Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs

This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.

Today’s song is from an obscure, unknown film the early era – ‘Pratibha’ (1937).

Any industry, to develop into a profitable one, requires hard work by the pioneers. This applies totally to Hindi Film Industry in India. The original initiators of the film industry were not any rich people, but the industry took the seeds from ordinary, middle class people.They had no riches, but their zeal, dedication, ambition and desire to achieve goals overtook their poverty and they toiled and moiled to raise the required finance for their projects. We all know about  the great Dadasaheb Phalke, who staked everything he owned to achieve his goals and became a name to remember for ever. In this endeavour, he was not alone. There was one more person from Kolhapur, who took Phalke’s dream much ahead from silent to talkie films. His name is taken today with awe and respect by film historians. He was Baburao Painter.

Kala Maharshi Baburao Painter ( real name Baburao Krishnarao Mestri) was born on 3rd June 1890 at Kolhapur. The success of Dadasaheb Phalke in making films in India inspired Baburao and his cousin brother Anandrao immensely. They too wanted to make films, but it was not possible in Kolhapur. Phalke had gone to England to learn the film making and had brought machinery from England. This was beyond the reach of these poor young men.

Anandrao found that a second hand projector was for sale in Null Bazar in Bombay. Crazily, he decided to change the projector into a film camera, by making some structural changes. They sold the gold ornaments of family and bought the projector. To start with and to get further finance they used it to show films in theatres. They even showed some Hollywood films here. After several attempts, Anandrao was successful in converting the projector into a film camera. Baburao was also with him in this. Unfortunately, Anandrao died suddenly giving a set back to the project.

Baburao now needed finance to go ahead. Luckily a famous classical singer of those days, Tanibai Kagalkar – wife of Bapusaheb Kagalkar and the sister of Vinayakrao Ghorpade (who was the father of child actress and singer Vasanti), invested Rs. 15,000 – an astronomical figure for those times. Baburao established Maharashtra Film Company in Kolhapur and started preparations for making his film ‘Sairandhri’, released in 1919. The cast of this film included 2 women, Gulab Bai aka Kamla Devi and Anusuya Bai aka Susheela Devi. These women were promptly thrown out of their homes and society. They remained with the company and even cooked and washed clothes of artistes, besides acting in the films other times. (This Gulab Bai aka Kamla Devi later posed for the symbol of Prabhat Film company- playing Tutari with bent body. She married Fattelal, one of the directors of Prabhat Films.)

‘Sairandhri’ was a tremendous success. Enthused Baburao Painter made another 15 films. Lokmanya Tilak was so impressed with Baburao’s dedication, he awarded him the title of ‘Cinema Kesari’. Baburao Pendharkar was the General Manager of the company, mainly because he could speak fluent English, with customers. Others were V Shantaram, Dhaiber, Damle and Fattelal as his assistants in different departments. Sarpotdar, NH Apte and Vashikar were the script writers and Prof NS Phadke, the novelist, wrote film titles. In 1920 second half, there was a big fire in the company and all films were burnt.

Baburao Painter started afresh in 1921. He made many mythological and historical films. Baburao was the first to make a social film, ‘Savkari Pash’ on the issue of exploitation of  poor farmers by money lenders in the villages. In 1928, a foreign trained film director was appointed from Bombay – Moti B Gidwani, on a fat salary. (He was later to direct the film ‘Khazanchi’ (1941) in Lahore). This caused unrest in the company and resulted in Shantaram, Dhaiber, Damle and Fattelal leaving the company. They established Prabhat Film Company. In 1930, Baburao also left Maharashtra Film company. When talkie films started he made 7 talkie films, including 2 Hindi films – ‘Pratibha’ (1937) and ‘Matwala Shaayar Ramjoshi’ (1947) along with Shantaram. He then left films and concentrated on his painting and sculpture. Baburao Painter died on 16-1-1954 at Kolhapur.

Baburao’s contribution to Indian film industry-

1. He was the first to use coloured screens and clothes for realistic effect.
2. Indoor filming with artificial lighting.
3. Fade out and fade in techniques
4. Outdoor shootings; Debaki Bose, in his visit to studio, was amazed to see Baburao’s working techniques.
5. Making sketches of scenes and costumes before shooting.
6. Advertising posters. film booklets with film story and pictures.

All assistants of Baburao painter became big people. He was simply a God sent gift to Hindi film industry.

‘Pratibha’ was also one of the 2 Hindi films in which the great classical singer of India, Hirabai Badodekar acted. The other film was ‘Suvarn Mandir’ (1934). She, however, sang 9 songs in 3 films, namely ‘Pratibha’,  ‘Lalat’ (1947) (‘Lalat’ was the debut film of Usha Kiron, who used her real name Usha Marathe in this film) and ‘Dolti Naiya’ (1950). The cast of the film was Durga Khote, K Datey, Miss Heera, Master Shyam, Hirabai, Nanasaheb Phatak, Vishupant Jog, Raja Paranjpe etc.

Nanasaheb Phatak was one of the greatest stage actor of Marathi dramas. He was called ‘Natwarya’ ( नटवर्य ), euphemism for “the greatest among actors”. This was the only Hindi film he ever acted in his lifetime. Raja Paranjpe (24.4.1910 – 9.2.1979), one of the big names in Marathi films later was in the making in the 30s. He acted in 15 Hindi films and also directed 5 Hindi films. ‘Pratibha’ was his first film as an actor. His last film was ‘Us Paar’ (1974).

Hirabai Badodekar (29-5-1905 to 20-11-1989) was the daughter of Ustad Abdul Kareem Khan and Tarabai aka Tahirabibi. She was never interested in acting in films, but she did it for Baburao Painter.

Ustad Abdul Karim Khan and Tarabai Mane, had fled from the city of Baroda to settle in Bombay after their affair was not accepted by the extended families. However, their fleeing away from their roots did not mean the end of the road to the music career that Hirabai Barodekar would eventually become a part of. According to archives in history, Tarabai Mane was the daughter of Sardar Maruti Rao Mane, one of the brothers of the Rajmata of Baroda. During her childhood years in the early 19th century, Tarabai Mane used to learn music from Ustad Abdul Karim Khan, who was a mere court musician in Baroda. The two gradually fell in love, a feeling that was not supported by any of the family members precisely because of the gap between their status and ranks in the society. The couple had no other option but to flee Baroda to settle in Bombay city. Tarabai Mane and Abdul Karim Khan married in Bombay and gave birth to five children, two sons and three daughters. The third child was named Champakali, who was later renamed to Hirabai Badodekar in her adult years.

After about 1920, Khansaheb became very busy with his many tasks and concert tours throughout India. As a result, he could not attend to the needs and music education of his children. Compounded with some household family problems, Tarabai decided to separate from him and left him in 1918. In the beginning, she stayed in Bombay for some time and then moved to Pune with her five children.

She decided to change their Muslim names. She was the daughter of Sardar Mane of Badoda state. She used Mane and Badodekar as the surnames. Badodekar was derived from the name of her native place whereas Mane was her surname before marrying Khan Saheb. Thus Abdul Rahman became Suresh (God of music notes) Babu Mane. Out of her 5 children, Champakali became Hirabai Badodekar, Sakina or Chhotu Tai became Saraswati Mane and after marriage Sarawati Rane. Tarabai opened up new music school ‘Nutan Sangeet Vidyalaya’ with Sureshbabu as a teacher along with other teachers and students. Sureshbabu also began to teach his sister Champakali (later Hirabai). However, they were all in their teens, and hence Tarabai persuaded and appointed uncle Abdul Wahid Khan as the teacher for children. Later on, with the help of Sawai Gandharva (Rambhau Kundgolkar) she opened up drama wing of Nutan Sangeet Vidyalaya. They staged several old and new drama and all brothers and sisters played various roles. Sureshbabu and Hirabai also played roles in Hindi and Marathi films during 1930s and 40s. Sureshbabu also composed music for films – ‘Sant Tulsidas’ (1934) and ‘Sach Hai’ (1939).

The training under her brother and uncle proved to be very beneficial for Hirabai Badodekar, and was soon able to perform for a larger audience. Her voice had always been praised and was a source of inspiration to many in her generation and subsequent generations to come. Hirabai Badodekar’s first step into the world of classical Hindustani music was in the year 1920 when she started performing in public concerts. It was the early 20th century and though women had already stepped out of their homes by this time, the idea of an Indian woman performing on the world stage was still a less heard concept. Therefore, Hirabai Badodekar was not only a renowned classical singer, she was also a pioneer in the field of classical singing by women on a world stage. She was the first woman to stage a ticketed concert in India. Needless to say, this drive popularized Hindustani classical music not only among connoisseurs of music, but also the common man in search of new entertainment opportunities.

Till today, classical music experts refer to Hirabai Badodekar’s voice as melodious and soulful. Her rendition of the ‘Taar Sa’ raga became the benchmark of her concerts. She was asked to perform the particular music in every concert appearance. The Kirana Gharana was already a very popular house of classical music during the 20th century and the success of Hirabai Badodekar only helped to make it more famous among the masses. She was an expert in the fields of khayal, thumri, bhajan and Marathi natya sangeet. Hirabai Badodekar’s career as a classical music singer did not remain enclosed within stage performances. It was only after a few years in stage singing that she started to work as a recording artist, largely responsible because of her growing popularity among the common man. After her phenomenal success as a recording artist, following her stint on the stage, Hirabai Barodekar came to be known as ‘Gaanhira’, a diamond in the world of singing.

Hirabai had participated in several plays during her early school years. The stage too was not a new place for her. Therefore, she progressed from being a classical music singer and recording artist to a film actress. Her career as a movie artist though was not as glorious as compared to the one in Hindustani classical music. Nevertheless her contribution to movies like ‘Janabai’, ‘Municipality’, ‘Suvarna Mandir’ and ‘Pratibha’ are still etched in history. Apart from a prosperous career in classical singing and a memorable one in movies, Hirabai also set up a music school for young girls to learn Hindustani classical music. Her school Nutan Sangeet Vidyalaya, was successful in popularizing the concept of classical music through the plays that it staged.

She became such a well known name in the field of classical Indian music that she was showered with a number of awards and prizes given to her by the Government of India. The highest honor which came her way was probably the offer to sing the national song Vande Mataram in the programme held in Red Fort on the 15th of August 1947, the day that India got its independence from the British. Her voice won her the title of ‘Gaansaraswati’ bestowed upon her by Jagadguru Shankaracharya. She was referred to as ‘Gaan Kokila’ by the nightingale herself, Sarojini Naidu. In the year 1953, she was one of the prominent members of a delegation which was sent from India to China and several countries across East Africa. The delegation performed to a world audience to present the cultural heritage of India. Over subsequent years, she became one of the most prominent classical singers that India had ever witnessed, with the government conferring the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award upon her in 1955 and Padma Bhushan, one of the highest civilian awards, in 1970.

She was successful in grooming a set of students who continued to contribute to the field of Hindustani classical music after her death. Prabha Atre is one of the most prominent students that Hirabai has left behind to carry on her legacy. Ever since 1992, the genius of Hirabai Badodekar has been celebrated through the Sureshbabu – Hirabai Smruti Sangeet Samaaroh, a music festival held every year in Mumbai.  She passed away on 20-11-1989.

‘Pratibha’ was a bilingual film – Hindi/Marathi – produced by Shalini Cinetone of Kolhapur. When Baburao Painter left Maharashtra Film Co., and others left to start Prabhat at Pune, the king of Kolhapur – Shahu Maharaj was disturbed. He wanted kolhapur to remain a hub of film production. He himself established Kolhapur Shalini Cinetone, mainly to keep Painter employed. Baburao, Bhalji Pendharkar and Master Vinayak also came back to make films here. After few films like ‘Akashvaani’ (1934), ‘Vilasi Ishwar’ (1935) (in Hindi it was ‘Nigaah e Nafrat’ (1935), a Debut film for Shobhana Shilotri, who became Shobhana Samarth later on), ‘Pratibha’ and Phalke’s only talkie film ‘Gangavataran’ (1937) (debut film of Leela Mishra aka Leela Mausi), ‘Gangavataran’ was made on lavish scale spending lot of money. However the film flopped and Kolhapur Shalini Cinetone was closed down forever.

The story of film ‘Pratibha’,

Poet Prasad (Datey) lives far from the city in a forest, enjoying only the company of wife Pratibha (Khote). The court poet Kaveeshwar (Phatak) of the neighbouring kingdom learns about his poetry and beautiful wife and invites them to his palace, promising glory and fame. Against Pratibha’s advise, Prasad  succumbs to the temptation, only to find that his poetry is plagiarized and his wife is harassed.

Baburao Painter excelled in this film shooting with his classical touch, deftly handling the crowd scenes etc. The highlight of the film was when Prasad and Pratibha leave the palace in a raging storm.

Here is a rare film song of Hirabai Badodekar from this film.

Here is a tribute to Baburao Painter on his Birth Anniversary.

(Credits – Maharashtra- Birthplace of Indian Film Industry, by Isak Mujawar, iloveindia.com, wiki, HFGK, Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema and my notes )

Lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)

bharamuva kaahe pe baawre
bharamuva kaahe pe baawre
bhole manava
aa aa aaa
bharamuva kaahe pe baawre
bhole manava
aa aa aaa
bharamuva kaahe pe baa.aawre
bhole manava..aa..aa
bharamuva kaahe pe

rang birange. . .
aaa aaaa aaaa aaa
rang birange. . .
aaaaaa
aaaaaa aaaa aaaa
aaaa aaaa aaa aaaaaa
rang birange. . .
aaa
aaaa aaaa aaa aaaaaa
rang birange
aaa aaaa aaaa aaa
aaaa aaaa aaa aaaaaa
rang birange baag bageeche
hey
saaj sajeele sab phal mere (??)
bhole manava
aaa aaaa aaaa
bharamuva kaahe pe baawre

bharamuva kaahe pe baa..aawre
bharamuva kaahe pe baawre
bharamuva kaahe pe baa..aawre
bhole manava
aaa aaaa aaaa
bharamuva kaahe pe baawre
bharamuva kaahe pe baa..aawre
haaan aaaa
bharamuva kaahe pe baawre
bhole manava
aaa aaaa aaaa
haaan aaaa
haaan aaaa
bharamuva kaahe pe baawre
bhole manava

———————————————————
Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
———————————————————

भरमवा काहे पे बावरे
भरमवा काहे पे बावरे
भोले मनवा
आ आ आss
भरमवा काहे पे बावरे
भोले मनवा
आ आ आss
भरमवा काहे पे बा॰॰आ॰॰वरे
भोले मनवा॰॰आ॰॰आ
भरमवा काहे पे

रंग बिरंगे॰ ॰ ॰
आ आsss आss आs
रंग बिरंगे॰ ॰ ॰
आsss
आsss आss आs
आ आsss आss आs
रंग बिरंगे॰ ॰ ॰
आsss
आ आsss आss आs
रंग बिरंगे॰ ॰ ॰
आsss आss आs
आ आsss आss आs
रंग बिरंगे बाग बगीचे
हे
साज सजीले सब फल मेरे (??)
भोले मनवा॰॰आ॰॰आ
आsss आss आss
भरमवा काहे पे बावरे

भरमवा काहे पे बा॰॰आ॰॰वरे
भरमवा काहे पे बावरे
भरमवा काहे पे बा॰॰आ॰॰वरे
भोले मनवा
आsss आss आss
भरमवा काहे पे बावरे
भरमवा काहे पे बा॰॰आ॰॰वरे
हाँ’ आsss
भरमवा काहे पे बावरे
भोले मनवा
आsss आss आss
हाँ’ आsss
हाँ’ आsss
भरमवा काहे पे बावरे
भोले मनवा