way to achieve the goal. The film had a somewhat cliché plot, that of a single mother with her three children, struggling for survival. One of the children (obviously the protagonist) separates in between to reunite in the end.
Would you add a song pertaining to the theme?
Disclaimer –
Mehfil Mein Meri, claims no credit for any image, screenshots or songs posted on this site. Images on this blog are posted to make the text interesting. The images and screenshots are the copyright of their original owners. The song links are shared from YouTube, only for the listening convenience of music lovers. The copyright of these songs vests with the respective owners, producers and music companies.