Kaisi lagi kaisi lagi
Posted on: November 5, 2021
This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular 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, November 5, 2021 is the 13th Remembrance Day of producer-director, B R Chopra. I admire him for his courage to make films on sensitive and socially relevant issues at a time when most of other producers would have avoided such issues. As far as I know, B R Chopra became the director without working under any one of the well-known directors of his time or even working in any other departments of the film making which is laudable.
Baldev Raj Chopra (22/04/1914 – 05/11/2008) was born in Rahon village in Ludhiana district of Punjab. His father was working in the Public Works Department in Lahore. So, most of his childhood, school and college education were done in Lahore. As a teenager, he was fascinated by films. After the completion of M A in English literature from Punjab University, he took a job as a film journalist for a film magazine, ‘Cine Herald’ which was published from Lahore so that he connects with the film personalities. Over a period of time, he took over the management of the magazine which he managed until 1947.
Just a couple of months before the partition, some friends of B R Chopra’s father suggested him to make a film which they would finance. So, he started his first film, ‘Chandni Chowk’ based on a story by I S Johar. G A Chishti was to be the music director and Khayyam, his assistant. Unfortunately, the film had to be abandoned in the wake of communal riots following the partition. B R Chopra along with his family migrated to Delhi and resumed working as a film journalist for some time. However, his heart was in the film making.
B R Chopra shifted to Mumbai with most of his joint family members sometime in 1948. With the pooling of all the resources from the family, he co-produced and directed ‘Karwat’ (1949) which bombed at the box office. After this, he became apprehensive about making one more attempt in film making. It was one of his friends who bumped in B R Chopra at a café and assured him that he would arrange the finance provided B R Chopra directed the film. That was how the film ‘Afsaana’ (1951) happened which he co-produced and directed based on a story written by I S Johar. The film was a box office success.
B R Chopra co-produced and directed his next two films, ‘Shole’ (1953) and his stalled film of 1947 – ‘Chaandni Chowk’ (1954) with his friend and partner financing these films. While ‘Shole’ (1953) did the average business, ‘Chaandni Chowk’ (1954) was a box office success.
In 1955, with the death of his partner, their joint venture in film production was dissolved. B R Chopra set up his own film production banner, B R Films. The banner’s logo had an interesting text in Latin, ‘Ars longa vita brevis’, meaning ‘Art is long, life is short’. The banner produced its first film, ‘Ek Hi Raasta’ (1956) with a theme of widow remarriage. It was a bold decision on the part of B R Chopra to produce and direct a film with such a sensitive subject in his maiden venture. But the risk paid off. The film scored a box office success.
B R Chopra produced and directed his next film, ‘Naya Daur’ (1957) with a theme of ‘man versus machine’. This was the film, with which Sahir Ludhianvi’s association with B R Films started as a full-pledged lyricist which continued until his death in 1980 with some break during 1976-79. In ‘Sadhna’ (1958), he took the subject of rehabilitation of a prostitute. In ‘Dhool Ka Phool’ (1959), B R Chopra portrayed the issues concerning the children born out of wedlock. In this film, B R Chopra entrusted the direction to his younger brother, Yash Chopra which was his maiden film as a director. Another brother, Dharam Chopra debuted as a full-time cinematographer with this film. Both these films were highly successful on the box office front.
B R Chopra experimented with his first songless film, ‘Kaanoon’ (1960) which focused on the capital punishment based on the eye witness and questioned whether one man’s words should cost another man’s life. It was a daring effort on the part of B R Chopra to produce the songless film especially at a time when the film songs had become one of the main ingredients for the box office success of the films. Later, he also produced another songless film, ‘Ittefaaq’ (1969) which happened to be last film B R Chopra and Yash Chopra worked together.
‘Gumraah’ (1963) was a personal triumph for B R Chopra as a director for his matured handling of a theme of extra-marital affair. He was successful in garnering sympathy for all the three protagonists of the film – Ashok Kumar as husband, Mala Sinha as his cheating wife and Sunil Dutt as the lover of Mala Sinha. By the way, in the same year (1963), ‘Ye Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke’ (1963) was released with a same theme.
‘Waqt’ (1965) was B R Chopra’s first colour. multi-starer and a high budget film. The film was directed by Yash Chopra. The usual ‘lost and found’ formula got reinvented with this film with sleek screen-play and dialogues. For the first time, a B R Film had elaborate sets and high glamour quotients. This film set the trend for Yash Chopra when he produced and directed films under his own banner.
During his 5 decades of association with Hindi films, B R Chopra produced 35 films and directed 20 films. Some of the major films he produced were ‘Hamraaz’ (1967), ‘Aadmi Aur Insaan’ (1969), ‘Daastaan’ (1973), a remake of ‘Afsaana’ (1951), ‘Dhund’ (1973), ‘Zameer’ (1974), ‘Chhoti Si Baat’ (1975), ‘Karm’ (1977), ‘Pati, Patni Aur Woh’ (1978), ‘The Burning Train’ (1979), ‘Insaaf Ka Taraazu’ (1980), ‘Nikkah; (1982), ‘Mazdoor’ (1983), ‘Tawaif’ (1984) ‘Aawaam’ (1987), ‘Kal Ki Aawaaz’ (1992), ‘Baaghbaan’ (2003), ‘Baabul’ (2006), ‘Bhootnath’ (2008) etc.
In 1972, Yash Chopra separated from B R Films and established his own banner, Yash Raj Films. This separation seems to have affected B R Films as most of his film made after Yash Chopra’s exit from B R Films, did not reach the level of successes as his earlier films got. However, B R Chopra undertook a mammoth work of TV serial ‘Mahabharat’ for Doordarshan with 94 episodes which were telecast during 1988-90. ‘Mahabharat’ became one of the most successful TV serials which was high TRP ratings even on the repeat telecasts.
‘Baaghbaan’ 2003) was a sort of a ‘come back’ film for B R Films followed by ‘Baabul’ (2006). However, B R Films could not sustain the new success as both B R Chopra and his son, Ravi Chopra passed away in 2008 and 2014 respectively. After ‘Bhootnath’ (2008), B R Films have not produced any film.
B R Chopra was conferred with Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1998 in recognition of his contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinemas. He was awared Padma Bhushan in 2001.
‘Ek Hi Raasta’ (1956) was the first film produced and directed by B R Chopra under his own banner, B R Films. The star cast included Ashok Kumar, Meena Kumari, Sunil Dutt, Yashodhara Katju, Ravikant, Manik Kapoor, Uma Dutt, Nazir Kashmiri, Radhakishen etc. Kumkum and Radhika were the guest actors in the film.
The film had 8 songs (including one multiple version) of which 7 songs have already been covered on the Blog, the details of which are as under:
| Songs | Date of Posting | Singers |
|---|---|---|
| Chali gori pee ke milan ko chali | 31/01/2009 | Hemant Kumar |
| Saanwle salone aaye din bahaar ke | 21/04/2009 | Hemant Kumar -Lata |
| Bade bhaiyya laaye hain London se chhori | 11/04/2012 | Asha Bhosle |
| Chamka ban kar aman ka taara | 15/08/2012 | Lata-Hemant Kumar |
| Bekas ki aabroo ko neelaam kar ke chhoda | 27/11/2012 | Lata Mangeshkar |
| So ja nanhe mere tu to so jaa Multiple version song | 31/03/2021 | Hemant Kumar-Lata Mangeshkar |
On the occasion of 13th Remembrance Day of B R Chopra, I present a song ‘kaisi lagi jaaye to jaaye jiya’ from ‘Ek Hi Raasta’ (1956) rendered by Asha Bhosle and Usha Mangeshkar. The song is written by Majrooh Sultanpuri which is set to music by Hemant Kumar. It is a dance song in which Asha Bhosle and Usha Mangeshkar sing for Kumkum and Radhika respectively.
With this song, all the songs from ‘Ek Hi Raasta’ (1956) have been covered on the Blog.
Note: The early life sketch of B R Chopra is based on his interview recorded in 1995 after he was conferred ‘Filmfare Life Time Achievement Award’. The interview was published on April 4, 1997 in rediff.com.
Audio
Video
Song-Kaisi lagi kaisi lagi (Ek Hi Raasta)(1956) Singers-Asha Bhosle, Usha Mangeshkar, Lyrics-Majrooh Sultanpuri, MD-Hemant Kumar
Both
Lyrics
kaisi lagi
kaisi lagi
jaaye to jaaye jiya
laagi na chhoote aisi lagi
kaisi lagi
kaisi lagi
jaaye to jaaye jiya
laagi na chhoote aisi lagi
kaisi lagi
kaisi lagi
jaaye to jaaye jiya
laagi na chhote aisi lagi
kothhe pe main to khadi thhi bholepan mein
chori chori koi samaaya mere man mein
kothhe pe main to khadi thhi bholepan mein
chori chori koi samaaya mere man mein
dheere se bolo jiya
kaisi lagi
dheere se bolo jiya
kaisi lagi
aisi lagi
jaaye to jaaye jiya
laagi na chhoote
aisi lagi
kaisi lagi
kaisi lagi
jaaye to jaaye jiya
laagi na chhoote aisi lagi
jiya na maane ke ruk ruk machle
koi ye pukaare bache to zara bach le
jiya na maane ke ruk ruk machle
koi ye pukaare bache to zara bach le
haaye re haaye daiyya
kaisi lagi
haaye re haaye daiyya
kaisi lagi
aisi lagi
jaaye to jaaye jiya
laagi na chhote aisi lagi
kaisi lagi
kaisi lagi
jaaye to jaaye jiya
laagi na chhoote aisi lagi
dar ke maare kaleja mora dhadke
kahin more saiyyan ye chunri pakad ke
dar ke maare kaleja mora dhadke
kahin more saiyyan ye chunri pakad ke
laagoon main tohra piya
kaisi lagi
laagoon main tohra piya
kaisi lagi
aisi lagi
aisi lagi
aisi lagi
jaaye to jaaye jiya
laagi na chhoote
aisi lagi
kaisi lagi
kaisi lagi
jaaye to jaaye jiya
laagi na chhoote
aisi lagi
kaisi lagi
kaisi lagi
jaaye to jaaye jiya
laagi na chhoote
aisi lagi
3 Responses to "Kaisi lagi kaisi lagi"
November 20, 2021 at 11:20 am
@Kamath Sir, thanks for this post. I am very much fascinated with BR Films and director B.R. Chopra and the movies produced by them. Enjoyed this article a lot. Thanks for the information about BR. Chopra’s life and his filmography. I have seen many of the films from this list and have likened them always, and also like to watch them many times. Music of BR films have always been great and unforgettable.
Congratulations to you and Atul ji for covering all songs of ‘Ek Hi Rasta-1956’ and its joining to the ‘list of movies – all songs covered’.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
November 17, 2021 at 3:36 pm
video link of the song (as the initial one is not working)
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