Albelee ik naar liye ankhiyon mein pyaar
Posted on: May 5, 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 Ratnadeep-1952. This is the last song of this film, thus making the film YIPPEED !
In the last 7 songs (today’s song is the 8th song) of this film, almost every aspect of the film, songs and the artists working in it have been discussed. Today we will discuss something which is close to my heart, from this film. Today’s song is sung by one of my favourite singers of Hindi Cinema – GEETA DUTT. Some of our readers must be knowing that there is a site called http://www.geetadutt.com, run by some of her ardent admirers. A few years ago, on their request, I had written an article on Geeta Dutt, on her Death Anniversary, for their site.
This is that article, reproduced here for you…
“City- Bombay
Date- 20th July 1972
Place- Harkisandas Hospital,BombayFew people were standing in the corridor. Anxiety, sorrow,helplessness and a little hope was clearly written on their faces.They were all quiet. No one was talking to anyone.Their body language gave away their agony and restlessness.
Suddenly,a Doctor came out of a patient’s room.All ran to him and then stopped.The Doctor’s face and the tears in his eyes told them what they were afraid of. No one said anything.No one asked anything. The Doctor said, ”I am sorry. She is no more.” He left, dragging his heavy feet.
The end of an Angel had come !
Geeta Dutt had left us forever !!
Only her memories and the inimitable voice were left behind !!!Born on 23-11-1930 at Idilpur in Faridpur District of East Bengal, to a big Zamindar,Devendranath Roy Chaudhury and Amiya Roy Chaudhury, Geeta inherited her mother’s love for music. She learnt Light Music from Pt.Harendranath Nandi, while studying in an Anglo-Bangla school.
When she was just 12 year old, the family had to run away from East Bengal, to save their lives-leaving all property behind- to Bombay. In Bombay, we all know how Pt. Hanuman Prasad, MD(ex husband of Lalita Pawar) discovered her for playback in Hindi films. Later when S D Burman heard her singing, he knew instinctively that this was the voice which would make him successful and establish in Bombay. Until then Burman had not succeeded much to his satisfaction. To give her songs in ‘ Do Bhai ‘, he had to convince Chunilal of Filmistan, with great difficulty.
Geeta did not disappoint. “Mera sunder sapna beet gaya” and ”Yaad karoge” made history and put both Geeta and Burman in the Top league overnight.
Do Bhai made other famous composers to sit up and take notice of this new voice. They lined up to give Geeta ‘Gaaon’-47(Khemchand Prakash), Leela, Shehnai and Saajan-47 ( C.Ramchandra), Geet Govind-47(Gyan Dutt), Actress-48(Shyamsunder), Chunariya-48(Hansraj Behl), Padmini-48(Ghulam Hyder) and Ek thi Larki-49(Vinod).
1950 was Geeta’s year. Many hits came. Bawre Nain, Har Har Mahadev and Jogan solidified her position on Top. Composers felt she was inevitable for their success.
Before recording, Geeta used to sit with a Lyricist, understand the words and the implied meanings, then hear the tune from the composer and then sing in her own style. Basically, Geeta was very Gifted and hence with just one rehearsal,she could record the song to the entire satisfaction of all concerned.This made her the darling of the Composers.
Now, the newer MDs like, Hemant Kumar, Vasant Desai, Madan Mohan and O P Nayyar also vied with each other to take Geeta. While doing Baazi, she met Guru Dutt and they got married on 26-5-1953. She was earning thousands of rupees in singing, but that time Guru Dutt was not that successful. Some magazines and Papers, said that he married Geeta for her money. Guru Dutt was furious and asked Geeta NOT to sing for others, restricting her to only his films. This supposedly suffocated her and she rebelled against it, which affected their relationship further.
Geeta had a liking and flair for acting. In Calcutta, she acted as a Heroine in the Bangla film-“Badhubaran” in 1966-67. She did get some more offers but once she decided to settle in Bombay she refused all offers. Few people know that in Bombay a Hindi film- ‘ Tera saath hai Pyaara ‘, with Geeta as a Heroine had started, but unfortunately, after a few reels, the film got shelved. To give a chance to her and to mend their relationship, Guru Dutt started filming “Gauri” with Geeta as a heroine, a bi-lingual in Bengali and Hindi. However due to reasons not known to us, Guru Dutt shelved this Bangla film after shooting a few reels. This made the couple more distanced from each other. We all know the story’s end…..
Somewhere in 1971, there was a programme ” Yaaden Shakeel ki” in Bhaidas Hall,Parle. I had gone to that programme and I saw Geeta Dutt there. Many singers had come there-Rafi, Mukesh, Mahendra Kapoor, Chandru Atma and Lata. When Lata was to come for singing there was a flurry of activity on the stage with everybody trying to please Lata. Lata came, sang and left like a Queen. When Geeta came on the stage, hardly anyone did anything for her. This is how this world is ! Geeta came, drew Harmonium near her and sang a Gazal of Shakeel Badayuni “Ujaale apni yaadon ke”. When she finished, there was a clapping louder than what Lata had received from the audience-people knew her value !!
Geeta was optimistic even in the year 1971. She used to say, ” If 2 hit songs in Aradhana can take Kishore Kumar to the Top, even 2 Hit songs for me will do the same.” But it was not to be. Even the regular composers like O P Nayyar already turned their backs on her. Destiny decided to call her back !!!
One of my regrets was that if only Naushad had supported Geeta, she would have gained eminence for his songs for ever, like Saigal, Surendra, Parul Ghosh, Zohrabai, Amirbai, Naseem Akhtar, Shamshad, Noorjehan, Suraiya, Uma Devi, Talat, Mukesh, Rafi and Lata….but Geeta’s name was not in this list. I am not a statistician, so I can not say how many songs she sang for Naushad, but I am sure it was almost nothing except a half song in Dillagi (1949) and a club song in Son of India (1962).
Geeta’s voice was typical Bengali. She sang all kinds of songs wonderfully but was truly a master at melancholies. Burman da who gave her emotional songs in Do Bhai, also gave her peppy club songs in Baazi, to make use of the sexy tinge in her voice. Further O P Nayyar fully exploited this special feature in Geeta’s voice. Her voice was sometimes sweet, sometimes namkeen. It had depth. In this case Geeta was one step ahead of Lata. Geeta’s voice was different for every situation. When she sang,’ Baat chalat nayi chunari’, you felt she would have been a better classical singer than Laxmishankar. When she sang,’ Main to Girdhar ke ghar jaoon‘ , you felt Oneness with God, hearing her Bhaktiras dripping voice.
Juthika Roy was famous for Meera Bhajans, but I always felt that her voice was the same in any Bhajan, while Geeta’s Bhajans exuded different emotions in every bhajan.
While singing Club songs, Geeta was a different person. Just recall that ‘Hey hey hey hey befor Tadbeer se bigdi hui taqdeer bana le song or listen to O Babu O Lala or mera naam chin chin chu, then you will realise what I am saying !
One very important point in Geeta’s singing is not highlighted by many. In Hindi films there are many Male and Female versions of songs called Tandem songs and many singers have sung them. While singing such female version songs, Geeta never lost to the male singers ! All Geeta versions were more popular than the Male versions.
Both Asha and Lata have not a great record on this count.
You will remember Kishore’s Jeevan ke safar me raahi” but not Lata’s version. You will remember Talat’s ”Aye gham-e-dil kya karoon’ but not Asha’s version. Kishore was better than Asha in ”Zindagi ek safar hai Suhana” versions and also Kishore was better than Lata’s version of ”Khilte hain gul yahan”.
When it comes to Geeta, she never lost to male versions. C H Atma’s ”Preetam aan milo” is remembered by less people that Geeta’s ”Preetam aan milo” from Mr. and Mrs.55 (same song,written by Saroj Mohini Nayyar,O.P.’s wife). Geeta’s “Kaise koi jiye (Baadbaan)” is much better than Hemant Kumar’s version. Similarly,” Hai ye duniya kaun si”(Sailaab) and “Na yeh chand hoga”(Shart). In both songs, Geeta is superior and more popular than Hemant Kumar. (There is a story behind the song-Na yeh chand Hoga. Once a jilted young lover committed suicide under train at Patna. In his pocket these lines were written on a paper-Tumhare liye hain, tumhare rahenge, Na yeh chaand hoga, na taare rahenge, magar hum hamesha tumhare rahenge. Lyricist S.H.Bihari used these lines in his song).
On 22nd July 1972, just 2 days after Geeta’s death, there was a preplanned programme of Juthika Roy in Birla Matoshree Sabhagriha, Bombay. I had booked my tickets well in advance, so I went there. In the beginning everyone paid respects to Geeta Dutt, by standing for 2 Minutes. Talat, Jagmohan and Surendra were also there. Then Juthika Roy came on stage, drew Harmonium near her and started singing ” Pag ghungroo bandh…” .
I was lost in Geeta’s memory and saw Geeta with a Harmonium singing ”Main to Girdhar ke ghar jaoon’………………….”
Geeta Dutt’s younger brother, Milan Roy expired in the USA, some years ago.
Somewhere in July 2013, I had written the above article on Geeta Dutt’s death anniversary, on her site.
Mr. Salim Shah (my friend and son of actress Indurani) sent this article to Milan Roy, to which he wrote the following mail. He said, tears came to his eyes.
Please read this mail…👇
Milan Roychoudhari
Aug 25, 2013, 8:06 PM
to salshah@yahoo.com, Harish, meHello Salim,
Thank you for allowing me to respond to this. I am a huge fan of Arunji and his writings. I really admire his vast knowledge and his expertise on details. There were tears in my eyes when I first read this article at Geeta Dutt blog on her death anniversary. Mr Deshmukh has depicted some aspects of my sister’s singing very accurately. She indeed always tried to understand the words of the song thoroughly before she sang in order to give the proper feeling to her singing. I am 11 yrs younger than her and I was very close to her.In 1961 she was the one who sent me to the USA for further studies. She used to always take me to recordings and Functions with her. To me she was not only a great singer but also a great human being. I am very grateful to Arunji for writing such a beautiful write up on her.Milan.
Long back,in our management class,our Professor conducted a survey in the class. He asked us to write the name of the Toothpaste we were using. Those days too,Colgate was the Brand leader. There were 30 students in the class. I was using ‘Macleans’ (a brand that was available in India in those days), so I wrote ‘Macleans’. Then he collected all 30 chits,added his own and started reading. The result was ‘Macleans’-8, Kolynos-7, Colgate-7, Forhans-6 and 3 were using tooth powder. He explained to us that even the Brand leader, not necessarily always, will lead in all consumer groups. It is a collective total which gives the leader its position.
The same is the case in any other field. Take the case of female playback Singers. In the 50s to 70s, Lata was the Brand Leader, but personally I always liked Geeta Dutt. I simply loved Geeta’s voice which had so much flexibility and was also so soulful.
When you hear her sing Meera Bhajan,you get lost in Bhakti Ras,listen to her sad songs and gloom descends on you and hear her club/cabaret song,you feel like tapping or dancing. It seems as if Geeta never bothered to be the No.1,she only wanted to be honest to her singing. She was a pure soul bearing no envy towards anyone. There is always a discussion whether she gave her best to S.D.Burman or O.P.Nayyar songs. Not many know that Geeta worked with more than 150 composers. I personally don’t believe she ever compromised in her performance. Whether she sang for a well known composer,or an unknown one like M.A.Rouf, S.L.Pardeshi, Manohar, D.V.Gadekar, Kumar, M.Masurekar, T.K.Das, Ali Husain,Pt.Harbanslal or Rajhans,she put all her soul and skill in rendering the song.
There is, however, always a personal liking. I always liked Geeta’s songs with O P Nayyar. Their association started with the film Aasman (1952). Though her songs like “dekho jadu bhare more nain’ were very melodious and became quite popular,the film flopped. The subsequent film Baaz (1953) was also the same story. Good songs-films flopped. But then Aarpar (1954), Mr. and Mrs.55, Musafirkhana (1955) and Miss Cocacola and C.I.D.-in 1956 brought commercial success. After C.I.D. in 1957, Geeta suffered on 2 counts. One,O.P.Nayyar started grooming Asha Bhosale and secondly Geeta was facing a lot of personal problems. The singing assignments coming her way were getting lesser and even she was cutting down on the same. In fact, she had expressed a desire to completely stop singing in the year 1957.
In the year 1958 she got only 10 songs from O.P.Nayyar. But then she sang the iconic song in Howrah Bridge which made her name Amar in the history of Golden Age of HFM forever. This incident has been narrated by the famous film/music writer Issac Mujaawar in the Marathi magazine Rasrang. When Howrah Bridge was being made, it was evident that all the songs would go to Asha. By that time ASHA had mastered the art of singing club/cabaret songs. It is said that rehearsals were done for ”Mera naam chin chin chu”. Shakti Samanta was the Director of the film. O.P.Nayyar never tolerated any interference from the Producers or the Directors. Shakti da wanted that song to go to Geeta, as he genuinely felt that she is better suited to sing it. He called Nayyar one day and coolly explained to him the situation. Miraculously, Nayyar accepted the suggestion without a word of protest. Maybe his conscience was biting him, or maybe he too thought on those lines. Whatever be the reason, Geeta was summoned the next day and the song was given to her. The rest is History…….as they say.
God makes certain models only once !
Here is the 73 year old song sung by a 22 year old Geeta Dutt….
Song- Albelee ik naar liye ankhiyon mein pyaar (Ratnadeep)(1952) Singer- Geeta Dutt, Lyricist- Pt.Madhur, MD- Robin Chatterjee
Lyrics
albelee ik naar
albelee ik naar liye ankhiyon mein pyaar
albelee ik naar liye ankhiyon mein pyaar
chalee piya se milan aaj kar ke singaar
chalee piya se milan aaj kar ke singaar
albeli ik naar liye ankhiyon mein pyaar
albelee ik naar
ang ang mein bharee jawaanee
chhlak chhlak jaaye jeevan pyaalee
madhur milan ki aashao mein
madhur milan ki aashaon mein
naach rahee hai matwaalee
naach rahee hai matwaalee
wo to tan man mein aaj bhare dulaar
albelee ik naar liye ankhiyon mein pyaar
albelee ik naar
chaand bharee jhilmil ye suhaanee ratiyaan
ye suhaanee ratiyaan
chaand bharee jhilmil ye suhaanee ratiyaan
ye suhaanee ratiyaan
door khada koi haaye kare meethhee batiyaan
door khada koi haye kare meethhee batiyaan
ye suhaanee ratiyaan
ye suhaanee ratiyaan
ghoonghat ud ud jaaye nigoda
duniya ka man ghan kee toota
laaj sharam ka naata rishta
laaj sharam ka naata rishta
deewaanee se hai chhoota
deewaanee se hai chhoota
wo to vyaakul thi laayi dolee na kahaar
albelee ik naar liye ankhiyon mein pyaar
albelee ik naar
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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