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 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.

Today’s song is from film ‘Ek Shola’ (1958). It is sung by Asha Bhosle and Geeta Dutt. The lyricist was Majrooh Sultanpuri and the music director was Madan Mohan. The film was produced by Deep and Pradeep Productions –  a joint venture of Deep Khosla and Pradeep Kumar. The film was directed by Chander Sehgal. Not much is known about Chander Sehgal, except that he directed only 2 films – ‘Ek Shola’ and ‘Mitti Mein Sona’ (1960). He died on 29-5-1960. The cast of the film is Pradeep Kumar, Mala Sinha, Jawahar Kaul, Leela Mishra, Nazir Hussain, Shubha Khote etc.

In Hindi films, there have been three actors who were very handsome and very lucky but zero in acting – Karan Dewan, Pradeep Kumar and Bharat Bhushan. They all appeared in leading roles opposite all leading actresses of their times. They had the best films, best songs and best roles. Karan Dewan had about 25 Silver Jubilees to his credit and was considered a lucky star. Bharat Bhushan had the most musical films to his credit like ‘Baiju Bawra’ (1952), ‘Shabaab’ (1954) and ‘Mirza Ghalib’ (1954) etc. Pradeep Kumar had ‘Anarkali’ (1953) and ‘Taj Mahal’ (1963).

All three had their brothers producing films for them. Gemini Dewan made films for Karan Dewan, R. Chandra made films for Bharat Bhushan and Kalidas for Pradeep Kumar. Unfortunately, in later years, all three lost everything and died in poverty and neglectful anonymity. Karan Dewan was a manager with BR Chopra’s production company. When he died no one came for his funeral except for Chandrashekhar and Manmohan Krishan from the Cine Artist’s Association. Bharat Bhushan even worked as a watchman in a film studio, in his last days. He too died unsung and only the men from the Association were present at the cremation.

Pradeep Kumar’s case is the saddest. He lay seriously ill in the ICU of a Calcutta nursing home, abandoned by his relatives. The hospital was not discharging him, unless the bills were paid. Luckily one Mr. Pradeep Kondaliya, an estate agent, recognised him, despite his grown beard. He paid the huge outstanding bill of the hospital and took Pradeep Kumar to his home, where he passed away after a few days. He was cremated by his fan. Such is the film industry – cruel and ruthless, where the recognition lasts only till one is successful, and even close relatives desert you in bad times.

Pradeep Kumar aka Sital Batabyal was born on 4 January 1925. When he was 17 years old, he started as assistant cameraman. Later he decided to take up acting. He started his film career in Bengali films. His notable roles in Bengali films were in ‘Alaknanda‘ (1947), directed by renowned filmmaker Debaki Bose, and in ’42‘ (1951). It was Debki Bose, who gave him the filmy name Pradeep Kumar.

Pradeep Kumar  then shifted to Bombay and Filmistan studios, and had an important role in the film ‘Anand Math‘ (1952). He played the lead role with Bina Rai in ‘Anarkali’ (1953) and with Vyjayanthimala in ‘Nagin’ (1954). Both films were very popular and had songs that added to the movies’ success. He had a spate of releases in the second half of the 1950s. He did not enjoy as much success in the 1960s, though ‘Ghoonghat’ (1960), ‘Aarti’ (1962) & ‘Taj Mahal’ (1963) were successful. He worked with Meena Kumari in seven films; ‘Adil-E-Jahangir’, ‘Bandhan’ (1956), ‘Chitralekha’, ‘Bahu Begum’, ‘Bheegi Raat’, ‘Aarti’ and ‘Noorjehan’; and with Mala Sinha in eight films; ‘Naya Zamana’, ‘Hamlet’, ‘Baadshah’, ‘Detective’ (1958 movie), ‘Fashion’ (1959 film), ‘Ek Shola’, ‘Duniya Na Maane’, and ‘Mitti Mein Sona’.

He did not get to act in lead roles with the newer heroines of the 1960s such as Sadhana, Saira Banu, Babita or Sharmila Tagore, though he did work with Asha Parekh in ‘Ghoonghat’ and ‘Meri Surat Teri Aankhen‘ and with Waheeda Rehman in ‘Raakhi‘ (1963). In 1969, he moved to character roles with ‘Sambandh’ and ‘Mehboob Ki Mehndi’, but did not have many visible roles till ‘Jaanwar’ and ‘Razia Sultan’ in 1983.

He won the Kalakar Award-Lifetime Achievement Award (1999).

Pradeep Kumar died in Calcutta on 27 October 2001, at the age of 76. He is survived by his daughters Reena, Meena and Beena Banerjee who plays character roles in movies and TV serials including ‘Uttaran’, son Debiprasad and granddaughters Tanisha, Suparna, Riya and Hrishita. Beena Banerjee’s son Siddharth Banerjee worked as assistant director in Sajid Khan’s ‘Housefull 2’ (2012) and ‘Himmatwala’ (2013).

Mala Sinha was an educated, hard working actress. Though she worked with leading banners and was heroine to well known heroes, she was never counted among the class I heroines of her times. She worked with many newcomers, like Dharmendra etc. Her career spanned a long time but she never got a single Filmfare Award, though nominated 4 times.

Mala Sinha was born in a Bengali Nepalese Christian family in Calcutta, on 11-11-1936. Mala Sinha claimed herself a Bengali descent Nepali many years ago in a TV interview Her parents named her Alda. Her friends at school used to tease her by calling her Dalda (a brand of vegetable oil), so she changed her name to Mala. In her childhood she learnt dancing and singing. Although she was an approved singer of All India Radio, she has never done playback singing in films. But as a singer she has done stage shows in many languages from 1947 to 1975.

Mala started her career as child artist in Bengali films ‘Jai Vaishno Devi’ followed by ‘Shri Krishan Leela’, ‘Jog Biyog’ and ‘Dhooli’. Noted Bengali director Ardhendu Bose saw her acting in a school play and took permission from her father to cast her as a heroine in his film ‘Roshanara’ (1952) – Bangla film, her cinematic debut.

After acting in a couple of films in Calcutta, Mala had to go to Bombay for a Bengali film. There she met Geeta Bali, a noted Bollywood actress, who was charmed by her and introduced her to film director Kidar Sharma. It was Sharma who cast her as a heroine in his ‘Rangeen Ratein‘ (1956). Her first Hindi film was ‘Baadshah’ (1954) opposite Pradeep Kumar. Then came ‘Ekadashi’ (1955), a mythological film. Both failed, but her lead role in Kishore Sahu’s ‘Hamlet’ (1954), paired opposite Pradeep Kumar, fetched her rave reviews in spite of it failing at the box office. Films like ‘Lai Batti’ (ac­tor Balraj Sahni’s only directorial venture), ‘Nausherwan-E-Adil’ where she starred as the fair maiden Marcia in Sohrab Modi’s romance about forbidden love and ‘Phir Subah Hogi’, which was direc­tor Ramesh Saigal’s adapta­tion of Dosteovsky’s novel Crime and Punishment, established Mala Sinha’s reputation as a versatile actress who took the maximum career risks by accepting unconventional roles.

Mala was a singer of some repute and used to sing for All India Radio; she was not allowed to sing playback (even for herself) in the movies with the lone exception being 1972’s ‘Lalkar’. In the 1950s, she had string of hits opposite Pradeep Kumar like ‘Fashion’ (1957), ‘Detective’ (1958), ‘Duniya Na Maane’ (1959) though their first two ventures had failed. The films she did with Pradeep Kumar were men-oriented. In 1957, noted Bollywood actor and film director Guru Dutt (the husband of Geeta Dutt) cast Mala in his film ‘Pyaasa‘ (1957) in a role originally intended for Madhubala. Mala gave a memorable performance as the relatively unsympa­thetic part of an ambitious woman who chooses to marry a rich man (played by actor Rehman) and have a loveless marriage rather than a poor, unsuccessful poet and her impoverished lover (played by Guru Dutt) whom she ditches. ‘Pyaasa‘ remains to this day a classic in the history of Indian cinema and a turning point for Mala Sinha.

After ‘Pyaasa’ her major success were ‘Phir Subah Hogi’ (1958) and Yash Chopra’s directorial debut ‘Dhool Ka Phool’ (1959) that elevated her into a major dramatic star. There was no looking back for Sinha then as she was part of many successful movies from 1958 to the early ’60s like ‘Parvarish’ (1958), ‘Ujaala’,’ Main Nashe Main Hoon’, ‘Duniya Na Maane’, ‘Love Marriage’ (1959), ‘Bewaqoof’ (1960), ‘Maya’ (1961), ‘Hariyali Aur Rasta’ and ‘Dil Tera Deewana’ (1962), ‘Anpadh’, ‘Bombay Ka Chor’ (1962). Critics believe her career best performance was in ‘Bahurani’ (1963), ‘Gumrah’, ‘Gehra Daag’, ‘Apne Huye Paraaye’ and ‘Jahan Ara’. Apart from pairing with Pradeep Kumar, her pairing opposite Raaj Kumar, Rajendra Kumar, Biswajit and Manoj Kumar in woman-oriented films were appreciated by audiences, with her films opposite Biswajit being the most popular.  She did 10 films with Biswajit. In 2007, they won the Star Screen Lifetime Achievement Award, calling them on stage together giving due respect to their popularity as a pair who have tasted box office success.

The most remarkable feature of career of Mala Sinha was that most of her 1960s and 1970s hits were fueled by her own star power as much as the heroes and most of the times her role was more powerful than the hero. Though she was pitted opposite her seniors like Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Kishore Kumar, Pradeep Kumar and when she acted opposite the emerging stars from late 1950s like Shammi Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar and Raaj Kumar, she made sure her role was as good as theirs.

In 1966, Sinha went to Nepal to act in a Nepali film called ‘Maitighar‘ when the Nepali film industry was still in its infancy. This was the only Nepali film she did in her career. Her hero in the film was an estate owner called Chidambar Prasad Lohani. Soon after, Mala Sinha married CP Lohani with the blessings of her parents. From the beginning theirs was a long-distance marriage with Lohani based in Kathmandu to look after his business and Sinha living in Bombay with their daughter Pratibha. She continued acting after her marriage.

From 1974, she cut down on her assignments as the lead actresses. She accepted strong character roles in films like ’36 Ghante‘ (1974), ‘Zindagi‘ (1976), ‘Karmayogi‘ (1978), ‘Be-Reham’ (1980), ‘Harjaee’ (1981), ‘Yeh Rishta Na Tootay’, ‘Babu’ (film) and ‘Khel’, which were popular.

In the early ’90s Madhuri Dixit was promoted as new Mala Sinha in magazines. But, after 1994, she completely withdrew from industry and has given very few public appearances. In ‘Dhool Ka Phool’ and BR Chopra’s ‘Gumrah’, she played the first unwed mother and adulterous wife respectively in Hindi cinema. As she grew older, she gracefully moved on to doing character roles that befitted her age. She was last seen in ‘Zid’ (1994). Though Mala Sinha evinced as much interest in her daughter Pratibha’s career as her father did in her career, she was unable to achieve the same success for her daughter. (Adapted from wiki).

Mala Sinha came from Calcutta to make a career in Bombay films. In Calcutta she worked in a Bilingual film ‘Chitrangada’ (1954) in Bangla and Hindi. In 1954 again, she did her first film in Bombay, ‘Baadshah’ (1954), then came ‘Hamlet’ (1954), ‘Riyaasat’ (1955) and ‘Ekadashi’ (1955).

In all her interviews, Mala Sinha always quoted ‘Rangeen Raten’ (1956) with Shammi Kapoor as her first film in Bombay. She was ashamed of revealing that in film ‘Riyaasat’ (1955), her Hero was Mahipal and in film ‘Ekadashi’ it was Trilok Kapoor. She always hid this fact. There are many heroines who want to hide their struggling days. For example, in film ‘Professor’ (1962) Shammi Kapoor’s heroine was Kalpana. Though touted as her first film, her first film was ‘Pyar Ki Jeet-62’, opposite Mahipal – a fact which Kalpana always hid from everyone.

Similarly, A grade heroine Meena Kumari also had done several mythological and costume films before ‘Baiju Bawra’ took her high up and above other heroines. Films like ‘Veer Ghatotkach’ (1949), ‘Shri Ganesh Mahima’ (1950), ‘Laxmi Narayan’ (1951), ‘Hanuman Paataal Vijay’ (1951) and ‘Alladin aur Jadui Chirag’ (1953) had Mahipal as her Hero. In her later years, she always hid her earlier film Heroes.

Even comedian Johnny walker, who is supposed to have made a beginning with ‘Baazi’ (1951), had earlier worked in ‘The Last Message’ or ‘Aakhri Paigham’ (1949). However this fact is not told by anyone.

Not only actors, but even singers do this. They hesitate to tell that the first sang for C grade films. Take the case of Sudha Malhotra, who used to declare ‘Arzoo’ (1950) as her first film, under Anil Biswas. But she never told that earlier she had sung 3 songs in film ‘Aakhri Paigham’ (1949), under the baton of Abid Hussein Khan, composer.

It is very unfortunate that once the artiste becomes famous, he tends to forget his humble beginning with less known film or a composer. This is because they are ashamed of it. I feel the blame also goes to people who take their interview, because the interview takers do not do proper homework. Many times they do not know anything and simply note down whatever is told by the artiste.

There were 8 songs in the film ‘Ek Shola’. 3 songs are already discussed. This is the 4th song. It is a long song, recorded on one side each of 78 rpm record nos. N-52832 and 52833). We present here the full song covering both sides.

Song – Chanda Se Bhi Pyaara Hai, Akhion Ka Taara Hai  (Ek Shola) (1958) Singer – Asha Bhosle, Geeta Dutt, Lyrics – Majrooh Sultanpuri, Music – Madan Mohan

Lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)

mmmm mmmmm mmmm
mmm mmm mmm mmm mmm mmmmmmm

chanda se bhi pyaara hai
akhion ka taara hai
dil ka sahaara mera laadla
chanda se bhi pyaara hai
akhion ka taara hai
dil ka sahaara mera laadla

ghata ka saaya hai zindagi
idhar se aai udhar chali
rukey na jeevan ki baansuri
haaye.. apni dhun mein gaa

khushi se saagar jal chhalke
pakad chaley dil sambhal ke
kahen tarangen machal ke
zaraa mauj mein lehra haaye..
khushi se saagar jal chhalke
pakad chaley dil sambhal ke
kahen tarangen machal ke
zaraa mauj mein lehra haaye..
ghata ka saaya hai zindagi
idhar se aai udhar chali
rukey na jeevan ki baansuri
haaye.. apni dhun mein gaa

chanda se bhi pyaara hai
akhion ka taara hai
dil ka sahaara mera laadla..aa..aa

jab mera nannha chhaiyan chhaiyan
thummak thummak doley
tuk tuk taakey
jhuk jhuk jhaanke
gudiya ghunghat kholey
jab mera nannha chhaiyan chhaiyan
thummak thummak doley
tuk tuk taakey
jhuk jhuk jhaanke
gudiya ghunghat kholey
ho gudde sa dulaara
akhion ka taara hai
dil ka sahaara mera laadla..aa..aa

ghata ka saaya hai zindagi
idhar se aai udhar chali
rukey na jeevan ki baansuri..ee
apni dhun mein gaa

jo mastion mein jee’e hain
usey na ?? ?? ??
ye raaz tere liye hai magar
tu nahi samjha haaye..
jo mastion mein jee’e hain
usey na ?? ?? ??
ye raaz tere liye hai magar
tu nahi samjha haaye..
ghata ka saaya hai zindagi
idhar se aai udhar chali
rukey na jeevan ki baansuri..ee
apni dhun mein gaa

chanda se bhi pyaara hai
akhion ka taara hai
dil ka sahaara mera laadla..aa..aa
A B C D
aleef bay pay
ka kha ga gha..aa..aa
A B C D
aleef bay pay
aur bhai ka kha ga gha
ab padhne askool chala hai
ye mera shehzaada
ab padhne askool chala hai
ye mera shehzaada
ho parion ne sanwaara hai
akhion ka taara hai
dil ka sahaara mera laadla
aa..aa..aa
chanda se bhi pyaara hai
akhion ka taara hai
dil ka sahaara mera laadla

mmm mmm mmmmmm mmmm
mmm mmm mmmmmm mmmm
aaa aaa aaaa aaa aaa aaa

———————————————————-
Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
———————————————————-
मम्मम मम्ममम मम्मम
मम्म मम्म मम्म मम्म मम्म मम्म मम्ममममम

चंदा से भी प्यारा है
अखिओं का तारा है
दिल का सहारा मेरा लाड़ला
चंदा से भी प्यारा है
अखिओं का तारा है
दिल का सहारा मेरा लाड़ला

घटा का साया है ज़िंदगी
इधर से आई उधर चली
रुके ना जीवन की बांसुरी
हाए॰॰ अपनी धुन में गा

खुशी से सागर जल छलके
पकड़ चले दिल संभाल के
कहें तरंगें मचल के
ज़रा मौज में लहरा हाए॰॰
खुशी से सागर जल छलके
पकड़ चले दिल संभाल के
कहें तरंगें मचल के
ज़रा मौज में लहरा हाए॰॰
घटा का साया है ज़िंदगी
इधर से आई उधर चली
रुके ना जीवन की बांसुरी
हाए॰॰ अपनी धुन में गा

चंदा से भी प्यारा है
अखिओं का तारा है
दिल का सहारा मेरा लाड़ला॰॰आ॰॰आ

जब मेरा नन्हा छइयाँ छइयाँ
ठुमक ठुमक डोले
टूक टूक ताके
झुक झुक झाँके
गुड़िया घूँघट खोले
जब मेरा नन्हा छइयाँ छइयाँ
ठुमक ठुमक डोले
टूक टूक ताके
झुक झुक झाँके
गुड़िया घूँघट खोले
हो गुड्डे सा दुलारा है
अखिओं का तारा है
दिल का सहारा मेरा लाड़ला॰॰आ॰॰आ

घटा का साया है ज़िंदगी
इधर से आई उधर चली
रुके ना जीवन की बांसुरी
हाए॰॰ अपनी धुन में गा

जो मस्तीओं में जीए हैं
उसे ना ?? ?? ??
ये राज़ तेरे लिए है मगर
तू नहीं समझा हाए॰॰
जो मस्तीओं में जीए हैं
उसे ना ?? ?? ??
ये राज़ तेरे लिए है मगर
तू नहीं समझा हाए॰॰
घटा का साया है ज़िंदगी
इधर से आई उधर चली
रुके ना जीवन की बांसुरी॰॰ई
हाए॰॰ अपनी धुन में गा

चंदा से भी प्यारा है
अखिओं का तारा है
दिल का सहारा मेरा लाड़ला॰॰आ॰॰आ

ए बी सी डी
अलीफ बे पे
क ख ग घ॰॰अ॰॰अ
ए बी सी डी
अलीफ बे पे
और भई क ख ग घ
अब पढ़ने अस्कूल चला है
ये मेरा शहज़ादा
अब पढ़ने अस्कूल चला है
ये मेरा शहज़ादा
ओ परियों ने संवारा है
अखिओं का तारा है
दिल का सहारा मेरा लाड़ला
आ॰॰आ॰॰आ
चंदा से भी प्यारा है
अखिओं का तारा है
दिल का सहारा मेरा लाड़ला

मम्म मम्म मम्मममम मम्मम
मम्म मम्म मम्मममम मम्मम
आ आ आ आ आ आ॰॰आ