Archive for the ‘Amirbai Karnataki Rafi duet’ Category
Jeet ho hamaari jeet ho
Posted on: March 11, 2024
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 a marching song from the film ‘Veer Babruwahan’ (1950).
Now, the name ‘Babruwahan’ is a strange name and I am sure most readers have never heard it, at least those who are below 60 years of age. I heard his story for the first time from my grandfather when I was about 8 years old. Being an odd name and sounding even funny, it remained in my memory. Later I found his story in the 14th parva – The Ashwamedha Parva of Mahabharat in the sub–parva 91-92.
When I saw this film, I was actually surprised how the filmmakers even chose this story, which was not a very well known one from Mahabharat. But then, 1950 was a period when the entire country and the film industry was in a turmoil and both were trying hard to set the things in an order, with whatever efforts were needed.
After the unexpected and suddenly shocking demise of KL Saigal Sb in the beginning of 1947, India getting its Independence in August 1947 and then the ruling government trying to cope up with the huge migration of population on both sides of the newly created borders, the period from 1947 to 1950 was a testing time, both for the country and the film industry. Finally the Indian Dominion became the Republic of India on 26-1-1950 and the British finally repealed their article 395 to declare India to be a fully independent Democratic Republic.
The year 1950 also began an attempt by the film industry to make and present films on traditional value building, stories from our glorious history, importance of joint family and building Patriotism, Socialism and the stress on Indian folk music and dances, like in films ‘Mother India’ and ‘Naya Daur’ (both 1957) etc. Ace producers and Nehru fans like Bimal Roy, Raj Kapoor, Mehboob etc. also tried to push the Nehruvian philosophy of Socialism through their films. This period also saw stress on presenting our Mythology and Religious stories through films. To make films more interesting, melody and musical entertainments were made in bulk. As the decade of 1950-1960 was ending, the impact of western world in lifestyles and music (like Rock N Roll, Cha Cha Cha, Hawaian and Spanish tunes etc) became pronounced and the next decade i.e. 1960-1970 was full of such films. But that is another story…..
It was not just the impact of the western music but also the flow of films from Hollywood like ‘Ben Hur’, ‘My Fair Lady’, ‘Sound of Music’, ‘Ten Commandments’, ‘Quo Vadis’, ‘Samson and Delialah’, ‘Seven Samurai’ etc. became very popular in India. These films taught the Indian film makers that even smaller films (in terms of duration) can be popular if the content is solid and handled properly. Hitchcock films inspired films like ‘Apradhi Kaun’ (1957) etc. The end part of the 1950 was a mixture of films, as if the industry was in a fix as to which way it should go in the 1960’s decade !
Some of the interesting films in the year 1950 were….
- ‘DAHEJ’ – V Shantaram’s film depicted the sad plight and the defeat of a girl’s father to refuse giving dowry in his daughter’s marriage. This effective film paved the way to the enactment of the ‘ Prevention of Dowry’ act in later years.
- JOGAN – a love and hate story of an atheist and temple Nun. Excellent songs.
- BAWRE NAIN – a tragic love story is remembered as the first hit film of composer Roshan. Superb songs.
- SAMADHI – the conflict of two brothers, patriotism and hit songs.
- SARGAM – a musical story of 7 sisters. Memorable songs by C Ramchandra.
- MASHAAL, SANGRAM and MUQADDAR – all good films, but could not stop the eclipse of the giant Bombay Talkies.
- HAR HAR MAHADEV – An unexpected hit indicated the oncoming years of Mythology and Religious films till 1960, in a record number – 124 films in 10 years.
- AFSAR – the first film of Navketan banner. Based on Gogol’s The inspector General could not do justice to the original, in spite of good songs.
Other good films were
- BABUL – a tragedy love story of Dilip and Nargis
- SHEESH MAHAL – a depiction of the collapse of the old social systems.
- ARZOO – had excellent songs by Anil Biswas.
- PEHLA ADMI – Bimal Roy’s film had a backdrop of the Indian National Army of Subhash Bose.
- DASTAAN was yet another tragedy film.
- AANKHEN was composer Madan Mohan’s first film.
‘Veer Babruwahan’ was made by Homi Wadia’s Basant Pictures. It was directed by Nanabhai Bhatt (aka Batuk Bhai) who had earlier directed the film ‘Muqabala’ (1942), husband of a small-time actress Shirin and father of Mahesh Bhatt. Music was by the king of melody – Chitragupt, MA. The film’s cast consisted of Shashi Kapoor Sr., Mrudula, Urmila, Amarnath, Baby Madhuri, SN Tripathi, Umakant and many others.
Baby Madhuri – her real name was Maahe Laqa (meaning moon faced). She was the daughter of Master Ali Baksh, MD and Iqbal Begum, a cine artiste. In other words Baby Madhuri was the youngest sister of actress Meena Kumari and her sister actress Khurshid Jr. Born in a family of film people, Baby Madhuri was good at acting and singing. She was picked up by Director Nazir of Hind Pictures who took her for his film ‘Sandesha’ (1940). He is the same Nazir, whose first wife was Sitara Devi. He was the maternal uncle i.e. maama of K Asif (of ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ fame) . He later divorced Sitara devi (actually, she had eloped with K Asif ) and married actress Swarnalata and both migrated to Pakistan. Nazir’s studio was burnt during the communal riots in Bombay. Author Manto has detailed all this in his book.
In Wadia’s film ‘Vishwas’ (1943), the talents of Baby Madhuri in acting and singing flowered and she was appreciated much. Then she acted and sang some songs in films like ‘Anjaan’, ‘Jungle Princess’, ‘Muqabala’, ‘Ekta’ (Sindhi), ‘Andhera’, ‘Mahatma Vidur’, ‘Paraya Dhan’, ‘Bachpan’, ‘Nai Maa’ etc.
She was also called Madhu. She later married actor Mehmood. She was very fond of new fashions and western clothes. Due to this, she became a kleptomaniac and was caught many times stealing things and shoplifting. She knew riding, cycling and swimming too. She spoke good English, though not much educated.
After Mehmood divorced her, she got married to barrister Kishore Sharma, an associate of Nani Palkhivala.
[Thanks to shri Harish Raghuwanshi ji for info on Baby Madhuri].
The story of the film ‘Veer Babruvahan’, is as follows,
Babruvahan was the son of Arjun and Chitrangada, the princess of Manipur. He did not participate in the Mahabharat war from the side of Pandavas and remained in Manipur because he was the heir to the throne of Manipur after his maternal grandfather as he was adopted as his son by his maternal grandfather.
During the Ashwamedh Yagna, Babruvahan caught the horse and had a fight with Arjun. In the fight, he was able to kill Arjun as Arjun was cursed by Devi Ganga, mother of Bhishma, to die at the hands of his son. Thereafter, Ulupi, the other wife of Arjun, who knew about this curse, revived Arjun to life with the help of a special gem from the Naaglok.
Today’s song is a song to inspire the army of Babruwahan, who is proceeding to fight and kill Arjun – without knowing that Arjun was his father. This is the 6th song of this film and is a sweet song. Enjoy the song video….
Song- Jeet ho hamaari jeet ho (Veer Babruwahan)(1950) Singers-Amirbai Karnataki, Mohd. Rafi, Lyrics-Anjum Jaipuri, MD-Chitragupta MA
Female chorus
Male chorus
All chorus
Lyrics
jeet ho o hamaari jeet ho
jeet ho o
hamaari jeet ho
ye geet milke gaayenge
jeet ho
hamaari jeet ho
amar rahega ye nishaan
amar rahega raaj ye
amar rahega ye nishaan
amar rahega raaj ye
suhaag ghar ke aangnon mein kah raha hai aaj ye
kah raha hai aaj ye
pran deke laaj apne desh ki bachaayenge
pran deke laaj apne desh ki bachaayenge
ye geet milke gaayenge
jeet ho
hamaari jeet ho
jeet ho
hamaari jeet ho
chale hain yudhh bhoomi mein
wo kaun hai jo rok de
chale hain yudhh bhoomi mein
wo kaun hai jo rok de
ghamand apni veerta pe jisko hai wo tok de
ghamand apni veerta pe jisko hai wo tok de
tani hui kamaan se ye bijliyaan giraayenge
tani hui kamaan se ye bijliyaan giraayenge
ye geet milke gaayenge
jeet ho
hamaari jeet ho
jeet ho
hamaari jeet ho
hai chhatr-chhaaya veer ma ki maamta kiye huye
hai chhatr-chhaaya veer ma ki maamta kiye huye
kisi ki maang ka sindoor aasra diye hue
kisi ki mang ka sindoor aasra diye hue
isi sindoor ki chamk mein aage badhte jayenge
isi sindoor ki chamk mein aage badhte jayenge
ye geet milke gayenge
jeet ho
hamaari jeet ho
jeet ho
hamaari jeet ho
——————————————
Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
——————————————
जीत हो
हमारी जीत हो
जीत हो
हमारी जीत हो
ये गीत मिल के गायेंगे
जीत हो
हमारी जीत हो
अमर रहेगा ये निशां
अमर रहेगा राज ये
अमर रहेगा ये निशां
अमर रहेगा राज ये
सुहाग घर के आँगनों में
कह रहा है आज ये
कह रहा है आज ये
प्राण दे के लाज अपने देश की बचाएंगे
प्राण दे के लाज अपने देश की बचाएंगे
ये गीत मिल के गायेंगे
जीत हो
हमारी जीत हो
जीत हो
हमारी जीत हो
चले हैं युद्ध भूमि में
वो कौन है जो रोक दे
चले हैं युद्ध भूमि में
वो कौन है जो रोक दे
घमंड अपनी वीरता पे जिसको है वो टोक दे
घमंड अपनी वीरता पे जिसको है वो टोक दे
तनी हुई कमान से ये बीजलियाँ गिराएँगे
तनी हुई कमान से ये बीजलियाँ गिराएँगे
ये गीत मिल के गायेंगे
जीत हो
हमारी जीत हो
जीत हो
हमारी जीत हो
है छत्र छाया वीर माँ की मामता किए हुये
है छत्र छाया वीर माँ की मामता किए हुये
किसी की मांग का सिंदूर आसरा दिये हुये
किसी की मांग का सिंदूर आसरा दिये हुये
इसी सिंदूर कि चमक में आगे बढ़ते जाएँगे
इसी सिंदूर कि चमक में आगे बढ़ते जाएँगे
ये गीत मिल के गायेंगे
जीत हो
हमारी जीत हो
जीत हो
हमारी जीत हो
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 : | 3890 | Post No. : | 14922 |
Today’s song is from film Arab ka Sitara-1946. Produced and directed by Nanubhai Vakil, under his own banner- Roshan Pictures, it was a costume drama film,eulogising the greatness of Islam and how sincere 5-time Namaz pleases Allah- the Supreme power.The 10 songs of the film were written by Shevan Rizvi and were composed by the One Film Music Director S Qureshi.
Sometimes I wonder, there was a time when this film industry was thickly populated with Muslim artistes in every field-acting, production,direction or composing music…still there were really not many films on Muslim backgrounds made. There is a sizable and rapidly growing portion of Muslim population in India, still,if you count films based on Muslim issues or Muslim backgrounds,they may not account for more than 1 to 2 % of the total film production.
It is not only the Muslim films, but films on other minorities like Christians,Parsis, Jains,Budhists, Sikhs too are not much represented in our films. It is very sad that such films are not made, though the figures and history tells us that such films were quite successful at the Box Office.
Muslim films are in Two categories. One, films made on Historical Muslim characters like Akbar, babar, Humayun, Shahjehan, Jehangir, Razia Sultan, etc etc and the Second group is that of Muslim society. Just for the sake of curiosity, I scanned the 5 volumes of HFGK and wrote down names of films made on Muslim subjects-both types. To my surprise,I could not go beyond even 50 films-from 1931 to 1980 !, Granting that I must have made a mistake in counting and identifying,since I do not know the story lines of every film, still the number will not go beyond 70-80 films, despite ruthless stretching !
The point I want to make here is that not many Muslim social movies are made in India ,over the years. One of the earliest such a film was Najma-43,I think. One very very explosive Muslim social film,made by Director Mehboob was “Elan” in 1947. Munawar Sultana was the lead actress in it. Before starting the shooting, Mehboob called her and said,” You have heard the story,it is a very very hot story.I guess there will be a lot of opposition from our fundamentalist people. You may have to face their ire. may be you will be attacked or thrown out of the society. But remember,I am doing this film,because I want our people to improve on par with others. If you want,you can reject the film even now. Think and tell me before we start shooting. “Munawar Sultana quickly said,”There is no need to think. I want to do this film. I am not afraid of anyone. I have full faith in you.” After release,the film did evoke violent reactions from a section of the Muslim society but it subsided slowly. Before Partition, Fazli brothers were known to make Muslim social films.
Some other Muslim socials I remember are Zeenat,Dil hi to hai,Bahu begum,Dastak,Garm hava,Bazar,Anjuman,Naseem, the Triology by Khalid Mohammed-Mammo-Sardari begum and Zubeida, Fiza,Junoon,Benazir,Gazal,Chhote nawab.Then there were Barsaat ki raat,Nikah,Shatranj,mehboob ki Mehendi,Umrao Jaan,Paakiza,Mere mehboob,Chaudhavi ka chaand,Anwar, My name is Khan,Bombay etc. Surely,there must be many more than what I have mentioned. I am not counting Historical films as they are not socials.
Being from Hyderabad, when it was a Nizam ruled state, I had a closer view of Muslim culture and even had some close Muslim friends in school and college. Though my early education in the 40s was in Urdu, over a period, I have lost the touch with Urdu- may be due to ‘ atrophy of disuse’ !
When I learnt that one of my friends, Shri P Kamalakar aka Kamlakar Pasupuleti, has written a book on Muslim films, I was very eager to have a copy. Last week I got my copy of his book ” Forgotten movies on Muslim Culture 1933-1947 “.
The book is an authentic chronicle of 30 films made on Muslim culture- social, historical and costume dramas based on imaginary events and stories. Kamlakar ji is an Urdu Scholar and had a superb enviable collection of film materials in Urdu, which he collected during his early life in Hyderabad. Now, he has been settled in US for a very long time. He has earlier published 2 books, based on this material, which are real Gems for students of old films, like me.
This new book too is exclusively based on documents like film booklets, reviews and News items in papers, books etc, all in Urdu. All this makes the book very well documented and authentic too. This is a treasure trove of early Indian movies, fit to be preserved for posterity. The original Urdu material is also given in the book.
Today I have selected a song from one of the films discussed in this book,namely, Arab ka sitara-46. Though the book’s title says 1933 to 1947, only one film of 1947 (Mulaqat-47) features in this book. As far as my information goes, films like Abida, Dard, Ek Roz, Elaan, Gul e Bakavli, Hatimtai, Kasam and Mirza Sahiban, all made in 1947, were also with Muslim culture background. These films do not feature in this book. One reason could be that due to Partition-pre and post activities, most films, passed by Censors in 1947 could not be released in 1947 itself for obvious reasons. Obviously, there were no reviews, articles or comments etc on these films in the newspapers. All these films got released in 1948 and thus are not included in this book. Of course, this is my surmise, based on facts.
I know for sure that the most famous and daring Muslim culture film ” Elaan” was censored in 1947 on 11-3-1947 ( certificate no. 35351) but was actually released only on 20-2-1948 in Super Cinema, Bombay. I thank Harish Raghuwanshi ji to confirm my surmise by facts, within lightning time, after my query today itself.
In any case, the book is not without errors. No book is without errors-in this subject- including my own book also. This is because, history and facts get updated every now and then, with newer evidence coming to light through many sources.
Film Arab ka sitara-46 was directed by Nanubhai Vakil. He was the fittest person for such type of B and C grade costume dramas- in which he specialised. It is no surprise that in his 20 Silent and 70 Talkie films just ONE film was a social film-Kya yeh Bambai hai-1959.
Nanubhai Vakil was born in Valsad in Gujarat in the year 1904. In his family there were many Advocates including his father,so their family name itself became Vakil, instead of their original surname Desai. Nanubhai came to Bombay to study Law. He completed his B.A. LL.B from Wilson College, Bombay but he did not join his family profession. Instead he was attracted towards the film world.
He joined Sharada films as a screenplay writer and later joined Ranjit films as a Director. He directed 18 silent films for Ranjit studios. However, it was Sagar Movietone which gave him the first opportunity to direct his first Talkie film. It was the First Gujarati Talkie film, “Narsimh Mehto” in 1932. After this there was no looking back. He opted for and became an expert in directing only Fantasy,Stunt and Costume films.
In his career from 1929 to 1973 period,he directed 20 silent and 70 Talkie films -all stunt and fantasy films, except one social film Kya yeh Bambai hai in 1959.
He was associated with Mohan pictures for a long time and directed 18 films for this company. During this period he also married his Heroine Sarojini ( real name Roshan Jehan alias Ranee). They had one daughter-AZRA, who too became an actress. Sarojini was actress Indurani’s elder sister.
Unlike most of his colleagues ,who had no formal school education ,Mr Vakil was highly educated ,being B.A.L.L.B. in those days.Since beginning,he was attracted to Fantasy & Arabian Night movies.He believed that,the audience visits the cinema hall, to experience some thing,which he has not seen in his real life. He wants to be entertained & to forget the harsh realities of the outer world. Fantasy/ Costume movies transports him to an imaginary world of King & Queens, where beside the crafty Vazir, he finds gorgeous girls dancing, the handsome,manly & brave hero,rescues the pretty damsel from the clutches of evil magician. The movie comes to an end and the viewers come out from the theater,happy & satisfied, since evil doers have been eliminated & brave man living happily with the petite gal, in their fairy land.
Bulbul E Bagh,Rashk E Laila, Fakhr E Islam, Gulshan E Alam, Kumud Kumari were his earlier movies. In 50s & 60s,few of his movies were,Shan E Hatim, Khul Ja Sim Sim, ShanE Khuda, Idd Ka Chand, Noor Mahal, Flying Rani, Alam Ara Ki Beti, Bansri Bala, Hatim Tai Ka Beta etc.He made remakes of many movies like Lal E Yaman, Alam Ara (Twice in 1956 & !973) & Hatim Tai Ki Beti in 1940 & 1955.During his five decades long career,he made movies with in a small budget ,with less paid actors. Nanu Bhai Vakil had two productions Companies viz Desai Films & Vakil Production. All his movies had no connect with the present. Elite & pseudo intellectuals avoided to even discuss his movies, but Vakil Sahab had a dedicated audience consisting of common public,less privileged & so called front benchers,who enjoyed his brand of cinema.
His films included less known stars like Sarojini, Navin chandra, Rafiq, Prakash, Gulnar, Daljit, Chitra etc. He also worked with Zubeida, Yakub, Jal Merchant,Jaddanbai,Shanta Hublikar, Nimmi, Veena, Jairaj, Shakila,Nirupa Roy, Nadira, Mehmood, Shobhana Samarth, Nirmala,her husband Arun Ahuja etc. His MDs were also little known. However, Music Director A.R.Qureshi ( the famous Tabla Nawaz Alla Rakha-father of Zakir Hussain) gave music to his 18 films.
He never mixed with film folks and spent his life aloof. He quietly died on 29-12-1980 at Bombay.
The story of film Arab ka Sitara-46 ( as given in the book) was…….
Anwar is a devout Muslim following 5 times Namaz, without fail. From a common soldier, he becomes Commander in Chief and then the king of his state. He is advised by his Vazier to go to neighbouring country to spread Islam. Accordingly, Anwar reaches that kingdom. Here he falls in love with the Princess Arifa. In his love she converts to Islam. When the king comes to know this, he arrests Arifa and Anwar. When Anwar is tortured for days, he exhibits his immense faith on Islam and The Allah. The king is impressed and he too coverts to Islam. Arifa and Anwar are married. Anwar forgets his 5 times Namaz in his joy and is punished immediately.
The Prime Minister rebels and with an army to support him, arrests Anwar, Arifa and the King. In the jail, Anwar starts his 5 times Namaz. A good hearted Namazi frees them. Anwar realises his mistakes and all of them strictly follow 5 times Namaz. All obstacles are removed, the rebels run away from the kingdom. The King is reinstated and all the kingdom is converted to Islam, thus Anwar proves the power of Namaz.
The cast of the film was Amirbai Karnataki, Prakash, Cuckoo, Rafiq, Ansari, Agha Shapoor etc etc. The song is sung by Rafi and Amirbai Karnataki with gusto and it had become quite popular among the Muslims in that period.
Song-Macha di dhoom duniya mein Islaam ke deewanon ne (Arab Ka Sitaara)(1946) Singer-Rafi, Lyrics-Shewan Rizvi, MD-S Qureshy
Rafi + Amirbai Karnataki
Lyrics
Macha di dhoom duniya mein
Macha di dhoom duniya mein
islaam ke deewaanon ne
Macha di dhoom duniya mein
islaam ke deewaanon ne
Macha di dhoom duniya mein
haan aan aan aan
mita ke kufr ki hasti
ee ee ee ee ee
basa ke ae
jalwon ki basti
ee ee ee
haan aan aan aan
mita ke kufr ki hasti
ee ee
basa ke ae
jalwon ki basti
ee ee ee ee ee ee
jala di noor ki shama
jala di noor ki shama
tauheed ke parwaanon ne
jala di noor ki shama
tauheed ke parwaanon ne
Macha di dhoom duniya mein
islaam ke deewaano ne
Macha di dhoom duniya mein
haan aan aan aan
jhanda ye sabz rang ka
aa aa aa aa
bajta hai jiska danka
aa aa aa
jhanda ye sabz rang ka
bajta hai jiska danka
aawaaz sun ke jiski
dhun sabko laagi rab ki
aawaaz sunke jiski
dhun sabko laagi rab ki
aawaaz sunke jiski
dhun sabko laagi rab ki
padha kalma Muhammad ka
padha kalma Muhammad ka
insaanon ne be-deenon ne
padha kalma Muhammad ka
insaanon ne be-deenon ne
macha di dhoom duniya mein
islaam ke deewaanon ne
macha di dhoom duniya mein
haan aan aan aan aan
zameen pe jab hua gul
la ilaaha il lallah
sitaaron se jawaab aaya
Muhammad ya rasool allah
kya
macha di dhoom duniya mein
macha di dhoom duniya mein
islaam ke deewaanon ne
islaam ke deewaanon ne
islaam ke deewaanon ne
macha di dhoom duniya mein
islaam ke deewaanon ne
macha di dhoom duniya mein
Topiwaale baabu ne dil chheenaa
Posted on: July 23, 2018
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 sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
| Blog Day : | 3657 | Post No. : | 14518 |
Today’s song is from an obscure film Kul kalank-45.
If one critically looks at the artistes’ mix in Hindi films from Talkie era beginning upto 1947, one would find that, if not a majority, a sizable number was of Muslim community. The 15 % section of Indian population was prominently present in the film world. Actors, actresses, directors, singers, Lyricists and Music directors… you name a department and they were there. In a way this community enriched the film and music by bringing Ghazals, Thumris etc into the Music and dance items like Mujra and qawalis became famous and popular part of the Hindi films.
After 1947, many Muslim artistes from almost all departments of film making migrated to Pakistan, making way for artistes who were waiting in the wings-so to say- to fill the void, in Indian film world. many Muslim artistes chose to stay in India. While many divided their families into both countries ( Rafi, Kardar, Mehboob etc), there were many who shifted Lock, stock and barrel to Pakistan.
Legends like Dilip, Meena Kumari, Mehboob, Naushad and Rafi etc stayed back and enriched the Indian film industry, beyond words. One of the major specialities of this industry was ( and is ) its Secular nature. While a team of Muslim Singer (Rafi), Muslim Lyricist (Shakeel) and a Muslim Composer (Naushad) gave us an evergreen Bhajan like “Man tadpat Hari darshan ko aaj (Baiju Baawra) “, a team of Hindu composer (CR), Hindu Lyricist (Shailendra) and a Hindu Singer ( Lata ) gave us a Devotional Naat “Duaa kar gham e dil, Khuda se duaa kar(Anarkali) “.
BOMBAY- the Mayanagari of films, attracted many aspirants from all over the country. One can understand, if those who wanted to make a successful career and become famous, flocked to Bombay, but sometimes even the famous ones with a bright career already in place, also were tempted to join this industry. Some names which come readily to mind are- Pt. Ravi Shankar, the International Sitar Maestro and a Bharat Ratna-1999. He became a Music Director and gave music to 5 films….Neechanagar and Dharti ke Lal-1946, Anuradha-60, Godaan-63 and Meera-79. The famous Sarod player Ali Akbar Khan gave music to 7 films. And then, the famous Tabla player All Rakha Khan Qureshi also had a stint in Hindi films. Today’s film Kul Kalank-45 had his music.
Ustad Allah Rakha, born as Allah Rakha Qureshi, was born in Jammu and Kashmir on 29-4-1919. He was an Indian tabla player, who popularised the art of tabla playing all over the world. Allah Rakha was born to a soldier, who later returned from the army and worked as a farmer after that to earn his bread and butter. Being the eldest of seven sons, his father did not expect him to learn music and opposed his idea of learning classical music.
Ustad Allah Rakha, as a young boy of 12 years, found the instrument fascinating while visiting his uncle in Gurdaspur. His inclination towards Indian classical music and the Performing Arts made him run away to Lahore for further learning, as he found little scope of learning the art-form in his home-town. Allah Rakha studied at the Punjab school of classical music (gharana) where he became a student of Ustad Mian Khadarbaksh Pakhawaji (Mian Quader Bakshi). He was trained to be a singer under Ustad Ashiq .
Allah Rakha was also associated to theater as he lived in Pathankot for sometime and worked for a theater company. In 1930, Allah Rakha worked at a radio station in Lahore. According to reports, he moved to Delhi after six years, in 1936, to work with All India Radio. In 1940, he moved to Bombay and worked with Pandit Ravi Shankar and again on All India Radio. He was the station’s first ever tabla solo player then. After which he even composed music for 40 Hindi films from 1943 to 1958. His first film as a MD was Mahasati Anusuya-43 and the last released film was Idd ka chaand-64. He even sang 14 songs in 7 films between 1942 to 1949
Ustad Allah Rakha had married twice. He was first married to Bavi Begum and had three sons, Zakir Hussain, Fazal Qureshi and Taufiq Qureshi and two daughters Khurshid Aulia née Qureshi and Razia. Razia served him in his later years and was like a constant companion to her father. She died after a routine cataract surgery and Allah Rakha could not cope with the shock of her death and immediately slipped into a coma and passed away within 24 hours on 3-2-2000.
Zakir Hussain is one of the most renowned tabla players of India.
Allah Rakha’s son Zakir Hussain grew up to be another legend in the country. Zakir Hussain has also been honoured with the Padma Shri in 1988 and the Padma Bhushan in 2002, by the Government of India. The honour that was bestowed upon his father by the Sangeet Natak Akademi came to him as well in 1990. Hussain has been working in films and on albums in India as well as abroad. Hussain owes his career to his father, who had made sure that he remained focused on the art-form.
Ustad Allah Rakha had established the Alla Rakha Institute of Music in Bombay in 1986 and imparted his knowledge of the instrument to all his disciples in the institute. Allah Rakha and sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar brought classical Hindustani music to Western audiences as well. He was honoured with the Padma Shri Award by the Government of India in 1977 for his contributions to elevate the reach of tabla playing as an art form across the globe. Later on, Sangeet Natak Akademi also honoured him.
Ustad Allah Rakha and sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar brought classical Hindustani music to Western audiences as well. Their partnership reached legendary heights with performances at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and the Woodstock Festival in 1969. The two performed together in a lot many festivals and elevated the respect and popularity of tabla playing as an art form. Other than Pandit Ravi Shankar, he also worked with renowned Kathak dancers like Sitara Devi and Birju Maharaj.
Ustad Allah Rakha found fans not only in India but abroad as well. Reportedly, American percussionist, the Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart, was his huge fan. Hart always tried to learn from him even from single visits that Ustad used to make to his country. Hart was also quoted saying, “Alla Rakha is the Einstein, the Picasso; he is the highest form of rhythmic development on this planet.”
Other than the Grateful Dead drummer, Mickey Hart, Ustad Allah Rakha inspired George Harrison from The Beatles as well. Both of them performed together for a Concert for Bangladesh in 1971. Mickey Hart also collaborated with him for Rolling Thunder in 1972. The picture we have here is of Hell’s Angels member Terry The Tramp with tabla player Ustad Alla Rakha as they were set to perform together at the Monterey International Pop Festival, June 17th, 1967. He had collaborated with many prominent rock groups.
While Ustad used to generally team up with Pandit Ravi Shankar for his performances, he once collaborated with jazz drummer Buddy Rich for an album, Rich à la Rakha in 1968. Some of his greatest works have been in the form of albums Improvisations, West Meets East, Album 3 (with Ravi Shankar, Yehudi Menuhin, Jean Pierre Rampel, Martine Gelliot), Angel (1976), Master Drummers with Zakir Hussain (1991), Tabla Duet, Chhanda Dhara (1994), Ultimate in Taal-vidya, Magnasound/OMI (1996),
The cast of film Kul Kalank-45 was Shanta Hublikar, Masood, Shehzadi, Maajid, Amirbai karnataki, Dulari, Protima Devi, W M Khan, Saroj Borkar etc etc. In this list we find names of Masood, Shehzadi and Majid, who are not well known to most people.
Masood Mohammed Ansari was born on 16-2-1921 at Lahore in a respectable family. After passing the Matriculation, he joined films with screen name Shyam, but as there were already 2 actors with that name, he retained his own name shortened to just Masood. He joined Bombay Talkies on a monthly salary, but even in one year, he did not get any role in a film, so he resigned.
He did small roles in Sitara and Gunehgar -39, but was noticed in Bahurani-40. Due to his good looks and personality, he got roles with leading ladies like Sitara, Swarnalata, Nurjehan, Mumtaz Shanti, Khurshid Jr. and Shamim. He acted in society-42,Aabroo-43,Naadan-43, Raahgir-43, Ishara-43, Nagad Narayan-43, Kul kalank-45, pujari-46, Nek parveen-46 and Bhanwar-47. he got married just before partition and migrated to Pakistan, with his family.
The other name we find is of Shehzadi. Now, there was another actress Shehzadi, who was the daughter of actress director and producer Fatima Begum and sister of Zubeida (Alam Ara) and Sultana. She had done films from 1926 to 1939 only. Zubeida and Sultana were married in 1936. She also got married and left films. Actress Shehzadi of film Kul Kalank-45 was different. She was born in Bombay and knew Urdu, Hindi, English, Gujarati and Marathi languages. She joined Bombay Talkies and her Debut film was Jhoola-41. In this film she did a dance and song item with Mumtaj Ali (father of Mehmood). The song was ” Main to Delhi se dulhan laaya re “. This became a hit song. She had learned Dancing before joining films. This came handy in films. She acted in 26 films from 1941 to 1947. In film ‘ Hanso hanso,aye duniyawalon’-42, she was Gope’s Heroine. In 1947, she started her own company Ratnakar productions and made a film ” Utho Jaago’ with Hero Ashiq Hussain. After Partition, she married the Hero and migrated to Pakistan.
The third name is Majid. His name was Abdul majid Syed. he was born at Farrukhabad in U.P. in 1915. His father was an Overseer. After matric in 1929, he started his business of Leather in Akola, Maharashtra. in 1935, actor, director and producer Nazeer of Hind pictures, introduced him to S.K.Daryani and he got a small role in Sher ka Panja-36 and Sangdil samaj-36. However, from film Bulldog-37, he got side roles and lead roles in films like Gentleman daku-37, insaaf-37, Rajkumari-38, Masterman-38, Zamana-38, Mud-40, Saubhagya-40, Swami-41, Swaminath-42, he also acted in more films like Najma-43, Babar-44 and Zeenat-45.
In all he did over 100 films till 1947. After Partition, he migrated to Pakistan with Nazeer and Swarnalata.
In film Kul kalank-45, there were 11 songs. Today’s song is a duet by Ameerbai karnataki and Rafi. Mind you, in 1945, Mohd. Rafi was still a new singer. Having started only in 1944, this song was just the 7th song in his career. from his style and voice itself, one can make out that this singer was a new one. That way, this is a rare song of Rafi and a song which is not easily available.
Film Kul Kalank was re-released as ” Jeewan Chhaya ” in 1946 again. Kul Kalank-45 makes a Debut on the Blog. Listen to Rafi’s rare song.
( Credits- A.I.Directory, pakfilms.com,, CITWF.com, Times of India back issue, HFGK, MuVyz, Flash back-Isak Mujawar, Asli Nakli Chehere-V.Pandya and my notes )
Song-Topiwaale babu ne dil chheena (Kul Kalank)(1945) Singers-Amirbai Karnataki, Rafi, Lyrics-Roopbani, MD-Alla Rakkha Qureshi
Both
Lyrics
Topiwaale baabu ne dil chheena
Topiwaale baabu ne dil chheena
dil chheena re mora man chheena aa
dil chheena re mora man chheena
haay dil chheena re mora man chheena
Topiwaale baabu ne dil chheena
tirchhi nazron se kar ke ishaara
tirchhi nazron se kar ke ishaara
Topiwaale baabu ne dil chheena
baanke nainon waali ne dil chheena
dil chheena re mora man chheena aa
dil chheena re mora man chheena
haaye dil chheena re mora man chheena
baanke nainon waali ne dil chheena
baanke nainon waali ne dil chheena
kaali zulfon ka de ke nazaara
kaali zulfon ka de ke nazaara
baanke nainon waali ne dil chheena
baanke nainon waali ne dil chheena
o o o
bhari bajariya mein khenche chunariya aa aa
bhari bajariya mein khenche chunariya
khenche chunariya mera
haay raam
khenche chunariya mera
haay raam
khenche chunariya aa
maare sharam meri doobi najariya
maare sharam meri doobi najariya
maathhe pe aaya paseena aa aa
maathhe pe aaya paseenaa
Topiwaale baabu ne dil chheena
Topiwaale baabu ne dil chheena
ho o o
bhari bajariya mein ghoonghat nikaale ae ae
bhari bajariya mein ghoonghat nikaale ae ae
chalti ho kyun tum aanchal sambhaale
chalti ho kyun tum aanchal sambhaale
dikhaati ho kyun apna seena aa
dikhaati ho kyun apna seena
baanke nainon waali ne dil chheena
topi waale baabu ne dil chheena
dil chheena
dil chheena
Man ki sooni nagariya suhaani bani
Posted on: August 7, 2014
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 sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
GEMS FROM THE MIGRATORS…..song no. 9
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When we talk of Partition and Migration of artistes from one country to another, only the famous and the well known names are taken. There were hundreds of small time actors, directors, lyricists, composers, instrument players, chorus singers, technicians etc who were not known to many and also had migrated for various reasons. The other day I was reading a book, ” Who’s who: Music in Pakistan ” written by A.Shaikh and M.Shaikh. In this book I found several names of singers, composers, lyricists and above all instrument players, who shifted to Pakistan.
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Just now I came across a fantastic duet song from the era gone by. What a delightful song ! A song like this can magically transport the listeners back in time to those days, even if those days happened to be days before many of us were even born.
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Mujhe tumse muhabbat hai
Posted on: January 16, 2012
“Shahnaaz” (1948) is an obscure movie and little is known about this movie. In fact, there is uncertainty even about the title. I have seen the title being spelled as “Shahnawaaz” too in some site.
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Aansoo thhi meri zindagi
Posted on: July 8, 2011
“Bikhhre Moti” (1951) is a movie I have little idea about. But I have gathered that this movie had actors like Jeevan, Neelam, Kamini Kaushal, Nigar, Jayant, Ranjana, Sherry etc in it. From the movie title, the movie appears to be a tear jerker movie.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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