Dilbar pyaare na todo dil kee aas re
Posted on: March 27, 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 a very old film of the first decade of the Talkie Era – Duniya kya hai aka Resurrection – 1938.
1938 was an interesting year in the early life of the Talkie films. The film making studios had firm footing with a studio system and they tried a variety of subjects in their films. In the 88 Hindi films produced in 1938, one finds almost every Genre of film subjects, except perhaps the usual Folk stories and Historical themes. Comedy, Tragedy, Fiction, Jungle stories, Costume, Socials, Musicals, Mythologicals, you name it and you had it. Content and technical expertise had improved as films on famous novels were made.
Well known studios like Imperial, Sagar, New Theatres, Prabhat, Ranjit, Bombay Talkies, Praksh, Vishnu Cinetone, Huns Pictures, Wadia Movietone, Saroj Movietone etc. were very active bringing out 3 to 4 films each. Huns and Prabhat continued bilingual films in Hindi and Marathi, while New Theatres made Hindi and Bangla films. Many new actors debuted. Many new actors matured and the old scrap from silent films slowly disappeared giving way to new entrants. The Imperial film company, which had the honour of making India’s first Hindi Talkie film – Alam Ara in 1931, downed its shutters in 1938. The last of the Southern languages, Malayalam, produced its First Talkie film BALAN in 1938. Film Industry celebrated its Silver Jubilee -from 1913 to 1938 and several programmes were held all over India.
Let us take a look at some of the films of 1938….
ABHAGIN – Debut film of actor Chaman Puri (eldest brother of Madan puri and Amrish Puri)
ADHIKAR – Music Director Timir Baran Bhattacharya. After Independence, he was invited to West Pakistan and East Pakistan to give music to their films. Film Adhikar was on the importance of how bringing up makes a person.
BAGHBAN – Debut film of Ram Avtar
BAHADUR KISAN – First directorial venture of Master Bhagwan. During this film’s making he developed a lasting friendship with C.Ramchandra, who assisted Meer Sahab, the M.D.
BHABHI – Renuka Devi’s second film and first with Jairaj.
BILLI – Based on P.G.Wodehouse novel ” Damsel in Distress”
BRAHMACHARI – Debut film of Minakshi Shirodkar. She appeared in a swimming suit, first time in Hindi films. It created a sensation.
DHARATIMATA – Complete film was shot outdoors. Saigal and Pankaj Mullick created havoc with this musical film. The song ” Duniya rang rangeeli baba’ is still popular.
DIVORCE – Minerva’s film on Husband – Wife relations.
DUNIYA KYA HAI– Lalita Pawar’s production. Based on Tolstoy’s ” Resurrection”.
GRAMOPHONE SINGER – Sagar’s musical with Bibbo and Surendra. Zohrabai sings for the first time for Anil Biswas.
GOPAL KRISHNA – Hit film from Prabhat. Trick scenes were superb.Ram Marathe as Krishna,lifting Govardhan Parvat on a finger produced clapping from the audience for several minutes.
HIMALAY KI BETI – Bhavnani production with Enakshi Rama Rau-his wife.
JAILOR– Minerva’s film on a Psycho-Neurotic person. Remade in the 50’s again.
MERA LADKA – Story of an unwed mother. Marathi and Hindi versions from Prabhat.
MR. X – Stunt film with Rattanbai , from Prakash
NIRMALA – Bombay talkies. Devika rani- Ashok kumar. After this film, the Germans In Bombay talkies, including director Franz Osten were arrested by the British as Nazis and jailed in Igatpuri during the Second World War.
PROF. WAMAN, M.Sc. – Ranjit presents a Sci Fi fiction film about travels into the future.
SAATHI – Durga Khote and Mubarak produced in Hindi and Marathi (as Sawangadi).
STREET SINGER – Saigal’s musical feast from New Theatres.
VASANT BENGALI – Last film from Imperial film co., after 109 Silent films and 52 Talkie films in several languages. Just one year ago, i.e. in 1937 Madon Theatres of Calcutta- once a giant in film production, had closed down with their last film ‘ Zinda Laash.
In this Mayanagari of Hindi films, millions of people from all over India came to test their Luck in the newly opened industry. Some had talents, most others had only an ambition to learn and the rest had only a desire to get employment of any type. Not all succeeded. Only talented people with the help of luck continued in this field. Slowly, over the years, the jobs were marked with boundaries and then there were actors, directors, producers, cameramen, singers, composers, dance directors, editors etc.
In all these demarcations, there was a strange desire among the successful and famous artists. Not all, but a considerable and noticeable number. The desire was to try the other department’s skills. For example, an actor wanted to direct a film,a singer wanted to compose music, a Comedian wanted to do a serious role etc Not all could achieve this, but there are known cases where some did venture into the other department- with success or with disaster. Here are some examples.
A trained Choreographer changed over tonDirection and later to acting too (Guru Dutt), a director acted in few films (Phani Mujumdar), a singer became a composer in few films (G.M.Durrani), a composer sang songs (C.Ramchandra, S.D.Burman and many others) so on and so forth. There are hundreds of such examples. This ” Keeda” has bitten film people from the early era itself. The famous actor of silent and talkie era-Master Vithal, had directed a Talkie film ” The awara Shahzada”-1932.
So it was no surprise if Lalita Pawar, a successful actress of silent and Talkie films with over 7o years of acting career, became a producer by establishing her own Diamond pictures and made today’s film Duniya Kya Hai-1938 Before her Fatima Begum, jother of Zubeida-Heroine of Alam Ara-1931, had established her own production company and had also acte in few films.
Film Duniya kya hai-1938 was based on Tolstoy’s famous story ” Resurrecton”. It was directed by G.P. Pawar (Lalita’s second husband) and the songs were composed by Annasaheb Mainkar and Kikubhai Yadnik. In this filmLalita sang 4 songs also. The cast included Lalita Pawar, Madhav kale Indira Wadkar, Begum Fatima (her last film as anactress) and many others.
One of the major actors who succeeded in both Silent and Talkie films equally,that too for 70 active years,was LALITA PAWAR.
Today’s generation probably knows Lalita Pawar only as an actress doing crooked Mother in law’s roles only, but in her hay days she was called a ‘SEX BOMB ‘ !
Born Ambika Laxmanrao Sagun on 18-4-1916, at Indore, her father was a rich person.She started acting very early when she was 10-12 years.Her first silent film was ‘Patitodhar’-1928.
She soon became a heroine and acted in as many as 30 silent films. In the silent and early Talkie era,she did adventurous and stunt films, just like Fearless Nadia did.
Because of her boldness she did sexy and romantic roles. I have seen some of her costumes from her early films and those will match any sex-siren of today, I can guarantee !
She was a Heroine till 1942,when while shooting a scene for “Netaji Palkar”-1942, her co-star slapped her, during a shot, so hard that she suffered from facial paralysis and damage to her eye.
In Spite of 3 years’ treatment she became unfit for heroine’s roles and at the age of just 25-26, she switched over to character and supporting roles.
She acted in some 400 Hindi and Marathi films. Some of her roles like the Kelewali in Shri 420, Mrs.D’sa in Anari(she won Filmfare award for this role) and Manthara in Ramayana, are quite memorable, though mainly she is known for her wicked roles.
She acted in 315 Hindi films. She has sung 10 songs in 3 films also, namely Grihalaxmi-34, Dard e dil-34 and Duniya kya hai-38.
In case of marriage,she competed with Noorjahan(4 marriages) and Meena Shorey(5 marriages).Lalita Pawar’s first husband was Hanuman More, second was G.P.Pawar, her director for stunt films.This marriage went sour when he had an affair with Lalita’s younger sister.Then she married a film producer Rajprakash Gupta,who established Ambika Studios in Bombay.
Her death was pathetic. She was found dead-for 2 days-when her husband,son and daughter in law had gone to Mumbai. She was staying alone in her bungalow in Aundh,a suburb of Pune.
She died on 24-2-1998 and it was announced on 26th February.
I reproduce here, an obituary as appeared in a Marathi Newspaper of Pune, after her death…(Freeway translation from Marathi)
” Lalita, an actress and a gentlewoman !
Lalita Pawar, the renowned actress of yesteryear who passed away in Pune early this week, enjoyed a most chequered career on the silver screen.
In her seven decades on screen, she has played roles of all variety — from a heroine of the silent era to the squint-eyed mother-in-law of the talkies.
Born as Ambika Laxman Sagun on April 18, 1916 at village Yeole in Nashik district, she made her debut as a child artist in the film Patittodhar. Arya
mahila was her first film as a teenaged heroine.In a career spanning 72 years, she acted in more than 800 Hindi, Marathi, Gujarathi and Bhojpuri films. She was the leading lady of the silent era and,
later, a character artiste till she retired from the celluloid.Her classic silent films include Thugsen Rajputra and Chatur Sundari. She also tried her hand at the production of Himmat-e-marda and Duniya kya hai. But the films did not do well. Lalita acted as heroine to Baburao Pendarkar’s Netaji Palkar and Jai Malhar. An accident on the sets abruptly ended her career as a leading lady. During the shooting of Jung-e-azadi, Master Bhagwan had to slap her. Her left ear started bleeding profusely. The left part of her face was paralysed and she developed a squint in the left eye.
Talk about courage and turning what would have been a fatal blow to her career into a distinct advantage. That squint alone possibly made her into a famous woman in all her mother/mother-in-law roles.
The Bombay film industry mourned the death of this ‘actress par excellence’ and ‘fine human being’. Shammi Kapoor, with whom she worked in evergreen classics Junglee and Professor said she was a thorough professional. “It is sad that age catches up with people,” Dev Anand said, “We have lost a tremendous artist.”
Jairaj, a veteran actor from the silent era, described Lalita Pawar as a capable actress who had a mind of her own. “She expressed herself very well,” he said, “We acted together in Kirtiwhich was remade as Sharda starring Raj Kapoor and Meena Kumari many years later. She also acted as the leading artiste in my home production Mohar.”
The Marathi film Sasurvashin, where Lalitha played the role of a wicked mother-in-law, earned her much popularity. In the Gujarati Mehndi rang layee, which was remade in various languages, Lalitha acted in all the remakes.
In Raj Kapoor’s Shree 420, Lalita was a banana vendor which earned her the Filmfare award. She had this to say about the film: Raj Kapoor gave her a clean and ironed Maharashtrian nine yard saree and dialogues with neat Hindi diction and accent. She told the showman she was prepared to do the role, but would rather do it her way. She improvised the dialogues into the typical Maharashtrian colloquial Hindi and got a very old and shabby saree. Accordingly, she performed the role and won rave reviews.”
Noted journalist and author Yasir Abbasi said this about Lalita Pawar, in his book ” ye un dinon ki baat hai “….
Lalita Pawar made an unusual debut in cinema – she wasn’t seen in the film for which she first faced a camera. She initially appeared only in the publicity stills of ‘Arya Mahila’ (1928) before landing an actual role as a child artiste in ‘Patitoddhar’ (1928). And then, within no time, she followed it up with a flurry of silent features for Nanasaheb Sarpotdar’s Aryan Film Company.
Another photo shoot a few years later once again led to a new beginning for her. She had made a quick transition from child roles to leading parts at Aryan, where one of her co-stars was Madhav Kale. Around the mid-1930s, Pawar and Kale reunited to appear in a set of illustrative photographs for a book – a Marathi translation of Leo Tolstoy’s ‘Resurrection’. Besides being an actor, Kale was also a man of letters and wrote Marathi poems under the pen name ‘Manju Madhav’. During the photo-shoot, he narrated the novel’s plot to Pawar. The actress was perhaps itching to break away from the stunt film genre that she was trapped in. So, when she soon launched her own production company, Diamond Pictures, she decided to adapt the Tolstoy novel and give herself a role that would tap her abilities better. Kale was roped in for the male lead’s part and the duties of adapting the story and directing the film were assigned to her regular director (and then-husband) G.P. Pawar.
‘Duniya Kya Hai’ is about a naive orphan girl Lalita (Lalita Pawar), who is deserted by her husband Madhav (Madhav Kale) and ends up as a prostitute in a seedy brothel. Apart from making ends meet, she also has to raise her newborn son after being abandoned by Madhav. Her misfortunes continue when she’s implicated for a murder in the brothel and finds Madhav as the prosecuting counsel of her trial. She’s utterly broken and disillusioned by the time he realises his misdeeds, and she heads to a tragic end in prison.
The film was released on 12 November 1937 at Majestic Cinema in Bombay and was a runaway hit with the audiences and critics alike. “Duniya Kya Hai” has created the greatest sensation in the Indian screen world,” declared an advertisement as the film entered its 5th week. Lalita Pawar’s work won unanimous praise. Even from the impossible-to-please Baburao Patel. The Filmindia review hailed her as a “brave girl [who] does her job wonderfully well.” Gushing over her performance, The Sunday Standard described her as “an actress who can easily rank with the front rank stars of India.” The Times of India called her effort a “tour de force of histrionic art.” And the promotions of her subsequent release ‘Rajkumari’ (1938) were quick to add ‘of Duniya Kya Hai fame’ next to her name.
On the verge of touching a decade in cinema, Lalita Pawar had, on her own steam, taken the leap from an undervalued actress of B-films to an artiste of reckoning. She was just 21 at that time.
For the first time, I am giving an information, only on our Blog. Lalita Pawar had used different names for herself as an actress like Ambu, Chandrakala, Meenakshi, Saudamini and Lalita Pawar ! (ref- Book ‘ Ateet ke sitare ‘ pp 268, point no. 40)
The story of the film was
Lalita (Lalita Pawar) is an orphan girl, who is raised in a kind family. Madhav (Madhav Kale) the young boy in the family falls in love with her. They become intimate and she becomes pregnant.
Madhav has to go to Bombay for further studies. He promisses her to come back and marry her.
Years pass by. Lalita delivers a boy. She is thrown out of the house. For the sake of the boy Lalita becomes a Prostitute.
Madhav returns, but he is now married. He refuses to even recognise her.
One day, there is a murder in her brothel and Lalita is accused of the murder. The case goes to the court. To her horror, Madhav is the Public Prosecutor.
That night Madhav comes to meet her in the jail, having come to know that the murder was caused by accident by his own son.
She extracts a promise from him to look after their son. Next day, she is found dead in her cell……
Here is a song sung by Lalita Pawar from this film. Enjoy this 88 year old, old style song….
Song-Dilbar pyaare na todo dil kee aas re (Duniya Kya Hai)(1938) Singer- Lalita Pawar, Lyricist- Munshi Aziz, MD- Annasaheb Mainkar
Lyrics
dilbar pyaare na todo dil kee aas re
dilbar pyaare na todo dil kee aas re
aas re
aas re
dilbar pyaare
darash dikha ke chhod na jaao
preet lagaa ke tod na jaao
haath pakad more jeewan sangee
haath pakad more jeewan sangee
rakh lo apne paas re
paas re
paas re
dilbar pyaare
preet laga ke
tum bin preetam
kachhu naheen bhaaye
tum bin preetam
preetam
preetam
preetam
soone sejariya
neend na aawe
tada tadap kar preetam pyaare
tada tadap kar preetam pyaare
beet jaat sab raat re
raat re
raat re
dilbar pyaare na todo
na todo dil kee aas re
dilbar pyaare na todo
na todo dil kee aas re
dilbar pyaare
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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