Jaagee hai Bharat kee naar ab jaagee hai
Posted on: November 14, 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 songs from a C grade stunt film- Bambaiwali-1941.
The film was produced and directed by Homi Wadia, one of the owners of the Banner Wadia Movietone, Bombay. While the lyricist was Wahid Qureshi, music for his songs was provided by a veteran Madhulal Master – a Music Director from the early Talkie era. The cast included (Fearless ) Nadia, John Cavas, Radha Rani, Sardar Mansoor, S.Azeem, Boman Shroff and many others.
This was a C grade Stunt film – a Genre which I liked from my childhood, but it is now totally extinct. The themes continue under a modern covering where the Heroes do all the fighting and stunts and win the hand of a Heroine or some ‘Miss….’, whoever was his goal !
Here are some of my musings on C grade stunt films of the bygone times, for you and the younger generation, who have missed all this fun, joy and entertainment.
Most of us like to see films, be it on a TV, in a cinema hall, or through DVD. Some like old films, some like new films. Did you ever see films like, Khooni Khanjar, Dagabaj Doctor, Shaitan ka paash, Char chakram, Daku Rani Talwarwali, Jaadu ka dandaa, Zinda Laash, Revolver Rani, Sinbad-Aladdin-Alibaba, Flying man, Fighter Sheela, Khooni Darinda, Tarzan aur Jadugar, Tarzan aur Jadui Chiraag, Golden Gang, Murde ki jaan khatare mein, or Jadui putli ?
I bet none of these movie names have been even heard by you ever. These are all STUNT FILMS or in other words ‘C’ grade films. In India I really wonder how the classification or Grading of films is done, or who is the person or the body authorised to do it. Because Censor Certificates do not label A, B or C grades at all.
Then how does this happen ?
My guess is that films are graded on 2 counts- One, The cost of production or Budget and the class of stars in it and Two, The class of people for whom the film is made or directed, like the Rich, middle and the Poor class. Whatever the basis, there is a very thin line between A and B grade films, while between these two and the C grade films, the line is very Bold and thick indeed !
Stunt films, Costume films, fantasy films and purely Religious films are normally treated as C grade films. These film do not carry any prestige, the actors working in them are exclusive to C grade films, the production values and the budget is quite low and most important, they were ALWAYS shown in theatres situated in older parts of the town, single screens, or only for Morning shows or in Theatres generally frequented by lower strata of society. A person seeing/loving or craving for such films is generally considered a ‘Low’ creature and a person with ‘child brain’.
In India, this is the fate of C grade films. Actually these films have everything that A and B grade films have, like, story, songs, dances, fights etc, but still, the treatment given to handling of the story etc. in the films is very poor or lacking in expertise.
Stunts have improved, Technology has evolved but the participation of Zippy the Monkey, Tiger the Horse, Moti the Dog, parrots, snakes and khatara cars named Rolls Royce ki beti and Austin ki Bachhi is missing ! The contribution of Fearless Nadia in making Stunt films popular can not be denied, but then she had the backing of companies like Wadia Movietone, Basant pictures, Ranjit, etc. When you read the stories of these films please don’t employ Logic or common sense to it. This was a different world altogether. The set of actors was fixed, many times the composers were unheard of or they were known composers now in bad shape, the Directors were typical and the production houses were exclusive to churn out such films.
It is, nevertheless, a fact that many well known and famous actors and actresses of the 40s and 50s evolved from the stunt films of yore. Examples are Jairaj or Master Bhagwan. Can you believe that this roly-poly Bhagwan dada was a great body-builder when he started in stunt films in the late 30s ? Lalita Pawar(Amboo), Madhuri, Rampyari, Miss Moti, Sabita Devi, and Sulochana (Ruby Myers) are some female examples who graduated to Social films via Stunt films.
C grade films were those films which were made by not so famous banners, almost unknown actors, directors and composers. Usually C grade films used to be action/stunt films, made on shoestring budgets, having a fixed storyline resembling Tarzan, Hercules or Hollywood action films of Robin Hood, with the background of a jungle, Tribal people, King-Queen-wicked Vazir and similar stories. C grade films were always quickies, made on shoe-string budgets. During the late 30s and 40s, Master Bhagwan action films used to be completed in about Rs. 50,000 only- including studio rent, sets, artistes’ fees and other expenses. C grade films had a captive audience comprising factory workers, daily wagers, Low grade earners and students. However, such films used to rake in big profits to the film makers. Therefore, even top class banners sometimes made C grade films, to make up for their losses in big film flops.
There were certain production houses specialised and thriving on such films, like Paramount films, Jagriti films, Mohan pictures, Wadia Movietone etc etc. The actors and actresses of such films were fixed. Since the studio system was in vogue, the film studios usually had their actors and directors fixed. Music directors were of no consequence, so anybody would do. Well known composers like C.Ramchandra used to take another name while composing music for C grade action films. Music assistants of famous composers used to give music to such films. Well known composers falling on bad days also gave music to such films. C grade films rarely made Commercial records for their film songs, so such songs are a real rarity even with big collectors.
Some common and regular names one found in Action/Stunt films are, Nadia, Boman Shroff, Sayani, Bilimoria bros, Cooper sisters, Zohra Khatun, Ameena Khatun, Khatun Bai, Prakash, Adjania, Noorjehan (sr.), Moosa Pehelwan, Vasantrao Pehelwan, Baburao Pehelwan, Marutirao Pehelwan, Azim bhai, Basheer, Ali, Bachha, Chandra Rao, Harishchandra Rao, Shankar Rao, Master Bhagwan, Mirajkar, Jamshed, John Cavas, Lalita Pawar, Navin chandra…and many such names. Barring a few names like Lalita Pawar, Bhagwan, Nadia etc, all the other action film actors remained unknown. No one knows anything about them.Actors like Baburao pehelwan, Marutirao Pehelwan ( He was the Hero in the First Gujarati Talkie film ‘ Narsi Mehta ‘), Chandra Rao (owner of the Chandivali film studio, which is functioning even today and his heirs are running it), Sayani etc were quite famous in their times, but except their Filmography (thanks to HFGK), nothing more is known about them. Most of them ended with only mere names !
Sometimes Gems are found in these C grade films. Remember the famous qawali- Hamen to loot liya mil ke husn walon ne- which had the honour of becoming the prestigious 5000 th song in this Blog ? This was from a C grade film- AL HILAL-1958.
In my younger age I was fond of stunt films and used to travel to theatres in the Old city part of Hyderabad, to watch films featuring Kamran (father of famous choreographer and Director Farah Khan and Director, comedian, Anchor Sajid Khan), Naazi, Bhagwan and many such actors.” Adventures of Captain Marvel” (seen 7 times) and “Trip to the Moon” (seen 5 times) were my favourites from Hollywood’s Republic Serial productions.
In the 50s and 60s, some respectability to these stunt films was brought by actors like Mahipal, Ranjan, Dara Singh, Azad, Hemant Birje etc. The set of Heroines was also fixed to Mumtaz, Tabassum,Vijaya Chaudhary, Indira, Nishi etc. Mumtaz started with Stunts and graduated to greater heights and was counted in Top actresses of her days. Costume and Stunt films like Baaz, Insaniyat and Azaad etc were made respectable by the stars acting in them. Over a period, the picture changed and nowadays every alternate film has breath-taking stunts done by almost all top Heroes, thanks to SFX, of course !
The C grade stunt films were the cheapest ones to make. Compared to the investment, the profits used to be very good. Producers of stunt/action films tried their best to get the directors, Lyricists and the MDs at minimum rates. For this, sometimes they pretend to give opportunities to new aspirants. This had double benefits. One, being new, he depended upon the producers – thus the films were virtually directed by the producers only. Secondly they needed to be paid near to nothing. This way money was saved…to hell with quality !
Besides specific audiences of workers, daily wagers and such other lower social strata,and school evading students, the stunt films had their own fixed Producers, Directors and even the actors. Most times, a set of action film actors was regular and specific to the production houses. For example, Fearless Nadia, John Cavas, Sayani Atish, Boman Shroff, the Billimorea brothers, Basheer etc were fixtures in stunt films of Wadia Movietone. Master Bhagwan, Chandrarao, Harischandra rao, Azeembhai, Vasantrao and Baburao pehelwan, Leela Gupte, Prakash, Habeeb etc were with stunt films made by Bhagwan and Harischandra rao.
Besides the human actors, some trained animals as well as a car and a motorcycle were also fixtures in stunt films. What’s more, these non-living and non -human participants too were named. So, you had Punjab ka Beta (Horse), Gunboat (Dog), and Austin ki Beti (car) in films made by Wadia Movietone. For Basant Pictures, it was Rajpoot (Horse), Moti (Dog) and Austin ki Bachhi (Car), even the Motorcycle had a name-Ruuniyo !
In addition to all this, actors with odd and weird names were to be always found in stunt film casts. Have you ever heard actors with names like Bajar Battu, Phool Kumari, Maruti pehelwan, Batatac, Mitthoo Miyaan, Fatty Prasad, Boken Chattu, Minu the Mystic, Manchi Tuthi, Gareeb Raja, Kurbaan Jaoon, Pandit Dukhi, Vilayatu, Loveji Lavangiya, Adam Sandow, Sandow Safar, Dunlop, Chic Chak and a very strange name CHEMIST ! This name is found in 5-6 films.
The actors working in such stunt films were fixed with almost every studio or producer. They had no chances of working in big banners or Social films. They either kinew no acting or their skills were specific to stunt films like say, fighting, Horse riding, jumping, sword fighting etc. Their charges were also very low. In case the producer himself was acting, then there was no question of making actual payment( though on paper they may be getting some payments). producers like Master Bhagwan, Chandra rao Kadam etc. used to follow this method.
The audience of stunt films did not come to see histrionic talents of the actors, or listen to heavenly music. All they wanted to see was DareDevil action, fighting, 2-3- ‘ maar Daala’ Dances and villain ki bharpoor ‘Kutai ” and “Pitai “. Therefore all matters concerning getting quality actors, famous directors or well known composers never arose for these films. It used to be a thrilling experience to see these action/stunt films in a theatre and enjoy the loud comments and active participation of the audience in the film. When dances were shown whistles were common and when the hero started beating the villain, the audience enthusiastically encouraged the hero and shouted ” Maar saale ko” or similar motivating phrases ! I have enjoyed all this first person, several times and done it several times too ! I feel sorry that the current generation is missing all this fun.
Today’s film’s story was….
A village is being exploited by a capitalist racketeer. The villagers are being convinced to sell their land to the capitalist. Everything seems to be going smoothly for the capitalist until Nadia (Bambai Wali) returns to her village after completing her education in Bombay (Mumbai). She opposes selling land to the capitalist for which the women folks of the village support Nadia. Now the conflict turns between the greedy men of the village and their women folks who love their land more than the money.
Nadia with her two henchmen, a dog and even a rickety motor car became the part of thrilling and sometimes hilarious situations to catch the racketeers. Women are trained to use laathis for self-defence. With this, Nadia establishes that village women have equal say in decision making. The Capitalist’s game plan is defeated. (Source: Filmindia, September 1941).
Anyway, there is a subtle message in the film story about women’s emancipation in the guise of a wholesale entertainment. The heroine was Nadia, called Fearless Nadia.
I had the fortune to meet her personally once. Nadia has a special place in my memories. Sometime in 1972, one of my friends, Mahesh Sharma, who lived in Colaba, Bombay, told me that he frequently sees Nadia in a Garden where he went for his morning walks. She lived near his apartments. Anxious to meet her and talk to her, I stayed with Sharma ji overnight. Next day morning, we both went to that garden. Sure enough, after some time Nadia entered the garden with two of her dogs. She sat on a bench and her servant took the dogs for their walks. Mahesh had a casual acquaintance with her. He greeted her and said “this is my friend Mr. Deshmukh. He is your great fan “. I greeted her and recited names of her 10-15 films which I had seen. She looked suitably impressed. She smiled and we talked for a few minutes and left. Alas ! In those days, there was no Mobile phone, otherwise I would have had my photos with her as a prize possession. Anyway, I will never forget my meeting with her- the great Stunt Queen, The Fearless Nadia !
Song- Jaagee hai Bharat kee naar ab jaagee hai (Bambaiwali)(1941) Singer- Radha Rani, Lyricist-Wahid Qureshi, MD- Madhulal MasterChorus
Lyrics:
Jaagee haijaagee hai
Bharat kee naar ab jaagee hai
Bharat kee naar ab jaagee hai
nikalee hai ab ghar se
nikalee hai ab ghar se
aazaadee kee matwaalee
Bharat kee naar ab jaagee hai
Bharat kee naar ab jaagee hai
ab(?) badhegee aage aage
naheen ab rukne waalee
ab(?) badhegee aage aage
naheen ab rukne waalee
Bharat kee naar ab jaagee hai
Bharat kee naar ab jaagee hai
chhod ke khel puraane
bhool ke sab afsaane
chhod ke khel puraane
bhool ke sab afsaane
gaayengee haan hans hans ?? par
aazaadee ke gaane
gaayengee haan hans hans ?? par
aazaadee ke gaane
Bharat kee naar ab jaagee hai
Bharat kee naar ab jaagee hai
mardon se kadam milaa kar
har naar ko paas bithha kar
mardon se kadam milaa kar
har naar ko paas bithha kar
rag rag mein ??
naheen ab rukne waalee
Bharat kee naar ab jaagee hai
Bharat kee naar ab jaagee hai
jaagee hai
jaagee hai
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