Mere mehboob meri baat tumhen kyaa maaloom
Posted on: September 15, 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 Lalkaar-1972.
It is not common to see me writing on a film after 1970. I have been writing on old films since 2012 and have written more than 1100 posts so far on this Blog alone. But on a cursory look at my own figures, I find that I have written less posts on songs from films after 1970. It is certainly not because they are not good, but because my comfort zone is films before 1970, especially before 1960. The stats for my posts say that I wrote
| Decade | Number of posts for songs of that decade |
|---|---|
| 1931-1940 | 152 |
| 1941-1950 | 438 |
| 1951-1960 | 419 |
| 1961-1970 | 46 |
The rest are for films after 1970 and NFS.
I have always maintained that “not all songs before 1970 are good and not all songs after 1970 are bad. There are good and bad songs in every decade “. The point is I do not listen to songs after 1970 much, as much as those before 1970. Nevertheless, for some really good and appealing songs, I did write on songs from later films ….even for a song of 2018 !
I have selected today’s song because it is a special song. It is the only song sung by Mala Sinha as a Playback singer, though it was shot on her in the film. In the true sense it may not be a ‘ playback song’, but certainly it was pre-recorded and she lip synched on it on the screen. It is a duet with Manhar (Udhas)-younger brother of the more famous singer Pankaj Udhas.
Mala Sinha was an educated, hard working actress. Though she worked with leading Banners and was Heroine to well known Heroes, she was never counted among the Class I Heroines of her Times. She worked with many newcomers, like Dharmendra etc. Her career spanned a long time but she never got a single Filmfare Award, though nominated 4 times.
Mala Sinha was born in a Bengali Nepalese Christian family in Calcutta,on 11-11-1936. Mala Sinha claimed herself to be of a Bengali descent Nepali many years ago in a T.V. interview. They named her Alda. Her friends at school used to tease her by calling her Dalda (a brand of vegetable oil), so she changed her name to Mala. In her childhood she learnt dancing and singing.
Although she was an approved singer of All India Radio, she has sung only one duet-with Manhar- in the film Lalkar-1972. But as a singer she has done stage shows in many languages from 1947 to 1975.
Mala started her career as a child artist in Bengali films Jai Vaishno Devi followed by Shri Krishan Leela, Jog Biyog and Dhooli. Noted Bengali director Ardhendu Bose saw her acting in a school play and took permission from her father to cast her as a heroine in his film Roshanara (1952)-Bangla film, her cinematic debut.
After acting in a couple of films in Calcutta, Mala had to go to Bombay for a Bengali film. There she met Geeta Bali, a noted Bollywood actress, who was charmed by her and introduced her to film director Kidar Sharma. It was Sharma who cast her as a heroine in his Rangeen Ratein-56. Her first Hindi film was Badshah-54 opposite Pradeep Kumar, then came Ekadashi-55, a mythological film. Both failed, but her lead role in Kishore Sahu’s Hamlet-54, paired opposite Pradeep Kumar, fetched her rave reviews in spite of it failing at the box office. Films like Lai Batti (actor Balraj Sahni’s only directorial venture), Nausherwan-E-Adil where she starred as the fair maiden Marcia in Sohrab Modi’s romance about forbidden love and Phir Subah Hogi, which was director Ramesh Saigal’s adaptation of Dosteovsky’s Crime and Punishment established Mala Sinha’s reputation as a versatile actress who took the maximum career risks by accepting unconventional roles.
Mala was a singer of some repute and used to sing for All India Radio; she was not allowed to sing playback (even for herself) in the movies with the lone exception being 1972’s Lalkar. In the 1950s, she had a string of hits opposite Pradeep Kumar like Fashion -1957, Detective -1958, Duniya Na Mane-1959 though their first two ventures had failed. The films she did with Pradeep Kumar were men-oriented. In 1957, noted Bollywood actor and film director Guru Dutt (the husband of Geeta Dutt) cast Mala in his film Pyaasa-1957 in a role originally intended for Madhubala. Mala gave a memorable performance as the relatively unsympathetic part of an ambitious woman who chooses to marry a rich man (played by actor Rehman) and have a loveless marriage rather than a poor, unsuccessful poet and her impoverished lover (played by Guru Dutt) whom she ditches. Pyaasa remains to this day a classic in the history of Indian cinema and a turning point for Sinha.
After Pyaasa her major successes were Phir Subah Hogi-1958 and Yash Chopra’s directorial debutsDhool Ka Phool -1959 that elevated her into a major dramatic star. There was no looking back for Sinha then as she was part of many successful movies from 1958 to the early ’60s like Parvarish -1958, Ujala, Main Nashe Mein Hoon, Duniya Na Mane, Love Marriage -1959, Bewaqoof -1960, Maya -1961, Hariyali Aur Rasta and Dil Tera Deewana -1962, Anpadh, Bombay Ka Chor -1962. Critics believe her career best performance was in Bahurani -1963, Gumrah, Gehra Daag, Apne Huye Paraye and Jahan Ara. Apart from pairing with Pradeep Kumar, her pairing opposite Raaj Kumar, Rajendra Kumar,Biswajit and Manoj Kumar in women-oriented films were appreciated by audiences, with her films opposite Biswajitbeing the most popular. She did 10 films with Biswajit. In 2007, they won the Star Screen Lifetime Achievement Award, calling them on stage together giving due respect to their popularity as a pair who have tasted box office success.
The most remarkable feature of Mala Sinha was that most of her 1960s and 1970s hits were fueled by her own star power as much as the heroes and most of the time her role was more powerful than the hero. Though she was pitted opposite her seniors like Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Kishore Kumar, Pradeep Kumar and when she acted opposite the emerging stars from late 1950s like Shammi Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar and Raaj Kumar, she made sure her role was as good as theirs.
In 1966, Sinha went to Nepal to act in a Nepali film called Maitighar when the Nepali film industry was still in its infancy. This was the only Nepali film she did in her career. Her hero in the film was an estate owner called Chidambar Prasad Lohani. Soon after, Mala Sinha married C. P. Lohani with the blessings of her parents. From the beginning theirs was a long-distance marriage with Lohani based in Kathmandu to look after his business and Sinha living in Bombay with their daughter Pratibha. She continued acting after her marriage.
From 1974, she cut down on her assignments as the lead actresses. She accepted strong character roles in films like 36 Ghante -1974, Zindagi -1976, Karmayogi -1978, Be-Reham -1980, Harjaee -1981, Yeh Rishta Na Tootay, Babu (film) and Khel, which were popular.
In the early ’90s Madhuri Dixit was promoted as new Mala Sinha in magazines. But, after 1994, she completely withdrew from industry and has given very few public appearances. In Dhool Ka Phool and B.R. Chopra’s Gumrah, she played the first unwed mother and adulterous wife respectively in Hindi cinema. As she grew older, she gracefully moved on to doing character roles that befitted her age. She was last seen in Zid -1994. Though Mala evinced as much interest in her daughter Pratibha’s career as her father did in her career, she was unable to achieve the same success for her daughter.(adapted from nett4you and wiki).
Mala Sinha came from Calcutta to make a career in Bombay films. In Calcutta she worked in a Bilingual film ‘Chitrangada-54’ in Bangla and Hindi. In 54 again, she did her first film in Bombay, Badshah-54, then came Hamlet-54, Riyasat-55 and Ekadashi-55. In all she did 105 films.
In all her interviews, Mala Sinha always quoted “Rangeen Raten”-56 with Shammi Kapoor as her first film in Bombay. She was ashamed of revealing that in film Riyasat-55, her Hero was Mahipal and in film Ekadashi-55 it was Trilok Kapoor. She always hid this fact. There are many Heroines who want to hide their struggling days. For example,in the film “Professor”-62 Shammi Kapoor’s Heroine was Kalpana. Though touted as her first film, her first film was Pyar ki Jeet-62, opposite Mahipal- a fact which Kalpana always hid from everyone.
Similarly, A grade Heroine Meena Kumari also had done several Mythological and costume films before Baiju Bawra took her high up and above other Heroines. Films like Veer Ghatotkach-49, Shri Ganesh Mahima-50, Laxmi Narayan-51, Hanuman Paataal vijay-51 and Alladin aur Jadui Chirag-52 had Mahipal as her Hero. In her later years, she always hid her earlier film Heroes.
Even comedian Johnny Walker, who is supposed to have made a beginning with Baazi-51, had earlier worked in “The last message or Aakhri paigham”-49. However this fact is not told by anyone.
Not only actors, but even singers do this. They hesitate to say that they first sang for C grade films. Take the case of Sudha Malhotra, who used to declare Arzoo-50 as her first film, under Anil Biswas, but she never told that earlier she had sung 3 songs in film Aakhri paigham-49, under the baton of Abid Hussein Khan, composer.
It is very unfortunate that once the artiste becomes famous, he tends to forget his humble beginning with a less known film or a composer. This is because they are ashamed of it. I feel the blame also goes to people who take their interview, because the interview takers do not do proper homework. Many times they do not know anything and simply note down whatever is told by the artiste.
Film Lalkaar-1972 was made by Sagar Art International, Bombay. It was directed by Ramanand Sagar – who became world famous later for screening his record making epic TV serial Ramayana from 25-1-1987 to 31-7-1988. The music was by kalyanji-Anand ji ably assisted by Jaykumar Parte – who was their assistant for many years. Parte is practically unknown to most people. He was not only the most wanted arranger in the industry, but he had given music to 4 Hindi films and 1 Marathi film. The other assistant was Babla-their own younger brother and a well known musician. The third assistant was Frank Fernando – one of the pMD pair of Roy-Frank duo who gave music to only 1 film, Gogola-1966.
The cast of the film lalkaar-1972 was Rajendra Kumar, Mala Sinha, Dharmendra, Kumkum, Dara Singh, Dev Kumar, Ramesh Deo, Nazir Hussain and a long list of other actors. Today’s duet song is the only Hindi film song sung by Mala Sinha in her career. She makes Debut here and ALL her songs are now covered on the Blog, with this song !
Video (Partial)
Audio (Full)
Song- Mere Mehboob meri baat tumhen kya maaloom(Lalkaar)(1972) Singers-Manhar Udhas, Mala Sinha (Debut Song), Lyricist- Hasrat Jaipuri, MD- Kalyanji – Anandji (asstt. Jay Parte)
Lyrics
Mere mehboob
meri baat
tumhen kya aa maaloom
meri dhadkan
mere jazbaat
tumhen kya aa maaloom
meri nazron ke sawaalaat
tumhen kya maaloom
kaise kat’te hain ye din raat
tumhen kya aa maaloom
naam lekar kabhi ek bar pukaara hota
teri awaaz ka kuchh humko sahaara aa hota
meri khamoshi bhi awaaz diya karti hai
baat munh se nahin
nazron se hua karti hai
jhooth
yoon bhi hoti hai mulaakaat
tumhen kya maaloom
tumhi rahte ho mere saath
tumhen kya maaloom
tum mujhse baat kyun nahin karte
darta hu kahi tum naraj na ho jao
pyar kuch jurm nahi hai jo dara karte ho
raaz apne se chhupate ho
ye kya karte ho
lab pe aa jaye agar raaj to vo raaz nahin
tumse keh doon ye mere ishq ka andaaz nahin
ek deewaane ke haalaat
tumhen kya maaloom
tumne bhadka diye jazbaat
tumhen kya maaloom
mere mehboob meri baat
tumhen kya aa maaloom
7 Responses to "Mere mehboob meri baat tumhen kyaa maaloom"
September 15, 2022 at 6:50 pm
Mala Sinha’s singing talent is very well written.
Its surprising to know that many renowned artists hide their startup jerks.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
September 15, 2022 at 5:59 pm
Thanks Arun ji for the post on Mala Sinha,very much informative…..
(I don`t remember exactly But many film stars of 70`s sang under (or you call it uttering a few words in between the songs, and they get the credit as playback singers)
On the spot I can remember a few actors who sang under Kalyanji Anandji `s music direction:
1)Mukri in Upasana (1971)
2)Vinod Khanna in Hum tum aur woh
3)Hema Malini in Haath ki safai
4)Ashok Kumar in 1971 Kangan
5)Shatrughan sinha 1973 in Heera
6)Nutan in Yadgaar(1970)
actors sang under different music composers
Vinod Mehra (Music : Laxmi pyare )in
Ooparwaala jaane
Shabana Azmi in Anjuman(Music: Khayyam)
Shabana Azmi in Mandi(Music: Vanraj bhatia)
Biswajeet in Do shikari/anjana safar(Music: Chitragupta)
Shatrughan Sinha in Dulal guha`s Dost(music:Laxmi Pyare)
Rekha in Khubsoorat(1980)(Music:R.D.Buman)
Rekha in Vinod Pande`s Ek naya rishta(1988)(Music:Khayyam)
Saira bano in Aman(Shankar Jaikishan)
Asrani in Alaap(music:Jaidev)(1977)
sridevi in chandni
Kamal Hassan in sadma
Madhuri dixit in Devdas
Mithun chakraborthy in Ilaakhaa(Nadeem shravan)
Vyjayantimala in Sangam
Meena Kumari in some films (?)
Kareena Kapoor in 2004 Dev(music:Aadesh Srivastava)
Raj Kapoor in one film
Manmohan Krishna in one film
Dilip Kumar in 1957 Musfir with lata(Music Salil chowdhury)
Madhubala as baby mumtaz sang in some films
I will stop here itself, may be some more names left….
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September 16, 2022 at 11:26 am
Prakash ji,
The case of Mala Sinha is different. She sang a regular full song as a singer, not just few words like many actors mentioned above by you. The above actors might have been declared Playback singers, but in reality they can not be called so, as they sang few words for themselves, not for others.
Even Mala Sinha can not be called a Playback singer in the strict definition as she sang and lip synched for herself and not anyone else.
-AD
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September 16, 2022 at 11:31 am
Thanks Arunji for writing back to me and for updating me,
Regards
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