Rani performs to Izhar bhi mushkil hai in Anjuman
Is there any genre of film music which is only vocalised by women for an almost exclusive male audience? The answer is simple: Yes, we are referring to the mujra. It originated in the courts of the rajas and nawabs, where courtesans sang and danced to the pleasure of the ruler and his close circle. The performer was well-versed with the two sisterly arts, singing and dancing (Kathak, in particular). Coquetry was the trademark of a courtesan, but she was not necessarily part of the flesh trade of prostitutes — though she may have granted such favours to her employer.
The mujra has almost invariably been an Urdu poem. The poetry generally has no depth and no philosophy to convey because the audience is by and large not steeped in Urdu literature, which is why Dagh Dehalvi has been a much greater favourite of courtesans than Mir Taqi Mir or Mirza Ghalib. This genre of vocal music has been popular in films.
There have been very few exceptions. For instance, Lata Mangeshkar’s beautifully rendered ‘Mohe panghat pe nandlal chherr gayo re’ picturised on the Venus of the Indian screen, Madhubala, is in Poorbi. Penned by the noted Urdu poet Shakeel Badayuni, the number was set in Raga Gara by none other than the composer with the Midas touch, Naushad, for the classic K. Asif’s Mughal-e-Azam (1960). In it Anarkali (Madhubala) completely enchants Prince Saleem (Dilip Kumar). There is one more deviation from the traditional mujra in this film rendition — the audience does not completely comprise males. Empress Jodha Bai (Durga Khote) is seen sitting next to the Emperor Akbar (Prithviraj).
One can’t think of any other genre of music in our films which has as perfect a balance of melody and rhythm as the mujra
While on exceptions, one should recall that Sabiha in Shikwah (1963) and Nargis in Adalat (1958) do not dance; they are sitting on the carpeted floors and their faces are shrouded in despair. Shikwah’s song ‘Aaj mehfil sajane ko ai’ has been composed by Hasan Latif Lilak and rendered by Noor Jehan. The two mellifluous mujras from Adalat have been composed by the master of melody Madan Mohan. Written by Rajendra Krishn, the memorable ghazals are ‘Unko ye shikayat hai ke hum kuchh nahin kehte’ and ‘Yun hasraton ke daagh muhabbat mein dho liye’.
Of course, in the context of mujras one cannot help but recall Mirza Hadi Ruswa (1857-1931), who created the prototypical character of the courtesan, Umrao Jaan, in what is often termed Urdu’s first novel. She is also into writing poetry. Ada is her takhallus [pseudonym] and in the original she hails from a ‘decent’ family but was kidnapped and forced into the profession. Quite a few films in Pakistan and India have had a central character based on Ruswa’s novel, though not all of them had been made under the same title.