Heer Ranjha
Heer Ranjha is one of several popular tragic romances of Punjab, other important ones being "Sohni Mahiwal" and "Sassi Punnhun". There are several poetic narrations of the story, the most famous being Heer by Waris Shah written in 1766. It tells the story of the love of Heer Syal and her lover Dheedo Ranjha.
History
Heer Ranjha was written by Waris Shah. Some historians say that the story was the original work of Shah, written after he had fallen in love with a girl named Bhag Bhari. Others say that Heer and Ranjha were real personalities who lived under the Lodi dynasty and that Waris Shah later utilised these personalities for his story. Shah states that the story has a deeper meaning, referring to the unrelenting quest that man has towards God.Example from the epic poem
Rag Heer Ranjha. The invocation at the beginning, in one version:Summary of the love story
Heer is an extremely beautiful woman, born into a wealthy family of the Sial tribe in Jhang which is now Punjab, Pakistan. Ranjha, a Jat of the Ranjha tribe, is the youngest of four brothers and lives in the village of Takht Hazara by the river Chenab. Being his father's favorite son, unlike his brothers who had to toil in the lands, he led a life of ease, playing the flute. After a quarrel with his brothers over land, Ranjha leaves home. In Waris Shah's version of the epic, it is said that Ranjha left his home because his brothers' wives refused to give him food. Eventually he arrives in Heer's village and falls in love with her. Heer's father offers Ranjha a job herding his cattle. Heer becomes mesmerised by the way Ranjha plays his flute and eventually falls in love with him. They meet each other secretly for many years until they are caught by Heer's jealous uncle, Kaido, and her parents Chuchak and Malki. Heer is forced by her family and the local priest or 'Maulvi' to marry another man named Saida Khera.Ranjha is heartbroken. He wanders the countryside alone, until eventually he meets a Shaiva Jogi. After meeting Gorakhnath, the founder of the "Kanphata" sect of jogis at Tilla Jogian, 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 story state that the parent's agreement is only a deception. On the wedding day, Kaido poisons her food so that the wedding will not take place, 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 and has died. Brokenhearted once again, Ranjha eats the remaining poisoned Laddu which Heer has eaten and dies by her side.
Heer and Ranjha are buried in Heer's hometown, Jhang. Love-smitten couples and others often pay visits to their mausoleum.
Legacy and influence
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.In popular culture
The epic poem has been made into several feature films between 1928 and 2013.| Film and release year | Actors | Producer and director | Film songs lyricist and music composer |
| Heer Ranjha | Zubeida as Heer, Shehzadi, Jani Babu | Fatma Begum, Victoria Fatma Co./FCo | |
| Heer Ranjha | Salochna as Heer, Dinshaw Bilimoria as Ranjha, Jamshedji, Neelum, M. Ismail as Kaidu, Abdul Rashid Kardar as Syeda Kherra | Hakim Ram Parashad, Pesi Karani & R. S. Chaudhry, Imperial Film Company Bombay | |
| Heer Ranjha | Master Faqira as Ranjha, Shanta Kumari as Heer | J. P. Advani, Karishna Tone | |
| Heer Ranjha | Rafiq Ghaznavi as Ranjha, Anwari Bai as Heer | Abdul Rashid Kardar, Hakim Ram Parashad at Lahore | Rafiq Ghaznavi |
| Heer Ranjha | Mumtaz Shanti as Heer, Ghulam Mohammed as Ranjha | Wali Sahib | Aziz Khan |
| Heer | Swaran Lata as Heer, Inayat Hussain Bhatti as Ranjha | Nazeer Ahmed Khan at Lahore | Hazin Qadri, Safdar Hussain |
| Heer | Nutan as Heer, Pradeep Kumar as Ranjha | Hameed Butt | Kaifi Azmi |
| Heer Sial | Bahar Begum as Heer, Sudhir as Ranjha | ||
| Heer Sial | Firdaus as Heer, Akmal Khan as Ranjha | Jafar Bukhari at Lahore | Tanvir Naqvi, Bakhshi Wazir |
| Heer Ranjha | Firdaus as Heer, Ejaz Durrani as Ranjha | Masood Pervez at Lahore | Ahmad Rahi, Khurshid Anwar |
| Heer Raanjha | Priya Rajvansh as Heer, Raaj Kumar as Ranjha | Chetan Anand | Kaifi Azmi, Madan Mohan |
| Heer Ranjha | Sridevi as Heer, Anil Kapoor as Ranjha | Harmesh Malhotra | Anand Bakshi, Laxmikant Pyarelal |
| Heer Ranjha | Neeru Bajwa as Heer, Harbhajan Mann as Ranjha | Harjit Singh | Babu Singh Mann, Gurmeet Singh |
In 2013, the television serial Heer Ranjha, directed by Shahid Zahoor and produced by Yousuf Salahuddin, aired on PTV Home.
In music
The British musician Panjabi MC references the tale of Heer and Ranjha in his 2003 song Jogi. It has been sung by various Pakistani singers, including the classical/traditional artist Ghulam Ali.The tale is mentioned in popular Bollywood songs such as "Ranjha" by Rupesh Kumar Ram from the movie Queen,"Ranjha Ranjha" by Rekha Bhardwaj and Javed Ali from the movie Raavan and "Dariya" from the movie Baar Baar Dekho.
The names of Heer and Ranjha have been referred in the song lyrics of "One Love: The Taj Anthem" by A.R.Rahman.
Alam Lohar is renowned for reciting Heer in various styles and one of the first international folk singers to bring this story in a song format.
One of the songs of 2012 Hindi film Jab Tak Hai Jaan has been named "Heer".
Also, the 2018 Hindi film Race 3 has a song named "Heeriye" which refers to Heer and Ranjha.
In 2020, popular Indian Youtuber Bhuvan Bam wrote and sang a song "Heer Ranjha" and it has garnered more than 10 millions as of now, which depicts the brutal customs of society