Kaun batlaaye kya hai raaz e zindagee
Posted on: September 4, 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 comedy film- Aap ki Marzi-1939.
This was a film from Sudama Productions, Bombay. It was directed by Sarvottam Badami, well known in those times, for comedy film The music was by the veteran Gyan Dutt and the cast included Sabita Devi, Motilal, Vasanti, Mazhar, Khurshid, Sunalini Devi, K.N.Singh, Jagdish Sethi and others. This comedy film was based on the popular Hollywood film “Paradise for 3 “-1938.
The year was 1939 and the British Government had declared war against Germany and Japan, as soon as the WW II began. All countries ruled by Britain were – willingly or unwillingly, drawn into the war efforts and its effects. The war began in the month of September and soon various restrictions came into operation – like rationing, blackouts, shortages etc. The film industry which was still under its development stage suffered. It also realised the importance of remaining united as one industry. However, all that came after 1 or 2 years. In 1939 there was not much effect seen on the film industry.
The industry had its own problems. In spite of the playback system in operation, their problem was that because there was no technique of recording from the film negative yet, the singers had to sing twice. Once for the actual film shooting of the song, and later, with the same set of orchestra, for commercial records. Sometimes, the original singer was not available due to any reason, some other singer had to sing for commercial records. Thus we have many such examples, where the singer in the film song and the record is different. However, this problem continued only till mid 50’s when the Tape and the required technique became available. With just one time recording, the film and commercial recording were taken care of.
Khemchand Prakash, K.Datta (Datta Koregaonkar), Rafiq Ghaznavi and Anupam Ghatak made their Debut as Music Directors. Kavi Pradeep wrote his first film song for film Kangan. In 1939, 2 most Unusual songs were presented, for the first time. One was a Multi-Lingual song from film Aadmi-39, a film by Prabhat….Kis liye kal ki baat. This song was in Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Gujarati, Bangla, Tamil and Telugu. ( In its Marathi film version-” माणूस “, this song was only in one language-Marathi.) Different Lyricists and MDs were used for each language. The song became very popular.
Second unusual song was from film ‘Ghareeb ka Laal’-1939. The song lyrics had the names of 32 artistes, operating in Hindi films that time. Top Heroes and Heroines were mentioned in this song. The beginning of the song was ” Tuze Bibbo kahoon ya Sulochana, Uma shashi kahoon ki Jamuna “. This song was sung by the comedian Mirza Musharraf. In later years many songs with film artistes’ names came but none had so many names. Thus this record is still unbroken, in case of this song.
Besides these songs, let us quickly take a look at some films of 1939….
Aadmi – Prabhat’s hit film, a remake of the Marathi film ” माणूस “. It had some good songs by Shanta Hublikar, Sundarabai Jadhav and Ram Marathe.
Adhuri Kahani – a trend of Tragedy films set by the effect of film ‘Devdas’. All the 3 main characters of this film commit suicide in the end.
Badi Didi – A New Theatres film.
Brandy ki Botal – Master Vinayak’s comedy remake of Marathi film ‘ ब्रॅंडीची बाटली ‘.
Dil hi to hai – Debut of Kidar Sharma as a Director and Ramola as a Heroine in a Hindi film.
Dushman – New Theatres’ film of Saigal, with only his 4 songs.
Ek hi Raasta – Sagar presents first film with 3 Heroes in one film.
Ghazi Salauddin – Debut of Khemchand Prakash as M.D.
Hukum ka Ikka – First film with a Triple role by Umakant Desai ( who later specialised as Lakshman in 7 films, including Ramrajya-43).
Imaandaar – Debut of actress Shamim Akhtar.
India in Africa – This was the First Hindi film to be shot abroad (in Africa). The Hero B. Nandrekar had also gone to Africa for its shooting. Naaz-54 was not the first such film, though HFGK mentions it so.( Ref – pp 69, Maharashtra-The Birthplace of Indian cinema by Historian Isak Mujawar)
Kangan – First of the 4 Hit films of Ashok kumar and Leela Chitnis, made by Bombay Talkies. Kavi Pradeep’s Debut as a Lyricist in this film.
Kapal kundala – New Theatres. Pankaj mullick’s hit song ‘ Piya milan ko jaana ‘.
Leather Face – Debut of Meena kumari as a child artiste.
Navjeevan – Debut of Hansa Wadkar as a Heroine- Bombay Talkies film.
Pukar – Hit film from Minerva Movietone. Naseem Bano sings ” Zindagi ka saaz bhi kya saaz hai….”
Film industry is one place where the most unimaginable things happen. Here are some examples – A young man working as a laboratory Technician overnight becomes, albeit reluctantly, an actor and later on a famous Hero in Hindi films (Ashok Kumar), A Choreographer becomes a very famous and successful Director and actor (Guru Dutt), A Clerk in Government Rationing office touches the sky and becomes a heart throb Cinema Hero (Dev Anand), A Bus Conductor is turned into a famous cult Hero of South (Rajnikant), A simple young man goes to meet his actor brother in a studio and is mistaken for his brother and made a hero in 40 Hindi films(D.Billimoria), a clueless scholarly young man standing in a bus queue in Madras is picked up as a hero and works in about 55 hindi films (Ranjan). These are some examples of how, when Lady Luck smiles on a person, his life changes !
Here is one case. The case of the suave, handsome actor MOTILAL who had absolutely no dream of becoming a film hero ! Born in Shimla on 4 December 1910, Motilal Rajwansh came from a distinguished family. His father was a renowned educationist, who died when Motilal was one year old. He was brought up by his uncle who was a well-known civil surgeon in Uttar Pradesh. At first, Moti was sent to an English school at Shimla and later, in Uttar Pradesh (UP). Thereafter, he shifted to Delhi where he continued with school and college.
After leaving college, Motilal came to Bombay to join the Navy, but he fell ill and could not appear for the test. Fate had other choices charted out for him. One day, he went to see a film shoot at Sagar Studios, where director K. P. Ghosh was shooting. Motilal, even then, was quite the man about the town and he caught Ghosh’s eye. Motilal described this event in his inimitable style,in one of his interviews….” The director Ghosh Babu looked towards me and said,” please come here”. I first thought he was calling someone standing behind me. I looked back and moved to one side. Nobody came forward, but Ghosh Babu came to me and pointed his finger at me and said, ” Yes, I am talking to you. Please come here” I went with him .” In 1934 (aged 24), he was offered the hero’s role in Shaher Ka Jadoo -1934 by the Sagar Film Company. Sabita Devi and Motilal’s first movie as a pair in the famous Sagar Movietone, the movie Lure of the City (aka Shaher ka Jadoo) released on 29 th September 1934 at the Imperial Cinema Bombay.
Mehboob Khan was earlier selected for the lead role and was later replaced by Motilal. This was actor Motilal’s debut film and Motilal – Sabita made the best pair in the Sagar Film Company. They acted together in many other movies under the banner of the Sagar like, Silver King -1935, Dr Madhurika -1935, Lagna Bandhan -1936, Jeevan Lata -1939, Kulvadhu -1937, Kokila -1937, Three hundred days and after -1938 and later in Sudhama Films in Ap Ki Marzi -1939 and Minerva’s Prarthana -1944. He worked with Mehboob Khan in Jagirdar -1937 and Hum Tum Aur Woh -1938 under the Sagar Movietone banner, in Taqdeer -1943 for Mehboob Productions, and Kidar Sharma’s Armaan -1942 and Kaliyan -1944. He also acted in S. S. Vasan’s film Paigham -1959 (Gemini Studios), and Raj Kapoor’s Jagte Raho -1956. In 1965, he also acted in the Bhojpuri film Solaho Singar Kare Dulhaniya.
Most Indians know about Sarojini Naidu, but only a few know that her elder sister Sunalini Devi and younger brother Harindranath Chatopadhyaya were actors in Hindi films. Sunalini Devi, the actress, was born on 1-1-1896 in Hyderabad Deccan. Her father, Aghornath Chatopadhyay-a Bengali settled in Hyderabad – was a Sanskrit scholar, was proficient in 27 languages and was the first Indian to get the D.Sc. honour. Sunalini was the elder sister of Sarojini, who became Sarojini Naidu after her marriage, and Harindranath Chattopadhyay-renowned poet.
Sunalini learnt Music and Dance from her third year of age itself. Due to her sweet voice, she was called ‘Kokila’. It is to be noted that her younger sister Saojini Naidu was called ‘Nightingale of India’ ! It is unfortunate that the film industry did not use Sunalini’s music skill in her films and she sang just one song in her career in the film ‘Raja Rani-(1942)’.
Sunalini started acting in stage dramas from 1918. Her first movie was ” Light of Asia”-released initially in Germany and Poland in 1925 ( its restored version was released on 5th July 2001, in India. ) This film was made by Himanshu Rai. The film was shot in Lahore. It was a silent film on Gautama the Buddha. Her first Talkie film was ‘ veer Kunal-(1932)’. She acted in 56 films. Mostly she was known for motherly roles only. She had, like her more eminent sister, married a south Indian- Mr.A.S.Rajan, a writer from Madras.
Some of her more known films are Aurat,Lalaji, Inkaar, Nai Roshni, Talaash, Bairam khan, Tamasha, Dilruba, Malhar etc etc. Her last film was Chingari-(1955). She retired from films in 1956. She died sometime in the 1960s.
The story of film Aap Ki Marzi-1939 takes place in Bombay’s rich area Nepian Sea Road, where Seth Sir Bansilal stays with his wife-Susheela(Sunalini devi) and niece Shashi. Bansilal is very fond of solving crossword puzzles and Shashi helps him.In one such contest,where he contested as an ordinary man Govindlal,he gets the second prize. The first prize is won by a handsome young but jobless man Sumant.The prize is a trip to Kashmir.
Bansilal’s wife sends Shashi with him to keep an eye on him and take his care. As Bansilal is going there as a common man Govindlal,they decide that Shashi and Govindlal will act as strangers in the hotel.Unknown to them,his wife has made arrangements for Bansilal in his real name in Shalimar Hotel,Kashmir.
All 3 persons arrive on the same day, First comes Sumant,who is mistaken as Sir Bansilal and given the best room and due respect etc.He gets confused but enjoys all this.Govindlal is given an ordinary room and Shashi takes a good room.
In the hotel, Shashi accidentally breaks some valuable pots Sumant is carrying and they start fighting. The hotel manager comes, pacifies them and tells Shashi not to trouble Sir Bansilal.Shashi is shocked.She goes to his room and says if you are Bansilal, I am your niece.They start fighting again.Govindlal comes and pacifies them .Sumant learns that he is the second winner and calls him for dinner. Shashi also forces herself on the dinner. Shashi and Sumant fall in love.
The film falls on usual song ,dance, understanding,misunderstanding and interference by the Hotel girl Manjiri sequences.Manjiri tries to blackmail Sumant to extract some money,but finally,Sir Bansilal discloses his identity and all is well at the end.
It was a very entertaining film.When I saw this film, the print was in terrible state and songs were not heard properly. I do not know if this film copy is still available.
Here is a song from this 86 year old film. It is sung by the Music Director- 24 year old Gyan Dutt. As per the custom of that time, there is a very long prelude music- as much as 1 minute or 1/3 rd of the song length. Enjoy….
Song- Kaun batlaaye kya hai raaz e zindagee (Aap Ki Marzi)(1939) Singer- Gyan Dutt, Lyricist- S.P.Kalla, MD- Gyan Dutt
Lyrics
Kaun
batlaaye kya hai
raaz e zindagee
aa aa aa aa
Kaun
batlaaye kya hai
raaz e zindagee
aa aa aa aa
Kaun
batlaaye kya hai
raaz e zindagee
koi moh mein
phansa hai
koi sone mein laga hai
kaun moh mein
phansa hai
koi sone mein laga hai
koi bhookha mar raha hai
bandaa aa
koi bhookha mar raha hai
bandaa
bandaa
bande ko kar raha hai
jhuk jhuk ke
bandagee
aa aa aaa
kaun
batlaaaye kya hai
raaz e zindagee
aa aa aaa
kaun
batlaaaye kya hai
raaz e zindagee
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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