Aaja ri nindiyaa aaja
Posted on: January 3, 2013
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
The name Hanuman Prasad paints a picture of a Pehelwan playing kushti in an akhaada. Guru Hanuman and his akhaada in North India is quite famous.
In the late 50s and 60s, there were many Wrestling Championships played in India. Many Pehelwans from other countries also came here,to participate. Through these bouts the name of Dara Singh became very famous and later he came to Hindi films. The name Hanuman rekindles memories of that era.
However, one should be reasonably surprised if I tell that Pt. Hanuman Prasad was a well known Hindi Film Music Director in the 40s and 50s.
Hanuman Prasad was a complete musical package, in the sense that he composed, wrote lyrics ( Gaali, Jasoos, Saudagar and Murad) and sung songs also in films( Rasili)-as Sharma.
Geeta Dutt fans will remember him as the one who gave her the first break in Playback singing in Hindi films.
Hanuman Prasad hailed from Sujangadh in Rajasthan. He attained proficiency in classical music and was called Pt.Hanuman Prasad. He also became an expert Kathak dancer and was called Ustad Hanuman Prasad.
He came to Bombay and started teaching dance and Music in the Music school run by Pt.Gourishankar in Hindu colony, Dadar. One day he heard Geeta Dutt-who stayed in the same building, top floor-singing. Attracted by her voice he met her father Devendra Roy Chaudhuri and requested him to allow her to sing in his film. He gave her one line each in four songs,in the chorus. Only two of these are now available. Though she was uncredited, her voice is identifiable in those songs. The rest is History- as they say. Hanuman Prasad thus engraved his name forever in the history.
He has one more claim to fame( ? ). He was the first husband of yesteryear actress AMBU aka Lalita Pawar. She divorced him later and married G.P.Pawar ( divorced him also and finally married Gupta-a Producer).
Hanuman Prasad (HP) entered films by acting as ‘Sharma’ in ‘Pardanasheen’ in 1942.
Same year he gave music to ‘Chowringhee’-1942. In this film his co-Music Director was Kazi Nazrul Islam- Bengal’s revolutionery Poet and writer. HP composed 11 songs, whereas Kazi Nazrul Islam composed and wrote 2 songs.
HP was impressed with Sajjad Hussain, who was a struggler at that time. Sajjad’s mastery over a number of instruments mesmerised HP and he took Sajjad as his assistant. HP also gave a break to Sajjad Hussain in film GAALI-1944, in which Sajjad composed 3 songs and HP composed 9 songs.
HP was an expert in Classical music, which he used in ‘Draupadi’-1944, a film made by Baburao Patel (of magazine Mother India fame) for his wife Susheela Rani. She sang 9 solo songs in it. She had also acted in it ( and she alone saw it also ! ).
The films of HP were , Apni chhaya,Bhakta Prahlad, Bhool ka Shikar, Chilman,Daulat,Draupadi, Hip hip Hurray, Jannat, Jasoos, Jeena seekho, Middle fail, Nai Maa, Rasili, Saudagar(with C.Ramchandra-who dominated), Usha Kiran and Murad-61.
HP’s music had become outdated by the time 1960s arrived. He realised it and gave up this line. He spent all his time in teaching Dance and Music to students. He was a Saibaba devotee.
Hanuman Prasad died in 1972 in Bombay.
Hanuman Prasad could not be included in the series ” Unknown Composers”, because he gave music to many films and was a wellknown name in his era.
Hanuman Prasad is making a Debut on this blog with a beautiful Lori sung sweetly by Geeta Dutt and Parul Ghosh, in Nai Maa-1946.
Song-Aaja ri nindiya aaja (Nai Maa)(1946) Singers-Geeta Dutt, Parul Ghosh, Lyrics-Ramesh Gupta, MD-Hanuman Prasad Sharma
Lyrics
aaja ri nindiya
aaja
meri munni raani ko sulaa jaa
aaja
aaja ri nindiya
aaja
aaja ri
aaja ri nindiya aaja
meri munni
meri munni raani ko sulaa jaa
aaja
aaja ri nindiya aaja
mujhe dekhe na phoole samaaye
maa keh kar gale lag jaaye
unki saari balaayen main le loon
oon oon oon
praan rahe ya jaaye
meri aasha
meri aasha aa
meri aasha ka ??
mera soya
mera soya hai munna sa raaja
aaja
aaje ri nindiya aaja
yahaan kaale baadal to na aana
aur chaahe jahaan barsaana
kadke bijli ka
kadke bijli ka apni ??
aa aa aa
aa aa aa
nahin munne raaja ko daraana
nahin apna bajaana baaja
mera soya
mera soya hai munna sa raaja
aaja
aaja ri nindiyaa aaja
aaja ri
5 Responses to "Aaja ri nindiyaa aaja"
January 3, 2013 at 10:18 am
Kamath ji,
I am happy that you got info on Hanuman prasad,MD.
As far as ISMAT songs are concerned,HFGK mentions the name of H.P.Sharma as MD for two songs.I do not know what is the basis for it.I never found any reference to these Film songs while writing about Hanuman ji.Secondly,he is nowhere mentioned as H.P.Sharma.I too got his surname Sharma most accidentally in a very old reference.
Further on checking the details of Filmography and discography of Hariprasanna Das , I have NOT found any reference to these two songs.
I would like to know on what basis Vidur Sury ji credited him with these songs.
It is very likely that there might have been a third MD with the name H.P.SHARMA,about whom no one knows,so far.
It may be H.P.Das,but certainly not Hanuman Prasad,for sure.
-AD
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January 3, 2013 at 6:38 pm
Thank you Arun-ji for the write-uo on Hanuman Prasad-ji and the soft lori.
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January 3, 2013 at 10:39 pm
Arun ji,
Thanks, yes, for the details about another (now) lesser appreciated music director from the 40s and 50s.
You are right regarding ‘Ismat’ (1944), the name in HFGK is given as HP Sharma, for two songs. (The main music director is listed as Pt. Goverdhan Prasad). However, when I also checked on ‘Chauringhee’ (1942), there the full name Hanuman Prasad Sharma is listed as music director.
(Incidentally, there is another music director listed in the same period with a similar name. The name is HN Sharma, and there are three films credited to him – ‘Black Shirt’ (1946), ‘Mr. Dynamite’ (1947), and ‘Attention’ (1947).)
Thanks for your continuing effort to bring focus on lesser known personalities from the early decades of Hindi cinema. As I said in one of my earlier comments, I have run out of hats that one can doff, to acknowledge your breadth and depth of knowledge on this subject. I am glad to know that Harmandir ji has got in touch with you, regarding project on music directors of Hindi films. I am sure you will be able to fill in the gaps of information relating to the earlier decades.
Thanks again,
Rgds
Sudhir
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January 4, 2013 at 1:05 am
Arunji, Atulji,
Thanks for the beautiful, melodious and soothing lori. Never heard before. Post and comments are also very informative about Hanuman Prasad Sharma. I have heard only few songs of Parul Ghosh, so this one is an addition to it.
Here are the missing words/corrections-
the first ??? words are
meri aasha
meri aasha aa
meri aasha ka jhula jhulaa jaa
Second ??? words with a minor correction are-
yahaan kaale baadal tu na aana (it is “tu” instead of “to”)
aur chaahe jahaan barsaana
karke bijli ka (it is “karke” instead of “kadke”)
karke bijli ka apni kadaaka
aa aa aa
aa aa aa
nahin munne raaja ko daraana…..
This entire stanza is a request from a mother to “baadal” not to pour rain as well not to make any noise by lightening as her child would be scared by the loud noise.
What a beautiful melody! Aaj kal kahaan koi likhta hoga aisi lori?
Thanks again for sharing.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
January 3, 2013 at 7:03 am
Dear Arun,
Thanks a lot for a very informative article on Hanuman Prasad Sharma for which I struggled a lot get the information about him on the internet. While writing an article on Geeta Dutt’s NFS, a couple of days back, I came to know for the first time that H P Sharma was instrumental in introducing Geeta Dutt to Hindi films and he was the first husband of Lalita Pawar,
I find in the blog that Hanuman Prasad Sharma has been credited with a song from ‘Ismat’ (1944) but Vidur Sury in his comments has pointed out that it was Hariprasanna Das who composed two songs for ‘Ismat’. If it is so, the tag to https://atulsongaday.me/2011/09/19/panchhi-tu-jaa-re/ needs to be corrected.
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