Archive for the ‘Rare song’ Category
This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, 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, March 29th 2021, we are celebrating Holi, the festival of joy and merry-making albeit in a subdued manner due to COVID-19 guidelines, banning public and private celebrations of Holi.
During Holi, the most popular genre of Hindustani semi-classical music is Hori which, in Brajbhasha means ‘happiness’. (I understand that in Brajbhasha region, people pronounce holi as ‘hori’). The ‘hori’ songs are written mostly in Brajbhasha or Awadhi. Obviously, hori singing is popular in Uttar Pradesh and a part of Bihar. The joy and merry-making mood come in the background of the expectation of a good Rabi harvest. The blooming of flowers in the spring season (Phagun) and the mustard fields with yellow flowers create a colourful atmosphere in North India. The mood of the rejoice among the farmers and villagers create the spirit behind the Holi celebration which has, over a period of time, percolated all over the country.
The tradition of playing with colours during Holi is linked to Radha-Krishna Leela (divine play) especially in Brajbhasha region of Uttar Pradesh. Hori singing reflects Krishna’s revelries and playing pranks with Radha. Hori is generally rendered in Thumri style and conventionally, the song will have a mukhda and an antara. One of the various names of Krishna such as Shyam, Kaanha, Nandlala, Banwari, Baanke-Bihari etc would appear either in mukhda or antara part of the hori song.
In the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh and the Mithila region of Bihar and Jharkhand (also some part of Nepal), hori singing also centres around Lord Ram. The earliest recorded hori song which I have come across is ‘Jamuna tath Ram khelen hori’ by Janaki Bai of Allahabad (Chappan Churi), recorded in 1910 which is a ‘Ram Hori’ song. Pandit Chunnilal Mishra has rendered even ‘Shiv Ki Hori’.
The traditional hori songs are based on the folk singing of the particular region and are thus embedded with the rural atmosphere. I guess, over the years, the folk songs rendered during the holi festival became so popular that some of the Hindustani classical vocalists adapted the traditional hori songs in their concerts, rendering mostly in the form of Thumris. On the video sharing platforms, some of the hori thumris rendered by Ustad Faiyyaz Khan, Kesarbai Kerkar, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit Kumar Gandharv, Begum Akhtar, Shobha Gurtu, Girija Devi, Siddheswari Devi etc are available.
The popularity of hori songs attracted Hindi films when talkies came in 1931. The hori songs in Hindi films have now been adopted as holi festival songs, written and sung in typical Bollywood style. There are hundreds of holi songs picturised in Hindi films. As of now, we have on our Blog as many as 62 songs tagged as ‘Holi Songs’. On the basis of the movie-wise listing of the songs available on-line, the credit for the first traditional hori song used in Hindi film was ‘mope daar gayo saari rang ki gagar’ in ‘Ghar Ki Laxmi’ (1931). Probably, in the film, this song may have been rendered by Rampyari, the then famous singer-actor-dancer whose name I found in the star-cast. Unfortunately, neither the film nor the gramophone records of the songs from this film are available. It may be noted that in the early years of talkies, many film songs were not released on the gramophone records.
Luckily, I got a rare mp3 clip of the traditional hori song with the same mukhda as in ‘Ghar Ki Laxmi’ (1931) in the film ‘Comrades’ (1939) which I am presenting on the occasion of the Holi festival. The song is rendered by Wahidan Bai, the mother of Nimmi. The lyrics are traditional but it has been attributed to Dr. Safdar Aah Sitapuri. Probably, he may have changed a few words. For example, in my view, the line ‘kaisa dhokha diya’ seems to have been added in the traditional lyrics as these are in pure Hindi. The song is set to music by Anil Biswas.
The song is a typical hori thumri having a mukhda and an antara with the name of Krishna appearing as ‘Shyam’ in the antara. Being trained in Hindustani classical singing, Wahidan Bai has tendered this hori thumri with elaborations and ornamentations. It is worthwbhile to note that as to how elaborately she has rendered the line ‘bin rang daare jaane na doongi’ with ornamentations. The ‘murki’ element in the song while singing jaa….ne na doongi..ee, jaa…..ne na doongi..eeeee is my favourite.
This song becomes the earliest ‘holi song’ from Hindi films to be covered in the Blog though are a few more ‘holi songs’ pertaining to the Hindi films were released prior to 1939.
Audio Clip:
Song- Mo pe daar gaye saari rang ki gagar (Comrades)(1939) Singer-Wahidan Bai, Lyrics-Safdar Aah Sitapuri, MD-Anil Biswas
Lyrics
aaaaaaaa aaaaa
aaaaa aaaa aaaaaaaaa
aaaaa aaaa aaaa
aaa
mope daar gaye saari rang ki gagar
mope daar gaye saari rang ki gagar
kaisa dhokha diya aa aa aa
mope daar gaye saari rang ki gagar
mope daar gaye saari rang ki gagar
main to bhool se dekhan laagi udhar
main to bhool se dekhan laagi udhar
mope daar gaye saari rang ki gagar
mope daar gaye saari rang ki gagar
main to bhool se dekhan laagi udhar
main to bhool se dekhan laagi udhar
mope daar gaye saari rang ki gagar
mope daar gaye saari rang ki gagar
bin rang daare jaane na doongi
bin rang daare…ae
jaa….ne na doongi..ee
jaa…..ne na doongi..eeeee
haa…n
jaane na doo…ngi
bin rang daare jaane na doongi
bin rang daare jaane na doongi
Shyam kaho ab jaat kidhar
Shyam kaho ab jaat kidhar
mope daar gaye saari rang ki gagar
mope daar gaye saari rang ki gagar
kaisa dhokha diya aa aa aa
mope daar gaye saari rang ki gagar
mope daar gaye saari rang ki gagar
Phool le lo phool
Posted on: March 25, 2021
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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4633 | Post No. : | 16287 | Movie Count : |
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Today’s song is from an obscure ‘never heard of’ type film of the early times of the Talkie era – Kaun Kisi ka-1939. The film was made by Hindustan Cinetone. It was directed by Chimanlal Luhar, a talented person. He was a rarity in those days as he was a Science graduate. In times when there were very few educated people in the film industry, he was respected everywhere.
Director CHIMANLAL MULJIBHOY LUHAR ( 1901-1948) was a Chemistry graduate from Bombay University. He started writing as a critic and author in journals like Beesvin sadee, Navchetan and Bombay Chronicle. He joined the film line as a lab Assistant in Kohinoor studios in his early 20s. Soon he became a noted cameraman for several documentaries, with K.D.Brothers, Bombay,under a British cameraman of Prince of Wales’ official entourage. After a brief stint at Rajkot with Saurashtra Films and a longer one at Krishna Films-where he shot 20 films, he joined Sharada Studios with ‘Dagabaz Duniya-1926 and several stunt films by Master Vithal. He turned a producer for a few stunt films.
Later he was a partner in Sharda films and a Director with Sagar Movietone(1934-1940). From 1941 to 46 he worked for Prakash Pictures. He directed Sassi Punnu-32,Silver King-35 Talash-E-haq (first film of Nargis, made by Jaddanbai)-35, Do deewane, Kharab Jaan, Capt. Kirtikumar, Dynamite, Kaun kisika, Sewa Samaj, Saubhagya, Darshan, Station master, School Master, Uss paar and Bindiya. He died at the young age of 47 years,in 1948. He had established his own production outfit ‘Sun Art Pictures’ in 1943, but he made only 3 films with it -School Master-43, Uss Paar-44 and Bindiya-46, before he died, after a prolonged illness.
FILMOGRAPHY: 1932: Sassi Punnu; 1935: Silver King; Talash-e-Haq; 1936: Do Diwane/Be Kharab Jan; 1937: Captain Kirti Kumar; 1938: Dynamite; 1939: Kaun Kisika; Seva Samaj; 1940: Saubhagya; 1941: Darshan; 1942: Station Master; 1943: School Master; 1944: Us Paar; 1946: Bindiya.
The Music Director of this film was Rafiq Ghaznavi, Lyricist was Munshi Dil and the cast of the film was Padma Devi, Shobhana Samarth, Khurshid, Nazir Ahmed, Mubarak, K N Singh, Maruti Rao, Khalil Ahmed, Gope etc.etc. Most of these actors, director and the MD disappeared by the end of the 40’s, because many of them were the spill overs from the Silent Era. Except a few like K.N.Singh, Gope, Mubarak or Shobhana Samarth, none of the other names will mean anything to our readers in the age bracket of 40 to 60 years. The Partition further precipitated this condition and made matters difficult to track old artistes and get their information. Considering the poor conditions in India of preserving and documenting events, information and life stories of old time artistes, it became a Herculean task to collect information on such persons.
I have written articles on films of the early cinema i.e. from the decade of the 1930s. In these articles, I have introduced few unknown or less known heroes and heroines of those times, to our readers. Some of these are Vijay Kumar, Ram Singh, Shankar Rao Vazare, Gul Hamid, Prakash and heroines like Shamim, Nazma, Anjali Devi, Shahzadi, Menaka, Radha Rani, Meera Mishra, Meera Devi etc. Today also we will talk about yet another less known artiste of the silent and early talkie films – Master Khalil Ahmed.
From the lot of the “brought forward” actors and actresses from the silent to the talkie films, two heroes were the true super stars. Master Khalil and Master Vithal. Since they had started their careers from the silent era of the 1920’s, they did not go beyond the 1940’s, when their competition increased and the newer breed of heroes took over with ease!
Though world’s first first feature film, originally presented as a talkie ,’The Jazz Singer’, released in October 1927, it took about 4 years more for talkie films to come to India. When it did come in March 1931, there was tremendous enthusiasm amongst the film makers. Initially, however, there was skepticism in the minds of well established silent film makers. Famous film makers like Dadasaheb Phalke and even V Shantaram are on record having expressed their views that talkie films will not survive. However, the same people later on, not only supported the talkie, but V Shantaram became one of the best proponents of Hindi talkie films. Even Dada Saheb Phalke ended his career by making his only Talkie, ‘Gangavataran’ in 1937. (Leela Mishra had acted in it.)
The coming of sound to films changed the film making for ever. Till then what was a fragmented production activity, slowly became an industry. Earlier, silent films were made at a cost of 8 to 10 thousand rupees. Now the talkie needed 25 to 50 thousand per film. Automatically, the hobbyists and poorer film makers disappeared. So did the acting crew who could not speak Hindi fluently or sing a song.
One finds that suddenly, there was a deluge of talented, creative and enterprising people from various professions and different backgrounds to take up the challenges of this new industry. The changing society in India is partly responsible for this deluge. Due to education and attraction to cities, many people were rapidly getting uprooted from their traditional occupations and they looked forward to these opportunities. For example a motor mechanic Sarvottam Badami became a sound recordist (and later, a director too) and a traditional carpenter like S Fattelal became the great set designer in Prabhat films. An ordinary poster painter, Baburao Painter became a director. Many such examples are available. The deluge was made up of producers, directors, sound recordists, writers, lyricists, singers, technical staff and of course the actors and actresses.
Among the first generation of heroes, namely Khalil, Sandow, Sohrab Modi, Master Nissar, Chandramohan, Prithviraj Kapoor, Motilal, Ashok Kumar, Master Vithal, Jal Merchant, Bilimoria brothers and Saigal emerged as the main players. Among actresses Mehtab, Bibbo, Kajjan, Gauhar, Sitara, Sita Devi, Zubeida, Cooper sisters, Sabita Devi, Leela Chitnis, Durga Khote, Devika Rani, Naseem, Jamuna, Kanan Bala etc. became popular.
Master Khalil Ahmed (variously mentioned as Khalil, Master Khalil, and Khalil Ahmed) was the first ever star of the silent era as well as talkie films from 1920 to 1940s. Born in 1903, he became a hero in Kohinoor’s ‘Gul E Bakavali’ (1924), opposite Zubeida. He was the first handsome and macho hero of those times. He acted with all top heroines of his time. Some of his 30 silent films are, ‘Kaala Naag, ‘Kulin Kanta’, ‘Lanka Ni Laadi’, ‘Cinema Queen’ etc.
He featured in his first talkie film, ‘Draupadi’ (1931), made by Imperial, opposite Ermeline (aka Sudhabala ). Then came ‘Daulat Ka Nasha’ (1931), ‘Bharati Mata’ (1932), ‘Niti Vijay’ (1932), Do Rangi Duniya’ (1933) and ‘Saubhagya Sundari’ (1933). In 1934 Khalil went to Calcutta on the invitation of East India Films. His first film in Calcutta was ‘Kismet Ki Kasauti’ (1934). Then he joined Tollywood Studio (Madon Theatres). Here his first film was ‘ Gaibi Gola’ (1935), in which Baby Noorjehan made her debut as a child star.
He was in great demand in Bombay also, so Khalil started doing films in Calcutta and Bombay, by frequently travelling between the two cities. This caused a lot of stress on him, but he always kept his commitments. During this period, he also got married and got children. He settled in Calcutta and travelled often to Bombay to do films there.
Khalil did different roles, including Hindu Gods. He never changed his name. in those days very few Muslim actors kept their real names. Incidentally, during his peak time, there were two more artists named Khalil. One was Khalil Aftab, who was a lyricist and he acted in film ‘Dard E Dil’ (1934) and ‘ The Mill’ (1934) (this latter film was banned and was released later in 1936 as ‘ Ghareeb Parwar’). The other actor was Khalil Khan, who had acted in film ‘Deepak Mahal’ (1940). In all, Khalil acted in 28 Talkie films. He died quite young, on 28-11-1941, at Calcutta. Too much travelling and stress must have taken its toll on him. He was only 38 year old. He left behind a wife with 5 children.
Khalil did 13 films in Calcutta – ‘Kismet Ki Kasauti (1934), ‘Gaibi Gola’ (1935), ‘Miss Manorama’ (1935), ‘Jawaani Ka Nasha’ (1935), ‘Divine Sacrifice’ (1935), ‘Raj Dulari (1936), ‘Bulbul e Iran’ (1936), ‘Parivartan’ (1936), ‘Adarsh Mahila’ (1937), ‘Aflatoon’ (1937), ‘Karmaveer’ (1938), ‘Abla Ki Shakti’ (1941) and ‘Merchant Of Venice’ (1941).
In Bombay, he did 15 films in Bombay – ‘Draupadi’ (1931), Daulat Ka Nasha’ (1931), ‘Bharati Mata’ (1932), ‘Niti Vijay’ (1932), ‘Do Rangi Duniya’ (1933), ‘Saubhagya Sundari’ (1933), Typist Girl (1935), ‘Shaitan Ka Paash’ (1936), ‘Khudai Khidamadgar’ (1937), ‘Kiski Pyaari’ (1937), ‘Kaun Kisi Ka'(1939), ‘Hamara Desh’ (1940), ‘Pyaar’ (1940), ‘Waayada’ (1940) and ‘Taj Mahal’ (1941).
Khalil acted with most of the leading heroines of his time like, Noorjehan (Sr), Jilloo (Zulekha Ibrahim – she was known by Jilloo Bai in her later career), Kajjan- 6 films, Mushtari – 3 films (She died too young, in her teens only), Miss Rose – 2 films, Violet Cooper – 2 films, Radha Rani, Ram Pyari, Begum Akhtar (she was then known as Akhtari Faizabadi), Sulochana, Ameena, Leela Desai, Indurani, Gulab, Ermelin and Sheela etc. Khalil was very good natured and a popular actor among his co stars and producers.
A Muslim by birth, he performed a variety of roles in films. His initial acting phase included roles of Shri Krishna and Shri Ram. Disenchanted by the communal riots during those times, he gave a speech in the Indian Motion Picture Congress, on 4th May 1939. Baburao Patel’s Film India published this extract from his speech- “I have played Hindu Gods in films. I worked under Hindu producers only. I am disturbed by these riots. I am popular among Hindus and Muslims. We are the devotees of Art and Art has no religion.” Indian Film Industry is perhaps the only industry which is mostly a secular one, since its inception. Master Khalil Ahmed was an example of that.
I could not get any information about this film, its story or other details. I was surprised that this song was available on the You Tube channel. The song is sung by Khurshid, Nazir Ahmed and chorus. With this song, film Kaun Kisi Ka-39 makes its Debut on this Blog.
Song-Phool le lo phool (Kaun Kisi Ka)(1939) Singers-Khursheed, Nazeer Ahmad, Lyrics-Munshi Dil, MD-Rafiq Ghaznavi
Chorus
Lyrics
Phool le lo phool
Phool le lo phool
aayi basant ki saari bahaar
joban barsaaya hai singaar
ae man ??
jhoole jhool
ae man ??
jhoole jhool
Phool le lo phool
Phool le lo phool
kaisa ?? hai tera singaar
phoolon mein lipti ho jaise talwaar
madam jee sadqe
hum donon ??
joban ke badle
hum donon ??
haaan
aankhon mein teri daaloon dhool
aankhon mein teri daaloon dhool
Phool le lo phool
Phool le lo phool
aayi basant ki saari bahaar
aayi basant ki saari bahaar
gali gali par barse phuhaar
gali gali par barse phuhaar
aayi basant ki saari bahaar
aayi basant ki saari bahaar
baaghon se maalan laayi sandes
baaghon se maalan laayi sandes
aate hain preetam apne des
hey ae ae es
aate hain preetam apne des
sun sun kaliyaan sej sajaawo o o
sun sun kaliyaan sej sajaawo o o
phool bechaaron ho na malool
phool bechaaron ho na malool
Phool le lo phool
Phool le lo phool
aayi basant ki saari bahaar
aayi basant ki saari bahaar
kali kali par barse ??
kali kali par barse ??
aayi basant ki saari bahaar
aayi basant ki saari bahaar
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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4630 | Post No. : | 16283 | Movie Count : |
4423 |
Today’s song is from the film Dil hi to hai aka Aulad-1939. It was made by the Film Corporation of India, Calcutta. The film was directed by Kidar Sharma. This was his first film as an independent Director. Kidar Sharma (12-4-1910 to 29-4-1999) went on to direct 35 more films. His last film as a Director was Sehme huye Sitare-1994. Sharma acted in 8 films.He even sang 1 song each in 2 films – Inquilab-35 and kavi Sammelan-72. As a Lyricist, he wrote 312 songs for 44 films, from Inquilab-35 to Jalo Tarang-49. Some of his famous films as a Director were Chitralekha-41, Bhanwar-44, Neel Kamal-47, Jogan-50, Bawre Nain-50, Hamari yaad aayegi-61 and others.
The music for the 12 songs written by kidar Sharma was composed by Acharya Bhishma Dev Chatterji. He was born on 8-11-1909 in Hooghly, West Bengal. He studied upto M.A. in English. He became a Teacher and taught English in a college. Few years after learning Music from stalwarts of Bengal, he left the job of teacher and joined Megaphone Record Company as a Composer. He used to meet Kidar Sharma in the Recording studio.
Taking permission from his company, he became a Music Director for his First film – Dil hi to hai aka Aulad-1939, made by the Film Corporation of India, Calcutta. He composed some Ghazals, which Ramola and Ramdulari sang. After this film, Bhishma Dev gave music to 3 more Hindi films – The Rise-1939, Qaidi-1940 and Hamara Hindustan-1940. All films made by Film Corporation of India and in Calcutta. This was the end of his Hindi film music .
Bhishma Dev was highly respected in Bengal for his knowledge of Classical Music. Even S D Burman learnt music from him. His nature was saintly. He cut many records on Dhrupad sangeet. I am not aware of his contribution to Bangla films.
Suddenly, one day, he left his job, work, music, family, everything and he became a Sanyasi. He remained so till he died on 8-8-1977.
The film was originally titled and censored as Dil hi to hai, but advertised itself in Magazines and Newspapers as ” Aulad” and in brackets ‘ Dil hi to hai ‘. All the records were issued in the name of Dil hi to hai. Looking at the short synopsis of the film, as given in Film India magazine, I feel the title of ” Aulad” was more appropriate. The story deals with traditional parents and their modern thinking children. The film ends with the heroine (Ramola) committing suicide.
It was the first film of Ramola as a Heroine and she had to die at the end of the film ! There is a story behind how Ramola, who was a small time actress in Bangla films initially, got the heroine’s role in Kidar Sharma’s first Directorial venture. Sharma has described it in his autobiography.
Actress Ramola (real name- Rachel Cohen) was born in a Jew family on 5-7-1917, at Bombay. Her father Hayam Cohem was a school Teacher. Her initial education was done in Bombay. Later they shifted to Calcutta where she completed her matriculation and joined films. Her first film was ‘ Graher fer’-38,a Bangla film. She did a few small roles and then came ‘Khazanchi’-41 from Pancholi of Lahore. This changed her career and she became a popular actress. She did films like Masoom,Khamoshi manchali.etc etc.
Initially, Ramola was a small time actress. First she acted on stage along with her two sisters. Then she got a Bangla film. It was Jagdish Sethi who introduced her to director/lyricist/dialogue writer Kidar Sharma. According to Kidar Sharma,
“She was smart and a charming young lady. Her only drawback was her height. She was not tall, just about 5 feet, but she had lofty ambitions. One day she came to see me and I promised I would personally take her to the director of her choice. She said, “I would like to be introduced to Mr. Nitin Bose, and no one else.” I took her to Mr. Bose, and was sure that her charm and talent would impress him.
Mr. Bose scanned her, from top to toe, while I praised her talent and her choice of a director, like Nitin Bose. After a long silence, Mr. Bose addressed me and said, “When you brought her to me, why did you forget to bring some bricks for her to stand on?” Poor Romola was hurt and heart-broken by this great director’s caustic remark. She quietly said, “Goodbye” and walked away from his office.
I followed her and found that she was in tears. ‘I was moved by the plight of a struggling youngster having high hopes, being ridiculed for something for which the nature was responsible. I knew what it felt like to be ridiculed. I had experienced it often enough. I escorted her to the tram junction and there she bid me goodbye. To encourage her, I said, “Please, Romola, don’t be heart-broken. One day, when I become a director, you will be my first heroine, and we will prove to Mr. Bose and the world, what a great star you are.” Romola laughed and said,- “Poor Mr. Kidarnath, the dialogue-writer will never be a director and I will never be a heroine.” So saying, she jumped into the tram.”
However, Kidar Sharma kept his promise and cast her in his first film as director Aulad / Dil Hi To Hai (1939). Aulad/Dil Hi To hai was a down-to-earth story of a middle-class father, who had sacrificed all his life to educate his son and his darling daughter, hoping that they would be worthy children to the society and to the family. Little did the old man know that the generation gap would present a different, horrifying reality, which would destroy him completely. The modern college Miss, who destroys the dreams of her old father, the aged struggling middle class man, was played by Ramola.
Later Ramola appeared in many films including Qaidi, Khazanchi, Khamoshi, Swan Aya Re, Rim Jhim etc. When she acted in Pancholi’s famous film Khazanchi-41, she became famous all over India and film offers started pouring on her. She looked so cute in her Punjabi dress- Salwar and Kurta- in that film, that this dress became famous and popular as Khazanchi dress amongst the women in India.
The cast of the film Aulad aka Dil hi to hai-39 was Ramola, Ramdulari, Nand kishore, Amarnath, Purno Chaudhari, Ibrahim etc.etc. There is one interesting name in the cast, for whom this film was his Debut film as an actor. He was only in his Teens, but with a good personality. His Name – Amarnath.
Amarnath (Bharadwaj) is one of the “same name confusions” victims. There were two Pt. Amarnath Music Directors, 1 actor Amar, 1 actor Amarnath and 1 actor/Director (K.) Amarnath.
This Amarnath was born in Hafizabad, in Gujranwala district of Punjab (Now in Pakistan) in 1922. He started acting in 1939 with Kidar Sharma’s “Dil hi to hai”. Graduating from doing small roles he made it as a Leading Man in Dalsukh Pancholi’s film “Patjhad”, started in 1947 opposite Meena (Shorey). Pancholi had to flee Lahore due to Partition riots, but he carried the negatives of Patjhad. Though the film was censored in India in 1948, it seems it was never released.
Amarnath starred as Hero in many other films,like Naghma E Sehra-45, Papiha re-48, Barsat ki ek raat-48, Swayam sidha-49, Nai Bhabhi-50, Kamal ke phool-50, Sheesh Mahal-50, Jalte Deep-50, Johri-51, Nai zindagi-51, Nirmohi-52, Nirmal-52, Izzat-52, Bahu Beti-53, Nav Durga-53, Toofan-54, Danka-54 etc. Then he switched over to side roles. In all, he worked in 81 films (CITWF data). His last film was Kaun ho tum-70.
Today’s song is sung by Ramdulari. This is a very rare song. It was given to me by Mr. Abhay Jain (US) and uploaded for me by our own Sadanand Kamath ji, as he always does for all my songs. With this song, film Dil hi to hai aka Aulad-1939 and Bhishm Dev Chatterji as MD, make their Debut on this Blog.
Song- Hoga na vaidya se ilaaj mori peer ka (Dil Hi To Hai)(1939) Singer-Ram Dulari, Lyrics-Kidar Sharma, MD-Bheesmdev Chatterjee
Lyrics
Hoga na vaidya se ilaaj mori peer ka aa
Hoga na vaidya se ilaaj mori peer ka aa
dil to shikaar hua nainwa ke teer kaa
maiyya mori peer ka
bhaiyya mori peer ka
daiyya mori peer ka
peer ka
peer ka
Hoga na vaidya se ilaaj mori peer ka aa
Hoga na vaidya se ilaaj mori peer ka aa
Hoga na vaidya se ilaaj mori peer ka aa
main jamunaaaa jal
bharne ko nikli aa aa aa aa aa
aa aa aa
main jamuna jal
bharne ko nikli
haaaaaan
main jamuna jal bharne ko nikli
main jamuna jal bharne ko nikli
main jamuna jal bharne ko nikli
main jamuna jal bharne ko nikli
milna thha Shyam se
bahaana kiya neer ka aa
milna thha Shyam se
bahaana kiya neer ka
maiyya mori peer ka
bhaiyya mori peer ka
daiyya mori peer ka
peer ka
peer ka
Hoga na vaidya se ilaaj mori peer ka aa
Bahti Ganga Kaashi teerath aaya
Posted on: March 19, 2021
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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Blog Day : |
4627 | Post No. : | 16278 | Movie Count : |
4421 |
Today’s song is very special. It is from a totally unknown film- Sach hai-1939. Still, it is a special song. I say so because it is the First song sung by Suresh babu mane on this Blog. I know, nay, I am sure that 99 % of our readers may raise their eyebrows with this name, because they will not know who he was.
Suresh Babu Mane was an expert Classical singer in the late 30’s and 40’s decades. He was the first child of Abdul Karim Khan c- founder of the Kirana Gharana. The name of Kirana Gharana came because Abdul Karim Khan was born in village Kirana in Uttar Pradesh.
It is as if Hindustani Classical Music and Hindi Film Music have inimical or hostile relationships. Hindi film music is music for the masses, where as classical music was born in Palaces and Temples and had Royal patronage. It was understood and enjoyed by and meant only for the connoisseurs. For the common public, classical music was anethema and they could never identify themselves with it. As a result, classical music was kept at a distance by common people.
When the Film Music prospered, spread everywhere and became the people’s choice, the classical singers kept a distance with it. Most were averse to singing for films. It was considered below their dignity to sing for films. If you see the Hindi film song list, you will find that songs by the well known classical singers are not even 1 % of the total songs, so far !
I just casually found out the number of songs that some well known classical singers have sung in Hindi films and this is what I found (not an exhaustive list) –
| S No | Singer | Films | No. of songs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | D.V.Paluskar | 1 | 1 |
| 2. | Bade Ghulam ali khan | 2 | 3 |
| 3 | Bhimsen Joshi | 6 | 12 |
| 4. | Ram Marathe | 6 | 11 |
| 5. | Shobha Gurtu | 16 | 19 |
| 6. | Manik Verma | 13 | 17 |
| 7. | Hirabai Badodekar | 3 | 9 |
| 8. | Saraswati Rane | 11 | 26 |
| Total Songs | 98 | ||
From Carnatic Musicians, I only know that M.S.Subbu Lakshmi sang 17 songs in her only Hindi film ” Meera”-1947. They were all Meera Bhajans. Singer Ram Marathe’s 11 songs mentione above are only as a Child Artiste. Once he left films and dedicated himself to Classical music, he never sang again in Hindi films, as far as I know. Experts may know better. There may be some more classical singers and songs other than what is shown above as only an example, but the end result would not change in any case !
It was Naushad, who first understood this predicament and strongly advocated mixing classical music (Raagas) and Folk music for film songs. He actually did this in his films, like Baiju Bawra and some others and we can see that he honestly tried successfully too. Shankar-Jaikishen, C. Ramchandra, S.D.Burman and some other composers followed suit and we had some excellent songs based on classical music (Raagas).
No wonder, then, thast Suresh Babu Mane the Classical singer ( elder brother of Hirabai Badodekar and Saraswati Rane), gave music to only 2 Hindi films in the 30′;s period. Let us know more about Suresh Babu Mane.
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. 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 their extended families. However, their fleeing away from their roots did not mean the end of the road to the music career their children had. Tarabai Mane and Abdul Karim Khan married in Bombay and gave birth to five children, two sons and three daughters.
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 Musilm names. She was the daughter of Sardar Mane of Baroda state. She used Mane and Barodekar as the surnames. Barodekar was derived from her native place whereas Mane was her surname before marrying Khansaheb. Thus Abdul Rahman became Suresh (god of music notes) babu Mane. Out of her 5 children, Champakali became Heerabai Badodekar, Sakina or Chhotu tai became Saraswati Mane and after marriage Sarawati Rane.
The original name of Suresh Babu Mane was Abdul Rahman. He was the eldest son of Ustad Abdul Kareem Khan and Tarabai Mane alias Tahirabibi, born in 1902. His pet name, in house, was ‘Babu’ and later ‘Baburao’ among his friends, and family members. His first teacher was father Kareem Khan and he also learnt music along with the first batch of disciples of the Arya Sangeet Vidyalaya founded by his parents. His voice, swar lagao and style were ditto to his father. He received talim till the age of sixteen years when his parents separated. He had by then become a teacher and concert singer. Like his father, his thumri was a speciality and listeners would name it as a ‘Maharashtri’ thumri. He was not only an expert vocalist but also could play harmonium, tabla, sarangi, tabla tarang, kashtha tarang, jal tarang, shahanai, and piano.
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 Heerabai. 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 roles. Sureshbabu and Heerabai also played roles in Hindi and Marathi films during 1930-40. Sureshbabu also gave music to 2 films, composing 25 songs. (Sant Tulsidas-34 and Sach hai-39). He acted in 2 films – Amrit Manthan-34 and Chandrasena-35 and sang 7 songs in 2 films too – Chandrasena-35 and Sach Hai-39.
In 1926, with the efforts of Bai Sunderabai, HMV recorded two songs sung by Sureshbabu – ‘Balam mora naina tere rasile’ (Khamaj thumri) and Marathi pad ‘Ram Ayodhya nagari’. This record (HMV P 8756) was issued on black label and is very very rare. In 1930, Odeon record company released two songs of Mr. N. S. Phadke from his drama ‘Yugantar’ staged by Nutan Natak Company. In 1940, Columbia company released four songs – ‘Balam nainoka jalim’ (Dadra), ‘Bajuband khul khul ja’ (Bhairvi), ‘Piya tirchee najariya’ (Khamaj thumri), and ‘Dekho Jiya bechain’ (Tilang thumri). He has sung for Marathi film ‘Devayani’ and Hindi film ‘Sach Hai’. His voice from these two films is available on the gramophone records. One record featuring ‘Chandrama ha saticha’ song from Marathi drama ‘Khalvadhu’ written by Barrister Khasgiwale is also available. He used to broadcast from All India Radio frequently. Shuddha Kalyan recording of a radio program is a collector’s item.
Sureshbabu was not successful as a performer and he did not pursue this as a career. However, he was an excellent teacher. Some of his welknown disciples are: Heerabai Barodekar, Saraswati Mane/Rane, Prabha Atre, Vasantrao Deshpande, Menkabai Shirodkar, Vitthalrao Sardeshmukh, Bhimsen Joshi, Arvind Mangrulkar, Dattopant Deshpande, Madhu Kanetkar and Gajananrao Watve. Towards the end of his career he turned to mysticism and alchemy. This had a very bad effect on his health. At the young age of just fifty years, this ‘Cursed Gandharva’ left this world, leaving behind just over one hour’s recordings. He died on 15-2-1953.
Film Sach hai-1939 was made by Saraswati Cinetone of Dadasheb Torne (who had earlier introduced Indurani also). It was directed by a veteran R.S. Chaudhari and the cast was Motilal, Rose, Jagdish Sethi, Usha and others. i do not know what was the film story, but from the advertisement of this film in 1939 issues of Film India, I guess it was a Love story which was unusual and which wins at the end.
With this song, film Sach Hai-39 makes its debut on this Blog. The lyricist makes his debut as well in the blog. Suresh Babu Mane, who had earlier made his debut in the blog as a music director, makes his debut in the blog as a singer with this song.
Song- Bahti ganga Kashi teerath aaya (Sach Hai)(1939) Singer- Suresh babu Mane, Lyricist- Pt. Niranjan Sharma ‘Ajit’, MD- Suresh babu Mane
Lyrics
Bahti Ganga
Kashi teerath aaya
Bahti Ganga
Kashi teerath aaya
Bahti Ganga
Kashi teerath aaya
Bahti Ganga
dho le sadho mann ki maaya
dho le sadho
dho le sadho
dho le sadho
dho le sadho
mann ki maaya
jhoothh hai kanchan kaaya
bahti Ganga
Kashi teerath aaya
Bahti Ganga
dho le sadho
mann ki maaya
dho le sadho
dho le sadho
mann ki maaya
jhoothh hai kanchan kaaya
bahti Ganga
Kashi teerath aaya
bahti Ganga
Kashi teerath aaya
devi thakur poojen saare
devi thakur poojen saare
aa aa aa
aa aa aa
aa aa aa
aa aa aa
aa aa aa
devi thakur poojen saare
man ke andar Ram ko paaya
man ke andar
man ke andar Ram ko paaya
jhoothh hi man bharmaaya
bahti Ganga
Kashi teerath aaya
Dekh tujhko dil ne kahaa
Posted on: March 17, 2021
- In: Asha Bhonsle songs | Duet | expression of love | Feelings of heart | Guest posts | Kishore Kumar songs | Kishore Kumar-Asha Bhonsle duet | One singer singing for two actors | Post by Avinash Scrapwala | Rare song | Songs of 1970s (1971 to 1980) | Songs of 1976 | Yearwise breakup of songs
- 1 Comment
This article is written by Avinash Scrapwala, 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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Blog Day : |
4625 | Post No. : | 16275 |
#The Decade of Seventies – 1971 – 1980 #
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# Bhoole-Bisre Geet # 125 # Khaleefaa-1976
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Welcome all to this post where once again we are going back to ‘one song movie’ on the blog.
Today’s movie is ‘Khaleefaa-1976’. This movie made its debut on the blog on 02.09.2008 with its most popular song ‘dil machal rahaa hai, rang badal rahaa hai’.
However, the movie is waiting for its second song since 02.09.2008 and that makes a ‘4579’ days l-o-n-g wait for this movie … (so, as of now, this is the record for maximum days between first and the second song of a movie on the blog. The earlier record was for 4540 days here .).
One song falling in the above ‘scenario’ was posted before this post but it failed to mention this ‘highlight’ 😊
That song was from the movie ‘Ek Baar Phir-1980’. Its song ‘man kahe main jhoomoon main gaaun’ was posted marked the debut of this movie in the blog on 27.09.2008 hereas its second song ‘jeeewan ik saudaa hai’ was posted on 04.02.2021. (the difference between the first and the second song being ‘4514’ days). I think the ‘difference of more than ‘4000’ or may be ‘4500’ days should be our benchmark to include songs in this category. We will have the details of such songs in future post on the blog.
“Khaleefaa-1976” was directed by Prakash Mehra for ‘J.S. Films, Bombay’.
It was produced by Jeetendra Luthra.
This movie ‘Khaleefaa’ had Randhir Kapoor (in double role), Rekha, I.S. Johar, Soniya Sahni, Praveen Pal, Jankidas, Hari Shivdasani, B.B. Bhalla, Yunus Parwez, Madan Puri, Mohan Choti, Urmila Bhatt, Ram Mohan, Rajan Kapoor, Shaukat Kaifi, Lalita Kumari, Arpana Choudhari, R.P. Sethi, Vikas Anand, Master Ripple and Pran with others in its star-cast.
It also had Lalita Pawar and Alka in guest appearance.
Story idea of this movie was by Lalit Sehgal. Sudhakar had done editing of this movie and Pran Mehra was the Chief Editor.
Dialogues of this movie were written by Anand Romani and Screenplay was written by Nabendu Ghosh.
‘Khaleefaa-1976’ had four songs (one song being in two parts) written by Gulshan Bawra, and composed to music by the genius ‘Pancham Da’ i.e., R.D. Burman. (HFGK Vol-V (1971-1980) also mentions one Instrumental music as a part of songs released on the movie’s records.
Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhonsle and Manna Dey had given their voices to the songs in this movie.
This movie was passed by Censor Board on 19.03.1976 i.e., almost forty-five years back now…
Today’s song is sung by Asha Bhonsle and Kishore Kumar. On screen it is Rekha and Alka lip-syncing in Asha Bhonsle’s voice and Randhir Kapoor lip syncing in Kishore Kumar’s voice.
In the picturization of this song we can see Randhir Kapoor romancing with the two ladies and trying to keep both of them ‘happy’. I don’t know how far he succeeds in this effort, as I have not watched this movie.
Today’s song is also a new song for me because I do not remember to have listened to it earlier or maybe I have forgotten. Out of the four songs of this movie I find only this song ‘dil machal rahaa hai, rang badal rahaa hai’ as a familiar song. While preparing this post I listened to one other song of this movie that I plan to discuss in separate post in the future 😊 Pancham Da’s music is entertaining and well in full flow similar to the other entertaining compositions he was composing during that period of ‘mid-seventies’.
Let us now enjoy today’s song and welcome this second song of ‘Khaleefaa-1976’ composed by R.D. Burman.
Video
Audio
(audio)
Song-Dekh tujhko dil ne kaha (Khalifa)(1976) Singers-Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhonsle, Lyrics-Gulshan Bawra, MD-R D Burman
Both
Lyrics
ho o dekh tujhko
dil ne kahaa
saathi janmon ka mil gayaa
ab na honge ham to judaa
chaahe ae ye duniyaa aa
kuchh bhi kahey ae
ye duniyaa aa
kuchh bhi kahey ae
ho o dekh tujhko
dil ne kahaa
saathi janmon ka mil gayaa
ab na honge ham to judaa
chaahe ae ye duniyaa aa
kuchh bhi kahey ae
ye duniyaa aa
kuchh bhi kahey ae
haan haan haan aa
la la la laa la la laa laa aa
la la laa laa aa
hmm mm maana ye pehli mulaaqaat
hain jaanaa aa
miley pehle bhi ee
magar sapne mein
ho o mil hi gaye to chhodo aji ghabraanaa aa
ye doori kaisi ee
aji apne mein
aa mere seene se lag jaa machal ke
aajaa mere dilbaraa
dekh tujhko
dil ne kahaa
saathi janmon ka mil gayaa
ab na honge ham to judaa
chaahe ae ye duniyaa aa
kuchh bhi kahey ae
la laa laa laa laa aa
laa laa laa laa aa
hmm mm laakhon ne yoon to
chalaayaa ham pe jaadoo oo
magar ye dil naa aa
kisipe aayaa aa
ho o shaayad na dekhaa
bharpoor aisaa joban
jo mere dil ne
tujh hi mein paayaa
ye husn koyi khalifaa dekhe
wo bhi bahak jaayegaa
dekh tujhko
dil ne kahaa
saathi janmon ka mil gayaa
ab na honge ham to judaa
chaahe ae ye duniyaa aa
kuchh bhi kahey ae
la laa laa laa laa aa
laa laa laa laa aa
janmon ka ye sang
nibhaate ae jaanaa aa
ke maine ki hai
teri hi poojaa aa
ab ek pal bhi mujhe
chhod na jaanaa aa
mujhe naa bhaaye ae
koyi bhi doojaa aa
ho o main to sadaa se
hoon teri pujaaran
tu hai mera devtaa aa
dekh tujhko
dil ne kahaa
saathi janmon ka mil gayaa
ab na honge ham to judaa
chaahe ae ye duniyaa aa
kuchh bhi kahey ae
ye duniyaa aa
kuchh bhi kahey ae
dekh tujhko
dil ne kahaa
saathi janmon ka mil gayaa
ab na honge ham to judaa
chaahe ae ye duniyaa aa
kuchh bhi kahey ae
ye duniyaa aa
kuchh bhi kahey ae
Maiyya soona mandir tera
Posted on: March 16, 2021
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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Blog Day : |
4624 | Post No. : | 16273 |
Today’s song is from a film of the first decade of the talkie era – Adhoori kahani-1939.
In the first decade of the Talkie era, Calcutta’s New Theatres was far ahead of other film studios of India in presenting musical and successful films. However, when its successful film Devdas-1935 came, it, possibly, unintentionally stressed on the painful dark emotions of Human Behaviour. It also, almost, glorified a failed Love, alcoholism and death of the Hero. I understand that the film was based on a famous novel by Sharat chandra Chatterjee. New Theatres being the leader in the industry, other filmmakers followed suit and there was a spate of films depicting Sadism, Pessimism, Tragedy, Perversion, Psychoti Behavious and similar not so good Human Emotions in their films.
Thus we had, in and around that period films like Minerva’s ‘Jailor’ (1938) and ‘Main Haari’ (1940), Ranjit’s ‘Adhoori Kahaani’ (1939), Kardar’s ‘Paagal’ (1940) and ‘Pooja’ (1940), Prabhat’s ‘Aadmi’ (1939), New Theatre’s ‘Badi Didi’ (1939) and ‘Dushman’ (1939), Sagar Movietone’s ‘Ek Hi Rasta’ (1939), Mehboob’s ‘Aurat’ (1940), Circo’s ‘Geeta’ (1940), New Theatres ‘Nartaki’ (1940), Mehboob’s ‘Behan’ (1941) and few other films.
In these circumstances, came a welcome relief from Bombay Talkies, in the form of pure, innocent, romantic Love stories featuring a cute Ashok Kumar with heroines like Devika Rani, leela Chitnis and others. This again changed the trend and the audience had good, healthy, entertaining musical films, till the mid 40’s, when the Crime stories invaded in the form of Kismat, Geeta and others, taking the film trend in a different way.
Today’s film Adhoori Kahani-39 had a tragic story, was directed by Chaturbhuj Doshi and the music was by Gyan Dutt. The cast was Durga Khote, Prithviraj, Rose, Keshav rao Datey, Ila Devi, Ishwarlal,Yaqub, Khatun, Mirza Musharraf and others. During the early era of talkie films, till the 1960s, there was a horde of Gujarati directors and producers. Bhatts, Trivedi, Thakur, Shahs, Desais, Pancholi, Doshi, Daves were some names frequently found directing various genres. Usually they specialised in certain class and type of films. The Bhatts (Shankar and Vijay) liked to do Mythological films, Ramnik Shah handled stunt, action, fantasy films, Jayant Desai was social film oriented etc.
Chaturbhuj Doshi (1894–1969) was a Hindi and Gujarati writer-director of Indian cinema. He was one of the top Gujarati screenplay writers, who helped script stories for the Punatar productions. He is stated to be one of the leading figures who launched the Gujarati film industry with work on notable films like ‘Gunsundari’ (1948) and ‘Nanand Bhojai’ (1948). He was ‘well known’ for his family socials and had become ‘a celebrity in his own right’. He made a name for himself as a journalist initially and was referred to as the ‘famous journalist’ & publicist by Baburao Patel, editor of Filmindia.
His debut film as a director was ‘Gorakh Aya’ (1938), produced by Ranjit Movietone, though he joined Ranjit in 1929, as a scriptwriter. In 1938, he directed another film for Ranjit, a social comedy, ‘The Secretary’, and both films were box-office successes for Doshi. His forte was socials, regularly adapting stories and novels for films. He worked initially on comedies like ‘Secretary’ and ‘Musafir’ (1940), but then ‘shifted to more significant films’.
Chaturbhuj Anandji Doshi was born in 1894 in Kathiawad, Gujarat, British India. He was educated at the University of Bombay, after graduation he started work as a journalist for a daily, Hindustan (1926), working for editor Indulal Yagnik. His entry into films was working as a scenarist in the silent era for directors like Jayant Desai, Nandlal Jaswantlal & Nanubhai Vakil. He joined Ranjit Movietone in 1929, and wrote stories and screenplay for several of Ranjit films.
Film ‘Gorakh Aya’ (Gorakh has come) in 1938, was the first film directed by Doshi. It was produced by Ranjit Movietone with screenplay by Gunvantrai Acharya & dialogues by PL Santoshi. The music, termed ‘good’ was composed by Gyan Dutt. ‘The Secretary’ (1938), was a “riotous comedy”, starring Madhuri, Trilok Kapoor. Charlie. The music was composed by Gyan Dutt, who became a regular in most of the films directed by Doshi. Musafir in 1940 was a comedy costume drama, which had Charlie playing a prince.
‘Bhakta Surdas’, a devotional film directed by Doshi in 1942, is stated to be the “most famous” of the several versions made. It starred KL Saigal and Khursheed “the singing idol(s) of millions”, winning “unprecedented popularity” everywhere.
‘Mehemaan’ (1942) starred Madhuri, Ishwarlal, Shamim and Mubarak. Music director Bulo C. Rani had come to Bombay in 1942, and joined Ranjit Studios assisting Khemchand Prakash in music direction.
Doshi helped enormously in the development of the Gujarati cinema. During 1948-49 he directed three successful Gujarati films which “brought immense success to the industry”. The success of the Gujarati film ‘Kariyavar’ in 1948, directed by Chaturbhuj Doshi from a story by Shaida, called Vanzari Vaav, helped establish the Gujarati film industry along with other films like ‘Vadilo Ne Vanke’ (1948) by Ram Chandra Thakur and ‘Gadono Bel’ (1950) by Ratibhai Punatar. His next Gujarati film was ‘Jesal Toral’ (1948) based on folk-lore, which proved a big box-office success. In 1949, Doshi directed another Gujarati film, ‘Vevishal’, an adaptation of Meghani’s novel of the same name.
He also wrote stories, and one of his stories ‘Pati Bhakti’ was used in the Tamil film ‘En Kanawar’ (1948) produced by Ajit Pictures, which starred the Veena maestro, Sundaram Balachander, who was also the debut director and music composer for the film. In all he directed 24 Hindi films. His last Hindi film was ‘Sanskar’ (1958). He had also written few songs in the film ‘Maya Bazaar’ (1932).
Chaturbhuj Doshi died on 21 January 1969 in Bombay, Maharashtra, India. Filmography
1932: Narasinh Mehta (Writer), 1934: Sitamgarh (Writer), 1938: Gorakh Aya, Secretary, 1939: Adhuri Kahani, 1940: Musafir, 1941:Pardesi, Sasural, 1942: Bhakta Surdas, Dhiraj, Mehmaan, 1943: Chhoti Maa, Shankar Parvati (Director, Writer), 1944: Bhartrahari, 1945:Murti, 1946: Phulwari, 1947: Bela, Kaun Hamara, 1948: Jesal Toral, Kariyavar (Director, Writer), Sati Sone, 1949: Bhakta Puran, Vevishal, 1950: Akhand Saubhagya, Kisi Ki Yaad, Ramtaram, 1954: Aurat Teri Yahi Kahani, 1956: Aabroo, Dashera, Dassehra, 1957: Khuda Ka Banda, Shesh Naag, 1958: Sanskar, 1960: Mehndi Rang Lagyo (Writer, Lyricist).
In the early era of cinema, there were many Marathi heroines in films. Naturally so, because Bombay was the biggest film making centre and it was in Maharashtra. Out of these early Heroines,- Shanta Apte (1916-1964), Snehprabha Pradhan (1920-1930 ), Leela Chitnis ( 1912-2003), Durga Khote (1905-1991), Shobhana Samarth (1915-2000), Hansa Wadkar (Ratan Salgaonkar in real life (1924-1971) and Shanta Hublikar (1914-1992) had few things common.
They operated in films almost same period.
They were educated and hailed from upper castes.
They all were rebellious in nature.
They all had failed or no marriages.
They all worked in Marathi stage dramas and
They all ( except Shobhana Samarth) wrote Autobiographies in Marathi …. Shanta Apte- Jau mee Cinemaat ? means- shall I join films ? , Snehprabha Pradhan-Snehankita, Hansa Wadkar- Sangte Ayka means- Listen to me (A Hindi film – Bhoomika-1977, with Smita Patil- was made based on this book ). I, Durga Khote by Durga Khote, Chanderi Duniyet by Leela Chitnis and Kashala Udyachi baat by Shanta Hublikar.
One of these actresses was Durga Khote, whose life story is very inspiring. A girl from a well to do family marries and after her husband dies, fights the circumstances, going against the existing society norms and becomes successful. Despite the major ups and downs in life she maintains her reputation of being an actress without a blemish or controversy in her professional career. She ends her life with a success story.
Durga Khote (14 January 1905 − 22 September 1991) was one of the foremost leading ladies of her times, she remained active in Hindi and Marathi cinema, as well as theatre, for over 50 years, starring in 182 Hindi films and numerous theatre productions.
In 2000, in a millennium issue, India Today named her among “100 People Who Shaped India”, noting: “Durga Khote marks the pioneering phase for women in Indian Cinema” as she was one of the first women from respectable families to enter the film industry, thus breaking a social taboo.
She also ranks among the top ten actresses in mother roles in Hindi cinema, most notable among them were as Jodhabai in K. Asif’s Mughal-e-Azam (1960); as Kaikeyi in Vijay Bhatt’s classic Bharat Milap (1942); her other memorable roles as mother were in Charnon Ki Dasi (1941); Mirza Ghalib; Bobby (1973) and Bidaai (1974). She has received the highest award in Indian cinema, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award (1983), for lifetime contribution to Indian cinema.
Khote was born as Vitha Lad, to a family which hailed from Goa and spoke Konkani at home. Her father’s name was Pandurang Shamrao Lad and her mother’s name was Manjulabai. She grew up in a large joint family in Kandewadi. She was educated at Cathedral High School and St. Xavier’s College where she studied for B.A. While still a college-going teenager, she married into the Khote family and settled down with her husband.
By the age of 26, Durga Khote was a widowed mother with two young sons; Bakul and Harin. She had to seek work in film to support her children. In doing so, she became a pioneer of sorts: She hailed from a traditional family and the film industry was regarded as the preserve of the base and the bawdy. Also, most of the female characters were played by men at the time.
Durga Khote debuted in a minor role in the obscure 1931 silent film Farebi Jaal or trapped, by M. Bhavnani. She had to sing 3 songs also in this film. Followed by Maya Machindra (1932) by Prabhat Film company.. She was soon promoted to play heroine in the 1932 double version (Hindi and Marathi) Ayodhyecha Raja, another Prabhat film, which was the first ever Marathi talkie, and proved to be a runaway hit, where she played the role of Rani Taramati. Indeed, she ventured yet another pioneering trend: Despite working closely with the Prabhat Film Company, she broke away from the “studio system” (exclusive contract with a studio to work in its films on a monthly salary) then in vogue and became one of the first “freelance” artistes of that era by working occasionally with the New Theatres, East India Film Co. (both at Calcutta), and Prakash Pictures.
In 1936, she played Saudamini in Amar Jyoti, which is one of her most memorable roles. The characters played by her were very much like her regal personality and she commanded a screen presence even in front of legendary actors like Chandra Mohan, Sohrab Modi and Prithviraj Kapoor.
In 1937, she produced and directed a film titled Saathi ( Sawangadi in Marathi), making her one of the first women to step into this role in Indian cinema. The 40s opened for her in a big way, with award-winning performances in Aachary Atre’s Payachi Dasi (Marathi) and Charnon Ki Dasi (Hindi) (1941) and Vijay Bhatt’s classic Bharat Milap (1942), both of which got her the BFJA Best Actress Award for two consecutive years.
Durga Khote remained active in the theatre circuit for many years, especially the Marathi theatre in Mumbai. She was actively associated with the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) and worked in several plays for the Mumbai Marathi Sahitya Sangh. In 1954, she famously performed the role of Lady Macbeth in V.V. Shirwadkar’s Marathi adaptations of Macbeth, as Rajmukut, (The Royal Crown), along with Nanasaheb Phatak.
Durga Khote played a wide variety of roles over a career that was not only long, but also untouched by scandal. She was the inspiration for several generations of Indian actresses, including veterans such as the late Shobhna Samarth, who frequently spoke of how she had been inspired by Khote’s example.
During later years, she played several important character roles, such as the mother of the protagonist. Her portrayal of Jodhabai, the queen of Akbar torn between duty towards her husband and love towards her son in Mughal-e-Azam (1960) was well received. In 1963, she acted in Merchant Ivory’s debut film The Householder (1963).
She went on to play other widely appreciated character roles in later movies, such as the role of the grandmother of the heroine in Bobby (1973), the hero’s aunt in Abhimaan (1973), and the very memorable Bidaai (1974), where she played a mother, a very sensitive role that can make one cry and received the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award.
Her final memorable role was in Subhash Ghai’s Karz (1980), where she played the role of the mother of Raj Kiran and later, mother to Rishi Kapoor, who played the role of Raj Kiran’s reincarnation after the screen death of Raj Kiran in the movie.
She acted in 182 Hindi films in her career. Her last film as an actress was Daulat ka Dushman-1983. She had also sung 32 songs in 13 films. Her last song was in film Panna Dai-1945. By the 1980s she successfully diversified into production of short films, ad films and documentaries by setting up Fact Films and later, Durga Khote Productions, which produced the Doordarshan TV series Wagle Ki Duniya.
Durga Khote was married when she was a teenager to Vishwanath Khote, a gentleman of her own caste and similar social background, in a match arranged by their parents in the usual Indian manner. It was a traditional marriage into an orthodox family, the couple lived a harmonious and happy life, and the marriage was blessed with two sons. Vishwanath was a mechanical engineer who had graduated from Banaras Hindu University. His family was upper middle class and professional, with modern English education and high social standing; his ancestors had been prominent bankers.
Unfortunately, Vishwanath Khote died young, when Durga was barely into her 20s. She and her sons continued to reside with her in-laws, as is traditional in India, but she was not comfortable with her dependent position, especially because her father-in-law was no more, and they were dependent on other family members for their expenses. She thus felt impelled to make a living any which way she could, and the opening in films happened entirely by chance. The fact that she came from a modern and English-educated family meant that, even as a widow, she was able to act in films, which was derided as a disreputable profession in those days.
She thus raised her two sons, Bakul and Harin, single-handedly. Both of them went on to become well-settled in life. But she suffered the loss of her son Harin, who predeceased her and died in his 40s. Harin was married to Vijaya Jaywant, and they were the parents of two sons. After Harin’s early death, his widow married a Parsi man named Farrokh Mehta and became famous as the film-maker Vijaya Mehta.
Durga Khote’s grandchildren (children of Bakul and Harin) include her grandson Ravi, a filmmaker; granddaughter Anjali Khote, an actress; and grandson Deven Khote, a successful producer who is one of the co-founders of UTV, and who has also directed a film. Deven Khote is noted for producing films such as Jodhaa Akbar and Life in a Metro.
Durga Khote’s brother-in-law, Nandu Khote (brother of Vishwanath), was a noted stage and silent movie actor. Two of Nandu’s children also became actors in the film industry. His son Viju Khote (1941-2019) was an actor perhaps best known for his role of “Kalia” in Sholay (1975). Nandu’s daughter is the actress Shubha Khote, who debuted in Seema (1955) and worked as a heroine in several films before moving to character roles. Still later, she moved to directing and producing Marathi films and also entered television in the 90s. Shubha’s daughter, Bhavana Balsavar, is also an award-winning TV actress who appeared in sitcoms like Dekh Bhai Dekh and Zabaan Sambhalke before deciding to settle down and raise a family. Thus, the acting profession which was pioneered by Durga Khote in her family has been fully embraced by her late husband’s family.
Later in life, Durga Khote wrote an autobiography in Marathi, entitled Mee, Durga Khote, which was translated into English as I, Durga Khote. For the last part of her life, she moved to Alibaug, near Mumbai. Durga Khote died in Mumbai on 22 September 1991. ( Thanks to her autobiography, wiki, muVyz and my notes.)
Today’s song is sung by Durga Khote and an unknown male, with chorus.
Song-Maiyya soona Mandir tera (Adhoori Kahaani)(1939) Singers-Durga Khote, unknown male voice,Lyricist – P L Santoshi, MD- Gyan Dutt
Chorus
Durga Khote + Chorus
Lyrics
Maiyya
soona Mandir tera
Maiyya
soona Mandir tera
dhoop nahin hai
deep nahin hai
koi nahin pujaari
dhoop nahin hai
deep nahin hai
koi nahin pujaari
chhaayi hai andhiyaari
chhaayi hai andhiyaari
tan-man ke jag deep jalaaye
kar de door andheraa
tan-man ke jag deep jalaaye
kar de door andheraa
maiyya
soona mandir teraa
maiyya
soona mandir teraa
madhuhaasini
priya bhaashini
dukh naashini
maateshwari
maateshwari
sukh taarini(?)
var daayini
hitkaaarini
pooja karne laal badhenge
praanon ke balidaan karenge
pooja karne laal badhenge
praanon ke balidaan karenge
bhakti bhaav ke thhaal sajenge
nav prabhat ke shankh bajenge
bhakti bhaav ke thhaal sajenge
nav prabhat ke shankh bajenge
jaag uthhega Bharat saara
hoga sarvatr(?) saveraa
jaag uthhega Bharat saara
hoga sarvatr(?) saveraa
Maiyya
soona Mandir tera
Maiyya
soona Mandir tera
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 Iqrar-42. This was just one of the many films- coming out of Ranjit’s factory. It was like their emphasis was on churning out films in quantity. They were not much worried about the quality of the films, it would seem to the observer. As such the number of hit and successful films coming out of Ranjit was certainly not very high, unlike New Theatres, Bombay Talkies or Prabhat.
Of course, one knows that there is no formula for successful films. It is also true that A grade actors, well known composers and famous directors alone do not make a hit film. In my opinion, a strong storyline forms a base for good films. That coupled with either factors, enhances the chances of such films being successful at the box office.
In the early 30’s films from new Theatres became successful mainly because their films had strong storylines. Bombay Talkies films of the late 30s and early 40’s became successful due to fresh faces and simple music and songs. Prabhat films had a combination of strong story, social reform subjects and quality actors and directors, which made them successful.
A common thread for these companies was the total involvement of the owners in their business. This, precisely, was the weak point of companies like Sagar and Ranjit. Their owners got engaged in family problems and their Gambling habits. The first to go down was Sagar and Ranjit followed suit when Chandulal Shah lost more than a Crore of rupees in just one deal of ‘Satta’. That is a sad story, anyway.
In 1942, when the industry was having a great shake up, Ranjit had 6 films ready for release and 6 films on floors. You can imagine why Ranjit was called a ‘Factory’ ! Indian film industry has always been alive to the happenings in the country and reflects the national problems and important events in our films.1942 was an year when the II World War was on its peak and it had caused a severe food shortage in the world. Italy had made a silent film ‘Greed’ on this issue. Based on it.Mehboob Khan made a film , Roti’ in India. Mehboob was a socialist and a Nehruvian to the core and so his films like,Mother India or Son Of India were made on socialistic principles. In 1942,Ramchandra Thakur also directed one such film,’Gareeb’.
In India, the Congress had started its Quit India movement, but in our Film Industry it was a Quit studio movement. Many well known film artistes, directors, composers and other related staff moved over to new pastures. 1942, in a sense, became an overhauling of the Film industry with so much movement of people. The following activities changed the scenario to a great extent.
1. A group of disgruntled people in Bombay Talkies, comprising of Rai Bahadur Chunilal, Shashadhar mukherjee, Ashok Kumar, Sawak Vachha and few of their followers left Bombay Talkies, after disagreements with Devika Rani and formed their own outfit – Filmistan.
2. Mehboob Khan separated from National studios and established his own Mehboob Productions. This was also the time when Mehboob and Anil Biswas separated from each others due to some differences.
3. Abdul Rasheed Kardar established his own Kardar studios.
4. V.Shantaram, along with his team left Prabhat- an institution which he established and made a famous one by his directorial contribution. He first joined the Films division and then started his own Raj Kamal Kala Mandir.
5. Wadia Movietone split and the brothers separated. While JBH Wadia, the elder brother, wanted that their company should start making only Social films now, the younger Homi Wadia wanted to continue with Stunt and Action films. He started his own Basant Pictures. Wadia’s star performer Fearless Nadia went with Homi Wadia, whom she married yew years later.
6. Calcutta’s New Theatres started showing signs of disintegration and Debki Bose,P C Barua etc left the New Theatres. Debaki Bose made Apna Ghar’ in Bombay. K L Saigal left new Theatres to do films in Bombay . He did Ranjit’s Bhakta Surdas’ and ‘ Bhanwra’. He of course went back to Calcutta to do a few more films,before coming back to Bombay for Shahjehan and Pawana. He did not/could not go back to Calcutta,as he died after Parwana-47. Saigal, while recording song ‘ Nainheen ko raah dikha” in Bhakta Surdas, did 14 retakes in recordings. His younger brother Mohan Saigal acted as Shri Krishna in this film and he is heard saying” Surdas ji” in the song Nis Din barsat Nain hamare.
7. Composer Vasant Desai did his first independent film ” Shobha” as a Music Director.
8. C Ramchandra did his first Hindi film as a composer- Sukhi Jeevan.
9. Ninu Mujumdar became MD with the film Black Out.
10. Kamal Dasgupta started his Hindi career with film Jawab.
11. Lyricist Ramesh Gupta started with the film Awaz.
12. Lyricist Qamar Jalalabadi started with Zamindar
13. Suraiya entered the Playback with songs in Nai Duniya and Sharda.
14. Hemant Kumar sang his first Hindi song in the film Meenakshi-42.
15. Manna Dey first sang a Hindi song in film Tamanna.
16. Jagmohan Sursagar sang in the first Hindi film-Bhakta Kabir.
17. Nurjahan sang her first Hindi film songs in film Khandan-42, in Lahore.
18. Bharat Bhushan’s first film in a leading role was Bhakt Kabir
19. Madhubala started as Baby Mumtaz in film Basant
From Lahore Dalsukh Pancholi repeated his magic with ‘ Khandaan’-42. This time it was Noorjehan who shook the industry with her songs under Ghulam Haider. Films like Bhakt Kabir,Bhakta Surdas, and Bharat Milap kept the Mythology/religious films in limelight. new Theatres,prabhat,Bombay Talkies etc all brought excellent films in 1942. Barring Bhakta Surdas,Roti and Khandan,there was not much competition to Naushad’s Station Master-42 ,in music.Its music became quite popular and the film celebrated Silver Jubilee. Naushad tasted success for the first time in his career in 1942 and 2 of his 3 films in the year celebrated Silver Jubilees. The other film was Nai Duniya-42.
Let us take a look at some important films of 1942….
Film Barat had music by Ratanlal-brother of khemchand Prakash and he himself as Khemraj.
Film Basant- though it has the name of Pannalal Ghosh as MD, as per HFGK, all the songs were composed by Anil Biswas (because he was still under contract with National Studios) and Ghosh had only done Orchestration and background music.
Bhakta Kabir had music by Himangshu Dutt- the first title holder of ” Sursagar”.
Bhakta Surdas- Gyan Dutt gave 15 hit songs of Saigal and Khursheed. In this film Khursheed sang equally well with Saigal.
Bharat Milap- First film in which Prem Adib and Shobhana Samarth did the roles of Shri Ram and Seeta, which made them famous all over India.
Chauranghee- the only Hindi film for which Kazi nasrul islam gave music and wrote songs too. It was his debut film. Also Debut for Hanuman prasad Sharma as Md and S.Fazli as Director.
Dus Baje- Debut of Baby Shakuntala.
Iqrar- Last film of actress Madhuri (Beryl Classen). Master Vithal-a professional singer from Sholapur sang his only song in a Hindi film.( not the actor)
Jawab- all songs popular, especially kanan devi’s ” Ye duniya Toofan mail”.
Khandan- Entry of Nur jahan, from Lahore. All her songs are popular.
Muqabala- First Talkie film with double role of Heroine- Nadia. Babhubhai Mistri’s magic in trick scenes.
Nai Duniya- Suraiya’s first song in Hindi film.
Roti- Begum Akhtar’s role and 6 songs.
Savera- First film of Arun Ahuja and Nirmala Devi.
Sharada- Naushad gives good songs.
Station Master- Hit film with songs.
Zamindar- Shanta Apte goes to Lahore all the way
All in all, the year 1942 was an eventful year for the industry. Indian audience enjoyed a variety of Genres in film offerings and a feast of Naushad’s songs, Bhajans and New artistes.
Film Iqrar-42 did not have lilting music or popular songs. It had the usual story of a Love Triangle around Madhuri, for whom this was her last film in the career. After this film she retired from films, got married and simply disappeared from public life. After 50 years, she was searched and discovered by an organisation, for a function to honour the Silent Era artistes – Madhuri and Jairaj. Film Iqrar-42 was directed by Manibhai Vyas and the cast was Madhuri, Motilal, Rama Shukul,Bhagwan Das, Tarabai and many others.
One more interesting actress in the cast was Tarabai. She is none other than the elder sister of famous dancer actress Sitara Devi. Born in 1905, Tara/ Tara Devi / Tarabai was a good dancer. She started film career with Silent films like Malti Madhav, Bambai ki sethani etc. She started Talkie films with Vasantsena-31. She played the role of Princess Octavia in the film Yahudi ki Ladki-33, along with K L Saigal.
She acted in many films like Shehar ka jadu-34, Savitri 37, Narsi Bhagat-40, Sasural -41. She acted in film Haiwaan-40, along with her two other actress sisters,namely Alaknanda and Sitara Devi. This may be the First Hindi film, in which 3 sisters played roles in one film.
It seems the mother of Alaknanda and Tara was different from that of Sitara, but the father was the same-Pt.Sukhdev. Alaknanda and Tara were not their real names. In fact, the real name of Tara/Tarabai was Triveni.
She married co-star Marutirao Pehelwan, left films and they settled in Dhule,in Maharashtra. They started a Dairy business. Their son was the famous dancer Gopi Krishna. Marutirao was already married, still Tara married him. His surname was Gawali (Milkman).
Soon they separated and Tara married a small businessman Sonthalia from Calcutta. We do not know why, but Tarabai returned to Bombay and started working in films. But now she was reduced to a Junior Artiste (Extra) and got only negligible roles. She lived in Bandra slum. There is no information about her after this.
Her son Gopi Krishna (real name Gopal )stayed with his maternal Grandfather, Pt. Sukhdev, who trained him in Dancing. Gopikrishna came to Bombay, with the name Gopikrishna Sonthaliya and stayed with Sitara Devi, but he was soon thrown out. He spent bad days,staying in chawl etc, before he became famous as a Choreographer and actor. ( some new information from RMIM forum, with thanks.)
Today’s song is sung by one Master Vithal of Sholapur. His real name was Vithal Channa. He used to sing Saigal’s songs and did many mehfils privately, to earn a living. This is his only song in a Hindi film. With this song he makes a Debut on this Blog, with all his songs covered !
Song- Aankhon mein paani kis liye zindagani kis liye (Iqraar)(1942) Singer- Master Vithal of Sholapur, Lyricist- Not known, MD- Khemchand Prakash
Lyrics
Aankhon mein paani ee ee
kis liye ae ae
zindagaani ee
kis liye
Aankhon mein paani ee ee
kis liye ae ae
zindagaani ee
kis liye
hans hans ke rulaane ke
hans hans ke rulaane ke
ro ro ke hansaane ke
ro ro ke hansaane ke
mil mil ke bichhohne ke ae ae
mil mil ke bichhohne ke ae ae
ban ban ke bigadne ke
ban ban ke bigadne ke
ye sapne kahaani kis liye
ye sapne kahaani kis liye
ye zindagaani kis liye
aankhon mein paani kis liye
ye zindagaani kis liye
aankhon mein paani kis liye
ye zindagaani kis liye
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