Dekho ree sakhee rang bharee holee aayee
Posted on: July 13, 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 : |
6204 | Post No. : | 19158 |
Today’s song is from the Mythological film Navdurga-1953.
!953 was a year Music ruled the films. Various genres were tried by filmmakers to attract the audience. After the Partition, the new blood flowing in all sections of filmmaking was trying new ideas and experiments. However, in all these changes, one genre still ruled the audience and that was the Religious films. Besides the “Golden Era of Film Music”, the 50’s were also the decade for the religious films. From 1951 to 1960, for a period of 10 full years, as many as 124 Mythological films were made, averaging one new religious film every month for 10 continuous years.
Navdurga-1953 is a story of Navratri and the power of Maa Shakti in 9 different forms. Navratri, literally a celebration of nine nights, is a festival that actually occurs once in every quarter, i.e. four times a year. Of these, the celebration that occurs in the month of Chaitra and the month of Ashwin are the better known and more popular Navratri celebrations. The Chaitra navratri ends with the celebration of Ram Navami, the birthday of Lord Ram. The Ashwin Navratri is followed on the next day by Dushehra, the celebration of the victory of Lord Rama over Ravana, the King of Lanka. Besides these two, the navratri celebrations also occur in the months of Aashaad and Paush / Maagh. These are also called the Gupt Navratri, or the lesser known or secret Navratri.
The Navratri or the festival of nine nights, is a celebration of the nine manifestations of Mother Goddess. These nine forms of manifestation are Shailputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyaayini, Kaalraatri , Mahagauri and Siddhidaatri.
NAVDURGA-1953 was a very popular and a hit film in those days. As such there is a set of audience in India, comprising of seniors and women, who are a definite visitors to such mythological movies.I had a peculiar attraction of these movies,not for its Pauranik content but for the Trick scenes,for which the name of Babubhai Mistry was more than enough.
S N Tripathi was the music director and lyrics were by Anjum Jaipuri and Ramesh Chandra Pandey. Ramesh Chandra Pandey specialised in writing lyrics for devotional, mythological and other C grade films. He wrote for about 25 such films from 1943 to 1976.
Mythological stories are always full of a lot of characters and it is difficult to keep a track in the film as to who is who’s who, because due to similar costumes all look the same-the only difference being male and female !
Film Navdurga-1953 had the cast consisting of Usha Kiran, Mahipal,S.N.Tripathi, Sulochana Chaterjee, Dalpat, Amarnath, Zarina, Raja Sandow, Geeta Bose etc.etc.
This film had 2 artists who were special. The first is one of the singers of today’s song – Laxmi Roy. How many of us have heard of this singer or know anything about her ? Hardly any, I am sure.
Laxmi Roy was the younger sister of Geeta Dutt. When Mukul Roy (brother of Geeta Roy) became a composer with his first film Bhed-50, he gave Laxmi Roy her first film song to sing. She was not a very good singer or her voice was not an extraordinary one. So no major composers noticed her. Chitragupta gave her one song in Bhakta Puran-52 and 2 songs in Nayaa Rasta-53. Composer Vinod tried her with one song in Aag ka Dariya-53. S. N. Tripathi gave her two songs in Nav Durga-53 and lastly she sang one song for Mukul Roy in Sailaab-56.
Pramod Chakravarty, who became a well known Director and producer later on, was working as assistant to Guru Dutt in Sailaab. During its making Laxmi and Pramod got married and Laxmi’s singing career came to a close ! In all she sang just 8 songs in 6 films.
The other name in the cast was Raja Sandow. I think this name also may be new to most readers. He was one of the very famous actors and directors from the Silent film era upto the early 1940’s. You will be surprised to know that he died in 1943. Then how does he appear in this film ? Here is the answer, from an extract from one of my books….
” An extraordinary point. Actor Raja Sandow was so popular during the Silent era and early Talkie period, that even after his death on 25-11-1943 at Coimbatore, his film shots and leftover films were used in 5 Hindi films till 1953-that is till 10 years after his death. Even his name appeared in the film cast and credits ! I feel this is an exclusive honour, which I have never heard of in case of any other actor. The films using his shots in them were Dhoomketu-49, Alladin and Wonderful lamp-52, Jungle ka Jawahar-52, Nav Durga-53 and Husn ka chor-53. This information is given in The Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema. A total of 5 Hindi films and over a dozen Tamil films featured Raja Sandow in their films till 1960 !
This is because this legend of stunt films was so popular that his film shots were used again in different films for over a decade as a member of the film cast. This must be unique in the world.”
The Music Director of this film was S.N.Tripathi. In the 50’s decade, S N Tripathi, music director was a multi-faceted artiste. He was an actor, composer, director and a singer too. He had acted in 83 films, sang 13 songs in 7 films, directed 18 films and gave music to 111 films- composing 863 songs in all. He was the music director in all the 18 films, which he had directed- from Ram Hanuman Yuddha-57 to Sant Gyaneshwar-81.
Actor, singer, composer, story and screenplay writer and filmmaker. The Late Shri Nath Tripathi was a man of many parts and talents. Many creative artistes have achieved greatness and immortality in the Indian film industry but only a few have displayed the range of versatility that S. N. Tripathi did with such consummate ease. S. N. Tripathi’s main field of endeavour were the much-neglected, much scorned mythologicals to which he brought an aura of credibility thanks to his scholarship and painstaking research. Of course, much more would be required before S. N. Tripathi’s immense contribution to the Indian film industry can be assessed properly.
Shri Nath Tripathi was born in a Brahmin family of Kashi (Benaras, U.P.) on 14th March 1913. His grandfather Pandit Ganesh Dutt Tripathi was principal of Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, Kashi and his father Pandit Damodar Dutt Thakur was principal of Government high school, Kashi. He completed his education from Banaras. He did his B.Sc. from Allahabad. He took classical music training from V N Bhatkhande’s Marris College of Music, Lucknow. He took light classical and folk music training from Maina Devi, Lucknow. He earned himself the degree of ‘Sangeet Praveen’ from Prayag Sangeet Samiti and ‘Sangeet Visharad’ from Marris Music College.
He went to Bombay and joined Bombay Talkies in 1935 as a violinist. He then joined music director Saraswati Devi as an assistant at a salary of Rs. 100 per month. SN Tripathi assisted Sarswati Devi in ten films (1935-1938). He made his debut as a singer actor in Ashor Kumar Devika Rani starrer, Jeewan Naiya (1936). When WWII broke out in 1939, Franz Osten was detained by the British Government and was sent to Deolali. The reins of direction came in the hands of NR Acharya, Amiya Chakarverti and Gyan Mukharjee. It was NR Acharya who recommended SN Tripathi to Dhiru Bhai Desai to take him as independent composer in his film Chandan (1939). The first song Tripathi recorded as a composer was “Nanha sa dil deti hun pardesi preet nibhana” a duet sung by himself and Raj Kumari.
Sarvottam Badami had known Tripathi since Bombay Talkies days. He signed him for his mythological film Uttara Abhimanyu. Starring Shanta Apte and Sahu Modak, SN Tripathi created some splendid songs in Rabindra sangeet’s style, “Laaj bhare in naino mein sakhi” , “Mere man jag utha anurag, Door desh ka sandesh preet ka, and Mere man mandir me mere devta aao” (Shanta Apte).
SN Tripathi had a strong bond with the Wadia brothers (JBH and Homi). He gave music for them in a dozen films. Homi Wadia directed Shri Ram Bhakt Hanuman. In the film SN Tripathi played the title role of Hanuman (Tripathi played the same role of Hanuman in several films later). Mukesh sang for the first time in this film. “Hey khag mrig hey madhukar shreni” and “Beet chali barkha ritu sote sudh na mili timhari”. After Ram Bhakt Hanuman Tripathi started getting more mythological films such as Ganesh Mahima (Shri Krishna also titled Shri Krishna Viwah) Naag Durga, Nag Panchmi, Ram Hanuman Yudha, Vishnu Puran, Naag Mere Saathi and Khuda Ka Banda.
By the 50s, mythological films were replaced by historical and period films. SN Tripathi was in great demand. He gave soulful music in several films. One such film was Homi Wadia’s Hatimtai (1956). There is an interesting story related to Tripathi’s music in this film. Starring Jairaj and Shakeela. Nizam of Hyderabad went to see Hatimtai in a theatre along with his family members. When the song “Parwar digaar alam” (Rafi) appeared on the screen, the Nizam was overwhelmed. He requested the manager to play this song once again. The film was stopped and the same song was played twelve times. Another evergreen duet was “Jhoomti hai nazar, Jhumta hai pyaar” (Rafi/Asha).
His film Janam Janam Ke Phere (1957) needs special mention. The film had Nirupa Roy and Manhar Desai in the lead. Like Hatimtai it was a smashing musical hit of that year. The everlasting song of the film “Zara samne to aao chaliye” (Rafi/Lata) was number one in Binaca Geet Mala. Other hits were “Tan ke tambure mein” (Manna Dey) “Tu hai ya nahi bhagwan” (Rafi/Lata/Manna Dey) and “Ayi mohan Milan ki bela” (Shamshad/Rafi) in Garba style and title track “Janam janam ke phere saanjh savere” (Rafi).
SN Tripathi had complete knowledge of Indian classical music. During his university days, Tripathi simultaneously did Sangeet Praveen and Sangeet Visharad from Prayag Sangeet Samiti. Which he deftly utilised in compositions “Binti karat mori payal run jhun” (Lata) in Ram Hanuman Yudh. “Baat chalat mori chunri rang daari, hai aisa bedard Banwari” (Rafi/classical singer Krishna Rao Chonkar) in Rani Roopmati. “Megha aayo re ghir ghir ke chhao re” (Manna Dey/Rafi) “Main to janam janam ki pyaasi” (Lata) in Kavi Kalidas and “Mohammad shah rangeele sajna” (Lata/Rafi) in Nadir Shah.
SN Tripathi in his long career of 50 years (1938-1985) gave music in 111 films. One of his career’s best musicals was Rani Roopmati (1959). It had a number of super hit compositions. Another musical triumph of SN Tripathi was Jairaj, Nirupa Roy starrer Lal Qila (1960) with the backdrop of the First War of Independence in 1857. Rafi sang his two immortal ghazals – “Na kisi ki aankh ka noor hun na kisi ke dil ka qarar hun” and “Lagta nahin hai dil mera ujde dayar mein”. SN Tripathi didn’t use any Orchestra in these ghazals.
After the success of these movies SN Tripathi gave another musical hit Sangeet Samrat Tansen in (1963). It was based on the life of legendary singer Tansen in the court of Akbar. It had Raag based compositions “Jhoomti chali hawa” (Mukesh) in Raag Sohni. Rafi and Manna Dey sang Shiv Stuti number “Hey Natraj Gangadhar Shambo” in Raag Jogia.
Unfortunately the film got a lukewarm response at the box office.
Like his erstwhile assistant Chitragupt, he too gave music in Bhojpuri film Bidesiya (1963). In all, he gave music in ten Bhojpuri films. In the 60s and 70s, the music scenario had gone through a sea change. New composers had captured the music scene. SN Tripathi kept on giving music even towards the late 70s and early 80s. He recorded his last song in Mahasati Tulsi (1985).
SN Tripathi died on March 28, 1988 at the age of 66 .
( I thank downmelodylane.com, an article by Shri Sharad Dutt on millenniumpost.in , Film sangeetkar by Prof. Yadav, Dhunon ki yatra by Pankaj Raag, Swar Sagar by Swapnil Porey, wikipedia, muVyz and my notes for making up this post.)
Here is a 72 year old song from today’s film, sung by a duo, both 20 year olds, of Asha Bhosle and Laxmi Roy with Chorus. Enjoy….
Song- Dekho ree sakhee rang bharee holee aayee (NavDurga)(1953) Singers- Asha Bhosle, Laxmi Roy, Lyricist- Ramesh chandra Pandey, MD- S.N.Tripathi
Chorus
Lyrics(Provided by Prakashchandra)
ho o ho o ho o
ho o ho o ho o o o o
aa aaa aaaa haa aa
aa aaa aaaa haa aaa aaaaa
aa aaa aaaa aa aaa aaaaa
dekho ree sakhee rang bharee holee aayi
dekho ree sakhi rang bharee holee aayee
rangeelee umang bharee holee aayee
dekho ree sakhi rang bhari holee
ho o ho o ho o
chanchal pawan hai
matwaala mann hai
phaagun kee mastee mein
naachey ye tann hai ae ae ae ae ae ae
chanchal pawan hai
matwaala mann hai
chanchal pawan hai
matwaala mann hai
phaagun kee mastee mein
naachey ye tann hai
phaagun kee mastee mein
naachey ye tann hai
tann pe basantee chunar lehraayee
dekho ree sakhee rang bharee holee aayee
rangeelee umang bharee holee aayee
dekho ree sakhee rang bharee ho o
ho o ho o
dekho sakhee mopey rang naaheen daaro
kumkum chalaao na pichkaaree maaro o o o o o o
dekho sakhee mopey rang naaheen daaro
kumkum chalaao na pichkaaree maaro
bheengey na saaree hamaaree duhaayee
dekho ree sakhee rang bharee holee aayee
rangeelee umang bharee holee aayee
dekho ree sakhee rang bharee holee
baatein banaao na mukhda chhipaao
hans ke zara hamse naina milaao
holee ke din meree baaree hai aayee
dekho ree sakhee rang bharee holee aayee
rangeelee umang bharee holee aayee
dekho ree sakhee rang bharee ho o
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
Leave a comment