Kajra na dekhe gajra na dekhe
Posted on: June 16, 2012
This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
Some gap in communications ! I am surprised at myself. Almost like having a writer’s block – besides other constraints, of course. But then I said to myself, (after having received a few friendly reminders from some fellow bloggers, checking my whereabouts) – things in life will never be done, so time to get back into the groove. 🙂
I have been watching the posts and comments, but just somehow did not get into typing into them. And from yesterdays freshest requests in ‘Reader’s Farmaishes’, I read Prakash ji’s note, and you know, the exhilaration of immediately responding – hey, yes, I know this wonderful lilting song, and here goes. The words that Prakash ji remembers are almost exactly the actual words, with a little correction.
The film is ‘Suhag Sindoor’, and when I checked on the blog, I find that five songs from this film are already represented here. Being that there are a total of six songs in this film, this post now completes the song set for this film. And so, when I wanted to find out more about this film, I knew that the first place to check is this blog itself. The posts themselves and the comments there to, are most of the time a very good source. And of course, with one of the songs, there is available the always dependable synopsis from Arun ji. The following description is adapted from the details provided by him.
SUHAG SINDOOR(1961), a Chandra films production, produced by the owner Chandra Desai. It was directed by the popular southern duo of Krishnan Panju, in a typical south Indian style. It had lot of twists, subplots and coincidences to make the matters complicated and everything fits into places like a jigsaw, paving a way for the customary group photo in the end.
Ratan (Manoj kumar)is the son of a moneylender – sawkar – Mr.Dayashanker (Kanhaiyalal). He is a pilot in the Air Force. He is return home on leave. When he starts his journey, a friend Ramu (Balraj Sahni), an Army Officer gives a briefcase to him to be delivered to his sister in the same town. On the way, Ratan loses the paper containing the address information, and is unable to deliver the briefcase. Ramu’s sister dies without medicines leaving her young daughter Ratna alone. In due course of time Ratan falls in love with, now grown up, Ratna (Mala Sinha). They get married against Dayashankar’s wishes and get thrown out of the house. They start to live happily elsewhere – (please, no ‘silly’ questions like, what about Ratan’s Air force job etc.). Ratna, now named Chanda is pregnant. Dayashanker conspires to separate them. He lies to her that Ratan does not want her anymore and lies to Ratan that Chanda is dead. They naively believe all this and Ratan is ready to marry Nalini (Padma Chavan) daughter of a Lawyer(Ulhas).
Meanwhile, Ramu comes back from war duty. He is wounded and hospitalised. He recovers, only to find out that his sister is dead and his niece is lost. Ramu stays with Gulabi (Shubha Khote)and drives a rikshaw for livelyhood. (Hey,what about Army Pensions etc ? no questions please). Chanda delivers baby, gives to Gulabi and attempts suicide. She is saved by Budhist Monks.
Ramu finds her, gets to know all details and is ready to kill Ratan on the day of his wedding. After many melodramatic scenes, revealations etc, the puzzle is solved and everybody is reasonably satisfied with answers.
Yes Arun ji, we can depend on directors from South India to create emotional tearjerkers by actually creating a lot of avoidable and obvious confusion and melodrama in the storyline.
Ah, but then on this blog, we are more concerned about the songs and music, and yes, this film does score wonderfully on that count. The Talat-Lata duet “Baagon Mein Khilte Hain Phool Kasam Teri Aankhon Ki Khaa Ke” is a gem of a memorable song. When the name of Chitragupt is linked to a film, one can be sure to find good music and good songs in it. Lyrics are by Rajendra Krishan. The singing voice is that of Lata Mangeshkar. On screen, the song is performed by Shobha Khote, as she is trying to garner the attention of a seemingly disinterested and evasive Balraj Sahni. There are moments in between that you may feel he is getting involved – he starts tap along with the singing, and appears to be listening with attention, but then next moment he just summarily turns away. And Shobha Khote is left talking to a ‘murga’ (cock).
All in all a fun song with a good lilting tune. Prakash ji, thanks for the reminder. Lots of gems like this are still lurking behind the names of familiar and unfamiliar films.
kajraa na dekhe, gajraa na dekhe
hogaa zaroor nadaan ya beimaan balmaa
(Oh see, my beau, so blasé and indifferent)
He sees not the kohl in my eyes
Nor the flowers in my hair
Maybe he is a simpleton
Or maybe
He is being naughty on purpose
dard hamaare dil ka na jaane
ho gaye pyaar mein hum deewaane
di to pukaare, na samjhe ishaare
kaisa milaa hai anjaan balmaa
He does not perceive the ache in my heart
That I am obsessed with love (for him)
My heart calls out to him
But he understands not
Oh what a dim witted beau I have
aankh se aankh milaa kar dekha
ghoonghat bhi sarkaa kar dekha
chup chup rahey, wo kuchh bhi na kahey
aayaa kahaan se bezubaan balmaa
I tried it all
I tried gazing right into his eyes
I let my veil slip, just to get a glimpse
But he remains so quiet
Nary saying a word
Oh wherefrom this tongue tied dear has come
preet bharey do bol na boley
dwaar kabhi dil ke naa kholey
paas na aaye, nazar na milaaye
jaane na mere armaan balmaa
He says not a word of affection
Keeping his heart locked, the doors unopened
Nary does he come near
Neither allows the eyes to meet
Oh he knows not what I long for
Song-Kajra na dekhe gajra na dekhe (Suhaag Sindoor)(1961) Singer-Lata, Lyrics-Rajinder Krishan, MD-Chitragupta
Lyrics
kajraa na dekhe
gajraa na dekhe
hogaa zaroor naadaan
ya beimaan balmaa
kajraa na dekhe
gajraa na dekhe
hogaa zaroor naadaan
ya beimaan balmaa
kajraa na dekhe
gajraa na dekhe
dard hamaare dil ka na jaane
ho gaye pyaar mein hum deewaane
dard hamaare dil ka na jaane
ho gaye pyaar mein hum deewaane
dil to pukaare
na samjhe ishaare
kaisa milaa hai anjaan balmaa
kajraa na dekhe
gajraa na dekhe
hogaa zaroor naadaan
ya beimaan balmaa
kajraa na dekhe
gajraa na dekhe
aankh se aankh milaa kar dekha
ghoonghat bhi sarkaa kar dekha
aankh se aankh milaa kar dekha
ghoonghat bhi sarkaa kar dekha
chup chup rahey
wo kuchh bhi na kahey
aayaa kahaan se bezubaan balmaa
kajraa na dekhe
gajraa na dekhe
hogaa zaroor naadaan
ya beimaan balmaa
kajraa na dekhe
gajraa na dekhe
preet bharey do bol na boley
dwaar kabhi dil ke naa kholey
preet bharey do bol na boley
dwaar kabhi dil ke naa kholey
paas na aaye
nazar na milaaye
jaane na mere armaan balmaa
kajraa na dekhe
gajraa na dekhe
hogaa zaroor nadaan
ya beimaan balmaa
kajraa na dekhe
gajraa na dekhe
12 Responses to "Kajra na dekhe gajra na dekhe"
June 16, 2012 at 10:56 am
Sudhir ji
Your gesture always touches my heart.
Gaane ki baath tho hai hi, But jo aap likthe hain na woh seedhe seedhe dil ko chhoo jaathi hai.
Nahin Thanks nahin boloonga,
God Bless you
Always love you
yours
prakash
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June 16, 2012 at 10:06 pm
Prakash ji,
No words from my side too, 🙂
Simply love your sentiments. . .
Karthik ji,
I very much appreciate your comments and your highlighting certain sentiments. And actually, this theme (comments about some individual or a group of individuals) has been part of at least one private conversation I have had with Atul ji earlier. I recognize your concerns. On the internet, we are in public domain, and unlike some newspaper or magazine, the intent of publications here is expected to be neutral. So maybe my additional editorial comments about South Indian films was misplaced.
But before I go down that path further, let us also examine another theme in the industry. And that theme is of typecasting. For better or worse, the industry-the audience-the journalists/commentators combine together to very quickly typecast individuals or group of individuals. Manoj Kumar is known as Mr. Bharat, for good or bad. Journalists have commented about his pulling the patriotic theme to the extent of almost seeming artificial. Dev Saab’s insistence on being the suave and polished urban hero, always in a certain age bracket, drew comments at first and later evoked disinterest. Performers like Rehman, Feroze Khan, etc. never could break into the grade A hero mould, and were perpetual second leads in films. (I must say that Feroze Khan did take on a number of leading roles, but these were mostly in either B/C grade films or were produced by himself.) And this typecasting and idolization, I must say, is hugely prominent in South – as is evident from the careers of stalwarts like MGR, Rajnikanth, NTR etc.
By the same token, it is not out of place to see the pattern and the typecasting of the films that came from South Indian studios. One cannot deny that in the 50s and 60s, the films from the South were intensely dominated by the family formula. The films, in reality, did have specific social causes they were trying to address, but in most cases, the storylines and sub plots seemed very contrived and formula like. And it is also a fact that the film journalists have commented on this aspect – contrived emotionalism. And having that backround in mind, is the place where my additional comments were coming from.
Good top quality cinema has always been present in films coming from all centers in the country. It is not lately that Tamil cinema has produced good films. We can locate really great films in Tamil, even in the earlier decades. But then the typecasting happens based on the general and more prominent trends.
As already stated by Atul ji and Arun ji, the intent is not at all to put down or to negatively paint something or someone. What is being commented on also has a basis in our readings and our information sources, and are not only just personal opinions. But yes, to your point, we ought to exercise better judgment on choice of words, given the medium, the platform, and the expected audience. I do surely appreciate that point from you.
And Karthik ji, definitely love to have you join the blog and the discussions here in. It is invigorating. Thanks. 🙂
Regards all
Sudhir
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June 17, 2012 at 11:28 am
Hi to All in Atuldom
it feels nice that we are a bunch of indian film music afficandos. who know how to appreciate musice and movies that are not from there mother tongue.so we now know that we ve a gujrathi from Chennai, Maharastrian from Hyderabad and (yours truly) a south Indian born & brought up in Mumbai. who also reared her kids in mumbai for a major part of there life & whose son now appreciates Kannada movie songs, and mom & kids were always in love with marathi movies & songs. i call my self a south indian as we r supposed to be from Kerala but i ve never lived there. and started listening to anything related to malayam movies only after my marriage coz my hubby dear was born & brought up there. (and my mom used to sing to me telugu songs in my growing up years she was reared in vizag) “ab tum khud hi phaisla karlo main kis soobey wala” as Shammi Kapoor said in “Tum Se Acchha Kaun Hain”
in fact i think the above question by SK stands good for all of us here in Atuldom. what say?
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June 16, 2012 at 8:20 am
Dear Sir,
Am a great fan of this blog and have been following it over the last 8 months or so..
This is with reference to the synopsis of the film contributed by Mr.Arun in the post of an earlier song from the film..my take is that though it is the personal opinion of Mr.Arun, making general comments as to the style of film making by South Indian film makers could have been avoided..emotional tear jerkers have been made by the dozens by film makers from Bollywood too and so making a specific reference to the South Indian directors is not particularly fair..even your follow up comment on the post:
“Yes Arun ji, we can depend on directors from South India to create emotional tearjerkers by actually creating a lot of avoidable and obvious confusion and melodrama in the storyline.”, could have been avoided.
The fact is that there is nothing anymore called a “typical South Indian style”..Tamil cinema has made rapid strides with offbeat themes and different styles of presentation over the last decade or so..That “Aadukalam”, a film which revolves around something as offbeat as cock fighting won so many National Awards is ample testimony to the fact..
While I do not for a moment attribute any personal motives to the writer of the synopsis and also your follow up comment, my only feeling is that the generalities could have been avoided.
Regards,
Karthik Bhatt
P.S: This is not a disgruntled comment from a Tamilian..it is from a true blooded Gujarati, born and brought up in Chennai on a staple diet of Tamil movies..
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June 16, 2012 at 11:43 am
The comments like this in this blog are made in a lighter vein and they are needed to be treated as such. The regulars of this blog (and there are many regulars from South in this blog) realise it and take such comments in the spirit in which they are made, viz. lightly.
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June 16, 2012 at 2:02 pm
Karthik ji,
Thanks for your sentiments.As per your note above,if you are following this Blog for ‘over 8 months’,you must have noticed that I regularly write synopses of obscure films on this blog-so far 359,to be precise.
I,like any other writer ,have my own style of narration and the regulars of this blog know full well that I write in lighter vein-not only specifically about S.I.movies,but also for ALL films.
I am also a Maharashtrian from Andhra Pradesh-born and brought up in Hyderabad and I know Telugu,a working knowledge of Kannada and also TAMIL to some extent.I have been seeing South films from my childhood and I have written about southern films and songs even on this Blog many times.I am regularly contacted for info on southern songs/films by many people from all over.
The point I wish to make is,that the reviews are NOT a criticism on the South or its qualities,but they are about the film in discussion in perticular.As Atul ji has said,I repeat,the comments are in lighter vein and have to be taken as such-not attributing any motive nor taking it as a criticism-general or otherwise-of any perticular sect.
I feel it is unfortunate that we have to give such explanations.
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June 16, 2012 at 2:05 pm
contd….
-AD
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June 16, 2012 at 3:38 pm
Dear Atul Sir and Arunkumar Sir,
It was only a small viewpoint that I wished to express..I have NOT taken it as a personal attack by your goodselves on the type of film making adopted by South Indian film makers..neither have I attributed anything personal to your motives (as mentioned in the last para of my comment)..it was something that just occurred to me that I thought I should comment about and nothing more..
Regards,
Karthik A.Bhatt
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June 16, 2012 at 10:27 pm
Sasural (1961, T Prakash Rao)
Gharana (1961, S S Vasan)
Hamrahi (1963, T Prakash Rao)
Dil Ek Mandir (1963, Sridhar)
—all movies made by southern filmmakers. great music, but lots of melodrama. these movies made Rajendra Kumar the Jubilee Kumar – most successful actor of 60s, but it also earned him the nickname of Crying Kumar by some, b/c of all rona-dhona.
B/c of the success of above mentioned movies, style was adapted by non-south movie makers as well, most notably Aaye Din Bahar Ke and Aaya Sawan Jhoom Ke of Raghunath Jhalani.
One fine day, i decide to re-watch Aaye Din Bahar Ke. Young rich lawyer (Balraj Sahani) cant marry poor “main tumhare bachche ki maa bannewali hoon” (Nirupa Roy). Somehow she raises Dharmendra. His engagement gets broken cause some budhiya recognizes the mother at engagement party. Son confronts mother but she wouldnt revel the identity of Father. He gets angry and leaves house. She follows him and “storm” comes out, she gets swept away and they are separated! Just too much of drama. Great music of LP, but at that point, I just had too much.
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June 16, 2012 at 10:35 pm
Contd.
Manmohan Desai carried this on in Amar Akbar Anthony, so we have Nirupa Roy again trying to find the kids, and a storm irrupts again, a tree falls down and she loses eyesight! Same thing in Amitabh’s Mard. Just too much of drama. I even started hating the poor lady for no fault of her!
Anyways, the point is, thats how southern movie makers made all these dramas in 50s and 60s. That doesnt mean they are still making those type of movies, or that non-southern movie makers are better than southern ones. Hey, it worked for Rajendra Kumar! So, even if its true in general that this is how southern movie makers made movies in those days, no one should be offended over this. But i guess we are living in a society these days where everything has to be politically correct. You cant call a blind person blind anymore, it has to be “visually impaired”. No matter what u do, someone will find a way to be unhappy with ur actions. Lets try to find a fault into something, when there isnt one!
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