Baansuree bajaa naa saanwre sataa naa
Posted on: June 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 Gauri-1943.
The film was made by Ranjit movietone. It was directed by Kidar Sharma, who also wrote the story, dialogues, screenplay and the lyrics of the film. The cast included Prithviraj Kapoor, Monica Desai, Shameem, Rajkumari Shukla, Kamla Chaterjee (wife of Kidar Sharma), Amarnath, Nagendra and many others.
1943 was an year in which the II world war was in full swing. Both sides were almost equal. The effects of the war on India were…
it faced the infamous Bengal Famine, caused by the war profiteering. Controls on film production were tightened by the Government. I.P.T.A. became operative with its first staged play ‘Nibbana’. Film Kismet became one of the biggests Hits ever. V.Shantaram’s Rajkamal Kalamandir debuted with Shakuntala, as did Mehboob with his film Najma. Government made showing of Newsreel before any film mandatory. Film Raj Nartaki’s English version The Court Dancer was exhibited in the USA, first time for an Indian film. 1943 produced 105 Hindi films, the highest number during the war years, 1939 to 1945. Many landmark and musical films appeared in this year giving a respite to the war torn audience of Indian Cinema. Some noteworthy films were……
Bhaichara, Bhakta Raj, Gauri, Hospital, Nurse, Hamari Baat, Ishara, Kanoon, Kashinath, Kismet, Nadaan, Namaste, Najma, Panghat, paraya Dhan, Poonji, Ram rajya, Sanjog, Shakuntala, Mera khwaab, Prithvi Vallabh, Tansen and Taqdeer.
Due to war effects, New Theatres, Calcutta faced many problems. Sensing that the boat was sinking, many of the stalwarts, actors, MDs, Directors and others made a beeline to Bombay in 1942 onwards. Only the most loyal like Pankaj Mallick and artists with personal reasons stayed back.
One of the directors, who went to Bombay was Kidar Sharma. He was gladly and immediately employed by Ranjit Movietone with a fat salary and an advance to bring his family from Calcutta.. Kidear Sharma mada film Armaan in 1942 and in 1943 planned for film Gauri. It was based on the Puja Festival of Bengal. The Hero was to be Prithvi Raj Kapoor and as the Heroine, Kidar Sharma announced the name of Monika Desai, who had done a role in his film and impressed him. Her name was not known to anyone in Bombay. Monika was the sister of another famous actress- Leela Desai.
It was not a new thing that sisters worked in films. Infact, right from the First Talkie film in 1931, 2 or 3 sisters from one family had entered the film line. The Heroine of the film Alam Ara – Zubeida had her sisters Sultana and Shehzadi as actresses. Their stepsister – Najama aka Mehtab was also in films. Some other sisters were…
Patience Cooper – Pearl – Violet
Zohra -Mushtari – Anuradha
Sitara -Alaknanda – Tara
Shakila – Noor – Nasreen
Daisy – Honey – Menaka Irani
Waheedan Bai and Sitara aka Jyoti
Shameem and Naseem
Amirbai and Gohar karnataki
Indu Lele – Kumud Lele and many others.
Later on came Ragini, Padmini and Lalitha etc.
Monica Desai was a famous Indian actress during the 1930’s and 40’s. She was the daughter of Dr. Umedram Lalbhai Desai and Satyabhama Devi, a well-known musician of the early 20th Century. Her father was a Gujarati, and her mother hailed from Bihar. Her father who was a reputed Doctor of that period died in the year 1930.
Monica Desai first worked for Bangla movie ‘Nimai Sanyasi’ which was released in the year 1940. She was an actress who represented the era of upcoming character actresses like Leela Mishra, Ram Dulari, who made debut along with her and later ruled the Indian screen.
Monica Desai acted under the direction of Phani Majumdar and Kidar Nath Sharma. She did not concentrate much on acting as she got married to Phani Majumdar, a pioneering Indian film director, who worked in Hindi cinema. Phani Majumdar is known for Meena Kumari’s classic films ‘Aarti’ (1962) and ‘Oonche Log’ (1965). Monica Desai had a sister named Leela Desai, who was a renowned actress in Hindi and Bengali cinema. Leela Desai has even acted in the film ‘Kapal Kundala’ (1939) directed by Phani Majumdar. After completion of the venture, Phani Majumdar married Monica Desai.
Monica acted with Prithviraj Kapoor in her career, in the film Gauri. ‘Gauri’ was an Indian Bollywood film that was the seventh highest grossing Indian film of 1943 and this established Monica Desai as an actress. This was her first film in Hindi in Bombay. There is an interesting story about her work in this film.
For film Gauri-1943 Kidar Sharma insisted to Ranjit owners that the Hero’s role of Khumar- the Idol Maker be done only by his friend Prithviraj Kapoor. His name was of course agreed upon. However, Goharbai queried as to who Sharma had in his mind to do the sensitive Heroine’s role. Sharma ji replied that he needed someone who looked fresh and innocent. He asked for some time. Actually he had thought of Monica Desai- the younger sister of famous actress Leela Desai. Monica worked as a school teacher in Calcutta. She had done a small role in his film ‘ Chitralekha’-41. In those days Sharma was impressed with her and had assured her that when he gets stabilised as a Director and has a suitable script, he will give Heroine’s role to Monica.
Next day, Sharma ji told Chandulal Shah about her selection. Chandulal had confidence in his judgement. The big hearted Shah gave Rs. 5000/- to Sharma to send to Monica for coming to Bombay comfortably in First Class. Kidar Sharma sent the money to her and asked her to travel only by First class to Bombay, to get down at Dadar, keep the luggage in Cloak room and freshen up in the waiting room. She was asked to wear a silk saree also. Sharma asked her if she understood all the instructions and she confirmed. She was to visit Ranjit Studios at 2.30pm, when Sharma would introduce her to Sethji.
On the afternoon of her arrival day, the Shah couple and others waited anxiously for Monica’s arrival. In the afternoon, Monica arrived at the gates of the studio looking tired and untidy, along with all her luggage. Seeing her, Chandulal became nervous, but asked Sharma ji to arrange for her stay and food etc. Chandulal Shah was not only upset with Monica’s looks but also annoyed. Still without commenting, he left the studio immediately with Goharbai. Sharma as well as Prithviraj felt humiliated with the foolish Monica who came to the studio, not following Sharma’s instructions. This she did to save some money, but put everyone in an awkward situation. Anyway, Sharma made her staying etc arrangements.
Next day, Chandulal called him to his office and said that he will continue making film Gauri, as promised, but he will not participate in any shootings, recordings or other matters till the film is completed. He will, however, see the finished movie before it goes to Censors. It was too obvious that both the Shahs were upset about the ordinary looking and childish, immature Monica as Heroine.
Kidar Sharma gulped all this quietly and started work on the film quickly. The team went to Calcutta also and came back. When the film was completed, Sharma invited Chandulal and Goharbai to see it. Actually whenever such a preview was done all other Directors of Ranjit also attended it, but this time there were only the two of them-Chandulal and Goharbai. The entire team of the film was also present. Sharma had known that when Chandulal did not like the film, he usually abused loudly and sometimes even threw his chappals at the screen. With bated breath, Sharma showed him the film Gauri and waited for his reactions, expecting fireworks. Instead, Chandulal and Goharbai left the room and went to their office. Everyone, including Sharma was sure that Sharma has to leave the company now.
With great courage, Sharma went to their office to know their opinions. To his great surprise, Chandulal dug into his pocket and removed whatever money was there and gifted it to Sharma. He said,” this is my gift to you for making a sublime movie.” Gohar too appreciated it heartily. Both of them were spellbound with Monica’s performance. Shah offered Monica a 3 year contract, furnished house and a new car with a driver etc. Shah also increased Sharma’s salary to Rs.5500/pm.
Thus Monica Desai’s first film was a great success. ” GAURI” was a winner. Kidar Sharma was the winner.
Later, she featured in a film ‘Devdasi’ as a heroine that was also among the top seven grossing films at the Indian box office in 1945. She appeared in the film ‘Chitralekha’ which was the second-highest grossing Indian film of 1941, in this movie, she portrayed the character of Yashodhara. This film also was a debut film for actor Bharat Bhushan, who later achieved fame with ‘Baiju Bawra’ (1952). Monica Desai had also acted with a legendary actor and singer K. L Saigal.
Monica worked in only 9 Hindi films- Qaidi-40, Chitralekha-41, Bhakta Surdas-42, Gauri-43, Bhanwara-44, Lakharani-45, Devdasi-45, Rangeen Zamana-48 and Vikram Shashikala-49. After this, Monica married director Phani Mujumdar and became a housewife.
Here is an 82 year old song from this film….
Song-Baansuree bajaa naa saanwre sataa naa (Gauri)(1943) Singer- Brijmala, Lyricist-Kidar Sharma, MD- Khemchand Prakash
Unknown male voice
Lyrics
baansuree bajaa naa
saanwre sataa naa
baansuree bajaa naa
aas paas so rahee hai
jagaa naa
jagaa naa
saanwre sataa naa
baansuree bajaa naa
saanwre sataa naa
jiya dekhtaa hai
jiya dar rahaa hai
jiya dekhtaa hai
jiya dar rahaa hai
sambhal mere saajan
tu kyaa kar rahaa hai
sambhal mere saajan
tu kyaa kar rahaa hai
mujhpe taras khaanaa
kaanhaa
baansuree bajaa naa
mujhpe taras khaanaa
kaanhaa
baansuree bajaa naa
paas paas so rahee hai
jagaa naa
jagaa naa
saanwre sataa naa
baansuri bajaa naa
saanwre sataa naa
bhalaa soch
kya chaand maamaa kahegaa
bhalaa soch
kyaa chaand maamaa kahegaa
ye chhup chhup ke milnaa
chhupaa na rahegaa
ye chhup chhup ke milnaa
chhupaa na rahegaa
nanadiyaa kahegee
bahu behayaa hai
nanadiyaa kahegee
bahu behayaa hai
main tera tu meree
to phir ismein kya
sabhee mil ke sakhiyaan
sataayengee mujhko
sabhee mil ke sakhiyaan
sataayengee mujhko
daregee jo paglee
daraayenge tujhko
jaa na piyaa jaa naa
baansuree bajaa naa
jaa na piyaa jaa naa
baansuree bajaa naa
paas paas so rahee hai
jagaa naa
jagaa naa
saanwre sataa naa
baansuree bajaa naa
saanwre sataa naa
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
June 5, 2025 at 7:21 am
Arun ji,
Very recently, I came across an article on Phani Majumdar written by Rinki Roy Bhattacharya (daughter of Bimal Roy). In this article, there was a mention of Monica Desai, the wife of Phani Majumdar. I was under the impression that after her marriage, she gave up her filmy career. But it was not so. I was moved by a couple of paragraphs in the article on Monica Desai which I reproduce below:
Source: ‘Gentleman Extraordinaire: Phani Majumdar’ by Rinki Roy Bhattacharya in ‘The Daily Eye’ June 23, 2021.
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June 5, 2025 at 10:38 am
Thanks for this unknown information.
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