Ghar aaja ghir aaye badra
Posted on: February 7, 2009
R D Burman was an assistant to his father S D Burman for several years before he caught the eye of Mahmood who decided to give him his first break as an independent music director.
As can be expected, Pancham ( as R D Burman was known) was very enthusiastic about this opportunity. He wanted to have his first song recorded by Lata. But S D Burman had a strained relationship with Lata, and he was not using her voice (like O P Nayyar) for his movies for several years.
In order that he may be able to use Lata’s voice for his debut song, Pancham brokered a peace deal between Lata and S D Burman. After that S D Burman began to use Lata’s voice in his music again.
And just what was the song for which all this peace process was initiated ? This song was “ghar aaja ghir aaye badra” which marked R D Burman’s arrival as a music director.
The lyricist for this movie was Shailendra.
This song is a quiz master’s delight. For instance, what is the raag this song is based on ? For most songs, reply like Malkauns, Darbari, Bhairavi etc would do the trick. But not this song. It is not one of the usual raags that most Bollywood songs are based on. This song is based on a lesser known Raag called Raag Malgunji.
I thought that this song was picturised on a lady willing her husband to come back home. But it turns out that the song is picturised on a courtesan who sings this song to her clients viz Mahmood while his wife waits for him in their home.
Honestly, I think this song should have been picturised on the housewife (played by Ameeta) instead of the courtesan (played by Shiela Vaz).
Well, nothing can detract from the quality of this landmark song. Le us all remember this as the song that gave us R D Burman, the music director.
Audio
Video
Song-Ghar aaja ghir aaye badra (Chhote Nawab) (1961) Singer-Lata, Lyrics-Shailendra, MD-R D Burman
Lyrics
ghar aaja ghir aaye badra saanwariya
ghar aaja ghir aaye badra saanwariya
mora jiya dhak dhak re chamke bijuriya
ghar aaja ghir aaye
soona soona ghar mohe dasne ko aaye re
soona soona ghar mohe dasne ko aaye re
khidki pe baithe baithe padi rain jaaye re
thak tik sunat main to bhayi re baawariya
ghar aaja ghir aaye
kas mas jiyara kasak mori dooni re
kas mas jiyara kasak mori dooni re
pyaasi pyaasi ankhiyon ki galiyaan hain sooni re
jaane mohe laagi kis bairan ki nazariya
ghar aaja ghir aaye badra saanwariya
mora jiya dhak dhak re chamke bijuriya
ghar aaja ghir aaye
16 Responses to "Ghar aaja ghir aaye badra"
June 30, 2010 at 5:17 pm
This is a wondeful song well written by Shailendraji,soulfully sung by Lataji with a melodious tune by Panchamda. With this song Panchamda proved that he is worthy son of great Sachin Dev Burman
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May 28, 2011 at 4:52 pm
Very true, though some people believe that it was father who helped his son.
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September 18, 2011 at 8:35 pm
There is a story behind this song. Impressed by R D Burman’s work in assisting S D Burman in PYASAA (1957), Guru Dutt signed the 19-year old Rahul Dev Burman to composed music for his new film titled RAAZ. R D Burman composed few tunes of which one of them was recorded in the voice of Hemant Kumar-Geeta Dutt ( I will not discuss about this song as it is irrelevant here). However, the film was shelved as Guru Dutt lost interest probably after the debacle of KAGAZ KE PHOOL. One of the other tunes composed for RAAZ was later used in CHHOTE NAWAB as ‘Ghar aaja ghir aaye’.
[Source : R D Burman – The Man, The Music by Anirudha Bhattacharjee & Balaji Vittal]
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September 18, 2011 at 10:47 pm
Thanks a lot for this interesting information.
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September 19, 2011 at 11:45 am
I forgot to mention about another milestone. This song marked the new beginning of Lata Mangeshkar’s relations with S D Burman which was strained during the making of MISS INDIA (1957).
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April 3, 2012 at 5:25 pm
The relationship of Lota(lata in SDB’s voice) and SDB were on and off and actually indicated their love and respect for each others.
Their first rift came during the making of ‘Sitaron se aagey-58’ on the issue of rerecording a song and this rift was bridged by a song in Bandini in 1963.
The second rift was from 1964 and for next 6 years Lata did not sing for SDB.This rift was bridged by a song from Talash-1969 ‘Aayega re ud ke mera hans…’
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August 18, 2013 at 1:14 pm
There are few bollywood songs which one would like to listen time and again. “Ghar aaja…” is one of them and my favourite too. I have been listening this song since 1961 itself when I was a teenager. I don’t know what an impact this sad song left on my young mind that it remains so lovingly fresh and enchanting. The other such song is “Jo Mai janati bisarat hain saiyan” by Lataji from the film Shabab which I first happen to listen in the same year and it remained etched in my mind for ever.
Dear Atul, it is just a co-incidence that I got a chance, luckily – I must say, to come across your site which enabled me to share my thoughts. Thanks.
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October 15, 2013 at 9:07 pm
Will some knowledgeable readers may kindly enlighten me with the classical aspect, if any, of this beautiful song?
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February 4, 2018 at 10:48 am
Hats off to you for the information and insightful comments about the raag, picturization, etc.! So glad to have come across this site. Although it is picturized on the courtesan, I like her expressions!
Also, the interludes (including the short one after the first line of each antara) seems to be very apt for the longing wife.
Yes, as one of your viewers commented, SDB MAY have helped his son get a start but RDB proved his mettle in several movies after this, so that’s just fine!
I am very glad to have come across your site!!
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April 17, 2018 at 5:06 pm
This Creation,Which I’m Sure All Of My Above Unseen Musical Friends Can Sense Deeply,Stimulates A Lot Of Musical Emotions&Imaginations BUT I Can Only Convey: It’s So Thrilling & Amazing That A “SMALLBoy” Could Compose Such A GROWN UP Music! Chhote Nawaab: The ONLY Rare Combination Of The Legendary Lyricist Shailendra & Music Director RahulDevBurman..We MusicLovers Would Have Been Much Happier If They Had Teamed In Some More Movies….
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
September 13, 2009 at 1:48 am
First is always the best despite thousands following the first one. For Shankar Jaikishan, it was “Jiya beqarar hai” that remained their best. For RDB, it’s this one.
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