Aankhon waale tu dekh ke chal
Posted on: March 13, 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 an unusual film Parbat pe apna Dera -1944.
Made by V.Shantaram for his own banner Rajkamal Kalamandir, the film was also directed by him. The music was by Vasant Desai for the songs written by Dewan Sharar-who wrote the film’s story also. For the 9 songs of this film, as many as 7 singers were used, like Parshuram, Vasant desai, Khan mastana, Naseem Akhtar, Zohrabai Ambalewali, Ameerbai Karnataki and Lalita Deulkar.
Today’s song is a duet sung by Parshuram and Lalita Deulkar. The cast of the film was Vanmala, Ulhas, Shantarin, Madan Mohan (not the M.D.), Baby Nalini, Suman, Kamal (wife of comedian Maruti) and others.
V.Shantaram was an actor, director, producer and a studio owner. He was very talented. He rose from an ordinary worker in a studio to become a leading and famous filmmaker of India, who left his indelible mark on the Indian Cinema. He always made films with offbeat themes or stories based on the social evils like Dowry, widow marriage etc. His films were a guarantee for entertainment, good music, excellent direction and full satisfaction.
His films like Duniya na mane, Dahej, Apna desh, padosi, teen batti char rasta etc. were milestones in Indian cinema. Parbat pe apna dera-1944 also tackled one such offbeat story. Here is the film’s story, which will give you an idea why I called this film an Unusual film.
The movie Parbat Pe Apna Dera, deals with the complex theme of renunciation, maya and the true dharma of a human being. Sadhu Ram Das (Ulhas) has renounced the world and made a hill top his abode. Just below his hilltop abode is a Shiva temple. Meera Devi (Vanmala) an heiress who has lost her eyesight in the childhood, often visit Shiva temple along with her father (P L Samant) and her maid (Shantarin) to seek the blessing for curing her eyesight as modern medical science has not been able to restore her eyesight.
During one of her visits to Shiva temple, Meera Devi hears a singing voice from a distance which happens to be that of Sadhu Ram Das. Meera Devi is eager to visit the place to see the singer. Sadhu Ram Das does not like people visiting him as they distract his concentration during the prayer. First, he discourages her from coming near him. But finding Meera Devi blind, he offers to cure her blindness within six days through his herbal eye drops.
On the sixth day, Meera Devi’s eyesight is restored. Now she wants to become a devotee of Sadhu Ram Das to serve him in his daily routine. But Sadhu turns her away as he does not want to get affected in his prayer and concentration. After she leaves, Sadhu Ram Das is restless and feels her absence. Hence, when Meera Devi starts visiting his abode to help him in his daily routine, he does not object to her presence. Slowly, he tastes the luxury of someone doing the work for him.
Meera Devi’s daily visit to the abode of Sadhu Ram Das creates a flutter among other sadhus staying nearby. She suggests Sadhu Ram Das to shift to her palatial residence which after some hesitation, he agrees. He soon gets used to the luxuries of life. He sheds his beard and sadhu’s outfits. He starts flirting with Meera Devi and soon they get married.
After marriage, Sadhu Ram Das becomes Ram Babu who suddenly develops a taste for enjoying the company of other ladies. During a boat ride with Meera Devi, he gets attracted towards a courtesan who is singing in her own boat. He clandestinely visits her boats every day and enjoys her company with wine. During one of his such visits, he is caught red-handed by Meera Devi’s father but decides not to tell his daughter after Ram Babu promises not to repeat the mistake.
Ram Babu’s addiction for the company of females results in breaking his promises to his father-in-law and flirts with a florist in the vicinity of his home itself. He is once again caught red-handed by Meera Devi who is hurt by his behaviour. She debars him from entering her home.
Now that his wife knows about his weakness for women, he now openly flirts with women during the Navratri festival. On Dussehra day, he flirts with one of Meera Devi’s friends (Kanta Kumari) and attempts to molest her. To save herself, she throws a burning cracker towards Ram Babu which hits him in his eyes resulting in blindness.
When Meera Devi comes to know about the incident, she goes with her father in search of him. Eventually, they find him in his hilltop abode. Meera Devi suddenly remembers his magic herbal eye drop bottle which she retrieves from his cave. Alas, on the way, it falls and the bottle is broken. Finally, it is the continuous ringing of the temple bell by both Meera Devi and Ram Babu which restores his eyesight. He vows to remain faithful to Meena hereafter.
The lead actor Ulhas is known to most people as a character actor, but in his early career he did lead roles in films like Basant-1942 and this film. Ulhas had worked in some films under V Shantaram – ‘Wahaan’ (1937), ‘Dr Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani’ (1946), ‘Dahej’ (1950), ‘Surang’ (1953), ‘Toofaan Aur Diya’ (1956), ‘Do Aankhen Barah Haath’ (1957), ‘Navrang’ (1959) and ‘Sehra’ (1963).
Ulhas’s connection with V Shantaram goes back to 1937 when he left his hometown, Ajmer and reached Pune to try his luck as an actor. He met his fellow Kashmiri, Chandramohan who has become a well-known actor in Prabhat Film Company. He helped Ulhas in getting a side role in ‘Wahaan’ (1937) in which Chandramohan was a lead actor and V Shantaram was the director. After this, there was no looking back for Ulhas. He acted in over 150 films during his active film career of over 3 decades.
The heroine of this film, Vanmala was one of those actresses, who not only came from a very respectable Royal family, but was also a highly educated person. In those days, these two things were valued highly. Veteran Marathi and Hindi actress Vanamala will always be associated with her roles in the landmark films, Sikandar (1941) opposite Prithviraj Kapoor and in particular the title role in Shyamchi Aai (1953), the first film ever to win the Best Film Award when the National Awards were instituted for Indian Cinema in 1954.
Vanamala was born as Susheela Devi Pawar on 23-5- 1915. Her father Lt.Col. Rao Bahadur Bapu Rao Pawar was a Minister in Gwalior state. Vanmala grew up in the Royal palace with Princess Kamla Devi. Vanmala graduated from Agra University in 1935 and did her B.T. from Bombay University in 1937.
At 21, Vanmala Devi, was a double graduate and a teacher in the progressive Agarkar High School of Poona. She felt she had a mission in life. Did she find what she was seeking? It is anybody’s guess but teaching was her first try and then she went on to films to find expression for her irrepressible talent.
There was a wrench. Vanrnala tore herself away from the forbidding regulations of a traditional Maratha family ruled by her father and the devotional orthodoxy handed down to her by her mother along with a love for nature and literature. Vanmala sought to reconcile the irreconcilables with the firm belief that, down the ages, all expressions of art in India were developed and presented by way of a sacred duty.
That was why, when necessary, she did not hesitate to turn her back on lucrative film assignments to appear on the Marathi stage. In fact, she worked for the building fund of the Marathi Sahitya Sangh at Bombay. Her lead role in the Marathi version of Oscar Wilde’s ‘Lady Windermere’s Fan’ (शोभेचा पंखा), written by Prof. V.H.Kulkarni, is memorable. That was in the early forties.
She began her career in the late 1930s following her graduation and having become a teacher in Pune’s Camp Education Society. Vanamala entered films at a time when it was considered taboo for women from respectable families to work in films though women like Devika Rani and Durga Khote had started working in films by then. It was V.Shantaram who encouraged her to come into the film industry as an actress. Her first film was a Marathi film ” Lapandav”. Principal Acharya Atre became very friendly with her and brought her to Hindi films. Vanmala had unusual Brown eyes. In those days, the Hindi film industry had only two actresses with Brown eyes. One was Vanmala and the other was Ragini, who migrated to Pakistan, after partition.
Prithviraj used to call her Diana the Moon Goddess. The lyrical Pahari Sanyal used to call her “Mala”. Motilal was more-down-to-earth and called her just plain “Bright Eyes”. In fact, it was her eyes that got her the role of Ruksana and it put her in the front rank of Indian film stars with the success of “Sikandar”. It was one of the early successes of Minerva Movietone and it has made film history in India.
Vanamala acted in both Hindi and Marathi Cinema. Among her Hindi films, Vanamala will always be best remembered for Sohrab Modi’s historical Sikandar and Sharbati Ankhen (1945), directed by Ramchandra Thakur for Wadia Movietone. In the former she played Alexander the Great’s love interest, a Persian woman, Rukhsana, who fearing for Alexander’s life extracted a promise from Porus that he will not harm Sikandar. Vanamala made a major impact in her role, her beauty coupled with her light-coloured lively eyes taking the audience’s breath away. The film itself was a spectacle – its lavish mounting, huge sets and production values equalling the best of Hollywood then particularly its rousing and spectacular battle scenes. It was rated by a British writer as, “…well up to the standard of that old masterpiece The Birth of a Nation.”
The eyes that got Vanmala Devi the lead role of Ruksana in “Sikandar” had soon to be “disowned” in her next picture. In “Parbat Pe Apna Dera”, Vanmala Devi played the role of a blind girl with great effect. First Ulhas was seen, stick in hand, or rather his legs and the lower part of the stick. Then came Vanmala’s dainty feet taking each cautious step. Finally, the camera turned up to feature her full figure. She later said that she was so involved with the role that she actually felt blinded. Once, she had to blink her eyes before she could focus them and look at V. Shantaram who was trying to draw her attention.
In Sharbati Ankhen, her Brown eyes were again used to mesmerising effect, the film so aptly titled one feels, after her! The film has some of the earliest songs sung by Mohammed Rafi in his career includingPyaar Karna hi Padega and Bahut Mukhtasar Hai Humari Kahani. The music for the film was done by Feroz Nizami who went on to compose unforgettable music in a hat-trick of films with the great Noor Jehan (Jugnu (1947) in India and Chan Wey (Punjabi) (1951) and Dopatta (1952) in Pakistan.
However, the one role that undoubtedly immortalized Vanamala forever was the title role in the National Award winning Marathi film, Shyam chi Aai-1953, directed by PK Atre. The film, regarded as a cult classic today, is based on one of the most influential Marathi novels of the 20th century (1935), a fictionalised account of the childhood years of Sane Guruji (1899 – 1950). A nationalist influenced by Vinoba Bhave and especially Gandhiji, he was imprisoned repeatedly for his work among the peasantry and participation in the Quit India agitations. His book Shyamchi Aai, written in jail, has 45 episodes in which Shyam, a youth living in poverty in Konkan, recalls the teachings of his mother, a devoutly religious person with an earthy and practical philosophy. The hit film has remained a generic landmark in Marathi Cinema and especially so for Vanamala’s maternal prototype. Actor Madhav Vaze, who played the role of her son Shyam in Shyamchi Aai, recalls Vanamala as a woman of few words. “Her actions spoke for her. She was well-educated and a cultured woman who belonged to a noble family from Gwalior,” he said.
Some other films that Vanamala acted in include Payachi Dasi (Marathi)/ Charnon ki Dasi (Hindi) (1941), Vasantasena (1942), Dil ki Baat (1944), Hatim Tai (1947), Beete Din (1947) and Shree Ram Bharat Milap (1965). In all, she did 25 Hindi films. She sang 24 songs in 5 films in her career. For some time she was a partner in Atre pictures also. She produced the film Bramhan Kanya aka Khandani-1947.
Eventually she did build a bungalow at Khandala and rented out a flat by the sea in Bombay which she furnished with taste and equipped with a selective library. But that still didn’t make a “home”. The nearest she got to it could be when she settled down in Gwalior to look after her ailing father. Perhaps, she had almost arrived at a “home” when she bought over a studio and became the first woman to own one.
The supposedly demure Vanamala was a staunch nationalist and was deeply involved in the freedom movement along with stalwarts like Aruna Asaf Ali and Achyut Patwardhan. She was deeply involved in several social causes and was a member of the Chhatrapati Shivaji National Memorial Committee. She also ran a school to train children in traditional Indian arts and culture, The Haridas Kala Sansthan.
Vanmala Devi’s retirement from films was no surprise to her friends. She had realized that the crusading zeal and aesthetic values of the pioneering days were giving place to new norms of success. She found that filmdom could not afford her the avenue for expression which she wanted— or needed. She sublimated all her yearnings for expression in the worship of Lord Krishna at Vrindavan and later in the service of her father.
Vanamala who had been suffering from cancer, passed away in Gwalior on May 29, 2007.( This article is based on some information taken from an article in Upperstall, an article by Sumati Dhanawate- Vanmala’s sister, The Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema, Beete kal ke sitare, Marathi Cinema in Retrospect and my notes. Thanks to all.)
Here is a song from this film, sung by Parshuram and Lalita Deulkar. Enjoy….
Song- Aankhon waale tu dekh ke chal (Parbat Pe Apna Dera)(1944) Singers- Lalita Deulkar, Parshuram, Lyricist-Dewan Sharar, MD- Vasant Desai
Lyrics
aankhon waale
aankhon waale
tu dekh ke chal
haan haan dekh ke chal
teree akhiyan ka jale dip sada
ise bujhne na dena
ise bujhne na dena
aankhon waale
o o o
aankhon waale
aa aa aa aa
aaj tu aankhen khol ke chalna
aaj tu aankhen khol ke chalna
meethhee bolee bolte chalna
meethhee bolee bolte chalna
ho o o
jhooth aur sach sab tol ke chalna
jhooth aur sach sab tol ke chalna
naheen to girega tu
aankhen khol ke chal
aankhon waale
o o o
aankhon waale
gire huye ko kaun uthhaaye
be-matlab koi paas na aaye
gire huye ko kaun uthhaaye
be-matlab koi paas na aaye
aa aa aa aa
aa aa aa
door se dekhe hansta jaaye
door se dekhe hansta jaaye
girna naheen sambhal
sambhal
ho o o o
aa aa aa aaa aa
door se dekhe hansta jaaye
door se dekhe hansta jaaye
girna naheen sambhal
sambhal
ho o o
aankhen khol ke chal
aankhon waale
tu dekh ke chal
haan haan dekh ke chal
teree ankhiyan ka jale deep sada
ise bhujhne na dena
bhujhne na dena
aankhon waale
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
March 13, 2026 at 9:50 am
Arun Ji
Thanks for the post , detailing on Vanamala.
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March 13, 2026 at 10:44 am
Thanks.
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