‘Afsana’, ‘Dastan’, ‘Kahani’ and ‘Fasana’  in songs

Old Bollywood was our nursery for Urdu. Where else could you get Tamaam gawaahon ke bayanat and memberaan-e-jury ki sifaarish ke maddenazar? There were always fasadat, khayalat in our films. In between there were some exceptions like Khayalon mein kisi ke is tarah aaya nahin karte. But soon it was back to Ye meri khwahish ye khayalat kise pesh karun.

Those days I got hooked to Urdu language. There was a local announcer who was known as Patna’s Ameen Sayani. With the difference that whereas Ameen Sayani started with Behno aur bhaaiyo, our local Ameen Sayani’s trademark was Khawateen-o-hazraat, Main Diwali ke muqaddas mauke par aap sabka khair maqdam karta hun. Sometimes, he became more flowery: Aaj ki mehfil ke sadr Janab.., Hazreen-e-mehfil, tamam khawateen-o-hazraat..

Then I started listening to news from AIR Urdu Service. Since I knew which country’s PM was visiting India, it was easy to understand the meaning of Donon mulkon ke wazeer-e-aazam ne mukhtalif muddon par tabaadala-khayal kiya. Then, listening to the Parliament news, we learnt that, mukhalfat karnewaali jammatein always did mazammat of intezamia. I hit a roadblock in learning Urdu/Arabic script. My Urdu remained limited to our old Bollywood. ‘Old’, because now our films have got rid of their fetish for ‘simplified language’ by switching to easy-to-understand words like geetkar rather than naghmanigar. Those were the days of Afsananigar in our films and it was easy to extrapolate the word to mean the person who had written the Afsana of the film.

Since SOY deals with legacy songs, very often we discuss songs like Afsana likh rahi hun dil-e-beqaraar ka. Or Aye bhi wo, gaye bhi wo, ek to fasana ban gaya. Sagai (1951) film had a song Dil ki kahani kahna to chaahe, haye ri kismet kah na sake, composed by C Ramchandra. I knew a friend’s wife was a creative writer. What was she doing now, my friend told me she was writing afsane. Ater checking some sources I could make out that in Urdu literature, it was a genre like our kahani (as distinct from another genre, larger in size, novel). Urdu adab has simply retained the word novel to mean the same thing.

But I was still not satisfied about it. I asked different people who I thought could know. It appears there has to be some element of a folk romantic legend in afsana. In that sense it is similar to Dastan or Kissa whereas kahani (or short story) has a touch of modernity about it. Afsana is a word of Persian origin which has a very ancient culture going back to several millennia, whereas Hindi kahani originated in the early 20^th century. In Europe it would have originated much earlier. A word’s synonym in another language may not mean the same thing, there may be difference in nuances. Afsana sounds sweet to me, and I would not use a bland substitute.

Dastangoi originated in the 17^th century. Later, it became extinct. The literal meaning is narrating a legend; it is a performing art on stage. It has been revived recently by some enthusiasts based in Lucknow.  On YouTube, if you search Dastangoi, you would find many videos. I have seen it performed generally by a pair of men. My impression is, it is to catch breath, and it just creates greater impact when one Dastango tapers off, and the other takes off instantly. I should alert you, some videos are classic legends, on the lines of Vijaydan Detha’s folk tales; but some are about everyday characters we see around us. Thus, my search to understand the difference between afsana, dastan, kahani remains inconclusive.

Fasana has no such ambiguity. It retains a consistent meaning; in my mind it creates an image of scandal or unwelcome publicity of a romantic affair.

Let us enjoy some songs which use these words and try to understand their nuances from the context.

1. Afsana likh rahin dil-e-beqarar ka by Uma Devi from Dard (1947), lyrics Shakeel Badayuni, music Naushad

Uma Devi had vowed that she would sing her first song only under the baton of Naushad. Naushad was blessed with some magic touch those days. Uma Devi’s vow was fulfilled and Naushad created an immortal song. The film had at least two more afsana songs: Hum dard ka afsana duniya ko suna denge; and Ye afsana nahin zalim mere dil ki haqeeqat hai. For Uma Devi this song must have remained a haseen afsana, because, after a couple of years of singing career, due to some hormonal problem she started gaining weight, and in our cruel Bollywood stereotype, she became the comedienne Tun Tun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfR5p0nefio&list=RDjfR5p0nefio&start_radio=1

2. Kahan tak jafa husnwalon ki sahte by Mukesh from Tohfa (1947), lyrics Saqib Lakhanvi, music Abdul Rauf

In the same year you get a beautiful dastan song. This is among the best songs of early Mukesh. My long-time favourite, there is a line in this song that says, Zamana bade shauq se sun raha tha, hameen so gaye dastan kahte kahte. This is beautiful poetry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jg7pvRElfY&list=RD3jg7pvRElfY&start_radio=1

3. Aao bachcho aaj tumein ek kahani sunaun..Ek raaje ka beta lekar udanewala ghoda by KL Saigal from President (1937), lyrics Pt. Sudarshan, music KL Saigal

This song forces me to rethink the nuanced difference explained to me by experts. In this song the Saigal-character in the film narrates a ‘kahani’ to a group of children. This kahani has a king’s son, a princess from a fairyland, a flying horse which flies off on a kick and goes across the world – in short it has all the elements of an afsana, or dastan. A beautiful song though. Depending on the context, kahani or afsana have identical meaning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIoHKGcPJaI&list=RDKIoHKGcPJaI&start_radio=1

4. Aye bhi wo gaye bhi wo, khatm fasana ho gaya by Parul Ghosh from Namaste (1943), lyrics DN Madhok, music Naushad

Talking of Naushad’s magic, this fasana song is a good example. Parul Ghosh’s best song which comes to top of my recall is not a composition by her brother Anil Biswas, but this Naushad composition. What a romantic backdrop! – He came and he went away, and that was the end of fasana.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LNwI7Slgq0&list=RD2LNwI7Slgq0&start_radio=1

Let us have another set of songs with these quadruplet words.

5. Chalo ek baar phir se ajnabi ban janye hum dono by Mahendra Kapoor from Gumrah (1963), lyrics Sahir Ludhiyanvi, music Ravi

Sahir wrote a mother of all nazms. Its last stanza is Wo afsana jise anjam tak lana na ho mumkin, use ek khoobsurat mod dekar chhodna achchha.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSC3SXmM0O4&list=RDnSC3SXmM0O4&start_radio=1

6. Pyar ki dastan tum suno to kahein by Lata Mangeshkar from Farar (1965), lyrics Kaifi Azmi, music Hemant Kumar

I think as the Urdu poetry matured, you would find more dastan songs in the 60s. Dastan lends itself to different poetic expressions; thus, it is more capable of expressing very complex emotions. Most of the dastan songs were absolutely gorgeous, and you can reel off many from your memory – Wo bhooli dastan phir yaad aa gayi; Ajeeb dastan hai ye, kanhan shuru kahan khatam; Jo humne dastan apni sunayi aap kyun roye. Each better than the other. Among a long list of outstanding dastan songs, I am very fond of Pyar ki dastan tum suno to kahein. This beautiful song figured in an obscure film with unknown actors (I believe Farar was produced by Hemant Kumar). This is picturised on a lady I do not recognize. Please notice the element of narration in dastan. But it is meant for one special person, she does not care if the entire world is listening to her dastan or not.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTbSH-MVUfo&list=RDpTbSH-MVUfo&start_radio=1

7. Dil ki kahani kahna to chaahe haye ri kismat kah na sake by Lata Mangeshkar from Sagai (1951), lyrics Rajendra Krishna, music C Ramchandra

C Ramchandra was not the first music director to use recital prelude in songs, but in many songs, it helped set the mood of the song. My early Lata Mangeshkar favourite, this helps us think about the difference between afsana-dastan-kahani. This song starts with the recital prelude: ज़रा सी देर थी बाक़ी
बहार आने में, लगा दी आग मुक़द्दर ने आशियाने में.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvdtSTIwpsg&list=RDjvdtSTIwpsg&start_radio=1

8. Ae mohabbat unse milne ka bahana ban gaya/ tumne dekha, humne dekha ek fasana ban gaya by Rafi & Lata Mangeshkar from Baazar (1949), lyrics Qamar Jalaabadi music Shyam Sundar

Among the quadruplet, I find fasana maintains a consistent meaning. I started with Aaye bhi wo, gaye bhi wo, and that was the end of the fasana. In this Rafi-Lata Mangeshkar duet too, you saw me, and I saw you, and that was enough to cause a fasana.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhDhIeGkJus&list=RDYhDhIeGkJus&start_radio=1

With a little effort one can go on and on, but let me end with this set of songs on these four words.

9. Parwanon se preet seekh le, shama se seekhe jal jana, phir duniya ko yaad rahega tera mera afsana by Suraiya from Bilwamangal (1954), lyrics DN Madhok, music Bulo C Rani

Suraiya was blessed with sweetest of voices. Her personal unrequited love was the stuff of an afsana, which the world discusses till today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5Gvksd8Wpw&list=RDA5Gvksd8Wpw&start_radio=1

10. Bas ek chup si lagi hai, nahin udas nahin by Hemant Kumar from Sannata (1966), lyrics Gulzar, music Hemant Kumar

In the previous set you heard at #6 a Hemant Kumar composition in the voice of Lata Mangeshkar – Pyar ki dastan tum suno to kahein – from a small banner film Farar. Hemant Kumar was blessed with a divine voice. You might be wondering how a dastan song would sound in the voice of Hemant Kumar. There is indeed one, my long-time favourite. And it is my special favourite precisely because of dastan in the voice of Hemant Kumar, but you have to have patience till his last para (at 2.30) when he sings:

Wo dastan jo humne kahi bhi, humne likhi
Aaj wo khud se suni hai, nahin udas nahin.

In the process of creation, writing comes first, then the narration. But since narration is an important part of dastan, Hemant Kumar gives precedence to kahna. Many readers would be taken aback to see Soumitra Chatterjee on the screen, but the uploader clarifies that the visuals are from another film. I don’t think Soumitra acted in any worthwhile Hindi film. This is a twin song, the other version is by Lata Mangeshkar. This song is a strong proof of my theory of Twin songs – the male version is a front-runner, the female version is a laggard, and generally off the radar. This is a combined link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5omcMCiaDBw&list=RD5omcMCiaDBw&start_radio=1

11. Meri kahani bhoolnewale tera jahan aabad rahe by Rafi from Deedar (1951), lyrics Shakeel Badayuni, music Naushad

The Golden Era of music had many gems on kahani – Nirbal se ladai bhagwan ki, ye kahani hai diye ki aur toofan ki; Suno chhoti si gudiya ki lambi kahani; Apni kahani bhool ja, kuchh to nishani bhool ja, mausam beeta jaye; Dil ki kahani rang layi hai. I choose Meri kahani bhoolnewale as it comes at an important moment in the story. Dilip Kumar was very convincing as a blind person with his open eyes. He must have observed such blind persons very intently. Nargis, his childhood friend, has forgotten everything about those days, whereas from the description he is able to make out that she is the same person. He blesses her, May her world flourish! This film is also an important landmark in the history of Hindi film music. This film marks the beginning of Naushad settling for Rafi as his main male playback singer; it also marks the first time Talat Mahmood started realising the threat to his status as the premier ghazal singer from this semi-literate rustic boy from Punjab.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOMHgfrHq90&list=RDgOMHgfrHq90&start_radio=1

12. Jana tha humse door bahane bana liye by Lata Mangeshkar from Adalat (1958), lyrics Rajendra Krishna, music Madan Mohan

In our films, a courtesan could love a patron, but the respect of wedding, and love was beyond her hope. In this poignant song, in the second stanza she sings:

Rukhsat ke waqt tumne jo ansoo humein diye
Un ansounon se humne fasane bana liye

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5E0lWNeNjk&list=RDC5E0lWNeNjk&start_radio=1

13. Unhein kissa-e-gham jo likhne ko baithe to dekhe kalam ki rawani mein ansoon by Rafi from Naya Kanoon (1965), lyrics Hasrat Jaipuri, music Madan Mohan

I have mentioned the word kissa, too, as a synonym for dastan or kahani. I have not tried to look for a kissa song in each set. But this recital kissa song makes up for all. Hasrat Jaipuri was not Madan Mohan’s regular lyricist. But this nazm is worth quoting in full.

Unhein kissa-e-gham jo likhne ko baithe
to dekhe kalam ki rawaani mein ansoo
ye anmol taare wo ulfat ke moti
unhein hum ne bheje nishani mein ansoo

Unhein hum kahani sunane na paye
unhein daag dil ke dikhane na paye
ye ansoo hamare bade kaam aye
zubaa’n ban gaye be-zubani mein ansoo

Na samjho ke ansoo hain gham ki kahani
ye ansoo hain ulfat ki pehli nishaani
muqaddar ke katib ka itna karam hai
ke likkhe hain meri kahani mein ansoo
unhen kissa-e-gham jo…

Zamane mein taqdeer sab ki juda hai
tujhe kuchh mila hai mujhe kuch mila hai
udhar hain teri zindagani mein khushiyan
idhar hain meri zindagani mein ansoo
unhen kissa-e-gham jo likhne ko baithe
to dekhe kalam ki rawaani mein ansoo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTIPAB0Wv64

Acknowledgement and Dislaimer
The YT links of songs have been given only for the listening pleasure of music lovers. This blog has no commercial interest and claims no copyright over these songs, either directly or indirectly, which vests with the respective owners.

In transliteration of Hindi words into Roman script you may find some inconsistencies. That is because, I do not like too many double vowels.