Ram naam ras peeje manwaa
Posted by: Atul on: August 27, 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 a Bhajan from the film Andolan-1951.
This film was so obscure that most people have never even heard its name. It was produced by Harnam Motwani for his own banner Motwani Ltd. Bombay. It was directed by Phani Mujumdar. Pannalal Ghosh was the Music Director and the cast was Shivraj, Kishore Kumar, Manju, Pushpa, Parshuram, Tiwari, Shekhar, Krishnakant and others. This was a Patriotic film.
I have not seen the film, but I got hold of its film booklet. This is what it said…..
” In the year 1885, Charu Dutt, a worldly-wise patriot, journeys from his little village to attend the first session of the Indian National Congress, held in Bombay. A fire with patriotic zeal, he returns to his village and speaks to his friends and relatives of the new wave that is about to spread over India. To his son he explains the cultural and political past of India, from the dawn of her history upto the turbulence of 1857. . The years roll on, and we come to the partition of Bengal. There is thunder in the air, and Indias inspiring song, “Bande Mataram”, is born. . The struggle gathers strength. Mahatma Gandhi appears, and freedom comes closer…..1920….1921….. Simon Commission, Bardoli, Dandi, 1930….1932….the battle rages and the drams heightens, and thus, August 1942, Quit India, and on to the final chapter in our freedom story, which unfolds in this film as the story of a single family, representing the nation of which they are the heart-beats. ”
The review of this film published in those days said….
‘ The film, made at Bombay Talkies, was produced by the distributors of the Chicago Radio PA systems. Kishore Kumar plays the role of the militant hero of this quasi-documentary. It is a stridently nationalistic story of India’s freedom struggle, presented through the expressions of a Bengali family from 1885 (when the Indian National Congress was established) to 1947. It has the actual footage of India’s freedom struggle. Speeches and talks of our national leaders, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and many others are included in the narrative of this film.
Important events incorporated into the plot were Mahatma Gandhi’s Satyagraha (1920), the Simon Commission (1928), Sardar Vallabh bhai Patel’s Bardoli Satyagraha (1928) and the 1942 Quit India agitation. Old documentary footage purchased from Kohinoor and Krishna Films, as well as a shot of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore singing Jana Gana Mana are included.’
Actor Krishnakant aka K.K. who acted in this film, did the role of Rehmu (Rehman) – a 20 year old young man. By the end of the film, he becomes an 85 year old Rehmu Chacha. He has written about this film in his Gujarati autobiography, ‘Guzra hua zamana’, that he had to do the make up differently for every shot of his role – from young to old. His make-up man was Dada Paranjape, who had worked in Prabhat and Rajkamal with V Shantaram. The shooting of the film was done in Bhopal and nearby areas. All the actors and crew had to stay in Military Barracks and had to report at 7 am for shootings. The season was winter and the cold of Bhopal was unbearable. Constant tea/coffee supply was arranged. (loosely translated in English).
For lack of any big stars and actors, distributors were wary of taking the film. A grand premiere was arranged, attended by Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor, Meena kumari, Madhubala, Geeta Bali and others. However, the film did not do big business. Probably, the documentary type presentation was not impressive enough.
Though Kishore was known as a Comedian and later as a successful singer, he loved to act in serious movies. Andolan was his first serious film. Later he acted in other serious films like Mad Bhare Nain-56, Rangoli-62 and Ganga ki lahren-64. When he started producing his own films he began with serious films like Door Gagan ki Chhaon mein-64 and also made Door ka Raahi-71. He was so touchy about his serious acting that he would not like anyone criticising these films at all.
Most people who worked in the Film industry in any field- be it acting, direction, composing music, dancing, producing, in fact any department-joined the industry on their own. However, there was also a class of artistes who were forced by the circumstances to work in the film industry- for example, the Mangeshkar sisters. Then there were artistes who were forced by their near ones to join the film industry, like Meena Kumari or Madhubala,for example. And there were artistes who came on their own to build a career in the film industry, like Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand etc. Few artists joined the industry because it was the family tradition,like Raj Kapoor, Shammi and Shashi Kapoor etc.. Then there were also some artistes who had never dreamt of it, but had to enter the acting field,like Ashok Kumar,for example.
KISHORE KUMAR (4-8-1929 to 13-10-1987) belonged to an entirely different category. He wanted to become a singer but was pushed to become an Actor in the beginning of his career. His elder brother Ashok kumar-an astrologer by Hobby- had predicted that he will never be a singer.
While in school and college, when he was asked to sing, he would charge 4 annas for a Saigal song and 1 Anna for an Ashok Kumar song. ( In one interview, Ashok Kumar had said ” the rate for Saigal songs went up to 1 Rupee, but my rate remained at only 1 Anna). He came to Bombay to see and meet K L Saigal and ended up doing a small role in his first film SHIKARI-1946. His name was at No.7 in the credits.
After Shikari, Kishore Kumar did a Police Inspector’s role in Shehnai-47. Finally, in the film Ziddi-48 he sang 2 songs-1 solo and 1 duet with Lata (later they sang 320 duets). In the film Ziddi, he was also in the cast, though uncredited. He did the role of a Gardener, who passes witty remarks-2 or 3 times. He then acted in Sati Vijay-48. Then in Rimzim-49 and Pyaar-50 he got opportunities to sing songs. In 1950, in Muqaddar he acted and also sang songs. In Khiladi-50, he sang 1 song.
From 1948-2 songs, in 1949-3 songs and in 1950 10 songs. Thus by 1950 he sang just 15 songs. Then from 1951 to the end of 1953 he sang 56 songs, and then onwards his tally increased.
But as luck would have it, the more he wanted to only sing songs, the more the industry forced him to act. He was a popular Comedian. Famous south indian film maker M V Raman was so much impressed with his ‘Bahar’ songs that he offered him the lead role in his film ” Ladki”-53, opposite Vyjayantimala. Same year he acted with Shyama in H S Rawail’s ” Lahren”-53. The success of these two Hit films brought loads of acting offers to him. As a result, Kishor Kumar played the main Lead in 68 films from 1953 to 1968- Two thirds of all his films ! During this period, he restricted his singing for himself and Dev Anand only.
Thus, one can see that though he was pining to become a singer, he was made an Actor by circumstances and the industry. He was a Reluctant Actor !
Phani Mujumdar (28-12-1911 to 16-5-1994), was a seasoned Director. He is the only Director who directed films in 9 languages (Hindi, Bangla, English, Malay, Chinese, Magadhi, Maithili, Aasamese and Punjabi). Starting with P C Barua in Calcutta, besides Street singer-38 and Kapalkundala-39, he had directed several hit films like Baadbaan, Doctor, Tamanna, Door Chalen, Faraar, Aarti, Kanyadan, Akashdeep, Oonche Log etc., a total of 29 films. Here is a short Biography with some extracts from an Obituary on him, written by the famous Film Historian and writer of “Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema”-Ashish Rajadhyaksha. It was published in The Independent,Calcutta, on 22-6-1994.
PHANI MAJUMDAR was a pioneer of Indian cinema, working in the late 1930s with PC Barua, India’s equivalent of DW Griffith, in the famous New Theatres Studio of Calcutta. Here, between 1936 and 1939, new standards were set for Indian motion pictures in a series of reflective, lyrical films that brought cinema closer to life and literature.
Majumdar’s contribution was Street Singer (1938), a melancholy love story, his debut and a classic of Indian cinema. Its male lead, Kundanlal Saigal, sang his immortal song ‘Babul Mora’ here, on a charged symbolic landscape of boats adrift in the mist. The Famine of 1943 and Partition of India were events of the future yet much of the symbolism of Bengal, the redolent Tagorean motifs of life-giving rivers, the feudal elite recreating the 19th century in desolate mansions – all the stuff that Satyajit Ray later spoke of as ‘the past’ – was in place with Street Singer. It was watched, not just as a love story par excellence, but as an expression of themes of Indian identity and nationalism which would be relevant for India,and Majumdar, even beyond Independence.
Majumdar was born in Faridpur, in what is now Bangladesh, on 28-12- 1911. From Calcutta he moved to Bombay in 1941, directing classic musicals which often promoted traditional ways of Indian life, with stars like Suraiya (in Tamanna, 1942), Shanta Apte in Mohabbat (1943), and the blind singer KC Dey.
Majumdar’s Andolan (1951), Indian cinema’s most elaborately constructed nationalist propaganda feature, was made to promote Nehru’s Congress Party and was the closest that India ever came, on film, to defining a popular culture of nationalism: a small family in Bengal experiences in microcosm the major political events in the country, from 1885 (when the Congress Party was established) to Independence.
Majumdar returned to India from working in Singapore in the 1960s, and proceeded to make films in Punjabi, and even in obscure languages like Magadhi (Bhaiya, 1961) and Maithili (Kanyadaan, 1965). His interest in themes of an intrinsically Indian nature was a driving force to the end of his career. He worked on the television phenomenon of the 1980s in India, the 78-part religious epic The Ramayana, and was working on a television series Our India when he died. No doubt, had he lived, the Our India series, on a state television network struggling to hold its own in competition with satellite, would have been the fitting finale to a career which started with Street Singer.
He directed 29 Hindi films, from first film-Street singer-38 to last film Babul-89. Some of his better known films were Street Singer-38, Kapal Kundala-39, Andolan-51, Tamasha-52, Baadbaan-54, Aarti-62, Oonche Log-65 and Mamta-77. He had married actress Monica Desai, sister of actress Leela Desai.
Phani died on 16-5-94 at Mumbai.
Here is the Bhajan from the film Andolan-1951, sung by Arun, Usha and chorus.
Song-Ram naam ras pee je manwa (Aandolan)(1951) Singers- Arun, Usha, Lyricist- Unknown, MD- Pannalal Ghosh
Lyrics
Ram naam ras pee je manwa
Ram naam ras pee je
Ram naam ras pee je manwa
Ram naam ras pee je
Ram naam ras pee je manwa
Ram naam ras pee je
Ram naam ras pee je manwa
Ram naam ras pee je
tajat(?) sang satsang baith nit
hari charat sun leeje
manwa hari charat sun leeje
manwa hari charat sun leeje
Ram naam ras pee je manwa
Ram naam ras pee je
kaam krodh mad lobh moh ko
kaam krodh mad lobh moh ko
maha(?) chit ko deeje
maha(?) chit ko deeje
maha(?) chit ko deeje
Meera ke prabhu giridhar nagar
Meera ke prabhu
Meera ke prabhu
Meera ke prabhu giridhar nagar
saai ke rang mein bheeje
manwa saai ke rang mein bheeje
manwa saai ke rang mein bheeje
Ram naam ras pee je manwa
Ram naam ras pee je
Ram naam ras pee je manwa
Ram naam ras pee je
manwa Ram naam ras pee je
manwa Ram naam ras pee je
manwa Ram naam ras pee je
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
August 27, 2024 at 5:19 pm
Atul ji,
This is a Meera Bai bhajan. Please tag this song to Meera Bai as lyricist.
Corrections in the lyrics:
tajat(?) sang is ‘taji kusang’.
maha(?) chit ko deeje is ‘baha chit ko deeje.
saai ke is ‘ta hi ke.
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