Banoongee dulhaniya banoongee
Posted on: November 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.
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The film was produced by Kikubhai Desai, directed by Pesi Karani and the music was by Khan Mastana. The banner was Great Indian pictures, Bombay. The Lyricist for all 11 songs was P.L.Santoshi. The cast included Mazhar Khan, Bibbo, E. Bilimoria, Miss Moti, Hadi, Pratima Devi and others.
The story of the film Akela-1941, as given in the September-1941 issue of Film India is…..
Budhwa (Mazhar Khan), a blacksmith by profession, leads an honest life. He is successful in his venture. His ugly appearance does not fetch him a life partner and he is too shy to woo one. He has his companion, Kalwa who assists him in his work. Both of them are content and happy with what they are until Chelkaka, a bird fancier, brings up the question of Budhwa’s marriage.
Budhwa, at first, is diffident but soon warms up at the prospects of getting a life companion. He agrees to the marriage. Chelkaka finds him a nice girl Maina (Bibbo) who is already in love with Vasant Thakur (E Billimoria), a young jagirdar of the place.
However, against the wishes of Maina, the marriage with Badhwa is fixed by her parents. On the wedding night, Maina runs away to meet her lover Vasant Thakur and to have a tryst with him. Unfortunately, Vasant cannot keep his words to Maina due to ruses used by her cousin Seeta (Miss Moti) who is also in love with Vasant.
Now Maina cannot go back to her parents as she has been outcast by the community. She ultimately decides to go back to Budhwa and spend her life in the service of Budhwa as repentance for what she did for him on the wedding night. Instead of walking to Budhwa’s house, fate takes her to him by way of an accident. Budhwa, without knowing the identity of the victim, treats her like his sister. In the meanwhile, Vasant has agreed to marry Seeta despite his love for Maina.
Once again, Chelkaka, the bird fancier, comes into the picture to know about the Maina who has taken shelter in Budhwa’s house without revealing her identity. Maina explains the whole story to Budhwa. After knowing her side of the story, Budhwa rushes to Vasant who finds him at the altar ready to get married to Seeta. In the climax, the dirty tricks played by Seeta are exposed and she confesses her wrong doings. Maina gets back Vasant. Budhwa is once again alone (akela) and this time without his work companion, Kalwa.
The heroine of this film was Bibbo. MISS BIBBO OR ISHARAT SULTANA was born in Delhi in 1906. Her mother Hafeezan Bai was a famous singer. She was extremely beautiful. Being from a singer’s family,she was trained in music at home. She landed in Bombay in 1933. She started her acting career with Ajanta Cinetone Ltd. in 1933, working with directors like M. D. Bhavnani and A. P. Kapoor. She was one of the top leading ladies of the 1930s along with actresses like Devika Rani, Durga Khote, Sulochana, Mehtab, Shanta Apte, Sabita Devi, Leela Desai and Naseem Banu. She was referred to as “one of the most important female stars of the 1930s and 1940s”.
Her fame had her featured in the lyrics of a popular song from the film Gharib Ke Lal (1939) sung by Mirza Musharraf and Kamla Karnataki, with music by Sagheer Asif and lyrics by Rafi Kashmiri. “Tujhe Bibbo Kahoon Ke Sulochana” (Should I call you Bibbo or Sulochana), where Sulochana referred to another popular actress of the time. This was the first time a song featuring famous actors was used in the lyrics of a film song.
She acted in Maya Jaal and Rangeela Rajput. Then came Dukhtar e Hind,Sair e Paristan and Vasavdatta. She sang duets with Master Nissar which became very popular. She was so stylish and attractive that many Nawabs,kings and State heads invited her.In her hey-days,she was very rich and lived a very luxurious life.She was a Fashion icon in those days for ladies in India,Burma and Ceylon.Her dresses used to be copied. She worked for Sagar movietone after Ajanta and Manmohan-1935 became a hit. Her duets with Surendra became a rage all over India.
BIBBO aka Ishrat Sultana has the distinction of being India’s(or rather the world’s) FIRST Woman Hindi Film Music Director, when she gave music to the film “ADIL E JAHANGIR”-1934(it was also titled as NYAYEE- means one who does justice).There were 14 songs in the film .Later in 1937,she gave Music to yet another film, this time along with Dr.Samad, “QAZZAQ KI BETI”. There were 9 songs in this film. She, however, did not become a professional or a prolific Composer-like Jaddanbai or Saraswati Devi.
She worked in nearly thirty films as a lead actress in India from 1933 to 1947.
Bibbo shifted to Pakistan following the partition of India in 1947. She started working in films there as a character artist doing about twelve films from 1950 to 1966.
Her first film in Pakistan was Shammi (1950), a Punjabi picture directed by Munshi Dil. She co-starred with Shammi, Santosh and Ajmal. It had music composed by Master Inayat Hussain.
Dupatta (1952), was an Urdu film directed by Sibtain Fazli and produced by Aslam Lodhi. It starred Noor Jehan, Sudhir, Ajay Kumar and Yasmin along with Bibbo. The film was acclaimed as a big hit commercially and had music composed by Firoz Nizami, with songs sung by Noor Jehan.
Zahr-e-Ishq was released in April 1958. Produced by Khurshid Anwar and Sultan Jilani under the banner of Select Pictures, it starred Musarrat Nazir, Habib, Yasmin, Neelo and Bibbo. The music was by Khurshid Anwar, with lyrics by Qateel Shifai. Hailed as an “excellent film” by the reviewer, it won Bibbo the Nigar Award for best character actress.
Jhoomar is a 1959 film directed by Masud Pervez, with music composed by Khurshid Anwar. Produced by Anwar for the Noor Minar Pictures banner, it starred Musarrat Nazir, Sudhir and Laila.
Ghunghat (1962), a suspense-thriller drama, was directed by Khurshid Anwar, who also wrote the story and composed the music. The cast included Nayyar Sultana, Santosh, Neelo, Laila and Bibbo.
Bibbo acted in a few more films, with Fanoos (1963) and Ghalib being commendable from her acting point of view, though the films did not do well commercially. Her last cited film is Armaan (1966), directed by Parvez Malik, with music by Sohail Rana.
Bibbo was married by the end of the 1930s to Khalil Sardar, who directed her in Adal-e-Jahangir, for which she gave music. Following the marriage, they left Bombay and moved to Lahore, where they produced a film under the banner of Rainbow films, Qazzak Ki Ladki (1937), where she was also the music director. The film was a commercial failure and Bibbo finally returned to Bombay. Following Partition in 1947, Bibbo moved to Pakistan, where she worked as a character artiste
She had married the eldest brother of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto-Imdad Ali Bhutto. She lived in Karachi and was frequently seen in the Central Hotel, Karachi.
Her end in Pakistan was very pathetic and in very poor condition. She died on 25-5- 1972.
Some of her films are-
300 days and after, Akela, Bhole bhala, Capt. Kirti kumar, Dukhtar e Hind, Gramophone singer, Garib Pariwar, Jagirdar, Ladies only, Maya jaal, Manmohan, Laxmi, The mill, Postman, Pyar ki Maar, Qazzaq ki ladki, sagar ka sher, Sadhana, Sair e Paristan, Service limited, Sneh bandhan, Vasavdatta, Watan, Mere Raja, Pehli nazar, Zeenat, Sassi punnu. and Pehla Pyar-1947, her last film in India.
The hero was Mazhar Khan (18/10/1905 – 24/09/1950). Mazhar Khan was born on 18-10-1905, in the princely state of Dhar in M.P. He was sent to Indore for schooling from where he completed his matriculation examination. He was fascinated by the glamour of the film industry from his school days and aspired to becoming an actor. His father, a First Class Magistrate, was keen that he joined the law course. Probably, he took a middle path and instead joined the police force as the sub-inspector which has connection with law, a subject close to his father. He was posted in Dhar.
During his service in the police force, Mazhar got the opportunity to learn horse riding and other athletic activities. He was a polo player, a boxer, a football player and an athlete. But his fascination with the film industry continued. On the other hand, his father was pressuring him to leave the police job and join the law course. He did enroll for the law course but it was short-lived as he ran away to Bombay some time in 1927 to fulfil his ambition of becoming a film actor.
For Mazhar Khan, the situation in the film industry was not as rosy as he thought. It was not like the organised sector where one applies for the job and called for the interview etc. In the film industry, the first obstacle to meet the producer was the studio’s gatekeeper, generally a Pathan who would not allow anyone to enter the studio premises. Again, the studio owners had their own whims and fancies in selecting the actors.
One day, Mazhar Khan somehow managed to gate crash into one of the studios and met Director BP Mishra who gave him a role in Imperial Film Company’s silent film, ‘Fatal Garland’ (1927). This was the beginning of Mazhar Khan’s filmy career after which he never looked back. While the exact number of silent films in which he worked is not known, Wikipedia lists 18 films between 1927-31, mostly under the banner of Imperial Films. The actual number could be higher.
When Talkie films started, he went to Calcutta, joined New Theatres and worked with K L Saigal in ‘Subah ka Sitara’-1932. For East India Film co in which KL Saigal and Ratanbai were in the lead roles. In Calcutta, Mazhar Khan worked mostly in the films produced by East India Film Corporation. During his Calcutta period (1932-37), he worked in around 20 films. he did ‘Ek din ka Baadshah-33’and Raat ka raja-34 in which he did 8 roles in the film.
In 1938, Mazhar Khan returned to Bombay (Mumbai) and joined Ranjit Movietone. He worked in ‘Rickshawala’ (1938), ‘Prof. Waman Msc’ (1938) ‘Ghazi Salauddin’ (1939) and ‘Achhoot’ (1940). He turned free-lancer and worked in Minerva Movietone’s ‘Bharosa’ (1940), CIRCO’s ‘Suhag’ (1940), Fazli Brothers’ ‘Maasoom’ (1941) and Great India Pictures’ ‘Akela’ (1941) among others.
Mazhar Khan got a role of his lifetime in ‘Padosi’ (1941) when director V Shantaram selected him for the role of Thakur among the many stalwarts who were vying for the role. He did the famous role of Hindu Friend Thakur, while Gajanan Jagirdar did the role of his Muslim friend. In the prevailing tense communal atmosphere in the country those days,this film was hailed as a milestone depicting the lifelong friendship of a Hindu and a Muslim. In all, he acted in 44 films.
In 1942, he became Director and did Meri Duniya-42, Marvi-42, Yaad-42, Badi Baat-44, Pehli Nazar-45, Sona-48, and Dil ki Duniya-49. His noteworthy films were Noorjehan-32, Bharosa-40, Padosi-41 and Ulzan-42. This role was that of a Blind singer-like K C Dey. His last film was Usha Kiran-52. He died on 24-9-1950, before its release.
His wife was a Hindu and she had freedom to remain as Hindu and do everything like Pooja etc. He had one son, Anwar.
(Parts of information on Mazhar Khan are thanks to Sadanand Kamath ji.)
Here is a song from today’s film, sung by Bibbo. Enjoy….
Song-Banoongee dulhaniya banoongee (Akela)(1941) Singer-Bibbo, Lyrics-P L Santoshi, MD-Khan Mastana
Lyrics:
banoongee dulhaniya banoongeehaan re
banoongee dulhaniya banoongee
haan re
banoongee dulhaniya banoongee
haathhon mein kangan
maathhe pe bindiya
haathhon mein kangan
maathhe pe bindiya
gahne niraale
?? haare
gahne niraale
??
jhaanjhar kee jhanjhan se
goonjega ghar baar
ghoonghat mein chhup chhup hansoongee
jhaanjhar kee jhanjhan se
goonjega ghar baar
ghoonghat mein chhup chhup hansoongee
haan re
banoongee dulhaniya banoongee
haan re
banoongee dulhaniya banoongee
haan re
banoongee dulhaniya banoongee
wo roothhenge mujhse
main roothhoongee unse
wo roothhenge mujhse
main roothhoongee unse
wo maanen na maanen
main na maanoongee
wo maanen na maanen
main na maanoongee
banoongee dulhaniya banoongee
haan re
banoongee dulhaniya banoongee
haan re
banoongee dulhaniya banoongee
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