Flawed, Cracked ...But Rare!: Tu Shaayar Hai

While browsing through my collection of Hindi songs, I came across the songs of the movie Saajan (1991). It was one of those films with a whole lot of songs in it… a musical in the Bollywood sense of the word. The movie wasn’t all that inspiring… in my opinion, the storyline was a little odd. This was my opinion when I had no clue about love as an emotion except for what I saw on the movie screen. And love according to the world of Hindi cinema was all song and dance in the first half and melodrama, tears and occasional dishoom-dishoom post interval.

Saajan was about a love triangle…*rolls eyes* where the leading lady falls in love with the poetry and philosophies attached to a name (a pen-name) and this name is attached to one of the leading men who is the handicapped, adopted brother of the other leading man. Of course, the other leading man falls in love with the lady and since she is into poetry and whatnot, our man enlists the poet brother to help him woo his lady love… all the while not realizing that his brother is in love with the same lady. Yeah... confusing!

The lady falls in love with the wrong brother believing him to be the poet she always admired… and then there is the element of sacrifice by the adopted poet who decides to hold his peace as gratitude to the family that gave him a home, love and a family name. After a few twists and bends, the lady realizes that the handicapped brother is the real poet and she had fallen for the wrong ’un. A lot of tears and hugs and word-exchanges later, it is the turn of the non-poet brother to play good Samaritan and sacrifice his love for his do-gooder adopted brother. In the end, the lady is united with her poet and his poetry.

Leading lady – Madhuri Dixit

Handicapped, adopted poet – Sanjay Dutt

Other brother – Salman Khan

When I saw the movie, I could not digest the fact that the lady had fallen in love with a name attached to the poetry. I remember the name quite well for various reasons… it was Sagar. Then when she falls in love with the wrong brother, I thought she had fallen for the persona he projected. Needless to say, in the end I was a bit confused about all that love that was being bounced around.

Well, whatever path the movie went it did have some nice songs (Music Director duo – Nadeem-Shravan with one of their best works). I liked most of the songs then and do too now. Some of the songs have nice lyrics too (by Sameer)

Coming back to why this post about a movie that released two decades back… it isn’t the movie… it is one of the songs (as suggested by the title of this post)

I hadn’t really paid heed to the lyrics much because every time I watched the song on TV, I would be mesmerized by Madhuri’s dancing skills. :D But when I did, I realized that some parts of it hit right home… and the very thing I had found odd in the movie has been true in my life.
Here was me being awed by the poetry and philosophy and the attitude behind a flamboyant alias … a name which had no face attached when I fell head-over-heels in love with it.

It’s a different matter that when we did meet up the feelings only deepened and the bonds just grew stronger. I am lucky there are no geometric figures ruining my love story! :D

The lyrics of the song… sung by Alka Yagnik

Tu shaayar hain... main teri shaayari
Tu aashiq hain... main teri aashiqui

Tujhe milne ko dil karta hain... o mere saajna

Tu shaayar hain... main teri shaayari

Tu aashiq hain... main teri aashiqui

Teri har nazm, tera har geet hai yaad mujhe
Jab tak saans chalegi na bhoolungi main toh tujhe

Tere bina jeena nahin khaake kasam kehti hoon

Maine bina dekhe, bina jaane tujhe dil de diya

Tu dhadkan hai... main teri zindagi

Tu shaayar hain... main teri shaayari
Tujhe milne ko dil karta hain... o mere saajna

Tu shaayar hain... main teri shaayari

Tu aashiq hain... main teri aashiqui

Apni betaabi ka main kaise tujhse izhaar karu
Kaise batlaau tujhe jaan-e-jaana kitna main pyar karu

Labh pe koi naam nahi tere siva mere saajan