Madbhari rut jawaan hai
Posted on: September 21, 2011
This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
Pankaj Mullick, the name that shines in the Bengali music and culture as one of the brightest stars. Most of us are familiar with Pankaj Babu as being an accomplished composer and singer. But, much more than that, he was an innovator par excellence. Not many are familiar with the fact that this gifted musician, through his experimentation with providing music to films, originated the concept of background music in Indian cinema, to accentuate the emotions, the action and the pace of the scenes on screen.
In the late 1920s, Pankaj Mullick started his career as a music arranger and conductor to present live music in cinema halls, to accompany the action on screen, for silent movies. The theatres had orchestra, and a team of musicians, who would compose and play music to accompany the action on the screen. There used to be a small enclosure, right next to the projection screen, which was very low, generally a little below the level of the main floor of the theater. For this reason, it is called the ‘pit’, and the musicians who played here are called ‘pit musicians’. (Now this concept is not very popular, given the advances in audio technology, but there still are some stage theatres that follow this concept.) This idea of accompanying a silent movie with live music, was probably the source of his experimentation with the idea if background music in the films.
In its time, ‘Nartaki’ (1940), a production by New Theatres, was considered a musical bonanza, with a number of wonderful songs. The lyrics in this film are by Munshi Aarzoo (also known as Aarzoo Lucknowi, during his later years). Pankaj Mullick himself played the role of ‘Kavi’ in this film.
The video clip includes a small lead in scene, where in the actor Jagdish Sethi is playing the role of Seth Heeralal, in conversation with some eminent folks of the society. This followed by the this song sung by Pankaj Mullick, in the role of the poet, and Leela Desai, playing the title role of the dancer Roop Kumari.
Also provided is a link for the audio version of the song. The words are the same, but the music version is somewhat different. This is in keeping with the general practice from that era, when the songs were recorded separately for the on screen presentation, and for the release on records. Since the records had a time limit of about 3 and a half minutes, the version of the song for release on records was made to fit into that time frame. In the video clip, it is evident that the duration of the song is somewhat longer, because of the additional sequence of dance steps by the heroine.
Enjoy this lovely semi classical rendition by Pankaj Babu.
Video
Audio
Song-Madbhari rut jawaan hai (Nartaki) (1940) Singer-Pankaj Mullick, Lyrics-Aarzoo Lucknowi, MD-Pankaj Mullick
Lyrics
madbhari
rut jawaan hai
madbhari
rut jawaan hai
rut jawaan hai
gaal rang bhare
mann umang bhare
gaal rang bhare
mann umang bhare
aankh ras tapkaaye
rut jawaan hai
madbhari
rut jawaan hai
daal ki lachak
paat ki lehak
phool ki mehak lalchaaye
daal ki lachak
paat ki lehak
phool ki mehak lalchaaye
(?) balmaa
(?) balmaa door dikhaaye
kali kali muskaaye
madbhari
rut jawaan hai
chanchal roop
damakti daamini
lalchaa kar tarsaaye
chanchal roop
damakti daamini
lalchaa kar tarsaaye
isi lagan mein
aisaa doobe
isi lagan mein
aisaa doobe
aap bhi gum ho jaaye
rut jawaan hai
madbhari
rut jawaan hai
4 Responses to "Madbhari rut jawaan hai"
September 21, 2011 at 11:57 am
Sudhir ji,
I hope this is the begining of the forthcoming feast of PM’s filmi and Non filmi songs,in the coming days.
By the way,Pankaj M. is also the creator of the use of “Whoof-beats” or “Hoof-beats” in filmi songs,the first of such being,”Chale pawan ki chaal,Jagmein chale pawan ki chal”.
-AD
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September 22, 2011 at 12:10 pm
Aameen to that, Arun ji,
🙂
I hope to pull together all available songs of Pankaj Babu, for posting on this blog.
Rgds
Sudhir
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November 8, 2011 at 5:10 am
Heard this song after ages. Became nostalgic and emotional. These songs are from that era when I was not born but have embedded in my memory. My late mother used to listen to them. Reminded me of her.
The article by Sudhir is well written.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
September 21, 2011 at 7:34 am
I love this song. The mix of slow mukhada with faster antara fits well with dance.
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