Archive for the ‘Shamshad Begam-Ram Kamlani duet’ Category
Mohe laa de reshmi lahanga
Posted on: October 3, 2019
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular 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 a film Rakhi-1949. This social film was made by Prakash Pictures,Bombay. It was directed by Dr. Shanti kumar ( he is different than the composer Shanti Kumar Desai). The 10 melodious songs were composed by the Melody-Magicians Husnlal-Bhagatram.
Most of us know that Husnlal and Bhagatram were the brothers of Pt. Amarnath- the eldest brother, who too was a well known, pre Independence music director. However, How many of us know that out of this pair, Bhagatram was the elder brother ? Have you anytime wondered why the younger brother’s name comes first in this pair ?
Normally, when a pair of brothers is referred, it is the elder brother’s name that comes first. For example, Ram-Laxman or Balram – Srikrishna or even Kalyanji – Anand ji, Jatin-Lalit or Anand-Milind. For many years, this matter was bothering me, but I could not find any justification for this unusual way of pairing. I was sure that there must be some story behind this.
Two years ago, the Blog “Songs of yore” published the second part of Husnlal-Bhagatram post on 11-8-2017, based on the interview of Dinesh Prabhakar, son of Husnlal and Ms. Nirmala Devi, wife of Husnlal. During her talk, Nirmala Devi explained the reasons for calling the pair as Husnlal-Bhagatram, inspite of Bhagatram being the elder one and more experienced of the two. Bhagatram had already given music, individually to 9 films, in the late 30s and early 40s, before the pair was formed. Her statement answered my long awaited query about the unusual name of the pair. Here is the related portion of her interview….
” The 90-year old Shrimati Nirmala Devi is an amazing lady. She still has a razor-sharp memory and superb knowledge of music and music personalities of that era. She gave me a lot of interesting information, not available elsewhere – for example, the reason why the younger brother Husnlal’s name comes first in the duo’s name. Her talk also revealed that other family commitments, too, in Delhi were contributory factors for their decline in the film music.
Shrimati Nirmala Devi speaks about her husband (late) Pt Husnlal
DD Kashyap, who was directing Chaand (1944) for Prabhat Films, wanted to engage Pt Amarnath based in Lahore, who was a towering figure in music. As he was heavily preoccupied, he strongly recommended his younger brother Pt Husnlal who was staying with him and assisting him in Lahore-based films of Pancholi and others, assuring Kashyap that Pt Husnlal was no less talented than him. Pt Amarnath was like a father-figure to his younger brothers, especially to Pt Husnlal. A music session was organized to demonstrate Pt Husnlal’s talent. Kashyap was highly impressed. When it was time for Pt Husnlal to proceed for Poona/Bombay, Pt Amarnath, out of concern for his kid-brother, suggested to Kashyap to also engage Pt Bhagatram with him. Kashyap expressed difficulty in arranging the payment for two as the contract was already made out. Pt Amarnath assured him that he should not bother about increasing the fee, but the two brothers must work together. (Thus it was that Bhagatram got appended to Husnlal, forming the duo HB. Another reason why the younger brother’s name preceded the elder brother was simply the aesthetics – Husnlal-Bhagatram sounding better than the other way around.) ”
Dr. Shantikumar directed the film Rakhi-49. No information is available about him anywhere. We only know that he directed 18 films. Starting with film Police-44, he ended his career with film Mahasati Behula-64.
The cast of the film was Kamini Kaushal (real name Uma Kashyap), Karan Dewan, Gope, Yashodhara Katju, Pran, Kuldip, Raj Adeeb (younger brother of Prem Adeeb), Ulhas etc. As time flows, Heroes become character artistes and then they fade out. There are hundreds of old time actors about whom absolutely no information is available. Intense search sometimes yields some results and one feels at peace with whatever is available. One such actor is Ulhas. For many years nothing was known about him except names of his films from HFGK. Over a period a little more about him came to light. Now we know that his real name was M.N.Kaul and that he was a Kashmiri Pandit. He worked in 155 films. Recently I found the following note on Ulhas in ‘ Chinar Shade’ Blog..
He was known as ULHAAS and his real name was M N Kaul. He belonged to a Kashmiri Pandit family from Ajmer. As a young boy, he moved to Poona in 1937 and joined Prabhat Pictures as an actor. His first movie as an actor was ” Wahan “. He worked with stalwarts like A R Kardar and Sohrab Modi.
Chandr Mohan Wattal , another Kashmiri actor of 1930s and 1940s helped him a lot to settle in films .In fact he intervened and requested V Shantaram for his role in “Wahan”. Ulhaas remained loyal to Chandr Mohan wattal for this favour till latter’s death in 1949.
When Bombay Talkies decided to start their New film BASANT, Ulhaas and Mumtaz Shanti were signed as lead pair. Again in the movie PARBAT PE APNAA DERA , he was signed as hero.
Thereafter , he started doing character roles. He played memorable character roles in Guide , Amar, Aadmi, ,Shama Parwana, Sehra, Ziddi, Goonj Uthhi Shehnaayi, Rani Roopmati, Dhaka Ki Malmal, Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan, Kundan, Heer, Mirza Ghalib ,Jhansi Ki Raani , Nai Umar Ki Nai Fasal, Sangharsh , Prem Pujaari, Badi Didi, Do Aaankhen Baarah Haath, Johar Mehmood in Goa.
In his 38 years of career, he acted in many hit movies. His last movie was Sawaal (1982).
We all know about Pran very well, so there is no point in giving his Bio-data here. Few days back I found an article on Pran on http://www.rediffmail.com. This article gave interesting points about Pran’s life, which normally are not known to most people. Here is an excerpt from this article, duly edited by me.
Pran’s full name is Pran Krishan Sikand. Pran wanted to be a photographer and even took up a job as an apprentice in A Das & Co, Delhi.
Pran’s first ever acting role was Sita to Madan Puri’s Ram in Shimla, at a local Ramlila.
Since Pran’s father was a civil contractor with the government, Pran studied at various schools in Kapurthala (Punjab), Unnao, Meerat and Rampur (Uttar Pradesh) and Dehradun (Uttarakhand).
Pran’s first film was in Punjabi called Yamla Jat (1940), where he played a villain. It was a huge hit.
Pran did not tell his father that he was shooting for a movie, as he thought his father would not permit him to have an acting career. When his first interview appeared in a newspaper, Pran asked his sisters to hide the papers. When his father finally learnt of his career, he was not upset as Pran had expected.
In one of his early films, Pran played hero to Noor Jehan in Khandaan (1942).
Pran came to Mumbai from Lahore on August 14, 1947, just a day before India’s Independence, with his wife and one-year-old son Arvind.
According to Pran, one of the most precious things he lost in the Partition was his dog. When Pran became popular, he would name his dogs Bullet, Whisky and Soda.
Before Pran came to Mumbai, he had already acted in 22 films as a villain. Due to the Partition, his career had a brief pause.
When Pran came to Mumbai, he stayed at the Taj Mahal hotel. As he had no work, money started running out, and the family had to shift to smaller and smaller hotels. Finally, they had to stay in a guest house.
After eight months of arriving in Mumbai, Pran — with the help of writer Saadat Hasan Manto and actor Shyam — got a role in Shaheed Latif’s Ziddi (1948), starring Dev Anand and Kamini Kaushal.
Ziddi was a hit. Within a week of its release, Pran signed three more films: S M Yusuf’s Grihasti, Prabhat Films’s Apradhi and Wali Mohammad Wali’s Putli.
BR Chopra’s Afsana (1951) was Pran’s first biggest hit after he shifted to Mumbai.
Pran had three children — Arvind, Sunil and Pinky — and five grandchildren.
Ashok Kumar and Pran were the best of friends and have acted in more than 25 films together, including Afsana, Victoria No 203, Chori Mera Kaam, Chor Ke Ghar Chor, Apna Khoon, Aap Ke Deewane, Raja Aur Rana, Inspector, Lakeeren, Mr X, Pooja Ke Phool, Purab Aur Pachhim, Adhikar, Naya Zamana and Aansoo Ban Gaye Phool.
Pran even played Valmiki in a mythological film called Luv-Kush.
When Pran was signed up for Halaku, Meena Kumari was quite upset but when she saw him in costume, and a few rushes from the film, she was very happy.
Pran would work on his make-up well. He would have an artist at home, who would sketch the kind of look he wanted. Then, his make-up man and wig-maker would work on it.
Pran acted in several Bengali films as well, including Joy Mukherjee’s Sonai Dighe, directed by Ashim Banerjee.
It was Pran who recommended Amitabh Bachchan to Prakash Mehra for Zanjeer, which had been offered to Dev Anand, Raaj Kumar and Dharmendra earlier.
Pran acted with Amitabh in 15 films like Zanjeer, Kasauti, Don, Amar Akbar Anthony, Majboor, Dostana, Naseeb, Kaalia and Sharaabi.
Not many know that Pran was paid more than Amitabh Bachchan. In the 1970s, only Rajesh Khannna was paid more than Pran. In the 1950s and 1960s, only Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor and Rajendra Kumar were paid more than Pran.
Pran started rejecting film offers in the 1990s citing age-related problems. But when Amitabh was going through a rough patch in his career, he requested Pran to act in his film Mrityudaata and Tere Mere Sapne. Pran readily agreed.
During the filming of both Mrituyudata and Tere Mere Sapne, Pran’s legs used to tremble. So he shot most of the scenes in a seated position. After 2000, he made very few guest appearances in films.
Pran is a member of various social organisations, and even had his own football team called the Bombay Dynamos Football Club.
Pran’s favourite word ‘Barkhurdaar’ became immensely popular over the years.
In 2001, Pran got a Padma Bhushan, India’s third highest civilian award from the government of India.
Pran’s biography is titled …And Pran because in most of his movies, his name in the credits would appear last and read as …and Pran. Sometimes, it would be …above all Pran.
Film Rakhi was a typical ” Tear Jerker ” story of a spoiled brother and his sympathetic, protective sister. Shanti kumar was the most suitable director for such stories, as he handled emotional scenes perfectly, in his direction. The story of the film was…..
Shankar(Pran) is the brother of Kamini and is a vagabond.Because of him ,the sister suffers quite a lot, but ties a Rakhi always. Shankar is arrested for fraud and is in Police custody,when Karan Diwan -his sister’s husband is accused of Murder,which he has not done.Knowing this,Shankar runs away from lock up to get the real culprit and when he does,he is shot and dies in the arms of sister Kamini-who ties a Rakhi on his wrist as it is the Rakhi Poonam that day.Highly melodramatic indeed !
Today’s duet is the 4th song to be discussed here. It is sung by Shamshad Begum and Ram Kamlani . Ram Kamlani was Gope’s youngest brother. They were 9 siblings and Ram kamlani was the last one. He was born on 20-10-1919. Though Gope started his career in acting in 1933 and concentrated only on acting, Ram Kamlani dabbled in Acting, Direction, Production and Playback singing too. He entered the film line in late 40s.
As an actor he acted in 9 films like Ajeet, Inaam, Kaajal, Do Raaha, Joi Bangla Desh etc. As a Singer he sang 22 songs in 15 films. Starting with Doosri Shaadi-47, he sang in Ghar ki Izzat, Rangeen Zamaana, Kaajal, Refugee, Pyar ki jeet, Maa ka pyar, Naao, Raakhi, Bahurani, Khamosh Sipahi, Meena Bazar, Malkin, Chaalbaaz, Laal Dupatta etc.
Mostly, he sang for his brother Gope. His songs were generally duets. These were mainly comedy songs,very few were serious ones. His rare solos like,” Bane hai hum to Ghar Jamai'(Ghar ki izzat) and ” Koi samze isse muhabbat”(Meena Bazaar) became popular.
When Gope established Gope Productions, he produced some films and directed some of them,like, Muskurahat, Biradari, Bezuban, Khamosh Sipahi, Hangama etc.
Ram Kamlani died in 1983 in Bombay.
The song is very good to listen to. After all, it was composed by the Melody Magicians !
Song-Mohe laa de reshmi lehenga (Raakhi)(1949) Singers-Shamshad Begam, Ram Kamlani, Lyrics- Sarashar Sailani, MD- Husnlal Bhagatram
Both
Lyrics
mohe la de
ho mohe la de reshmi lehanga
mohe la de
ho mohe la de reshmi lehanga
chaahe sasta mile chaahe mahanga
ho chaahe sasta mile chaahe mahanga
waah ri meri nain michakko
bojh lehange ka kaise uthhaayegi
kaise uthhaayegi
tori patli kamar bal khaayegi
kamar bal khaayegi
tori patli kamar bal khaayegi
kamar bal khaayegi
main na laaunga
ho main na laaunga reshmi lehanga
main na laaunga
ho main na laaunga reshmi lehanga
chaahe sasta mile chaahe mahanga
chaahe sasta mile chaahe mahanga
ho phir laa de chunariya silki ee ee
ho phir laa de chunariya silki
toone baat kahi mere dil ki
ho toone baat kahi mere dil ki
par wo hai videshi mill ki
main na laaunga
main na laaunga chunariya silki
acchha suit sila de parachute ka
parachute ka
acchha suit sila de parachute ka
dil loot legi kisi rangroot ka
ho dil loot legi kisi rangroot ka
aji jaane bhi do chhodo ye bahaane
chhodo ye bahaane
gori sach main kahoon raam jaane
raam jaane, raam jaane, raam jaane
aji jaane bhi do chhodo ye bahaane
chhodo ye bahaane
gori sach main kahoon raam jaane
raam jaane, raam jaane, raam jaane raam jaane
achha to phir raam hi jaane
main to chali bareli
rooth chali mori nain michakko
chhod ke jaan akeli
kanghi le le sheesha le le
rooth naa meri jaan
kanghi le le sheesha le le
rooth naa meri jaan
bhaad mein jhonki kanghi shishe
baand mera saamaan
abe bhaad mein jhonki kanghi sheeshe
baand mera saamaan
main to maike chali
gham le ke chali
main to maike chali
gham le ke chali
duniya waalon
duniya waalon
duniya waalon
duniya waalon
dekho mere ghar ki baat niraali
sabka sheesh jhuke mere aage
par na jhuke gharwaali
gori maike na ja
dukh de ke na ja
gori mayke na ja
dukh de ke na ja
tohe la doonga
ho tohe laa dunga reshami lehanga
tohe la doonga
ho tohe laa doonga reshami lehanga
chaahe sasta mile chaahe mahanga
ho chaahe sasta mile chaahe mahanga
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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