Mora piya naheen bas mein haay main kya karoon
Posted on: December 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.
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Today’s song is from the Historical film Padmini-1948. Made by Punjab Film Corporation, it was produced and directed by its owner Wali Saheb. All the 11 songs of this film were also written by Wali Saheb. The Music Director was Ghulam Haider. The cast of the film was Mumtaz Shanti ( wife of Wali Saheb), Ashok Kumar, Mumtaz Ali, Samson, Maya devi, Neelam, Sultana, A. Shah and others. The story of Padmini is very well known and is available easily on the internet, hence I am not going into that.
Ashok Kumar was known as a Lover- Boy, a Romantic Hero, in his early films with Devika Rani. That is why doing any other role was extremely difficult for him and it did not suit him also. Film Padmini-48 was the second Historical movie in which Ashok Kumar had ‘acted’. The first one was ” Humayun”-1945. In that film, according to Isaq Mujawar, author of several books on old films and artistes, ” Ashok kumar was ridiculed by the theatre audience for his feminine acting and running with the war gear on the screen. He looked so funny in that attire that the whole audience was laughing loudly at him” (book-Screenplay). Obviously, Ashok Kumar, who had an image of a simple romantic Hero in the Bombay Talkies films with Devika Rani and later with Leela Chitnis, was a misfit in the Historical role. Looks like he did not realise this or did not care for it and accepted the second such film again.
Same case was with Ashok Kumar’s Mythological films. The first mythological film that he acted in was ‘ Savitri”-1937 with Devika Rani as Savitri. Ashok Kumar was still a new actor and this was his only 4th film. He had yet to get branded as a Romantic hero, but the Mythological role of Satyawan did not suit him at all. When one sees some photos of this film, one will be confused as to who is Satyawan and who is Savitri. Even in the photos he looked so odd and awkward. In Spite of this, he acted in another Mythological film ” Uttara Abhimanyu “-1946, with Shanta Apte. Here, he was Abhimanyu and did not suit the role at all due to his age, which was 35 years. Shanta Apte as Uttara was also over 30 years old. Thankfully, good sense prevailed and Ashok Kumar did not act in such films in the Hero’s role thereafter !
After 1947 and after that, many Muslim artists and Music Directors migrated to Pakistan. I was wondering, why must people be prepared to shift to unknown locations,when obviously there is so much opportunity here in India ?
If one considers the atmosphere during the Partition, it was natural that some people gave weightage to things other than their careers. The First and overpowering reason could be to go to a place which would be exclusively theirs, and where they would be in a majority. Secondly, few must have thought of greater opportunities in a New country where everything had to start from scratch. Thirdly, specially for the composers, they found very keen competition in India, having established composers around, like Khemchand Prakash, Naushad, C.Ramchandra, Pt.Amarnath, Husnlal Bhagatram, Shyamsunder, Bulo C Rani, Vinod etc etc. It was easier to shine and get established in a maiden field. Whatever the reasons, Partition did take away a sizable chunk off the film industry. India being a vast country, there was no dearth of talent here and the void was filled up without delay. Ghulam Haider was also one Music Director who opted to migrate to Pakistan.
Master Ghulam Haider changed the face of HFM, with the history making music to Khazanchi-41. Till Khazanchi-41 happened, the Hindi films were under the influence of Marathi, Parsi and Gujarati Natya sangeet and classical singing. Hindi films from Calcutta were heavily influenced by Rabindra Sangeet. People listening to this brand of music for almost a decade were now fed up and they craved for something new. Khazanchi music brought the Punjabi theka and zest into Hindi film music and then there was no looking back, because the audience immediately lapped it up.
Master Ghulam Haider was also known for discovering hidden talents, developing them and using them for HFM. Singers like Umrao Zia Begum, Shamshad Begum, Noorjehan, Lata Mangeshkar, Mohd.Rafi and Surinder Kaur are examples of talents discovered, nurtured and presented by him. Though these singers were already singing songs, Masterji gave them All India exposure and helped them establish their careers.
Master Ghulam Haider was born in 1908 in Hyderabad, Sind, Pakistan. After passing his intermediate examination, Ghulam Haider took admission in the college of dentistry. However, he left his dentistry education incomplete because of his aptitude for music.
Ghulam Haider took music lessons from honorific ustaad, Babu Ganesh Lal. During those days, it was a matter of great honor and privilege for a musician to be hired by a gramophone company. Ghulam Haider landed a job as a harmonium player in the Alfred theatrical company in Calcutta, India.
After a while, Ghulam Haider was hired as a musician in the Alexandra theatrical company. Later, he worked for the Jeno phone recording company as a music composer.
A singing- star by the name of Umra-o-Zia Begum was the talk of the town in those exciting times. In fact, she was more renowned for her melodious voice than as a film actress. Further, she earned the title of ‘Bulbul Hazaar Dastaan’ from the music buffs.
Ghulam Haider composed music for Umra-o-Zia Begum and recorded songs and ghazals in her voice. Her name appeared on the gramophone records as well. Perhaps, Umra-o-Zia Begum’s greatest achievement was the recitation of one of the most popular Naat, ‘Yathrib ko janay walay mera paigham lay ja’, composed by Ghulam Haider.
Ghulam Haider debuted as a music composer in a 1935 movie, ‘Swarg ki seedhi’, in which Umra-o-Zia Begum was also cast in a major role. ‘Swarg ki seedhi’ was released under the banner of National Modi Tone, Lahore and directed by Syed Imtiaz Ali Taj.
With the passage of time, Ghulam Haider and Umra-o-Zia Begum developed immense love and understanding for each other, which reached its peak during the movie shoot of ‘Swarg ki seedhi’. Ghulam Haider, who worked for Pancholi Art pictures at that time, soon married Umra-o-Zia Begum.
After marrying Ghulam Haider, Umra-o-Zia Begum said farewell to show business. She was never seen again even in a public gathering. Reverting to Ghulam Haider’s music, he was more than just a music composer. He was the embodiment of soul and passion in music.In 1935, Ghulam Haider also composed songs for director Roshan Lal Shori’s film ‘Majnu’, which was released under the banner of Kamla Modi Tone. He contributed wholly to each of his musical pieces to what is now known as the best of Ghulam Haider.
Ghulam Haider raised the status of fellow music composers in those days. He insisted on a huge sum of money for his compositions. The filmmakers agreed to his demand. Ghulam Haider’s big break came in 1939 when he composed songs for D.M.Pancholi’s Punjabi film, ‘Gul Bakawli’, which was released under the banner of Pancholi Art Pictures and directed by Barkat Mehra.
Seth Dilsikh M.Pancholi had invited Syed Shaukat Husain Rizvi from Maiden Theater, Calcutta, to Lahore for the inauguration of ‘Gul Bakawli.He also composed songs for Noor Jehan’s 1939 Punjabi film ‘Sassi Pannu.’
Ghulam Haider’s genius in succeeding was largely due to patience, self-discipline, rationality and inner resolve. Ghulam Haider composed songs for the 1940 Punjabi film ‘Yamla Jatt’, which was released under the banner of Pancholi Art Pictures.
Ghulam Haider’s breathtaking command of tempo and rhythm made him the most sought-after composer in the 1940s and early 1950s. As time passed by, Ghulam Haider’s music played more forcefully and energetically.
One of his considerable achievements was the 1941 film ‘Khazanchi’. In reality, ‘Khazanchi’ was the first Indian film in which Ghulam Haider had introduced the sound of ‘Dholak’, which enhanced the quality of the song. ‘Khazanchi’ was also the singing debut of Shamshad Begum. Prior to that, Shamshad Begum had been rendering songs for the gramophone company.
Ghulam Haider was that one composer who excelled at all the attributes. Moreover, he devoted much of his time to inventing tunes. Ghulam Haider’s compositions for the 1941 Punjabi film ‘Chaudhry’ was the melody of a grateful heart. With hope and belief in him, Ghulam Haider composed music for the film ‘Chaudhry.’
The first Muslim social film ‘Khandaan’ was released in 1942. Incidentally, ‘Khandaan’ was also the first film of Noor Jehan as lead actress and the directorial debut of Syed Shaukat Husain Rizvi..
After the film ‘Khandaan’, Ghulam Haider and Noor Jehan once again worked together for the film ‘Gulnar.’ Moreover, Noor Jehan also starred in the film ‘Laila.’
Ghulam Haider passed away on November 9, 1953, in Lahore, soon after the release of the film ‘Gulnar.’ He was forty-five years of age.
Ghulam Haider’s demise happened to be a tremendous setback for his beloved wife, Umrao Zia Begum, who was much younger to her husband. However, she did not lose heart. Instead, she devoted herself wholeheartedly to the upbringing of her children.
She left no stone unturned to provide her children the best possible education available at the time. Consequently, all her children grew up and achieved name and fame in their respective fields.
Most importantly, Umrao Zia Begum thanked God to see her relentless efforts come to fruition.
Years later, Umrao Zia Begum breathed her last in the ‘Stork House,’ Bahawalpur, which was the official residence of her younger son, who was the General Officer Commanding in Bahawalpur in those days. She was laid to rest in the Military Graveyard, Cavalry Ground, Lahore. ” (Thanks to an article on Pakistaniyat).
From 1934 to 1944 master ji was in Lahore. After Poonji, he came to Bombay, but met Lata very late. This actually prevented him from using her voice for more films, since he migrated in 1947. Lata sang only 8 songs in 3 films for him- Majboor, Mehandi and Padmini. When Master Ghulam Haider left India 3 of his films were incomplete. Kaneez-49 was completed by Hansraj Behl,Putli-50 was completed by Aziz Hindi and Aabshar which was released in 1953-after his death- was completed by Mohd.Shafi and Bhola Shreshtha.
There is one name – A. Shah in the cast. An actor who was quite a popular comedian those days was A Shah aka Aziz Shah. He was born in 1910, at Sialkot. He did not have much schooling, except primary education at Lyallpur and at Islamia High School, Lahore. Due to his rich and sweet voice, he used to recite Holy Quran, on farmaish. He wrote poetry also.
He joined Saroj Movietone in 1930, under Mohan Bhavnani as an artiste at Rs.40 p.m. He acted in ‘Shakuntala’-31 and ‘Gul Bakavli’-32. He had to take a 2 year break, due to an illness. Back in Bombay, he worked in the film ‘Fidai Tohid’-34 as a hero. He gave music to the film ‘Gunehgar’-36. He wrote dialogues for ‘Mother India’-38 and ‘Daughters of India’-39. His first comic role was in Ranjit’s ‘Mirza Sahiban’-35. He became famous with his role in Punjabi film ‘Kurmai’-41.
His best role came in ‘Sharada’-42, as Munshi Udharchand Shikarpuri. This was repeated by him in the film ‘Keemat’-46. Some of his 11 films were, ‘Dhandora’-41, ‘Armaan’-42, ‘Sukh Dukh’-42, ‘Kanoon’-43, ‘Sanjog’-43, ‘Geet’-44 and ‘Ek Din Ka Sultan’-45, and Padmini-48.After 1948, he stopped acting and wrote lyrics in films like ‘Raat Ki Rani’-49, ‘Namoona’-49 and ‘Ek Teri Nishani’-49. After this he possibly migrated to Pakistan and we have no further information about him anymore. Baburao Patel of Film India magazine was his fan.
Today’s song is sung by Geeta Roy. Enjoy….
Song- Mora piya naheen bas mein haay main kya karoon (Padmini)(1948) Singer- Geeta Roy, Lyricist- Wali Saheb, MD- Ghulam Haider (his last film in India)
Lyricist
mora piya naheen bas mein
mora piya naheen bas mein
haay main kya karoon oon oon
haay main kya karoon
haay main kya karoon oon oon
haay main kya karoon
chhupke chhupke rote raina
chhupke chhupke rote raina
na kuchh sun’na aa
na kuchh kehna aa
na kuchh sun’na aa
na kuchh kehna
preet kee ultee rasmein
haay main kya karoon
haay main kya karoon
haay main kya karoon
haay main kya karoon
mora piya naheen bas mein
mora piya naheen bas mein
haay main kya karoon oon oon
haay main kya karoon
haay main kya karoon oon oon
haay main kya karoon
prem naav moree bahey akelee
bahey akelee ee
prem naav moree bahey akelee
bahe akelee
chhod gaye hain jeewan belee
jeewan belee ee
chhod gaye hain jeewan belee
jeewan belee
kha gaye jhoothhee kasmen
haay main kya karoon
haay main kya karoon
haay main kya karoon
haay main kya karoon
haay main kya karoon
haay main kya karoon
pi sang nain mila kar bhoolee
pi sang nain mila kar bhoolee
dil se dil badla kar bhoolee
haan main bhoolee ee
dil se dil badla kar bhoolee
haan main bhoolee
aag lagee nas nas mein
haay main kya karoon
haay main kya karoon
haay main kya karoon
haay main kya karoon
haay main kya karoon
haay main kya karoon
mora piya naheen bas mein
mora piya naheen bas mein
haay main kya karoon
haay main kya karoon
haay main kya karoon
haay main kya karoon
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
December 7, 2025 at 4:52 pm
Good Evening,
Really a beautiful song you shared through the melodious voice of Geethaji.
Thanks
Blessings
Uma🙏
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