Saare jahaan se achcha Hindustan hamaara
Posted on: February 15, 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 a popular historical song from the film Hindustan Hamara-1950.
The film was made by Paul Zils Productions, Bombay and was directed by the owner of the banner, Paul Zils- a German. The Music Director was Vasant Desai. The film cast included the top stars of those times- Prithvuraj, Dev Anand, Jairaj, Durga Khote, Nalini Jaywant, Surendra, Wasti, K.N.Singh, Dewan Sharar, Prembath, Shambhu Mitra, Tripti Mitra, Yashodhara Katju and many others.
Very few people know that Indian Cinema had a little known connection with the rise of Hitler in Germany in 1932-33. A group of men , engaged in Cinema in Germany, flocked to India in the 30’s and played a vital role in Indian Cinema and the arts of that time. After Hitler took over Germany in 1933, the German Cine Studio’s glory days were over and they were turned into Nazi Propaganda Machines ! It was at this time that several of its men left the studio and arrived in India, and contributed during the Indian cinema’s formative years.
The foremost among them was Frantz Osten, a German whom Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani met at the UFA when they went to train there (they worked with Lang and Marlene Dietrich). Osten had already been directing films for the couple since 1925, when he made Light of Asia for them from Germany. In 1934, he came to India and the next year, after Rai founded ‘ Bombay Talkies ‘ the legendary film studio in Malad that now lies in ruins, Osten directed its first film.
He went on to direct the famous Devika Rani-Ashok Kumar starrer, Achhut Kanya (1936), without much knowledge of Hindi. The film, which featured the song “Main ban ke chiriya”, was shot by Joseph Wirsching; the sets were designed by Karl von Spreti and the laboratory was headed by Zolle, Osten’s team of UFA ex-members from Germany, who worked for Rai’s state-of-the-art studio.
Osten and his fellow Germans directed 16 films for Rai. It was a remarkable feat for people who knew little Hindi ‘ mistaking the word “bulbul” once for a pair of bulls. While in Bombay, he became a member of the Nazi Party (1936). He was interned by the British at the outbreak of Second WW while shooting his last film there, Kangan. Released and allowed to return to Germany (1940).
Then there was Walter Kauffman, a scholar and composer interested in Oriental music, and Wilhelm Haas, a writer and a friend of Franz Kafka. Both were Jews, and Haas came to India because of Kauffman, who went on to found the Bombay Chamber Music Society. Kauffman arrived in 1934 after meeting director-producer Mohan Bhavnani at the UFA (where V. Shantaram also did a stint). Haas was in Czechoslovakia, but left the country for India just after Hitler’s invasion.
Kauffman, Haas and Bhavnani worked together in Premnagar (1940), Naushad’s first film as music director. Kauffman composed the background score; Haas wrote the screenplay. Kauffman is also the person behind the All India Radio signature tune. Haas was a member of the Indian chapter of PEN. Haas also wrote the script for Bhavnani’s Jhooti Sharam (1939).
The story of Paul Zils ( 1-6-1915 to 30-3-1979 ) stands out, though. Zils, believed to be a Nazi sympathizer, turned up in India under strange circumstances: he was bound for Indonesia in a steamer that got torpedoed by an Indian naval ship during World War II and he was taken prisoner.
After his release, because of his film experiences, the leadership of the sales department where Ezra Mir led a government documentary production company, called him to join Information films of India. End of October 1945, he came to Bombay and started his work. In March 1959 he returned to Germany.
As the studio system came to an end and individual producers took over, the days of the Germans in Indian cinema were over. Many, including Osten, went back to Germany. Set designer Spreti was appointed German ambassador to Guatemala and was later shot dead by terrorists. Josef Virsching-the Cinematographer, however, stayed back in India till his death in 1967. He did few Hindi films too.
Paul Zils directed 3 Dev Anand films, according to the documents. Hindustan Hamara-50 and Zalzala-52 are found in HFGK, but the third film called ‘ Shabash”, though listed in 1949, gives no details, except the film name. ( Information adapted from the book ” Walter Koffman” by Amit Gangar, with thanks and my notes).
(Incidentally, another foreigner – an American – named Ellis Roderick Dungan was in the Madras film industry from 1935 to 1950 and he directed over 20 Tamil films, not knowing a single word of Tamil language till the end. He went back to the USA but kept visiting India, making Hollywood films and Documentaries etc, till 1994. Just for extra information.)
Hindustan Hamara was one of those films which was made on the philosophies espoused by Gandhi and Nehru. India had just got Independence and their influence on the Janata was heavy. They used to say that India lives in villages. Gandhi had even started a campaign ” Chalo Gaon ki ore (चलो गांव की ओर )”. Many filmmakers were influenced by Gandhi-Nehru’s Socialism and the first 10 years after independence, films glorifying Nehruvian Socialism were made in large numbers. Today’s film, Hindustan Hamara was also one such film which advocated living in the villages. The story of the film was……
Ram is a farmer, who ploughs his land in a village. He lives with his wife Ganga and son Laxman. Due to poverty, his brother Bala goes to the city, works in a factory and becomes a Union Leader. His beloved Usha stays in the village with her widowed mother. Mahadev, the Zamindar has a bad eye on Usha. One year the crop fails and all farmers become panicky. The farmers are united by a social worker – Shaikh saheb to start co-operative farming, which becomes successful and all farmers are happy. Ram comes to know that his brother Bala is coming to the village for a few days. Everyone is happy and Usha’s marriage with Bala is on the cards. Bala comes and meets usha.
The jealous Zamindar brings Police to take away Ram’s land as he had failed to repay his loan in time. The zamindar puts a condition that he should get his money within 2 days or he should be married to Usha on the third day. Ram and other farmers of the cooperative society join together. The society gives him the loan to repay the zamindar. Bala decides to leave the city job and settle in the village to improve the condition of the farmers.
One can see that the story had shades of Nehru Philosophy, Gandhi principles and Russian farming concepts. In reality all these proved to be useless while the world moved forward. Russians themselves gave up their ideas and the world became modern with industries and technologies. The old ways of farming changed drastically. This, of course, is a different point !
“Saare Jahan Se Achha Hindustan Hamara” is an immortal patriotic song (Tarana-e-Hind) composed in 1904 by the renowned poet Mohammad Iqbal, extolling the culture, nature, and unity of India.The song became a symbol of nationalism against British rule during the freedom struggle and remains a popular patriotic song today, highlighting India’s cultural richness.
Key points and significance of the song:
Author: Muhammad Iqbal read it in 1904 at the Government College, Lahore.
Meaning: The song’s meaning is that our Hindustan is the best in the whole world. We are its nightingales (nightingales) and it is our garden.
Key lines:
Religion does not teach us to keep enmity among ourselves, we are Hindi, we are Hindi, our country is Hindustan.
That mountain is the highest, the neighbour of the sky, that sentry is ours, that watchman is ours.
Historical Significance: The song became a symbol of patriotism and unity during the Indian independence movement.
The poem commemorates the greatness of India, its natural beauty (rivers and the Himalayas) and historical heritage.
Sir Muhammad Iqbal (9 November 1877 – 21 April 1938) was an Islamic philosopher and poet. His poetry in Urdu is considered to be among the greatest of the 20th century, and his vision of a cultural and political ideal for the Muslims of British India is widely regarded as having animated the impulse for the Pakistan Movement. He is commonly referred to by the honorific Allamah ( ”learned”) and widely considered one of the most important and influential Muslim thinkers and Islamic religious philosophers of the 20th century.
Iqbal was born and raised in Sialkot, Punjab, British India and studied at Scotch Mission College in Sialkot and Government College in Lahore. He taught Arabic at the Oriental College, Lahore, from 1899 until 1903, during which time he wrote prolifically. Notable among his Urdu poems from this period are “Parinde Ki Faryad” (“A Bird’s Prayer”), an early contemplation on animal rights, and “Tarana-e-Hindi” (“Anthem of the Indians”), a patriotic poem—both composed for children. In 1905, he departed from India to pursue further education in Europe, first in England and later in Germany. In England, he earned a second BA at Trinity College, Cambridge, and subsequently qualified as a barrister at Lincoln’s Inn. In Germany, he obtained a PhD in philosophy at the University of Munich, with his thesis focusing on “The Development of Metaphysics in Persia” in 1908. Upon his return to Lahore in 1908, Iqbal established a law practice but primarily focused on producing scholarly works on politics, economics, history, philosophy, and religion. He is most renowned for his poetic compositions, including “Asrar-e-Khudi,” “Rumuz-e-Bekhudi,” and “Bang-e-Dara.” His literary works in the Persian language garnered him recognition in Iran.
An ardent proponent of the political and spiritual revival of the Muslim world, particularly of the Muslims in the Indian subcontinent, the series of lectures Iqbal delivered to this effect were published as The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam in 1930. He was elected to the Punjab Legislative Council in 1927 and held several positions in the All-India Muslim League. In his Allahabad Address, delivered at the League’s annual assembly in 1930, he formulated a political framework for the Muslim-majority regions spanning northwestern India, spurring the League’s pursuit of the two-nation theory.
In August 1947, nine years after Iqbal’s death, the partition of India gave way to the establishment of Pakistan, a newly independent Islamic state in which Iqbal was honoured as the national poet. (based on and adapted from People Directory-1940 )
Here is this famous song, sung by Gul Raja and chorus. Enjoy….
Song- Saare jahaan se achha Hindustan hamaara (Hindustan Hamaara)(1950) Singer- Gul Raja, Lyricist- Dr. Iqbal Allama, MD- Vasant Desai
Lyrics
Saare jahaan se achha
Hindostan hamaara
hum bulbule hain iskee
ye gulsitaan hamaara
parvat vo sab se oonchaa
humsaaya aasmaan ka
parvat vo sab se oonchaa
humsaaya aasmaan ka
wo santri hamaara
wo paasbaan hamaara
Saare jahaan se achha
Hindostan hamaara
godee mein kheltee hain
jiskee hazaaron nadiyaan
godee mein kheltee hain
jiskee hazaaron nadiyaan
gulshan hai jis ke dam se
rashq e jahaan hamaara
Saare jahaan se achha
Hindustan hamaara
mazhab naheen sikhaata
aapas mein bair rakhna
mazhab naheen sikhaata
aapas mein bair rakhna
mazhab naheen sikhaata
aapas mein bair rakhna
Hindi hain hum
watan hai Hindostan hamaara
Saare jahaan se achha
Hindostan hamaara
Hindostan hamaara
Hindostan hamaara
Hindostan hamaara
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
February 15, 2026 at 9:47 am
Just for information..
“Saare Jahan Se Accha” is Allama Iqbal’s Tarana -e-Hind (1904).
In the year 1910 he wrote Tarana-e-Milli:
तराना-ए-मिल्ली (Tarana-e-Milli)
चीन-ओ-अरब हमारा, हिन्दोस्ताँ हमारा
मुस्लिम हैं हम, वतन है सारा जहाँ हमारा
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