Gulaabee nazaaare nazaare gulaabee
Posted on: December 16, 2025
This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, 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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In this short write-up, I present a duet song, ‘gulaabi nazaare nazaare gulaabi’ rendered by Mohammed Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur from an obscure film, ‘Lakhpati’ (1991). It was the only film produced and directed by Jal Baliwala. The film was certified by Censor Board on April 5, 1991, but it could not get the theatrical release. Later, the film was released on VCD. I have given the story of the film in my earlier article while covering the song, nashe mein choor nazar hai mujhe.
The musical composition of at least three songs including the one under discussion gives a feel of the golden period of Hindi film music of 1960s and I am not completely off the mark. Music director, Iqbal Qureshi came into prominence in the 1960s. Lata Mangeshkar was not singing with Mohammed Rafi in most part of 1960s. The song under discussion is a duet of Rafi with Suman Kalyanpur.
The film seems to have been revived afresh sometime in the second half of the 1970 with Shriram Lagoo, Shoma Anand and Arun Govil in main roles. The three of them had debuted in Hindi films in 1974, 1976 and 1977 respectively. Probably one or two more songs may have been added during the film’s revival stage as one of the playback singers listed in the credit title is Anuradha Paudwal who debuted as a playback singer in Hindi films in 1976. The film’s songs were written by Akhtar Romani which were set to music by Iqbal Qureshi.
If a list of talented but unlucky music directors of Hindi films is prepared, Iqbal Qureshi (12/05/1930 – 21/03/1998) will find a place in it along with Jaidev, Ghulam Mohammed, Snehal Bhatkar, C Arjun, Sardar Malik, S Mohinder, G S Kohli among others. Iqbal Qureshi debuted as the music director in ‘Panchaayat’ (1958). Thereafter, he composed melodious songs in films in the 1960s like ‘Love In Shimla’ (1960), ‘Oomar Quaid’ (1961),‘Ye Dil Kisko Doon’ (1963), ‘Cha Cha Cha’ (1964), ‘Qawwali Ki Raat’ (1964), Pyaar Bana Afsaana’ (1966 UR). However, he could not convert his talent to push his career in Hindi films. By the second half of 1970s, he was on the downward trajectory in his musical career, though he made sporadic presence in Hindi films as a music director almost till he passed away in 1998.
The film’s lyricist, Akhtar Romani was more of a writer (mainly dialogue) than the lyricist. He was also one of the low profile personality of Hindi film industry to such an extent that his pictures are very rare to get online. I have seen a group photograph in which he was seen with Sayani brothers, Hamid and Ameen Sayani. Akhtar Romani (C.1933- 14/07/2015) graduated from St Xavier’s College, Bombay (Mumbai) and his collegemate included Vijay Anand, Mahendra Kapoor and Ameen Sayani. All of them took part in inter-collegiate drama competitions. Akhtar Romani had a flair for writing in Urdu.
After completion of the college, he debuted as a lyricist in ‘Hatimtai’ (1956)
Akhtar Romani has never been a full timer in Hindi films. He sporadically wrote lyrics and screenplay/dialogues as he was involved in Radio publicity under Ameen Sayani as a writer for 15 years up to the end of 1960s. Thereafter also, he was a freelance producer for radio publicity. He selectively picked up the dialogue writing mainly for Raj Khosla in ‘Do Raaste’ (1969), ‘Mera Gaon Mera Desh’ (1971), ‘Kuchche Dhaage’ (1973), ‘Kabeela’ (1976) and for Shakti Samanta in Mehbooba (1976), Ajanabee (1974). As a lyricist, he majorly worked with Kalyanji-Anandji for ‘Dil Bhi Tera Ham Bhi Tere’ (1960), ‘Johar Mehmood In Goa’ (1965), ‘Raaz’ (1967), “Haseena Maan Jaayegi’ (1968) and ‘Suhaag Raat’ (1968).
The song under discussion, written by Akhtar Romani and set to music by Iqbal Qureshi is picturised on Arun Govil and Shoma Anand. This song is not there in the VCD of the film available on a video sharing platform as it is heavily edited one. But the picturisation of the song suggests that it is a college picnic.
Video Clip:
Audio Clip:
Song-Gulaabee nazaare nazaare gulaabee (Lakhpati)(1991) Singers-Rafi, Suman Kalyanpur, Lyricist-Akhtar Romani, MD-Iqbal Qureshi
Both
Lyrics:
gulaabee nazaare
nazaare gulaabee
shabaabee ishaare
ishare shabaabee
zara dekh lo ham sambhal jaayenge
zara dekh lo ham sambhal jaayenge
hijaabee adaayen
adaayen hijaabee
sharaabee nighaahen
nighaahen sharaabee
na chhedo zamaane badal jaayenge
na chhedo zamaane badal jaayenge
haay
gulaabee nazaare
nazaare gulaabee
hain pyaasee ye aankhen
ye aankhen hain pyaasee
zara see pilaa do
pila do zara see
ke tarson ko saaqee bura hai tarsaana
ke tarson ko saaqee bura hai tarsaa..na
ye aanchal hata do
hata do ye aanchal
andhere ujaale mein dhal jaayenge
andhere ujaale mein dhal jaayenge
gulaabee nazaare
nazaare gulaabee
bahaaren chaman mein
chaman mein bahaaren
pukaaren machal ke
machal ke pukaaren
ke kaliyon ne chhoda agar sharmaana
ke kaliyon ne chhoda agar sharmaa…na
kahaanee banegee
banegee kahaanee
jo dekhenge bhanwre
machal jaayenge
jo dekhenge bhanwre
machal jaayenge
haay
gulaabee nazaare
nazaare gulaabee
ye raahen anokhee
anokhee ye raahen
ye baahen badha do
badha do ye baahen
ke chale na akela ye dil deewaana
ke chale na akela ye dil deewaa…na
milenge jo do dil
jo do dil milenge
diye aur dhuon ke jal jaayenge
diye aur dhuon ke jal jaayenge
gulaabee nazaare
nazaare gulaabee
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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