Pihu pihu boley papeehara
Posted on: October 22, 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 a film with a funny title – Dhobi Doctor-1954.
During my initial days of career in the Pharmaceutical industry, this was the name we used for a Fake doctor or a R.M.P doctor, practicing in villages and small towns or the poor areas of cities. The joke on them was that they would wash the patients clean of their money instead of treating their disease ! Hindi film industry is replete with comical film titles galore. A sample of some film titles….Aaja Nachle, Aadam ka janam, Aag laga do sawan ko, Awara Paagal Deewana, Bombai ki Billi, Banana Brothers, Chhatri Chor, Chaar Chakram, Chillar party, Dhan Dhana Dhan, Faaltu, Gabroo, Ghar mein ho sali to poora saal Diwali etc.etc. I stop here because the list will be too long.
Of course the film Dhobi Doctor was a story of a boy from a Dhobi Family, who becomes a Doctor, so let us not go by the funny title of the film. The film was made by Ranjit Movietone in its downfall years. It was directed by Phani Mujumdar (husband of actress Monica Desai, sister of more famous actress Leela Desai.) The music was composed by Khayyam. The film cast was Usha Kiron, Kishore Kumar, kanhaiyalal, Sumati, Mehmood, jagdeep, Baby Asha Parikh, Shivraj, krishnakant and many others. 5 singers sang 7 songs of this film. The singers were Premlata, Ashima Banerjee, Chandbala, Asha Bhosle and just one solo song by Kishore Kumar. Actually Kishore was quite popular as a singer by 1954, but only one song came to him, possibly because his role was that of a doctor in this film.
The story of film Dhobi Doctor-1954, as given in the january-1954 issue of Film India was….
Ramu (childhood role played by Jagdeep) is the son of a poor Dhobi, Mahadeo. Ramu is smart and intelligent. His elder sister, Lakshmi is very proud of her younger brother. Every evening, Lakshmi walks through the fields to pick him up from the school for back home.
One day, Lakshmi falls ill. Mahadeo has no money to bring a doctor to the village. Having ranked top in his class in the school examination, Ramu has to attend a prize distribution ceremony. But Lakshmi cannot accompany him as she is ill. After the prize distribution ceremony, Ramu returns home quickly to show his Didi the books he received as the prize. He finds that his Didi is dead. Choked with grief, he asks his father as to why Didi died. Mahadeo has no answer except that he was so poor that he could not afford to call a doctor. The broken-hearted Ramu vows that he would become a doctor and treat the poor in the village for free.
Mahadeo works hard to earn more money for the fulfillment of Ramu’s dream. In the school, Ramu is taunted by some of his rich classmates for a dream of a poor Ramu of becoming a doctor but he is indifferent to the taunts. Ramu’s hard work and his father’s struggle bring fruits. He finishes his school with good performance and gets admitted to the medical college.
Ramu’s aptitude for medical studies attracts the attention of the Vice- Principal, Professor Tripathi. He takes a greater interest in Ramu’s studies. Ramu becomes a doctor. Professor Tripathi helps him further in his practice by placing his laboratory at Ramu’s disposal. He also allows Ramu to study in his residence since his house in the village is far-off. Professor Tripathi has a young daughter, Uma (Usha Kiran) who plays pranks with Ramu. Gradually, Uma falls in love with Ramu. However, he is shy to reciprocate the love. Moreover, he is aware that he is the son of a poor Dhobi and Uma is the daughter of a rich father. There is a struggle between his heart and the realities of the situation. However, at the end, they unite after overcoming the stumbling block of the society.
Kishore was my favourite actor and singer till the late 1960s. After his success with ‘Aradhana’-1969 songs, he became mainly a singer, but my love for him as a singer stopped at that point. Kishore was famous for his songs and his many marriages. Let’s take a look at these aspects of his life. Kishore kumar was a popular artist but in his heart,he was always in quest of peace,tranquility,and happiness from home. In search of a good family life, Kishore married 4 times.
The first time ,he married Ruma Ghosh(later Ruma Guha Thakurta)- a small-time actress in 1950. There was stiff opposition from his family, because they wanted him to marry a girl from a non-filmi background, selected by them-like his brother Ashok kumar. This marriage caused him many mental problems and if Dada Burman had not helped him that time, Kishore would have gone back to Khandwa. The first marriage lasted up to 1958, but gave him a son Amit Kumar.
The second marriage was with Madhubala, who was still recovering from the break up with Dilip Kumar. She had undergone a lot of mental agony arising out of the court case by B R Chopra and Dilip’s statement in court against her and her father Ataulla Khan. Kishore also knew about her heart illness. This marriage was opposed from both sides. Kishore had even converted to Islam for her sake. Within a few days of their marriage, Madhubala returned to her father’s home. This marriage lasted till her death in 1969.
The third marriage with Yogita Bali was so casual that it was almost a joke. In the private and hurried marriage ceremony, Mehmood acted as Kishore’s father and Shammi Kappor did the kanyadaan as Yogita’s father. This marriage lasted for 2 years on paper, but Yogita returned to her home, when she fell in love with Mithun Chakraborty.
Finally, Kishore Kumar got his ultimate love, satisfaction and happiness with his 4th marriage with Leena Chandavarkar. Just before marriage, she had undergone mental trauma of being present when her First husband-son of Goa CM-Bandodkar, committed suicide in front of her. Kishore was already over 50 years of age at this time, but he became extremely happy when they got a child-Sumit Kumar, from this marriage. It remained a Happy marriage till he suddenly died.
Here is a part of the interview where Kishore talks about each of his marriages. Interviewer is Pritish Nandy-
” Pritish Nandy: What went wrong with Ruma Devi, your first wife?
Kishore Kumar: She was a very talented person but we could not get along because we looked at life differently. She wanted to build a choir and a career. I wanted someone to build me a home. How can the two reconcile? You see, I’m a simple minded villager type. I don’t understand this business about women making careers. Wives should first learn how to make a home. And how can you fit the two together? A career and a home are quite separate things. That’s why we went our separate ways.
Pritish Nandy: Madhubala, your second wife?
Kishore Kumar: She was quite another matter. I knew she was very sick even before I married her. But a promise is a promise. So I kept my word and brought her home as my wife, even though I knew she was dying from a congenital heart problem. For 9 long years I nursed her. I watched her die before my own eyes. You can never understand what this means until you live through this yourself. She was such a beautiful woman and she died so painfully. She would rave and rant and scream in frustration. How can such an active person spend 9 long years bed-ridden? And I had to humour her all the time. That’s what the doctor asked me to. That’s what I did till her very last breath. I would laugh with her. I would cry with her.
Pritish Nandy: What about your third marriage? To Yogeeta Bali?
Kishore Kumar: That was a joke. I don’t think she was serious about marriage. She was only obsessed with her mother. She never wanted to live here.
Pritish Nandy: But that’s because she says you would stay up all night and count money.
Kishore Kumar: Do you think I can do that? Do you think I’m mad? Well, it’s good we separated quickly.
Pritish Nandy: What about your present marriage?
Kishore Kumar: Leena is a very different kind of person. She too is an actress like all of them but she’s very different. She’s seen tragedy. She’s faced grief. When your husband is shot dead, you change. You understand life. You realize the ephemeral quality of all things. I am happy now. (Interview by Pritish Nandy) “
As per one set of Statistics, Kishore Kumar has sung a total number of 2909 songs and the break up is like this-
| Hindi film songs |
|---|
| solos-1135 |
| Duets-1320 |
| Mixed-195 |
| Total Hindi film songs- 2650 |
| Number of Films-1094 |
| Hindi NFS- 13 |
| Other Language Film songs-177 |
| Other language NFS- 69 |
| Grand Total– 2909 |
The film’s heroine Usha Kiran is not well known to today’s generation as she ended her career way back in 1989 itself. Usha Kiran was one of the leading heroines of her times. Maharashtrian girls have always been in the forefront and they were the single largest community which provided heroines to Hindi films and sometimes Gujarati films too. Right from Kamlabai Gokhale,Vasanti (Ghorpade),Shanta Apte,Shanta Hublikar,Snehprabha Pradhan,Leela Chitnis,Durga Khote,Lalita Pawar to Nalini Jaywant,Meenakshi Shirodkar,Shobhana Samarth,Vanmala,Shakuntala,Jayashree,Sundarabai,Vatsala Kumthekar etc down Nutan,Tanuja,Shashikala,Shubha khote etc etc are a testimony to the contribution of Marathi Heroines to Hindi film industry.
Slowly,the number of Marathi girls diminished over a period and today only a few Marathi girls can be counted on fingers. Usha kiran was probably one of the last batch of Marathi heroines in Hindi films.
USHA MARATHE ( her real name) was born on 22-4-1929, in a middle class Marathi Brahmin family.Her father was very ambitious and he encouraged his daughters to act in stage plays. She started acting on stage. Since her father had left his job,she became the family’s sole earner. During one such stage show,famous dancer Uday Shankar saw her and took her to Madras to do a small role in his ambitious dance film “Kalpana” ( which was finally released in 1948). But unfortunately Uday Shankar got annoyed with her behaviour on sets and removed her role from the film.
She started doing small roles in films to earn money. She acted in her major film ” Lalaat”-47. In this film, she was credited as Usha Marathe. The film did not do any good to her. Finally, the famous director Amiya Chakravarty spotted her and gave her the lead role in his film ” Gauna”-1950. Her name was changed to Usha Kiran. The film went flop. Another film also flopped, but her third film with Amiya Chakravarty, opposite Dev Anand-” Patita”, became a Hit and then there was no looking back for her.
An interesting point about her films. She acted in film ” Parivaar”-56,which was directed by Asit Sen,who later on became a Roly-poly comedian in films. She also acted in the film ” Mehendi”-83,which was directed by Asit Sen who was exclusively a Director throughout his career.
Some of her important films were Madhosh, Daag, Patita, Baadbaan, Adhikar, Musafir, Kabuliwala,Bahurani, Mili, Bawarchi, Chupke chupke etc. She acted with almost all leading heroes of her times.
She got married to Dr. Manohar Kher in 1954.She got a son Advait and a daughter-Sanhita or Tanvi, who eloped to marry Baba Azmi, brother of actress Shabana Azmi. Usha Kiran acted in 61 Hindi, 32 Marathi and 4 Gujarati films. Her last film was Bahurani-1989. She got Filmfare award for best Supporting actress for Baadbaan-54. Usha Kiran was Sheriff of Mumbai City in the year 1997. She died on 9-3-2000.
Let us now enjoy a 70 year old song from this film…..
Song – Pihu pihu boley papeehara (Dhobi Doctor)(1954) Singer – Asha Bhosle, Lyricist – Majrooh Sultanpuri, MD- Khayyam
Lyrics
pihu pihu ho o pihu pihu bole papeehara
haaye raam pihu pihu
o sun sun doley re jiyara
haaye raam pihu pihu
o o pihu pihu boley papeehara
haaye raam pihu pihu
jabse paapee ye laage humre do naina
humre do naina
parwat aise din kaate kate na ho o
jabse paapee ye laage humre do naina
humre do naina
parwat aise din kaate kate na ho
koi nahin o koin nahin dukh jaane humra
haaye raam pihu pihu
o pihu pihu bole papeehara
haaye raam pihu pihu
man ki balam ko main kaise bataaun
kaise bataaun
kabhi uthhaaoon kabhi ghunghat giraaun
man ki balam ko main kaise bataaun kaise bataaun
kabhi uthhaaoon kabhi ghunghat girau
samjhe na
o samjhe na kachu mora saanwra
haaye raam pihu pihu
o sun sun dole re jiyara
haaye raam pihu pihu
o pihu pihu boley papeehara
haaye raam pihu pihu
4 Responses to "Pihu pihu boley papeehara"
October 23, 2024 at 11:18 am
Thank you Arunkumar Ji for this post with details about Kishore Kumar!! Fully enjoyed your write up.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
October 23, 2024 at 8:17 am
Arun ji
Thanks for posting this song. Lovely song. I liked it
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October 23, 2024 at 1:28 pm
Thanks
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