Sukh chain ke din sab beet gaye
Posted on: April 18, 2022
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.
| Blog Day : | 5022 | Post No. : | 16930 | Movie Count : | 4596 |
Today’s song is from an obscure old film – Chhote Sarkar-1938.
My today’s post is No.32 of this year i.e. 2022. Since 1st January 2022, the pattern of my poists seems to have changed perceptibly. Earlier I was known for writing on films of the 30’s and the 40’s on priority, but this year, till my last post (31 posts), I have written only 3 posts on films of the 30’s, only 11 posts on films of the 40’s but 17 posts on films of the 50’s. Come to think of it, there is no intentional shift in my policy or any purpose in doing so, but it looks like it is happening inadvertently. My today’s post will be only the 4th post on a film of the 30’s this year.
Do I have an inclination towards antique films ? YES is the answer. I like to bring the unknown, the less known and the not so famous artistes of the early era to light, to bring the pillars of the film industry in Limelight, so that the younger generation knows about them and becomes aware of the difficult times through which the stalwarts carried our film industry towards today’s Glory !
While doing so, I had to do the hard yards to dig information about these forgotten artistes, contact several Historians, buy and read many books, spend hours on the Internet and collect and record the information. I was singularly Lucky to get a suitable platform to showcase my results, in the form of Atul ji’s Blog. Atul ji’s help in publishing my posts untiringly has helped not only me but the Blog has also now become a storehouse of Credible, Reliable Information on the old timers in the film world, for the use of future students of film history. Thanks a million, Atul ji.
During the writing of my posts here since 2012 till date, I have noticed one thing. I am not sure of anyone else, other than Atul ji, who has also noticed it. I observed that in the early times of this Blog from 2008, the number of visitors kept on increasing and many of the visitors took pleasure in putting in their comments on almost every post. Comments on popular film songs were naturally more, but later readers also commented on other posts, about the artistes, songs, film making, their experiences and provided additional information. Therefore, visiting the Blog was a pleasure not only to enjoy the songs posted, but also to read different comments from the readers.
I remember there were several readers from abroad who used to write comments. There were comments from readers from Singapore, Fiji, Malaysia, Australia, Newzealand, Africa, European countries, UK, USA, Dubai, Pakistan and also from several cities of India like Lucknow, Delhi, Calcutta, Bombay, Pune,Andhra, Madras, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala – in fact from all nooks and corners of India and the world. Many of them were quite knowledgeable too.
Unfortunately, from somewhere from 2016-17 onwards I saw a steady drop in the number of comments from readers. Notably comments from readers from abroad diminished considerably and as of today, their number is almost nil. What could be the reason for this change ? One guess is that the older generation which commented is now too old and hence not active. The other guess could be that initially, as the Blog was new, most songs posted were the popular and well known ones, which the readers knew well, but slowly that stock, naturally, thinned out and unknown and unheard new but old songs were being discussed, which were not known to many present readers to comment upon.
The second guess seems to be more convincing. Nowadays younger contributors are posting songs from the 70’s, 80’s and the 90’s and comments are trickling from equally younger readers, though not so many as in the past. I believe the trend of appreciation, encouraging and commenting changes with the change of Readers’ Profiles.
Today’s film Chhote Sarkar-1938 was made by Sundar Movietone (never heard of it). It was directed by Homi Master. He was one of the directors of the First Generation of Hindi films of the early era, who was a spillover from the Silent Film Era. Since his career as a Director ended in 1946, there is no chance that the younger generation readers would know about him, so here is some information on him.
Homi Master (1900–1949) was an actor-director of early Indian cinema. His work extended from the silent era to the talkie era and up to his death. He produced his best films for Kohinoor Film Company and he has been referred to as “silent cinema’s most successful film-maker”.
He acted as Duryodhan in the then-controversial film Bhakta Vidur (1921), as hero in Kala Naag and Kulin Kanta. Some of his important films were Bismi Sadi, Manorama, Do Ghadi Ki Mauj (1935), Samaj Ki Bhool (1934) and Gul Sanobar (1934). He was active from 1921 to 1949 and made over seventy-eight films. His later films in Gujarati and Hindi were termed as B movies. He died in 1949.
At the age of thirteen, Master joined a famous Parsi theatre group called Bilwala. He soon became a popular stage actor, with his performance in Pakzaad Parveen being appreciated. Following a brief stint at the Phalke Film company, he joined Kohinoor Film Company working initially as an actor. He went on to direct films for them starting with Bismi Sadi.
Homi Master acted in three films before getting a chance to direct. The three films, Bhakta Vidur (1921) (in the role of Duryodhan), Ajamil (1922) and Vratasur Vadha (1923), were directed by Kanjibhai Rathod. He played the lead role in Kala Naag, a film he helped co-direct with Rathod in 1924. A crime drama, it was the first “recorded example” using real-life characters and was based on the Champsi-Haridas Murder case in Bombay.
In 1924, Master started his career as a director with Dwarka Sampat’s Kohinoor Film Company. His first film for Kohinoor was Bismi Sadi, starring Raja Sandow, Miss Moti and Noor Mohammed Charlie. The film was about a hawker who becomes a mill-owner and goes on to exploit the people working under him. Manorama (1924) was based on the famous Gujarati romantic poet Kalapi’s autobiographical poem “Hridaya Triputi”. The film was made in the fantasy genre and broke “all records” when it ran for fourteen weeks.
Other significant films at this time were The Telephone Girl (1926), also called Telephone Ni Taruni, produced by Kohinoor, and starring Ruby Myers, Gohar and Raja Sandow. Educated Wife or Bhaneli Bhamini (1927), was another Kohinoor film with Gohar, Vaidya and Raja Sandow. They were social films that were successful at the box office.
Gul Sanobar (1928) was a fantasy production from Kohinoor Film Company, based on Persian fairy tale romances, and directed by Master. It starred the then-popular star Khalil with Miss Yakbal. The film was later remade in 1934, with the same name, directed by Master and produced by Imperial Film Company. The cast included stars of the time like Sulochana (Ruby Myers), D. Billimoria and Zubeida.
His 1934 film Samaj Ki Bhool, was a social film promoting a widow’s right to remarry. It starred Jamshedji, Lalita Pawar, Jilloobai, Dulari and Rafiq Ghaznavi, with music composed by Pransukh Nayak.
In 1935, he directed three films Do Ghadi Ki Mauj a social film produced by Imperial, starring Ruby Myers and D. Billimoria; Ghar Jamai, a social comedy, a Hindi/Gujarati bilingual, produced by Premier Films with story by Mohanlal G. Dave. (A story about a “resident son-in-law” that became a “major success” at the box office). The third film, Naya Zamana was again produced by Premier Films and starred Heera and Ghulam Mohammed with music by Khansaheb.
It was said that Master was sent abroad to Europe to market Phalke’s films . He teamed successfully with scenarist Mohan lal Dave and cameraman D.D.Dabke with actress Gohar to make many popular films. Gohar called him the most dramatic director , better than Mohan Bhavnani or even Chandulal Shah. His first Talkie film was Saubhagya Sundari-1933 and the last was Chamkati Bijli-1946.
He continued to direct films making ‘B’ class films and some in the Gujarati language. According to the Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema, he worked as a production manager at Kardar Studios towards the end of his career. He died in 1949. ( based on The Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema, wiki, Film world-1946 and my notes).
The cast of the film was Jal Merchant, Leela Chitnis, Panna, Heera, Meher Bano, Raj kumari etc. Jal Merchant was a typical Parsi born on 15-1-1920 and brought up in the Parsi Colony area in Bombay. Though his family had a business, he did not join it as he was keen to make a career in films. Bombay being the centre of filmmaking he had plenty of chances. He did not have a masculine, wide chested body, but he compensated with his superb acting skills. He could also sing in his soft voice.
It was a colorful stellar team that Jal Merchant formed with Zubaida in the early talkies. But it was in mythological roles, and not romantic parts, that they first won the hearts of cinegoers. The first picture that made them a rage everywhere was Sagar’s “Veer Abhimanyu,” in which Jal played Abhimanyu to Zubaida’s Uttara. In the next one- Subhadra Haran-32, Jal was Arjun, Abhimanyu’s father, while Zubaida played Subhadra.
Like Zubaida, Jal Merchant joined films in the “silent days”. It was a change of medium for him, for he had been playing female roles on the Gujarati stage! His performance as the heroine of “Shankit Hriday,” a Gujarati play, proved a hit, and Nagendra Majumdar, who directed the play, induced him to switch over to screen acting. Jal joined the Imperial Film Company, and among his early films the most notable was “Vasant Bengali,” a social picture directed by R.S. Chowdhury. In those days, the screen hero generally had more brawn than brains, but the lead player of “Vasant Bengali” was called upon to show more intelligence than physical prowess. Jal did just that – and won instant fame.
After the advent of sound, Jal’s first four films for Sagar were mythologicals – “Veer Abhimanyu-1931,” Subhadra Haran-1932,” “Pandav Kaurav-1933” and “Mahabharat-1933”. For close-ups of these pictures, Jal used to wear trousers and only the upper part of his body was made up for his role. But in one close-up his pants were also visible! The shot was cut on the first day of screening in Bombay.
Gifted with a fine voice, he also delighted cinegoers with his singing. He sang 33 songs in 7 films-Meerabai-32, Pandav Kaurav-33, Mahabharat-33, Grihalaxmi-34, Aaj kal-34, Sone ka Shahar-35 and Toofan Express-1938.
In “Zarina,” written and directed by Ezra Mir, he was the tongawallah who falls in love with a dancing girl at a carnival. This poignant romantic tragedy won plaudits for both Jal and Zubaida. It was their last picture together for Sagar. Zubaida left Sagar and Sabita Devi took her place. Sabita and Kumar were the first stars imported from Calcutta. Sabita co-starred with Jal in “Phantom of the Hills,” directed by Ezra Mir, in which he played a dashing Pathan riding a white charger. In “Educated Wife” (Grihalaxmi), directed by Sarvottam Badami, he played a modern educated youth. In this role the versatile Jal revealed a genial personality. Sabita was again his co-star.
Jal and Zubaida played stellar roles together once again in “Aaj Kal,” directed by R.S. Chowdhury. This was the last important picture for both stars. Jal acted in about n15 Silent films and 29 Talkie films. His first Talkie film was Veer Abhimanyu-1931 and his last Talkie film was Armaan 1953.
Jal Merchant, who already had a family flourishing business, retired from the screen. Later, he started to live a quiet life in Bandra. Jal was an excellent shikari in his younger days. His screen associates also remember his soft voice, gentle manners and sensitive, handsome face. His pairing with Zubeida and Sabita Devi was very popular. He had all the gentle Parsee manners and was a popular co-star for the heroines.
I have read somewhere that Jal Merchant died in 1963 in Bombay. He was unmarried till the end, like many Parsis. ( information from an article by V.P.Sathe in Screen, ‘Screenplay’ by Isak Mujawar, HFGK, muVyz and my notes have been used in this post, with thanks.)
With today’s song by Rajkumari, film Chhote Sarkar-1938 makes its Debut on this Blog.
Song- Sukh chain ke din sab beet gaye (Chhote Sarkaar)(1938) Singer- Rajkumari, Lyricist- Pandit Amar, MD- Shanti Kumar Desai
Lyrics
Sukh chain ke din
sab beet gaye
dukh rain andheri chhaayee hai
sukh chain ke din
sab beet gaye
dukh rain andheri chhaayee hai
koi sang na saathi saath sakhi
koi sang na saathi saath sakhi
sapna sa ?? mein aayi
sapna sa ?? mein aayi
Sukh chain ke din
sab beet gaye
dukh rain andheri chhaayee hai
jhoothha prem ye jhoothhi aashaa
jhoothha prem ye jhoothhi aashaa
jhoothhi kaaya
jhoothhi maaya
jhoothhi kaaya
jhoothhi maaya
jhoothhe jag mein
???
jhoothhe jag mein
???
jhoothhi preet lagaayi hai
jhoothhi preet lagaayi hai
Sukh chain ke din
sab beet gaye
dukh rain andheri chhaayee hai
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
April 18, 2022 at 5:29 pm
Sir ji, thanks for this informative post.
Enjoyed the song too.
However could not find the missing words from the lyrics as of now. Will try again.
Actually I read the half of this post in the morning itself when I received the notification on mail.
Regarding your thoughts on the ‘comments by readers’ I think there might be many reasons. Posts on movies of 1940s, 1950s and 1960s are also coming on the blog but there also we can find very less comments coming. Many thoughts come to my mind on this issue, may be I will share later.
Thanks for this detailed post again.
Regards,
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April 18, 2022 at 5:53 pm
Avinash ji,
Thanks for your views. I will await your analysis for less comments.
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