Archive for the ‘Jharna devi NFS’ Category
Kitna karte pyaar bataa do
Posted on: March 5, 2023
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 a Non Film Song (NFS). It is a duet sung by Jharana Devi and Hemant Kumar.
After a long time,possibly 2 years or so, I am discussing a NFS. Many of our readers may not know that for the first 3 years of this Blog, no NFS was discussed. When I started visiting and commenting on this Blog, I was thinking that only film songs are posted here. In the year 2011, one of our regulars, Shri. AK ji of Songs of Yore first wrote a lengthy comment here advocating that this Blog should discuss NFS too. After this I too wrote supporting his view and very soon Atul ji started posting NFS here.
Dance, Music and Songs have a special place in Indian culture. Dance requires training, Music requires musical instruments, but songs are for everyone. Centuries ago, Dance and Music was the prerogative of the Kings and the Rich. But songs had already permeated into the daily lives of people. From birth to death, from celebrations to festivals and from Naamkaran to Marriage, songs were available and used freely by the womenfolk. Songs had also entered the educational system. I remember, during my school days in the late 40’s, teachers insisted that we recited poems like a song, so that we remembered them. Even the Tables or the Pahades were loudly repeated by the entire class in tune. This helped to make the dry mathematics enjoyable. Due to that, people in the age bracket of 70+ still do remember the tables of 1/4,1/2,3/4,1 1/4, 1 1/2 etc even today. In the age of computers, Calculators and Mobiles, I find it easier and faster to calculate in my old learned way !
In India, the first recording was done in 1902 by a German team and there was no looking back after that. HMV opened a factory to make records in Calcutta. In those days, records and gramophones were affordable only to the rich people. In 1936, All India Radio started. from 1931 onward talkie films provided film songs, but film song records were regularly made only by the end of the 30’s decade. Until then Non Film Songs were popular all over the country.
During the period 1930 to almost 1960, it was the era of NFS. In the early years, Saigal, Pankaj Mullick, Juthika Roy, Jagmohan and Talat Mahmood ruled this segment. I remember we had a gramophone and one of my uncles was a fan of NFS, so we had many records of these singers. Very soon Hemant Kumar and S.D.Burman also joined the singing group. Bengali singers were in the forefront of singing NFS. Faiyyaz Hashmi, Kamal Dasgupta and his brother Subal Dasgupta looked after the lyrics and the music. Slowly in the western India too, almost every singer sang NFS. Lata, Asha, Geeta, Mukesh, Rafi and even Kishore Kumar cut several NFS records.
After 1960. the NFS died its natural death. The melody of Bangla singers ended with the demise of all those singers. That is why music lovers in the age bracket of 70+ remember the Golden period of NFS by the specialists. The newer generations, however , have missed the train. Once the NFS started featuring on the Blog, almost all famous and popular old time NFS were discussed. So far we have 254 NF songs by 81 singers listed on this Blog. Initially, when the NFS of Jagmohan, Pankaj Mullick, Juthika Roy etc were discussed, music lovers from far and wide countries put their comments on every song. These were the indicators of the popularity of the NFS.
Today’s NFS is a duet which is not only rare but also very old i.e. from the 40’s decade – almost 70-80 year old period. The singers are Hemant Kumar and Jharana Devi. I do not know anything about Jharana Devi. She was a famous bengali singer who sang film and Non film songs. In Hindi, I found that she sang only in one film ” Iran ki ek raat”-1949. No more information on her. About Hemant Kumar , ofcourse we know a lot, but some points of his life too are less known. Let us read further.
” Listening to Hemant da, I feel as though a Sadhu is singing a Bhajan in a Temple ” -said Lataji.
I agree with Lata ji 100%. I have always loved songs of Hemant Kumar-be it Aao bachchon tumhe dikhaayen jhanki Hindustan ki (Jaagriti) or Ya dil ki suno duniyawaalon(Anupama) or any of the Hemant – Lata duet like Saanwle salone aaye din bahaar ke (Ek Hi Raasta) or Yaad kiya dil ne kahaan ho tum(Patita).
Hemant Kumar achieved his unassailable position through difficult times in his early career, which he had begun with NFS. while reading material on Hemant Kumar from Bangla Literature, I found an article written by one of his close friends. Luckily I also found its English translation. I reproduce here only a part of the article which reports two important events of his early life. One in Calcutta and one in early Bombay days- which also exposes the ugly face of competition in Bombay musical circles by a known Jodi !
“Although Hemanta was making ground as a singer, he had never intended to become one in the first place. He cherished to become a writer. Hemanta used to attend writer’s communions at the local library and was also the editor of the communion. A story written by him even got published in the prestigious ‘Desh’ magazine in 1937. But Hemanta’s friends did not want Hemanta the writer, they were more fond of Hemanta the singer. With a mild annoyance Hemanta gradually distanced himself from the literary world. Nevertheless he maintained deep ties with literary personalities throughout his life.
Columbia’s trainer Sailesh Duttagupta first initiated Hemanta to Rabindrasangeet. In the beginning Saileshbabu used to stay near Hemanta’s house in Bhabanipur, but later he shifted to Ballygunge. One day he scolded Hemanta, “What’s up with you? Earlier you used to be on time, but since I have moved you seem to be consistently late.” Hemanta hesitated a bit and replied in a mild voice, “Earlier you used to stay near my place. I have to walk all the way now, so sometimes I get late.” Saileshbabu was taken aback, “You walk all the way? Why on earth?” Hemanta stood silently with a melancholic face, but Saileshbabu understood. He affectionately told Hemanta, “I will give you an anna daily to cover your travel expenses.”
Sailesh Duttagupta was Hemanta’s only music tutor. He went to an ustad to train in classical music for a few days but could not concentrate. (Hemanta Mukherjee mentions in his autobiography that he had started to learn Hindustani classical music under the tutelage of Ustad Faiyaz Khan, but his learning was cut short by the Ustad’s untimely death.) Hemanta’s lack of classical training proved to be a blessing in disguise. His god gifted voice was as fluent as the undeterred winds. Grammatical rules of classical music might have restricted the flowering of his sweet voice. The fluency with which Hemanta sings ‘Amar bhanga pather ranga dhulaaye’ or ‘Dekonaa amare Dekonaa’ might not have been observed in classical oriented songs such as ‘Tabu mone rekho’ or ‘Era par ke apan kore’. Hemanta did not possess a harmonium for quite a few days after submerging himself in the ocean of music. He had to go to other people’s homes to practice. After a couple of records Hemanta had enough to purchase his first harmonium. After his third record Hemanta decided to quit studies and direct all his efforts to music. His father was not happy with this, but Hemanta’s mother supported her son’s wish. She knew what was best for him.
Unlike the other stalwarts of those times, Hemanta was not born into an affluent family. Sachin Dev Burman was the prince of Tripura, Pahari Sanyal’s ancestors were called the uncrowned nawabs of Lucknow, Pankaj Mullick had worked with the Indian Railways to sustain himself before he got established and K. L. Saigal also held a regular job before he came into music. How then did Hemanta dare to forego the security of a job and plunge himself into the darkness of an uncertain future?
Hemanta was one of those rare artistes who savours unearthly pleasure by keeping himself busy within the domain of his work. Affluence and luxury used to create the same emotions within him, as did melancholy and poverty. I have seen the same untainted humble countenance on a young struggling Hemanta, as I have seen years later on Hemanta sitting at the pinnacle of success surrounded with plenitude. Wealth, awards, trophies did not bring about a change in his simple attire. Clad in a dhoti and a shirt with sleeves rolled up, the same mundaneness in conversation, it was the same Hemanta always. Success never blinded him and so he stayed ever so close to our hearts.
Hemanta’s struggle along the road to success started from the very first day. He worked tirelessly night and day, from music tuitions, to the radio office, to the Tollygunge studios looking for a break in film playback. But success seemed to elude him and he had to make his living from the meagre remuneration of the music tuitions and the odd song that he recorded. Then one day suddenly he got his much awaited break in a film called ‘Nimai Sanyas’ as the playback for the leading star Chhabi Biswas. A kirtan style devotional song ‘Kotha krishna, kotha krishna, prabhu dekha dao dekha dao’. Two years after this Hemanta cut his first Rabindrasangeet disc ‘Amar aar habenaa deri’ and ‘Keno pantha e chanchalata’. A rich voice with a clear throw of words. This time nobody taunted him as Pankaj’s parody. The record won critical acclaim not only from the common masses but also from the educated elite. Thus began the saga of a new exponent of Rabindrasangeet, who brought Rabindrasangeet from the phonographs of the affluent to the lips of the common masses. Rabindrasangeets which were undoubtedly popular at that time, also became ‘hits’ in this golden voice.
Hemanta composed the entire score for Hemen Gupta’s film ‘Abhijatri’ in 1944. It was this Hemen Gupta, who gave Hemanta’s rising career a shot in the arm with the Hindi film ‘Anandmath’ in 1951. Hemanta migrated to Bombay and joined S. Mukherjee’s Filmistan Studios at a monthly salary of Rs. 1500. But that was just the beginning of another long strain of struggle to carve a niche for himself in the competitive Hindi film music scenario. The leading composer duo of those times Shankar Jaikishen even offered Hemanta a chance for playback in their movies on the condition that he would not compose music in films; Hemanta modestly declined the offer. But true talent never goes unrecognized and it was in a matter of a few years that Hemanta became a foremost singer as well as music director in Bombay. Rabindrasangeet and Bengali modern songs had made Hemanta the darling of the Bengalis, Bombay gave him nationwide recognition. Hemanta’s days of struggle and worries, were finally coming to an end. Success, fame, wealth, awards continued to radiate throughout his life.
I remember an incident from the early years of Hemanta’s life. After his first record was released, Hemanta and I were returning after purchasing a few copies of it from a record shop adjoining the Purna cinema hall. A strain of a Pankaj Mullick song being played in a house entered our ears. Suddenly Hemanta asked, “Will my songs ever play like this in people’s homes?” I don’t remember what I had replied then. But later, much later, Hemanta got that answer himself – not only did his songs play in people’s homes in Bengal, it played all over the country. It played not only on gramophone discs, but it played in people’s hearts, its strains returned on their lips and it got ensconsced forever in their psyche.” (This article was composed in Bengali by Hemanta Mukherjee’s friend Sudhiranjan Mukhopadhyay. Translated by Prithviraj Dasgupta. My thanks to Faculty ist unomaha.)
Let us now enjoy today’s rare duet NFS by Hemant Kumar and Jharana Devi. I must also thank shri Syed Zafar Shah, who regularly uploads old gems from films and Non Film songs.
Song-Kitna karte pyaar bata do (Jharna Devi Hemant Kumar NFS)(1950) Singers- Jharna Devi, Hemant Kumar, Lyrics- Pt. B.C.Madhur, MD- Hemant Kumar
Both
Lyrics
Kitna karte pyaar bataa do
kitna karte pyaar
sajan mohe kitna karte pyaar
Kitna karte pyaar bataa do
kitna karte pyaar
sajan mohe kitna karte pyaar
tumhen meri qasam
sach kehna sajan
mohe karte ho tum kitna pyaar
tumhen meri qasam
sach kehna sajan
mohe karte ho tum kitna pyaar
meri pyaas tum ho meri zindagi ho
meri aarzooo ho
hansi ho khushi ho
meri pyaas tum ho meri zindagi ho
meri aarzooo ho
hansi ho khushi ho
tumhi raaah e ulfat ki meethhi gali ho
tumhi raaah e ulfat ki meethhi gali ho
jo hansti chaman mein hai tum wo kali ho
jo hansti chaman mein hai tum wo kali ho
agar main hoon gulshan to tum ho bahaar
agar main hoon gulshan to tum ho bahaar
ab tum hi bata do meri pyaari sajni
ab tum hi bata do meri pyaari sajni
mujhse tumko kitna pyaar
kitna pyaar
in meethhi aankhon mein hai meri duniya
hanste honthhon pe hai meri khushiyaan
inhi paaon mein mere jeewan ki ghadiyaaan
inhi paaon mein mere jeewan ki ghadiyaaan
hai tum par nichhaawar aankhon ki ladiyaan
hai tum par nichhaawar aankhon ki ladiyaan
main dil hoon aur tum ho ?? karaar
do khoye dilon ka mila hai thhikaana
do khoye dilon ka mila hai thhikaana
idhar hai deewaani
udhar hai deewaana
idhar hai deewaani
udhar hai deewaana
hain donon baraabar
karen kiski haar
hain donon baraabar
karen kiski haar
idhar pyaar jitna
udhar utna pyaar
idhar pyaar jitna
udhar utna pyaar
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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