This article is written by Bharat Upadhyay, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
Sureeli Suman – 05
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In addition to geet and gazals, in Suman Kalyanpur’s Non-Film songs collection, there are few semi-classical songs also. “Saajan Ki Baat Nirali” is a Thumri based on classical Raag ‘Pahadi’.
According to wekipedia:
“Thumri is one of the most important forms of North Indian music after khayal. Its exact origins are not very clear, given that there are no historical references to such a form until the 15th century. Etymologically, the word thumri comes from thumka which means a nimble beat of the foot or walking with a dancing pace. First appearance of Thumri go back to 15th century, this has link with the classical dance form Kathak. According to historical records, a new version of Thumri arose in 19th century, bearing similarity with Khayal and depending on the elaboration of Ragas. Thumri arose in popularity during the 19th century in the Lucknow court of nawab Wajid Ali Shah. At that time, it was a song sung by courtesans, accompanied by dancers. Unlike the khayal, which pays meticulous attention to unfolding a raga, thumri restricts itself to expressing the countless hues of shringar by combining melody and words. A thumri singer goes straight to the emotional core of a composition and evokes each yarn of amorous feeling, each strand of sensuous sentiment, with great discretion. Thumri is quicksilver in tone and ardently romantic in spirit. It needs a delicate heart, and a supple and soulful voice capable of expressing several shadings and colours of tones to bring out its beauty.”
In classical khayal, the words of ‘asthaayi’ are repeated number of times mainly to show prgessive ‘Swar Vistaar’ to build the structure of the relevant Raag. But in thumri, the words are repeated to show different shades of emotional feelings. There will be generally one or two ‘antaras’ to emphasize the mood of the thumri.
Let us enjoy this classic sureeli thumri in such a sweet voice.
Song–Saajan Ki Baat Niraali(Suman Kalyanpur NFS)(1970) Singer-Suman Kalyanpur, Lyrics– Traditional MD– Unknown
Lyrics
hey ae
saaajan ki baat niraaali re ae ae shyaam
saajan ki baat niraaali
hey more guinyaan re
saajan ki baat niraaali
hey more guinyaan re
saajan ki baat niraaali
hey more guinyaan aa
saajan ki baat niraaali
saa aa aa jan ki baat niraaali ee
hey more guinyaan re shyaam
saaa saajan ki baat niraali re ae
hey more guinyaan aan re shyaam
saajan ki baat niraaali
saaajan
saa saajan
saajan ki baat niraaali
saaajan
hey ae saajan ki baat niraali ee re ae
saajan ki baat niraaali
saaajan
saa aajan
saajan ki baat niraali re
saa saa
saajan ki baat niraaali
saajan
saa saa saa aa aa jan
saa saa aa
saajan ki baat
saa aa jan ki baat
saajn ki baat niraali
sankat dukh door kare ik kshan mein ae ae ae
shyaam aam
haan aaaa aan
sankat dukh door kare ik kshan mein aen
kaun gayyan rakhwaali
saajan ki baat niraaali
guiyaan aa re
guiyaan re
guiyaan
guiyaan aan re
shyaam
saajan ki baat niraaali