Morey Raama re
Posted on: June 8, 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.
| Blog Day : | 6534 | Post No. : | 20326 |
Today’s song is from the revolutionary film- Duniya Na Mane-1937.
The Prabhat Film Company led by V. Shantaram could no longer sit back with their period films and decided to bring about social awareness through films. They took a gigantic leap with their historic production “Duniya Na Mane”. A great social classic, the first one on the empowerment of women, it denounced the dowry menace and the evil custom of old men virtually buying young brides. Eight decades have gone by and I am still waiting to see a film as revolutionary, daring, genuine and sincere in addressing a social issue related to the treatment of women in Indian society. Considered to be one of the best films made in India, it has left a permanent mark on the pages of film history and also on the minds of the audience of my generation. No wonder, highly acclaimed by the media it was then shown at the Venice International Film Festival.
The female lead actress of this film, Shanta Apte, ‘a woman of rare mettle’ has been referred to as a woman who ‘symbolised women power both on and off the screen’ and was acknowledged as a role model for college students in her time. She played her role to perfection. Keshavrao Date’s performance is exceptional in portraying an old husband’s dilemma and predicament in the circumstances. Shantaram makes the film mostly realistic and creatively employs the symbols of the old clock and umbrella to convey the mental struggle of the old widower, conscious of his wrongdoing. He eliminates the background music in the film, retaining only natural sounds. A wooden ruler and metal utensils are used to generate sound for the songs. The instrumental music accompanying the songs is provided through playing of gramophone records.
The film music is scored by K.V. Bhole is known for his innovative approach in composing and recording. The film is remembered for some of its popular songs by Shanta Apte whose singing style included spontaneous gestures and eye movements. These were ‘ “Ek tha raja ek thi rani”, “Jai Ambe Gauri Maiyya ” and “Yahan pe aake har ek apni nirali duniya bana raha hai”. An English song, “Let us then be up and doing” by H.W. Longfellow is included in the film. It is popularly believed that this is the First English song in a Hindi film, but it is not so. The First English song in a Hindi film was in the film Karma-1933 and it was sung by Devika Rani ( Now the Moon , her light has shed)
“Duniya Na Mane” is a shining example of the work of a committed filmmaker Shantaram who chose a theme that was unusually provocative for that period. For the first time on the Indian screen a spirited woman is shown revolting against injustice. According to the noted film historian B.D.Garga, “‘Duniya Na Mane’ remains Indian cinema’s first uncompromising social statement, which, without becoming a dull reform tract, was also exciting cinema.”
Duniya Na Mane-1937 was a milestone in Indian Cinema because women’s cause and a voice against mismatched forced marriages was taken up for the first time in this movie. The movie dealt with the practice of cruelty towards young women(read girls) married to older men.(There was a famous Marathi Drama SHARADA depicting marriage of a 13-14 years young girl to a rich old man of around 60).
It was Directed by V.Shantaram. The Cinematographer was V.Avadhoot, Dialogue and Lyrics were by Munshi Aziz and the Music was by Keshavrao Bhole. The cast was Shanta Apte, Keshavrao Datey, Raja Nene, Vasanti, Shakuntala Paranjpye (mother of Sai Paranjape and daughter of Wrangler Paranjape of Poona), Master Chhotu, Vimlabai Vashishtha, Gauri, Karmarkar, Parshuram etc. There were 12 songs in it and songs were sung by Shanta Apte, Vasanti and Parshuram.
The film was based on the Marathi novel “Na patnari Gosht” ( non acceptable matter), written by a noted novelist of Marathi literature – Narayan Hari Apte ( 11-7-1889 to 14-11-1971). He also wrote the screenplay and dialogues of the film. There were several silent films made on his stories and also a few films in the Talkie era, like Rana Hamir, Amrit Manthan, Rajput Ramani, Duniya na mane, Pratibha, Gangavataran, Dhruv Kumar, Sajni etc.
The film tells of a story of an young valiant and aspiring woman-Nirmala(Shanta Apte), married to an old widower and her life of tribulations. Instead of meekly surrendering to tragic fate,she takes it up as a challenge and makes her old husband realise the folly he has made.
An orphan Nirmala grows in her Old uncle and his young wife’s home. They are eager to see her married to someone who would give them money. Thus an old Keshav or kakasaheb (Keshavrao Datey) who is rich,widower and ready to marry is identified and in exchange of money, she is conned into marrying him. She had thought that she was getting married to a young person who had accompanied kakasaheb, when he came to see her. After the marriage she realises the cunning of her Uncle. She cuts off all relations with them and enters a new home, where there is Sushila, the widow daughter of Kakasaheb and his son Jugal(Raja Nene) who has an eye on her. She engages herself with reading books, singing and getting encouraging advice from Sushila.
She does remain in the house as a dutiful wife but refuses his sexual desires and rejects his emotions. Full of repentence, he commits suicide , setting her free of the bondage for ever, leaving a note for Nirmala that she is free to marry some suitable boy. She thus makes it clear that such social injustice is wrong and should not happen again.
Shanta Apte was born on 23-11- 1916 in Dudhni, Maharashtra, India, in a Maharashtrian Brahmin family. She was the daughter of a station master. Following her father’s inclination towards singing, the young Shanta took it up, rendering bhajans at the local Ganesh festivals in Poona. She studied music at the Maharashtra Sangeet Vidyalaya in Pandharpur.
She was introduced in films as a child artiste at the age of nine years, by the actor-director Baburao Pendharkar. The “guidance” of her older brother Baburao Apte, who acted in Apte’s first film Shyamsunder as Radha’s husband, was stated to be a help in her rise to stardom.
Apte started her acting career when she was discovered at the age of nine years by Baburao Pendharkar and then cast in the Bhalji Pendharkar-directed film Shyamsunder. The film is stated to be the first Marathi film to celebrate a “silver jubilee” (25 weeks) in a single theatre.
In 1934, she was cast as the hero’s sister in Amrit Manthan, directed by V. Shantaram for Prabhat Films. The film was a “box-office bonanza” and a big break for Apte. It was the first Indian talkie film to celebrate a silver jubilee and was screened at the International Film Festival, Venice. The film was the first to have a run of 25 weeks (silver jubilee) at a theatre. Apte rendered four solo songs under the music direction of Keshavrao Bhole, including the first recorded filmi ghazal, “Kamsini Mein Dil Pe Gham Ka”.
1936 saw Apte acting in the V. Shantaram-directed Amar Jyoti. It co-starred Durga Khote, Vasanti and Chandra Mohan and was Prabhat Film banner’s first film to have playback singing. In 1937, she acted in V. Shantaram’s Duniya Na Mane, also called The Unexpected, where she played the role of a young girl, Nirmala, who is married to a rich old widower, played by Keshavrao Date. She protests and refuses to acknowledge him as her husband. In the end, the old man realises what he’s done and commits suicide, leaving a note where he asks Nirmala to remarry. Shanta sang an English song in the film, a version of H. W. Longfellow’s Psalm of Life. The same year, she acted in the Marathi version of the film called Kunku. The film proved to be the biggest success of her career and is still acclaimed by critics.
In 1938, Apte acted in another famous film from Prabhat Films, directed by V. Shantaram, called Gopal Krishan. In 1941, She acted in a Tamil film ‘ Savithri ‘ in the title role while the great M.S.Subhalaxmi played the male role of Narada. Shanta Apte also sang in this Tamil film, in Tamil-in the presence of M.S. and got her appreciation too ! In fact Shanta Apte was the only actress who had worked in films made in ALL film centres in India, like Bombay, Poona, Kolhapur, Madras, Lahore and Calcutta. Apte acted with Noor Jehan in Duhai (Curse) in 1943, a social melodrama where Noor Jehan played the second lead. The film was directed by Vishnu Vyas, it had music by Rafiq Ghaznavi and Pannalal Ghosh.
In 1946, Apte acted in four films with Subhadra being a “mythological comedy”, which was produced and directed by Master Vinayak and co-starred Yakub, Ishwarlal and Lata Mangeshkar. Subhadra had Apte and Lata Mangeshkar singing together in the song “Main Khili Khili Phulwari”, under the music direction of Vasant Desai. Then came Uttara Abhimanyu, directed by Sarvottam Badami for Paras Pics and co-starring Shahu Modak; Panihari directed by V. M. Gunjal starred Surendra and Yakub; and Valmiki, directed by Bhalji Pendharkar, with both Prithviraj and Raj Kapoor acting in the film. Shanta Apte stopped singing in Hindi films routinely after 1946, except for a few exceptional songs.
Shanta Apte had the rare distinction of singing and acting with the three “iconic female singers” of Indian cinema: with M. S. Subbulakshmi in Savithri (1941), with Noor Jehan in Duhai (1943) and with Lata Mangeshkar in Subhadra (1946).
The 1950s saw fewer films from Shanta Apte. She acted in Marathi films like Raja Paranjpe’s Jara Japoon (Be Careful) in 1950, with Keshavrao Date and Leela Chitnis, Kunkvacha Dhani (1951), directed by Datta Dharamadhikari, Tai Teleen (1953), directed by K. P. Bhave, and Mulu Manek (1955), directed by Manhar Rangildas Raskapur. Her last two films were in Hindi, Chandi Puja starring Nirupa Roy, Manhar Desai and Prem Adib and directed by Raman B. Desai, and the last released film Ram Bhakt Vibhishan in 1958, directed by Samar Chatterjee, with the same star cast as Chandi Puja. Then she started doing roles in Marathi dramas, but this too stopped by 1960, when she suffered from Cancer.
Apte has been referred to as a woman who “symbolized women power both on and off the screen”. According to K. A. Abbas, commenting on the vitriolic writings of the cine-magazine editor Baburao Patel of Filmindia, “there was only one example of a spirited star like Shanta Apte taking the law in our own hands when she came to Baburao’s office and hit him with a cane…”. She defied her contractual agreement with Prabhat Films when it hampered her from acting in outside films and decided to stage a fast in front of the studio gates. She was released from her contract by Prabhat Films.
Ten years after Shanta Apte’s death, actress Nayana Apte declared herself to be her daughter. Nayana claimed Apte married a distant cousin in 1947 and left him when she was three months pregnant. According to Vijay Ranchan in his book “Story of a Bollywood Song”, in the section on Shanta Apte titled “The Rebel Commoner”, Shanta was unmarried but had a daughter, the Marathi film and stage actress, Nayana Apte. The noted Marathi Film Historian Isaq Mujawar claimed in one of his books that Nayna was Shanta’s daughter by her own brother Baburao Apte.
Apte died of a heart attack following a six-month illness, on February 24, 1964, at her residence in Andheri, Mumbai, Maharashtra.
The male lead role of today’s film was done by a veteran of films- Keshavrao Datey. Keshavrao Trayambak Datey was born on 28 September 1889 in a village Adivare in Ratnagiri, Bombay Presidency now in Maharashtra State. He was known as a natya guru (play teacher) in Marathi theater. He had acted in many Marathi Plays such as Ratnaprabha in “Kichak Vadh”, as Jayant in “Prem Sanyas”, as Harishchandra in “Sattvaparikshetil”, as Vrundavan in “Punya Prabhav”, as Aurangzeb in “Agrayatoon Sutale” and many more. As well as he acted in Marathi movies.
Keshavrao Datey’s role in the drama “Andhalyanchi Shala” (1933) won him rave reviews, subsequently, he became a star & also joined the Prabhat Film Company.
After the advent of talkies, Keshavrao Datey tried his hand at that medium as well, though live theatre remained his chief love. His acting in the Marathi film “Kunku” (1937) set a standard which has rarely been approached on the silver screen. He followed it with another sterling performance in Prabhat Film Company’s Shejari (1941). Later he performed character roles in films made in Mumbai, where he lived. He also acted in V. Shantaram’s Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani (1946), Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje (1955), Navrang (1959) and Geet Gaya Patharon Ne (1964).
Keshavrao directed four films “Kisise Na Kehna” (1942), “Andhon Ki Duniya” (1947), and “Mali” in Hindi (1944) and it’s Marathi version “Bhakticha Mala” (1944). Mali and Bhakticha Mala (1944) were Date’s the second and third of his directorial ventures, and were produced by V. Shantaram under his new banner Rajkamal Kalamandir.
In the year 1964, Keshavrao Datey was honoured by Sangit Natak Academy for his contribution towards Marathi Plays. Keshavrao Datey died on 13 September 1971 in Bombay.
Today’s song from this film is sung by Shanta Apte. Enjoy….
Song-Morey Raama re (Duniya Na Maane)(1937) Singer-Shanta Apte, Lyricist-Munshi Aziz, MD-Keshavrao Bhole
Lyrics
Morey Rama re ae
moree naiyya padee manjhdhaar
morey Rama re
moree naiyya padee manjhdhaar
lehron mein wo dagmag doley
lehron mein wo dagmag doley
kaun lagaaye paar
haan
morey Rama re
moree naiyya padee manjhdhaar
doobtee naiyya
kuchh thehree main
samjhee thhee teree ??
haan
doobtee naiyya
kuchh thehree main
samjhee thhee teree ??
main aen
samjhee thhee teree ??
aaya
aaya haath Prabhu ka
wo thhee saagar kee lahar
haan
morey Raama re
moree naiyya padee majhdhaar
lahron kee ?? tootee phootee
naiyya ke kiye taar
lahron kee ?? tootee phootee
naiyya ke kiye taar
more naiyya ke kiye taar
taar taar jag taaranhaar
taar taar moh
aa aa
taaranhaar
lehren hon tere haathh
ho o o
lehren hon tere haath
haan aan aan
lehren hon tere haath
moree
moree
haan
moree naiyya padee manjhdhaar
haan
morey Rama re
moree naiyya padee majhdhaar
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
Leave a comment