Archive for the ‘Meenakshi Shirodkar solo song’ Category
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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Today’s song is from the film Panna Dai-1945.
One year earlier i.e. in 1944 another film Panna-1944 was released, but that one was made as a British War Propaganda movie. In that movie, the lead actress Geeta Nizami was awarded Rs. 6000 for her role, by the British Government ! Of course, the film Panna Dai-1945 was clearly a film on the historically famous Panna Dai of Rajputana for her singular supreme sacrifice for saving her King’s heir from the enemies.
This historical film was directed by Ram Daryani and the Music Director was Gyan Dutt, who composed music for 8 songs written by D.N.Madhok and 2 songs by Dewan Sharar. The cast of this film was Durga Khote, Chandra Mohan, Meenakshi (Shirodkar), Master Vithal (this was his last film in Bombay, before he retired to his hometown-Kolhapur), Gope, Gulab, Leela Mishra, Nanasaheb Phatak, Azuri, Ratan Piya and a host of other artistes. There are always unusually more actors in any Historical film.
During the 1930’s decade, the common people in India had 2 major sources of entertainment. One – Stage Dramas and Two – the recently started Radio. The first one was financially accessible to the people, but Radio was still a Richman’s preserve. The organised Radio started from 23-7-1927, first in Bombay, then in Calcutta and then in Madras. In addition, books by famous authors in all languages were also available. However films – first the Silent and from 1931 onwards The Talkie films gave the visual satisfaction providing audio and visual pleasures. No wonder this medium soon became the most popular quickly. With the portable equipment films reached the nooks and corners of India.
Due to its attraction, well known artistes from the other mediums like Music, instruments, stage actors and even authors like dramatists and story/song writers were keen to join films. To start with, Bomay being in Maharashtra, the Marathi singers, actors, musicians-vocal and instrumental as well as technicians thronged in majority to the film industry. From stage, famous actors like Bal Gandharva, Bapurao pendharkar, Hirabai Badodekar, Sureshbabu Mane, Govindrao Tembe, keshavrao Bhole, Master krishnarao, Dada Chandekar, Dhammankhan, B.R.Devdhar, Vishnupant pagnis, P.L.Deshpande, G.N.Joshi and many others joined films. Writers like V.S.Khandekar, N.S.Phadke, H.N.Apte etc also contributed to films.
From Hindi and Urdu, contributions came from people like Narayan Prasad Betab, Pt. Sudarshan, Agha Hashr Kashmiri, Pt. Narottam Vyas, Amritlal Nagar, K.M.Munshi, Safdar Aah Sitapuri, Kazi nazrul Islam etc who joined films. Several musicians also joined. Not many readers may be knowing that even the great Indian poet writer Rabindranath Tagore had also acted in and directed a film – ” Natir Puja” in 1932.
In today’s film, a very well known,popular and prestigious actor from the Marathi stage -Nanasaheb Phatak – did a role. ‘Nanasaheb’ Phatak was a great actor in Marathi theatre who left a memorable impression with his deep voice and powerful dialogue interpretation. Born Gopal Govind Phatak on June 24, 1899, he was drawn to the stage at a very young age. He is believed to have been initiated into Marathi theatre through the play Raksha Bandhan, in which he played the role of Giridhar. One of his earliest performances was in Yashwant Tipnis’s Matsyagandha in 1919 as the old king Shantanu.
With the help of his guru, Shri Ganpatrao Joshi, a veteran actor popularly known as ‘The Garrick of Maharashtra’, Phatak reached the height of his career during his time with the Lalitkaladarsha Natak Mandali—from 1921 to 1936. The Lalitkaladarsha Natak Mandali was founded by veteran singer-actor Sangeet Surya Keshavrao Bhosale. On September 20, 1913, the mandali (troupe) premiered a new play, Rakshasi Mahatvakanksha (Demonic Ambition), written by the highly respected playwright Veer Vamanrao Gopal Joshi, at the Bombay theatre. The play established Lalitkaladarsha Natak Mandali as a reputed company in the industry, and prominent playwrights began to hand over their plays to be staged by the troupe. Keshavrao Bhosle also pioneered the use of red velvet curtains in Marathi theatre. During his tenure with the mandali, Phatak gained tremendous popularity performing in plays including Rakshasi Mahatvakanksha in 1914, Warerkar’s Sanyasyacha Sansar (Sanyasi’s Life) in 1919, and Sonyacha Kalash (Golden Spire) in 1932.
Phatak also performed in films, and his major screen credits include the silent movie Bajirao-Mastani in 1925, his role as the evil Kamsa in Akashvani in 1934, the hero Mansingh in Rajput Ramani in 1936, the rival poet in Pratibha in 1937, in Panna Dai-in 1945 and Shivaji in Thoratanchi Kamala in 1941.(only Marathi)
In 1945, he played the role of Sudhakar, the drunkard in Gadkari’s Ekach Pyala, which set a new standard for other Marathi theatre performers. Phatak played this role for over 15 years. His ability to embody a variety of characters led him to perform across genres in drama, ranging from historical to mythological and social to Shakespearean. In 1954, the eminent Marathi writer Vishnu Vaman Shirwadkar, popularly known by his pen name Kusumagraj, adapted Shakespeare’s Macbeth for the Mumbai Marathi Sahitya Sangh as Rajmukut in Marathi. The play was directed by Herbert Marshall, a British director, and starred Nanasaheb Phatak as Macbeth and Durga Khote as Lady Macbeth. Despite stellar performances by these veteran actors, the production did not go well. Art and theatre critic Dhyaneshwar Nadkarni would later attribute this failure to ‘the Indianising of Macbeth’.
Phatak continued to be interested in Shakespeare. Shirwadkar said that Phatak once asked him to write a play to suit old-school actors, so he adapted Shakespeare’s King Lear as Natasamrat (The Actor-Emperor) in 1970 with Phatak in mind. Unfortunately, Phatak could not act in it. Nanasaheb Phatak remained a dominant figure on the Marathi stage for over 35 years. He was bestowed with the Akademi Award for Marathi Stage Acting in 1959. He passed away 15 years later on April 8, 1974. (Thanks to articles from map.sahpedia.org, http://www.marathifilmdata.com, and Natya kalawant from Rasrang .)
Film Panna Dai-1945 was about the supreme sacrifice of an ordinary Dai (one who looks after newborn babies and small children, a sort of pseudo-mother. She substituted her own son to save the heir to the kingdom and saw her son killed in her presence. Her name became immortal in Rajput history. Panna Dai was a 16th century nursemaid to Udai Singh II, the fourth son of Rana Sanga. She was a Khinchi Chauhan Rajput. In Hindi, Panna means ’emerald’ and Dai means ‘nurse’. Udai Singh was left in care of Panna, after Rani Karnavati committed Jauhar in 1535. When Udai was attacked by his uncle Banvir, Panna Dai sacrificed her own son’s life to save him.
Panna Dai was the nurse of Rani Karnavati, who was the wife of Rana Sanga. In 1531, Vikramaditya, the second son of Rana Sanga, succeeded the throne after his brother Rana Ratan Singh II. He was known for being insolent and arrogant. In 1535, Chittor was attacked by Bahadur Shah, causing Karnavati to call nobles and ordinary soldiers to defend Chittor. Those who were forced to leave Mewar or were disgruntled, joined. Unfortunately, the battle was lost, leaving Chittor sacked. However, Rajputs occupied the fort as soon as Bahadur Shah left. With the fort back in Rajput control, Vikramaditya came back from Bundi to rule again.
After the defeat, Vikramaditya’s temperament didn’t improve, causing him to physically abuse a respected chieftain at the court. In this situation, Banvir (Rana Sanga’s nephew), who was the son of a non Rajput concubine of Prithviraj, joined the court. Banvir was ambitious and in 1536, he assassinated Vikramaditya. To remove all obstacles to his claim to the throne, Banvir attempted to assassinate Udai Singh. However, Panna was alerted of the situation, and she was assisted by a woman of Bari caste, who smuggled out Udai Singh from Chittor, carrying him in a basket, while Panna placed her own son, Chandan, in Udai’s place. Banvir came soon after, asking for Udai. Panna pointed at the bed, now occupied by her son, and watched as he was murdered. Banvir arranged a meeting of the court and informed the chiefs that both the heirs were deceased. He then claimed his right to the throne and appointed himself king of Mewar. Panna and Udai fled to Kumbhalgarh, where the governor was a Maheshwari Mahajan, Asa Depura, who agreed to grant Udai protection. Udai Singh was nearly 15 years of age then.
When the rumours of Udai Singh being alive reached Banvir, he called him impostor, but since Udai Singh was around 15 years of age and his maternal relatives from Bundi could recognize him, Udai Singh started getting more and more support. In 1540, Udai and a considerable force from Mewar, marched into Chittor to reclaim his throne. Banvir sent out an army to repel the attack, but he was defeated. Udai Singh was crowned the 12th Rana of the Sisodia Dynasty. His eldest son and successor Maharana Pratap was born in the same year. [Adapted from ‘History of Rajputana’ by Raja Rajwade and wikipedia, with thanks.].
Today’s song is sung by Meenakshi Shirodkar.
Song- Mand mand chalee hawa chalee hawaa (Panna Dai)(1945) Singer- Meenakshi Shirodkar, Lyricist-D.N.Madhok, MD- Gyan Dutt
Lyrics
mand mand chalee hawa
chalee hawa
mand mand chalee hawa
chalee hawa
mera dil naach raha
mera dil naach raha
mera dil naach raha
mera dil naach raha
ambuwa pe koo karti koyaliya
koyaliya
ambuwa pe koo karti koyaliya
koyaliya
mand mand chalee hawa
chalee hawa
mand mand chalee hawa
chalee hawa
daalee pe phool jhoomne lage
ae ae
daalee pe phool jhoomne lage
ae ae
ik doosre ko choomne lage
ae ae
ik doosre ko choomne lage
bhanwre ke kaan mein kali ne kaha
bhanwre ke kaan mein kali ne kaha
chalee hawaa
mand mand chalee hawaa
masti pe bhi masti chhaa gayee
ee ee ee ee ee
masti pe bhi masti chhaa gayee
ee ee ee ee ee
patjhad mein jaise vasant aa gayee
patjhad mein jaise vasant aa gayee
paanee bhi dhun mein naachne lagaa
paanee bhi dhun mein naachne lagaa
chalee hawaa
mand mand chalee hawaa
chalee hawaa
mand mand chalee hawaa
chalee hawaa
mera dil naach rahaa
mera dil naach rahaa
mera dil naach rahaa
mera dil naach rahaa
ambuwa pe koo karti koyaliya
koyaliya
ambuwa pe koo karti koyaliya
koyaliya
mand mand chalee hawaa
chalee hawaa
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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