Do saajan ki aur do apni aankhen ho gayeen chaar
Posted on: July 17, 2020
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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Today’s song is from the film Albeli-45. This was the first of the three same Title films. The other two were made in 1955 and 1974 ( interestingly, its masculine counterpart Albela was made 4 times- in 1951,1971,1990 and 2001 !).
The film was made by Talwar Productions, Calcutta. The music was composed by G A Chisti, who, while in India, got only B and C grade films. He became a big composer in Pakistan, after he migrated there in 1949. He was not only successful, but also got many awards. At the end of his life, he had become a Faqir. He was popularly known as ” Babaji” in the film industry, here and in Pakistan, due to his helpful and simple nature. As per HFGK, the lyricists of film Albeli were Shanti Swarup and Chisti. The cast was Ramola, Rooplekha, Manorama, Satish, Hiralal, Usha and many others. Albeli-45 is perhaps the only film in which there were three Jew girls as Heroines – Ramola, Rooplekha and Manorama.
The film was directed by R C Talwar. R.C.Talwar aka Raghubir Chand Talwar was born on 21-4-1910, at Tolaganj, in Western Punjab-now in Pakistan. His film life, as many others of his ilk, started in Calcutta and ended in Bombay. While at Calcutta, he worked as an assistant to Kidar Sharma. After the success of the film, Aulad / Dil Hi Toh Hai (1939), Ramola got romantically involved with R.C. Talwar, Kidar Sharma’s assistant who later became a director in his own right. According to Kidar Sharma, “R.C. Talwar was a classmate and friend so I ignored his relationship with Ramola.”
He was a screenplay writer, producer and Director. Starting from Manchali-43, produced by Talwar productions,Calcutta, which he had established there, Talwar directed films like Khamoshi-42, Albeli-45, Khiladi-50, Sangdil-52, Ilzam-54, Rukhsana-55, Memsahib-56, Ek dil sau afsane-63 and Naya Kanoon-1965. He produced 2 films, Sangdil and Memsahib-for which he had written the screenplay also.
Talwar directed Kishore Kumar in 3 films, Ilzam, Rukhsana and Memsahib. In all these films, the Heroine was Meena Kumari. While Ilzam was a social film, Rukhsana was a Costume film and Memsahib was supposed to be a comedy film. This was also produced by him.
After the film Memsahib was completed, Talwar had to pay a balance amount of Rs. 8000/- to Kishore Kumar. Even after Kishore’s several reminders, Talwar failed to pay Kishore his dues. Kishore Kumar employed a novel idea. Everyday, in the morning, before proceeding for shooting, Kishore would go to Talwar’s house. Standing outside at his gate, Kishore used to shout loudly,” Hey Talwar, de de mera Aath Hazaar “. This continued for a few days and Talwar was so annoyed that he paid off Kishore’s dues.
India is a country in which many religions co exist and thrive happily. India’s history says, it was Secular from times immemorial and it never preveted any religions from growing here. The Indian culture believes that all religions are different roads to God. That is why India is considered a Heaven for other religions.
As per records, the first ever outside religious group that came to India was Jews – who landed near Cochin, in Kerala, in the 6th Century. Islam came to India in the 7th Century and a Mosque built by the early visitors in 629 AD still exists in India. The Parsis came to India in the 8th Century. Such was the tolerance of the Indians, since the beginning. No wonder, these religions not only sought growth here but also prospered safely.
Muslims, Parsis and Jews joined the film industry, since its beginning in the Silent Era.
The number of artistes given by one of the single Non Indian communities, in those days was the Jews. The Jews came to India in 562 BCE and in 70 CE in two lots. They settled in various parts of India. It was the first foreign religion to come to India, even before Islam or the Zorostrian. There were 8 types of Jews, based on their locations in India.
1. Cochin Jews
2. Madras Jews
3. Bene Israeli Jews in Bombay and Konkan areas
4. Baghdadi Jews-Gujarat, Bengal and Eastern India
5. South Asian Jews
6. Bnei Menashe- NE states
7. Bene Ephraim- Telugu and
8. Delhi Jews- Punjabi
Though the Jews mingled freely and adapted themselves to local atmosphere- maintaining and following Judaism-, the Jews who took up to Film Industry were only the Bene Israeli and Baghdadi Jews. A point to note was that no Jews from Kerala or Madras even entered the film line. It was only the Hindi films and that too mainly Jew women joined films. The earliest recorded Jew girl to work as a Heroine in a film was Ruby Meyers ( Sulochana ). She acted in silent film Veer Bala-1925, made by Mohan Bhavnani for Kohinoor Film company, Bombay. She went on working in films and became very popular. When the Talkie film age came, she contacted Imperial film co. to stake her claim, but was rejected as she was not fluent in speaking Hindustani. Learning from this, she took one year off and became an expert in Hindi and learnt singing too. She made a thumping entry with the Talkie film Madhuri-1932, in which she sang 4 songs also ! Hats off to the dedication !
There were other Jew actresses like Rose Musleah (Miss Rose), Lilian Ezra (Lilian), Marcia Soloman(Vimla), Rachel Sofaer(Arti Devi), Esther Abraham (Pramila), Rachel Cohen (Ramola), Sofia Cohen (Rooplekha), Sofia Abraham (Romilla), Irene Issac (Manorama), Patience Cooper, Violet Cooper, Susan Soloman(Feroza Begum), Florence Ezekiel(Nadira) and many more. Among the males- David Joseph Penkar wrote the story and dialogues of Alam Ara-1931, Actor David Cheulkar (David ), Ezekiel Penkar (Viju Penkar- Tarzan film Tarzan and the Cobra-88 and few more films) and Lily Ezekiel (Asha Bhende), Edvyn Meyers (Ezra Mir) and Pearl Padamsi are well known Jews. There were some male Jews in the Technical side also.
Actress Ramola (real name- Rachel Cohen) was born in a Jew family on 5-7-1917, at Bombay. Her father Hayam Cohem was a school Teacher. Her initial education was done in Bombay. Later they shifted to Calcutta where she completed her matriculation and joined films. Her first film was ‘ Graher fer’-38,a Bangla film. She did a few small roles and then came ‘Khazanchi’-41 from Pancholi of Lahore. This changed her career and she became a popular actress. She did films like Masoom,Khamoshi manchali.etc etc.
Initially,Ramola was a small actress. First she acted on stage along with her two sisters. Then she got a Bangla film. It was Jagdish Sethi who introduced her to director/lyricist/dialogue writer Kidar Sharma.
According to Kidar Sharma,
“She was smart and a charming young lady. Her only drawback was her height. She was not tall, just about 5 feet, but she had lofty ambitions. One day she came to see me and I promised I would personally take her to the director of her choice. She said, “I would like to be introduced to Mr. Nitin Bose, and no one else.” I took her to Mr. Bose, and was sure that her charm and talent would impress him.
Mr. Bose scanned her, from top to toe, while I praised her talent and her choice of a director, like Nitin Bose. After a long silence, Mr. Bose addressed me and said, “When you brought her to me, why did you forget to bring some bricks for her to stand on?” Poor Romola was hurt and heart-broken by this great director’s caustic remark. She quietly said, “Goodbye” and walked away from his office.
I followed her and found that she was in tears. ‘I was moved by the plight of a struggling youngster having high hopes, being ridiculed for something which nature was responsible for. I knew what it felt like to be ridiculed. I had experienced it often enough. I escorted her to the tram junction and there she bid me goodbye. To encourage her, I said, “Please, Romola, don’t be heart-broken. One day, when I become a director, you will be my first heroine, and we will prove to Mr. Bose and the world, what a great star you are.” Romola laughed and said,- “Poor Mr. Kidarnath, the dialogue-writer will never be a director and I will never be a heroine.” So saying, she jumped into the tram.”
However, Kidar Sharma kept his promise and cast her in his first film as director Aulad / Dil Hi To Hai (1939). Aulad/Dil Hi To hai was a down-to-earth story of a middle-class father, who had sacrificed all his life to educate his son and his darling daughter, hoping that they would be worthy children to the society and to the family. Little did the old man know that the generation gap would present a different, horrifying reality, which would destroy him completely. The modern college Miss, who destroys the dreams of her old father, the aged struggling middle class man, was played by Ramola.
After the success of the film, Ramola got romantically involved with R.C. Talwar, Kidar Sharma’s assistant who later became a director in his own right. According to Kidar Sharma, “R.C. Talwar was a classmate and friend so I ignored his relationship with Ramola.”
Later Ramola appeared in many films including Qaidi, Khazanchi, Khamoshi, Swan Aya Re, Rim Jhim etc. When she acted in Pancholi’s famous film Khazanchi-41, she became famous all over India and film offers started pouring on her. She looked so cute in her Punjabi dress- Salwar and Kurta- in that film, that this dress became famous and popular as Khazanchi dress amongst the women in India.
Ramola’s sister Rooplekha (Sofia Cohen) was also in films. Her first film was Nishani-42. After this she worked in 3 films, all with Ramola. The films were, Shukriya-44, Albeli-45 and Jhoothi kasmen-48. Later she got married and left films.
Ramola acted in 23 films in Hindi and 5 films in Bangla. She even sang 14 songs in 4 Hindi films. She also worked in a Punjabi film “Pardesi Dhola”, for which R C Talwar was the director. After the arrival of new heroines including Madhubala, Nargis, Meena Kumari etc, Ramola’s career got eclipsed and she bid farewell to her film career. Her last 3 films Actor, Jawani Ki Aag and Stage were released in 1951. However her actual last film was the Bangla film, Anurag-51.
Ramola was married twice. Her second husband, Leslie Rondeau, was a Captain in the British Air Force, who helped to train Indian pilots in the IAF post Indian Independence. Her son, Sam, from her first husband, migrated to Israel in the 1950s. She had two daughters, Dena and Linda, from her second marriage. Dena, based in London today, even acted in a film, GP Sippy’s Ahsaas (1979), and works in the fashion industry while Linda, a resident of Bombay, was an air-hostess with Air India. With her generous and large hearted spirit, Ramola also ‘adopted’ and looked after another 14 families, helping them move ahead in life.
Ramola passed away in Bombay on 10-12-1988.
Film Albeli’s review came in the March – 46 issue of Film India magazine. As usual, Baburao Patel had nothing good to say about this film. The film’s story centred around the love affair of a street girl and a Gypsy boy, who is loved by two more girls. The film was released on 22-12-1945 at Central Cinema, Bombay. The story was by Talwar himself. Dialogues and Screenplay was by J.S.Casshyap. Out of the 12 songs of the film, I heard 5 songs and I felt that today’s song was the best amongst them. The song is a duet sung by Zeenat begum and Satish, the film’s hero. Despite all efforts,I could not get any information about this Satish. All that I know is he acted in 24 films-from Uski Tamanna-39 to Bus Conductor-59. He seems to have sung 33 songs in 22 films, from Sanskar-40 to Baghi Sardar-56.
( Information for this post is culled from articles ” Shalom Bollywood” and ‘The rise and fall of Jews in Bollywood’ from Weekly news dated 6-4-2013, wiki, HFGK, muVyz,Film Directory-46, ” The one and lonely Kidar Sharma” by Kidar Sharma and my notes)
Song-Do Saajan ki aur do apni aankhen ho gayeen chaar (Albeli)(1945) Singers-Zeenat Begum, Satish, Lyricist- Not known, MD- G A Chishti
Both
<strong.Lyrics
Do Saajan ki aur do apni
Do Saajan ki aur do apni
aankhen ho gayeen chaar
aankhen ho gayeen chaar
Do Saajan ki aur do apni
Do Saajan ki aur do apni
aankhen ho gayeen chaar
aankhen ho gayeen chaar
donon ke is madhur milan se
donon ke is madhur milan se
basa naya sansaar
Do Saajan ki aur do apni
Do Saajan ki aur do apni
aankhen ho gayeen chaar
aankhen ho gayeen chaar
tum samjhaao(?) saajan beena
main beena ke taaaar
tum samjhaao(?) saajan beena
main beena ke taaaar
jhoom jhoom kar naachen gaayen
jhoom jhoom kar naachen gaayen
gaayen raag malhaar
gaayen raag malhaar
Do Saajan ki aur do apni
Do Saajan ki aur do apni
aankhen ho gayeen chaar
aankhen ho gayeen chaar
haan aan aan aan
sundar sundar naina teekhe
main unke balihaar
haan haan
sundar sundar naina teekhe
main unke balihaar
palkon pe bithhlaa ke peechhe ae ae ae ae
palkpn pe bithhlaa ke peechhe
ud jaaun us paar
palkpn pe bithhlaa ke peechhe
ud jaaun us paar
Do Saajan ki aur do apni
Do Saajan ki aur do apni
aankhen ho gayeen chaar
aankhen ho gayeen chaar
Do Saajan ki aur do apni
Do Saajan ki aur do apni
aankhen ho gayeen chaar
aankhen ho gayeen chaar
3 Responses to "Do saajan ki aur do apni aankhen ho gayeen chaar"
July 31, 2020 at 12:18 pm
tum ban jaao saajan beena
main beena ke taaaar
tum ban jaao saajan beena
main beena ke taaaar
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
July 17, 2020 at 7:16 pm
Dear Guru ji,
Although there is some controversy about whether St. Thomas came to India in 52 AD, there is some truth in the fact that the Christian community in South India was founded by a Syrian merchant Thomas Cananeus in 345 AD. He led four hundred refugees who fled persecution in Persia and were given asylum by the Hindu authorities.
This would make the Syrian Christians the first to come to India, some 3 centuries before the Jews.
With warm regards
PARTHA CHANDA
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July 17, 2020 at 8:51 pm
Partha ji,
In my post I have considered only Jews,Muslims and Parsis, in connection with the film industry.
After the arrival details of these three faiths in India, note what I said immediately…” Muslims, Parsis and Jews joined the film industry, since its beginning in the Silent Era.”
I thought that this clearly stated that this info was related to film industry workers only. Otherwise, do you think, I would have missed an important religion like Christianity just blindly ?
I appreciate your keen eyes to pick up information gaps in the posts. It requires lot of knowledge, which you have in plenty.
Thanks for your comments and hope that the point is clear now.
-AD
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