Haathh jodoon painyya padoon
Posted on: October 11, 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 a duet from the religious film Tulsidas-1954.
The film was directed by B.C.Shukla and Harsukh Bhatt.
Harsukh Bhatt (24-11-2024 to 31-10-1999) was the younger brother of Vijay Bhatt of Prakash Pictures. Shukla and Harsukh had also directed one more film, Naulakha Haar-1953. Independently, Harsukh had directed 13 more films. He started his career as a director with the film Bal Yogi-1952 and his last film was Gayatri Mahima-1977. The music was by the king of melody, Chitragupt and the lyricist was G.S.Nepali. The cast of the film was Mahipal, Shyama, Dulari, Sunder, Raaj Kumar, Chaman Puri Ramji, Uma Dutt, Sitaram and many more.
In the mid 50s, there were several religious movies and hundreds of melodious Bhajans in them. Those readers who were grown up enough to enjoy Radio in that period will recall several bhajans from that era which had become commonplace in most households. Today we will enjoy one such bhajan from the film Tulsidas-1954.
During the period between the 7th century to about the 17th century, viz. a period of 1000 years was a testing time for the people in India. Outside invaders attacked India, looted it and forced conversions. Small states in India fought with each other and the invaders took full advantage of it. The rich became richer, the poor poorer. Common people were beset with serious problems such as lack of education, caste system, superstition and such other social evils. They felt directionless.
It was here that the rise of BHAKTI MOVEMENT in India came as a welcome relief for the people in distress. It started in the 7th Century, initially in the south. The peak period of this movement was from the 14th to 17th Centuries. It was a religious movement of the medieval period that promoted the belief that Salvation was attainable by everyone. The Islamic Sufism also appeared around the same time. Both advocated that a personal expression of devotion to God is the way to become one with Him.
The movement spread from South to North. In the South, it was devoted to Shiva( Shankaracharya ), Vishnu ( Madhvacharya ), and other Avatars. In the North , it was devotion to Rama and Krishna. Several saints and religious great souls propagated and helped the common people to remove the burden of rituals and Castes. They were given a simpler approach to God by these Saints who were also social reformers. Saints like Thyagaraja, Dnyaneshwar, Tulsidas and Chaitanya MahaPrabhu tried to enlighten people and united them with awareness of a common thread of Religion. Sant Ramdas, Tukaram, Gyaneshwar, Namdev, Ravidas, Basava, Sankardeva, Vallabhacharya, Annammacharya, B.Ramdass, Thyagraja, Surdas, Kabir, Meerabai, Guru Nanak etc were some of the major contributors to Bhakti Movement.
Due to illiteracy and ignorance, people found it difficult to understand religion. During this period Devotional literature was created in the vernacular languages. To influence people, even Miracles were performed.
What is a Miracle ? ” That which causes wonder ” is the simple definition. It is something that contradicts or is beyond ordinary experience or is caused by supernatural powers. In a Miracle, the laws of Nature are suspended. Ignorant people followed the sayings of a person who did Miracles. In this way, several saints took the help of Miracles to teach people. In most cases, even the die hard opponents were floored by Miracles. Thus, we read in the Biographies of Saints about their Miracles-which was a part of attracting, influencing and teaching the masses. Tulsidas,during his lifetime did many Miracles ( also some Miracles were later added by devotees to enhance his stature). The film Tulsidas also shows some miracles. This particular song is sung by Tulsidas to revive a dead man.
Thyagaraja krithis, Dnyaneshwari or Ramcharitmanas made the Sanskrit literature of Puranas, Ramayana etc easy to understand for the common masses. One of the famous saints of the Bhakti Movement was Tulsidas. His ” RAMCHARITMANAS” is famous all over the world. It is an Awadhi version of Valmiki’s RAMAYAN in Sanskrit.
Ramayan, being only in Sanskrit, deprived the common masses from reading it, making it a monopoly of a few learned Brahmins. In this case Tulsidas ji has done not only monumental work, but also has played an important role in making it available to the common man in every household.
A lot has been written about this great son of India. Like all other Saints and Great people of India, the information on his birth and childhood has a variety of stories and it is shrouded in confusion.( Our weakness in recording correct History is indeed an old habit !).
Tulsidas is called the reincarnation of Sage Valmiki, who wrote the original Ramayan in Sanskrit. There is a reference in ” Bhavishyottara Puran ” about Tulsidas, that lord Shiva told Ma Parvati,that as per a boon granted by Hanuman, Valmiki will be reborn in Bharatvarsha, in kaliyug, to recite Ramayan in vernacular language.
There are many different dates and years of his birth and death, so we will have to accept the year of his birth as 1497, as mentioned in majority places, though it is disputed, because as per his confirmed year of death being 1623, Tulsidas seems to have lived for 126 years ! Not impossible for Saints, though. The Government of India too has accepted the year of his birth as 1497 and has celebrated the 500th birth Anniversary officially in 1997 !
So, Tulsidas lived from 1497 to 1623.
Even his birth has several stories. He was born at Rajapur, in U.P. to Hulsi and Atmaram Dubey, after remaining in the womb for 12 months. When he was born, he had all 32 teeth, looked like a 5 year old boy and instead of crying at birth, uttered the words-Ram…Ram several times. Hence he was named RAMBOLA. As he was born at a time inimical to parents, he was abandoned and was found by Swami Narharidas,who adopted him and named him Tulsidas. His Thread ceremony ( Upnayan) was done and he was taught Ramayana at Ayodhya.
Tulsidas came to Varanasi and learnt Sanskrit, 4 vedas, 6 vedangas, jyotish and Hindu religion for 15 years. He was married in 1526. They had a son,”Tarak” who died as a toddler. After marriage he was so much engrossed in his wife that once she chided him that if he showed as much interest in Shri Ram as he showed in her, he would achieve a lot in life.
This one sentence made him aware of his mission in life. He left his house and toured all over India visiting all 4 Dhams and manasarovar. During this period he had darshan of Hanuman and Shri Ram also.
He came back to Varanasi. As per the directive from lord Shiva and Ma Parvati,he started writing ‘ RAM CHARIT MANAS’ in Awadhi language, for 2 years (1574-1576).
Tulsidas died in 1623 at Varanasi. Tulsidas has written 22 major and innumerable minor literary works, which includes Hanuman Chalisa, Sankat mochan hanumanashtak, Geetavali, Kavitavali, Vinayapatrika etc etc. His major work and the most well known work is of course RAMCHARITAMANAS.
Several films were made on Tulsidas in 1934,1939,1954,1972,1991 etc.
The story of the film Tulsidas-1954 was-
A boy Rambola, hated by all and sympathised by none happens to meet Saint Narharidas (Uma Dutt). Seeing a spark of greatness hidden in the boy, he brings him to his Ashram. Here Rambola is renamed as Tulsidas (Mahipal).
Studying all the shastras, Tulsidas becomes a scholar. Tulsidas, now grown up, composes lucid poems in Hindi, thus making the art of poetry enjoyable for scholars as well as for those who do not know Sanskrit. Ravidatta (Chaman Puri), a student of the same Ashrama, is jealous of Tulsidas. According to Ravidatta, to write in a language other than Sanskrit is a blasphemy and an insult to that great divine language. Further Ravidatta’s anger knows no bounds when he sees Tulsidas making love to Ratnavali( Shyama) who is to be betrothed to him (Ravidatta) But ultimately her father Dinabandhu Pathak(Ramesh Sinha) chooses Tulsidas for Ratnavali’s hand. Ravidatta, burning with jealousy, leaves the Ashram of Narharidas to go to Benares. Haladhar (Bhagwan) another student follows Him.
Tulsidas and Ratna are married in the midst of celestial music and blessings of Narharidas, Dinabandhu Pathak, and other guests from Badaria and Soro. After marriage the intensity of Tulsidas’s love for Ratna increases to such an extent that he forgets his devotion to Shree Ram. Tulsidas’s madness for Ratnavali becomes the talk of the town. One day Ratna’s brother Shambhu takes her with him to Badana where father Pathakji is seriously ill. Tulsidas comes home bringing a beautiful pair of bracelets for Ratna but instead of her he finds a note left by her that she had gone to see her father who was ill. But Tulsidas cannot live without his wife. In rain and storm he comes to Badaria and stealthily gets into Pathak house. The neighbours of Pathak first mistake Tulsidas as a thief, but ultimately they recognise him.
Ratna hears the taunts of the neighbours that Tulsidas is a mad lover to come to meet his wife at her father’s house. She comes to Tulsidas and with anger, sorrow and pain hates this shameful deed of his. She tells him the piercing words `Your love for my frail body made of flesh and bones is futile. Had you transformed this intense love from this human body to Shree Ram, both you and I could have escaped from this merry-go-round of life and death”. Saying this she goes away. Her words were like lightning in the dark sky. The thunder of this lightning echoed in his heart where a great storm blew away the heap of sand that covered the gem of devotion to Shree Ram. He goes away from here with a decision to renounce the world.
When Ratna comes back in the room she finds a note in which he had written “Leaving the worldly ties and the love of my wife. I am going to some unknown place with the aim of meeting Ram.” She almost faints.
Repeatedly calling Shree Ram like a lunatic, Tulsidas falls on the trunk of a tree. A spirit living in this tree shows him the way to meet Ram. On coming to Chitrakoot he sees Ram who appears before him. Tears of joy flow from his eyes. Being inspired from this event he comes to Ayodhya and writes. “Ramcharit Manas”, his famous epic poem on Shri Ram’s life. Preaching Ram-Bhakti (devotion to Ram) to the people he comes to Benares. In Benares, Ravidatta and other pandits, the champions of Sanskrit, oppose his Rammayana written in easy Hindi language. But they are all convinced when one day Lord Vishwanath himself endorses his Ramayana and accepts it as a real work of poetry and devotion. But Ravidatta is adamant. He thinks that is just the black-magic. He decides to set Tulsidas’ hut on fire.
Ratna and Shambhu’s wife come to Benares, where, to their shock, they hear that Tulsidas’s hut is set on fire. They rush to the spot. Shambhu and his wife meet Ratna, who on seeing Tulsidas’s life in danger runs into the hut and finds that the fire is not touching Tulsidas at all. The fire subsides and all see Tulsidas safe. Ravidatta feels ashamed and he prostrates himself before Tulsidas and asks for his pardon.
Unfortunately, Mythological and Religious films almost disappeared from 1976 onwards, only to reappear in a new avatar on Television. Ramanand Sagar’s 74 episodes of Ramayan(25-1-1987 to 31-7-1988) and B.R.Chopra’s 94 episodes of MahaBharat( 2-10-1988 to 24-6-1990 ) revived the fortunes of Mythology as a popular topic among movie/ TV producers and played a pivotal role in generating interest of the newer Generations in Religion and Mythology.
Nowadays, serials with Mythological contents are a regular feature on Television and they command reasonably good TRPs too !
Gulshan Kumar’s T Series also played a vital role in popularising Bhajans in Hindi, by mass producing economically priced cassettes and introducing new Lyricists and Singers. It was unfortunate that Gulshan Kumar died suddenly in tragic circumstances.
Today’s Bhajan is from the film “Tulsidas”-1954. Plenty of literature is available on this well known Saint of India, who wrote ” RamcharitManas ” in Awadhi language, so that the common people could read and understand what Valmiki had written in Sanskrit as Ramayana.
Reading Ramcharitmanas is a divine experience. During the period from 1948-49, we were staying in Benares, on the banks of Ganga and very near to the temple of Kashi Vishweshwar. I still remember the daily reading of Ramcharitmanas in the temple and how there was a huge crowd to listen to it and enjoy.
The Heroine of this film was Shyama, one of my favourite actresses. Shyama ( real name Khursheed Akhtar) was born on 12-6-1935 at Lahore. Her family shifted to Bombay when she was 2 year old. Shyama’s father too was a fruit seller, like Dilip Kumar’s father, in the Byculla market, in those days. Khursheed studied in Urdu medium Municipal school. When she was 10 year old, a chance visit to see a film shooting ended in her participating in the shooting. The film was “Zeenat”-1945. She was given her screen name-Shyama. Along with Shashikala and Shalini-the other child stars, she sat in the famous qawali, “Aahen na bhari” India’s first all female qawali. Though Noorjehan sang in the qawali, her lines were NOT lip synced by herself, but Rehana lip synched them. In the true sense, this was her first playback in films !
In the next 6 years Shyama did 80 films mostly uncredited,in small roles , like Shayar, Jal Tarang, Namoona, Sajaa, jalsa, Nishana etc. During film Jalsa’s shooting, its heroine Geeta Bali took a fancy to her and predicted that one day,she too will become a Heroine.Her small roles were almost like an extra or a chorus girl.
She married Cinematographer Fali Mistry in 1954. They had 2 sons and 1 daughter. Shyama retired from films in 1976. Fali Mistry died in 1979. Nowadays Shyama has become very obese and spends her time happily with her old friends.
I not only like but also respect Shyama, because in my opinion, she is one of the few actresses, who was not only versatile but also very humble, modest and cooperative. Though she started from scratch- as an Extra- she worked with Top actors like, Ashok Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Guru Dutt, Kishore Kumar, Balraj Sahni, Motilal, Rehman, Shammi Kapoor, Raaj Kumar, Karan Dewan, Bharat Bhushan etc. But she never hesitated to work with B or C grade Heroes like Mahipal, Kamal Kapoor, Suresh etc. With Johnny Walker, she did 7 films as a Lead actress and 3 more in other roles.
Another speciality of Shyama was that in the song sequences, she used to lip sync in a very natural way giving a feeling that in reality she was actually singing. Some of her senior actresses , especially Meena Kumari, might be a big star but while lip synching she was simply terrible. One felt that she was murmuring something . Never got a feeling that she was singing.
Shyama did many child roles as Baby Khurshid Akhtar. When her first film as a Heroine-Shrimatiji-52, opposite Nasir Khan- was released in Opera House, Bombay, the film Soorat was released in Roxy cinema at the same time. In the film Soorat, she did a child role while in Shrimatiji she was the Heroine. Film Soorat-47 got delayed and was released in 1952. She was named Shyama By director Vijay Bhatt at the time of the film Nai Maa-46.
In her career of 41 years, Shyama acted in 169 films ( 70 as a Heroine) and sang about 140 songs on screen in her films. She spent a happy retired life at her luxurious flat in Napean Sea Road, Mumbai. Shyama died on 14-11-2017.
Enjoy today’s duet of Rafi, Asha and chorus….
Song-Haath jodoon painyaa padoon (Tulsidas)(1954) Singers-Rafi, Asha Bhonsle, Lyrics-Gopal Singh Nepali, MD-Chitragupta
Chorus
Lyrics
Gauree poojan ko chalee Jaanki
sab sakhiyon ko saath liye
jyun chaand chaley aartee ko Shiv kee
taaron kee baaraat liye
haathh jodoon painyyaa padoon
bintee karoo hey Uma
de de aisa baalma
dilaa de aisa baalma
haath jodoon paiya padu binti karoon he Uma
de de aisa baalma
dilaa de aisa baalma
chhail ho chhabeela ho jee
roop mein rangeela ho
chhail ho chhabeela ho jee
roop mein rangeela ho
ho pyaar mein raseela ho jee thhoda sa sharmeela ho
pyaar mein raseela ho jee thhoda sa sharmeela ho ke
kiraniya lattoo ho jaaye haaye
haath jodoon paiya padu bintee karoon hey Uma
de de aisa baalma
dilaa de aisa baalma
dulhan to albelee hai jee chaand kee sahelee hai
dulhan to albelee hai jee chaand kee sahelee hai
hai phoolon mein chamelee hai jee bulbul ke sang khelee hai
phoolon mein chamelee hai jee bulbul ke sang khelee hai ke
ke balma lattu ho jaaye haaye
haath jodoon painya padoon binti karoon hey Uma
de de aisa baalma
dila de aisa balma
jo saanche mein dhala ho jee
bhola ho jee bhala ho
jo sanche mein dhala ho jee
bhola ho jee bhala ho
ho o o
vidya ho jee kala ho jee
naa mota naa dubla ho
naa mota naa dubla ho jee
naa mota naa dubla ho ke
ke Ratna lattu ho jaaye uyi
haath jodoon painya padoon binti karoon hey Uma
de de aisa baalma
dila de aisa balma
haath jodoon painya padoon bintee karoon hey Uma
de de aisa baalma
dila de aisa baalma
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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