Bhanwar mein hai meree kashtee
Posted on: July 4, 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 : | 6560 | Post No. : | 20418 |
Today’s song is from an imaginary costume film- Sair E Paristan-1958.
The film was made by Suresh Productions, Bombay. Produced by Nandkishore, it was directed by A.M.Khan and the music was by the C grade stunt film specialist pair Suresh-Talwar. The cast included Kamran, Chitra, Amarnath, N.A.Ansari, Manju, Ram Singh and many usual C grade film artists.
While the decade of the 1940 was of Stunt and action films, the 50’s decade was of Musical and Religious/Mythological films. The action/stunt films were on the decline and by the mid 60’s they almost vanished. It was through such costume films, I first became aware of the Arabian Night stories. When this film first came to the theatres, i thought the title was Sair E Pakistan, but soon I realised, it was Paristan and not Pakistan.
I wonder even today as to why such types of Stunt/ Costume films had stories or rather cooked up silly stories that almost always had a Muslim background ? Maybe because such stories were suitable for a background of Middle East countries only and no one would question their credibility. It is also possible to make the stories look like those from the Arabian Night stories. Anyway, the audience of such films never thought of all these things. All that they wanted was fighting, a few ‘Dil Tod’ dances, flashy dresses, big palaces and more daredevil stunts !
The film was made by Suresh productions, a banner owned by Suresh Shah – one of the pair members who worked as a Music Director. They were supposed to be the most successful C grade MDs in that period. This film was their first film together as a pair. They limited their operations to Action films only,though they did do few social and religious films also.Starting with Hotel and Sair e Paristan(both 1958),they did Teerthayatra,fashionable Wife and Sahil-1959,with D C Datta,their most famous film.Geeta Dutt’s song ‘Khatm kar de dastaan’ was included in her ‘Rare Gems’ cassette by HMV. Another landmark film was Lady of the lake-1960.the song ‘Zun zun baaje’ was included in the best of Sudha Malhotra’s list by HMV. They also gave music to Elephant Queen, Jungle Boy,Rashtraveer Shivaji, Tilismi Duniya,Tarzan and jadugar and finally Char Chkramin 1965.
Suresh Kumar- a name not many readers can recollect. Readers from Gujarat,perhaps,may remember his name, as Suresh Kumar Shah had given music to some Gujarati films.
Sursh Kumar Shah had a 4-fold career in films.
FIRST he started his Musical career with a Gujarati film-” Choodi Chandiyo”-1950 and continued to give music to 22 Gujarati films,the last being-Maaru Saasario sona ni khan-1998.
SECONDly, he paired with other Music Directors-with Shailesh Mukherjee in Suhag Sindoor,with Talwar and Shankar Dasgupta in ‘Hotel’-1956 and only with Talwar in another 11 films,the last film being-“Char Chakram’-1965.
THIRDLY, he gave music independently to 11 films,starting with-Jadui Angoothi-1964 and ending with- Waqt se Pehle-1985.
Thus he featured in 22 Gujarati films and 24 Hindi films as a Music Director.
FOURTHly, he gave music to some Marathi films also,like Gharcha Bhedi,gadbad Ghotala and kuldeepak etc.
I had learnt that in his last days he lived in Parle,Mumbai and was connected with Marathi dramas.
The film was directed by A.M.Khan. Now, this Khan was a person with many qualities. He was an actor, a lyricist and a director. In his 30 years’ career he had acted in 2 films – Dil-46 and Bigde dil-49. He wrote 24 songs in 3 films – Cyclewali-38, Ran Sangream-39 and Bahana-42. A M Khan directed 37 films. His first film was Woh kaun-1935 and his last film was Jadui Anguthi-1965. When I went through his Filmography as a Director, I found that he directed mostly Stunt, Action and Costume films only.
Some of his films had interesting Titles….Cycle Wali-38, Chabuk wali-39, Motor wali-42, Khanjar wali-43 and to top it all, he also directed Police wali-49 ! Titles of his films had words like Lutari, Lutaran, Bala, Sundari, Lady, Tilasmi, Jadui, and Toofani. These are typically indicative of their genre-Stunt. A M Khan was also a Stunt specialist. In those days, some directors specialised in such films. For example, Nari Ghadiyali, Aspy Irani, Ramniklal Shah,Master Bhagwan, Harischandra rao and Chandra rao Kadam etc. Other than Khan’s Filmography, no information about him is available.
Before the likes of Dara Singh, Randhava, Azad and others of their ilk came on the scene, the action films were populated by a set of people ably led by Master Vithal, Master Bhagwan, Fearless Nadia and in the 50s it was KAMRAN.
It was a delight to see Kamran’s or Ranjan’s action films for that matter. Ranjan who was from Madras, was an acknowledged Fencing expert(sword fighting), however Kamran depended more on his hands and Pistols. Speciality of Kamran’s films was the well knit storylines. Kamran never started any film without a full and completed screenplay. Thus his films were no-nonsense films unlike the ” take it as it comes” stories.
Unfortunately not much information is available about Kamran. I tried to get an appointment with Sajid Khan and Farah Khan – his children, through one of my contacts, but they are so busy these days that they can not spare even 2-3 hours for their dear father’s biography !
Kamran Khan Rizvi was a regular Stunt Hero and I used to enjoy his films. He started his film career with Baghi Sipahi-36, a film made by East India Film Co, Calcutta. A.R.Kardar was its Director. Later on Kamran came to Bombay, along with kardar, who was his Patron for quite some time.
Hero Kamran and Heroine Nazi were a popular combination of 12 stunt films, those days. Kamran worked in 52 films. In 1963, the film Bachpan was directed by Nazar Ahmed. He had some disputes with the Producer and he left the film midway. The Debutant Hero Salim ( father of actor Salman Khan) and Debutant Heroine Menaka ( Eldest sister of Daisy and Honey Irani…all daughters of Mrs. P.N. Irani, a greedy mother, who spoiled the childhood of her children for money) was in trouble. Kamran stepped in and completed the film by directing the balance part, without taking any money. During this period, he fell in love with Menaka and they got married. Her film career ended there only. They had one son and one daughter ( Actor, compere, Director Sajid Khan and famous Choreographer and Director Farah khan).
Kamran stopped getting Hero’s roles, as stunt films were not being made to that extent in the 70s and later period. He decided to become producer and Director. This proved to be his nemesis. He failed miserably,lost everything and became an alcoholic. He divorced Menaka, who worked as a Housekeeper in a 5 star hotel (Hotel Sea Rock) and he lived in his big flat in Versova with 2 children but no money. He died in 1985. Kamran directed 11 films from Panch Ratan-65 to Ban Manush-80. His last film as an actor was Nastik-83.
The Heroine of this film was Chitra. Born on 17-5-1937,as Afsar Unissa Begum, Chitra got the idea to enter films while she was on vacation in Bombay (she was living in Hyderabad at the time). She made her debut in Filmkar Ltd. ‘s costume picture Maan (1954) where she played the heroine opposite Ajit. Film offers poured in and she starred in numerous fantasies, thrillers, and action films throughout the 50s and 60s.
Chitra was a popular actress of low budget films throughout 1950s & ’60s. She would often visit Bombay for holidays and loved to watch films. She met Kamal Amrohi, when she was only 11, despite Amrohi asking her to wait for a few years. 3-4 years later P. N. Arora was looking for a new girl for his upcoming production. He wanted a girl who would look innocent and bubbly at the same time. Chitra fitted the role perfectly with Shammi Kapoor in “Chor Bazaar”(1954). However, the film Maan-1954 was released first.
Chitra liked Nargis very much. She looked upon her as a great artist. She was also influenced by Meena Kumari, when she saw Meena Kumari in “Baiju Bawra”, Meena Kumari knew that she wanted to be an actress. One of her early releases was “Maan” opposite Ajit. Many dance numbers were pictured on her as she worked in many costume dramas. She got to perform on many melodious numbers. Some of her well known songs are “Dil lootnewale jadugar…” from Madari (1959), “Tara ra ra rum…” from Hoor-e-Arab (1955), “Mere mehboob na ja…” from Noor Mahal (1965), “Ye kiya kaisa tune jadu…” from Zimbo (1958), “Main to jaun na jamuna kinare…” from Baap Bate (1959) and many more.
After starring opposite Azad in the thinly veiled Tarzan films Zimbo (1958) and Zimbo Comes to Town 1960) the two were teamed up in several more jungle epics including Tarzan and Captain Kishore (1964), Tarzan and Delilah (1964), Tarzan Aur Jalpari (1964), and Tarzan Aur Circus (1965) as well as several other action films. Among her many fantasy pictures are Sakhi Hatim(1955), Son of Ali Baba (1955), Lal-e-Yaman (1956), Sair-e-Paristan(1958), Maya Jaal (1962), Patel Nagri (1962), Khufia Mahal(1964), Magic Carpet (1964), Main Hoon Jadugar (1965), Noor Mahal(1965) in which she played a triple role, and Jadoo (1966).
Chitra acted in 74 films, though she claimed to have worked in 111 films, in an interview.
Never married, the actress was interviewed in 1990 and remarked about the then current state of Indian films: “I must tell you I have never indulged in bad habits like going to the races. Horses frighten me. I’m also frightened by the way today’s heroines look on the screen. Why are all of them throwing off all their clothes?” Chitra died on 11-1-2006.
The story of the film was….
Laka is the king of the magic World. He is so proud that he has ordered that in his kingdom, only HE should be worshipped and not even God. Those who worship God would be burnt alive. His daughter princess Shabnam falls in love with a God fearing prince Kokab. Shabnam’s friend Nagma brings Kokab to her Palace and they together engage in God’s worship. This news goes to the queen mother and she orders the arrest of all three. Laka is furious that his own daughter worships God. He sentences all of them to be burnt alive. Next day when they are thrown into the burning fire, the fire becomes cool ice and they are saved. Laka is more angry. He orders Kokab to be thrown off a Mountain. There also Kokab is saved. Kokab goes to the people and preaches about worshipping God and nor Laka.
Laka tries everything to kill them but they are saved. Suddenly Laka gets paralysis and he can not move. The court astrologer says that only the juice of the fruits from Paristan can save Laka. Kokab and Shabnam start for Paristan. They face many difficulties, monsters, magicians etc, but finally they get the fruits and return to the kingdom. After drinking the juice Laka gets alright. Now he realises that no one is greater than God !
Here is a song by Manna Dey, from this film. Enjoy….
Song- Bhanwar mein hai meree kashtee (Sair e Paristan)(1958) Singer- Manna Dey, Lyricist- Shakeel Numani, MD- Suresh-Talwar
Lyrics:
bhanwar mein hai ae ae
meree ee ee ee kashtee ee
kinaara dhoondhta hoon main
Ilaahee teree rahmat ka
sahaara aa aa
dhoondhta hoon main
jabaan par jab kabhee ghabra ke
tera naam aata hai
suna hai teree rahmat ka aa
suna hai teree rahmat ka
sahaara kaam aata hai
jabaan par jab kabhee ghabra ke ae
kisee se kya kahen kaise sitam hain
ranj kya kya hain
ranj kya kya hain
tujhe aawaaz dete hain
tujhe aawaaz dete hain
jo tere naam leva hain
ki chup rehne se teree shaan par
ilzaam aata hai
suna hai teree rahmat ka
sahaara kaam aata hai
jabaan par jab kabhee ghabra ke
karam karta hai ya rab tu
hamesha apne bandon par
ghataayen jhoomtee hain
ghataayen jhoomtee hain
rahmaton ke tere maston par
ishaare se tere pyaase
labon tak jaam aata hai
suna hai teree rahmat ka
sahaara kaam aata hai
jabaan par jab kabhee ghabra ke
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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