Samjha kya hai duniyaa daana
Posted on: August 3, 2020
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.
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Blog 10-Year Challenge (2010-2020) – Song No.49
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In my younger days, I remember to have watched Marathi film ‘Kunku’ (1937) on Bombay Doordarshan (now ‘Sahyadri’ Channel). At that time, I was not aware that ‘Duniya Na Maane’ (1937) was its Hindi version. Even it did not occur to me that the subject chosen for the film was very bold. I have no much recollections of the songs of the film but Shanta Apte’s performance has remained in my mind as it was quite different as compared with the theatrical acting by most of the actors of that time. Even her song renditions were looking natural as against the ‘fixed gaze’ style of song renditions witnessed in most of the films at that time.
After about 3 decades when I had watched the Hindi version on a video sharing platform, I still found that even in the present juncture, the subject handled in the film appears bold. I sometime feel that V Shantaram, the director, must be having a knack of convincing his other partners in Prabhat Films to agree to produce the film with a bold subject who may have thought that the film would receive the brickbats especially from the orthodox segment of the society after the release. That the film was a box office hit proves the capability of V Shantaram as a director for handling the bold subject in a way that convinced a large number of cine-goers about the evil of mismatched marriage
14-year old Nirmala (Shanta Apte) is married through a deciet by her uncle to a widower (Keshavrao Date), a lawyer, who is old enough to be her father. But she does not accept him to be her husband. While she takes care of the family as a housewife, she refuses to consummate the marriage by saying that while sufferings can be borne, injustice can not be tolerated. Over a period of time, her husband feels guilty and treat Nirmala as his daughter. He release her from the marriage but the conservative society does not accept this arrangement. In the end, the widower commits suicide with a note to Nirmala that she is free to remarry.
In selecting Shanta Apte in the role of Nirmala, V Shantaram must have observed her as a woman of substance who would perform her reel role of an enlightened woman who fights for her rights in a same way as she had done in her real life. In this film, there is a scene in which she gives a trashing with a cane to her college going step son for misbehaving with her as well as with his father and forces him to seek forgiveness from his father. I recall an instance when she had gone to ‘Filmindia’ office with a cane (or whip?) to trash Baburao Patel, the firebrand editor for writing some unpleasant comments about her acting. It was reported that to avoid trashing, Baburao Patel had to hide below his table.
10 years back, one song from the film ‘Duniya Naa Maane’ (1937) was posted on the Blog. So far, 5 songs from the film have been posted on the Blog details of which are as under:
| Songs | Name of the Film |
|---|---|
| ek thha raaja | 03/08/2010 |
| in the worlds broad field of battle | 04/08/2010 |
| man saaf tera hai ya nahin | 12/11/2012 |
| jai ambe gauri maiyya | 09/10/2013 |
| saawan jhoola jhool ke nikla | 19/03/2014 |
I am presenting the 6th song, ‘samjha kya hai duniya daana’ from the film which is rendered by actor-singer, Shanta Apte. The song is written by Munshi Aziz which is set to music by Keshavrao Bhole. In this song, there is no musical interludes. I liked the way, Shanta Apte sang the line ‘kisi ki chup’ followed by a very brief pause and then continuing singing ‘walwala kisi kaa’.
One of the features of the film was that the music director, Keshavrao Bhole did not use orchestra for all its songs, Instead, he relied on using a couple of musical instruments. Two of its 12 songs (including the one under discussion) were sung by Shanta Apte by playing gramophone records.
Video Clip:
Audio Clip:
Song-Samjha kya hai duniya daana (Duniya Na Maane)(1937) Singer-Shanta Apte, Lyrics-Munshi Aziz, MD-Keshavrao Bhole
Lyrics
samjha…aa kya hai duniya….aa ….aa
aa aa aa aaa
aa aa aa
daana
yahaan pe aake har ek apni
yahaan pe aake har ek apni
niraali duniya bana raha hai
niraali duniya bana raha hai
deewaana daana zamaana kya kya
deewaana daana zamaana kya kya
hamein tamaashe dikha raha hai
hamein tamaashe dikha raha hai
kisi ki chup
walwala kisi kaa
chhuri kisi ki
gala kisi kaa
kisi ki chup
walwala kisi kaa
chhuri kisi ki
gala kisi kaa
bura kisi ka
bhala kisi kaa
bura kisi ka
bhala kisi kaa
dharam yahi kya sikha raha hai
dharam yahi kya sikha raha hai
sitam kaa sahna
sitam kaa sahna
har ek taakat
badhega dil aur badhegi himmat
sitam ka sahna
aa aa aa aa
sitam ka sahna
har ek taakat
badhega dil aur badhegi himmat
hai ye bhi ek zindagi ki daulat
hai ye bhi ek zindagi ki daulat
suno ye aaj suna raha hai
suno ye aaj suna raha hai
6 Responses to "Samjha kya hai duniyaa daana"
August 3, 2020 at 7:51 pm
Dear Sadanand ji,
Sometime in 1966, when yours truly first came to Bombay and was staying at a Lodging at Lalubhai Park in Andheri, we used to cross a vacant bungalow nearby, bearing the name “Shanta Apte” on the gate. To most Bengalis, Shanta Apte was a household name, mainly for her role as a firebrand housewife in the Bangla Film “SWAYAMSIDDHA”(1949). But she had learnt Bangla years earlier when, it is reported, that she travelled all the way to Shantiniketan to learn the language and even performed two Rabindrasangeet, winning accolades from an ageing Tagore (circa 1939). I am taking the liberty of placing one of the songs which still count among the best renditions of the particular song, despite having reputed singers sing this same song :
Arun Deshmukh ji has already commented on an earlier Blog (Songs of Yore) re: her prowess shown in the Tamil Film “SAVITRI”.
Didn’t she also recite a Poem in English in this Film?
With warm regards
PARTHA CHANDA
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August 3, 2020 at 9:58 pm
Partha Chanda ji,
Thanks for bringing to my notice about Shanta Apte’s role in the Bangla version of ‘Swayamasiddha’ (1949) which I had missed earlier also. I had already covered most of your other inputs in my article which I wrote about 8 years back:
By the way, I was a member of cooperative housing society in Lallubhai Park area where our socieity complex was under construction during 1969-75. I used to occasionally visit to see the pregress of the buildings when I would invaribaly pass by the side of the bungalow which some of my colleagues would point out that the bungalow used to belong to a Marathi film actress.
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August 4, 2020 at 6:51 am
Dear Sadanand ji,
Thanks for the link to your older Article. That, read together with the meaningful comments by many including Deshmukh ji, was an eye opener. One question remains. Contrary to what I was told by my family elders, Shanta Apte did not act in the Bangla version of “Swayamsiddha”? Is that correct – that she acted only in the Hindi version? Just need your confirmation to set the record straight.
Apropos Lallubhai Park, today the Karl Guest House where we stayed in 1966 during our shipbuilding training as part of the course at IIT (Kharagpur), has been replaced by an imposing multi-storeyd KARL HOTEL.
We came back in 1967 after completing the course and this time stayed at the adjoining Yasmin Guest House overlooking the Park and stayed there till 1969. I believe there is a Co-op Housing Society in its place now. Was this the one you are referring to?
With warm regards
PARTHA CHANDA
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August 4, 2020 at 1:25 pm
Partha Chanda ji,
It appears that Shanta Apte did not act in the Bangla version of ‘Swayamsiddha’ (1947). The role was performed by Dipti Roy. Unfortunately, the film is not available for viewing anywhere.
In my comment above, I was referring ‘Snehadhara Cooperative Hsg. Society’ , a complex of many buildings. It is located about 500m from the bungalow towards south on the same road. Of course, there is no bungalow now.
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August 15, 2020 at 5:34 pm
Lost the race again 🙂
I have already sent the song of this lyrics on 30th July itself, as a part of Blog 10 years challenge………..
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
August 3, 2020 at 11:32 am
https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/duniya-na-mane-1937/article19466867.ece
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