This article is written by Vidur Sury, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a 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.
On the joyous occasion of Atul Sir’s reaching a 10,000 milestone, I am posting this fabulous solo by Hamida Bano Ji from Shehenshah Babar (1944) composed by stalwart Khemchand Prakash Ji. The reason for me chosing this song is the superior quality of lyrics written by the great Pandit Indra Chandra Ji.
Hamida Bano was a distinguished playback singer during the 1940s and has sung a number of melodious songs from her debut in Pagli (1943) to the mid -1950s when she shifted to Pakistan and may not have sung film songs there. She had a unique voice which was easily recognisable and never copied any famous singer even during her initial days. With a very sweet, heavy and flexible voice with a good range, she was a popular singer during 1940s and had sung wonderful songs for most famous composers of that period. In this historical film about the first Mughal emperor, staring Sheikh Mukhtiar Ji in that role and top singer – actress Khursheed Ji as his beautiful queen (maybe Mubarika Yusufzai among his wives) in leading roles, she sang two wonderful solos for Khemchand Prakash Ji. These were mostly sung for Sulochana Chaterjee Ji, who was probably the second female lead. Her melodious and expressive voice is well used by Khemchand in this beautifully tuned Ghazal well representing Mughal times.
In this Urdu Ghazal, Pandit Indra, one of the master lyricists of the 1940s and my favourite, with an excellent knowledge of all of Sanskritic Hindi, Hindustani, Khadi Bolis and Urdu, uses typical Urdu Shayri type poetry, describing beauty metaphorically but with a comical twist which makes the meaning opposite. He has written a great deal of masterpieces and famous classics for Ranjit Movietone. I found the lyrics hence particularly beautiful. A true classic which was fairly popular.
mujhe kare sanam badnaam
haan haan mujhe kare sanam badnaam
sabse keh doongi
mujhe kare sanam badnaam
sabse keh doongi
mujhe kare sanam badnaam
zulfon ko zanjeer kahe meri
zulfon ko zanjeer kahe meri
nazron ko shamsheer
haan haan meri nazron ko shamsheer
haan haan meri nazron ko shamsheer
abroo ko khanjar kahe meri
abroo ko khanjar kahe meri
palkon ko kahe teer
haan haan meri palkon ko kahe teer
main to ro doongi
mera rakh diya qaatil naam
main to ro doongi
mera rakh diya qaatil naam
sabse keh doongi
mujhe kare sanam badnam
bikhre gesoo dekhke boley
bikhre gesoo dekhke boley
ho gayi kaali raat
haan haan ho gayi kaali raat
haan haan ho gayi kaali raat
hansoon ko kehta bijli gir gayi
hansoon ko kehta bijli gir gayi
rowoon to barsaat
haan haan rowoon to barsaat
ab na boloongi
har roz naya ilzaam
ab na boloongi
har roz naya ilzaam
sabse keh doongi
mujhe kare sanam badnaam
From the photo Hamida B has uncanny resemblance to Meena Kumari.
The second song was chhed gaya bedardi meri dilruba; but was it sung for Sulochna Chatterjee, whose name is nowhere in the marquee. Could it be for Anwari?
Vidurji,
It is gladdening to read an article and a song of the 40s from a veteran of 17. My best wished to you in all you endeavor. Thanks for the lovely song and post. I do not remember listening to the song before.
I’m still in awe of your great knowledge about the earliest stalwarts of our Hindi Film Music. Hats off!
Thank you for introducing me to this great singer and the song.
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 FIFTEEN years. This blog has over 18200 song posts by now.
This blog is active and online for over 5000 days since its beginning on 19 july 2008.
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
July 11, 2014 at 6:12 pm
What a lovely song. Never heard it before, and as Vidurji, the lyrics mean just the opposite. 🙂 Thank you very much for this song.
Btw, the video linked here misses the last few lines.
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