Haafiz Khuda tumhaaraa hamen bhool na jaanaa
Posted on: November 3, 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 a Costume film- Naqabposh-1956.
The film was produced by N. Buli under the banner of Kaizer Films. The film’s director was Ram Pahwa-a Debutante. He went on to direct 5 more films – Apna Ghar-1960, Nai Imarat-1981, Jai Karolin Maa-1988, Chintamani Surdas-1988 and Majboor ladji-1991….all obscure and unknown films. Comparatively his first film was known better. The cast of the film was Chitra, Manhar Desai, Kumkum, Leela Mishra, Bhudo Advani, Fazloo, Maruti, Gope and others.
There were 2 MDs – Dhoomi Khan and Ram Lal. There were 4 Lyricists, 8 singers for 8 songs. Ram lal is at least a name heard but Dhoomi Khan is perhaps an unknown name. Dhoomi Khan was from Rampur-U.P. He started his film career as an actor and a singer in Calcutta. He acted in bangla film Jiban Maran-1939 and a Hindi film Aah-E-Mazluman-1935. He sang 3 songs – one song each in films of new Theatres, Vidyapati, Mukti and Anath Ashram, all in 1937. In Calcutta, he gave music to 2 Punjabi films-Sassi Punnu-1939 and Jagga Daku-1940.
He came down to Bombay and gave music to Yaad Rahe-1940, Anokhi Sewa-1949, Rehnuma-1949 and naqab Posh-1956. Unfortuni-ately he did not become a successful actot or singer or a Music Director.
The other MD-Ram lal was also not a very lucky one. Ramlal ( Chaudhari) was born on 15 – 12 – 1922 in the holy city of Benaras. He learnt music from Bade Ramdas ji in Banaras Not much details of his childhood or his music education are known. He was 5, when he took to learning the flute and the tabla. Very soon, he would also learn to play shehnai. He didn’t or couldn’t concentrate on studies, as learning music became a passion with the young lad. He probably attended school only till the fifth class, and then dropped out, to spend more time on his first love.
At the age of 17, he left his native place and travelled to Bombay, in search of opportunities to work in the film industry. An unknown name, and an unconnected person, the early years were a struggle and he just survived on the passion of his art. Ram Ganguly’s brother brought him to Prithvi Theatres. Prithviraj Kapoor recognized the talent in the young man, and assigned him as an assistant to Ram Ganguly, who was then in-charge of the music department at Prithvi. His work spoke for itself. When Raj Kapoor launched his first film, ‘Aag’ (1948), and Ram Ganguly was directing the music for that film, Ramlal was working as his assistant. The sweet and melodious sounds of flute that we hear in the songs of this film especially in “Kahin Ka Deepak Kahin Ki Baati”, “Zinda Hoon Is Tarah Ki Ghame Zindagi Nahin”, “Raat Ko Ji Chamkan Taare, Dekh Balam Mohe Akhiyan Maare”, “Na Aankhon Mein Aansu, Na Hothon Pe Haaye”, “Kaahe Koyal Shor Machaye Re, Mohe Apna Koi Yaad Aaye Re” – is all the handiwork of Ramlal.
With the success of the music of ‘Aag’, he started to get more recognition in the industry. He also got his first assignment as an independent music director for the film ‘Taangawaala’ around 1949-50. The lead pair in this film was Raj Kapoor, a well known hero by that time, and the newcomer, Vyjayanthimala. It is stated that six songs of this film were recorded. But then the film itself was canned, never to be released. The fate of the six recorded songs is uncertain. Or maybe not.
Ramlal continued to work as a musician, assisting many music directors like Vasant Desai, Pt Shivram, RC Boral, C Ramchandra, Naushad, Ghulam Mohammed and more, with his expertise with flute and shehnai. Recognizing this talent, V Shantaram invited him over to Rajkamal Kalamandir as a salaried musician. Ramlal left Prithvi and started working for V Shantaram.
By the mid 1950s, he again started to get opportunities for independently directing music. In 1956 came ‘Naqaabposh’ in which Ramlal composed two songs. The remaining six songs of this film are composed by Dhoomi Khan. The song “O Re Dilwaale” sung by Asha Bhosle, was composed with Arabic orchestration, and became popular. The same year also saw the release of ‘Husn Bano’ for which Ramlal was the independent music director. It is stated in one of the references, that the unused songs of the unreleased film ‘Taangawaala’ were used in this film by Ramlal. The film ‘Husn Bano’ played for a Silver Jubilee in Kanpur (a run of 28 weeks) and the song sung by Lata, “Pyaar Karne Ka Aaya Bahaana” became very popular in its time.
As we scrutinize the list of his films and songs in Geet Kosh, we find that his name appears in two different ways – ‘Ramlal’ and ‘Ramlal Heerapanna’. In his younger days, Ramlal used to wear a diamond (heera) in one ear and an emerald (panna) in the other ear. On the sets of ‘Husn Bano’ (1956), the staff and co-workers started calling him by the nickname Heera Panna. When the director Akku and the producer HL Khanna heard of this on the sets, they too started calling him by this name. And the producer went ahead and ensured that in the credits of the film, the name appeared as Ramlal Heerapanna. The name stuck, and was used by Ramlal on and off in some movies.
Ramlal continued a slow career, with independent work coming to him infrequently. After ‘Husn Bano’, his next film was ‘Naag Lok’ in 1957, directed by Babubhai Mistry. After ‘Naag Lok’ his next independent outing was ‘Maya Machhendra’ in 1960, also with Babubhai Mistry. In between, as he continued to work with Rajkamal Studios. Working with C Ramchandra on the film ‘Navrang’ (1959), the sound of his shehnai is playing in many songs. Especially the song “Tu Chhupi Hai Kahaan” – the interludes in this song are constructed around the shehnai of Ramlal. This song became one of the most popular songs of that year.
Another big success of the year 1959 was ‘Goonj Uthi Shehnai’. The main artist in the film for shehnai vadan was Ustad Bismillah Khan. Ramlal worked with Ustad ji on many pieces of shehnai music in the film. In one of his interviews Ramlal himself notes sadly that although he acknowledges the prowess of Khan Saab, but his own contribution was totally ignored in the film credits – a regret that Ramlal carried against Vijay Bhatt, the producer.
After ‘Maya Machhendra’, another hiatus of three years, but now came the best of his work. There is one film in 1963, ‘Raj Mahal’, which is a film produced under the banner of Shri Meenakshi Productions of Madras, with the lead pair as Anjali Devi and MG Ramachandran. Most likely, this must have been a remake of a successful Tamil film. Not much is known about this film and its music is not yet traceable in public domain.
With the work done for ‘Navrang’, V Shantaram finally gave a full charge to Ramlal for his next production – ‘Sehra’, released in 1963. The music of this film is a watershed event in the life and career of Ramlal. The songs of this film became hugely popular, and continue to be so even more than five decades after their initial release. Each and every song is familiar to the lovers of Hindi film music. In this film, Ramlal brought in Rafi to lend his voice to the playback, something that V Shantaram, for reasons of his own, had avoided for many years. As one of the anecdotes tells us, the song “Taqdeer Ka Fasaana. . .” was initially recorded in the voice of Mahendra Kapoor. Ramlal was not satisfied with what was supposed to be the final take. He sought a private meeting with V Shantaram, and pleaded and convinced him to try Rafi Sb for the same song. Grudgingly, Shantaram agreed to do one recording. After the recording was done, there remained no arguments to make. The version rendered by Rafi Sb was included in the film.
With the success of ‘Sehra’, Shantaram’s confidence grew, and he assigned the next film also to Ramlal. The film – ‘Geet Gaya Patharon Ne’ (1964) brought together Rajshree, Shantaram’s daughter and the debutante hero Jeetendra in leading roles. The film, built around the classical arts of music, dancing and sculpture, was a good hit for the year, and yes, its music became very popular, in its time, and continues to be so. The film boasts of such iconic gems as “Tere Khayalon Mein Hum. . .” and “Jaane Wale O Mere Pyaar. . .”; with of course the title song taking the lead – “Saanson Ke Taar Par, Dhadkan Ki Taal Par. . . Geet Gaya Patharon Ne”. For this song, Ramlal got Kishori Amonkar to sing one solo version for the film.
And then, suddenly, there is silence. There is no more music that comes from Ramlal. References talk about a film titled ‘Tyaagi’ that he started to produce himself. The project went nowhere, and led Ramlal to the state of penury. From a location like Colaba, Ramlal was forced to move to a chawl in Girgaum (in Grant Road area). His later years are a story of hardships and neglect. By the time the 1970s came on, he was without any work for the remainder of his life. It is a perplexing enigma as to how he reached that state of affairs, immediately after two very successful films in two successive years, and that too from a major banner in the industry. I read somewhere that the contract with Shantaram was not allowing him to take up work from outside and Shantaram was not giving him any work, after the Rafi episode in film Sehra. However, it is not confirmed by other sources, so far.
Music director Ramlal composed music for three Kannada films, viz. ‘Daaha’ (1979), ‘Dombara Krishna’ (1979) and ‘Balu Aparoopa Nam Jodi’ (1978). This is also confirmed by the articles sent by Harish ji, as well as a reference in the book ‘Dhunon Ki Yatra’. His name appears in credits of one of the films as ‘Ramlal Sehra’, no doubt referring to his most successful and popular film. He composed 51 songs in 7 Hindi films.
His wife, Rita, an Englishwoman, was his sole companion in those years. Hailing from Bangalore, she fell in love with his music and his passion, and the two got married against the wishes of their parents. But she stayed with him through the tough years, living in the small chawl, and working with a social service organization to make ends meet at home. In an interview after Ramlal passed away on 4-7- 2004, she recounts the later years, the health problems faced by Ramlal, and the inability of the couple to financially manage the required healthcare. Ramlal passed away due to neglected healthcare, as it was too expensive for their means. They had a daughter-Sangeeta. (Information collated from an article by Sudhir Kapoor ji, articles provided by Harish Raghuvanshi ji, book Film Sangeetkar by Yogesh Yadav, Rahen na rahen hum by Shantaram Mankikar, HFGK, muVyz, book- Dhunon ki Yatra by Pankaj Raag and my own notes- all with thanks).
Film Naqabposh-1956 was an ordinary Costume C grade like any other such film. The entire decade of the 1950 has given a very large number of films circling around King, Queen, Vazir, a masked man and such stories. Of course we Indians loved these types of stories. All of us, especially readers in the age bracket of 65+ were fond of reading such story books and also listening to these stories from our grandparents, just before sleeping. Films with such stories were also inspired by Fearless Nadia films of the 30’s and the 40’s.
The story of the film Naqabposh-1956 was……
Sultan Ahmed Ali was a popular king,but his nephew Murad was an evil person. Murad wanted to usurp the Sultan’s throne at any cost. One day he and his mistress Niloufer invite the Sultan for a Dance party to lure him. Finding that he is not getting lured the Sultan is murdered by Murad. Hhe then tries to get maximum supporters and declares himself as the Ruler.
The Sultan has a son, Nisar,who was more interested in writing Shayari and singing songs. The Sultan, fed up of this throws the prince out . The Prince too happily disappears among the common people to pursue his liking.
After the Sultan is killed, his loyal Vazir sends a few people to search for Nisar. The Queen also sends Kamaal and Jamaal to find him. No one knows where he is. However,Kamaal and Jamaal meet a happy go lucky poet/singer Aman who loves Noor.
All of a sudden, there appears a Naqab Posh- a hooded bandit, who helps the poor and punishes the oppressors. Murad’s army harasses the common people and extracts taxes. They also indulge in looting and abduction of girls. The Naqab Posh tries to rescue such girls and also fights with the army people. Murad orders his capture but no one can catch him.
Murad suspects that this Naqab posh may be Prince Nisar. he plans to capture him with deceit and succeeds. Naqab Posh is sentenced to death. However, Jamaal, Kamaal, Noor and others help the Naqab Posh to escape. He assembles his own supporter army and confronts Murad. In the final fight the naqab posh defeats and kills Murad. Then it is revealed that the Naqab Posh is none other than Prince Nisar himself.
The happy citizens crown him as a king and Noor becomes the queen.
Today’s song is sung by Talat Mehmood and Madhubala Jhaveri. The mukhada of this song is rather misleading and reminds us of a famous Lata song ” Guzra hua zamana” from the film Shirin Farhad-1960.
Song- Haafiz khuda tumhaara hamen bhool na jaanaa (Naqab Posh)(1956) Singers- Talat Mahmood, Madhubala Jhaveri,Lyricist-Munir Kazmi, MD- Ramlal
Both
Lyrics
haafiz khuda tumhaara
hamen bhool na jaana
haafiz khuda tumhaara
hamen bhool na jaana
o o o ae dil
ae dil
ae dil
?? daro deewaar
dushman hai zamaanaa
dushman hai zamaanaa
taaron ki tarah raah takengin meri aankhen
takengin meri aankhen
taaron ki tarah raah takengin meri aankhen
takengin meri aankhen
baadalon mein (?) mere chaand kahin doob na jaanaa
baadalon mein (?) mere chaand kahin doob na jaanaa
o o o
ae dil
ae dil
ae dil
?? daro deewaar dushman hai zamaana
dushman hai zamaana
tadpaayegi bin chaandni raaton mein judaai
raaton mein judaai
tadpaayegi bin chaandni raaton mein judaai
raaton mein judaai
furkat mein hamaari qasam
aansoo na bahaanaa
furkat mein hamaari qasam
aansoo na bahaanaa
o o o
ae dil
ae dil
ae dil
aansoo sada tumhaara
hamen bhool na jaanaa
hamen bhool na jaanaa
Allah bachaaye tumhen dushman ki nazar se
dushman ki nazar se
Allah bachaaye tumhen dushman ki nazar se
dushman ki nazar se
phir sadabahaaron ki tarah laut ke aana
phir sadabahaaron ki tarah laut ke aana
o o o
ae dil
ae dil
ae dil
haafiz khuda tumhaaraa
hamen bhool na jaanaa
hamen bhool na jaanaa
aakhir(?) daro deewaar hai
dushman hai zamaana
dushman hai zamaana
3 Responses to "Haafiz Khuda tumhaaraa hamen bhool na jaanaa"
November 9, 2023 at 7:21 pm
another song Kannada film song Balu aproopa nam jodi composed by Ramlal ji
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
November 9, 2023 at 7:17 pm
Thanks Arun ji for the post, below is the audio link of Dombara Krishna Kannada film song composed by Ram Lal Sehra:
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