Son bhanwar udd jaayegaa
Posted on: February 28, 2014
This article is written by Sudhir, 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.
A most versatile character actor. Well, not completely feasible, given his short stature and a thin voice. And yet, he has successfully played a variety of roles on the screen that cover the spectrum from very negative to the very positive. A face that always carries a perennial melancholia seeped into his poignant eyes. The lasting sad elder of the Hindi film screen – Manmohan Krishan.
Manmohan Krishan is a very familiar face. Right from my early years of seeing films, mostly on Doordarshan, sometimes on big screen, I got to see this face in many movies. One of the earliest character artists that I would remember by name. And a face that one got used to seeing on the screen always in senior elderly roles, mostly serious, sometimes comic, and sometimes a role that would take me by surprise. The last thing that I expected when I watched ‘Bees Saal Baad’ (1962) in later re runs, was Manmohan Krishan turning out to be the villain and a murderer. But it was also a role that was critically appreciated.
Manmohan Krishan was born in Kehvi village in Punjab, in 1922. Not too many details are available about his early years. He studied in Lahore, and for a short while, he was also a teacher of Physics at the Govt College in the same city. Stage and acting was a hobby and a passion. In 1945, he finally gave in to the call of his passions and came to Bombay. His first association was with V Shantaram and Rajkamal Studios. He appeared as the male lead in two 1947 films from Rajkamal – ‘Andhon Ki Duniya’ and ‘Matwaala Shair Ramjoshi’. His performances, especially in film ‘Matwaala Shair Ramjoshi’ were acknowledged as powerful. In 1949, he appeared in the Rajkamal film ‘Apna Desh’, again as the male lead.
In these initial films, he was also singing his own songs, and performing them on screen. The film ‘Matwaala . . .’ has as many as eight, or maybe even nine songs by him. But his short stature was in the way of building a career as a hero. And so it was as early as 1950 itself that he transitioned into character roles. In the 1950 film ‘Afsar’ and 1951 film ‘Aaraam’, he played the second lead to Dev Anand. Interesting to note that he continued to sing for himself in these films. I remember that when I saw ‘Aaraam’ on Doordarshan, I was taken with surprise to see him sing and perform the comic song “Ye Zindagi Hai Yo Yo”. Beyond that, he simply got set as a character artist. However, he stopped singing any more in the films. With the exception of two films. The 1955 film ‘Railway Platform’, for which he was also the assistant director. In this film, we hear the last of the songs in his own voice. The second one, I will tell about momentarily.
His presence on screen has always been powerful. His roles in films like ‘Basant Bahar’ (1956), ‘Naya Daur’ (1957), ‘Pardesi’ (1957), ‘Sadhna’ (1958), ‘Goonj Uthi Shehnai’ and ‘Kanoon’ (both from 1959) were well appreciated. His performance as Abdul Chacha in the 1959 film ‘Dhool Ka Phool’ fetched him a Filmfare award for the best supporting actor. On screen in this film, he has lip synced the noted song “Tu Hindu Banega Na Musalmaan Banega”.
In 1962 came his performance as the surprise villain in the film ‘Bees Saal Baad’. And then in 1963 came the unsung classic from Khwaja Ahmed Abbas, the film ‘Shehar Aur Sapna’. Playing a key role as one of the pavement dwellers in Bombay, he also sang once more – “Ye Shaam Bhi Kahaan Hui” written by Ali Sardar Jafri. This is a very long piece that appears at four different times in the film.
In a career that lasted well over four decades, it is estimated that he appeared in about 250 films. In 1979, he directed the film ‘Noorie’ for Yash Chopra. He passed away on 3rd November, 1990 in Bombay, after a protracted illness of two years.
In this post, I present a song from the film ‘Matwaala Shair Ramjoshi’. A film from Rajkamal Studios, it is produced by V Shantaram and is jointly directed by V Shantaram and Baburao Painter. The star cast of the film includes Manmohan Krishan, Hansa, Shakuntala, Madgulkar, Parsuram, Sudha Apte, Jairam Desai and others. The film has 16 songs that are written by four poets – Khumar Barabankvi, Narendra Sharma, Behzad Lakhnavi and Niranjan Srivastava. This particular song is from the pen of Narendra Sharma. The music is composed by Vasant Desai. There are no more details about this film that I can trace. I request other friends and readers to please add more information about this film.
This is a philosophical song. It talks about the momentary nature of this life, the propensity of the living being to hang on to the illusions in life that will never amount to anything, and the recourse one will find in the name of the Almighty. A very rare piece in the voice of Manmohan Krishan.
Song-Son bhanwar udd jaayegaa (Matwaala Shair Ramjoshi)(1947) Singer-Manmohan Krishna, Lyrics-Pt Narendra Sharma, MD-Vasant Desai
Chorus
Manmohan Krishna + Chorus
Lyrics
son bhanwar udd jaayega. . .
udd jaayega
son bhanwar udd jaayega
moh kamal se bhor bhaye jab
moh kamal se bhor bhayee jab
son bhanwar udd jaayega
son bhanwar udd jaayega
sone ka tan matti hogaa
sone ka tan matti hogaa
moorakh mann pachhtaayega
son bhanwar udd jaayega
son bhanwar udd jaayega. . .aa aa aa aa
pal chhinn ki jyun chapal daamini
pal chhinn ki jyun chapal daamini
chanchal kanchan aur kaamini ee
naahak in mein mann behlaaye
naahak in mein mann behlaaye
haath nahin kuchh aayegaa
son bhanwar udd jaayega
son bhanwar udd jaayega. . .aa aa aa aa
son bhanwar udd jaayega
garv gumaan ke durg banaaye
nis din sukh ke saaj sajaaye
laakh banaaye rang mahal par
laakh banaaye rang mahal par
khaak mein sab mil jaayega
son bhanwar udd jaayega
son bhanwar udd jaayega. . .aa aa aa aa
tan pinjar mein band udaasaa. . .
tan pinjar mein band udaasaa
(?) (?) ka bhookhaa pyaasa
raam naam ka moti is ko
raam naam ka moti is ko
raam naam ka moti is ko
kab tak nahin lubhaayegaa
son bhanwar udd jaayega
son bhanwar udd jaayega
son bhanwar udd jaayega. . .
——————————————
Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
——————————————
सोन भँवर उड़ जाएगा॰ ॰ ॰ आss
उड़ जाएगा
सोन भँवर उड़ जाएगा
मोह कमल से भोर भाए जब
मोह कमल से भोर भाए जब
सोन भँवर उड़ जाएगा
सोन भँवर उड़ जाएगा
सोने का तन मिट्टी होगा
सोने का तन मिट्टी होगा
मूरख मन पछताएगा
सोन भँवर उड़ जाएगा
सोन भँवर उड़ जाएगा॰ ॰ ॰ आss
पल छिन्न की ज्यों चपल दामिनी
पल छिन्न की ज्यों चपल दामिनी
चंचल कंचन और कामिनी
नाहक इन में मन बहलाए
नाहक इन में मन बहलाए
हाथ नहीं कुछ आएगा
सोन भँवर उड़ जाएगा
सोन भँवर उड़ जाएगा॰ ॰ ॰ आss
सोन भँवर उड़ जाएगा
गर्व गुमान के दुर्ग बनाए
निस दिन सुख के साज सजाये
लाख बनाए रंग महल पर
लाख बनाए रंग महल पर
खाक में सब मिल जाएगा
सोन भँवर उड़ जाएगा
सोन भँवर उड़ जाएगा॰ ॰ ॰ आss
तन पिंजर में बन्द उदासा
तन पिंजर में बन्द उदासा
(?) (?) का भूखा प्यासा
राम नाम का मोती इसको
राम नाम का मोती इसको
राम नाम का मोती इसको
कब तक नहीं लुभायेगा
सोन भँवर उड़ जाएगा
सोन भँवर उड़ जाएगा
सोन भँवर उड़ जाएगा॰ ॰ ॰ आss
11 Responses to "Son bhanwar udd jaayegaa"
February 28, 2014 at 4:05 pm
Manmohan Krishna was a very string communist and he formed a union of the junior artists. He was respected by the entire Film Industry for his social commitments.
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February 28, 2014 at 5:26 pm
Sudhir ji,
This film was a Classic Marathi Tamasha musical telling the life story of Shaheer Ramjoshi (1758-1812), a poet, keertan and lavani performer who later became extraordinarily popular notably with the lavani and the militant powada forms. The film narrates the poet’s history, his descent into alcholism and his eventual rise to greatness.
The main dramatic pivot is his love for the Tamasha dancer Baya (Hansa Wadkar). Several scenes extensively illustrate Shantaram’s symbol-laden expressionism, e.g. the scene where he drops the liquor jug to the floor, it hooks on his clothing and thus does not let go of him. These are combined with the scenes for which the film is famous, e.g. the sawal-jawab (musical question and answer contest) sequence, and numerous other lavani song-picturisations featuring G.D.Madgulkar’s lyrics in his script debut.
Shantaram had originally commissioned his mentor, Baburao Painter, to direct the film, but later sacked him and completed it himself. The film went on to become the biggest post-war success in the Marathi (followed by D.S. Ambapkars Jai Malhar the same year and Mane’s Sangtye Aika, 1959). All three films, and indeed the genre itself, remained indelibly linked to Madgulkar’s songwriting.
A sequence from the movie is reconstructed in the opening of Shyam Benegal’s Hansa Wadkar (Real name kesar Salgaonkar ) biographical Bhumika (1976), in which Smita Patil had done the main role.
-AD
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February 28, 2014 at 9:26 pm
Arun ji,
Thanks for the detailed information about the film. You always come to the rescue with providing otherwise untraceable information. 🙂
Two questions.
You mention that the film is based on the life of poet Shaheer Ramjoshi. So is the title of the films supposed to be ‘Matwala Shaheer Ramjoshi?
Secondly, you mention that this film is the script debut for GD Madgulkar, and that his lyrics are used in certain song picturizations. Did he write songs also in this film? Geet Kosh does not identify his name as one of the lyricists.
Please let me know.
Rgds
Sudhir
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February 28, 2014 at 9:50 pm
Sudhir ji,
‘Shaheer’ is a Marathi word.It means,actually,much more than a poet,but in Hindi ‘Shair’ was used for lack of any other suitable word. The Hindi title was matwala shair Ramjoshi.
G.D.Madgulkar,who was a great Marathi Poet and an actor,Lyricist,Director,story writer and a screenplay writer had written Lyrics only in the Marathi version,not in the Hindi film.
-AD
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February 28, 2014 at 10:12 pm
Arun ji,
Thanks for the detailed clarifications. 🙂
Rgds
Sudhir
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February 28, 2014 at 11:12 pm
Sir, many thanks ,once again (from me too 🙂 ) for this detailed information!!
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February 28, 2014 at 7:18 pm
Atulji,
This Jeewan Yatra-1946 is the movie in which Lata sang her first Hindi film song as is mentioned in YT.This song is not yet in our blog.Should we expect it soon?
D Samant
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February 28, 2014 at 9:28 pm
Atul ji,
I missed including in the post. Today is the birth anniversary of Pt. Narendra Sharma, the lyricist of this song.
Rgds
Sudhir
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February 28, 2014 at 11:10 pm
Simply great as usual !!
and to combine it with Pandit ji’s anniversary- rare and beautiful !!
‘raam naam ka moti isko , kab tak nahin lubhaayegaa…’ … waah !!
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
February 28, 2014 at 3:04 pm
He also sang Jeewan Yatra-1946; Andho ki Duniya-1947 and Apna Desh-1949
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