Saanwariya thhaaree baankee chaal
Posted on: June 9, 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 : | 6535 | Post No. : | 20329 |
Today’s song is from a daring and novel film of the first decade of the Talkie films, Khwaabon Ki Duniya-1937.
Made by Prakash Pictures, it was directed by Vijay Bhatt, one of the owners, with music by Lallubhai Nayak. The cast included Jayant, Sardar Akhtar, Shirin bano, Lallubhai, Umakant, M.Ismail, Zahoor, Madhav Marathe and others.
The year 1937 was a year of Revolution for the newly started Talkie Film. Initially the films were mainly based on Folk tales, Parsi dramas and Mythological stories. 1937 was a year in which the Film industry was trying to drop its old skin and don a New Avtar. From this year, a variety of subjects were used to make films. If we briefly look at some path breaking, landmark films using Novel themes, we will understand how the film industry was attempting to change itself.
The newly established Minerva Movietone made a film on the importance and benefits of Celibacy in the film ‘Atma Tarang’.
Some artistes made their Debuts in 1937, like Ghulam Mohd.,MD for film Banke Sipahi, Comedian V H Desai in film Captain Kirti Kumar, Kishore Sahu in film Jeevan Prabhat, the eternal Mausi of Hindi films, Leela Mishra debuted in film Gangavataran. This was also a Debut film for Dadasaheb Phalke in making a Talkie film. David made his Debut in ‘Zambo-the ape man’.
Prakash films tried their hand at Stunt films with ‘ Challenge’ and ‘His Highness’, using Veterinary actors like Dogs, Horses and a Motorcycle. Prabhat’s iconic film ‘ Duniya Maane na’ shook All India audiences with its story. Shanta Apte sang an English song in it. Bombay Talkies made its first and last Mythological film ‘ Savitri ‘ with Ashok Kumar and Devika Rani.
Gangavataran was a film made by Dadasaheb Phalke. It was his First, the only and his last Talkie film too.
Imperial made India’s first indigenously made First colour film-Kisan Kanya. With this film, however, Master Nissar ended his ‘Hero’ ship as an actor.
Wadia Movietone made India’s first songless talkie film,’ Naujawan ‘, facing the ire of its audience for ‘cheating ‘ them !
‘Zambo – The Ape man ‘ became the first Tarzan type Indian talkie film, beginning a new Genre !
Maadan theatres, Calcutta pulled its shutters down with their last Talkie film’ Zinda Bhoot ‘.
1937 was real path breaking for 2 solid reasons….One, for the first time, Playback singing started in a Bombay film with ‘Mahageet ‘. The song was sung by Anil Biswas, its MD and it was filmed on Hiren Bose, in the role of a beggar, near a crematorium (Smashan Bhoomi), as per book ‘ Music without Boundaries’ by Dr. Ashok Ranade,pp183-186.
Secondly,for the first time, in an Indian film successful special effects were used in the film ” Khwaab ki Duniya ” -a film by Prakash Pictures, based on the popular novel “The Invisible Man” by H G Wells. A Hollywood film by the same name was made in 1933. The trick scenes in this Indian film were as good as the Hollywood film. Credit goes to Babubhai Mistri for creating the actions of an Invisible man , on the screen. He was nicknamed ” Kala Dhaga ” after this film.
Here are some more films of 1937….Atma Tarang…. Minerva movietone’s first film. A resounding flop. Only 20 people for the first show !, Anath Ashram….By New Theatres, Calcutta. Asiai Sitara….By Haribhai Desai. Remake of his own silent film of the same name. Jenabai Pawar, wife of actor Zunzar Rao Pawar, an Anglo Indian (Jena Lawson) was Heroine and she sang few Hindi songs also. Banke Sipahi… Debut of Ghulam Mohd. as M.D. Bhishma….First remake of a Tamil film of 1936. Music was by Mukhtar begum. Bulldog….Indurani as heroine and singer. Captain Kirti Kumar….Debut of comedian V.H.Desai. Dharam veer and Prem Veer….Both films by Huns Pictures of Master Vinayak. Duniya Na Maane…. Prabhat film on social evil. Gentleman Daku…Double role of Leela Chitnis. Guru Ghantal…. Debut of Om Prakash (Uncredited). Hurricane Hansa…. Nadia in Wadia’s stunt film. Insaaf…. First film of total 7 films with the same Title. Wahan….First film by Prabhat on a story from another planet.
Some other noteworthy films were….Izzat, Jeevan Prabhat, Khan Bahadur, Khudai Khidmadgar, Kisan Kanya, Mahageet, Moti ka Haar, Naujawan, Pratibha, President, Qazzaq ki Ladki, Shadi ka mamla, Toofani Tarzan, Vidyapati and Wahan.
Today’s film was the first film directed by Vijay Bhatt, after he and his brother Shankar Bhatt established Prakash Pictures. In those days, the trend was to make films on mythology, folk tales or social issues. Instead, Prakash Pictures took up a totally new and untried topic like Science Fiction story to make a movie. Film ‘Khwab Ki Duniya’ was based on – or took inspiration from the Hollywood popular film, Universal Studios’ ‘The Invisible Man’ (1933). This film was a cinematic adaptation of the famous novel ‘The Invisible Man’ written by HG Wells in 1897.
Originally, this novel was published serially in the ‘Pearson’s Weekly’ in the early part of 1897. At the end of the year 1897, it was published as a novel and very soon it became a bestseller. Translated in almost every language in the world, the novel attracted the filmmakers of the early era and a film was made in 1933. The film also became a hit and in subsequent years several adaptations and film versions in different languages came up. India too did not lag behind and the adventurous duo of brothers made a film on this story, adapting it to Indian context. Several films in many languages using this as a central theme and adapting the story in various ways, were made in India. Some names I remember off hand are ‘Mr X’ (1957), ‘Mr X’ (1938), ‘Mr X In Bombay’ (1964), ‘Mr X’ (2015), and ‘Mr India’ (1987).
Film Khwaabon ki Duniya-1937 is not available anywhere and its storyline is also not available. So, here is a synopsis of the original novel and the film ‘The invisible Man’-1933, to give the readers an idea of the Hindi film……
A man named Griffin arrives at an inn owned by Mr. and Mrs. Hall of the English village of Iping, West Sussex, during a snowstorm. He wears a wide-brimmed hat, a long-sleeved, thick coat and gloves; his face is hidden entirely by bandages except for a prosthetic nose. He is reclusive, irascible, unfriendly, and introverted. He demands to be left alone and spends most of his time in his rooms working with chemicals and laboratory apparatus, only venturing out at night. He causes a lot of accidents, but when Mrs. Hall addresses this, Griffin demands that the cost of the damage be put on his bill. While he is staying at the inn, hundreds of glass bottles arrive. His odd behaviour becomes the talk of the village, with many theorizing as to his origins.
Meanwhile, a burglary occurs in the village, but no suspect is found. Running short of money, Griffin is unable to pay for his lodging and meals. When his landlady threatens to kick him out, he reveals his invisibility to her in a fit of anger. An attempt to apprehend him by the police is thwarted when he undresses to take advantage of his invisibility, fights off his would-be captors, and flees.
At the South Downs, Griffin coerces a tramp, Thomas Marvel, to become his assistant. With Marvel, he returns to the village to recover three notebooks that contain records of his experiments. Marvel attempts to betray Griffin, who threatens to kill him. Marvel escapes to the seaside town of Port Burdock, pursued to an inn by Griffin, who is shot by one of the bar patrons.
Griffin takes shelter in a nearby house that turns out to belong to Dr. Kemp, a former acquaintance from medical school. To Kemp, he reveals his true identity: an albino former medical student who left medicine to devote himself to the science of optics. Griffin tells the story of how he invented chemicals capable of rendering bodies invisible, which he first tried on a cat, then himself, how he burned down the boarding house he was staying in to cover his tracks, found himself ill-equipped to survive in the open, stole clothes from a theatrical supply shop on Drury Lane, and then headed to Iping to attempt to reverse the invisibility. Having been driven insane by the procedure and his experiences, Griffin now imagines that he can make Kemp his secret confederate, describing a plan to use his invisibility to terrorise the nation.
Kemp has already denounced Griffin to the local authorities, led by Port Burdock’s chief of police, Colonel Adye, and waits for help to arrive while listening to this wild proposal. When Adye and his men arrive, Griffin fights his way out and the next day leaves a note announcing that Kemp will be the first man to be killed in the “Reign of Terror”. Kemp tries to organise a plan to use himself as bait to trap the invisible man, but a note that he sends is stolen from his servant by Griffin. During the chase, Griffin arms himself with an iron bar and kills a bystander.
Griffin shoots Adye, then breaks into Kemp’s house. Adye’s constables fend him off and Kemp bolts for the town, where the locals come to his aid. Still obsessed with killing Kemp, Griffin nearly strangles him but is cornered, seized, and beaten by the enraged mob, his last words a cry for mercy. Kemp urges the mob to stand away and tries to save Griffin’s life, though unsuccessfully. Griffin’s battered body becomes visible as he dies. A policeman has someone cover Griffin’s face with a sheet.
It is later revealed that Marvel has secretly kept Griffin’s notes and—with the help of the stolen money— becomes a successful businessman, running the “Invisible Man Inn”. However, when not running his inn, Marvel tries to decipher the notes, in the hope of one day recreating Griffin’s work. However, because pages were accidentally washed clean, and the remaining notes are coded in Greek and Latin, and Marvel has no comprehension of even the basic mathematical symbols he sees in the notes, this is unlikely.
The great Editor and special effect-Trick scene expert Babubhai Mistri, whose real name was Abdus Samad, ( 5-9-1918 to 20-12-2010), in the beginning, was an assistant with Prakash pictures.Prakash was making a film “Khwabon ki Duniya”- 37, based on the famous novel “The Invisible Man” by H.G.Wells,1897. The shooting started but the basic problem was how to show the ‘invisible‘ man. There was no special effect technique available in India till then, like in Hollywood.
Vijay Bhatt had an assistant called Babubhai Mistri, who accepted the challenge and using a dim light, a black curtain and a black thread to move articles, he achieved the desired results. This made the film not only a hit and popular one, but also a unique one. Babubhai Mistri, thus, became the father of trick scenes and special effects in India. In the process, Babubhai also earned a nickname of ‘kaala dhaaga‘ (black thread) for the rest of his life, in the film industry.
Babubhai directed 49 Hindi films-mostly B and C grade Mythologicals, Costume, and Historical films. He also directed 1 Telugu and 9 Gujarati films. His first film as a director was Muqabala-42. Surprisingly he started off with a social film, but there was a valid reason. The initial Poster Painter had developed into a skilled Editor and trick scene expert, by his own hard work,encouraged by the Wadia brothers. The film was an unusual film of a story of twin sisters. Wadias wanted Babubhai to do something which would make the film stand out from all other such films.
Directed by Babubhai Mistry, it was the last movie of Fearless Nadia for Wadia Movietone. She had a double role of twin sisters: good Madhuri and bad Rita.
Rita is kidnapped by the villain and made into a Nightclub singer,while Rai Bahadur brings up good Madhuri.
Nadia was appreciated much for the performance contrast for both roles.
This film was First in India to use Split-screen method for double roles,where both sisters could cross each others,shake hands and talk together.The other attraction was the Night club set,which,in case of police Raid,could be converted into a respected residence in few minutes.It was a great fun to watch these two things.
A happy ending picture, but to see and hear the laboured Hindi dialogues of Madhuri (good Nadia) was another treat.
Here is a duet song from the film Khwaab ki Duniya-1937, sung by Lallubhai and M.Ismail. Enjoy….
Song-Sanwariya thhaaree baankee chaal (Khwaab Ki Duniya)(1937) Singers- M. Ismail,Lallubhai Nayak, Lyricist -Pt. Anuj, MD- Lallubhai Nayak
Lyrics
hurr
is jaadoogar ne to mera satyaanaash kar diya
arre mujhe to mard se aurat bana diya
ab mera kya hoga bhagla
arre jagla
tera to jo hona thha so ho gaya
lekin mera to ho gaya
ho gaya
haan
wo kya
kaam
wo kaise
arre dhoondhne se miltee kaise
?? laalo jawaahar
baat yahee tasdeek hai
tu biwi
main shauhar
ab ?? naach hone do laadee jee
Sanwariya thhaaree baankee chaal
mhaane pyaaree laage re
waah waah
Sanwariya thhaaree baankee chaal
mhaane pyaaree laage re
maaro na nainwa se baan
dil ?? laage re
maaro na nainwa se baan
dil ?? laage re
arre waah laadee jee
tumhare ghunghro bajto hain
ab aur koin
chundee rang de
(?) pehna de
kar loon solah singaar
chundee rang de
(?) pehna de
kar loon solah singaar
?? ban gayo laadee jee
joban mhaa ko ??
joban mhaa ko ??
loot bahaar kar le pyaar
??
loot bahaar kar le pyaar
??
ho o o
main to mar gayo laadee jee
ras joban kee ?? sanwariya(?)
ras joban kee ?? sanwariya(?)
?? baaje
?? jaaoon
?? baaje
?? jaaoon
??
ho baanko saanwariyo
ho baanko saanwariyo
??
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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