Tumhre darshan ka nainaa taras gaye ho
Posted on: November 27, 2012
This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
I had no much idea about Jahanara Kajjan except that I was aware of a couple of her classical raag based songs in the film ‘Bharathari’ (1944). Very recently, I came across one more of her song ‘tumre darshan ka nainaa taras gaye ho’ from the film PRARTHANAA (1943). I heard this song for the first time and instantly liked it. The song is rendered in dadra style (crisp version of thumri ) based on raag Gaur-Malhar but with typical filmy musical orchestration of early 40s.
Not much information about Jahanara Kajjan is available on the websites except some information of her on Cineplot and on a blog. Jahanara Kajjan (?? – 1945) was born in Patna and educated in English. She was taught Urdu at home. She learnt Hindustani classical music under the guidance of Ustad Husn Khan. She started her stage career in Patna as an actor-singer. She became so popular with these stage shows that Madan Theatres of Calcutta (Kolkatta) employed her and cast her in their films ‘Shirin Farhad’ (1931) and ‘Laila Majnu’ (1931). But it was her performance in ‘Indrasabha’ (1932) which made her famous as an actor-singer. In her first phase of her filmy career (1931-36), she acted mainly in the films produced under the banner of Madan Theatres. With the closure of Madan Theatres in mid-30s, she was out of work during 1937-41. It is not known as to what she did during this period. She returned to film industry in 1941-44 and acted mostly under the banners of Sunrise Pictures and Minerva Movietones. During her entire filmy career, she acted in about 35 films. Some of her films were ‘Zahari Saanp’ (1933), ‘Anokha Prem’ (1934), ‘Jahanara’ (1935), ‘Parivartan’ (1936), ‘Ghar Sansar’ (1942), ‘Prithivi Vallabh’ (1943), ‘Bharathari’ (1944), ‘Mumtaz Mahal’ (1944) etc. She died in 1945.
Apart from acting and singing, she was proficient in western dancing. She also wrote Urdu poetry under her pen name ‘Ada’.
Unfortunately, songs from her early films are not available on the internet. The song under discussion is from the film PRARTHANAA (1943) produced under the banner of Minerva Movietones. The film was directed by Sarvottam Badami. The star cast included Motilal, Sabita Devi, Jahanara Kajjan, Menka, K N Singh, Nimbalkar, Sadat Ali etc. The song was penned by Pt. Narendra SharmaSafdar Aah Sitapuri and set to music by Saraswati Devi.
Listening to this song is a welcome diversion from the songs of some well known playback singers of Hindi film industry.
With this semi-classical song, Jahanara Kajjan makes her appearance in this blog for the first time.
Song-Tumhre darshan kaa naina taras gaye ho (Prarthana)(1943) Singer-Jahanara Kajjan, Lyrics-Safdar Aah Sitapuri, MD-Saraswati Devi
Lyrics
tumhre darshan kaa nainaa taras gaye ho
tumhre darshan kaa nainaa taras gaye ho
beete saawan mein bhaadon baras gaye ho
beete saawan mein bhaadon baras gaye ho
tumhre darshan kaa
tumhre darshan kaa
tumhre darshan kaa nainaa taras gaye ho
aas baithe rahen ham na yaad aayaa sajan
aas baithe rahen ham na yaad aayaa sajan
tum naa aaye naa aaye naa aaye sajan
tum naa aaye naa aaye naa aaye sajan
man ki kaliyon ke gajre bikat gaye ho
man ki kaliyon ke gajre
man ki kaliyon ke gajre bikat gaye ho
tumre darshan kaa nainaa taras gaye ho
wo samay jisme ham tum miley thhe kabhi
wo samay jisme ham tum miley thhe kabhi
jo mohabbat ke charche huye thhe kabhi
jo mohabbat ke charche huye thhe kabhi
banke sapne wo aankhon mein bas gaye ho
banke sapne wo aankhon main bas gaye ho
tumhre darshan kaa nainaa taras gaye ho
tumhre darshan kaa nainaa taras gaye ho
9 Responses to "Tumhre darshan ka nainaa taras gaye ho"
November 27, 2012 at 11:32 am
Wan! Kya Baat hai! It was like a refreshing breath of fresh air? Thanks for sharing.
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November 28, 2012 at 12:11 pm
Many thanks for finding out such a captivating song!
“Aas baithe rahe hum na yaad aaya sajan” should be ” aas baithe rahe hum lagaaye sajan”.
Hope to hear more songs from this gifted singer, Jahanara Kajjan.
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November 28, 2012 at 12:40 pm
Thanks for pointing out the correct word in the lyrics.
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November 28, 2012 at 1:16 pm
kamath ji,
Here is some more info about jahan ara kajjan-
JAHAN ARA KAJJAN was born on 15-2-1915,at Patna,Bihar,India.Her mother was a famous singer of Lucknow-UP and so singing was in her blood.
Kajjan was very beautiful and stylish.In the silent era Parsi and Anglo India girls were ruling the films,but after the advent of Talkie films,they fell back and disappeared as their Hindi/Urdu was horrible.Indian actors who could sing and speak fluent Hindi or Urdu came in the limelight.
Thus Kajjan made a solid entry in films in 1931 from madon Theatres-Calcutta.
Her first films were Shirin farhad,Laila Majnu,Indrasabha,Shakuntala all in 1931.She paired with Master Nissar and her songs made a havoc in those days.In no time she became very famous and popular.She could sing well.She sang 29 songs out of 71 in Indrasabha.Her jodi with Master Nissar became a hit.
Kajjan was so beautiful that she was invited in parties hosted by the nobility of Calcutta,Rajas and Maharanis.Her clothes became fashion symbols.Thus from 1931 to 1937 Kajjan was India’s First female Superstar.One financer Mr.Karnani even bought entire Madan Theatres in 24 lakh Rupees,in those days,just to impress her.
After Nissar,Kajjan paired with Yousuf Afendi in Anokha Prem,Sakhi Lutera,Rasheeda,Jahan ara etc.
After madon Theatres,she worked in films of Sunrise pictures and Minerva Movietone.
Some of her films were Gulru Zarina,Ankh ka nasha,Dhruv Charitra,Turki sher,Jahri saanp,Roopkumari,Apradhi abla,Mera pyara,garib ki duniya,prem ki Ragini,dil ki pyas,Miss Manorama,Nari Raaj,struggle etc.
In the period 1931 to 1937,it was Kajjan Mania in India.
her voice was sweet.her records from earlier films are not available but her 40s songs are available from films like,Ghar Sansar,Suhagan,prarthana,Bharthari etc.
Her last film as a singer was Bharthari-44.and as an actress it was mumtaz mahal. 2 films,Jadui Putali and tiger man were released after her death( 46 and 47 ).
JAHAN ARA KAJJAN lived a life fit for a queen( with many affairs too) and died on 15-12-1945
-AD
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November 28, 2012 at 4:36 pm
Thanks for additional information on Jahanara Kajjan.
Oh! she died so young – 30 years.
I had read about her fondness for spending time with foreigners and of many affairs in the film industry.
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December 14, 2012 at 3:08 pm
In the 12th line of the song ‘bikat’ should read as ‘bikas’ which means blossom and is in rhyme with taras and baras.
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December 31, 2012 at 2:27 pm
This lyric is not written by Narendra Sharma. Dr. Safdar Aah Sitapuri is the author. He has written all the lyrics of this film, a couple of which have been rendered by Jahanara Kajjan. The year 1943 is important as this is the year in which Narendra Sharma joined Bombay Talkies and he could not have possibly written a song for Prarthana which was made by Minerva Movitone. There was a complete split between Filmistan and Bombay Talkies in the beginning of forties, Saraswati devi leaving and Anil Biswas taking over her place.
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November 3, 2015 at 12:26 pm
Atul ji,
kanti Mohan Sharma ji is right.
Please correct the name of the lyricist to Dr Safdar Aah Sitapuri.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
November 27, 2012 at 7:07 am
Thank you Sadanand Ji for introducing us to a new singer.
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