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The Story Behind Dil Dharhakne Ka Sabab
Shafqat Amanat Ali ended his 2015 album Muh Dikhai by going back into his own family: this ghazal was composed by his father, Ustad Amanat Ali Khan, on a couplet by the Urdu poet Nasir Kazmi. It arrived with a long performance history behind it, having been sung before him by Ghulam Ali, Asha Bhosle and Pankaj Udhas, all of whom kept it inside the traditional ghazal frame. Shafqat and his arranger Shani Arshad deliberately did not. Their reading opens on little more than voice and piano, then hands the answering phrases to a cello and an oboe, so the Patiala gharana ornamentation sits in something closer to chamber music. Times Music released the video that August, shot in Mumbai by cinematographer Manu Anand and fronted by the veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah.
Meaning & Translation
The title is the first half of Nasir Kazmi's opening couplet, and it works as a riddle. Dil dharhakne ka sabab yaad aaya means, roughly, "I have remembered the reason my heart was racing." The answer waits for the second line, woh teri yaad thi, ab yaad aaya, "it was your memory, and only now do I understand." Nothing is being declared here. The speaker is working backwards from a physical symptom to its cause, and the recognition is late, private and a little embarrassed. That is why the reading suits Shafqat Amanat Ali. He keeps the volume low and the ornament sparing, so the couplet lands as a thought said out loud rather than as a lament.
Details
Artists & Credits
- Shafqat Amanat Ali singer
- Ustad Amanat Ali composer
- Nasir Kazmi lyricist
- Shani Arshad musician