This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
A post that has been waiting to be keyed in for many days now. And I have two reminders from AK ji already. Two weeks ago, the music lovers community in Delhi had a rare treat. A few local enthusiasts had come together and sponsored a visit by Mubarak Begum, the famous singer of the 50s and 60s, and a live program was arranged on the evening of 6th October, a Saturday. I had informed AK ji about the program, and he was also able to attend. The program was arranged at the India Islamic Center on Lodhi Road, and the primary sponsor of this program was an NGO by the name Panch Tattwa. Another sponsor is a person who is a good friend of mine.
Although the program was slated for 2 hours, it was informed beforehand that Mubarak Begum would be on stage only for about half hour, on account of her health. The remaining program was a performance of Natiyaa Qawwalis by the Nizami Brothers. I must add that this part of the program was also very spellbinding and wonderfully performed. The entire evening was a wonderful musical experience to remember.
Mubarak Begum was born on 5th January, 1936 in Jhunjhunu district in Rajasthan. The family was not well off in financial terms, so much so that this child girl was not sent to school. But she had very keen interest in music and singing right from childhood. Her family first move to Ahemdabad, and then to Bombay. In her formative years, she was very fortunate for have tutelage from the scions of the Kiraana Gharaana. Although she had no formal schooling, and could barely read or write, she was able to secure a very good foundation of classical music training.
There is a very interesting episode related to her debut. Her first break would have been under the baton of Rafiq Ghazanvi. The music director heard her voice and agreed to give her a chance to sing playback. She was all of twelve years and some months. It is said that she reached the studio, took one look at the crowded workplace and the busy ongoings, and lost her nerve.
She returned home without even contacting the music director. Simultaneously, another offer was also in hand. Ram Daryaani had agreed to give her a chance to sing in his then current film. This time she reached the studio, overcame her apprehension about the crowded studios, and came to stand in front of the mike. And then, as the music director signaled to
start singing, she once again lost her nerve and could barely manage to get a sound out of her vocal chords. And the second debut chance also fell flat. After these two missed chances, she was fortunate to get yet one more opportunity to prove herself, which she duly accomplished. The year was 1949, and she was barely thirteen. Actor producer Yakub agreed to give her a singing break in his film ‘Aaiye’. The music director was Shaukat Haideri (later to become better known as Nashaad). Under his direction, the young Mubarak Begum sang one solo and one duet with Lata, in this film.
The debut did happen, but the singing assignments were few and far between. It was not till 1953 that she attracted real attention with the hit song, ‘Devata Tum Ho Mera Sahaara’, a duet with Mohammed Rafi. But the major success for this talented and unique voice was still further in the future with songs in films like ‘Hamaari Yaad Aayegi’ (1961) and ‘Hamraahi’ (1963).
In a career that lasted till 1980 (she last sung a song in films for the movie ‘Ramu To Dewaana Hai’ in 1980), Mubarak Begum has sung some very memorable songs, in a voice that is different, and is so much full of soul and depth.
Coming back to the evening of 6th October, after a few minutes of customary delays, and the formalities of lighting the traditional lamp and other inaugural formalities, we saw Mubarak Begum walk on to the stage, supported by two young ladies (one being her own granddaughter). She appeared as a frail and somewhat indisposed personality, who has difficulty in walking without support. But her voice and tone still rang sharp and commanding. She was seated on a chair. The program anchor made her customary welcome address, and Mubarak Begum was given an offering of flowers and a momento, shaped like a gramophone player. After that, without much preamble, or address to the audience, she started to sing. She presented four or five of her most popular hits, “Kabhi Tanhaaiyon Mein Yoon Hamaari Yaad Aayegi”, “Mujhko Apne Galey Lagaa Lo”, “Wo Na Aayenge Palat Kar. . .”, and “Bemurawwat Bewafaa Begaana e Dil Aap Hain”. At the end of about twenty five minutes of singing, she then addressed the audience, seeking an apology that she could not continue to sit and sing on account of her health, and she must take leave. The audience responded with requests for specific songs. She obliged with singing a couple of requested songs, although not fully, just the first few lines. This included the iconic song “Devata Tum Ho Mera Sahaara” , that she presented very briefly. After this, she requested to be excused, thanked the Delhi audience for their attention and attendance, and stood up to be helped from the stage. The auditorium had a 200+ attendance, and as she walked off the stage, they gave her a standing ovation.
After she left the stage, I got an SMS from my friend. I had earlier requested him to see if it were possible to meet her in person and pay our respects to her. He messaged me to come to the gate. AK ji and I went out, and my friend took us to the guest room where she was staying. It was a good feeling to be in the presence of a legend. We spent about twenty
minutes in private conversation with her. She was regretful about how the industry had treated her, but now her voice seemed to be devoid of malice or complaints – just a regret. She shared that for a fact, she had made many more recordings, but then by the time the song was picturized or the records were released, she would be very surprised to find the very songs she had recorded were finally released in the voice of some other singers. She did comment about having lost the opportunities to work with Shankar Jaikishan after the success of her song in the film ‘Hamraahi’ (1963). She attributed these lost opportunities with S-J, to Dattaram, who may have been more interested in promoted Suman Kalyanpur.
She did allude to her current circumstances, but did not emphasize them. She came across as a pious and a religious person, with a strong belief in the mercy of God. After about twenty minutes of being with her, we took leave and came back to join the program of qawwalis.
For this post, I present this lovely, and endearing song of sadness, from the film ‘Daaeraa’ (1953). This film is significant in her initial career on account of the fact that Mubarak Begum got to sing four full songs, and a also presented some pieces of musical poetry that were not released on records. Had the film been successful, it would have meant a lot for her career. But sadly, by all accounts, ‘Daaeraa’ turned out to be a forgettable film, and did not do anything for Mubarak Begum. No doubt the song “Devata Tum Ho Mera Sahaara” became very popular, the listening public lost the view of the other songs that she has sung in this film. Especially this one.
Writing about this song, has been like meeting an old friend after a long time. I remember this song from an occasional listen on the radio, not knowing the singer name or the name of the film. As I sat down to write this piece, I was delightfully surprised to encounter this song once again, and to realize that it is sung by her. The voice still seems to be a far cry from the hits that she sang in late 50s and 60s. But oh, so wonderful a song, and so wonderful a rendition.
As for the film, our dear Arun ji has provided a detailed synopsis of the same in the song “Ae Chaan Sitaaro. . .”. And Raja ji has added more information based on a more recent viewing of this film, in the same thread. Please check out this song for more details.
The music is by Jamaal Sen and the words are written by Majrooh Sultanpuri. Both the words and the composition are simply wonderful. The film is from the production house Kamaal Pictures, of Kamaal Amrohi, who has produced and directed this film. As the song starts, one gets a feeling as if it is a background song. On screen, one sees Meena Kumari tending to her ailing husband, played by Kumar. She is making him comfortable for his sleep, and this song starts to play. Realizing that Kumar has gone to sleep, Meena Kumari get up and starts looking from where this music is coming. It is interesting that the director chooses to keep the camera on Meena Kumari for almost two thirds of the song, and it is only in the last less than one third of the song one gets to see and realize that the song is being sung by another lady, who is also sleepless, on the adjoining terrace. My guess is that this lady is Roopmala, and I would like other knowledgeable readers to please comment on this.
Enjoy this wonderful rendition, in a voice, that does not yet seem like Mubarak Begum we are more familiar with. Another writer has commented that in her earlier years, Mubarak Begum tried to emulate Suraiyya, and in this song, one finds a voice that tries to sound like that.
I have provided links for both the video and audio versions. The audio version, recorded as a video of the 78 rpm record playing this song, is somewhat shorter than the video version, and on comparison, I find that some lines of the mukhdaa, in between the antaraas, are missing from the audio version. Most likely, done for accommodating the song on the 78 rpm record.
deep ke sang jaloon mein, aag mein jaise jaley baati
waise jaley jiyaa mor, haaye raam waise jaley jiyaa mor
My self is aflame
Burning along with the lamp in the night
Like the cotton thread that burns in the fire
So my heart smolders
O Lord, so smolders my heart
chori chori neer bahaaun, jaag jaag raen bitaaun
chanda bin jaise chakor, haaye raam aise jaley jiyaa mor
Shedding tears
Away from the eyes of this world
I spend sleepless nights
Like the partridge bird pining for the moon at night
O Lord, so smolders my heart
jhoom jhoom raat deewaani, chhede mujhe prem kahaani
chaley jaise taal jhakor, haaye raam aise jaley jiyaa mor
Whistling winds steal through this barmy night
And the stories of love come to play (with my mind)
Pushing, cajoling – on an uneven rhythm
And O Lord, so smolders my heart
dheere dheere gark ho gayee mein,
jal ke raakh bhi na bhayee mein
diyaa na bujhegaa bin bhor, haaye raam diyaa na bujhegaa bin bhor
My being drowned bit by bit
(I wished but)
Could not burn to ahses
O this burning has to wait for the dawn
O Lord, this burning has to wait for the dawn
(NOTE: ‘diyaa na bujhegaa bin bhor’ alludes to the fact that the lamps are doused only when dawn arrives, and so says the poet, this burning will not end before dawn).
Video
Audio
Song-Deep ke sang jaloon main (Daaera)(1953) Singer-Mubarak Begam, Lyrics-Majrooh Sultanpuri, MD-Jamal Sen
Lyrics
deep ke sang jaloon main
aag mein jaise jaley baati
waise jaley jiyaa mor
haaye raam
waise jaley jiyaa mor
deep ke sang jaloon main
aag mein jaise jaley baati
waise jaley jiyaa mor
haaye raam
waise jaley jiyaa mor
ho o o
chori chori
chori chori neer bahaaun
jaag jaag raen bitaaun
chanda bin jaise chakor
haaye raam
aise jaley jiyaa mor
haaye raam
aise jaley jiyaa mor
haaye raam
aise jaley jiyaa mor
haaye raam
aise jaley jiyaa mor
jhoom jhoom
jhoom jhoom raat deewaani
chhede mujhe prem kahaani
chaley jaise taal jhakor
haaye raam
aise jaley jiyaa mor
haaye raam
aise jaley jiyaa mor
deep ke sang jaloon main
aag mein jaise jaley baati
waise jaley jiyaa mor
haaye raam
waise jaley jiyaa mor
ho o o
dheere dheere
dheere dheere gark ho gayee main
jal ke raakh bhi na bhayee main
diyaa na bujhegaa bin bhor
haaye raam
diyaa na bujhegaa bin bhor
haaye raam
diyaa na bujhegaa bin bhor
haaye raam
diyaa na bujhegaa bin bhor
haaye raam
diyaa na bujhegaa bin bhor
I got text from my husband 8:30am (PST). It is really sad. So, what he said on his b’day that he won’t produce any movies now on, will be the fact.
RIP
Sudhirji,
Thanks for this lovely post, I was waiting for this. Thanks also personally that because of you I got a chance to meet the legend.
For me the most gratifying thing was that she seemed to be much better off than the poverty stricken, pitiable, anonymous existence some sites painted about her. As you have mentioned she appeared quite contented on her personal front. One concern was obviously her health, which meant she neded a constant companion. And the other was a regret that the industry was not fair to her.
It is an interestinhg quirk of our film music scene of the Golden Era that a female singer would be either too simlar to Lata Mangeshkar (like Suman Kalyanpur), or too different from her like Mubarak Begum. In either case they faced an uphill task to be taken as a lead singer. Asha Bhosle was lucky that first SD Burman gave her big break following his rift with Lata Mangeshkar for five years, then OP Nayyar, a sworn Lata boycotter, fell for her wholesale both personally and professionally after jettisoning Geeta Dutt and Shamshad Begum, and still later she got RD Burman in her life. Mubarak Begu had no such luck, which meant she was destined to remain a ‘niche’ singer of mujras or side songs, inspite of her all time great gems like Kabhi tanhaiyon mein hamari yaad ayegi.
RIP Yash. It seems HE felt that he had enough of YASH and RAJ on the earth. He looked so strong I thought he would touch 90 aram se. But aakhir dengue ne dinga(thums down) dikha hi diya. He got it from the mosquitoes in his studio.
This blog discusses Bollywood songs of yesteryears. Every song has a brief description, followed by a video link, and complete lyrics of the song. This is a labour of love, where “new” songs are added every day, and that has been the case for over SEVENTEEN years. This blog has more than 19700 song posts by now. This blog is active and online for over 6000 days since its beginning on 19 July 2008.
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
October 21, 2012 at 7:08 pm
A SAD NEWS
Yash Chopra,Producer / Director died today evening,due to Dengue,
in Mubai,this evening.
-AD
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October 21, 2012 at 7:10 pm
Really saddened to hear this.
RIP
Sudhir
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October 22, 2012 at 8:51 am
I got text from my husband 8:30am (PST). It is really sad. So, what he said on his b’day that he won’t produce any movies now on, will be the fact.
RIP
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