This article is written jointly by Arunkumar Deshmukh and Sudhir, fellow enthusiasts 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.

Arunkumar Deshmukh
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Date-14th march 1931
Venue- Majestic Cinema,Girgaum,Bombay
Occasion- First show of India’s First Talkie Film, Aalam Ara.

A hugh crowd had gathered there. Those who had the tickets were happy and those who did not have tickets were envious. At last the second bell rang and all the people entered the cinema hall and occupied their seats with bated breath….

Such was the scenario on the first day of Alam Ara. Its Advertisement in Times of India said, “All living…breathing…100% Talking…” All of us know about this film, but very few know that since 1929, Madon Theatres, Calcutta were making and showing short ‘Talkie’ films of dances, songs scenes from running stage shows and plays with audio visuals. In the tear 1931, a total of 24 films were made as Talkies. No records of their songs are available, nor any print of any film. Shirin Farhad, the second talkie film made by Madons were released in May 1931. It had jahan Ara kajjan and Master Nissar in lead. This film became even more popular than Alam Ara. Alam Ara had just 7 songs, Shirin Farhad had 18 songs. Many of these were sung by Kajjan. Madons produced 7 more talkie films in 1931, the rest were made in Bombay.

Till few years back, it was believed that the first records issued for songs from a Talkie film were from Madhuri-1932. However,a film and music Historian and writer from Gujarat Mr.Narendra Shrimali “Kamal” proved that 2 songs were recorded for film ” The Trapped aka farebi Jaal”-1931 and he got those records also in the year 2006. It was indeed a historic finding.

To our good fortune, our own SUDHIR JI posted one of these 2 songs as the 10000th song on the 20th July 2014 on this Blog and it became the first Blog to carry India’s First recorded film song from 1931.

Today we are going to listen to a song from a film “Aankh ka Taara”-1932, sung by Jahan Ara Kajjan. She was the leading lady in this film. During the period 1931 to 1938, Kajjan was the main Heroine for Madons and other studios in Calcutta. She had created a ‘Mania’ for her not only in Calcutta but all over India. She was the highest paid artiste of her time.

JAHAN ARA BEGUM KAJJAN was born in Patna, Bihar, on 15-2-1915. her mother was a famous singer from Lucknow. She grew up in Patna. She got lot of attention for ger education. She was taught Urdu at home and her maternal grandfather Syed Hussain taught her English. She, being very clever ,soon became proficient in both languages. At the same time she learnt household chores also. She learnt music under the guidance of Ustad Husnu Khan of Patna. Singing was in her blood anyway. She was very beautiful.

Her interest and expertise in languages developed her to become a Poetess and her poems in Urdu were published in Magazines, under her pen name ” Adaa”.

Because of her beauty and singing skills, she was invited to work on urdu stage. Master Fida Hussain, who was a well known actor, singer, composer and director on Urdu stage had joined ‘Alfred Theatre co.’. It was owned by the Madons of calcutta. Kajjan was taken in it and the troupe toured U.P. and M.P. During this period, Kajjan was romantically involved in Master Fida hussain.

She used to appear on stage at the rate of Rs.250 per show per day. once when she was performing in Patna,one of the owners of Madon Theatres, Calcutta saw her and offered her roles in films. She immediately accepted it and went to Calcutta.

Silent film era was dominated by Parsee, Anglo-Indian and Jew girls, due to their white skin and open attitudes. Once the Talkie films started, they became useless as they did not know speaking in Hindi or singing. In such circumstances actresses like Kajjan got the opportunities. Her first film was ‘ Shirin Farhad’-1931. Paired with Master Nissar she sang 17 songs in this film. This pair became very popular. Her next film was ‘Indrasabha’1932, having a world record 71 songs in the film. Kajjan sang 29 songs in it. The film was based on a drama by Agha Hasan Amaanat.

In Calcutta Kajjan became very famous. She lived a rich and lavish life, mixing among the elite of Calcutta like Prices, Nawabs, High authorities, the mega rich etc. Her dresses and jewellery were talk of the women of the rich and the famous. She had instructed her designer to make only such sarees, which no one in India will ever wear ! She was a regular invitee to even Viceroy’s parties.

She worked only with Madon Theatres. Brijlal Verma was the composer of Madon Theatres. It was a favourite quartet of Madon films, Brijlal’s miss Kajjan and Master Nissar. Together they ruled the early phase of Talkie films. Films like Shirin Farhad-31, Laila Majnu-31, Shakuntala-31, Bilwamangal-32, Aankh ka nasha-33, Dhruva charitra-33, Turki sher-33, Zahreela saanp-33 had Kajjan songs by Brijlal Verma. During this period, she was the highest paid actress in india. Kajjan had a romantic affair with Brijlal Verma too. Kajjan also sang in Roopkumari-34, Sakhi lutera-34, Apradhi abla-35, and Mera Pyara-35 which had her songs.

Kajjan was a good dancer. She learnt dancing from miss Ruqayya Khatoon. She was among the regular dancers in Calcutta Clubs,along with actress Mahazabeen. Kajjan was friendly with westerners. She was fond of pets. For some time she had 2 tiger cubs as her pets and this became the talk of the town in Calcutta.

After Brijlal Verma ,it was a rich financer,Seth Karnani, who, just to impress Kajjan, bought the entire Madon theatres for a sum of Rs. 24 lakhs in those days ! A very handsome actor of that era Najmul Hassan had a torrid affair with Kajjan. He is the same Najmul Hassan, who had eloped with Devika Rani-wife of Himanshu Rai, owner of Bombay Talkies,from Bombay to Calcutta. Devika Rani returned to her husband shortly, but he had to remain in Calcutta-for safety.

Kajjan worked in Gulru zarina, Swami bhakti Alibaba aur chaalis chor and Jahan Ara also. By end of the 30s Madon Theatres closed down and Kajjan also stopped work for a few years.

In the early 40s, Kajjan worked in Abla shakti and Ghar sansar-42, Prarthana and Prithvi Vallabh-43 and her last film Bharthari-1944. THe songs of Bharthari, composed by Khemchand Praksah also became very popular. Due to her sweet voice she was called ” The Lark of Indian Cinema”.

Jahan Ara Kajjan died on 15-12-1945, at the age of only 30 years. 2 films, Jadui putli-46 and Tiger man-47 were released after her death.

During her lifetime she lived like a queen. She became a Legend. She acted and sang in almost 40 films in her small career. During the period 1931 to 1937 there was a ” Kajjan Mania ” in India. Her styles and fashions were copied by the elite ladies.

Filmography-

Bhartruhari(1944)
Mumtaz Mahal(1944)
Prarthana(1943)
Prithvi Vallabh(1943)
Ghar Sansar(1942)
Suhagan(1942)
Abla Ki Shanti(1941)
Zalim Saudagar(1941)
Nariraj(1936)
Parivartan(1936)
Raj Dulari(1936)
Shaitan Ka Pash(1936)
Struggle(1936)
Miss Manorama(1935)
Prem Ki Ragni(1935)
Rashida(1935)
Dil Ki Pyaas(1935)
Jahanara(1935)
Mera Pyara(1935)
Anokha Prem(1934)
Garib Ki Duniya(1934)
Sakhi Lutera(1934)
Ankh Ka Nasha(1933)
Dhruva(1933)
Prem Ka Nasha(1933)
Zehari Saap(1933)
Alibaba Aur Chalis Chor(1932)
Ankh Ka Tara(1932)
Bilwamangal(1932)
Chatra Bakavali(1932)
Gulru Zarina(1932)
Indrasabha(1932)
Pati Bhakti(1932)
Laila Majnu(1931)
Satyawadi Raja Harishchandra(1931)
Shirin farhad-1931
( Credits and references- with thanks-
1.Stages of life:Indian Theatre Biographies-By Kathryn hansen
2. Kamalp.blogspot.in
3.Dhunon ki yatra-Pankaj Raag
4.the big Indian picture.com
5.Dr.Surjit Singh ji’s articles
6.My own notes from diaries. )

The song featured today is uploaded on You Tube without the singer’s name. Since the lead actress of the film was Kajjan, it is most likely her song. There was another actress Indubala in the film, who was also a singer. In those days, when there was a craze for Kajjan’s songs, it is unlikely that any other singer will sing a song in the same film. However, to confirm the name I referred the matter to Shri Girdharilal Vishwakarma ji of Jaipur-the famous collector of songs and Music expert on identifying singers. He too expressed an opinion that it looks like a Kajjan song. The voice also matches her other songs.

So, here is kajjan singing a song from ‘Aankh ka Taara’-1932,composed by Motilal Naik.

Post by Sudhir on the song
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This is a very lovely selection – a beautiful bhajan that glorifies the holy pastimes of Lord Krsna. In this bhajan, there are five specific episodes alluded to, using very brief references, as is the style of writing of such poetical works. Using just very few words, the poet is creating a memory of an episode, which can be dwelt upon in great detail, in terms of commentaries.

The first episode is presented in the line

katni kaachhe huye jo biraj bachaane waale

The reference here is to the Goverdhan Leela, the episode in which the child Krsna is holding aloft the mighty Goverdhan mountain on the small finger of his left hand, for seven days and seven nights, to protect the people of Brij from the rainy wrath of Indra, the King of Gods and also the King of Rain. ‘katni kaachhe’ refers to the short waistcloth (or underpants in today’s terminology) that the children wear. ‘katni’ is part of the body between the waist and knees. ‘kachhe’ or ‘kachh’ is the garment that is worn in that part of the body. The child Krsna is barely seven years of age when this feat is performed by him. Some of the earliest descriptions in terms of folk songs and even in pictures, He is shown as wearing just this waistcloth, and holding aloft the mountain with one hand. In later depictions, one sees almost a youth Krsna wearing a dhoti and ‘ang vastra’ (shoulder cloth), which is not a very accurate representation.

The second episode is presented in the line

hamko to chhod chale gham ke bhulaane waale

The reference here is to the ‘Maha Prayaan’, the departure of Krsna from Gokul to Mathura. Akroor ji, one of the uncles of Krsna is sent by King Kamsa to fetch Krsna and Balram to his capital city. This episode is one of the most heart rending amongst all the pastimes of Krsna. The Gopis do not want him to go. They coax him, cajole him, plead with him. They fall down in front of the chariot to block his path. Their cries are splitting the fabric of the skies, and their tears are making rivulets on the ground. Many poets have written such graphic verses of this episode, which will move even the hardest heart to tears. This line is uttered by Gopis, that He who made them forget all their sorrows and unpleasantness in life, is now leaving them.

The reason that Kamsa has asked Krsna and Balram to be brought to Mathura is to eliminate Krsna. He is convinced that Krsna is the son of Devki, his sister, and will be the cause of his downfall and death. When this episode occurs, Krsna is just eleven years of age. Kamsa believes that he can easily get rid of him and his brother Balram. But the events turn out otherwise and Kamsa himself gets salvation at the hands of Krsna – literally. Krsna pushes Kamsa from his throne onto the ground and gives him one blow with his fist. And thus ends the reign of terror by Kamsa.

The third episode is presented in the line

Kubja ko raag diyo, hamko bairaag diyo

This event takes place in Mathura. After reaching Mathura, there is a number of small events that happen before they reach the palace of Kamsa. In all these short episodes, Krsna takes over all services and adornments that are meant for Kamsa, and in the process showers his blessings on the people who provide these services to Kamsa. He goes to the tailor who stitches garments for Kamsa, and takes away all his new garments. He goes to the gardener / florist and takes away all the flowers and garlands meant for Kamsa. Then on the way, they meet the lady named Kubja. She is so called because she is a hunchback, and is disfigured at three places in her body. Her daily errand is to bring ‘chandan’ paste for Kamsa’s facial and skin massage. Krsna takes the ‘chandan’ from her hands, and uses it for Himself, Balram and the ‘sakhaas’ (friends) from Gokul who are accompanying him. Then he turns towards Kubja, places His foot on one of her feet, embraces her, and with His arms around her, He gives a sudden upward jerk. And in a trice, the hunched back and the disfigurements disappear and Kubja becomes a beautiful maiden.

Again, this line is being uttered by the Gopis, saying that He showers His affections (raag) on the disfigured Kubja, and to us, He has bequeathed renunciation (bairaag) and pining sorrow for life.

The fourth episode is presented in the line

Gaja ki tera sune dwaarika se dhaayo hain

This episode is the glorification of the rescue of ‘Gaja’, the king of elephants, from the clutches of ‘Graah’, the crocodile. This episode is presented in detail in the ‘Gajendra Moksh Stuti’ as part of the Srimad Bhagwatam. Besides, many other poets have also written beautiful poetry on this episode, and the commentaries on this are no less illuminant. Gaja goes to the river to drink water, and Graah catches one of his feet in his powerful jaws. A tug of war happens with the Graah not letting go, and the Gaja unable to extract his foot from the deathly grip. His family tries to help him, but they together are not successful in pulling him away. Dejected, they simply leave, believing that there is no way to help him. Exhausted and on his last breaths, Gaja calls out to Krsna. And Krsna, who is in his capital city Dwaarika at that time, immediately drops everything and climbs astride Garuda to immediately reach the place where Gaja is struggling. With His Sudershan Chakra, he cuts off the head of Graah and rescues Gaja. The detailed commentaries provide the insight of the previous karmas and incarnations of Gaja and Graah to explain the reasons behind this episode.

The commentators write about ‘Gaja’ as the pompous self, ‘Graah’ as this world of illusion, Maaya, and how it has caught hold of us in its deathly grip. No amount of help from any near and dear ones is of any use. It is only the name of the Lord that will provide salvation and peace. A very breathtaking and profound episode this one is.

The fifth episode is more well known, and is presented in the line

sabha mein Draupadi ki cheer badhaane waale

This is the unfortunate episode from the epic story of Mahabharata. The Kaurav brothers, guided by their scheming uncle, Shakuni Mama, invite the Pandav brothers for a game of ‘Chaupar’, a gambling game that involves skill, guile and also deceit and deception. Progressively, as the Kauravs continue to win based on deceit, they egg on the Pandavs to wager more and more, till finally the Pandavs have nothing left. All their kingdom and treasures and assets are lost. Then Kauravs provoke Pandavs by asking them to wager their wife, Draupdi, a proposal to which surprisingly, the Pandavs agree. There is more behind this story, and it is not just a simple provocation and then agreement. In any case, the Pandav brothers wager Darupdi and lose the next roll of dice also. Now Draupdi is technically the property of Kauravs. And they decide to humiliate her in public, in front of all the people present in the court, including all the elders in the family.

(There is another story behind this desire to humiliate her. When the new palace of Pandavs was inaugurated in Indraprastha, all were invited for the opening ceremony. The palace was wonderful and had some wonders built into it. It had illusions of doorways on the walls, looked like any other door, but were just plain wall. It had water bodies that appeared as plain ground and plain stone floors that gave illusion of water bodies. Duryodhan was taken in more than once by these illusions, on his trip around the palace. At one point, Draupdi makes a remark about blind men having blind sons. The obvious reference is to Dhritrashtra, the blind father of Duryodhan. This remark infuriates Duryodhan, and sets in motion the plans in his mind to avenge his insult, and to dishonor Pandavs and especially Draupdi. The whole episode of the gambling game happens because of this desire to avenge his insult.)

At first, Duryodhan makes her sit in his lap – a dishonor for which he is paid back later. In his one-on-one fight with Bheem at the end of the war, Bheem, going against all the rules of man to man combat, hits Duryodhan on his thighs and crushes them, leaving him unable to walk, except for dragging himself using his arms.

Then next, the Kauravs decide to disrobe her in public. Dushaasan comes forward, grabs one end of her sari and pulls it off her shoulders. Draupadi is pleading with her husbands, with the elders present, with every person in the court to save her from this humiliation, but none comes forward. She tries to hold on to her garment, but Dushaasan is the more powerful of the two. He is able to start pulling her sari from her being. In complete despair, knowing fully well now that none in this court will come to her aid, she lets go of the sari and raises both her hands skywards in supplication, beseeching Krsna to come to her rescue. And then the wonder happens. The sari that Dushaasan is pulling off Draupadi, becomes an endless roll of cloth. Dushaasan keeps pulling and wondering, till he falls down, out of breath, and can’t pull any more. But the sari of Draupadi is still on her body, her honor is intact, and there is a humungous pile of cloth lying on the floor of the court. Every single person hangs down his head in shame. Pandavs, because they are bound not to interfere, once they have lost the right to the Kauravs. All the Kauravs, because one, they are unable to go thorough with their nefarious plans, and secondly, after all Draupadi is a lady of their family, and they have done a serious misdeed with her. All other men folk in the court, from family and others, because they are unable to do anything to help her, fearing the wrath of Duryodhan.

Of all the people in the court, there is only one who, literally, raises one finger to help Draupdi. It is Kripacharya, one of the teachers and Guru of the family. As Draupdi is beseeching and calling out to every single person in the court to help her, every head is down, none is even daring to glance at her. It is only Kripacharya who raises a hand and raises one finger towards the sky, indicating to Draupadi that she will not get any help in this gathering, and that she should call out to the only One – He will come to help. It is thus recorded in the epic story of Mahabharat that the only one person who did not die in the war (besides the Pandav brothers) is Kripacharya. Except for him, every other person who is present in the court, on the side of Kauravs, is killed in the battle. Kripacharya alone remains standing on the side of Kauravs. It is a blessing from Krsna, that he remembered Him in this hour, and he also reminded Draupdi of Him.

And the story about the un-ending cloth also has a prologue. Much earlier in the years, there is an episode wherein Krsna hurts his finger as he is testing the sharpness of an arrow. Droplets of blood appear on his finger. Draupadi sees it and immediately, she tears of a short length from the pallu of her sari and ties a bandage on Krsna’s finger. Years later, this act of giving Krsna a small piece of her sari, is reciprocated by Him, by returning it a hundred thousand fold, enabling her to keep her honor intact.

Such are the wonderful stories about Krsna – the limitless One, whose tales and pastimes are unending. And as I wrote above, in just half a verse, in a few words, allusions are made to histories and episodes that bring back to mind, tales that are a world of wonder by themselves.

PS-Now, comments by Mr Sadanand Kamath, based on documents available reveal that this song is sung by Indubala. So the credit for singing this song is accordingly changed to Indubala.

Song-Deejo darshan mujhe bansi ke bajaane waale (Aankh Ka Taara)(1932) Singer-Jahaan Ara KajjanIndubala, MD-Motilal Naik

Lyrics(Provided by Sudhir)

aaa aaa aaa
deejo darshan mujhe bansi ke bajaane waale
deejo darshan mujhe bansi ke bajaane waale
katni kaachhe huye jo biraj bachaane waale
katni kaachhe huye jo biraj bachaane waale
deejo darshan mujhe bansi ke bajaane waale

din ko nahin pade chain
raat ko ginte taare
din ko nahin pade chain
raat ko ginte taare
sada pyaare wo govind gun gaane waale
sada pyaare wo govind gun gaane waale

sab sakhi jhool rahee
kadamb chhainyya taley
aa aa aa
aa aa aa
aaa aaa aaa
aaa aaa aaa aaa aaa
sab sakhi jhool rahi
kadamb chhainyya taley
hamko to chhod chale
gham ke bhulaane waale
deejo darshan mujhe bansi ke bajaane waale
deejo darshan mujhe bansi

Kubja ko raag diyo
hamko bairaag diyo
Kubja ko raag diyo
hamko bairaag diyo
jagat mein ham to nahin
bhasm ramaane waale
jagat mein ham to nahin
bhasm ramaane waale

Gaja ki ter suni
dwaarika se dhaayo hain
aa aa aa
aa aa aa
aaa aaa aaa
aaa aaa aaa
aaa aaa aaa
Gaja ki tera sune
dwaarika se dhaayo hain
sabha mein Draupadi ki cheer badhaane waale
sabha mein Draupadi ki cheer badhaane waale
deejo darshan mujhe bansi ke bajaane waale
deejo darshan mujhe bansi
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Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
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आ आ आ
दीजो दर्शन मुझे बंसी के बजाने वाले
दीजो दर्शन मुझे बंसी के बजाने वाले
कटनी काछे हुये जो बिरज बचाने वाले
कटनी काछे हुये जो बिरज बचाने वाले
दीजो दर्शन मुझे बंसी के बजाने वाले
दीजो दर्शन मुझे बंसी के बजाने वाले

दिन को नहीं पड़े चैन
रात को गिनते तारे
दिन को नहीं पड़े चैन
रात को गिनते तारे
सदा प्यारे वो गोविंद गुण गाने वाले
सदा प्यारे वो गोविंद गुण गाने वाले

सब सखी झूल रही
कदम्ब छईय्याँ तले
आ आ आ
आ आ आ
आ आ आ
आ आ आ आ आ
सब सखी झूल रही
कदम्ब छईय्याँ तले
हमको तो छोड़ चले
ग़म के भुलाने वाले
दीजो दर्शन मुझे बंसी के बजाने वाले
दीजो दर्शन मुझे बंसी

कुब्जा को राग दियो
हममो बैराग दियो
कुब्जा को राग दियो
हममो बैराग दियो
जगत में हम तो नहीं
भस्म रमाने वाले
जगत में हम तो नहीं
भस्म रमाने वाले

आ आ आ
आ आ आ
आ आ आ
आ आ आ
गज की टेर सुनी
द्वारिका से धायो हैं
गज की टेर सुनी
द्वारिका से धायो हैं
सभा में द्रौपदी की चीड़ बढ़ाने वाले
सभा में द्रौपदी की चीड़ बढ़ाने वाले
दीजो दर्शन मुझे बंसी के बजाने वाले
दीजो दर्शन मुझे बंसी