Song: Logon ke ghar mein rehta hoon

Movie: Griha Pravesh (1979)

Music Director: Kanu Roy

Singer: Bhupinder

Basu Bhattacharya, was known for making movies about that part of the story which happens after the “The End” of the rest of the movies. What happens when the hero and the heroine walk blissfully into the sunset? Is it “happily ever after”?

In many of his movies the central theme was marital discord: Anubhav, Aavishkar, Griha Pravesh and Aastha, the man and the woman were named Amar and Mansi, respectively.  It was always the story of Amar and Mansi! It was as if the actors did not matter, he was more anchored to the characters, than who played them on the screen. It’s no surprise then that the songs in his movies were also mostly about the intimacy and the fragility of the husband-wife relationship.

However, this song from Griha Pravesh is a departure from this theme. It is about the intense longing to have a place to call “home”. The lyrics narrate this primal human longing in a tangible way without taking refuge in heavy-handed philosophical words. This is so trademark Gulzar: express the emotion in a way which has the most immediate grounded connection. (some other examples: dashrath ka waada/ballimaraan se dareebe talak/ek tumhare kaandhe ka til….and many more). In the first stanza of this poem, he evokes the emotion of wanting a “ghar” by talking about those who have one : from relatives: mamas and chachas, to casual friends like Shyama. In the second, he brings about the simple need of wanting to be at-home in that careless way that you can in only your own home, as against being a guest in someone else’s house (and hence having to watch your mannerisms all the time which can be quite a drain). He uses the bare feet versus wearing socks analogy to drive this thought “home”. Keep it simple!

What makes this song extra special to me is that the man himself makes a rare on screen appearance.

लोगों के घर में रहता हूँ, कब अपना कोई घर होगा,

दीवारों  की चिंता  रहती हैं, दीवार में कब कोई दर होगा!

 

सब्जी मंदी बाप का घर हैं, पुल पंगाश पे मामा का,

शाम नगर में चाचा का घर, चौक में अपनी श्यामा का,

मइके और ससुराल के आगे और भी कोई घर होगा!

 

इच्छाओं के भीगे चाबुक चुपके चुपके सहता हूँ,

दूजे के घर यूं लगता हैं मोज़े पहेने रहता हूँ,

नंगे पाऊँ आँगन में कब बैठूंगा कब  घर होगा ?