Phir bhee mere pyaar ko jaan gayaa zamaanaa
Posted on: November 11, 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 which most readers may not be aware of. The film is Hindustan hamara-1950.
But then there are many such films which come and go, without a flutter. so, not surprised that you don’t remember any such film. But have you heard the name of Paul Zils ? No / O.K. Last chance now. Have you ever heard the name of Walter Kauffman ? No ?
In this case, there is no point in asking you if you know anything about author Amit Gangar ? Alright, alright. No more embarrassing questions. Let me tell you that all these unheard of names mentioned above have a connection with today’s film and the song. I will tell you how !
Very few people know that Indian Cinema of the period of early 30’s t0 early 50’s had a little known connection with what was happening in Germany when Hitler was ruling during 1932-33. Fearful of what was to happen to Jews and anti Hitler people in Germany in that period, a group of men engaged in the art and science of films came to India. As expected all the cinema studios in Germany were turned into Nazi propaganda machines.
This was the formative era of Indian films and these Germans contributed to Indian Cinema’s development. One name among them stands out and that is that of the Director Franz Osten – a German who knew Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani of Bombay talkies from their training days at UFA in Germany since 1925. In 1935, he joined Bombay Talkies as a film director along with few other germans. He directed 16 films for Bombay talkies, that is how his name is known to more people.
There were many others like Josph Wirsching-the Cinematographer ( who did the camera work for the film ” Pakeeza” later on ), Set Designer Karl Von Spretti and the laboratory technician Zolle etc. Then there was Walter Kauffman and Willhelm Haas also. Amit Gangar is an author who wrote a book ” Walter Kauffman”, in which he has given details of the various Germans who worked in the Hindi Cinema industry.
Besides Franz Osten, there was another German expert who not only dabbled in Hindi commercial film direction, but also contributed substantially to the development of Documentary production in India. Amit Gangar presented his lectures in London, Paris, Poland , Copenhagen, Toronto, Vishwa Bharati, Shanti Niketan and NCPA- Mumbai. He was an eminent author, Curatoe, Film Theoretician and Historian, working in Hindi cinema for over 30 years.
In his book “Walter Kauffman in India 1934 to 1946” he describes activities of the Germans in Hindi films in detail, especially of Kauffman, Paul Zils and Willhelm Haas. Amit Gangar ji had gifted this book to me in 2015 and I was quite impressed with his research work.
Film Hindustan Hamara-1950 was one of the 3 Dev Anand films, directed by Paul Zils. The two other films were Shabbas-1949 and Zalzala-1952 ( the only film, till film Guide, in which Dev Anand dies in the end…Dilip kumar style !).
The story of Paul Zils ( 1-6-1915 to 30-3-1979 ) stands out, though. Zils, believed to be a Nazi sympathizer, turned up in India under strange circumstances: he was bound for Indonesia in a steamer that got torpedoed by an Indian naval ship during World War II and he was taken prisoner.
After his release, because of his film experiences, the leadership of the sales department in Ezra Mir led a government documentary production company called him to join Information films of India. End of October 1945, he came to Bombay and started his work. Following the closure of the Information Films of India Zils was freelancing and in 1948 founded his own company Documentary Films of India; in 1949 India created a new state production company Films Division. To popularize the documentary he was supported in1949 among others by Mulk Raj Anand , B.K.Karanjia , Vikram Sarabhai , Frene Talyarkhan and Jagmohan.
From the late 1940s Zils worked closely with the documentary maker Fali Billimoria together who assisted him in both cameras as director, and the same proportion had it. Some films of the 1940s Zils were also of the experienced Indian documentary P V Pathy supported. 1950-1952 Zils tried as a feature film director, turning three films with Dev Anand . He turned then however again the documentary to. Mid-1950s, the Group invested Burmah Shell in the production of documentaries and established a film department (Shell Film Unit) modeled on the British GPO film unit of the 30s. A loose series of films about the major industries, crafts and the lives of the indigenous population of India, the Zils together with Bilimoria produced and turned. From 1955 worked with them also the leading in the 1960s and 70s Indian documentary Sukhdev as an assistant, who described Zils later better than his master.
For the film series Major Industries in India , they created a 40-minute documentary on the life and work in the steelmaker city Jamshedpur and films about the textile industry and agriculture. Among the productions of the series Life in India were A Village in Travancore (1956), The Martial Dances of Malabar (1958), Oraons of Bihar (1958) and The Vanishing Tribe (1958). A Village in Travancore showed the life of a family in South India. The film won in 1957 at the Cork Film Festival Award for Best Documentary. The jury chairman of the festival praised him in particular for its aesthetic quality, which was a result of the given at Shell artistic freedom according to Zils. The Vanishing Tribe portrays the Nilgiris living people of Toda . Zils showed the rituals and the daily life of this tribe as the example of a family. They are the indigenous inhabitants of the Nilgiris, but their origin can not clarify these ethnological studies.
Paul Zils was also active in organizations of filmmakers. From 1957 to 1959 he was president of the Indian Documentary Producers Association (IDPA). In March 1959 he returned to Germany.
Film Hindustan hamara-1950 included the cast of Big stars of those times like Prithviraj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Jairaj, Premnath, Surendra, K.N.Singh, Durga Khote, Nalini Jaywant, Tripti Mitra, Sheela Nayak, Wasti, Yashodhara Katju, Dewan Sharar, Prem Dhavan etc. The music was by Vasant Desai (9-6-1912 to 22-12-1975).
In his initial stage of career, Vasant Desai had acted in films like, Dharmatma-35, Amar Jyoti-36, Wahan-37 and Sant Dnyaneshwar-40. He even sang songs in films like Amrit Manthan-34, Dharmatma-35, Amar Jyoti-36, Wahan-37, Sant Dnyaneshwar-40, Sant Sakhu-41, Shakuntala-43 and Parbat pe apna dera-44. In all, Vasant Desai gave music to 50 films. His first film was Shobha-42 and Last released film was Shaque-76.
Hindustan Hamara was one of those films which was made on the philosophies espoused by Gandhi and Nehru. India had just got Independence and their influence on the Janata was heavy. They used to say that India lives in villages. Gandhi had even started a campaign ” Chalo Gaon ki ore (चलो गांव की ओर )”. Many filmmakers were influenced by Gandhi-Nehru’s Socialism and the first 10 years after independence, films glorifying Nehruvian Socialism were made in large numbers. Today’s film, Hindustan Hamara was also one such film which advocated living in the villages. The story of this film was….
Ram is a farmer, who ploughs his land in a village. He lives with his wife Ganga and son Laxman. Due to poverty, his brother Bala goes to the city, works in a factory and becomes a Union Leader. His beloved Usha stays in the village with her widowed mother. Mahadev, the Zamindar has a bad eye on Usha. One year the crop fails and all farmers become panicky. The farmers are united by a social worker – Shaikh saheb to start co-operative farming, which becomes successful and all farmers are happy. Ram comes to know that his brother Bala is coming to the village for a few days. Everyone is happy and Usha’s marriage with Bala is on the cards. Bala comes and meets usha.
The jealous Zamindar brings Police to take away Ram’s land as he had failed to repay his loan in time. The zamindar puts a condition that he should get his money within 2 days or he should be married to Usha on the third day. Ram and other farmers of the cooperative society join together. The society gives him the loan to repay the zamindar. Bala decides to leave the city job and settle in the village to improve the condition of the farmers.”
One can see that the story had shades of Nehru Philosophy, Gandhi principles and Russian farming concepts. In reality all these proved to be useless while the world moved forward. Russians themselves gave up their ideas and the world became modern with industries and technologies. The old ways of farming changed drastically. This, of course, is a different point !
Today’s song is sung by Nalini Jaywant (18-2-1926 – 24-12-2010). Nalini acted in 64 films. She sang 41 songs in 10 films. She worked in 10 films with Ajit and 11 films with Ashok Kumar. ( information used here is from the book ‘ Walter Kauffman’ by Amit Gngar, wiki, HFGK, Flashback by Isak Mujawar, Bombay Talkies by Sharmishtha Goopto and my notes )
Song-Phir bhee mere pyaar ko jaan gayaa zamaanaa (Hindustan Hamaara)(1950) Singer- Nalini Jaywant, Lyricist- S.R.Saaz, MD- Vasant Desai
Lyrics
Rakhti hoon main
pyaar tera aa aa
seene se
lagaaaye ke ae
teree tasveer piyaa
nainon mein
chhupaaye ke ae ae ae ae
phir bhee mere pyaar ko
phir bhee mere pyaar ko
jaan gaya zamaana
par toone naheen jaanaa
aa aa
par toone naheen jaanaa
par toone naheen jaanaa
phir bhee mere pyaar ko
jaan gayaa zamaana
jab se tujh sang
nainaa laage
main peechhe
tu aage aage
so jaayen jab duniya waale
taare gin gin birhan jaage
ae ae ae ae
phir bhee mere pyaar ko
phir bhee mere pyaar ko
jaan gaya zamaanaa
par toone nahin jaanaa aa aa aa
par toone nahin jaanaa
par toone nahin jaanaa
phir bhee mere pyaar ko
jaan gaya zamaanaa
man mein prem kee ee jwaalaa bhadke
machal uthhe armaaaan re ae
ang ang phhadke
dil dhhadke
khule ?? zabaan re ae ae
phir bhee mere pyaar ko o
phir bhee mere pyaar ko
jaan gaya zamaanaa
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
November 13, 2024 at 3:09 pm
Arun Ji,
Thanks for the post, writing about Germans who came to be associated with Indian films. Interesting.
Though you may be aware, I did not find in the text that Walter Kauffman was the one who composed AIR theme /signature tune that we have all come to love a lot.
Secondly I was not aware that Nalini Jaywant sang in Hindi cinema. Todays song has been rendered well by her
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November 14, 2024 at 12:31 pm
Satish ji,
I have already written twice, in details, about Kauffman, including his contribution to AIR tune. Hence I did not elaborate his bio here again.
The book on Kauffman by Amit Gangar, has a sub title about AIR tune, on it’s cover.
-AD
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