Ham mast dilon ko le kar
Posted on: May 16, 2014
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, 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.
THE VIBRANT 40s (Episode No. 15)LAST SONG OF THIS SERIES
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All human being like to be always happy. No one wants to be sad, no one wants pain, penury misery and anonymity. There are scores of cases from the film Industry which bring tears after reading about their last days and their sad ends. Not that every artist died in this way. There were hundreds of film personalities who spent their last days in comfort and with their dear ones. No one will remember that, but stories of Riches to Rags and death of an artist in total anonymity saddens the heart.
The sad ends too came in different ways. Take the case of Vatsama Kumthekar-one time popular and famous singer of 1940s. She became totally insane in her last days. With no one to care for her, she used to roam on the streets of Bombay, beg for food and sleep on footpath. One day she died on a footpath. When the Municipal workers came to take her body,some one from the crowd recognised her. She was cremated as an unclaimed body !
Another case is that of the actor singer Parshuram,who too died begging on footpath. Once upon a time he was a loyal worker of V.Shantaram and had been with him through thick and thin (for example when Shantaram left Prabhat and started Rajkamal). One of the crowd members recognised him and informed his daughter, but before she knew and came enquiring he was cremated by the Municipality as a ‘ Lawaris ‘ body !
Artistes turning into beggars and becoming seriously sick and unattended patients are plenty. But there were many artistes who somehow managed to live with self respect in face of penury and neglect by the industry,like Rajkumari, Sajjad Hussain, master Nissar, Karan Dewan, Bhagwan, Mubarak begum etc.
One such artiste was actress singer KALYANI BAI, from the 30s and the 40s. She was traced to a small Tenemant in Tekriwal Bungalow,in the lane near Mahim Darga, in Mumbai by the famous Film Historian,writer and journalist shri Shishir Krishna Sharma. He interviewed her on 21-2-2004. The following edited Biography of kalyani Bai is based on his writings in http://www.beetehuedin.blogspot.in. I thank Sharmaji for this.
Hailing from Turkman Gate in Delhi, Kalyani Bai was born in 1916. Her real name was Zarina. She was passionate about singing from a very young age and she subsequently started her formal training with Ustad Wazire Khan and in no time started singing for All India Radio and HMV. That era saw an influx of records made from the many Ghazals, Khyaal & Thumris that she had sung.
When a contact was made to her at her house situated in ‘Tekriwala bunglow’ on Dargah lane in Mahim (West), a few years back, Kalyani Bai said that with the advent of talkie films the demand for well enunciated and melodious singers suddenly went up as till then playback hadn’t been the trend and actors would themselves have to sing the songs live in front of the camera. In midst of this, one day, two brothers from Punjab saw her in a recording and came over to her house. They wanted to make a film with Kalyani. They agreed to all the conditions that Kalyani’s Abba put forth and hence Abba-Ammi along with their 15 children went on to Kolkata. This was during the Mid 30’s. Kalyani Bai was approximately 13 years old at that time. This film ‘Pardesi’, according to Kalyani, was completed halfway when a spat took place between the two brothers and the film had to be shut down.
As soon as B.N.Sircar, the owner of ‘New Theatres’ and R.C.Boral, the music director came to know of this, they called Kalyani and immediately employed her in their company at a salary of Rupees 250 a month. Since her nickname was ‘Kallo’, R.C.Boral gave Zarina a new name and henceforth she came to be known as ‘Kalyani Bai’.
Kalyani was featured in all the four films released by New Theatres in 1937 viz ‘Anaath Ashram’, ‘Mukti’, ‘President’ and ‘Vidyapati’. she not only acted alongside heavyweights like Prithviraj Kapoor, Trilok Kapoor, Uma Shashi, Jagdish Sethi, P.C.Barua, Kanan devi, Pankaj Mullick, K.L.Sehgal, Leela Desai, Pahadi Sanyal, K.C.Dey, and K.N.Singh, she also sang some songs for her characters in those films. Playback was in its initial phase and had just been introduced in 1935 by ‘New Theatres’ in their film ‘Dhoop Chhaon’. And in practice, it wasn’t the singer’s name (who had actually sung the song) that appeared on the music records but the name of the character of the movie on whom the song was filmed and since this practice continued for another one and a half decade, it is virtually impossible to verify the songs sung by almost all the artists of that era including Kalyani.
Mumbai based Sardar Chandulal Shah, owner of ‘Ranjit Movietone’ was so impressed by Kalyani’s singing and acting skills that as soon as her contract with new theaters was over, he called Kalyani to Mumbai and employed her at Rupees 800 per month. 1937 release ‘Toofani Toli’ was Kalyani’s first movie to be screened under the banner of Ranjit Movietone. The film was directed by Jayant Desai and Gyan Dutt was its music composer. Kalyani sung three songs for this movie.
In 1938 Ranjit Movietone made a total of 8 films under its banner. Kalyani sang and acted in 4 of these movies viz. ‘Billi’, ‘Gorakh Aya’, ‘Prithvi Putra’ and ‘Secretary’. Gyan Dutt was the composer and Pyarelal Santoshi was the lyricist for all of these films. Of the 4 films that were screened under this banner in 1939, Kalyani acted in as well as sang a duet in ‘Nadi Kinare’.
After parting ways from ‘Ranjit Movietone’, Kalyani appeared in movies like ‘Super Picture’s’ ‘Kanyadan’ (1940), ‘Mohan Picture’s’ ‘Jadui Kangan’ (1940), ‘Muslim ka laal’ (1941) and ‘Jadui Angoothi’ (1948), ‘Tarun Picture’s’ ‘Prabhat’ (1941), ‘Sunrise Picture’s ‘Ghar ki laaj’ (1941), ‘Ghar Sansar’ (1942), ‘Malan’ (1942) and ‘Maa Baap’ (1944) and ‘Radhika Picture’s ‘Pyara Watan’ (1942) where she not only played a range of roles from that of a heroine to a vamp, but she also sang many songs for these films. one that predominates all is the first film-qawaali of the history of Indian Cinema ‘aahein naa bhareen shikwe naa kiye’ (‘Zeenat’-1945 / Lyrics : Nakhshab / Music : Hafeez Khan) sung with Noorjehan and Johrabai Ambalewali in which Shyama, Shashikala and Shalini were seen on the big screen for the first time ever.
After her marriage in the year 1948, Kalyani left the ostentatious world of glamour and completely immersed herself in her domesticated life. After a number of decades she was once again seen in movies like ‘Aaja Sanam’ (1975), ‘Prem Kahani’ (1975), ‘Aakhiri Sajda’ (1977) and ‘Salaam-E-Mohabbat’ (1983) where she played a number of small character roles but her comeback films could not bring back the magic that once was and she bid her final farewell to the big screen and spent the rest of her days quietly with her son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren. Her husband had passed away very early on and her son, working as a spot boy in films, barely managed to keep the household running. Although she had some relief in the form of pension of Rupees 750 per month through the ‘Gandhi Welfare Trust’ set up by Richard Attenborough, Kalyani could never rise above the financial difficulties of livelihood till the very end.
In spite of all the pains and troubles that she faced, she never uttered a single word of complaint. And it was this decorous and dignified nature of hers that even superstars like Dev Anand and Sunil Dutt always showered her with the utmost respect. And then on 1st October 2009 at the age of 87, this remarkable artist of her era took her final journey.
Today’s song is taken from film Sunehre Din-1949. It is sung by Kalyani, Shamshad Begum, Khan Mastana and Durrani. The film was from Jagat Pictures. It was written and directed by Satish Nigam. The cast was Rehana, Raj Kapoor, Nigar Sultana, Roop kamal, Ramesh Sinha etc. Gyan Dutt was the music director.The film had 10 songs. 6 songs from this film are already posted on this Blogspot. Two famous songs were ” baharon ne jise chheda”-Mukesh and “Maine dekhi jag ki reet’-Mukesh and Shamshad Begum. The Choreographer was the good old Badriprasad Awasthi-a multi talented artiste,who was an actor, producer, Director, Choreographer, Lyricist, Composer and God knows what else !. There were 3 lyricists, Shevan Rizvi, D N Madhok and Shekhar M.A. ( one up on Moti B.A.)
The story of Sunehre Din was a routine story of a Love Triangle, and the usual sacrifice by one of them to unite the lovers. 1949 was a period when Rehana was in Top gear. She was the darling of the front benchers. One could call her the original ‘Jhatka queen’ of those days. She was an exotic dancer but actingwise she was almost a zero. She could only roll her eyes and make funny faces, thats all. Raj Kapoor, who started as a Hero only in 1947, was still a novice. After Neelkamal-47, Jail yatra-47, Chitod Vijay-47, Gopinath-48, Amar Prem-48 and Aag-48, this was just the seventh film of Raj Kapoor as a hero. With the entire focus of the story on Rehana, he did not have much to do in the filmexcept as a supporting actor to Rehana.
Premendra(Raj Kapoor),son of the wealthy Raibahadur(Ramesh Sinha), is a singer on All India Radio. Renuka Kumari(Rehana) is a middleclass girl. She and her two rich sahelis-AshaSinha(Roop kamal) and Latarani(Nigar Sultana) are Premendra’s great fans. One day they all go to the A.I.R.Studio to meet him. Premendra and Renuka meet outside the studio and fall in love. She does not know his identity at that time. Inside the studio, these girls are introduced to Bedi, as Premendra. Later Asha and Lata find out the truth. Asha also starts loving him.(Thankfully, Lata does not fall in his love. Nigar sultana does excessive Tomboyish acting here). Due to the pressure of his father, Premendra’s marriage is fixed with the rich girl Asha. When she comes to know that he is in true love with Renuka, Asha sacrifices her love and goes far off, allowing the lovers to unite. End of the film !
Let us now enjoy this video from this film. The song is sung by Kalyani,Shamshad, Khan Mastana and Durrani and it is picturised as a car song cum a teasing song.
With this last song, we come to the end of this series, “THE VIBRANT 40s “. Hope we will meet again with yet another series….may be.
Song-Hum mast dilon ko lekar (Sunehre Din)(1949) Singers-Kalyani, Shamshad Begam, Khan Mastana, G M Durrani, Lyrics-Shekhar MA, MD-Gyan Dutt
Chorus
Male chorus
Lyrics
hum mast dilon ko lekar
masti mein chali motor
hum mast dilon ko lekar
masti mein chali motor
rag rag mein umangen uthhti
rag rag mein umange uthhti
kya rahega kuchch hokar
rag rag mein umangen uthhti
kya rahega kuchch hokar
haaan
koi pooche na pariyon ki ee
ye mehfil kis taraf nikli ee ee ee
na hum khud jaante aaye ae ae nikal
tabeeyat zara hai machli
masti ka jab aalam hai
aahe
masti ka jab aalam hai
rah jaye na hum kho kar
masti ka jab aalam hai
rah jaye na hum kho kar
hum mast dilon ko lekar
masti mein chali motor
hum mast dilon ko lekar
masti mein chali motor
hum parwaanon ko lekar
nakhre se chali motor
hum parwaanon ko lekar
nakhre se chali motor
punjab mail chhoothi hai
aahe o punjab mail chhoothi hai
na lage kahi thokar
punjab mail chhoothi hai
na lage kahin thokar
aji dekho idhar
hum kadardaan aate tumhaare hain
fida ho jaaogi
andaaz kuchh aise hamaare hain
jeen haan
chehro pe pot laaye hain
waah
chehron pe pot laye hai
bhar pur cream powder
chehron pe pot laye hain
bharpoor cream powder
hum parwaanon ko lekar
nakhre se chali motor
hum parwaanon ko lekar
nakhre se chali motor
arre haan
zanaane naazo andaaaz
lagte sab tumhaare hain aen aen
arre ho ho made in japan
chehre bhi tumhaare hain
baithe to ho motar mein
par lagte ho joker
baithe to ho motor mein
par lagte ho joker
hum mast dilon ko lekar
masti mein chali motor
hum mast dilon ko lekar
masti mein chali motor
haan aan aan
kaho kuch bhi magar pocket mein magar
haan aan aan
armaan bhare nikle
hey ae ae
husn ki haat mein
saudaa ae ae mohabbat karne hum nikle ae ae ae ae
aabaad hamen hona hai
waah
aabad hamen hona hai
khud apne ko kho kar
aabad hamen hona hai
aa aa aaa aa aaa aaa aa aa aa
aabaad hamen hona hai
khud apne ko kho kar
aaa aaa aa aa aa
aabad hamen hona hai
khud apne ko kho kar
hum parwaanon ko lekar
nakhre se chali motor
hum parwaanon ko lekar
nakhre se chali motor
haaan
tumhare war quality dil
mohabbat karna kya jaano o o
hui kam raushni aankhon ki ee ee
tum kya husn pehchaano
arre haan karoge kis tarah sauda aa aa
tumhaari jeb hai khaali ee ee ee ee
wo armaan hai
wo khote ae ae hain
aji tum khud ho jaani
ama jaao
tum hamaara muqaabla kya karoge
hum film ki hain heroine
hum film ki hain heroine
tum circus ke joker
hum film ki hain heroine
tum circus ke joker
hum mast dilon ko lekar
masti mein chali motor
hum parwaanon ko lekar
nakhre se chali motor
hum parwaanon ko lekar
nakhre se chali motor
6 Responses to "Ham mast dilon ko le kar"
May 16, 2014 at 8:26 pm
Arunji,
Thank you very much for the information on Kalyani Bai and this too was unknown to me.
Although the series has come to an end, I am sure you will come out with something more exclusive and interesting from your vast repertoire.
Thank you once again for the series.
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May 19, 2014 at 4:14 pm
Simonvaishnav99
Very discreetly sang each and all of them …..singer Kalyaniji had pleasant voice indeed, in those days almost all Cars were imported chiefly from U.S.A late MotilalActor had a Buick Car …….Arunsaab I enjoyed this one amazing how top cine artist go through trauma when they need support ……..
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September 27, 2017 at 9:53 am
Miss Kalyani is singing for Nigar Sultana and Shamshad Begum for the others. It appears that the main male singer in the vehicle is Hafiz Khan Mastana himself. That is definitely his voice and G. M. Durrani’s for others.
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April 16, 2019 at 10:25 am
Yes, Khan Mastana is singing for himself in this song.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
May 16, 2014 at 8:01 pm
Lovely song!! A discovery, not connected with the song: I find that the car is left-hand driven, Was this the norm in those days as opposed to right-hand driving nowadays?
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May 16, 2014 at 9:08 pm
All cars which were LH driven were imported ones.
Kalyani Bai or Kalyani Das sang
Badshah-1944
In 1946:
Bindiya; Zameen Aasman
In 1947:
Giribala; Ghar Ki bahu; Kurukshetra; Paro;
In 1949:
Dil Ki Duniya; Iran ki Ek Raat; Jannat; Parda; Rooplekha; Swayamsiddha;
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