Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs

This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.

Today’s song is from film Captain Kishore-1957. It is sung by Geeta Dutt under the baton of the magician of melody-Chitragupt.

Today I am deviating from my usual style of writing, because I am writing on my favourite singer- Geeta Dutt. So, no biography of any artiste and no other details. Only Geeta Dutt !

Long back, in our management class, our Professor conducted a survey in the class. He asked us to write the name of the Toothpaste we were using. Those days too, Colgate was the Brand leader. We were 30 students in the class. I was using Macleans’ (a brand that was available in India in those days), so I wrote Macleans’. Then he collected all 30 chits,added his own and started reading. The result was Macleans’-8, Kolynos-7, Colgate-7, Forhans-6 and 3 were using tooth powder. He explained to us that even the Brand leader, not necessary always, will lead in all consumer groups. It is a collective total which gives the leader its position.

The same is the case in any other field. Take the case of female playback Singers. From 1950s to 1970s, Lata was the Brand Leader, but personally I always liked Geeta Dutt. I simply loved Geeta’s voice which had so much flexibility and was also so soulful.

When you hear her sing Meera Bhajan, you get lost in Bhakti Ras, listen to her sad songs and gloom descends on you and hear her club/cabaret song,you feel like tapping or dancing. It seems like as if Geeta never bothered to be the No.1,she only wanted to be honest to her singing. She was a pure soul bearing no envy towards anyone. There is always a discussion whether she gave her best to S.D.Burman or O.P.Nayyar songs. Not many know that Geeta worked with more than 150 composers. I personally dont believe she ever compromised in her performance. Whether she sang for a well known composer,or an unknown one like M.A.Rouf, S.L.Pardeshi, Manohar, D.V.Gadekar, Kumar, M.Masurekar, T.K.Das, Ali Husain,Pt.Harbanslal or Rajhuns,she put all her soul and skill in rendering the song.

There is, however, always a personal liking. I always liked Geeta’s songs with O P Nayyar. Their association started with the film Aasman (1952). Though her songs like “dekho jaadu bhare more nain’ were very melodious and became quite popular,the film had flopped. The subsequent film Baaz (1953) was also the same story. Good songs-film flopped. But then Aarpar (1954), Mr. and Mrs.55, Musafirkhana (1955) and Miss Cocacola and C.I.D.-in 1956 brought commercial success. After C.I.D. in the year 1957, Geeta suffered on 2 counts. One,O.P.Nayyar started grooming Asha Bhosale and secondly Geeta was facing a lot of personal problems. The singing assignments coming her way were getting lesser and even she was cutting down on the same. In fact, she had expressed desire to completely stop singing in the year 1957.

In the year 1958 she got only 10 songs from O.P.Nayyar. But then she sang the iconic song in Howrah Bridge which made her name Amar in the history of Golden Age of HFM for ever. This incident has been narrated by the famous film/music writer Issac Mujaawar in the Marathi magazine Rasrang. When Howrah Bridge was being made,it was evident that all the songs will go to Asha. By that time ASHA had mastered the art of singing club/cabaret songs. It is said that rehersals were done for”Mera naam chin chin chu”. Shakti Samanta was the Director of the film. O.P.Nayyar never tolerated any interference fro the Producers or the Directors. Shakti da wanted that song to go to Geeta,as he genuinely felt that she is better suited to sing it. He called Nayyar one day and coolly explained to him the situation. Miraculously,Nayyar accepted the suggestion without a word of protest. May be his conscience was biting him,or may be he too thought on those lines. Whatever be the reason,Geeta was summoned next day and the song was given to her. The rest is History…….as they say !

The Dance Director was A Satyanarayana,who participated in almost every club dance he choreographed. He did an excellent job for this song and the song became the highlight of the film,along with Asha’s ‘Aayiye meherban’. This is my most favourite song for 3 reasons.One-the tune is very catchy, two-Geeta ji’s voice is very seductive here and three-the choreography of the song is just superb !

Now, cut to….

City- Bombay

Date- 20th July 1972
Place- Harkissondas Hospital,Bombay

Few people were standing in the corridor . Anxiety,sorrow,helplessness and a little hope was clearly writ on their faces.They were all quiet.No one was talking to anyone.Their body language gave away their agony and restlessness.

Suddenly,a Doctor came out of a patient’s room.All ran to him and then stopped.The Doctor’s face and the tears in his eyes told them what they were afraid of !
No one said anything.No one asked anything. The Doctor said, ” I am sorry.She is no more.” He left, dragging his heavy feet.

The end of an Angel had come !
Geeta Dutt was gone for ever !!
Only her memories and the inimitable voice was left behind !!!

Born on 23-11-1930 at Idlapur in Fareedkot District of East Bengal,to a big Zamindar,Devendranath Roy Chaudhury and Amiya Roy Chaudhury,Geeta inherited her mother’s love for music.She learnt Classical Music from Pt.Hirendranath Chaudhury,while studying in an Anglo-Bangla school.

When she was just 12 year old,the family had to run away from East Bengal,to save their lives-leaving all property behind- to Bombay. In Bombay,we all know how Pt. Hanuman Prasad,MD(ex husband of Lalita Pawar) discovered her for playback in Hindi films. Later when S D Burman heard her singing,he knew instinctively that this was the voice which will make him successful and establish in Bombay.Till then Burman had not succeeded much to his satisfaction. To give her songs in ‘ Do Bhai ‘-47, he had to convince Chunilal of Filmistan,with great difficulty.

Geeta did not disappoint.’ Mera sunder sapna beet gaya” and ” Yaad karoge” made history and put both Geeta and Burman in Top league overnight.

Do Bhai made other famous composers to sit up and take notice of this new voice. They lined up to give Geeta ‘ Gaaon’-47(Khemchand Prakash), Leela, Shehnai and Saajan-47 ( C.Ramchandra), Geet Govind-47 (Gyan Dutt), Actress-48 (Shyamsunder), Chunariya-48 (Hansraj Behl), Padmini-48 (Ghulam Hyder) and Ek thi Larki-49(Vinod).

1950 was Geeta’s year.Many hits came – Banwre nain, Har Har Mahadev and Jogan solidified her position on Top.Composers felt she was inevitable,for their success.

Before recording, Geeta used to sit with Lyricist,understand the words and the implied meanings, then hear the tune from the composer and then sing in her own style. Basically, Geeta was very Gifted and hence with just one rehearsal, she could record the song to the entire satisfaction of all concerned. This made her the darling of the Composers.

Now,the newer MDs like,Hemant kumar, Vasant Desai, Madan Mohan and O P Nayyar also vied with each others to take Geeta. While doing Baazi -51, she met Guru Dutt and they got married on 26-5-1953. She was earning thousands of rupees in singing,but that time Guru Dutt was not that successful.Some magazines and Papers,said that he married Geeta for her money. Guru Dutt was furious and asked Geeta NOT to sing for others,restricting her to only his films.This suffocated her and she rebelled against it,which spoiled their relationship further.

Geeta had a liking and flair for acting. In Calcutta,she had acted as a Heroine in Bangla film-‘ Badhu Baran”. She got many offers but once she decided to settle in Bombay she refused all offers. Few people know that in Bombay a Hindi film- ‘ Tera saath hai Pyaara ‘,with Geeta as a Heroine had started,but unfortunately,after few reels,the film got shelved. To give a chance to her and to mend their relationship, Guru Dutt started filming ‘ Gauri” with Geeta as a heroine. However due to reasons well known to all, Geeta gave up this Bangla film, half way. This made the couple more distanced from each others. We all know the story’s end…..

Somewhere in 1971,there was a programme ” Yaaden Shakeel ki” in Bhaidas Hall, Parle. I had gone to that programme and I saw Geeta Dutt there.Many singers had come there-Rafi, Mukesh, Mahendra kapoor, Chandru Atma and Lata. When Lata was to come for singing there was a flurry of activity on the stage with everybody trying to please Lata. Lata came,sang and left like a Queen. When Geeta came on the stage, hardly anyone did anything for her. This is how this world is ! Geeta came, drew Harmonium near her and sang a Gazal of Shakeel Badayuni. When she finished,there was a clapping louder than what Lata had received,from the Audience-people knew her value !!

Geeta was optimistic even in 1971. She used to say, ‘ If 2 hit songs in Aradhana can take Kishore Kumar to the Top, even 2 Hit songs for me will do the same.” But it was not to be. Even the regular composers like O P Nayyar turned their backs on her. The Destiny decided to call her back !!!

One of my regrets was that if only Naushad had supported Geeta, she would have gained eminence for his songs for ever, like Saigal, Surendra, Parul Ghosh, Zohrabai, Amirbai, Naseem Akhtar, Shamshad, Noorjehan, Suraiya, UmaDevi, Talat, Mukesh, Rafi and Lata….but Geeta’s name was not in this list. I am not a statistician,so I can not say how many songs she sang for Naushad, but I am sure it was almost nothing !

Geeta’s voice was typical Bengali.She sang sad songs most wonderfully. Burman da who gave her emotional songs in Do Bhai, also gave her peppy club songs in Baazi, to make use of the sexy tinge in her voice. Further O P Nayyar fully exploited this special feature in Geeta’s voice. Her voice was sometimes sweet sometimes Namkeen. It had a depth. In this case, Geeta was one step ahead of Lata. Geeta’s voice was different for every situation. When she sang,’ Baat chalat nayee chunari’, you felt she would have been a better singer- classical singer than Laxmishankar. When she sang,’ Main to Giridhar ke ghar jaoon ‘, you felt Oneness with God,hearing her Bhaktiras dripping voice.

Juthika Roy was famous for Meera Bhajans, but I always felt that her voice was same in any Bhajan, while Geeta’s Bhajans exuded different emotions in every Bhajan.

While singing Club songs, Geeta was a different person. Just recall that ‘Hey hey hey hey before Tadbeer se bigdi hui taqdeer bana le song or listen to O Babu O Lala or Mera naam chin chin chu, then you will realise what I am saying !

One very important point in Geeta’s singing is not highlighted by many. In Hindi films there are many Male and female versions of songs and many singers have sung them.While singing such female version songs, Geeta never lost to the male singers ! All Geeta versions were more popular than the Male versions.

Both Asha and Lata lost on this count.

You will remember Kishore’s ” Jeevan ke safar me raahi” but not Lata’s version. You will remember Talat’s ” Aye gham-e-dil kya karoon’ but not Asha’s version. Kishore was better than Asha in ” Zindagi ek safar hai Suhana” versions and also Kishore was better than Lata’s version of ” Khilte hai gul yahan’.

When it comes to Geeta, she never lost to male versions. C H Atma’s ” Preetam aan milo” is remembered by less people than Geeta’s ” Preetam aan milo” from Mr. and Mrs.55 (same song. Written by Saroj Mohini Nayyar, O.P.’s wife). Geeta’s “Kaise koi jiye (Baadbaan)” is much better than Hemant Kumar’s version. Similarly,” Hai ye duniya kaun si'(Sailaab) and ‘ Na ye chand hoga”(Shart). In both songs, Geeta is superior and more popular than Hemant kumar. (There is a story behind the song-Na ye chaand Hoga. Once a jilted young lover committed suicide under train at Patna. In his pocket these lines were written on a paper-Tumhare liye hain, tumhare rahenge, Na ye chand hoga, na tare rahenge, magar hum hamesha tumhare rahenge. Lyricist S.H.Bihari used these lines in his song).

On 22nd July 1972,just 2 days after Geeta’s death, there was a preplanned programme of Juthika Roy in Birla Matoshri Sabhagriha,Bombay. I had booked my tickets well in advance, so I went there. In the beginning everyone paid respects to Geeta Dutt, by standing for 2 Minutes. Talat, Jagmohan and Surendra were also there. Then Juthika Roy came on stage, drew Harmonium near her and started singing ‘ Pag ghungaroo bandh…” .

I was lost in Geeta’s memory and saw Geeta with a Harmonium singing ” Main to Giridhar ke ghar jaoon”………………….

( My thanks to Geet yatri by Madhav Moholkar, Smaranyatra-by Subhash chandra Jadhav, and Hamari yaad aayegi by Arun Puranik, and geetadutt.com ,from which I have used some information for this article.)

Song- Dekho ji dil na todo nahin to main ro doongi (Captain Kishore)(1957) Singer- Geeta Dutt, Lyrics- Raja Mehdi Ali Khan, MD-Chitragupta

Lyrics

Dekho ji dil na todo
nahin to main
ro doongi
chhodo jee zidd ye chhodo
nahin to main
ro doongi

dekho jee dekho
naye fashion ka zamaana hai
main to nayi hoon
mera sab zewar puraana hai
dekho jee dekho
naye fashion ka zamaana hai
main to nayi hoon
mera sab zewar puraana hai
necklace mangaa do jee
locket dilwa do jee
tik tik kare jo ghadi
chhoti si wo laa do jee
gahnon se mujhko saja do
nahin to main
ro doongi
dekho ji dil na todo
nahin to main
ro doongi

duniya dikha do
saare hawaai jahaaz se
haathhon mein chhatri le ke
utroongi main naaz se
duniya dikha do
saare hawaai jahaaz se
haathhon mein chhatri le ke
utroongi main naaz se
London mein ghoomoongi
Paris mein jhoomoongi
Roos ke laal laal phoolon ko main choomoongi
jaldi se ticket mangwa do
nahin to main
ro doongi
dekho ji dil na todo
nahin to main
ro doongi

baag ho bangla ho
American motor car ho
oonchi society mein
mera intzaar ho
baag ho bangla ho
American motor car ho
oonchi society mein
mera intzaar ho
naghme sunaaoongi
jaadoo jagaaoongi
apne ishaaron pe
main sab ko nachaaungi
yes keh ke mujh ko hansa do
nahin to main
ro doongi
Dekho ji dil na todo
nahin to main
ro doongi