Ye raat din ka phera lagaa rahegaa
Posted on: September 23, 2011
Regulars of this blog may have noticed that I tend to discuss the songs of a few artists regularly and then after some time, I stop discussing that artist and begin to discuss the songs of some other artist.
There is indeed method in my madness. I discuss the songs of those artists who are nearing their century of song in the blog. Once the artist reaches the coveted mark, I tend to stop discussing his songs as I turn my attention to the next artist nearing his century in the blog.
From the discussions of songs in the past few days, it was not difficult to guess which artist was nearing his century. Yes, it was lyricist D N Madhok. And with this song, D N Madhok completes his 100 songs in the blog.
I regard this century as quite a special one, because Dinanath Madhok was mostly active in an era before the golden era. For someone to be active in 1930s and 1940s and songs of that era are not that easy to find. Still there have been enough number of songs penned by D N Madhok from that era and I had no problem finding songs written by D N Madhok.
This century is special because D N Madhok is a name that I was not even aware of till a few years ago. I have had a long stint as a radio listener of “Puraani filmon ke geet” programme of Radio Ceylon, and I heard many songs penned by him in this programme, but I never knew that those songs were written by him. In fact, I became aware of his name only sometime in 2004 or so, and that too only thanks to internet. That way, internet has played an important role in creating awareness about many oldtimers who would have otherwise ended up forgotten by the newer generations.
D N Madhok was born in 1902 (the exact date is not available, it seems) in Karnal. He bagan his fimy career as an actor in movies of Calcutta’s new theatre. Soon he moved to Bombay. There , he was associated with Saagar film company and then with Ranjit Movietone. He wrote stories, screenplays,dialogues etc for these studios. Later, he would direct a few movies too.
But D N Madhok earned most of his fame as a lyricist. Personally I find him a high quality lyricist. He wrote great lyrics and at the same ytime nsures that they were easy to understand for the music lovers.
D N Madhok began his long innings as a lyricist in 1932, just one year after Hindi talking movies had come into existence in 1931. So he was one of the earlier pioneers in the field of Hindi movie music.
It was D N Madhok, whose recommendations to movie producers help Naushad get his breaks as music director.
The 100 D N Madhok songs that have been discussed in this blog are from lots of well known as well as lesser known movies. The well known movies where D N Madhok wrote lyrics are “Bhakt Surdas” (1942),”Zameendaar” (1942) “Tansen” (1943),”Pehle Aap” (1944),”Rattan” (1944), “Parwaana” (1947),”Daak Bangla” (1947),”Singaar” (1950), “Taraana” (1951), “Sainyya” (1951) etc.
Though definite numbers are not available, but D N Madhok reportedly wrote nearly 2000 songs in his long career as a lyricist from early 1930s to 1960s. He died in 1982.
I was in a quandry about 100th song of D N Madhok. After considering many options, I have decided to go for a philosophical song from “Bilwamangal” (1954). This was a movie which was in fact his own production. This Minar movies presentation was directed by D N Madhok himself. The movie had C. H. Atma, Suraiya, Nirupa Roy, Ulhas, Asha Mathur etc in main roles.
It was 1950s and K L Saigal had died a few years ago, but C H Atma, the hero of this movie was still carrying on the legacy of K L Saigal, singing in Saigal style. And that is what he did in this movie, where he was the singer-actor, much like how it used to be with K L Saigal in his movies.
Here is this lovely song from “Bilwamangal” (1954). It is sung by C H Atma and it was picturised on him as well. D N Madhok is the lyricist and Bulo C Rani composed the music.
Listening to this philosophical song is a divine experience that has the effect of calming one’s nerves and having a calming influence.
Here is this wonderful song. Enjoy !
Song-Ye raat din ka pheraa laga rahegaa (Bilwamangal) (1954) Singer-C H Atma, Lyrics- D N Madhok, MD-Bulo C Rani
Lyrics
din ne jaate jaate
mujhko raat ke haath kiyaa
bhor bhayi aur jhaad chadariyaa
raat ne kooch kiyaa
phir pahre par sooraj aayaa
phir wohi din ke phere
pahredaar badalte jaayen
bandh na chhooten mere
ye raat din kaa pheraa
ye raat din kaa pheraa
lagaa rahegaa
jab tak na kooch hogaa
yahaan se teraa
ye raat din kaa pheraa
subah guzar gayi hai
aur shaam jaa rahi hai
subah guzar gayi hai
aur shaam jaa rahi hai
moorakh sambhal ke dar pe
wo raat aa rahi hai
is raat kaa jeewan mein
kabhi hogaa naa saweraa
is raat kaa jeewan mein
kabhi hogaa naa saweraa
ye raat din kaa pheraa
maaya ke laade sar pe dhar ke kahaan chalaa hai
maaya ke laade sar pe dhar ke kahaan chalaa hai
aur moh jholiyon mein bhar ke kahaan chalaa hai
manzil hai door teri
kadam dagmagaaye teraa
ye raat din kaa pheraa
lagaa rahegaa
jab tak na kooch hogaa
yahaan se teraa
ye raat din kaa pheraa
7 Responses to "Ye raat din ka phera lagaa rahegaa"
September 23, 2011 at 8:08 pm
Atul ji,
DINANATH MADHOK(5-9-1902 to 9-7-1982),ruled the industry in late 30s and 40s.His lyrics were simple and meaningful.
He directed 18 films-from 3 warriors(32) to Naata(1955).
He wrote stories and dialogues of 5 films,including Ratan.
But his forte was Lyrics.
He worked with Naushad,K.Prakash and Gyan dutt initially.He had a habit of coming out with a tune for every song that he wrote.For a struggling Naushad,who had failed in earlier 6 ventures,this was a boon in disguise.Naushad was just 23 year old that time.Madhok helped him quite a lot.Similarly,Ghulam Mohd.also benefitted with this arrangement.It is said that when he assited Naushad in Ratan,along with Madhok,the entire work,tunes and music for every song in it was the brainwork of this duo,but the Brand Name was Naushad.
With Madhok’s ready tune,all that the MDs had to was to develop the core idea of the tune and give the finishing touch.Many MDs wanted Madhok as a Lyricist because of this.
However,when Madhok tried this method with composer Shyam sunder,he retorted,” Abe,MD tu hai ya mai ?Ja,jake Naushad ko de yeh,usko jyada jarurat hai”
It is said that from that day onwards Madhok stopped this practice.
But one can not deny the contribution of Madhok to Hindi Film Music,whatever may be the stories.
Congratulations for achieving one more landmark !
-AD
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September 23, 2011 at 8:24 pm
Thanks a lot for these details.
Indeed I am quite proud of this century because D N Madhok is an artist from the earlier decades and songs of that era are not as well known as the songs of later decades.
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September 23, 2011 at 8:24 pm
Congrats for yet another artiste reaching a milestone, Atul.
I also only had a vague knowledge of DN Madhok before this blog began showcasing his songs. Now that you mention a few of movies he wrote songs for, I do recognise some of them.
That is precisely what the purpose of this blog is, I suppose. To bring to light lost and forgotten gems of yesteryear. And it is doing a great job at this. Thanks, Atul.
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September 23, 2011 at 8:31 pm
Thanks a lot,Raja. This century is special, because it is about an artist who was from the earliest times of Hindi movie music and as such a less known artist. I will feel just as pleased as this , when I we have centuries of songs for artists like Amibrai Karnataki, Zohrabai Ambalewaali etc, who mostly worked in 1930s and 1940s.
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September 24, 2011 at 11:39 pm
Atul ji,
Another feather in the cap. 🙂
Being able to dig out wonderful melodies from the past, with perseverance, that is has been and is the hallmark of the collection that is building up on this blog.
Congratulations for the century of songs by Dina Nath Madhok. And wow, 2000+ songs in a career spread over almost three decades, matches up with the likes of Anand Bakshi. Prolific writer, and duly deserves his place and recognition amongst the legends of Indian cinema.
Rgds
Sudhir
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September 25, 2011 at 1:35 pm
Indeed D N Madhok must have been a legendary lyricist in his heydays, looking at the well known songs that he wrote.
Thecollection of songs is building up nicely and it is throwing up some pleasant surprises every now and then in the form of rare songs that we did not know anything about.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
September 23, 2011 at 10:19 am
I thnk it is “jab tak na kooch hoga yahaan se deraa”, not “teraa”; also “moorakh sambhal ke sar pe”, not “dar pe”.
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