Some timeless and classic words are often ignored, or do not get as
much limelight as they deserve. I came across one more song of similar nature.
This song is so close to my heart that I almost sink in its rhythm, whenever I
listen to it. Yes, I am talking about ‘RANGREZ’ from the movie ‘TANU Weds MANU’.
The protagonist is asking his lover to blend him in her colors, make
him just the way she is. She is everything for him in the world. He denotes her
lover as RANGREZ, which means DYER or the one who colors clothes. For those who
find difficult understanding this beautiful song, I am translating it in English.
Enjoy and sink in the colors of love!
Aye rangrez mere, rangrez mere
ek baat bata rangrez mere
ye koun se paani mein tune koun
sa rang ghola hai,
ye koun se paani mein tune koun
sa rang ghola hai
ke dil ban gaya saudai,
aur mera basanti chola hai, mera
basanti chola hai,
Oh dyer of mine, Dear Dyer of mine,
Tell me a thing that what blend have you created of your colors and water!
My heart is all blue in love so profound,
And my cape is soaked in saffron…
Ab tumse kya main shikwa karun,
Maine hi kaha tha zid karke, rang
de chunri pi ke rang mein
Par mue kapas pe rang na ruke
rang itna gehra tera Ki jaano
jigar tak bhi rang de..
Jigar rang de…
What should I complain to you?
I like a stubborn asked you to color my veil in my lover’s color
Oh! Your colors dyed my fabric insanely
Deep within my heart ‘n soul everything is dyed of your color,
Color my heart away…
Rangrez tune afeem kya hai kha
li,
Jo mujhse tu ye pooche ke koun sa
rang?
Rangon ka karobaar hai tera, ye
tu hi to jaane, koun sa rang…
O Dyer, Are you intoxicated on Opium that you are asking me what shade to
come?
It is your business... Only you know what you should be coloring…
Mera balam rang, mera saajan
rang, Mera katik rang, Mera aghan rang,
mera phagan rang, mera saawan
rang,
Pal pal rangte rangte, rangte
mere atho pahar manbhawan rang
Ek boond ishqiyan daal koi tu,
Mera saaton samandar jaye rang,
My beloved’s color, my soul mate’s shade,
My spring color, my autumn hue, my rainfall color
Dye my all seasons and moments
with your color
Add a single drop of your love and color up my seven seas
Meri hadd bhi rang, sarhad bhi
rang,
Behad rang de, anhad bhi rang de,
Mandir masjid maikad rang,
Rangrez mere do ghar kyun rahe,
Ek hi rang mein dono ghar rang
de, dono rang de,
Pal pal rangte rangte rangte
rangte… naihar peehar ka aangan rang
Pal pal rangte rangte rangte
rangte… mere atho pahar manbhawan rang
Neende rang de, karwat bhi rang,
Khwabon pe pade salwat bhi rang
Color me off limits, Color my boundaries,
Color me extreme, color my unceasing infinities,
My temple, my mosque, my entire world indeed
Oh dyer, why we are separated by two different worlds?
Paint just one single shade to both worlds with your embraces,
Paint every moment, the courtyards of my maternal and marital heavens
Paint every moment, drape all my moments in one a shade
Color my sleep, color my peace,
Color even the creases of my dreams,
Ye tu hi hai, hairat rang de,
Aa dil mein sama hasrat rang de,
Fir aaja aur vaslat rang de,
Aa na sake to furqat rang de
Darde hijra liye dil mein darde,
hijra liye dil mein darde main zinda rahu,
Main Zinda rahu, zurrat rang de.
This is only you…color my amazement of you,
Come in my heart and paint my desires,
Come and color away our union,
And if you cannot, just paint our separation,
Even with the pain of being apart, I must live on,
Color my dare to carry on…
Rangrez mere, Rangrez mere,
Tera kya hai asal rang, ab to ye
dikhla de,
Mera piya bhi tu, meri sej bhi
tu,
Mera rang bhi tu, rangrez bhi tu,
Meri naiyaa bhi tu, majdhar bhi,
tujhmein dooboo, tujhmein ubarun,
Teri har ek baat sar aankhon pe,
Mera malik tu, mera sahib tu,
Meri jaa meri jaan, tere haatho
mein,
Mera qatil tu, mera munsif tu,
Tere bina kuch sujhe na, Tere bina
kuch sujhe na,
O dyer of mine,
What is your own real color? Show it now,
Oh you’re my lover, you are my resting place,
You are my color, and my colorful dyer too,
You are my sail, the center of ocean,
I sink in you; I come afloat under your beacon
Your every word is my supreme given
You are my owner and my master
My soul is in your hands,
You are my killer, you are my justice giver
I am clueless without you,
Meri raah bhi tu, mera rehbar tu,
Mera sarvar tu, mera aqbar tu,
Mera mashrik tu, Mera magrib tu,
Zahid bhi mera, murshid bhi tu,
Ab tere bina main jaun kahan,
Tere bina tere bina tere bina……
You are my voyage, my travel mate in sight,
My riddance, My genesis, My guiding light,
My lord is you, my disciple too,
Where could I go without you,
Where could I ever go without you,without you….
Aye rangrez mere, rangrez mere
ek baat bata rangrez mere
ye koun se paani mein tune koun sa rang ghola hai,
ye koun se paani mein tune koun sa rang ghola hai
ke dil ban gaya saudai,
aur mera basanti chola hai, mera basanti chola hai,
Oh dyer of mine, Dear Dyer of mine,
Tell me a thing that what blend have you created of your colors and water!
My heart is all blue in love so profound,
And my cape is soaked in saffron…
Respectable Ms Isha Suri, thank you for your wonderful translation of song Aye Rangrezz Mere. I would just put you some questions for the purpose of better understanding the song, since I would like to translate it in my mother tongue and, therefore, I would really appreciate if you could answer to them. These questions are as follows:
ReplyDelete1.This song is sung by a male voice, but who is the protagonist of the song, male or female, that is, is the man singing that to the woman, or vice versa, or is the protagonist (male or female) addressing to God?
2.If the protagonist of the song is male, why does he want his/her ’chunri’ (veil) to be dyed? Isn’t it a part of female clothes? And what is ’chola’, is it female blouse, or something for men?
3. ‘Par mue kapas pe rang na ruke’ –Does this word refer to ’the protagonist’s body’ (the tissue his body is made of) or simply his cotton clothes?
4. Do colours like ’basanti’ (yellow, the colour of saffran) and ’saudai’ (blue) have some symbolic meaning or do they just denote colours? In English ’blue’ can also mean ’sad’, is this the case here?
Thank You in advance.
Hi Mirjana!!! I was checking out the lyrics, this is one of my favorite songs, when i realized how this song can have altogether different meaning on a metaphysical level, on the level of soul. And that's when i came across your comment and i thought of writing back.
ReplyDelete1. Protagonist of the song is man, singing this for his lover who is seemingly getting away because she is marrying someone else. But to me it seems the song writer, although the song is situational to the movie plot, has really written to god. It's all most as if god is the beloved and the lyrics express that state of devotion and love he feels towards this beloved. To me all love songs seems to be written for god, a yearning to meet and unite with god, and after all aren't we are all truly god wearing human attire.
2. 'Chunri' and 'chola' are names of clothes used by women in India, veil and blouse respectively. By asking his 'chunri' to be dyed what it means is to make his completely one with him, as a form of devotional expression, he wants to be completely immersed in the ecstasy and devotion that love characterizes. The words are used to bring a poetic and aesthetic quality to the song.
3. 'Kapas' literally means cotton, indicating his fabrics.
4. Yeah the color have a symbolic meaning, just like in english 'blue' may also mean sad. 'Basanti' literally means yellow, indicating a colour of celebration, joy and union; while 'saudai' literally mean crazy or mad, here it means madly in love.
I hope that helped. <3
Hello, Swati! Thank you for your thorough explanation of the song. That is exactly what I needed to understand the essence of the song. However, this song is used in one of the episodes of popular TV show Piya Rangrezz and is sung at the very moment of Haldi ceremony before the wedding. And as for this wedding, the male character is madly in love with the girl who is he getting married with, but the female character is extremely unhappy about this marriage, since she is forced and blackmailed in a cruel way by the groom's mother to marry her son, but the groom is still not aware of that. That is why I wasn't sure how to translate this song in my language and at the same time, with its English translation, to convey the message of the song in my language, Serbian. Again, thank you very much. I hope you won't mind if I ask you some parts of the song which prove to be unclear to me during the translation. Really thanks!
ReplyDeleteexcellent translation..u r awesome..
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. Really needed it.
ReplyDelete