Movie: Razia Sultan (1983)
Music Director: Khayyam.
Lyricist: Jan Nissar Akhtar (Father of Javed Akhtar).

The things you should know about music of Ae Dil-e-Naadan

The film was based on real story of “Razia Sultan”. She was the last female Muslim ruler who sat on the throne of Delhi for three and half years (1236-1240). That’s what the sources say.

Music Directors while creating the music, they have to decide the instruments to be played in it, the voice to sing the song and need to give a thought on which situation what should be the tune to express feelings and emotions of those moments. So its like re-living the moments with the music. When asked about this song, the music director Khayyam said “The caravan of Razia Sultan came to India from Turkey through a long and tortuous route traversing many countries. If you listen carefully, the tune and orchestration reflects the musical influences of all the regions she traveled across. The song is about the duel in her mind- the woman inside her is deeply in love with a black slave but the princess inside her is all too aware of her duty. The song depicts that dilemma in her mind.”

According to me, If the tune is good, the song is good. The good tune can only be given to good words and lyrics. So its the poetry and music that is beholden for the great song. The tune should be pleasant to ears as well as it should be reflecting the regions and situation musically. This song is something that a musician should learn from. And I guess this is the key to make the great music that stays in head for the rest of your life. I always wondered how the music composers back then could create songs with such a nice tune. I guess it’s because of their talents.

The song begins with the Santoor and it has been used beautifully in the song. And there are many other instruments like Violins (maybe 50 musicians playing Violin), Tabla, etc. The interesting thing to notice in the song is the use of Silence, the silent pauses used in the song are very nice. You can hear it when the song starts and ends. You can feel it at the lines where Lata Mangeshkar says, “Ye Jamin Chup hai.. Aasman chup hai.. Phir ye dhadkan si, Char su kya hai”. The Khayyam got the complements for his use of silent pauses in the song. I liked it when I heard it for the first time.

Santoor

Khayyam said “We had two rehearsals and then Lataji sang the whole song in just one take!”, which got me thinking, Lata Mangeshkar was so talented that she could sing a song in one take.. A song that can stay in the hearts and heads for forever.. was recorded in just One Take!

I would love to listen to the cover of this song.. If you have sung it.. please do share it with me.. :)

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