Seethe Slowly – Dheere Jalna – Paheli

What would you do if you come to know that you only have few minutes with your beloved, or a loved one? What would be your plight when you know for sure that you will never see that loved one ever again? It would be a mixed bag of emotions. Love, anxiety, sorrow, rage and sheer helplessness (not in the same order though).

Prem (a ghost), is in love with Lachhi; a young bride whose husband has left her alone with the family for finding new business. So intense is his love that he takes the husband’s form just so that he can spend some moments with her.
This song describes those little moments that the ghost is going through during this time. He knows that what he has received is a momentary gift and one fine moment it will be taken away from him forever.

Dheere jalna dheere jalna
Zindagi ki lau pe jalna

Seethe slowly…
On the flame of life

Prem doesn’t want to end this little journey of his, but he cannot get more time either. The only thing that he can do right now is that live those moments very slowly so that they last for a longer time. He doesn’t want the flame of life to extinguish quickly and so he is living each second very slowly, breathing very slowly.

Kaanch ka sapana gal hi na jaaye
Soch samajh ke aanch rakhna
Dheere jalna…

Be careful, as this dream is made of glass
It will melt when you flare up the blaze
So, just seethe slowly…

The poor fellow knows that what he is experiencing is no less than a dream, a dream which is made of glass and is as delicate as the glass itself. He is afraid that in the heat of the moment, he might melt this glass and the dream will melt away instantly.

Hona hai jo hona hai woh
Hone se toh rukta nahi
Aasman toh jhukta nahi
Dheere jalna…

We cannot stop these happenings of life
Things will happen as they are destined to be
No matter how hard we try, we cannot bend the sky
So just flare up slowly..

The music of the film is by M.M.Kreem. He has reused the tune of one song ‘Naadir dhinna’ from his Telugu movie ‘Okariki Okaru’ for this particular song. Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal have done a wonderful work in this song. Both their voices have a soothing effect on the audience and we actually don’t want the song to end and let it burn bit by bit.

Tere roop ki halki dhoop mein
Do hi pal hain, jeene hain
Teri aankh mein dekh chuka hoon
Woh sapane hain, seene hain
Aankhon mein sapanon ki kirchein hai, chubhti hain
Dheere jalna…

In this ripened sun, which is about to set,
I have only got few moments to live with you
When I peer into your lovely eyes, I see pieces of shattered dreams
And I need to sew these dreams and put together again
I will pick out those shards of the glass (of which these dreams were made)
As I know they are pricking your eyes
So shimmer slowly on the flame of life…

The lyrics by Gulzar create a colourful imagery of molten glass which sparkles and shines in the beautiful rays of the music composed by M.M. Kreem. The hide and seek of happy and sad emotions one after the other goes hand in hand with the situation in the movie.

Socha na tha zindagi aise
Phir se milegi jeene ke liye
Aankhon ko pyaas lagegi
Apne hi aansoon peene ke liye

Never in my dreams, did I think
That I would get another chance at life
I hadn’t thought, that these eyes of mine
Would yen and thirst for their own tears…

Prem, although comes with an intention of not revealing his true identity, tells everything to Lachhi. The young bride is taken aback and is in complete disbelief of what is unfold in front of her. When she finally believes the ghost, she falls for him completely and is happy that he gave her the ultimate gift of ‘choice’ that she was deprived of from so many years. Happily, she accepts his love but is sad at the same time as she too knows that these moments won’t last forever and she will have to let him go sooner than later.

Dheere dheere, dheere jalna
Zindagi ki lau pe jalna

Seethe slowly on this flame of life…

This is to all those people who have loved and lost, for people who know that they don’t have enough time with the one person they love the most. May all of you get enough time with each other and may the dream of glass never melt, may it remain forever even if the flame of life flares up.