Baaghon mein bahaar aayee
Posted on: August 15, 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 mysterious film – But Tarash-1947.
When I first heard this film’s name, for a very long time, I was puzzled about its meaning. First I thought ‘ But’ is written by mistake for ‘Boot’. But Then what was Tarash ?
Was it also by mistake, for ‘Trash’ ? No, it could not be !
Very wisely, I referred to my dictionary of ” Urdu into English and vice versa”. Conveniently, it lists Urdu words in Roman script, so one who can not read Urdu, can also use this dictionary easily. This dictionary is compiled by The Rev. T.Cravel,M.A. and it was published in 1889 from Lucknow. This book is one of my prized possessions and I got this from my father 70 years ago. This 136 year old book has to be handled very carefully as its pages have become yellowish brown and very sensitive for breakages. The dictionary meaning of ” But Tarash” is ‘One who sculpts an idol’. In Hindi we call it a ‘Shilpkar’ or a ‘ Moortikar’.
Film But Tarash-1947 was made in Lahore in early 1947. It was directed by Afzal Jahangir and the music was by Ghulam Haider. It had 11 songs in it, however only 9 songs are available in India, as of now. The lead actors were Pran and Manorama (today it is so difficult to imagine that they were Hero and Heroine then !) among other actors were Suresh and Irshad Ahmed. Since the booklet or the film print is not available either in India or Pakistan, it is difficult to know about other contributing artists like the writer, cinematographer or other actors.
The story about and the history of this film is very interesting. But Tarash and Khana Badosh were being made in Lahore in early 1947. But Tarash had Pran, Manorama, Suresh, Irshad and Khana Badosh had Pran, Manorama, Kalawati and Ajmal. Both films were directed by Afzal Jahangir and Ghulam Haider was Music Director for both films.
When partition took place all activities of films in Lahore stopped.
Most Hindu actors etc had shifted to India and Muslim actors to Pakistan.
Just after the partition, Pran, Manorama, Nasir Khan, Suresh, Begum Para, Himalayawala, Shahnawaz, Najmul Hussain, Sadiq Ali(Minerva king), Ghouri, Charlie, Luddan, Ghulam Mohammed etc went back to Lahore, for settlement of dues, property etc.
After observing the poor conditions and dark future of Lahore and Pakistan film industry, Pran, Manorama, Suresh, Begum Para and Nasir Khan returned to India. But before returning, Nasir Khan acted in Pakistan’s First film Teri Yaad as a hero, Suresh completed Shahida and Do Kinarey and Pran and Manorama completed both their films, viz But Tarash and Khana Badosh.
But Tarash was not released in Lahore but is listed as an Indian film, and there was no trace as to what happened to Khana Badosh.
Both these films’ names do appear in the Golden Jubilee List of Pakistani Films, published in 1986, as Pakistani films. But the prints of these films are untraceable anywhere.
Since all the 11 songs of But tarash were recorded by Ghulam Hyder in India, before going to Pakistan, these records are available here but no records of Khana Badosh-whose songs were recorded in Lahore, are available there.
The son of director Afzal Jahangir, Mehmood Jehan is a Pakistani director of repute.
In 1947, Partition not only divided the Country in 1947 but also affected the Film industry badly on both sides. Few days ago I was reading a book “Mourning the Nation – Indian cinema in the wake of Partition” written by Bhaskar Sarkar. According to the book, the Indian film industry lost some Gems, but Pakistan was not in a position to do justice to these Gems, as their film industry was in doldrums. Everything had to be started all over again. Till that time the artists had to wait. Problem in India was the void created by the exit of artistes, but this was easily done by a strong reserve available, waiting in the wings for opportunities. This was the second line. The problem in Pakistan was having to establish the infrastructure itself plus financers for the film production, since the economy was yet to develop.
In undivided India, Lahore (then in the Punjab) was important as a showbiz centre. It was an established film-making centre. The first Talkie film ever to be made in a Lahore studio was Heer Ranjha-1932 and thereafter many Urdu and Punjabi films were produced from Lahore every year. The partition of India into two independent states – India and Pakistan, caused irreparable damage to film production in Lahore. Most of Lahore’s film producers were Hindus and as the city fell on the side of the Islamic state of Pakistan, they migrated to India. This deprived Lollywood, as Lahore is referred to in film circles, of much needed investment and expertise in film production and distribution. Many talented actors and musicians from Punjab and Sindh area tried their luck in the Cine Industry at Lahore. Nevertheless, the biggest centre of film production was Bombay and it was every aspiring artiste’s dream to go to Bombay and shine there.
The film activity at Lahore increased considerably in the early 40s in terms of film production and Music. Those days many actors and musicians shifted their base to Bombay from Lahore, Calcutta and other places too.
The list of such people is very long, but it will suffice to mention some well known names-
Noorjehan, Pran, Saigal, Prithwiraj Kapoor, Shyam, Dilip Kumar, Surinder, Karan Dewan, Dev Anand, Balraj Sahni, Singer Khursheed, Mumtaz Shanti, Veena, Begum Para, Meena Shorey, Suraiya, Manorama, Kamini Kaushal, Shyama(Khursheed Akhtar), A R Kardar, M Sadiq, Suresh(Nazim Ahmed), Amar, Chetan Anand, Zande Khan, Ghulam Hyder, Pt.Amarnath and his brothers Husnlal-Bhagatram, Hansraj Behl, S.Mohinder, Firoz Nizami, Khursheed Anwar, Khayyam, Vinod, Shyamsunder, Kidar Sharma, Krishna Chander, O P Dutta, Saadat Hasan Manto, Qamar Jalalabadi, D N Madhok, Tanvir Naqvi, Prem Dhawan etc etc. Many of the actors and producers used to shuttle between Lahore and Bombay for their work.
And when the PARTITION took place in 1947, in the communal frenzy, polarisation of artistes took place. Some Hindus shifted to Bombay and Some Muslims left for Lahore.
At the actual time of Partition some Indian artists were in Lahore for film work. They were B R Chopra, Ramanand Sagar, I S Johar, Gulshan Rai, Omprakash, Jeevan, O P Nayyar, Rajinder Singh Bedi, Naqsh Lyallpuri, Surinder and Prakash Kaur Manorama and Pushpa Huns. They all left Lahore hurriedly and reached Bombay Safely.
However this journey was not so safe for one actor-Comedian Durga Prasad, known as Durga Mota. He was very fat. In the melee, he reached the Lahore station and somehow entered the Train to Bombay. Suddenly a group of mad rioters entered the Lahore station and started killing the travellers. Most people ran helter skelter, but due to his heavy body, Durga Mota could not run and was cut into pieces on the Lahore station platform itself !
Same way many artists from Bombay left for Lahore and ALL of them reached safely. some of the Directors who migrated to Pakistan were-
Syed Shaukat Hussain Rizvi, S M Yousuf, Najam Naqvi, Munshi Dil, Nakshab Jarachavi, M Sadiq, Zia Sarhadi, Sibtain Fazli(of Fazli Brothers), S T Zaidi , Zahoor Raja, Wali saheb, A R Kardar,Nazir,W Z Ahmed,Masood Pervez, Shareef Nayyar,Luqmaan, Dawood Chaand, Rakhan, Nusrat Mansoori, M H Qasim, Roop K Shorey, Butt Kasher, Barkat Mehra and Manto.
Some of the Actors/actresses were- Nazeer, Sadiq Ali, Masood, Sudhir, Santosh, Ratan Kumar, Najmul Hussain, Suresh and Nasir khan(both came back to India later), Sh.Mukhtar, M.Ismail, Ajmal, Gulam Mohd, Kumar, Ghori, Majeed, Shahnawaz, Himalayawala, Shyam Kumar, Allauddin, Shah Shikarpuri, Charlie, Nazar Faizi Noorjehan, Meena Shorey, Khursheed, Zeenat Begum, Asha Posley, Najma, Kalawati, Rehana, Swarnalata, Ragini, Bibbo, Renuka Devi, Geeta Nizami, Maya Devi etc.
Some from the music field were- Khursheed Anwar, Inayat Hussain, Rafiq gaznavi, G A Chisti, Ghulam Hyder, Firoz Nizami, Nissar Bazmi, Nashaad, Tufail Faruqi, Tanvir Naqvi, Faiyaz Hasmi, Iqbal Bano, Premlata,Khursheed,Zeenat Begum,Shevan Rizvi,Rasheed Atre,Fateh Ali khan,Babul etc.
With so many people migrating to Pakistan at a time and given the condition of the Pakistan Film Industry then, it is a moot question, whether all these migrants could get work there and shine ?
Some of the successful migrants there were- Noor jahan, Khursheed Anwar, G A Chisti, Nissar Bazmi, Firoz Nizami, Najam Naqvi, Nakshab Jarachavi, Sibtain Fazli, Wali Sahib,Manto, Rashid Atre, Sudhir, Santosh, Asha Posley, Shameem, Najma, Yasmeen, Ragini, Zahoor Shah, Shaikh Iqbal, Himalayawala, Nazar, Rafiq Gaznavi, Tanvir Naqvi, Iqbal Bano etc.
The unfortunate ones were-some of them- Meena Shorey, Ratan Kumar, M Sadiq, Charlie, Ghori, Kumar, Shaikh Mukhtar, Najmul Hussain, Neena, Kalavati, Maya devi, Gulam Hyder, Nashaad, Premlata etc.
Almost all the artists who shifted to Bombay prior to Partition did very well here.(Notes- 1.All lists are only indicative and not exhaustive 2.Migrants means between 1947 to 1970 period.)
About two years ago, there was a fruitful discussion on my Facebook page about Partition effects on Film industry in India and Pakistan. Many senior experts (from US and UK too !) participated and some more new information came out of this discussion…..
The rioting of 1947 set in motion irreversible, irrevocable migration. B R. Chopra and I S Johar were planning films in a big way in Lahore but had to run for their lives. Ramanand Sagar left in July, as did Gulshan Rai. Character actor Om Prakash (of Fateh Din fame, an all-time favourite skit relayed for years by Radio Lahore), comedian-bad man Jeevan and many others also left Lahore for Bombay. O P Nayyar recorded his immortal song Priyatam Aan Milo/ Dukhia Jiya Bullai, Aan Milo at the His Master’s Voice studio in Lahore. He left Lahore only in 1948 when it became clear that people with the wrong religion were not going to return to their homes on either side of the Punjab. Writer Rajinder Singh Bedi escaped, sitting on top of a railway carriage carrying loads of Hindus and Sikhs out of Lahore. Song-writer Naqsh Lyallpuri began his literary career in Lahore as a journalist but had to leave in 1947. Punjabi singers Surinder Kaur and Prakash Kaur, and Pushpa Hans also left Lahore.
Migration in the other direction also took place. Nazir and his wife Swarnlata, Noorjahan and her husband Shaukat Husain Rizvi, character actor Alauddin and many others headed for Lahore. Manto came in January 1948, music directors Ghulam Haider and Khurshid Anwar followed some years later and director M. Sadiq probably in 1969 or 1970. Meena Shorey, Khurshid and Mumtaz Shanti also immigrated to Lahore. Some Pakistani actors in Lahore continued to use Hindu filmic names. Santosh Kumar (Musa Raza) and Sudhir (Shah Zaman), the two most famous heroes of the 1950s and 60s followed such practice. On both sides, initially considerable goodwill existed between the two film communities.
Some families were divided. Thus for example, while Nazir Ahmed khan shifted to Lahore, his nephew K. Asif stayed on in Bombay. Kardar stayed on but his brother Nusrat Kardar and son Rauf Kardar returned to Lahore. While Suraiya, her mother and grandmother settled in Bombay, many of her other relatives shifted to Lahore. Rafi stayed on to reign supreme in Bombay while his parents and siblings were in Lahore.
There were some cross-religion marriages that created peculiar challenges. Raj Kapoor’s maama (maternal uncle) Mr Mehra married a Muslim actress Anwari, converted to Islam and stayed in Lahore. A unique case of reverse migration took place as well: poet Sahir Ludhianvi (Abdul Hai) left Lahore for India.
Luckily, except for a few like Noorjehan, Khursheed Anwar and some others, the well established Muslim artistes like Rafi, Talat, Shamshad, Naushad and hundreds of others chose to remain in India. They prospered here and became popular in Pakistan as well.
After partition, this turmoil subsided after a short period in India and it was business as usual here, while in Lahore, Pakistan had to build up from scratch, but the Film Industry there too stabilised in a few years’ time. The base of Film industry in Pakistan was built by people who migrated from India. Migration from India to Pakistan continued till about 1970 for the pre-partition artists. In fact till about 1965 there was an exchange of artists from both sides to work in other countries, but after the 65 war, this working stopped almost completely.
Music Directors who left India after Partition had done a very good job here. Composers like Nissar Bazmi and Feroz Nizami became exceptionally successful in Pakistan, but Nashad, Rafiq Ghaznavi and others were not successful to that extent. Khursheed Anwar, a very highly respected composer here remained a father figure even in Pakistan.
Partition did a lot of damage to both countries and the film industry. With so many artists leaving at a time surely affected the filmdom, but it also opened up new avenues for new singers and new blood composers.
Here is an excerpt from a book “The Travels of Bollywood Cinema ” by Anjali Geeta Roy, in this connection…….
Following Partition in 1947, A. R. Kardar and his co-brother Mehboob Khan both left for Pakistan. However, according to Bunny Reuben, as quoted by Mihir Bose, they returned to India, but no reason was given for their return. Journalist and author of several books, Ambarish Mishra writes, ” when I asked Kardar about his Pakistan visit, he told me that after the Partition, Mehboob immediately went to Pakistan. He was disturbed with the news of Hindu-Muslim conflicts in Bombay Film Industry. It was said that Hindus will not allow Muslims in the film industry – which was totally wrong and only a rumour. He wanted to get an idea about his future in this new country. He was keen on settling there. After a month or so, I went there. Being from Lahore, I understood that the film conditions were not conducive for our growth there, as nothing was in order. Everything was in a mess there. I convinced Mehboob somehow and we both came back for good. I told him, as long as Nehru was there, they had no problems in India.” By coincidence, Nehru died and the next day Mehboob also died !
Despite all this, the Partition year – 1947 saw the making of a Record number of films in India – 181 (this record remained till 1985). Of course most films were made in a hurry to complete before the deadline of August-1947. Still, even in these circumstances some very good, meaningful, milestone and musical films were made in 1947, like… Aaj aur Kal (the first Sci Fi film), Bhakta Dhruv, Dard, Do Bhai, Elan, Jugnu, Leela, Meera, Meerabai, Mirza Sahiban, Natak, Parwana, Shehnai, Sindoor etc.etc
We have 5 songs from the film, But Tarash-1947 on this Blog. Today’s song is the 6th song. It is sung by a 28 year old Shamshad Begum and chorus. Enjoy….
Song- Baaghon mein bahaar aayee(But Taraash)(1947) Singer- Shamshad begum, Lyricist- Amin Gilani, MD-Ghulam Haider
Lyrics(Provided by Prakashchandra)
Baaghon mein bahaar aayee ee
baaghon mein bahaar aayee
is mast jawaanee par
haay sajnee
haay sajnee
hone ko nisaar aayee
hone ko nisaar aayee
ye naaj o ada tauba
ye naaj o ada tauba
bharpoor jawaanee hai
haay sajnee
haay sajnee
aur uspe haya tauba
aur uspe haya tauba
malhaar koi gaaye
malhaar koi gaaye
is waqt mujhe saajan
haay saajan
haay saajan
tum yaad bahut aaye
tum yaad bahut aaye
khushiyon ke zamaane hain
khushiyon ke zamaane hain
aankhon mein hai mastee
haay sajnee
haay sajnee
honthhon pe taraane hain
honthhon pe taraane hain
phoolon se jawaanee hai
phoolon se jawaanee hai
kaliyaan ye kehtee hain
haay sajnee
haay sajnee
tu husn kee raanee hai
tu husn kee raanee hai
baaghon mein bahaar aayee ee
baaghon mein bahaar aayee
is mast jawaanee par
haay sajnee
haay sajnee
hone ko nisaar aayee
hone ko nisaar aayee
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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