Pehle jo muhabbat se inkaar kiyaa hotaa
Posted on: April 14, 2012
This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
Khursheed Bano ( 14/04/1914 – 18/04/2001), the singer of immortal songs such as “panchhi baawara chaand se preet lagaaye” , “ghataa ghanghor ghor” , “jiske milne ki tamanna thhi wo pyaara mil gayaa” was born as Irshad Begum near Lahore on April 14, 1914. She became an actor at a time when the era of silent movie was about to end. In the advent of talkie films when actors had to sing their own songs, she had to learn singing in furtherance of her acting career. In one of her interviews, she said that it was because of the painstaking efforts by music directors of that time that some of the actors like her could improve their singing skills.
In a filmy career spanning nearly 20 years, Khursheed acted in some 60 odd films but she is remembered mainly for her work as an actor-singer in ‘Bhakt Soordas’ (1942) and ‘Tansen’ (1943) both produced under the banner of Ranjit Movietone. Subsequently, she acted in some more films under this banner. Her pairing with Motilal was popular among the audience. Unfortunately, VCD/DVDs of her many movies are not available but on the basis of whatever video clippings I have watched on the internet,I can say that Khursheed had a good screen presence.
In 1946, she married Lala Yakub, an actor with Kardar Productions. After partition, she migrated to Pakistan and worked in a couple of films which unfortunately did not click. In 1956, she separated from Lala Yakub and married a businessman from Karachi after which she retired from the films to look after her family. She expired on April 18, 2001 leaving behind a legacy that include her role as Tani in ‘Tansen’ (1943), the evergreen song ‘panchhi baawara chaand se preet lagaaye’ and many other songs and films.
Recently, I watched her film ‘Tansen’ (1943) in which she was paired with the legendry singer-actor K L Saigal. What a perfect match for K L Saigal both in term of acting and singing! The way both of them sang ‘more baalpan ke saathi’ with pathos written all over their faces, to my mind is the best performed scene of the film. From the role of a bubbly girl who loses no time in teasing her beloved (Tansen) to the role of a sad girl who was separated from the beloved was a high point in her acting in this film.
On the occasion of her birth anniversary, I have selected for discussion a song which established her as one of the leading singer-actors of 40s. The song is ‘ pehle jo mohabbat se inkaar kiyaa hotaa’ from film PARDESI (1941). The film was produced under the banner of Ranjit Movietone and directed by Chaturbhuj Doshi. The main star cast concluded Motilal, Khursheed, Snehaprabha Pradhan, Billimoria, Bhagwandas etc. The song was written by D N Madhok and set to music by Khemchand Prakash. Only the audio clip is available but there is no need to guess that it is picturised on Khursheed. On the basis of the lyrics, the song seems to have been set in a situation where Khursheed is anguished by the separation from her beloved (Motilal). In keeping with the mood of the song, the tune of this ghazal is set in thumri style but is devoid of the usual crescendo towards the end of the song. I heard this lovely song after decades but it is as fresh as it was when I first heard it in my younger days.
Song-Pehle jo muhabbat se inkaar kiya hota (Pardesi)(1941) Singer-Khursheed Bano, Lyrics-D N Madhok, MD-Khemchand Prakash
Lyrics
aa aa
aa aa aa
pehle jo muhabbat se
ae ae ae
pehle jo muhabbat se
inkaar kiyaa hotaa
pehle jo muhabbat se inkaar kiyaa hotaa
yoon hamko na duniyaa se bezaar kiyaa hotaa
ab tere siwaa
koyi aankhon mein nahin janchtaa
aa aa aa aa
ab tere siwaa
koyi aankhon mein nahin janchtaa
do roz to pardon mein
ae ae ae ae
do roz to pardon mein
gulzaar kiyaa hotaa
do roz to pardon mein
gulzaar kiyaa hotaa
pehle jo muhabbat se
maaloom agar hotaa
anjaam muhabbat kaa
aa aa aa
naa dil hi diyaa hotaa
haay
naa dil hi diyaa hotaa
naa pyaar kiyaa hotaa
naa dil hi diyaa hotaa
naa pyaar kiyaa hotaa
pehle jo muhabbat se inkaar kiyaa hotaa
main tera hoon main tera
kaanon mein mere kehnaa
aur bhaag ke duniyaa ko
aankhon mein meri rehnaa
itnaa jo samjhte ham
chupke se tera jaana
naa dil hi diyaa hotaa
haay
naa dil hi diyaa hotaa
naa pyaar kiyaa hotaa
naa dil hi diyaa hotaa
naa pyaar kiyaa hotaa
pehle jo muhabbat se inkaar kiyaa hotaa
4 Responses to "Pehle jo muhabbat se inkaar kiyaa hotaa"
April 14, 2012 at 11:57 am
Kamath ji,
Thanks for discussing this song of the 40s,which makes me happy.What you have written about Khursheed is true.She was a great singer.
However PARDESI-1941,was a film early in her career,i.e. before her fame/name spread all over India with songs from Surdas and Tansen.
This was a period when songs were the mainstay of films and Chandulal Shah of Ranjit was quick to identify the Diamond in form of khursheed.
This film had 15 songs and 7 of these were sung by Khursheed.The other singers in this film were,Snehprabha Pradhan,Vrijmala,kesari and Kantilal.
PARDESI seems to be a popular name as films with this name were made in 1941,53,57,58,70,93 and 2011 !
The film PARDESI-1941,opens with a scene of Earthquake which caused damage.The bungalow of Diwan Bahadur Kishanlal also gets
demolished and the sole inhabitants,Mala(Snehprabha) and Premnath(Motilal) who are brother-sisters are trapped.Mala is saved but Premnath is buried deep and can not be saved.premnath was due to marry Nila(Nandini).Nila also loses all her kins and Mala and Nila start new life together.Nila is loved by Shantibabu(Bilimoria) who is an artist.One day Shantibabu shows one of his portraits to these 2 girls.The portrait is of a beggar and Mala recognises the beggar as her brother Premnath.They all trace the beggar Mohan(Motilal again),but mohan does not agree to being premnath.He says he had no sister.Mohan stays with Mira(Khurshid) a street singer and they are in love.
When mala does not accept the reality,she is admitted to a hospital for treatment,from where she escapes and comes to Mira-Mohan.They all start living together.Mala convinces Mira that Mohan IS premnath.A psychiatrist cofirms Mohan as a case of Amnesia and advises an operation.Mala,Mira and their friends collect money.The operation takes place and Mohan remembers that he is Premnath and Mala is his sister.But now he loves Mira.
Finally,Mira marries Mohan and Nila marries Shantibabu.
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April 15, 2012 at 12:55 am
Sadanand Kamathji,
Thanks a lot for posting one of my great favourites. A very noteworthy fact about this song is its uncanny resemblance to Begum Akhtar’s iconic ghazal Deewana banana hai to deewana bana de. Ever since I heard Pahle jo maohabbat se inkaar kiya hota several years ago, I was curious which came first. I have spoken to some Begum Akhtar experts. It seems her ghazal came a few years earlier around 1936. Therefore, this is the inspiration for Khursheed’s song.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
April 14, 2012 at 7:30 am
Sadanandji, Thank you for the beautiful write-up. I love all the Khursheed songs you mention here.
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