Archive for the ‘expression of love’ Category
Meri Duniya Hai Tu Mera Armaan Tu Hai
Posted on: May 9, 2024
- In: Blog century song | Century songs for the blog | Devnagri script lyrics by Sudhir | expression of love | Feelings of heart | Ghazal | Guest posts | Lyrics contributed by readers | Post by Mahesh Mamadapur | Songs of 1950s (1951 to 1960) | Songs of 1955 | Talat Mehmood solo | Talat Mehmood songs | Yearwise breakup of songs
- 2 Comments
This article is written by Mahesh Mamadapur, 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.
This article is the 18300th post in the blog.
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Blog Day : |
5774 | Post No. : | 18300 |
chhed kar taaron pe dil ke
ek adhoori ragini
aur deewaane ko deewaana bana jaate ho tum
24 February 2024 marked the birth centenary of legendary singer and actor Talat Mahmood. Born on 24 Feb 1924, he passed away on 09 May 1998 at the age of 74. This write up was planned to coincide with the Birth centenary, but the article got delayed. The remembrance day today (9 May 1998) offers us another opportunity to pay our tributes to Talat Mehmood (24 Feb 1924-9 May 1998).
I have inordinately delayed paying tributes to one of my favorite singers on his birth centenary and express sincere regrets for this lapse.
I did not see much fanfare or homage on his centenary day on social media and news items in laudation of one of the most popular voices HFM has ever seen. Or maybe, I must have missed them.
His biography by his relative Sahar Zaman, was also unveiled and launched just a couple of months before his 100th birthday. One would have expected it to be released on his centenary date which was just about two months away from the launch date, but I suppose, the biographer found it more prudent to release the biography at the 16th Global Film Festival held in December 2023 at Marwah Studiosm (at Noida, close to Delhi).
His son Khalid Mahmood maintains his father’s website ‘A Golden Voice – Talat Mahmood‘. It’s a well-maintained website containing ample information and pictures on the life and career of Talat Saab. Of particular interest to self and readers would be the page on Talat Saab’s song list wherein most of the details are provided barring the names of the respective lyricists and the year of release of the films. However, the list is of immense help particularly in tracing his unheard and hitherto unavailable songs. The list also has details on songs from unreleased films. For example, a solo and a duet with Lata Mangeshkar have been listed from an unreleased film ‘Preet Na Jaane Reet’. What caught my attention was the composer’s name. Sajjad Husain. Wow. The combo will inevitably remind fans of ‘Sangdil’ (1952). I understand from our Sudhir ji that the lyrics are also mentioned in the Talat Geet Kosh. He is also on the job of tracing the audio of the songs.
Coming to his songs it is easy to sum up his career as a singer of less than 750 odd songs, about a dozen films as an actor, multiple state and club awards, pioneer of foreign concerts and a Padma Bhushan in 1992.
But then, Talat Mahmood’s career is not about numbers. In fact, it is more than mere class or quality also. His voice is about a phenomenon and the legendary cult that continues to enthrall listeners all over the world to this day.
Talat Saab has sung for himself as well as provided playback. However, hardly 450 odd songs are on record, compared to few thousands by his notable contemporaries. Of these, 400 plus songs are already showcased on the blog. That’s a good 90% coverage and I am sure it will not be long before all available HF songs of his are represented here. There are around 167 geet, ghazal, bhajans etc. according to this website. Hardly 14 of these NFSs have been represented on our blog. So, we still have a lot of ground to cover as far as his NFSs are concerned.
Of all the singers of the golden era, his was the distinct voice which has its own aura and has stood the test of time. When a Talat song comes on radio / TV programs or our own collection of songs, it’s always about the voice that the mind steps back and ponders about the rare element in his renderings. He neither has the numbers nor the range, but whatever has been exhibited continues to glow in gold.
I was under the impression that I have written only one post on Talat Saab, but then, I was pleasantly surprised to trace 3 of my posts on Talat Saab wherein I seem to have covered quite a few aspects on his songs, his voice and his special association with Mukesh. Of special mention are the two songs from ‘Yahudi’ (1958) and ‘Sujata’ (1959) associated with his good friend Mukesh. I would request readers to visit the following 3 posts for these mentions and the stories behind the two songs.
| Song Post Number | Song Title | Movie (Year) | Date of post | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11658 | Mitne de meri zindagi | Meharbani (1950) | 15 December 2015 | |
| 12724 | Mujhko mohabbat ho gayi hai | Biwi aur makaan (1966) | 22 December 2016 | Sung by Mukesh, Manna Dey, Hemant Kumar, Talat Mehmood and Joginder |
| 14996 | Aao baadal chain re royen | Aawaara Ladki (1967) | 19 April 2019 |
On reading the above posts once again, it seems I had a better flair for writing, a decade back than what I possess now. Again, on discovering the contents of the above posts, my efforts in this post have been cut to size. I have even listed 15 of his best songs (my selection) in one of the posts; something which I normally avoid because great songs of legends cannot be short-listed.
‘King of Ghazals’, ‘India’s Frank Sinatra’, ‘Velvet voiced’ and many other sobriquets have been rightly used and reused for him. So instead of writing on his voice, I will try to emphasize on a few songs, especially for the lyrics and the flawless rendition and the empathy conveyed by him.
a. abhi zinda hoon lekin sochata rehta hoon ye dil mein
ki ab tak kis tamannaa ke sahaare jee liyaa maine
These lines from the song “Muhabbat Tarq Ki Maine, Gharebaan See Liya Maine” of film ‘Doraaha’ (1952) are like a sharp knife cutting through the heart so much so that you tend to sympathize with the feelings. Each stanza in this song written by Sahir Saab and composed by Anil Da is a textbook case of composing songs of melancholy genre.
b. jab kisi ke rukh pe zulfen, aa ke lehraane lagin
hasraten uthh uthh ke, armaanon se takraane lagin
Talat Saab has his own inimitable style in rendering romance. Listen to the complete song penned by DN Madhok and tuned by Vinod, from ‘Anmol Ratan’ (1950).
c. har baat bane afsaana jahaan
har naam pe tohmat aati ho
uthte hi koi masoom nazar
bas ruswaayi ho jaati ho
ae dil aisi mehfil se to
behtar tanhaayi hai
These lines are from the song “Ye Kya Hai Dhang Zamaane Ka” Prem Dhawan in ‘Daak Babu’ (1954) came up with these beautiful verses.
d. koi jab yeh geet sunega
pyaar ka phir woh naam na lega
pyaar kiya to yoonhi jalega
tadpega aur royega
hum to hain pathhar ke insaan
hum to yeh dukh seh gaye
The song “Aise Toote Taar Ke Mere Geet Adhure Reh Gaye” by Shewan Rizvi in Ram Ganguly’s ‘Gawaiyya’ (1954)
e. aane se tere pahle aata hai ek ishaaraa
sooraj se pahle jaise ek roshni ki dhaaraa
hamne wahi ishaaraa dil mein basaa liyaa hai
Rajinder Krishan wrote these lines in the song “Tere Raaste Pe Hamne Ek Ghar Banaa Liya Hai” in the 1954 film ‘Kavi’. Fast paced romantic numbers were not exactly his forte, but Talat Saab comes up with excellent rendition in his indelible voice for this duet with Lata.
f. duniya mujhe dhoondhe,
magar mera nishaan koyi na ho
and
chalna hai sab se door-door
ab caravan koyi na ho
Majrooh Saab’s lyrics for the song “Ae Dil Mujhe Aisi Jagah Le Chal” in the film Aarzoo (1950).
I have taken just a small sample of a few lines of only five lyricists just to showcase the amazing blend of the voice and the thoughts of the poets. Such couplets and verses from various songs of Talat Mahmood are my personal favourites.
Coming to today’s song and celebrating the centenary yearr of the silken voice, I have selected this solo from the film ‘Bindiya’ (1955).
The film has ten songs in all, and two solos in the voice of Talat Saab. One solo – “Hai Dil Mein Milan Ki Aas” is already posted on the blog. The music is composed by Snehal Bhatkar, The ten songs are written by Arsh Haideri, Bharat Vyas and SH Bihari. Both solos of Talat Saab are from the pen of SH Bihari.
On our blog, 401 songs carrying the voice of Talat Sb are showcased. This song is 402th offering of his rendition in the blog.
Talat Mahmood Saab, a hundred years and a perpetual legacy of a voice that is distinctive and a class apart.
Editor’s Note: This Talat Mehmood tribute article post on his birth centenary year is the 18300th post in the blog. With this post, the blog achieves yet another century milestone. We take this opportunity to thank one and all for their continuous support and encouragement. Here is hoping that this musical bandwagon will keep rolling on and on and we will keep reaching many more milestones in the days to come.
Song – Meri Duniya Hai Tu Mera Aarmaan Tu Hai (Bindiyaa) (1955) Singer – Talat Mehmood, Lyrics – SH Bihari, MD – Snehal Bhatkar
Lyrics
aa aa aa
aa aa aa
aa aa aa
meri duniya hai tu
mera armaan tu hai
mere jeevan mein
khushiyon ka saamaan tu hai
meri duniya hai tu
mera armaan tu hai
mere jeevan mein
khushiyon ka saamaan tu hai
mere dil ko hai pyaari teri har ada
mere dil ko hai pyaari teri har ada
ye ada mujhko pyaari rahegi sada
ye ada mujhko pyaari rahegi sada
main hoon bejaan aur meri jaan tu hai
meri duniya hai tu
mera armaan tu hai
mere jeevan mein
khushiyon ka saamaan tu hai
mujhe har ghadi
tujh pe aata hai pyaar
mujhe har ghadi
tujh pe aata hai pyaar
meri zindagi mein hai
tujh se bahaar
meri zindagi mein hai
tujh se bahaar
bahaaron mein kaliyon ki muskaan tu hai
meri duniya hai tu
mera armaan tu hai
mere jeevan mein
khushiyon ka saamaan tu hai
tu nahin to meri daastaan kuchh nahin
tu nahin to meri daastaan kuchh nahin
ye zameen kuchh nahin
aasmaan kuchh nahin
ye zameen kuchh nahin
aasmaan kuchh nahin
main hoon anjaan
meri pehchaan tu hai
meri duniya hai tu
mera armaan tu hai
mere jeevan mein
khushiyon ka saamaan tu hai
meri duniya hai tu
mera armaan tu hai
mere jeevan mein
khushiyon ka saamaan tu hai
——————————————
Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
——————————————
आ आ आ
आ आ आ
आ आ आ
मेरी दुनिया है तू
मेरा अरमां है तू
मेरे जीवन में खुशियों का सामान तू है
मेरी दुनिया है तू
मेरा अरमां है तू
मेरे जीवन में खुशियों का सामान तू है
मेरे दिल को है प्यारी तेरी हर अदा
मेरे दिल को है प्यारी तेरी हर अदा
ये अदा मुझको प्यारी रहेगी सदा
ये अदा मुझको प्यारी रहेगी सदा
मैं हूँ बेजान और मेरी जान तू है
मेरी दुनिया है तू
मेरा अरमां है तू
मेरे जीवन में खुशियों का सामान तू है
मुझे हर घड़ी तुझपे आता है प्यार
मुझे हर घड़ी तुझपे आता है प्यार
मेरी ज़िंदगी में है तुझ से बहार
मेरी ज़िंदगी में है तुझ से बहार
बहारों में कलियों की मुस्कान तू है
मेरी दुनिया है तू
मेरा अरमां है तू
मेरे जीवन में खुशियों का सामान तू है
तू नहीं तो मेरी दास्ताँ कुछ नहीं
तू नहीं तो मेरी दास्ताँ कुछ नहीं
ये ज़मीन कुछ नहीं
आसमां कुछ नहीं
ये ज़मीन कुछ नहीं
आसमां कुछ नहीं
मैं हूँ अंजान मेरी पहचान तू है
मेरी दुनिया है तू
मेरा अरमां है तू
मेरे जीवन में खुशियों का सामान तू है
मेरी दुनिया है तू
मेरा अरमां है तू
मेरे जीवन में खुशियों का सामान तू है
Haseenon se koi poochhey
Posted on: April 28, 2024
- In: Duet | expression of love | Feelings of heart | Guest posts | Lalita Deulkar songs | Post by Arunkumar Deshmukh | Rare song | Song sung by relatives | Song sung by spouses | Songs of 1950s (1951 to 1960) | Songs of 1956 | Sudhir Phadke songs as a singer | Sudhir Phadke-Lalita Deulkar duet | Yearwise breakup of songs
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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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Blog Day : |
5763 | Post No. : | 18288 |
Today’s song is a duet from the film Sajni-1956. This song is of some significance. It is a song sung by a pair of Husband-wife. Of course this is not unique. Earlier also there were a few such songs by Husband-wife pairs. What is significant is that this was their last duet in a film. The pair was Sudhir Phadke and Lalita Deulkar Phadke. What’s more, with this song Lalita ended her film singing career also !
Film Sajni-1956 was not a famous film. In fact it was an obscure film, hardly known to most people. Produced by a couple – P.R.Patkar and Isabel Clifford, the film was directed by Vasant rao Painter. He was the nephew (son of Anandrao Painter) of the famous Kala Maharshi Baburao Painter, owner of the Maharashtra Film Company, Kolhapur. Many stalwarts of the early Silent and Talkie films emerged from this film company, where they got an all round training in filmmaking. Some of the famous names are V.Shantaram, Master Vinayak, Baburao Pendharkar, Fattelal, Damle, Dhaibar etc.
Vasant Anandrao Painter was born in a village near Kolhapur on 13-8- 1913. His father Anandrao, along with cousin Baburao Painter wanted to make films. Anandrao had bought a second hand Projector, which he turned into a Camera and shot a short film also. Unfortunately, Anandrao Mistry or Anandrao Painter died suddenly on 22-10-1915.Vasant Painter was only a 2 year old baby at that time. Baburao Painter went on to become the famous founder of Marathi films in the Silent Era.
By the time Vasant became 16 year old,the Silent film era was in full swing and many films were made in Kolhapur, Poona and Bombay. He had a liking for painting,so he picked up poster painting work,first in Maharashtra Film company and later in Prabhat film company when it was started in Kolhapur. Actually Damle and Fatelal were keen on helping him as he was the son of Anandrao, from whom they had learnt so many things. They called him to work in Prabhat. He did all jobs,including assisting in cinematography and direction.
His first break came when he was 33 year old. He got an opportunity to direct Prabhat’s film ” Gokul”-46 and later on ” Seedha Raasta”-47. After V.Shantaram had left Prabhat to start his own Rajkamal,Vasnt painter remained in Prabhat loyally, so he got the reward. Prabhat decided to make the film “Namdev” and Vasant was selected as a director. The cast was fixed and other arrangements done, but due to financial reasons the film was cancelled. Anyway, he got another opportunity. Actress Kamala Kotnis had floated a production company,Kamala Chitra Ltd..She invited Painter to direct her film,’Sati Ahilya’-49. Snehal Bhatkar was the MD.
Painter directed ‘Bhishma Pratignya’-1950. This was, probably,the only Mythological film Nargis had acted in, with Shahu Modak. His other films were, Murliwala-51, Devyani-52, Sajni-56, Patit paawan-55, Gokul ka chor-59, Pyar ki jeet-62 . Meanwhile he was producing and directing several Marathi films too. He won 9 awards,including the prestigious ” V.Shantaram Award”. Vasant painter died on 31-5-2006, leaving behind him 6 daughters and 1 son.
The film had music by Sudhir Phadke and his assistant for this film was Vishnu Govind Jog, who became a world famous Violinist in his later life. He played in several concerts all over the world, including the Madison Square Garden in New York. He was a Sangeet and Natak Academy Award winner in 1980 and Padma Bhushan in 1983. The cast of the film was Sulochana, Anup Kumar, Lalita Pawar, Sapru, Krishna Kumari, Gope, Maruti, Nimbalkar and many others. The songs were written by Narendra Sharma (5 songs) and today’s song was by Nakshab Jarachavi.
Like any other language, there are writers and authors in Marathi too, who write on old films and old actors etc from the vintage Hindi films. One such author calls himself ” Babu Moshoi “. His articles are published regularly in newspapers, magazines etc. He has written several books. His real name is Hemant Desai. Another such writer in Hindi and Gujarati is Vithal Pandya. I have many such books in my library. Through these books I get to know old actors and their information, sometimes. I get surprised at many names as I read about some names about whom I had never known. For example, do you know who did King Dashrath’s role in films Bharat Milap-42 and Ramrajya-43, or the role of Kanva Muni in film Shakuntala-43 ? Who was the actress in Kaushalya’s role in Ramrajya-43 or Ram Vivah-49 ?
This actor was I. T. Nimbalkar and this actress was Shanta Kothari (nee Shanta Kumari). These were artistes from Silent film era, spilled over the Talkie films. They started as Hero and Heroine, but shifted to character roles, as the time went by. In our film industry, such cases are not new. In fact such type of actors who remained practically unknown to later generations of audiences, were highly respected by film people during shootings. Their seniority and work was respected.
This is a very good practice in the industry, by directors and other actors to give respect to old timers. Raj Kapoor used to send his car to fetch Bhudo Advani for shootings of film Boot Polish scenes. Hrishikesh Mukherjee kept special chair for Master Shiraz, during the shooting of film Guddi. He also ensured to feature Shiraz in the film credits. These are only samples to stress what I have said. Not every such matter is published but it is a special feature of the industry.
I try to gather information on such unknown and forgotten artistes and write on them. Not everytime I am successful, but I have written about many such actors, directors, Music Directors etc. Some of them are Omkar Devaskar, Zunzar rao Pawar, Ganapat rao Bakare, Shankar rao Vazare, Naseem Junior, Shamim Jr, Altaf, Urmila, Ranjana, Kusum Deshpande, Vasant rao Thengadi, Jamshed ji etc etc. Today, we will know more about one such old time actor who was prolific and worked in films of Bombay and Calcutta.
I.T.Nimbalkar aka Indurao T. Nimbalkar ( he was always credited as only ‘Nimbalkar’ in all films) was born on 6-12-1893, in Kolhapur state. This was the time Kolhapur was slowly developing as Kalapur (hub of arts) and the seeds of film making were being planted there. Baburao Painter, one of the original film makers had started his ” Maharashtra Film Company” on 1-12 1917.
Baburao, Damle, Fattelal etc were taught painting By Anandrao Painter, who was an extraordinary painter of those times. All these people, along with V Shantaram, Keshavrao Dhaiber and few more also joined Baburao Painter’s Maharashtra Film company. True that, film making had started even earlier in Maharashtra, but Baburao Painter is credited with making films a form of art and spreading it on a larger canvas of India.
Indurao Nimbalkar grew up in this atmosphere in Kolhapur. He passed his Matriculation exam and also did a diploma in Printing. Nimbalkar was six feet tall and had a good physique. He was expert in riding, swimming and wrestling. He did 1000 sit-ups every day. Shahu Maharaj, the king of Kolhapur encouraged all arts as well as development of lower castes. Arya Samaj had a ‘ Gurukul’ in Kolhapur. Impressed with Nimbalkar’s education and body, Shahu ji appointed him as Editor of the weekly ‘ Arya’ and secretary of Gurukul.
One day Baburao Painter, along with assistant V Shantaram visited his press and offered Nimbalkar a role in his proposed film Sairandhri. Shahu Maharaj also permitted and encouraged him ,so Nimbalkar joined the film line. He was already famous due to his fiery editorials and now people came to see his shootings too. However, due to money shortage, the film did not complete. ( It was later made in 1919, but with different cast. V Shantaram made coloured Sairandhri in 1933 with Nimbalkar again).
Nimbalkar acted in many silent films like Baji Deshpande, Khazanchi (directed by Moti gidwani- England returned), Lanka, Kismet (directed by Baburao Patel) etc etc. After the closure of Maharashtra F. Co., Nimbalkar was invited by V Shantaram to do Vishvamitra’s role in its first Talkie film ” Ayodhya ka Raja” -1932, in Hindi and Marathi. After this, he did Jalti Nishani-32, Sairandhri-33, Maya Machhindra-32, Sinhagadh-23 etc.
After this, Nimbalkar went to Calcutta on invitation and worked in films made by Radha Films, Laxmi Studios, Devdatta films and New Theatres. From 1934 to 1938, he acted in 12 Hindi films. He was provided a Bungalow, car with driver, servants etc. His son studied in local school there. Returning to Bombay he worked as an assistant director to Keshavrao Dhaiber for film ‘Nandkumar’-38, made by his Jayashree Films. Next 2 years he shuttled between Calcutta and Bombay. He did King Dashrath’s role in Prakash films’ Bharat Milap-42 and Ramrajya-43 in this period.
He was invited by V Shantaram for acting in his first film under banner of Rajkamal- Shakuntala-43. Nimbalkar did the role of Kanva Muni in it. He later also acted in Jeevan yatra-46, Subah ka tara-54, Parchhain-52, Teen batti char rasta-53, Toofan aur Diya-56, Z Z Payal baje-55. Earlier he did Aapki sewa mein-47, Prarthana-44,Nal Damayanti-45, Seedha Rasta-41, Gokul-46, Apna Ghar-42, Maharathi karna-44, Seeta Swayamvar-48. He worked in Pyasa-57, Mera Naam Joker-70, Amar Prem-60 etc etc. From 1928 to 1970 he acted in over 250 films.
His wife Sushila was also educated and looked after his home and children. She never visited any sets in her life time. Nimbalkar died on 17-1-1973 at Kolhapur. (Thanks to an article in book Chandraat-चांदरात by Babu Moshoi, in addition to my notes, HFGK, muVyz, CRTWF, Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema and Film India magazines).
Two interesting trivias before I conclude this post. The first is Sudhir Phadke and Lalita Deulkar got married on 29-5-1949. Phadke’s close friend Mohd. Rafi did one wonderful thing. He sang a specially prepared and well rehearsed ” Mangalashtak” (an 8 stanza Marriage song in Marathi) in their marriage !
The second trivia is, Lalita became a famous singer with a duet with Rafi “Hum ko tumhara hi aasra” from film SAAJAN-1947 and she ended her career with a duet from film SAJNI-1956 !
(Acknowledement- I sincerely thank Shri Syed Zafar Shah ji for making the above very rare song available to us for discussion, on my request. He has always been very helpful.)
With today’s song, all songs of this film are covered and the film is YIPPEED !
Song- Haseenon se koi poochhe (Sajni)(1956) Singers- Lalita Deulkar, Sudhir Phadke, Lyricist- Nakshab Jarachavi, MD- Sudhir Phadke
Both
Lyrics
Taqdeer ka likha hua
taula nahin jaataa
dil hai ke sambhaale se
sambhaalaa nahin jaataa
sambhaalaa nahin jaataa
haseenon se koi poochhe
sataa kar humko kya logey
haseenon se koi poochhe
sataa kar humko kya logey
jalaa kar humko kya logey
mitaa kar humko kya logey
jahaan tak jaan baaqi hai
likhaa qismat ka bharte hain
aa aa aa aa aa
jahaan tak jaan baaqi hai
likhaa qismat ka bharte hain
o o o o
ye soorat hai
ye haalat hai
na jeete hain
na marte hain
na jeete hain
na marte hain
marte hain
mitaa kar humko kya logey
sataa kar humko kya logey
jalaa kar humko kya logey
haseenon se koi poochhe
sataa kar humko kya logey
jalaa kar humko kya logey
mitaa kar humko kya logey
wahaan majboor paa kar
dekh tum par julm hote hain
wahaan majboor paa kar
dekh tum par julm hote hain
yahaan taqdeer ke maare
na hanste hain
na rotey hain
yahaan taqdeer ke maare
na hanste hain
na rotey hain
rote hain
rulaa kar humko kya logey
jalaa kar humko kya logey
mitaa kar humko kya logey
haseenon se koi poochhe
sataa kar humko kya logey
jalaa kar humko kya logey
mitaa kar humko kya logey
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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Blog Day : |
5762 | Post No. : | 18287 |
Today’s song is a song sung by Kishore kumar in his inimitable style, from the film Dilli Ka Thug-1958.
1958 was the year when so many musical films came. One could see the excellence of lyricists and the art of the Music Directors making those songs popular. In those days the active lyricists were Shakeel Badayuni, Sahir Ludhianvi, Shailendra, Majrooh, Hasrat Jaipuri, Bharat Vyas, Rajendra krishna, Prem Dhawan, Kaifi Azmi, Pradeep to name a few.
Composer kalyan ji debuted as an independent MD, for the film ‘Samrat Chandragupt’, in which a song written by Nirupa Roy was used. Iqbal Qureshi entered films with ” Panchayat”. Anand Bakshi debuted with ‘Bhala Aadmi’ and continued for another 45 years, becoming one who wrote maximum number of songs for Hindi films.
This was also the year in which, due to a misunderstanding, the long standing bond between Rajendra krishna and C.Ramchandra was broken and it became an additional reason for C Ramchandra’s downfall from his successful musical career. In this year 3 Qawalis became Hits. First was ‘Sadhana’s ‘ Aaj kyun humse parda hai’. The other 2 qawalis were from B and C grade fils. ‘Jungle Princess’ had the first ever qawali’ Adaayen teer hain’, which was a competition between Males and females. The third one was a real surprise. Film ‘Al Hilal’ gave ” Hamen to loot liya hai milke husn walon ne”, composed by Bulo C Rani.
Nargis- Sunil Dutt got married on 11th March and Shashi Kapoor- Jeniffer got married on 2nd July. Old time actors Gope and Yaqub expired. Devika Rani got Padmashree.
Some of the popular and Hit films were Aakhri Dao-Madan Mohan, Aji Bas Shukriya – Roshan, Amar Deep-C.Ramchandra, Chalti ka naam gaadi, Kala pani, Sitaron se aagey and Solva Saal – S.D.Burman, Dilli ka Thug-Ravi, Howrah Bridge, Phagun and Ragini- O.P.Nayyar, Lala Rukh and Phir Subah Hogi- Khayyam, Madhumati-Salil Chaudhari, Parvarish-Dattaram, Sadhana-N.Datta, Yahudi-Shankar-Jaikishen etc etc.
Dilli ka Thug-1958 was prodominently a Kishore Kumar film.
Kishore Kumar came to Bombay to become a singer, but he was forced by the circumstances to become a comedy actor. For Kishore Kumar, his dream of becoming a singer was looking bleak. Instead of singing, he was getting offers to do comic roles in films. It was only Dada Burman who dared to cast Kishore as the Playback singer for Dev Anand. The first ever song he sang for Dev Anand was ” Mere labon mein chhipe”-Baazi-51. However, it was not until his song in Munimji-55 ” Jeevan ke safar mein raahi” that he proved he was a singer first and actor next. Out of all 12 songs of Munimji, only this song was the most popular and hummable. In Funtoosh-56,Dada gave him ” Dukhi man mere”.By now Kishore was out of Saigal’s shadow. The song clicked, but not Kishore, because in that period he had heaps of acting offers and there was no time for concentrating on singing. He settled for singing his own songs and those songs for Dev which Dada gave him occasionally.
When Kishore kumar was trying very hard to establish himself in the film industry, at least as a comedy hero-if not a singer, it was Dada Burman who helped him by giving him songs in almost every film of his in the 50s.
Dada was an experimentalist and had judged Kishore very well. He knew that Kishore was a talented artiste, though without formal training in music. In the days when the music was serious and classical oriented, there were no takers for Kishore except Dada Burman. Kishore had a plain voice and had nothing else except his spontaneity in front of the mike to help him.
S D Burman was a path breaker. There are few instances of Dada going against the tide and winning ! The trend in the film industry was to use one singer for one actor in one film. Like, Mukesh for Raj Kapoor, Kishore for Rajesh khanna or Rafi for Dilip or later on for Shammi kapoor etc. Dada did not subscribe to this theory. He would use the singer depending on the mood of the song and situation of the song in the film. No matter if he has to use more singers for one Hero in One film.
Thus, Manhar, Kishore and Rafi sang for Amitabh in Abhimaan and Rafi, Kishore and Manna Dey sang for Dev Anand in Manzil. He had tried Kishore on Raj Kapoor in Pyar-50. In Sagina, Kshore sang for Dilip Kumar.
Kishore Kumar is the only singer in the world to have sung songs for three generations of actors from one family-TWICE !
He sang song “Bainya chhodo” for Mumtaz Ali, father of Mehmood-for whom Kishore sang many songs and in film Yehi hai Zindagi, Kishor sang for Mehmood’s son Lucky Ali.
He sang for Raj Kapoor in Pyaar-50, then he sang many songs for his son Rishi Kapoor. In the 2008 film, ” Bachna ae Haseeno”- Kishore Kumar song- Bachna ae Haseena was lip synched by Rishi Kapoor’s son, Ranbir Kapoor.
Despite the outstanding success of ”Padosan”-68, Kishore remained where he was- neither an actor nor a singer. The turning point came in 1969. S D Burman was composing music for ‘Aradhana’. He had already recorded 2 duets of Rafi and then Dada Burman fell seriously ill. He handed over the reins of music of this movie to his son R D Burman. Dada had already made the tunes. R D had only to make the recordings. Fresh from the success of Padosan and the songs of Kishore in that film, R D decided to record 2 solos and 1 duet with Lata in Kishore’s voice. Dada was not at all in a position to even protest and R D had never preferred Rafi over Kishore.
Kishore recorded the songs and ”the rest is History” as they say. In the 21st year of his film career, finally, Kishore had achieved what he had been dreaming of. Now every other composer wanted only Kishore and not Rafi. R D Burman had quietly brought a revolution in HFM, hoodwinking all, even his own father ! On his part, Kishore too had matched Rajesh Khanna’s screen presence with vitality and freshness in the songs of Aradhana. The success of Aradhana-not only its songs, but also a successful popular film with the most ordinary plot ever, was so much that people forgot that Hemant Kumar too had used Kishore Kumar for Rajesh Khanna in 1969 only itself in film Khamoshi, for the song” Voh shyam kuch ajeeb thi”. But this classic song from Hemant Kumar was swept away in Aradhana floods.
With ‘Aradhana’, Kishore’s second Golden period started-1970 to 1975, from 1970 to 1985, it is called Kishore Yug in HFM, but the melodious songs which he sang during the 6 years, i.e. 70-75 were really his best. Even after that Kishore did give some good songs, but,as he himself said in an interview ” the real music ended with 1975. Later on it was only factory production on line”. During 1970 to 1985 he sang more than 1800 songs in 764 films. You can imagine the quality of songs in later years.
Kishore had waited for 21 years to become a Singer, and he did become one, he sang only for 18 years !
it is a coincidence that one of the actors in Film Dilli ka Thug had also come to films to become a singer- and he had recorded some songs too- but ended up as an actor. The name may be unexpecte for most readers. He was IFTEKHAR !
Sayyadana Iftekhar Ahmed Shareef was born in Jallundhar on 26-2-1922. His father was a big gun in a private company at Kanpur, so his education upto Matriculation took place in Kanpur. Then he went to Lucknow to do a Diploma in Painting. He was very fond of singing and wanted to become a singer like the legendary Saigal. Naturally , he went to Calcutta to gain entry into singing . There he met Kamal Dasgupta who was impressed with his personality and mannerisms.
He not only recorded 2 of his songs, but also recommended his name as an actor to his production company. In 1944, Iftekhar was taken as an actor in the film Taqraar, opposite actress Jamuna. Next year, he did Ghar-45 and also Rajlakshmi-45- in which Talat Mehmood also acted and sang songs. During this period he fell in love with a Jew Girl- Hanna Joseph, who stayed in his building. Iftekhar broke his earlier engagement to Sayeeda from Lucknow and got married to Hanna, after converting her to Islam. Sayeeda never married in her lifetime after this break up. He got 2 daughters.
After 1947, his family had migrated to Pakistan, but he chose to remain in India. By that time he had done 2 more films, namely, Aisa Kyun and Tum aur Main. He decided to shift to Bombay due to riots in Calcutta in 47-48. In Bombay, he had no work and faced a lot of problems. His wife had to do a job for sustenance. Iftekhar was recognised and helped by Ashok Kumar. He was given a role in the film Muqaddar-50. Being a good painter, Iftekhar taught Painting to Ashok Kumar. In the next 20 years, he did 70 films.
Then came the film Ittefaq-1969, in which he did the role of a Police Officer. This film changed his life and there was no looking back. Films like Zanjeer, Deewar etc further augmented his image and he was well entrenched. He bought a house, car etc. His daughters got married. Iftekhar acted in 318 films in all.
After his younger daughter’s death, Iftekhar was a broken man. He fell ill and within a month’s time, he died on 1-3-1995.
It is written in many places on the Internet, that Iftekhar was the brother of actress Veena. It is NOT true. His only sister Shameem got married and migrated to Lahore, in 1947, where she died recently. Veena’s brother Iftekhar was a different person who got embroiled in the love affair of actress Suraiya. ( adapted, with Thanks, from http://www.beetehuedin.blogspot.com in addition to my own notes.)
With today’s song video, film Dilli ka Thug-1958 becomes an YIPPEE film, having all its songs covered here. Enjoy….
Song-Tera yoon nazar churaa ke jaanaa haaye haaye (Dilli Ka Thug)(1958) Singer- Kishore Kumar, Lyricist- Shailendra, MD- Ravi
Lyrics
chal re fakeere
chal ri amiran
takataka takbak
chal re fakeere
jibi chak jibi chak
dheere dheere
bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi
hrrf mere
ae
o bandariya
o bandariya apne bandar se jhagadna hai bura
ik zara si baat par
aise bigadna hai bura
arrey tera yoon nazar chura ke jaana haaye haaye
yoon shuru hua hai yeh fasaana haaye haaye
tera yoon nazar chura ke jaana haaye haaye
yoon shuru hua hai yeh fasaana haaye haaye
rooth ke kahaan chali
o meri champakali
kab talak phiroongaa main
is tarah gali gali
tere bina mere dil ki
dil mein rahi jaaye
haaye haaye
yoon shuru hua hai yeh fasaana haaye haaye
tera yoon nazar chura ke jaana haaye haaye
yoon shuru hua hai yeh fasaana haaye haaye
dil chura ke chal diye
waah kya kamaal hai
ae tussi
ae tussi
ai tussi great ho ji ee
dil chura ke chal diye
waah kya kamaal hai
chor jaisi harkaten
mor jaisi chaal hai
dil bhi churaaye aur aankh bhi dikhaaye
haaye
haaye
yoon shuru hua hai yeh fasaana haaye haaye
tera yoon nazar chura ke jaana haaye haaye
yoon shuru hua hai yeh fasaana haaye haaye
berukhi se iss tarah
jaate hain toh jaayiye
haahaa haahhaah
berukhi se iss tarah
jaate hain toh jaayiye
haath na maliye janaab
honth na chabaaiye
bekadar ho pyaar kya hai
tum na samajh paaye
haaye haaye haaye
yoon shuru hua hai yeh fasaana haaye haaye
tera yoon nazar chura ke jaana haaye haaye
yoon shuru hua hai yeh fasaana haaye haaye
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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5753 | Post No. : | 18277 |
Today’s song is from the film Zingaro-1963.
This Costume film was produced and directed by Chandrakant. It had music by S.N.Tripathi. The cast of the film was Jairaj, Jabeen jalil, Tiwari, Bela Bose, Maruti, Aruna Irani, Mrudula, Baburao Pehelwan and others. From this cast, actors Jairaj and Baburao Pehelwan and actresses Mrudula and Jabeen Jalil are the artistes who were quite capable, but somehow LUCK did not favour them and they fell aside from Big Banners and well known films.
I feel really sad for Mrudula, who was the heroine of Dilip Kumar in his Debut film Jwar Bhata-1944. It was the Debut film for Mrudula too, but see where Dilip Kumar reached -to be India’s famous and A grade top Hero, whereas Mrudula never reached that level. She was good looking and a capable actress. The question is, then why did she fall back in the race ? The simple but unknown answer is – she became a victim of the Studio system.
Till the end of the 1940’s decade, the Studio System was very strong. Initially films were promoted and sold on the names of the studio making it. The names of actors were not even mentioned on the posters and in the booklets. Thanks to actress Sulochana Sr. (Ruby Meyers), who fought for it and names of actors started appearing on the posters and in booklets, albeit in smaller types than the names of studios. If you see the advertisements in old issues of magazines like Film India (whose old issues are freely available on the Internet), you will notice what I am saying.
Due to the Contract system of studios and adamant natures of the studio owners, careers of many actors, actresses and singers were ruined. The culprits were Prabhat, Minerva, Shalimar, Bombay talkies etc. Some tough and courageous artistes like Shanta Apte, Master Vithal and Meena Shorey could get their freedom from giants like Sharda, Prabhat and Minerva, but many others spoiled their careers. Some examples are Mrudula from Bombay Talkies, Manju from Prabhat, Sitara Kanpuri and Shama Dulari from Shalimar etc.
Mridula ( real name Chandrakanta) was born on 2-11-1924 at Almora, but was educated in Delhi. When she was in college doing her graduation, Amiya Chakravarty of Bombay Talkies came to Delhi on a Talent Hunt. He contacted her and gave her an offer. She signed a 5 year contract with Bombay Talkies and Devika Rani became her Mentor, teaching her everything. She was paid 2500 rupees salary with a furnished house. Her first film was “Jwar Bhata”-44, opposite another Debutant Dilip Kumar (Yousuf Khan). After Himanshu Rai’s death, Bombay Talkies was already in disarray. Many people had left the company due to differences with Devika Rai. A group of them formed Filmistan.
She got married to her lover Mr. G C Andley. However the marriage was unsuccessful and she went back to Delhi. She spent a miserable life selling whatever she had to survive. She got divorce and came back to Bombay to work in films, in 1954. She worked in 53 films in all. Her last released film was Saboot-80, though she had married again and retired some time before that.
Mridula was also a victim of her contract with Bombay Talkies. It destroyed her career as a Heroine forever. Devika Rani was her Mentor in Bombay Talkies. However, after Himanshu Rai’s death, no one was listening to her in the company due to groupism. Disgusted, Devika rani left Bombay Talkies, having sold all the shares. Mridula got stuck in the company without work, due to her 5 year contract. It was Vijay Bhatt of Prakash Pictures who somehow convinced Bombay Talkies to loan her to him and she got roles in 2 of their films. In the film ‘Bhakta Dhruva”-47, she played mother to 16 year old Shashi kapoor (sr) when she herself was about 23 year old only ! But she had no choice. The film and her role became famous, but she lost her chances of becoming Heroine in any film thereafter.
Till 30-9-2016 she was living in Worli, Mumbai all alone. Her only daughter stayed nearby and looked after her. There is no news about her anymore.
The other actress who could not or did not go far in the film industry was Jabeen Jalil. She did only 24 films ( plus 5 films unreleased) in the span of 20 years from 1954 to 1974. It was not due to the studio system, but simply due to bad luck.
Jabeen Jaleel was a short, petite but attractive actress. She was born on 1st April 1936 in Delhi, but was educated in Japan and Bombay, as her father was in foreign services of India. She used to take part in college dramas and in one such drama the judges were Nigar Sultana and her director husband S.M.Yusuf. They offered her a film as a Heroine. Jabeen’s father had expired and only mother and younger brother were there. She accepted the offer. Her first film was Guzara in 1954. Her second film in 55 was Lutera. Her first hero was Karan Dewan and second was Nasir khan. She became famous in New Delhi-56, in the role of Kishore’s sister Nikki’s role. She acted in 29 films, out of which 5 were unreleased. She also acted in 4 Punjabi films. She got a National award in 1962 for a Punjabi film in which her Hero was Prem Chopra.
She was a popular actress of Hindi cinema of the 50s & 60s. Although She acted in merely 24 Hindi ( plus 5 films were unreleased) & 4 Punjabi films in her almost 20 years career, she made millions of fans of her beauty and wonderful acting. She has worked with top Bollywood stars like Shashi Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Kishore Kumar, Dev Anand & Pradeep Kumar during 1955 to 1965.
Jabeen made her film debut with Guzaara (1954) where her hero was Karan Dewan. Her second film was Lutera (1955) where her hero was Nasir Khan. She however got true recognition with her third film, New Delhi (1956) where she played the role of Kishore Kumar’s sister Nikki. She got benefitted by the success of New Delhi. In the late 1950s, many films starring her released, including Char Minar, Fashion, Jeevan Sathi, Hathkadi, Panchayat, Raagini, Bedard Zamana Kya Jaane and Raat ke Raahi. In the 60s, Jabeen acted in films like Batwara, Khiladi, Sachche Moti, Taj Mahal and Raju. The Batwara song “Yeh Raat Yeh Fizaayen Phir Aayen Na Aayen” picturised on her and Jawahar Kaul is popular to this day. She also got the National Award for the 1962 Punjabi film Chaudhary Karnail Singh in which her hero was Prem Chopra. Jabeen acted in three other Punjabi movies Kadi Dhoop Kadi Chhaon, Geet Baharaan De & Aye Dharti Punjab Di.
Many songs picturised on her were extremely popular including ‘Tum Aur Hum…’ (Fashion), ‘Madbhari Yeh Pyaar Ki Palken…’ (Fashion), ‘Ta Thaiyya Karte Ana…’ (Panchayat), ‘Piya mai hoon patang tu dor…’ (Raagini), ‘Qaid mein Hai Bulbul Sayyad Muskuraye…’ (Bedard Zamana Kya Jaane), ‘Door Kahin Tu Chal…’ (Bedard Zamana Kya Jaane), ‘Aa Bhi Ja Bewafa…’ (Raat Ke Rahi), ‘Tu Kya Samjhe Tu Kya Jaane…’ (Raat Ke Rahi) and ‘Ek Nazar Ek Ada…’ (Raat Ke Rahi).
Jabeen Jalil quit films in 1974 after wrapping up her career with the film Vachan. In 2008 she had produced a movie “Pehli Nazar Ka Pyaar”.
Jabeen got married in the year 1968. Her Husband Ashok Kak is of Kashmiri Origin & hailed from Jodhpur. He was President of the Kodak Company and was the youngest CEO of that time. After moving away from films Jabeen was active in social work also. Jabeen and her family stayed in America for 10 years. The family moved back to Mumbai in 1998. She lives with her husband, son and elderly mother-in-law in her flat in South Bombay and divides her time between playing the devoted wife and the ideal mother.Her son Divvij Kak is also an actor and Jabeen became a producer with Jabeen International. She lives in Dadar, Mumbai nowadays.
Today’s film is the routine King, Queen and Vazier type story. For a change, the Vazier is good but the Queen is evil. The story of the film is……
A ruler’s demise leaves a kingdom in turmoil, with a fight over which of his two wives should become queen mother. The honor goes to the elder queen, much to the dismay of Chandrasen (Tiwari), who hoped his sister would gain the position.
Mad for power, Chandrasen meets a holy man who requires seven virgins to be sacrificed to his guru. The holy man gives Chandrasen a magic flower that will allow him to take any form, and he uses it to become a duplicate of the God that is worshiped by the jungle people. He is challenged by Zingaro (Jairaj), a swarthy young jungle man, so Chandrasen turns his servant, Bahadur, into a copy of Zingaro and orders him to abduct girls from the village.
The Queen mother begs someone to capture Zingaro, but because of his legendary prowess and strength, nobody is brave enough to take the challenge except Kiran (Jabeen), the daughter of Diwan, the late king’s loyal assistant. Kiran finds Zingaro, but Zingaro convinces her of his innocence and the two set out together to capture the impostor who is committing the crimes. They apprehend the fake and throw him in jail, but Chandrasen’s magic flower helps set him free. Chandrasen then kidnaps Kiran and locks her up in his palace.
Zingaro, searching for Kiran, is arrested and Kiran must now figure out a way to save herself and Zingaro. Zingaro gets help from his friends and escapes. He finds about the magic flower, secures it and then changes the picture, Kiran is freed and the younger queen and her brother Chandrasen are arrested and hanged. Zingaro destroys the magic flower. he and Kiran get married.
Today’s song is sung by Mahendra Kapoor, who seems trying to copy Rafi style unsuccessfully. This is the last and final song and the film gets YIPPEED, with all its songs covered. Enjoy the song….
Song-Zulfen hain teree Kashmiri sitamgar (Zingaaro)(1963) Singer-Mahendra Kapoor, Lyricist- Prem Dhawan, MD- S N Tripathi
Lyrics
Zulfen hain teri Kashmiri sitamgar
aankh teree Bangaale kee
hoye hoye
zulfen hain teri Kashmiri sitamgar
aankh teree Bangaale kee
khair nahin o ghoonghat waalee
aaj kisi dilwaale kee
haaye re haaye haaye
zulfen hain teri Kashmiri sitamgar
aankh teree Bangaale kee
hoye hoye
hum se kaisee pardaadaaree
saamne to aao zaraa
gorey mukh se kaalee chunree
dhheere se sarkaao zaraa
kyaa zaroorat
chaand pe hai
kaho to baadal kaale kee
haaye re haaye haaye
zulfen hain teri Kashmiri sitamgar
aankh teree Bangaale kee
husn tujhse bheekhh maange
ishq sau sau sajde kare
ik nazar jo dekh le wo
zindagee bhar aahen bhare
waah re Kudrat
aisee soorat ke banaane waale kee
hoye hoye
zulfen hain teri Kashmiri sitamgar
aankh teree Bangaale kee
hoye hoye
zulfen hain teri Kashmiri sitamgar
aankh teree Bangaale kee
khair nahin o ghoonghat waalee
aaj kisi dilwaale kee
haaye haaye haaye haaye haaye
zulfen hain teri Kashmiri sitamgar
aankh teree Bangaale kee
hoye
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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5747 | Post No. : | 18270 |
Today’s song is from the film Gustakhi Maaf-1969.
Titles of Hindi films generally confuse me, but mostly they disappoint me. A normal cinegoer expects that the title of the film indicates the type of film it is or gives a hint of the film’s story subject or atleast the type/genre of the film. But mostly the titles are misleading. Luckily the hoardings and the posters of the film are more revealing and attractive. They give a closer hint about the film. Here too, what is shown on the hoardings is not seen in the films many times. Why I am saying all this is, because today’s film’s story has absolutely nothing to do with its title, by any angle.
The film is a little complicated story ( based on the Comedy of Errors) of two sisters who are twins and hence lookalikes. They are Asha and Seema, daughters of mr. Gupta, a businessman. Once while crossing a river in a boat, a severe storm capsized the boat. One daughter is with the father and one with the mother. Father somehow survives with the daughter, but the mother is injured and swept away. The other daughter Seema reaches a distant shore, where she is found by Mr. Seth, a widowed rich person. He has no issues. He adopts her and gives her also the name of Asha.
18 years pass. The girls become young. Asha Gupta comes to Darjeeling, with her friends. The other Asha Seth is living in Darjeeling only. There are two artist friends Shankar (Sujit Kumar) and Jai (Sanjeev Kumar). Local Asha falls in love with Sujit and by coincidence Asha Gupta starts loving Jai. After a lot of confusion and misunderstandings because of two similar looking girls with the same names, everything is clear and there is a happy ending. In addition, the mother of Asha who had lost her memory is in hospital at Darjeeling. She also regains memory and the whole family is reunited. THE END !
The film was directed by Raj Kumar Bedi and the film’s cast was Tanuja, Sanjeev Kumar, Sujit Kumar, Ulhas, Indira Bansal, Narbada Shankar, Vithaldas Panchotiya, Gopal Saigal and others. The songs were written by Naqsh Lyallpuri.
Just a few days back, I had talked about Hindu lyricists taking Muslim names, like Qamar Jalalabadi who was actually Omprakash Bhandari. Today’s Lyricist Naqsh Lyallpuri is another such example. He was in reality Jaswant Rai Sharma. Here is what is written about him on the internet site of ‘ The Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema’….
Jaswant Rai Sharma (24 February 1928 – 22 January 2017), popularly known by his pen name Naqsh Lyallpuri, was born in Lyallpur (now called Faisalabad and in present-day Pakistan) to a Punjabi-Brahmin family. In 1946 Sharma worked at a publishing house named Hero Publications and later moved to Lahore looking for work. After the Partition of India, the family migrated to Lucknow. Sharma later took on the pen name “Naqsh” – meaning an impression, a mark or a print – and added “Lyallpuri” to it, following the tradition of Urdu poets to associate with their birthplace.
Lyallpuri moved to Mumbai in 1951 and started working at The Times of India as a proofreader. Lyallpuri debuted as a film lyricist with the 1953 film Jaggu, writing the lyrics of “Agar Teri Aankhon Se Aankhein Mila Doon”, rendered by Asha Bhosle and composed by Hansraj Bahl. He worked in the postal department to earn his living. Music director Jaidev introduced him to television serials and asked him to write lyrics for the Hindi television series Shrikant. Lyallpuri went on to write songs for about 50 TV serials along with nearly 40 Punjabi films. Lyallpuri collaborated with various Bollywood music directors, including Madan Mohan, Khayyam, Sapan Jagmohan, Jaidev, Naushad, and Ravindra Jain, and Punjabi music composers like Surinder Kohli, Hansraj Bahl, Ved Sethi, and Husnlal-Bhagatram.
His Filmography….1963: Gul-e-Bakavali, Pyar Ka Bandhan, 1968: Aanchal Ke Phool, 1969: Gustakhi Maaf, Insaaf Ka Mandir, Paun Baran, 1970: Chetna, Gunah Aur Kanoon, Gunahon Ke Raaste, 1971: Kankan De Ohle, 1973: Rocky Mera Naam, 1974: Parinay, 1975: Kaagaz Ki Nao, 1976: Changay Mande Tere Bande, Kasam, 1978: Atyachar, Hazaar Haath, 1979: Kunwara Mama, Til Til Da Lekha, 1980: Sister, 1982: Dil Aakhir Dil Hai (Writer), 1983: Do Madari, 1984: Ek Naya Itihas, 1985: Nain Mile Chain Kahan, Takraar, 1986: Devar Bhabhi, 1987: Jaag Punjabi Shera, 1988: Ghar Aakhir Ghar Hai, Jag Wala Mela, Tapash, 1989: Marhi Da Deeva, 1990: Sounh Menoo Punjab Di.
The music Director was Sapan – Jagmohan. There were only 4 songs in this film. I was surprised. Normally there used to be 6-10 songs in any Hindi film. Curious, I looked at many more other films and I found that nowadays there are fewer songs in the films. I remember, the film ” Trishagni’-1988 had only one song.
These days there may be films without any songs also or songs only in the background. How times have changed ! When the Talkie films started, in its first decade there were average 9 to 10 songs. The record breaking 69 songs in film Indrasabha-1932 is unforgettable.
I wanted to know how the average number of songs in every decade came down. One day I found an analysis done by the famous record collector and music Historian Shri Girdharilal Vishwakarma ji of Jodhpur. Here is what he has presented in a table….
| Decade | Total number of Films in the decade | Total number of songs in the decade | Average number of films /year | Average number of songs /film |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1931-40 | 931 | 8247 | 93 | 9.0 |
| 1941-50 | 1236 | 11124 | 124 | 8.9 |
| 1951-60 | 1203 | 9624 | 120 | 8.0 |
| 1961-70 | 1007 | 6990 | 100 | 6.9 |
| 1971-80 | 1327 | 8295 | 133 | 6.3 |
| 1981-90 | 1843 | 9558 | 184 | 5.2 |
| 1991-2000 | 1902 | 9059 | 190 | 4.8 |
| 2001-10 | 1967 | 9154 | 197 | 4.7 |
| 2011-2017 | 1475 | 6785 | 227 | 4.6 |
| Total 86.5 years | Total number of movies 12891 | Overall Average songs per decade 6785 | Overall average films/ year 149 | Overall average 6.1 |
You can see yourself how the average number of songs per film has come down. Initially, the craze of film songs was so great that in 1937, when Wadia Movietone released their First songless film- Naujawan, the unsuspecting audience was very angry and at many places the broke chairs etc. in protest as they felt cheated by the producers of that film by not having any songs ! I only hope that if this diminishing trend continues, the image of India as the producer of only ” Colourful Musical Dramas” will change in coming years !
Film Gustakhi Maaf-1969’s Music Director pair was Sapan-Jagmohan. This Jagmohan is not the NFS singer from Bengal- Jaganmoy Mitra aka Jagmohan Sursagar.
Jagmohan Bakshi of Sapan Jagmohan was born in Murrie in Punjab on 29-7 1929. Love of singing and music brought him to Bombay where he met a similar struggler Sapan Sengupta (born on 17-7-1932 at Sylhet in Bengal). One was from Pakistan -w and the other was from Pakistan -E. They became friends and shared a room in a Goregaon Chawl. They regularly sang in the chorus and had dreams of becoming MDs one day ! This pair was favoured by Naashaad, S D Burman and Salil Chaudhari.
Finally S D Burman gave Jagmohan Bakshi a chance to sing a duet with Asha Bhosle,in the film Taxi Driver-1954. The song became popular-‘ Dekho mane nahi roothi haseena,na jaane kya baat hai’. Still no offers came forth. He sang in Hamlet-54,a duet with Rafi. He sang his final and third trio with Lata and Usha in ‘Piya Milan’-1958. In his lifetime Jagmohan Bakshi sang only these three songs-no solo in them.
Later he formed a pair with Sapan as Sapan-Jagmohan and as MD gave music to their first film-Begaana-1963. This pair gave music to 43 films, mostly B and C grade obscure movies.
Jagmohan Bakshi died on 26-2-1999.
Today’s song is sung by Krishna Kalle and Manna Dey. This is the last and final song of this film, making it YIPPEED !
Song- Isaaron ka matbal samajh morey chhaila (Gustaakhi Maaf)(1969) Singers- Krishna Kalle, Manna Dey, Lyricist- Naqsh Llayalpuri, MD- Sapan-Jagmohan
Lyrics
isaaron ka matbal samajh morey chhaila
isaaro ka matbal samajh more chaila
isaaro ka matbal samajh more chaila
tu mora majnu hai main tori laila
tu mora majnu hai main tori laila
arrey pyaar wich hai kadam pehla pehla
arrey pyaar wich hai kadam pehla pehla
main teri laila
laila nahin majnu
haan haan
main tera majnu te tu meri Laila
main tera majnu te tu meri Laila
ae batiyaan u chaahe na maar
tora isak mori lega jaan
rasiya chahliya
arre yaar mera jab jab roothha
aise lage jaise rab roothha
soniye heeriye
tu naahin jaane torey badey maine liye kitne ilzaam
hmm
arre pyaar wich hai kadam pehla pehla
arre pyaar wich hai kadam pehla pehla
main tera majnu te tu meri Laila
main tera majnu te tu meri Laila
kaahe nayan uljhaa baithhee
raaton kee neend ganwa baithhee
rasiyaa aa
chhaliyaa aa
saanja ke tujhko sula doon main
meethhi si lori ga doon main
aaaa sonja raaj kumaari ee sonja
aan aan
sonja main balhaari ee sonja
sonja raajkumaari sonja sonja
patthar ko mai samjhaaun kaa
more darad ki naahin dawa
rasiyaa aa
chhaliyaa aa
yoon na bigad ke aankhen dikhaa
main to hoon kudiye tera ghulaam
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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Blog Day : |
5731 | Post No. : | 18253 |
Today’s song is from the stunt film – Hunterwali ki Beti-1943.
This is perhaps the only film in a Hindi cinema,so far, where the same actress has done the role of a young woman in a film and again did the role of her daughter in the same film. There are some Hindi films which double roles have been done by a few actresses, of mother and daughter in the same film. What makes today’s film different is its Title.
The film’s Heroine – Fearless Nadia- debuted as a Heroine with the film – Hunterwali in 1935 and in today’s film, she had the same name-Hunterwali in the early part and the name of – Hunterwali ki Beti, in the later part of the film as her daughter. The daughter’s name in the film is Madhuri. In 80% of her films, she had the name Madhuri. Perhaps it was her favourite name !
The film was made by Homi Wadia’s Basant pictures. The cast of the film was Nadia, John Cavas, Sayani, Sardar Mansoor, Rajkumari, Shyamsundar, Ranibala and others. The music was by Channalal Naik, an old time composer, whose last films as a composer was later in 1943-Watan Farosh. Lyricist was A.Kareem. he was a multi talented artiste.
There were few artistes in the Film Industry who were ‘all- rounders’. These artistes achieved excellence in many departments of film making. A. Kareem was one such artiste. He was brother of Music Director Ghulam Mohammed. He was an Actor, Producer, Director, Composer, Lyricist, writer, s/play and dialogue writer and a Costume designer ! In my opinion, he can be compared with only Badri Prashad, who was Actor, Producer, Director, Composer, Singer, Character artiste and a Choreographer too !..
In the early era, there were many such artistes who did many things-sometimes out of necessity or compulsion or to sustain jobs. But they were known for ONE main activity. Similarly A. Kareem was known as a Lyricist. He started his career with Aaj ki Duniya-40 as an actor and a Lyricist. He also acted in Jagat mohini-40, Meri Khwaish-041, and Circus ki Sundari-41. He wrote s/p and dialogues, with P L Santoshi for films Circus ki sundari-41 and Bombay Calling-42. He composed music for 5 stunt films like Kashmir ki kali-46, Toofani Teerandaz-47,Atom Bomb-47,Dhoomketu-49 and Maya Mahal-49. He had composed 35 songs.
He directed 13 films like Kalakar-42,Talash-43,Badmash-44,Jeewan swapna-46,Parbat ki Rani-48,Rangeele Musafir-50,Josh-50,Gazab-51,Char chand-53. Maharani-57,Mehfil-57,Tilasmi Duniya-62 and Mehbooba-65.
As a Costume designer he worked for Naya Daur-57, Dil apna aur Preet Parayee-60, Mere Mehboob-63,Kaajal-65, Main vohi hoon-66 and Dastak-70. As a Lyricist his most famous song was Talat’s “Hai ye vohi aasman, aur vohi zameen, par meri Taqdeer ka ab vo zamana nahin ” in film Chaar Chaand-1953. He wrote 146 songs in 20 films.
The story of this film was…
In the kingdom of queen Madhuri everything was peaceful. She was very strict with evil doers and used a Hunter to punish them. So she was known as Hunter wali Rani. This peace was broken when her cousin Pratap not only invaded the kingdom, but also imprisoned Madhuri. Her small daughter Kishori was saved by the loyal sardar Ishwar Singh who escapes with the child, eluding the forces of Pratap. After 15 years, it is Kishori who dons Hunterwali’s uniform and supports the poor and punishes the cruel. She is trained by Ishwarsingh, whose son Vijay falls in love with her. Pratap sends forces to capture her. They catch Vijay and tie him to the Railway track, from where a riding Hunterwali ki beti alias Kishori rescues him.
To get Kishori, Pratap announces the hanging of Queen Madhuri in his Black Fort. Kishori, Vijay and their accomplices enter the fort, rescue the queen and capture Pratap and his aide Ajit. The Queen is reinstated on the throne, Kishori and Vijay get united and Pratap and Ajit get Life imprisonment sentences.
The film was directed by Batuk Bhatt. He had also directed Muqabala-1942, mouj-1943 and Sudhar-1949. The name sounds unknown, but it was a Pseudonym of the veteran action film director Nanabhai Bhatt. Taking such names, for whatever reasons, is not new in the Hindi film industry. I am not talking of the names various actors and actors took in their career, but others who carried a dual identity. Here are some of the examples.
It was from the film ‘Albela’ that C Ramchandra gave music to Bhagwan’s film in his real name. Prior to this, he gave music to his stunt films as ‘Annasaheb’ and Ram Chitalkar.This type of use of pen names was followed by many MDs. GM Durrani gave music as Gunjan, SD Batish gave music as Nirmal Kumar. Snehal Bhatkar used several names like Vasudev, B Vasudev, VG Bhatkar and Snehal, before taking up another pen name Snehal Bhatkar for the rest of his career. Actually his name was Vasudeo and Snehal was his daughter’s name. Similarly, MD Nashaad also used names like Shaukat Hussai Dehalvi, Shaukat Dehalvi, Shaukat Ali, and Shaukat Haider. These are well known, but today I will tell you 2 pen names for the FIRST time on the internet ! Hardly anybody knows that Anil Biswas gave music to film ‘Begunah’ (1949) in the name of Haribhai. His co-MD in this film was Shyamu – none other than C Ramchandra. This information is given in the Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema by Rajadhyaksha on pages 67 and 190.
Kavi Pradeep (6 February 1915 – 11 December 1998), born Ramchandra Narayanji Dwivedi, was an Indian poet and songwriter who is best known for his patriotic song Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo written as a tribute to the soldiers who had died defending the country during the Sino-Indian War. How many names can a person have ? 2 – 3 – 4 ? Film actress Ameeta had 5 names. She was born Qamar Sultana. Her mother called her Indira, friends called her Indu, In film Thokar-53, she appeared as Jai jaiwanti and finally she was named Ameeta by Vijay Bhatt.
Director Nanabhai Bhatt ( 12-6-1915 to 24-4-1999). He was a director in many films. He directed mostly Mythological and stunt films only. Nanabhai was born as Yashwant ( pet name – Batuk) at Porbandar. Since he was the younger one he was called Nanabhai ( opposite to Motabhai-elder brother). This name continued till the end. His father was a doctor. After Matriculation, he went to Mumbai in 1934, where his elder brother Balwant Bhatt was working. Balwant started with Imperial,shifted to Sagar and now was with Prakash pictures of Vijay and Shankar Bhatt. He got Nanabhai a job as Sound Recordist. Soon he graduated as Production Executive. He also wrote several screenplays.
In 1942 he directed “Muqabala”, for Homi Wadia, as Batuk Bhatt. Homi Wadia became his good friend. When Homi established his own Basant Pictures, Nanabhai joined him and directed his “Hunterwali ki Beti”-43, with Nadia again. He also did mauj, Jee Haan, Chaalis Karod etc. He directed about 50 films of various genres like Stunts, Mythologicals, crime, social, costume etc.
Nanabhai’s first wife was Hemlata. He also married Shirin banu, his Heroine of few films. To circumvent the Bigamy law, he married her in a Temple and that too in the presence of Hemlata ! He had 3 children from Hemlata and 6 from Shirin. Mukesh and Mahesh Bhatt are from Shirin. His children and grandchildren married in different religions.Thus his big family was an example of Secularism ! In addition to 9 children Nanabhai also produced 20 films under his own Deepak Pics and Gautam Chitra !
FILMOGRAPHY OF NANABHAI BHATT: 1942: Muqabala; 1943:Hunterwali Ki Beti; Mauj; 1945: Chalis Karod; 1946: Maa Baap Ki Laaj; 1947: Meerabai; 1949: Shaukeen; Veer Ghatotkach; Sudhaar; 1950: Hamara Ghar; Janmashthami; Veer Babruwahan; 1951: Lakshmi Narayan; Daman; Lav Kush; Ram Janma; 1952: Apni Izzat; Baghdad; Sinbad the Sailor; 1954: Toote Khilone; Watan; 1956: Kismet; 1957: Mr X; Ustad; 1958: Chaalbaaz; Son of Sinbad; 1959: Bazigar; Daaka; Kangan; Madam XYZ; Naya Sansar; 1960: Lal Qila; Police Detective; Zimbo Comes to Town; 1961: Teen Ustad; 1962: Baghdad Ki Raatein; Rocket Girl; 1963: Alapiranthavan; Bhootnath; Cobra Girl; 1964: Samson; 1965: Adhi Raat Ke Baad; Bekhabar; 1966: Shankar Khan; 1967: Arabian Nights; 1968: Jung Aur Aman; 1974: Jeevan Rekha; 1975: Balak Aur Jaanwar; 1976: Dharti Mata; 1981: Gajara Maru; 1982: Jaya Parvati Vrat.( Thanks to Harish Raghuwanshi ji and Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema for some information.)
Now enjoy today’s song video….
Song- Main tumse milne aaunga aaj aadhee raat ko (Hunterwaali Ki Beti)(1943) Singers- Shyamsundar, Ranibala, Lyricist-A. Kareem, MD- Chennalal Naik
Lyrics
o goree
o goree
main tumse milne aaungaa
aaj aadhee raat ko
aadhee raat ko
aaj aadhee raat ko
teree galee main dheere se
teree galee main dheere se
seetee bajaaungaa bajaaungaa bajaaungaa
aaj aadhee raat ko
aadhee raat ko
aaj aadhee raat ko
so jaayegee jab
so jaayegee jab saas nanadiyaa
kholoongee chupke se
kholoongee chupke se
apnee kothhariyaa
karke ishaaraa bulaaungee
karke ishaaraa bulaaungee
main aaungaa
main bulaaungee
aaj aadhee raat ko
aadhee raat ko
aaj aadhee raat ko
paas aao
un hoon
aaj aadhee raat ko
aadhee raat ko
aaj aadhee raat ko
tum upar atariyaa pe aanaa
tum upar atariyaa pe aanaa
mohe phoolon ka gajra pahnaanaa
mohe phoolon ka gajra pahnaanaa
tum bhool na jaanaa
man lubhaanaa
bhool na jaanaa
man lubhaanaa
aanaa
aaungaa
aaj aadhee raat ko
aadhee raat ko
aaj aadhee raat ko
Aap kyun kyun aap kyun aayenge
Posted on: March 25, 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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Blog Day : |
5729 | Post No. : | 18249 |
Today’s song is from the First film of Nargis as a Heroine – Taqdeer-1943.
1943 was an year in which the II world war was in full swing. Both sides were almost equal. The effects of the war on India were… it faced the infamous Bengal Famine, caused by the war profiteering. Controls on film production were tightened by the Government. I.P.T.A. became operative with its first staged p0lay ‘ Nibanna’. Film Kismet became one of the biggests Hits ever. V.Shantaram’s Rajkamal Kalamandir debuted with Shakuntala, as did Mehboob with his film Najma. Government made showing of Newsreel before any film mandatory. Film Raj Nartaki’s english version The Court Dancer was exhibited in the USA, first time for an Indian film.
1943 produced 105 Hindi films, the highest number during the war years, 1939 to 1945. Many landmark and musical films appeared in this year giving a respite to the war torn audience of Indian Cinema. Let us take a look at some of these films.
Film Bhaichara had music by the only other “Sursagar” musician – Himangshu Dutt ( the more well known being the singer Jagmohan Sursagar).
C.Ramchandra had his first musical hit with film Bhakta Raj, made by Jayant Desai productions.
Film Gauri from Ranjit became Monica Desai’s first Hindi film in Bombay. It was a very successful film with songs by Khemchand Prakash, based on Bangla Folk tunes.
Kanan Devi gave some sweet songs in the film Hospital, under Kamal Dasgupta’s baton.
Bombay Talkies film Hamari Baat was the last film in which Devika Rani acted. Anil Biswas was the composer.
Music Director Khurshid Anwar brought Gauhar Sultana from Lucknow to sing some songs in the film Ishara. Naushad'[s musical film Kanoon had some good Suraiya and Shyam duets.
Film Kashinath was Nitin Bose’s last film in New Theatres, after he developed differences with B.N.Sircar.
Anil Biswas gave his career best musical Hit film ” Kismet”- the longest running film from Bombay Talkies.
Nurjehan’s musical film Nadaan was popular with songs from composer K.Datta. Director Mehboob made his first film Najma, under his own banner Mehboob productions.
Yet one more musical from Naushad- film Namaste.
At last a musical hit for composer S.N.Tripathi- Panghat from prakash Pictures. Rajkumari Shukla sang her only Hindi song in this film;. (the film was remade as Chitchor-1976).
Film Paraya Dhan had music by Bengal’s famous musician Gyan Prakash Ghosh. Deena Pathak sang her only 2 songs in this film as Deena Sanghavi.
Ghulam Haider makes merry again with Shamshad hit songs in film Poonji from Pancholi, Lahore.
One more superhit film – Ram Rajya from Prakash Pictures had very good songs from composer Shankar Rao Vyas. Saraswati Rane gave 2 melodious songs. Yashwant Joshi and Yashwant Nikam sang the famous song ” Bharat ki ek Sannari ki katha”. Ram Rajya had also a distinction as the only Hindi film that was seen by Mahatma Gandhi, on 2-6-1944.
( before this Gandhi had seen ” Mission to Moscow-43′ an English film, in Wardha, according to The Hindu (Kathmandu Ed.) dt.8-2-2010). The film had early songs by Manna Dey also.
Naushad in full swing with his third Musical Sanjog, where Suraiya gave playback to Mehtab, the Heroine.
Vasant Desai gave excellent songs in the hit film Shakuntala by V.Shantaram.
Kanoon- another hit from Naushad.
Mera Khwab- MD Ghulam Mohammed’s Debut film
Najma- Mehboob Khan’s first film, on Muslim society.
Nurse- Gyan Dutt gave an excellent song of Rajkumari-‘ Vo gaye nahin’.
Prithvi Vallabh- A big budget costume drama made by Minerva, based on the story of K.M.Munshi. It had songs by Minakshi Shirodkar.
Tansen- Saigal’s first film in Bombay. Khurshid matches him song by song.
Taqdeer- Nargis aka Baby Fatima debuted as an adult. However her name comes third in the credits, after Motilal and Chandramohan.
In the beginning of 1943, when Mehboob Khan was in a hurry to give finishing touches to the first film of his own Mehboob productions- Najma, Jaddanbai came to see him. She was very friendly with Mehboob. The purpose of her visit was to request Mehboob to make a film with her daughter Nargis (Baby Fatima/Baby Rani) as a Heroine. Mehboob was sceptical as Nargis was only 14 year old and it would be like buying a lottery ticket, if he made a film with her. Jaddanbai was very persuasive and she even offered to partly finance the film. She was sure that with Mehboob launching her daughter she would have a bright future. Finally Mehboob agreed.
Nargis was called in and Mehboob talked to her alone. She was confused and afraid to become a Heroine. Mehboob convinced her saying that he would lose a lot of money if she refused. Nargis agreed after this.
Film Taqdeer-1943 was a Mehboob Production film,directed by Mehboob, Music by R.Gaznavi,and Lyrics by Mahrul Kadri.There is one song in the film written by Agha M.Shirazi(who also acted in the film) and one song by Anjum Pilibhiti also.There were 10 songs in the film, 2 chorus songs,4 solos of Shamshad begum and 4 duets of Shamshad and Motilal.
The cast of the film was Chandramohan, Motilal, Nargis, Jilloobai, Kayam Ali, Ansari, Shirazi, Laddan etc. The Story was by Ghulam Mohd. and screenplay and dialogues were by Agha Jaani Kashmiri.
It was a lightweight comedy about Justice Gangaprasad(Chandramohan) and a Theatre owner Seth Badriprasad(NM Charlie),who lose their daughter and son in Kumbh Mela( This is where this trend started for future films,especially Manmohan Desai type films) respectively. The children are found but exchanged and Gangaprasad brings up Baby(Motilal) as a rich playboy and Badriprasad raises Salma(Nargis) as a dancer in his Theatre.They fall in love,causing a problem of class Difference.This is revealed when their identities are revealed. Funny thing is Gangaprasad’s wife(Jilloo bai) raises Motilal thinking that he is a Girl.The scene when it is revealed that he is a Boy,is very hilarious.
There is a song in the film,’Meri Mata Bharat Mata’,in which Nargis is shown holding a sickle and a cloth bundle, with waving fields behind her. This reminds us of her role and posters of ‘Mother India’-1957(also a Mehboob production.)
Here are some Titbits….
Baby Fatima (Nargis) was only 14 when she became Heroine of this film.
When Mrs. Mehboob was doing her makeup and wrapping her up in a Saree, she was mugging up the dialogues.
She was also very happy, when told that all her songs will be sung by Shamshad begum.
She had to wear high heels to match the height of her first hero,Motilal.
Taqdeer was a Hit film.
In the history of Hindi Cinema, Mehboob Khan’s name would be written prominently as one of the great directors, who rose from scratch to a height attained by few other directors.
Born as Ramzan Khan in 1907 in Bilimora, Gujarat, Mehboob was from a Gujarati Muslim family. He never got a formal education in his young age, but he was keen on two things-5 times Namaz and seeing films. His father being in Police Department, films were free for him. One day he ran away to Bombay to become an actor. However his father found him out and brought him back. He was immediately married off, with a belief that he would improve.
Two years after marriage and one child, he ran to Bombay again and worked in Imperial film co. as an extra for Rs.30 pm. This too after he worked without any pay for 5 months due to the mistake of the clerk ! He worked in crowd scenes and sundry roles-without a dialogue, of course, starting as one of the 40 thieves of Alibaba. He worked in several films uncredited. His first, big and credited role came in the film “Shirin Khushru”-1929.
In 1927, after the Talkie film “The Jazz Singer” was shown in US, the world started making Talkie films. India too jumped into the bandwagon. In 1931, Imperial-competing with Madon Theatres of Calcutta- wanted to make a Talkie and started work fast. Mehboob Khan was almost finalised as the Hero. Even his costumes were made ready, but he was destined for something different, and Master Vithal was made the Hero of India’s first Talkie. Ardeshir Irani’s safety valve of minimizing the risk of the first venture by selecting the existing popular Hero, scuttled Mehboob’s dream. Somehow Mehboob was unlucky on quite a few occasions in his bid to become a Hero in films. First, he missed his chance in Torney’s silent film, when E.Bilimoria became the Hero, secondly he was replaced by Master Vithal as a Hero in India’s first talkie “Alam Ara’-1931 and lastly he was replaced by newcomer Motilal in ‘Shahar ka jaadu’ as a Hero. Mehboob understood that he was not made out to be an actor.
Meanwhile, Imperial started a new company,’Sagar Movietone’, along with Dr. Patel and Chiman Desai. Some artistes and techies were shifted to Sagar-including Mehboob- from Imperial. Mehboob continued to work in 12 silent films. Here, he met Faredoon Irani, Cinematographer and they became thick friends. Irani was with Mehboob till the end.
During this period, Mehboob wrote a film story and convinced the owners to allow him to direct this film. Owners were hesitant, naturally, to allow this young extra actor to direct a film. Lastly a deal was struck, that Mehboob and Faredoon should be allowed to shoot one reel film. If they like it, continue or else, scrap it and recover money from these two chaps. After one reel shooting the owners realised that they had struck Gold in the process and Mehboob completed his first Directorial venture ” Al Hilaal “-35. The film was a great success and Mehboob ‘chal pada’. Mehboob went on to direct 7 more films for Sagar. All his films were successful.
From film Jageerdar-37 Mehboob and Anil Biswas pair teamed up for 8 films-till Roti-42.
When Mehboob was making arrangements for his next film, Alibaba, the sudden news that Sagar is closing down hit them. Mehboob Khan contacted Imperial to allow him to shoot for his film in their studio, which Ardeshir gladly permitted. The film shooting proceeded til Sagar became National studios. Mehboob made 3 important films of his career in National studio, namely Aurat-40, Behan-41 and Roti-42.
When National studio also closed down all workers came on road. However, Mehboob decided to start his own company. One Mr. Lalaji of Manoranjan Distributors of Delhi promised capital. National studio was renamed as Central studio by the owner, K.K.Modi-elder brother of Sohrab Modi. He allowed Mehboob to use the studio till his own studio came up. Mehboob took a place nearby to start his office. In this period there was a rift between Mehboob and Anil Biswas and they separated for ever-albeit bitterly.
Mehboob wanted a Logo for Mehboob Productions. He selected a sher written by Agha Jani kashmiri for film “Al Hilal”….” Muddai lakh bura chahe to kya hota hai, vahi hota hai jo manjur e Khuda hota hai”. It was recorded in the voice of Rafiq Ghaznavi with appropriate prelude music and sound of lightening and clouds. He also took Sickle and Hammer for the Logo, and clarified that because he respected workers and certainly he was not a communist.
His first film Najma-43 ( his daughter’s name was Najma), with Ashok Kumar and Veena was a Hit film. It was followed by Taqdeer-43, Humayun-45,Anmol Ghadi-46, Elaan-47, Anokhi Ada-48, Andaaz-49, Aan-52, Amar-54 and his Magnum Opus Mother India-57. After the high of Mother India, Mehboob aimed to fly even higher with Son of India (1962) but the film was a total misfire and, in fact, his weakest film.
Mehboob was not an ordinary film maker. Though he was uneducated, he was a Genius with socialist beliefs. Even his Banner showed Sickle and hammer Being a Socialist and sold on Nehruvian philosophy, his popular films had a common theme- ”The oppressed poor V/s The oppressor Rich”. In films like Aurat, Roti, Aan and Mother India etc one can see this theme clearly. He made blistering attacks on Capitalists and their lust for money. In films like Andaz, however,he supported traditionalism, rejecting Platonic relationships.
In films like ” Elaan”-1947, he dared to challenge the existing shortcomings in Muslim society. He took a look at Indian Muslims from inside. Sometimes the film went into forbidden areas when he suggested Koranic reforms as the way out of the ills of Muslims, like illiteracy and backward thinking. This invoked anger from the Fundamentalists and the film was banned for 3 months, but he re-released the film without any changes or revisions.
The urbane director K.A. Abbas once referred to Khan Mehboob as the “great rustic” of Hindi cinema. Indeed, a certain mythology developed around Mehboob—that of the man with popular roots. This image owed much to stories about his origins (the small-town boy who worked his way up through the Bombay studios), and to certain films which dwelt on the travails of the poor and the destitute, such as Aurat (Woman) and Roti (Bread). In fact, however, Mehboob’s output as director was quite varied. After he founded his own company, Mehboob Productions, in 1943, he made historical works (Humayun) and fantasy spectaculars (Aan/Pride). Even films such as Anmol Ghadi (Priceless Watch) and Anokhi Ada (A Special Charm), which appeared to address the class divide, were variations of the triangular love story, the favoured convention of the Hindi cinema.
In these films social representation becomes incidental to the basic plot because the narrative spaces of a simple rural life or of urban destitution are constructed in an idealised rather than in a realistic way. The lighting style of such scenes show them as composed of smooth studio surfaces, and there is an indifference to the more squalid details of characterisation. The emphasis lies in the fullness of melodramatic sentiments—of loss and of romantic longing—which occasion the use of lushly orchestrated songs. All this is a pleasurable closing off of the cinema and its audience from social references, a tendency in Mehboob’s work best represented by his venture into the swashbuckling colour film Aan. Elements of this romantic mode are observable even in Mehboob’s “social” films. In Aurat and its later colour version, Mother India , rural life is often conveyed as a series of spectacularly choreographed scenes of harvesting, festivals, and the romantic engagement of its characters. Andaz (Style) , on the other hand, invites the audience to soak in the luxuries of the modern, upper-class settings in which its characters live.
In this sense, Mehboob was not simply a popularly rooted “rustic” artist, but engaged in creations of high artifice and escapism. However, these elements were often integrated with quite powerful constructions of meaning. Aurat , for example, achieves an almost anthropological view of gender roles. This is accomplished not by the accuracy of its observations about rural life, but by using the grim struggles of rural life as a way of drawing out the role performed by Indian women. This provides the basis for the film’s main interest, the melodrama of the unrelieved suffering of a woman (Sardar Akhtar) on behalf of her sons (Surendra and Yakub). The subsequent version of this film, Mother India , is an interesting contrast. The focus is still on the suffering of the mother (Nargis); but this capacity to suffer is transformed into a distinctly mythical power which moves beyond her immediate family to inspire the whole village community. In both films the woman is the bearer of a patriarchal inheritance for her son, but Mother India may have represented a new, mythicised role model for women, one whose power often co-exists uneasily with its conservative functions.
Perhaps most interesting is Andaz, a drama, at least implicitly, of illicit desire. The story is about Nina (Nargis) who, while faithful to her absent fiancé (Raj Kapoor), relates vivaciously to an attractive young man (Dilip Kumar). The heroine is shown to be a naive innocent who cannot perceive that relaxed social relations between men and women can lead to misunderstanding, and this generates the tragic events that follow. Yet the narration moves beyond, or perhaps deeper into, its own fascination with the settings and mores of its upper class characters, introducing an interesting, fantastical ambiguity. Nina’s denials that she is attracted to a man other than her husband are put into doubt for the audience through scenes depicting the hallucinations and dreams that assail the heroine. In this way the “rustic” Mehboob was surprisingly well equipped to convey certain strikingly modern problems of sexuality and desire.
Mehboob had been neglecting health in spite of suffering Heart attacks. In May 1964, he suffered another attack but survived. His financiers were after him for repayment and he was worried. He called Rajendra Kumar and asked for a loan of 4 lakh rupees against his studio to be made in his name. Rajendra Kumar refused to take the studio and promised to give him the amount next day at 11 am, without any mortgage. In the evening, news of Nehru’s heart attack came. Mehboob became restless. Soon the death news came and Mehboob became grief stricken. Akhtar gave him sleeping pills, but he had to be admitted to Nanavati Hospital. He too died at 2 am on 28th May 1964. At the time of his death, Mehboob Khan was harbouring ambitions to make a film on the life of Habba Khatoon, the 16th century poetess-queen of Kashmir.
Mehboob Khan directed 8 films for Sagar, 3 films for National and 11 films for Mehboob productions.( based on information from Upperstall, “Mehboob Khan” by Shashikant Kinikar and my notes).
Today’s song is a video song in which you can see a young Nargis and Motilal. The song is sung by Shamshad begum and Motilal. Enjoy….
Song-Aap kyun kyun aap kyun aayenge (Taqdeer)(1943)Singers- Shamshad Begum, Motilal, Lyricist- Mahrul Qadri, MD- Rafiq Ghaznavi
Lyrics
aap kyun kyun aap kyun aayenge
aap kyun kyun aap kyun aayenge
meri aankhon mein ab tak wohi khwaab hai
meri aankhon mein ab tak wohi khwaab hai
dil usi roz se mera betaab hai
dil usi roz se mera betaab hai
kya ye barkha ke din
hmm hmm hmm
kya ye barkha ke din bhi guzar jayenge ae ae
aap kyun kyun aap kyun aayenge
aap kyun kyun aap kyun aayenge
dil ki majbooriyaan rang laane lagin
hichkiyaan yaad ban ban ke aane lagin
dil ki majbooriyaan rang laane lagin
hichkiyaan yaad ban ban ke aane lagin
dekho dekho
haan dekho dekho
dekho dekho ke hum aap hi aa gaye
tumne chaaha to phir roz hi aayenge
tumne chaaha to phir roz hi aayenge
aap kyun kyun aap kyun aayenge
aap kyun kyun aap kyun aayenge
hai ye sapna
hai ye sapna ke sach-much tum aaye yahaan
aan aan
hai ye sapna ke sach-much tum aaye yahaan
aan aan
dil ki aankhon se dekho ke hoon main kahaan
dil ki aankhon se dekho ke hoon main kahaan
mil na jaaye kahin
hmm hmm hmm hmm
mil na jaaye kahin ye zameen aasmaan
aan aan
tum kahaan main kahaan
tum kahaan main kahaan
aap kyun kyun aap kyun aayenge
aap kyun kyun aap kyun aayenge
aap kyun
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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Blog Day : |
5723 | Post No. : | 18243 |
Today’s song is from an obscure film Insaan-1952.
The year of 1952 – It was just 5 years since we got our Independence and only 2 years after we became a Sovereign Democratic Republic, totally and actually free from the last contact with the British Empire, like being called a ‘Dominion Republic’. The General Elections were over and a Congress Government, as expected, took over as the new ruler. As far as the film industry was concerned, there was a huge crowd of new producers, who had a lot of black money to invest. This increased the number of films, but the quality was the victim.The proportion of quantity and quality was inverse. Film federation or the Indian government was unable to control this influx of outsiders.
The number of films rose from 97 in 1951 to 105 in 1952, only to go down to 98 in 1953. However, from 1954 (117 films) the number became steady till the China war in 1962. In the year 1952, the Government established ‘ Directorate of Film Festivals’ and from 24th January to 1st February 1952, an International Film Festival – the first in India – was organised in Bombay. Though it was our First festival, 23 countries exhibited 140 films. This gave many lessons to our filmmakers about the quality, content and the technique of films.
Let’s look at some noteworthy films of 1952. Mehboob’s colour film ” AAN “, made with a budget of 35 lakhs, earned 10 times more-3.57 crores. The film was shot as Black and white in 16 mm. The print was sent to the UK to blow it up to 35 mm and make it Technicolour. Dilip Kumar, Nadira, Nimmi and Naushad made this film memorable, with the story adapted from Shakespeare’s ” Taming of the Shrew” and lovely songs.
Baiju Bawra had songs which are popular even today. The first Hindi film of actress Padmini -Mr. Sampat was a comment on Indian politicians. Dilip’s Daag and Dev Anand’s Aandhiyan were ordinary films with good music. But Jaal, starring Dev and Geeta Bali was a Hit film. Anhonee had a double role of Nargis. Anand Math, based on the Independence struggle of 1857 had ‘ Vande Mataram’ in a different but loveable style . This was Hemant Kumar’s first Hindi film as a Music Director. Other good films were Yatrik, Ratnadeep and Chhoti maa.
O.P.Nayyar’s first film Aasmaan, Bewafa,Narayan Dutt’s first film Mordhwaj, Poonam with all 9 songs by Lata Mangeshkar, Parchhain by Shantaram, Debut film of Raaj Kumar (jaani fame) Rangeelee, musical film Sangdil were entertainers. Film Zalzala showed Dev Anand dying at the end. The only other film in which Dev Anand ever died was The Guide-1965. Dev Anand was not an expert in dying in films, like Dilip Kumar, who died in 7 films. Although Dilip earned the title of ” Tragedy King”, he paid heavily with his mental health and he had to seek psychiatric treatment. Azaad-1955 changed his track finally !
In all these films of 1952, the film Insaan was nowhere. It was just an ordinary film, but its songs were really and surprisingly very good. When you hear today’s song, you will agree with what I said. It was a social film, produced by G.J.Mohala. Directed by Jagdish Sethi, the film had music by B.N.Bali. The cast of the film was Prithviraj Kapoor, Ragini, Kamal Kapoor, K.N.Singh, Raj kumar, Chaman Puri, Roopmala, Kanhaiyalal, Cuckoo etc.
Actress Ragini, one time a famous and popular actress of hindi films of the 40’s had migrated to Pakistan after Partition. She was especially called to India to work in 2 films, namely Chamkee and Insaan, both in 1952. After these films she went back to Pakistan.
Ragini was born as Shamshad Begum, on 11-12- 1923, at Gujranwala, in a bazaar, where, to quote that great sage, Agha Hashr, “Days are dormant and nights wide awake.” Her mother named her Shamshad Begum, and her father, Seth Diwan Parmanand, happily allowed a Muslim name. But, her mother died during her childhood, and Diwan took this young girl from Gujranwala to Lahore.
Even this early, Ragini had the looks that made her noticeable. In those days, the classical sense of beauty was quite different. Large, sparkling eyes and a fair complexion was enough for any girl in the films to be termed beautiful. Aahoo Chashm Ragni and Pari Chehra Naseem (Saira Bano’s mother) were both considered the epitome of beauty, although young people question those attributes today as “just average”. Ragini had Brown eyes. In Indian cinema there were only 3 Heroines who had such Brown eyes. Ragini was one, Kamla Kotnis was second and the third was Vanmala.
Ragini was not able to go to school for undisclosed reasons, although she had a happy childhood. Diwan Sahab’s good friend, Roop K. Shorey was a well known film maker, and one day, while visiting his house, he noticed the girl child. “Isn’t she cute?” he said. “She has the looks of a fine film actress.” Although Diwanjee had some reservations about allowing the girl to join the industry, Shorey pledged that he would look after her at every step of the shoot. In those days, there were very few girls in the industry. To find a seventeen year old girl as the heroine meant that you had hit the jackpot.
Shorey cast Shamshad as Ragini, in Kamla Movietones’ Punjabi film, Dulla Bhatti in 1940. M.D. Kunwar was the hero, while Ragini played Nooran in the film. It was a hit and people were spellbound by her charm. Her next film, Sehti Murad did not make such a bang. She also did ‘himmat’ and ‘Raavipaar’. Later, she worked in many films before Partition, including her first Hindi film,Nishani-42,,naila,Anarkali,Poonji, Kaise Kahoon, Dasi, Shirin Farhad,farz and others. In Kardar’s film, Shahjahan, Ragini played Mumtaz Mahal, while her first hero, M. D. Kunwar, who had done Dulla Bhatt’s role, characterized Shahjahan with great aplomb. Kunwar was so enamoured of Ragini that he had requested Kardar for the role, to be close to Ragini. Unfortunately, Ragini did not respond to his romantic advances, and Kunwar sank himself in perpetual drunkenness, which led to his getting infected by tuberculosis and his death soon after that.
After Kardar’s Shahjhan, Ragini did a few more films before Partition, namely Nek Parveen, Farz, etc. Amongst these, director Niranjan’s film, Farz was Sudhir’s first film too, and Ragini played the lead with him. Ragini acted in 14 Hindi films, before her migration. Ragini got married to mian Mohd. Aslam in 1945 and took a break to raise a family. After Partition,she migrated to Pakistan and was welcomed with open arms in Pakistan. She worked as the heroine in films like Mundri, Akeli, Nazrana, Beqarar, Shararey, Mumtaz and Zanjeerin Pakistan. Radio Pakistan , during its creative days, used to play the hit songs of Beqarar, Naukar and Bedari in the 1960s. The song from producer S. Gul and director NazeerAjmeri’s 1950 film, Beqarar is still played on the radio. Dil ko laga ke kaheen thokar na khana. It was sung by Ali Bux Zahoor and Munawwar Sultana, and remains one of the earliest hit duets of Pakistani films.
Ragini was an expressive character actress, who did a variety of roles in films like Husn o Ishq, Anarkali, and Aab e Hayat She made a perfect Mumtaz Mahal in Naseem Saqlain’s Taj Mahal, although she wore a half veil in some of the scenes. It was a remarkable spectacle, but flopped because the local audience could not understand its historical significance. A huge expense to uplift it, with superb costumes, apart from the details taken care of during the royal procession shown in the film, are its high points. Ragini was able to use her arching eyebrows and expressive eyes brilliantly in Taj Mahal. Much has been written about her intimacy with famous producer, S. Gul, but he always maintained and proved by his actions that he had sympathy and reverence for her and shared her grief and heart felt fondness for the good times she had spent in the undivided India.
Ragini was invited to India to do two films, Chamkee-52 and Insaan-52. She completed these and went back to Pakistan. Later she divorced her first husband and married producer Gul. Her last days in Pakistan were very sad. She was thrown out of her house by her Son in Law,as he did not want an actress in his house..She was left alone and bedridden due to Arthritis in just one room.Despite many appeals on Radio and TV in Pakistan,nobody helped her,except one fan from India who went all the way to Pakistan and helped her to some extent.She died in misery and loneliness on 27-2-2007 at Lahore at the age of 85 years. (information collated from various sources like pak.mag, cinerang by Isaq Mujawar, muVyz, HFGK,Flashback,Chanderi Smriti Chitre by Samant and my notes).
The Hero of this film was Kamal Kapoor, whom our readers will recall as a badman in many films of the 80’s and the 90’s, especially due to his Eyes ! His snake-like eyes and fair skin made him look more like a KGB or Nazi baddie. Prithviraj Kapoor’s cousin, Kamal Kapoor, acted in over 600 films, spanning across three languages. He started off as a hero but with little success. From the Sixties onwards, Kapoor switched to playing a minor villain. His notable work includes Don, Gora aur Kala, and, of course, Mard, where he played the evil General Dyer.
Born on 22nd February 1920 in Lahore, Kamal Kapoor completed his education in Lahore. He started his career in 1944, with Prithvi Raj Kapoor, working in his theatre. Kamal Kapoor’s debut film was the 1946 release, ‘Door Chalein’. This movie, produced under the banner of Durga Pictures was directed by Phani Majumdar and the music composer was K.C.Dey while Kamal Kapoor and Naseem were the leading pair. Kamal Kapoor played Raj Kapoor’s father in ‘Aag’ (1948) which was also Raj Kapoor’s debut film as producer-director. Later he got numerous offers to play similar roles which he flatly refused to do.
Kamal Kapoor’s career as a villain started with the film “Johar Mehmood In Goa” which was released in 1965. This movie proved to be a big hit thus putting an end to the bad times for Kamal Kapoor. Soon he was flooded with work and was offered to play different characters in films like “Johar In Bombay”, “Johar Mehmood In Hongkong”, “Jab Jab Phool Khile”, “Raja Aur Rank”, “Dastak”, “Pakeezah”, “Paapi”, “Chor Machaye Shor”, “Five Rifles”, “Do Jasoos”, “Deewar”, “Khel Khel Me”, “Mard” and “Toofan”.
He once again got a chance to play Raj Kapoor’s father in the 1967 release “Diwana”. In his career spanning over five decades he acted in over 200 films in Hindi, Punjabi and Gujarati languages. He played different kinds of roles from a gangster to a police officer. He played the role of Don’s right-hand man Narang in Don (1978). This blue-eyed actor always had a powerful presence on screen. He worked in 152 films – from Door Chalen-46 to Aakhri Sanghursh-97( last film). Kamal Kapoor died on 2nd August, 2010.
Today’s song is sung by Asha Bhosle. I liked this song very much. I am sure readers will also like it.
Song- Do dil hotey saajna to bada maza thha (Insaan)(1952) Singer- Asha Bhosle, Lyricist- D.N.Madhok, MD- B.N.Bali
Lyrics
Do dil hotey saajna to bada maza thha
do dil hotey
oye do dil hotey saajna to bada maza thha
ik dil detee dard ko
ik tumhen diya thha
ik dil detee dard ko
ik tumhen diya thha
do dil hotey
oye do dil hotey saajna to bada maza thha
do dil hotey saajna to bada maza thha
jab ghadee ghadee ik dil ro deta naam tumhaara leke
jab ghadee ghadee ik dil ro deta naam tumhaara leke
dooja dil usko parcha leta tasallee deke
in nit ke ghamon se jaan hamaari
in nit ke ghamon se jaan hamaari chhoot jaati ko kya thha
do dil hotey
oye do dil hotey saajna to bada maza thha
do dil hotey saajna to bada maza thha
phir nain kabhee bechain na hotey
phir nain kabhee bechain na hotey
ruktey na palakon mein aansoo aake
ruktey na palakon mein aansoo aake
kabhee dar dar ke main jaag na uthhtee
kabhee dar dar ke main jaag na uthhtee
nindiyaa se ghabraa ke
main naam na lab par laatee uskaa
jisne dard diyaa thhaa
do dil hotey
oye do dil hotey saajna to bada maza thha
do dil hotey saajna to bada maza thha
ik dil detee dard ko
ik tumhen diya thha
ik dil detee dard ko
ik tumhen diya thha
do dil hotey
oye do dil hotey saajna to bada maza thha
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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Blog Day : |
5721 | Post No. : | 18240 |
Today’s song is from the film Madmast-1953.
This film was made by Sweet Pictures. It was produced by Jagdish Pant, directed by Jagdish Pant and even a song was written for this film by Jagdish Pant. Music Director was V.(Vistas) Balsara. The cast was Nirupa Roy, Shashikala, Sapru, Ansari, Mukri and others. 7 songs were written by Madhuraj, which was the name taken by Madhukar Rajasthani.
The film was noteworthy for a few of its singers. A new singer – Mahendra Kapoor -made his Debut with 2 duets in this film. Mahendra Kapoor became a well known and a prolific singer in later years. However, his songs in the film Madmast-1953 were a blot on his otherwise successful singing career. The reason is…..
Mahendra Kapoor won the Metro-Murphy All India Singing Competition in 1957. The prerequisite condition of the competition was that the participants should have no recorded songs earlier.
MK had many songs recorded much earlier way back since in 1953.His first recorded song was for composer V. Balsara for the movie Madmast-1953. He had sung two songs for this movie.
1)His first recording for this movie was “Kisi Ke Zulm Ki Tasveer Hai Mazdoor Ki Basti”, a duet with Dhan Indorewala (who had later got married to V. Balsara).
2) His other song in the movie was a qawwali with S.D. Batish, “Unhen Dekhen To Weh Munh Pher … Humen Aankhen Dikhaate Hain”.
He sang his first solo, “Kisko Daani Kahen … Tere Dar Ki Bhikmangi Hai Daata Duniya Saari” for Snehal Bhatkar’s Diwali Ki Raat in 1956.
The third song which he had sung was in Heer, the Punjabi movie Heer had music by Anil Biswas.
In addition to the above songs, he is also known to have recorded the following:-
3) A few lines for the song “Ek Taraf Joru Ne Hai Nikaala” for composer Bulo C Rani in the movie Madhur Milan(1955). This song had been sung by Mohd Rafi, Geeta Dutt and A.R. Ojha and penned by Raja Mehdi Ali Khan.
4) A duet with Sabita Banerjee for composer Sanmukh Babu Upadhyaya, “Oh Bedardi Jaane Ke Naa kar Bahaane” for the movie Lalkaar(1956)
When confronted, he lamely said that he had not taken any money for the above songs!!!
This was told by MK himself in an interview for the column ‘kya bhooloon kya yaad karoon’ (sahara samay).(The Blog beetehuedin.com has all these details including the court case, in MK’s interview.)
The second noteworthy point of the film was that another new singer-Dhan Indorewala, who was the wife of the Music Director, V.Balsara- sang 2 duets only in this film.
The third noteworthy point was about yet another singer in today’s duet, Bahadur Nanji, who was only an occasional singer and sang very few songs.
The last noteworthy point was about the Music Director V. Balsara, who rose from being an Arranger and an assistant to many MDs and had a limited success. Many arrangers, after working for a long time, desired to become music directors themselves. Some of them became MDs also, however history says that most such arrangers failed as MDs. Of course, there are few cases where they have succeeded too, but such cases are very few.
Datta Davjekar, Timir Baran Bhattacharya, Master Eric, Chic Chocolate, Shridhar Parsekar, Anil Mohile, Vasant Pawar, Hemant Kedar (Ramkrishna Shinde), Bal Parte, Bhushan and many other names can be quoted as arrangers who failed as MDs in Hindi films. Few people know that the original arranger in the Hindi film industry was Mohd Shafi – who too became a music director later in his career. According to D.O. Bhansali, a leading sound recordist of the 60s and the 70s, a group of arrangers, namely Dattaram, Enoch Daniels and Sebastian D’souza together gave music to film ‘Street Singer’ (1966), under the name of ‘Suraj’. After this one film, the group disintegrated.
There are however some cases where the one time assistants or arrangers became famous and successful independent music directors. In fact, most MDs were assistants in the beginning of their careers to gain knowledge and experience. There is an interesting case where a well known MD worked as an arranger/assistant to another famous MD, because he respected the senior MD. I am talking about C Ramchandra who became the assistant and arranger to Anil Biswas for the film ‘Girls School’ (1949). By 1949, CR himself was a much in demand and popular MD, but because of his respect for Anil Biswas he agreed to be his assistant on request from Anil Biswas ! This was the respect given to seniors in early days of Hindi films in Bombay !
His piano, univox and melodica, the instruments V.Balsara loved, be it for composing music for films or otherwise, have come to personify Vistas Ardeshir Balsara, the music director, who died in Kolkata’ on 24-3-2005.
The ‘gentleman musician’, as the affable Parsi was known among friends, had only his music to give him company in the twilight years as he grappled alone with ill health in the absence of his wife and two sons had predeceased him. The striking feature of Balsara was his never-say-die spirit. At 83, Balsara was still going strong on the music front with his Bengali film production ‘Til Theke Taal’ running in theatres in West Bengal.
He settled in Kolkata in 1954 after he was invited by legendary musician Jnan Prakash Ghosh, to the city. Earlier, he had been in Mumbai, then Bombay.
Born on 22nd June 1922, Balsara learnt music from his mother Nazamaye, and gave his first solo performance at the age of six with the pedal harmonium, in use in those times, at a packed C J Hall in Mumbai. Barely ten years later, the young lad was assisting famous Music Director Ustad Mustaque Hussain, in a Bombay film production ‘Baadal’ and had made a place for himself as a permanent assistant music director at the Filmistan studio under popular directors Madan Mohan, Khemchand Prakash and Ghulam Haider.
Balsara had his brush with the who’s who of the music world after he became the orchestra director of music company HMV in 1947 and then switched over to the R K Films banner three years later to work with the likes of Shankar Jaikishan and Naushad.
As the Founder Secretary of peer bodies like Bombay Cine Musicians’ Association and Bombay Cine Music Directors’ Association, Balsara earned the love and respect of his associates and young musicians.
Basking in the audience appreciation during a musical soiree in Kolkata’s Hindustan Park in 1953, the young musician decided to make this cultural capital his home a year later with a prized film assignment ‘Agni Pariksha’. At the coveted New Empire Theatres, he charmed audiences again in 1962 arranging music for Rabindranath Tagore’s celebrated play ‘Debatar Grash’ while debuting his own group the Indian Symphony Orchestra.
He gave Kolkata another first — the city’s maiden stereo recording in 1970 — when he put together ‘The Sound of Music’ recording strains of four Indian instruments in one album.
He had to his credit numerous popular film albums, both in Hindi and Bengali, a language he chose to speak more frequently in and with much more ease than his native Gujrati.
From the obscure ‘Circus Girl’ in 1943 to O Panchi-44, Rangmahal-48, Madmast-53, Talash-52, Char Dost-56, Vidyapati-64, Qurbani-52, Wohi Ladki-67, Jogi aur Jawani-75, Pyar-69, Jai Baba Vaidyanath-79 in Hindi to Madhu Shraboni, Joy Baba Baidyanath, Maa, Chalachal, Panchatapa, Subho Bibaha, Manik, Kanchan Kanya, Panna and Pathey Holo Dekha in Bengali, he had an enviable repertoire.
Balsara who was greatly influenced by western music learnt to play the piano from Hildafield, a German musician. His knowledge of the piano made him use it to play Indian classical music also with ease. He mastered the technique of using the instrument for playing Indian classical music from Muneswar Dayal of Gaya. He was equally at ease with string and wind instruments.
Today’s duet is sung by Dhan Indorewala and Bahadur Nanji. Bahadur Sohrabji Naanji was born in Mumbai on 14th December 1921. His father, Sohrabji Naanji was a stage actor in Imperial Theatre, Calcutta (Kolkata). He lost his mother when he was only 2 years of age. Bahadur Naanji completed his matriculation from Behram Jijibhai Charitable Institute. From childhood, he was interested in singing. He got his primary training in music from his elder sister who was a music teacher. He learnt to play the harmonium from her.
In the early 40s, he sang 7 version songs with Suraiya from the films of New Theatre . His playback singing career started with ‘Lahiri Cameraman’ (1944) and ‘Rangeele Dost’ (1944) by joining the banner Standard Pictures. However, for ‘Bairam Khan’ (1946), Ghulam Haider rejected him during his audition test along with Mohammed Rafi. He left Standard Pictures and joined HMV as a musician and chorus singer during 1946-50. In the early years, sometime, Mohammed Rafi used to join him in the chorus singing in HMV recordings.
With the changing scenarios in Hindi film music in the 50s, Bahadur Naanji switched over his career as a musician. He became an expert in playing musical instruments like organ, violin, piano, viola etc. After leaving HMV in 1950, he joined music director V Balsara as his assistant. In ‘Madmast’ (1953), V Balsara gave him a chance to sing a duet with Dhan Indorewala, wife of V Balsara. He also worked with some of the top music directors like Naushad, Shankar-Jaikishan, O P Nayyar, Roshan, Madan Mohan, Hemant Kumar, Neenu Majumdar, K.Datta etc.
Bahadur Naanji was also an expert in writing western musical notations in which he assisted Anil Biswas in ‘Pardesi’ (1957) and ‘Angulimal’ (1960).He had also sung a duet with Mubarak Begum for an unreleased film Bambi. Bahadur Nanji died on 24-11-2017 at the age of 96 years.( with thanks to blog beetehuedin.com and my notes).
Let us now enjoy the duet….
Song- Ye raat suhaani hai muhabbat ki karo baat(Madmast)(1953) Singers- Dhan Indorewala, Bahadur Nanji, Lyricist- Madhuraj aka Madhukar Rajasthani, MD- V.Balsara
Both
Lyrics
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haa
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haa
lalalalalalalaa (hahahahaha)
lalalalalalalaa (hahahahaha)
lalalalalalalaa (hahahahaha)
lalalalalalalaa (hahahahaha)
Ye raat suhani hai
muhabbat ki karo baat
nazron ki do dilon ki
do roohon ki mulaaqaat
Ye raat suhani hai
muhabbat ki karo baat
nazron ki do dilon ki do roohon ki mulaaqaat
pehle hi milan mein re
paheli na bujhaao
pehle mujhe is lafz ka matlab to bataao
aa ha matlab to bataao
phir aage badhe baat
phir aage badhe baat
is baat ka matlab hai bahut paas ko aanaa
paas ko aanaa
armaanon ko armaanon ki maujon mein milaanaa
haan haan maujon mein milaanaa
nazron ki do dilon ki do roohon ki mulaaqaat
nazron ki do dilon ki do roohon ki mulaaqaat
roohon ki mulaaqaat
Ye raat suhani hai
muhabbat ki karo baat
nazron ki do dilon ki do roohon ki mulaaqaat
lalalalalaa
ahahahahaa
lekin mujhe andar se koi tok raha hai
zanjeer banke mere qadam rok raha hai
zanjeer banke mere qadam rok raha hai
phir kaise base baat
phir kaise base baat
ye sharm ka parda hai
ise door hataao
door hataao
ghadiyaan hain milan ki ye
inhen yoon na ganwaao
haan inhen yoon na ganwaao
jeewan ke is aangan mein ho ?? barsaat
jeewan ke is aangan mein ho ?? barsaat
aangan mein ho ?? barsaat
Ye raat suhaani hai
muhabbat ki karo baat
nazron ki do dilon ki
do roohon ki mulaaqaat
Ye raat suhani hai
muhabbat ki karo baat
nazron ki do dilon ki
do roohon ki mulaaqaat
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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