Agar dil kisi per lutaayaa na hotaa
Posted on: April 8, 2024
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 Gauna-1950. Out of 7 songs of this film, 6 are already discussed here. This is the last and the final song to make the film YIPPEED !
The film was made by Jagat Pictures. It was directed by Amiya Chakravarti. Music was by Husnlal-Bhagatram for the songs written by Qamar Jalalabadi. The cast of the film was Usha Kiran, Anup Kumar, Poornima, S.Nazir, Kesari, Wasti, Indumati etc.
Change of name is not a novelty in Film industry. Many Muslim actors such as Kumar, and actresses such as Meena Kumari, took Hindu names to appeal to a bigger audience. But there are cases where Hindus took Muslim names. One such person was Qamar Jalalabadi – Lyricist of this film. Om Prakash Bhandari (9 March 1917 – 9 January 2003), better known as Qamar Jalalabadi, was a poet and lyricist. He composed the title track of the popular television serial Vikram Aur Betaal.
He was born as Om Prakash Bhandari in a Punjabi family on 9 March 1917 in Jalalabad, a village near Beas in Amritsar district, Punjab, India. Right from the age of seven, he started writing poetry in Urdu. There was no encouragement from home, but a wandering poet named Amar Chand Amar met him in his hometown and encouraged him to write, recognising his immense talent and potential. He also gave him the pen name of Qamar which means moon, and Jalalabadi was added for his native town. It was the general trend in those days for writers to name themselves after the towns they hailed from. After completing his matriculation from Amritsar, he embarked on his journalistic career journey by writing for Lahore-based newspapers like Daily Milap, Daily Pratap, Nirala, Star Sahakar etc.
Attracted by the promise of a career in the film industry, Qamar Jalalabadi came to Pune in the early 1940s. In 1942, he wrote lyrics for his first film Zamindar which was a Pancholi Pictures production and the songs of this film were very well received, especially the song sung by Shamshad Begum “Duniya Mein Garibon Ko Aaram Nahi Milta”, which also had a line or two written by writer and poet Behzad Lucknawi.
Subsequently, Jalalabadi relocated to Bombay, and worked there as a lyricist for nearly four decades. His songs were sung by many notable singers including S. D. Batish, Noor Jehan, G. M. Durrani, Zeenat Begum, Manju, Amirbai Karnataki, Mohammad Rafi, Talat Mahmood, Geeta Dutt, Suraiya, Mukesh, Manna Dey, Asha Bhosle, Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar. He worked with many popular composers including S. D. Burman and Sardar Malik.
As a lyricist, Qamar Jalalabadi was very versatile. On one hand he wrote mesmeric duets like “Sun Meri Sawari Mujhko Kahin Tum Bhool Na Jaana…” sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi (film: Aansoo 1953) and on the other hand he penned comic relief songs like “Khush Hai Zamana Aaj Pehli Tarikh Hai” endured with full throttle gusto by Kishore Kumar (film: Pehli Tarikh-1954). This song became very popular and was played on Radio Ceylon on the first of every month for decades, and it probably continues like this.
The film Howrah Bridge (1958) skyrocketed his career as lyricist to unprecedented heights. Songs like “Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu” (Geeta Dutt) and “Aaiye Meherbaan, Baithiye Jaanejaan….” (Asha Bhosle) became highly popular.
In his long career span he worked for several film companies like Prabhat Film Company, Pancholi Pictures, Filmistan Ltd., Famous Pictures, Minerva Movietone, Prakash Pictures, Wadia Films Ltd., Filmkar Ltd., Sippy Films, N.C. Sippy Films, Shri Shakti Films, Mitra Productions and many more.
He was one of the founder members of prestigious organisations like Film Writers Association & IPRS in Mumbai. The music composers he worked with were: Ghulam Haider, G. Damle, Pandit Amarnath, Khemchand Prakash, Husnlal Bhagatram, S.D. Burman, Anil Biswas, Shyam Sunder, Sajjad Hussain, C. Ramchandra, Madan Mohan, Sudhir Phadke, S.D. Batish, Sardar Malik, Ravi, Avinash Vyas and in the latter phase of his career with O. P. Nayyar, Kalyanji-Anandji, Sonik–Omi, Uttam Singh and Laxmikant–Pyarelal as well. Qamar Jalalabadi wrote song lyrics for 155 films and wrote a total of 709 songs in his long career. He was a poet (shayar) and participated in several mushairas all over India.
In his personal life, Jalalabadi was a highly religious person and he chanted excerpts from the Bhagavad Gita, the Koran as well as the Bible. He was deeply into transcendental meditation, and was mostly embedded in his writing for most part of the day. He once gifted a bungalow in Khar, Mumbai to one of his married sisters to save her from a difficult marriage, and shifted to simpler accommodation in Juhu with his own family. He and his wife Leelawati had seven children.
He had several friends and hundreds of fans whom he called his “pankhe”. His fan mail came in various languages; Hindi, English, Urdu and many regional languages as well. He replied to all his fan mail and judiciously sent an autographed photo as well. ( adapted from the book Filmi Geetkar, wiki, muVys and my notes).
The Heroine’s real name was Usha Marathe. She had debuted in the film ‘Lalaat’-1947 with this name. However, director Amiya Chakravarti, who had a ” Special’ bond with Usha, changed her name to Usha Kiran. The Hero Anup Kumar was actually Kalyan Kumar and actress Poornima was in reality Meher Bano. The film’s story and screenplay was by Ali Sagheer Usmani and Devi Sharan. Dialogues were by Vrajendra Gaud.
Ego Clashes and professional jealousies were quite common in older days when the Studio system was firmly saddled in the industry. Sometimes it even destroyed the studio like what happened in Calcutta’s New Theatres. B.N.Sircar and P.C.Barua spite forced Barua to quit. Later Sircar and Nitin Bose ego clash took New Theatres to its downfall and the exit of not only Nitin Bose but also Prithviraj kapoor, K.N.Singh, Kidar Sharma, K.L.Saigal and many others.
Same thing happened in Prabhat film company, where clashes of Shantaram with other directors prompted him to quit, with his group. Amiya Chakravarti came over to Bombay and, being a Bengali, joined Bombay Talkies owned by Bengalees, first as a Tutor for Bangla for the children of Niranjan Pal. Niranjan Pal had spent all his life in the UK and came to India with friend Himanshu Rai ( within a few years they fought bitterly and separated). Amiya first started as a Canteen Manager and then worked as assistant to Himanshu Rai. After Himanshu Rai’s death, there were two groups. Amiya joined Devika Rani’s group,being her favourite. She gave him the reward by allowing him to direct the film Anjaan-41, a Devika-Ashok Kumar love story.
Though, for director Naqvi’s film Punarmilan, Amiya and Gyan Mukherji wrote the screenplay together, they were never comfortable with each other. After the split in Bombay talkies,when Gyan Mukherjee went with the opposition group, their competition increased since now both were directors. When the other group started work on Kismet, with Anil Biswas as MD, Amiya also started Basant, with the same Heroine- Mumtaz Shanti- and Anil Biswas incognito with Pannalal Ghosh as a Front.
Even after Bombay talkies closed down, their competition continued. When Amiya did Baadal-51, on the same story, Gyan Mukherjee made the film Shamsheer-53 ( originally this film was made by Sargam films, but Bombay Talkies purchased its rights and released it.) Further in 1957, both started a film each with the same Heroine-Vyjayantimala. Amiya did Kathputli-57, but he died before this film was completed and Nitin Bose completed the remaining film. Similarly Gyan mukherjee started the film Sitaron se aagey, but he too died before the film was completed. After some time Satyen Bose was commissioned to complete the film, thus delaying its release in 1958. Their competition ended only after their deaths !
Husnlal-Bhagatram was one of the most popular composer pairs of their times. They started in 1944 with Chand. Their peak was achieved in 1949 and their magic ended with the sixth decade. They gave music to 49 films and most films’ music became popular. Although Bhagatram was the Elder of the two brothers, their name was famous as Husnlal – Bhagatram. During the peak of their career, the handsome,good looking Husnlal’s name was linked to the upcoming singer of those days-Lata Mangeshkar. This episode is described by C. Ramchandra in his autobiography in Marathi.
Elder brother Bhagatram had given music to 9 films in 1939 and 1940, independently, under the name Bhagatram Batish, but the brothers prospered only after Husnlal joined his brother and they gave music as Husnlal-Bhagatram.
Pandit Husn Lal was born in Kahma Village, district Jalandhar, Punjab, on 8-4-1920. He was initiated into music by his father, the Late Devi Chand and elder brother Pandit Amar Nath, (the famous music composer of the ‘40s). Later he became the disciple of Sangeet Maha Mahopadhyaya Pandit Dilip Chandra Vedi Ji.
Pandit Husn Lal’s first passion was playing the violin, and he learned further under Ustad Bashir Khan. Pandit Husn Lal was a performer par excellence in Khyal, Thumri, Dadra, Gazal, and Bhajan. He had a voice range of three octaves and was an accomplished master of complicated patterns of Taans, like his Guru Vedi Ji.
Pandit Husn Lal was an accomplished Violinist, a renowned Classical singer and an ace Music Director. He, along with his elder brother Bhagat Ram (an ace harmonium player, born in 1914), were the first prolific Hindi film music directors to work as a duo and went by the name of “HusnLal-Bhagat Ram”. The beauty and command over the violin can be seen in different compositions of the duo’s songs in films. They popularized Punjabi folk music as an art form, with a range of music that has a rare lilt and rhythm, yet soulful and poignant, thus becoming the most sought after composers. Their first hit was a film named Chand, after which they never looked back. They gave super hit melodies for more than 80 Hindi films. One point to be noted is that most of his films celebrated their Golden Jubilee with a credit to the music compositions and songs.
Their film Badi Behan (1949) was a classic in the history of Indian cine music. Besides the most popular song, ‘Chup chup kharay ho…‘ there are other seven numbers which gave the audiences the pleasure of music as an art form – ‘Wo pass rahein, ya door rahein‘, ‘Tum mujhko bhool jao, ab hum na mil sakeinge‘, ‘Likhnein waley ney likh dee meri taqdeer mein barbaadi likhnein waley ney‘ and ‘Bigree bananey wale, bigree banaa dey‘ (Suraiya) and ‘Muhabbat ke dhoke mein koi naa akey‘ (Mohammed Rafi).
In ‘Chaley janaa nahin‘ and ‘Jo dil mein khushi ban kar ayey‘ Lata Mangeshkar was perhaps at her best and there could not have been a better return gift to the composer Husan Lal on her 20th birthday (Lata Mangeshkar was born in 1929). The utterance coming straight from the singer’s heart, at times makes the listener cry, as a spontaneous outcome of eternal pleasure. The quality of a diamond cutter in master violinist Husan Lal can be visualized through these two immortal melodies of Lata Mangeshkar. The Punjabi style dholak played by their musician, Shanker (of Shanker-Jaikishan fame) was again a notable landmark!
The song “Suno Suno Aye Duniya Walo Bapu Ki Yeh Amar Kahani”, sung by Mohammed Rafi, was a milestone in the history of music. This song was composed by the duo within a record time of just 24 hours; soon after the demise of Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation. More than a million copies of a set of two 78 rpm discs of this recording were sold, within one month.
Husn Lal-Bhagat Ram worked with famous playback singers like Ameerbai Karnataki, Suraiyya, Shamshad Begum, Zohrabai Ambala, Lata Mangeshkar, Geeta Dutt, Suman Kalyanpur, and Kishore Kumar, Mohammed Rafi, amongst others. He also composed and played alongside Pandit Ravi Shankar and Pandit Jasraj.
Pandit Husn Lal performed as a violinist on All India Radio and at other renowned music festivals and concerts and taught music to his music-loving disciples. In the late 60s,this pair parted company with each other. Husnlal’s father in law was an influential person. With his help,Husnlal settled in Delhi and started teaching music to aspirants.
One day morning, while on a morning walk, he fell dead in a garden. Someone recognised him and informed his family. The day was 28-12-1968.
Bhagatram too spent his last days in pathetic condition,working for other composers.one day in 1973,he died in Bombay. His son Ashok,who uses the surname Sharma, is an artiste with Doordarshan. ( I had the opportunity to speak to Shri Ashok Sharma ji, about his father,a few months back).
Bhagatram was the elder brother, Husnlal was the younger brother. Have you anytime wondered why the younger brother’s name comes first in this pair ?
Normally, when a pair of brothers is referred, it is the elder brother’s name that comes first. For example, Ram-Laxman or Balram – Srikrishna or even Kalyanji – Anand ji, Jatin-Lalit or Anand-Milind. For many years, this matter was bothering me, but I could not find any justification for this unusual way of pairing. I was sure that there must be some story behind this.
The Blog “Songs of yore” published the second part of Husnlal-Bhagatram post on 11-8-2017, based on the interview of Dinesh Prabhakar, son of Husnlal and Ms. Nirmala Devi, wife of Husnlal. During her talk, Nirmala Devi explained the reasons for calling the pair as Husnlal-Bhagatram, in spite of Bhagatram being the elder one and more experienced of the two. Bhagatram had already given music, individually to 9 films, in the late 30s and early 40s, before the pair was formed. Her statement answered my long awaited query about the unusual name of the pair. Here is the related portion of her interview….
” The 90-year old Shrimati Nirmala Devi is an amazing lady. She still has a razor-sharp memory and superb knowledge of music and music personalities of that era. She gave me a lot of interesting information, not available elsewhere – for example, the reason why the younger brother Husnlal’s name comes first in the duo’s name. Her talk also revealed that other family commitments, too, in Delhi were contributory factors for their decline in the film music.
Shrimati Nirmala Devi speaks about her husband (late) Pt Husnlal….
“DD Kashyap, who was directing Chaand (1944) for Prabhat Films, wanted to engage Pt Amarnath based in Lahore, who was a towering figure in music. As he was heavily preoccupied, he strongly recommended his younger brother Pt Husnlal who was staying with him and assisting him in Lahore-based films of Pancholi and others, assuring Kashyap that Pt Husnlal was no less talented than him. Pt Amarnath was like a father-figure to his younger brothers, especially to Pt Husnlal. A music session was organized to demonstrate Pt Husnlal’s talent. Kashyap was highly impressed. When it was time for Pt Husnlal to proceed for Poona/Bombay, Pt Amarnath, out of concern for his kid-brother, suggested to Kashyap to also engage Pt Bhagatram with him. Kashyap expressed difficulty in arranging the payment for two as the contract was already made out. Pt Amarnath assured him that he should not bother about increasing the fee, but the two brothers must work together. Thus it was that Bhagatram got appended to Husnlal, forming the duo HB. ” Another reason why the younger brother’s name preceded the elder brother was simply the aesthetics – Husnlal-Bhagatram sounding better than the other way around. (Thanks to Blog “songs of yore” for this information.)
Today’s song is sung by Lata Mangeshkar. With this song the film gets YIPPEED, with all its songs covered on this Blog.
Song-Agar dil kisi per lutaaya na hota (Gauna)(1950) Singer- Lata, Lyricist-Qamar Jalalabadi, MD- Husnlal Bhagatram
Lyrics
hum jaisa kaun hoga zamaane mein badnaseeb
manzil se door ho gaye manzil ke saamne
agar dil kisi par lutaaya na hota
agar dil kisi par lutaaya na hota
agar dil kisi par
to ashqon ka dariya bahaaya na hota
agar dil kisi par lutaaya na hota
agar dil kisi par
jo maaloom hota ki hoga andhera
ki hoga andhera
jo maaloom hota ki hoga andhera
ki hoga andhera
charaag-e-mohabbat jalaaya na hota
charaag-e-mohabbat jalaaya na hota
agar dil kisi par
o duniya ke maalik
judaa thha jo karna
judaa thaa jo karna
o duniya ke maalik
judaa thha jo karna
judaa thha jo karna
to achcha thha unse milaaya na hota
to achcha thha unse milaaya na hota
agar dil kisi par
to ashqon ka dariya bahaaya na hota
agar dil kisi par lutaaya na hota
agar dil kisi par
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
April 9, 2024 at 10:31 pm
YYIIPPEEEE BOL YYIIPPEEEE BOL
YYIIPPEEEE YYIIPPEEEE BOL
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