Kaise kate ratiyaan baalam
Posted on: September 1, 2011
This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
Today’s write up is different from the normal format / content of Saigal Saab’s songs, that we are discussing on this blog. (I am in travel today, and have limited access to resources and time. I shall be back tomorrow.)
Saigal Saab’s filmography extends to 39 films. Of these, 28 films are Hindi/Urdu, 7 films are in Bengali, and one film is in Tamil. There is one comedy short film, ‘Dulari Biwi (only 3 reels), in which Saigal Saab has acted, during his very early years in the Calcutta film industry. And then in 1955, a film ‘Amar Sehgal’ was released. This movie is a biographical sketch of Saigal Saab, which contains excerpts and songs from previously released movies of Sehgal Saab.
Finally, the 39th film is the 1933 production, Dhoop Chaaon. Saigal Saab has not played a role in this film, rather two songs of KC Dey from this film have been re released in the voice of Saigal Saab.
The film Lagan (1941) is a story about a music school, resurrected by the protagonist, a poet and a singer. There are six songs in Saigal Saab’s voice in this film. Of these, five are already posted on this blog. Here is the curious 6th song in his voice from this film. I call it curious, since it is a very short duration presentation, only about 26 seconds. In the film Lagan, there is a scene where Kusum Kumari (role played by Kaanan Devi) introduces the poet (role played by Saigal Saab) to Sh. Madholal, the principal of the music school (role played by Nemo). This introduction happens in the absence of the person being introduced. As part of the scene, Kusum Kumari plays a record on which a portion of a song is played for the listening benefit of Sh. Madholal. The included video clip covers this scene, including this very short rendition.
It is not clear from any authoritative source, whether there exists or existed a longer, fuller song of which this short rendition is a part of. The manner in which the song is played on screen, suggests both possibilities – that this rendition is the entire song, or whether it is actually a part of a longer recording. In the physical absence of any longer song by Saigal Saab of which this piece could form a part, we have to consider the 1st option, that this audio portion of about 26 seconds, is the entire song.
The credits for the creators of this song are assigned as per the credits for the film. Lyrics are by Aarzoo Lucknawi and the music composition is by RC Boral.
Although a very short duration, the hallmark of the singer’s personality comes through fully. And one can only wonder what kind of a gem this song could have been in its full form. The video link is for the scene described above.
Song-Kaise kate ratiyaan baalam (Lagan) (1941) Singer-K L Saigal,Lyrics-Aarzoo Lucknowi, MD-R C Boral
Lyrics
kaise katey ratiyaan,
baalam
kaise katey ratiyaan
yaad aavey tumhri batiyaan
kaise katey ratiyaan, baalam
kaise katey ratiyaan, baalam
kaise katey ratiyaan
2 Responses to "Kaise kate ratiyaan baalam"
November 15, 2014 at 10:35 pm
@ Sudhir ji – thanks for this post.
(apa-kls-02)
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
May 18, 2012 at 1:06 pm
I have listened to this Saigal song lasting not more than 26 seconds as you have said. It bears the stamp of Saigal’s inimitable genius, but I wonder how come that only a fragment of this song is available. Saigal must have sung the full song, but I think it did not figure in the film. Just as his song, ‘Koi manush kitna bhi burra ho kuch hoti hai bhalai bhi….’ from the same film also comes at the end of the film. And only a part of it is heard and the film ends.
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