Heer Ranjha

Heer Ranjha () is a classical Punjabi folk tragedy. It has many historic poetic narrations; with the first one penned by Damodar Gulati in 1600s, based on a preexisting oral legend; and the most famous one, Heer, written by Waris Shah in 1766, in the form of an epic. It follows the story of love, forced separation, and eventual simultaneous demise of two youths in the Punjabi countryside.(Arif Jamshaid) The epic of Heer Ranjha, research paper on epic poem written by Waris Shah in 1766 on Academy of the Punjab in North America website Retrieved 14 November 2020

It is one of the four popular tragic romances of the Punjab. The other three are Mirza Sahiban, Sohni Mahiwal and Sassi Punnun.Sahibaan remains unheard The Hindu (newspaper), Published 11 October 2016, Retrieved 8 November 2020

History Heer Ranjha has been written by a number of poets. The earliest known Punjabi version was composed by Damodar Gulati in the early 17th century during the reign of Akbar. According to Radha Kapuria, Gulati penned his version of the tale in 1605. He claimed to be its eyewitness, likely as a poetic trope. However, the tale itself had been well known in Punjab for centuries and Damodar was not the first one to narrate it. His contemporaries Shah Hussain (1538 – 1599) and Bhai Gurdas (1551 – 1636) both have alluded to it in their kafis and vars, respectively. The most well-known version is that of Waris Shah, re-narrated in 1766, in which he stated that the story has a deeper meaning, referring to the unrelenting quest that man has towards God. Mansaram Munshi produced a version of Heer Ranjha in the form of an illustrated manuscript in 1744. Damodar himself dates the events narrated to 1472 CE.

The earliest known Persian version of Hīr was written between 1575 and 1579 by a Tajik poet Hayat Jan Baqi Kolabi. By the time of Waris Shah there were nine versions of Hīr extant in Persian, including among others, that of Mita Chenabi (1698) and Afarin Lahori (1730). About twenty renditions of Hīr in Persian are known. Earliest versions in Hindi (Braj) were narrated by Hari Das Haria (c. 1520s–50s), a member of Sikh Panth community, and Gang Bhatt (c. 1580s–90s), who was associated with the court of Akbar, and wrote a verse samvād in 1565. There are over fifty renditions in Punjabi itself, other than that of Damodar and Waris Shah, from Hafiz Barkhurdar, Fazal Shah Sayyad and Ahmad Yar. In Dasam Granth, attributed to Guru Gobind Singh, Heer Ranjha is written in one of Story in Charitropakhyan.

Plot

Heer (Izzat Bibi) is an extremely beautiful woman, born into a wealthy family belonging to the Sial clan, while Dheedo Ranjha, who is from the Ranjha clan, is the youngest of four brothers and lives in the village of Takht Hazara by the Chenab river in rural Punjab. Being his father's favourite son, unlike his brothers who have to toil in the lands, he leads a life of ease, playing the flute ('Wanjhli'/'Bansuri'). After the death of Ranjha's father, Mauju Chaudhry, Ranjha has a quarrel with his brothers over land, and leaves his home. In Waris Shah's version of the epic, Ranjha leaves home because his brothers' wives refused to serve him food.

Eventually he arrives in Heer's village and falls in love with her. Heer's father offers Ranjha a job of herding his cattle. Ranjha, routinely, plays his flute in the fields after work and Heer becomes mesmerized by it and eventually falls in love with him. They meet each other secretly for several years until they are caught by Heer's envious uncle, Kaido, and her parents Chuchak and Malki. Heer is forced by her family and the local priest (Maulvi) to marry another man named Saida Khera, belonging to the Khera clan.

Ranjha is left heartbroken. He wanders the countryside alone, until he eventually meets a Jogi (ascetic). After meeting Gorakhnath, the legendary founder of the Kanphata (pierced ear) sect of Jogis at Tilla Jogian ("Hill of Ascetics"), Ranjha becomes a jogi himself, piercing his ears and renouncing the material world. While reciting the name of the Lord, he wanders all over Punjab, eventually finding the village where Heer now lives.

The two return to Heer's village, where Heer's parents agree to their marriage – though some versions of the tale state that the parents' agreement is only a deception. On the wedding day, Kaido, Heer's uncle, poisons her food in order to punish the girl for her behaviour. Hearing this news, Ranjha rushes to aid Heer, but is too late, as she has already eaten the poison-laced food and has died. Brokenhearted once again, Ranjha eats the remaining poisoned food and dies by her side.

Heer and Ranjha are buried in Heer's hometown, Jhang. Love-smitten couples and others often pay visit to their mausoleum.Tomb Of Heer Ranjha In Jhang on Pakistan Geotagging website Retrieved 14 November 2020

Legacy and influence Heer Ranjha is part of the Qissa genre of tragic love stories, along with tales such as Laila Majnu and Sassui Punnhun.

Because its plot involves a romance opposed by family members and ends with the two lovers dying, the story is often compared to the Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet.Cultural Insights Punjab Can It Be a Bridge to Peace Between India and Pakistan? Calhoun website, Published 1 October 2011, Retrieved 14 November 2020

In popular culture The epic poem has been made into several feature films and television adaptations since 1928:

Title and year of release TypeActors Production Details and Music Composition Heer Ranjha (1928)FilmZubeida as Heer, Shehzadi, Jani BabuFatma Begum, Victoria Fatma Co./FCo Heer Sundari (1928)FilmJanibabu, Nirasha, Master VithalAnand Prasad Kapoor, Sharda Film Co.Heer Ranjha (Hoor-e-Punjab) (1929)FilmSalochna as Heer, Dinshaw Bilimoria as Ranjha, Jamshedji, Neelum, M. Ismail as Kaidu, Abdul Rashid Kardar as Saeda KherraHakim Ram Parasad (Producer), Pesi Karani & R. S. Chaudhry (Directors), Imperial Film Company, Bombay Heer Ranjha (1931)FilmMaster Faqira as Ranjha, Shanta Kumari as HeerJ. P. Advani, Karishna ToneHeer Ranjha (1932)FilmRafiq Ghaznavi as Ranjha, Anwari Bai as HeerAbdul Rashid Kardar, Hakim Ram Parasad at Lahore. Music by Rafiq GhaznaviHeer Syal (1938)FilmEiden Bai, Haider Bandi, M. Ismail, Noor JehanKrishna Dev MehraHeer Ranjha (1948)FilmMumtaz Shanti as Heer, Ghulam Mohammed as RanjhaWali Sahib. Music by Aziz KhanHeer (1955)FilmSwaran Lata as Heer, Inayat Hussain Bhatti as RanjhaNazir at Lahore. Music by Hazin Qadri, Safdar Hussain.Heer (1956)FilmNutan as Heer, Pradeep Kumar as RanjhaHameed Butt. Music: Majrooh Sultanpuri, lyricist, and Anil Biswas, composerHeer Syal (1960)FilmShanti Prakash BakshiHeer Sial (1962)FilmBahar Begum as Heer, Sudhir as Ranjha Heer Sial (1965) Film Firdaus as Heer, Akmal Khan as RanjhaJafar Bukhari at Lahore. Music by Tanvir Naqvi, Bakhshi–Wazir.Heer Ranjha (1970)FilmFirdaus as Heer, Ejaz Durrani as RanjhaMasood Pervez at Lahore. Music by Ahmad Rahi, Khurshid AnwarHeer Raanjha (1970)FilmPriya Rajvansh as Heer, Raaj Kumar as RanjhaChetan Anand. Music by Kaifi Azmi, Madan MohanSayyed Waris Shah (1980)FilmUrmila Bhatt, Ajit Singh Deol, Koushalya Devi, Prema KumariMusic by Ganpat RaoAaj Di Heer (1983)FilmTina Ghai, Satish Kaul, Mehar Mittal, Om ShivpuriRaj Oberoi. Music by B. N. BaliHeer Ranjha (1992)FilmSridevi as Heer, Anil Kapoor as RanjhaHarmesh Malhotra. Music by Anand Bakshi, Laxmikant PyarelalWaris Shah: Ishq Daa Waaris (2006)FilmGurdas Maan, Juhi Chawla, Sushant Singh, Divya DuttaManoj Punj, Manjeet Maan (Sai Productions). Music by Jaidev KumarHeer Ranjha: A True Love Story (2009)FilmNeeru Bajwa as Heer, Harbhajan Mann as RanjhaKsshitij Chaudhary and Harjit Singh. Music by Babu Singh Mann, Gurmeet SinghHeer Ranjha (2013)TV seriesProduced for PTV Home.Directed by Shahid Zahoor; produced by Yousuf SalahuddinHeer Ranjha (2020)TV seriesAmaninder Pal Singh and Sara Gurpal. Produced for Zee Punjabi. In music "Ranjha" (2001) by British musician Bally Jagpal from his album "Untruly Yours" is a retelling of the Heer Ranjha story.

"Jogi" (2003) by British musician Panjabi MC, featuring vocals by various Pakistani singers, including the classical/traditional artist Ghulam Ali, references the tale of Heer and Ranjha.

Ustadh Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan mentions Heer in his Qawwali Khooni Akhiyan alongside Sassui(-Punnhun), and Sohni (-Mahiwal); the folk lovers become parables for the seeker’s relationship with God — showing that true love is total, dangerous, and often fatal, but also the only path to union.

"Ranjha" by Rupesh Kumar Ram from the movie Queen references the story.

"Ranjha Ranjha" by Rekha Bhardwaj and Javed Ali from the movie Raavan references the story.

"Dariya" from the movie Baar Baar Dekho references the story.

Tamasha (2015) mentions their love story and includes a song starting with Heer's name.

Kuldeep Manak sings about the tale in his 2007 song Ranjha Jogi Hoya.

"Khaireyan De Naal" (2008) from Shafqat Amanat Ali's debut solo album, Tabeer, tells the tale of Heer Ranjha.

"Heer" (2012) is a song from the 2012 Hindi film Jab Tak Hai Jaan.

"Heeriye" (2018) is a song from the 2018 Hindi film Race 3.

"Heer Ranjha" (2020) is a song and video from Indian YouTuber Bhuvan Bam wrote and sang, and has garnered more than 10 million views.

"Ranjha" (2023) by Raf Saperra is a song from the perspective of Heer longing for Ranjha's return after she is married and he has become a jogi.

Gallery

See also Mirza Sahiba Punjabi folklore Ranjha Sial Trilok Singh Chitarkar

References

Bibliography Printed sources

Heer Ranjha

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