This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
I had posted a write up on Jab tak duniya rahi rahegi from the film YE DIL KISO DOON (1963) ON March 26, 2012. Actually, I had short-listed ‘ hamen dam daike’ from this film, sung by Mubarak Begum and Asha Bhonsle for discussion but at the last moment, I chose the first one as I was influenced by the presence of a charming Shashi Kapoor and the impressive use of lighting during the picturisation of the song. I watched once again the video clip of the second song and felt that this song should also be brought for discussion in this blog. I was getting a feeling that my action of dropping Mubarak Begum’s song was akin to the Hindi film industry’s treatment to Mubarak Begum during her singing career. So to make amends, here is this Mubarak Begum-Asha Bhonsle duet song for discussion.
‘Hamen dam daike’ is a mujra song written by Qamar Jalalabadi and composed by Iqbal Qureshi. The song is picturised on Madhumati and Jayshree Gadkar who are locked in a mujra competition. Agha is among the watchers of the mujra and he looks surprised to see Jayshree Gadkar when she comes for dancing. While Madhumati dances in a traditional mujra style, Jayshree Gadkar’s dance is more in tune with tamasha dance ( raditional folk dance of Maharashtra). As I understand, kathak is the base for both these forms of dances. Both Madhumati and Jayshree Gadkar are expert dancers in their respective fields and that have been reflected in their dances with aesthetical mudras (hand gestures) and expressions. The song ends with ‘aalaaps’ and ‘sargam’ reaching the crescendo when Asha Bhonsle sings ‘ji ji re ji’ in her very high pitch voice. Everything looks best in this mujra song – singing, dancing, music composition and picturisation. After listening to this song as well as other songs of Mubaark Begum, I am again reminded of the Hindi film industry’s indifferent attitude towards this talented singer.
In the song’s lyrics, the Marathi words ‘aai ga’ have been effectively used in the verses meant for Jayshree Gadkar with Asha Bhonsle giving playback for her. The literal meaning of ‘aai ga’ is Mom in English. But it is also used by Marathi speaking people as exclamation conveying surprise, anguish, pity etc. I recall seeing, in a cricket match telecast in which Nayan Mongia, the Indian wicket keeper quite often uttered ‘aai ga’ when balls bowled by spinners were missed by the batsman. In this song ‘aai ga’ is used as an exclamation.
We don’t get many opportunities to listen to the songs sung by Mubarak Begum. So listening to this song is a pleasant departure from what we normally listen to the songs sung by the familiar female playback singers.
aaa aaa
aaa aaa
aaa aaa aaa
hamen dam daike soutan ghar jaana
hamen dam daike
sautan ghar jaana bairan ghar jaana
hamen dam daike aai ga
hamen dam daike
daike
hamen dam daike sautaan ghar jaana bairan ghar jaana
hamen dam daike
lo ji bhanwaraa naam hai patangaa
lo ji bhanwaraa balamaa bairi phir gayi durangaa
nain milaayke apnaa banaayke
nain milaayke apnaa banaayke
man ko loota man mein samaayke
hamen dam daike aai ga
hamen dam daike
daike
hamen dam daike soutan ghar jaana bairan ghar jaana
hamen dam daike
ga ma da re ni da sa
matlabi sainyaa pade more paiyaan
matlabi saiyaan natkhat rasik chhod mori baiyaan
naa tu saiyaan naa main baiyaan
naa tu saiyaan naa main baiyaan
do rahon mein kaaye dhare paiyaan
hamen dam daike aai ga
hamen dam daike
daike
hamen dam daike suatan ghar jaana bairan ghar jaana
hamen dam daike
hamen dam daike soutan ghar jaana
hamen dam daike soutan ghar jaana
hamen dam daike hamen dam daike soutan ghar jaana
bairan ghar jaana soutan ghar jaana
aa aa aa
hamen dam daike soutan ghar jaana
hamen dam daike
ga ma ga re ni ni re sa
sa re ga
ma ga re ni ni re sa o o o o o o
o o o o o o
ji ji re ji
ji ji re ji
ga ma ga re ni ni re sa
sa re ga
ma ga re ni ni re sa aa aa aa aa aa
aa aa aa aa aa
aa aa aa aa aa
ji ji re ji
ji ji re ji
ji ji re ji
ji ji re ji
ji ji re ji
ji ji re ji
ji ji re ji
ji ji re ji
Poor Mubarak Begum! She lives in penury these days. And to think that she once lent her golden voice to hit songs like, “Mujhko apne. gale lagalo..” from ‘Humrahi’, “Hum hal-e-dil sunainge, suniye ki na suniye…” from ‘Madhumati’ etc.!
This blog discusses Bollywood songs of yesteryears. Every song has a brief description, followed by a video link, and complete lyrics of the song. This is a labour of love, where “new” songs are added every day, and that has been the case for over SEVENTEEN years. This blog has more than 19700 song posts by now. This blog is active and online for over 6000 days since its beginning on 19 July 2008.
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
April 2, 2012 at 8:06 am
Poor Mubarak Begum! She lives in penury these days. And to think that she once lent her golden voice to hit songs like, “Mujhko apne. gale lagalo..” from ‘Humrahi’, “Hum hal-e-dil sunainge, suniye ki na suniye…” from ‘Madhumati’ etc.!
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