Making Memories with Music & War

Music made for war films has created a deep and memorable impact, writes Narendra Kusnur.

In 1973, the title song of Chetan Anand’s film Hindustan Ki Kasam became an overnight radio hit. Sung by Mohammed Rafi and Manna Dey, it was composed by Madan Mohan, with Kaifi Azmi writing, “Hindustan ki kasam, Hindustan ki kasam, Hindustan ki kasam, na jhukenge, sar watan ka, har jawaan ki kasam.”

Starring Raaj Kumar and Priya Rajvansh, the film was set in the 1971 Indo-Pak war, and the song brought out the nationalistic fervour. Though the movie didn’t do well at the box-office, other songs like Lata Mangeshkar’s ‘Hai Tere Saath Meri Wafa’ and Manna Dey’s ‘Har Taraf Ab Yehi Afsane Hai’ had war references and shots, and were also popular.

Chetan Anand’s earlier film Haqeeqat (1964) was based on the Indo-China war of 1962, and had songs revolving around the subject. ‘Hoke Majboor Mujhe Usne Bhulaya Hoga’, sung by Bhupinder, Mohammed Rafi, Talat Mahmood and Manna Dey, and was filmed on Army jawans. Rafi’s ‘Kar Chale Hum Fida’ brought out the tragedy of war, and created a huge impact with the lines, “Kar chale hum fida jaan-o-tan saathiyon, ab tumhare hawale watan saathiyon”. Both these songs again featured the Madan Mohan-Kaifi Azmi team.

While these were examples of popular war songs in Hindi films, the truth is that overall, the number of such songs has been limited. To begin with, the number of war films is low, probably because such films involved a larger scale and thus higher budgets. Besides Chetan Anand, one director to specialise in the genre was J P Dutta, with Border, LOC Kargil and Paltan. Others have made one-off films. Secondly, in many of the war films, the music often strayed away from the subject, as romantic sub-plots resulted in love songs.

Here, we are not talking of period films, capturing ancient wars with historical significance – thus there will be no Sikandar, Porus, Prithviraj Kapoor, Sohrab Modi, ‘kee thi ladai’ or ‘main kya karoon’. The most common themes were thus involvement in World War II, the Indo-China war of 1962, the Indo-Pak war of 1971 and the Kargil war of 1999. Besides that, there was the 2019 film Uri: The Surgical Strike, based on the Uri incident of 2016, and some films involving isolated military excursions.

When one talks of films inspired by World War II, the Dev Anand starrer Hum Dono (1961) comes to mind. However, none of the songs related to war, as there was a love song (‘Abhi Na Jaao’), a spiritual song (‘Allah Tero Naam’) and situational songs like ‘Main Zindagi Ka Saath’ and ‘Kabhi Khud Pe’.

Then, there was the Rajendra Kumar-Dharmendra film Lalkar (1972), where a group of army officers were shown singing Rafi’s ‘Aaj Gaalo Muskuralo’. Most of the other Kalyanji-Anandji songs are romantic. In 2017, Vishal Bhadwaj’s Rangoon used the wartime scenario in Burma as a base, but besides shots showing army trucks, there’s nothing war-related about the songs.

Haqeeqat was the biggest film about the 1962 war. However, the most memorable song of that period wasn’t from any film. Lata Mangeshkar’s iconic ‘Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon’, written by Kavi Pradeep and composed by C. Ramchandra, was dedicated to Indian soldiers who lost lives during the war. It moved everyone, including then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, with the lines ‘Ae mere watan ke logon, zara aankh mein bhar lo paani, jo shaheed hue hain unki, zara yaad karo qurbani”.

One also heard a good patriotic song ‘Vande Mataram’ in 72 Hours: Martyr Who Never Died (2019), based on Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawal, who fought against Chinese troops. Sukhwinder Singh sang the lines ‘Ab jeene aur marne ki parwah karte nahin’ and ‘Tan ko qurban karte hain aur rooh reh jaate hain’ to Sujoy Bose’s music, with Anupriya Chatterjee doing the female lines.

J P Dutta’s Paltan, based on 1967 clashes in Sikkim, had songs like the title track and ‘Main Zinda Hoon’, which had shots of soldiers and Army exercises. Music was by Anu Malik and lyrics were by Javed Akhtar.

Coming to the Indo-Pak war of 1971, besides Hindustan KI Kasam, there was J. Om Prakash’s 1975 film Aakraman, where two army officers (Sanjeev Kumar and Rakesh Roshan) fell in love with the same girl (Rekha) when war broke out. Two songs were filmed on Rajesh Khanna, who played a soldier disabled in the 1965 war. Both ‘Dekho Veer Jawaano’ and ‘Fauji Gaya Jab Gaon Mein’ were sung by Kishore Kumar, composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal and written by Anand Bakshi.

The huge 1971-based film, Dutta’s Border, was released in 1997. An adaptation of real-life events that took place during the Battle of Longewala, it was musically best known for ‘Sandese Aate Hain’, sung by Sonu Nigam and Roopkumar Rathod, composed by Anu Malik and written by Javed Akhtar. The song was known for its depiction of the pain of soldiers and the feeling of staying away from families. ‘Hindustan Hindustan’ and ‘Mere Dushman Mere Bhai’ were also notable.

Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyon (2004) was also set in the Indo-Pak war, and was known for Anu Malik’s title track written by Sameer. The film 1971, released in 2007, told the tale of prisoners of war. The song ‘Kaal Ke Antim Palon Tak’ was written by the great Neeraj, sung by Kailash Kher and composed by Akash Sagar Chopra. The song talked about a commitment to fight for one’s country. In 2018, Meghna Gulzar’s Raazi was set with the backdrop of the 1971 war. The song ‘Ae Watan’, composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and written by Gulzar, was sung in two versions by Arijit Singh and Sunidhi Chauhan.

The Kargil war was best exemplified in Dutta’s 2003 film LOC Kargil, featuring an ensemble cast. Composed by Anu Malik and written by Javed Akhtar, the songs ‘Main Kahin Bhi Rahoon’, ‘Seemaae Bulaye Tumhe’ and ‘Ek Saathi Aur Bhi Tha’ brought out different emotions related to war. Farhan Akhtar’s Lakshya (2004), starring Hrithik Roshan was also set in the backdrop of the Kargil conflict. Composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and written by Javed Akhtar, ‘Kandhon Se Milte Hain Kandhe’ depicted Army training exercises. The title track, sung by Shankar Mahadevan, worked as a motivational number, with lines like, “Lakshya ko har haal mein paana hai ”.

Over the past two years, two films Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl and Shershaah were inspired by the Kargil War. The former, based on the life of Air Force pilot Gunjan Saxena, had the songs ‘Bharat Ki Beti’ (Arijit Singh) and ‘Aasmaan Di Pari’ (Jyoti Nooran), with the latter depicting intense training. They were composed by Amit Trivedi with lyrics by Kausar Munir. The recent Amazon Prime release Shershaah was based on Param Vir Chakra awardee Capt Vikram Batra, who died during the Kargil War. ‘Jai Hind Ki Sena’, sung and composed by Vikram Montrose, and written by Manoj Muntassir, was a tribute to the Indian Army.

Some of the best war song scenes were shown in the 2019 film Uri: The Surgical Strike, based on India’s retaliatory action against the terrorist attacks in Uri, Jammu & Kashmir. The film starred Vicky Kaushal, with music composed by Shashwat Sachdev. Most songs had a war backdrop.

Besides these, songs like ‘Main Hindustan Hoon’ in the new Hindustan Ki Kasam (1999), ‘Akkad Te Bakkad Te’ in Tango Charlie (2005), ‘Ashq Na Ho’ in Holiday (201$) and ‘Desh Mere’ in Bhuj: The Pride Of India (2021) had songs depicting Army officers. However, overall, the number of war-related Indian songs has been rather low. In fact, if one searches Google for ‘Bollywood war songs’, one is immediately directed to Vishal-Shekhar’s ‘Ghungroo’ from the 2019 film War, though the tune had nothing to do with war.

Some songs have remained memorable over the years. The lyrics were either patriotic, motivational or based on situations prescribed by the script. Whatever the theme, they created a deep impact, reminding us of the bravery and valour of those military personnel who serve the country.

10 war-related songs

1 Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon – Lata Mangeshkar, non-film, 1963

2 Hoke Majboor – Haqeeqat, 1964

3 Kar Chale Hum Fida – Haqeeqat, 1964

4 Hindustan Ki Kasam – Hindustan Ki Kasam, 1973

5 Dekho Veer Jawaano – Aakraman, 1975

6 Sandese Aate Hain – Border, 1997

7 Seemaen Bulaye Tumhe – LOC Kargil, 2003

8 Kandhon Se MIlte Hai Kandhe – Lakshya, 2004

9 Ae Watan – Raazi, 2018

10 Vande Mataram – 72 Hours: Martyr Who Never Died, 2019