Raam naam Ghanshyaam naam
Posted on: July 14, 2012
This article is written by Shekhar Gupta, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
Yatrik (1952) was one of New Theatres’ last productions before it went on a five-decade hibernation in 1955 after the Bengali movie Bakul.
Set up in Feb 1931 by the legendary B. N. Sircar in Kolkata, New Theatres is the oldest film production company in India still in existence. It made its debut in the tinsel world with the Bengali movie Dena Paona in Dec 1931. Boasting such superstars of yesteryears as K.L.Saigal, Kanan Devi, Pankaj Mullick and Prithviraj Kapoor in its fold, it produced iconic Hindi remakes of a number of its Bengali productions: Chandidas (1934), Kapal Kundala (1939), Devdas (1935), Mukti (1937), Vidyapati (1937), Doctor (1940) and Nartaki (1940). It stopped production after Bakul (1955), only to revive with another Bengali movie Ami Aadu in 2010.
Amongst its “firsts” is the introduction of playback singing in India in 1935 in the Bengali movie Bhagya Chakra (the playback singers being K.C. Dey, Parul Ghosh and Suprabha Sarkar), and then in its Hindi remake Dhoop-Chaon.
Based on the travelogue of P.K. Sanyal, this Abhi Bhattacharya-Arundhati Devi starrer is the remake of the Bengali movie Mahaprasthaner Pathey (1952). Having covered Setubandh, Dwarka, Ajanta and Konark, the protagonist is now on a pilgrimage in the Himalayas, moving from one tirtha-sthaan to another: Badrinath, Kedarnath, Amarnath, Manasarovar, Dev Prayag and Hrishikesh flash on the screen as the yatra progresses with Raam naam Ghanshyam naam Shiv naam simar din raat playing in the rich baritone vocals of the famed Bengali singer Biren Bal. This is surely his one the very few – if not the only – songs in Hindi. It has Pankaj Mullick’s music on B.N. Sharma’s lyrics.
Two of the Yatrik numbers, Dhananjay Bhattacharya’s Dilwaaley dilgeer huaa and Tu dhoondhta hai jisko, are already on this blog with rich information on the movie posted by Arunkumar Deshmukh under Response no.3 on the web-page of the first named number.
PS-This song was issued on both side of the record, with part I and part II being on either side. That way, it is a multip part song.
Audio
Video
Song-Raam naam Ghanshyam naam ( Yatrik )(1952) Singer-Biren Bal, Lyrics-B N Sharma , MD- Pankaj Mullick
Lyrics
raam naam ghanshyaam naam shiv naam simar din raat
hari naam simar din raat
raam naam ghanshyaam naam shiv naam simar din raat
hari naam simar din raat
janam saphal tuu kar le apnaa
janam saphal tuu kar le apnaa
maan le meri baat
hari naam simar din raat
raam naam ghanshyaam naam shiv naam simar din raat
hari naam simar din raat
dhanya dhanya vo bhoomi prabhu ne liyaa jahaan avtaar
dhanya hai vo sthaan jahaan
prabhu prem kaa ho parchaar
dhanya hai teerath jinki yaatraa
mukti kii hai baat
hari naam simar din raat
raam naam ghanshyaam naam shiv naam simar din raat
hari naam simar din raat
kaam krodh moh lobh chhodkar
naam prabhu kaa gaa le
maanushh tan jo paayaa uskaa
sachchaa laabh uthaa le
jeevan ye anmol tihaara
pal pal beetat jaat
hari naam simar ram naam simar shiv naam simar din raat
hari naam simar din raat
raam naam ghanshyaam naam shiv naam simar din raat
hari naam simar din raat
Not in the video clip
paanch paandvon ne jis path pe
kiyaa mahaaprasthaan
us path pe chalen jo bhii praanii
us kaa ho kalyaan
bhuul jaa tuu jag kii sab baaten
bhuul naa par ye baat
hari naam simar ram naam simar shiv naam simar din raat
hari naam simar din raat
4 Responses to "Raam naam Ghanshyaam naam"
August 31, 2015 at 12:17 pm
Simply divine! Pankaj Malik’s Shiva Stooti takes you to virtual heavens! Vasishtha
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January 22, 2025 at 9:18 pm
what an inspirational bhajan! Thank you for sharing. Can you please share the meaning of it also?
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
July 14, 2012 at 5:41 pm
Shekhar ji,
Thanks for posting this wonderful bhajan. Just by that, I have listened to it after such a long time. The voice of Biren Bal – so deep and full of bass, just soaks in the words and the music so wonderfully.
The world has changed so much; no one makes such films and such music any more.
Rgds
Sudhir
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July 16, 2012 at 10:37 am
Glad you liked it, Sudhir. Thanks for your kind comment.
Shekhar Gupta
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