O Mohan murlee waale ab raakho laaj hamaaree
Posted by: Atul on: November 7, 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 : |
6321 | Post No. : | 19574 |
Today’s song is from a 75 year old Mythological film- Shri Ganesh Mahima aka Shri Krishna Vivah-1950.
The film was made by Basant pictures, Bombay and it was directed by its owner Homi Wadia.
It is ironic that while Homi Wadia separated from his elder brother J.B.H. Wadia and consequently from the company- Wadia Movietone on the issue of insisting on continuing making stunt films, was now making Social and Mythological films and Nadia, who also left with him was working in Stunt and action films of other producers.
The Music Director was S.N.Tripathi. The cast of the film was Meena Kumari, Mahipal, S.N.Tripathi, Moolchand, Dalpat, Amarnath and others.
Mid 1940’s onwards only, the indications were for the peak period for Mythological And religious films. In 1950 the trend was confirmed when the film “Har Har Mahadev” became the year’s Blockbuster film.
Actor Mahipal had started his career by acting in C grade action, stunt and costume films, but ended with unlimited roles in Mythological films. He was popular for the roles of Shri Vishnu, Shri Ram and Shri Krishna in those films.
Mahipal or Mahipal Singh or Mahipal Bhandari (24 November 1919 – 15 May 2005) was a film actor who worked in Hindi cinema mostly in stunt films like Parasmani, Zabak, Cobra Girl, Jantar Mantar, Arabian nights themed movies such as Alibaba, Aladdin And The Wonderful Lamp, Roop Lekha, Sunehari Nagin, and Hindu mythological movies like Sampoorna Ramayan, Ganesh Mahima, Veer Bhimsen, Jai Santoshi Maa. He is known for playing the iconic role of Lord Vishnu, and his two avatars, Lord Rama and Lord Krishna in lot of various puranic, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavata Purana based movies, besides playing Tulsidas and Abhimanyu, and is also best known as the lead in V. Shantaram’s Navrang (1959), and the songs “Tu Chhupi Hai Kahan Me Tadapta Yahan” and “Aadha Hai Chandrama Raat Aadhi”. He acted in several well-known films of the 1950s and 1960s including V. Shantaram’s Navrang (1959) and Babubhai Mistry’s Parasmani (1963).
He was born on 24-11-1919 in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, where after his schooling, he graduated in literature from Jaswant Government College Jodhpur. Thereafter, he worked in the theatre before migrating to Mumbai in the early 1940s.
He made his film debut in the 1942 film Nazrana. However, the film didn’t work, thereafter he wrote lyrics for four films. He went on to work with directors such as Sohrab Modi and later with the Wadia Brothers, Homi Wadia and J. B. H. Wadia, however, it was his work with V. Shantaram that got him lasting acclaim. He worked in several mythological and historical films with actresses such as Nirupa Roy, Mala Sinha and even Meena Kumari.
Mahipal was never counted as an A category actor and so, leading actresses who started their careers with Mahipal in the lead were ashamed of revealing or accepting this fact.
For example, In all her interviews, Mala Sinha always quoted “Rangeen Raten”-56 with Shammi Kapoor as her first film in Bombay. She was ashamed of revealing that in the film Riyasat-55, her Hero was Mahipal. She always hid this fact. Similarly, A grade Heroine Meena Kumari also had done several Mythological and costume films before Baiju Bawra took her high up and above other Heroines. Films like Shri Ganesh Mahima-50, Laxmi Narayan-51, Hanuman Paataal vijay-51 and Alladin aur Jadui Chirag-52 had Mahipal as her Hero. In her later years, she always hid her earlier film Heroes.
He also did a series of fantasy films based on Arabian Nights, including Alibaba and 40 Thieves (1954), Jennie (1953) ,Aladdin Aur Jadui Chirag (1952) and Alibaba ka Beta (1955), which gave him popularity even in the Gulf countries. Later in his career, he switched to character roles, and appeared in films such as Jai Santoshi Maa (1975), a 1970s hit.
He wrote 13 songs in 4 films,namely Mali-44, Aap ki Sewa mein-47 (Lata Mangeshkar’s first playback song was written by Mahipal in this film), Mere Laal-48 and Adalat-48. Mahipal acted in 131 Hindi films. He had also worked in Marathi, Rajasthani and Assamese films.
His first film was Nazrana-42 and the last film was Amar Jyoti-84….a career spanning 42 years. He worked with Shakila in 18 films, with Anita Guha in 11 films,With Shyama in 6 films, and in 4 films with Nirupa Roy. He worked with Meena Kumari in 4 films. He is the only actor in Mythological films who sang a song on screen in the role of Shri Ram, in the film Hanuman Pataal Vijay-1951.
He died in Mumbai of cardiac arrest, at the age of 86. He was survived by his wife Akkal Kunwar and daughters Sushila Jain and Nirmala Oswal.(Thanks to Gujarati book Inhe na Bhulana by Harish Raghuwanshi ji, wiki and my notes).
The heroine of this film Meena Kumari was,however, a different type of person. She started her career by acting as a child artiste in the film LeatherFace-1939. After 9 such film roles, she did her first film as an adult – Bachhon ka khel-1946. Then she acted in several stunt and action as well as Mythological films till the film Baiju Bawra-1952 which made her an A grade actress. Her films like Veer Ghatotkach-49, Shri Ganesh Mahima-50, Laxmi Narayan-51, Hanuman Paataal vijay-51 and Alladin aur Jadui Chirag-52 had Mahipal as her Hero. In her later years,she always hid her earlier film Heroes. She felt shy to admit that her Hero was Mahipal.
Lord Ganesh is undoubtedly the most popular deity in India. According to traditions, no religious or cultural programme will ever start without first offering prayer to Lord Ganesha. It is believed that Ganesh is “VIGHNA HARTA”, that is- One who will remove all obstacles.
Many films were produced on Ganesha Stories. There is plenty of literature in our old scriptures about Ganesha. His life is full of enchanting stories of his valour and wisdom, actually his birth itself is an interesting story. Ganesha is supposed to be the son of Shankar and Parvati,and the younger brother of Lord Subramanyam or Kumar Swami or Kartikeya.
Ganesh is very popular among children and this was encashed by ingenious filmmakers by producing animation films like My friend Ganesha etc.
In Ganesh Puran, there are many stories which are connected with almost all other Gods. There is a story about how even Lord Shri Krishna suffered, because of a curse by Ganesha. A film on this story was made in 1950. It was Shree Ganesh Mahima,by Basant pictures. The director was the producer Homi Wadia and in this film Meena Kumari had acted opposite Mahipal. Although the title of today’s film is about Ganesha, most of the film centred around Lord Shri Krishna. That is why the second title of this film was Shri Krishna Vivah.
The film is based on two stories. One is from Ganesh Puran and the other from Bhagwat Puran. The first part describes how the Moon laughed at Ganesha and got a curse that whoever sees Moon on Ganesh Chaturthi night will be falsely accused of a theft. The second part is how Krishna sees the Moon and is accused of a theft and while redeeming it how he gets married to Satyabhama. There was another film, “Shri krishna Satyabhama” in 1951 on the same stories. It was a bilingual film in Hindi and Marathi and was directed by Raja Paranjape(24-10-1910 to 9-2-1979).
Shreekrishna’s stories are more interesting than the Ramayana. Krishna was considered the God of common people. While Shri Rama taught how to be a good and ideal King, Krishna gave lessons on being a smart person and living life happily. Krishna indulged in Dance and music, which are close to common people.
According to Bhagwat Puran, Krishna had 16108 wives. His main 8 wives were, Rukmini, Jambuvanti, Satyabhama, Kalindi, Mitravinda, Nangajiti, Bhadra and Lakshamana. The additional 16100 wives were those freed by Krishna from Narkasura’s jail. It is written that to give a respectable life to them, Krishna married them. He gave each one a big Palace and lots of money. He himself took 16100 identical forms and lived with them happily. Each woman had 10 sons and 1 daughter from him.
This is all symbolic. The 16100 women means 16 different arts which Krishna learnt. (Here he had scored over Rama, who knew only 14 art forms). Another interpretation is that there were 16 different qualities which Krishna imbibed. Yet another interpretation says, these were Rishis, who wanted to be with Krishna to see how he performs in this Avatar. In some scriptures, they are called Gopis from Gokula and Mathura, who wanted Krishna.
Satyabhama, Krishna’s third wife was a great warrior. She killed Narkasur, because due to a Boon granted to him by Brahma, only his mother could kill him. Satyabhama was a reincarnation of Bhu-Devi,mother of Narkasur. She punished him by killing him for ill treating women .
This film which I had seen was very interesting because of several Trick scenes and good songs. One speciality of today’s song is that perhaps it is the ONLY Bhajan in Hindi films, addressed to The Sun God- Surya Dev. As it is, Brahma, Shani, Surya and Kartikeya are some of the Gods who are neglected in Hindi films and also in stories and Bhajans. There are hardly any temples in India worshipping Bramha or Suryadev. ( I had found that in Bihar and Eastern India, Lord Bramhadev was worshipped by the Kayasth community-Lalaji’s, who considered themselves the progeny of Chitragupt). Kartikeya is worshipped in South India as Kumar Swamy and has temples too. There are Shani temples in Maharashtra also. I know only one Sun Temple- that of Konark in Odisha.
Mythological films have been my weakness from the beginning. When I was around 10-12 years of age, I would be a very happy, willing and enthusiastic escort to family elders-especially ladies, going for a Bhakti Pradhan film. What I liked in these films was the trick scenes and fantastic costumes. Later on I realised these films also provided a lot of religious knowledge, in the formative years.
Most mythological films were based on stories from Ramayan and Mahabharat. But many films were also using stories from various Puranas like Shiv Puran, Vishnu Puran etc. There was no dearth of such stories, what with 18 Puranas and 2 Epic books. Stories of Puranas etc have some hidden meanings, which one has to look for. Few years ago,in one of my posts, I explained how the Dashavatars of Lord Vishnu were actually the story of the evaluation of Life on Earth. The first avatar of Matsya( the fish) explains us how life on earth began in water.The second avtar of Koorma (the Tortoise) told us the development of Amphibians who started living on land and water. So on and so forth.
In Treta Yuga, Shri Ram came and in Dwapar Yug, Shri Krishna was incarnated by Lord Vishnu. Shri Ram gave a lesson on how to be an ideal son, husband, friend and a King, but Krishna taught us how to be a street smart person and win over enemies skillfully. I feel in today’s times, Krishna is more relevant than Ram. Krishna also taught us how to be a happy person and enjoy everything.
Like religious stories , there is no shortage of Gods also, in our Religion. This is actually one of the plus points of Hinduism. Each community can and will have its own version of God. Many Gods, but basics are never compromised. Everyone knows there is only ONE GOD, having a different version to suit the worshipper. Examples are, Fishermen have God in the matters related to Sea and Tribals in forests worship Gods made of Wood. We all know that these are all symbols and God lives in our Hearts.
One can find stories of most popular Gods like Ram,Krishna, Ganesh, Hanuman, Shiv ji, Vishnu etc, but somehow the film world has ignored Brahma, Saraswati, Shani deo, Surya dev, Kartikeya etc. These are the Gods for whom even temples are few. Kartikeya (elder son of Shankar-Parvati) is worshipped in the south as Kumara swami. These Gods do appear in some films for a few minutes, but exclusive films on them are missing. Now that Mythology is present only on TV, such films have become rare these days.
The story of today’s film is….
Great and Miraculous power are attributed to Shri Ganesh the benefactor of mortals as well as the immortals. Such a benign being was once laughed at by Chandra only to be cursed by him. Realising his folly Chandra begged her forgiveness and the curse was modified by the merciful divinity to be effective only on the day of Ganesh Chaturthi. He ordained that anybody looking at the moon on that day will be a victim of false accusations. It was on such a day that Shri Krishna unwittingly looked at the moon and had to suffer the indignity of being falsely accused of theft of Syamantak Mani. This jewel was acquired by Satrajit, one of the Yadavas as a boon from God Sun. Shri Krishna had sent Narad to Satrajit expressing his desire to possess the Mani. The events took such a turn that there was circumstantial evidence against Shri Krishna who happened to be at the Chambers of Satrajit’s daughter Satyabhama, devotee of Lord Krishna on the night prior to Satrajits losing the Mani. Shri Krishna was shocked at such allegations made by Satrajit and Shatadhanva ( Another Yadava) who had been promised by Satrajit the hand of his daughter Satyabhama.
Shri Krishna took upon himself to find out the jewel and redeem it to its rightful owner only to clear himself of the allegation. A search party was organised which came across the dead body of Prasain, a carcass of a lion and also the foot-prints of a bear blazing a new trail which when followed led the party to a cave. Shri Krishna went inside the cave telling the followers to wait at the cave entrance for seven days and if he did not return by then, to go back to Dwarka. Inside the cave Shri Krishna found the Syamantak Mani and also Jambuwanti, the daughter of the powerful bear king Jambuwant. There ensued a fight between Shri Krishna and Jambuwant lasting for twenty one days. The people at the entrance of the cave returned as per instruction after the seventh day. The duration of this fight gave Shatadhanva a real chance for villainy. He puts in an all over effort to win the hand of Satyabhama who would marry none but Shri Krishna. Jambuwant after losing the battle gave away his daughter in marriage and Syamantak Mani as dowry to Shri Krishna.
Coming to Dwarka, Shri Krishna returned the jewel to its rightful owner, Satrajit repented and made amends by giving away his daughter to Shri Krishna in marriage. Shatadhanva came to know of this alliance and made short work of his unsuspecting father Satrajit and decamped with the Mani. Shri Krishna brought justice to the evil doer and the villain Shatachanva fell a victim to his famous Sudershana Chakra.
Here is a song from this film, sung by Geeta Roy. Enjoy….
Song- O Mohan murlee waale raakho laaj hamaaree (Shri Ganesh Mahima)(1950) Singer- Geeta Roy, Lyricist- Ramesh Pande , MD- S.N.Tripathi
Lyrics
o Mohan murlee waale ae
raakho laaj hamaaree ee
ab raakho laaj hamaaree
o Mohan murlee waale ae
raakho laaj hamaaree ee
ab raakho laaj hamaaree
man mein aag lagaa ke ankhiyaan
nis din neer bahaayen
man mein aag lagaa ke ankhiyaan
nis din neer bahaayen
aansoo kee is boond mein
mere sapne na bah jaayen
aansoo kee is boond mein
mere sapne na bah jaayen
o Mohan murlee waale ae
aayee sharan tihaaree ee
ab raakho laaj hamaaree
o Mohan murlee waale ae
raakho laaj hamaaree ee
ab raakho laaj hamaare ee
doob rahee hai naiyya meree
tum hee paar lagaao
doob rahee hai naiyya meree
tum hee paar lagaao
umad rahee hain dukh kee lahren aen
umad rahee hain dukh kee lahren
aao Bhagwan aao
aao Bhagwan aao
o Mohan murlee waale
chhaayee badariya kaaree
ab raakho laaj hamaaree
o Mohan murlee waale ae
raakho laaj hamaaree ee
ab raakho laaj hamaaree
Share this:
- Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
- Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
- Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
- Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
- Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
- Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
- Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
- Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
Leave a comment