Aankhon mein aaya jo ban ke khumaar
Posted by: Atul on: January 16, 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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Today’s song is from the film Roop Kahani-50, a bi-lingual film( Roop katha-50 in Bangla), made by New Theatres during their last years. It was probably after this film that they closed shop forever.
The film was directed by Souren Sen. Souren Sen was a product of New Theatre’s policy of producing directors from within the company. Examples are Premankur Atorthy ( ex writer), Nitin Bose ( ex Editor) and Bimal Roy ( ex Editor). Souren Sen had started as an Art Director for film Desher Mati or Dharati mata-3 and followed it by films like Kashinath-43,Dui Purush-45, Milan-46, Desher Dabi-47, Nauka Dubi-47, Ramer Sumati-47, Manzoor-49 etc. He got a break as Director only in the last film of New Theatres Roop katha-50 Bangla and Roop kahani-50 Hindi version. Later he also directed one more film from Ashok Films, Calcutta- Chitrangada-54 in Bangla and Hindi. Thereafter he shifted to Bombay and he was an Art Director in Sahib bibi aur Ghulam-56, he did Shankar Narayan Bank-56 and Girls school-5 in Calcutta again. He did in Bombay Ek musafir ek haseena-62,Leader-64, Baharen phir bhi aayengi-66, Shikar-68 and Abhilasha-68.
The cast of the film was Ashita Bose, Asit Baran Mukherjee, Vijay Kumar, Tulsi Chakraborty, Zahar Roy and others. Music was by Pankaj Mullick.
As far as Pankaj Mullik, the film’s MD is concerned, if I start writing about him, I will not be able to stop myself. So, suffice to say only this much for now. Pankaj Mullick acted in 6 Hindi films. He sang 41 songs in 15 Hindi films and as a MD for 26 Hindi films, he composed 205 songs, in all.
Pankaj Mullick wrote many books, a few of them are : Geet Valmiki, Swara Lipika, Raga Lakshana Geet Manjari and Mahishasura Mardina. He received the DadaSaheb Phalke Award in 1972. He died on 19th February 1978. The first person to reach his residence was R.C.Boral.
According to an article in Apna archive, Pankaj Mullick’s FIRSTS are-
1. Playback singing in films started under his music direction in 1935,along with R.C.Boral.
2. Pankaj Mullick was one of the first to incorporate western instruments and elements of western music such as harmony and counter melody in Indian cinema.
3. He was the first teacher to teach music to millions via radio. The number of singers who Pankaj Babu trained who then went on to scale extraordinary heights in their field is at least twenty names beginning with Kundan Lal Saigal, Kanan Devi, Suchitra Mitra and more.
4. He was the first person to win Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s approval and permission to tune his poems, sing them in public and incorporate them in cinema. To quote Gurudev (Jorasanko Thakurbari, 1937): “All those lyrics of mine that I will not get the opportunity to set tune during my lifetime, I leave to you to embellish them with your music.” Gurudev’s trust and Pankaj Babu’s dedication helped spread the tranquility and beauty of Rabindra Sangeet all over India. He is fittingly recognized as the foremost ambassador of Rabindra Sangeet.
5. Pankaj Babu introduced tabla in Rabindra Sangeet and also made harmonium an integral part even though Tagore had disliked the use of harmonium.
6. Pankaj Babu was the first music composer to be awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke award in 1972.
7. The longest running program on AIR remains the classic live early morning broadcast of Chandipath and Mahishasura Mardini on Mahalaya Amavasya that Pankaj Babu started in 1931 and conducted every year until 1975 (except 1944). The program continues even today.
Pankaj Mullick’s name became famous all over India in the late 30s, 40s and early 50s. Readers who grew up in this period will know the craze of his songs amongst the music lovers. I,for one, remember listening to his records on our gramophone. One of my uncles was very fond of his songs and had a box full of records of Pankaj and Jagmohan. In the film ” Yatrik”-1952,Pankaj Mullick sang lines from Shiv stotra and Kumarsambhav etc. His diction and pronunciation of Sanskrit was absolutely flawless. He will be remembered for his delightful Non Film Songs too.
During the period from 1931 to 1955, New Theaters was one of the premiere film production companies of India. This was not only a commercial organization, but also a school for developing new talents in the fields of acting, direction, cinematography, editing, sound recording, costume designing and other departments of filmmaking. Almost all who learnt from here, became big names in their later careers. It was here that the artists were encouraged to become editors from cinematographers, and directors from editors. Names like Nitin Bose and Bimal Roy are enough to prove this point.
The company also invested a fortune in developing new techniques and new traditions in every field of film making. Because of these, this premiere Bengal studio became a veritable institution and a promoter of talents that largely influenced the whole course of Indian films. In addition to this, New Theaters gifted the style of film songs introducing the Prelude and the Interlude.
Its biggest contribution, however, was the ‘Playback System’ of songs in the films. Birendranath Sircar, founder proprietor of New Theaters sustained it for 35 years, holding a record of making 177 films under this banner. The nearest ever to come was Sardar Chandulal Shah’s Ranjit Movietone, Bombay with 175 films ! New Theaters was also making films in Hindi and other languages from the beginning.
In 1928-29 BN Sircar founded International Filmcraft and made two silent films. Then the company closed. He then established New Theaters in February 1931 as a family concern, holding all shares within the family and becoming its Managing Director. He employed artists and technicians on monthly salaries. His first success was ‘Chandidas’ (1932). In the same month he and IA Hafiz ji (who later married actress Ratan Bai) went on an all India tour to appoint distributors for his Hindi films to capture the Indian market. In this tour, he appointed distributors in Madras, Madurai, Trichinapally, Erode, Bangalore,Poona, Bombay, Cawnpore (now Kanpur), Lucknow, Kangra Valley and Lahore. The entire Eastern India and the North East was already in his pocket. Such was his vision !
The film business in Bengal was dominated by Marwadi and Gujarati communities. Some of them were – Lal ji Haridas had distribution rights of all major Bombay film companies, Bajranglal Khemka owned East India Film Co., Radha Kishen Chauria owned Radha Film co., Babulal Chowkhani had Bharat Laxmi pictures. All of them realized that making only Bangla films was not enough, making films in Hindi and other languages was necessary for survival and growth. However, BN Sircar had an upper hand here, being ahead in multi language films !
Films based on famous and popular novels and the film songs and music were the strengths of New Theaters. Ms Panna Raii ji, the first one to do Ph.D on Indian films wrote that “Though I did not know Bangla, I loved to listen to the film songs”. New Theatres popularised Rabindra Sangeet throughout India, which otherwise rotted in Shanti Niketan walls, till then. This was also a tough winner on Bombay’s stale stage and drama songs. Audience soon chose film songs from New Theaters films and discarded Bombay songs in preference.
Directors like Pramathesh Barua, Phani Mujumdar, Debaki Bose etc made films which became hits. New Theaters was on the top during 1932 to 1940, holding the uncontested No.1 position. The first blow came to New Theaters when the second World War broke out in 1939. Due to rationing, raw film was allowed only for 6 films a year. At that point of time expenses of only the salaries of New Theaters studio was in the range of 45000 to 50000 rupees per month. Imagine how much it would be today at the current inflation rate. It would be about 11 lakhs per month !
In 1940 there was another blow to New Theaters in the form of the exit of Pramathesh Barua from the studio. Then on there was a string of actors, directors and Music Directors leaving New Theaters to join Bombay. Prithviraj Kapoor, Kedar Sharma, Nitin Bose, Debaki Bose, Kanan Devi, Uma Shashi (she ran away while shooting on sets to elope with her future husband), KL Saigal and many more left New Theaters. Added to it was the communal riot in 1946 in Bengal and India’s Partition in 1947. Many stalwarts left the company due to disputes with BN Sircar. Only Pankaj Mullick stayed there with him.
In the 1950’s New Theaters started going downhill. In 1954 New Theaters, due to the financial crisis, was handed over to Aurora Film Company. In January 1956 the company closed down and in 1962 it went into liquidation. It was the End of a Giant, a legend ! ( Information used herein is from article ” The glory that was-New Theatres ” by Sharmishtha Gooptu and from book ” सुंदर ती दुसरी दुनिया ” – a Marathi book by Ambarish Mishra, with Thanks, along with my old writings and notes. ).
The story of the film Roop Kahani-1950 was…..
The picture opens in a small way-side Railway Station. It is early dawn-the dawn of another day of wants and struggle, to live, to the Station Master and to his niece, Sandhya who is an orphan and has been grafted in the family by her loving uncle from whom she receives filial love and affection though her aunt maltreated her extremely. She was helpful to her uncle in the performance of his duties and she was of considerable utility in the household. Still her aunt grudged her because she owned another mouth that had to be fed. The girl’s life was one of drudgery and of jobs done without appreciation. The only silver lining being her association with the Station Masters children to whom she would relate fairy tales of princes and princesses of dreamland, which proved to be her dreamland too.
Such was her life when one morning her Prince charming came, in the guise of Arun – an energetic young man of independent means whose principal hobby was painting. He was on a painting tour in a bullock cart accompanied by an old servant of the family who had reared him from his childhood, and as usual in such cases, assumed guardianship over him. There by the way-side station, the young painter had the first sight of the girl.
Arun developed love at first sight and he decided to pitch his tent on the spot. That he did. Madhu used to call him Rajkumar. A young son of the Station Master heard Arun addressed him and took him to be a real one. He carried his findings to Sandhya. To the little boy Sandhya was emphatic that Arun the new-comer could not be a real Rajkumar as he had not the necessary paraphernalia. Nevertheless she spontaneously identified Arun as the Rajkumar of her dreams and made herself the Rajkumari.
Thence forward when she would relate the stories of prince and princess she would visualize herself a Rajkumari and Arun as Rajkumar of the tale. . As in a fairy tale the inevitable devil appears between the prince and princess to separate them, so in the story the devil appears in the person of Keshab Thakur, an accomplice of a professional kidnapper between the lives of Arun and Sandhya. As in fairy tales the devil does not succeed so also here the evil intent of Keshab Thakur and his master was foiled. Evil is always doomed in the end and true love succeeds.
The kidnappers wanted to kidnap Sandhya,as she had inherited a huge property,which was originally bought by her father for nothing. Now the property was worth millions.
When Madhu,a girl in the neighbourhood and the Station Masters little boy hear their secret plans,he goes and tells Arun, who immediately alerts the local police. A trap is laid and the kidnappers are caught. Sandhya finally gets her Prince Charming of her dreams !
One of the cast members was Tulsi Chakraborty. Tulsi Chakraborty or Tulsi Chakrabarti ( 3 March 1899 – 11 December 1961) was an actor and comedian who worked in Bengali cinema in the 1940s and 1950s. His most notable role could be the lead role in Parash Pathar, directed by Satyajit Ray.
Chakraborty was born on 3 March 1899 in the small village called Goari. His father, Ashutosh Chakraborty, was an employee of the Indian Railways and the family had to move around various places in undivided Bengal. So, young Tulsi had to spend a lot of time in Calcutta staying with his paternal uncle Prasad Chakraborty, the elder brother of Asutosh Chakraborty. Prasadbabu was a talented tabla and harmonium player who was an employee of the renowned Star Theatre, the legendary Bengali commercial theatre stage and production company. He had a small group of musicians who used to play live background music during theatrical performances. It was through his uncle’s contacts that Tulsi was able to watch the finest actors of the generation at work and this fostered his own ambitions to become a singer-actor.
Before launching in theatre, Tulsi Chakraborty engaged himself in a number of odd-jobs, starting from dish-washer in a small North Calcutta eatery to working as a clown in a circus in Burma (now Myanmar). In films, he started with character roles before performing as a comedian. He was known for his realistic acting. He never used any make-up or extra arrangements. Usually, he was clad in a white dhoti accompanied by a sacred thread on his shoulder.
One of Chakraborty’s notable performances was in Sharey Chuattor, which was the debut film of the popular pair of Bengali cinema: Suchitra Sen and Uttam Kumar. In Parash Pathar directed by Satyajit Ray, he acted in the lead role of Paresh Dutta. He unleashed memorable roles in Uttam Kumar-Suchitra Sen starrers Ekti Raat and Chaowa Pawa. In both these films, Chakraborty played a sceptical inn owner; in the latter, he teamed up with Rajlakshmi Devi. He also had a small role as that of a village pandit cum grocer in Pather Panchali. Ray once remarked that if Chakraborty had been born in the United States, he would have been awarded an Oscar for his acting.
Tulsi acted in only films made as a Hindi version or made in Calcutta. He worked in 11 Hindi films namely, Saugandh-42, Jawab-42, Wapas-43, Shri Ramanuj-43, Taqrar-44, Subah Shyam-44, My sister-44, Hamrahi-44, Giribala-1947, Roop Kahani-50 and Ratnadeep-52. Chakraborti spent the latter part of his life in utmost poverty. His widow was also known to have lived in abject poverty as was revealed by a television programme. Due to his poverty, he had to take a walk from Tollygunge studio to his home in Shibpur, Howrah. He died on 11 December in the year of 1961. (based on some information wiki, Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema and my notes.)
Here is a song from this film, sung by Utpala Sen, Asit Baran and others. This song was given to me by Girdharilal Vishwakarma ji and uploaded by our Sadanand Kamath ji. Thanks to both. Enjoy the song….
Song- Aankhon mein aaya jo ban ke khumaar(Roop Kahaani)(1950) Singers-Utpala Sen, Asit Baran, Lyricist- B.M.Varma, MD- Pankaj Mullick
Unknown male voice 1
Unknown male voice 2
Female chorus
Lyrics
Aankhon mein aaya
jo ban ke khumaar
kartee hoon pyaar ise
kartee hoon pyaar
o o o
tum bhee karo pyaar
aankhon mein aaya
jo ban ke khumaar
kartee hoon pyaar ise
kartee hoon pyaar
o o o
tum bhee karo pyaar
aankhon mein aaya
bana preetam ka pyaar
galey motee ka haar
bana preetam ka pyaar
galey motee ka haar
mere jeewan kee bagiya mein aayee bahaar
o o o
tum bhee karo pyaar
aankhon mein aaya
kaisee ye reet ??
kaisee ye reet
nainon se door chhipee
?? preet
kaisee ye reet
main akela door tumse
dhoondhhtaa hoon haay kabse
main akela door tumse
aao
aao
aao man ke meet
tum meree nas nas mein saajan
gaaoon tere geet
tum meree nas nas mein saajan
gaaoon tere geet
?? tumhaara pyaar
tumhaara pyaar
tumhaara pyaar
dekho dekho dekho
dekho
dekho dekho dekho
dekho
darpan dekho
aayee ghaayal shaitaanee
aayee ghaayal shaitaanee
hahahahahaha
ghaayal shaitaanee
hahahahahaha
hahahahahaha
hahahahahaha
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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