Monday, September 5, 2011

Dhadak-Dhadak (Bunty Aur Babli)

I chose this as the first song for translation (instead of the more 'deep' ones), because I feel that the songs written by Gulzar for the more recent commercials movies has been mostly ignored by the cinema-goers as being trivial and not quite up to the Gulzar-mark. If at all they're less profound, it's because they reflect the mood of the public. (Maybe it's time for some self-reflection on why we have become less profound :P)

Background:
Rakesh a.k.a. Bunty (Abhishek Bachchan) and Vimmi a.k.a. Babli (Rani Mukherji) are two ambitious wannabes from small towns, where their dreams are written off as outrageous daydreaming. This is a song about their hopes and dreams.

Special mentions: 1. Babli is a Punjabi girl from a small town, and her language in the song is character-appropriate. She would use both swear words (e.g.: khasma nu khaye) and English words (e.g.: easy nahin) in the same breath. She's ambitious and is already looking forward to her life as a celebrity.
2. As this song is uplifting and about looking up and ahead, you'll find many references to words like sky, stars, moons and clouds.





Lyrics, and translation:
Narrator: Yeh world hai na, world, isme do tarah ke log hote hain, ek jo saari zindagi ek hi kaam karte hain, aur doosre, jo ek hi zindagi mein saare kaam kar dete hain. Yeh main nahin, yeh woh dono kehte the, aur kehte kya the, karte the; aur aisa karte the jaisa na kisi ne kiya ho, aur na shaayed koi kar paye.
[[This world has two kind of people - one who spend their whole life doing the same thing, and the other who want to do everything in the one life they've got. It's not me saying this, it's them. And they not only said it, but did it. And did it in a way no one ever could; and probably no one ever will.]]

Bunty: Chhote-chhote shehron se, khaali bore dopehron se
Hum to jhola utha ke chale
Baarish kam-kam lagti hai, nadiya maddham lagti hai
Hum samandar ke andar chale
O-ho-ho, hum chale, hum chale, oye Ramchand re
[[We've picked our bags; and left the small towns and its lazy mornings and boring afternoons behind us. 
The rain and the river were just not enough for us; we've now set our eyes on the sea.
And so we set off! (The term 'O Ramchand Re' is an exclamation, which could mean 'by the grace of God' or 'Adieu, dear Ramchand!')]]

Dhadak-dhadak, dhadak-dhadak, dhuaan udaaye re
Dhadak-dhadak, dhadak-dhadak, siti bajaye re
Dhadak-dhadak, dhadak-dhadak, dhuaan udaaye re
Dhadak-dhadak, dhadak-dhadak, mujhe bulaye re
[[The train is calling out to me; with its clattering, whistling and the rising smoke]]

Oho zara, rasta to do, thoda sa baadal chakhna hai
Bada-bada koyle se, naam falak par likhna hai
Chaand se hokar sadak jaati hai, usi pe aage ja ke apna makaan hoga.
(Repeat: Hum chale, hum chale...)
[[Make way for me, I've got to reach out for and taste the clouds.
I have to write my name at the sky; with big bold letters in coal.
I'll soon have a house on the road that goes via the moon.]]

(Repeat: Chhote-chhote shehron se...)

Babli: Hum to chale, sar pe liye, ambar ki thandi phulkariyaan
Hum hain zameen, hum aasmaan, khasma nu khaaye baaki jahaan
Chaand ka teeka matthe laga ke, raat din taaron mein jeena-veena easy nahin
[[I have on my head, the cool shade of Phulkari scarf made of the sky.
Others can go to hell, because I am my own land and my own sky.
It's not easy to live in the stars (limelight), with the moon for your Tika. (i.e., the life of a celebrity is not easy)]]

(Repeat: Hum chale, hum chale....)

A.K.A: 
  1. English translation of the song Dhadak-Dhadak from the movie Bunty aur Babli
  2. Meaning of the song Dhadak-Dhadak from the movie Bunty aur Babli.

9 comments:

  1. Good blog! But I would have preferred another song for the opening post :-)

    Following this blog now! just added to my google reader

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  2. Good blog.. I would like to see your interpretation of "mera kuch saman tumhare pass pada hai".. Whenever I listen this song, it give me interpretation much better than the previous one.. I can impersonate every line of it while I am pensive mood.

    ReplyDelete
  3. @Shantanu:
    Thanks! :) As I said, I had specific reasons for choosing this as the first song. Obviously, other tracks will follow :)

    @Nitin:
    Thank you! Great song, will do a spin on it some time :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Awesome work Kanu :)Liked it ...

    Now looking fwd for more precious gems of gulzar as per ur interpretation.

    Megha

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  5. I am not a Gulzar fan. I like his work but not a fan.

    Being said that... I like this blog (and will blog roll it). Nice background and Elaborate interpretation. Will be waiting for more.

    ReplyDelete
  6. thanks Bhav :)
    also for noticing the background, I created it with thumbnails of Gulzar movies :P

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow never knew these kind of blogs exist. I loved the movie, it was full of fun. By the way I already had the lyrics memorized. Will be following your blogs for more songs.

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  8. This is fun. Yes few people live just to spend the life and do nothing but there are few who do lots of things with just one life that we cant even think of.

    ReplyDelete

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