Chalee gham kee aandhee lutaa aashiyaana
Posted on: December 2, 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 very obscure film – Tara-1949.
The cast of the film was Majnu, Kuldip Kaur, Jawahar kaul, Shyama,Nayantara, Chand Burke etc etc. This is a duet song sung by Satish Batra and Premlata. Aziz Kasmiri’s songs were composed by the melody master Vinod. The film was directed by R D Parinja.
He started his career as a Cinematographer in Bombay Talkies in its haydays. He filmed Izzat, Prem kahani, Jeevan Prabhat,and Savitri-all 37 films, and then Kangan,Azaad,Jhoola,Bandhan,Naya sansar and Kismet.
When he was in Bombay Talkies,the German pair of Director Franz Osten and Cinematographer Joseph Wirsching were also there. He must have learnt a lot from them(or did he ?).
When Parinja left Bombay Talkies in its waning bad times he tried to produce and Direct films on his own.
First it was Sona Chandi-46 and then it was Tara-49. After Tara, the producer/Director disappeared into obscurity forever.
Jawahar Kaul was the Hero of the film and the Heroine was not Shyama ( she was still a struggling artist doing titbit roles) but Kuldip Kaur in this film. This was one of the few films where she was Heroine. Otherwise she was a perfect Vamp in films. Her life story is different . Saadat Hasan Manto has written several pages on her in his book ” Dastavez”-Volume 5 and as his wont was, it was not a flattering description of Kuldip.
The film’s 12 songs were written by Aziz Kashmiri. The Music Director was Vinod, who was yet to compose songs for his epoch-making film ‘Ek thi Ladki’-1949. For 12 songs of the film he had used as many as 7 singers. Vinod was known to introduce new singers in Hindi films. Singers like Geeta Gandhari (Rane), Vinata Amladi, Premlata, Uma Devi, Meenal Wagh and Satish Batra were some singers he used in his films. However, except Uma Devi- to some extent- none of his finds were successful in later years. Uma Devi also could not go very far and she opted to become a comedy actress, with the name Tun Tun, for a longer time.
Though Vinod’s music was good in Taara-1949, the year itself was of a different type. It gave extraordinary musical films which were far, far superior to Taraa’s music. So, the film did not have any advantages.
What a year 1949 was ! It not only gave superlative quality musical films but also was an eventful year for the industry setting Benchmarks for various activities. Aptly,1949 can be called a “True First year of the ‘GOLDEN ERA’ ” of Hindi film music.
I like to discuss less heard and not so famous films, because it gives me an opportunity to dig out information on the forgotten small time and big time artistes of yore. Some of the names are not even heard by the new generation and no wonder. That way, older film buffs of my age group (85 to 90) are not aware of the new and current Bollywood superstars- even if they are very popular and famous. With films making(rather raking) business in crores these days ( anything between 100 to 200 crores), every alternate actor is a superstar for a period of 2 to 3 years !
In the 12 songs of the film Vinod had used as many as 7 singers-
Gandhari (Rane), Premlata, Uma Devi(Tun Tun), Raj kumari, Geeta Roy, Hameeda Bano and Satish Batra-the only male singer.
Vinod had another(good) habit. He liked to have atleast 1 or 2 fun songs in his films. In this film also there were 2 fun songs.
1. Mithai ki dukaan meri Dilli ke baazaar mein, by Gandhari(Rane) and
2. Pyaar karna ho to yaaron kar lo teliphoon,by Satish Batra and Rajkumari.
In film Tara-49, there were two names which need a spotlight on them, because they are not a very popular or well known names. Sometimes a memorable role in a film becomes totally identified with the actor doing it. Many times the role name gets attached to him and he is known by that name popularly. off hand I know atleast two such names. One is ofcourse Gabbar singh. Amjad Khan did that role so intensely that this name became his identity. Second example is Meena Shorey. In her entire life time she was always known as the Lara Lappa Girl…that song from film Ek thi ladki-49 became her second name. There was also a name Bajarbattu, which many readers must have seen in the cast of old films of B and C grades. This was the name of actor Anant Apte, who did the role of Bajarbattu in film Amar jyoti-1936. The name stuck to him and till his last film he was billed as Bajarbattu in every subsequent film.
Similarly actor Majnu’s real name was Harold Lewis, but due to his role in his first film as Hero-Laila Majnu-1935, he became popular as Majnu only, till end of his career. MAJNU-Harold Lewis – was a Punjabi Christian.He was the childhood friend of Roop K.Shorey. When Shorey wanted to make his second film, he chose Harold as a Hero. The film was MAJNU-1935,which was a satirical spoof on the old Laila-Majnu story. There were many stunts and in one scene Majnu is tied up on railway track by the villain. The film became a hit and Harold was renamed MANJU for his film career.
He appeared in almost all of Shorey’s films.He was also doing films with other producers.In 1942 he did a double role in Nishani and in 1943 he directed his first film Paapi. Shorey also gave him a film Badnami-1946 for direction and it was here that Majnu met I.S.Johar who wrote the story and Dialogues of Badnami.
Majnu paired with I.S.Johar in EK THI LADKI-1949,the debut film of Johar.Later they made a comedy pair in 10 films,including the hit HUM SAB CHOR HAIN-1956.
Majnu acted in 77 films,from 1935 to 1966 film Akalmand-also with Johar for the last time.
Majnu directed 8 films including,Paapi-43,Badnami-46,Son of Alibaba-55,Tatar ka chor-55 baghi sardar-56,Chandu-58 etc.
The other less known name was Chand Burke. Chand Burke made her debut in Maheshwari Productions’ Kahan Gaye (1946), which Niranjan wrote and directed. They fell in love on the sets and got married in 1945. Thereafter, Chand appeared in a number of films made in Lahore, and was widely known as “the Dancing Lily of the Punjab.”
Partition and her subsequent migration to Bombay adversely affected her career. After “Hamari Manzil,” which was released in 1949, Chand Burke went into complete oblivion. It was Raj Kapoor who selected her for that important role as children’s tormentor in “Boot Polish,” over 200 other contestants, her screen-test convincing Raj Kapoor that she was a talented actress. Some of her well known films were Basant Bahar-56, yahudi ki beti-56, Adalat-58 and Lajwanti-58.
Chand was the only one in a family of twelve brothers and sisters to have joined the films (her brother S. M. Burke, I.C.S., was a Minister to the Scandinavian countries for Pakistan). Chand obtained judicial separation by mutual consent from her husband, writer-director Niranjan in 1954.
She was also married to Sunder Singh Bhavnani- grandfather of superstar Ranveer Singh. She is also related to Suneeta Kapoor.
She acted in about 30 films. Her last film was Pehchan-72.
Though Shyama was not the Heroine in this film, with relentless hard work, she did become a popular Heroine in the 1950’s decade. Her Luck also supported her. We have seen in many cases that Talent or Lineage alone is not enough to shine in films. One does need Good Luck too !
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.
Finally, few words about today’s song. I had been looking for this song since since last few years, without luck. Finally, I surrendered and asked the helpful and generous Record Collector Syed Zafar Shaj ji, citing the record number given in the HFGK. In a short time, he not only replied positively but also sent me both the songs on the record. He has always been very kind. He is one of those rare specimen of his tribe, who is willing to open his Treasure Trove for its legitimate use. This is contrary to most other collectors who are sure that they will carry their collection to the Nether-World with them ! Thanks, Zafar Bhai.
The next helper was our own Sadanand Kamath ji who gladly uploaded the song promptly, for use here. Thanks to him too. He has been helping me in some other way too, one being permitting me to use his some articles in my books(with due credit to him). Most times, I too have written articles on the same artists, but I always felt that his articles were better than mine, qwality and information wise. Thank you, Sadanand ji.
Here is the duet by Premlata and Satish Batra. Enjoy….
Song- Chalee gham kee aandhee lutaa aashiyaana (Taara)(1949) Singers-Premlata,Satish Batra, Lyricist-Aziz Kashmiri, MD-Vinod
Both
Lyrics
Chalee gham kee aandhee
ho o
Chalee gham kee aandhee
Chalee gham kee aandhee
lutaa aashiyaana aa
lutaa aashiyaana
chhoota hamse gulshan ka
yoon aabodaana aa
yoon aabodaana aa
lutaa aashiyaana
o o
Chalee gham kee aandhee
lutaa aashiyaana aa
lutaa aashiyaana
kal tak jo thhee ek phulwaaree
aaj nyaaree nyaaree
bichhad gayaaa aa aa
bagiya se maalee
bicchadee pritam se pyaaree
Chalee gham kee aandhee
lutaa aashiyaana aa
lutaa aashiyaana
?? ??
mat neer bahaa
?? ??
mat neer bahaa
aashaa ka man mein deep jalaa
aashaa ka man mein deep jalaa
hatt jaayegee pal mein kaalee ghata
ho o o
hatt jaayegee pal mein kaalee ghata
aayegaa samaa suhaana aa aa
samaa suhaana
aao hum tum
donon mil kar
badlen
saara zaamaana
khushiyon ke sansaar mein apna
goonje naya taraana
goonje naya taraana
aayegaa samaa suhaana aa
samaa suhaana
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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