Raama kaahe main itnee jawaan ho gayee
Posted on: September 26, 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 the Last and final song from the Family Drama film Saas bhi kabhi Bahu thi – 1970.
The title of the film immediately reminds us of the popular TV serial Saas bhi kabhi Bahu thi which continuously ran from 3-7-2000 to 6-11-2008 in its first run and then the Season 2 started from 29-7-2025. Though the name of the serial and this film are similar, there is no connection between them. Of course, as the name suggests both were about the sour relationships of the Mother in law and the Daughter in law, which finally end in the sweet way – as expected by the audience and provided by the producers !
Sas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi (1970) is a classic Bollywood family drama-comedy that delves into the eternal, generation-spanning conflicts between mothers-in-law (saas) and daughters-in-law (bahu). Produced and Directed by V. Madhusudan Rao and featuring music by R. D. Burman, the film serves as a lesson in how misunderstanding can fracture a home and how empathy ultimately rebuilds it.
It was produced and directed by V. Madhusudan Rao. Though His name was Veeramachaneni Madhusudan Rao, he was popularly known as Victory Madhusudan Rao in the film industry. He was a producer, director and screenplay writer, mainly in Telugu films. He directed 70 films – Telugu (64), Hindi (4) and Kannada (2).Hindi Films were Devi-1970, Samaj ko Badal Dalo-1970, Saas bhi kabhi bahu thi-1971 and Lav Kush-1997.
The film was made by Vasu Films, Madras and the story and the songs were written by Rajendra krishna. The cast of the film was Sanjay, Leena Chandavarkar, Jagdeep, Anupama, Lalita Pawar, manmohan krishna, Sunder, pratima devi and Om Prakash along with few others.
As expected, this was a remake of a popular Telugu film of 1958. “Atha Okinti Kodale” (A mother-in-law is also a daughter-in-law of another house) is a 1958 Indian Telugu-language comedy drama film produced and directed by K. B. Tilak. Based on a play by Barampuram Kollady, it features an ensemble cast consisting of Jaggayya, Girija, Ramanamurthy, Prameela, Ramana Reddy, Hemalatha, Suryakantham, P. Lakshmikanthamma and Perumallu. The film, dealing with the relationship between mothers-in-law and their daughters-in-law, was released on 12 September 1958, and became a major commercial success. It was later remade in Tamil as Mamiyarum Oru Veetu Marumagale (1961) and in Hindi as Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi (1970).
The story of the film begins in the town of Rangpur, where Sadhana (Leena Chandavarkar), the beautiful and sweet-natured daughter of a scheming widow named Bhagmati (Lalita Pawar), falls in love with Deepak “Deepu” Chaudhary (Sanjay Khan).
The couple gets married, and Sadhana moves to Haripur to live with Deepak and his parents, Motilal (Om Prakash) and Maya Devi (Shashikala). Sadhana enters her new household with a pure heart, wishing only to spread happiness and bring the family closer together.
However, peace is short-lived due to dual forces of manipulation. Sadhana notices a sharp discord in the family, primarily stemming from Motilal’s strict and difficult attitude toward his wife, Maya Devi. As Sadhana learns more about the household dynamics, seeds of doubt and misunderstandings begin to grow in her mind. Maya Devi rules the house with an iron fist, treating her daughters-in-law harshly because she was once mistreated by her own mother-in-law when she was a young bride—fully embodying the film’s title, “A mother-in-law was once a daughter-in-law, too”.
The real trouble escalates due to Sadhana’s own mother, Bhagmati. Ironically, while Bhagmati ruthlessly abuses her own at-home daughter-in-law, Lajwanti (Anupama), over a lack of dowry, she actively misleads Sadhana. Bhagmati explicitly instructs Sadhana to mistreat, harass, and eventually drive Maya Devi out of the house.
Caught between her mother’s toxic advice and the complex realities of her new home, Sadhana’s marital bliss with Deepak begins to crumble. The narrative follows the escalating emotional warfare, comedic relief provided by Kanhaiya (Jagdeep), and the ultimate realization by the characters that every mother-in-law was once a daughter-in-law herself—requiring patience, mutual respect, and love to keep a joint family united.
One of the major roles in the film was done by Lalita Pawar. 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 Feruary.
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”
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.
Here is the last and final song from today’s film, sung gy Asha Bhosle and Usha Mangeshkar. This makes the film YIPPEED !
Video
Audio
Song- Raama kaahe main itnee jawaan ho gayee (Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thhi)(1970) Singers-Asha Bhonsle, Usha Mangeshkar, Lyricist-Rajendra Krishna, MD-R D BurmanBoth
Lyrics:
o o o ojulm ho gaya
ghajab ho gaya
arre kaa ho gaya
aa aa ho gayee neend paraayee
haaye ree banno
muyee jawaanee gayee bhhaad mein
bipda lekar aayee
kal jo silwaaya thha joda
arre kal jo silwaaya thha joda
aaj vo pad gaya tang
darzee naap jo lene aaya
dekh ke rah gaya dang
raama kaahe
o raama kaahe main itnee jawaan ho gayee
o raama kaahe main itnee jawaan ho gayee
achche achchon kee najar beimaan ho gayee
achche achchon kee najar beimaan ho gayee
raama kaahe main itnee jawaan ho gayee
o raama kaahe main itnee jawaan ho gayee
haan pehle ghar aatee thhee dhoban
ab aata hai dhobee
bhool aata hai koi na koi
kapda ras ka lobhee
arre aa haa
arre aa haa
pehle ghar aatee thhee dhoban
ab aata hai dhobee
bhool aata hai koi na koi
kapda ras ka lobhee
isi bahaane nit nit baaten daale do do phere
kahaan se paida ho gaye itne chaahne waale mere
badee mushqil mein
o badee mushqil mein nanhee see jaan ho gayee
raama kaahe main itnee jawaan ho gayee
achche achchon kee najar beimaan ho gayee
raama kaahe main itnee jawaan ho gayee
baat hai kal raat kee
meree gaiya ho gayee choree
rapat likhaane gayi main thaane
ghar se daudee daudee
main rapat likhaatee jaaoon
fariyaad sunaatee jaaoon
main rapat likhaatee jaaoon
fariyaad sunaatee jaaoon
lekin thaanedaar mua mere muh ko bit bit taake
unglee se kabhee moonch marode
kalam ko munh mein daabe
arre aah aah
are aah aah
bola gaiya gayee to gayee
main bhains mangaaye doongaa
darwaaje per haathhee ghodaa
main bandhwaaye doonga
saaree duniya kee
ho saaree duniya kee lambee jubaan ho gayee
raama kaahe main itnee jawaan ho gayee
achche achchon kee najar beimaan ho gayee
raama kaahe main itnee jawaan ho gayee
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