Paa lee maine paa lee
Posted on: July 9, 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 an old film-Billi-1938.
Sometimes, when I have some free time, I just go through the “Talkie Films’ Index”, a book by Hamraz ji and look for odd or comic film titles. I can assure you that one can spend few hours in this process. One gets surprised to see the creativity of the filmmakers in giving titles to their films. In general, the title is expected to reflect the type of the film concerned e.g. ‘Ghar ek Mandir’ clearly indicates that it must be a family drama film or ” Hum sab chor hain” can indicate an entertaining hilarious movie. However, many times the title does not have any far-fetched connection with the story, like the films ” Silky-1984″, ” Rihilla-2007″ or ” Oh, my God-2008″ and 2012″. What would you understand about these films ? Can you guess its type or even the Genre ?
Filmmakers also get tired of using the same’ ghise pite’ titles again and again and if possible to make their films arouse curiosity, they use strange titles. An example is today’s film Billi-1938″. Later in the post you will realise that the title has no connection whatsoever to its story, unless the producer wanted to describe the hilarious character as that of a Billi (cat) !
Incidentally, the filmmakers did not spare even animals to be used as the titles of their films and almost all types and sizes of animals are used in titles, from an ordinary Makkhi-2012 to Hathi mere saathi-1971 to Rhino-1987. There are film titles having animals like Tiger, Tigress, Sher, Sherni, Simha, Lion, Billi, Kutta, Naag, Naagin, Aadmi, Aurat and even Panchhi ! Incidentally, I found some funny titles like ” Cutting Chai-2011″ and ” Haathi ka Anda-2002″ too !
Coming back to today’s film Billi-1938, it was made by Ranjit Movietone. The film indicated its category as “Stunt”, but it was a social comedy. The film was based on the famous novel of P.G.Wodehouse titled “Damsel in Distress” published in 1919. A stage play was performed of this novel in 1928 and a movie made in Hollywood in 1937 on the same title.
The film was directed by Jayant Desai, who was never known to direct any stunt or action film. He started his career with Ranjit in 1929 and till 1943, he directed many silent and Talkie films.Jayant Jhinabhai Desai was born in Surat,Gujarat,on 28-2-1909, in a well to do family. He graduated from Bombay University and entered the film line as an exhibitor in Surat. Later on he started writing Screen plays for London Films, Rangoon and then for Krishna and Sharada studios. He joined Chandulal Shah’s Ranjit Studios in 1929, as his assistant for film ‘Rajputani’. Director Nandlal Jaswantlal Bhatt ( Nagin,Taj,Champakali etc) was another assistant in Ranjit studio.
When Nandlal left Ranjit to go to Europe, Jayant completed his film ‘ Pahadi kanya-1930 ‘. At Ranjit, Jayant directed 12 silent films. He was with Ranjit till 1943 and Directed 33 Talkie films, while in Ranjit. Some of these films were Char Chakram, Bhool Bhulaiya, Nadira, Toofanmail, College Girl, Matlabi Duniya, Toofani Toli, Billi ( a copy of a Hollywood film, based on P.G.Wodehouse’s novel ” A Damsel in Distress” ), Sant Tulsidas, Diwali, Shaadi, Chandni, Bhaktaraj, Tansen (with Saigal), Zaban etc.
After leaving Ranjit, Jayant Desai established his own studio, Jupiter Films Studio, Jayant Desai Productions and Hemlata Pictures. He also had exhibition interests in Hindmata and Star Theatres in Bombay’s Dadar area. In the 50s, he operated as a Distributor with his Jupiter films.
While in Ranjit,he had Directed K L Saigal in the film Tansen. Sardar Chandulal Shah had called Saigal on a contract of 60 days. Jayant completed Tansen in 51 days. Kidar Sharma then used those 9 days to make a quicky- Bhanwara,with Saigal.
C.Ramchandra was with Jayant Desai for more than 3 years and made 5 successful films. It was Jayant Desai who gave him the name C.Ramchandra for use in films. It was also Jayant Desai who was responsible for the rise of C.Ramchandra in a major way. It so happened….
After leaving Ranjit, Jayant started his own company. In his new company, Jayant had hired C.Ramchandra as a paid Composer on a salary of Rs. 300 pm. C Ramchandra gave music to many of his films like Zaban,Lalkar,Manorama, Chandragupta etc and all films became popular.C. Ramchandra was proud of his achievement. Under the banner Jayant Desai productions, one more Saigal film-Tadbir-45, with Suraiya in the lead was to be made.
One day C Ramchandra heard a rumour that the great singer Saigal is coming to make a film here. C Ramchandra became very excited that he would get an opportunity to compose music for Saigal. But he got a shock when he heard that, not he, but one Lal Mohammed (assistant of Ghulam Hyder in Lahore) was being called for that assignment, C Ramchandra not only was upset but felt hurt too. He went to Jayant Desai and said-
” My salary must be increased”
” How much ?”
” One Thousand Rupees per month”
Jayant was not ready for 1000. He offered a maximum of 600. He also told C Ramchandra that there was an opportunity to compose for Saigal, but C Ramchandra was not ready to accept anything less than 1000.
Finally,C Ramchandra said,” Increase it to 1000 or else….”
Jayant Desai was furious.He asked,” Or else…What ?”
C.Ramchandra said,” Or else,I will quit”.
Without flapping an eyelid, Jayant Desai coolly said,” OK. Your account will be settled in an hour. Stop work and pack up.”
C.Ramchandra was stunned, but the arrow had already left the bow !
C.Ramchandra became jobless and also lost an opportunity to compose music for Saigal. But his luck was strong. After a few days ,Kavi Pradeep took him to Filmistan and he was appointed there on a salary of Rs. 1000 pm. In Filmistan, C.Ramchandra gave several Hit musicals like Safar, Shehnai, Nadiya ke paar, Shabnam, Samadhi, Sargam,Anarkali, Nastik etc. If Jayant Desai had not removed C Ramchandra from his company, he would not have reached the heights of his fame and success later on.
Jayant Desai directed 65 films in all. His last film was Zamana Badal gaya-1961. He died in Bombay on 19-4-1976.
The Music Director of “Billi”(1938) was Gyan Dutt and lyricist was P.L.Santoshi. The cast was Eddie Bilimoria, Sunita, Ishwarlal, Kantilal, Ila Devi, Khatoon, Ghory, Kalyani bai, Rajkumari and others. Today’s duet is sung by Kantilal and Kalyani Bai – a name in the ” Same Name Confusion” category as there was another singer actress Kalyani Das in the same period.
Hailing from Turkman Gate in Delhi, Kalyani Bai was born in 1916. Her real name was Zarina. She was passionate about singing from a very young age and subsequently started her formal training with Ustad Wazire Khan and in no time started singing for All India Radio and HMV. That era saw an influx of records made from the many Ghazals, Khyaal & Thumris that she had sung.
When a contact was made to her at her house situated in ‘Tekriwala bunglow’ on Dargah lane in Mahim (West), a few years back, Kalyani Bai said that with the advent of Talkie films the demand for well enunciated and melodious singers suddenly went up as till then playback hadn’t been the trend and actors would themselves have to sing the songs live in front of the camera. In the midst of this, one day, two brothers from Punjab saw her in a recording and came over to her house. They wanted to make a film with Kalyani. They agreed to all the conditions that Kalyani’s Abba put forth and hence Abba-Ammi along with their 15 children went on to Kolkata. This was during the Mid 30’s. Kalyani Bai was approximately 13 years old at that time. This film ‘Pardesi’, according to Kalyani, was completed halfway when a spat took place between the two brothers and the film had to be shut down.
As soon as B.N.Sircar, the owner of ‘New Theatres’ and R.C.Boral, the music director came to know of this, they called Kalyani and immediately employed her in their company at a salary of Rupees 250 a month. Since her nickname was ‘Kallo’, R.C.Boral gave Zarina a new name and henceforth she came to be known as ‘Kalyani Bai’.
Kalyani was featured in all the four films released by New Theatres in 1937 viz ‘Anath Ashram’, ‘Mukti’, ‘President’ and ‘Vidyapati’, here she not only acted alongside heavyweights like Prithviraj Kapoor, Trilok Kapoor, Uma Shashi, Jagdish Sethi, P.C.Barua, Kanan devi, Pankaj Mullick, K.L.Sehgal, Leela Desai, Pahadi Sanyal, K.C.Dey, and K.N.Singh, she also sang some songs for her characters in those films. Playback was in its initial phase and had just been introduced in 1935 by ‘New Theatres’ in their film ‘Dhoop Chhaon’. And in practice, it wasn’t the singer’s name (who had actually sung the song) that appeared on the music records but the name of the character of the movie on whom the song was filmed and since this practice continued for another one and a half decade, it is virtually impossible to verify the songs sung by almost all the artists of that era including Kalyani.
Mumbai based Sardar Chandulal Shah, owner of ‘Ranjit Movietone’, was so impressed by Kalyani’s singing and acting skills that as soon as her contract with new theaters was over, he called Kalyani to Mumbai and employed her at Rupees 800 per month. The 1937 release ‘Toofani Toli’ was Kalyani’s first movie to be screened under the banner of Ranjit Movietone. The film was directed by Jayant Desai and Gyan Dutt was its Music composer. Kalyani sung three songs for this movie.
In 1938 Ranjit Movietone made a total of 8 films under its banner of which Kalyani sang and acted in 4 viz. ‘Billi’, ‘Gorakh Aya’, ‘Prithvi Putra’ and ‘Secretary’. Gyan Dutt was the composer and Pyarelal Santoshi was the lyricist for all of these films. . In the year 1939 of the 4 films that were screened under this banner, in ‘Nadi Kinare’ Kalyani acted as well as sang a duet
After parting ways from ‘Ranjit Movietone’, Kalyani appeared in movies like ‘Super Pictures’ ‘Kanyadan’ (1940), ‘Mohan Picture’s’ ‘Jadui Kangan’ (1940), ‘Muslim ka laal’ (1941) and ‘Jadui Angoothi’ (1948), ‘Tarun Picture’s’ ‘Prabhat’ (1941), ‘Sunrise Picture’s’ ‘Ghar ki laaj’ (1941), ‘Ghar Sansar’ (1942), ‘Malan’ (1942) and ‘Maa Baap’ (1944) and ‘Radhika Picture’s’ ‘Pyara Watan’ (1942) where she not only played a range of roles from that of a heroine to a vamp, but she also sang many songs for these films. one that predominates all is the first film-qawaali of the history of Indian Cinema ‘aahein na bharin shikve na kiye’ (‘Zeenat’-1945 / Lyrics : Nakhshab / Music : Hafeez Khan) sung with Noorjehan and Johrabai Ambalewali in which Shyama, Shashikala and Shalini were seen on the big screen for the first time ever.
After her marriage in the year 1948, Kalyani left aside the ostentatious world of glamour and completely immersed herself in her domesticated life. After a number of decades she was once again seen in movies like ‘Aaja Sanam’ (1975), ‘Prem Kahani’ (1975), ‘Aakhiri Sajda’ (1977) and ‘Salaam-E-Mohabbat’ (1983) where she played a number of small character roles but her comeback films couldn’t bring back the magic that once was and she bid her final farewell to the big screen and spent the rest of her days quietly with her son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren. Her husband had passed away very early on and her son, working as a spot boy in films, barely managed to keep the household running. Although she had some relief in the form of a pension of Rupees 750 per month through the ‘Gandhi Welfare Trust’ set up by Richard Attenborough, Kalyani could never rise above the financial difficulties of livelihood till the very end.
In spite of all the pains and troubles that she faced, she never uttered a single word of complaint. And it was this decorous and dignified nature of hers that even superstars like Dev Anand and Sunil Dutt always showered her with the utmost respect. And then on 1st October 2009 at the age of 87, this remarkable artist of her era took her final journey. ( KALYANI BAI, from the 30s and the 40s, was traced to a small Tenement in Tekriwal Bungalow, in the lane near Mahim Dargah, in Mumbai by the famous Film Historian, writer and journalist Shri Shishir Krishna Sharma. He interviewed her on 21-2-2004. The above edited Biography of Kalyani Bai is based on his writings in http://www.beetehuedin.blogspot.in. I thank Sharmaji for this.)
Today’s duet is a romantic-cum-comedy song.
Song- Paa li maine paa li (Billi)(1938) Singers- Kantilal, Kalyani Bai, Lyrics- P.L.Santoshi, MD- Gyan Dutt
Both
Lyrics
Paa li maine paa li
ye gaadi paun paun waali
paa li maine paa li
ye gaadi paun paun waali
Paa li maine paa li
ye gaadi paun paun waali
paa li maine paa li
ye gaadi paun paun waali
tumne kaise gaadi paayi
shahar ki ek ladki aayi
usko meree saadi bhaayee
shahar ki ek ladki aayi
usko meree saadi bhaayee
maine de dee apni saadi
unne de dee paun paun gaadi
maine de dee apni saadi
unne de dee paun paun gaadi
paa li maine paa li
ye gaadi paun paun waali
paa li maine paa li
ye gaadi paun paun waali
paa li maine paa li
ye gaadi paun paun waali
paa li maine paa li
ye gaadi paun paun waali
bolo tumne kaise paayee
shahar ka ek ladka aayaa
paun paun paun paun khoob bajaaya
shahar ka ek ladka aayaa
paun paun paun paun khoob bajaaya
bola mujhko kapde de de
meree paun paun gaadee le le
bola mujhko kapde de de
meree paun paun gaadee le le
de kar apne kapde saare
gaadee mujhko milee niraalee
de kar apne kapde saare
gaadee mujhko milee niraalee
paa li hamne paa li
ye gaadi paun paun waali
paa li hamne paa li
ye gaadi paun paun waali
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
July 9, 2024 at 6:07 pm
Arun Sir, as usual, a very informative write-up. Kalyani Bai’s journey from a young girl passionate about singing to a celebrated artist in Indian cinema is inspiring.
I recently watched the movie “President” (1937) but couldn’t recognize or identify her.
Despite facing many challenges, her legacy as a talented singer and actress in the golden era of Indian cinema remains influential.
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July 9, 2024 at 6:21 pm
Thanks for your appreciation.
I have not said that she acted/sang in film ‘President’-1937, which was released in 1938. I have mentioned 4 film names in which she acted in 1937, while in New Theatres. HFGK does not mention her name in the cast.
-AD
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