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

Archive for the ‘Naseem Banu Songs’ Category


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.

Blog Day :

4995 Post No. : 16890

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Blog 10-Year Challenge (2012-2022) – Song No. 34
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This date ten years ago (viz 22 March 2012) saw six songs rom six different movie getting covered in the blog. Here are the details:-

Blog Post number Song Movie (Year) Remarks
5673 Dil yaad mein kisi ki zara rone laga re Begam(1945) 4 songs covered so far out of 9
5674 Raahi chal sambhal sambhal kar Detective (1958) 7 songs covered out of 8 so far. Final song not available
5675 Baaten kahin aur banaao Batwaara(1961) Movie YIPPEED by now
5676 Jawaab de ya na de bewafa salaam to le Bambai Ka Chor (1962) Movie YIPPEED by now
5677 Yahaan main ajnabi hoon Jab Jab Phool Khile(1965) Movie YIPPEED by now
5678 Mere soone jeewan ka aasraa hai tu Aasraa (1966) Movie YIPPEED by now

Four out of 5 movies whose songs were covered on this day ten years ago have since been YIPPEED. Another movie is conditionally YIPPEED because one remaining song of the movie is not available.

That leaves us with only one movie that is eligible for Blog Ten Year Challenge today on 22 March 2022.

This movie is “Begam”(1945).

“Begam”(1945) was directed by Sushil Majumdar for Tajmahal Pictures, Bombay. It had Naseem Bano, Ashok Kumar, V H Desai, Vikram Kapoor, Prabha, Puri, Raj Biswas, Harun, Mehar Bano, Sharda, Indu etc in it.

The movie had nine songs in it. Five of these songs have been covered in the blog in the past.

Here is the sixth song from “Begam”(1945). The song is sung by Naseem Bano. Gpal Singh Nepali is the lyricist. Music is composed by Hari Prasanna Das.

Only the audio of the song is available. It is clear that the song was picturised on Naseem Bano herself.

Lyrics of the song were sent to me by Prakashchandra.

audio link:

Song-Aayi jawaani pagli aayi re (Begam)(1945) Singer-Naseem Bano, Lyrics-Gopal Singh Nepali, MD-Hari Prasanna Das

Lyrics(Provided by Prakashchandra)

aayi jawaani pagli aayi rey ae
aayi
aayi jawaani pagli aayi rey aey ae aayi
aayi jawaani pagli aayi rey
ho o o o o
duniyaa ne lee angdaayee rey
hho aayee
aayi jawaani pagli aayi rey

aankhein karti hain dil se baatein
haan dil se baatein
aankhein karti hain dil se baatein
haan dil se baatein
hanstey hain din aur gaati hain raatein
hanstey hain din aur gaati hain raatein
chor nigaahein chupke chupkey ae ae
chor nigaahein chhupke chhupke
ho o o oo
ghooghat mein sharmaayee rey ho o
aayi jawaani pagli aayi rey ae ae ae
aayi
aayi jawaani pagli aayi rey aey ae ae

masti mein chaar chaand lagaati hain ghataayein aen aen
hoo ooo oo ho o o
masti mein chaar chaand lagaati hain ghataayein aen
ho o o o ho o o
ho loriyaan deti hain inn aankhon ko hawaayein
hoo ooo oo ho o o o
hho loriyaan dethi hain inn aankhon ko hawaayein
hoo ooo oo hho o
ho o o dil mein umangein chhaayee rey aey ae ae
dil mein umangein chhaayee rey ho o o
duniyaa ne lee angdaayee rey
ho aayi
aayi jawaani pagli aayi rey ae
aayi jawaani pagli aayi rey aey ae ae


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.

Blog Day :

4258 Post No. : 15479 Movie Count :

4267

Today’s song is from a relatively unknown or rather less known film ‘Vasanti’ (1938). The film was made by Minerva Movietone. The film was given to a novice for direction – KM Multani. He was with Sohrab Modi since his drama days and worked as a cinematographer for Modi’s first two films made by his Stage Films Company. After this first film, Multani also directed 4 more films, namely ‘Virginia’ (1940), ‘Vaseeyat’ (190,) ‘Ujala’ (1942) and ‘Umang’ (1944).

‘Vasanti’ had a pair of music directors. They were Govindrao Tembe and Meer Sahab. Meer Sahab joined Minerva in 1937 and gave music to its first film ‘Atma Tarang’ (1937). Though this film was a flop, he was continued to give music to few more Minerva films like ‘Vasant’, ‘Jailor’ and ‘Divorce’ in 1938, ‘Pukar’ (1939), ‘Main Haari’ (1940), ‘Sikandar’ (1941), ‘Phir Milenge’ (1942). ‘Patharon Ka Saudagar’ (1944) and ‘Lal Haveli’ (1944). either solely or with other MDs.

When Meer Sahab was giving music to an outside film ‘Bahadur Kisan’ (1938), his assistant was C Ramchandra during this period. He became very friendly with Master Bhagwan who was film’s director, hero and a singer too. Meer Sahab was an expert in classical music, but he used to forget tunes. That is why he was best when working with some other MD. In film ‘Vasanti’, his co-MD was Govindrao Tembe. Govind Sadashiv Tembe, popularly known as Govindrao Tembe (5 June 1881 – 9 October 1955), was a harmonium player, stage actor, and music composer. He grew up in Kolhapur and became attached to music early in life. He was largely self-taught as a harmonium player. He has acknowledged the debt of Deval Club for his initial forays into Hindustani classical music.

Tembe learnt his art from Bhaskarbuwa Bakhale and, although he never received direct guidance from Alladiya Khan of Jaipur Gharana, Tembe considered Khansaheb as his guru. He used to accompany Pt. Bhaskarbuwa Bakhale, and would also often perform solo, but later gave up harmonium for most part of his career. He composed music for the drama ‘Maan Apmaan’ in 1910, and also for the first Marathi talkie ‘Ayodhyecha Raja’ (1932). He also acted in both these productions.

He was a personal friend of Late Yuvaraja of Mysore, HH Sri Kanteerava Narasimha Raja Wadiyar. Prof Tembe was part of a large entourage of Yuvaraja during his trip to Europe in 1939. The troupe performed before the Pope and at other places during this trip. As World War II broke out, they stayed at London for a long time and ultimately returned in Jan 1940. Yuvaraja died soon after, at his Palace Anchorage (next to Hotel Taj) in March 1940 and Prof Tembe lost his patron.

Prof Tembe was part-owner of Gandharva Natak Mandali when it was formed in 1913. Two years later, he started his own company named Shivraj Natak Mandali. He wrote dramas and also the padas (songs) in them.

While in film industry, he dabbled in many departments. He was fond of acting. He acted in 6 films, namely ‘Maya Machhindra’ (1932), ‘Ayodhya Ka Raja’ (1932), ‘Seeta’ (1934), ‘Usha’ (1935), ‘Nand Kumar’ (1938) and ‘Krishna Sudama’ (1945). He sang 15 songs in his first 4 films, where he had acted. He directed one film – ‘Raj Mukut’ (1935) and he was a MD in 12 films, from ‘Ayodhya Ka Raja’ (1932) to ‘Saathi’ (1938).

Govindrao’s death was in a strange circumstance. His friend, VH Deshpande has written about it in an article, I found on http://www.parrikar.org, as follows.

Govindrao’s death was unexpected. Of late, he had taken considerable interest in the work of the Central Audition Board of All India Radio. He had gone to Delhi in connection with the work of this Board and suffered a heart attack on 29th September, 1955. Dr. Sumati Mutatkar conveyed the news to the Minister in charge of Information and Broadcasting Dr. B.V. Keskar and Shri P.M. Lad, I.C.S., who took keen personal interest and had Govindrao removed to Wellington Nursing Home. They also arranged for a thorough medical check-up and treatment by expert doctors.

It was felt that somebody from Govindrao’s family should go over to Delhi and stay with him. Shri P.M. Lad, Secretary to Government in the Department of Information and Broadcasting, wrote to Govindrao’s eldest son, Pilunana and called him to Delhi. For the first few days Govindrao was unable to move his hands and feet. But soon he rallied round and was well enough to send a telegram home saying – “I am feeling better. The A.I.R. officers have made excellent arrangements for my treatment. There is, therefore, no need for anybody from the family to come here. There is absolutely no cause for anxiety.”

In the meantime his youngest son, Bhaurao and his eldest daughter-in-law, Indirabai, had left Kolhapur for Delhi; but having seen (at Pune) the reassuring telegram from Govindrao they returned home. Fearing that the telegram might not have reached Kolhapur and that Bhaurao might have started for Delhi, Govindrao pressed Pilunana to go to the Delhi Railway Station to fetch him. Pilunana left the Nursing Home for the station. At 5.35 p.m. Govindrao suffered a heart attack apparently caused by a coughing fit which brought his life to an end in a matter of seconds. When Pilunana returned from the station at 7 p.m. he found that his father had passed away.

Officers of the All India Radio rushed to the hospital on hearing the news. Dr. Keskar too came to pay his respects to the departed soul. He gave
instructions to his officers in regard to the funeral. During this terminal illness of Govindrao, Dr. Keskar, Shri P.M. Lad and Dr. Sumati Mutatkar had
paid personal attention to Govindrao’s treatment and made every effort to make his stay at the hospital as comfortable as possible. They all felt a sense of guilt for the tragedy since it was in response to their invitation that Govindrao had gone to Delhi. “

Minerva Movietone was one of the major and famous film companies. Its initial films were very purposeful and tackled social evils like divorce, alcoholism and incest etc. Minerva was also famous for its grand historical movies and the solid dialogues delivered by Sohrab Modi. All this success did not come to him easily. He learnt through bitter lessons.

In the 30’s, when the talkie films started, there were about 9 big, famous and trend setting film companies. Most companies had graduated to talkie status after they made silent films. Only Bombay Talkies and Minerva Movietone started after talkie films had established a foothold. Let us see when these companies started their film making.

Company Year started
Madon Theatres 1919
Imperial 1926
Ranjit 1929
Prabhat 1929
Sagar 1929
New Theatres 1931
Wadia Movietone 1931
Bombay Talkies 1933
Minerva Movietone 1936

From this chart, it is clear that Minerva was the youngest of all these companies. Modi brothers had started a company called Stage Films Co. in 1935, which shot 2 films from a running stage drama. They were ‘Hamlet’ (1935) and ‘Saeed e Hawas’ (1936). Both were flops. Minerva Movietone was started by Sohrab and brother Rustom Modi in 1936, when they realised that the stage dramas, filmed as feature films did not get the public approval. Production from Stage Films- their first film production enterprise- was suspended till Minerva became successful. ‘Aatma Tarang’ (1937) was the new company’s first film. C Ramchandra was the harmonium accompanist for MD Habib Khan and Bundu Khan. He also did a small role in ‘Aatma Tarang’ and earlier ‘Saeed e Havas’ (1936). Minerva’s first film proved to be a let down.

Sohrab found that there were hardly 20 to 30 persons in the audience on the very first show. The film was based on the power of ‘Bramhacharya’ (Celibacy). In those days, Sohrab was greatly influenced by the teachings of Ramkrishna Mission. Seeing the poor response, he was upset. Thoughts of quitting the film production line were crowding in his mind. Suddenly, he saw four men coming towards him. They came, confirmed that he was Sohrab modi and told him that his film was very good. They further advised him to keep making such good films and one day he will be on top. Later on he learnt that these gentlemen were the Judges of Bombay High Court.

This gave lot of motivation to Modi. It also boosted his self confidence. As such he was sure of his success in films, but now he knew that he must make films on subjects of interest of the public and not his own philosophy, if he wants to succeed commercially. His second film was ‘Khan Bahadur’ (1937), based on the bravery and generosity of a Muslim king who became famous for his bravery. The English rulers gave him the title of Khan Bahadur. The film did a reasonable business.

This incident infused him with new hopes and enthusiasm. This changed his life. Initially he focused on making films on social evils like drinking (‘Meetha Zehar’ (1938)), husband-wife separation (‘Divorce’ (1938)) and incest (‘Bharosa’ (1940)). Enthused with this experience, he made successful films and took his company to the top. Renowned for big budget historical films, Minerva benefited from Modi family’s distribution interests in Gwalior, expanded by his third brother Keki Modi into western India. At one time he controlled a chain of 27 theatres in 10 cities. In 1952, they established India’s first Technicolour Laboratory.

In those days, every film company had its own committed audience. In addition, the language used in every studio’s films had a special touch e.g. Prabhat film language (i.e. dialogues and song lyrics) had a Poona Marathi influence, Ranjit films were Gujarati oriented and New Theatre’s language was ‘Bhoyankor and Bhishon’ – all words were rounded. Bombay Talkies brought in a day to day simple Hindi language. Minerva used Urdu and Farsi influenced words and pronunciations. It suited the long and forceful dialogues of Modi in his historical movies.

The cast of film ‘Vasanti’ was Naseem Banu, Navin Yagnik, Putli, Kusum, Sadiq Ali, Jamshed ji, Ghulam Hussain and many more. Something about the unusual name in the cast – Jamshed ji. His full name was Jamshed ji Bairam ji Khan Saheb. In some films, he was credited as Khan Saheb also. He was born in Bombay in 1889 as a typical Parsee. He was one of the oldest and most experienced actors having worked with several directors and over 25 years of acting.

He started with Silent films like ‘Pyaari Mamta’, ‘Madhuri’, ‘Sohni Mahiwal’, ‘Pooran Bhagat’, ‘Gulshan e Arab’, ‘Hoor e Baghdad’ and ‘Indira’. His first talkie film was ‘Daulat Ka Nasha’ (1931) and ‘Noorjahan’ (1931). He acted in about 50 films. His last known film was ‘Andaz’ (1949).

Jamshed ji, also gave music to 3 films- ‘Naya Zamana’ (1935), ‘Zaate Shareef’ (1936) and ‘Jagat Kesari’ (1937).

Hero of film ‘Vasanti’ was Navin Yagnik. Navin was a well known stunt film actor who did social films also with the same ease. Navin was born in Calcutta on 3-10- 1912. His father was from UP and mother from Bengal. During school days, he was more interested in sports, dramas and oratory. He did not complete his Matriculation, but ran away to Bombay, to become an actor-against the wishes of his family. He joined Sagar Films in 1930, as an extra, without salary. After few months he got Rs. 35 pm, but no credited roles. After a year or so, he left Sagar and joined Mohan Bhavnani’s Ajanta Film company. He first worked in film ‘The Mill ‘ (1934). Unfortunately, this film was banned for 2 years. The film was based on a story by Munshi Premchand and depicted the poor conditions of mill workers in Bombay. The Mill Owners’ Association brought pressure on Government and got the film banned. After 2 years, the film was released as ‘Ghareeb Parvar’ (1936) aka ‘Daya Ki Devi’. Two more films and Navin became hero in film ‘Pyar Ki Maar’ (1935).

In her autobiography, actress Hansa Wadkar says,”My hero in this film was one Navin Yagnik, a handsome boy from UP. He was very shy and after the shootings, he would quietly sit in one corner reading something. He never joined our drink parties, nor he participated in any other group activity. I was attracted towards him but he gave no response. He sent me invitation card of his marriage, when it was fixed.”

He also worked in Minerva Movietone, Prakash pictures, Filmistan and other good banners. Some of his well known films were, ‘Zambo-The ape Man’ (1937), ‘Meri Bhool’ (1937), ‘Divorce’ (1938), ‘Vasanti’ (1938), ‘Son of Zambo’ (1939), ‘Main Haari’ (1940), ‘Vasantsena’ (1942), ‘Raja Rani’ (1942), ‘School Master’ (1943), ‘Prithvi Vallabh’ (1943), ‘Chal Chal Re Naujawan’ (1944) etc. His last recorded film was ‘Bhagwat Mahima’ (1955). In all, he worked in 30 films.

Navin Yagnik died on 28-10-1977.

Today’s song is probably composed by Govindrao Tembe, but HFGK does not credit any song to individual MD in the duo. With this song, film ‘Vasanti’ makes its debut on this Blog.


Song – Roop Anoop Wahi Hai Sajani (Vasanti) (1938) Singer – Naseem Banu, Lyricist – Abdul Baqi, MD – Govindrao Tembe and Meer Saheb

Lyrics

roop anoop vahi hai sajani
roop anoop vahi hai sajani
jo preetam ko bhaave ri sajani
jo preetam ko bhaave ri sajani
jo saajan ko lubhaave sajani
jo saajan ko lubhaave sajani
roop anoop wahi hai sajani
roop anoop wahi hai sajani
jo preetam ko bhaave ri sajani
jo preetam ko bhaave ri sajani
jo saajan ko lubhaave sajani
jo saajan ko lubhaave

prem mein mann aisa kho jaawe
prem mein mann aisa kho jaawe
apna dhyaan na aawe ree sajni
apna dhyaan na aawe ree sajni
sab sudh budh bisraawe sajni
sab sudh budh bisraawe

yaad mein jeewan unke bita doon
yaad mein jeewan
aa aa aa aa aa
yaad mein jeewan unke bita doon
prem ki aag suhaave sajani
prem ki aag suhaave sajani
prem mein mann sukh paave sajani
prem mein mann sukh paave sajani
roop anoop wahi hai sajani
roop anoop wahi hai sajani
jo preetam ko bhaave ri sajani
jo preetam ko bhaave ri sajani
jo saajan ko lubhaave sajani
jo saajan ko lubhaave

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

रूप अनूप वही है सजनी
रूप अनूप वही है सजनी
जो प्रीतम को भावे री सजनी
जो प्रीतम को भावे री सजनी
जो साजन को लुभावे सजनी
जो साजन को लुभावे सजनी
रूप अनूप वही है सजनी
रूप अनूप वही है सजनी
जो प्रीतम को भावे री सजनी
जो प्रीतम को भावे री सजनी
जो साजन को लुभावे सजनी
जो साजन को लुभावे

प्रेम में मन ऐसा खो जावे
प्रेम में मन ऐसा खो जावे
अपना ध्यान ना आवे सजनी
अपना ध्यान ना आवे सजनी
सब सुध बुध बिसरावे सजनी
सब सुध बुध बिसरावे

याद में जीवन उनके बिता दूँ
याद में जीवन
आ आ आ आ आ
याद में जीवन उनके बिता दूँ
प्रेम की आग सुहावे सजनी
प्रेम की आग सुहावे सजनी
प्रेम में मन सुख पावे सजनी
प्रेम में मन सुख पावे सजनी
रूप अनूप वही है सजनी
रूप अनूप वही है सजनी
जो प्रीतम को भावे री सजनी
जो प्रीतम को भावे री सजनी
जो साजन को लुभावे सजनी
जो साजन को लुभावे


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

Blog Day :

4120 Post No. : 15273 Movie Count :

4200

Today’s song is from a film belonging to the first decade of Talkie films in India- Khan Bahadur-1937.

The film was made by Minerva Movietone and it was directed by Sohrab Modi. B S Hoogan was the Music Director. The film cast included, Sohrab Modi, Prem Adib, Naseem Banu, Sheela, Shareefa, Eruch Tarapore, Sadiq Ali, S.Kapadiya and others.

Incidentally, Khan bahadur-37 was the Debut film for Prem Adib, as a Hero. In later years, he became famous in the role of Shri Ram, along with Shobhanaq Samarth in the role of Seeta, in films made by Prakash pictures. While he was in Minerva, a special teacher was appointed to teach him singing. It was here that he fell in love with actress Indurani and they had a Love child.

In this world, everyone makes a mistake. But those who learn from their mistakes and mend ways, have better chances of succeeding in achievement of their goals. Sohrab Modi was a person who had plenty of ambitions. He knew his own capabilities and understood the need to change with the changing times. Khan Bahadur -37 was his just second movie. The first movie,- Atma Tarang-37-, that he made with his newly established production company had taught him a bitter lesson. He learnt from it and mended his ways for his second venture. It is interesting to know how and why Sohrab Modi committed that mistake. For this, we will have to, once again, go through his revised early life, his entry into acting field and his film making activity.

Sohrab Merwanji Modi was born in a Parsi family on 2nd November, 1897. His parents were Parsi civil Servants. For few years he stayed in Parsi community in Bombay. Sohrab Modi’s childhood was spent with lot of activities. As he grew up, his more interest was in exercise and sports. Though in childhood many times he was severely sick and few times he was also hospitalized, due to which, he looked tall but he was thin. Later he was very active. In school he was an average student, he never got hooked to History subject. Many times teacher complained to his parents for his lagging behind in history subject. His parents turned all the stones to make him study but it all went in waste. Sohrab was good in sports and from childhood he was interested in exercise which helped him to develop his personality in stage acting. Later he shifted with his family to Rampur in Uttar Pradesh. At the age of 14 -15 his mind absorbed many interesting things in acting as he watched silent movies. Soon his mind got diverted toward stage acting.

At the age of 17 years, he worked as a travelling exhibitor in Gwalior. Elder brother Rustom Modi, along with his close friend Ittefaq, set up Arya Subodh Natak Mandali theatre group in 1923.

In start Sohrab Modi only acted as an extra or side role which was not that important. But Sohrab was looking for the opportunity where he could act as a leading actor. Very soon he got an opportunity and he broke the ice. Soon He earned the reputation as Shakespearean actor. Sohrab Modi’s elder brother Rustom helped him in stage acting and people really appreciated the Sohrab acting. Sohrab played Jahangir (Hamlet) opposite Naseem Bano (Ophelia) in Khoon ka Khoon, one of the biggest Urdu stage Hits of the 20s. As Sohrab was growing up, his personality kept developing. His personality suited the role of a king. His two plays ‘Khoon Ka Khoon’ and ‘Saed-E-havas’ added flying colors to his acting.

In 1931 Hindi movie ‘Alam Ara’ was released with sound. On one side ‘Alam Ara’ was a big leap for Hindi cinema. But on other hand introducing of sound in movies created very big crack in theatre business. People started getting interested in watching movies than watching theatre plays. To save theatre art, Modi brothers set up the Stage Film Company in 1935. From this year Sohrab Modi never looked back in acting career.

Sohrab modi talents soon reached the ears of ‘Dadasaheb Phalke’ ears. Though Sohrab Modi had worked in few silent movies before, but Dadasaheb Phalke never appreciated Sohrab Modi’s acting. One day Phalke Saab personally went to see Sohrab’s play ‘Alexander the great’.

Sohrab Modi is remembered fondly by the film buffs for his towering personality, solid voice and his forceful dialogue delivery. Actually, Modi was much more than that. He was the first and the only film maker who took up Historical subjects to make films that left a long lasting impression on the film goers. He loved to do the roles of Historical persons ( actual or mythical) and deliver long dialogues in his resonant voice, clear diction and superb voice modulation.

Sohrab Modi developed these qualities from his stage acting days. In his growing up age at Rampur, he had spent hours in the library of the local Nawab, where his father worked as a Superintendent. This gave him a command on Urdu language. Added to this was his brother Rustom’s drama company ” The Arya Subodh Natak Mandali” in which he acted. In 1935, the brothers set up the ” Stage Films ” to film the two dramas, namely Hamlet aka Khoon ka khoon-35 and Sayeed E Hawas-36, based on Shakespeare’s play King John, as movies. However, these movies did not do too well, as the audience had seen them on stage several times. But this failure didn’t stop Sohrab Modi in acting. Taking a clue from this, Modi decided to start a new company, Minerva Movietone to produce independent films on different stories of merit.

Minerva Movietone was started by Sohrab and brother Rustom Modi in 1936, when they realised that the stage dramas, filmed as Feature films did not get the public approval. Logo of his banner was the Lion. Does this personally symbolize Sohrab Modi personality? Production from Stage films- their first film production enterprise- was suspended till Minerva became successful. ” Aatma Tarang-37″ was the new company’s first film. C. Ramchandra was the Harmonium accompanist for M.D. Habib Khan and Bundu Khan. He also did a small role in Aatma Tarang and earlier Saeed E Havas-36. Minerva’s first film proved to be a let down.

Sohrab found that there were hardly 20 to 30 persons in the audience on the very First show. The film was based on the power of ‘ Bramhacharya’ (Celibacy). In those days, Sohrab was greatly influenced by the teachings of Ramkrishna Mission. Seeing the poor response, he was upset. Thoughts of quitting the film production line were crowding in his mind. Suddenly, he saw four men coming towards him. They came, confirmed that he was Sohrab modi and told him that his film was very good. They further advised him to keep making such good films and one day he will be on Top. Later on he learnt that these gentlemen were the Judges of Bombay High Court.

This gave lot of motivation to Modi. As such he was sure of his success in films, but now he learnt that he must make films on subjects of interest of the public and not his own philosophy, if he wants to succeed commercially. His second film was Khan Bahadur-37, based on the bravery and generosity of a Muslim king who became famous for his bravery. The English rulers gave him the title of Khan Bahadur. The film did a reasonable business.

This incident infused him with new hopes and enthusiasm. This changed his life. Initially he focused on making films on social evils like Drinking (Meetha Zehar-38), Husband-wife separation ( Divorce-38) and Incest ( Bharosa-40 ). Enthused with this experience, he made successful films and took his company to the Top. Renowned for big budget historical films, Minerva benefited from Modi family’s distribution interests in Gwalior, expanded by his third brother Keki Modi into western India. At one time he controlled a chain of 27 theatres in 10 cities. In 1952, they established India’s first Technicolour Laboratory.

As far as the title of the film is concerned, I was wondering as to what it meant. After a search on internet, this is what it means. Khan Bahadur – a compound of khan (leader) and Bahadur (Brave) – was a formal title of respect and honour, which was conferred exclusively on Muslim and other non-Hindu subjects of the British Indian Empire. It was a title one degree higher than the title of Khan Sahib.

The title was conferred along with a medal and a citation (or sanad) and the recipient was entitled to prefix the title to his name. The title was conferred on behalf of the British Indian Government by the Viceroy and Governor-General of India.
The title “Khan Bahadur” was originally conferred by the Mughal Empire on Muslim subjects in recognition of public services rendered and was adopted by the British Indian Empire for the same purpose and extended to cover other non-Hindu subjects of the Indian Empire. Hindu subjects of the British Indian Empire were conferred the title of “Rai Bahadur”.

The MD’s name is B S Hoogan. Frankly, how many of us have really heard this name ? May be, only a few. Till about 8 years ago, even I was not aware of this name. When I first came across this name B.S.Hoogan, in the list of Hindi composers,my first reaction was,what is this foreigner doing in Hindi Films ?

Further when I saw his name as MD in 10-15 films of the 30s, I became very curious and wanted to know more about him.As per my experience so far,I usually got information for any -or almost any-Film personality from my notes,Old cuttings,books,magazines,old articles etc ,or even from an obscure,less known Internet site,but in Hoogan’s case I always found myself at a dead end. There was simply NO information about him anywhere ! It was as if no one in India knew about him or as if he was from some alien planet.

I was perplexed.How can anybody from Film industry,with so many films to his credit,be such an unknown person ? This was a challenge and I decided ,come what may,to find out about this elusive,dodging and unreachable B.S.Hoogan,at any cost.

Almost one year passed and I found a ray of Hope.

I visited the Blog of Mr.Kamalakar Pasupuleti ji. He is a writer on old films, music and an avid collector of old songs,besides having been an active RMIM worker.He is also a mine of information. Incidentally,he too is from Hyderabad-just like me,and being in the same age group,we enjoy discussing matters relating to people and places in old Hyderabad of the 40s and 50s,when we were youngsters.Later on, he migrated to USA.

On his Blog, he had written about Hoogan. He had located the nephew of Hoogan, in India and contacted him.He got some information from him about Hoogan. Although the info was not exhaustive, it was a great find. Plus Kamalakarji himself had also written about Hoogan,from his interaction with people who had met Hoogan in Hyderabad. I wrote to kamalakar ji in USA and he very graciously gave me permission to use all that material for this article.

At this juncture, my luck suddenly decided to cooperate and I found some info about Hoogan in a book.I even found out that the same nephew of Hoogan had uploaded 4 songs of Hoogan,(2 from Parakh-37 and 2 from Meetha Zahar-38) on Hamara Forum.
B.S.Hoogan was not a foreigner,he was very much an Indian.His name was BALWANT SINGH HOOGAN. He was tall,wheat comlexioned and of medium build. He was born in 1901 at Firozpur, Punjab, where his family was settled. He was a Kashmiri Brahmin. According to C.Ramchandra also,he was originally from Kashmir.

Before becoming a music director he seems to have learnt classical music and western music.He played many western instruments.
In the days of silent films,orchestras used to play in the Theatres ,in front of or behind the screen.During the film also they played appropriate music pieces.It would add live pleasure with moving images. Hoogan learnt giving this music and conducting orchestra from his teacher,Mr.Victor Aimes,an Englishman,from the Albert Music Company. He learnt writing music in notations and conducting orchestra with a baton. He played his orchestra of 12 musicians.

Hoogan looked impressive with a Black Tailcoat,Bow-Tie and Grey Trousers,as described by a Hyderabad Nawab,who had been personally introduced to Hoogan in Hyderabad in 1930.

B.S.Hoogan started his career as MD with Ajanta Cinetone of Mohan Bhavnani.He gave music to Afzal,Maya jaal,Rangeela Rajput(all 1933)Dard e dil,Dukhtar e Hind,Mazdoor,Sair e Paristan,Vasavdatta(all1934),Pyar ki maar,Registan ki Rani,Sone ka shahar,sherdil Aurat(all 1935), Begunah,khan Bahadur,Parakh(all1937),Meetha Zahar,Vijay marg(all 1938) and Sansar Sagar-1939.

Total films-18. Songs composed- 231.

Music Director C.Ramchandra, in his Marathi autobiography ( माझ्या जीवनाची सरगम ), wrote about Hoogan. When CR was working in Minerva, Hoogan joined the company, in place of Habib Khan, the composer. He showed CR how the Desi Raag can be played on foreign musical instruments. He brought in many Goan orchestra players into the company. CR knew writing notations, Hoogan improved this. Hoogan liked CR very much. Hoogan would take CR with him to all big hotels of Bombay. Orchestras would be playing there. CR learned how those tunes could be indianised in his music here only.

Hoogan would make tunes and ask CR to write the notations. CR would hum those tunes and then improve the tunes. Hoogan would not know. Thus many of his tunes were used by Hoogan without knowing it. In the film Meetha Zahar-1938, Naushad was Hoogan’s assistant. Actors like Nissar, Bibbo, Sheila and Naseem Bano sang for him.

B.S.Hoogan died in Ferozpore in September 1938, at the age of 37 only.

Today’s song is a duet by Prem Adib and Naseem Banu. Incidentally, they were the cutest and most beautiful couple on screen in those days. Prem Adib was a Kashmiri Bramhin and Naseem had earned a title “Pari Chehra” (face of a Fairy) and truly so. However, both were singers by force. They were not singers but made to sing. Actually, that time Hero and Heroines had to sing their own songs ( exception- Jairaj. That was because everyone, including the MD and directors dreaded his terrible singing. He was probably the only Hero from the 30s and 40s, who never ever sang own songs !).

Prem Adib sang 26 songs in 9 films, from Industrial India-38 to Police-44. None of his songs became popular. Thank God, he was not asked to sing a song in the role of Shri Ram. Probably Prakash pictures were well aware that making him sing in Bharat Milap-42 or Ram Rajya-43 would surely kill the film ! Naseem was more dangerous than him in this matter. She actually sang 39 songs in 13 films – from Vaasanti-38 to Mulaqat-47. Luckily for her, one song – just only one song – from film Pukar-39 ( zindgi ka saaz bhi kya saaz hai, baj raha hai aur be aawaaz hai), sung by her had become popular in those days. However, for this song, in my opinion, the MD- Meer Saheb should get the credit for its tune.

The famous composer Naushad is on record for saying that he always rued that as a MD, he had to make non-singers to sing his songs…till full time playback singers like Rafi and Lata became available.

Anyway, today’s song- the duet- is reasonably good in tune and rendition. With this song, film Khan Bahadur-37 makes its Debut on this Blog.


Song- Pyaari pyaari aaj ulfat ki duniya nazar aave (Khan Bahadur)(1937) Singers- Prem Adib,Naseem Bano, MD- B S Hoogan
Both

Lyrics

pyaari pyaari aaj ulfat ki duniya nazar aave
man kare kaisa suhaave
pyaari pyaari aaj ulfat ki duniya nazar aave
man kare kaisa suhaave

Prem pawan se jiya lahraave
prem pawan se jiya lahraave
sudh budh man se sab bisraawe
sudh budh man se sab bisraawe

pyaari pyaari aaj ulfat ki duniya nazar aave
man kare kaisa suhaave

?man ??
har waqt se ban saj kar kaisa bhaawe
har baat se
har baat se
ban saj kar kaisa bhaawe

jaane ulfat phool khilaawe
jaane ulfat phool khilaawe
bhanwra khush khush geet sunaawe
bhanwra khush khush geet sunaawe

pyaari pyaari aaj ulfat ki duniya nazar aave
man kare kaisa suhaave
pyaari pyaari aaj ulfat ki duniya nazar aave
man kare kaisa suhaave
pyaari pyaari aaj ulfat ki duniya nazar aave
man kare kaisa suhaave

mast banaawe
jiyara lubhaave
ban ban phool na barsaawe
mast banaawe
jiyara lubhaave
ban ban phool na barsaawe
pyaar ki batiyaan
sab din ratiyaan
kaliyan ko apnaawe
pyaar ki batiyaan
sab din ratiyaan
kaliyan ko apnaawe

ae ae
preet ke ye sab khel hain nyaare
preet ke ye sab khel hain nyaare
nain samaaye
man ko lubhaaye
preet ki duniya basaaye
aa aa aa

nain samaawe
man ko lubhaawe
preet ki duniya basaaye
pyaari pyaari
aaj ulfat ki nazar aawe
man kare kaisa suhaawe
pyaari pyaari aa aa


This article is written by Sudhir, 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.

Sajjaad Hussain – a name that invokes a feeling of rare and precious stones. Treasures that are scarce, and extremely hard to come by. Treasures that are small in numbers to start with anyway. And treasures that are extremely valuable, like diamonds of unusual and endearing qualities. Diamonds imbued with qualities that invoke surprise in how the emotions blend with the words, that blend into the music, that is breathtaking at times. Treasures always number very few. Songs composed by Sajjaad Sb are such precious treasures, discoveries of the remaining few of which is always a titillating celebration for the aficionados.
Read more on this topic…


This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.

About a month back, I stumbled upon a song ‘aankhen to huyi band magar dard jagaa re’ from the film BEGUM (1945) sung by Ashok Kumar. Until then, I had neither heard of this song nor of the film which had Ashok Kumar and Naseem Bano in the lead roles. I liked the song so much that I must have listened to it umpteen times. The song is written by Gopal Singh Nepali and set to music by Hari Prasanna Das (H P Das) whose name also I heard for the first time. From the Indian Film Trade Data website, I observed that H P Das had given music to 10 Hindi films between 1935 and 1948 including 2-3 films jointly with Manna Dey.
Read more on this topic…


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This blog discusses Bollywood songs of yesteryears. Every song has a brief description, followed by a video link, and complete lyrics of the song.

This is a labour of love, where “new” songs are added every day, and that has been the case for over FOURTEEN years. This blog has over 17800 song posts by now.

This blog is active and online for over 5000 days since its beginning on 19 july 2008.

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