Ae idhar to dekho
Posted by: Atul on: February 24, 2026
- In: Asha Bhonsle solo | Asha Bhonsle songs | Club song | Guest posts | Post by Sadanand Kamath | Rare song | Song from unreleased movie | Song meant for one movie but used in another movie | Song not figuring in HFGK | Song unlisted in HFGK | Songs from Unreleased Films of 1960s | Songs of 1960s (1961 to 1970) | Songs of 1961 | Unreleased song | Yearwise breakup of songs
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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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February 23, 2026 was the 57th Remembrance Day of Madhubala (14/02/1933 – 23/02/1969) who was called the ‘Venus of India’. In the words of Rinki Roy (daughter of producer-director, Bimal Roy), ‘Madhubala is the face of original celluloid diva’. Dev Anand, in his autobiography, ‘Romancing With Life’ (2007) has described Madhubala as the ‘most beautiful of all the heroines in the fairyland of films, with her natural looks, always fresh as morning dew. Her childlike innocence was accentuated by the most noticeable trait of her character, her famous giggle’.
Madhubala was born in Delhi as Mumtaz Jehan Begum Dehlvi. Her father, Ataullah Khan who once worked in Imperial Tobacco Company (Now ITC) in Delhi had lost his job due to his short-temper and head strong nature. So, the family shifted to Bombay (Mumbai) sometime in the late 1930s and stayed in the dock area. Due to his large family with wife and six daughters, (Mumtaz being the third), Ataullah Khan was finding it difficult to manage the family. Among his daughters, he found Mumtaz being the brightest. She had flare for singing and dancing and had interest in films. He tried to get her some work in the film as a child artist.
Devika Rani selected her as a child artist for the film, ‘Basant’ (1942) in which she got the role of the daughter of the film’s lead actors, Ulhas and Mumtaz Shanti. In this film, two songs on her was picturised as a stage performer which became popular. The film was a box office super hit. Thus, her acting career began with this film as Baby Mumtaz and she became the sole earning member of the family with her father later managing her filmy career.
After the success of ‘Basant’ 1942), Ranjit Movietone signed Mumtaz as a child artist during which she acted under this banner in ‘Mumtaj Mahal’ (1944), ‘Dhanna Bhagat’ (1945), ‘Phoolwari’ (1946) and ‘Rajputana’ (1946). Kidar Sharma, Writer-Director in Ranjit Movietone decided to produce and direct ‘Neel Kamal’ (1947) for which he signed Mumtaz in her first adult role (she was 14 years old at that time) opposite Raj Kapoor, also his first film in a lead role. In the same year, ‘Dil Ki Rani; (1947) was released in which her name Mumtaz was changed to the screen name, Madhubala which was given by Devika Rani after watching her performance in ‘Neek Kamal’ (1947).
In ‘Mahal’ (1949), the character of Kamini/Asha that Madhubala essayed in the film was quite different from her screen image of a sparkling beautiful face. Playing a ghost, her role was the first of what would become an inspiration for Hindi film with female ghost in the later years. As it turned out later in the film, her character, was not of a ghost, Kamini but a woman, Asha who pretended as a ghost to create a psychological drama to take revenge in breaking Ashok Kumar’s impending marriage with Vijaylaxmi. This was the beginning of her matured roles to prove that more than her sparkling beauty, she can also give dramatic performances. Her roles in ‘Taraana’ (1951) and ‘Amar’ (1954) have confirmed this point.
In ‘Mr & Mrs 55’ (1955), Madhubala’s role was that of a pampered heiress who was turned into a good housewife. Madhubala performed excellently as a witty and modern wife within the ambit of a traditional marital life. Madhubala’s character in Satyen Bose’s ‘Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi’ (1958) was that of an independent, fun-loving urban woman who drove her car. In ‘Howrah Bridge’ (1958), she gave an excellent performance in the role of an Anglo-Indian cabaret dancer, balancing her character between her association with a shady character and her love story with the protagonist of the film. In the very next year, she changed herself in the role of a villager in ‘Insaan Jaag Utha’ (1959) who worked as a labourer in a dam project. Her role demanded intense emotional performances.
Whenever anyone talks about ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ (1960), the first thought comes in the mind is that of Madhubala as Anarkali though Dilip Kumar and Prithviraj Kapoor have given the excellent performances in their respective roles. Despite their soured relationship during the making of the film, the love scenes between Dilip Kumar and Madhubala appear so genuine, specially the scene when Dilip Kumar caresses Madhubala with a feather.
During her career spanning around 20 years, Madhubala acted in 72 films acting opposite a number of top heroes of the time – Ashok Kumar, Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand. Jairaj, Prem Nath, Sunil Dutt, Shammi Kapoor, Kishore Kumar, Pradeep Kumar, Bharat Bhushan, Guru Dutt etc. She did the maximum number of films (8) pairing with Dev Anand. She got to play a variety of roles from comedy to love stories, light-hearted fun films to emotional dramas.
Madhubala suffered from an incurable health problem at that time – she had a hole in her heart. The condition is called ventricular septal defect in medical terms, in which the body produces extra blood. It has been reported that she would often bleed from her nose and mouth. A doctor would routinely come to her home to extract blood from her body. By early 1960s, the condition went from bad to worse. Even after her marriage with Kishore Kumar, she mostly lived in her father’s home as she required continuous monitoring of her health. Her end came in 1969, aged 36. [Note: Madhubala’s early life profile is based on a biographical book, ‘The Story of Madhubala’ by Khatija Akbar (1997)].
In the 1960s, a few films of her were shelved because of her health issues, among which ‘Ye Basti Ye Log’ (1960 UR) was one of them. The film was produced by S P Srivastava and was directed by Vinod Kumar. Cast details are not known except that Balraj Sahni and Madhubala were in the lead roles. If the film was to be completed and released, it would have been the first film in which Balraj Sahni paired with Madhubala.
HMV/SAREGAMA had released only two songs from the film in 1960. One song has been represented on the Blog. The second song rendered by Mohammed Rafi is yet to be covered on the Blog. On the occasion of 57th Remembrance Day of Madhubala, I have picked up another song, ‘Idhar to dekho ek nazar to dekho’, written by Prem Warbartani and rendered by Asha Bhosle under the music direction of Bhola Shreshtha. This song was not issued by HMV/SAREGAMA but the video clip of the song was included as a part of the story in ‘Film Hi Film’ (1983). The song is picturised on Madhubala as a club song in which Balraj Sahni among others can be seen in the audience. The song is only partially available, both on the video and audio clips though the audio clip has a couple of additional lines.
Video Clip:
Audio Clip:
Song-Ae idhar to dekho (Ye Basti Ye Log)(UR)(1961) Singer-Asha Bhonsle, Lyricist-Prem Warbartani, MD-Bhola Shreshtra
Lyrics (based on Audio Clip):
Ae
idhar to dekho…o
ik
nazar to dekho
chhalkaa hai saaghar pyaar kaa
pee ke asar to dekho o
ae
idhar to dekho
ik
nazar to dekho o
chhalkaa hai saaghar pyaar kaa
haay
pee ke asar to dekho o
ae
idhar to dekho o o o
ho o o o
kyun yaad karte naheen
ham tum miley thhe kaheen
kyun yaad karte naheen
ham tum miley thhe kaheen
ho yaad tumko paaya jee
ye rahgujar to dekho o o o
ae
idhar to dekho
ik
nazar to dekho
chhalkaa hai saaghar pyaar kaa
haay
pee ke asar to dekho o
ae
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4 Responses to "Ae idhar to dekho"
February 25, 2026 at 10:37 am
Sadanand Ji
Thanks for writing on Madhubala, this unreleased film and presenting this appealing song. I have not heard before, for good reasons. Nice to see Madhubala in a rare video.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
February 25, 2026 at 5:51 am
In VSD body doesn’t produce extra blood. The pure ( oxygen rich ) blood of the left ventricle mixes with the impure ( oxygen poor ) blood in the right ventricle through a defect in the wall separating the two chambers ( Ventricular Septum ).
On Tue, Feb 24, 2026, 09:00 Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi
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February 25, 2026 at 10:34 am
Yes, that is what I was under the impression, Dr Pradeep Ji. Thanks for explaining to readers
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February 25, 2026 at 11:00 am
Thank you, Shenoy ji. Wanted to clarify bcs it is a medical fact.
On Wed, Feb 25, 2026, 10:34 Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi
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