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Naina Deewane

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AFSAR

 Naina Deewane, Ik Nahin Maane  

- Ritu Chandra

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As a part of our tribute to Suraiya, today, we revisit one-of-the-two, most memorable results from the Suraiya-SDB team. The film.. Afsar. The song in question... the simple and sweet Naina Deewane. While the well-crafted Manmor hua matwala, lends itself to a much more eloquence (which we save for another day!), for this Suraiya special we choose Naina Deewane . A song, which to me, has the quality of a quiet winner that appeals just by being itself.

This sweet ode to fledgling love, is the gentle lament of a young girl who is complaining about not having enough hold over herself. The song comes from the pen of Pandit Narendra Sharma..the Hindi poet/lyrcist who gave us gems like Jyoti kalash chhalke. Panditji's lyrics, Sachinda's music and Suraiya's rendition all come together to ensure this song corners a special spot in Burmanda's Pitara.

The basic tune of the song is simple and lilting and very much in the Bengali tradition. This tune traces its origin to a Tagore classic Shei din dujone. Sachinda adds his own colour to the slightly somber original by improvising it to reflect a lighter, lilting and more playful shade. But by and large he does not deviate much from the original structure. Instead he concentrates on adding his unique touch in the presentation.  He comes up with ear catching, yet simple pieces for his interludes and preludes to accompany Suraiya's earnest rendition.

While this song has a pleasant tune, like a lot of Burman's songs it is not the centre-piece of his creation. It's just a building block in the whole picture. And in this song particularly, it plays the role of the perfect vehicle for Pandit Sharma's beautiful lyrics.

Pandit Narendra Sharma, was one of those few poets who traced his roots to world of Hindi literature. He, along with Bharat Vyas and Kavi Pradeep brought a flavour of pure Hindi into film lyrics. Hindi film lyrics traditionally have had a strong influence of classical and progressive Urdu poetry (thanks to stalwarts like Sahir Ludhianvi, Kaifi Azmi, Majrooh Sultanputi, Shakeel Badayuni and not to forget Chacha Ghalib!) on one side and folk based dialects of Hindi like Avadhi, Braj Bhasha, Bhojpuri etc. on the other. It is not very common to see pure literary Hindi make an appearance in this arena. It was Pandit Sharma and Bharat Vyas who were responsible in a big way for introducing this shade to the rich tapestry of film lyrics .

Afsar was a rare collaboration between the greats... SD Burman and Pandit Narendra Sharma and ofcourse...Suraiya. The result is sheer magic. Panditji brings a rare literary sensitivity to the songs of Afsar. In this song Naina Deewane, the poet comes up with very pretty lyrics that ooze with the Shringar Ras.

The most striking and pleasant part for me is Panditji's play with alliteration. In the mukhda he plays around with the m and n sounds with the ease of a veteran. To sample

Nain Deewaane, ik nahin maane , kare man maani maane na

hue yeh paraye man haar aaye, man ka marham jaane na, maane na maane na

When it comes to the stanzas he again does some charming play with a hint homonysms in

Jaana na jaana man hi na jaana

Or the very pretty play with rhymes (and alliteration)

Jeevan beli kare atakheli, mehke man ke bakul

priti phool phoole jhoola jhoole, chekhe ban bulbul

And over that, we have Suraiya's mellifluous voice that further polishes this gem to a sparkling sheen. SD Burman extracts a heart-tuggingly sweet performance out of her. He brings about a tingling lilt in her voice which adds to the allure of the song. Burman's own tremendous talent as a singer often influenced the songs that came from under his baton. He was in the habit in singing himself to explain his requirements to the singer. At lot of times his presentation would be so compelling that it would invariably influence the singer's final rendition. Suraiya recalled one such incident during the rehearsals for Man mor hua matwala.  However the special SDB touch of singing seems to influence Naina Deewane more than the song she mentioned. The unhurried feel, the pauses and stresses are very much in the vintage SD Burman mould. For instance, note the way Suraiya sings Maane na, maane naaaaa, maane na. That special way of stressing on a word and dragging it a little way,.. that trait bears the unmistakable stamp of the master!

Coming back to the lyrics, while they are more pretty than profound, they do have their moments. For instance a little piece of wisdom is packaged in an imaginative metaphor in the lines man kya jaane kya ho ga kal, dhaar samay ki behti pal pal.  However the true beauty of the piece lies in the phonetic choice of the words which give the song a  pleasing ring. I would think Naina Deewane is one of those songs that would appeal to a non-hindi speaker as much. The song has all the key ingredients for universality…an engaging and lilting tune, phonetically pleasing lyrics, heartfelt rendition and a compelling presentation. For the people well-versed with the language there is also the added attraction of first class lyrics. What more would one want!  It is a little wonder then that Naina Deewaane sounds as compelling today as it did fifty years back. ….some things are just made to be timeless!

More about Naina Deewaane

-This song is adapted from Rabindranath Tagore's Shei din dujone.

Hear the original at http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/s/?q= shay%20din%20dujonay&c= 0301

-Afsar, released in 1950, was the first film from the Navketan banner. It marked the beginning of Dada's association with the Film Company which lasted right uptil 'Chupa Rustom' in 1973.

Read the Soundtrack Review of Afsar

-Pandit Narendra Sharma was one of the many talents behind the conception of 'Vividh Bharti', one of the most popular radio stations in India. He not only coined the name 'Vividh Bharti' but also wrote the lyrics for the first song created for this radio station. The song in question...Naach re mayura which was tuned by another maestro from Bengal.. Anil biswas and sung by Manna Dey.

Basics

• Song : Naina Deewane, ik nahin maane
• Film : Afsar
• Lyrics: Pandit Narendra Sharma
• Year of Release : 1950
• Music : Sachin Dev Burman
• Availability : The soundtrack of Afsar has not been released commercially. This song, however, makes an appearance in most Suraiya collections.

Lyrics

nainaa diivaane ik nahii.n maane
kare man maanii maane naa
huye hai.n paraaye man haar aaye
man kaa maram jaane naa, maane naa, maane naa
nainaaa diivaane

(jaanaa na jaanaa man hii na jaanaa
chitavan kaa man bantaa nishaanaa) \- 2
kaisaa nishaanaa kaisaa nishaanaa
man hii pahachaane naa, maane naa, maane naa
nainaaa diivaane

jiivan belii kare aTakhelii
mahake man ke bakul
priitii phul phuule jhuulaa jhuule
chahake ban bul\-bul, mahake man ke bakul
man kyaa jaane kyaa hogaa kal
dhaar samay kii bahatii pal pal
jiivan cha.nchal jiivan cha.nchal
din jaake phir aane naa, maane naa, maane naa
nainaa diivaane

See Also

- Soundtrack review of Afsar

- Tribute to Suraiya - Sachinda and Suraiya