Raja ji ke baag mein
Posted on: April 7, 2013
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
Writing about old films and old artists is sometimes very difficult. Firstly,genuine informations are rare and difficult to trace and Secondly,one gets frustrated with the wrong information being disseminated by most Internet sites, who claim to give you ALL information about Films, songs and actors of early era.
Whatever information is available has to be ratified with another sources,before it is authenticated and accepted. Ofcourse Autobiographies, cuttings from newspapers, articles from books and magazines are usually trustwothy. Sometimes we come across close relatives of some old artists and their first hand informations are almost right.
Misinformations on Internet sites are spread carelessly, blindly and very confidently, making these sites a ‘ NO-NO ‘ as sources of information. Most of the times the misinformations are due to similar names. Here are a few cases-
Actor Shyam who did not sing and actor/singer Shyam kumar
Rattanbai-singer/actress from Calcutta and Ratanbai-mother of Shobhana Samarth
half a dozen Khurshids from the period 1920 to 1950
5 to 6 Raajkumars(Pandit,Pandey,Yadav,Gupta etc)
Several Zohras (Ambalawali,Zohra begum etc )
Several Neelams (Neelambai,Neelam etc )
At least two Amirbais
3 Noorjahans
2 Shashi Kapoors
3 Zubeidas
2 Najmul Hussains
2 Premnaths
3 Rajkumaris (Calcuttewali,Banareswali and Shukla )
Then there are confusions about actor Premnath and Music Director Premnath
Music Director C. Arjun and actor Arjun (of Malhar-51 fame )
MD Hafiz Khan and singer/Md Hafiz Khan Mastana
MD Mohan Jr. and MD Madan Mohan etc etc
So called ” ALL in One ” internet sites mix up information about similar names. Other sites blindly Coy/Paste and the matter continues to confuse the students and writers of old films.
Here is an example,which you can see yourself-
Visit http://www.indianmelodies.com
Search for singer Shamshad Begum.
You will find her photo and an article which states that ” Shamshad Begum, mother of Naseem Bano and grandmother of Saira Bano died on 10-8-1998″ . The site then goes on giving details of her songs etc which the famous Shamshad begum has sung-and who is still alive and stays in Hiranandani Complex at Powai, Mumbai even today.
Obviously the site mixed up two Shamshad Begums. Inspite of writing to them, the information has not been removed or corrected so far !
Why I remembered all this is because I had decided to write about an old film of Master Vinayak, PREMVEER-1937 and I remembered how the wrong information about actress Nanda’s birth is circulated.
Many sites inform and many people believe that Nanda is the daughter of Master Vinayak and actress Meenakshi Shirodkar
This a totally wrong information. While Nanda is the daughter of Master Vinayak, Meenakshi Shirodkar was unrelated to her.
Master Vinayak Damodar Karnataki was born on 19-1-1906 at Kolhapur. He was married to Susheela and they had 7 issues. Nanda was the 3rd among the children. Nanda was born on 8-1-1939.
Master Vinayak cofounded Huns Pictures in 1936. His brother Vasudev Karnataki was a Cinematographer. Master Vinayak was the step brother of Baburao Pendharkar and maternal cousin of V.Shantaram.
Vinayak acted in 30 films and directed 24 films. He was a good friend of Mangeshkar Family and tried to help Lata Mangeshkar to get established in Film Industry.She first acted in his film ” Pahili Mangalagaur” and also sang a song when she was just 13 years.
Master Vinayak died on 19-8-1947.
Meenakshi Shirodkar was married to Pandurang Yeshawant Shirodkar in 1936. She first met Master Vinayak in 1938 at the time of film ” Bramhachari “-1938. She had no children.
PREMVEER-1937 was an out and out comedy film, made both in Hindi and Marathi by Huns Pictures. It was Directed by Master Vinayak and the Music was by Annasaheb Mainkar, for Lyrics by Pt.Indra. There were 7 songs in the film. Today we will enjoy the song ” Raja ji ke baag mein” sung by Sardar Bai and Master Vinayak (both making a Debut on the Blog as singers).
Another important point is this song (Marathi version)is the FIRST Playback song in Marathi.
The cast of the film consisted of Master Vinayak, Ashalata (original name Mehrunnisa, the wife of MD Anil Biswas), Phiroz, Salvi, Bapurao Pawar, Pethkar etc.
The film was a total comedy. Most of the shooting was in the Shahu college campus of Kolhapur and the rest on the studio sets in Huns Pictures.
The story was-
Kishore (Master Vinayak) is a college student who stays in city to study. More than studies, he is a young man looking for good girls. There is Kaumudi (Ashalata) daughter of Rao Bahadur Manoharpant, a rich Jagirdar of the town. Kishore falls in love with Kaumudi and tries every trick in the book to attract her attention and win her heart. Kaumudi spurns his love ,but Kishore is not an ordinary lover. He is determines to win her over come what may.
In the class also he writes small notes to her. One such chit on which he has mentioned about the teaching Professor as Man minus Brain = Professor,and also a special message to her
” you and I = Heaven and Life minus Love =0,reaces Kaumudi and naughtily she gives it to the Professor. As expected there is an explosion, a long advisory lecture and way out of the class !
Undeterred Kishore tries another daring trick. In the College Gathering (Annual Day) Drame Kaumudi is to play the role of Shakuntala. An ugly girl is supposed to play Rishi Kanva’s role. Kanv is Shakuntala’s foster father. Kishore tricks that girl somehow and enters the stage in the guise of Rishi Kanva. At the time of Shakuntala’s Bidaai,Rishi Kanva is supposed to hold Shakuntala near him. Kishore embraces Kaumudi for such a long time that everyone is stunned. In addition his false beard also falls off and he is exposed.
The result is he is expelled from the college. nevertheless he continues to visit Kaumudi’s house in different disguises. Sometimes as a Postman, or a Gardener or a Dog-Walker etc. by now Kaumudi has realised that he truly loves her.
One day Kishore enters her house in the disguise of an Eye Specialist Doctor to treat her father’s eyes. On some prtext he blindfolds the father and reveals himself to his love Kaumudi. Finally she relents and accepts his true love.
The Premveer and his beloved finally unite.
Here is the wonderful Milestone song from the film Premveer-1937,sung by Sardari Bai and Master Vinayak.
Note- The audio is not clear and the lyrics are not clear at several places. Readers with keener ears are requested to point out the missing words and corrections in the lyrics.
Song-Raja ji ke baag mein (Premveer)(1937) Singers-Sardari bai, Master Vinayak, Lyrics-Pt Indra Chandra, MD-Annna Saheb Mainkar
Lyrics
Raja ji ke baag mein do phool khila albela
Raja ji ke baag mein do phool khila albela
do phool khila albela
??? haar ??
ab ?? bechne
??? haar ??
ab ?? bechne
madan baag ke phoolon ka
???
madan baag ke phoolon ka
???
rang dhang dekh kar
????
rang dhang dekh kar
????
barsan baba ?? naara
kaajal ho nirmohi
barsan baba ?? naara
kaajal ho nirmohi
bol bol baalma
tu ?? bade taad ja
bol bol baalma
tu ?? bade taad ja
?? mera lachka machka
?? matwaali
?? mera lachka machka
?? matwaali
bail gail aawo na
haan
bail gail aawo na
bail gail aawo na
ghabraaye mhaaro jeev de
ghabraaye mhaaro jeev de
isiliye
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
April 7, 2013 at 1:38 pm
Rajaji ke baago(plural) mein
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