Dil gaya baabu mera dil gaya
Posted on: August 12, 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 a C grade stunt film Khooni Khazana-1965. The film was directed by A.Shamshir and the music was by S.Kishen. The cast included Vijaya Chaudhari ( real name Qurasha Begum), Sudhir, Bhagwan, Madan Puri, Shaikh Mukhtar, Bela Bose, Jeevan Kala, Heera Sawant and many other small-time actors. This C grade film was among the last few stunt action films, which were on their way to the end of their era.
I was a great fan and admirer of C grade action/stunt/costume films from my young age. The decorative sets and the unusually long, shining and attractive costumes in the films, the daredevil stunts and the hand or the sword fighting in these films impressed me. Unfortunately, as I grew older, the number of such films was reducing and by the time I almost stopped running after films by the 1970 beginning, C grade action, stunt and Costume films almost disappeared from the theatres. Perhaps their regular audience thinned out or the stuntmen became old or producers of such films turned to other more respectable Genres. Whatever the reason, reality was that the end of such films had occurred !
Most of us like to see films, be it on a TV, in a cinema hall, or through DVD/CDs. Some like old films, some like new films. Did you ever see films like, Khooni Khanjar, Dagabaj Doctor, Shaitan ka paash, Char chakram, Daku Rani Talwarwali, Jaadu ka dandaa, Zinda Laash, Revolver Rani, Sinbad-Aladdin-Alibaba, Flying man, Fighter Sheela, Khooni Darinda, Tarzan aur Jadugar, Tarzan aur Jadui Chiraag, Golden Gang, Murde ki jaan khatare mein, or Jadui putli ?
I bet none of these movie names have been even heard by you ever. These are all STUNT FILMS or in other words ‘C’ grade films. A person seeing/loving or craving for such films was generally considered a ‘Low’ creature and a person with ‘child brain’. In India, this was the fate of C grade films.
Stunts have improved, Technology has evolved but the participation of Zippy the Monkey, Tiger the Horse, Moti the Dog, parrots, snakes and khatara cars named Rolls Royce ki beti and Austin ki Bachhi is missing ! The contribution of Fearless Nadia in making Stunt films popular can not be denied, but then she had the backing of companies like Wadia Movietone. Basant pictures, Ranjit, etc. When you read the stories of these films please don’t employ Logic or common sense to it. This was a different world altogether. The set of actors was fixed, many times the composers were unheard of or they were known composers now in bad shape, the Directors were typical and the production houses were exclusive to churn out such films.
It is, nevertheless, a fact that many well known and famous actors and actresses of the 40s and 50s evolved from the stunt films of yore. Examples are Jairaj or Master Bhagwan.Can you believe that this roly-poly Bhagwan dada was a great body-builder when he started in stunt films in the late 30s ? Lalita Pawar(Amboo), Madhuri, Rampyari, Miss Moti, Sabita Devi, and Sulochana (Ruby Myers) are some female examples who graduated to Social films via Stunt films.
C grade films were those films which were made by not so famous banners, almost unknown actors, directors and composers. Usually C grade films used to be action/stunt films, made on shoestring budgets, having a fixed storyline resembling Tarzan, Hercules or Hollywood action films of Robin Hood, with the background of a jungle, Tribal people, King-Queen-wicked Vazir and similar stories. C grade films were always quickies, made on shoe-string budgets. During the late 30s and 40s, Master Bhagwan action films used to be completed in about Rs. 50,000 only- including studio rent, sets, artistes’ fees and other expenses. C grade films had a captive audience comprising factory workers, daily wagers, Low grade earners and students. However, such films used to rake in big profits to the film makers. Therefore, even top class banners sometimes made C grade films, to make up for their losses in big film flops.
There were certain production houses specialised and thriving on such films, like Paramount films, Jagriti films, Mohan pictures, Wadia Movietone etc etc. The actors and actresses of such films were fixed. Since the studio system was in vogue, the film studios usually had their actors and directors fixed. Music directors were of no consequence, so anybody would do. Well known composers like C.Ramchandra used to take another name while composing music for C grade action films. Music assistants of famous composers used to give music to such films. Well known composers falling on bad days also gave music to such films. C grade films rarely made Commercial records for their film songs, so such songs are a real rarity even with big collectors.
Some common and regular names one found in Action/Stunt films are, Nadia, Boman Irani, Sayani, Bilimoria bros, Cooper sisters, Zohra Khatun, Ameena Khatun, Khatun Bai, Prakash, Adjania, Noorjehan (sr.), Moosa Pehelwan, Vasantrao Pehelwan, Baburao Pehelwan, Marutirao Pehelwan, Azim bhai, Basheer, Ali, Bachha, Chandra Rao, Harishchandra Rao, Shankar Rao, Master Bhagwan, Mirajkar, Jamshed, John Cavas, Lalita Pawar, Navin chandra…and many such names. Barring a few names like Lalita Pawar, Bhagwan, Nadia etc, all the other action film actors remained unknown. No one knows anything about them.Actors like Baburao pehelwan, Marutirao Pehelwan ( He was the Hero in the First Gujarati Talkie film ‘ Narsi Mehta ‘-1932), Chandra Rao, Sayani etc were quite famous in their times, but except their Filmography (thanks to HFGK), nothing more is known about them. All of them ended with only mere names !
In the 50s and 60s, some respectability to these stunt films was brought by actors like Mahipal, Ranjan, Dara Singh, Azad, Hemant Birje etc. The set of Heroines was also fixed to Mumtaz, Tabassum,Vijaya Chaudhary, Indira, Nishi etc. Mumtaz started with Stunts and graduated to greater heights and was counted in Top actresses of her days. Costume and Stunt films like Baaz, Insaniyat and Azaad etc were made respectable by the stars acting in them. Over a period the picture changed and nowadays every alternate film has breath-taking stunts done by almost all top Heroes, thanks to SFX, of course !
The C grade stunt films were the cheapest ones to make. Compared to the investment, the profits used to be very good. Producers of stunt/action films tried their best to get the directors, Lyricists and the MDs at minimum rates. For this, sometimes they gave opportunities to new aspirants. This had double benefits. One, being new, he depended upon the producers – thus the films were virtually directed by the producers only. Secondly they needed to be paid near to nothing. This way money was saved…to hell with quality !
Besides specific audiences of workers, daily wagers and such other lower social strata, the stunt films had their own fixed Producers, Directors and even the actors. Most times, a set of action film actors was regular and specific to the production houses. For example, Fearless Nadia, John Cavas, Sayani Atish, Boman Shroff, the Billimorea brothers, Basheer etc were fixtures in stunt films of Wadia Movietone. Master Bhagwan, Chandrarao, Harischandra rao, Azeembhai, Vasantrao and Baburao pehelwan, Leela Gupte, Prakash, Habeeb etc were with stunt films made by Bhagwan and Harischandra rao.
Besides the human actors , some trained animals as well as a car and a motorcycle were also fixtures in stunt films. What’s more, these non-living and non -human participants too were named. So, you had Punjab ka Beta (Horse), Gunboat (Dog), and Rolls Royce ki Beti (car) in films made by Wadia Movietone. For Basant Pictures, it was Rajpoot (Horse), Moti (Dog) and Austin ki Bachhi (Car), even the Motorcycle had a name-Runniyo !
In addition to all this, actors with odd and weird names were to be always found in stunt film casts. Have you ever heard actors with names like Bajar Battu, Phool kumari, Maruti pehelwan, Batata, Mitthoo Miyaan, Fatty Prasad, Boken Chattu, Minu the Mystic, Manchi Tuthi, Gareeb Raja, Kurbaan Jaoon, Pandit Dukhi, Vilayatu, Loveji Lavangiya, Adam Sandow, Sandow Safar, Dunlop, Chic Chak and a very strange name CHEMIST ! This name is found in 6 films.
The actors working in such stunt films were fixed with almost every studio or producer. They had no chances of working in big banners or Social films. They either knew no acting or their skills were specific to stunt films like say, fighting, Horse riding, jumping, sword fighting etc. Their charges were also very low. In case the producer himself was acting, then there was no question of making actual payment( though on paper they may be getting some payments). producers like Master Bhagwan, Chandra rao Kadam etc. used to follow this method.
The audience of stunt films did not come to see histrionic talents of the actors, or listen to heavenly music. All they wanted to see was DareDevil action, fighting, 2-3- ‘ maar Daala’ Dances and villain ki bharpoor ‘Kutai ” and “Pitai “. Therefore all matters concerning getting quality actors, famous directors or well known composers never arose for these films. It used to be a thrilling experience to see these action/stunt films in a theatre and enjoy the loud comments and active participation of the audience in the film. When dances were shown whistles were common and when the hero started beating the villain, the audience enthusiastically encouraged the hero and shouted ” Maar saale ko” or similar motivating phrases ! I have enjoyed all this first person, several times. I feel sorry that the current generation is missing all this fun.
When I started writing on old films and songs, I happily realised that I was not the ‘Unique’ person in today’s times who liked action/stunt/costume films and there were many like me- not necessarily as old as me ! Mike Barnum-an American- who runs two sites…cinemajadoo and Pedro the Ape….exclusively for such films, has done a historical work by reviewing atleast 500 such movies of yesteryears, in different categories like Action, Stunt, Costume, Horror, Mystery, Jungle stories, Space travel, Ghost stories, Superpower people and such non-traditional types of films. Another fan of such films was Ms. Greta Kaemmer, who is more popular as ‘Memsaab’ and runs her own site memsaabstory.com, wherein she has discussed many such films of old times. The hundreds of comments she gets on her Blog is proof of how such films are popular even today. Her liking for old Hindi films is so strong that she has already visited Bollywood in Mumbai 2 times and has met several Heroes and others.
My salute to these films !
Here is a Mini-Bio of Vijaya Chaudhari, the Heroine of this film, from IMDB- with thanks……..
Vijaya Choudhury: Forgotten name in Bollywood 1960s.Born Qurasha Begum, her first on-screen presence was in Captain Kishore (1957). Vijaya Choudhury acted in Satta Bazaar (1959), Bindiya (1960), Bada Aadmi (1961), leading actress in Banarasi Thug (1962) and Holiday in Bombay (1963), she was dropped to B-grade films which did not do much to her film career. Although in possession of a gracious face, voluptuous figure and a considerable acting range, she never achieved the career heights or fan following of her contemporaries. Satta Bazaar’s iconic song ‘Tumhe Yaad Hoga Kabhi Hum Mile The’ was picturized on her with actor Suresh. Banarasi Thug (1962)’s beautiful solo and duets with Manoj Kumar are mesmerizing. Her another memorable appearance was in all-time hit Rafi song ‘Agar Dil Kisi Se Lagaya Na Hota’ with actor Subiraj in Bada Aadmi (1961).She acted in 38 films, including Honeymoon (1960), Burmah Road (1962), Baaghi (1964), and Rustom-E-Rome (1964). She is now living in Calgary, Alberta,Canada with her son Asad.
The film story was….
Rajgarh is a Hill station town. There is an old legend that enormous wealth is buried somewhere in the town,by the ancestors to save from attackers. many explorers have tried to locate it but in vain. There is a hotel called De luxe in this town. The owner of this hotel is Douglas (Madan Puri). he too is after this treasure and learns that the map indicating the location of the buried wealth is with one Mr. Pinto. Douglas sends his goons to kill Pinto. They kill him but can not find the map on his body. This is because just before dying Pinto has given this map to Robert (Sudhir) asking him to hand it over to his daughter Rita (Vijaya Choudhari) who works as a dancer in Hotel De Luxe.
When Douglas learns that Robert is coming to the hotel to give the map,he sets up a trap. At the appointed time, when Robert comes to the Hotel, he is arrested by the Town Sheriff(Shaikh Mukhtar) for the murder of Pinto. There seems to be circumstantial proof against Robert. He is put in jail. This is all actually a drama. The sheriff acts to be a stooge of Douglas but is an honest man who joins hands with Robert to catch the real murderer.
The next day, a masked man comes to the Hotel to give the map to Rita,but the goons attack him and try to snatch the map. The map is torn with only half left with the masked man who runs for his life. Douglas decides to kidnap Rita and sends a word that unless the other half of the Map is given to him,he will kill Rita. Finally the masked man comes with the torn map. He too is captured-he is Robert,who is in love with Rita. Both are tied to a pole. Douglas attaches a Time Bomb to their pole and leaves with both parts of the map.Suddenly,the Sheriff comes there and rescues Robert and Rita. They detonate the time bomb to fool Douglas that they are dead.
Robert,Sheriff and some police follow the men of Douglas and reach the deserted spot where Douglas has started to dig for the wealth. The 4 pillars under which the digging has to be done start shaking and in no time the whole structure falls on Douglas and his goons,burying them under the debris for ever.Robert and Rita are united.
Here is a 60 year old song from this film…..
Song- Dil gaya Babu mera dil gaya (Khooni Khazaana)(1965) Singer- Usha Mangeshkar, Lyricist- Khawar Zaman, MD- S Kishen
Lyrics
dingchika dingchika dingchika
Dil gaya Babu mera dil gaya
dingchika dingchika dingchika
Dil gaya Babu mera dil gaya
mil gaya pyaaar tera mil gaya
mil gaya pyaar tera
mil gaya pyaaar tera mil gaya
mil gaya pyaar tera
haay haay haay
dingchika dingchika dingchika
Dil gaya Babu mera dil gaya
nazren mila tu
mehfil mein aa tu
nazren mila tu
mehfil mein aa tu
??
koi na poochhega
haay haay haay
dingchika dingchika dingchika
Dil gaya Babu mera dil gaya
paimaana chhalka
aanchal bhee dhhalka
paimaana chhalka
aanchal bhee dhhalka
ek hi pal mein dil ko leke
?? jaana na
haay haay haay
dingchika dingchika dingchika
Dil gaya Babu mera dil gaya
mil gaya pyaaar tera mil gaya
mil gaya pyaar tera
mil gaya pyaaar tera mil gaya
mil gaya pyaar tera
haay haay haay
dingchika dingchika dingchika
Dil gaya Babu mera dil gaya
dingchika dingchika dingchika
Dil gaya Babu mera dil gaya
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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