Maayi ri main to madhuban mein
Posted on: November 24, 2013
This article is written by Bharat Upadhyay, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
Remembering playback singer Uma Devi, more popularly known as comedian Tun Tun, on her death anniversary today. (24th November)
Following are the details about her as contained in wikipedia.
” Uma Devi, was born in a conservative North Indian family, in a small village in UP, where after the premature death of her parents while she was still in her teens, she was raised by her brother and later by her uncle.
She arrived in Bombay (Mumbai) at the age of 13, having run away from home, she knocked on composer Naushad Ali’s door. She told him that she could sing and that she would throw herself in the ocean if he didn’t give her a chance. He auditioned her, and hired her on the spot. She made her debut as a solo playback singer, in Nazir’s Wamiq Azra (1946), Working with legends like Naushad Ali, soon she signed a contract with the producer-director A.R. Kardar, who used Naushad as music director, and went on make a place for herself amidst music stalwarts like, Suraiya, Noor Jehan, Rajkumari, Khursheed and Zohrabai Ambalewali.In 1947, she had huge hits with ” Afsana Likh Rahi Hoon”, “Yeh Kaun Chala” and “Aaj Machi Hai Dhoom”, which she sang for actress, Munawar Sultana, in A.R. Kardar’s production, Dard (1947). She also sang a duet, “Betaab Hai Dil Dard-e-Mohabat Ke Asar Se”, with Suraiya. In fact, a gentleman from Delhi, got so enamoured by her song, “Afsana Likh Rahi Hoon”, that he never went back and stayed with her in Bombay. They got married, and the couple had two daughters and two sons; her husband, whom she called Mohan, died in 1992.
Success of Dard, meant that she next received Mehboob Khan’s, Anokhi Ada (1948), which again had two hit numbers, “Kahe jiya dole” and “Dil ko lagake humne kuch bhi na paya” This brought her into the league of highly rated playback singers. She reached her peak as a vocalist with seven songs in, director S.S. Vasan’s, “Chandralekha” (1948), made by Gemini Studios, Chennai., Though signing for the film also meant a breach of contract with producer-director Kardar, which lead to her dwindling fortunes in the industry.
Moreover, in coming years, owing to her older style of singing and limited vocal range, she found it difficult to compete with the rising singing stars, Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle. Eventually Naushad suggested that she take up acting, because she had a very bubbly personality and wonderful comic timing. He asked his friend Dilip Kumar to cast her in one of his films, and she appeared in Babul (1950) with him. It is he who renamed her as ‘Tun Tun’ to suit her comic persona, and the name stayed with her, and a comedic legend was born. Owing to her popularity, the name ‘Tun Tun’ has been synonymous with fat women in India.
She went on to act in Guru Dutt’s classics like Aar Paar, (1954), Mr. & Mrs. ’55 (1955) and Pyaasa (1957). In the 1960s and 1970s, she remained as a permanent comic relief in numerous Bollywood films. A few years down the line, she most notably starred in Amitabh Bachchan starrer, Namak Halaal (1982). In her career spanning five decades, she acted in around 198 films in Hindi/Urdu, pairing with top comedy actors of her times like, Bhagwan , Agha, Sunder, Mukri, Dhumal, Johnny Walker to Keshto Mukherjee, and was last seen in Hindi film in ‘Kasam Dhande Ki’ (1990).
Gemini’s epic film ‘Chandralekha’ had created a history in Indian film world. This colossus Film was directed by the owner S S Wasan and had a star cast of mostly south India popular stars, not very much known to then Hindi speaking audience. These were T R Rajkumari, M K Radha, Ranjan, V K Janki, S Krishnamurthy, Yashodhara Katju etc.
Music was set by S Rajeshwar Rao. Uma Devi’s simple style of singing and simply tuned song is portrayed on screen by T R Rajkumari in a simple dance steps in Kindergarten style. Overall it is a simply melodious song, anybody can sing along and enjoy, a real ‘lokabhogya’ (public appreciable) song.
Audio
Video
Song-Maayi ri main To Madhuban mein (Chandralekha) (1948) Singer- Uma Devi, Lyrics-Traditional, MD – S. Rajeshwarrao
Lyrics
maayi ri main to madhuban mein,
maayi ri main to madhuban mein
nirakh liyo nandlal, parakh liyo nandlal
maayi ri main to madhuban mein
sar par mukut dhare ae ae
sar par mukut dhare
baansuriya adhar dhare
gale baijanti maal,
gale baijanti maal
nirakh liyo nandlal
maayi ri main to madhuban mein
bhanwaron ke gunjan mein,
bhanwaron ke gunjan mein
kaliyon ke nainan mein,
Bhanwaron ke gunjan mein,
kaliyon ke nainan mein,
kunj kunj daal daal,
kunj kunj daal daal
nirakh liyo nandlal
maayi ri main to madhuban mein
raadha man mod bhare,
raadha man mod bhare
mand mand haas kare
raadha man mod bhare,
mand mand haas kare
ho gaye naina nihaal,
ho gaye naina nihaal
nirakh liyo nandlal
maayi ri main to madhuban mein
nirakh liyo nandlal,
parakh liyo nandlal
maayi ri main to madhuban mein
maayi ri main to,
maayi ri main to
maayi ri main to madhuban mein
3 Responses to "Maayi ri main to madhuban mein"
November 24, 2013 at 11:11 pm
Its not b’day. Its the death anniversary of Tun Tun.
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Bharat Upadhyay
November 25, 2013 at 12:13 am
Sorry for the wrong info. I had her name in my diary on this date and I made this WRONG mistake. Thnx for correcting me. I have now corrected the info in my dairy too.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
November 24, 2013 at 10:15 pm
Happy Birthday to Uma Devi ji ..!!
@ Bharat ji – thanks for this post and remembering Uma Devi ji on her birth anniversary and thanks for this simple melodious song …!!!
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