Song of Love: Chup Chup Ke from 'Bunty Aur Babli'

Written by the wizard of words, Gulzar Saab, composed by the sensational and versatile trio of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, the melodious voices bestowed by Sonu Nigam, Mahalaxmi Iyer, the song “Chup Chup Ke” from the Shaad Ali directed 2005 film ‘Bunty Aur Babli’ is simply not about Bunty and Babli, it’s a song culminating from the love fashioned between Rakesh Trivedi and Vimmi Saluja. The song juxtaposes the dual personalities that both Rakesh and Vimmi hides inside themselves in the form of their aspirations and dreams. So, to represent their romance, it becomes important to have a song that highlights both forms of the couple. The sound of piano that initiates the song represents the intimacy of their first kiss, just like the tunes coming out of a piano, the kiss that both Bunty and Babli share is highly seductive in its nature. The song then quickly shifts into the sound of Sitar, arranged by Niladri Kumar. The initial part of the song which starts with a piano and transforms into Sitar distinguishes the contradiction between the two personalities of the couple. The former, westerns in its aspirations, while the later representing the Indian-ness of their love.

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We quickly cut to a wide landscape of mountains, “देखना मेरे सर से आसमाँ उड़ गया है” sings Rakesh, as if telling Vimmi how jealous is the sky of their newly found love, and is reorganizing itself from the universe courtesy brought by the fanaticism of their love. Vimmi replies “देखना क्या हुआ, ये ज़मीं बह रही है, देखना पानियों में, ज़मीं घुल रही है कहीं से” the earth too is influenced by their love, and is ready to get submerged in water. The comparison between the two entities, Sky and Earth and their reformation, probably in their own way trying to get the feel of the taste of love, the lines are constructed in typical Gulzar-esque fashioned style to define the love between these two characters. It is also a symbol that much like the big ambitions that these two people have, the canvas of their thoughts is also larger than life. It’s as if the love between these two characters is acting as a conductor in an orchestra and directing the sky and earth to perform as per their words. The theme, idea and the interpretation of their love directed towards the sky and earth is what it makes it even more beautiful, because then the understandings will be in large number and in a deeper sense.    

   

We then see a change in characters in the song in the next scene, we see Bunty and Babli going around in a car, probably after a con job, and they make love in the car randomly in the middle of an empty road, the reason I say they are Bunty and Babli, because we do not hear a word, throughout the scene, all we get to hear is a tune of Piano, and when they do get inside of the car, we see a bundle of rupees flying away without neither of them bothering about it, that signifies the people we see on the screen.

  

We quickly cut back to Rakesh singing “होश में मैं नहीं, ये गशी भी नहीं, इस सदी में कभी, ये हुआ ही नहीं” he is sharing his state of confusion in his mind about his identity, he is muddled about the issue that whether the person in love is Rakesh or Bunty, because he hasn’t felt like this before, he has felt the highs of a successful con job gone right in the past, but the ecstasy of being in love is way above everything else in the world, and to be honest, at this point he just does not care about his dual personality, he simply wants to be in this moment of love. He does not know what the future holds for him, he just wants to be in the present, because he is in love and wants time to be paused and let him be absorbed in the moment. “जिस्म घुलने लगा, रूह गलने लगी” replies Vimmi, simply telling him that now, apart from partners in crime, they have become one soul, they both have amalgamated into one another, “पाँव रुकने लगने ,राह चलने लगी” up till that point, they were running towards one goal after another, but now Rakesh and Vimmi have come out of Bunty and Babli, and they have found stability in life, and now they do not run towards their path, the are static in their place, it’s the road of love they are walking together that is driving them towards their pathway, which is different from the idea that Bunty and Babli have in their mind.

We get back to both of them speaking once again about the sky and earth, and in a way, they are providing us updates about the sky and earth’s quest to restructure themselves. “आसमाँ बादलों पर करवटें ले रहा है, देखना आसमाँ ही बरसने लगे ना ज़मीन पे” the anxiety is getting into the nerves of the sky, and that might eventually lead to a point where the sky would roll around the clouds in order to pour down into the earth. “ये ज़मीं पानियों में डुबकियाँ ले रही है, देखना उठ के पैरों पे चलने लगे ना कहीं पे” announces Vimmi. This stanza of the song clears my ambiguity about the use of the words, sky and earth, the lyrics are trying to tell an individual story in itself, between sky and earth, both of them are envious of the love between Rakesh and Vimmi that they are witnessing in front of them, this ignites the fire of love in them, and they desperately want to sneak near each other for a couple of moments of proximity. The distance between them is too large to be fulfilled, instead both Rakesh and Vimmi are sharing their longing for one another through their words which are embedded in music.

We then cut back to Bunty and Babli having a glass of champagne in the middle of nowhere, and ironically for the first time, we hear these characters sing “छुप छुप के, चोरी से चोरी”. We see them running into an uninhabited lane, probably after a heist gone wrong, they try and hide around a corner, but at this particular moment, both of them are struck with the realization of being this intimate with each other. As they get closer with each other, we see a couple of people carrying flambeaus in the background. This is a very subtle hint on the director’s part to show the flames of love burning inside them, as they make love while running away from a theft, they are not one bit concerned about any other aspect at that moment apart from feeling each other’s love. As they make love, Bunty pulls the pearl necklace from Babli’s neck, this gives me another hint that the pearl necklace broken so passionately was stolen.

Just before the song, there is a beautiful sequence around the banks of Taj Mahal with a man singing on the outskirts, as if providing Rakesh and Vimmi a marriage song. Both of them take their marriage vows, and promise each other that they will forever remain as Bunty and Babli, fatefully once they are done with their proceedings, Vimmi tells him “Oye Rakesh, Just Married”. Shaad Ali is probably fascinated with the idea of his characters being in love around and with Taj Mahal. Ricky Thukral and Alvira Khan’s love was similarly made memorable in “Bol Na Halke Halke” from “Jhoom Barabar Jhoom”, where Ricky proposes Alvira for marriage, and we hear a man singing in the background. 

“तुम कहो तो रुकें, तुम कहो तो चलें, ये जुनूँ है अगर, तो जुनूँ सोच लें” sings Rakesh, solidifying the marriage vows he took, that he will take every important step in life in accordance with Vimmi, if their dynamics is termed as some sort of fixation by the world, then let it be the measuring stick for the feeling of obsession. The play of words describes the beauty and the epic nature of what it means for these characters to be in love. The fixation that is driven through love is much stronger than the core feeling, and Rakesh is even to willing to prove it. “तुम कहो तो रुकें, तुम कहो तो चलें, मुझको पहचानती, है कहाँ मंज़िले” says Vimmi, she will be unfamiliar to her destination without him, and if she is alone, even her destinations won’t recognize her.

The song culminates with the line “बंटी की बबली और बबली का बंटी, बंटी की बबली हुई”, leaving it for the audience to decide whether they see Bunty and Babli, or Rakesh and Vimmi. The song has so much depth to offer about the romantic side of these two couples, and the way they perceive romance. On one side, we have a couple acting as a mediator to narrate the tales of an immature but fantasy love between sky and earth, while on the other side we have a couple, who is naughty at every inch of their skin, and is looking to explore the moment of being ‘High’ when in love. We have a couple representing small towns of India, and on the other end, we have a couple showing urges of urbanized lifestyle.

Chup Chup Ke, probably got lost in the chaos of the lyrical and musical genius of Kajra Re, but the way this song provides nuances of these characters is simply worth admiring.   

Metamorphosis of Jordan

“I hear music when I close my eyes. When I open my eyes, the music does not go away. I often cannot follow the words that people speak, but I get the music of their soul. It is good that way, because words can lie but music cannot. Pleasant or disturbing, music is always the truth”- Jordan

Sometimes I marvel about the scenario how Imtiaz Ali would react to all the in-depth analysis around his films, his pleasantly realistic characters and their individual perception about love, life, dreams, freedom, and self-realization of their inner voices. People trying to decode the psychology of his characters, their motives, their state of mind at a particular scene, it must be a very fascinating and paradoxically surreal moment for him to read all the theories being put forwarded by people regarding the characters that he has created.

What quality does these Imtiaz Ali’s characters possesses for people to talk about them with so much passion and enthusiasm?

The answer lies in the question itself only, because they are “Imtiaz Ali’s” characters. 

One such fascinating figure from Imtiaz Ali’s universe that he introduced 6 years back to the world was Janardan Jakhar. A Delhi Boy who resents the fact that he has no pain in his life and has never experienced heartbreak. He is told that the emotional turmoil raised through heartbreak would eventually help him become a genuine and passionate musician.

Starts the journey of Janardan followed with a thunderous tune of an electric guitar from Orianthi Panagaris.

So where do we start from? Janardan’s impression that a completely different world exists inside video games, or the one who sprinkles alcohol around his face and collar, and act totally sloshed just so that he can mix up in the crowd. He also put forwards an interesting fact that guest at the wedding fantasize about the bride at night. He does not understand classic music, or he is unaware of the fact that he does, but it just does not go well with his sense of music. He leaves interviews midway without bothering to tell anyone, because he just does not care. 

Perhaps we should start with Jalal ad-Din Rumi’s lines that open the journey of Janardan “Out beyond the ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.”

Imagine a place, where we do not have to live in synchronization with the social conventions, our actions will not be judged in accordance to what is right and what is wrong. Imagine a place, so revered that we will be able to overcome the despair and misery surrounding our lives because of us trying to be different from what we actually are. There are no society expectations, no pressure to succeed in life in terms of the stagnant parameters of success in life. A place where anyone can run towards their dreams irrespective of the fear of it being reasonable or not.  A place where the impulsive nature of our soul guides us through the questions put forward by scenarios thrown into our way by life. A place where the radiance of the universe permeates through our consciousness and stimulates us to let things go. What is right and what is wrong is very subjective, but the core value that the meeting field brings is way beyond those circumstances.  

     

The two concepts, the meeting place and that heartbreak is necessary for peak creativity form the crux of Janardan’s metamorphosis into Jordan. The two concepts run parallel throughout the film; the need of the meeting ground carved into core idea of how creativity, triggered through deep sorrow is juxtaposed into the narrative. The differential layers of emotions vary in accordance to the mood of Janardan/Jordan and are intelligently conveyed through the lighting of the scenes. The initial life of Janardan is expressed through natural light, because Janardan is a typical Delhi boy, who has not yet discovered the world yet. When Jordan sings at live concerts, on several occasions under monochromatic shades or under suppressed colors highlighting the mood of his state along with signifying the lack of bright colors in Jordan’s life.           

Ustad Jameel Khan spots Janardan at Nizamuddin Dargah, which is the holy shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya.  He was one of the most famous Sufis of the Indian subcontinents. Nizamuddin Auliya, like his predecessors from Chishti order focused upon love as a means of realizing God. Janardan, a bit hesitant in the initial days to mix up with the Qawaali team at the shrine organically gels with them through the magic of his music. He serves as a disciple at the shrine yet act a bit reluctant to ask for anything, and rather just stares with a sign of doubt. Gradually, it is his music that allows him to break the shackles of reluctance, and he utters-

Bring Morning rains on my body, and it helps me clean up the dark soul of mine, the drop of Nourishment that flows from yours, Oh Lord

It would be more appropriate to state that Janardan served as a disciple of a Sufi Saint, and it eventually helped him rediscover his music through a different perspective. Ustad Jameel Khan serves as a Messiah in Janardan’s life. He convinces an unenthusiastic Dhingra to give him a break and quotes “He is a big animal; he won’t fit in your small cage, he will create his own music, he is something else, the Almighty has blessed him, he has his Inayat (Grace)”. Ustad Jameel Khan seemed like a messenger of God sent to identify the ones who had God’s grace and fulfill their wishes. He kept track of his green colored Misbaha (Prayer bead) which is used to repeatedly recite prayers silently within the mind or aloud. He had two disciples with him, carrying his wheelchair, who appeared twins, with nearly same facial features and same clothes. According to Islamic tradition, the two kiraman and katibin (honourable scribes) are two angels called Raqib and Atid, believed by Muslims to record a person's actions, thoughts and feelings.       

If you go through the posters of Rockstar, you will notice a pattern of a strong color template surrounded by flames. I wonder if it symbolizes “Wings on Fire”, the name of Jordan’s concert. The man you see on the poster is not Janardan; he is Jordan, who is broken, empty, under immense pain, in quest of the meeting place, burning in the fire of his own strong emotions. He can only express his pain through his music, and yet cannot be heard. The posters featuring Jordan and Heer have an indispensable aura of enraged sexual energy. It is as if both of them want to shred all the inhibitions laid down to them by the society and get lost under the passionate fumes of loves. Meanwhile, the ones featuring Jordan alone denotes an intellect of Sufism hidden under his music. 

The transformation of Janardan into Jordan is organic, systematic and painful, Heer gives him this new name, Janardan unaware of the consequences that his life is about to undergo accepts the new name with an initial hesitation. The first point of transformation is through the song “Aur Ho”, where Jordan is full of sexual energy, and by this, I do not mean he is full of lust; it is rather the restlessness after a string of passionate kisses and intimate moments that has turned him helpless against his conscious judgment of what is right and what is wrong. He constantly wants to look into the eyes of Heer, he cannot accept Heer turning her face away. He wants to feel the sensations brought because of his hands touching her skin.  

“I have become a string tangled in wish, untangle me
I am a knock and you are like closed doors, open
O helpness staying in the heart,
come, live and while living, live the dream..
There should be more, more noise of breaths and move towards the flame”

The moment that catalyzes the transformation occurs when the people are aware of his music, his eccentric personality, and wants to pass on a judgment on his personal space, they are more interested in his personal actions rather than his music, people wants to cash-in on his music through his idiosyncratic nature. Dhingra Saab, knows the value of public image, because according to his market experience “Everything is Image, and Image is everything” and that is how he brands Jordan’s first album as “Negative” because in media only negative prevails. Jordan expresses his volatile reactions through the song “Sadda Haq” where he starts with these lines-

“In this world of you people, at every step, a human is wrong.

Whatever I feel is right and say,

you call it wrong, if I'm wrong then who's right?

Should I send you a request

for me to live with my own wish?

Means you all have a right on me

more than I do it's my right, put it here and give it to me”

  In the middle of the concert, Jordan narrates an incident to the public about how many years ago; there was dense and fearsome jungle at this very right place, which was converted into a city with neat and clean houses, wide straight roads, everything with proper planning. The day the jungle was torn down, a flock of birds left the place forever. Jordan mentions that he is searching for those birds. This part left me wondering whether Jordan at this point is not aware of the meeting place, and those flock of birds went into that sacred space, far away from the humanity.

Does the search of those flocks of birds guides Jordan to discover the meeting place?

At one point in the film, post the transformation of Janardan into Jordan, there is a pause or perhaps a Trans like state where Jordan stands still, as if Jordan wants time to stand still. He recalls the time spent at the shrine, may be looking for same kind of solace that he found during his stay at the shrine. There is also a shot of him shivering with cold and witnessing sunrise, still longing for something even he has not determined yet. The scene between Khatana and Jordan works on the principle of paradox. Even Jordan agrees with his queries and to his best ability tries to explain his state of mind but fails. Jordan has fallen into the gap of contradictions, which is explained so aesthetically via the dichotomy of fame. He is no more Janardan from Hindu College, who had heated arguments over little Chutney offered for two Samosa’s, he is now Jordan, the rockstar. His friends are not interested in understanding his mental frame of mind; rather their priority lies in getting as many pictures as possible with the celebrity that Janardan has become.     

In a Film Companion interview, Imtiaz Ali mentioned that in retrospective, the film has defects after a particular point; he says that how beautiful it would have been if they had just got together and after a certain time realized that they have nothing in common and are not compatible. Ranbir Kapoor points that it is a perfect film that it was necessary for Jordan to get heartbroken towards the climax and end their story the way it ended.

                                           

6 years have passed since the release of the film, but the character continues to grab our attention, A.R.Rahman’s sensational soundtrack refuses to leave our mind, the magic delivered through words by Dr. Irshad Kamil continues to make us in awe, the soothing voice of Mohit Chauhan always brings a sense of calmness all around. Each song creates a different vibe and narrates the story in itself. Jordan’s character left an indelible mark for every protagonist suffering under the effect of love; the closest a character has come to Jordan is Arjun from Arjun Reddy. The two seems different sides of a coin, both flawed in their own way yet they both engross us in their stories, in their idea of love. I found Arjun a far more evolved version of Jordan. Arjun does not shy from fulfilling his physical needs whereas Jordan tries but fails miserably in the same case. Arjun is optimistic about his love, while Jordan remains stagnant in his life and chooses to remain enclosed in a shell of his own emotions during the period when he is away from Heer. The common string between the two that I found is that they are highly polarizing characters and they evoke polarizing emotions from the people, you either love them unconditionally with their flaws or loathe them in regards to their emotional shortcomings.      

Jordan is aware of the void in his life, the angst that engulfs him every moment despite having everything that he always wanted. He is enraged within, burning in his love for Heer. There comes a point where Jordan does not want himself to be heartbroken, he just want to be with Heer, but it is too late for him to realize this. The path of destruction that he embarked on has eventually broken his heart and shattered the innocent Janardan hiding somewhere within Jordan. All he wanted was to be with Heer in a world of their own, where they can live in solace, with no one to judge them, question their actions. I do not want to believe that Heer left Jordan all alone to suffer even more, I tell myself that they reunited at the meeting ground where the flock of birds resided. They did not deserve the world we live in; they deserved a far more suitable place for their love.