Baabu darogaa jee
Posted on: August 2, 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 Taqdeer-1943.
I have been seeing films and listening to film songs from quite an early age. That is such an age that your experience is less and opinions are firm. From the beginning, I liked songs by Shamshad Begum and Kishore kumar. As far as Shamshad was concerned her peak period of songs was 1947 to 1955. Maybe I heard her best songs and that too composed by the top class composers like C.Ramchandra and Naushad. Kishore kumar, of course, was shining from 1952 to 1960. I believe firmly that his best songs were in this period. Many people may not agree to this, but then age makes a lot of difference in likes and dislikes.
I had a collection of songs of Shamshad and at the peak level, I must have had at least 500 to 700 songs. They were collected first on 78 RPM records, then on the tapes, 45 RPM, LPs, Video cassettes, CDs and DVDs.
Shamshad was not much educated, but she was the undisputed queen of film songs from the early 40s to the mid 50s. Her senior singers slowly faded out, but she continued first with C.Ramchandra, then Naushad and finally O.P.Nayyar. She started losing the grip from the onset of the 50’s decade. From 1949, C.Ramchandra was infatuated with Lata, Lata and only Lata. Naushad tenderly shifted to Lata, realising that the newer Heroines preferred Lata. Finally when O.P.Nayyar was attracted towards Asha, he started neglecting not only Shamshad but also Geeta Dutt. This was the ‘professional’ approach of of MDs in those days !
Come to think of the reasons why Shamshad lost her ground, I found 2 reasons. One, in early years, the films had a very strong story line and besides lead pair, even other characters were also important. Naturally Shamshad sang for all characters, lead and other dancers, small part players etc. On an average if you see, you will find that about 70% songs were filmed on actors other than the lead pairs.
Secondly, the rising newer Heroines realised that to garner more space and spotlight they must have more songs and not other characters. This resulted in reverse situation and 70 to 80 % songs went to lead Heroines. These heroines now preferred Lata. Lata also very cleverly sang only for heroines. Thus Shamshad lost her ground squarely.
From the older lot only Shamshad and Geeta were the last lap runners. Geeta was attached to Guru Dutt films. Shamshad was not preferred now by her earlier supporters C.R., Naushad or Nayyar. She was so gentle, soft and meek that she accepted her defeat too soon. She could have got another 7-8 years, but she chose to lie low. The possessive and dominating attitude of Lata and Asha also hurt her career, but she never fought.
We all know that Shamshad became famous after she sang songs of Khazanchi-1941, made in Lahore. She came to Bombay when Mehboob khan met her father and she was allowed to come to Bombay to sing for the film Taqdeer-1943. This film was made to launch Jaddan Bai’s daughter Fatima aka Nargis. That time she was just about 14-15 year old. Having done some child roles earlier, she was to make her Debut as an adult Heroine. In one of her interviews, given to our Gajendra Khanna ji, Shamshad described how Mehboob Khan convinced her father….
“It was all thanks to the insistence of Mehboob Khan. He was one of the biggest directors of the time. His films like Jagirdar(1937), Deccan Queen(1936) and Aurat(1940) (which was a milestone) were very popular and some people used to call him Father of Indian Cinema crediting him for his contributions to it. He had heard my songs in Khazanchi and was planning Taqdeer with Motilal and a debutant Nargis as the lead actress. He told his secretary to take my bookings. He told him, Saahab yeh artist book nahi hoti(This artist doesn’t take bookings). He asked him the reason for that. The secretary told him that the singer’s possessive father doesn’t reply and doesn’t let her leave Lahore. Mehboob sahab would not be deterred and he came all the way to Lahore to convince my father.
It was a really big thing that one of the biggest producer-directors ever came there to get a new singer to sing for his ambitious movie! He told my father, “Yeh abhi chhoti hai. Bologe baith jaao to baith jaayegi, jo kahoge maan legi. Aapne usse kuen ka mendhak banaya hua hai. Woh to samudra ki machchi hai. Samudra mein daaloge to wahaan bhi tairegi. Aap isse ijaazat nahi denge to jab yeh badi hogi to aapko apna career na aage badhne ke liye zimmedaar maanegi.”(She is young now and will do as you say. She is capable of making a mark in the ocean, why do you want to keep her in a well. If you don’t allow her to spread her wings now, she will blame you when she is older).My father understood his point and gave permission. Mehboob sahab promised to arrange for a house, car and servant for me which he did. I was offered Rs 300 per song for the movie. I came to Bombay to sing for this movie. All the songs were sung by me and became very popular. I promptly ran away back to Lahore after singing the songs. “
The film was directed by Mehboob Khan and the music was by Rafiq Ghaznavi. After this film Ghaznavi did only 2 more films, one each in 1945 and 1946 and then he migrated to Pakistan. Shamshad Begum has sung about 1700 songs. The break up is- Hindi film songs-1330, NFS-30, Punjabi film songs- 139, NFS-36, Religious-48, Rajasthani-5,Bhojpuri-3,Tamil-8.
Her maximum songs-154 were in 1949, 146 in 1950, 128 in 1948, 100 in 1946 and later just 19 songs in 1960.She sang her last song in 1981.
She sang maximum songs with Hansraj Behl-116, Ghulam Hyder-98, Pt.Govindram-86, Ghulam Mohd-82, Naushad-61 and O P Nayyar-38. She considered Naushad and Nayyar as her lucky composers.
She sang 131 duets with Rafi, 33 with Durrani, 23 with Kishore, 29 with Mukesh and 22 with Chitalkar. She sang 32 duets with Asha Bhosle, 23 with Lata, 11 with Zohrabai and 10 with Geeta Dutt.
Shamshad Begum’s songs are immortal, My personal favourite is from Patanga-49- “mere piya gaye Rangoon”, with Chitalkar.
The cast of the film was Chandramohan, Motilal, Nargis, Jilloobai, Kayam Ali, Ansari, Shirazi, Laddan etc. The Story was by Ghulam Mohd. and screenplay and dialogues were by Agha Jaani Kashmiri.
It was a lightweight comedy about Justice Gangaprasad (Chandramohan) and a Theatre owner Seth Badriprasad (NM Charlie),who lose their daughter and son in Kumbha Mela (This is where this trend started for future films, especially Manmohan Desai type films) respectively.
The children are found but exchanged and Gangaprasad brings up Babu (Motilal) as a rich playboy and Badriprasad raises Salma(Nargis) as a dancer in his Theatre. They fall in love, causing a problem of class Difference. This is revealed when their identities are revealed.
Funny thing is Gangaprasad’s wife (Jilloo bai) raises Motilal thinking that he is a Girl. The scene when it is revealed that he is a Boy, is very hilarious.
There is a song in the film, ’Meri Mata Bharat Mata’, in which Nargis is shown holding a sickle and a cloth bundle, with waving Fields behind her. This reminds us of her role and posters of ‘Mother India’-1957(also a Mehboob Production.)
Today’s song is a video song sung by Shamshad and shot on a very young Nargis. She looks immature, awkward and uncomfortable in doing the dance steps. She is not even lip synching the song properly. Enjoy this 80 year old video song….
Song- Baabu Daroga jee (Taqdeer)(1943) Singer- Shamshad Begum, Lyricist- Anjum Pilibhiti, MD- Rafiq Ghaznavi
Lyrics
baabu daroga jee
kaun kasoor pe dharle sainyya mor
baabu daroga jee
ho baabu daroga jee
kaun kasoor pe dharle sainyya mor
baabu daroga jee
na koi ka naukar
na koi ka chaakar
na koi ka naukar
na koi ka chaakar
na sainyya mora chor
na sainyya mora chor
madira kamaata
sadakiya pe suta
sainyya ko dharle mor
madira kamaata
sadakiya pe suta
sainyya ko dharle mor
baabu daroga jee
ho baabu daroga jee
kaun kasoor pe dharle sainyya mor
babu daroga jee
baali umariya beetat jaaye
baali umariya beetat jaaye
naahin padat mai ka chain
naahin padat mai ka chain
chhatiyaan hoon dhhak dhhak bin baanke balma
sainyya ko dai do mor
chhatiya hoon dhhak dhhak bin baanke balma
sainyya ko dai do mor
baabu daroga jee
hoy baabu daroga jee
kaun kasoor pe dharle sainyya mor
baabu daroga jee
paanch rupaiyya daroga ko dai hoon
paanch rupaiyya daroga ko dai hoon
das daihoon kotwaal
das daihoon kotwaal
baala jobanwa firangiya ko daihoon
baala jobanwa firangiya ko daihoon
sainyya ko lai hoon chhudaay
baala jobanwa firangiya ko daihoon
sainyya ko lai hoon chhudaay
baabu daroga jee
hoy baabu daroga jee
kaun kasoor pe dharle sainyya mor
baabu daroga jee
hoy
6 Responses to "Baabu darogaa jee"
August 2, 2024 at 8:32 pm
is this the 800th song of Shamshad Begum on the blog?
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August 4, 2024 at 9:44 am
Nicely written Arunji. Her getting lesser songs in later phase is music lover’s loss totally as it was for the composers who didn’t call her enough. She is a unique singer the like of whom we have not seen again.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
August 2, 2024 at 8:47 am
Arun Sir,
Nice write-up.
Shamshad Begum’s early departure from the limelight was a notable loss for music lovers. Her vibrant voice once defined an era of Hindi film music, but she was overshadowed by changing industry trends and new voices.
The industry’s shift towards lead heroines and rising artists meant Shamshad’s exceptional talent was overlooked in later years. Her modesty and reluctance to assert herself professionally further diminished her presence.
Even a skilled composer like OP Nayyar, who had benefited from her and Geeta’s early work, eventually moved away from them. This serves as a poignant reminder of how quickly fame can shift, leaving behind a lasting legacy overshadowed by what might have been.
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August 2, 2024 at 1:25 pm
Thanks for your similar views.
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