Ab sakhee rain gayee andhiyaaree
Posted on: February 25, 2025
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 Divorce-1938.
Change is everywhere. Individual persons, family, society, a nation and the entire world faces changes. The change does not come suddenly. It does give some indications. Those who decipher and understand its signals, they are prepared and do not get shocked. Those who do not understand, they suffer and are not prepared for the effects of change. Just because you are good at something, sometimes, which people appreciated, does not mean that if you do not adapt to the changes in peoples’ tastes, they will continue appreciation forever. Remember, when choices are available, the world tends to adopt changes.
The above statement applies cent percent to the film industry. Actors, directors, writers and Music Composers get ruined for not adapting to the changes. This results in total rejection by the audience. We have seen how actors of the 40’s got ignored in the 50’s. There are very few successful actors – like, possibly AshokKumar, who remained in limelight for 60 odd years. Was it not because they changed their applications as per the demands of the times ?
Successful actors and directors of the 30’s and the 40’s, like Sohrab Modi, perhaps failed in this and their last films were rejected in the 50’s, thus ending their careers. His style of long dialogues and stage drama type acting was outdated in the ” Golden Era’ of the 50’s. Of course this does not undermine his skill of acting and direction of the 30’s and the 40’s when it was lapped up by the audience.
Sohrab Merwanji Modi was born in a Parsi family on 2nd November, 1897. His parents were Parsi civil Servants. For a few years he stayed in the Parsi community in Bombay. Sohrab Modi’s childhood was spent with a lot of activities. As he grew up, his more interest was in exercise and sports. Though in childhood many times he was severely sick and a few times he was also hospitalized. Due to which he looked tall but he was thin. But later he was very active. In school he was an average student, he never got hooked on History. Many times a teacher complained to his parents for his lagging behind in history subjects. His parents turned all the stones to make him study but it all went in waste. But Sohrab was good at sports and from childhood he was interested in exercise which helped him to develop his personality in stage acting. Later he shifted with his family to Rampur in Uttar Pradesh. At the age of 14 -15 his mind absorbed many interesting things in acting as he watched silent movies. Soon his mind got diverted toward stage acting.
At the age of 17 years, he worked as a travelling exhibitor in Gwalior. Elder brother Rustom Modi, along with his close friend Ittefaq, set up Arya Subodh Natak Mandali theatre group in 1923.
In the beginning, Sohrab Modi only acted as an extra or side role which was not that important. But Sohrab was looking for the opportunity where he could act as a leading actor. Very soon he got an opportunity and he broke the ice. Soon He earned the reputation as a Shakespearean actor. Sohrab Modi’s elder brother Rustom helped him in stage acting and people really appreciated the Sohrab acting. Sohrab played Jehangir (Hamlet) opposite Naseem Bano (Ophelia) in Khoon ka Khoon, one of the biggest Urdu stage Hits of the 20s. As Sohrab was growing up, his personality kept developing. His personality suited the role of a king. His two plays ‘Khoon Ka Khoon’ and ‘Saed-E-havas’ added flying colors to his acting.
In 1931 Hindi movie ‘Alam Ara’ was released with sound. On one hand, ‘Alam Ara’ was a big leap for Bollywood. But on the other hand, the introduction of sound in movies created a very big crack in the theatre business. People started getting interested in watching movies rather than watching theatre plays. To save theatre art, the Modi brothers set up the Stage Film Company in 1935. From this year Sohrab Modi never looked back in acting career.
Sohrab Modi’s talents soon reached the ears of ‘Dadasaheb Phalke’. Though Sohrab Modi had worked in a few silent movies before, Dadasaheb Phalke never appreciated Sohrab Modi’s acting. One day Phalke Saab personally went to see Sohrab’s play ‘Alexander the Great’.
Sohrab Modi is remembered fondly by the film buffs for his towering personality, solid voice and his forceful dialogue delivery. Actually, Modi was much more than that. He was the first and the only film maker who took up Historical subjects to make films that left a long lasting impression on the film goers. He loved to do the roles of Historical persons ( actual or mythical) and deliver long dialogues in his resonant voice, clear diction and superb voice modulation.
Sohrab Modi developed these qualities from his stage acting days. In his growing up age at Rampur, he had spent hours in the library of the local Nawab, where his father worked as a Superintendent. This gave him a command on Urdu language. Added to this was his brother Rustom’s drama company ” The Arya Subodh Natak Mandali” in which he acted. In 1935, the brothers set up the ” Stage Films ” to film the two dramas, namely Hamlet aka Khoon ka khoon-35 and Sayeed E Hawas-36, based on Shakespeare’s play King John, as movies. However, these movies did not do too well, as the audience had seen them on stage several times. But this failure didn’t stop Sohrab Modi from acting. Taking a clue from this, Modi decided to start a new company, Minerva Movietone to produce independent films on different stories of merit.
Minerva Movietone was started by Sohrab and brother Rustom Modi in 1936, when they realised that the stage dramas, filmed as Feature films, did not get the public approval. Logo of his banner was the Lion. Does this personally symbolize Sohrab Modi personality? Production from Stage films- their first film production enterprise- was suspended till Minerva became successful. ” Aatma Tarang-37″ was the new company’s first film. C. Ramchandra was the Harmonium accompanist for M.D. Habib Khan and Bundu Khan. He also did a small role in Aatma Tarang and earlier Saeed E Havas-36. Minerva’s first film proved to be a let down.
Sohrab found that there were hardly 20 to 30 persons in the audience on the very First show. The film was based on the power of ‘ Bramhacharya’ (Celibacy). In those days, Sohrab was greatly influenced by the teachings of Ramakrishna Mission. Seeing the poor response, he was upset. Thoughts of quitting the film production line were crowding in his mind. Suddenly, he saw four men coming towards him. They came, confirmed that he was Sohrab modi and told him that his film was very good. They further advised him to keep making such good films and one day he will be on Top. Later on he learnt that these gentlemen were the Judges of Bombay High Court.
This gave a lot of motivation to Modi. It also boosted his self confidence. As such he was sure of his success in films, but now he knew that he must make films on subjects of interest of the public and not his own philosophy, if he wants to succeed commercially. His second film was Khan Bahadur-37, based on the bravery and generosity of a Muslim king who became famous for his bravery. The English rulers gave him the title of Khan Bahadur. The film did a reasonable business.
This incident infused him with new hopes and enthusiasm. This changed his life. Initially he focused on making films on social evils like Drinking (Meetha Zehar-38), Husband-wife separation ( Divorce-38) and Incest ( Bharosa-40 ). Enthused with this experience, he made successful films and took his company to the Top. Renowned for big budget historical films, Minerva benefited from the Modi family’s distribution interests in Gwalior, expanded by his third brother Keki Modi into western India. At one time he controlled a chain of 27 theatres in 10 cities. In 1952, they established India’s first Technicolour Laboratory.
In 1944, Central Studio signed Mehtab for their film “Parakh”. Sohrab Modi was directing the film. At the time of signing the contract, Mehtab told Modi that she had heard that he only took his own close-ups in his films and ignored the others. He told her that he wasn’t acting in that film. Thereafter, Sohrab Modi again took Mehtab as heroine in his film “Ek Din Ka Sultan” opposite Wasti under his own banner Minerva Movietone. Slowly, Sohrab Modi fell in love with her and proposed to her. Mehtab agreed only on the condition that she would not leave her son Ismail. Sohrab didn’t find any problem in that and they got married on the birthday of Mehtab, 28 April 1946. Sohrab Modi’s family didn’t approve as they were Parsi and Mehtab was Muslim. Sohrab never interfered in Mehtab’s career or religion. Mehtab had a son from Modi named Mehli who was brought up as Parsi. Modi sent both the sons abroad to study.
Mehtab did few films after marriage like “Behram Khan” (1946), “Saathi” (1946), Shama (1946). Her last major film was “Jhansi Ki Rani” (1953). (She did a small role in the film Samay Bada Balwan-69.) Sohrab Modi was the producer, director and the hero of the film. It was Sohrab’s first colour film. She acted in a total of 40 films. Sohrab Modi acted in 32 films. First was Hamlet-35 and the last was Razia Sultan–83.He directed 27 films. First was Hamlet-35 and the last was Meena Kumari ki Amar Kahani-81.
Sohrab Modi died on 28 January 1984 due to cancer of the bone marrow. Mehtab’s both sons were settled abroad, though she spent her life in Cuffe Parade, Mumbai till her death. She died on 8-4-1997. ( I thank Upperstall for some information used herein, and the book ‘ Hero ‘ Vol 1 by Ashok Raj and my notes.)
Film industry is full of strange things. People in this industry are prone to be influenced by good omens and bad omens. Once an artist is branded as unlucky, his career can not proceed further. This was more common in the early years. Examples are Music Directors C.Arjun and Daan Singh. They were branded as Unlucky, because their more films remained unreleased or incomplete than their released films. Though they had talent, their careers came to an early end. However, there is a case of an actor/director, who had proven disasters wherever he worked. Still, he kept on getting work and had a long career, ending with Government recognition. I am talking about Gajanan Jahagirdar.
We all know the famous actor and director Gajanan Jagirdar (real surname Jahagirdar. B 2-4-1907 D- 13-8-1988), but few know that he was branded ‘unlucky’. ‘Padosi’ (1941) was Jagirdar’s first film with Prabhat film company. By the time the film was complete Shantaram and his some friends left Prabhat making it crippled. Second time Jagirdar worked in the film ‘Ramshastri’ (1944) for Prabhat, the important partner Vishnupant Damle died and Prabhat almost collapsed. The third time Jagirdar worked for Prabhat in the film ‘Lokmanya Tilak’, the company was auctioned and closed down forever ! When Jagirdar worked for “Shahir Parshuram”of Mangal pictures, the company went bankrupt and closed down. In 1953, top production company Alhad Chitra employed Jagirdar for a bilingual film, ‘Mahatma’ (1953), not only the film flopped, it drowned the company and the Producer Datta Dharmadhikari came on the road. For survival he started a roadside kitchen !
Jagirdar started as a freelancer in the industry, in the film studios of Prabhat Films and Minerva Movietone and later acted and directed in a number of films post his accidental debut ‘Jalti Nishani’ in 1932. He was hand-picked by V Shantaram to act in ‘Jalti Nishani’ when actor DD Mane wasn’t able to say the Urdu dialogues on screen properly. And even though he was only 25, he enacted the part of a 75-year-old with aplomb.
Jagirdar began acting on the stage as a young child. As he grew older, he formed Arun Players, a theatre group which enacted plays like Harindranath Chattopadhyay’s ‘Returned from Abroad’ to Anton Chekhov’s ‘The Cherry Orchard’.
Not bound to any one studio, he worked as a freelancer for most of the major film studios of the time — from Prabhat Films to Minerva Movietone. At Prabhat, he began with writing the English inter titles for films. He also taught the Prabhat artistes Urdu dialogue delivery. He assisted Bhalji Pendharkar for a bit and directed a few films like ‘Begunaah’ (1937) for Master Vinayak’s banner Hans Pictures. Later, he moved on to work as a scenarist (screenwriter) for Minerva Movietone’s ‘Meetha Zahar’ (1938) and ‘Divorce’ (1938). He also worked with filmmaker PK Atre, both as actor and director in a few films.
For V Shantaram’s last film with Prabhat Films, the famed director took up the issue of communal tension in the country. Jagirdar played the Muslim character Mirza, while Mazhar Khan played the Hindu character, Thakur in the bilingual. ‘Padosi’ was a critical and commercial hit at that time.
‘Ramshastri’ (1944) was a landmark bilingual film on Peshwa Madhavrao’s chief justice and one of the last classics produced by Prabhat Films. The film went through three directors — Raja Nene, Vishram Bedekar shot portions of the film before Gajanan Jagirdar, who was playing the lead character Ramshastri Prabhune, took over to finish it. It is said that V Shantaram also directed parts of it.
In Asit Sen’s ‘Apradhi Kaun’ (1957), Jagirdar played a double role as two brothers Shrinath and Dinanath. It was a fantastic opportunity for the actor. As the wealthy Shrinath who has inherited all of the ancestral property, Jagirdar was cool and composed. Meanwhile, as the down-on-his-luck brother Dinanath, Jagirdar transformed himself and his body to differentiate the two. Jagirdar acted in 147 films, directed 17 films and wrote 13 songs in film ‘Sant Tulsidas’ (1934).
Prior to his career in films, Jagirdar was also a teacher and later also taught acting. He became the first principal of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in 1960, but resigned after a year. He wrote two autobiographies that were published in 1971 and 1986. Additionally, he also wrote a book on acting which explored Konstantin Stanislavsky’s method to the craft.
Today’s song is from the film ‘Divorce’ (1938) – aka ‘Talaaq’. The song is sung by Sheela, lyricist Pt. Anand Kumar and the MD was Meer Saheb (assisted by Ramchandra Chitalkar). The cast of the film was Naseem Bano, Gajanan Jagirdar, Prem Adib, Sheela, Vimla, Navin Yagnik, Khan Mastana etc. The film was made by Minerva Movietone and directed by Sohrab Modi.
Let us now enjoy the 87 year old song from this film….
Song- Ab sakhee rain gayee andhiyaaree (Divorce)(1938) Singers- Khan Mastana, Sheela, Lyricist- Anand Kumar, MD- Meer Saheb
Lyrics
Ab sakhee rain gayi andhiyaaree
ab sakhee rain gayi andhiyaaree
sab bisraayaa
???? pyaalaa
sab bisraayaa
???? pyaalaa
nis din sab din kaale
nis din sab din kaale
khule dwaar peechhe mandir ke
khule dwaar peechhe mandir ke
poojan ko duwaare
poojan ko duwaare
ab sakhee rain gayi andhiyaaree
ab sakhee rain gayi andhiyaaree
sunke ?? charan ??
sunke?? charan ??
nainan jal bhar naaree
nainan jal bhar naaree
dil se dil ke sajan paseeje
dil se dil ke sajan paseeje
aise jatan banaa ree
aise jatan banaa ree
ab sakhee
aise jatan banaa ree
ab sakhee
aise jatan banaa ree
piyaa milan kee reet yahee hai
piyaa milan kee reet yahee hai
sharbat(??) bhent chadhha ree
sharbat(??) bhent chadhha ree
?? hari pujaaran
?? hari pujaaran
preet kee jyot jagaa ree
preet kee jyot jagaa ree
ab sakhee
aise jatan banaa ree
ab sakhee
aise jatan banaa ree
ab sakhee aise ae ae
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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