Main pyaar karoon unse kaho jee kya khayaal hai
Posted by: Atul on: January 12, 2026
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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Blog Day : |
6387 | Post No. : | 19808 |
Today’s song is from a Remake film from the south – Mangala-1950.
By 1950, it was just about 3 years after we got our Independence. Many talented and gifted artistes from Film industry – composers, actors, directors, lyricists and technical people, chose to leave India, which once was their Motherland, to start a new life in a new born country, their country! The vacuum created by their exit was soon filled up by the then current, and the upcoming and aspiring artists in India. For that point in the history of India cinema, I would list the following as upcoming and aspiring artists :
– Composers: Shankar-Jaikishan, SD Burman, Madan Mohan, Roshan, Khayyam etc.
– Lyricists: Shailendra, Hasrat Jaipuri, Shakeel Badayuni, Majrooh, Rajendra Krishan, Raja Mehdi Ali Khan, Sahir Ludhianvi etc.
– Singers: Rafi, Mukesh, Kishore, Talat, Manna Dey etc.
Female singers like Lata, Asha, Geeta etc filled up the void created by the departure of Noorjehan, Khursheed etc. And of course, many new actors and actresses also came up shining.
Another important change that took place was in the change in the story lines of films. There was no more need to use subtle, suggestive, double meaning dialogues to talk of independence and national integration – we had attained independence. The new storylines started relating to the new changes in the country. Internationally, in the cinema industries worldwide, stories of intrigue, mystery and crime were also becoming popular and the industry was quick to bring it to the Indian audiences. Towards this end, ‘Sangram’ was the torchbearer. Earlier too, stories of crime and mystery, in milder form were handled by the industry, but ‘Sangram’ was the first film wherein ‘crime’ was the hero and the male lead was an anti-hero.
However, in our culture, we must show that evil never wins and in ‘Sangram’ too, this point was emphasized, underlining another virtue that duty is more important than anything else. So the father shoots down the culprit son. ‘Sangram’ thus heralded a change in film concepts. Not that every subsequent film was a crime story, but it did make a bold statement of the New World.
in 1950 7 films were Hits. They were Samadhi, Babul, Dastaan, Jogan, Har Har Mahadev, Sangram and Beqasoor.
Other notable films were Sargam, Aarzoo, Aankhen, Sheesh mahal, Pehla Aadmi, Afsar, Mashaal, Bawre nain and Dahej.
After S.S.Vasan’s daring and successful step with film Chandralekha-1948 to win the All India Hindi audience market, the South Indian filmmakers were enthused and inspired. Another giant from the South came forward. AVM’s Tamil film ‘Vazhkai’ (1949) was a big hit in the south. AVM made a Telugu version of it with the name ‘Jeevitham’ (1950) followed by a Hindi version ‘Bahaar’ (1951). They introduced Vyjayantimala with this film, in Hindi. The story of the film and the Music by SD Burman made the film a big hit in Hindi too. AVM then made Hindi film ‘Ladki’ (1953), with a Tamil and Telugu version. This too became a hit film. However by that time the South market had grown manifolds and there was no need for the south film makers to venture into the Hindi belt to earn money. Thus, there was a slow down in this type of activity. The south now started making Hindi films directly in Madras by calling actors from Bombay. And some films were dubbed too.
Film Mangala-1950 was a remake of the Tamil Hit film Mangamma Sabatham (Mangamma’s vow)-1943. It was produced by S.S.Vasan. The film was remade in Hindi in 1950 and Telugu in 1951, both as Mangala. There was yet one more remake in Telugu in 1965 as Mangamma Sapatham. There was a Sinhali remake also as Mathalan-1955.
After the unprecedented foray of Gemini’s Vasan’s hit film Chandralekha-48, Subramaniam Srini Vasan or simply S S Vasan, became aware of the unlimited scope of the Hindi belt market for south-made Hindi films. Vasan was a writer, Editor, producer and Director, but above all, he was a Business Tycoon. He had established the popular Tamil magazine “Anand Vikatan”, and owned Gemini studios, Gemini Laboratories and Gemini distribution circuits. He soon decided to take advantage of the success of Chandralekha and made another Trilingual film . In Tamil it was called “Apoorva sahodarargal”, in Telugu, it was “Apoorva Sahodaralu”, and in Hindi it was called “Nishan”-49. This film too was a great success. Encouraged by this, S S Vasan made his 1943 Tamil Hit film “Mangamma Sapatham”-43, into a remake in Hindi with the name “Mangala”-50. Not by coincidence, but by design, the Hero for all these 3 remakes and the originals was Ranjan.
In the early times of the Film Industry, very few educated people used to join here. That is why Graduates or Postgraduates used to flaunt their degrees with pride- like Moti, B.A.-the lyricist, or Kavi Pradeep’s pseudonym- Miss Kamal B.A. or even singer Surendra as B.A., LL.B. A highly qualified person and that too in an unrelated subject joining films was a wonder then. Thus, a young man with an unlikely name for a Hero, like RAMNARAYAN VENKATRAMAN SARMA Alias actor RANJAN was a novelty.
Actually, the southern film activity, though as old as Hindi Talkie films, is strictly limited to four southern states. It was only the adventurous S S Vasan who ventured into the bastion of Hindi film markets, by promoting his film Chandralekha. In fact this had encouraged other producers like AVM, Prasad, Vijaya etc to tap the Hindi belt. While making a multilingual film, the south producers always called the Hindi artistes, be it actors, Directors ,composers or singers to come to Madras, but they never went to Bombay. It was only through Dubbed or remade films that south actors, composers or actors were exposed to the Hindi arena. Those days anyone from south was a “Madrasi” and likewise anyone from other than south was a North Indian or a Punjabi ! No one from the North bothered to distinguish between Tamil, Telugu, Kannada or Malayalam-films or people. Everything was “Madrasi “.
The divide between the North and the south went on widening, which finally resulted in the Ánti-Hindi Agitations” of the 60s and 70s in Madras and other southern places. Fortunately, in recent times and with the New Generation, thanks to the coalition politics at the centre and states as well as I.T. centres at Hyderabad and Bangalore, the North-South exchange is much better and each state is identified individually. Thanks also to writers like Chetan Bhagat’s novels. Thanks to Modernization.
The composers of Mangala were a team of D.Parthsarthi, Balkrishna Kalla and E. Shanker. This team also gave music to few other films like Mangala-50, Sansar-51, Mr.Sampat-52, Bahut din Huye-54. Balkrishna Kalla with mohd. Shafi gave music to Krishna Kanhaiya-52. Independently he gave music to only one film-Do Dulhe-54. The southern composers gave music only to dubbed films or remakes.
In the original version of Mangala, which was ‘Mangamma Shapatham’- 43, the Heroine was Vasundhara Devi-mother of Vaijayanti Mala. In the Hindi film Mangala, the Heroine was P.Bhanumathi, but the hero was the same – Ranjan. There were some Hindi actors like Agha, David and Badriprasad. The composer of today’s song, Balkrishna Kalla also did a small role in this film. When Shamshad Begum sang songs for Chandralekha-1948, her songs were recorded in Bombay, but for Mangala, Shamshad went to Madras first time and sang 9 songs out of its 15 songs. In this film the songs and dances of Carmen Miranda were freely copied in the Tamil, Telugu and Hindi versions.
In the early times of the Film Industry, very few educated people used to join here. That is why Graduates or Postgraduates used to flaunt their degrees with pride. After reading about this artist, you will wonder if any such multi talented person ever lived here ?
A highly qualified person and that too in an unrelated subject joining films was a wonder then. Thus, a young man with an unlikely name for a Hero, like RAMNARAYAN VENKATRAMAN SARMA Alias actor RANJAN was a novelty. Ranjan was born in Madras on 2-3-1918 in an orthodox Brahmin family.
He was an expert in playing Violin. He was a qualified dancer in Kathak,Kathakali and Bharat Natyam. He was an expert driver, swimmer and a swordsman of Olympic standards. He graduated in physics.After M.Sc. He did his Doctorate too. Ranjan knew 12 Indian and 4 foreign languages. He edited a Dance and Drama Magazine and wrote several books on it. He earned a Fellowship of New York University.
Ranjan learnt and became an A grade flyer. He was the first to buy a Rolls Royce car and a Tiger Moth Aircraft, in the Indian film industry ( later Motilal also owned an aircraft). He was a good painter and a Trained magician. He became Magicians’ Association President for Bombay. P C Sorcar was All India president then. He was often invited by European and American Universities for lectures. Ranjan owned two big Hotels also. Ranjan was a good shooter. He played Cricket and Soccer frequently. Ranjan was a regular singer on Madras A.I.R..
In his first Tamil film, his Heroine was Vasundhara Devi- mother of Vyjayanthimala. Ranjan entered Hindi films through his blockbuster film “Chandralekha-48”. He did 58 Hindi films in the 50s and 60s. He was a script writer also.He wrote the story and screenplay of the film Munimji-55. He was a choreographer also. In the 50s decade the quartet of Raj, Dev, Dilip and Ashok kumar was ruling Hindi industry. Ranjan was not given any importance here. He was not even invited for the Golden jubilee of Talkie film celebrations in Bombay. He lived in his bungalow in Chembur Union park.
He was spotted by a Tamil Producer, when he was standing in a Bus queue and he made his Debut in the film ”Ashok Kumar“-1941. After a few films in Tamil and Telugu, he got the role of SHASHANK in the Magnum Opus film Chandralekha in 1948. The Drum dance and his fencing were the two attractions in the film. The final sword fighting is considered the Longest ever Fencing fight in films till today ! The film was a Hit and Ranjan became typecast in Action films. Ranjan was a very poor actor, but his Fencing skills were marvellous.
In 1949, came ” NISHAN “, based on the Hollywood film ” The Corsican brothers’-one good and one bad. It was a story of twins. The audience liked a scene from the film which showed that there were marks on one brother’s back if the other one was whipped ! The film, in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, was a hit everywhere mainly for its fencing scenes. In ‘Mangala’ opposite Bhanumathi, he was the villain and the Hero too.
He was invited by New York University for a Fellowship, but Vasan did not leave him, so after Mangala-1950, as soon as the contract was over, Ranjan came to Bombay.
‘Shin shinaki Boobla Boo’-1952 saw him with Rehana but as a Romantic Hero, he was worse than Bharat Bhushan or Pradeep Kumar !
He acted in Sindbad the sailor, Baghi, Shahenshah, Kafila, Baghdad, Baap Beti, Nishan Danka and a host of B and C grade films, many of them dubbed or remakes of southern films. He was known for only Fencing. But he never became famous like Stewart Granger in ” Scaramouche” for his fencing. In the 50s he acted in 23 films, in the 60s he did 18 films and in the 70s his tally was 17 films. A total of 58 films in Hindi.
After Sword fighting became obsolete he shifted to writing. The story of the film MUNIMJI-55 was written by him. After a few years in the south he was seen again in ‘Chor chor’-74 and ‘Chaitali’-76. Ram Balram – 80 was his last film.
He married a Muslim girl and she converted to Hinduism taking the name of Laxmi. Ranjan wrote 12 books on Dancing and music.
He shifted to the USA to live with his son, but died on 12-9-1983,in New Jersey-USA,due to Heart attack. He was so much forgotten that even the news of his death was not published in India.
I came across an article in THE HINDU dated 3-2-2013 related to this film….
” Bhanumathi Ramakrishna was so bowled over by the performance of Vasundhara Devi (mother of yesteryear heroine Vyjayanthimala Bali) in Gemini’s blockbuster 1943 Tamil hit, Mangamma Sabadham , that she wished, if at all the film were to be remade in Telugu, she would act in it. In fact, the Tamil movie was released by Gemini supremo S.S. Vasan at a few centres in Andhra also and was well received there too. A few years later, Vasan decided to remake the movie in Telugu and Hindi under the title Mangala . Impressed by Bhanumathi’s performance in the Tamil film, Rajamukthi , he decided to sign her and approached her husband, Ramakrishna Rao. It was an opportunity she was waiting for and Bhanumathi immediately accepted the offer. She was paid a remuneration of Rs. 1 lakh for both the versions. Ranjan, who did the hero’s role in Mangamma Sabadham , was retained to play the lead role in both Telugu and Hindi versions. Popular editor of the time, Chandru (who had done commendable work as editor for Gemini’s earlier trilingual, Apoorva Sahodarulu) was entrusted with the job of directing the Telugu movie.”
If Vasundhara Devi was admired for her nice dances in the Tamil version, Bhanumathi scored through her acting prowess. Ranjan made his presence felt in a dual role. The story of Mangala-1950 was….
Based on a popular folklore, an engrossing narrative was woven by Gemini’s story department. Mangala (Bhanumathi), the charming daughter of a rich farmer, is very haughty by temperament. When Prince Sugunapal (Ranjan) fails to win her love, he throws a challenge that he would marry her and then imprison her for life, denying her the marital bliss. She counter-challenges him that she would bear a child from him and make the child whip him in his court.
The prince marries her and puts her in a lonely palace. She makes her father (Doraiswamy) dig a tunnel from the palace to her village, sneaks through it to her house and learns dance. Disguised as a gypsy, she entices the Prince, secretly gives birth to a child, and when he grows up (Ranjan – dual role) gets her vow fulfilled through him. Realisation dawns on the Prince and the tale ends on a happy note.
Here is a song by Shamshad Begum, from the film Mangala-1950. Enjoy….
Song- Main pyaar karoon unse kaho jee kya khayaal hai (Mangala)(1950) Singer- Shamshad Begum, Lyricist- Pt. Indra, MD- Balkrishna Kalla
Lyrics
main pyaar karoon unse
main pyaar karoon unse
kaho jee kya khayaal hai
karo jee pyaar shauk se
ye kya sawaal hai
main pyaar karoon unse
kaho jee kya khayaal hai
karo jee pyaar shauk se
ye kya sawaal hai
main pyaar karoon
ek do teen
sharma raha hai aaina
kiskee lagee hai nazar
sharma raha hai aaina
kiskee lagee hai nazar
gaayab hai bachpan shabaab mein
dhoondhoon main kaise kidhar
paayal kee chhan chhan mein
kangan kee khan khan mein
kiska kamaal hai
paayal kee chhan chhan mein
kangan kee khan khan mein
kiska kamaal hai
rakhiyo kadam sambhaal ke
matwaalee chaal hai
main pyaar karoon
ek do teen
koi bula raha hai pyaar se
jaane ye kya raaz hai
koi bula raha hai pyaar se
jaane ye kya raaz hai
chhede bina hee batere
dil bhee nirala saaz hai
saawan mein phaagun hai
phaagun mein saawan hai
duniya nihaal hai
kal to gaal laal thhe
ab aankh laal hai
main pyaar karoon unse
kaho jee kya khayaal hai
karo jee pyaar shauk se
ye kya sawaal hai
main pyaar karoon
ek do teen
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
January 12, 2026 at 5:25 pm
Arun Ji
Thanks for a nostalgic journey ( for me). As a young one I have seen Mangala,Apoorva Sahodarangal, Chandralekha -Tamil (7 times-because people from near by villages came to our town to watch Chandralekha and each one took me along, since childeren enjoyed free entry !!!)
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January 12, 2026 at 7:20 pm
interesting memories.
Thanks.
-AD
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