kaun kambaKht hai jo bardaasht karne ke liye peetaa hi

Film : Devdas

Year of release : 1955

Spoken by : Devdas (Dilip Kumar)

Spoken to : Chandramukhi (Vyjayanthi Mala)

This is the real 'Devdas', not the bastardised glam version of SRK and Bhansali. I am not one of those who insists that the old is the real thing. In fact this film was made over two decades before my birth and I saw it over two decades after my birth, but I will surely put it above the SRK version. If you don't believe me, just search for this scene on youtube. Both the versions are available there. Go see it. Then read this post. But if you believe me, continue reading.

Devdas's father is on his death bed. He starts visiting Chandramukhi who is a prostitute. He has also started drinking. One such night, he is in a drunken stupor. Chandramukhi tries to stop him. She says

"aur mat piyo Devdas"

"kyo.n?" asks Devdas

"kucch hii din huye peenaa shuru kiye. Itnee zyaadaa bardaasht na kar sakoge"

"kaun kambaKht hai jo bardaasht karne ke liye peetaa hai. Mai.n to peetaa hoo.n ke...bas saa.ns le sakoo.n...aur...aisee jagah se uTh kar jaane kee taaqat nahee.n hai naa...tabhii to yahaa.n paDaa rahtaa hoo.n...bas...dekhtaa rahtaa hoo.n tumhaare mu.nh kee taraf...to bhii mai.n bilkul behosh nahee.n hotaa...kucch hosh rah hee jaataa hai...hosh se kah do...kabhii hosh naa aane paaye...

Chandramukhi says, "yahaa.n aise log bhee aate hai.n Devdas, jo sharaab ko chhoote bhee nahee.n

Devdas : chhote bhee nahee.n? mere paas bandook ho to mai.n unhe golii se uDaa doo.n. vo log mujh se bhii baDe paapii hai.n Chandramukhi. Pahle to mai.n sharaab peenaa chhoDoongaa nahee.n. aur agar chhoD diyaa to phir yahaa.n kabhii nahee.n aaoongaa. kabhii nahee.n aoongaa. meraa to ilaaj hai. lekin un logo.n ka kyaa hogaa ...jo peete bhii nahee.n. aur phir bhii yahaa.n aate hai.n

If you watch the video, also watch for these great lines...

"mat chhuo...haath mat lagaao mujhe Chandramukhi...ab bhii kucch hosh baaqii hai"

"pal bhar me.n sab kucch Khatam ho gayaa. woh shaadii ke raaste pe chal di aur mai.n barbaadii ke raaste par"

Mohabbat jo Dartee hai vo mohabbat naheeN ayyaashee hai, gunaah hai

Film : Mughal-e-Aazam

Year of release : 1960

Spoken by : Prince Salim (Dilip Kumar)

Spoken to : Anarkali (Madhubala)

You would have guessed from the line which film this line belonged to. Anarkali and Salim are in an amorous mood (or as our journalists call it - 'compromising position'), when Akbar the Great walks in. Anarkali is scared and makes a gesture to run away. Salim stops her and asks her not to be afraid. Because he believes, fearful love is manifestation of dishonourable intent. As he puts it

"mohabbat jo Dartee hai vo mohabbat naheeN, ayyaashee hai, gunaah hai"

"मोहब्बत जो डरती है वो मोहब्बत नहीं, अय्याशी है, गुनाह है"

Though that means that all that I have done in my life is 'gunaah'. PDA or public display of affection is such an unacceptable thing in India, that you have to be fearful.

"तो क्या मैं गुनाहगार हूं?"

Achchhaa kyaa aur buraa kyaa sab bekaar kee baateN haiN

Film : Devdas

Year of release : 1955

Spoken by : Devdas (Dilip Kumar)

Spoken to : Chunilal (Motilal)

A distraught Devdas runs away to Calcutta, when his parents refuse to accede to his marriage with Paro. There he meets Chunilal, the inveterate wine-and-women-worshipper. He asks Chuni Babu to take him to the nautch girl whom Chuni visits often. Chuni is hesitant. He says

"chal to sakte haiN...par wo jagah achchhee nahee hai"

And a visibly irritated Devdas says

"Achchhaa kyaa aur buraa kyaa, sab bekaar kee baateN haiN"

"अच्छा क्या और बुरा क्या, सब बेकार की बातें हैं"

There are times when faced with the practical difficulties of life, you find it very difficult to do, what you think is the right thing. At such a time, if someone turns moralistic on you, you would find yourself mouthing this line.

I must say one thing. All Bimal Roy films are still very watchable. Bimal Roy did not drink himself. But he made a helluva Devdas.

kabhee kabhee daave dilchasp bhee huaa karte haiN

Film: Mughal-e-azam

Year of release: 1960

Spoken by : Salim (Dilip Kumar)

Spoken to : Bahar (Nigar Sultana)

The language used in this film is so beautiful that even straightforward lines become classics. The modern day 'get out' becomes - 'taKhaliyaa', the modern day 'shut up' becomes 'sukoot ho' and so on.

When the statue made by sangtaraash (Kumar) is to be unveiled, Bahar tells Salim

"sangtaraash kaa ye daavaa hai, ke jab ye mujassamaa benaqaab hogaa to..."

"संगतराश का ये दावा है, कि जब ये मुजस्समा बेनक़ाब होगा तो..."

And she pauses. Prince Salim urges her to go on

"beKhauf hokar kaho. kabhee kabhee daave dilchasp bhee huaa karte haiN"

"बेख़ौफ़ होकर कहो. कभी कभी दावे दिलचस्प भी हुआ करते हैं"

Such lines make you realise the power of words, the power of language. If language was all about communication, then we never really needed anything beyond sign language. It is a potent force. It can make you feel good. I am also reminded of a couplet by Javed Akhtar

"हम से दिलचस्प कभी सच्चे नहीं होते

अच्छे लगते हैं मगर अच्छे नहीं होते"

Meree samajh meN ye naheeN aataa ki tum kameene zyaadaa ho, yaa bewaqoof

इसे हिन्दी में पढने के लिए यहाँ क्लिक करें

Film: Duniya
Year of release: 1984
Spoken by : Mohan Kumar (Dilip Kumar)
Spoken to : Balwant (Amrish Puri)

Portions of this scene have been featured earlier too. Mohan breaks into Balwant's house and is waiting for him, with a minatory motive. Balwant manages to find his revolver and points it at Mohan. Mohan suggests that he has already removed all the bullets from the revolver (he shows him six bullets). His logic is that - he would not have come and ensconced himself in a villain's lair and not sanitised it for arms and ammunition. Mohan uses the power of dialogue to sell his story

"मेरी समझ मे ये नहीं आता कि तुम कमीने ज़्यादा हो, या बेवक़ूफ"

"Meree samajh me ye naheeN aataa ki tum kameene zyaadaa ho, yaa bewaqoof"

Balwant falls for the power of the dialogue (and so do we) and drops the revolver. Mohan picks it up and we discover that the revolver is actually loaded. Leaving us wondering, whether Mohan was more 'kameenaa' or more 'bewaqoof', for having left him exposed to such a risk.

Anyways all well that ends well. Balwant dies under the wheels of an oncoming truck, prompting Mohan to remark - ....

Try and remember that classic line. Can't? Search the archives or the labels. Great line that.

Aadmi kaa agar iraadaa pakkaa ho to darwaaze to khud ba khud khul jaate hain

Film : Duniya
Year of release : 1984
Spoken by : Mohan Kumar (Dilip Kumar)
Spoken to : Balwant (Amrish Puri)

This revenge drama has Mohan breaking into Balwant's house. Balwant asks him the silly but inevitable question

"Tum andar kaise aaye"

And Mr Mohan Kumar says

"Aadmi kaa iraadaa pakkaa ho to darwaaze to khud ba khud khul jaate haiN"

"आदमी का इरादा पक्का हो तो दरवाज़े तो ख़ुद ब ख़ुद खुल जाते हैं"

A thought echoed, in a slightly romantic fashion, by Shri Shahrukh Khan in his Om Shanti Om, when he says

"इतनी शिद्दत से मैने तुम्हे पाने की कोशिश की है, कि हर ज़र्रे ने तुम्हे मुझसे मिलाने की साज़िश की है"

Personally, I too feel that if one really wants to do something, he generally does it. Simple line, but interesting usage. So you can use this line, when you break into someone's house.

Balwant samajh rahaa thaa ki maut uske peechhe aa rahee hai. Lekin maut uske aage thee

This is a line which I thought of long long back. It is a line which I have used many times that I have lost count. But since I am very particular about putting in the exact words on the blog, I had to wait for a while before I could post this.

Well this is from the film Duniya. It is a pretty standard revenge drama (A Count of Monte Cristo –ish film). Mohan Kumar (Dilip Kumar) comes back from prison and exacts revenge upon the three main villains – Prem Chopra, Pran and Amrish Puri. Balwant Singh (Amrish Puri) is running away from Mohan Kumar. Mohan chases him. The chase spills onto the streets. So you have Balwant weaving through crowd and traffic, Mohan in hot pursuit. Balwant constantly keeps looking back, keeping an eagle eye for Mohan. Suddenly he is run over by an approaching truck.

Later Mohan goes to JK (Pran) and tells him that it was an accident. Of course Mohan has a special way of saying this

Balwant samajh rahaa thaa ki maut uske peechhe aa rahee hai. Lekin maut uske aage thee. Accident ho gayaa. Yeh koee hairat kee baat to hai nahee. BarsoN pehle tumne khud hee kahaa thaa – saDakoN par to accident hote hee rehte haiN

बलवंत समझ रहा था कि मौत उसके पीछे आ रही है. लेकिन मौत उसके आगे थी. ऍक्सिडेंट हो गया. ये कोई हैरत की बात तो है नहीं. बरसों पहले तुमने ख़ुद ही कहा था – सड़कों पर तो ऍक्सिडेंट होते ही रहते हैं

How many times does it happen that you are constantly watching one source of trouble and you get hit by another. Just like that – out of the blue. Every such time, you could say

वो समझ रहा था कि मौत उसके पीछे आ रही है, लेकिन मौत उसके आगे थी
A variant of this could be

मै समझ रहा था कि मौत मेरे पीछे आ रही है, लेकिन मौत मेरे आगे थी
On a different note, one story which probably captures the essence of this line very well is RK Laxman’s (yes Laxman not Narayan) short story – The Gold Frame.

taKhaliyaa

And now the fifties makes a debut. Though Mughal-e-azam was released in 1960 - it was in the making, largely during the 50s. Of course, the Dilip Kumar-Madhubala affair also lent a special flavour to this film, but this film in my opinion is one of the greatest examples of what great writing should be. The dialogues and screenplay have been the source of constant copying across ages. Sample this

"YalGaar ho" used by Ismail Durbaar in a TV reality show as his war cry:)

"Shahenshaah baap ka bhes badal ke aayaa hai?" copied by Salim Javed 15 years later in Deewar

"Mujrim bhaai ka bhes badal kar aayaa hai". The list goes on and on. It is one such film where you do not understand anything (due to the quality of Urdu used) but still like the sound of it).

Coming down to the line featured here, it is not a line - it is a word. When I first saw this film I was a teenager. When I came out of the cinema hall, the only word I remembered was this. Oh the no of times I have used this word. I just love it.

taKhaliyaa

It means solitude. But in the movie, it is used by the emperor or the prince every time they wish to be left alone. The imperious tone in which it is said gives the word its special flavour. So next time you are in a meeting room and wish everyone to leave, go ahead and say "taKhaliyaa". Beware. Be prepared to explain the meaning to those around. But very quickly they will learn the meaning and start doing the needful. It is so much more courteous than "all of you get the hell out of here". Try it.