A C Tuli
Here is how Thomas Hardy painted a wordpicture of the hair of Eustacia Vye, the heroine of his novel, “The Return Of The Native” – “To see her hair was to fancy that a whole winter did not contain darkness enough to form its shadow: it closed over her forehead like nightfall extinguishing the western glow. Her nerves extended into those tresses, and her temper could always be softened by stroking them down.”
It has been customary with philosophers, poets, novelists, folklorists, singers and balladeers down the ages to use evocative language to describe the beauty of a young woman’s hair. For instance, the luxuriant tresses cascading down to her voluptuous hips have often been compared by poets and novelists to dark clouds in the sky on a rainy day.
Then, is it not very common for a lover to yearn to take his beloved in his arms and get lost in the silky profusion of her crowning glory? Stroking and caressing her velvety smooth tresses with his loving hands, as he coos sweet words of endearment into her ear, is also an essential part of the ‘prem kahani’ or ‘love story’ of a young man.
But there are lovers who are destined to languish because their love goes unrequited. This often drives them to despair. They pine for their sweethearts endlessly, but, alas, it is all in vain. Fate, it would appear, has willed it that they are to die of frustration in love. Mirza Ghalib expressed the sentiments of such lovers with remarkable perspicacity in his ghazal, “Aah ko chahiye ik umar asar hone tak, kaun jeeta hai teri zulf ke sar hone tak…”
Lovers of all ages have sung paeans to the beauty of their lady-love’s “zulfein” or “ghesoo”. Our Hindi film lyricists have excelled in penning songs in which a young woman’s gorgeous locks framing her beautiful face have been described in elegantly worded lines. Here is a lover from an old film (Manoj Kumar) who requests his sweetheart (Sharmila Tagore) to remove the strands falling over her face, so that the day could be a little more bright and sunny.
“Zulfon ko hata lo chehre se, thoda sa ujala hone do…” This song, sung by Mohammad Rafi in ‘Sawan Ki Ghatta’ (1966), was written by S.H Bihari and set to music by OP Nayyar.
Some lovers are gifted with the imagination of a poet. In “Shehnai” (1964), Biswajit is enraptured by Rajshri’s wet strands, and implores her not to shake out the drops of water from them. So, he sings, “Na jhatko zulf se paani yeh moti phoot jayen ge, tumhara kuch na bigde ga magar dil toot jayen ge…” Rajendra Krishan wrote this song, Rafi sang it, and Ravi composed it.
Shammi Kapoor in his heyday was known for his exuberance. His dancing movements were electrified by sheer animal spirits. Most of the songs that he lip-synced on the screen while dancing were sung by Mohammad Rafi.
This one from ‘’Teesri Manzil”, “O haseena zulfon wali jaane jahan…’’ was picturised on Shammi Kapoor when he serenades Asha Parekh. R.D Burman composed this flawless ditty written by Majrooh Sultanpuri.
It is not only young men who admire the beauty of a woman’s hair. Sometimes a young woman too is enamoured of the windblown mop of her beau.
In ‘Naya Daur’ (1957), there was a duet sung by Vayjanthimala and Dilip Kumar. Vayjanthimala sings, “Uden jab jab zulfein teri, kanwariyo ka dil machle jind meriye…” This Sahir Ludhianviwritten song was set to music by OP Nayyar. It was one of the most popular film songs of 1957.
Lovers’ tiff sometimes takes such a serious turn that they part from each other in a huff. But they cannot remain away from each other for long. The magnet of love draws them together again. The sad lover (Dev Anand) then sings to his beloved (Asha Parekh), “Teri zulfon se judaee to nahin maangi thi, qaid maangi thi rihaee to nahin maangi thi….” This Mohammad Rafi-sung song was picturised on Dev Anand in ‘Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai” (1961). Lyrics were by Hasrat Jaipuri and music directors were Shankar-Jaikishan.
Here is a lover who compares his sweetheart to a fairy who has come to him in the rainy season, bringing with her black clouds that seem to him to be emanating from her long dark hair. The lovers (Manoj Kumar and Shakeela) then sing a duet, “Zulfon ki ghata lekar sawan ki pari aayee, barse gi tere dil par, hus hus ke jo lehar aayee…” This duet from the old film “Reshmi Roomal” (1961) was written by Raja Mehdi Ali Khan, sung by Manna Dey and Asha Bhonsle, and set to music by Bipin Babul.
It is not unusual for a lover to indulge in hyperbole when he sets out to extol the looks of his lady-love. In “Do Raaste”, Rajesh Khanna pays a tribute to the enchanting looks of his sweetheart (Mumtaz) by singing, “Yeh reshmi zulfein, yeh sharbati aankhen, inhen dekh kar jee rahe hain sabhi…” This song in the voice of Mohammad Rafi was written by Anand Bakshi and set to music by Laxmikant-Pyarelal.
When a girl is in love, she is very conscious about what the people living around her would say if they saw her lover meddling with her hair. In “Ganga Ki Lahren” (1964), Kum Kum is the girl who asks her lover, Kishore Kumar, to keep away from her ‘zulfein’. So, she sings, “Chhedo na meri zulfein, sab log kya kahen ge”, and Kishore Kumar replies, “Hum to diwana tum ko kali ghatta kahen ge…” This duet was written by Majrooh Sultanpuri, set to music by Chitragupta, and sung by Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar.
A lover is apt to get naughty when the girl he is in love with keeps him at an arm’s length and ignores his overtures. In ‘Suraj’ (1966), Rajendra Kumar was that naughty lover and the girl he is trying to woo is Vayjanthimala. With her deranged hair, Vayjanthimala in the arms of Rajendra Kumar seems helpless when he sets right her unruly strands and sings, “Chehre pe giri zulfein, keh do to hata doon mein, gustakhi maaf…” While Mohammad Rafi was the singer, the song was written by Hasrat Jaipuri and set to music by Shankar-Jaikishan.
But a lover’s life is not all sunshine. There are dark, cloudy days in his life when he is full of despair and sings in a pessimistic vein about how he has lost his lady-love, “Teri zulfon se pyar kaun kare, ab tera intizzar kaun kare…”. This touching ghazal was sung by Talat Mehmood in the film ‘Joru Ka Bhai’ (1955), which was, incidentally, Vijay Anand’s debut film as actor. The ghazal was penned by Sahir Ludhianvi and set to music Jaidev.
There are scores of such film songs on a young girl’s hair which have regaled music lovers over the past seven decades. Human nature being what it is, it is difficult to imagine such songs shall ever cease to interest us.
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