Saawan aayaa re
Posted by: Atul on: August 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 ‘Dhola Maru’ (1956).
Hindi cinema is famous for presenting love stories of different kinds, types, hue and color based on imaginary, stolen, copied, made up or borrowed stories which end up as happy, sad or unexpected results. Not only Hindi, but most other languages too do the same.
From the silent era till today, the audience has been fed a variety of love stories, but ask anyone names of famous love stories and he will invariably answer Romeo and Juliet, Laila Majnu or Shirin Farhad. The fact is Romeo and Juliet never existed. They are the fictional characters from Shakespeare’s famous drama ‘Romeo and Juliet’, published in 1597 A.D. Laila Majnu were from Arabia and Shirin and Khushro Farhad were from Persia (Iran) !
There are several love stories in our own mythology like Arjun- Subhadra, Uttara-Abhimanyu and Usha-Anirudha. Even our own Indian history has many famous love stories like Jodha- Akbar, Bajirao-Mastani, Prithviraj-Sanyogita, Bimbisara-Amrapali, Mumal-Mahendra, Ambikapathy-Amaravati (from South) etc.
India is a country of variety. A country where there are 28 states and 9 UTs, 22 major languages as per the constitution, 30 languages spoken by more than 3 million each, 122 languages spoken by 10000 people each and 1652 languages totally spoken in the entire country. So many religions have thrived here for centuries and still the country is existing as ONE Unit ! What binds all these people is our Indian Culture. It has a greater influence on people than even their religions. This makes India a unique democracy in the world. It belied the hope and prediction of many (like Winston Churchil, for example) that India will break into pieces after getting Independence.
India has several states with their own history, language, customs and love stories too. As far as love stories are concerned, the ones from Punjab and Sindh take the cake in fame, as they are better known all over India. However, most love stories ended up with tragic results. Take the cases of Mirza-Sahiban, Heer-Ranjha, Sassi-Punnu, Momal-Rano, Umar-Marvi, Sohni-Mahiwal, Lila-Chanesar, Noori-Tamchi and Dhaj-Rorkumar.
Indian filmmakers could not miss such opportunities and several films were made on these stories. Some of the films are ‘Heer Ranjha’ made in 1931, 1932, 1948 and 1970. ‘Mirza-Sahiban’ in 1933, 1935, 1947 and 1957, ‘Sassi-Punnu’ in 1932, 1933 and 1946, ‘Sohni-Mahiwal’ in 1933, 1946 1958 and 1984, ‘Umar-Marvi’ in 1942 and ‘Noori-Tamchi’ in 1934.
Today’s love story’ Dhola Maru’ (1956) is from Rajasthan, but is also claimed by Gujarat, M.P. and Chhattisgarh. This is a love story with a happy ending. A film in Gujarati was also made on them in 1993. This film was made by Cine Workers’ Society, Bombay. It was directed by NR Acharya and the music was by Suryakant Pal (aka SK Paul) – who was the nephew of Dr. Ramchandra Pal, Music Director with Bombay Talkies. The cast of the film was Pradeep Kumar, Sapru, Usha Kiron, Rehana, Achla Sachdev, Kumkum, Sumati Lajmi, Baby Uma, Miss Pammi, Miss Usha, Miss Hemlata, Miss Sarita, Krishnakant and guest artiste Ulhas.
Story of the film was a mixture of different versions from Gujarat, M.P. and Chattisgarh with Rajasthan. Lots of cinematic liberties were also taken. The film story was,
Navalgarh’s king Nal and Queen Damayanti were a popular ruler duo. Their son was 4 year old Dhola. Once there was a severe drought and famine in the kingdom. Along with his people the king too moved out and went to King Buddha Singh, the King of Punalgarh, along with the queen and Dhola. One day in a game of dice he defeated King Buddha and as a reward, asked for his daughter Maru for his son. The marriage was fixed. On the day of marriage, however, there was a big fire in the pandaal and the groom was saved somehow. Thinking that Maru is a bad omen for them, Nal-Damayanti refuses to take her. King Buddha takes it as an insult and challenges King Nal. In the subsequent sword fight King Buddha is killed and Nal goes away with Dhola. Maru weeps.
After a few years one day the young Dhola goes hunting in Punalgarh jungle and meets Maru. They fall in love but King Nal forbids him to meet her again. Dhola is enticed by a beautiful girl Rewa, who wants to marry him. When King Nal and queen Damayanti go on a pilgrimage, Rewa’s uncle usurps Nal’s throne. When Maru learns about it, she reaches Navalgarh, meets Dhola and they want to run away, but the new ruler sends his army to kill Dhola. Dhola and Maru run away, but on the way Dhola is bitten by a snake and dies. Maru starts wailing, which is heard by Shankar-Parvati and they revive Dhola. Dhola gathers his own army and defeats Rewa’s uncle. His parents also return. They learn everything and accept Maru as their bahu.
Now let us know the pathetic story of a well known actress who was rich but no one cared for her in her last 40 years of life. This is how heartless our film industry is. Out of sight is out of mind or hazir so vazir is the principle here. She did not want any financial help, all she wanted was loving remembrance which she never got. She was ACHLA SACHDEV.
Achala Sachdev’s (3-5-1920 to 30-4-2012) (original name Rajinder) name is permanently conjoined with a mother’s role. She did a mother’s role when she was very young and since then, more than a heroine she has been seen either as a sister or mother in films. In her earliest film ‘Dilruba’ (1950) she was Dev Anand’s sister and later in many films she was a permanent mother of Dev Anand.
She worked in All India Radio, Lahore. She came to Delhi after the partition and continued her job in All India Radio, till her first film. She acted in 181 Hindi films, 3 Punjabi films and 1 Gujarati film, in addition to 1 incomplete Bangla film. She acted in a few television serials and FD documentaries too.
In her early years she got married to Gyan Sachdeva. The couple had one son and one daughter. Her son Jyotin, a business consultant, settled in the US and daughter was married in Bombay. When she could not pull on, she divorced her husband. After 12 years of loneliness she fell in love and married an American Clifford Douglas Peters, who was an engineer and ran an electronics factory in Poona. She stopped accepting new films after 1976 and then shifted to Poona.
After her second husband died, she shifted from her bungalow in Bhosari, near Poona to a spacious flat in Hadapsar area of Poona. She had completed all films on hand, but due to insistence of family friend Yash Chopra, she acted in some of his film, notably ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge’ (1995). Though her last film was ‘Dahak’-98, her last released film was Suno sasur ji-2003.
During her heydays, she was very friendly with Sunil Dutt and Nargis, Mona Dev Anand (Kalpana Kartik), Meena Kumari, Saira Bano and her mother Naseem Bano. She was very punctual during her shootings. Once while working in a Rajesh Khanna film, she had to wait for him for 4 hours, with all make up done. When this continued to happen for the next 10 days, she left the film and went back to Poona. Rajesh Khanna wrote an apology letter to her and then only she came back to complete the film.
Once she was in Poona, she was all alone. No one from the film industry ever contacted her in her last 40 years. She was very generous. She had donated 25 lakhs to an NGO, Janseva Foundation to start ‘Achala Sachdev Institute of Education’. She also gave 15 Lakhs to Dr. HV Desai Eye Hospital for ward construction. In her last days,she even donated her flat also to the NGO Janseva Foundation.
She was sick for the last 6 months and was looked after by the NGO. Admitted to Poona General Hospital ICU, she got paralysis, lost her vision and then lost her life on 30-4-2012. A highly successful film star with lots of money, but she was neglected by her own son and daughter. Above all, in the last 40 years in Poona, not one soul from the film world met her. What was pathetic was, when she was admitted in ICU, her attending doctor, Dr. Mehta sent messages to Yash Chopra and others in Film industry, but none came or even inquired and she died a lonely death.
[Based on Cine Blitz, Madhuri,Times of India, Indian Express, Wikipedia and info kindly given by Shri Harish Raghuwanshi ji].
Today’s song is one of the rare duets of Lata Mangeshkar and Mubarak Begum. Mubarak had always blamed Lata for her stunted growth as a singer. And she was not alone doing this.
Song- Saawan aaya re (Dhola Maru)(1956) Singers-Lata Mangeshkar, Mubarak Begam, Lyrics-Bharat Vyas, MD-S K Pal
Chorus
Lyrics
saawan aaya re ae ae
saawan aaya re ae ae
saawan aaya rang rangeela
saawan aaya re
saawan aaya rang rangeela
saawan aaya re
aawo sajan mil jhoola jhooloen
man muskaaya re
saawan aaya re
saawan aaya re
ho saawan aaya hey ree sakhi
nahin saajan aaya re ae ae
saajan bin saawan kya saawan
man murjhaaya re ae ae
saawan aaya re
aayi deewaali ee
aayi deewaali diyon waali
aayi deewaali aayi re
aayi deewaali aayi re
aayi deewaali aayi
jagmag jagmag diye jalaaye
naache de de
naache de de taali re
naache de de taali re
aayi deewaali ee
aayi deewaali diyon waali
baati jaley aur diya jaley
kiske liye main deep jalaaun oon oon oon
haaye kiske liye main deep jalaaun
piya bina mora jiya jaley
piya bina mora jiya jaley
aayi deewaali
holi aayi phoolon ki
jholi bhar laayi re
jholi bhar laayi re
holi aayi
bindravan ki kunj galin mein
aa ke phaag machaayee re ae ae
aaj dekho re logo o o
aaj dekho re logo
naache log lugaai re
aaj mhaane
aaj mhaane devariya se
ghoomar rama jo hey maa
ghoomar ramwa de daa sa
aaj mhane devariya se
ghoomar rama jo hey maa
ghoomar ramwa de daa sa
ho mhaane bikaneri
ho mhaane jodhaneri
ho mhaane udiyapuri
?? khila de hey maa
ghoomar ramwa de daa sa
mhane ghoomhar ramwa de daa sa
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4 Responses to "Saawan aayaa re"
August 8, 2024 at 12:22 pm
The duet “Saawan Aaya Re,” featuring Lata Mangeshkar and Mubarak Begum, is melodiously composed and beautifully highlights Mubarak’s performance alongside Lata’s iconic voice.
Mubarak’s contribution matches Lata’s in brilliance, showcasing her own vocal excellence and emotional depth.
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August 9, 2024 at 11:08 am
Thanks for your comments.
I feel very sad when I come across such stories as Achala Sachdev. But then this has been happening in our film industry for a long time.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
August 8, 2024 at 12:03 pm
Arun Sir,
It’s deeply saddening that despite my efforts to meet Achala Ji at Poona Hospital, I was unable to see her due to her deteriorating health.
It’s disheartening to see how a celebrated artist like her ended her days in such isolation, reflecting the neglect that often accompanies talented individuals in their final years.
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