Hai kaun des tumhaara musaafir
Posted on: August 3, 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.
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Today’s song is from the film ‘Tamanna’ (1942).
This was a film made by Laxmi Productions, Bombay. It was directed by Phani Mujumdar and for songs written by SK Kalla, the music was provided by India’s first blind music director KC Dey. In later years there were two more blind MDs. One was Manoharlal Sonik – of the Sonik-Omi duo of MDs and the other was Ravindra Jain. This film was released on 20-6-1942 at the Royal Opera House theater in Bombay.
Film ‘Tamanna’ was an ordinary film, but it became famous afterwards, when it became known that the famous singer Manna Dey had made his debut as a Playback singer in Hindi through this film. However, besides this point, there were few more matters which made this film a special film. In addition to being the debut film for Manna Dey, it was also the debut film for the Banner-Laxmi Productions. Further, it was the first film of its heroine Leela Desai, in the Bombay film world.
People who write on old songs and old films generally write about actors, actresses, directors, lyricists, MDs, singers and also occasionally on the arrangers and the cinematographers. But very rarely, something is written about a producer. Actually it is the producer who conceives the idea of the film, who arranges the finances for the film, who selects a team of director, MD and the cast of the film, still he is not paid much attention. It is because of the producer, an artiste can make debut or an MD gets praise for his music etc, but the producer remains unsung.
Today, we will talk about an enterprising producer of film ‘Tamanna’ who had made several well known films, gave opportunities to many actors, directors and MDs. His name is Chimanlal Trivedi.
Chimanlal Trivedi, was one of the major filmmakers of the 30s and the 40s decades. He was more a producer businessman than a director. While he directed hardly 7 films, he produced close to 50 films – all having A grade actors, directors and composers !
Born on 19-3-1909 at a village near Anand in Gujarat he was from a Brahmin family. He did his schooling in Ahmedabad and technical graduation from Baroda. Being an expert in weaving, he took up a job as a weaving master in Calcutta. Fond of writing, he started writing dramas, which were staged in Bengal and Gujarat. He was attracted towards cinema and tried some work in New Theaters. Knowing that the real playing field is Bombay he reached there. He wrote stories for the film ‘Chevrolet’ (1936) and ‘Danger Signal’ (1937) for Mohan Pictures.
He established his own production company CIRCO (Cine Industries Recording Company) in 1937. By 1943, he had made 12 films. He preferred not to direct his films, but appointed directors like Mohan Sinha for ‘Laxmi’ (1940), ‘Anuradha’ (1940) and ‘Vanmala’ (1941), Balwant Bhatt for ‘Suhag’ (1940) and ‘Madhusudan’ (1941), AR Kardar for ‘Swami’ (1941) and ‘Nai Duniya’ (1942) and Debaki Bose for ‘Apna Ghar’ (1942).
He had the art of getting the most popular stars for his films like, Prithviraj Kapoor, Chandramohan, Durga Khote, Mazhar khan, Bibbo, Surendra, Jairaj, Sitara, Jeevan, Yaqub, Shobhana Samarth, Prem Adeeb, Vishnupant Pagnis, Leela Desai, Pahadi Sanyal, Shanta Apte and many others. Even big directors like Debki Bose, Nitin Bose, Kardar, Mohan Sinha, Sarvottam Badami, Nandlal Jaswantlal, Profull Roy, Sudhir Sen, RS Chaudhary, Phani Majumdar, Balwant Bhatt etc. worked for him. From Prabhat he brought Shanta Apte for Rs. 1,000 pm, and also Chandramohan, Pagnis and Mazhar Khan. His friend Chandulal Shah followed his way and brought KL Saigal from New Theaters !
CL Trivedi was an expert in gathering funds for his films. After CIRCO at Parel, he started Laxmi Productions at Andheri, in 1942. He made ‘Mera Gaon’, ‘Sharafat’, ‘Bhagya Laxmi’, ‘Kadambari’, ‘Tamanna’, ‘Inkaar’, ‘Mohabbat’, ‘Miss Devi’ etc. In 1951, it was Supreme Pictures, then Trivedi Productions in 1952, Kala Kendra in 1953 and with Chitra Bharati in 1954, he made 13 films upto 1961. Top composers like Timir Baran, Ashok Ghosh, Rafiq Gaznavi, KC Dey, Saraswati Devi, Husnlal-Bhagatram and Naushad gave music to his films.
In the end, he turned to stage and started Abhinay Bharati. He staged many dramas in Bombay and Gujarat. Chimanlal always went for big names. He had close relations with Nehru, Menon, Morarji Desai, and other national leaders. His wife Kantaben was a leader herself. Chimanlal Trivedi died on 25-11-1973. His wife, 3 sons and a daughter settled in the USA.
It may be a coincidence, but Gujarati businessmen like Chimanlal Trivedi, Chimanlal Desai, Chimanlal Luhar, Chaturbhuj Doshi, Chimankant Desai, Chunibhai Desai and Chandulal Shah made sizable contribution to Hindi cinema in the first 20 years of the Talkie era. All names started with ‘CH’ ( ? ) !
[Author’s Note: Thanks to Harish Raghuwanshi ji for his book “बॉलिवूडमा गुजरातीयो” in Gujarati, Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema, muVyz and my notes.]
This was also the first film in Bombay for the film’s heroine Leela Desai, a famous and well known name in Bengal made films, till then. She was especially invited by Chimanlal Trivedi for this film. Later she did many of his and others’ films in Bombay. Trivedi had also called 7 different technicians from Calcutta for this film, according to Baburao Patel – editor of Film India in its June 1942 issue. This was to make the film technically superior quality. These technicians did it, but the film had a very weak story. Actually, in those days it was the first film on ‘Village Uplift and Cottage Industry’ – a favorite topic for speeches of Gandhi ji. The story was built around ‘a typically Bengali idea of Platonic Love’, seen in many earlier New Theaters films from Calcutta.
Leela Desai was cast opposite Jairaj. They fall in love. She is very rich, but will get her wealth only after marriage. Jairaj works in a company on a high post. He spends half his salary on research and half on village development. Due to a misunderstanding, on her offering money for Jairaj’s work, they separate. Leela marries Karan Dewan to get the money. She anonymously gives that money to Jairaj for his project. Karan Dewan comes to know the entire story and magnanimously divorces Leela. Jairaj and Leela get married.
Leela Desai was the daughter of Dr. Umedbhai Lalbhai Desai-a Gujarati and his wife Satyabala Devi – a Bengali from Bihar, who was a famous and prominent singer of the 1930s. Leela Desai was born on 1-1-1909 in Newark, New Jersey, America, where her parents had gone for a 3 year work trip. She grew up in India. She learnt dancing from Amla Devi (who married Uday shanker), as well as from Lachhu Maharaj and Sohan lal. She also learnt music at Morris College, Lucknow.
Leela Desai was the 4th of the 5 children born to Dr Umedram Desai from Gujarat and Satybala Devi, daughter of a Bengali landlord settled in Bihar. It was a second marriage for both of them as Satyabala Devi lost her husband during childhood while Dr Umedram Desai got married to his first wife in his childhood through whom he had two sons. Later, Dr Umedram Desai married Gunobati Mitter, a Bengali Christian, for the third time with whom he had 6 children. Before her marriage, Gunobati Mitter worked as a tutor for the children of Dr Umedram Desai and Satyabala Devi in Rampur. So apart from her own 4 siblings, Leela Desai had 8 step brothers/sisters.
Leela Desai was trained in the Bhatkhande Music Institute established in Lucknow in 1926. It has played a vital role in training generations of performing artistes, dedicated gurus and gifted composers. Lucknow has contributed music directors, (like Naushad, Madan Mohan, Roshan), actors and actresses (like Kumar, Iftekhar, Akhtari Bai, Bina Rai, Yashodhara Katju, Swaranlata), singers (Talat Mahmud, Anup Jalota, Dilraj Kaur, Krishna Kalle), writers (like Amritlal Nagar, Bhagawati Sharan Verma, Achala Nagar), lyricists and dancers. Lachhu Maharaj was a very successful choreographer for many films. Pahadi Sanyal, Leela Desai and Kamlesh Kumari of New Theaters at Calcutta were all trained here.
In one of her stage performances in Lucknow, NT’s Director Hem Chander saw her and invited her to Calcutta for work in films. She worked in the film ‘President’ (1937) as the sister of Kamlesh Kumari, opposite Saigal. It was followed by ‘Vidyapati’ (1937), ‘Dushman’ (1938), ‘Kapaal Kundala’ (1939) and ‘Nartaki’ (1940). She also did ‘Adarsh Mahila’ (1937) with Ideal Film company.
Leela Desai had been invited by the students of the Intermediate College in 1941. Bangalore had the distinction of holding festivals of films made by New Theaters and Prabhat Film Co.
BN Sircar’s empire introduced personalities of the stature of PC Barua, Bimal Roy, Debaki Bose, Leela Desai, Phani Majumdar, Timir Baran, Uma Shashi, Nitin Bose, KL Saigal, Pankaj Mullick, Nemo, Sisir Kumar Bhaduri and Jamuna, all of whom later earned all India fame, under the banner of New Theaters. Among his technical achievements were the bringing of sound to Calcutta for Bengali films, and the introduction of the playback system. The elephant logo of New Theaters acted as a magnet to draw crowds throughout the country.
Chimanlal Trivedi brought her to Bombay to act opposite Jairaj in the film ‘Tamanna’. She acted in 5 films of Chimanlal Trivedi. After ‘Tamanna’, Leela Desai acted in films like ‘Sharafat’, ‘Paraya Dhan’, ‘Nagad Narayan’, ‘Inkaar’, ‘Mujrim’, ‘Miss Devi’, ‘Kaliyan’, ‘Meghdoot’, ‘Maharani Minal Devi’, ‘Magadhraj’, ‘Kamla’, ‘Dev Kanya’, ‘Soorat’ and last film ‘Geet Govind’ (1947).
She acted opposite leading actors like KL Saigal, Najmul Hasan, Jairaj, Pahadi Sanyal, Surendra, Chandra Mohan, Khalil, Baburao Pendharkar etc. She worked under top directors like Debaki Bose, Nitin Bose, Kedar Sharma, Phani Majumdar and others. Her sister Monica Desai (who married Phani Majumdar) was also in films. In 1944, Leela also acted in the movie ‘Kaliyan’ with Ramola. Ramola also acted in the film ‘Lalkar’ in the same year. In a span of just 10 years, Leela Desai acted in 21 films and then left films.
She settled in Darjeeling with her mother. Leela Desai owned a house in Darjeeling called ‘Lily Cottage’. Her mother Satyabala Devi lived there until her death. It is possible that Leela knew Manjula or Sumitra Sanyal in Darjeeling. Leela Desai is mentioned in Bollywood actress Sumitra Sanyal’s site.
Today’s song is sung by an unknown male, female and a chorus. I feel it must have been sung by some street singers or in the background in the film. Anyway, enjoy the song….
Song – Hai Kaun des tumhaara musaafir (Tamanna)(1942) Singers- Unknown Female voice, Lyricist – SK Kalla, MD – KC Dey
Male voice + Female voice
Chorus
Lyrics
hai kaun des tumhaara musaafir
kaun des tumhaara musaafir
kahaan ke
haan haan haan
kahaan ke
rahnewaale ae
tum kahaan ke rahnewaale
tere bolon ne praan jagaaye
teri baani se hum yahaan aaye
tere bolon ne praan jagaaye
teri baani se hum yahaan aaye
aa ha ha ha
hum bane kisaan dulaare
maata dharti ke pyaare
hum bane kisaan dulaare
maata dharti ke pyaare
haath bane hathhiyaar hamaare
hum mazdoor hain saare
haath bane hathhiyaar hamaare
hum mazdoor hain saare
hum hain lohaar
hum hain kumhaar
hum hain kapda bun’ne waale
hum hain lohaar
hum hain kumhaar
hum hain kapda bun’ne waale
haath bane hathhiyaar hamaare
hum mazdoor hain saare
haath bane hathhiyaar hamaare
hum mazdoor hain saare
————————————————
Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir Kapur)
————————————————
है कौन देस तुम्हारा मुसाफिर
कौन देस तुम्हारा मुसाफिर
कहाँ के
हाँ हाँ हाँ
कहाँ के
रहनेवाले
तुम कहाँ के रहनेवाले
तेरे बोलों ने प्राण जगाए
तेरी बातों से हम यहाँ आए
तेरे बोलों ने प्राण जगाए
तेरी बातों से हम यहाँ आए
आ हा हा हा
हम बने किसान दुलारे
माता धरती के प्यारे
हम बने किसान दुलारे
माता धरती के प्यारे
हाथ बने हथियार हमारे
हम मज़दूर हैं सारे
हाथ बने हथियार हमारे
हम मज़दूर हैं सारे
हम हैं लुहार
हम हैं कुम्हार
हम हैं कपड़ा बुनने वाले
हम हैं लुहार
हम हैं कुम्हार
हम हैं कपड़ा बुनने वाले
हाथ बने हथियार हमारे
हम मज़दूर हैं सारे
हाथ बने हथियार हमारे
हम मज़दूर हैं सारे
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
August 3, 2022 at 5:36 pm
Thanks Arun ji
for the information regarding everyone related to the song, How can one person manage to gather so much information… Har baar aap mujhe hairaan kar dethe hain Arun ji, Thanks from the bottom of my heart…..for all the things you are providing to us….
and special thanks to Zaffer Bhai/Zaif Bro.for the special uploads…
and Thanks for the cute Devnagri script by Sudhir ji
Regards
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August 3, 2022 at 6:21 pm
Prakash ji,
Thanks for your lavish appreciation. I feel embarrassed and do not know if I deserve this much praise. This works as a motivation for me to continue writing posts.
-AD
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August 3, 2022 at 8:53 pm
Meri aisi haisiyat nahin hai ke main aapke baare mein bol sakoo, still I am writing this to you that you are providing amazing information to all of us, aapko life ki saari achchi baatein/cheezein/good wishes milni hi chaahiye,
Regards
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