Besides being endowed with the gift of the gab, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was a prolific poet. While he had penned down many philosophical poems, the one which he composed in 1999 was converted into a music video featuring stellar artists such as Ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh, the angry young man of the Bollywood–Amitabh Bachchan, the king of romance–Shah Rukh Khan and legendary film director Yash Chopra.
In the year 2002, a poem titled “Kya Khoya Kya Paya” by India’s one of the most prolific wordsmiths, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, was converted into a song by Jagjit Singh. The album was titled “Samvedna” and Singh composed the music as well as sung the track. Actor Amitabh Bachchan narrated the preface of the video, while actor Shah Rukh Khan featured in it. The music video was directed by Yash Chopra.
Kya Khoya Kya Paya’ was a part of Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s book, ‘Samvedna‘ that was released in 1999.
The coming together of an ensemble cast created a surrealistic music composition that was in harmony with the sombre lyrics of the poem. Jagjit Singh’s soulful rendition, Shah Rukh’s poignant acting and Amitabh Bachchan’s legendary voiceover, along with Yash Chopra’s magical direction did the perfect job of evoking the emotions that the lyrics conveyed.
According to the cover of the album, Javed Akhtar had written the commentary by Amitabh Bachchan that was given in the album.
The poems have been picked from Vajpayee’s book Meri Ikyavan Kavitayaen. Interspersed in the album is Vajpayee’s own narrative in which he describes the events and emotions that inspired each of his poems, spanning from the Emergency days to his birthday.
Lyrics of his poem “Kya Khoya Kya Paya”
Here are the lyrics of the poem penned by Atal Bihari Vajpayee:
Kya khoya kya paya jag mein
Milte aur bichhadte mag mein
Mujhe kisi se nahin shiqaayat
Yadyapi chhala gaya pag pag mein
Ek drishti beeti par daalen
Yaadon ki potali tatolen
Apne hi mann se kuchh bolen
Prathvi laakhon varsh puraani
Jeevan ek anant kahaani
Par tan ki apni seemayen
Yadyapi sau sharadon ki vaani
Itna kaafi hai antim dastak
Par Khud darvaza kholen
Apne hi mann se kuchh bolen
Janam maran kaa avirat phera
Jeevan banjaaron kaa deraa
Aaj yahan kal kahan kuch hai
Kaun janata kidhar savera
Andhiyara aakash aseemit
Praanon ke pankhon ko taulen
Apne hi mann se kuch bolen
