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

This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.

The blog completes 14 years of its existence today (19 july 2008-19 july 2022).

HEARTIEST CONGRATULATIONS to atulsongaday.me for completing 14 successful years. By the time the Blog entered its ‘Teens’, it was already a famous and well known centre for rare songs with lyrics and credible information on the song, MD, Lyricists,the cast of that film and the related matters. Today it can proudly boast of being “The Point Of Reference” for dependable anecdotes, confirmations and detailed bios of less known/unknown old film artistes. The credit for all this goes to just one man, who single handedly managed and made this Blog a well known name in Cyberspace. It is our dear leader ATUL ji. Atul ji,thanks for making this Blog available for showcasing our information-wares to the world.

Here is wishing the Blog a more successful journey into the future, crossing many more milestones. And a big THANK YOU !

Today’s song is from the film Phoolon ke Haar-1951. I fail to understand why this film was titled Phoolon ke haar. I have seen this film, but I did not find any justifiable answer to this title.

The film was made by Shrikant Studio, Bombay. It was directed by G.P.Pawar, a veteran from Silent films. His first silent film as a director was Mysterious Prince-1929. He directed 10 silent films and then started directing Talkie films with Qatil kataar-1935. He directed 18 talkie films. His last film was Jang bahadur-1958. Pawar was the second husband of Lalita pawar, who was the heroine of many of his Silent films. Later they were divorced. She, however, continued using the surname Pawar till the end, although she got married to Shri Omprakash Gupta, who started the Ambika Studio, in the name of Lalita Pawar-whose real name was Ambu , a short form of Ambika.

The film had music by Hansraj Behl. He, in my opinion,was one of those composers in the film world, who composed lots of melodious songs. Unfortunately, he was also one of those composers who never got Big banners to work for. He and his brother, Gulshan Behl founded N.C.Films, on their father’s name-Nihal Chand- and produced B and C grade movies to which Hansraj gave his music. Hansraj was known as Master ji, in the industry. Only two people were known as Master ji…one was Ghulam Haider and the other was Hansraj Behl. Hansraj usually worked alone and rarely used any assistant while giving music.

Hansraj is remembered for giving initial playback singing breaks to Asha Bhonsle and Madhubala Jhaveri. He also gave a chance to his own friend Verma Malik-Lyricist. Malik used to live with him initially, in Bombay. He composed music for 62 films from Pujari-46 to Badmashon ka Badmash-79. One film “Insaaf ka Khoon” was released after his death,in 1988.

Hansraj Behl was one of the music directors who became successful in the post-independence era. He composed music for not only Hindi films but also for Punjabi films. Hansraj was born on 19 November 1916 in Punjab. He got his basic education in music from Pt. Chunnilal. Then he opened his music school in Lahore and he had some non-film records released under the label of HMV. In 1944 Hansraj came to Bombay to try his luck in the Hindi film industry as a music director.

After one year of struggle he got his first film Pujari, made by Ardeshir Irani, in 1946. He got films like Gwaalan and Phulwari in the same year, but all these films could not do well at the box office. Behl tasted success in 1947 with the release of Lakhon Mein Ek and Chheen Le Azadi. ‘Moti Chugne Gayi Re Hansi..’ sung by Shamshad Begum and Mukesh from the film Chheen Le Azadi became very popular. In 1948 he came up with four films – Chunariya, Mitti Ke Khilone, Pardesi Mehmaan and Satya Narayan, of which Chunariya’s music was a hit especially the song ‘Dil-e-Nashaad Ko Jeene Ki Hasrat Ho Gayi..’ sung by Lata Mangeshkar. The song which placed him among high class music directors was ‘Sab Kuchh Lutaya Hamne Aakar Teri Gali Me..’ sung by Mohammed Rafi and written by Mulk Raj Bhaakri.

In the year 1949, he came out with Chakori, Raat Ki Raani, Zevraat and few more films. Lata sang one of her favourite songs, ‘Haye Chanda Gaye Pardes Chakori Yahan Ro Ro Mare..’ in Chakori, which became very popular and it helped Hansraj to gain popularity among music lovers. ‘Jin Raaton Mein Neend Ud Jaati Hai..’ sung by Mohammed Rafi in Raat Ki Raani was a nationwide hit.

In 1950-51 he gave many hit songs with Lata Mangeshkar, Geeta Dutt and Suraiyya. Songs of Kisi Ki Yaad became very popular soon after the release of the film. ‘Koi Mujhko Na Bulaye..’ and ‘Tadapta Chhod Kar Mujhko Kahaan Tum Reh Gaye..’ both sung by Geeta Dutt and ‘O Jaane Wale Ye Kya Kiya..’ by Mohammed Rafi gained immense popularity. In 1952 he introduced Madhubala Jhaveri as a playback singer in Apni Izzat and Jaggu. Madhubala sang ‘Dil Mere Tera Diwaana..’ with Talat Mehmood and ‘Meethi Meethi Loriyaan Main Dheere Dheere Gaoon..’ (both Apni Izzat) featured her solo voice. In 1954, he again came out with musical films like Dost and Khaiber. ‘Aaye Bhi Akela Jaye Bhi Akela..’ from Dost -1954 sung by Talat Mehmood was among one of his memorable compositions.

He continued to give his best in films like Rajdhani, Milan, Miss Bombay, Changez Khan and Saawan. Songs like ‘Bhool Ja Sapne Suhane..’ from Rajdhan- 1956, ‘Mohabbat Zinda rehti Hai..’ from Changez Khan -1957, ‘ Jab Raat Nahi Katti..’ from Changez Khan -1957, ‘Zindagi Bhar Gham Judaai Ka..’ from Miss Bombay -1957, ‘Haseen Ho Khuda To Nahi..’ from Mud Mud Ke Na Dekh -1960, ‘Bheega Bheega Pyar Ka Sama..’ from Saawan -1959 and ‘Tujhko Dhoondhu To Dhoondhu Kahaan..’ from Milan -1959 crossed all the barriers of success and Hansraj Behl’s name was on the lips of every music lover.

After all these successful films he continued to give music till 1969 but failed to give any hit because his later films were either stunts or fantasy films with little scope for having good music. His last hit song was an all time great creation ‘Jahan Daal Daal Pe Sone Ki Chidiya Karti Hai Basera..’ which was sung by Mohammed Rafi for the film Sikandar-e-Aazam in 1965.

Hansraj Behl died of Cancer in Bombay on 20-5-1984.

The cast of the film Phoolon ke Haar-1951 was Nigar Sultana, Geeta Bali, Nasir khan, Yashodhara katju, Sundar, Madhav kale, Rani, Shakuntala, heeralal etc. The 11 songs of this film were written by Bharat Vyas, Indivar, Kaif irfani, D.N.Madhok and Varma malik. In the last so many years- till 1980 – I must have seen hundreds of Films- Hindi, Marathi, English, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada. In the Hindi films, I can not forget 3 actresses, who were Bubbly, playful, with innocent looks and with Natural acting talent. They were Meena Shorey, Nalini Jaywant and Geeta Bali. I enjoyed every film of these actresses, which I saw. It is difficult to forget the role and acting of Meena Shorey in film ” Ek thi Ladki-49″, or Nalini Jaywant in film ” Hum sab chor hain-56″, or Geeta Bali in film ” Aji Bas Shukriya-58″. These were all my favourite actresses. It is very unfortunate that they all met their deaths in very tragic circumstances.

Geeta Bali’s dancing eyes and her animated, expressive face which mirrored her soul were her most outstanding features. Yet life was snatched away from this vibrant personality at an achingly young age of 35.It is some consolation that Geeta crammed a lot into her short life: 80 odd films in a ten-year career. She married struggling actor-turned-megastar Shammi Kapoor and mothered two children: a son and a daughter. Today, she is remembered as a wonderfully natural actress and a fabulous human being.She was quite close to her sisters and brother. Her childhood pet name was KEETA.
True, Geeta’s reputation as an actress rests more on her performances than her roles. Natural, spontaneous and gifted with a spot-on sense of comic timing, she never really found a vehicle worthy of her talent. Largely a shade better than the movies she starred in, she frittered away her talents in B-grade films. Probably the fact that she was born into a family that had to struggle for sheer survival and the fact that she reached the top through sheer grit had Geeta stress on quantity rather than quality. Film lore has it that when mentor [filmmaker] Kidar Sharma first met Geeta, she was living with her family in somebody’s bathroom!

Geeta Bali (real name Harkirtan kaur) was born in Amritsar on 30-11-1930, in a Sikh family, known for its religious and Scholarly traditions. Her father was a Sikh Missionary Preacher and travelled not only all over India, but also to Burma, Ceylon and Malaya. Due to frequent change of place, Geeta’s education was not consistent and it ended after 6th standard. When the family was in Kashmir, she joined the dancing and music classes. Keeta (her family nickname) did dance performances on stage in her schools.

When she was about 9-10 year old, she gave a public performance of her Dance in Lucknow. The puritans in their society objected, made a hue and cry and the pendal was burnt, to stop her show. Such experiences made her very bold in life. While at Lahore, Geeta directly entered the A.I.R. office to get a music contract. She got it also. She used to participate in Children’s programmes.

Through her Dance Director in A.I.R., she got into a documentary ” Cobbler” made by Shorey pictures. Impressed, she got a dance performance in film ” Badnami”-46 as well as Kahan Gaye-46 and Pancholi’s Patjhad-47, before moving to Mumbai. Impressed by her off-screen vivacity, Sharma cast Geeta in his Suhaag Raat (1948). Audiences related to her instantly and watched wide-eyed as she nonchalantly tossed her unconscious hero, Bharat Bhushan over her shoulder in a scene.

Soon, Geeta was inundated with contracts (that’s what they called film offers then). She accepted most. She won raves even in supporting roles like in the 1949 Suraiya starrer Badi Behan and the Madhubala starrer Dulari. In 1951, she became a major star with Guru Dutt’s first hit, Baazi (she went on to do three other films under his direction). Geeta played a gangster’s moll with a golden heart to Kalpana Kartik’s conventional heroine. But Geeta played her role with such gay abandon that hero Dev Anand divulges, “People came repeatedly to theatres to see Geeta’s spirited dancing to Tadbeer se bigdi hui taqdeer bana de.

Next she worked with Raj Kapoor in Bawre Nain-50, Bhagwan’s Albela-51 and Navketan’s Baazi-52. Now there was no looking back. Geeta Bali went on to act in 80 films in her short career of just 14 years. She even sang a few lines in a song from the film Rangeen Raaten-56, with Shamshad Begum and Uma Devi. She worked with Prithviraj Kapoor in Anand math-52 and his sons Raj kapoor in Bawre nain and in many films with Shammi kapoor. With Dev Anand she did Baazi, Faraar, Milap, Jaal, Zalzala, Ferry and Pocket Maar. She worked opposite Ashok Kumar, Motilal, Balraj Sahani, Prem Adib, Jairaj, Rehman, Bharat Bhushan, Abhi Bhattacharya, Kamal Kapoor, Karan Dewan, Shekhar, Sajjan, Amarnath, Jaswant and Suresh.

Some of her notable films were, Girls’ School-49, Dulari-49, Badi bahen-49, Nishana-550,Bawre Nain-50, Baazi-51, Albela-51, Zalzala-52, Raag Rang-52, Anand Math-52, Jhamela-53, Baaz-53, Daaku ki Ladki-54, Vachan-55, Miss Coca Cola-55, Jawab-55, Faraar-55, Bara Dari-55, Albeli-55, Pocket Maar-56, inspector-56, Coffee House-57, Mujrim-58, Jailor-58, Aji Bas Shukriya-58, Mr. India-61 etc etc.
Geeta proved she could do tragedy (Sharma’s Raj Kapoor starrer Bawre Nain) or and play the lighthearted heroine to comedian Bhagwan in the super successful Albela. Albela’s swinging C Ramchandra composed songs like Shola jo bhadke and Sham dhale mere khidki tale made front-benchers dance with the stars and even fling coins on screen. Pug-nosed Geeta was no conventional beauty, but that transparent face and that smile constantly flirting on her lips made sure you couldn’t tear your eyes away from her.

Watch Geeta Bali in the Guru Dutt-directed Jaal (1952). Dev Anand, a cigarette-smoking smuggler on the run from the police, tries to entice morally upstanding heroine Geeta into his web. Geeta evocatively communicates her struggle against, and her eventual surrender to, handsome Dev’s seduction call Yeh raat, yeh chandni phir kahan Famously down-to-earth despite her star status, Geeta was the antithesis of the coy 1950s’ heroine. She often drove herself to her premieres in an open jeep. Those who knew her claim she was a Samaritan who touched the lives of whoever she met. She is said to have personally groomed Mala Sinha, then a newcomer.

To date, so many years after her death, her secretary Surinder Kapoor’s (Boney Kapoor’s father) productions begin with a shraddhanjali to Geeta Bali.

Shammi Kapoor entered her life when they worked in the quaintly named Miss Coca Cola and Coffee House together. On an impulse, Geeta played a small role of a man in Sharma’s Shammi Kapoor starrer Rangeen Raatein. On the film’s Ranikhet outdoor, Shammi and Geeta fell in love. Kapoor was a year younger to her and was not yet a star, but the twosome were hell bent on marrying each other. Geeta had worked with Shammi’s eldest brother, Raj Kapoor in Bawre Nain, and with his father, Prithviraj Kapoor in Anand Math, Shammi was unsure about their reaction to this match. But on August 23, 1955, with producer-director Hari Walia and friend Johnny Walker as witness, the couple were married at the Banganga Temple at 4 am.

Geeta continued to work after marriage in a few films like Sohrab Modi’s Jailor (1958), where she won raves as a blind girl. With Shammi Kapoor turning into a huge star and the birth of her two children Aditya (nicknamed Mickey) and Kanchan, she eased her workload.

The desire to do that one fulfilling role she would be remembered for prompted Geeta to attempt the production of a classic for herself. She started Rano, based on Rajinder Singh Bedi’s famous novel, Ek Chadar Maili Si, based on a widow’s remarriage to her brother-in-law. Upcoming star Dharmendra played her hero.

Geeta, had not been vaccinated for smallpox, despite the fact her father too had died of Smallpox. She had ignored repeated warnings in her childhood. She contracted the dreaded disease while shooting the film. The best care was rushed to her, but her fever apparently reached 107 degrees. Her doctor saw a picture by his patient’s bedside and asked who the pretty lady was. The disease had so wracked Geeta’s frail frame that he didn’t recognise her as the same person!

Geeta Bali passed away on January 21, 1965, leaving behind eight-year-old Aditya and three-year-old Kanchan in the care of a devastated Shammi Kapoor.

Ironically, she was cremated in Banganga, not far from where she was married. ( adapted from Rediffmail.com, books Star Portraits by Harish Booch and Stars of the Indian Screen by Baburao Patel, India Today, Yaadon ki Baaraat by Shirish Kanekar and my notes – with thanks.)

Today’s song is sung by Shamshad Begum in her inimitable typical unique voice. Let us enjoy this song.

Song- Mohobbat chikni chikni hai ke baabu phisal na jaana (Phoolon Ke Haar)(1951) Singer- Shamshad Begum, Lyricist- Bharat Vyas, MD- Hansraj Behl

Lyrics

mohabbat chikni chikni hai
ke baabu phisal na jaana
mohabbat chikni chikni hai
ke baabu phisal na jaana
ho o o
zamaana re zamaana haaye zamaana hoy
zamaana naazuk naazuk hai
kisi se dil na lagaana
mohabbat chikni chikni hai
ke baabu phisal na jaana

kaabu mein rakhna baabu
ye dil hai bada mawaali
kaabu mein rakhna baabu
ye dil hai bada mawaali
beech bajariya bik jaayenge
lota bartan thhaali
bich bajariya bik jaayenge
lota bartan thhaali
ho o o
ye dhanda re ye dhandha haaye ye dhandha hoy
ye dhadna ulta pulta hai
ke ulte latak na jaana
mohabbat chikni chikni hai
ke baabu phisal na jaana

ye powder aur surkhi waale
gore gore mukhde
ye powder aur surkhi waale
gore gore mukhde
le jaate hain nakad naaraayan
de jaate hain dukhde
le jaate hain nakad naaraayan
de jaate hain dukhde
ho o o
ye galiyaan re ye galiyaan haaye ye galiyaan hoy
ye galiyaan uljhi uljhi hain
na aage kadam badhaana
mohabbat chikni chikni hai
ke baabu phisal na jaana

raaton ko jaagoge bhaiya
din mein so jaaoge
raaton ko jaagoge bhaiya
din mein so jaaoge
kise dhoondhhne nikle ho tum
khud hi kho jaaoge
aejee
kise dhoondhhne nikle ho tum
khud hi kho jaaoge
ho o o
dagariya re dagariya haaye dagariya hoy
dagariya oonchi neechi hai
musaafir bhatak na jaana
mohabbat chikni chikni hai
ke baabu phisal na jaana
zamaana naazuk naazuk hai
kisi se dil na lagaana