This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, 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.
Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay (also known as Sharat Chandra) was a well known Bengali novelist. Some of his works have been made into feature films in many languages. It is said that more than 50 films have been madethat are based on or inspired from his novels. Apart from some well known Hindi films such as ‘Devdas’ (1935, 1955, 2002) and ‘Parineeta’ (1953, 2005), there were other Hindi films based on his novels and stories such as ‘Pujarin’ (1936), ‘Kashinath’ (1943), ‘Biraj Bahu’ (1954), ‘Majhli Didi’ (1967), ‘Chhoti Bahu’ (1971), ‘Khushboo’ (1975), ‘Swami’ (1977) etc. But the most talked about film based on his novel is ‘Devdas’.
It is said that Sharat Chandra wrote the novel ‘Devdas’ in 1901 when he was 17 year old. But he could get it published only in 1917. The first film based on this novel was made in 1928. The first talkie film on this novel was made in 1935 under the banner of New Theatres. It was directed by P C Barua who also acted as Devdas in the Bengali version. The overwhelming success of the Bengali version of ‘Devdas’ (1935) encouraged New Theatres to make the Hindi version of the film. However, P C Barua who also directed the Hindi version, decided to take K L Saigal instead of himself as Devdas as he felt that his Hindi diction was not up to the mark.
The role of Parvati (Paro) was originally offered to Kanan Devi. However, she had to decline the offer as she was already under contract with another production house. The role of Paro went to Jamuna Devi who had already done a small role in ‘Rooplekha’ (1934) under the direction of P C Barua. Jamuna’s family belonged to Allahabad. Having been born and brought up in Calcutta (Kolkatta), she was fluent in both Hindi and Bengali. So she got the role of Paro in both Bengali and Hindi versions. During the making of ‘Devdas’, Jamuna got married to P C Barua. [Some of the information about the making of ‘Devdas’ was based on ‘Legends of Indian Cinema : P C Barua’ (2008)].
The phenomenal success of both Bengali and Hindi versions of ’Devdas’ (1935) made P C Barua a household name in Bengal. K L Saigal who had already got recognition as a singer after the release of ‘Puran Bhagat’ (1933), emerged as the top singer-actor, the position he retained until his death in 1947. About 4 years later, P C Barua also passed away. In their death also, both of them followed the character of Devdas – self destruction through excessive drinking. But with their association with ‘Devdas’, they have become immortal.
Talking about the songs in ‘Devdas’ (1935), K L Saigal’s songs, especially baalam aaye baso more man mein and dukh ke ab din beetat naahin are popular. Also a couple of songs sung by K C Dey have also been well known. But there are two excellent ghazals sung by Pahadi Sanyal which unfortunately remained in the shadow of the songs of these two well known singers. One of two ghazals namely roshan hai tere dam se has already been covered in the blog.
I am presenting the second ghazal from the movie, viz ‘chhute aseer to badlaa huwaa zamaanaa thaa’ sung by Pahadi Sanyal. The ghazal is written by Kidar Sharma and set to music by Timir Baran. The ghazal is picturised on Pahadi Sanyal himself. It appears that the ghazal is the reflections in the minds of K L Saigal as Devdas and Rajkumari ( T R Rajakumari of the south?) as Chandramukhi who are also seen during the picturisation of this ghazal.
After listening to this ghazal, one would realise that this ghazal was sung by a singer who was formally trained in Hindustani classical music. Yes, Pahadi Sanyal graduated from Bhatkhande Music College, Lucknow.
Audio
Video
Song-Chhute asseer to badla huaa zamaana thha (Devdas)(1935) Singer-Pahadi Sanyal, Lyrics-Kidar Sharma, MD-Timir Baran
Lyrics
aaa
aa aa aa aaa
chhute aseer to
badlaa huwaa zamaanaa thhaa aa
aa aaa
aa aa aaa
chhute aseer to badlaa huwaa zamaanaa thhaa aa
na phool thhe na chaman thaa na aashiyaanaa thaa aa
na phool thhe na chaman thaa na aashiyaanaa thaa aa
chhute aseer
ujad chukaa hai jo o
chhotaa saa aashiyaanaa thhaa
ujad chukaa hai jo o
chhotaa saa aashiyaanaa thaa
wo mit chukaa hai fidaa jispe ek zamaanaa thhaa aa
wo mit chukaa hai fidaa jispe ek zamaanaa thaa
chhute aseer
wo baag hi na rahaa aa aa
jispe naaz thhaa aa aa mujhko
wo baag hi na rahaa
jispe naaz thhaa aa aa mujhko
wo shaakh hi na rahi jispe aashiyaanaa thhaa
wo shaakh hi na rahi jispe aashiyaanaa thhaa aa
chhute aseer to badlaa huwaa zamaanaa thaa aa
chhute aseer
kiyaa aseer mujhe
lazzat-e-aseeri ee ne ae
kiyaa aseer mujhe
lazzat-e-aseeri ne ae
wo unke gaam mein aane kaa ek bahaanaa thaa
wo unke gaam mein aane kaa ek bahaanaa thaa
chhute aseer to badlaa huwaa zamaanaa thaa aa
chhute aseer
na poochh ujde nasheman ki
daastaan na poochh
na puchh ujde nasheman ki
daastaan na poochh
thhe chaar din ke magar naam aashiyaanaa thhaa
thhe chaar din ke magar naam aashiyaanaa thhaa aa
chhute aseer to badlaa huwaa zamaanaa thhaa aa
chhute aseer
Atul,
Regarding ‘wo udke saamne(?), I feel that words are ‘wo “unke gaam” mein aane ka ek bahaanaa thhaa’.
Gaam means steps. The meaning of the entire she’r, in my view, is that ‘I am the slave (aseer) of enjoyment of slavery (lazzat e aseeri). That was a pretext of coming to (her) place (steps).
.
I hope, my interpretation makes some sense.
Also, in the line “thhe chaar din ke magar naam aashiyaanaa thhaa”, it is not DIN KE, but TINKE. Tinke` means twigs. A nest (aashiana) is constructed using a bunch of twigs. In Urdu, “chaar tinke” is used as a metaphor, a figure of speech, designating the “smallness” of something, the nest here.
Many thanks for a beautiful ghazal sung in the old style – really enjoyed it. I had not heard it till now.
Regarding the sher ” kiya asser mujhe lazzat-e-aseeri ne–“, I think the second line is “wo ud ke daam mein aane ka ik bahaana tha”.
किया असीर मुझे लज़्ज़त -ए-असीरी ने,
वो उड़ के दाम में आने का इक बहाना था –
‘Daam’ means the bird-catcher’s net (phanda), also. To me the imagery seems to be of a bird getting intentionally caught in the hunter’s net.
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 
January 16, 2014 at 1:31 pm
Had never imagined to hear such an old song,
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