Mujhe apna banaaya door door se
Posted on: November 9, 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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Shekhawati region of Rajasthan consists of the districts of Churu, Jhunjhunu, Sikar and some parts of Jaipur and Nagaur districts. The region is well-known for its painted havelis and temples. I had travelled in Shekhawati region in February 2013 mainly to see the magnificent painted havelis. There are hundreds of such havelis, some abandoned, some still being used as residential houses and a few which have been converted into heritage hotels. There are extensively and intricately painted havelis of some of the industrialists like Birla, Singhania, Goenka, Jhunjhunwaala, Podar, Morarka, Modi etc.
Shekhawati region is also known for producing hundreds of musicians, kathak dancers and vocalists – especially from Churu district. Some of the musicians, dancers and singers have been associated with Hindi films since 1931 when the sound films made their presence. A few of them have indirectly contributed to Hindi films by training some film artists in dancing and singing. Here are some of the artists from Shekhawati region who contributed to Hindi film industry.
Pandit Jagannath Prasad (1930-1996), was a classical vocalist from Khudi village. He was a court singer in Nepal and Dharbhanga before settling down for some time in Kolkata. He came to Mumbai in 1941 and remained in Mumbai until his death. His disciples included K L Saigal and Prithviraj Kapoor in Kolkata and Shahu Modak, Mukesh, Premnath, Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor, Raj Khosla, Nutan etc in Mumbai. He also composed songs for ‘Krishnarjuna Yuddh’ (1946) and ‘Prisoners of Golconda’ (1954).
Pandit Gourishankar (1916-1992) was the first kathak dancer to perform kathak dance abroad during the Berlin Olympic in 1936. In 1938, he was appointed as kathak dance teacher in Shanti Niketan in 1941. He shifted to Mumbai and established a dance institution. His disciples included Pahadi Sanyal, Nalini Jaywant, Meena Kumari, Sandhya, Aruna Irani etc. He choreographed dances for Meena Kumari in ‘Paakeezah’ (1972).
Pandit Hanuman Prasad (1913-1969) was from Sujangarh who was a classical vocalist, a kathak dancer, a musician playing multiple musical instruments and a poet. He was the music director for many Hindi films which included ‘Draupadi’ (1944), ‘Raseeli’ (1946), ‘Bhakt Prahlad’ (1946), ‘Hip Hip Hurray’ (1948), ‘Chilman’ (1949), ‘Saudagar’ (1951) etc. He was a choreographer for ‘Geet Gaaya Patharon Ne’ (1964). He died in 1969 after choregraphing one dance song in ‘Jal Bin Machali Nritya Bin Bijli’ (1969). He was also the music teacher in Hill Grange High School, Mumbai till his death in 1969.
Pandit Laxman Prasad Jaipurwaale (1915-1977) was a Hindustani classical vocalist who was a purist in his renditions. So, he kept away from Hindi film music, But his connection with Hindi cinema was through his disciples which included Sudha Malhotra, Aarati Mukherjee and Meenu Purshottam among others.
Pandit Girdhar Prasad Jaipurwaale was the son of Pandit Laxman Prasad Jaipurwaale who, apart from being the Hindustani classical vocalist, exceled in playing Tabla. He played Tabla for many music directors including R D Burman, Laxmikant-Pyarelal and Jagjit Singh, His two sons, Jaydeep and Sanjay are musicians and music arrangers in Hindi films.
Pandit K Mahavir (1938-1987) was a talented music composer from Bidasar who unfortunately remained in the sideline of Hindi film industry as an assistant to some music directors which included Khemchand Prakash. His talent was recognised by Lata Mangeshkar who sang under his baton a few non-film songs in the genre of ghazal and geet. Pandit Hridaynath Mangeshkar was one of his disciples. One of his tough compositions which Lata Mangeshkar sang with ease was aankh se aankh milaata hai koi. After the death of Pandit Hanuman Prasad, Pandit K Mahavir was employed in his place as the music teacher in Hill Grange High School until his death in 1987.
Sohanlal and his brother Hiralal were kathak dancers of Jaipur Gharana who migrated to Chennai in the 1940s. They worked in South films as dancers and choreographers. Later, they shifted to Mumbai and worked as choreographers in many films during 1950s to 1970s. Sohanlal’s major Hindi films were, Madhumati’ (1958), ‘Taj Mahal’ (1963), ‘Parasmani’ (1963), ‘Arzoo’ (1965), ‘Guide’ (1965), ‘Hare Rama Hare Krishna’ (1971), ‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’ (1971) etc. ‘Hiralal did choreography in films like ‘Naagin’ (1954), ‘New Delhi’ (1956), ‘Raagini’ (1958), ‘Ganga Jamuna’ (1961), ‘Prem Pujari’ (1970). ‘Shalimaar’ (1978) etc.
Khemchand Prakash (12/12/1907 – 10/08/1950) was one of the four sons of Pandit Govardhan Prasad who belonged to Khudi village in Churu district. He received in vocal training and in kathak dance from his father and his elder brother, Badri Prasad. He was the court singer and dancer in Royal Court of Jaipur. Later he shifted to the royal court of Nepal as vocalist and kathak dancer. After about 5-7 years, he came to Kolkata and became the assistant to music director Timit Baran. In 1939, he shifted to Mumbai and joined Ranjit Movietone as music director. While in Mumbai, apart from working as a music director, he got further training in Kathak dance from Pandit Achhan Maharaj.
Khemchand Prakash introduced the blending of classical music with Rajasthani folk music for Hindi film music. During his short stint of about 10 years as a music director in Hindi films, he composed songs for as many as 46 films – a very high output in 1940s standards. ‘Pardesi’ (1941), ‘Tansen’ (1943), ‘Bhartruhari’ (1944), ‘Mumtaz Mahal’ (1944), ‘Sindoor’ (1947), Ziddi’ (1948), ‘Mahal’ (1949) are some of his films having his memorable song compositions.
Basant Prakash (27/01/1928-19/03/1996) was the youngest among the 3 brothers of Khemchand Prakash. Because he was 20 years younger than his elder brother, Khemchand Prakash treated him like his son. It is said that later, Basant Prakash was legally adopted by Khemchand Prakash as his son.
Basant Prakash got the initial musical training from Khemchand Prakash and remained with him as his assistant. He was not as prolific as Khemchand Prakash. He composed music for about a dozen films many of which were in combination with other music directors.
Jamal Sen (29/01/ 1904 – 12/04/1979) was born in Sujangarh in Churu district in a traditionally music family. He got his musical training from his father, Jeewan Sen. Apart from being a vocalist, he was also trained in Tabla and Dholak. He started his singing career in All India Radio, Kolkata. He later went to Lahore and worked with music director, Ghulam Haider as a musician for the film, ‘Khazaanchi’ (1941). This was one of the earliest Hindi films in which dholak played by Jamal Sen was prominently used in all the songs.
Jamal Sen’s association with Ghulam Haider ended when the latter migrated to Pakistan in 1948. After working as a freelance musician, he got an opportunity as an indepedent music director when Kidar Sharma selected him for his film ‘Shokhiyaan’ (1951). Although the film did not fare well on the box office, Jamal Sen’s music was well appreciated. Kamal Amrohi selected him as a music director for his film, ‘Daaera’ (1953). Again, while the film failed at the box office, all the songs of the film became popular.
Despite the good music, the two failed films dented Jamal Sen’s career as a music director. He never got big banner films. In the emerging film music scenario, his raag and folk based music was regarded as misfit. During his career of over 2 decades, he was the music director for about a dozen films.
Jamal Sen had 4 sons of which the eldest son, Shambhu Sen became a dancer. He also composed music for two Hindi films, ‘Mrigtrishna’ (1975) and ‘Banno’ (1987). The second son, Dilip Sen along with his nephew Sameer Sen (son of Shambhu Sen) became the music director duo. Shambhu Sen’s third son, Lalit Sen was also the music director who majorly worked for T V Serials and non-film albums.
Mubarak Begum, the playback singer was born in Sujangarh in Churu district but brought up in Ahmedabad. Her playback singing career started with a couple of songs in ‘Aaiye’ (1949). But she could never come close to top 5 female playback singers of her time. Her career progress was earatic. As a result, though she was active as a playback singer up to 1981, she sang less than 200 songs in Hindi films.
Shankar-Shambu, the brothers, famous for their sufi qawwals, belong to Impalsar village in Churu district whose family later settled in Chanduasi village in Aligarh district of UP. They were trained by their father, Pandit Chunnilal in Dhrupad, Dhamar and Khayal singing and later by Ustand Chand Khan of Delhi Gharana. The duo also worked as the music director in 7 Hindi films besides singing in ‘Barsaat Ki Raat’ (1960), ‘Teesri Kasam’ (1966), ‘Aas’ (1972), ‘Laila Majnu’ (1976) among other films.
There are singers born in Shekhawati region but migrated to Pakistan after partition. Ashiq Hussain, one of the prominent actors of Hindi films of 1930s and 1940s and the Kathak dancer, belonged to Shekhwati region whose family had settled in Uttar Pradesh. He abandoned his acting career to concentrate on Kathak dance. Because of his expertise in Banaras Gharana of Kathak dance, he was conferred the title of ‘Nritya Samrat’. He used ‘Samrat’ as his surname when he migrated to Pakistan.
Mehdi Hasan, one of the most popular ghazal singer was born in Luna village of Jhunjhunu district who migrated to Pakaistan. So was Reshma, the folk singer of Pakistan who was born in Loha village of Churu district. Both of them also sang as playback singers in Pakistani films.
The list is not exhaustive as some musicians and dancers may have been associated with Hindi films but did not get documented especially in the initial stage of sound films
For selecting a song for this post, I had varied choices among the artists I covered in the article. Finally, I settled for a song from ‘Kasturi’ (1954) which is set to music by Jamal Sen.
‘Kasturi’ (1954) had 9 songs of which 6 songs, all under the music direction of Pankaj Mullick, have been covered on the Blog. The remaining 3 songs from the film which are yet to be covered on the Blog, have been set to music by Jamal Sen. All the 9 songs were written by Vrajendra Gaur who also directed the film.
I am presenting the 7th song, ‘mujhe apna banaaya door door se’ from the film, rendered by Asha Bhosle. The video clip contains only partial song. The full song is available on the audio clip. The song has a flavour of the Rajasthani folk music.
Note: The basic information about some of the artists mentioned in this article is based on the Ph.D thesis ‘The Contributions of Churu District in the Growth and Development of Jaipur Gharana Kathak’ by Jagdish Sundarlal Gangani – Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Department of Dance (2007). Information on Jamal Sen is based on an article by Peeyush Sharma which appeared on Silhouette.
Audio Clip:
Video Clip (Partial):
Song-Mujhe apna banaaya door door se (Kasturi)(1954) Singer-Asha Bhonsle, Lyrics-Vrajendra Gaur, MD-Jamal Sen
Lyrics (Based on Audio Clip):
ho o o o o
ho o o o o
ho o o o o
ho o o o o
ho o o o o
ho o o o o
ho o o o o
ho o o o o
mujhe apna banaaya door door se
dil ki baaten kahoongi main huzoor se
mujhe apna banaaya door door se
dil ki baaten kahoongi main huzoor se
ho o o o o
meri ankhiyaan sote se jaagin
ho o o o
meri ankhiyaan sote se jaagin
aur jaagin to tum sang laagin
kyun na dekhoon main
kyun na dekhoon main tumko guroor se
mujhe apna banaaya door door se
mujhe apna banaaya door door se
dil ki baaten kahoongi main huzoor se
ho o o o
kiya kismat ne aisa ishaara aa aa
kiya kismat ne aisa ishaara
mila mujhko tumhara sahaaraa aa aa
tumne rishta
tumne rishta nibhaaya majboor se
mujhe apna banaaya door door se
mujhe apna banaaya door door se
dil ki baaten kahoongi main huzoor se
ho o o o o
tum to chhup ke se aaye mere man mein
ho o o o
tum to chhup ke se aaye mere man mein
mera uljha hai man uljhan mein
dekho badla na lo
dekho badla na lo bekusoor se
mujhe apna banaaya door door se
mujhe apna banaaya door door se
dil ki baaten kahoongi main huzoor se
12 Responses to "Mujhe apna banaaya door door se"
November 9, 2021 at 1:32 pm
Kamath ji,
Thanks for well researched and nicely presented post. The article is very informative for most of the readers who may or may not have heard about these legends.
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November 9, 2021 at 5:11 pm
A travel enthusiast, an avid lover of old songs, a serious researcher on lesser known cine-artists and an equally good presenter. Well, all these culminate into yet another good post with all the efforts evident.
Thanks ji.
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November 9, 2021 at 6:44 pm
Dear Sadanand ji,
What can one say? You have excelled yourself in putting out such a comprehensive Post on the contribution from a particular Region of our great Country. Each Region has its own redeeming feature depending upon climate, food habits and of course richness of language. ASAD is not just about Songs but also about people behind the Songs. With such abundance of information now available on ASAD Database, perhaps Atul ji will consider preparing a Compendium, perhaps Encyclopaedic, for the benefit of those who come after us. There are some excellent writers on ASAD list of Contributors and it should be possible to set up a Team.
Just a suggestion.
By the way, there appears to be a Typo Error re Khemchand Prakash. He passed away in 1950, just a few days before the release of MAHAL. You may like to recheck. As most of us know, his brother Basant Prakash had composed this song in ANARKALI, sung by Geeta Dutt, before he fell sick and had to withdraw, leading to the return of C Ramchandra
With warm regards
PARTHA CHANDA
November 9, 2021 at 8:57 pm
Partha Chanda ji,
Thanks for your appreciation.
‘Mahal’ (1949) was released on 19/10/1949. Khemchand Prakash passed away before the release of the film. So, the year 1949 appears correct.
November 10, 2021 at 6:58 am
Partha Chanda ji,
You are correct about the year of death of Khemchand Prakash – 10/08/1950 to be exact. The fillm, ‘Mahal’ (1949) was released on 13/10/1950 which is also mentioned in Raju Bhartan’s book, ‘A Journey Down Memory Lane’ (2017).
I was misled by Wikipedia.
Atul ji,
Please correct the year of death of Khemchand Prakash to 1950.
Thanks.
November 27, 2021 at 7:50 pm
audio :
as a part of BTYC dated 25th June 2021, I have sent the lyrics of Last 3 Remaining Songs to be posted in the blog(email sent date :19th June 2020) from the same Movie including the lyrics of above post.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
November 9, 2021 at 10:11 am
Sadanand Ji,
Thanks for the extremely informative post. I have at least heard about all of the personalities mentioned by you, though I have not registered the works, of some of them, in my memory. Nice to know they have a common connection/link
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November 9, 2021 at 12:42 pm
Satish ji,
Thanks.
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