Sakhee geet sikhaaoon suno ree
Posted on: April 17, 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 Religious (Bhakti Pradhan) film- Sant Sakhu-1941.
This Bilingual film (Hindi-Marathi) was made by Prabhat Film co. Poona. It was directed byDamle and Fattelal. Raja nene was their assistant, but even his name was shown along with them as the third director. Music was by Keshavrao Bhole. Lyricists were P.L. Santoshi and Pt. Mukhram Sharma- who had become an expert in Marathi, especially after he married the Marathi actress of Prabhat- Shanta Mujumdar. The cast of the film consisted of Hansa Wadkar, Gauri, Shankar rao Kulkarni, Shanta Mujumdar (wife of Pt. Mukhram Sharma), Sumitra , Master Chhotu and others.
Out of the many saints that came from Maharashtra, like Tukaram, Ramdas, Gyaneshwar etc, Sakhu was probably the only female saint on whom a bilingual film – Hindi and Marathi – was made. Unlike other saints, Sakhu possibly was not a historical figure because no mention about her is found anywhere in any document. Nevertheless, she was extremely popular amongst the rural folks of not only Maharashtra but also was a popular name in Karnataka, Andhra, Tamilnadu and Orissa. In the pre-independence era, Sakhu or Sakhubai was quite a common name in these areas. I remember that we had a maid servant named Sakhubai in our Hyderabad home. She was a Telugu woman, did not know Marathi, but knew who Sakhu was !
Many films in Marathi, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada were made on Sant Sakhu. The first film was a silent film, ‘ Sant sakhubai’-1922. The first talkie film on Sakhu, in Marathi was Sant Sakhubai- 1933. Then there were 2 Dubbed films were Sakhu aali Pandharpura-1969 and Sant Sakhubai-1987. The latest in Marathi was Ashi hoti Sant Sakhubai in 2013. In Hindi, there was the film Charnon ki Dasi-1959 in which Sakhu was Nirupa Roy. In Telugu films Sati Sakhubai were made in 1954 and 1965. In Kannada there were 2 films, in 1955 and 1985. No information about Tamil or Malayalam.
Today’s film was made by Prabhat Films, which was known to make mythological, religious and social films. It started its talkie era with ‘Ayodhya Ka Raja’ – a bilingual in Hindi and Marathi, in 1932. This is the oldest Indian talkie film available today, based on the story of King Harishchandra and Taramati. As the time went by, Prabhat became famous for its meaningful films. Apart from V. Shantaram, other partners of Prabhat, like Keshavrao Dhaiber, Damle and Fattelal and even the assistant of Shantaram, K. Narayan Kale had directed few films. However only the films directed by Shantaram became hits and were popular, with the exception of Sant Tukaram (1936) a Marathi film.
While forming the company, the partners had chosen their fields of activity, like Damle was expert in sound recording and engineering, Fattelal was very good in art direction, set making etc. and Dhaiber was good at cinematography. Direction was unanimously allotted to V Shantaram. In the following years when only Shantaram’s name became famous, there was envy among the other partners. Shantaram too sensed it and tried to prove that he was a team man and helped others whenever required in their directorial efforts. But the seed of envy soon became a big tree and things were made difficult for Shantaram.
Another point known only to very few and which was never elaborated by Shantaram himself, was also at work. In the early years of Prabhat Films, one of the partners – S Fattelal married the company’s heroine Gulab Bai aka Kamlabai (she was the girl who blows the tutari in Prabhat’s logo). Disturbed by this event and fearing public ire, the company made a rule that hereafter no partner of the company should get involved in any actress or employee of the company and if it does happen, he should leave the company forthwith. This rule was used when in 1937, one of the partners, Keshavrao Dhaiber married Nalini Tarkhud, heroine of film ‘Rajput Ramani’ (1936), which he had directed. Consequently, Dhaiber left Prabhat and started his own company, Jaishree Films.
During the making of film ‘Padosi’ (1941) (‘Shejari’ in Marathi), V. Shantaram fell in love with the heroine of the Marathi version, Jaishree (Kamulkar) and married her on 13-10-1941. (He already had one wife, Vimlabai and 4 children). The envious partners got this solid point against Shantaram. The pressure increased on him to quit. Finally, Shantaram left Prabhat films (for mixed reasons) on 26-4-1941. He even left Poona and took up a job in the Government’s Film Division, before establishing his own Rajkamal Kalamandir.
During all these happenings, the film ‘Sant Sakhu’ was released at Central Talkies on 27-9-1941. Baburao Patel, in his Film India October ‘41 issue gave a mild review of the film. He, however, made a remark in his inimitable style-’the film is suitable for the old, women and children’. The film was directed by the duo of S Fattelal and VG Damle. This pair had directed a silent film also, ‘Maharathi Karna’ in 1928. After that they were busy with their own specialty jobs. Subsequently, the pair was virtually pushed to direct the film ‘Sant Tukaram’ (1936) in Marathi, by none other than Shantaram himself. This was his attempt to bring peace and harmony among the partners of Prabhat. He genuinely helped the duo and the reluctant pair flew on the seventh heaven, when ‘Sant Tukaram’ became one of the international hit films !!!
The music to film ‘Sant Sakhu’ was by the resident musician Keshavrao Bhole and the cast of the film was Hansa Wadkar, Shankar Kulkarni, Gauri, Shanta Mujumdar, Master Chhotu and many others. Lyrics were by PL Santoshi and Pt Mukhram Sharma. During the making of film Sant Sakhu, Mukhram Sharma and actress Shanta Mujumdar fell in love and got married also.
One name in the cast is that of Gauri. Her real name was Tanibai Dawari. She was with Prabhat since its inception and did small roles in silent films. She was totally illiterate and could not read or write. After the advent of the talkie films, she continued doing small roles in Prabhat films. When the film ‘Sant Tukaram’ was being conceived, Shantaram started searching for an actress to do the role of Tukaram’s wife – Avali, who loved Tukaram but was sort of a shrew because she felt Vithoba Bhakti was spoiling Tukaram.
One day, Shantaram saw Gauri and he called her. Giving a copy of the script to her, he said, “You are selected to do the role of Avali. Now read the dialogues and be prepared”. Gauri was stunned. She did not know how to react. She could not read. She was sure that now she will be exposed and removed from service, as Prabhat did not employ illiterate people. She took the script and went out of the room. Music Director Keshavrao Bhole found her in a corner weeping. When he enquired repeatedly, Gauri explained everything. Bhole pacified her and said, “Dont worry”. From that day onwards he taught Gauri reading and writing for 8 hours a day for 15 days. Being a sharp student Gauri picked it up very quickly, as it was a do or die situation.
Her role in the film Sant Tukaram was lauded by one and all. It was praised even in the Venice film festival. Prabhat gave her a special award also. Gauri continued with Prabhat till it was making films. Then she retired from films and settled in Poona, doing some household jobs for survival. Unfortunately the Panshet flood disaster in Poona in 1961, washed out everything she had. She returned to her hometown, Kagal, near Kolhapur. In 1964, a film on Tukaram “Tuka Zalase Kalas” in Marathi was launched. Sulochana Latkar was to play the role of Tukaram’s wife, Avali. She wanted to take blessings from Gauri – the original Avali. Sulochana went to Kagal and took her blessings. She gave her a saree and some money too. Soon after this, Gauri aka Tanibai Dawari passed away.
One of the Lyricists was Pt. Mukharam Sharma. He was born in Poothi village of Uttar Pradesh, India on 29 May 1909. He studied Sanskrit and was brought up in Meerut. He worked as a Hindi and Sanskrit language teacher while continuing to write poetry and short stories for local magazines.
Sharma narrated one of his stories to one of his friends in Meerut who was associated with the Hindi film industry. On his friend’s request, who was impressed with Sharma’s stories, Sharma visited Mumbai (then Bombay) in 1939. But, he did not get any work in Mumbai so Sharma moved to Poona, Maharashtra with his family. He joined Prabhat Films owned by filmmaker V. Shantaram as a Marathi language tutor to newcomers at the salary of ₹ 40 per month.
From 1940 to 1942 he was there and wrote songs for Sant Dnyaneshwar-40, Sant Sakhu-41 and Das Baje-42. During this period Sharma got involved with a Marathi actress Shanta Mujumdar and married her. In 1942, Sharma got his break by penning lyrics and dialogue of the Hindi-Marathi bilingual film Das Baje. The film was directed by Raja Nene, starring Urmila and Paresh Banerji. He worked with Nene on more films like Taramati, based on the mythological love story of King Harishchandra and Taramati where actress Shobhana Samarth played the title role. He worked on more mythological films like Vishnu Bhagwan and Nal Damyanti. Sharma’s next film was Marathi Film Stree Janma Hi Tujhi Kahani (1952) which was directed by Datta Dharmadhikari. The film was based on Sharma’s earlier short story Aaj Ka Sawaal, later recreated in Hindi as Aurat teri yehi kahani (1954) by Chaturbhuj Doshi.
Meeting initial success, Sharma moved to Mumbai where his first film released in 1954 was Aulad. He won the first Filmfare award in the Best story (1955) category. He continued writing for films like Vachan (1955), Ek hi raasta (1956), Dushman, Sadhana (1958), Santaan, Do Behneh, Talaq (1958), Dhool ka Phool (1959), Samadhi, Pyar kiya to darna kya(1963), and Humjoli (1970). Sharma’s films often dealt with prevailing social issues. For Sadhana (1958) which described the life of a prostitute, Sharma had initially approached director Bimal Roy who requested to change the ending. Sharma refused for any alteration to the story and approached B R Chopra who made the film . Sharma also worked with filmmaker L V Prasad for his Hindi film, Daadi Maa (1966), Raja aur Rank (1968), Jeene ki raah (1969), and Main sundar hoon (1971), with AVM Prodn for Do kaliyan (1968) and with Gemini Studios for Gharana (1961), Grahasti (1963).
Sharma retired from film writing after the release of Naukar (1979) and Sau din saas ke (1980) and moved to Meerut. He got 3 FF awards for Best story, Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 1961 and many other awards too. Sharma died on 25 April 2000 at the age of 92 at his residence in Meerut.
The story of the film was ….
Sakhu Bai (Hansa Wadkar), an ardent devotee of Vithal, lives with her husband (Shankar Kulkarni) and a cruel mother-in-law – Mhalsa Kaku (Gauri). The mother thinks that her daughter-in-law will spoil her only son and then he will start neglecting his mother. Her husband also does not say anything to his mother because he thinks that since he is her only son, people will disrespect him and his wife if he takes his wife’s side. So Sakhu has to bear all the ill-treatment silently. She worships Vitthala with all her heart and forgets her daily sufferings.
One day, her husband’s sister, Kalawati (Shanta Mujumdar) returns from her home with her daughter. She tells her mother how she was beaten by her mother-in-law and her husband and how they threw her out of the house. Her mother tells her to live in her home with his brother. She also starts troubling Sakhu, because she envies how his brother loves her. One day, Sakhu’s husband falls ill and Sakhu defies her mother-in-law’s order and comforts her husband rather than doing her prescribed work. Sakhu’s mother-in-law tells her son that he has to choose between his mother and her; he chooses his mother and throws Sakhu out of the house.
A sad Sakhu sees a group of Vitthala devotees doing naam-kirtan (chanting of the Lord’s name). She joins the group and starts doing naam-kirtan. Her husband’s sister finds her and tells her mother about that. The mother-in-law arrives and drags her to her home and ties her to a pole. Sakhu starts crying and worships Vitthala and after some time, things take a different turn. God Vithal appears there and releases her, taking her place as Sakhu. Now Sakhu is free to go to Pandharpur for the darshan of Vithal, along with the Varkaris. The movie ends with two Sakhus coming face to face. People get dumbfounded by seeing two Sakhus and start thinking that she is a ghost. The movie ends by clearing everyone’s doubts.
Today’s song is provided by Shri Deepak Chaudhari ji and uploaded promptly by our Sadanand Kamath ji. Thanks to both.
Here is this song sung by Vinodini Dikshit and Sumitra. Enjoy….
(Information from various sources is used in this article. My thanks to famous film historian Lakshmi Priya ji, books Santpat and Cinerang by Isak Mujawar, book by Bapu Watwe on Prabhat Films co, and Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema. My old notes are also used herein.)
Song-Sakhi geet sikhaaoon suno ree(Sant Sakhu)(1941) Singers-Vinodini Dixit,Sumitra, Lyricist-Pt. Mukhram Sharma, MD-Keshavrao Bhole
Lyrics
sakhee geet sikhaaoon suno ree
sakhee geet sikhaaoon suno ree
ghar kee bhalee ya buree
ghar kee bhalee ya buree
kehna na kabhee baat ree
kehna na kabhee baat ree
sakhee maan sikhaawan moree
sakhee maan sikhaawan moree
shree Vitthal naam bhajo ree
shree Vitthal naam bhajo ree
shree Vitthal naam bhajo ree
shree Vitthal naam bhajo ree
shree Vitthal naam bhajo ree
man prabhu ke rang rango ree
man prabhu ke rang rango ree
Prabhu Pandharpur ke waasee
Prabhu Pandharpur ke waasee
Shree Pandurang avinaashee
Shree Pandurang avinaashee
dukh haren charan kaho ree
dukh haren charan kaho ree
Vitthal Vitthal Shree Hari
Vitthal Vitthal Shree Hari
Vitthal Vitthal Shree Hari
Vitthal Vitthal Shree Hari
Vitthal Vitthal Shree Hari
Vitthal Vitthal Shree Hari
Vitthal Vitthal Shree Hari
Shree Hari Shree Hari
Pandurang Shree Hari
Shree Hari Shree Hari
Pandurang Shree Hari
Pandurang Shree Hari
Pandurang Shree Hari
Pandurang Shree Hari
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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