Jo guzree hai hum par agar hum bataa den
Posted on: June 20, 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 Manmohan-1936.
The film was made by Sagar Movietone. It was the 3rd film directed by Mehboob Khan. Music was by Ashok Ghosh, whose arranger was a young Anil Biswas, just arrived from Calcutta, on the motivation of Hiren Bose, the multitalented music director. Lyricist was Zia Sarhadi and the cast included Bibbo, Surendra, Yakub, Ashalata, Ram Marathe, Bhudo Advani, Zia Sarhadi and others.
This was only the second film of actor singer Surendra. he was one of the lucky stars who did not need any efforts to be a film hero. He was educated, handsome, young with a good personality and above all a good singer. With these qualities, he was the most wanted star in those days. Due to his good singing skill, Sagar Movietone decided to project him as “Saigal of Bombay”. Those days Saigal was very popular and New Theatres, Calcutta was raking money on his films and songs.
Saigal’s film Devdas-1935 became very famous and a hit film His songs became a rage. Sagar Movietone introduced Surendra with his first film “Deccan Queen”-1936and he was made to singa song – ” Birha ki aag lagi mere man mein” in Saigal style, by music director Pransukh Nayak with the same tune. After this, Surendra’s second film was Manmohan-1936 using a similar story and its tragic end like Saigal’s Devdas-1935. For Saigal’s President-1937, there was Surendra’s Jagirdar-1937 and for Saigal’s Street Singer-1938, there was Surendra’s Gramophone Singer-1938.
Thank God, Surendra realised in time not to copy the Saigal style of singing and developed his own style. When Mithun Chakravarty came, he was touted as “poor man’s Amitabh”. When Govinda came, he was promoted as ” poor man’s Mithun”. These were coined musch later after Surendra was called ” Saigal of the poor” in the films of the 1930s to promote him.
Another similarity was , like Saigal was wanted by Bombay producers badly, till they succeeded in 1942, Surendra was also on the target of many producers in Bombay. Sardar Chandulal Shah of Ranjit was in the forefront of this race. He played his cards very cleverly. First he defeated Chimanlal desai, owner of Sagar, in a card game and grabbed the rights of an almost completed film Alibaba-1940. After this Sagar was sold out and National Studio took over. Within a few months Chandulal instigated Chimanlal to quit and start his own studio, for which Shah gave 60% capital. Amar Pictures was started as a sister company of Ranjit. Thus Surendra, who was very loyal to Sagar, came to Chandulal. Through his another sister company Chandulal Surendra was featured in the film Vishkanya-1943. Thus Chandulal got hold of Surendra.
When Chandulal brought Saigal to Ranjit to make the film Tansen in 1943, he made film Bharthari-1944, with Surendra through his another sister company- Navin pictures. Such were the ways of competition in the film industry since the early era. This reminds me of the legal battle between Sharata Cinetone and Imperial studio for the custody of the then No. 1 actor, Master Vithal.
The story of the film Manmohan-1936 was on the lines of Devdas-1935, Story was by Zia Sarhadi. The story was….
Ashok (Surendra) is an artist in love with Vimala (Bibbo). On learning that she is to marry Jagdish (Yakub) he is devastated and paints her portraits which become popular. He starts drinking and finds comfort with another woman. Soon his family wealth starts dwindling. Vimala, who is married by now, tries to help him with her husband’s efforts. However, Ashok misunderstands the overture, leading to tragedy for him.
Although all film magazines, including the acerbic Film India had given negative reviews, the film became a Hit. It even celebrated the Golden Jubilee in Imperial Cinema, Bombay. All the songs and particularly the song ” tumhi ne mujh ko prem sikhaya” became popular. This song sold 2.5 Lakh records in one year. It was believed to have been tuned by Anil Biswas as an arranger.
The lyricist Zia Sarhadi was a talented person, but his last days were spent in tragic ways. Zia Sarhadi, the man who gave us memorable films such as Humlog (1951) and Footpath (1953), lived in virtual oblivion after his misfortune with the Pakistani film censors in the late ‘50s. He died in Madrid in November-1996, having spent the last 15 years of his life in self-exile in London.
Born in Peshawar in 1914, Zia began his film career in Bombay when his friend Mehboob Khan asked him to write the screenplay, dialogue and songs for his Sagar movietone’s Deccan Queen. Quite contrary to the social realism Zia became known for in his later days, this debut film was an action thriller. However, it was Manmohan (1936) which actually brought him to fame. Besides acting in the film, he also wrote the lyrics, story, screenplay and dialogue. Over the next 15 years he received the writing credit for such films as Jagirdar, Kal Ki Baat (1937), Jeevan Saathi (1939),Sajan (1940), Behan (1941), Ghalib ((1942), Badi Maa (1945), Elan (1947), Anokha Pyar (1948), Dil Ki Duniya (1949), Khel (1950) and Baiju Bawra (1952 – dialogue only). Among the films he directed were Abhilasha (1938), Humlog (1951), Foot Path (1953) and Awaz (1956).
Humlog, one of the finest movies of the 1950s, was a great success. Unfortunately, his other films were not box office hits, but in terms of quality, all three left a lasting impact on the tradition of parallel cinema.
Zia was an “unaffiliated Marxist” ( a Non-Card Member) and his films were known for their social themes. Moving to Pakistan, therefore, proved creatively stifling for his committed and restless soul. Rahguzar, his first movie in this country, turned out to be the last that he ever directed. By the time he could complete it, General Ayub khan had imposed martial law in the country and the compromise with the censors shattered him. Those who have watched it are unanimous that it is still a very fine movie, but the hassles with the censors ensured that Zia never took up the megaphone again. However, he did write dialogue occasionally. Most notably for the celebrated Lakhon Mein Eik (1966), directed by Raza Mir. His other credits include the ambitious commercial disaster, Aftab Manghi’s existentialist action movie, Shehar aur Saaye and the outrageous cult classic, another film plagued by censor problems, Rangeela’s Aurat Raaj.
The third martial law, imposed by his namesake, was the final blow. The last straw came when he was picked up by the army and kept in solitary confinement in terrible conditions. The charges against him were sedition and an inclination towards Marxism. He left the country to settle in the UK, where he supported himself by working mainly on assignments for the BBC.
With a lifespan of 82 years, Zia was only truly productive for a mere 20 years. Others such as Manto, Faiz, Quratul Ain Hyder have been able to withstand the tyrannical oppression of social factors and still produce their best. A future biographer of this fascinating personality would, perhaps, be able to tell us why Zia Sarhadi was different…(adapted from newspaper The Herald, Karachi, dated 16-12-1996).
Today’s song is sung by the young Ram Marathe. He did child roles in 6 films of Sagar. In the first3 films, he was credited as Ramchandra (some people mistaking it for Ramchandra Pal), but in the next 3 films he was credited as Ramchandra Marathe. Child actor Ramchandra ( Ram) Marathe. He was born on 23-10-1924 in Poona and studied in Bhave school up to 10th.He and his brother ( Anant Marathe aka Anant kumar) worked in films as child actors, due to family conditions. They started work from 1936 onwards. Ram Marathe had an edge over his brother,in that he could sing too. Starting with Shahu Chor in 1936, he worked in Sagar movietone (6 films), Ranjit (3 films) and Prabhat (2 films), in addition to other companies like prakash, Mohan Pictures, Imperial etc. he acted as a child star in 16 films. he sang 11 songs in 6 films. After this Ram left films and started training in classical music-his liking. Here is a short bio of Ram Marathe, adapted from meetkalakar.com….
Ramchandra Purshottam Marathe (1924-1989) began his early career as an actor and singer in films produced by the Prabhat company. His formal training in music assumed a definite direction when he came under the tutelage of Master Krishnarao (Phulambrikar). Later, he trained under accomplished musicians such as Mirashibuwa of Gwalior and Vamanrao Sadolikar of Atrauli-Jaipur. His quest for widening his musical horizons culminated in a long-lasting discipleship (15 years) under Jagannathbuwa Purohit (“Gunidas”). As a consequence of his broad training and background, Rambhau’s music integrated the best of Gwalior, Agra and Jaipur styles. Rambhau was a stalwart in the field of Marathi Natya Sangeet. He was also known as a composer. Among his pupils is Ulhas Kashalkar.
Pt.Ram Marathe had performed in all the prestigious musical festivals at various places like Jalandhar, Patna, Lahore, Delhi, Gwalior, Calcutta, Banaras,Amritsar and almost all over Maharashtra. His contribution to Indian classical music was recognized with several Awards for his unique and successful performances. He was “A-top grade” Hindustani Classical Artist of All India Radio.
Since he had undergone proper Tabla training, he had a great command on Taal and Layakari. He had special command on Rare–Anvat Ragas & Jod Ragas and he was highly recognized for his clear and fast tankriyas and also for Purity of Ragas. He always used to enrich his audience with various semi-classical forms like Khayal, Tarana, Tappa, Natyasangeet, Thumri, Dadra & Bhajans in his concerts. Unlike the present classical singers, his concerts used to last more than 5 hours with the powerful intensity and stamina.
He started his stage career under the perusal of Natvarya Shri Ganpatrao Bodas in 1950 as a leading character in old classical musical dramas like Saubhadra, Sanshaykallol, Swayamvar, Ekach Pyala, Manapman etc. with veteran actor and actress such as Balgandharva, Hirabai Badodekar, Vinayakbuwa Patwardhan, Nanasaheb Phatak etc. Despite his busy schedule in concerts, he performed in 22 old & new Sangeet Natak with more than 5000 stage shows. This is purely out of his dedication and commitment towards Sangeet Rangbhoomi.
Composed music for more than 10 dramas such as – Mandarmala, Suvarna Tula, Meghmalhar, Tansen, Baiju etc. and acted in the play as a leading character role.
His disciples include many eminent classical singers like Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar, Sudhir Datar, Ram Pratham, Vishwanath Kanhere, Vishwanath Bagul, Yogini Joglekar, Shashikant Oak, Madhuwanti Dandekar, Sanjay Marathe & Mukund Marathe etc. (more than 50) and have got the training from him under the traditional Gurukul way of learning.
Maharashtra Government honoured the “Sangeet Bhushan” degree in 1961.
• Recognition by Government of Maharashtra in 1981 for successful completion and continuous 30 years of career in Marathi Sangeet Rangbhumi.
• Honoured “Sangeet Chudamani Degree” by Jagadguru Shankaracharya of Puri.
Appointed by AIR, New Delhi on the Northern (Hindustani) Music Audition Board Committee. Also Advisory Nagpur and other Universities in India.
More than 100 Records and number of CDs and LPs to his credit and composed more than 50 Bandish in various Ragas.
Enjoy this almost 90 year old song by a 12 year old Ram Marathe….
Song- Jo guzree hai hum par agar hum bata den (Manmohan)(1936) Singer- Ram Marathe, Lyricist- Zia Sarhadi, MD- Ashok Ghosh
Lyrics
guzree hai hum par agar hum bataa den
jo guzree hai hum par agar hum bataa den
farishton kee aankhon se dariyaa bahaa den
farishton kee aankhon se dariyaa bahaa den
baraste huye baadalon ko na dekho
baraste huye baadalon ko na dekho
baraste huye baadalon ko na dekho
baraste huye baadalon ko na dekho
baraste huye
haan baraste huye
baraste huye baadalon ko na dekho
udhar aaao hum tumko rona sikha den
udhar aaao hum tumko rona sikha den
jo guzree hai hum par agar hum bataa den
guzree hai hum par agar hum bataa den
wo naghme ke jinse baraste hain sholay
wo naghme ke jinse baraste hain sholay
wo naghme ke jinse baraste hain sholay
wo naghme ke jinse
haan naghme ke jin
wo naghme ke jinse baraste hain sholay
kaho jaa ke hooron se humko sunaaa den
kaho jaa ke hooron se humko sunaaa den
jo guzree hai hum par agar hum bataa den
jo guzree hai hum par agar hum bataa den
farishton kee aankhon se dariyaa bahaa den
farishton kee aankhon se dariyaa bahaa den
jo guzree hai hum par agar hum bataa den
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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