Morey to Giridhar Gopal doosaro na koyi
Posted on: April 10, 2012
This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
In my younger days, my uncle used to play M S Subbulakshmi’s (MS) LPs of Venkateshwara Suprabhatam or Vishnu Sahastranamam early morning every day which I used to resent as it became virtually a wake-up alarm for me. But as days passed, I not only started liking her renditions, some of its verses got stored in my mind.
I was not aware that MS had sung Hindi songs until I accidentally stumbled upon two 78 rpm records of her Hindi songs some time in early 70s. The first one was the famous ‘vaishnav jan to tene kahiye’ and the second one was a Meera bhajan ‘pag ghoongroo baandh meera naachi re’. I had listen to these songs many times on my record player and enjoyed them. But it was only about 3 years back that I came to know that this Meera bhajan was sung by MS in Hindi film MEERA (1947).
The label on the gramophone record had only printed ‘Meera’ followed by the first line of the song which I construed as a non-filmy bhajan. Later I also came to know that the film was a Hindi version of the Tamil film by the same name.
MEERA (1945) was a Tamil film with M S Subbulakshmi (MS) in the title role of Meerabai. The film was directed by American film director Ellis Dungan. Some of the shootings were done in the actual pilgrimage locations connected with the life of Meerabai. So a vast entourage of film crew was taken to Rajasthan, Dwarka, Mathura and Vrindavan. The film was a great hit. With the success of Tamil version, the film was released in Hindi version in 1947 with some re-shooting of songs situations. The Tamil songs were replaced with Meera bhajans adapted by Pandit Narendra Sharma. I have read somewhere inwebsites that there were 20 songs in the film, mostly picturised on and sung by MS.
The Hindi version of MEERA (1947) was also a hit film which made MS known all over India. It was also reported that while shooting for the song ‘yaad aawey brindavan ki mangal leela’ the crowd were so overwhelmed by the acting and singing of MS that some of them prostrated before her. All the songs that I have heard in the Hindi version of the film are beautifully rendered and it was difficult for me to select a song for the write-up. My favourite song of this film is ‘Giridhar gopala bala’ sung by MS but I have selected ‘mero to giridhar gopal doosaro na koyi’ sung by MS from the cinematic point of view. Not only the singing but picturisation too is very touching. As MS leaves the palace and comes out on the road singing this song, some of devotees prostrate before her. This Meera bhajan was adapted by Pandit Narendra Sharma and set to music by three music directors – S V Venkataraman, G Ramanathan and Naresh Bhattacharya. In the credit title, the acknowledgement has also been given to Dilip Kumar Roy for the music inspiration.
What can I say about Bharat Ratna M S Subbulakhsmi ? Her voice is divine. There is ‘bhakti’ in her singing. She sang the same bhajan about 50 years later and her expression, hand gestures and ‘alaaps’ are indicative of what I meant by ‘bhakti’ in her singing. Listening to her songs is a panacea for a depressed mind. I will not be surprised if a staunch atheist turns to spiritualism after listening to her renditions.
Probably this may be the first song of M S Subbulakshmi to be discussed in this blog.
Video
Song-Morey to giridhar gopal doosaro na koyi (Meera)(1947) Singer-MS Subbulaxmi, Lyrics-Pt Narendra Sharma, MD-S V Venkatraman
Lyrics
morey to giridhar gopal
doosaro na koyi
morey to giridhar gopal
doosaro na koyi
jaake sir mor mukut
mero pati soyi
prabhu jaake sir mor mukut
mero pati soyi
prabhu shankha chakra gadaa padma kanthamal soyi
morey to giridhar gopal
doosaro na koyi
taat maat banddhu bhraat
aapna na koyi
prabhu taat maat banddhu bhraat
aapana na koyi
chaad gayi kul ki kaani
kyaa karega koyi
ansoovan jal seench seench
prem bel boyi
prabhu ansoovan jal seench
prabhu ansoovan jal seench
prabhu ansoovan jal seench
prabhu ansoovan jal seench
prabhu ansoovan jal seench
prabhu ansoovan jal seench seench
prem bel boyi
das meera prabhu lagan lagi
meera prabhu lagan lagi
hoyi to so hoyi
morey to giridhar gopal
doosaro na koyi
4 Responses to "Morey to Giridhar Gopal doosaro na koyi"
April 10, 2012 at 9:55 am
In my write up, I have mentioned that the same bhajan was sung by MS about 50 years later.
The video link of that concert : http://youtu.be/26JoBNcsPuw
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April 11, 2012 at 11:16 am
I remember seeing this movie on doordarshan years ago. MS looked divinely beautiful, and she sang that way too.
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4 | Ramaswamy Rsr
October 8, 2015 at 12:35 am
Dear Sir, can you please give the lyrics in hindi, devanagari script and also meaning of the song? if possible, the raga of the song also.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
April 10, 2012 at 8:35 am
Reblogged this on Hari Bole.
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