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 from the film Ladli-1949.
The year 1949 falls under the “Golden Era” of HFM. There are as many dates as there are so called “Experts” on HFM. Some say the period is from 1950 to 1970, others say it was from 1945 to 1980 and still some more vouch for 1947 to 1960. As a ‘Rasik’ and a student of Old Hindi films and Music (but not an expert), I feel the GOLDEN ERA should be from 1946 to 1970 – a cool period of 25 years (both years included).
1949 was one of the best years in the Golden Era of HFM. There were so many films offering evergreen, out of this world songs, that the audience did not know which film to see and which song to hear. The song records registered Record Sales in 1949. 157 films were made in 1949. Barring the figure of 181 films in 1947 ( we know the reasons), 1949 produced the maximum films from 1931 to 1984 – a period of 50++ years. What’s more, almost every alternate film gave superb songs. Nearly every Music Director of Hindi films was present in 1949, with his film.
This was also a transition period, when older composers were giving way to newer ones. Additionally, the competition between Naushad and C Ramchandra for the Number One position was at its peak. Though CR is my favourite composer, during the period 47 to 49, it was all the way Naushad who was the undisputed Numero Uno as far as quality and number of hit films were concerned. In this period Naushad’s strike rate of Hit films was more than double, compared to C R, percentage wise. Naushad had 8 Hits from his 9 films in the period 1947 to 1949. For the same period, CR had only 4 Hits in his 18 films.
The year 1949 had absolute heavenly showers of Musical Films. Some of such films were Andaz, Badi Behan, Barsaat, Bazaar, Dulari, Jeet, Apna Desh, Chandni Raat, Chaar Din, Sunehre Din, Shayar, Dillagi, Ek thi Ladki, Kaneez, Laadli, Lahore, Mahal, Namoona, Patanga etc etc. The year 1949 also witnessed the introduction of A and U Censor certificates, the establishment of Films Division, the start of Navketan productions of Anand brothers and few other landmarks in the Hindi film industry.
Ladli was produced by Ashalata and her husband Anil Biswas. The film had 11 songs written by a team of 5 Lyricists and the music was composed by Anil Biswas.
Let’s first see the film’s story. Film Ladli-49 was Directed by J.P.Advani-Jagatrai Perumal Advani-,who was born on 17-5-1903, in Hyderabad (Sindh). His first film as a Director was heer Ranjha-1931 and the last was Haseena-55. He directed about 30 films in his career.
LADLI-49 was a Variety Pictures film and the cast included Jairaj, Sulochana Chatterjee, Randhir, Ramesh Sinha, Kuldip Kaur etc. This film must have been inspired by a Mills and Boon romantic novel, surely.
Gerald Mills and Charles Boon, a publishing company established in 1908, started publishing romantic novels from 1930. These were Escapist fiction fodder for women and soon became famous all over the continent of America and in all countries where the British ruled. In India too they were/are popular and were the bases for many many films. Though low brow and formulaic as well as predictable, these novels have a guaranteed readership all over the world.( Even I have read a few novels and liked them !). It proved to be the Food -Delicious for the dreamers among men and women.
One such dreamer was Ladli ( Sulochana Chatterjee ). Though she was Shanti by name, she was Ladli for everyone. Having lost her parents, she was living with her Uncle. They both worked in the local stageplays in theatre.Ladli always dreamed of her ” Prince Charming” who came on a white Horse and carried her in his arms to a faroff heaven.
One day the wicked manager of the Theatre calls Ladli to his room and tries to be fresh with her. Hearing her shrieks, her uncle Ramlal (Ramesh Sinha) rushes in and saves her but they lose their Job and House. They have to leave the town and go to the village for work. In the city they meet a tramp, Sharat Chandra,who is seeking a job. They get along fine with each other.
Actually Sharat Chandra (Jairaj) is a millionaire, out in disguise to collect material for his drama to be staged shortly. In due course Ladli realises that Sharat is her prince Charming and he too loves her. After a few days Sharat has to leave them, but he promises to come back to marry her. Sharat is already engaged to Shobha (Kuldeel Kaur) and is to marry her soon. Later Shobha doubts something and then finds out about Ladli. She meets Ladli and offers her a lot of money to forget Sharat, otherwise…. she even threatens her.
On the day of Shobha’s marriage with Sharat, a surprise occurs. Sharat finds Ladli, instead of Shobha as his Bride. Shobha sacrifices for the sake of true love. Thus finally Ladli gets her Prince Charming !
One of the songs of this film “Tumhare bulane ko jee chahta hai” sung soulfully by the great Lata Mangeshkar is my All Time Favourite. That way, I liked many of the songs composed by Anil Biswas from time to time. In the early years of Talkie films, the artistes, who became The Big Ones in their later career, had to undergo tough periods of hard work and efforts. Anil Biswas too was not an exception. There are many books on or about Anil Biswas, but no one has described his early struggle. I have a rare article written by Anil Biswas himself in which he has described his early hard life. I present an extract from a very long article, for the benefit of our readers. It is the first time it is coming on any Blog on the internet.
” I was born on the 7th of July, 1914, at Barisal which is now in East Pakistan. Whenever I think of my childhood I naturally remember my mother. Ours was a very poor family and during this difficult time my mother encouraged my artistic leanings. My mother was musically inclined by nature. It seems I could sing when I was four years old. People have seen me playing the tabla when I was five or six years old, and at ten, I could act well. Those days I would take part in dramas. When I was older I was often requested to sing at music concerts — and I would sing where seasoned artists would perform. I composed my own songs, and the listeners would be surprised to hear my new songs at these concerts. At this time, I was in the Matric class. A wave of patriotism swept the country and there was not a single boy of my age in Bengal who was not willing to sacrifice his life for his coun- try. My desire to see my country attain freedom was responsi- ble for my becoming associated with a revolutionary party. But it was because of this association that I had to face many difficulties, and a simple boy like me ended up making and throwing bombs! There were the usual results which go along with such a life– my studies were interrupted. I went to jail six times during my childhood. My friends in jail were Niren Ghosh, a communist member of the Rajya Sabha, and the Principal of the Shastriya degree college in Bina (M.P.), Satyavrata Ghosh. Many of my friends died in jail.
During this period, I escaped in disguise to Calcutta from Barisal. The year was 1930. My father had passed away. I left home with five rupees in my pocket. I bought a ticket for 17 paise and came by steamer to Jokati and from there to Hul- larhat. There I stayed on the veranda of the local post office for three days. I got a job as a coolie-cum-servant and managed to reach Khulna, from where I travelled to Calcutta by train. I was in bad shape. I knew nobody in Calcutta except my childhood friend Pannalal Ghosh. Panna was shocked to see me. His elder sister took charge of the situation and asked me to stay in her house. I stayed only four days with Panna’s brother-in- law, Lalit Chandra Roy.
I started life once again in Calcutta. I started washing dishes in a hotel. At the same time I kept looking for other jobs. A magician called Manoranjan Sarkar used to come for his meals to this hotel and I became friendly with him. One day he heard me singing to myself and asked me to accompany him to a music concert. We went to the residence of Rai Bahadur Agornath, a big officer in the Education Department, who was an exponent of music. There were many other people there, among them Kavi Jeetendranath Bagchi and J.N. Ghosh, who was the owner of the Mega phone Gramophone Company. Sarkar told them I could sing well. On being asked to sing, I at once prayed to numerous _devataas_ and started singing shyama sangeet in a clear, unsophisticated voice. My song was appreciated by all the elders there.
When I look back today, I feel it was that day I gained the knack to gauge the mood of a mehfil ! I ate a good meal after many days. Rai Bahadur Agornath asked me to stay at his place and teach his grandchildren. Every night I had to sing religious songs for him. However, I soon got tired of this pattern of life. I did not like being a guest–and being served good food all the time. I left after eight days as I got a job teaching music to the daughter of Dr. Pasupati Mitra for five rupees a month. I was soon to realize the consequences of being a member of a revolutionary party. One day the police came to look for me at Pannalal Ghosh’s brother-in-law’s house. They also came to the residence of Advocate Mahendra Ghosh where I was staying and teaching his six children. I was arrested and sent to Elisium Row jail. I suffered for four months–the beating was, of course, a routine affair. The police could not find any evidence against me. Their treatment of me was so strange that it became difficult to distinguish between friends and enemies. Suddenly, they would turn violent against me.
When I was released, I was asked by the police to become a spy and give information about freedom fighters. As I was jobless, I agreed and gave them false information; however, this could not go on for very long. I could not fool them. Those days, Kazi Nazrul Islam used to work in the Megaphone Gramophone Company as a lyricist and music director. It is because of his efforts that _thumris_ and _ghazals_ influenced Bengali music. This influence opened the way to experiments which were applauded by Rabindranath Tagore too. I approached Kazida for a job as the police had found out that I was a `fake spy’ and I had no other means of livelihood. I had been influenced by Kazida right from childhood. In Spite of his encouragement, I found it difficult to come up. In the same Company, there was somebody who prevented my records from becoming popular. I learnt _ghazals_ from Manju Sahib who was happy about my singing. However, these records never saw the light of day. This is a very sad fact.
At this time, Nitai Motilal, who was related to Baval Rajvansh, heard my songs. Nitayida was one of the good music directors associated with Rangmanch. He gave me a job with the Rang Mahal theatre. Even today this theatre is in existence. In the forties, it had a revolving stage! Shri Satu Sen was the director of the plays. While working as assistant director to Nitida, I composed music for quite a few dramas. I sang, danced, and acted in the plays. You will be surprised to hear that my salary was only Rs. 40 a month. While at the Gramophone Company, I was paid five rupees for the lyrics and five for com- posing the music. I worked for three years at the Rang Mahal. This was the time I learnt the proper use of music and how to reach the people with it. My life in Calcutta was to undergo a change. I was becoming popular.
One day I happened to meet the film director Hiren Bose. Hirenda showed an interest in me and asked me whether I would like to work in films. He made it very clear that if I was, I would have to leave Calcutta. Till today I don’t know why I was ready to, because I was staying comfortably there. I did not spend too much time thinking about it, and agreed. The year was 1934. I remember Hirenda agreed to pay me Rs. 150 a month. ” (MY JOURNEY INTO THE WORLD OF MUSIC By Anil Biswas. The article first appeared in `Madhuri’, Dec. 29, 1967. It was reprinted in `Saurabh’ annual issue in 1977. This version appeared in `Cinema Vision India’, Vol. II, No. II, 1983, pp. 57-59. )
Let us now enjoy today’s song sung by Lata, Meena Kapoor and chorus. It was a speciality of Anil Biswas that in every film, he used to have atleast one chorus song.
Song-Jai Jai Jai Prem devta (Laadli)(1949) Singers-Meena Kapoor, Lata Mangeshkar, Lyrics-Chandrashekhar Pandey, MD-Anil Biswas
Chorus
Lyrics
chhota sa mandir banaaaa
chhote se ae maharaje par chhaaya
sansar mein madhur prem ka raaj
jai jai jai
prem devta
prem devta
jai jai prem devta
man mandir ke thakur
jai prem devta
jai jai prem devta
man mandir ke thakur
jai prem devta
jai jai prem devta
prem devta
jai jai prem devta
roz(?) nihaarte hain
saajan ke pyaar tumhen
roj(?) nihaarte hain
saajan ke pyaar tumhen
veena ke taar tum hi
van ki bahaar tum hi
veena ke taar tum hi
van ki bahaar tum hi
man ki pukaar tum hi
prem devta prem devta
prem devta
prem devta
jai jai prem devta
prem devta
jai jai prem devta
band karo
band karo band karo band karo
pooja is nirday ki band karo
ab tak bhole thhe patthar mein
par ye jhoothhi maaya
bolo iski pooja karke
kisne kya sukh paaya
rona aur sisakna
aahen bharna aansu peena
der(?) yahi iski khul khul
kar mare huye ka jeena
moorti tod do
shankh phod do
phoolon ki maala marod do
dhoop deep naivaidhya phenk kar
??
aarti chhod do
aarti chhod do
aarti chhod do o o
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.
“Chor”(1950) was directed by Anand Prasad Kapoor for Singh Arts Production, Bombay. The movie had Krishnakant, Cuckoo, Sona Chatterji, Meera Misra, Sankatha Prasad, Alkarani, Baby Asha, Shyama, Shanti Madhok, Shukla, David junior, Dixit, Kochar, Shekhar, Arora, Sachin Ghosh etc in it. Read more on this topic…
“Anokha Pyaar” (1948) was an Ambika Films Company production. It was directed by M I Dharmsen. The movie had Kesari, Dilip Kumar, Nargis, Nalini Jaywant, Mukri, Ved, Uma Dutt, Habib, Sheikh, Sankatha Prasad etc in it. Read more on this topic…
“Angulimaal” (1960) is a movie based on the life of angulimaal, a bandit who was a contemporary of Lord Budhha who got reformed after his interaction with the latter. This movie had Bharat Bhushan,Nimmi,Anita Guha,Helen etc in it. Read more on this topic…
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