Main bansee banoon banseedhar kee
Posted by: Atul on: March 8, 2026
- In: "Baansuri" song | Actor-Singer song | Dance song | Guest posts | Kantilal Songs | Lord Krishna related songs | Post by Arunkumar Deshmukh | Sitara devi songs | Song of 1940 | Song sung by three or more singers | Songs of 1930s (1931 to 1940) | Vasanti Song | Yearwise breakup of songs
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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 a social film – Achhut-1940.
The second world war started from 1939, but its effects started being felt in India after 1940 only. The Government became alert and sensitive. Lots of restrictions were put on Imports and Exports. All exports to Germany and Japan were banned. Foreign travel came under Government microscope. Imports were restricted to only essential goods. Raw film stock came under Government control (and naturally became available freely in black market at exorbitant price). Taking advantage of the situation, the Government declared that those film production houses who help the Government in its war efforts, by making films with pro Govt. themes, would get raw film on priority.
Most production studios made films with Patriotic themes accordingly, spicing it with pro Govt dialogues to claim favours. Mahatma Gandhi too upped his efforts to Govt. in distress as much as possible by undertaking different Satyagrahas like the Salt Satyagraha, Burning of Foreign goods, Quit India Movement etc. At the same time Gandhi took up movement against social evils to attract public support to his main cause.
One of the social evils Gandhiji took up was the entry of harijans in Hindu temples. He did satyagraha in Kerala, Nashik, Banares and some other places. The Hindi film industry was alive to what was happening in the country and films on untouchability were made by big studios. Bombay Talkies produced ‘Achhoot Kanya’ in 1936 followed by Ranjit Movietone with their film ‘Achhoot ‘ in 1940. While ‘Achhoot Kanya’ had a sad ending, the film ‘Achhoot’ had a happy ending.
‘Achhut’ aka ‘The Untouchable’ was directed by Chandulal Shah. He too had decided to quit direction and also active participation in film making. He was keen to concentrate on other activities like organisational responsibilities, cotton trade and his favourite addiction – betting. The film was promoted as a Nationalist film addressing Gandhi ‘s campaign against untouchability. The film was endorsed by Gandhi and Sardar Patel, even before it was made.
The cast of the film ‘Achhut’ was Motilal, Gauhar, Sitara, Vasanti, Charlie, Dixit, Mazhar, Yaqub etc. Gauhar quit acting after this film, though she was still good looking. However, she wanted to concentrate on the management of the Ranjit empire. The film’s story was….
In Shanti Nagar, Laxmi (Vasanti) lives with her parents. They are all untouchables. When there is a water shortage, the villagers prevent the family from taking water from the only well, which is reserved for the upper castes.
Disgusted and frustrated, Laxmi’s father embraces Christianity. Laxmi is adopted by a rich businessman, who takes her to the city and gives her education. She (Gauhar) becomes modern and acceptable in high society. She is very friendly with the daughter of the businessman – Savita (Sitara). Problem arises when both girls fall in love with the same boy. To find a solution, the businessman sends Laxmi back to her village. She returns and meets her childhood friend Saheli (Rajkumari) and boyfriend Ramu (Motilal). They are agitating for equal rights for harijans. Laxmi jumps into this and fights for harijans entry into the village temple. There is a riot in which Ramu dies.
Villagers repent after Laxmi delivers a touching speech and as a redemption for their blunder, villagers open the doors of the Temple for Harijans. Laxmi wins the battle.
Hindi film industry’s growth in the early years from 1920s to 1940s was contributed to by 2 major communities. One of them was the Gujarati businessmen who immediately identified this business as the future gold mine. The other major community was the local Marathi, who had no money,but they lent their brain and hard work to this industry. As the time went by, people from Punjab, UP, Bengal and other states of India joined hands to help this industry to prosper. However, till the mid 1950s it was the Gujarati Sethias who poured the finances. Financiers like Sampat Sheth, Gokuldas Pasta, Manik Sheth Patel, Chunilal Munim, Mangaldas Parekh, Abdulali Yusufali, Mohd Ali Rangwala, Chimanlal Desai, Bhogilal Dave, Mayashanker Bhatt etc. only supplied the money, but never dabbled in other departments nor did they learn anything about the film making, more than what was needed to get some profits.
The above statements may give some misleading message that the Gujarati people were only investors in the film industry. It must be clarified that they were businessmen to the core, is only the half truth. The other part is, in the budding, flowering and the growing stages of the film industry, the Gujaratis have contributed in almost every department of filmmaking. Here are some examples from major departments. These lists are only indicative and not exhaustive.
Directors– Ardeshir Irani, Chandulal Trivedi, J.B.H.Wadia, Dalsukh Pancholi, Nanubhai Bhatt, Nanubhai Vakil, Babubhai Mistry, Vijay Bhatt, Ravindra Dave, Chaturbhuj Doshi, Jayant Desai, Ramchandra Thakur etc.
Actors – Ishwarlal, Umakant Desai, K.Krishnakant, John Cavas, Charlie, Manhar desai, Rashid khan, V.H.Desai etc.
Actresses – Goharjaan, Deena pathak, Nirupa Roy, Mehtab, Neelam, Shammi, Asha Parekh, Aruna Irani etc.
Composers – Ajit Merchant, Ninu Mujumdar, Avinash Vyas, Madholal Master, V.Balsara, Jaikishen, Kalyanji Anandji etc.
Singers – Dilip Dholakia, Saraswati devi, Kamal Barot etc.
Lyricists – Mohanlal Dave, Robin Bhatt, Vithaldas Patel etc.
One person, however, was different. CHANDULAL SHAH. He not only put crores of rupees in film making, but also learnt the technique and art of making films, direction, building organisations of producers, developing political connections and what not. He did everything that was needed to become a successful filmmaker and a leader in the industry. That is why Baburao Patel called him “Sardar”. Chandulal Shah made his company Ranjit Movietone, a force to reckon with.
Chandulal Shah belonged to Jamnagar-Gujrat. He was born on 13-4-1898. He was into the cotton trade and used to visit Bombay frequently. Later he started working in Bombay Stock Exchange. He used to visit the Laxmi films, nearby to watch shootings. On one occasion, the director of a silent film ” VIMLA “-1925 fell very sick and on the recommendation of a solicitor friend, Chandulal Shah got an opportunity to direct the film. Impressed by his work style he was offered 2 more films. He left the Stock Exchange job and took up the film line completely.
From Laxmi,he shifted to Kohinoor Film Company, where he met actress Gauhar Jan Mamajiwala, who became his mate for the next 50 years till he died. Gauhar used to feature in his films. With Gauhar, he did GUNSUNDARI in 1927 and in 1934 (silent and Talkie respectively).
This film was a tremendous hit and it helped them to establish their own film company, Ranjit Movies in 1929. In the next 3 year’s time they made 39 silent films. After the advent of Talkie, they changed the name of Ranjit to Ranjit Movietone. Chandulal liked to do things only kingsize. Thus he established Ranjit studios with 4 large sound stages. He also hired around 300 people in the beginning. They made ,on an average, 6 feature films every year. His studio was an assembly line production house. At a time at least 5 to 6 films were being made in his studios. He had a big army of famous Actors, Writers, technicians, directors, Music directors etc. on his payroll.
Actors like Gauhar jaan, Bilimoria, Nirupa Roy, Motilal, Madhuri, Khursheed, and K L Saigal, Music directors like Gyan Dutt, Bulo C Rani, Khemchand Prakash etc, Lyricists and writers like Kidar Sharma, Pradeep, Saadat Hasan Manto and many others were on his Payroll.
Chandulal was very proud of his empire and used to advertise “There are more stars in Ranjit than in the sky”. At the peak time, there were about 700 people employed in Ranjit and the Government had opened a Ration shop in his studio premises for the workers’ benefit ! Khemchand Prakash did 20 films in Ranjit from 1940 to 1945, Gyan Dutt 25 films from 1937 to 1943 and Bulo C Rani did 20 films from 1943 to 1954 here.
From 1929 to 1963 Ranjit made Silent films-31 Tamil-1 Marathi-1 and Hindi Talkie films 120
Unfortunately due to a fire, except 7 talkie Hindi films, all other films were destroyed.
Chandulal Shah was an active person. Besides filmmaking he took interest in many Cine Associations and also led delegations abroad. He was a keen Horse racer, better and a Gambler.
In 1944,in one day he lost ONE CRORE TWENTY FIVE LAKH rupees in cotton betting and that was the beginning of his downfall. He had to mortgage all his and Gauhar jaan’s properties, but it could not save Ranjit from ruin. He returned to Film Direction to make money and his First film after 14 years was PAAPI-1953. It had the hit pair of those times-Raj kapoor and Nargis. For the First time Raj Kapoor did a double role, but the film flopped. Clearly the times were bad for Chandulal. All his kundali was topsy turvy !
He tried 3 more films, all failed. His last film was ‘Akeli mat jaiyo’-1963.A man who ruled an Empire started travelling in local trains and buses. Chandulal Shah died on 25-11-1975.
One of the names in the cast is that of Vasanti.
Vasanti Vinayakrao Ghorpade (16 February 1922 – 29-9-2024) also known as Vasanti was a singer & an actress, born in Kolhapur. Her father’s sister Tanibai was a famous classical singer. Married to Bapusaheb Kagalkar, Tanibai was active in films till 1931 in Kolhapur. Her aunt Tanibai Kagalkar was a financer in Baburao Painter’s Maharashtra Film Company in Kolhapur. Vasanti was initially trained by Pandit Vaman Rao Sadolikar and Ustad Bamman Khan in Kolhapur. Her first film as a child artist is V. Shantaram’s Dharmatma (1935) and as an adult artist Amar Jyoti (1936) and Duniya Na Mane (1937), in which she also sung songs, which became very popular. Amar Jyoti was selected for the Venice International Film Festival.
Vasanti was trained by Pandit Vamanrao Sadolikar and Ustad Bamman Khan. V. Shantaram was her neighbour. He saw her and offered a role in films. She first acted in Dharmatma (1935) as a child artist. Then came Amarjyoti (1936) & Duniya Na Mane (1937). Her songs in these films were popular. She left Prabhat in 1939 and joined Ranjit. She was so popular that she was called Shirley Temple of Hindi films.
Vasanti Vinayakrao Ghorpade was the first child artist and also child singer of Marathi talkie movies. She was a beautiful woman with charming face, talented singer & actress of Marathi & Hindi cinema.
In 1939, Vasanti left Prabhat Films of V. Shantaram and joined Ranjit Movietone at a Monthly salary of ₹. 1500 per month and acted under their banner in Sant Tulsidas (1939), Musafir (1940), Diwali (1940), Achhut zindagi (1940), Beti (1941) & Dukh Sukh (1942). She also sung songs in these movies.
She also acted and sung songs in Aap Ki Marzi (1939), Bhakt Raj (1943) and Kurbani (1943). She acted in 15 films and sung 56 songs for 14 films in Hindi and 140+ songs in Marathi films under the music direction of C. Ramchandra, Sudhir Phadke, Snehal Bhatkar, G. N. Joshi and others. Vasanti also sung a few non filmi songs.
In the year 1944 Vasanti was signed for a movie Meena opposite Devanand (debut movie), unfortunately it could not be released. In the same year she got married to Indubhai Patel of Hyderabad & settled in Bangalore in Karnataka. They have a daughter Meena and three sons Ajit, Nitin & Amar. She was his second wife.
Bachchon Ka Khel (1946) was her last film, in which she had sung three songs. Interestingly, in this movie Meena Kumari appeared as an adult actress.
Vasanti did Sant Tulsidas & Aapki Marzi (1939), Musafir, Diwali & Achoot-(1940), Beti (1941), Sukh Dukh (1942), Bhaktaraj & Kurbani (1943), Meena & Bhagya Laxmi (1944) and Bachhon Ka Khel (1946). She sang 56 songs in 14 films. She did not sing in Bhagya Laxmi-(1944) and Meena-(1944), but sang in Holi (1940). Her last film was Bachhon Ka khel (1946),which was the first film of Meena Kumari, as an adult.
After husband’s death, she shifted to Hyderabad and lived there happily, with her 3 sons and a daughter. Later she shifted to Poona. She died on 29-9-2024.
Here is a song, sung by Kantilal, Vasanti, Sitara and chorus. Enjoy….
Song- Main bansee banoon Banseedhar kee (Achhoot)(1940) Singers- Kantilal, Vasanti, Sitara, Lyricist- P.L.Santoshi, MD-Gyan Dutt
Lyrics
Main bansee banoon banseedhar kee
main bansee banoon banseedhar kee
tum raadha bano o o
tum raadha bano natnaagar kee
main bansee banoon banseedhar kee
main bansee banoon banseedhar kee
tum raadha bano
ho o o
tum raadha bano natnaagar kee
main bansee banoon banseedhar kee
tum krishna bano main raadha banoon
tum krishna bano main raadha banoon
dil ke dagariya phiroon nagariya
dil ke dagariya phiroon nagariya
kis dagariya miley sanwariya
kis dagariya miley sanwariya
wo choree karey morey maakhan kee
wo choree karey morey maakhan kee
main choree karoon unke mann kee
main choree karoon unke mann kee
main bansee banoon banseedhar kee
jab hove aadhee raat sakhee
jab hove aadhee raat sakhee
hari aake chupke chupke se
hari aake chupke chupke se
kuchh kahen madhur see baat sakhee
kuchh kahen madhur see baat sakhee
jo main maakhan paa jaata
na tumko sataata
na maakhan lutaata
na baaten banaata
sakhee ree
naache
sree nand laal naache
naache
sree nand laal naache
naache
raadha gwaala naache
naache
raadha gwaala naache
naache naache naache raadha
naache naache naache raadha
naache
raadha gwaala naache
taak thhaiya se yaak
taak thaiya se yaak
taak thaiya se yaak
taak thai
taak thai
taak thai
naache
shree nand laal naache
naache
shree nand laal naache
naache
raadha gwaala naache
naache
raadha gwaala naache
naache naache naache raadha
naache naache naache raadha
naache naache naache raadhaaaa
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