Sarkaar Ye Ghulaam Geedad Khan Kehlaata Hai
Posted on: June 10, 2023
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 ‘Anaath Ashram’ (1937). This film was made by New Theaters, Calcutta.
During the period from 1931 to 1955. New Theaters was one of the premiere film production companies of India. This was not only a commercial organization, but also a school for developing new talents in the fields of acting, direction, cinematography, editing, sound recording, costume designing and other departments of film making. Almost all who learnt from here, became big names in their later careers. It was here that the artists were encouraged to become editors from cinematographers, and directors from editors. Names like Nitin Bose and Bimal Roy are enough to prove this point.
The company also invested a fortune in developing new techniques and new traditions in every field of film making. Because of these, this premiere Bengal studio became a veritable institution and a promoter of talents that largely influenced the whole course of Indian films. In addition to this, New Theaters gifted the style of film songs introducing the Prelude and the Interlude.
Its biggest contribution, however, was the ‘Playback System’ of songs in the films. Birendranath Sircar, founder proprietor of New Theaters sustained it for 35 years, holding a record of making 177 films under this banner. The nearest ever to come was Sardar Chandulal Shah’s Ranjit Movietone, Bombay with 175 films ! New Theaters was also making films in Hindi and other languages from the beginning.
In 1928-29 BN Sircar founded International Filmcraft and made two silent films. Then the company closed. He then established New Theaters in February 1931 as a family concern, holding all shares within the family and becoming its Managing Director. He employed artistes and technicians on monthly salaries. His first success was ‘Chandidas’ (1932). In the same month he and IA Hafiz ji (who later married actress Ratan Bai) went on an all India tour to appoint distributors for his Hindi films to capture the Indian market. In this tour, he appointed distributors in Madras, Madurai, Trichinapally, Erode, Bangalore,Poona, Bombay, Cawnpore (now Kanpur), Lucknow, Kangra Valley and Lahore. The entire Eastern India and the North East was already in his pocket. Such was his vision !
The film business in Bengal was dominated by Marwadi and Gujarati communities. Some of them were – Lal ji Haridas had distribution rights of all major Bombay film companies, Bajranglal Khemka owned East India Film Co., Radha Kishen Chauria owned Radha Film co., Babulal Chowkhani had Bharat Laxmi pictures. All of them realized that making only Bangla films was not enough, making films in Hindi and other languages was necessary for survival and growth. However, BN Sircar had an upper hand here, being ahead in multi language films !
Films based on famous and popular novels and the film songs and music were the strengths of New Theaters. Ms Panna Raii ji, the first one to do Ph.D on Indian films wrote that “Though I did not know Bangla, I loved to listen to the film songs”. New Theatres popularised Rabindra Sangeet throughout India, which otherwise rotted in Shanti Niketan walls, till then. This was also a tough winner on Bombay’s stale stage and drama songs. Audience soon chose film songs from New Theaters films and discarded Bombay songs in preference.
Directors like Pramathesh Barua, Phani Mujumdar, Debaki Bose etc made films which became hits. New Theaters was on the top during 1932 to 1940, holding the uncontested No.1 position. The first blow came to New Theaters when the second World War broke out in 1939. Due to rationing, the raw film was allowed only for 6 films a year. At that point of time expenses of only the salaries of New Theaters studio was in the range of 45000 to 50000 rupees per month. Imagine how much it would be today at the current inflation rate. It would be about 11 lakhs per month !
In 1940 there was another blow to New Theaters in the form of the exit of Pramathesh Barua from the studio. Then on there was a string of actors, directors and Music Directors leaving New Theaters to join Bombay. Prithviraj Kapoor, Kedar Sharma, Nitin Bose, Debaki Bose, Kanan Devi, Uma Shashi (she ran away while shooting on sets to elope with her future husband), KL Saigal and many more left New Theaters. Added to it was the communal riot in 1946 in Bengal and India’s Partition in 1947. Many stalwarts left the company due to disputes with BN Sircar. Only Pankaj Mullick stayed there with him.
In the 1950’s New Theaters started going downhill. In 1954 New Theaters, due to the financial crisis, was handed over to Aurora Film Company. In January 1956 the company closed down and in 1962 it went into liquidation. It was the End of a Giant ! (based on some information from Sharmila Gooptu’s article ‘The Glory that was New Theaters’ and my notes ).
Cast of the Film ‘Anaath Ashram’ (1937) included Uma Shashi, Najmul Hasan, Jagdish Sethi, Prithviraj Kapoor, Nemo, Manorama, Trilok Kapoor, Kalyani, Harimati and many others. The story screenplay and song lyrics were by Kedar Sharma. The cinematographer was Yusuf Mulji – who was a heavyweight in the New Theaters affairs and a close associate of BN Sircar. He had done films like ‘Devdas’ (1935), ‘Pujarin’ (1936), ‘Anaath Ashram’ (1937), ‘Vidyapati’ (1937), ‘Adhikar’ (1938), ‘Sapera’ (1939), ‘Jawani Ki Reet’ (1939), ‘Doctor’ (1940), ‘Nartaki’ (1940), ‘Savitri’ (1940), ‘Hamara Sansar’ (1945), ‘Azaadi Ki Raah Par’ (1948), ‘Ladki’ (1953) etc.
Let us know more about Uma Shashi and Najmul Hasan…..
Uma Shashi (1915 – 6 December 2000) was a Bengali film actress who appeared in many roles from 1929 to 1951. Her on-screen pairings with actors such as Durgadas Bannerjee, KL Saigal, Pahari Sanyal and Prithviraj Kapoor were popular in those days.
Uma Shashi was born in 1915 in a poor Brahmin family of Calcutta. Her father Nilmani Chattopadhyay’s ancient home was in Dhaka, East Bengal, British India but he later settled in Calcutta. He was a kirtan artist and sometimes acted as a jatra artist in a local jatra groups. As a child Uma received a very little formal education in a local school due to poverty. She received dance and music training from the age of four. Miss Satkari Ganguly was her first music and dance teacher. As Satkari Ganguly was herself an actress, she introduced Uma Sashi to stage and theatre where she started work as a group dancer in theatrical plays of companies like Minerva, Alfred and Russa. Soon after, she started playing minor roles and became a part of a touring jatra group from Calcutta (now Kolkata) to different parts of undivided Bengal like Chittagong, Cox Bazar etc. She was a perfectionist and received elocution lessons from several Hindi, Urdu and English tutors to perfect pronunciation of these languages. After her debut in ‘Bangabala’, a silent movie she had to quit the stage because the authorities would not allow their paid staff to work in films.
Uma Shashi started as an actor in the silent movie ‘Bangabala’ in a small role – Subarna. The other silent films she acted in are ‘Bigraha’ (1930) and ‘Abhishek’ (1931). During this time she started recording songs for Columbia Records (India) and then for Hindusthan Musical Products as Smt. Uma Devi. Uma Sashi appeared in many silent movies as an actor. In 1931, She appeared in the first Bengali language sound film, ‘Dena Paona’ (1931), which was a major hit. In this movie she acted in a crowd scene of Gajan and also sang a song “Baba Apan Bhola Modern Pagal Chhele“ along with Miss Abhavati. She received training in singing from the legendary music director Pankaj Kumar Mullick and recorded songs such as ‘Duniya Rang Rangili Baba’ with him for the movie ‘Dharti Mata’ (1938). Uma Sashi’s first leading role was in ‘Chandidas’ (1932) movie of New Theaters where she played the role of Rami.
Uma Shashi married Mr Guru Prasad Dev, an attorney by profession, and a member of the Shobhabazar Rajbari when she was at the top of her career (she ran away from the shooting sets to elope with him). In those days it was not easy for a glamorous actress to become a member of such a conservative family. So she had to wait for quite some time to be allowed into the ancestral house of Mr Guru Prasad Dev. Uma Sashi was Guru Prasad Dev’s second wife and had to share the house of her husband with his first wife. Later she became a mother of three sons and a daughter. After her marriage she mostly remained outside the film industry. In her later years, Uma Sashi occasionally gave interviews in the print and electronic media and attended film functions, on rare occasions.
Uma Shashi died on 6 December 2000. The news of her death only came to light in the media a few days later. [Based on Film Diary-46, wiki and my notes].
Najmul Hasan was born on 5-9-1910, into a noble family of Lucknow. He was tall and very handsome and was bitten by the urge to act in the films. He left his law studies and headed for Bombay. He met Sarojini Naidu, who was a family friend. She strongly recommended his name to Himanshu Rai. His screen test was taken in which he passed. Though at first sight, Himanshu Rai was not impressed with his manner of behavior, he still selected him for the first film of Bombay Talkies, opposite Devika Rani in ‘Jawani Ki Hawa’ (1935).
During ‘Jawani Ki Hawa’ (1935), which was loosely based on Agatha Christie’s ‘Murder On The Orient Express’, published in 1934, Devika Rani fell in love with Najmul Hasan and they decided to elope. Their second film, ‘Jeevan Naiyya’ (1936) went on floor and the love birds flew to Calcutta. There was a great commotion in Bombay Talkies. Shashdhar Mukherji the production manager was close to his Bengali boss Himanshu Rai. Mukherjee traced the couple to Calcutta, met Devika Rani and convinced her to return to Himanshu. Devika Rani returned and Himanshu Rai pardoned her, but not Najmul Hasan.
Najmul Hasan did not come back to Bombay. He joined the New Theatres in Calcutta and did films like ‘Anaath Ashram’ (1937), ‘Dushman’ (1938), ‘Kapaal Kundala’ (1939), ‘Jawani Ki Reet’ (1939), and ‘Nartaki’ (1940). Even in Calcutta, Najmul Hasan had a rocking affair with superstar Jahanara Kajjan. After doing the film ‘Meenakshi’ (1942), Najmul Hasan did some films like ‘Daasi’ (1944) , ‘Ragini’ (1945) and ‘Kaise Kahoon’ (1945) in Lahore and then he decided to migrate to Pakistan in 1947. In Pakistan he did some films like ‘Eid’ (1951), ‘Ashiyana’, ‘Doctor’, ‘Mirza Jatt’, ‘Taxi Driver’ and ‘Heer Ranjha’ etc.
Najmul Hasan, a very bitter man for the treatment he received in Pakistan, died in 1980 in Pakistan. [Based on Film Diary-46, my notes and Pak sites].
The story of the film ‘Anaath Ashram’ was (as per film booklet),
It is a reformist melodrama about widow-remarriage. Jai Narain (Jagdish Sethi), owner of a colliery, forms a happy family with his wife (Manorama), his daughter Saroj (Uma Shashi), son-in-law Kailash (Trilok Kapoor), an engineer at the colliery, and their son Nannha (Master Satu). Kailash dies in a colliery accident caused by Jai Narain. Nannha is sent to an orphanage and Saroj marries Ramesh (Najamul Hasan), who loves her but is unaware of her previous marriage or of being a stepfather, while Saroj misses her dead husband and longs for her absent son. A former suitor, Ranjit (Prithviraj Kapoor) appears, knowing her past history. Repeated scenes show Nannha pining for his mother.
This story has resemblance to the film story of Prabhat’s ‘Mera Ladka’ (1938) (‘माझा मुलगा’ in Marathi). In this film all the Mangeshkar siblings are seen in one song.
Today’s song is a comedy song. It is sung by children of the ‘Anaath Ashram’ (Orphanage), during their Annual Day function. We do not know the names of singers.
Song – Sarkar Ye Ghulam Geedad Khan Kehlaata Hai (Anaath Aashram)(1937) Singers – Unidentified Child Voice, Lyricist – Kedar Sharma, MD – RC Boral
Chorus
Lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
sarkar ye ghulam geedad khan kehlata hai
bazaar se ye halwa poori lene jaata hai
poori lene jaata hai
halwa lene jaata hai
aaa aaa
sarkar ye ghulam geedad khan kehlata hai
bazaar se ye halwa poori lene jaata hai
poori lene jaata hai
halwa lene jaata hai
main sher hoon is waqt lagi bhookh hai mujhko
main sher hoon is waqt lagi bhookh hai mujhko
ab dekh thodi der mein kha jaaunga tujhko
ab dekh thodi der mein kha jaaunga tujhko
tum hum ko mat khaavo
aavo idhar aavo
tum hum ko mat khaavo
aavo idhar aavo
sarkar ye ghulam geedad khan kehlata hai
bazaar se ye halwa poori lene jaata hai
poori lene jaata hai
halwa lene jaata hai
sarkar ye ghulam geedad khan kehlata hai
bazaar se ye halwa poori lene jaata hai
poori lene jaata hai
halwa lene jaata hai
main sher hoon is waqt lagi bhookh hai mujhko
main sher hoon is waqt lagi ki bhookh hai mujhko
ab dekh thodi der mein kha jaaunga tujhko
haan ab dekh thodi der mein kha jaaunga tujhko
tum hum ko mat khaao
aao idhar aao
tum hum ko mat khaao
aao idhar aao
sarkar ye ghulam geedad khan kehlata hai
bazaar se ye halwa poori lene jaata hai
poori lene jaata hai
halwa lene jaata hai
aaa aaa
sarkaar
————————————————
Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
————————————————
सरकार ये ग़ुलाम गीदड़ खान कहलाता है
बाज़ार से ये हलवा पूरी लेने जाता है
पूरी लेने जाता है
हलवा लेने जाता है
आsss आsss
सरकार ये ग़ुलाम गीदड़ खान कहलाता है
बाज़ार से ये हलवा पूरी लेने जाता है
पूरी लेने जाता है
हलवा लेने जाता है
मैं शेर हूँ इस वक़्त लगी भूख है मुझको
मैं शेर हूँ इस वक़्त लगी भूख है मुझको
अब देख थोड़ी देर में खा जाऊंगा तुझको
अब देख थोड़ी देर में खा जाऊंगा तुझको
तुम हमको मत खाओ
आओ इधर आओ
तुम हमको मत खाओ
आओ इधर आओ
सरकार ये ग़ुलाम गीदड़ खान कहलाता है
बाज़ार से ये हलवा पूरी लेने जाता है
पूरी लेने जाता है
हलवा लेने जाता है
सरकार ये ग़ुलाम गीदड़ खान कहलाता है
बाज़ार से ये हलवा पूरी लेने जाता है
पूरी लेने जाता है
हलवा लेने जाता है
मैं शेर हूँ इस वक़्त लगी भूख है मुझको
मैं शेर हूँ इस वक़्त लगी भूख है मुझको
अब देख थोड़ी देर में खा जाऊंगा तुझको
हाँ अब देख थोड़ी देर में खा जाऊंगा तुझको
तुम हमको मत खाओ
आओ इधर आओ
तुम हमको मत खाओ
आओ इधर आओ
सरकार ये ग़ुलाम गीदड़ खान कहलाता है
बाज़ार से ये हलवा पूरी लेने जाता है
पूरी लेने जाता है
हलवा लेने जाता है
आsss आsss
सरकार
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
June 10, 2023 at 8:23 am
Old is gold… 👍🙏 Keep up the good work
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June 10, 2023 at 6:39 pm
Thank you.
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