Milaa ke nazar tum nazar mein samaanaa
Posted on: April 26, 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.
|
Blog Day : |
6126 | Post No. : | 18951 |
Today’s song is from the film Hunterwali ki Beti-1943. This is perhaps the only film in the world where the Heroine has done the role of a daughter, whose mother also was the same heroine in an earlier film. The Heroine fearless Nadia entered the world of Stunt films in India, with the hit film ” Hunterwali “-in 1935. After 8 years, she was doing the role of ‘Hunterwali ki beti’-1943, in this film ! Great indeed !!
This was Basant pictures’ first stunt film after its owner, Homi Wadia separated from his brother J.B.H.Wadia in 1942, to start his own film company- Basant pictures. The film was directed by Nanabhai Bhatt (father of Mahesh Bhatt) in the name of Batuk Bhatt. Earlier too he had used this pseudonym for directing the film ‘Muqabala’-1942, made by Wadia Movietone. The music was composed by Chhannalal Naik.
Stunt films had started from the era of silent films itself, but sporadically. This genre prospered in the 40s as many films featuring deadly stunt scenes( actually done, not trick scenes) came on the screen. Among the actors who were famous for stunt films in the 40s were Master Vithal, Master Bhagwan, Fearless Nadia and a few others. But no one became as successful and popular as Fearless Nadia in the stunt film genre. Fearless Nadia who became famous from her First stunt film ” Hunterwali”-1935 itself, worked exclusively for Wadia Brothers, who discovered her. She worked for Wadia Movietone from 1933 to 1942 and for Basant Pictures from 43 to upto her retirement. She worked in 37 films in all. Her first film was ‘Lal e Yaman’-1933 and the last one was ‘ Khiladi’-1958.
In 1993, Nadia’s grandnephew, Riyad Vinci Wadia, made a documentary on her life and films, called Fearless: The Hunterwali Story. After watching the documentary at the 1993 Berlin International Film Festival, Dorothee Wenner, a German freelance writer, and film curator, wrote Fearless Nadia: The true story of Bollywood’s original stunt queen, which was subsequently translated into English in 2005.
Here is what Roy Wadia-grandson of J.B.H.Wadia ( Jamshed ji Boman ji Hormus ji Wadia) said about Fearless Wadia…
In the 1930s, just when the silent era was giving way to the talkies, there appeared on Hindi film screens a blue-eyed blonde who caused men to piss in their pants. Among the first of cinema’s audacious feminists, she challenged male dominance with such rousing lines as: “Don’t be under the assumption that you can lord over today’s women. If the nation is to be free, women have to be freed first.” This was in 1940, in a socialist-themed film titled Diamond Queen. The heroine was a 27-year-old upstart called Nadia.
Nadia leapt from windows, jumped off cliffs, swung from chandeliers, fought on top of speeding trains, lived among wild lions and routinely lifted men and flung them like a wrestler. Above all, she acquired fame as a woman who cracked the whip. She did all this on her own, without any safety measures and health insurance. A messiah-like figure unfailingly coming to the rescue of the downtrodden and weak, Fearless Nadia was the female Robin Hood of her time.
Astride her pet horse, named Punjab Ka Beta for comic effect, the masked, whip-wielding Nadia was a sensation among filmgoers in the early era of Hindi cinema. A devout Catholic, born in Perth, Australia, Nadia or Mary Evans was voluptuous but athletic and “supple”, as she puts it. It is a matter of great debate how she found acceptance as a major Bollywood star in the conservative 1930s. It was a strange phenomenon, unparalleled in the history of Hindi cinema. Strange, because it involved a White woman breaking into a Brown male bastion. And strange also because it happened so early in the day, a time when the cinematic taste of British-ruled India was in infancy. Nadia was an experiment that somehow worked at a critical time in Indian cinema’s history.
Nadia was a creation of Wadia Movietone, a studio founded by Roy’s grandfather Jamshed Wadia that specialised in making stunt and mythological films. The studio made a fortune on the back of her swashbuckling stunts. It was quite by chance that she came into contact with the Wadias. Born of a Scottish father and Greek mother, she arrived in Mumbai, then Bombay, as a toddler. Her father, a soldier in the British army, was transferred to Bombay’s Elephanta Island in 1912. Shortly thereafter, the family occupied a small flat in Colaba. It is interesting to note that Nadia, who would endear herself to the masses as a stuntwoman, at first wanted to be a singer and dancer. World War I prompted the family’s move to Peshawar. It was here that Nadia developed a soft spot for animals that found expression in her movies. Even as a girl, she was different. While girls her age played with fluffy soft toys, she kept a pony who became her best friend. The family was uprooted yet again when Mary and her mother decided to return to Bombay for good, barely after a few years of stay in Peshawar.
As a young woman, Mary joined a troupe of the Russian dancer Madame Astrova. . Astrova’s troupe performed for British soldiers at military bases, for Indian royalty and for other crowds in dusty small towns and villages. She mastered the art of cartwheels and splits, which came in handy later during her film stunts. With circus experience under her belt, Nadia was ready for bigger things. It is believed that Mary changed her name to Nadia on astrological advice. An Armenian fortune teller had foretold her that a successful career lay ahead but she would have to choose a name starting with the letter ‘N’. Nadia was finally chosen because it was “exotic-sounding”.
Nadia’s fortunes did rise. The Lahore cinema owner Eruch Kanga spotted her in a performance and reported this to Jamshed and Homi Wadia, the Wadia Movietone brothers. An appointment was fixed and a nervous Nadia, togged up in a blue dress and sunflower-decked hat, took a tram from Wellington Mews in Colaba to the Wadias’ original studio in Parel.
The Wadia brothers, of an elite Parsi family, were shocked by how visibly Western she was. How can a White woman even think of becoming a heroine in Hindi films? When Jamshed told her that he had never heard of her before, she shot back: “Until now, I hadn’t heard of you either!” Impressed with her attitude, they decided to put her to the test. Initially, she was given walk-on parts in studio productions that were in progress at the time. Later, she was hired at a weekly salary of Rs 60. Once in the Wadia fold, she was instructed to learn Hindi.
“She always had difficulty speaking Hindi and had a very strong accent, but for some reason, the audience did not object,” says Roy. The Wadias, who were raised on a diet of American Westerns and who idolised Tom Mix, Francis Ford and Eddie Polo, started preparing to launch Nadia in a big way. And Hunterwali, the dramatic story of a princess trying to rescue her kidnapped father and salvage his empire, was considered perfect material for her launch. Inspired by Douglas Fairbanks’ Robin Hood, it was an unconventional, even radical, subject for Indian viewers. Jamshed Wadia wanted to model Nadia on American heroines like Pearl White, Grace Cunardand Helen Holmes. A progressive intellectual who entered film production despite his family’s objection, Jamshed Wadia was the brain behind her success.
“In the film’s publicity campaign, [he] hyped her as a stunt queen. For a long time, Wadia Movietone was known only for Hunterwali,” says Roy. The film opened at Super Cinema, in Bombay’s theatre hub of Lamington Road. Thrilled at seeing a White woman don a mask and crack a whip at her father’s tormenters, the male audience was left thirsting for more. Director Homi Wadia had landed a magic formula. And Nadia became Fearless Nadia, which, as Wenner mentions, was carefully ‘built into the publicity strategy.’ Through her career, her audience remained predominantly male, the working class to whom she provided entertainment, deliverance and catharsis in equal measure.
Hunterwali was only a prelude to a remarkable career. Emboldened by its success, in film after film, Nadia took up the cause of social injustice, education, women’s emancipation, corruption, land-grabbing and exploitation. With each film, her stunts became more daring and death-defying. “Homi made her do more and more outlandish stunts. She would be told to lift men up because of her strength and she would do it, without any fuss. She would just do a little sign of a cross on her heart like any devout Catholic and jump into the scene,” says Roy.
“I will try anything once,” she used to say.
On a number of occasions, Nadia risked her life in the line of duty. In Hunterwali, she had to swing from a chandelier. She did the rehearsal perfectly but fell flat on her face from a great height during the final scene. Once, she almost got swept away in the strong currents of Bhandardara Falls near Bombay.
Her films usually had recurring stock characters, doing the same sort of stuff that viewers expected of them. There was the pet horse, Punjab Ka Beta, and the old faithful Gunboat, a sprightly dog. Her jalopy bore the name (again, rather comically) Rolls Royce Ki Beti. The villain was almost always the wicked Sayani, who in Homi’s words, “acquired a following of his own, famous as he was for scratching his jaws with an evil look in his eyes. His stock line, ‘Dekha jayega’ had become a catchphrase.” Typically, a Nadia film also starred John Cawas and Boman Shroff, two heavyweight bodybuilders who desperately sought acceptance as actors. There was also a ubiquitous father figure, a simpleton in dhoti, kurta and turban. How the blonde could pass off as an Indian villager’s daughter is beyond anyone’s comprehension.
Nevertheless, there are attempts to fix this recurring implausibility. In Diamond Queen, for instance, she returns to her town after spending years in Bombay. When her stunned father asks her about her modern attire and urban outlook, she attributes it to working out rigorously in “Bombay’s gymnasiums”.
Yet, what never changed and was believable was her sterling sincerity and integrity. On one hand she played an avenging Harijan inHurricane Hansa, on the other she spread the message of communal harmony in Lutaru Lalna, whereas in Punjab Mail, she fought the class system.
The cognoscenti scoffed at stunt films because, as Roy puts it,“There wasn’t a so-called serious label on them. They were fun, simple timepasses and even the actors who worked in them did not see themselves as social reformers. For them, it was merely a job that they had to perform.”
Filmmaker Shyam Benegal has earlier hailed the genre of stunt films as historically significant.
“She wasn’t Nargis or Meena Kumari,” admits Roy. “But very respectfully, I would like to point out that Nadia was a precursor of Mother India. What Nargis portrayed was through a lot of suffering, sacrifice, tears and agony. Nadia fought for the right to be an equal of men, and to not let society dictate what a woman should do and what she shouldn’t. She was a champion of truth and justice.”
A link has been drawn between Amitabh Bachchan’s angry young man characters who rebelled against the system post-Emergency with Nadia’s angst. He’s not afraid to the take the law into his own hands and actually kills people to get justice. He often himself dies in the end. Nadia, on the other hand, didn’t take it that far. She fought but she never killed anyone because she would always let the system take its course in the end. She herself didn’t deliver the final blow.
Just like Nadia, taking inspiration from her,there were many Indian actors too who made stunt films. The only difference was their films lacked sophistication, so were patronised by the ‘C’ grade audience, whereas the films of Nadia maintained their B+ grade always, if not A class. An interesting Tidbit about Nadia’s film is that the famous Music Director of the 60s and a long time assistant of legendary S.D.Burman–Jaidev had acted in Nadia’s “Hunterwali”-35 and “Miss Frontier mail”-36 as CHUNNOO, her sidekick. He acted in some other Wadia films also.
Obviously, Nadia’s hair raising stunts were the main attraction in her films. Music never played an important part. In her most films, Master Mohammed was the music director. A. Kareem, Aziz Khan and surprisingly Chitragupta also were the Music Directors to work in these films. Her films contained patriotic, Love, Cabaret, Dance, Parody songs and even Bhajans . There were qawwalis too. In ‘Hunterwali ki beti’-43, Khan Mastana has sung a famous Ghalib Gazal-“Dil e nadan tujhe hua kya hai”.
The Wadia brothers separated in 1942 and Nadia moved out to Homi Wadia’s Basant Pictures along with some of her cast members. She had to leave behind her pets- Punjab ka Beta-Horse, Gunboat-Dog and Rolls Royce ki beti-her jalopy. In Basant Pictures she got Rajput the Horse, Moti the Dog and Austin ki Bachhi the Jalopy as a replacement. They were equally good.
The cast of the film was Nadia,John Cavas,Sardar Mansoor,Rajkumari,Sayani,Gulab,Boman Shroff,Dalpat and Khan Mastana himself to sing Ghalib’s ghazal on screen. There were 9 songs,out of which there were 2 Arabian language songs-must be for creation of the period.
The story of the film was…
In the kingdom of queen Madhuri everything was peaceful.She was very strict with evil doers and used a Hunter to punish them.So she was known as Hunterwali Rani. This peace was broken when her cousin Pratap not only invaded the kingdom,but also imprisoned Madhuri. Her small daughter Kishori was saved by the loyal sardar Ishwar Singh who escapes with the child,eluding the forces of pratap. After 15 years,it is Kishori who dons Hunterwali’s uniform and supports the poor and punishes the cruel. She is trained by Ishwarsing,whose son Vijay falls in love with her. Pratap sends forces to capture her. They catch Vijay and tie him to the Railway track,from where a riding Hunterwali ki beti alias Kishori rescues him.
To get Kishori, Pratap announces the hanging of Queen Madhuri in his Black Fort. Kishori, Vijay and their accomplices enter the fort,rescue the queen and capture Pratap and his aide Ajit. The Queen is reinstated on the throne, Kishori and Vijay get united and Pratap and Ajit get Life imprisonment sentences.
One more point before we conclude. One of my friends, Mr.Mahesh Sharma (brother of Pratap Sharma-commentator of Newsreels and documentaries) who stayed in Colaba, Bombay, informed me one day in 1983, that Fearless Nadia was staying near his house and that everyday she comes out with her dogs. I decided to meet her. I stayed with Mahesh for the night and early morning we waited for her. Sure, she came with her Dogs to the Park nearby. I was introduced to her by Mahesh and I rolled out names of her films which I had seen. She was surprised and suitably impressed. I spoke to her for about 30 minutes. She was very kind and soft. We never thought of taking her photographs, but I will never ever forget these golden moments in my life…talking to a legendary star…the Fearless Nadia herself !
Enjoy this 82 year old duet by Rajkumari and Mansoor….
Video
Audio
Song-Mila ke nazar tum nazar mein samaana (Hunterwaali Ki Beti)(1943) Singers- Rajkumari, Sardar Mansoor, Lyricist- Not known, MD- Chhannalal Naik
Both
Lyrics
mila ke nazar tum nazar mein samaana
mila ke nazar tum nazar mein samaana
mere dil ke andar ghar apna banaana
mere dil ke andar ghar apna banaana
mila ke nazar tum nazar mein samaana
mila ke nazar tum nazar mein samaana
kasam hai jaawaanee kee tu dil kee raanee
tu dil ki raanee
o tu dil kee raanee
kisee se na kahna tum apnee kahaani
kisee se na kahna tum apnee kahaani
mohabbat jo kee hai mohabbat nibhaana
haan
mohabbat jo ki hai mohabbat nibhaana
milaa kehaan haan haan
mila ke nazar tum nazar mein samaana
mila ke nazar tum nazar mein samaana
yoon chhup chhup ke dekho na aaya karo tum na aaya karo tum
na sapnon mein aakar sataaya karo tum
na sapnon mein aakar sataaya karo tum
koi dekh lega bura hai zamaana
haan
koi dekh lega bura hai zamaana
mila ke
haan haan haan
mila ke nazar tum nazar mein samaana
milake nazar tum nazar mein samaana
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
April 27, 2025 at 8:53 am
Jaidev…Chunnoo….I could never have imagined. Thank you, Arun ji.
On Sat, Apr 26, 2025, 5:00 AM Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of
LikeLike
April 27, 2025 at 6:23 pm
Thanks.
-AD
LikeLike