Phir Se Ud Chala – Flight Of My Soul – Rockstar

By Aditi Thakur | February 21, 2018

Lyrics are so tricky sometimes that they have two meanings. One that is on the surface, which is seen and understood by everyone and there is another meaning to it on a much deeper level. This latter meaning is actually what the poet or the lyricist wants to tell everyone, or is feeling deep down inside his/her heart.

This song from the movie Rockstar (2011) is an example of such songs. The lyrics are written by Irshad Kamil while the music is by A.R. Rahman and is sung by Mohit Chauhan. This amazing composition resonates with a person’s day to day struggle and his constant search of finding God.

The use of guitar and mandolin lifts the song to another level. The voice of Mohit Chauhan is so soothing and sincere that we feel that he has sung this song from his soul.

The song appears in the film when the lead character Janardan Jakhar (Ranbir Kapoor) realizes that he has fallen in love with Heer (Nargis Fakhri) who is getting married to some other man. He is helpless as he cannot do anything to win her and the only thing he can do is go away.

The song also shows his journey of becoming Jordan the Rockstar and how he comes in contact with his inner self and spirituality through music.

It appears as if he is talking about going back to the love that he lost. But this song actually talks about the spiritual path that he had caught the glimpse of before becoming the national sensation. His soul actually wants to go back to that but is trapped in all the worldly things of fame and money.

Phir se ud chala
Ud ke chhoda hai jahaan neeche main tumhare ab hoon hawaale
Ab door door log baag meelon door ye waadiyaan
Phir dhuaan dhuaan tan har badli chali aati hai choone
Par koi badli kabhi kahin kar de tan geela ye bhi na ho…
Kisi manzar par main ruka nahi
Kabhi khud se bhi mein mila nahi
Ye gilah to hai main khafa nahi
Shehar ek se gaaon ek se
Log ek se naam ek ooo

There! I took the flight again
I have flown so high this time that I have left the world behind
And now I have surrendered to You
I have left these people and places miles behind me
Now I fly in these beautiful clouds which surround me all the time
These clouds sometimes caress my burnt and smoked body and drench me in its beauty

Earlier I used to just roam about in frenzy and did not stop at any point
I did not even take rest to meet and know myself
I regret this, but I’m surely not angry
As all those places were the same; the cities, the villages
The people who lived there, their names even were the same

While getting away from his love, he realizes that he is pulled by a stronger force which rules this world. He briefly comes in contact of the powers of almighty through music. He understands that this is what he always wanted to do and was distracted by many other things.

Mitti jaise sapne ye kitta bhi palko se jhaado
Phir aa jaate hain
Itte saare sapne kya kahoon kis tarah se maine
Tode hain chhode… hain kyun
Phir sath chalein mujhe leke ude ye kyun

These dreams are like sand castles, no matter how much I try to break them
Some particles fly and settle in your eyes every time
I have tried to break free from these dreams so many times
I have tried to leave them behind, break them
Still, they come to me and take me away along with them, oh why?

Yet, sometimes the memories and dreams of the past come and haunt him. He tried to forget his love but the traces of those scars still remain with him wherever he goes.

Kabhi daal daal kabhi paat paat
Mere saath saath phire dar dar ye
Kabhi sehra kabhi saawan
Banu Ravan jeeyun mar mar ke

I wander from different branches to leaves like a bee
And my dreams wander along with me, although scared
They accompany me sometimes to the desert and sometimes in the rain
I have become like Ravan who gets killed every time and yet lives on forever

These dreams and memories together kill him every time he tries to pull away from them, yet he picks himself up and lives on; just like Ravan who gets killed every year and lives on forever.

Kabhi daal daal kabhi paat paat
Kabhi din hai raat kabhi din din hai
Kya sacch hai, kya maaya
Hai daata, hai daata

I wander from branches to leaves like a bee and have lost track of time
Sometimes the day feels like the night while sometimes the day feels like day itself
I am now unable to differentiate between the truth and myth
I am no longer my own my lord

Now this has given rise to frenzy where it is difficult to understand and tell the difference between reality and dream. At this time the only hope he has is the lord almighty.

Idhar udhar titar bitar
Kya hai pata hawa le hi jaaye teri ore
Kheenche teri yaadein
Teri yaadein teri ore

No matter how much I remain scattered everywhere
The wind takes me to You somehow
Your memories and your thoughts pull me towards you

The frenzy has broken him and scattered him into million little pieces. The wind gathers these pieces and takes him back to you somehow. But I am yet not ready to come to your completely.

Rang-birange vehamon mein
Main udta phiru
Rang-birange vehamon mein
Main udta phiru

Now I keep flying in these colourful lies
I have started immersing myself into them
And keep flying and floating in those lies

The poor soul has now surrendered itself. He knows that he is surrounded by nothing but myth around. He understands that he is flying in the colourful lies which bind him completely. The reason he does this is because he knows that there are many things before he responds to The Calling.