Incredible Lyricist Shakeel Badayuni

When a true artist faces adversity, obstacles and pain he does not become sour,in fact he transforms that pathos into love and sweetness for others like what honeybee does after sucking the bitter nectar.

Shakeel Badayuni (August 3, 1916 – April 20, 1970) was born in Badayun, Utter Perdesh (India) and wrote fabulous film lyrics in his career and was awarded a title of Geet Kar-e-Azam(The Great Lyricist) by Indian Government. He wrote songs for about 89 films over a period of twenty years and was one the most popular and sought after lyricist, and holds a phenomenal track record of successful, meaningful and beautiful poetry.

His lyrics were exceptionally composed to the demands of the film scenes and were beautifully corrobrated with musical compositions as he worked with the great masters of his time like Noshad, Ravi and Khurshid Anwar. Some of his magic is as follows:

چھوڑ بابل کا گھر موھے پی کے نگر آج جانا پڑا (فلم بابل
بچپن کے دن بھلا نہ دینا (فلم دیدار
آج میرے من میں سکھی بانسری بجائے کوئی(فلم آن
لے جا مری دعائیں لے جا پردیس جانے والے(فلم دیدار
بچپن کی محبت کو دل سے نہ جدا کرنا (فلم بیجو باورا
اے دل تجھے قسم ھے تو ھمت نہ ھارنا (فلم دلاری
سہانی رات ڈھل چکی نہ جانے تم کب آو گے(فلم دلاری
ساقیا آج مجھے نیند نہیں آئے گی سنا ھے تیری محفل میں رت جگا ھے(فلم صاحب بی بی اور غلام
(جب پیار کیا تو ڈرنا کیا (فلم مغل اعظم

Besides his film songs which were his forte he also wrote beautiful ghazals in the most conventional tradition but they are scented with his own flair, crisp, sensitive, expectant, optimistic and thoughtful.

As a poet of life he was very clear in his perception that the whole life was a prayer and the beauty of it lies in living in present and experiencing the 'power of now':

کتنی لطیف کتنی حسین کتنی مختصر
اک نو شگفتہ پھول کی نکہت ھے زندگی
ان کے خیال کی تمنا میں مست ھوں
میرے لیے شکیل عبادت ھے زندگی

His poetry reflected his life and his life was reminiscent in his lyrics, his songs and his poetry that represent life as hopeful, cheerful and striving for the best.

میں شکیل دل کا ھوں ترجماں کہ محبتوں کا ھوں رازداں
مجھے فخر ھے مری شاعری مری زندگی سے جدا نہیں

He was inspired by the spiritual and intellectual heritage of Muslim thought and since he was well versed in Arabic and Persian so he knew the intricacies and beauty that lies in our glorious tradition. He was great admirer of Iqbal and paid tribute and homage to him:

کھل جائیں شکیل اس پر اسرار خداوندی
اقبال کے شعروں کو انسان اگر سمجھے

As an artist he believed that art was the tool which can make meaningful contribution in our lives and he worked throughout his career to work towards that end:

جادہ عشق میں گر گر کے سنبھلتے رھنا
پاوں جل جائیں مگر آگ پہ چلتے رھنا
جلوہ امن تم ھی سے ھے محبت والو
مہر تاباں کی طرح روز نکلتے رھنا
نغمہ عشق نہ ھو ایک ھی دھن پر قائم
وقت کے ساتھ زرا راگ بدلتے رھنا
ھے یہی وقت عمل جہد مسلسل کی قسم
بے سہاروں کی طرح ہاتھ نہ ملتے رھنا
زندگی ھے فقط گرمی رفتار کا نام
منزلیں ساتھ لئے راہ پہ چلتے رھنا

The Fabulous Ahmad Rushdi

1983 is remembered as a year when we lost two super stars of Pakistan, one was the face of the nation and the other was the voice of nation. We lost the charismatic Waheed Murad and melodious Ahmad Rushdi in the space of 8 months. On 11 April 1983 Ahmad Rushdi the most recognized voice of that era went silent, but the songs that he lent in the airwaves can never be silenced as they were the pulse of his time and will live forever. Although on his demise the evergreen Waheed Murad had to say that 'I have lost my voice today'.

Ahmad Rushdi was a complete singer, one who was comfortable in all styles and genres. What he offered to the audience was something not matched by other big names of his time, he gave them a sensibility and a passion through his voice which was very close to their hearts and their feelings. I must admit he was not a perfectionist, as he never underwent a proper learning and training in music, this little thing made all the difference, as he was genuine and his art and creativity was all of his own. He did not belonged to any music family nor any music tradition, but he left behind a legacy of his own, an unmatched one.

He came into prominence from Radio Pakistan:
بندر روڈ سے کیماڑی میری چلی رے گھوڑا گاڑی but when his voice first dawned on Pakistan cinema:
چاند سا مکھڑا گورا بدن he and his music just evolved tremendously and he became a must for every film.

The range of his music is fantastic, no one can match the emotional vitality with which he used to sing love songs:
اکیلے نہ جانا ہمیں چھوڑ کر تم He is simply incomparable when it comes to pop music:
اک اڑن کھٹولا آئے گا کسی لال پری کو لائے گا not only of his time but also beyond his time. When he laid his hand on slow and sad songs:
اچھا کیا دل نہ دیا ھم جیسے دیوانوں کو the sentiments conveyed through them were so touchy that a lobby worked against him in propagating that his voice was not suited to this genre and although they were successful partly in spreading this notion as the numbers of sad songs sung by him are far less in his career although our films used to have more sad songs in those days.

A qawwali sung by him in an East Pakistani film Bhaiya is rendered with class and reverence:
.مدینے والے سے میرا سلام کہہ دینا


Ahmad Rushdi was a humble person and a gentleman to the core who lived a simple life and that all reflected in his fabulous art that was energetic, pure and profound.