Melodies for Eid in Hindi movies

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While qawwalis and Sufi-ana songs have always abounded in Hindi cinema, the flow of songs for Eid has never been high. With the Salman Khan-Eid connection over the last 15-16 years, however, we have seen quite a few additions in this last phase.

His latest movie, Sikandar, also has the now-viral Zohra jabeen, which (since the film is yet unreleased) looks like a celebratory song with the ambience of Eid. The song is sung by Nakesh Aziz and Dev Negi, written by Sameer and composed by Pritam. The song also has Mellow D doing a rap portion. The film also has a Holi number, so all these songs look like a marketing ploy anyway!

The actor even made a cameo in Tees Maar Khan in Wallah wallah, a proper Eid number composed by Vishal-Shekhar and sung by Shekhar with Kamaal Khan, Raja Hasan and Shreya Ghoshal. However, one line in this otherwise well-conceived song left a bad taste, since Eid is essentially a religious festival. When Salman nears Katrina Kaif during the dance after seeing her for the first time, Akshay Kumar tells him, “Bhai, yeh mera maal hai!” with the connotation for the word “maal” meaning a “sex object”. The line (written by lyricist Anvita Dutt) was surprisingly overlooked by the censors!

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In the 2015 Bajrangi Bhaijaan (an Eid release again), Salman added a special Eid number, Aaj ki party meri taraf se, sung by Mika, written by Shabbir Ahmed and composed by Pritam. The rambunctious song with energetic moves by Salman and Kareena Kapoor Khan, was an instant hit, justifying its last-minute ‘quickie’ creation.

Salman’s favorite composers, Sajid-Wajid, made the melodious Mubarak Eid mubarak for  Tumko Na Bhool Payenge (2002). Written by Jalees Sherwani, a writer who worked almost exclusively with the music duo, the song was rendered by Sonu Nigam, Sneha Pant and Aravinder Singh. The song’s lyrics spoke about the festival as “Yeh Eid ka tyohaar hai / Yeh tera hai na mera hai / Yeh sabka hai tyohaar / Yeh pyar ka paigham hai (This Eid festival belongs to all, not just you and me, and is a message of love)”.

The film brought in a secular angle with these lines, with Salman playing a man with the twin identities of Ali, a Muslim, and Veer, a Hindu.

Eid without Salman!

Yoon shabnami from Saawariya was a soft romantic ballad, with Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor. The lyrics (Sandeep Nath) even hinted that the moon was not being sighted as it was shy to appear in front of the lover’s chandni (a star). The group of devotees finally begins to dance with him and the moon is sighted. Monty Sharma composed this song sung by Parthiv Gohil. Interestingly, Salman was there in this film too, but in a cameo!

Chand nazar aa gaya from Hero Hindustani remains an evergreen Eid number with its direct lyrics that go, Chand nazar aa gaya, Allah hi Allah chhaa gaya / Roze rakhnewalon ki hai yeh jeet / Milo tum gale sabse aayi hai Eid (The moon has been sighted, divinity prevails, and it is the victory of those who observed the month-long fasts. So let us embrace each other as it is Eid). Iqbal Sabri, Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik sang this song. The same film has a brief ode to the entire month of Ramzan in the brisk qawwali, Maahe Ramzan ko barqat ka mahina kahiye. Both these songs were penned by Gauhar Kanpuri and composed by Anu Malik with the latter sung by Afzal Sabri and Iqbal Sabri.

Mubarak tujhe humnava mil gaya is a lesser-known song from the 1997 Nana Patekar-Raveena Tandon film, Ghulam E Musthafa. Written by Anand Bakshi and composed by Rajesh Roshan, it was sung by the Sabri Brothers again.

Anand Bakshi did a better job of the situational Eid ke din gale mil le raja, a song featuring its ensemble cast of Dharmendra, Shatrughan Sinha, Zeenat Aman and Neetu Singh in Teesri Ankh (1982). Mohammed Rafi, Manna Dey, Anuradha Paudwal and Krishna Mukerji—none other than Rani Mukerji’s mother!—rendered this song composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal. Situation-wise, it was the climactic song with the good forces arraigned against the baddies.

Laxmikant-Pyarelal also scored the fabulous Mohammed Rafi-Asha Bhosle song, Eid ka din, in which Rishi Kapoor and Reena Roy (in a cameo) teased each other about love, and how a man and a woman must behave on this sacred occasion. The melodious qawwali was written beautifully by Sahir Ludhianvi and Reena’s appearance in the film was restricted to this song.

Eid ke din sab milenge from the 1958 Sohni Mahiwal remains the only sad (and vintage) Eid number in cinema. Filmed on Bharat Bhushan and Nimmi, the litany in which the lovers crave to meet on the festive day (Yeh din hai khushi ka goes a line) was sung by Mohammed Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar, written by Shakeel Badayuni with music by Naushad.

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