Archive for August 2019
This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
| Blog Day : | 4060 | Post No. : | 15193 |
“Zindagi”(1964) was written produced and directed by Ramanand Sagar for Gemini Productions, Madras. This movie had Raj Kumar, Rajendra Kumar, Vyjayanthimala, Helen, Mehmood, Prithviraj Chauhan, Jeevan, Dhumal, Jayant, Kanhaiyalal, Hiralal, Master Shahid, Leela Chitnis, Pushpavalli(Actress Rekha`s mother), Baby Farida & “Honey”, Mumtaz Begum, Moolchand, Nirupa Roy, Satyajeet etc in it.
The movie had 13 songs in it. Seven songs from the movie have been covered in the past.
Today (30 august 2019) is the 96th birth anniversary of Shailendra (30 august 1923 -14 december 1966). Shailendra would have been 96 today. I know of at least one person senior to Shailendra in age who is still around. Sadly Shailendra left us at a tender age of 43.
In such a brief duration of 43 years, he had a 17 years long career as a lyricist in HFGK. His literary output during this period was enough to establish himself as an all time great lyricist in the annals of HFM.
Shailendra penned around 760 songs in HFM. This blog has as many as 676 of his songs. So only around 80 odd Shalendra songs are left to be covered in the blog.
On the occasion of the birth anniversary of Shailendra, here is a song from “Zindagi”(1964). This song is sung by Lata and chorus. Shailendra is the lyricist. Music is composed by Shankar Jaikishan.
The song is picturised as a “god bharaai rasm” song. Picturisation shows a would be mother played by Vyjyanti Mala, surrounded by ladies viz. Leela Chitnis, Mumtaz Begum and others while Helen (who rather unusually for her is seen clad in a saari)lip syncs this song.
Lyrics of this song were sent to me by Prakashchandra
Video
Audio (Longer)
Song-Ek naye mehmaan ke aane ki khabar hai (Zindagi)(1964) Singer-Lata, Lyrics-Shailendra, MD-Shankar Jaikishan
Chorus
Lyrics (Provided by Prakashchandra)
ik naye mehmaan ke aane ki khabar hai ae
dil mein leher hai
ek naye mehmaan ke aane ki khabar hai ae
dil mein lehar hai
chaand ko palne mein bulaane ki khabar hai ae
dil mein leher hai
chaand ko palne mein bulaane ki khabar hai ae
dil mein leher hai
nainon waali
kaahey ko tu nain chhuraaye ae
nain chhuraaye
baithhi hai kyun chor si
tu sar ko jhukaaye ae
sar ko jhukaaye
mukh na chhupaa
kya ye chhupaane ki khabar hai ae
dil mein lehar hai
ek naye mehmaan ke aane ki khabar hai ae
dil mein lehar hai
rotaa koyee aayegaa iss ghar ko hansaane ae
ghar ko hansaane
aas ke deepak se kayee deep jalaaney ae
deep jalaaney
naach rey mann
naachne gaane ki khabar hai ae
dil mein lehar hai
ek naye mehmaan ke aane ki khabar hai ae
dil mein lehar hai
chaand ko palne mein bulaane ki khabar hai ae
dil mein leher hai
Piye jaa jiye jaa
Posted on: August 29, 2019
This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
| Blog Day : | 4059 | Post No. : | 15192 |
“Chaalaak”(1973) was directed by T N Sharma and R K Bannerji for Film Dhara, Bombay. This “social” movie had Radha Saluja, Kiran Kumar, Alka, Jayshree T, Brahmchaari, Keshto Mukherji, Jagdeesh Raj, Brahm Bhardwaj, Master Ratan, Uma Dutt, Paresh Nanda, Moolchand, Banjara, Bachan Singh, Elizabeth, Suring=der Khanna, Sheikh, Bhola, Satyarani, Sudakshana Mukherji etc with guest appearances by Maruti, Hercules, Lalita Kumari, and friendly appearances by Ajeet, Gautam Sareen, P Jairaj and Danny Danjongpa.
The movie had five songs in it. Three of these songs have been covered in the past.
Here is the fourth song from “Chaalaak”(1973). This song is sung by Asha Bhonsle, Kishore Kumar and chorus. Hasrat Jaipuri is the lyricist. Music is composed by Ganesh.
The song is picturised as a party song. I am unable to identify the lady lip syncing the song in Asha Bhonsle’s voice. Danny lip syncs in Kishore Kumar’s voice. I request our knowledgeable readers to help identify the lip syncing lady.
The music of the song sounds familiar but that is not because this music was heard earlier. That is because this music was heard years later in a Laxmikant Pyarelal composition, viz “gore nahin ham kaale sahi” in “Deshpremi”(1982). Or is it some other song. I request our knowledeable readers to tell us about the song where this music is reused.
Audio
Video
Song-Piye jaa jiye jaa (Chaalaak)(1973) Singers-Asha Bhonsle, Kishore Kumar, Lyrics-Hasrat Jaipuri, MD-Ganesh
Both
Chorus
Lyrics
duniya phaani
duniya phaani
ho bahta paani
arre jawaani badi toofaani
hey duniya phaani
hey bahta paani
arre jawaani badi toofaani
ho
zindagi kya ik nasha hai
mastiyon ka jaam hai
hey zindagi kya ek nasha hai
mastiyon ka jaam hai
piye ja
o jiye ja aa
piya ja jiye ja
piya ja jiye ja
piye ja ja ja
jiye ja ja ja
piye ja jiye ja piye ja jiye ja
tu ru ru ru ru ru
tu ru ru ru ru
tu ru ru ru ru ru
ho o
tu ru ru ru ru
tu ru ru ru
tu ru ru ru ru ru
aaa
laalalalalalala
laalalalala
hey hey haa
jo maza hai yaar ki baahon mein
ham se poochh lo
arre haan jo maza hai yaar ki baahon mein
ham se poochh lo
aankhen tumhaari shaayaraana
lab hain tumhaare ya paimaana
ho
ho
ho
piye jaa
o jiye jaa
piye ja jiye ja
piye ja jiye ja
duniya phaani
haa
hey bahta paani
haa
arre ye jawaani badi toofaani
ho duniya phaani
main hi tera humsafar hoon
kaun chheenega mujhe
arre main hi tera humsafar hoon
kaun chheenega mujhe
kab se tumhi pe main fida hoon
dil ki tumhaare ye sada hoon
haa
haa
haa
piye ja
jiye ja aa
piya ja jiye ja
piya ja jiye ja
duniya phaani
haa
hey bahta paani
haa
arre jawaani
badi toofaani
ho zindagi kya
ik nasha hai
mastiyon ka jaam hai
piye ja ja ja
jiye ja ja ja
piye ja jiye ja
piye ja jiye ja
piye ja aa
jiye jaa aa
piye ja aa
jiye jaa
piye ja
jiye ja
piye ja
jiye ja
piye ja
jiye ja
piye ja
jiye ja
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, 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 other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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Blog Day : |
4058 | Post No. : | 15191 | Movie Count : |
4173 |
Today’s song is from film Aaj aur kal-47. The film was produced by C R Gwalani and R K Parashar. It was directed by K A Abbas. The music for its 6 songs was composed by Khwaja Khurshid Anwar. The film was made under the banner of Chitra Productions, Lahore.
1947 was a period of political turmoil, both in future Pakistan and existing India. The matters became worse after actual Partition took place. When the entire country was disturbed, no wonder, the film industry too was shaken with uncertainty. There was a flood of rumours. No one was sure as to who is leaving and who is staying. In Lahore, the condition of film people from India was more serious. In order to save their lives, they had to run away to India, leaving everything behind. In film industry in India situation was not that bad, but people were scared.
This automatically resulted in some films remaining incomplete. Most producers had ensured to somehow complete their films, well before actual time of Partition. This was so, on both sides of the border. Film Aaj aur kal was one such film which had started shooting in 1946, censored in 1947 but could not be released same year, due to this commotion. An early issue of Film India magazine announced in 1948 that this film was awaiting its release. However, we do not know,if the film was released actually or not, as there is no information available about its release dates or place etc.
From the advertisements, photos, posters and short newslets available in the film magazine, we know that actor Shyam and actress Nayan Tara were the lead pair. HFGK, however, does not give their names in its cast details. Only the names of Neeta, Rasheed Ahmed (Rashid Khan) and Arif are listed in its cast column. Film Aaaj aur kal aka Today or Tomorrow-47 had a Sci-Fi story in which a city called Gandhi Nagar was shown as a city of future in the year 2048 (100 years later). In the absence of storyline, we can,at best, imagine the story.
Rashid Khan was a new entrant in Hindi films then,having debuted in ‘Dharti ke Lal’-46, this was his just 4th film. Vadodara or Baroda has given many actors to film world. Some of them are Mehboob Khan, Urmila Bhatt, Shabbir kumar, Faruq Shaikh, V H Desai, Dinesh Hingoo etc etc. Add to this, Rashid Ahmed Khan aka Rashid Khan, who was a villain, comedian, character artiste and everything else, except the Hero.
He was born on 5th July 1915. He was a Suleimani Muslim, hence very liberal and secular in nature. He studied upto B.A; LL.B., but without becoming an advocate he came to Bombay to become an actor. He met Jaddan Bai,who gave him titbit roles in films. Then he was employed by Sohrab Modi as a Painter in his studio.Rashid Khan used to copy the acting of Chandra Mohan. After two months this job was also gone. Finally, Rashid Khan got a job in All India Radio, Bombay as an announcer.
One day Balraj Sahni met him. He was directing K.A.Abbas’ drama ‘ Zubeida’ and was looking for an actor for the important role of Munshi Bedil in the drama.He was impressed with Rashid khan and offered him the role. Rashid Khan flatly refused. Next one month, on and off, Balraj Sahni was trying to convince Rashid Khan, but he was adamant in not doing acting. Just one week prior to the staging of the drama, Rashid Khan met Balraj Sahni and accepted his offer.
Rashid Khan’s acting was much appreciated by critics. Balraj gave him a role in film ” Dharti ke lal”-46, which became his Debut film. Many stage stalwarts were acting in that film. Deena(Sanghvi) Pathak had a dance item in it. Later she became a famous character actress in Hindi films in the 70s and 80s. Rashid khan got several films like Hasrat, Gudia, Aaj aur Kal, Anjuman, Aarzu etc. Initially he was credited as Rashid Ahmed,but later on he ensured that he was mentioned as Rashid Khan. In the beginning, he had to improve his Urdu/Hindi diction, as he was a Gujarati person.
Dev Anand cast him as Postmaster in Navketan’s first film ‘ Afsar ‘. Then came Baazi, Jaal Aah, Shri 420 and many others. He acted in most Dev Anand and Guru Dutt films. K.A.Abbas cast him in his 8 films. He was a favourite of Hrishikesh Mukherjee.He worked with Mukherjee in 18 films. Personally, I like his role of a “Body builder and Exercise freak”, in film ” Ek phool chaar Kaante”-1960. In his career, Rashid Khan did acting in 96 films.
In 1953, he married one Suraiya. His son Fazal is a photographer and Daughter Heena married into Fida Hussain family.
Rashid Khan rarely got long and big roles, but he made his small roles also memorable. He was not typecast. He did roles as Villain, Comedian and character artiste as father,brother or friend of the hero. While shooting at Famous studio, on 7-11-1972, he got massive heart attack and died while working, just like Gope. (adapted, with thanks, from Gujarati article by Harish Raghuwanshi ji.)
Music Director Khurshid Anwar (21-3-1912 to 30-10-1984) was a rare case, who was successful both in India as well in Pakistan, after he migrated there. He was also a highly respected personality here and there. A lot has already been written about him on Internet as well as on this Blog-by me, hence I am not repeating it here now.he gave music to 10films in India- including Parwana-47, with Saigal and he composed 77 songs- without a single song by Lata Mangeshkar. For his first film Ishara-43, he had called famous singer of Lucknow, Gohar Sultana, to sing few songs.
The film was directed by Khwaja Ahmed Abbas (7-6-1914 to 1-6-1987), who directed 20films from 46 to 88. He was born in Panipat, Haryana, on 7-6-1916. He was born in the home of celebrated Urdu poet, ‘Khwaja Altaf Husain Hali’, a student of Mirza Ghalib. His grandfather Khwaja Gulam Abbas was one of the chief rebels of the 1857 Rebellion movement, and the first martyr of Panipat to be blown from the mouth of a cannon. Abbas’s father Ghulam-Us-Sibtain graduated from Aligarh Muslim University, was a tutor of a prince and a prosperous businessman, who modernised the preparation of Unani medicines. Abbas’s mother, ‘Masroor Khatoon’, was the daughter of Sajjad Husain, an enlightened educationist. Abbas took his early education in ‘Hali Muslim High School’, which was established by his great grand father Hali. He had his early education till 7th in Panipat. He was instructed to read the Arabic text of the Quran and his childhood dreams swung at the compulsive behest of his father. Abbas completed his matriculation at the age of fifteen. He did his B.A. with English literature in 1933 and LL.B. in 1935 from Aligarh Muslim University
Worked on National Call, a New Delhi paper (1933); started Aligarh Opinion when studying law (1934); obtained law degree in 1935; political correspondent and later film critic for nationalist Bombay Chronicle, Bombay (1935- 47) praising Dieterle, Capra and esp. Shantaram. Wrote Indian journalism’s longest- running weekly political column, Last Page (1941-86), in Chronicle and Blitz. Best-known fiction (Zafran Ke Phool situated in Kashmir, Inquilab on communal violence) places him in younger generation of Urdu and Hindi writers with Ali Sardar Jafri and Ismat Chughtai, whose work followed the PWA? and drew sustenance from Nehruite socialism’s pre- Independence, anti-Fascist and anti-communal commitments. Founder member of IPTA’s all- India front (1943), to which he contributed two seminal plays: Yeh Amrit Hai and Zubeida. Entered film as publicist for Bombay Talkies (1936) to whom he sold his first screenplay, Naya Sansar (1941). First film, Dharti Ke Lal, made under IPTA’s banner and drew on Bijon Bhattacharya’s classic play Nabanna (1944), dealing with the Bengal famine of 1943.
Set up production company Naya Sansar (1951), providing India’s most consistent representation of socialist-realist film (cf. Thoppil Bhasi and Utpal Dutt). Best work is in the scripts for his own films and for those of Raj Kapoor (Awara 1951); Shri 420 (1955), 1955, both co-written with V.P. Sathe; Jagte Raho, 1956; Bobby, 1973) and Shantaram’s Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani (1946; adapted from his own book, And One Did Not Come Back), which combined aspects of Soviet cinema (Pudovkin) and of Hollywood (e.g. Capra and Upton Sinclair), influencing a new generation of Hindi cineastes (Kapoor, Chetan Anand) and sparking new realist performance idioms (BALRAJ SAHNI). His Munna, without songs or dances, and Shaher Aur Sapna, cheaply made on location in slums, were described as being influenced by neo-realism. Pardesi is the first Indian-Soviet co-production, co- directed by Vassili M. Pronin. The landmark Supreme Court censorship judgement about his Char Shaher Ek Kahani (aka A Tale of Four Cities) curtailed ‘arbitrary’ governmental pre- censorship powers on the grounds that the Indian Constitution guarantees the right to free speech. His constitutional challenge of the Cinematograph Act led to the famous Supreme Court decision upholding the validity of precensorship of cinema.
Published many books including I Am Not An Island and Mad Mad World of Indian Films (both 1977). Other important scripts: Neecha Nagar (1946); Mera Naam Joker (1970); Zindagi Zindagi (1972); Henna (1991). Abbas also brought a number of new talents into the film industry, such as Amitabh Bachchan in Saat Hindustani . K.A.Abbas died on 1-6-1987 at Bombay. ( adapted, with thanks, from The Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema).
With today’s song, film Aaj aur Kal-47, makes its Debut on the Blog. All the 6 songs of this film are very sweet. Today’s song is also very melodious. It is sung by Zeenat Begum. This enchanting tune was again heard, 10 years later , in Rafi’s song “Mubaarak ho dulha dulhan ko ye shaadi“, from film Paak Daaman(1957), composed by Ghulam Mohd.
Song-Pade ishq mein jaan ke hum ko laale (Aaj Aur Kal)(1947) Singer- Zeenat Begum, Lyricist- Not known, MD- Khursheed Anwar
Lyrics
pade ishq mein jaan ke hum ko laale
khuda imtihaan mein kisi ko na daale
pade ishq mein jaan ke humko laale
khuda imtihaan mein kisi ko na daale
ye rukte hain roke na talte hain taale
ye rukte hain roke na talte hain taale
koi kis tarah aansuon ko sambhaale
khuda imtihaan mein kisi ko na daale
pade ishq mein jaan ke hum ko laale
khuda imtihaan mein kisi ko na daale
wahi bebasi hai wahi namuraadi
wahi bebasi hai wahi namuraadi
na kaam aayi aahen na kaam aaye naale
khuda imtihaan mein kisi ko na daale
pade ishq mein jaan ke hum ko laale
khuda imtihaan mein kisi ee ee ko na daale
Aawaara Hoon. . .
Posted on: August 27, 2019
- In: Background song | Devnagri script lyrics by Sudhir | Feelings of heart | Guest posts | Lyrics contributed by readers | Mukesh solo | Mukesh songs | One song used in more than one movie | One song used in two movies | philosophical song | Poignant Song | Post by Sudhir | Same song used in two or more movies | Song Filmed at an Aiorport | Song not figuring in HFGK | Song not mentioned in Hindi Film Geet Kosh | Song used in more than one film | Songs of 1960s (1961 to 1970) | Songs of 1970 | Yearwise breakup of songs
- 8 Comments
This article is written by Sudhir, 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.
| Blog Day : | 4057 | Post No. : | 15190 |
Songs Repeated in Hindi Films – 10
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Blog 10-Year Challenge (2009-19) – Song No. 43
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As Gajendra ji had commented, couple of episodes ago – I am quite sure the readers are now beyond getting surprised by the songs posted in this series. Yes, some very interesting repeats, but oh well. . .
The interesting thing about today’s post is, well, two things. It is the singer’s Remembrance Day today, as well as, we also are showcasing the song as part of the 10 year challenge series.
10 years ago, this day, six songs were posted. Those were the days, when Atul ji was at his prolific best, and six new songs on the blog was quite the norm. And he followed an interesting convention. The songs he posted on one day, used to be in the incremental chronological order, as you can notice in the short table below.
| Chup Hojaa Ameeron Ke Ye Sone Ki Ghadi Hai | Bandi | 1957 | 1814 |
| O Pawan Veg Se Udne Waale Ghode | Jai Chittod | 1961 | 1815 |
| More Ang Lag Jaa Baalmaa | Mera Naam Joker | 1970 | 1816 |
| Gore Gore Gaalon Waale…Kahte Hain Mujhko Haseenon Ka Devtaa | Haseenon Ka Devta | 1971 | 1817 |
| Mile Mile Do Badan Khile Khile Do Chaman | Blackmail | 1973 | 1818 |
| Pahraa Hai Yahaan Pahraa | Badnaam | 1975 | 1819 |
There were two debut films that day – ‘Jai Chittod’ and ‘Haseenon Ka Devta’. And quite interestingly, both the films are at present miles away from being yippeee’d. Since that day, only one song has been added for ‘Jai Chittod’ (12 songs listed in Geet Kosh), and none for ‘Haseenon Ka Devta’ (6 songs listed in Geet Kosh). The remaining 4 films, ‘Bandi’ (1957), ‘Blackmail’ (1973), ‘Badnaam’ (1975) and ‘Mera Naam Joker’, the magnum opus by Raj Kapoor, have completed their account on the blog.
And yet, today, “Mera Naam Joker’ makes another appearance here, on account of an unlisted song. In that, it is a repeat song from RK’s own film from 1951 – ‘Awaara’. Being his own film, of course it would have been a simple thing to reuse the earlier song.
In the iconic song “Ae Bhai Zara Dekh Ke Chalo”, the poet Neeraj declares,
haan babu ye circus hai
aur ye circus hai show teen ghante ka
pehla ghanta bachpan hai
doosra jawaani hai
teesra buddhaapa hai
The entire film was presented as three chapters, with two intermissions. And quite literally, RK has presented three phases of life in these three segments – childhood, youth, and old age. And in each of these phases, there is a different lady with whom the Joker’s heart gets entangled. And every time, his emotions and timid overtures are eventually disregarded – in face of certain compulsions of life that each one of those lady characters struggle with, in their own lives. In the first phase, there is a mismatch of age. In the second, there is a mismatch of location / language / societal background. And in the third, there is a mismatch of aspirations in life versus the values of life.
The reprisal of this song occurs close to the end of the second segment. The Joker has lost his heart to a circus artist visiting from Russia. And as their visit and stay comes to a close, the lady has to leave, and go back to her own country with her group. The circus manager (role played by Dharmendra), in an earlier conversation, has already cautioned him against getting too friendly with the visitors. That caution has now become a prophesy realized. Marina (role played by Russian actress Kseniya Ryabinkina) has to leave. The Joker is at the airport, with Sher Singh (role played by Dara Singh), his partner in crime, or let’s say, his ustaad in the art of romance. The Joker has come to bid farewell to the departing Russian troupe, and his lady love, who cannot stay. There is a brief exchange between the two lovers, and the lady leaves, planting a kiss on the Joker’s lips, and waving a good bye. Sher Singh asks the Joker as to what the lady has said in her native language. The Joker replies forlornly, that her words reminded him of an old song.
And then this song from two decades earlier is played once again, as a background piece. Marina walks to the plane, and the plane departs. And the verses penned by Shailendra are re-told yet once again in the life of the Joker –
duniya mein tere teer ka
ya taqdeer ka maara hoon. . .
This verse segment is the one that I never seem to have been able to get over all my life. “That, in this life of mine, I have been vanquished either by my own destiny, or the glance arrows coming from your eyes – I do not know which one.” Such a powerful assertion in just ten words, ensconcing within itself a myriad philosophies of life, in a moment narrating and laying bare everything that can and could have gone wrong in an overwhelmed life. The emotions these ten words evoke inside, lie crumpled, tightly wound like a giant ball of thread, with no end visible – not enough words to unravel it and express it.
This song is probably one of the most recognizable songs ever in the ocean of Hindi film music – not only here in India, but also in many parts of this world, where RK’s films are loved as part of their own cultures. The first few bars of the prelude music start to play, and practically every one can recognize which song is coming up. And so, I remember, the first time I saw ‘Mera Naam Joker’, and this scene played out on the screen, and the Joker tells about being reminded of an old favorite song, and the prelude music begins to play – it was quite a shock of recognition that overpowered the heart. Yes, RK presenting this song at this juncture, makes all the sense, rounds up everything that he has been wanting to say through this film – ‘Mera Naam Joker’ – a wayward truant clown I am in this life.
An interesting throwback on this song – it was also repeated within the original film itself. Regular folks would remember, the closing scene – Nargis and Prithviraj Kapoor are visiting RK in the prison, after he has been incarcerated post his trial. It is a brief meeting – about two minutes or so. And as Nargis is asked to take leave, there is this standard dialogue that RK utters – “. . . meri soorat hi aisi hai”. Overcome by the understated innocence and simplicity, plus the unpretentious hangdog look on his face, Nargis once again rushes back into his arms, and exactly the same stanza starts to play in the background.
A few interesting observations about these two reprisals. Take the music and rendition. The song that plays in ‘Mera Naam Joker’ is very nearly the original, but as one listens carefully, one can make out small pieces of extra orchestral music that S-J have weaved in, merging it with the overall background score of the scene. And in the original film ‘Awaara’, the rendition has a small variation at the end. The words of the last line that Mukesh has sung include a very delicate and lovable “हाय” ~ “haaye” –
haaye. . .
awaara hoon..oon..oon. . .
This addition has made this line oh so much more endearing and adorable. Listening to this last one snippet made my day – more than all the pleasure and emotions that are flowing with the original complete version of the song. So surely, this segment, or at least this last line has been re-recorded, even then back in 1951, and presented separately as the end piece.
Next, in both these reprisals, there is a close, very close proximity of the lady love. In ‘Awaara’, the kiss almost happens – just short of the waving scissors of the censor board. And in ‘Mera Naam Joker’, the kiss does happen, with Marina forcefully planting it on the lips of the Joker. Oh well, I don’t know – should we expect a kiss, whenever this part of the song is played ?? Ha, ha, I am sure you will tell me – it happens only in the reel world. 🙂 🙂
Another cute co-incidence I discovered in the last scene of ‘Awaara’. RK and Nargis are in each others arms, and a loud voice calls out in the background, probably the prison warden or constable – “ओ क़ैदी नंबर 308, चलो” (“O prisoner no. 308, come on move.”). I made a little connect in my mind – I don’t know whether that was the intention of the director and dialogue writer. The number 308 – it rang a bell. 308 –> 30-8 –> 30th August –> Shailendra’s birthday. 🙂 🙂
Back to ‘Mera Naam Joker’, I might as well document it here, for possibly no more posts of this film could be forthcoming in the future. The three ladies who appear in each of the three chapters of this film, just examine the screen names – Mary, Marina, Meena. Sound quite connected, flowing right into each other. You combine Mary and Meena – becomes Marina. Just some musings of the wandering mind. Just like the three magazines that RK, Rajendra Kumar and Padmini are seen browsing through on the flight – Time (Padmini), Fortune (Rajendra Kumar) and Life (RK). 🙂 🙂
And then, back to Mukesh, after all so much wandering of the silly mind over the terrain of anecdotes and co-incidences. Even till late afternoon today, I hadn’t the faintest idea whether I would be writing post for the remembrance day today. Mahesh ji’s post, so wholesome and so satisfying, after posting that in early morning, I was not picking up new ideas to write another post on Mukesh. Later, in the afternoon, I was just browsing through the list of songs etc., and don’t know why, but I decided to check out the 10-year-challenge thing for today. Pulled out the list of songs for 27-08-2009. The title ‘Mera Naam Joker’ jumped out at me immediately, and before I could say bambi, my mind had made a few jumps around, connected other material, and brought out this well baked idea of doing a combined 10-year-challenge and repeat-songs post. Yes, I had this repeat song on my list, and had not yet planned when to post it. The mind made that decision for me today, and quite swiftly so, without taking me along on the steps of decision making.
I am glad I checked this out, and got to make this connection and getting this post out today. In the earlier post today, Mahesh ji has mentioned a figure of ~80% songs of Mukesh being hit songs. I cannot think of any other singer, at this level of prolific output, who can be associated with this high a percentage of successful and popular songs from his or her body of work. And then the second connect came when Arun ji deposited on the Whatsapp group, a reminder of the Mukesh anniversary program on Doordarshan seven years ago. I recalled that this was also the very first question that the person interviewing me and Shikha ji, put to me in this program. That question was – “Mukesh ji has about 800 songs to his credit? Why does it always seem that has sung much more?”
And my answer was exactly on these lines – in any singer’s body of work, there is a certain percentage of songs which are memorable, which became popular, and which are quite well retained in the memory. However, with all other singers, this ratio of popular and memorable songs to their total repertoire, is comparatively lower. By extrapolating this expectation, the mind always thinks that in case of Mukesh, his body of work ought to be much larger, if the number of his popular and memorable songs is so much. This is a very interesting point. After that TV program, I had this very discussion with a number of friends, and mostly we agreed to this conclusion.
No doubt the music director and the poet – they have a very significant contribution towards the creation of a song. But it is the voice of Mukesh, that makes something different out of any song. That is what has made so large a percentage of his songs popular and memorable. A soulful voice – that was my assertion on that TV program also, that – “मुकेश जी की आवाज़ में एक अनोखी आत्मीयता है, जो किसी और गायक में नहीं मिलती”. There is this so unique a characteristic of his rendition – an effortless exposition of the emotions, expressed in a most relaxing mode.
I feel I could go on and on. But then, not now. Another song, another post – there seems to be so much more one wants to say about this soulful, mellifluous voice – almost divine.
Song Repeat – Mera Naam Joker (1970)
Song Reprised at End – Awaara (1951)
Song – Aawaara Hoon. . . (Mera Naam Joker) (1970) Singers – Mukesh, Lyrics – Shailendra, MD – Shanker Jaikishan
Lyrics
aabaad nahin barbaad sahi
gaataa hoon khushi ke geet magar
gaataa hoon khushi ke geet magar
zakhmon se bharaa seena hai mera
hansti hai magar ye mast nazar
duniyaa aaa..aaa aaa..aaa
duniyaa mein tere teer kaa
ya taqdeer kaa maara hoon
aawaara hoon
aawaara hoon
ya gardish mein hoon aasmaan ka taara hoon
aawaara hoon
aawaara hoon
aawaara hoon
———————————————————
Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
———————————————————
आबाद नहीं बर्बाद सही
गाता हूँ खुशी के गीत मगर
गाता हूँ खुशी के गीत मगर
ज़ख़्मों से भरा सीना है मेरा
हंसती है मगर ये मस्त नज़र
दुनिया आ॰॰आ॰॰आ॰॰ आ॰॰आ॰॰आ॰॰
दुनिया में तेरे तीर का
या तक़दीर का मारा हूँ
आवारा हूँ
आवारा हूँ
या गर्दिश में हूँ आसमान का तारा हूँ
आवारा हूँ
आवारा हूँ
आवारा हूँ
Ae Dil Tu Kahin Le Chal
Posted on: August 27, 2019
- In: Aspirations of Love | Boat song | Devnagri script lyrics by Sudhir | Duet | expression of love | Feelings of heart | Guest posts | Lyrics contributed by readers | Mukesh and his co singers | Mukesh songs | Post by Mahesh Mamadapur | Rare song | Series of articles | Shamshad Begam songs | Shamshad Begam-Mukesh duet | Songs of 1950s (1951 to 1960) | Songs of 1953 | Yearwise breakup of songs
- 15 Comments
This article is written by Mahesh Mamadapur, 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.
| Blog Day : | 4057 | Post No. : | 15189 |
Mukesh and his co-singers – 5
————————————————
We remember Mukesh on his remembrance day today (22 July 1923 – 27 August 1976).
Needless to say, the post had to be special. But, when a singer has almost 80% of songs considered as hits and most of these songs already represented on the blog, what can be more special. Well, a few hitherto songs of Mukesh continue to be discovered with a great deal of exhilaration to his fans and old hfm lovers in general. I assume that the present song will make this post special.
It is well known that Mukesh has nil to very few duets with singers like Noorjahan, Amirbai Karnataki, Jagit Kaur, Khursheed, Parul Ghosh etc. With singers like Hamida Banu, Suraiya, Rajkumari, Surinder Kaur, Sitara Kanpuri etc, the numbers are again quite few. He does have sizable numbers with Lata, Asha, Suman Kalayanpur, Geeta Dutt etc.
A very interesting companion in singing in this discussion will be off course the versatile Shamshad Begum. I had almost taken it for granted that all songs of hers with Mukesh have been covered on the blog. But then one thing led to another and resulted in this post of which I am extremely happy. Not one but two duets have been discovered in the last few weeks. Before I proceed with revealing the songs, it is pertinent to mention the traceability aspects of these duets.
We go back to Sadanand ji posting the Mukesh number for MGR in the comments section. I decided to take up Dhaniram’s collaboration with Mukesh and as usual sent the query to Shri Harish Raghuvanshi ji (of Surat) enquiring if it was the sole song under the composer.
Harish ji did confirm the singularity of the case, but added a priceless info that there is a duet in Shole (1953) in which Mukesh has a duet with Shamshad Begum. He further stated that very few music lovers are aware of this duet. The context being Dhaniram being the other composer apart from Naresh Bhattacharya to have scored music for the film. When I searched for this duet on the internet, I came across a Hemant Kumar solo and his duet with Shamshad Begum. Not losing hope, I was lucky enough to find the full movie on youtube. I first decided to go through the credit titles if I could trace Mukesh.
The film titles are shown on a railway track with very poor background and the moving train literally pushing the titles out of the screen. With great difficulty, I saw all the titles and there appears no mention of any of the playback singers in the film. Here, I would seek more knowledgeable reader’s kind explanation as to why many of the old films never bothered to credit playback singers in the titles. I suppose this trend continued even in the sixties for quite a few films.
The print of the film is extremely poor in both voice and picturization. The saving grace being something is available to run through. In spite the bad print and poor audio what stands out is the impeccable grace and beauty of Bina Rai and the ever energetic and melodious voice of Shamshad Begum. Coming back to the bad print of the film Shole (1953), I decided to run the film arbitrarily at short intervals. Then for one of the duets with a rather long prelude, I could hear sound bites very familiar to me. Yes, it is undoubtedly Mukesh.
I was so excited that I noted the time at which this duet starts and closed the film. I went to the other room in my house where my wife was busy with our daughter in her studies. They had a cursory look at my face and instantly both asked what I was so delighted about. I told them about the discovery and they again became engrossed with the studies knowing very well that this guy has no better work to do. My daughter likes a few songs of Raj Kapoor sung by Mukesh and wife likes a few of his duets and solos, but they are never into these statistics and other aspects of old hfm songs as I am. Anyways, I was back to the same link and juncture and again savored what I was listening for the very first time; an unheard duet of Mukesh. Only the first couple of lines of the mukhda are sung by Mukesh and then Shamshad Begum takes over for the rest of the duet. Its an extremely melodious duet to listen.
Now coming to another strange feature, I found four different versions of this song. The below table is self-explanatory and I have provided links for each of the versions.
| Version | Singers | YouTube link |
| Film Soundtrack | Mukesh, Shamshad Begum | https://youtu.be/G8gkPL4qc8o |
| Hemant Kumar | https://youtu.be/mmoh60LfIsc | |
| 78 rpm record | Hemant Kumar | https://youtu.be/OuvVFrcTYuU |
| Hemant Kumar, Shamshad Begum | https://youtu.be/zlzgIDgky7g | |
| Full movie SHOLE (1953) | https://youtu.be/W6ubiNUgZuQ | |
Now, if the film had Mukesh and the 78 rpm version songs had Hemant Kumar, it would have been quite understandable. But, Hemant Kumar having sung the film version of the solo makes the case quite intriguing. Did Mukesh walk out of the film after singing the duet? We may never know. What we do know is that during this period he was working in various departments such as acting, composing, producing etc. and these experiments costing him dearly in terms of getting offers to give playback arguably for the rest of his singing career.
Also, during late forties and early fifties, the void created by the passing away of KL Saigal in early 1947 was yet to be filled. Good friends Mukesh and Talat Mahmood were vying to fill the gap and they both failed. One can now say with much conviction that the void created by KL Saigal will remain till the end of days.
Coming back to the versions, both the film soundtracks have poor audio and the 78 rpm ones have better audio quality. For some reason, I personally feel the duet of the film soundtrack is the best amongst the four if a better copy is available to listen. The momentary pause that Shamshad Begum has in the film soundtrack is more appealing than in the version song. Now one may ask, pause is a pause and how it can be differentiated. Well, crazy music lovers have additional senses to assimilate such nuances in music. Long live such craziness. 🙂
Now we come to the important discussion on the combo of Shamshad Begum and Mukesh. Forget writing in detail about their association, the very mention of the two names together excites me to no end. Mukesh and Shamshad Begum, two different styles, but when it came to duets the styles glued to form some glorious duets in the annals of HFM. At many places on the net it is mentioned that the singers have altogether 22-24 duets. I am happy to list 29 and here is the carcanet of the jewels.
A cursory glace at the table reveals that they have actively sung most of their 29 duets during a period of only for 4 years of their career. This aspect has much to be pondered about.
| S. No | Name of song | Movie (year) | Music Director | Lyricist |
| 1 | kya jaadu hai tere paas piyaa | Chehra (1946) | M A Mukhtar | I C Kapoor |
| 2 | O dil ko hasaane wale | Shatranj (1946) | Madhav Lal and Baldev Nayak | G S Madhup |
| 3 | lut gayi laajo beech | Chheen Le Aazaadi (1947) | Hansraj Behl | Pt Indra Chandra |
| 4 | Moti chugne gayi re hansi | Chheen Le Aazaadi (1947) | Hansraj Behl | Pt Indra Chandra |
| 5 | aagre se odhni manga de | Laakhon Mein Ek (1947) | Hansraj Behl | Pt Indra Chandra |
| 6 | raat ko ji haay raat ko ji | Aag (1948) | Ram Ganguly | Majrooh Sultanpuri |
| 7 | kaise bataaun unse | Anjuman (1948) | Bulo C Rani | Majrooh Sultanpuri |
| 8 | kabhi dil dil se takraataa | Anokhi Ada (1948) | Naushad | Shakeel Badayuni |
| 9 | Bhool gaye kyun deke | Anokhi Ada (1948) | Naushad | Shakeel Badayuni |
| 10 | Tere naaz uthhane ko jee | Grihasthhi (1948) | Ghulam Mohammad | Shakeel Badayuni |
| 11 | aayi saawan ritu aayi | Mela (1948) | Naushad | Shakeel Badayuni |
| 12 | dharti ko aakaash pukaare | Mela (1948) | Naushad | Shakeel Badayuni |
| 13 | main bhanwara tu hai phool | Mela (1948) | Naushad | Shakeel Badayuni |
| 14 | mera dil todne waale | Mela (1948) | Naushad | Shakeel Badayuni |
| 15 | O janewale humko bhool na | O Jaanewaale (1948) | Ali Hussain Moradabadi | |
| 16 | sajanwaa prem kahaani | O Jaanewaale (1948) | Ali Hussain Moradabadi | |
| 17 | ho badi zulmi tamanna hai | Dada (1949) | Naashad | Majrooh Sultanpuri |
| 18 | pyaar mein tumne dhokhaa | Shabnam (1949) | S D Burman | Qamar Jalalabadi |
| 19 | tu mahal mein rehni waali | Shabnam (1949) | S D Burman | Qamar Jalalabadi |
| 20 | tumhaare liye huye badnaam | Shabnam (1949) | S D Burman | Qamar Jalalabadi |
| 21 | maine dekhi jag ki reet (Happy and Sad versions) | Sunhere Din (1949) | Gyan Dutt | D N Madhok |
| 22 | hamse nain milaana BA paas | Aankhen (1950) | Madan Mohan | Raja Mehdi Ali Khan |
| 23 | Jaao sidhaaro hey raadha | Aarzoo (1950) | Anil Biswas | Majrooh Sultanpuri |
| 24 | ho kaale kaale baadal | Apni Chhaaya (1950) | Hanuman Prasad | P L Santoshi |
| 25 | kehne waale kehte hain | Bijli (1950) | Khemchand Prakash | Bharat Vyas |
| 26 | hato hato ji aati hain ham | Dilruba (1950) | Gyan Dutt | S H Bihari |
| 27 | mohabbat karne waalon se | Hanste Aansoo (1950) | Ghulam Mohammad | Shewan Rizvi |
| 28 | duniya ne chede kahaniyaan | Ek Thha Raja (1951) | C R Subbaraman | Pt Sudarshan |
| 29 | Aye dil tu kahin le chal (multiple versions)
|
Shole (1953)
|
Naresh Bhattacharya
|
Kamil Rashid |
Before I proceed to write on the above duets please note that song no 23 has SD Batish, 26 has Geeta Roy, Pramodini Desai and 27 has Rafi saab singing along with Mukesh and Shamshad Begum in the respective songs.
It would not be an exaggeration to state that Mukesh and Shamshad were pioneers in playback singing. I know it is more often used for Shamshad’s career, but let us not forget that Mukesh too started giving playback as early as 1944 with ‘Uss Paar’. Why ‘Uss Paar’ and not ‘Moorti’ or ‘Pheli Nazar’? Well, that could take another detailed post. 🙂
In the above list song number 1, 3, 4 and 5 are regular features on Radio Ceylon and are played to this day. 6 was of course the directorial debut of Raj Kapoor, with Ram Ganguly’s haunting scores – the songs of the film remain popular to this day. The next film of RK, as we are well aware, had a change in composers. Shamshad Begum had a cabaret solo in ‘Awara’ and a couple of not so popular songs for SJ thereafter.
10 by one of my favourite composers Ghulam Mohammed is a rare treat to hear. I only wish Mukesh has sung more songs for him.
8, 9 and 11 to 14 need no description and arguably are the best-known duets of the combo; the magician of these two films being none other than the great Naushad.
‘Shabnam’ under SD Burman had 3 duets of the combo with Mukesh giving playback for thespian Dilip Kumar. Needless to say, the songs of this film were a huge rage during those days.
21 under Gyan Dutt is an absolute masterpiece. The debut movie of Madan Mohan had the combo singing a comical duet at 22.
The other songs may not be very well known, but as I have said earlier it is the combination of the singers that make the duets lively and a pleasure to listen.
Quite a few of these duets have been covered by our Sudhir ji in his series on Mukesh wherein he covered the rare and difficult to trace songs at the beginning of Mukesh’s career. Again, as I have written earlier, in spite of the best efforts of Sudhir ji having covered all the songs of Mukesh till 1950, welcome discoveries continue to be uncovered and 2 is such an example. Sudhir ji has shared the audio with me and it will be posted on the blog in the very near future. 🙂
29 and probably the last duet of the combo is covered in this post and I have already written about the many facets of this song. In fact Sudhir ji has sent queries and sought clarifications from his collector friends to understand the existence of the multiple versions of this song in the film.
‘Shole’ (1953) was directed by BR Chopra for Hira Films. The movie had Ashok Kumar, Bina Rai, Purnima, Jeevan, Mohana, Manmohan Krishna, Mirza Musharaf, Romi, Naaz, Uma Dutt etc in it. The movie had two music directors viz Dhaniram and Naresh Bhattacharya. The present song is composed by the latter. The lyrics of this multiple version song are credited to Kamil Rashid.
The lyrics of the Hemant Kumar solo version are slightly different in the 78 rpm vs the soundtrack versions, but giving due credit to Hamant Da, I herewith, for obvious reasons, present the lyrics of only the film soundtrack version of Mukesh and Shamshad Begum
I thank Harish ji for all the help rendered in making this elusive duet of Mukesh appear on the blog. I also thank Sudhir ji and Atul ji for giving me yet another opportunity to present this post.
Lastly, on his remembrance day, I pay humble tributes to Mukesh whose mellifluous voice continues to regale listeners the world over.
Song – Ae Dil Tu Kahin Le Chal (Shole) (1953) Singer – Mukesh, Shamshad Begum, Lyrics – Kaamil Rashid, MD – Naresh Bhattacharya
Lyrics
ae dil
ae dil
tu kahin
le chal
le chal
ae dil tu kahin le chal
le chal
le chal
ae dil tu kahin le chal
le chal
le chal
aa aa aa aa
ye door ki manzil se mujhe
kis ne pukara hai
bhatke hue raahi ko
yeh kis ka ishaara hai
aashaon ke sagar ka
shayaad wo kinara hai
aashaon ke sagar ka
shayaad wo kinara hae
ae dil wahin le chal
wahin le chal
wahin le chal
ae dil tu kahin le chal
tu kahin le chal
kahin le chal
kahin le chal
jahaan ishq ke hothon par
fariyaad na ho koi
majboor na ho koi
naashad na ho koi
taqdeer ki thokar se
barbaad na ho koi
barbaad na ho koi
ae dil wahin le chal
wahin le chal
wahin le chal
ae dil tu kahin le chal
tu kahin le chal
kahin le chal
kahin le chal
do dil jo judaa kar de
wo raat na aati ho
hothon pe shikaayat ki
koi baat na aati ho
jahaan gham ki ghata le kar
barsaat na aati ho
barsaat na aati ho
ae dil wahin le chal
wahin le chal
wahin le chal
ae dil tu kahin le chal
tu kahin le chal
kahin le chal
kahin le chal
le chal
le chal
le chal
le chal
le chal
———————————————————
Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
———————————————————
ए दिल
ए दिल
तू कहीं
ले चल
ले चल
ए दिल तू कहीं ले चल
ले चल
ले चल
ए दिल तू कहीं ले चल
ले चल
ले चल
आ आ आ आ
ये दूर की मंज़िल से मुझे
किसने पुकारा है’
भटके हुये राही को
ये किसका इशारा है
आशाओं के सागर का
शायद वो किनारा है
आशाओं के सागर का
शायद वो किनारा है
ए दिल वहीं ले चल
वहीं ले चल
वहीं ले चल
ए दिल तू कहीं ले चल
तू कहीं ले चल
कहीं ले चल
कहीं ले चल
जहां इश्क़ के होठों पर
फरियाद ना हो कोई
मजबूर ना हो कोई
नाशाद ना हो कोई
तक़दीर की ठोकर से
बर्बाद ना हो कोई
बर्बाद ना हो कोई
ए दिल वहीं ले चल
वहीं ले चल
वहीं ले चल
ए दिल तू कहीं ले चल
तू कहीं ले चल
कहीं ले चल
कहीं ले चल
दो दिल को जुदा कर दे
वो रात ना आती हो
होठों पे शिकायत की
कोई बात ना आती हो
जहां ग़म की घटा ले कर
बरसात ना आती हो
बरसात ना आती हो
ए दिल वहीं ले चल
वहीं ले चल
वहीं ले चल
ए दिल तू कहीं ले चल
तू कहीं ले चल
कहीं ले चल
कहीं ले चल
ले चल
ले चल
ले चल
ले चल
ले चल
Neeli aasmaani chhatri
Posted on: August 26, 2019
This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, 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 other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
| Blog Day : | 4056 | Post No. : | 15188 |
I am an ardent admirer of Ruskin Bond’s short stories. I do not remember as to when I started bonding with Ruskin Bond’s books. It could be sometime early 1990s when I read his first book titled ‘Beautiful Garhwal – Heaven in Himalayas’ (1988). Surprisingly, this book is not listed under the list of his published books. It is a ‘coffee-table book’ with 15 of his articles on the Garhwal Himalayas – from the village life, rivers, valleys, pilgrimage to trees and flowers, etc. It is an excellent and lavishly printed book in art paper with a lot of illustrations and beautiful pictures. This book was printed for Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVL) as a part of promotion of tourism in the Garhwal Himalayas.
Since then, I had ready many of his short stories which are in my collections of books like ‘Rain in the Mountains – Notes from the Himalaya’ (1993), ‘The Lamp is Lit’ (1998), The Room on the Roof’, ‘The Night Train to Deoli & Other Stories’ etc. Very recently, I have read his latest book ‘The Beauty of All My Days’ – A Memoir ( 2018). A few of his books of short story collections which I have read, seems to have been missing from my collections. Probably, I may have given to some ones to read but they did not return.
Ruskin Bond has spent much of his life at the foothills of the Garhwal Himalayas. His last 5 decades have been spent in Landour, a cantonment area of Mussoorie. He has widely travelled in Garhwal Himalayas. Hence, much of his writings is the reflections of the hills and the village life of the Garhwal Himalayas and his nostalgic experiences. His lucid writing style takes the readers to the virtual trip to the Himalayas.
I have been very much influenced by the writings of Ruskin Bond and his nostalgia of the Garhwal Himalayas. Of all the Himalaya treks I have undertaken during the last 35 years, I have done the maximum number of treks in the Garhwal Himalaya. His description of the village life prompted me to prefer home stays in village houses for the overnight stays rather than in the tents whenever I trekked in the Himalayas. I could, therefore, get the first hand experiences of Ruskin Bond’s descriptions of the Garhwal villages and the psyche of the simple villagers.
Recently, I have written an article in the Blog on Gulzar saab on the occasion of his 85th Birthday. When I was going through the profile of Ruskin Bond, I found it interesting to note that there were many similarities in the events in the lives of Ruskin Bond and Gulzar saab. Both were born in 1934, with Gulzar saab being younger by exactly 3 months. Both had a lonely childhood. Gulzar saab lost his mother when he was a child. Ruskin Bond had grown up without the support of his mother as his parents had divorced when he was a child. His mother got remarried and he lived with his father. Circumstances deprived both of them of their fathers’ company when it was most needed. Gulzar saab was sent to Mumbai to stay with his elder step brother, while Ruskin Bond missed his father most of the time because he was in the Royal Air Force and later died from Malaria at an early age.
Both Ruskin Bond and Gulzar Saab developed their writing skills and got their poems/short story published when they were teens. Both got associated with Hindi films albeit with a gap – Gulzar saab in ‘Bandini’ (1963) as a lyricist and Ruskin Bond as a story writer in ‘Junoon’ (1978) based on his novel, ‘A Flight of Pigeons’ (1970s). Both wrote and published a good number of books of children’s literature. Ruskin Bond and Gulzar saab were conferred with Sahitya Akademy Awards in 1992 and 2002 respectively and with Padma Bhushan in 2014 and 2004 respectively.
While the lives of Ruskin Bond and Gulzar saab was moving parallelly, they got merged for the first time when Vishal Bhardwaj decided to make a children’s film in Hindi, ‘The Blue Umbrella’ (Neeli Chhatri, 2005) based on the novella of the same title written by Ruskin Bond. He also wrote screen-play for the film jointly with Vishal Bhardwaj. Gulzar saab got associated with this film as a lyricist.
After a gap of about 5 years, Ruskin Bond and Gulzar saab worked together in Vishal Bhardwaj’s film ‘7 Khoon Maaf’ (2011) which was based on his novel ‘Sussanna’s Seven Husbands’. Ruskin Bond wrote screen-play along with Vishal Bhardwaj and also played a cameo role of a priest in the film. Gulzar saab wrote the lyrics. Collaboration between them for the third film is in the offing. Incidentally, Vishal Bhardwaj has become a neighbour of Ruskin Bond in Landour as revealed by the latter.
As I mentioned earlier, ‘The Blue Umbrella’ (2005) was a children’s film based on Ruskin Bond’s novella by the same name. The film was directed by Vishal Bhardwaj. Except for Pankaj Kapoor and Deepak Dobriyal, rest of the actors in the film are unfamiliar to me. The lead actors in the film is Pankaj Kapoor and 10-year girl, Shreya Sharma. The film was critically acclaimed and it got the National Film Award for the best children’s film in 2008. But the film was a box office disaster.
The film is not available for viewing in any video uploading platforms like YT. I saw the movie on Netflix. There are some minor differences in the story outlined in the film from the story in the book. The story in the book is based in some remote village in Garhwal whereas in the film, the story is based on a remote village in Himachal Pradesh. The end in the film also differ from the book which I will discuss later. The story in the film is as under:
In a remote Himalayan village, 10-year old girl, Biniya (Shreya Sharma) stays with her widowed mother and elder brother. The family has a small terraced field and a couple of cows sufficient to take care of their sustenance.
One day when Biniya goes to graze the cows, she comes across a group of Japanese tourists. Biniya’s eyes fall on a beautiful blue umbrella which is lying open on the meadow. She likes the umbrella and wants to have it but she has no means to get it. The lady tourist sees a necklace with a pedant of bear’s claws in Biniya’s neck and she likes it. Despite the bear’s claws being regarded as a lucky charm, Biniya exchanges for the blue umbrella. From now onward, Biniya and her blue umbrella are inseparable.
Most of the people in her village are envious of her blue umbrella as no one in the village possessed such a beautiful umbrella. The village teacher’s wife pesters her husband to get a similar umbrella for her. But the children in the village are full of praise for Biniya’s blue umbrella.
In the village, Nandkishore (Pankaj Kapoor), the owner of the village’s only tea shop, also becomes envious of Biniya’s blue umbrella as she has become the centre of attention in the village. Even tourists coming in buses for going towards a hill station nearby take a tea break for photographing her with blue umbrella.
Nandkishore tries all tricks of attractive offers to make her sell to him the blue umbrella but she refuses to sell. The blue umbrella causes restlessness in the mind of Nandkishore. He must have that blue umbrella. He tries to get one from the nearby town but it is not available. A similar type of umbrella which may be available in Delhi would cost him a lot. He feels that his attraction to the blue umbrella may have to do with his last birth.
One day, Biniya while grazing the cows on a meadow, finds her umbrella missing. She suspects Nandkishore to be the one who stole her blue umbrella. Police searches the Nadkishore’s shop but does not find the umbrella. Humiliated by the police investigation, Nandkishore buys a colourful red umbrella which, he says, he got from Delhi. He now becomes the centre of attraction in the village.
Biniya’s own investigation on her missing blue umbrella continues which takes her to a nearby town where one umbrella was recently dyed. In the meanwhile, with his status in the village gone up due to owning a red umbrella, Nandkishore is invited as a chief guest for a wrestling competition in the village. During the competition, it starts raining and his red umbrella turns blue as red colour on the umbrella get washed out. It becomes clear that Nandkishore had stolen Biniya’s blue umbrella and got it dyed with red colour. The village panchayat held him guilty and pass a judgement that that the entire village should boycott Nandkishore and his shop.
With the boycott, Nandkishore business is almost stopped. He is not even invited for the marriage of the village chief’s son. Barber’s shop refuses him as a customer. Biniya watches all the happenings to Nandkishore. She feels sorry for him. One day, she visits his shop after a long gap to buy biscuits and forgets her umbrella in his shop. When Nandkishore notices this, he runs after her with the umbrella in snowy conditions and returns to her the umbrella. Biniya refuses to accept the umbrella by telling him that it is not her umbrella and walks away. The village boycott of Nandkishore is lifted and his business in the shop returns to normal.
I found the ending in Ruskin Bond’s book more touching than in the film. In the book, after few days of boycott of Nandkishore’s shop, Biniya feels that she is the cause for all the problems Nandkishore has been facing due to boycott. After many days of boycott, she visits his shop to buy toffees. Nandkishore thinks that Biniya has come to his shop to make fun of his situation or she has come with a counterfeit coin to buy toffees. But none of his presumptions comes out true. She buys the toffee but forget her blue umbrella in the shop. Nandkishore runs after her to give her back the umbrella. However, she tells him that she left the umbrella for him.
After few days of this event, Nandkishore calls Biniya while she is passing by his shop. He shows her his newly made locket of bear’s claws with silver chain. She likes it but she says she has no money to buy. Nandkishore says that it does not matter as she has given him her umbrella and he is giving her a locket of bear’s claws. He places the pedant on her and says that it looks very beautiful on her. She is very much pleased as bear’s claws are regarded luckier than leopard’s claws. For Nandkishore, the smile that she gave him upon receiving the pendant was more rewarding than owning the pendant.
Vishal Bhardwaj, the producer-director of the film had said at the time of the release of the film that it was a children’s film with a message to adults. How true it is! Firstly, how an alien thing like an attractive blue umbrella can disturb the peaceful life of a village. Second, the intense desire to possess something can lead to irrational behaviour and its resultant adverse consequences. Third, forgiveness is the key to normalisation of a relationship. In ‘The Blue Umbrella’ Ruskin Bond has shown that there is always a soft corner in the hearts of individuals. In the end, Biniya gives up her possessiveness and Nandkishore shades his greediness. And the village comes back to its peaceful life.
The film has 3 beautiful songs, all written by Gulzar. One of them has been represented on the Blog.
I have selected for presentation the song ‘neeli aasmaani chhatri’ because this is the only song in which the blue umbrella is on display most of the duration of the song. Like Biniya and Nandkishore in the film, I am also tempted to this beautiful blue umbrella, my temptation being limited to watching it to my heart’s content. The song is sung by Upagna Pandya under the music direction of Vishal Bhardwaj.
It is a lovely song with western symphony music used for interludes.
Video Clip:
Audio Clip :
Song-Neeli Aasmaani chhatri (Blue Umbrella)(2005) Singers-Upagna Pandya, unknown female voice, Lyrics-Gulzar, MD-Vishal Bhardwaj
Lyrics(Based on the Audio Clip)
ku ku ku ku
ku ku kudi ku ku
ku ku kudi ku ku
ku ku kudi ku ku
ku ku kudi ku ku
arre he….ey
(ku ku kudi ku ku )
hey hey
(ku ku kudi ku ku)
neeli aasmaani chhatri
ku ku kudi ku ku
ku ku kudi ku ku
ku ku kudi ku ku,
ku ku kudi ku ku
he…..ey
hey ae
neeli aasmaani chhatri
chhatri ka udan khatola
dole to laage hindola
chhatri ka udan khatola..aa aa
dole to laage hindola
ude kabhi bhaage kabhi
bhaage kabhi daude kabhi
samajh na maane chhatri..ee
ku ku kudi ku ku
ku ku kudi ku ku
ku ku kudi ku ku
ku ku ku ku
ku ku ku ku
ku ku kudi ku ku
ku ku kudi ku ku
ku ku kudi ku ku
ku ku kudi ku ku
ambar ka tukda toda
lakdi ka hattha joda
haath mein apna asmaan hai re
chhatri le ke chalti ho
memon jaisi lagti ho
goron ka dil beimaan hai re
khunti kabhi laathi kabhi
laathi kabhi chhadi kabhi
khunti kabhi laathi kabhi
laathi kabhi chhadi kabhi
paaji shaitaani chhatri..ee
baarish se jo rishta hai
paani pe mann khinchta hai
bijli ko ye pehchaan hai re
shaayad phir ud na jaaye
ambar se jud na chaahe
bholi hai anjaan hai
hai re
doobe kabhi taire kabhi
gote khaati jaaye kabhi
doobe kabhi taire kabhi
gote khaati jaaye kabhi
karein naadaani chhatri..ee
ku ku kudi ku ku
ku ku kudi ku ku
ku ku kudi ku ku
ku ku kudi ku ku
hey ae hey ae
(ku ku kudi ku ku)
hey re
(ku ku kudi ku ku)
neeli asmaani chhatri
chhatri ka udan khatola..aa
dole to laage hindola aa aa
chhatri ka udan khatola..aa aa
dole to laage hindola
ude kabhi bhaage kabhi
bhaage kabhi daude kabhi
samajh na maane chhatri
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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