Saawan ki aayi bahaar re
Posted on: December 6, 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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Sometime in September 2019, there was an article written by Khalid Mohammed in ‘Mumbai Mirror’ which highlighted the plight of 92 years old music director and musicologist, Vanraj Bhatia. He was penniless and was struggling to meet his daily requirements including his medical expenses. He was mostly bedridden. He had not done his medical check-up for a long time due to paucity of money. To meet his daily expenses, he had started selling his old antique utensils which he had collected over a period of time.
We have heard this type of situation faced by some Hindi film artists earlier also. For instance, film artists like Chandramohan, Master Nissar, Khan Mastana, G M Durrani, Rajkumari Dubey, Sridhar Parsekar, Master Bhagwan, Parshuram, Cuckoo, Bharat Bhushan, Vimi, A K Hangal, Raj Kiran, Satish Kaul etc have gone through such abject poverty. But what is shocking is that in the 21st Century, even a person of the caliber of Vanraj Bhatia has to go through the vagaries of adverse financial conditions. And his precaurious conditions have remained unknown to most of his associates who had worked with him in the past. It was only when journalist, Editor and film director, Khalid Mohammed visited his house, the conditions of the recipient of the Lili Boulanger Memorial Fund Award (1957), National Film Award (1988) for the best music director, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award(1989) and Padma Shri Award (2012) became known.
Fortunately, within 48 hours from the article appearing in ‘Mumbai Mirror’, followed by breaking this news on social media, some of his old friends and admirers promptly raised funds for him. The Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS) chairman, Javed Akhtar also arranged to hand over a cheque to him within a couple of days of breaking the news. During the making of ‘Sardari Begum’ (1996), Vanraj Bhatia has a fight with Javed Akhtar in regard to a song for which Vanraj wanted the lyrics first and Javed Akhtar wanted the tune first. But this incidence did not affect Javed Akhtar in taking a prompt initiative in IPRS for the financial aid to this talented and intellectual musicologist.
Within a week from this news break, Dilip Tahil to whom Vanraj Bhatia gave his first break as a singer in a play, announced a book project on the life of Vanraj Bhatia which will be written by Khalid Mohammed. Amir Khan came forward to sponsor the book. Now, this is an interesting development as I feel that this is in recognition of the immense contributions Vanraj Bhatia has made in the Indian music scene which need to be brought to the notice of people in general and music admirers in particular. Many people may not be aware of his name even though some of his Hindi film songs may be known to them.
I have gone through his interviews in magazines/newspapers/digital newspapers and also on Rajya Sabha TV. Based on these interviews, I am confident that the proposed book on Vanraj Bhatia would not only turn out to be interesting one but would also generate royalty for him. He is not only an unique music director, he also seems to be an independent minded person if I read him correctly.
Vanraj Bhatia (B.31/05/1927) was born in Mumbai in a middle-class family who had shifted to Mumbai from Kutch during the period of boom in textile mills giving opportunity for business in cloth. His father was a cloth merchant. The young Vanraj was enrolled in New Era High School which was set up in 1930. The school also provided some vocational courses in addition to normal syllabus. Vanraj took the vocational course in Hindustani classical music and stood first in every year in the class.
After completion of his high school, Vanraj was enrolled in Elphinstone College with Sanskrit as an additional subject. Knowing his proficiency in Sanskrit, Vanraj’s professor was keen that he chose Sanskrit for his M.A. However, after graduation, Vanraj completed his M.A. in English literature in 1949.
During his teenage days, he had developed an interest in Western classical music. Under Dr. Manek Bhagat, he learned piano and studied the Western classical music for 4 years mastering all the works of Beethoven and Mozart. He wanted to pursue the further study in the Western classical music by going abroad. But his father was not able to financially support him. His close relatives were strongly opposed to his making music as a profession. which was seen by then in low esteem.
Finally, he got permission from his father with a condition that he would support his study abroad only for six months. Fortunately, Vanraj got scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London for 1951-54. After graduating with a gold medal in 1954, Vanraj got Rockefeller Scholarship for five years from 1954 to 1958 at Conservatoire de Paris.
The first advertising jingle Vanraj composed after returning to India in 1959 was for Shakti Mills which was produced by Durga Khote. The financial condition of Vanraj’s family was not good. He required some steady income to support the family. He took up the assignment in Delhi University as Reader in Western Musicology in 1960. He did not enjoy the work as there was no creativity. In 1964, he resigned from his post in Delhi University and returned to Mumbai to work as a full-time composer for advertising films. He did many advertising jingles which included his popular advertising jingles for Liril soap and Garden Vareli saaris.
During this period, Vanraj came into contact with Shyam Benegal who was also in the field of making advertising films. Vanraj worked for Shyam Benegal for the first time for his advertising film on Finlay Mills for which Vanraj composed advertising jingles. Both of them worked together in many advertising and documentary films. When Shyam Benegal ventured into making his first feature film ‘Ankur’ (1974), he assigned the background music to Vanraj Bhatia (it was a song-less film).
Vanraj Bhatia composed his first filmy songs in Shyam Benegal’s ‘Nishaant’ (1975). His next film. ‘Manthan’ (1976) had only one song, mero gaam kaatha paarey rendered by Preeti Sagar who used to sing for him for his advertising jingles. The song became very popular in which he experimented mixing of various dialects due to which people from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh identified themselves with the song. Vanraj Bhatia became the regular collaborator with Shyam Benegal for 16 films until 2000 after which he virtually retired from the films as he had developed other interests in music.
According to Shyam Benegal, he and Vanraj Bhatia often fought during the sessions of song compositions. But at the end, the result was excellent. He created the perfect balance of Hindustani classical music and Western classical music. In an interview, Vanraj Bhatia had said that during his teenage days, he was influenced by the song compositions of R C Boral and Pankaj Mullick. According to him, they were the only music directors at that time who knew the use of harmony in their melodies through orchestration.
There is no indication in any of his interviews as to why he avoided the mainstream Hindi films or it was other way round. But he did take few mainstream Hindi films for background music such as ‘Ajooba’ (1991), ‘Beta’ (1992), ‘Damini’ (1993), ‘Ghatak’ (1996), ‘Pardes’ (1997), ‘Chinagate’ (1998) etc. The work of background music in these films gave him the opportunity and the satisfaction to showcase his talent in Western music.
Vanraj Bhatia, by and large confined himself to music direction of the parallel cinemas. In addition to working with Shyam Benegal, he has also worked with other directors of parallel cinemas such as Aparna Sen (‘36 Chowringhee Lane’, 1981), Kundan Shah (‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’, 1983), Saeed Akhtar Mirza (‘Mohan Joshi Haazir Ho’, 1984), Prakash Jha (‘Hip Hip Hurray’, 1984)), Ashok Tyagi (‘Shurkhiyaan’, 1985), Govind Nihalani (‘Tamas’, 1987) etc.
In a career spanning over 5 decades, Vanraj Bhatia made significant contributions to music across all forms. He started with advertisement jingles which numbered over 6000. He had also provided music to over 50 documentaries. He has been the music director about 35 films. He has also composed music for about a dozen classical TV serials like ‘Khandaan’ (1985), ‘Yatra’ (1986), ‘Bharat Ek Khoj’ (1988), ‘Wagle Ki Duniya (1988) etc. He composed music for many plays – both Hindi and English. He has made a mark in Western classical music by cutting about a dozen each of albums on his solo piano and chamber music. He composed the spiritual music albums like ‘Indian Meditation Music’ (1999), ‘Anant’ (2001), ‘The Bhagavad Gita’ (2002), ‘The Spirit of Upanishads’ (2007) etc.
One of Vanraj Bhatia’s musical work which was very close to his heart was producing an opera, ‘Agni-Varsha’ in English, based on Girish Karnad’s Kannada play ‘Agni Mattu Male’ (1995). The first two acts were staged in Mumbai in 2017. Later, one lady, Judith Kellock did two performances in New York. The opera received good response. He was working on the third act of the opera which appears to be ready. Unfortunately, due to his medical condition, the work has remained to be staged.
Unfortunately, most people are unaware of Vanraj Bhatia’s contributions in the field of music probably because he was not associated with mainstream Hindi films.
For Vanraj Bhatia, ‘Junoon’ (1978) was his first high budget film produced by Shashi Kapoor and directed by Shyam Benegal. The high budget of the film allowed him to engage the top playback singers, Mohammed Rafi and Asha Bhosle for the first time for him besides the luxury of having a higher number of musicians than what he normally uses in low budget films. The film had 4 songs written by Amir Khusro, Jigar Muradabadi, Yogesh Praveen and 16th Century English poet, Christopher Marlowe (for English song). One song has been covered on the Blog.
I am presenting the 2nd song, a kajri, ‘saawan ki aayi bahaar re’ written by Yogesh Praveen and set to music by Vanraj Bhatia. The record version has 4 stanzas with orchestration, rendered by Asha Bhosle. The sound track version in the film has first, second and fourth stanzas of which first two stanzas are sung by Varsha Bhosle (Asha Bhosle’s daughter) without orchestration. Varsha Bhosle’s part of the song is picturised on Dipti Naval while Nafisa Ali is helping her in swinging. Jennifer Kapoor and Sushma Seth are sitting on the ground. The second stanza is again repeated by Asha Bhosle in the film in a different situation. She also sings the 4th stanza in another situation.
Although it is a ‘saawan’ song, it is also presented as ‘pre-marriage’ song in the second stanza and ‘separation’ song in the 4th stanza in the film. The 3rd stanza has not been included in the filmy version.
Acknowledgements of sources for the article:
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Audio Clip:
Video Clip:
Song-Saawan ki aayi bahaar re (Junoon)(1978) Singer-Asha Bhonsle, Lyrics-Yogesh Praveen, MD-Vanraj Bhatia
Lyrics (Based on Audio Clip)
ghir aayi kaari ghata matwaari
ghir aayi kaari ghata matwaari
saawan ki aayi bahaa aar re
saawan ki aayi bahaa aar re
bela chameli ki kaliyaan chatak gayin
bela chameli ki kaliyaan chatak gayin
mahkat ban ki bayaa aar re
mahkat ban ki bayaa aar re
saawan ki aayi bahaar re
saawan ki aayi bahaar re
khil gaye hatheli pe mehandi ke boote
khil gaye hatheli pe mehandi ke boote
lachkat jhoolan ki daal re
dhaani chunar morey sar pe na thahare
dhaani chunar morey sar pe na thahare
choodiyaan karen jhankaa aar re
choodiyaan karen jhankaa aar re
saawan ki aayi bahaar re
saawan ki aayi bahaar re
baadal beech bijuriya chamke ae
baadal beech bijuriya chamke
dhoondoon mein balma ke baakh(?) re
aadhi rain jab boley papeeha
aadhi rain jab boley papeeha
jiyara pe lagte kataar re
jiyara pe lagte kataar re
saawan ki aayi bahaar re
saawan ki aayi bahaar re
angana mein bheeji atariya pe bheeji
angana mein bheeji atariya pe bheeji
bheeji sajanwa ki sej re
bheej gayi mori haay kori chunariya
bheej gayi mori haay kori chunariya
rimjhim ras ki phuhaa aar re
rimjhim ras ki phuhaa aar re
saawan ki aayi bahaar re
saawan ki aayi bahaar re
saawan ki aayi bahaar re
12 Responses to "Saawan ki aayi bahaar re"
December 6, 2020 at 8:45 am
Thank you sadanandji for this detailed post on Vanraj Bhatia.
And the song is one I love to hear.
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December 6, 2020 at 9:50 am
Peevesie’s Mom,
According to Vanraj Bhatia, this was the song which Raj Kapoor used to sing whenever he met him.
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December 6, 2020 at 1:41 pm
Thank you Kamath Saheb for this detailed post on Vanraj Bhatia. I have always loved and liked his music.
I remember to have read about his condition, may that time I was in Kenya.
It is really painful to hear whenever such instances came forward about peoples in Hindi Film Industry. But it is not limited to to film industry only. Such instances keep happening around us too. That is the way the life is and this world moves on …
Thanks a lot for this article and the song …
December 6, 2020 at 6:23 pm
Thank you for the detailed post. We know so little about the background and achievements of various artists. I love this song so much. It is beautiful.
December 7, 2020 at 2:15 pm
Dear Shri Sadanand ji.. Very nice biography/ description of shri Varnan Bhatia ! We still recall his grand work if Benegal era from ‘Manthan’ onwards! Many of the stalwarts of Cinema/Drama ,had faced bad time in their faded time. It’s difficult to know the reason…Very alarming for all. Your work always carry many examples and supported with evidence. Warm regards! Dilip Pardeshi…PUNE
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December 7, 2020 at 7:27 pm
Dilip Pardeshi ji,
Thanks for your appreciation.
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December 7, 2020 at 5:28 pm
Sadanand sir,
Thank you for writing the detailed post about Vanraj Bhatia. It seems he did less work in films, but it was quality work.
As for ‘Junoon’ songs, they seem to have been left alone for all these years, since my post of the Rafi theme song. If you would prefer, you can do justice to the qawwali by Amir Khusro in this film. Just a suggestion, if you don’t mind 🙂 .
Thanks and regards
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December 7, 2020 at 7:26 pm
Mrs, Nahm ji,
Thanks for your appreciation.
I have already thought of presenting the qawwali you have referred to as well as the qawwali Vanraj Bhatia had composed in the TV serial, ‘Bharat Ek Khoj’ (1988), at appropriate time. Both are by Amir Khusro.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
December 6, 2020 at 7:41 am
Post on Vanraj Bhatia is really very though provoking. There are instances of so many artistes – be it in film world or art. Thanks a lot
for such a detailed write up.
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December 6, 2020 at 9:44 am
Thanks for your appreciation.
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