Maa o devee maa sachchee raah dikhaao
Posted on: May 6, 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 social film Paayal-1957.
The film was made by Madras films, Madras. The producer and the director was the owner of this banner – T. Joseph. Music was by Hemant Kumar and the cast of the film was Padmini, Sunil Dutt, Ragini, David, Baby Naaz, Bipin Gupta, Achala Sachdev, Minoo Mumtaz, Shivraj, Agha etc. Raj mehra was the Guest artiste.
The combination of the actors in the cast easily indicates that it was a love cum family drama. The lead pair of Padmini and Sunil Dutt were comparatively new entrants to the Hindi films. While it was only the 6th film of Sunil Dutt, it was the 7th film of Padmini in Hindi language. ( she had, by now, worked as a dancer/actress in 90 films in southern languages). Compared to these two main artistes, Baby Naaz had acted in 27 films by now. Even in this film, her role was very important.
When we talk of Child Artistes, stories of the Irani sisters – Daisy, Honey and Menaka, and Baby Naaz, touch our hearts and open up a chapter of child abuse for money by parents, especially the mothers. Working in films from childhood deprives them from good education and normal childhood as they played the role of ” hens that laid Golden eggs) for their parents. The story of Baby Naaz is heart-shaking too !
Naaz (20 August 1944 – 19 October 1995) was an actress, known for Boot Polish (1954), Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959) and Bidesiya (1963). We know her better by her stage name Baby Naaz.
So impressive and spontaneous was Baby Naaz’s performance in Raj Kapoor’s “Boot Polish” that, even after she grew up, got married and became a mother, she was still known as Baby Naaz. Her role in Boot Polish, released in the early 1950s, won several international awards and brought fresh acclaim to R. K. banner. Even in 1995, she won a special jury mention at the Cannes Film Festival for her role in the film. Naaz had a good thing in Boot Polish, a credible storyline, excellent technical effects, wonderful performances by veteran David, Master Rattan, catchy music & John chacha, tum kitne ache, Nanhe munhe bacche teri mutti mein kya…. & Lapak jhapak.. and then, ofcourse, her own performance.
Boot Polish was Naaz’s 10th or 12th film. No one knows how she got the role. According to her actor-husband, Subbi Raj, Nargis once spotted Naaz doing a show & was highly impressed. She recommended the child to Raj Kapoor, who was equally impressed and cast her in Boot Polish. The rest is history.
Baby Naaz was born on 20 August 1944 in Bombay, Bombay Presidency, India as Salma Baig. Naaz was born into a family obsessed with showbiz. Her father tried his luck in the film industry, but was not much of a success. Her mother pushed her into films and, very soon, Naaz was the family’s sole earning member.
The young girl debuted on stage when she was four, and in films when she was eight. Her father, Mirza Dawood Baig, was an unsuccessful story writer and somehow over time, Naaz became the only earning member of the family. At the age of six or eight, she was taken to the studios daily where her mother coaxed producers and directors to give her a chance and however she got the role, it was with Boot Polish that she became a celebrity, even beyond Indian borders, and the first choice as child artiste.
“I wanted to study, but unfortunately I had no time to breathe and had to forget about school. I left studies, for my mother didn’t stop accepting films on my behalf and my father stopped working. My mother was too used to making money out of me and didn’t want to forgo this easy life. She wanted me to work for her comforts and I was both too young and in awe of my parents to refuse.” She had said in an interview.
With a troubled family life, Kumari Naaz could never graduate to the big league. There was no one to manage her career and her mother accepted any and every role that came by. Raj Kapoor wanted to send Kumari Naaz to a Swiss finishing school for five years, intending to launch her under his banner after she returned. But Kumari Naaz recalled that her mother had wanted to go along with her to Switzerland too, and turned down the offer when she realised that would not be possible.
Naaz became the highest paid child artiste and worked in around 120 films. But her reality was that she was being neglected by her parents who were constantly fighting with each other. Sometimes, after coming home from the day’s shoot, she would fall asleep without having dinner. By the time she turned 12, her parents separated and Kumari Naaz had to stay with her mother, who remarried when Naaz was 16 years old.
Like Tabassum, Daisy Irani & other famous child artistes, Naaz did not make it as a heroine. It could be because there was no one to advise her on how to pick roles. And her mother was excessively eager to make Naaz a heroine. She dressed her daughter in loose, grown-up garments, cake her face with heavy makeup and tried to pass her off as a woman. The ploy worked with some producers, but Naaz was the ultimate sufferer.
But that Naaz was excellent as a child artiste there is no doubt. She worked with leading directors in outstanding films including Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Musafir, Bimal Roy’s Devdas, K. A. Abbas’ Munna and the Nargis-Balraj Sahni starrer, Lajwanti.
(Baby) Naaz played the heroine in about 30 eminently forgettable films. But her roles, in Nadir Shah with Feroz Khan, Lambe Haath with Mehmood, Rocket Girl with Sudesh Kumar & Gangu with Chandrashekhar did not challenge her undoubted talent, only her drawing power. She also starred in Mera Ghar Mere Bachche and Dekha Pyar Tumhara opposite Raj Kapoor’s cousin, up-and-coming hero Subbi Raj Kumar. They fell in love and, after a five-year courtship, were married in 1965, despite some initial opposition from their families and the industry.
Naaz continued to work after marriage but family came first. She was never pushy and, in an industry known for its cut-throat competition, never sought favours from producers and directors. Soon, she matured into a character actress and bagged good roles in films like Bahu Begum, Kati Patang and Sachcha Joota (where she played Rajesh Khanna’s crippled sister).
Occasionally, Naaz did feel her talent had been ill-used by the industry. As a result, she became more family-oriented. Naaz had an exquisite voice & spoke beautifully. Not many are aware that she transitioned into a second career as a dubbing artiste. Before Sridevi started using her own voice, Kumari Naaz dubbed for her in the early Hindi hits of the 1980s. It was a far cry from the status she enjoyed during her early years in Hindi cinema.
And then, one day, Naaz complained of stomach pain and slight difficulty in swallowing. Sonography revealed tumours, which had spread all over the liver. Surgery and chemotherapy were ruled out and she tried Japanese therapy to reduce the pain. On October 16, 1995, Baby Naaz began slipping. Subbi Raj, who was shooting in Jammu, rushed back to Bombay. But she quietly drifted away in her sleep three days later, on October 19.
Film Paayal-1957 was a remake of the Tamil film Mallika-1957, made by the same banner, producer and director-T. Joseph. The wave of remakes of south films into Hindi started mainly from S.S.Vasan’s “Chandralekha”-1948. The extraordinary success of his film showed the road to “Alibaba’s Cave” to other filmmakers and it started the Roller Coaster of remakes of Hit and Successful films into Hindi. Vasan himself brought out Mangala, Nishan, Mr. Sampat, Bahut din hue, Sansar, Raj Tilak, Insaniyat, Paigham, Gharana, Aurat, Teen bahuiraniyan and Shatranj. It is not that the remakes were only from southern languages. Bangla, Marathi and Gujarati films too were remade or dubbed. However, the south films in this category outnumbered all other languages. Just see these lists (these lists are not exhaustive, but only indicative)….
Remakes in the 50’s…..Bahar, Sharda, Miss Mary, Chhoti behan, Insaniyat, Azaad, Paayal, Amardeep etc.
In 1960s we had major movies as remakes like Barkha, Hum Hindustani, Prem Patra, Dil Ek Mandir, Dil Tera Diwana, Doli, Gharana, Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, Mera Saaya, Nazrana, Farz, Milan, Mamta, Majhli Didi, Mehrbaan, Aadmi, Teen Bahuraniyan, Khandan, Do Dooni Chaar, Padosan, Pyar Kiye Ja, Saathi, Sadhu Aur Shaitan, Ram Aur Shyam, Main Sunder Hoon and more.
1970s witnessed remakes as Gopi, Pyar Ki Kahani, Do Phool, Lakhon Mein Ek, Safar, Jeevan Mrityu, Khamoshi, Dharti, Mere Apne, Naya Zamana, Aaina, Sanjog, Prem Nagar, Apna Desh, Humjoli, Chhoti Bahu, Lal Pathhar, Bawarchi, Naya Din Nayi Raat, Piya Ka Ghar, Amar Prem, Balika Badhu, Charitraheen, Chupke Chupke, Kora Kagaz, Khilona, Julie, Khushboo, Lok Parlok, Sargam, Bombay To Goa, Aap Ki Kasam and more.
The trend reached its peak in 1980s when many already established directors in south joined in creating Hindi remakes of their hit regional-language movies. As a result, there was a remake releasing regularly featuring stars of Hindi cinema, such as Jeetendra, Dharmendra, Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan, along with stars from the south as Kamal Hasan, Rajinikanth, Sridevi, Jaya Prada and more. The key remakes releasing in this decade were Sau Din Saas Ke, Ek Duje Ke Liye, Sadma, Zara Si Zindagi, Bemisal, Red Rose, Hum Paanch, Angoor, Meri Aawaz Suno, Woh Saat Din, Anubhav, Aaj Ka Daur, Ghazab, Kaamchor, Tohfa, Eeshwar, Hatya, New Delhi, Pataal Bhairavi, Saheb, Mahaan, Inquilaab, Aaj Ka MLA Ram Avtar, Aakhiri Raasta, Andha Kanoon, Dayavan, Satyamev Jayate and many more. On the other end, remakes of hit Hindi films also started being made in the South featuring names like Kamal Hassan and Rajinikanth.
In 1990s the pattern continued with young known stars of Hindi films as well as from South like Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, Venkatesh and Revathi featuring in remakes such as Pratibandh, Aaj Ka Goondaraj, Love, Shiva, Taqdeerwala, Pratikaar, Abhimanyu, Pratighaat, 100 Days, Chachi 420, Gopi Kishan, Viraasat, Muskurahat, Judaai, Police Public, Beta, Biwi No. 1, Bol Radha Bol, Sailaab, Sajan Chale Sasural, Judwaa, Coolie No.1, Raja Babu, Andaz, Aankhen, Gardish, Sooryavansham and more.
In the new millennium, Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein, Tere Naam, Nayak, Hera Pheri, Kyon Ki…., kept the tradition alive till social networks came in and films like Ghajini and Wanted became the center of attraction as remakes of their South originals. Unfortunately since then, it has become one of the most (blindly) followed pattern by Hindi filmmakers to go for a remake that gives them ready material to work upon and adapt as per the tastes of Hindi film viewers taking much less time in comparison to an original project.” (based on an extract from an article in Free Press Journal dt.7-12-2020,by Bobby Singh ji ).
Artists from South tried their hand with Hindi films, either by Remade or dubbed films. Thus the greatest south actors like Sivaji Ganeshan, M G Ramchandran, N T Rama Rao, A.Nageshwar Rao, Jailalita, Janaki, Susheela, Prem Nazir of the older gen and Rajanikanth, Kamal Hasan and Chiranjeevi from the next Gen were seen in Hindi films. In the music department also, many composers like K.Narayan rao, C.Balaji, S.Rajeshwar rao, C R Subramanyam, E Shankar, R Sudershanam, Ramesh Naidu, Adi Narayanrao, Vishwanath-Rammurthy, Lingappa etc worked in Hindi films.( Only Dr.Rajkumar, the Kannada Superstar never worked in Hindi films. In fact, except for just 1 Telugu film, Shri Kalhasti Mahatmyam, Dr.Rajkumar never worked in any other language film.)
Here is the story of today’s film Paayal-1957……..
Two sisters, Kamla and Padma, lose their parents in an air crash. The eldest daughter, Kamla, takes up the responsibility of upbringing her younger sister, who is deprived of her eyesight. In order to earn a livelihood, Kamla is forced to become a stage dancer. One day while returning home after work, she comes across a young man who lies unconscious on the road. She takes him to her home, upon which he reveals his name as Mohan (Sunil Dutt), and as the son of a rich landlord (Bipin Gupta). Mohan runs a hotel business in the city much against the will of his father.
A dejected Mohan finds solace in Kamla, and they fall in love with each other. But when he gets to know that Kamla is a stage dancer, he calls her as a prostitute. Earlier Padma had told him that Kamla was a teacher in a night school. Later, when he gets to know that Kamla has been doing this only to save money for Padma’s eye operation, he reconciles with her. Mohan’s father meets Kamla and extorts a promise from her that she will give up all claims on Mohan. Later, the landlord gets murdered by Shankar, his manager. Mohan is charged with the murder. In order to rescue Mohan, Kamla takes up the blame of the murder. Padma, a prime witness of the murder, undergoes an operation and regains her eye sight. She reveals the truth that Shankar was the real murderer. Shankar kills himself with a gun. Mohan’s mother (Achla Sachdev) and sister (Ragini) become happy and accept Kamla.
With today’s song, the film is YIPPEED, with all its songs covered here. This is my 25th post on YIPPEE films, in last one month. Enjoy the song which is picturised on Naaz and Padmini….
Song- Maa O Devi maa sachchi raah dikhaao (Paayal)(1957) Singer- Lata Mangeshkar, Lyricist- Rajendra krishna, MD- Hemant Kumar
Lyrics(Provided by Prakashchandra)
Maa
o devi maa
sachchi raah dikhaao o o
maa
o devi maa
sachchi raah dikhaao
ghor andheri raat hai meri
ujiyaraa barsaao o o
maa
o devi maa
sachchi raah dikhaao o o o maa
band meri aankhon ke dwaarey
khula huaa hai dwaar teraa
band meri aankhon ke dwaarey
khula huaa hai dwaar teraa
bolo maa
kab muskaayega
dard bharaa sansaar meraa
kab tak hogaa
door andhera
itnaa to batlaao o o
maa
o devi maa
sachchi raah dikhaao o o maa…aaa
iss dharti par mera jeevan bojh naheen to kya hai
iss dharti par mera jeevan bojh naheen to kya hai ae
kya meri
qismat mein Maataa
duniya bhar ka dard likha hai
main bhi to santaan hoon teri
mujhko bhi apnaao o o
maa
o devi maa
sachchi raah dikhaao
ghor andheri raat hai meri
ujiyaraa barsaao o o o
maa
o devi maa
sachchi raah dikhaao o o o maa..aaa
4 Responses to "Maa o devee maa sachchee raah dikhaao"
May 6, 2024 at 11:50 am
Arun Ji
Thanks for the post.
Though I knew child stars were treated as milch cows by their parents, but I was touched by the plight of Baby Naaz. She was a good actress who did not get her due. I was surprised she was a heroine in as many as 30 odd films.
Todays song is fairly nice
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May 6, 2024 at 1:42 pm
Satish ji,
There were some lucky child artistes also like Rajkumar jr., Baby Tabassum, Baby Shakuntala etc. By and large, child artistes were unlucky only.
Baby Naaz was heroine in third rate, C grade Stunt, costume and Muslim films, which no one remembers.
Thanks for your comments.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
May 6, 2024 at 7:46 am
25 Yippee films in a month is a great achievement considering the difficulty in tracing uncovered last songs of respective films.
Many Thanks, Arunkumar ji.
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May 6, 2024 at 10:12 am
Mahesh ji,
Well said !
It was a labourious task to first identify the movie song remaining and then spend sometimes hours to get the song from various sources. I know how difficult and time consuming task it is.
I still have some more songs to be discussed, but I need total rest for few days now.
Thanks for appreciating my efforts.
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