Spoken word: Jugalbandi of words and art

Love of poetry and storytelling had me stop flipping radio stations and listen to "The deck of cards" by Tex Williams; experiencing a  Haruki Murakami moment "Whatever it is you are seeking won't come in the form you are expecting." I had discovered a form of art, spoken word. An estuary of narrative and music  for the soul. A confluence of words and performing art, dance and theatre. All this, over a banal trip, ridden with gnarling Delhi traffic, browsing through FM channels indifferently, driving back across 3 states from work.

I was in the throes of a scripturient urge to celebrate my abecedarian finding. The drive seemed longer than usual, there was so much to do; quench my curiosity by reading more, attend to a deluge of examples, listen to new finds and compile a playlist. Most of this though, was curtailed to the luxury of late evenings that afforded time for myself.

Sunscreen,  Are you lonesome tonight, Yeh kahan aa gaye hum, have been all time favorites, only today I  know better, I can flaunt the genre of music they belong to and discover more such gems.

Political motivations, social causes, religious discourses, leadership speak, life experiences, stories, folklore and many more expressions have found themselves in this experimental art form.

I have put together a humble playlist of Hindi spoken-word tracks to show and tell what spoken-word is all about,  and with your suggestions it could only get better. 

Get the complete playlist: Here

4 beautiful poems written by Javed Akhtar recited by Farhan Akhtar in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

Apne Hone Par Mujhko Yaqeen Aa Gaya | Yeh Jaane Kaisa Raaz Hai | Dil Aakhir Tu Kyun Rota Hai | Toh Zinda Ho Tum

An all time favorite from a movie which is poetry in motion, Rituparno Ghosh's Raincoat. The movie is an adaptation of O' Henry's short story "The GIft of Magi". Enjoy the recitation in Gulzar's baritone and Shubha Mudgal's voice in Piya tora kaisa abhiman.

Calling Amitabh Bachchan fans. Silsila scores high on music  and poetry. Yeh Kahaan aa gaye hum has Amitabh Bachchan monologues and Lata Mangeshkar singing to Javed Akhtar's  lyrics.

Jab tak hai jaan, the last of legend Yash Raj Chopra's direction opens with a poetry penned by his son Aditya Chopra, delivered by Shahrukh Khan to the background score of A.R. Rahman.

Sanjay Gupta paired a Gulzar's poem to each of his stories in the movie Dus Kahaniyan. Soliloquized by Nana Patekar-Tere utare hue din, Naseeruddin Shah-Der Aayad | Poore ka poora aakash, Dia Mirza-Khudkhushi, Sanjay Dutt-Chaal Chal, Amrita Singh-Raat Tamir Kaarien, Anupam Kher-Bauchar, Sudhanshu Pande-Tallaq, Neha Dhupia-Hatak and Manoj Bajpai-Khali Samunder | Taalash | Chaal Chal to a background score by, wait for it, Bappi Lahiri. 

PS: All the poems are on Youtube playlist.

Madhushala the epic metaphorical writing by Harivansh Rai Bachchan sung by Manna Dey.

Mirza Ghalib is the "God" of this art form and one can't attempt to recount his works.

This one dates back to the days of Doordarshan, Ek Anek Aur Ekta , an animation by Film Division of India narrated a story on unity, sung by Sadhna Sargam at 5!

A powerful description by Gulzar in Aastha: Pyaar wo beej hai 

The trailers  of Dhoom 3 were abuzz with Aamir Khan reciting Bande hain hum uske written by Aditya Chopra

Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna by Ram Prasad Bismil  is an ode to young freedom fighters  of Indian Independence Movement.

All of this needn't be serious and romantic. The genre lends itself to comedy and in my humble opinion rapping should qualify too. So here are some of the unconventional ones.

Ek Rahen Eer by Amitabh Bachchan

I am Mumbhai by Javed Jaffery in Bombay Boys

Thanda Thanda Pani by Baba Sehgal

...and many more on the Youtube playlist