Khet ki mooli baag ke aam
Posted on: April 13, 2012
This article is written by Ava Suri, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular conributor to this blog.
Here is another song from Achhoot Kanya. This has to be one of the first bullock cart songs. In the early years of the past century, the hero and heroine did not, or could not get physical during romantic numbers. Despite that constraint, Ashok Kumar and Devika Rani share a lovely chemistry during this song. They sit close together, lean into each other and smile often.
This song is like some ‘driving game’ where one person sings a line, and the other has to come up with a rhyming line, even if the line speaks of something quite different.
Hence, “Khet ki mooli, baag ko aam”
is rhymed with “Main to hoon chhoraa, tu to hai bhaam”
A sort of a promise to be together is exchanged sweetly through lines like “chaloon tere saath na kariyo bekadri”
and “saath rahe jaise champa chameli”
Another excellent song from one of our early classics. As Raja says, “this is a beautiful film that deserves to be seen by all in India as its message is, sadly, very relevant even today.”
Singers Devika Rani, Ashok Kumar, lyrics by J S Casshyap, Music by Saraswati Devi.
Song-Khet ki mooli baag ko aam (Achhoot Kanya)(1936) Singers-Devika Rani, Ashok Kumar, Lyrics-J S Kashyap, MD-Saraswati Devi
Lyrics
khet ki mooli baag ko aam
main to hoon chhoraa
tu to hai bhaam
Khet ki mooli
baag ko aam
main to hoon chhoraa
tu to hai bhaam
saawan ki badli
saawan ki badli
chaloon tere saath na kariyo bekadri
khaand ko khurmaa,
khaan ko khurmaa
raat ko ho jaise aankho me suramaa
gudon ki bheli, gudon ki bheli
saath rahe jaise belaa-chameli
gudon ki bheli, gudon ki bheli
saath rahe jaise belaa-chameli
khet ki mooli baag ko aam
mai to hoon chhoraa
tu to hai bhaam
9 Responses to "Khet ki mooli baag ke aam"
April 13, 2012 at 8:14 am
Oh yes, I forgotten that in the very early phase, kissing was common on screen. I have read about it in magazine. Thank you for correcting me, Arunji.
April 13, 2012 at 6:34 pm
nice write-up, Ava!
Can yo please tell me the meaning of the following words: bhaam, bekadri, khaan ko khurmaa, gudon ki bheli?
April 13, 2012 at 7:09 pm
harvey ji,
Let me try-
Bhaam-a girl (like in Satyabhama)
Bekadri-without care,uncared,be-kadar i
gud ki bheli-a bale of sweet Jaggery
Khaand-a deep ditch/hole
khurma-a protective wall like structure around…
-AD
April 13, 2012 at 7:24 pm
Thank you Arunji!
Now the song makes sense.
I had always thought that the song is kheth ki mooli baag ko aa! 
April 13, 2012 at 9:37 pm
Harv, spend some money, buy a hindi ki kitab and learn something!
April 13, 2012 at 9:43 pm
“Khet ki mooli baag ko aa” is also valid sentence, even if it is a less serious sentence. 
April 14, 2012 at 1:20 pm
You can always trust Harv to be ‘less serious’. He will never make any headway with the heroine, alas.
April 15, 2012 at 5:09 am
Hey, how come I’m seeing this only now? Another lovely write-up of another lovely song from what has now become one of my favourite movies. I just LOVE this film!
I think this film should be mandatory viewing for all Indians. Its message is relevant even today – and it is just SUCH A SWEET FILM.
Between Ava and me, we plan to get ALL the songs of this film on this blog. The songs are also lovely. Like I’ve said earlier, I’m very impressed by Saraswati Devi.
April 13, 2012 at 7:33 am
Ava ji,
Thanks for posting this gem from the past.
“In the early years of the past century,the Hero and Heroine did not or could not get physical during romantic numbers….”
Actually when movie making started in India,it was fully influenced by west and hence right from the silent films,kissing on the screen was very common.
In fact when Talkie films started the First Heroine of Indian film Zubeida was very famous for her her kissing scenes in the films.Her kissing scenes were the maximum-24-in the film ZARINA-1932,in which her Hero was Jal Merchant.
Similarly the longest ever kissing scene in Indian films-4 minutes-was between Devika Rani and Himanshu Rai in the film KARMA-1933.
Master Vithal,Zubeida and Rampyari(she was a girl from rhe dancing girls of Hyderabad and later a major actress in Indian films) were famous for their kisses in the films.
From 1935 onwards,it was decided not to have kissing in films,on the premises that” Indians do not kiss in public”.
From Raj kapoor onwards,once again the kissing started and today,under the pretext of “requirement of script” it is openly included, with the Censor looking elsewhere,at the precise moment.
-AD