Achche eesaa ho mareezon ka khayaal achcha hai
Posted on: September 3, 2012
This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
Old film song lovers would be eternally thankful to the internet technologies and the websites hosting video/audio and MP3 clips of these songs which have made it possible to unearth many of the old film songs which were not known to most of us. I have been active on these websites for the last 3 years or so and I can say that not only has this brought back the memories of many songs after a gap of 30-40 years for me, but also brought to my notice some rare songs I was not aware of. I also became aware of some of the lesser known music directors, lyricists and singers. In fact, I had already created my playlist of such songs most of which have been covered in my articles for discussion in this blog.
I came to know about some of the lesser known singers of 30s and 40s only recently though I had known some of them throug their progeny. They were Ratan Bai, (mother of Shobhana Samarth), Jaddan Bai(mother of Nargis) and Waheedan Bai (mother of Nimmi). While Jaddan Bai sang Hindustani classical non-filmy songs, both Ratan Bai and Waheedan Bai were singer-actors. There were some other lesser known actor-singers like Hafiz Khan Mastana, Hamida Bano, Harish, Sitara Devi etc whom I came to know only during the last 3 years.
I was aware of Waheedan Bai as the mother of Nimmi but I came to know only recently that she was one among many actor-singers of 30s when her first song was posted on this blog. It was a sort of pleasant surprise for me as she sang like a classical singer. So I searched for her songs on the websites and got a few of them. During the searches, I came to know that Waheedan Bai had acted in about 10 Hindi films as a supporting actor or side heroine. These movies were released mostly during 1938-40. Since she was the employee of Ranjit Movietone, many of her films were produced under this banner. She sang her songs mostly under the music direction of Gyan Dutt who was also employed by Ranjit Movietone.
One of her songs which I came across very recently is a ghazal ‘achchhe eesaa ho mareezon ka khayal achchhaa hai’ from the film THOKAR(1939). The film was produced under the banner of Ranjit Movietone and directed by A R Kardar. The star cast included M Kumar, Madhuri, Ishwarlal, Yakub, Waheedan Bai, Wasti, K N Singh etc. Gyan Dutt was the music director of the film. The uploader of the audio clip has credited the lyrics of this ghazal to Mirza Ghalib. However, I could not find the first and thethe last couplets of this ghazal in ‘Diwaane-e-Ghalib’ which is available on the internet. I am not sure whether ‘Diwaane-e-Ghalib’ available on the internet has included all the couplets. The other possibility could be that the film’s lyricist P L Santoshi may have written the first and the last couplets while using Ghalib’s couplet as a second couplet to complete the ghazal for the film. I request our knowledgeable readers to tell us about the correct lyricist of this ghazal.
Only the audio clip is available of this song but it is clear that Waheedan Bai has sung this ghazal on herself in the film. That Waheedan Bai was a trained classical singer is very much in evidence by her rendition of this ghazal in a thumri style.
Song-Achche eesaa ho mareezon ka khayaal achcha hai (Thokar)(1939) Singer-Waheedan Bai, Lyrics-P L Santoshi, MD-Gyan Dutt
Lyrics
o aa aa
aa aa aa
aa aa aa
achchhe eesaa ho mareezon ka khayaal achchhaa hai
haan haan
achchhe eesaa
ham mare jaate hain
tum
kehate ho
haal achchhaa hai ae
ham mare jaat
unke dekhe se jo
o o o o
aa jaati hai munh par raunaq
unke dekhe se jo
o o o o
o o o o o
aa jaati hai muhn par raunaq
wo samajhte hain ke
beemaar kaa haal achchhaa hai
haan haan
wo samajhte
roz aataa hai
ae aaata hai
aa aa aaa
aa aa aa aaa
aa aa aaa
aa aa aa
aata
mere dil ko tasalli dene
aaa
aaa
tujhse to dushman-e-jaan
teraa khayaal achchhaa hai
tujhse to dush
achchhe eesaa ho
mareezon ka khayaal achchhaa hai
haan haan
achchhe eesaa
——————————————-
Translation (Provided by Sudhir)
——————————————-
achhe eesaa ho mareezon ka khayaal achhaa hai
hum maren jaate hain tum kehte ho haal achhaa hai
Ah, a great healer, a great messiah you be
And great is the care with which
You tend and care for
The ones who suffer
I feel I am close to death
And you pronounce
As if nothing is the matter
And all is well
un ke dekhe se jo aa jaati hai moonh par raunaq
wo samajhte hain ke beemaar ka haal achhaa hai
My face, its somewhat aglow (with happiness)
On seeing you
On finding you close to me
And you think
The sufferer is getting better
And the misery, the agony is no more
roz aata hai mere dil ko tassalli deney
tujh se to dushman e jaan tera khayaal achhaa hai
Ah, praise to these thoughts of yours
That come to console me every day
May that, these thoughts are better
Than the one. who is a bane of my life
16 Responses to "Achche eesaa ho mareezon ka khayaal achcha hai"
September 3, 2012 at 9:15 am
Kamath ji,
I reproduce here a note I had addresd to you on 31-5-2012 in this blog about RATTAN BAI.
Please note that singer Rattan bai is NOT Shobhana Samarth’s mother.
9 Responses to “Yaad rakhnaa chaand taaron”
1 | Arunkumar Deshmukh
May 31, 2012 at 11:43 am
Kamath ji,
A very good write up on Anil Biswas.
The Rattanbai,which you have mentioned as Mother of Shobhana Samarth,is NOT Shobhana’s mother.
This is a different Rattanbai.She was born in 1911 at Calcutta in the family of Professional singers(read Kothewalis).Her real name was
Imambandi.That was a time when women from good houses were not joining films and hence Rattanbai got a chance as Heroine in New Theatre’s ” Subah ka Sitara”-1932,as a Heroine of Sahgal.Her second film was also with Sahgal,’Yahudi ki Ladki’-1933.
When she came to Bombay,she did 3 films in 1935,Yasmin,Bhikarin and Bharat ki Beti.In Bharat ki Beti there were totally 12 songs.9 songs were composed by Zande Khan and 3 were by Anil Biswas.One of these 3 was ‘Tere poojan ko bhagwan….’
Shobhana Samarth was born as SAROJ SHILOTRI to banker P.S.Shilotri and Ratan bai Shilotri.This family was not connected to films at all.After marriage to Kumarsen Samarth,Saroj became Shobhana Samarth.her first film as Heroine was a Marathi film,’Vilasi Ishwar’-1935.She also acted in Nigahen Nafrat in 1935.
Many people mistakenly consider singer Rattan bai as Shobhana’s mother Ratan bai Shilotri,which is NOT the case. Hence this note.
-AD
I do hope the matter will be clear now.
-AD
LikeLike
September 3, 2012 at 10:07 am
Thanks for bringing this note to my notice.
After reading bluefire’s comments, I suddenly remembered your comments on Ratanbai. I spent at least 30-40 minutes in searching them which I wanted to give as a link in response to bluefire’s comments agreeing with his impression about Ratanbai.
LikeLike
September 3, 2012 at 9:28 am
Kamath ji,
Here is some more info about Waheedan Bai-
WAHEEDAN BAI was a professional singer(Tawayaf),born in 1913 at Agra.At the age of 20,in 1933,she delivered a baby girl who was named NIMMI.
Waheedan never wanted Nimmi to enter the Tawayaf’s life,hence she came to Bombay in 1936 to seek employment in films.Those days,for want of good cultured family women,such professional singers could get into films,as they knew singing and speaking Urdu/Hindi.
Waheedan bai also got into Ranjit Movietone and acted and sang in Toofani Toli-37.
Then came Ban ki chidiya,prithwiputra,Prof.Waman,Secretary,Rikshawala,Alibaba,,Comrades,Thokar,Ek hi Raasta,Sanskaar.
Waheedan sang most songs under Anil biswas and Gyan Dutt. Her song with kantilal from Ban ki chidiya-Nadi kinare baith akele was very popular.
She sang with her sister jyoti also.
-One more point about RATTAN BAI-the singer/actor.Her husband was Mohd.Hafiz,who was a small time director in those days. Please see the Photograph of RATTAN BAI WITH HER HUSBAND HAFIZ KHAN, which I have uploaded on my Facebook sometime back.There are some more photos of this couple in the book by Dr.R.K.Verma-‘Filmography-silent Cinema 1913 to 1934’.
-AD
LikeLike
September 3, 2012 at 10:12 am
Thanks for the additional information on Waheedan Bai. I could not get much information on her in the internet except her filmography and her place of birth.
LikeLike
September 3, 2012 at 10:34 am
Kamath ji,
As far as Internet sites are concerned,one has to be very careful in getting the info.Many,including prestigious sites,sites only copy and paste info from other sites without verifying the genuineness,making the credibility questionable.
In my opinion and my experience says that
the best sources of researched info are books by historians and known personalities,Autobiographies,reference articles by learned people and interviews given by cine people of yore.
This is not to say that info on sites are untrustworthy as a whole,but one must get corroborating info also from other sources.
Wikipedia,though a source of info on numerous subjects,is notoriously famous for incomplete or unvarified comments.(sometimes they do mention’citation reqd.’) Invariably,info on IMDB is incomplete/misleading.They do not heed to any attempts on correction also.
Books can also contain mistakes,but instances are much less.A very reliable reference like HFGK also has some mistakes in it,but atleast they make corrections if proof is given.
-AD
LikeLike
September 3, 2012 at 8:35 pm
Kamath ji,
Like you i was also not able to find the first and last sha’ir of this ghazal in ‘Deewan-e-Ghalib”.
It seems to be a case of P. L. Santoshi, after writing the first sha’ir , was much too inspired by the same rhyming Ghalib’s sha’ir(and the ghazal), ended up using the same as part of this song.
LikeLike
September 6, 2012 at 10:32 pm
Wow…this is a gem…powerful voice & obviously very well trained!
LikeLike
September 9, 2012 at 10:20 pm
Sadanand ji,
What a divine gem you have unearthed. Thanks for posting this wonderful ghazal.
One humble correction. I think the opening line should read
‘Achhe Eesaa Ho Mareezon Ka Khayaal Achhaa Hai’.
The context of the word ‘Eesaa’ here is ‘benefactor’, ‘messiah’ (as in Jesus).
‘Achhe Eesaa Ho Mareezon Ka Khayaal Achhaa Hai’
Ah, a great healer, a great messiah you be
and great is the care with which
you tend and care for
the ones who suffer
I have sent the translation to Atul ji for posting.
Rgds
Sudhir
LikeLike
September 10, 2012 at 8:32 am
Thanks a lot for English translation of this ghazal and correcting the word ‘eezaa’ to ‘eesaa’ which I fee now as appropriate in the context of the first line of the couplet.
While deciphering the ghazal, I was cought between these two words and finally settled for ‘eezaa’ (pain) as Waheedan Bai’s pronounciation in the second line of the first couplet gave me that impression.
LikeLike
September 14, 2012 at 11:22 am
I do not think Sitara Devi can be termed as a lesser known singer-actor.
LikeLike
September 14, 2012 at 11:33 am
Actually none of the 4-Khan Masthana(singer/composer),Hamida Bano(Actor/singer),Harish(Actor-hero,Director,singer,producer), or Sitara Devi(Actor/dancer/singer) were lesser known in their times.
Khan Mastana was connected with about 50 films,Hamida Bano about 20-25 films,Harish easily over 50 films and Sitara devi not less than 50 films.
It is,ofcourse,likely that they were lesser known to the younger generation today.
-AD
LikeLike
September 14, 2012 at 11:53 am
Only the second shair belongs to Ghalib. The first one is taken from the ghazal of Amir Minayee, a good post-Ghalib poet. The 3rd may be Santoshi’s contribution. Incidentally, Amir Minayee was very popular among the tawaives of the era bygone.
LikeLike
November 17, 2014 at 5:00 am
Since discovering this ghazal by Waheedan Bai, I have listened to it over and over, again and again; my heart does not get fully satisfied with this great gem — I can listen to it eternally.
However, I was also searching for the ghazal’s wording in an authentic copy of Diwaan-e-Ghalib that I have, but as mentioned in the comments above, these to (first and last) “shairs” are missing. Since then, I started searching on the internet, and came across your excellent article, and the several followup comments which provide a wealth of information. I am a lover of classical Indian music and a seeker of such gems as sung by all the great singers mention here. Kindly keep me in the loop via email as you find more great gems and related info. Thanks a million for your great service to all us older generation persons who “constantly live in the past, for ever yearning for those heavenly enjoyable days in our motherland, India”.
Most sincerely,
Syed Ali Shabbir
San Antonio, Texas.
LikeLike
September 4, 2023 at 7:46 am
I found that the audio clip of the ghazal rendered by Waheedan Bai has been uploaded by SAREGAMA about 5 months back. The information given thereunder revealed that this ghazal was recorded as a private ghazal (non-film) as early as in 1918. There is absolutely no change in the lyrics or the rendition style in both the audio clips.
It is quite likely that in the film, this ghazal was used and Waheedan Bai who had acted in this film, lip synced it.
LikeLike
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
September 3, 2012 at 7:42 am
I was/am under the impression that singer-actor Ratanbai is different than Ratanbai, Shobhna Samarth’s mother, who was never into movies.
LikeLike