This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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‘Maaya Memsaab’ (1993) was jointly produced by NFDC, Channel 4 Films, Ketan Mehta and others and was directed by Ketan Mehta. The cast included Deepa Sahi, Farooq Sheikh, Raj Babbar, Shah Rukh Khan, Shreeram Lagoo, Sudha Shivpuri, Paresh Rawal, Raghuvir Yadav, Satyadev Dube, Om Puri, Shrivallabh Vyas etc. The film’s story was based on a classic English novel, ‘Madame Bovary’ (1856) by Gustav Flaubert.
It was Shah Rukh Khan’s first Hindi film which he signed sometime in 1990. But before the completion of the film, Shah Rukh Khan’s other 5 films were already released, and has already attained the status of a star actor. ‘Maya Memsaab’ was released on July 2, 1993. As of now, the film is available for viewing only on OTT platform where I watched the film. I was not able to fully understand as to what the director intended to convey with film’s unusual ending.
The story is about a young girl who is obsessed with romantic fantasies in relationships enjoying the luxuries of life. In her quest, she gets caught between the illusion (maaya) and the realities of life. In fact, she is incapable of distinguishing between her romantic ideals and the harsh realities of life which eventually leads her downfall. This film can fit into a genre of ‘Romantic Fantasies’. The gist of the film’s story is as under:
Maaya (Deepa Sahi) stays with her father (Shreeram Lagoo) in a palatial house with all luxuries. One day she meets Dr. Charan Das in her house who has come to treat her father following his accidental fall in the house. With his periodical visit to her house, Dr. Charan Das (Farooq Sheikh) and Maya fall in love and eventually get married.
With Dr Das socially committed to his vocation with a middle-class mindset, Maya finds herself alone in the house and soon the boredom creeps in her mind. The marriage does not meet her expectation of romantic fantasies. This leads her to extra-marital affairs – first with Rudra Pratap Singh (Raj Babbar) and later with a young Lalit (Shah Rukh Khan). Her affairs with Rudra Pratap Singh is short-lived.
At first, both Maaya and Lalit have platonic liking for each other which, over a period of time, turns into a passionate love affair between them. She also indulges in buying expensive jewellery, branded clothes and going on luxurious vacations putting her into heavy debt. The creditors are threatening to auction her house for the recovery of money. She has to face the consequences of her actions alone. The discovery of her infidelity by her husband, Dr Das deprives her of the support from him.
At the end, she realises that neither marriage nor the adultery have resulted in the attainment of her fantasy of romance. She also now becomes aware that materialism does not bring the inner happiness. In her desperation for attaining happiness, she drinks a liquid from a bottle which is supposed to bring her happiness as per a road-side quack. The film ends with Maaya missing and police investigating her disappearance.
In the novel, the protagonist drinks poison and dies at end. However, Ketan Mehta seems to have left the disappearance of Maaya at the end of the film, to the audience for their own interpretations. Maya’s wandering through the barren landscape before she goes missing is a metaphor of her barren life. my understanding is that Ketan Mehta may be hinting through this film the philosophical side of the story. Maaya’s actions do indicate her independent viewpoints for the fulfillment of her romantic fantasies (her idealistic romance) which will make her happy. But at the end, she finds all these are illusions (maaya) as materialism and infidelity have failed to give her happiness.
‘Maaya Memsaab’ (1993) has six songs of which one song has three versions. All the songs have been written by Gulzar which have been set to music by Hridaynath Mangeshkar. One song has already been covered in the Blog. All the songs of the film are very melodious. It was, therefore, difficult for me to choose one song for this article. Finally, I have zeroed on a multiple version song, “Ek Haseen Nigaah Ka Dil Pe Saaya Hai”. I have selected this song for its visually impressive cinematic presentation. The song’s melody and orchestration match with the mood and atmosphere of Maaya’s journey of romantic fantasies.
The song has three versions. Version-I song rendered by Kumar Shanu has only two stanzas which is picturised on Farooque Shaikh and Deepa Sahi as a background song. Version-II is picturised on Shah Rukh Khan and Deepa Sahi. Both Versions-I and II songs depict the romantic fantasies of Maaya (Deepa Sahi) in her imaginations. Version-III song is Lata Mangeshkar’s solo which I did not find in the film.
One may observe in Version-II of the song that there is a change in tune in the first two lines of second antara of the song which is different from the tune of the first antara. However, afterwards, the tune of first antara is retained. This is called ‘sanchaari’ in musical parlance. Rabindranath Tagore is said to have used ‘sanchaari’ in some of his compositions. Most of the music directors from Bengal are fond of using ‘sanchaari’. Salil Chowdhury has used ‘sanchaari’ in some of his Hindi film songs like in second antara of O Sajnaa Barkha Bahaar Aayi from ‘Parakh’ (1960).
Kumar Sanu – Version I (Video)
Kumar Sanu – Version II (Video)
Kumar Sanu – Version II (Audio)
Lata Version (Audio)
Song – Ek Haseen Nigaah Ka Dil Pe Saaya Hai (Maya Memsaab) (1993) Singer – Kumar Sanu, Lata Mangeshkar, Lyrics – Gulzar, MD – Hridaynath Mangeshkar
Lyrics (from Kumar Sanu Version II Audio)
ek haseen nigaah ka dil pe saaya hai
ek haseen nigaah ka dil pe saaya hai
jaadu hai junoon hai kaisi maaya hai
ye maaya hai
ek haseen nigaah ka dil pe saaya hai
jaadu hai junoon hai kaisi maaya hai
ye maaya hai
paaon ke taley kabhi..ee
dil pada miley agar
choom kar uthaaiye
khoob dekh bhaal kar…
khoob dekh bhaal kar
jo koi poochh le to kya
raah se uthaaya hai
ek haseen nigaah ka dil pe saaya hai
ek haseen nigaah ka dil pe saaya hai
jaadu hai junoon hai kaisi maaya hai
ye maaya hai
ay hey
aa ha ha
aha ha
chali gayi jo manchali
pukaarunga gali gali
wo le ke meri zindagi
chali chali
udhar chali
wo roothi roothi rehti hai
bahut bahut manaaya hai
wo roothi roothi rehti hai
bahut bahut manaaya hai
ek haseen nigaah ka dil pe saaya hai
ek haseen nigaah ka dil pe saaya hai
jaadu hai junoon hai kaisi maaya hai
ye maaya hai…
hey hey
hey hey hey
aa aa aaa
ho ho ho
teri neeli aankhon pe
bhanwar bade haseen hain
doob jaane do mujhe
ye khwaabon ki zameen hai
ye khwaabon ki zameen hai
utha do apni palkon ko
ye parda kyun giraaya hai
ek haseen nigaah ka dil pe saaya hai
ek haseen nigaah ka dil pe saaya hai
jaadu hai junoon hai kaisi maaya hai
ye maaya hai….
ay hey
aa ha ha
aha ha
Lata Version
ek haseen nigaah ka dil pe saaya hai
ek haseen nigaah ka dil pe saaya hai
jaadu hai junoon hai kaisi maaya hai
ye maaya hai
ek haseen nigaah ka dil pe saaya hai
jaadu hai junoon hai kaisi maaya hai
ye maaya hai
paaon ke taley kabhi
dil padaa miley agar
choom kar uthaaiye
khoob dekh bhaal kar
khoob dekh bhaal kar
jo koi poochh le to kya
raah se uthaaya hai
ek haseen nigaah ka dil pe saaya hai
ek haseen nigaah ka dil pe saaya hai
jadoo hai junoon hai kaisi maaya hai
ye maaya hai
ay hey
aa ha ha
aha ha
teri neeli aankhon ke
bhanwar bade haseen hai
doob jaane do mujhe
ye khwaabon ki zameen hai
ye khwaabon ki zameen hai..ai
utha do apni palkon ko
ye parda kyon giraaya hai
ek haseen nigaah ka dil pe saaya hai
ek haseen nigaah ka dil pe saaya hai
jadoo hai junoon hai kaisi maaya hai
ye maaya hai
ay hey
aa ha ha
aha ha
————————————————
Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
————————————————
(कुमार सानु वर्शन II – audio पर आधारित)
एक हसीं निगाह का दिल पे साया है
एक हसीं निगाह का दिल पे साया है
जादू है जुनून है कैसी माया है
ये माया है
एक हसीं निगाह का दिल पे साया है
जादू है जुनून है कैसी माया है
ये माया है
पाँव के तले कभी
दिल पड़ा मिले अगर
चूम कर उठाइये
खूब देख भाल कर
खूब देख भाल कर
जो कोई पूछ ले तो क्या
राह से उठाया है
एक हसीं निगाह का दिल पे साया है
एक हसीं निगाह का दिल पे साया है
जादू है जुनून है कैसी माया है
ये माया है
ए हे
आ हा हा
आहा हा
चली गई वो मनचली
पुकारूँगा गली गली
वो ले के मेरी ज़िंदगी
चली चली
उधर चली
वो रूठी रूठी रहती है
बहुत बहुत मनाया है
वो रूठी रूठी रहती है
बहुत बहुत मनाया है
एक हसीं निगाह का दिल पे साया है
एक हसीं निगाह का दिल पे साया है
जादू है जुनून है कैसी माया है
ये माया है
हे हे
हे हे हे
आ आ आ
हो हो हो
तेरी नीली आँखों के
भँवर बड़े हसीन हैं
डूब जाने दो मुझे
ये ख्वाबों की ज़मीन है
ये ख्वाबों की ज़मीन है
उठा दो अपनी पलकों को
ये पर्दा क्यों गिराया है
एक हसीं निगाह का दिल पे साया है
एक हसीं निगाह का दिल पे साया है
जादू है जुनून है कैसी माया है
ये माया है
ए हे
आ हा हा
आहा हा
लता वर्शन’
एक हसीं निगाह का दिल पे साया है
एक हसीं निगाह का दिल पे साया है
जादू है जुनून है कैसी माया है
ये माया है
एक हसीं निगाह का दिल पे साया है
जादू है जुनून है कैसी माया है
ये माया है
पाँव के तले कभी
दिल पड़ा मिले अगर
चूम कर उठाइये
खूब देख भाल कर
खूब देख भाल कर
जो कोई पूछ ले तो क्या
राह से उठाया है
एक हसीं निगाह का दिल पे साया है
एक हसीं निगाह का दिल पे साया है
जादू है जुनून है कैसी माया है
ये माया है
ए हे
आ हा हा
आहा हा
तेरी नीली आँखों के
भँवर बड़े हसीन हैं
डूब जाने दो मुझे
ये ख्वाबों की ज़मीन है
ये ख्वाबों की ज़मीन है
उठा दो अपनी पलकों को
ये पर्दा क्यों गिराया है
एक हसीं निगाह का दिल पे साया है
एक हसीं निगाह का दिल पे साया है
जादू है जुनून है कैसी माया है
ये माया है
ए हे
आ हा हा
आहा हा