Gham Ka Banoge Nishaana
Posted on: March 11, 2026
- In: "Advice" song | Devnagri script lyrics by Sudhir | Guest posts | Lyrics contributed by readers | Post by Sudhir | Rampyari Solo Songs | Rampyari Songs | Rare song | Song of 1931 | Songs of 1930s (1931 to 1940) | Thousandth song for the blog | Thousandth song in the blog | Yearwise breakup of songs
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This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
This article is the 20000th song post in the blog. It covers a song that was released in the year 1931 but whose existence came to light only just recently.
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Blog Day : |
6445 | Post No. : | 20000 |
Things do not get any more rare than this. Plus celebrations like today’s, also do not get any more better and rare.
Milestones is a habit now long forgotten on this blog. No, I do not mean to say we do not celebrate. But it has now become a matter of routine. However, a milestone such as today, came to fore after a journey of more than 17 years. And that too – we can just bask in this glory for a few hours more. Night will fall, the sun will rise, and this milestone will be left behind – forever.
In five decades of recorded data (1931-80), there is an estimated approximation – about 45 thousand songs, give or take. Beyond that, another 45 years of an industry that I and more in my category have not tracked sincerely. But taking just a crude estimate, let us say, another 40 thousand songs. We are talking of a huge repository that is about 85 thousand songs. I am sure, it is a number that cannot be matched by any other segment of the industry world wide. And if I take a look at the counter on the top of this article, a whopping 20+ percent of that repository is already showcased on Atul-Song-a-Day.
A moment it takes to absorb this. Time to ruminate, to contemplate and to let this number sink in inside.
Numbers, after all, are the favorite discussion on such occasions on the blog. So many accolades about what has been accomplished – number of films represented, number of artists of all categories acknowledged, statistics about artist numbers on the blog, and on top of that, multiple combinations of all this data points. It will be another big exercise to actually do the collation and document all the types of statistics that are possible to build from the repository on hand –a worthwhile doctoral project in its own right.
Another two numbers to talk about. The blog has now been operational for – hold breath – 6445 days. And let us say, considering a life span of 90 years, this is an effort that is 20% of the life of a person of 90 years, having worked on this blog each and every one of those 6445 days. Takes a good gulp to swallow this measure too. 🙂
And the other significant number to talk about is the footfall on our blog. As the counter stands right now, it is just shy of 18 million visitors total, since Rafi Sb first crooned the ghazal “Miley Na Phool To Kaanton Se Dosti Kar Li” on this blog, on 19th July of 2008. On an aggregate average of approximately 3000 visitors per day, our blog is probably the liveliest haunt for the music lovers on the net.
We can, and we have, talked about Atul ji and his dedicated leadership. We can, and we have talked about the contributing team, led by our dear Arun ji. With all the combined effort, the engine of this blog has been chugging along merrily, for so many years now. And with renewed energy, I am sure, we are going to go past milestones after milestones, on this melodious journey of the bandwagon.
Ameen.
And so I repeat, the occasion does not get any more rare than this.
And song that we present today, is so very aptly of a commanding rarity, wonderfully suited for the momentous occasion. I take you back all the way to 1931, the year that started all this business of the Hindi film song.
Those were the fledgling days, so very different from what we know from our own lifetime’s exposure to the so called Golden Era and beyond. The pioneering effort of this new modified technology probably all went into building the films, with storylines and songs. Recording of songs, their publication, their documentation and their preservation – all these aspects were tremendously new for the pioneers. They were learning and developing as they went along.
In the first few years, the concept of associating the songs with a film, and their release on the shellac discs, was definitely not a priority for the production houses. The discovery that I bring to light today, is one of the probably many such songs which were released on the gramophone records, but they were not linked to the films they were part of. For that era, the first part of the 1930s decade, very few films had formal release of their songs on shellac records. Many more were probably published as records, without and linking identification to the films they belonged. And so, for that era, many discoveries of film songs have been a combination of diligent and painstaking review of the data on the labels, and some ‘Aha’ moments where the aficionados have been able to recognize the song listed on labels, as being one belonging to such and such film. We now have many such instances on our blog itself. We have brought forth songs that are published on gramophone records, without any name of the film, on the label.
Another thought, another aspect has been contributed to this discussion by Shri Anoop Ji Gadodia of Calcutta. He has opined that in some cases, the song was already published and in the market as a normal non-film item. The song became popular, and some film producer / director, used the song in their film. This situation is also a distinct possibility on how we are able to trace and link, songs on gramophone records, as belonging to such and such a film.
But of course, as I stated above, it is indeed a very diligent and informed connection, by someone who has a very good familiarity with, let’s say, the listing of songs in the Geet Kosh. And when we dig down deeper into this connection, few other items of evidence click in and a discovery is made.
In this connection, I have to mention the name of Syed Zafar Shah, a very dear friend and an amazing record collector in Delhi. It is he who made the discovery of this song. And when he did, he immediately got in touch with me to discuss and confirm. The record of this song is published by the Odeon label. The label itself carries no other information – just two things, the mukhda of the song, and the singer name. On checking the film details in GK, I found that the singer Rampyari is listed as the lead actress in this film. And so the connection was complete.
And I must add. Zafar Bhai deference, and his allowance to post this song online, is an exemplary gesture. He discovered this song more than six months ago. I immediately recognized the significance of this song and conferred with Atul ji. We decided that the import of this song was big enough to merit a really major milestone on the blog. We then decided to hold this song for the 20K milestone. And on my request, Zafar Bhai kept this song in abeyance, not publishing on his channel, which he frequently does with such rare discoveries. And more, when I talked with him about uploading this song couple of days ago, he graciously requested me to upload it on my channel. A really big thanks to him, for his kind support and his gesture.
Coming to the song itself. The singing voice is that of Rampyari. No info about the songwriter or the music director is forthcoming from any quarter. I tried to locate the booklet for this film, but so far it seems to be untraceable. I tried to search online and I came across an newspaper advertisement in ‘The Bombay Chronicle’ newspaper announcing the release of this film. The newspaper is dated 30th May, 1931. Some details that I have extracted from this advertisement.
The film is from the production house of Krishnatone. The English title of the film is ‘The Wife’.
The sound recorder of this film is Manecklal M Patel, and director is Kanji Bhai J Rathod. Another name listed is Harilal K Patel, as the cameraman.
The cast listed is Miss Rampyari, Miss Sardar and Ghazanvi. It is very much possible that Miss Sardar is Sardar Akhtar, but I will wait for confirmation from another source also.
Some interesting phrases on the advertisement –
A Radiant Romance Caught into the Microphone – The eternal tragedy of the Indian woman, transported to the Vocal Screen – Vagaries of avagabond heart revealed through dainty Dialogues – Love’s lingering melodies received in Photophone.
The colossal photophone drama, built out of the very fabric of lfe, stripped of reserve, born out of the agony of a woman’s soul revealing humility. Most bitter weakness, most glorious strengths.
Miss Rampyari, the most handsome siren of the screen, plays the role of a dancing girl very remarkably.
Here is a tremendous drama of absorbing interest, vitally alive, with all the elements of entertainment.
About the actress Rampyari, there is detailed write up that dear Arun ji has posted earlier on the blog.
Actress Rampyari’s life story is interesting. Though from a singing family(Tawaif) from Hyderabad, she was quite educated. Fluent in English and Urdu, besides Hindi and mother tongue Telugu, she used to reply in chaste English or Urdu to her fan’s letters. She is also one of the earliest film artistes who did programmes in other countries, in those days.
Rampyari was from Low cast and profession, but was a highly polished and sophisticated actress in those days. Rampyari hailed from a Telugu family of highly skilled professional dancers and singers. She lived in Nagulchinta area of old Hyderabad city.She was born on 27-8-1908 . That year Hyderabad witnessed devastating floods.She was taught Urdu and English. Apart from her mother tongue Telugu she was also proficient in Marathi and Kannada. She was trained in Dancing and singing. In 1918, at the age of 10 years, she was taken to Madras by her aunt, who trained her in Bharatanatyam. After 4 years of rigorous training, she became the best dancer of Madras.
In 1926, a film producer from Kohinoor Film company, Bombay ,visiting Madras, saw her dancing and invited her to Bombay.It was the era of Silent movies. Her first film was Gunsundari, with Miss Gauhar and Raja Sandow. It was directed by Chandulal Shah and was released in 1927. Her supporting role as a dancer in the film was lauded by the audience. Next film Vile woman was also successful. She acted in more than 20 films as a Heroine and dancer and established her name as a seasoned actress of the 30s.
With the advent of Talkies, she easily switched over. She had no difficulty in delivering Urdu dialogues. In 1931, she acted in Paak Daman, Laila Majnu and Ghar ki laxmi, Gunsundari in 1934 and Azad Abla,Meethi Nazar and Hamlet in 1935.
Famous director Debki Bose from New Theatres, Calcutta invited her and signed up for ” Sunehra Sansar”-36 and Vidyapati-37, which was a mega hit. After this, she did few films in Calcutta with other companies. Her film Milap-37 was famous for being the first to show the prototype of a “vamp” in Indian Cinema. Rampyari was shown wearing “an off-shoulder dress” and using a cigarette-holder, with the intent of seducing the hero Prithviraj Kapoor, the scene was later used by Raj Kapoor on Nadira in his film Shree 420 (1955) for the song “Mud Mud Ke Na Dekh”.
She toured the entire south India and gave dance performances in major cities. She became so famous that the Ceylon Labour Union invited her to Ceylon and presented her with Gold Mementos. She also performed in Burma. She was greatly inspired by the acting of Sulochana aka Ruby Meyers and Miss Gauhar of Ranjit, with whom she acted in many films.
She shifted to Bombay permanently in the 30s. Her family also moved out of Hyderabad and came to Bombay. She had a large fan following in Hyderabad. She had a great fan mail too, which she replied in fluent Urdu and English. Later she got married and retired from films.
She acted in 30 films. Her last film was Dak bungla-47. She sang 14 songs in 8 films.
She died on 28-8-1970 at Bombay. There was no news in any paper.
(Thanks to P.Kamlakarji’s Blog and his book ” The lost treasure” and my notes ).
As I was listening to this song in preparation for this post, another similar song of later vintage connected in the mind,
Maar kataari mar jaana
Ye akhiyaan kisi se milaana na
Ho milaana na
And in conclusion, heartiest congratulations to the entire musical bandwagon of our blog. As always, the lines that come to mind are
Ye hasnta hua kaarvaan zindagi ka na poochho chala hai kidhar
Tamanna hai ye saath chalte rahen hum, na beete kabhi ye safar
Song – Gham Ka Banoge Nishaana (Ghar Ki Lakshmi) (1931) Singers – Rampyari, Lyrics – Unattributed, MD – Unattributed
Lyrics
gham ka banoge nishaana
kisi se dil na lagaana
dekho bura hai zamaana
kisi se dil na lagaana
gham ka banoge nishaana
kisi se dil na lagaana
kaleja thaam ke karti thi shirin wawaila
viraah ke qais ke ro ro ke gaati thi laila
kha ke zehar mar jaana
kisi se dil na lagaana
dekho bura hai zamaana
kisi se dil na lagaana
mareez e ishq sada ranj o gham ko sehte hai
ye haal ishq mein hota hai tum se kehte hai
aakhir padega pachhtaana
kisi se dil na lagaana
dekho bura hai zamaana
kisi se dil na lagaana
gham ka banoge nishaana
kisi se dil na lagaana
—————————————–
Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
—————————————–
ग़म का बनोगे निशाना
किसी से दिल न लगाना
देखो बुरा है ज़माना
किसी से दिल न लगाना
ग़म का बनोगे निशाना
किसी से दिल न लगाना
कलेजा थाम के करती थी शीरीन वावेला
विरह में क़ैस के रो रो के गाती थी लैला
खा के ज़हर मर जाना
किसी से दिल न लगाना
देखो बुरा है ज़माना
किसी से दिल न लगाना
मरीज़ ए इश्क़ सदा रंज ओ ग़म को सहते हैं
ये हाल इश्क़ में होता है तुमसे कहते हैं
आखिर पड़ेगा पछताना
किसी से दिल न लगाना
देखो बुरा है ज़माना
किसी से दिल न लगाना
ग़म का बनोगे निशाना
किसी से दिल न लगाना
किसी से दिल न लगाना
ग़म का बनोगे नशाना
किसी से दिल न लगाना
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
March 11, 2026 at 11:16 pm
Song post number 20000 in the blog is a figure that simply boggles the mind. But we have managed to climb this musical equivalent of Mount Everest today.
When we reached song post number 10000 in the blog (on 20 July 2014), the song post number 10000 rewrote HFM history because it was for the first time that a Hindi film song of 1931 was discovered and posted online.
Today (11 march 2026), the song post number 20000 rewrites HFM history once more, by uncovering yet another song from 1931 (the every first year of HFM in India). Sudhir Jee, and also the ever generous music collector extraordinaire Zafar Shah jee have made this historical musical discovery possible. I thank both of them profusely on behalf of music lovers in general and this blog in particular. Such a history making unearthing of this rare song and its presentation as the 20000th post in the blog would not have been possible without them.
I also take this opportunity to thank one and all on this momentous occasion. Here is hoping that this musical journey will continue for many more years and we will touch many more milestones in future.
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