Samay tu dheere dheere beet
Posted on: December 29, 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 an ‘Unique and a Special’ duet from the film Parakh-1944.
Why and how this song is ‘Unique and Special’ will come later, but first let me point out another important matter. In recent times, in India, the women are better treated, respected and also honoured for their contribution to running the household as well as earning equally to manage the married life on level fields. Women can be seen practically in every field of activity and have reached the top of the work places in almost every sphere. We have seen them as President, Prime Minister of the country, In Judiciary, Banks and even in Armed forces-be it Army, Navy or Air Force, the police, sports etc. There is hardly any field where women have not put their stamp.
But if you go back in the last 100 years, the conditions were different. Women were not so much independent and in an industry like Film Line, women who joined it would be seen in a very bad light. First of all, getting women to work in films was a Herculean task. The actual, real women who worked in a film was in 1913, when Durgabai kaqmat and her daughter worked in a silent film ” Bhasmasur Mohini”. Till then and even after that for some more time, women’s role were done by good looking young actors in stage dramas and films. As the years passed by, slowly girls started joining films – first the Jews, European and Anglo-Indians and then came girls from singing families (read Tawaifs), before girls from educated and respected families joined films.
By the 30’s and the 40’s there were enough women in films.However, most of them were controlled by their nearest kins like parents (Madhubala’s father and Suraiya’s grandmother) or brothers/sisters (Baburao Apte for Shanta Apte and Sardar Akhtar for Bahar). Many actresses, after their marriage, were prohibited from acting in films by their husbands or in-laws, so they quit films. Some examples are – the first heroine of Talkie films, Zubeida Sr. and also Zubeida Jr. in later times, Monika desai, Latika, Mohana, Shahzadi-both Sr. and jr. etc. Those who continued after marriage followed restrictions put by the Husbands. For example, Mumtaz Shanti had to always remain in a Burkha, except actual shooting. She was not allowed to talk to anyone on the set and had to immediately return home after shootings. Her husband, Lyricist, producer and Director Wali Saheb was a very orthodox Muslim. As long as Shamshad Begum’s father was alive she was not allowed to take her Photo anywhere.
Another example was Shanta Apte. When she joined films, her brother Baburao Apte used to hover around constantly during her shoots to prevent her mixing with others. What’s more, she was not allowed to work with anyone as her husband in the films, except only her brother Baburao- who would do the role of her husband.(only after Baburao’s marriage, Shanta Apte became ‘Free’). Yet another example was Meera Mishra. She was forced to retire after her first film “Milan”-1946, because her husband did not like it. (By coincidence, he died suddenly in a Riot and she did act in some more films, before getting married again).
I have quoted only a few examples, but these things were common and could be seen till almost 1970 or so. On the other hand, in the case of some actresses, their husbands encouraged them to join films ( and earn money for them). Some examples are Meenakshi Shirodkar (Bramhachari-1938), Renuka Devi, Nirupa Roy etc . Now we come to today’s song and why it is a special song.
Today’s song is a duet, sung by Ira Nigam and Hriday Narayan Nigam. Ira Nigam was discovered by Music Director Roshan when he was working for Delhi A.I.R. Ira was only 14 year old when Roshan brought Khurshid Anwar, M.D. to her house. They convinced her father to allow her to sing in films. He agreed but with a condition that she will not sing a duet with any other male singer except himself (he was a Singer in A.I.R.). Thus the first and the only Male-female duet of Ira Nigam in the film Parakh-1944 was sung with her own father ! This makes this song an ‘Unique and special’ song in Hindi film history. Because of this unusual condition of her father, Ira could not get many songs. What’s more, after her marriage with Mr. P.N.Nigam,, she was forbidden to sing in films. Thus her flowering career was nipped in the bud after songs in only 5 more films. The other films were Rakhi-49,Chaar Din-49, Ek Teri Nishani-49, Veer Ghatotkach-49 and Guru Dakshina-50.
The film was directed by Sohrab Modi. Music was by Khurshid Anwar (7 songs) and Saraswati Devi (2 songs). The cast was Mehtab, Balwant Singh, Kaushalya, Shah Nawaz, Latika, Sadiq Ali, Tarapore, Balraj Mehta and others.
A very odd name in the cast can be seen- Balraj Mehta. I am sure, hardly anyone has ever heard his name, but he was a very active person in his life. Born on 22-4-1918 at Lahore, he was the son of Sukh Dayal Mehta – Superintendent in the Commissioner’s office at Lahore. He completed Matriculation from Central Model High School and B.A. from Dayal Singh College of Lahore in 1939.
He was active in the Students’ union and held the General Secretary’s post of Punjab University Students’ Union, in 35-37. He organised the All India Student Federation conference in 36/37. He was a born Leader. He was interested in acting on stage. In 1944, he founded Indian National Theatre (I.N.T.), which is a very famous institution in India now also. He wrote, directed and produced its first stage drama ” Aawaaz’ in 1945.
By now he was married and needed to earn money. He joined the film line. He acted first in ‘Dulla Bhatti’ in 1939-40. Then came Sajjan-41,Panna-44, Parakh-44, Patharon ka Saudagar-44, Gulami-45 and lastly Pul-47.In the period 1944-45, he also became Secretary of Film Artistes’ Association and served it for a long time. In 1947, he entered Politics. After Independence, he became a journalist. After this I found his name in the cast of the film Ayodhyapati-56 and then as a Director of the film Trunk Call-1960. However, there is no information about him after this.
So, here is the love duet song, sung by a Father and a Daughter for the film Parakh-1944. Truly an ‘Unique and special’ song ! Enjoy….
Song- Samay tu dheere dheere beet (Parakh)(1944) Singers- Ira Nigam, Hriday Narayan Nigam, Lyricist- Pt. Sudarshan, MD- Saraswati Devi
Lyrics
Dheere dheere beet
Samay tu dheere dheere beet
Samay tu dheere dheere beet
dheere dheere beet
Samay tu dheere dheere beet
Samay tu dheere dheere beet
duniya ho ik raat chaandni
jeewan ho ik geet
duniya ho ik raat chaandni
jeewan ho ik geet
Samay tu dheere dheere beet
dheere dheere kyun kar ???
baat main teri kaise maanoon
dheere dheere kyun kar ???
baat main teri kaise maanoon
udte jaana
haath na aana
ye hai meri reet
udte jaana
haath na aana
ye hai meri reet
Samay tu dheere dheere beet
Samay tu dheere dheere beet
main pagli tu pagla ban jaana
??? ruk jaa ??
man ka meet rahe nit man mein
???
man ka meet rahe nit man mein
???
Samay tu dheere dheere beet
Dheere dheere beet
Samay tu dheere dheere beet
Samay tu dheere dheere beet
8 Responses to "Samay tu dheere dheere beet"
December 29, 2022 at 11:33 am
Deshmukh Sir,
Whether Ira Nigam and Ira Nagrath(Roshan) were the names of the same person or is it another case of ‘same name confusion’?
Regards,
Avadh Lal
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December 29, 2022 at 11:33 am
Deshmukh Sir,
Whether Ira Nigam and Ira Nagrath(Roshan) were the names of the same person or is it another case of ‘same name confusion’?
Regards,
Avadh Lal
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December 29, 2022 at 12:23 pm
Avadh Lal ji,
They were two different persons.
In the above post, it is already mentioned that Ira Nigam was married to P.N.Nigam.
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December 29, 2022 at 1:33 pm
Avadh Lal ji,
They were two different persons.
In the above post, it is already mentioned that Ira Nigam was married to P.N.Nigam.
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December 31, 2022 at 3:06 pm
Arun Ji,
I agree that in India women are better treated and honoured barring very few exceptions compared to last century.
I am surprised to know that Shanta Apte was not allowed to work with anyone as her husband in the films, except only with her brother Baburao Apte, who would do the role of her husband and she was free to act with others only after Baburao’s marriage.
Orthodox Father Hriday Nigam not allowing daughter Ira Nigam to sing with others but ready to join her in a love duet is another surprise.
I remember one song “Gora Rang Chunariya Kaali” from Howrah Bridge (1958), a love duet sung by real life brother and sister Minoo Mumtaz and Mehmood on screen.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
December 29, 2022 at 11:22 am
Arunji,
This is a very nice song. You have given a wonderful write-up which transports us to that era. Your writings on that period could be compiled into an excellent history of the vintage era. Congratulations.
AK
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December 29, 2022 at 12:28 pm
AK ji,
Thank you.
I am overwhelmed with your appreciation.
You will be surprised if I tell you that I wrote this post in just 45 minutes, without referring to any book. It took me more time to type this article on my laptop.
Thanks again.
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