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

Archive for the ‘Sitaara Kanpuri Solo Songs’ Category


This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, 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.

Blog Day :

4879 Post No. : 16675

Songs from Artiste Name Films….Second Season….No. 2
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Sulochana (Ruby Meyers), Zubeida, Prithviraj Kapoor, Devika Rani, K L Saigal…. These are some names which can be called as the artistes who shaped the early Talkie cinema and gave it an identity. Great filmmakers like Baburao Painter, Ardeshir Irani, B N Sircar; directors like V Shantaram, Master Vinayak, Debki Bose and Music Directors like R C Boral, Pankaj Mullik, Shankarrao Vyas, Govindrao Tembe etc were people who contributed to early cinema, developed the next generation and experimented in the film making.

While enough information about them and their contribution is available, it is not in circulation, because people who would have been interested to know about them are diminishing. Except for hard core lovers of old films and students of early cinema, hardly anyone shows interest in discussing these artistes’ lives and careers.

Through this series,I will attempt to portray their contributions to Indian cinema and give a nostalgic feeling to old film lovers.

Prithviraj Kapoor is called the head of the First family of Hindi cinema, because his family, through several generations, has been in this field for almost a Century – considering that Prithviraj began his acting career in the 20’s decade of the last century. He made his film debut in 1928 with the silent film ” Be Dhaari Talwar” (Double edged sword), made by the Imperial Film Company, Bombay.

Prithviraj Kapoor was very handsome with a good physique and personality. He was a thorough gentleman and a good friend. His interest in stage was more than in films. Today’s song is from the film ” Prithviraj Sanyogita “-1946, made by Shalimar Pictures, owned by W.Z.Ahmed, husband of the Heroine of the film-Neena. The film was directed by Najmul Hasan Naqvi. The music was by S.K.Pal, the in-house Music Director of Shalimar. The cast was Prithviraj Kapoor, Neena, Tiwari, Bharat Vyas, Ram Avtar, Uma Dutt etc etc. The film was released on 17-5-1946 at Lamington Cinema in Bombay.

The story of the love affair of Prithviraj Chauhan and Sanyogita is a glorious chapter in Indian History. The story of their love as depicted in the film was…

Prithviraj Chauhan ( 1149-1192) was the king of the Chauhan dynasty whose rule extended to parts of present day Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi and some parts of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. He is also hailed as the last Rajput king to rule Delhi before the Muslim conquest of the Indian subcontinent. Prithviraj was a valiant king and his glory surged to new heights after he defeated Muhammad Ghori, the Sultan of Ghurid Empire (present day Afghanistan) in the first battle of Tarain. Legend has it that Ghori attacked Delhi 17 times, and was defeated 16 times at the hands of Prithviraj Chauhan and his army.

Soon enough, the heroic tales of Prithviraj’s valour reached the ears of Sanyogita, the daughter of Kannauj king, Jayachand. But before love could flourish between the two, the relationship between Jayachand and Prithviraj Chauhan was strained. Jayachand wanted to assert his supremacy over the other Rajput kings and hence decided to do a Rajsuya Yagya. Prithviraj, however, refused to accept Jayachand’s supremacy and this marked the beginning of their enmity. But while Jayachand was enraged by Prithiviraj’s refusal to accept him as the supreme king, his daughter Sanyogita was smitten. She had heard about Chauhan’s heroic expeditions and was absolutely in love with him.

According to legend, they fell in love when a painter from Prithviraj’s court, Panna Ray, visited Kannauj and showed his painting of the king to the princess. The same painter, upon returning, painted Sanyogita’s portrait and showed it to Prithviraj. Needless to say, he too was smitten by her beauty.

At this time, Jayachand decided to arrange a swayamvara for his daughter. He sent an invite to all the kings except Prithiviraj. To add to the insult, he got a statue of Prithviraj made and installed it as a doorman. But Sanyogita had already given her heart to him. When she came to know that he wasn’t even invited to the swayamvara, she was devastated and wrote him a letter expressing her desire to marry him. To this, Prithviraj promised her that he would come to the swayamvara.

On the day of the swayamvara, Sanyogita walked past all the kings and princes, rejecting each one of them, and finally reaching the statue. At that moment, Chauhan, who was hiding until then, came out and Sanyogita put the garland around his neck. Prithviraj Chauhan then openly challenged Jayachand to stop him from taking his wife. This made Jayachand shake with rage at the insult in front of a huge gathering of kings and princes.

That day, thousands of soldiers laid their lives to make sure that Prithviraj Chauhan escaped safely from Kannauj, with his newly-wedded wife Sanyogita.

Jayachand was raging with anger and he wanted to take revenge. So, he formed an alliance with Muhammad Ghori, whom Prithviraj had previously defeated 16 times, and extended his support to Ghori’s army to attack Delhi. When Ghori’s army attacked this time, Prithiviraj lost the war and Ghori captured him. Legend has it that Chauhan had begun to ignore state affairs after his marriage to Sanyogita.

Chauhan was defeated, but he refused to bow his head in front of the Sultan. So, Ghori’s soldiers blinded him, using hot iron rods. Seeing his king helpless and in pain, Bardai – the court poet – who had been accompanying Prithviraj in the war, tricked the Sultan into organising an archery performance by Prithviraj Chauhan. Apparently, Prithviraj could hit a target with just his sense of sound.

An archery competition was held and Bardai subtly told his blind king about the exact place where the Sultan was standing. He said:(Translation: Sultan is sitting four measures ahead of you and twenty four yards away when measured with eight fingers. Don’t miss your target, Chauhan).

When Muhammad Ghori ordered the blind king to shoot, Prithviraj took aim based on Bardai’s hints and shot the arrow at him. He didn’t miss his target and Muhammad Ghori was killed. The court-poet then stabbed Prithviraj and himself to avoid further humiliation at the hands of Ghori’s soldiers. (Thanks to whoopscoop).

Now let us know more about Prithviraj Kapoor, because he last acted exactly 50 years ago. Almost 2 Generations have gone after that and so most readers may not be knowing much about his life, work and career in Indian Cinema. Prithviraj Kapoor (born Prithvinath Kapoor; 3 November 1906 – 29 May 1972) was an actor, film producer, writer, and film director, who is also considered to be one of the founding figures of Hindi cinema. He was associated with IPTA as one of its founding members and established the Prithvi Theatres in 1944 as a travelling theatre company based in Bombay.

He was the patriarch of the Kapoor family of Hindi films, four generations of which, beginning with him, have played active roles in the Hindi film industry, with the youngest generation still active in Bollywood. His father, Basheshwar Nath Kapoor, also played a short role in his movie Awara. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan in 1969 and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1971 for his contributions towards Indian cinema.

Kapoor was born on November 3, 1906 in Samundri, Lyallpur District, Punjab into a Punjabi Hindu Khatri family.His father, Basheshwarnath Kapoor, served as a police officer in the Indian Imperial Police in the city of Peshawar, North West Frontier Province while his grandfather, Keshavmal Kapoor, was a Tehsildar in Samundri.Kapoor’s childhood was largely spent in Lyallpur, Punjab, where his grandparents and extended family lived. Later, his father was transferred to Peshawar, North West Frontier Province, and after and later at Edwardes College Peshawar in Peshawar.

Kapoor began his acting career in the theatres of Lyallpur and Peshawar. In 1928, he moved to Bombay, Bombay Presidency with a loan from an aunt. There he joined the Imperial Films Company and started acting in minor roles in movies. In 1928, he made his acting debut as an extra in his first film, Be Dhari Talwar. He went on to earn a lead role in his third film, titled Cinema Girl, which was released in 1929. After featuring in nine silent films, including Be Dhari Talwar, Cinema Girl, Sher-e-Arab and Prince Vijaykumar, Kapoor did a supporting role in India’s first film talkie, Alam Ara (1931).

In 1931 his two sons died accidentally. He left films and joined Grant Anderson Theatre company. In 1932 when they were at Calcutta, on tour, the company closed down and Kapoor decided to try luck in Calcutta. He joined New Theatres and acted in more than 12 films. He became friends with K N Singh and Kidar Sharma as well as K L Saigal. In 1939, he realised that Bengalees were preferred for roles, he left Calcutta and came back to Bombay joining Ranjit. After sometime he became a Freelancer and worked in films of Minerva, Prakash, Wadia and with Shantaram. He did Historical, Mythological, Social and Stunt films equally. After Raj Kapoor became a producer and director he acted in his films. He developed a reputation as a very fine and versatile actor on both stage and screen.

By 1944, Kapoor had the wherewithal and standing to found his own theatre group, Prithvi Theatres, whose première performance was Kalidasa’s Abhijñānaśākuntalam in 1942. His eldest son, Raj Kapoor, by 1946, had struck out on his own; the films he produced had been successful and this was also an enabling factor. Prithviraj invested in Prithvi Theatres, which staged memorable productions across India. The plays were highly influential and inspired young people to participate in the Indian independence movement and the Quit India Movement. In over 16 years of existence, the theatre staged some 2,662 performances. Prithviraj starred as the lead actor in every single show. One of his popular plays was called Pathan (1947), which was performed on stage nearly 600 times in Mumbai. It opened on 13 April 1947, and is a story of a Muslim and his Hindu friend.

As Kapoor progressed into the 50s, he gradually ceased theatre activities and accepted occasional offers from film-makers, including his own sons. He appeared with his son Raj in the 1951 film Awara as a stern judge who had thrown his own wife out of his house. Later, under his son, Shashi Kapoor, and daughter in law Jennifer Kendal, Prithvi Theatre merged with the Indian Shakespeare theatre company, “Shakespeareana”, and the company got a permanent home, with the inauguration of the Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai on 5 November 1978.

In 1996, the Golden Jubilee year of the founding of Prithvi Theatre, India Post, issued a special two Rupee commemorative postage stamp. It featured the logo of the theatre, the dates 1945–1995, and an image of Kapoor. The first day cover, (stamped 15-1-95), showed an illustration of a performance of a travelling theatre in progress, on a stage that seems fit for a travelling theatre, as Prithvi theatre was for sixteen years, till 1960. On the occasion of 100 years of the Indian cinema, another postage stamp, bearing his likeness, was released by India Post on 3 May 2013.

His filmography of this period includes Mughal-e-Azam (1960), where he gave his most memorable performance as the Mughal emperor Akbar, Harishchandra Taramati (1963) in which he played the lead role, an unforgettable performance as Porus in Sikandar-e-Azam (1965), and the stentorian grandfather in Kal Aaj Aur Kal (1971), in which he appeared with his son Raj Kapoor and grandson Randhir Kapoor. He did 95 films in Hindi. He directed one film Paisa-1957. He had also sung a song in the film Dagabaz Ashiq-1932.Kapoor starred in the legendary Punjabi film Nanak Naam Jahaz Hai (1969), a film so revered in Punjab that there were lines many kilometres long to purchase tickets.
He also starred in the Punjabi films Nanak Dukhiya Sab Sansar (1970) and Mele Mittran De (1972).

He also acted in the Kannada movie Sakshatkara (1971), directed by Kannada director Puttanna Kanagal. He acted as Rajkumar’s father in that movie.

In 1954, he was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, and in 1969, the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India. He remained a Nominated Rajya Sabha Member for eight years.

He was posthumously awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 1971. He was the third recipient of that award, the highest accolade in Indian cinema.

1954: Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship by the Sangeet Natak Akademi
1956: Sangeet Natak Akademi Award by the Sangeet Natak Akademi
1969: Padma Bhushan by the Government of India
1972: Dadasaheb Phalke Award (Posthumous) for the year 1971, for his immense contribution to Indian theatre and cinema
Kapoor was aged 17 when he was married to the 15-year-old Ramsarni Mehra, a lady of his own community and similar background, in a match arranged by their parents in the usual Indian way. The marriage was harmonious and conventional and lasted all their lives. In fact, the wedding had been held even earlier, a few years prior to this, and it was the gauna ceremony (farewell) which was celebrated when Ramsarni reached the age of 15 and became old enough to leave her parents and reside with her husband and in-laws. Ramsarni’s brother, Jugal Kishore Mehra, would later enter films.

The couple’s eldest child, Raj Kapoor, was born the following year in Peshawar, North West Frontier Province, on 14th December, 1924; making Prithviraj a father at age 18. The couple went on to have three more children: sons Shamsher Raj (Shammi) and Balbir Raj (Shashi) (who were to become famous actors and filmmakers in their own right), and daughter, Urmila Sial.

After his retirement, Prithviraj settled in a cottage called Prithvi Jhonpra near Juhu Beach, West Bombay. The property was on lease, which was bought by Shashi Kapoor, and later converted into a small, experimental theatre, the Prithvi Theatre. Both Prithviraj and Ramsarni had cancer and died about a fortnight apart. Prithviraj died on 29 May 1972. (Thanks to information from wiki and the book Beete kal ke sitare by shriram Tamrakar).

Here is a good song by Sitara Kanpuri from the film Prithviraj Sanyogita-1946. Enjoy….


Song-Sundar sapna ban ke aali (Prithviraj Sanyukta)(1946) Singer- Sitara Kanpuri, Lyricist- Akhtar-ul-Iman, MD- S K Pal

Lyrics

Sundar sapna ban ke aali
ban ke aali
Sundar sapna ban ke aali
ban ke aali
nainan mein kaun samaaya
kaun samaaya
ye kaun samaaya
kaun samaaya
ye kaun samaaya
Sundar sapna ban ke aali
ban ke aali
nainan mein kaun samaaya

har umang mein
har tarang mein
har umang mein
har tarang mein
phool paat mein
rang rang mein
rom rom mein
ang ang mein
rom rom mein
ang ang mein
ek hi ko paaya
kaun samaaya
Sundar sapna ban ke aali
ban ke aali
nainan mein kaun samaaya

man matwaara aashaaon ki god mein
god mein aen
jhoola jhoolen
jhoola jhoolen
palchhin paayen sang usi ko
uski baat na bhoolen aen
uski baat na bhoolen aen
kuchh soch soch kar phoolen
kuchh soch soch kar phoolen
ye kaisa rang jamaaya aa aa aa
kaun samaaya
Sundar sapna ban ke aali
ban ke aali
nainan mein kaun samaaya

meethhi yaad kisi ki
man mein amrit ghol rahi hai
man mein amrit ghol rahi hai
saanson ke taaron se tan ki
veena bol rahi hai
veena bol rahi hai
sab duniya dol rahi hai ae
sab duniya
sab duniya dol rahi hai
ye kaisa jaadoo chhaaya aa aa
kaun samaaya
Sundar sapna ban ke aali
ban ke aali
nainan mein kaun samaaya
kaun samaaya
ye kaun samaaya
kaun samaaya
ye kaun samaaya


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 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.

‘Shehzaadi’ (1947) is a film about which not much information is available online except that it was produced under the banner of Shalimar Pictures owned by WZ Ahmed and the film belonged to the costume drama genre. I had searched extensively on the internet about the star cast and the director but drew a blank. Earlier, I had even a doubt whether the film was actually released.
Read more on this topic…


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