Sun habeeb mere baithhe kareeb tere
Posted by: Atul on: August 23, 2024
This article is written by Satyajit Rajurkar, 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, 23rd August is the 80th birthday of actress Saira Banu. We pray to the Lord to grant her a healthy long life.
However, today I would like to introduce a master percussionist, composer, live musical performer, record producer, Assistant Music Director and above all a brilliant drummer and Congo/Bongo player, who had no equal in the 1970s and 1980s.
Babla was born on 20 November, 1942, as Laxmichand Virji Shah, son of Virji Shah, into a Kutchi Jain family of trading background. His family hailed from the village of Kundrodi in Kutch, Gujarat. His father had moved to Mumbai and set up a shop in Girgaum. The music director duo of Kalyanji and Anandji are Babla’s elder brothers.
Babla started assisting his brothers after having mastered the art of percussion drums, specially Bongos, Congos, tabla, dholak, etc. and also sang some songs for films. He also tried his hand at music direction for films like Khara Khota (1980), Meetha Zaher (1987), Hero Hiralal (1988), etc. older brothers.
While assisting the KA brand in composing music, he felt the need to differentiate himself and he took up folk music-with-western-elements as his niche genre of music. He made this selection because he had a taste and talent for this type of hybrid music, as also a liking for live performance. He started his band in 1962, and the venture met with success. A form of traditional folk dance from the state of Gujarat called Dandiya Raas or Raas Garba was musically redefined (with western elements and instruments) by Babla in the 1970s.
During this phase, he met Kanchan Mali, who was a budding singer and had a dream of becoming a playback singer. She joined Babla’s band troupe. Later on she married Babla and both of them created a niche for themselves with the fast paced “chutney“ songs which became a craze in the West Indies.
In between their tours, Kanchan sang some songs as a playback singer in films like Rafoo Chakkar, Dharmatma and Qurbani, all of whose music was scored by Kalyanji-Anandji.
The husband-wife duo performed and toured around the globe together. Their international engagements then kept them away from Hindi (Bollywood) film music, which they gradually abandoned. The decade of the 1980s was their heyday for live performances. They were mostly popular in Caribbean countries, where they covered soca hits like Hot Hot Hot.
Due to their extensive touring support, their LP albums including Kuch Gadbad Hai sold well for an Indian group traveling abroad. The dance music for these sensual folk dances came to be termed chutney music and is now recognized as a genre in itself.
Kanchan left this world in 2004. The couple has two children, daughter Nisha and son Vaibhav. Nisha toured with her parents since birth. Vaibhav is a drummer on the TV show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Lil’ Champs.
In 2011, Babla Shah was awarded the Radio Mirchi Music Award for Outstanding Contribution to Hindi Film Music.
Babla not only played Congo drums for his brothers Kalyanji Anandji, but he also played for R D Burman, Laxmikant Pyarelal and all major composers of the 70s and 80s.
I had the pleasure of saying hello to him, his son Vaibhav and Vaibhav’s wife Insha, when I visited Anandji Bhai’s house in Girgaum during my Mumbai visit in 2013.
Some of the songs where Babla’s percussion skills were highlighted are:
Ye mera dil yaar ka deewaana (Don)(1978)
Thhoda sa thhehro (Victoria number 203)(1972)
Laila main Laila (Qurbaani)(1980)
Title Music – Johnny Mera Naam
Husn ke laakhon rang kaun sa rang dekhoge (Johny Mera Naam)(1970)
Aye Naujawan Hai Sab Kuch – Aparadh
Diljalon ka dil jalaa ke kyaa milega dilruba (Zanjeer)(1973)
Dance Music – Dharmatma
And many many more songs…
Today I present a fast paced song, “Sun Habeeb Mere, Baithe Kareeb Tere” from the movie, Deshdrohi (1980), which is sung by Lata Mangeshkar, penned by Gulshan Bawra and composed by Kalyanji Anandji. One can hear and enjoy the fast paced rhythm played by Babla on his Congo drums.
Desh Drohi was a 1979 Hindi film presented by the Sangam Art International, Bombay and produced by Bhagwant Singh & G. L. Khanna. The film was directed by Prakash Mehra.
The movie starred Navin Nischol, Saira Banu, Asrani, Ranjit, Padma Khanna, Dev Kumar, Pran, Keshto Mukharjee, Madan Puri, Yunus Parvez, Rakesh Pande, P Jairaj, Ram Sethi, Ram Mohan, etc
The other credits for the production crew are: Story by Mohan Kaul, Writer & Dialogues by Satish Bhatnagar, Edited by V. N. Mayekar, Cinematography by N. Satyan, Audiography by K. S. Rane, Action by Veeru Devgan,
Assistant Music Director by Babla and Frank, etc.
I have seen the movie but don’t remember what it was about. If any readers remember the plot/story, please comment.
The song is lip synced by Padma Khanna. We can also see Saira Banu, Ranjit, Dev Kumar, Asrani, Madan Puri, etc in the picturisation of the song.
Video Link:
Audio Link:
Song-Sun habeeb mere baithhe kareeb tere (Deshdrohi)((1979) Singer-Lata, Lyrics-Gulshan Baawra, MD-Kalyanji Anandji
Lyrics
shikaar dekh ke shikaari ee
teer kasne lage
kisi ki zindagi ka
aaj faisla aa hoga
sun habeeb mere
baithe kareeb tere
kayi rakeeb mere yaar
bachke zara
bachke zara
sun habeeb mere
baithe kareeb tere
kayi rakeeb mere yaar
bachke zara
bachke zara
aise shikaar karen
aankhon se waar karen
baaton se maar kare
yaar
bachke zara
sun habeeb mere
baithe kareeb tere
kayi rakeeb mere
yaar
bachke zara aa
bachke zara
dil mein inke hawas hai
kaise ye deewaane
dil mein inke hawas hai
kaise ye deewaane
ye bujhaaye shama ko
kaise ye parwaane
ghir ke deewaanon mein
ghir ke parwaanon mein
ghir ke deewaanon mein
ghir ke parwaanon mein
jaane kya ho tera
ha
sun habeeb mere
baithe kareeb tere
kayi rakeeb mere yaar
bachke zara
bachke zara
band pinjre mein panchhi
phadphadaye kuchh aise
band pinjre mein panchhi
phadphadaye kuch aise
sar pe mandla rahe hon on
maut ke saaye jaise
basti saiyaadon ki
basti jallaadon ki
basti saiyaadon ki
basti jalladon ki
jo mila bewafa
ha
sun habeeb mere
baithe kareeb tere
kayi rakeeb mere
yaar
bachke zara aa
bachke zara
aise shikaar karen
aankhon se waar kare
baaton se maar kare yaar bachke zara
sun habeeb mere
baithe kareeb tere
kayi rakeeb mere yaar
bachke zara
bachke zara
bachke zara
bachke zara
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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