Archive for the ‘Sandhya Mukherji Songs’ Category
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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5673 | Post No. : | 18183 |
Today’s song is a duet from the film ‘Pehla Aadmi’ (1950). This was a film from New Theaters, Calcutta, which had a background of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s I.N.A. (Indian National Army or Azad Hind Fauz).
Following the outbreak of World War II, Japan invaded Southeast Asia. At the time 70,000 troops were stationed in the region, most of them along the Malayan coast. Japan conducted a lightning campaign which culminated in the fall of the Malayan peninsula and Singapore in 1942. In the Singapore campaign alone, 45,000 Indian prisoners of war were captured. It was from these prisoners of war that the Japanese decided to create an auxiliary army which would fight against the British.
The first INA was formed under Mohan Singh, a former officer of the British Indian Army captured during the Malay campaign. Conditions in the prisoner-of-war camps, as well as resentment against the British in general, saw many prisoners of war volunteer to join the Indian National Army. The initiative received considerable support from the Imperial Japanese Army and from the ethnic Indian population of Southeast Asia. However, disagreements between Mohan Singh and the Japanese Army Command regarding the autonomy of the Indian National Army led to the disbandment of the first INA in December 1942.
Although Mohan Singh had angered the Japanese Army Command through his actions, they relented to form a second Indian National Army. Mohan Singh himself recommended Subash Chandra Bose for the leadership role. His reputation as a committed nationalist was known to both the Indian diaspora of Southeast Asia and the Imperial Japanese Army. As such, they were more open to the idea of a nationalist army led by Subash Chandra Bose. The activities of Subash Chandra Bose in India had forced the British authorities to imprison him, but he escaped and reached Berlin in 1941.
Although the German leadership were sympathetic to his cause, logistic problems prevented them from granting any support to his quest for raising an army to fight the British. However, the Japanese were ready to support him and upon their personal invitation, Subash Chandra Bose arrived in Singapore in July 1943 to take command of what would be known as the Second Indian National Army, now known by its alternative name, the Azad Hind Fauj.
Rash Behari Bose had founded the Indian Independence League in March 1942. During the Second World War, Bose convinced the Japanese authorities to support the Indian independence movement. He was instrumental in raising support for the Indian freedom movement abroad. In the League’s second conference in June 1942, it was decided to invite and appoint Subhash Chandra Bose as the President of the League. The Indian National Army (INA), built by Subhash Chandra Bose on the broad framework given by Rash Behari Bose, was the military arm of the League.
After Subhash Chandra Bose took command of the Azad Hind Fauj, there was a swell of volunteers looking to join the INA. Although Subash Chandra Bose agreed for the INA to remain subordinate to the Japanese Army, he saw it as a necessary sacrifice towards the fulfillment of the ultimate goal of freeing India from the British Empire. The Azad Hind Fauj participated in Operation U-Go, the 1944 Japanese campaign towards British India. Although the INA saw initial success during the early phases of the operation, they were forced to withdraw during the Battle of Imphal and the Battle of Kohima (Fought on April 4th, 1944) which saw a disastrous defeat for the Japanese Army at the hands of the British.
The INA lost a substantial number of men and materiel in this retreat. A number of units were disbanded or used to feed into new divisions of the now-declining Japanese Army. Following the Japanese defeat in World War 2, most of the members of the INA were captured by the British. Subhash Chandra Bose himself eluded capture and was reported to have died in a plane crash near Taiwan in September 1945. (adapted from notes by Karthik of Byju’s study PDF, with thanks).
The film was directed by Bimal Roy. This was his last film with and for New Theaters. The music was by Rai Chand Boral. The cast of the film was Smriti Biswas, Balraj Vij, Pahadi Sanyal, Zahar Roy, Asit Sen, Bela Bose and many others. The 11 songs of the film were written by Prakash BA, Shyamal Gupta, Anant Krishnan and Deshraj.
The story of the film was,
Vijay Kumar and Chaudhari are thick friends, living in Rangoon, Burma. They have a son Kumar and daughter Lata. The children fall in love when young, and decide to get married, with elders’ consent. The year is 1943. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose arrives in Singapore and tours Far Eastern areas. He invites the youngsters to join his INA to serve the motherland.
Kumar decides to join INA and promises Lata that they will get married after the war is over. Before going, Kumar’s father gives him a sword to use in the war. Kumar, after his training is over, is sent to the war front. During a battle, his leader is shot. Before dying he gives the Indian flag to Kumar and asks him to hoist it after victory.
The battle is won by Kumar’s unit and Kumar proudly unfurls the Indian Flag for the first time on a liberated Indian town. He becomes the ‘Pehla Aadmi’ to do so. Unfortunately, after hoisting the flag Kumar is shot dead. His body is brought to Rangoon for last rites. Lata is weeping. Kumar’s colleague in the war tells Lata to fulfill Kumar’s job in liberating the country. Lata too joins INA.
A cursory look at the Film Index book for 1931 to 2012, I found some names of films which were made on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. Film ‘Samadhi’ (1950), like today’s film had a background of I.N.A. or Azad Hind Fauz.
Netaji Subhash-1947
Subhash Chandra Bose-1966
Subhash Chandra Bose-1978 and
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose – The forgotten Hero-2004.
While surfing on the Internet for more information, I found an article in The Economic Times dated 23-1-2023, which listed the names of 5 films that brought Netaji to life on screen….
1. ‘Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose- The Forgotten Hero’ (2004), written and directed by Shyam Benegal. The main actor was Sachin Khedekar.
2. ‘Bose – Dead/Alive’ (2017). This was based on the novel ‘India’s Biggest Cover Up or Netaji Rahasya Gatha’ by Anuj Dhar. The main actor was A Raj kumar Rao. This was a Web Series.
3. ‘Gumnami’ (2019). This was based on Mukherjee Commission hearings and the book ‘Counundrum’ by Anuj Dhar. Movie focusses on Bose’s retreat into anonymity post the plane crash and forging a career as a sadhu. He becomes known as The Gumnami Baba, an ascetic in Uttar Pradesh. The film starred Anirban Bhattacharya.
4. ‘Subhash Chandra’ (Bengali) (1966), directed by Piyush Bose. Shows his early years like student to a fighter, childhood and his ICS exam etc.
5. ‘Ami Subhash Bolchi’ (2011). Directed by Mahesh Manjrekar. Hero Mithun Chakraborti. this film is about the spirit of Netaji which motivates Deb Brata Bose to boost up his self confidence.
The story of ‘Pehla Aadmi’ was written by actor Nazir Hussain (ex INA), the lyrics were by Prakash (ex INA), and the music was by RC Boral. The film was directed by Bimal Roy, assisted by Hrishikesh Mukherjee. This was Bimal Roy’s last film with New Theaters. When he came to Bombay for the premier of the film, he met Hiten Chaudhari, who had worked in New Theaters earlier. He was the Pehla Aadmi to leave New Theaters and join Bombay Talkies in Bombay. Hiten took Bimal Roy to Bombay Talkies where he was offered the director’s position for the upcoming film ‘Maa’ (1952). Bimal Roy accepted it and settled in Bombay thereafter.
Bimal Roy was born on 26-7-1909, in Suvapur village in East Bengal. His father Hemchandra Roy was a very rich landlord. He was a simple and kind person. After he died, it was known that his servants had misappropriated all his money and land, and the family came on the road. The big family shifted to Calcutta in 1930-31.
Bimal Roy joined New Theaters as an assistant to Nitin Bose. He soon became an expert cameraman and shot films like ‘Chandidas’, ‘Devdas’, ‘Manzil’, ‘Grihdaah’, ‘Maya’, ‘Mukti’ etc. In 1937, he was married to Manobina Sen. He continued as a cameraman till 1942 doing more films like ‘Abhagin’, ‘Badi Didi’, ‘Abhinetri’, ‘Haar Jeet’ and ‘Meenakshi’.
By 1942, due to restrictions on supply of raw film and financial crisis, added to ego problems of big artistes and the management, New Theaters came into problems. One after another most artistes like Barua, Debaki Bose, Nitin Bose, Saigal, Prithviraj Kapoor, Kumar, Kidar Sharma etc left Calcutta and reached Bombay. Bimal Roy did a documentary on the Bengal Famine in 1943 and then directed his first Bangla/Hindi bilingual film ‘Udayer Pathe’/’Hamraahi’ in 1944. The successful film ran for an year in Calcutta and established him. Then came ‘Anjangadh’, ‘Mantramugdha’ and ‘Pehla Aadmi’.
Bimal Roy came to Bombay for the premiere of the film ‘Pehla Aadmi’ (1950). Here he met his old colleague Hiten Chaudhari,who was working in Bombay Talkies, which was supposed to be a hub for all artistes coming from Bengal. He took Bimal Roy to Bombay Talkies and he got his first film in Bombay- ‘Maa’ (1952), as a director. Then came ‘Parineeta’ (1953). Bimal Roy then established his own Bimal Roy Productions and made many films. He directed films like ‘Do Bigha Zamin’, ‘Naukri’, ‘Devdas’, ‘Madhumati’, ‘Sujata’, ‘Parakh’, ‘Prempatra’ and ‘Bandini’ for his own productions. For others too he directed films like ‘Biraj Bahu’, ‘Baap Beti’ and ‘Yahudi’. Bimal Roy Productions made films like ‘Amaanat’, ‘Parivaar’, ‘Apradhi Kaun’, ‘Usne Kaha Tha’, ‘Kabuliwala’ and ‘Benazir’ where other directors did the films.
Bimal Roy got 11 Film Fare Awards for Best films and Best Direction in all. He got several National and International awards too. He was a heavy smoker. In 1965, lung cncer was detected and he died on 8-1-1966
Bimal Roy was not only a very sensitive person, but he was like an institution for subordinates, who learnt a lot from him. He was like a complete school of film making and gave the film industry great filmmakers and writers like Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Gulzar, Nabendu Ghosh, Basu Bhattacharya, and Salil Chaudhari. ‘Do Bigha Zameen’ (1953) was based on Salil Da’s story ‘Rikshawala’, written in the 40s. ‘Parakh’ was also his story. He also wrote the screenplay for ‘Prem Patra’ and. After Bimal Roy’s death, Hrishikesh Mukherjee dedicated the film ‘Anupama’ to his memory.
One special characteristic of Bimal Roy was song picturisation on character and unknown artistes (like Guru Dutt). Sachin Shankar sang ‘Parakh’ song “Kya Hawa Chali”. His production manager’s wife Dolly Kapoor sang 2 songs in ‘Bandini’. Rajdeep, a character artiste sang “Mat Ro Mata Laal Tere Bahutere” in the same film. Wazir Mohammed Khan sang in ‘Kabuliwala’. In the same film a small-time actor MV Rajan also sang a song.
Bimal Roy shot a major part of the film ‘Madhumati’ in Nainital. When he came back to Bombay, to his dismay, he found that 60% of the shots were spoiled. Without losing head, he shot all those scenes in Bhandardara, near Bombay and the film was edited so well that nobody felt any difference !
[Adapted, with thanks, from the book ‘Bimal Roy’ by Shashikant Kinikar.]
Today’s song is a duet sung by Aparesh Lahiri (father of Bappi Lahiri) and Sandhya Mukherjee. Aparesh Lahiri was the inhabitant of Jalpaiguri, West Bengal. He was a famous Bengali singer. He was born in 1924. He used to sing in All India Radio, Calcutta. In one of the sessions, he met Bansuri Ghosh, a singer. They fell in love and got married.
Bappi Lahiri is the only child of Aparesh Lahiri. Aparesh Lahiri trained Bappi Lahiri about each and every aspect of music. The modern age of Bengali song can be said to have begun from the middle of the 19th century. Aparesh contributed quite a lot to this. Aparesh died on 28-5-1998.
Enjoy the song video. . .
Song-Taaron ki Raushni mein duniya nayi basaayen (Pahla Aadmi)(1950) Singers-Aparesh Lahiri, Sandhya Mukherjee, Lyrics-Prakash BA, MD-R C Boral
Both
Lyrics
o o o o o
o o o o o
taaron ki raushni mein duniya nayi basaayen
taaron ki raushni mein duniya nayi basaayen
rangeen bahaaren hain masti bhari fijaayen
rangeen bahaare hain masti bhari fijaayen
ye kaun aun
ye kaun sunaata hai mujhe prem ka gaana aa
ye kaun sunaata hai mujhe prem ka gaana aa
madhosh banaata hai mujhe kiska fasaana
afsaana nahin hai ye meri zindagi ka taar
afsaana nahin hai ye meri zindagi ka taar
duniya se door hamko basaana hai ye sansaar
raaten hon suhani khilen phoolon ki chaandni
phoolon ki chaandni
raaten hon suhaani khilen phoolon ki chaandni
phoolon ki chaandni
bajti ho mast jhoomke lehron ki raagini
lehron ki raagini
is prem ki duniya mein
is prem ki duniya mein
is prem ki duniya mein hamen do preet jhalak do
o o o
o o o
khaamosh nigaahon mein mohabbat ki chamak ho
o o o o
bedard zamaane ki wo baaten na sataayen aen aen
bedard zamaane ki wo baaten na sataayen
taaron ki raushni mein ham ek duniya basaayen
taaron ki raushni mein ham ek duniya basaayen
taaron ki raushni mein duniya nayi basaayen
taaron ki raushni mein
Bhool jaa dil ki pareshaaniyaan
Posted on: October 7, 2023
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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5559 | Post No. : | 18026 |
“Manohar”(1954) was a movie dubbed from Tamil movie “Manohara”(1954). It was produced by M Somasundaram and directed by L V Prasad for Manohar Films, Madras. The movie had Gemini Ganesan (in title role), Sadashivrao, T R Rajkumari,Kannamba, Natrajan etc. Its story and other details have been given by our beloved inhouse encyclopaedia Mr Arunkumar Deshmukh in this post.
“Manohar”(1954) had nine songs in it. Two songs have been covered in the past.
Here is the third song from the movie to appear in the blog. The song is sung by Sandhya Mukherji. Lyrics are penned by Vishwamitra Adil. Music is composed by S V Venkatraman and T R Ramnathan.
Song-Bhool jaa dil ki pareshaaniyaan (Manohar)(1954) Singer-Sandhya Mukherjee, Lyrics-Vishwamitra Adil, MD-S V Venkatraman-T R Ramnathan
Lyrics
doob gaye sab aas ke taare ae ae
chhaa gayee kaalee raat
apnee aag mein ae
jal gaye ae deepak
jeet rahee ??
bhool jaa dil ki pareshaaniyaan
bhool jaa dil ki pareshaaniyaan
bhool jaa ye zameen ye aasmaa aan aan aan
bhool jaa
aansoo bahe
kismat rulaaye
jhoothha hai jeewan ye jeewan ??
jhoothhaa hai ye aansuon ka jahaan
bhool jaa dil ki pareshaaniyaan
bhool jaa ye zameen ye aasmaa aan aan aan
bhool jaa
kaise kahen apnee kahaanee
humne hai duniya se jaane kee thhaanee
mitne ka hai dukh bharee daastaan
bhool jaa dil ki pareshaaniyaan
bhool jaa ye zameen ye aasmaa aan aan aan
bhool jaa dil ki pareshaaniyaan
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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5450 | Post No. : | 17856 | Movie Count : |
4769 |
Today’s song is from a debut making film ‘Ek Aurat’ from 1948.
This is one of those 206 films made between 1931 to 2012, whose title started with the word ‘EK’ – the most favourite prefix of the filmmakers. Out of these 206 films, 32 films started with ‘Ek Aur. . .’. Just a trivia !
Trivia aside, let us talk about today’s film, ‘Ek Aurat’. The film was produced and directed by SD Narang. He was also the film’s hero.
Today’s film is an indicator how hard working filmmakers, after the Partition, left Lahore but did not leave making films. Narang was one of the pioneers and he had done good work in Lahore to establish its Film Industry, but he was forced to leave the city and run to the other far off side of the country, Calcutta- a thriving film city in Eastern India. This most educated person in the Indian Film industry ever, Narang’s life story is very inspiring.
Here is a story which is stunning and unbelievable ! He was born on 18-6-1918, at Lyallpur, Punjab. He studied hard and got higher education. First he did B.Sc., then completed M.B.B.S. and became a Medical Doctor. Later he submitted a Thesis and got his Ph.D. All this from Lahore Medical College. He also wrote some research papers and two books. With this sparkling education, he could have had a luxurious living, but he chose to join the uncertain Film World. True to his wont, he succeeded here too and became a hero, producer, director, studio owner, a lyricist and a writer.
Yes, in the early era of the late 1930s, when educated people were a rarity, this highly qualified young man came into films. His name was SATYA DEV NARANG or simply, SD Narang. (18-6-1918 to 25-1-1986 ). Here are some highlights of his life, adapted from the site sdnarangsfan.com…with thanks.
1. During his life, from 1918 to 1986, he served the Indian Film Industry, at three capitals of this industry, Lahore (1936 to 1946), Calcutta (1947 to 1951) and Bombay (1952 to 1980), as hero, producer, director, writer and studio owner.
2. He had the distinction of being the highest educated man in the film industry. He was B.Sc., M.B.B.S and Ph.D from Lahore Medical College.
3. He had the credit of being the debut making leading man of ‘Khazanchi’ (1941) which was the first Indian film to celebrate Platinum Jubilee.
4. He was the youngest leading man in Lahore, who played the lead in ‘Khazanchi’, ‘Ravi Paar’, ‘Zamindar’, ‘Patwari’, ‘Gawandi’, ‘Thekedar’, ‘Sahara’, ‘Yeh Hai Zindagi’ (his first venture as producer-director) and ‘Kamini’.
5. In Calcutta he produced ‘Chittagong Armoury Raid’, which was India’s First Revolutionary Film. He also produced ‘Nai Bhabhi’, ‘Ek Raat’, ‘Aprajita’, and ‘Chiner Putul’ and also played the leading roles in these films. Apart from his own movies, he played the lead in ‘Iran Ki Ek Raat’ and ‘Kajari’, which were produced by other producers.
6. After partition, he had to leave Lahore, like a refugee, leaving all his assets and immovable property behind him. With his hard work and experience once again he was able to establish himself as the hero, producer, director, writer and studio owner at Calcutta. But the studio proved a disaster for him. Being a soft hearted person, he was giving credit to the producers, who used to shoot their films in his studio. They duped him and he had to suffer heavy losses. With this bitter experience he left the city and entered the City of Dreams and the capital of entertainment, Bombay, in 1952.
7. Being a passionate movie maker, Dr. SD Narang was able to get himself settled in Bombay, within a very short span of time. He had already dedicated himself to the silver screen. Once again he rose from his own ashes, like a phoenix.
8. He made his presence felt in a big way in the big City of Bombay.
He produced and directed many films with big stars. In ‘Tanhai’ and ‘Darban’ he played the leading role himself. Some of the important films produced by him in Bomby (now Mumbai) include, ‘Arab Ka Saudagar’, ‘Yahudi Ki Ladki’, ‘Dilli Ka Thug’, ‘Sagai’, ‘Babul Ki Galiyan’, ‘Do Thug’, ‘Ram Kasam’, ‘College Girl’, ‘Do Ustad’, ‘Kismatwala’ and ‘Nishanebaaz’. He had also produced ‘Shehnai’, which was India’s first Air-Force film.
9. He was also the producer of ‘Bombay Ka Chor’, which was India’s first ‘Holiday-on-Ice’ movie.
10. He has also the credit of producing India’s first under-water-movie, ‘Anmol Moti’, a Jeetendra and Babita starrer.
11. The movie maker with Midas touch, Dr. SD Narang, had spent his 50 golden years of his cinematic profession, in the service of Silver Screen. (1936-86)
12, Before venturing into the film industry as the leading man, SD Narang, had an aptitude for research and while studying in Lahore Medical College, he did research on ‘Binocular Theory Of Vision’, which was published in his college magazine. He bagged the Ph.D and became the Doctor of Philosophy, though he was already a Doctor of Medicine.
13, Apart from being the author of a novel ‘Hippy Aur Yogi’ and ‘Human Psychology’, he had written a most praiseworthy book, ‘An Introduction To The Theory Of Bio-Economics’. It was actually a new approach to diagnosis and cure of inflation and poverty. If applied to the present global financial crisis, it can change the face of the fiscal fate of the world.
14. In 1960 he got married to actress of his time Smriti Biswas, with whom he had played the lead in many films. After her marriage she stopped signing new films, and decided to play the roles of faithful wife and caring mother. She preferred to prepare food for her beloved sons Rajiv Narang and Satyajeet Narang.
The film ‘Ek Aurat’ was made under the banner of Bengal National Studios, Calcutta. The cast of the film was Narang, Geetashree, Smriti Biswas, Sundar, Heeralal and many Bangla artistes. I remember Smriti’s role as Master Bhagwan’s beloved in the film ‘Bhagam Bhag’ (1956).
The 10 songs of this film were written by BM Sharma who also wrote for other films like ‘Nai Bhabhi’ (1950), ‘Roop Kahani’ (1950), ’25th July’ (1951), ‘Anmol Sahara’ (1952), ‘Chhoti Maa’ (1952) and ‘Yatrik’ (1952). The music directors were Gopen Mullick and Harbaksh Singh. No information on Harbaksh Singh.
Gopen Mullick was a well known name as a composer in Bangla films and non film songs, till 1966. In Hindi, he did only this one film. However his wife Rekha Mitra Mullick (born on 26-8-1929) acted and sang few songs in Hindi films like ‘My Sister’ (1944), ‘Hamrahi’ (1945), ‘Shair’ (1949), ‘Do Bigha Zameen’ (1953), ‘Parineeta’ (1953), ‘Kohinoor’ (1960) and ‘Teesri Kasam’ (1967). She also acted in Bangla and Tamil films. She acted as Rekha Mitra and sang as Rekha Mullick.
Smriti Biswas, a protestant Bangla Christian was born in Calcutta on 17-2-1932. She studied in Missionary girls school. Her father and mother, both, were Headmaster and Headmistress in other schools. Smriti had a liking for acting. When she was just 12 year old, she acted in the film ‘Hamrahi’ and ‘Dwand’ (Bangla). When this was known in her house, she was put in another school. Later, the family shifted to Lahore. There Smriti acted in the film ‘Ragini’ (1945), opposite Pran and also some other films.
After Partition, they came to Delhi. Smriti met Dr. SD Narang, actor, producer and director. He starred in the film ‘Ek Baat’ and Bangla film ‘Chinni Putul’, which became a hit film. In 1951, Smriti shifted base to Bombay. According to her interview, before coming to Bombay she had acted in 26 films. However no details are available for this. In 1953 she acted in ‘Shamsheer’ and also as a heroine of Dev Anand in the film ‘Hum Safar’ (1953).
Though she was a star in Calcutta and Lahore, in Bombay she mostly got roles as a vamp only. She claims to have worked in 90 films. Some of her well known films are ‘Dilli Ka Thug’, ‘Baap Re Baap’, ‘Bhagam Bhag’, ‘Sailaab’, ‘Jagte Raho’, ‘Aab e Hayaat’, ‘Hamdard’, ‘Teen Batti Char Raasta’, ‘Abhimaan’, ‘Daaka’ etc . As per one source, she acted in 43 films. Her last film was ‘Modern Girl’ (1961).
Smriti was proficient in fluent English, riding, swimming and cooking. She could play sitar, harmonium and guitar. She was very jolly like a tomboy. Smriti got married to Dr. Narang in 1960 and left films forever. She has 2 sons. After the death of Narang in 1986, she gave her bungalow for development to a builder, who cheated her and she became homeless. She changed 28 houses in Bombay. She also lost her houses in Delhi and Mahabaleshwar due to crooked relatives. Finally, poor Smriti shifted to Nashik and lives in a 500 sq.feet flat. Till last year she was in Nashik.
Today’s song is sung by Sandhya Mukherjee and is composed by Gopen Mullick. With this song, film ‘Ek Aurat’ and Music Director Gopen Mullick make their debut on this Blog.
Song-Aankhen hain milin aansoo bahaane ke liye kya (Ek Aurat)(1948) Singer-Sandhya Mukherjee, Lyrics-BM Sharma, MD-Gopen Mullick
Lyrics
aankhen hain milin
aansu bahaa aa aane ke liye kya aa
aankhen hain milin aansu bahaane ke liye kya
aur dil hai mila toot hi jaane ke liye kya
duniya mein ham ghareeb hain ye boley aasmaan
duniya mein ham ghareeb hain ye boley aasmaan
paida huye hain thhokaren khaane ke liye kya
paida huye hain thhokaren khaane ke liye kya
chhoti si aarzoo bhi na poori ho hamaari
chhoti si aarzoo bhi na poori ho hamaari
uthhti hai tamannaayen so jaane ke liye kya
uthhti hai tamannaayen so jaane ke liye kya
ik zindagi mein maut ko pukaaren laakh baar
ik zindagi mein maut ko pukaaren laakh baar
paayee hai jabaan ?? bulaane ke liye kya
aankhen hain milin aansoo bahaane ke liye kya
Aayi mere jeewan ki saanjh suhaani
Posted on: April 29, 2022
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 : | 5033 | Post No. : | 16942 | Movie Count : | 4598 |
Today’s song is from an obscure, not very well known film Sabyasachi-1948. The name of the film is rather strange and not many people will know what it means. In simple translation it means a person who is Ambidextrous or one who can use both hands with equal expertise. This was an adjective used famously in Mahabharat for Arjun. He was an extraordinary archer and he could do this with both his hands separately and simultaneously, with the same expertise.
This was a film made by Associated Pictures, Calcutta. No wonder then that the entire crew and cast was from Bengal only.Even the Heroine, Meera Mishra-though not a Bangla actress, was an expert in Bangla language, who had acted in few Bangla movies too. During the early cinema period, Calcutta was also a major centre for Hindi films and from 1932 to almost 1955, Hindi films were made there regularly, by several film makers including of course the New Theatres. However, after 1955, there were almost no actors/actresses who could speak fluent Hindi. More than that, the Bangla film industry itself had grown so much that there was no need to make Hindi films anymore.
From as early as 1935-36, Hindi films were made based on Novels of Bangla language. The contribution of Bangla language to provide fodder for films is unmatched.(The only other Indian language to do this is Malayalam). This was mainly because the people in Bengal are avid readers of books. During my Marketing career, I visited various parts of Bengal in 20 years. I used to be amazed at the “Book Fairs’ held at Calcutta. I visited these fairs a few times and was overwhelmed to see lakhs of people purchasing books there. I think the Book Fairs must be doing a turnover of crores of rupees !
I tried to make a list of Hindi films based on Bangla novels and I easily crossed the 50’s mark, when I stopped. 90 % of these films were Hits. Some of the popular Hindi films on Bengali novels are Devdas-35, Milan-46, Anandmath-52, Do bigha zameen-53, Sujata-55, Kabuliwala-61, Ghunghat-60, Bandini-63, Namkeen-67, Bhuvan Shome-69, Satyakam-69, Sahib, bibi aur ghulam-62, Khamoshi-70, Uphaar-71, Saudagar-73, Amar Prem-72, Chupke Chupke-75 (my favourite), Kora Kagaz-74, Balika Badhu-76, Kitaab-77, Apne paraye-80, lekin-90, Rudaali-93 and many more. You will notice that films on Bangla novels were not just family dramas or tragedies, but it was a mix of comedy, pathos, drama, entertainment and almost every Genre except Historical and Mythological films, perhaps.
Film Sabyasachi-1948 was also based on Bangla novel “Pather Dabi”, by Sharat Chandra Chatterjee. The novel was initially serialised in the Bangla magazine “Bangbani” and then published in 1926. However after initial 5ooo copies were sold out in a week’s time, the British Government banned the novel on 4-1-1927. The novel Pather Dabi (The right of Path/ Demands of the road) was about a secret society whose goal is to free India from British rule.
The leader of this secret group is Sabyasachi Malick. He is highly educated, having studied Medicine, Engineering and Law from the Universities of UK and USA. He is tall and so strong that he created records of swimming the flooded rivers in torrential rains and crossing the entire Himalaya on foot in record time. He punishes the rich and helps the poor. In short he is The Superman ! He knows several languages and is an expert in Makeup too. Apurba (Paresh Bannerjee) is a weak member of this team and he becomes a Police informer. Sumitra (Meera Mishra) and Bharathi(Sandhya Rani) are the 2 women in this group who have faced several problems in their personal lives.
The Indian Express, in its review of the film says, ” the film story touches upon issues of Untouchability, Orthodoxy and Faiths. It deals with bRich-Poor divide and status of women in the then Bangla society. It criticises British Policies and India’s inherent customs of Religion and social structure.” Sabyasachi was Bengal’s first Superman of Bangla Fiction, according to the Indian Express.
The film was made in Bangla and Hindi versions. The Bangla version was directed by Bibhuti Laha. The Hindi version was directed by ” Agradoot’, who also directed the film Babla-53 later in Hindi. The film was released on 6-11-48. The cast of the Hindi version was Meera Mishra, Tulsi, Anup, Paresh Banerjee, Sandhyarani,Savitri Devi,Uma, Sunder, Bipin Gupta and many others. Songs were written by Zahir Hussain and music was composed by Robin Chatterjee.
Robin Chatterjee. He was born on 8-1-1914, at Calcutta. His name is not too well known to Hindi film lovers, though he was very famous in Bengal (as Robin Chatopadhyaya), where he composed several NFS and film songs. For many years he assisted Anupam Ghatak,MD. He even sang in the chorus for New Theatre’s film Adhikar-1938. However he was not so successful in Hindi films.
His first Hindi film was Rajlakshmi-1945, wherein he gave the first opportunity to Talat Mahmood to sing a Hindi film song. Till then he was singing Bangla NFS and film songs with the name Tapan kumar. His next film was Tum aur main-1946 which had very good songs by kanan Devi. Then came Voh Dono-1947 and here Sandhya Mukherjee gave good songs. Robin Chatterjee gave music to 14 Hindi films, namely – Rajlakshmi-45, Tum aur main-46, Voh Dono-47, Sabyasachi-48,Ratnadeep-51, Pehli Shadi-53, Firdaus-53, Shobha-54, Majboori-54, Africa-54, Dhake ki malmal-56, Miss Toofan mail-58, Police Station-59 and Chimney ka Dhuvan-1973…this was a much delayed film. He also gave music to a Bhojpuri film- Saiya se kar le milanwa-1966.
Robin Chatterjee died on 2-4-1976 at Bombay at the age of just 61 years.
The story of film’s heroine Meera Mishra is strange. She entered Hindi films with Bombay Talkies film Milan-46. Meera Mishra’s joining the films generated a lot of interest and excitement because she was the wife of an I.P.S. Officer. Meera reportedly answered an advertisement of The Bombay Talkies in newspapers and was called for an interview and was selected readily. Two films, bilingual , Naukadubi (Bengali) and Milan (Hindi) were produced by Bombay Talkies and Meera was chosen to play Kamala in both versions.
The Bengali film Naukadubi had Abhi Bhattacharya playing Ramesh, Meera Sarkar as Hemnalini and Pahari Sanyal as Akshay Babu. The Hindi version Milan had Dilip Kumar as Ramesh and Meera therefore had Dilip Kumar as her first leading man. The Hindi version had Ranjana playing Hemnalini while it was Pahari Sanyal again as Akshay Babu in Milan. The film was directed by Nitin Bose and Anil Biswas was the music director. Parul Ghosh lent her voice in both the versions and here in Noukadubi she had some five Tagore songs, her only Bengali songs.
Both Naukadubi and Milan did well and the initial plan of Meera was to retire after this one film. However, her I.P.S. husband Kripa Sindhu Mishra was killed in action during Delhi riots and Meera decided to carry on with her film career. She had a son Jishnu from the Late K P Mishra. Her other films included Abhijatya (1949), Eki Gramer Chhele (1950), Abarta (1950), Sandhya Belar Rupkatha (1950), Sabyasachi (Hindi-1948)-based on Sarat Chandra Chatterjee’s Pather dabi. She played the role of Sumitra, Bishnupriya (1949). Her other Hindi films included Ghar ki Numaish-49,Chhore-50,Kashmir Hamara hai-50, Azadi ke baad-51, Chamakee-52, Chhoti Maa-52.
She quit films early and settled into married life again. Her husband was Mr Ranjit Gupta, Chief secretary to the Government of West Bengal.
Meera Mishra was born in Kanpur and died in Calcutta somewhere in 2007.
Today’s song is sung by Sandhya Mukherjee. She began her career in Mumbai singing Hindi songs, starting with a song in the film Sabyasachi-1948. Her first playback song was in the film Tarana in 1951. She sang, as a playback singer, 36 songs in 19 Hindi films. Though she sang several songs in 7 films in Hindi, her name became famous only after she sang a duet ” gupchup gupchup pyar karen” with Hemant Kumar in the film Sazaa-1951. Her last Hindi film song was in the film Chimni ka dhuan-73. She decided to come back to and settle in her home city Kolkata in 1952 due to personal reasons.
Song- Aayi mere jeevan ki saanjh suhaani (Sabyasaachi)(1948) Singer- Sandhya Mukherjee, Lyricist- Zaheer Hussain, MD- Robin Chatterjee
Lyrics
Aai mere
aai mere jeewan ki saanjh suhaani
Aai mere
aai mere jeewan ki saanjh suhaani
aai mere
aasha ki bagiya mein phool khile hain aen
aasha ki bagiya mein phool khile hain aen
aai mere jeewan ki saanjh suhaani
aai mere
ye deepak sunahri jalaata hai kaun
ye duniya meri jagmagaata hai kaun
ye deepak sunahri jalaata hai kaun
ye duniya meri jagmagaata hai kaun
umangon par aai hai roop jawaani ee
umangon par aai hai roop jawaani ee
aai mere jeewan ki saanjh suhaani
Aai mere
lutaaati hai masti chaman mein bahaar
hai donon ke joban per aaya nikhaar
lutaaati hai masti chaman mein bahaar
hai phoolon ke joban per aaya nikhaar
bulbul na kyun ho khushi mein deewaani ee ee
bulbul na kyun ho khushi mein deewaani ee ee
aai mere jeewan ki saanjh suhaani
Aai mere
pee pee ki boli madhur bol papeehe
phir phir ke masti mein dol papeehe
ho dol papeehe
pee pee ki boli madhur bol papeehe
phir phir ke masti mein dol papeehe
sunaaye jaa tu apni prem kahaani
sunaaye jaa tu apni prem kahaani
aai mere jeewan ki saanjh suhaani
aayi mere
Dheere dheere dil mein samaa
Posted on: December 28, 2021
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 : |
4911 | Post No. : | 16727 |
“Husn Ka Chor”(1953) was produced by Homi Wadia and directed by JBH Wadia for Basant Pictures, Bombay. The movie had Usha Kiran, Mahipal, Brij Mohan Vyas, Azeem Dalpat, Sardar Mansoor, Agha Shapoor, Bismilla etc in it.
The movie had seven songs in it. Six songs have been covered in the past. Here are the details of the songs that have been covered so far :-
| Blog post number | Song | Date of post | Singer (s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3472 | Sangdil zamaane mujhe kyun rulaataa hai | 31 January 2011 | Sandhya Mukherjee |
| 4782 | Dil lagaane waale aapse hazaaron hain | 11 October 2011 | Sandhya Mukherjee, Rafi |
| 4895 | O jaane waale kisi ka salaam letaa jaa | 27 October 2011 | Sandhya Mukherjee |
| 15931 | Ho gaya tere majnu ko ishq ka bukhaar | 29 September 2020 | Rafi, Asha Bhonsle, Unknown male voice |
| 16088 | Duniya mein hain bande pyaare daulat ke | 10 December 2020 | Rafi |
| 16713 | O duniya banaane waale bataa anjaam hamaara kya hoga | 23 December 2021 | Geeta Dutt |
Here is the seventh and final song from “Husn Ka Chor”(1953). The song is sung by Shankar Dasgupta and Sandhya Mukherjee. Raja Mehdi Ali Khan is the lyricist. Music is composed by Bulo C Rani.
Only the audio of the song is available. I request our knowledgeable readers to throw light on the picturisation of the song.
With this song, all the seven songs of “Husn Ka Chor”(1953) have been covered in the blog. “Husn Ka Chor”(1953) thus joins the list of movies that have been YIPPEED in the blog.
Song-Dheere dheere dil mein samaa (Husn Ka Chor)(1953) Singers-Shankar Dasgupta, Sandhya Mukherjee, Lyrics-Raja Mehdi Ali Khan, MD-Bulo C Rani
Both
Lyrics(Provided by Prakashchandra)
dheere dheere dil mein samaa aa aa
dheere dheere dil mein sama aa
dil ki dhadkan ye keh rahi hai
dil ki dhadkan ye keh rahi hai ae ae
chupke chupke aankhen mila aa
dil ki dhadkan ye keh rahi hai ae
dil ki dhadkan ye keh rahi hai ae ae
dheere dheere dil mein sama aa
ek ishaara kar do to la doon
ek ishaara kar do to la doon
aasmaan ke ye sitaare
aasmaan ke ye sitaare
kaho to chun chun ke ulfat ki kaliyaan
kaho to chun chun ke ulfat ki kaliyaan
haar pahna doon galey tumhaare
haar pahna doon galey tumhaare ae ae ae
thhodi thhodi ulfat jata aa aa
thhodi thhodi ulfat jata aa
dil ki dhadkan ye kah rahi hai
dil ki dhadkan ye kah rahi hai ae ae
chupke chupke aankhen mila aa aa
dheere dheere dil mein sama aa
haatho mein jo haath liya hai ae
haathon mein jo haath liya hai
dekho chhoot na jaaaaye
dekho chhoot na jaaaaye
bada hi naazuk dil ka sheesha aa
bada hi naazuk dil ka sheesha
dekho toot na jaaaaye
aisi baaten lab pe na la aa aa
aisi baaten lab pe na la aa
dil ki dhadkan ye kah rahi hai ae
dil ki dhadkan ye kah rahi hai ae ae
chupke chupke aankhen mila aa aa
dheere dheere
dheere dheere dil me sama aa aa
dheere dheere dil mein sama
Ghiri ghiri aayi kaari badariya
Posted on: December 23, 2019
This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular 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 : |
4175 | Post No. : | 15349 | Movie Count : |
4231 |
Hindi Songs in Bangla Films – 14
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‘Antony Firingee’ (1967) was a Bengali film which has attained a classic status among the Bengali films. The film was directed by Sunil Banerjee. The main cast included Uttam Kumar, Tanuja, Lolita Chatterjee, Bhanu Bandopadhyay, Asit Baran, Ruma Guha Thakurta, Chhaya Devi etc. The film was based on a real-life story of Hensman Antony, a Portuguese national, who visited Chandannagar (near Kolkata) with his father, a trader, sometime in the 19th century. However, in the film, the story has some deviation from the real story probably to give a better cinematic depiction of the characters. Let me set out first the real story which I have gathered from the on-line sources.
Hensman Antony (1786-1836) arrived in Chandannager with his father, a trader sometime in the 19th century. He got so obsessed with the Bengali folk music and language that he decided to settle down in Chandannagar. During his stay, he started learning Bengali language and also the folk music. His life took a fresh turn when he saved a brahmin widow, Saudamini from self-immolation and took her to his place. He married her much to the annoyance of orthodox Bengalis. A widow re-marrying and that too a Firingee (foreigner from Europe) was nothing less than an act of blasphemy. The conservatives regularly harassed Antony and Saudamini by various means.
The influence of Saudamini on Antony was such that he started worshipping Maa Kali and Maa Durga that made him a spiritually inclined person. He also started learning Kavigaan (Bengali folk performances by poets of two groups who sing and perform in front of the villagers as a competition). He was also good in singing hymns in praise of Goddesses. His literary Bengali was so good that he became one of the popular poets of Kavigaan. These things did not go well with the orthodox upper caste Bengalis who felt that a Firingee is entering their domain. One day, a few villagers burnt their cottage which resulted in Soudamini getting burnt to death. At that point of time, Antony was away giving his winning performance in a Kavigaan.
There is an old Kali temple located in Bowbazar area of Kolkata known as ‘Firingee Kalibari’ to which Antony Firingee was associated with its renovation and also as a devotee.
The film, ‘Antony Firingee’ (1967) is available on-line for viewing in 7 parts. However, there is no English sub-titles. After knowing the real story of Hensman Antony, it was not difficult for me to relate the scenes in the film and also the context. Since the early life of Hensman Antony in Bengal was not known, the director has taken the cinematic liberty by showing that Antony’s mother was a Bengali. He spends most of his time singing Bengali songs with the workers of a riverbank. Antony’s behaviour is completely in odd with his brother and Marina (Lolita Chatterjee) who loves him. They would prefer him to mingle with their own (white) people.
The director has fictionalized the romantic link between Antony (Uttam Kumar) and Soudamini (Tanuja. In the film, her role was named as Nirupama) by making her a courtesan after she became a widow. Her singing as a courtesan attracts Antony. She reveals him her sad story as to how she ran away from home after the death of her husband to escape death on her husband’s funeral pyre. She was forced to become a courtesan by changing her name to Shakilabai. Both are now becoming closer to each other as both share the same interest – singing. Antony rescues her from the kothi and marries her. There is a complete transformation of Shakilabai from a courtesan to Nirupama as a housewife. Despite the constant harassment from the conservative society surrounding them for their rebellions, they lead a contended married life. Rest of the story in the film has been mostly kept as per the real-life story.
The dramatization by way of the irony of the situations in the film has been well conceived. For instance, because of Antony’s foreign origin, Bhola Moira (Asit Baran), the most popular kabiyal (a bard, akin to ‘kirtankar’ in Maharashtra and Karnataka) at that time, refuses to teach him to become the kabiyal. But in the end, at a Kavigaan, he defeats Bhola Moira who not only accepts his defeat graciously, he removes the flower garland from his neck and place it on Antony as a mark of his respect for Antony. And another irony of situation is that while Antony has won the duel with Bhola Moira, fanatics are burning his cottage in which his wife is being burnt alive. The film ends with Antony carrying the dead body of Nirupama out of the burnt house and takes to the river ghat.
The film won Uttam Kumar the National Award for the best actor in 1968. About 50 years later, ‘Antony Firingee’ (1967) was the opening film at Kolkata International Film Festival, 2018.
The film had 10 songs and a Tarana sung by Malbika Kanan, the wife of Pandit A T Kanan. All the songs are said to have become very popular. I am presenting the only Hindi song in the film, ‘ghir ghir aayi kaari badariya’ sung by Sandhya Mukherjee based on a popular traditional kajri. But in the film, it is sung for a mujra singer (Tanuja in the role of Shakinabai)) which is set to music by Anil Bagchi.
In the video version of the song, it is interspersed with western dances Antony’s community is indulging where Antony is being taken to participate. But he so immersed in mujra song heard in the background that he closes the door of the dance floor to hear the song uninterrupted. The audio clip has the full rendition.
Video Clip (Partial):
Audio Clip:
Song-Ghiri ghiri aayi kaari badariya (Anthony Firangi)(Bangla)(1967) Singer-Sandhya Mukherjee, MD-Anil Bagchi
Lyrics(based on audio clip)
aaa aaa aaa
aaa aaa aaa
aaa aaaa aaa aaa
ghiri ghiri aayi kaari badariya
piya nahin aaye
main kaa karoon guinyaan
ghiri ghiri aayi kaari badariya
piya nahin aaye
main kaa karoon guinyaan
kaa karoon guinyaan
piyaa nahin aaa…ye
piya nahin aaye
haaa aa aa
piya nahin aaye
piya nahin aaye
main kaa karoon guinyaan
daadur morey
daadur morey papeeha gaa…..ye
daadur morey papeeha boley
mujh birhan kaa jiyara…..aa doley
mujh birhan kaa jiyara…..aa doley
nis din unki yaa……d sataaye
piya nahin aaye
main kaa karoon guinyaan
piya nahin aaye mora
kaa karoon guinyaan
piya nahin aaye mora
kaa karoon guinyaan
piya nahin aaye
main kaa karoon guinyaa….n
Zindagi ki ye bhool thhi
Posted on: November 1, 2019
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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Blog Day : |
4123 | Post No. : | 15277 | Movie Count : |
4202 |
Hindi Songs in Bangla Films – 4
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For the general Hindi film audience, Suchitra Sen (real name: Roma Dasgupta) is synonymous with her lead roles in ‘Bambai Ka Babu’ (1960) with Dev Anand, ‘Mamta’ (1966) with Ashok Kumar and ‘Aandhi’ (1975) with Sanjeev Kumar. The second category of audience with academic interest in Hindi films will add four more of her Hindi films – ‘Devdas’ (1955) in the role of Paro with Dilip Kumar, ‘Musafir’ (1957) with Shekhar, ‘Champakali’ (1957) with Bharat Bhushan and ‘Sarhad’ (1960) with Dev Anand. Those in the latter category of Hindi film buffs would also know that Suchitra Sen worked in many Bengali films and the Bengali film audience loved to watch their favourite on-screen couple, Suchitra Sen and Uttam Kumar.
I was in the second category insofar as Suchitra Sen was concerned until recently. But in my quest to get a few rare Hindi film songs in Bengali films made me to watch some of the popular and critically acclaimed Bengali films of the golden era (1950-75). In this process, I came to know about the important contributions made by Suchitra Sen and Uttam Kumar among others in reviving the Bengali film industry after the decline of big film productions banners like New Theatres, M P Productions (of P C Barua) and the collapse of the studio system.
Based on a number of articles available on-line including some from Gopal Krishna Roy, a film journalist with United News of India who remained one of the very few close confidants of Suchitra Sen until her death, I have given below some interesting aspects of her filmy career based on these readings:
1. Suchitra Sen (06/04/1931 – 17/01/2014) migrated from then East Bengal (now Bangla Desh) to Kolkata with her family in 1947. She joined film industry in 1952 when she was already married to Dibanath Sen, a Marine Engineer and the son of an Industrialist in 1947 at the age of 16.
2. She acted in her fist film ‘Shesh Kothay’ (1952, Bangla) which was never released. Her first officially released film was ‘Saat Number Kayedi’ (1953, Bangla)
3. Her second released film was ‘Sharey Chauttor’ (1953, Bangla), a light comedy film which was also her first film with matinee idol, Uttam Kumar, then nick named in the Tollygunj studio circle as a ‘flop hero’ because all the films he worked during 1948-52 were box office failures. With this film, Uttam Kumar made an impressive turnaround in his filmy career with Suchitra Sen. From this film onward, Bengali filmy audience adored them as the most iconic romantic pair in the Bengali films.
4. During her filmy career (1953-78), Suchitra Sen worked in 61 films (including 7 Hindi films) out of which she paired with Uttam Kumar in as many as 30 films. Almost all of their films were box office hits.
5. When Suchitra Sen was 39, she lost her husband, Dibanath Sen in 1970 while he was on a visit to USA. However, she kept her shooting schedules, more or less, as planned to avoid financial losses to the producers.
6. A glance through her filmography and brief story lines of most of her films gives an impression that Suchitra Sen had handled her filmy career, especially from 1960, onward very professionally. She appears to be selective in accepting the films. Most of her films have a strong story-line and she had almost equal footage in films along with lead actors. In this process, she had ensured that she had ample scope for portraying her characters in the films and was not over-exposed to her audience.
7. Suchitra Sen declined the offer of Satyajit Ray’s film because he had put a condition that she had to give bulk dates for shooting and during the making of the film, she should not work in any other films. Satyajit Ray decided to abandon the film rather than taking any other female actress. She had also declined the offer of Raj Kapoor to work in one of his films (My wild guess is that it was for ‘Sangam’ (1964) because he had also made an offer to Uttam Kumar for a role in his film ‘Sangam’ (1964) which he had also declined. The role went to Rajendra Kumar.)
8. Suchitra Sen was the first Bengali film actress to get the best actress award in any International Film Festival for her role in Bangla film ‘Saptapadi’ (1961) in Moscow International Film Festival, 1963.
9. After the box office failure of her last film ‘Pranay Pasha’ (1978), Suchitra Sen retired from the film industry at the age of 47. It was first thought that she had timed her retirement at the peak of her career. However, over a period of time, it became evident that with retirement from the films, she had also shunned public life. She spent her last 35 years in her house as recluse, confining herself with close circles of family and a few friends.
During her last 35 years, Suchitra Sen completely avoided public exposure. Even during the death of Uttam Kumar in 1980, she visited his house after mid-night to offer her condolence. It is believed that she had decline to accept Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2005 mainly to avoid the public appearance. In 2012, Government of West Bengal gave her ‘Banga Bibushan Award’ but she did not attend the function. Moon Moon Sen, her daughter accepted the Award on her behalf.
Suchitra Sen suffered from lung infections for which she was admitted in a Kolkata hospital sometime in December 2013. She had almost recovered from her ailment but on January 17, 2014, she got a cardiac arrest which took her life. As per her wish, her body was put in the casket with tinted glasses and was cremated as the earliest (in about 5 hours from the time of her death). So even in death, she ensured her privacy.
Dilip Kumar who had worked with Suchitra Sen in her first Hindi film ‘Devdas’ (1955) in the role of Paro, paid tributes to her upon her death in January 2014 which are reproduced below:
Suchitra had peerless, expressive eyes. She conveyed volumes with a single look. During an intense scene in Devdas, I had to look straight into her eyes and convey romance filled with pathos. She reacted uniquely, looking with equal intensity at me and doing a slight lip movement which was excellent. Bimal da complimented her after that shot and so did I.
Professional to the core, Suchitra maintained a distance from film folk and never opened up unless she was comfortable with the person she was interacting with. She preferred to work in silence. But she never disrespected anyone. As an artiste, she gave full respect to even a spot boy.
Her Hindi had a Bengali accent but it sounded sweet. She could give five modulations to a single dialogue. After Devdas, we worked in Musafir in 1957, but we were not paired together. I will never forget the serenity she lent to the bhajan, ‘man re hari naam karna’ by Lata Mangeshkar.
We shared a great work rapport, but I must confess, her pairing with Uttam Kumar was the greatest. Suchitra was unparalleled in ‘Saat Paake Bandha’, ‘Uttar Phalguni’ and ‘Deep Jwele Jai’. An actress of international calibre, her looks were simply haunting. [Source: The Times of India, updated version dated 17/01/2017].
Many of Suchitra Sen’s Bangla films were not only box office hits, some of them were critically acclaimed and were remade in Hindi like ‘Mamta’ (1966) from ’Uttar Phalguni’ (1963), ‘Kora Kaagaz’ (1974) from ‘Saat Paake Bandha’ (1963), ‘Khamoshi’ (1966) from ‘Deep Jwele Jaai’ (1959) etc.
I am presenting a Hindi song ‘zindagi ki ye bhool thhi’ from the film ‘Uttar Phalguni’ (1963, Bangla) sung by Sandhya Mukherjee. The name of the lyricist is not known. The song was set to music by Robin Chatterjee.
Suchitra Sen had a double role – both mother and daughter in this film which was produced by Uttam Kumar. But he did not act in this film. Suchitra Sen later did the same double role in the Hindi version ‘Mamta’ (1966).
Unfortunately, the video clip of the song is not available. In fact, I did not find the song in the DVD of the film. Since Sandhya Mukherjee had sung for Suchitra Sen in this film, I guess, the song was picturized on Suchitra Sen. The wordings of the song give me an impression of a mujra song, the similar situational song in Hindi version of the film could be rahte thhe kabhi jinke dil mein.
Audio Clip:
Song-Zindagi ki ye bhool thhi (Uttar Phalguni)(Bangla)(1963) Singer-Sandhaya Mukherjee, MD-Robin Chatterji
Lyrics
aa aa aa aa aaa
aa aa aa aa aaa
aa aa aa aa aaa
aa aa aa aa aaa
zindagi ki ye bhool thhi
pyaar kisi se ho gaya
zindagi ki ye bhool thhi
mohabbat ki thandi chhaon mein
naadaan dil thha so gaya
zindagi ki ye bhool thhi
kaisi ye dillagi huyi
dil nahin akthiyaar mein
kaisi ye dillagi huyi
dil nahin akthiyaar mein
gumnaam ek sandesha hai
koyal ki har pukaar mein
gumnaam ek sandesha hai
koyal ki har pukaar mein
lut gayi main to jeete jee
haay kisi ke pyaar mein
phool dikha ke dhool mein
kaanta koi chubho gaya
zindagi ki ye bhool thhi
meri nasheeli aankh mein ae
meri nashee….li aankh mein
tasveer kiski bas gayi
tasveer kiski bas gayi
khel samajh ke prem ke
jaal mein main to phans gayi
lut gayi dil ki har khushi
lut gayi dil ki har khushi
hansne ko main taras gayi
saahil pe la ke naav ko
saahil pe la ke naav ko
mallah khud dubo gaya
zindagi ki ye bhool thhi
pyaar kisi se ho gaya
zindagi ki ye bhool thhi
- In: "chaayageet" song | "Growing up" song | Calling the beloved | Coming of Age Song | Devnagri script lyrics by Sudhir | Evening song | expression of love | Feelings of heart | Guest posts | Love song | Lyrics contributed by readers | Post by Sudhir | Romantic song | Sandhya Mukherji Solo Song | Sandhya Mukherji Songs | Songs of 1950s (1951 to 1960) | Songs of 1952 | Yearwise breakup of songs
- 2 Comments
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.
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Blog Day : |
4095 | Post No. : | 15241 |
Today, 4th October, is the 88th birthday of Sandhya Mukherjee. The grand old dame is one of the premier playback singers in Bangla cinema. In Hindi films, her contribution is limited to about 30 songs. Her involvement in Hindi films starts with the 1948 film ‘Jhoothi Kasmen’, and her singing assignments are spread over a decade and a half, till the mid 1960s.
A chance encounter with this song prompted the preparation of this post. I came across this song just a few hours ago, and listening to it was love at first hear. Such a lovely melody and arrangement, and such wonderful rendition, this song belongs to that category of unknown and hidden gems, which surprise the listener with their simplicity and beauty. I have listened to it many times since I discovered it earlier in the evening, and I do not seem to be getting enough of it.
The film is ‘Ratnadeep’ from 1952. The film is produced and directed by the legendary Debaki Kumar Bose, for the banner of Chitramaya, Calcutta. The cast of actors is listed as Anuva Gupta, Manju Dey, Molina Devi, Chhaya Devi, Tangamani, Harini, Bakul Ghosh, Abhi Bhattacharya, Pahadi Sanyal, Niteesh Mukherji, Tulsi Chakravarty, Kamal Mishra, Raj Kumar Soni, Sudheer Chakraborty, Gokul Mukherji, and Gauri Shankar. The film is based on the Bangla novel of the same name, written by Prabhat Kumar Mukherjee.
Eight songs are listed for this film. The music director is Robin Chatterji. Two of the songs are traditional bhajans originally composed by Meerbai and Vidyapati. The remaining six songs have been written by the songwriters Pandit Madhur and Mahendra Pran. However, the lyricist for each individual song is not specifically identified.
We wish Sandhya ji a very happy 88th birthday. May she be blessed with many more years of good health and happiness.
Audio
Song – Raat Ne Aa Ke Din Ko Chooma, Saanjh Suhaani Aayi (Ratnadeep) (1952) Singers – Sandhya Mukherji, Lyrics – [Unattributed], MD – Robin Chatterji
Lyrics
raat ne aa ke
din ko chooma
saanjh suhaani aayi aayi
saanjh suhaani aayi
saanjh suhaani aayi manwa doley
raat ne aa ke
din ko chooma
saanjh suhaani aayi
chanda karey ishaare
koi mujhe pukaare
chanda karey ishaare
kya jaanun main aaj bhala kyon
mann hi mann sharmaai
saanjh suhaani aayi aayi
baalapan ke sapne jaage
jaagi mast jawaani
haaye jaagi mast jawaani
duniya ki har ?? suhaani
?? ban karv itraai
tum ban jaao main o saajan
aawo main tum ban jaaun
ye madmaati saanjh salona
ye madmaati saanjh salona
salona sandesa laai
saanjh suhaani aayi aayi
aankhon se tum dil mein aaye
phir bhi rahe kyon praaye
phir bhi rahe kyon praaye
itna to batla do kyon tum
aaj baney harjaai
saanjh suhaani aayi aayi
saanjh suhaani aayi aayi
saanjh suhaani aayi aayi
———————————————————
Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
———————————————————
रात ने आ के
दिन को चूमा
साँझ सुहानी आई आई
साँझ सुहानी आई
साँझ सुहानी आई मनवा डोले
रात ने आ के
दिन को चूमा
साँझ सुहानी आई
चंदा करे इशारे
कोई मुझे पुकारे
चंदा करे इशारे
क्या जानूँ मैं आज भला क्यों
मन ही मन शरमाई
साँझ सुहानी आई आई
बालपन के सपने जागे
जागी मस्त जवानी
हाए जागी मस्त जवानी
दुनिया की हर ?? सुहानी
?? बन कर इतराई
तुम बन जाओ मैं ओ साजन
आवो मैं तुम बन जाऊँ
ये मदमाती साँझ सलोना
ये मदमाती साँझ सलोना
सलोना सँदेसा लाई
साँझ सुहानी आई आई
आँखों से तुम दिल में आए
फिर भी रहे क्यों पराये
फिर भी रहे क्यों पराये
इतना तो बतला दो क्यों तुम
आज बने हरजाई
साँझ सुहानी आई आई
साँझ सुहानी आई आई
साँझ सुहानी आई आई
- In: "Broken heart" song | Devnagri script lyrics by Sudhir | Feelings of heart | Guest posts | Lyrics contributed by readers | Missing the loved ones | NFS | Poignant Song | Post by Sudhir | sad song | Sandhya Mukherji NFS | Sandhya Mukherji Solo Song | Sandhya Mukherji Songs | Separation song | Songs of 1940s (1941 to 1950) | Songs of 1950 | Yearwise breakup of songs
- 1 Comment
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.
| Blog Day : | 3730 | Post No. : | 14673 |
The palat side of today’s song, was posted – goodness, four years ago. And Sandhya ji is now completing 87 years today, and stepping into her 88th. Abundant greetings to Sandhya Mukherji – we wish for her good health and comfort, and that we may get many more such opportunities to greet her.
Four years back, I had posted the lovely, lively “O Re Jeene Waale, Hans Le Gaa Le Dhoom Mach Le” – one of her very few non film songs recorded in Hindi. From the same gramophone record (GE 24065 – Columbia), I present today, the song from the other side. A more poignant song, a sad song of separation – this song is no less iconic. As I tried to search for more, I drew a blank (so far). It seems that this gramophone record and these two songs may well be the only two non-film Hindi songs that have been recorded by Sandhya ji.
For a brief bio sketch of this artist, I request readers to go back to the song referred above, and view that article.
She worked at New Theatres from 1948 to 1950, and sang under the music direction of RC Boral. She came to Bombay in 1950 – ‘Sazaa’ (1951) was her debut in the Bombay industry, after which she recorded songs for another eight films. And then, in 1956 she decided to return to Calcutta, after having recorded “Maine Jo Li Angdaai. . .” under the music direction of Salil Da, for the film ‘Jaagte Raho’ (1956). After that, she stayed only in Calcutta, and recorded a few songs for a handful of Hindi films.
Today’s song is penned by Prem Dhawan and is set to music by Kanu Ghosh. The melancholia of this song is such a surprising antipode of the song “O Re Jeene Waale. . .”. Listen and enjoy.
Once again, greetings to Sandya ji, and best wishes for a healthy and comfortable years ahead.
Song – Tum Gaye Lut Gaya Pyaar Ka Ye Jahaan (Sandhya Mukherji NFS)(1950) Singer – Sandhya Mukherji, Lyrics – Prem Dhawan, MD – Kanu Ghosh
Lyrics
tum gaye
lut gaya
pyaar ka
ye jahaan
na rahi
wo khushi
na rahe
armaan
tum gaye
lut gaya
pyaar ka
ye jahaan
na rahi
wo khushi
na rahe
armaan
meri aankhon ki tum
roshni le gaye
meri aankhon ki tum
roshni le gaye
mere hothon ki tum
sab hansi le gaye
ab meri zindagi
zindagi hai kahaan
wo bahaaren gayin
wo nazaare gaye
wo bahaaren gayin
wo nazaare gaye
meri raaton se wo
chaand taare gaye
na meri hai zameen
na mera aasmaan
tum gaye
lut gaya
pyaar ka
ye jahaan
na rahi
wo khushi
na rahe
armaan
——————————————–
Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
———————————————
तुम गए
लुट गया
प्यार का
ये जहां
ना रही
वो खुशी
ना रहे
अरमां
तुम गए
लुट गया
प्यार का
ये जहां
ना रही
वो खुशी
ना रहे
अरमां
मेरी आँखों की तुम
रोशनी ले गए
मेरी आँखों की तुम
रोशनी ले गए
मेरे होठों की तुम
सब हंसी ले गए
अब मेरी ज़िंदगी
ज़िंदगी है कहाँ
वो बहारें गईं
वो नज़ारे गए
वो बहारें गईं
वो नज़ारे गए
मेरी रातों से वो
चाँद तारे गए
ना मेरी है ज़मीं
ना मेरा आसमां
तुम गए
लुट गया
प्यार का
ये जहां
ना रही
वो खुशी
ना रहे
अरमां
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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