Chal Diya Carvan...

Chal Diya Carvan Loot Gaye Ham Yahan-Talat Mahmood- Film Laila Majnu 1953- Shakeel Badayuni- Muisc Ghulam Mohammad

There is historical credence to Heer-Ranza, Romeo-Juliet, Shirin-Farhad, Salim-Anarkali romance. The story of Laila-Majnu also has no authenticity. However it continues to haunt movie makers and historians alike.  Qays ibn al-Mulawwah fell in love with Layla al-Aamiriya. He soon began composing poems about his love for her, mentioning her name often. His unconscious efforts to woo the girl caused some locals to call him "Majnun.", meaning pagal or Bawra. When he asked for her hand in marriage, her father refused because it would be a scandal for Layla to marry someone considered mentally unbalanced. Soon after, Layla was married to another noble and rich merchant belonging to the Thaqif tribe in Taif. He was described as a handsome man with reddish complexion whose name was Ward Althaqafi.

When Majnun heard of her marriage, he fled the tribal camp and began wandering the surrounding desert. His family eventually gave up hope for his return and left food for him in the wilderness. He could sometimes be seen reciting poetry to himself or writing in the sand with a stick.

Layla is generally depicted as having moved to a place in Northern Arabia with her husband, where she became ill and eventually died. In some versions, Layla dies of heartbreak from not being able to see her would-be lover. Majnun was later found dead in the wilderness in 688 AD, near Layla’s grave. He had carved three verses of poetry on a rock near the grave, which are the last three verses attributed to him. It is a tragic story of undying love. This type of love is known as "virgin love" because the lovers never marry or consummate their passion.

This song comes in the film, when after marriage, Laila is going toNorthern Arabia to her husband. Majnu, hearing the word of her marriage is totally devastated. His whole world crumbles around him. The news of her marriage struck him like a bolt of lightning and he felt he has been robbed of everything he endeared for. He cannot imagine the life without Laila. For him, the life would be the days of wandering in wilderness. Everything is finished for him. The very purpose of life is over. Now what is left behind are miseries and agonies of separation. His heart bleeds for her, but what remains behind are the ashes of his aspirations towards their love.

चल दिया कारवां, लुट गए हम यहाँ, तुम वहाँ
गिर पड़ी बिजलियाँ, जल गया आशियां, उठ रहा है धुआँ
चल दिया कारवां ...
ओ जाने वाले ठहर ज़रा, फ़रियाद हमारी सुनता जा
दामन पे लिखी है अश्कों ने, रूदाद हमारी सुनता जा
जी सकेंगे न हम, तुमसे होके जुदा
जा मेरी ज़िंदगी, तेरा हाफ़िज़ ख़ुदा
तेरा महमिल चला
आसरा-ए-दिल चला, रह गई दासतां
चल दिया कारवां, लुट गए हम यहाँ, तुम वहाँ
चल दिया कारवां ...

Talat's velvet smooth voice is full of angst, that depicts the desolateness of betrayed sole. Shakeel's every word of lyrics pours out the torment of grief stricken heart yearning for his beloved, and the music of Ghulam Mohammad ably conveys the pains of shattered mind, unconcerned to material world. The picturization of the song in the dust filled wilderness of desert , the distant silhouettes of departing carvan , the expressions of Nutan mirroring the inner turmoil when she hers Qais's call, the shattered and helpless Qais stumbling and falling in the barren sand dunes ...all these thing enhances the melancholic mood of the song.  All in all the song is another feather in Talat's cap. A song that lingers behind long after it ends.

                                                      

Laila Majnu 1953

Starcast: Rattan Kumar, Shammi Kapoor, Nutan, Ulhas, Begum Para, Kammo, Wasti, Vijay Kumar
Lyrics: Shakeel Badayuni
Music: Ghulam Mohammad
Directed by K.Amarnath
An All India Pictures Production Film