Archive for the ‘Surendra Bibbo Duet’ Category
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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Songs from Artiste Name Films….Second Season….No. 7
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Today’s song is from the film Manmohan-1936. This was a film made by Sagar Movietone in Bombay. The film’s cast consisted of Singer Actor Surendra, Bibbo, Yaqub, Ashalata,Bhudo Advani, Zia Sarhadi and many others. You will be surprised if I tell you that this film would not have been made if K L Saigal was not acting in films of New Theatres in Calcutta ! Strange, but true ! Let us see how….
K L Saigal was discovered by New Theatres and he entered into a contract with them. His first 3 films were most ordinary and non significant, all flops actually – Zinda Laash, Subah ka sitara and Mohabbat ke aansoo, all made in 1932. Next year he made 2 films – Yahoodi ki beti and Pooran Bhagat, made in 1933. In his 5th film-Pooran Bhagat- his 4 songs from this film became famous to some extent. However he had not acted in that film, but only the songs were filmed on him. In the subsequent year, his first famous and popular film-Chandidas-1934 came out with a Hit song ” Prem nagar me basaungi main ghar” along with Uma Shashi. But in this film he was overshadowed with senior actors like Uma Shashi etc.
Saigal caught the nation’s attention in real sense in his 10th film – ” Devdas “-1935 and there was no looking back after this film. He soon became the Trump Card for New Theatres and film after films, his name and fame became known everywhere. The audience and the younger generation at that time had become mad for Saigal’s songs and films. It was a Gold-mine for new Theatres.
This gave jitters to the Bombay film industry and every studio started a ‘Look-Out’ for a new actor-singer to counter Saigal’s and new Theatre’s domination over India.
Surendranath Sharma, B.A., LL.B was discovered by Lala Alopi Prasad, a Delhi distributor of Sagar Movietone films. He had seen and heard Surendra’s singing. He convinced Surendranath to join films and sent him to Sagar movietone in Bombay. Authorities in Sagar were simply ecstatic seeing this young, handsome and highly educated singer from a respectable family. He was soon contracted and handed over to Sagar’s young, enterprising director Mehboob Khan, who not only groomed him, renamed him as only Surendra, but also made him a Hero in film Deccan Queen-1936. In this film he sang a song ” Birha ki aag lagi more man mein “, which was a parody of Saigal’s famous song ” Baalam aay baso mere man mein ” from the film Devdas-1935. All this confirmed the claim of Sagar Movietone that Surendra was Bombay’s answer to Calcutta’s Saigal !
The very next film of Surendra was based on the same story as ‘ Devdas ‘. It was written by Zia Sarhadi. It was titled “Manmohan “, in which the protagonist loses his beloved to another person and takes to drinking and takes his own life. Thus, the film ” Manmohan”-1936 was made because Saigal was popular in Calcutta ! Q.E.D. !!
Film Manmohan also became a Hit film. The handsome Surendra and the beautiful Bibbo enhanced the appeal and very good songs added to its popularity. The most popular song of this film ” Tumhi ne mujh ko prem sikhaya ” is already discussed on this Blog, on 21-3-2014. Today’s song will be the second song from this film,after 7 years. Like that song, today’s song is also sung by Surendra and Bibbo. However, that was a happy song and this is a sad song.
The film revolves around two childhood friends, Vimala (Bibbo), and Ashok (Surendra), who loves her but loses her to another, finally taking to drinking.
Ashok (Surendra) is an artist in love with Vimala (Bibbo). On learning that she is to marry Jagdish (Yakub) he is devastated and paints her portraits which become popular. He starts drinking and finds comfort with another woman. Soon his family wealth starts dwindling. Vimala, who is married by now, tries to help him with her husband’s efforts. However, Ashok misunderstands the overture, leading to tragedy for him.
The music composition was by Ashok Ghosh, with assistance from a then “young arranger”, Anil Biswas. The lyrics were written by a then “small-time” actor Zia Sarhadi. The film’s soundtrack became its “highlight” with “chart-busting” music. Surendra was brought in as a singer actor to counter New Theatres K. L. Saigal. The duet by Surendra and Bibbo “Tumhi Ne Mujhko Prem Sikhaya” is considered a hit song and remains popular. The songs from this film made Surendra a popular singing star.
The star of today’s post is singer actor MANMOHAN KRISHNA – a senior actor who mostly did Character roles. His personality was not exactly suitable to a standard Hero in those times, he would have got lead roles in many films of today, because the definition of a Hero is changed now. He was an excellent actor. Since he could sing well, he sang a few songs in films, which became quite popular. Additionally, some popular songs were filmed on him after he stopped singing himself. He had not acted in the film Manmohan-1936 because he came to films in 1937, though he sang as a playback singer in 1946 itself.
MANMOHAN KRISHNA was born on 11-8-1908, at Lahore in Punjab. He was a very studious person and always stood first in school. He completed his M.Sc. in Physics and started working as a Physics lecturer in a Lahore college. He was very fond of singing and also sang on Lahore Radio.
Once when V. Shantaram visited Lahore, he heard Manmohan’s singing on stage and was impressed. Shantaram offered him the lead role in his forthcoming film, “Matwala Shair Ramjoshi”-1947, In this film Manmohan sang 6 solos and 3 duets with Zohrabai Ambalewali. However, his first song as a playback singer was in Shantaram’s film, ” Jeewan Yatra”-1946, under Vasant Desai’s baton.
In his career of more than 40 years, he acted in 183 films and directed 1 film – Noorie-1979. He also sang 24 songs in 8 films, namely Jeewan Yatra-46, Matwala Shayar Ramjoshi-47, Andhon ki duniya-47, Apna Desh-49, Afsar-50, Aaram-51, Railway Platform-55 and Shehar aur Sapna-1963. During his stay in Bombay, he anchored a Radio show ” Cadbury’s Phulwari” in the 50’s.
Manmohan Krishna was connected with Indian Peoples Theatre i.e. IPTA and acted in few of their dramas. Being an educated person, he was impressed with Nehruvian Secularism. He worked in films like Shehar aur Sapna by K. A.Abbas as well as the first Indo-Soviet film Pardesi-1957. He also got the Film Fare award for playing the role of Abdul Chacha in the film Dhool ka Phool-64. The song in this film ” Tu Hindu banega na Musalman banega ” filmed on him, became very popular.
Being a member of the intelligentia, he could not sell himself nor mix up into the Hindi filmi world fully. He always fought against injustice. He established ‘ Yuvak Biradari ‘ for young Indians, which became a big organisation in due course.
He was a favourite of the Chopra Brothers and acted in most films made by them. Some of his famous films were Deewar, Trishul, Humraaz, Insaaf ka Tarazu, Joshila, Kanoon, Kala Pathar, Dhool ka phool, Waqt, Naya Daur etc. etc. He also worked in 12 Punjabi films. He was prominently spotted in any role due to his thick bushy eyebrows.
In Hindi films, he rarely got a hero’s role, barring few films, because of his ordinary look. He had no looks required for a Hero’s role in a commercial film, in those days. He was of course an excellent Character Artiste. Due to his nature, he kept away from Filmi parties and groupism. He had no real friends in the film industry. Manmohan krishna did not keep good health in his last few years and died at the age of 82 years, in Lokmanya Tilak Hospital, Bombay, on 3-11-1990.
( Based on some information from wiki, ‘Beete kal ke sitare’ by Shriram Tamrakar,muVyz, HFGK, some information from the book “Sagar Movietone” by Biren Kothari ji and my notes. Thanks to all.)
Song- Kisne jahaan mein sukh dekha hai(Manmohan)(1936) Singers-Surendra, Bibbo, Lyricist- Zia Sarhadi, MD- Ashok Ghosh
Both
Lyrics
aa aa aa
aa aa ke chaman ko ujaad denaa
aa aa aa
aa aa aa aa
meri khili huyi kaliyon ko ?? lena hai
kisne jahaan mein sukh dekhaa aa
kisne jahaan mein sukh dekhaa aa
kise jeewan mein gham ne jalaaya nahin
kise jeewan mein gham ne jalaaya nahin
kise jeewan mein gham ne jalaaya nahin
kise ne prem ki bansi ee ee bajaa ke ae
loot liya aa aa
aaa aa aa aa
aa aa aa aa aa
bahaaron ke ?? ki duniya dikhaa ke loot liya
prem bina is des mein saajan
prem bina is des mein saajan
koi dukhiyon ke man ka ujaalaa nahin
koi dukhiyon ke man ka ujaalaa nahin
koi dukhiyon ke man ka ujaalaa nahin
kisne jahaan mein sukh dekha hai
kisne jahaan mein sukh dekha hai
kise jeewan mein gham ne jalaaya nahin
kise jeewan mein gham ne jalaaya nahin
This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, 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.
Who was the first female music director in Hindi film Industry? The answer to this question has changed thrice during the last few years.
It was believed that Saraswati Devi (real name: Khorshed Minocher-Homji) was the first female music director who composed songs for ‘Jawaani Ki Hawa’ (1935), produced under the banner of Bombay Talkies. Subsequently, it was established that Jaddanbai, who composed the songs for ‘Talaash-e-Haq’ (1935) was the first female music director, her film having been released earlier than ‘Jawaani Ki Hawa’. It will be interesting to know as to which of the songs from these two films were recorded first on the respective film’s sound track.
Read more on this topic…
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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