A Secret Within My Lips

This cryptic song is from Jewel Thief, a caper thriller from 1967. Some of its credits are the same as my previous translation: producer and actor Dev Anand, director and editor Vijay Anand, music director S.D. Burman, and choreographer B. Sohanlal. The song is an intense dance number that precedes the movie’s climax. This is another example of Vijay Anand’s skill at making a song and dance sequence an integral part of the story-telling. Dancer and actor Vyjayanthimala’s grace is matched by cinematographer V. Ratra’s long, tracking shots circling around her. Her movements and expressions convey the mysterious forebodings of the song. She is what Majrooh Sultanpuri’s ominous lyrics describe as a “fire-like body floating around.” S.D. Burman was known to have traveled across Bengal collecting indigenous folk music, the influence of which is evident in this composition.

This translation, like the previous one, retains the meter of the original. It is also a Hinglish translation, leaving some common words untranslated (meanings visible upon hovering and in footnotes).

ITRANS is the scheme I used for the transliteration (romanization), with the help of Aksharamukha, an online transliterator.

A video clip of the song from the movie follows the translation.

I’ve collected links to some writings about the movie.

A Secret Within My Lips

hoThoM meM aisI bAt

होठों में ऐसी बात

A secret pressed within my lips I left and came away,
The secret which if revealed... a curse, oh what a curse!
Yeah, oh yeah,
The secret in which there is love but
There’s also poison, oh!

hoThoM meM aisI bAt maiM dabAke chalI AI
khul jAe vahI bAt to… duhAI hai duhAI!
hA.N re hA.N,
bAt jis meM pyAr to hai,
Xahar bhI hai, hAy!

होठों में ऐसी बात मैं दबाके चली आई,
खुल जाए वही बात तो… दुहाई है दुहाई!
हाँ रे हाँ,
बात जिस में प्यार तो है,
ज़हर भी है, हाय!

The night, black like a cobra, has come into its youth,
Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!
My, oh my, who will be bitten by this hour!
If I turn and look back
pAyal* on my feet suffer,
If I walk ahead all of the courtyard begins to throb!
Within my lips, oh…

rAt kAlI nAgin sI huI hai javA.N,
hA.N re hA.N, hA.N, hA.N, hA.N!
hAy daiyA kisko DasegA yah samA!
jo dekhUM pIChe mu.D ke
to pag meM pAyal ta.Dpe,
Age chalUM to dha.DaktI hai sArI aMganAI
hoThoM meM hAy…

रात काली नागिन सी हुई है जवाँ,
हाँ रे हाँ, हाँ, हाँ, हाँ!
हाय दैया किसको डसेगा यह समा!
जो देखूं पीछे मुड़ के
तो पग में पायल तड़पे,
आगे चलूं तो धड़कती है सारी अंगनाई।
होठों में हाय…

A secret pressed within my lips I left and came away,
The secret which if revealed… a curse, oh what a curse!

hoThoM meM aisI bAt maiM dabAke chalI AI
khul jAe vahI bAt to… duhAI hai duhAI!

होठों में ऐसी बात मैं दबाके चली आई,
खुल जाए वही बात तो… दुहाई है दुहाई!

The way in which my fire like body floats around,
Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!
My long hair goes one way, my ghU.NghaT** goes another,
And now my earring breaks off!
Oh, and my biMdI*** leaves me!
I’ve become the eschaton now as I pandiculate.
Within my lips, oh…

aise merA jvAlA sA tan laharAe,
hA.N re hA.N, hA.N, hA.N, hA.N!
laT kahIM jAe ghuMghaT kahIM jAe,
are ab jhumkA TUTe!
ki merI biMdiyA ChUTe!
ab to banke qayAmat letI hU.N aMga.DAI
hoThoM meM hAy…

ऐसे मेरा ज्वाला सा तन लहराए,
हाँ रे हाँ, हाँ, हाँ, हाँ!
लट कहीं जाए घूँघट कहीं जाए,
अरे अब झुमका टूटे!
कि मेरी बिंदिया छूटे!
अब तो बनके क़यामत लेती हूँ अंगड़ाई।
होठों में हाय…

A secret pressed within my lips I left and came away,
The secret which if revealed… a curse, oh what a curse!
Yeah, oh yeah,
The secret in which there is love but
There’s also poison, oh!

hoThoM meM aisI bAt maiM dabAke chalI AI
khul jAe vahI bAt to… duhAI hai duhAI!
hA.N re hA.N,
bAt jis meM pyAr to hai,
Xahar bhI hai, hAy!

होठों में ऐसी बात मैं दबाके चली आई,
खुल जाए वही बात तो… दुहाई है दुहाई!
हाँ रे हाँ,
बात जिस में प्यार तो है,
ज़हर भी है, हाय!

* pAyal: Anklet
** ghU.NghaT: Veil or headscarf worn by a woman to cover her head and face
*** biMdI: Red dot worn by a woman on the center of her forehead