Archive for the ‘Song about a profession’ Category
Aayi aayi re maalan Singapur se
Posted on: August 31, 2021
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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The name of Chimanlal Trivedi, the producer-director may not ring bell in the minds of most of the admirers of old Hindi films. In Mumbai, he was the contemporary of well-known producer-directors like Chandulal Shah, A R Kardar, Mehboob Khan, V Shantaram etc in the 1940s.
After working as a writer in Sagar Movietone, in 1937, he set up a film production company, CIRCO (Cine Industries and Recording Company Ltd.) with the help of some Bombay-based shareholders as a public limited company in association with New Theatres. He became the Managing Director of CIRCO. The arrangement was that films would be produced by New Theatres’ in Kolkata with their artists and the financing/marketing of the films would be done by CIRCO in Mumbai. Both of them would share the profit. In 1939, CIRCO took upon itself the production of films in Mumbai with ‘Laxmi’ (1940).
Sometime in 1940, Chimanlal Trivedi was under cloud as there was a court case against him for mismanagement of funds of CIRCO. He had resiged as Managing Director of CIRCO in April 1941. I felt that perhaps this court case may have something to do with Chimanlal Trivedi leaving CIRCO to set up a new film production company, Laxmi Productions. After intense searches on the internet, I got a reference to CIRCO court case in indiankanoon. It was an 8-page judgement delivered on November 24, 1941 by Bombay High Court. The gist of the court case is as under:
A shareholder of CIRCO filed a petition in Bombay High Court against Chimanlal Trivedi, the managing director for the mismanagement of funds and to wind up CIRCO as insolvent based on its financial statements for the year ended March 1940. The court did not find any evidence against Chimanlal Trivedi of mismanagement of fund of CIRCO. As regards declaring the CIRCO insolvent, the Company put the arguments that there were 3 films under productions – ‘Apna Ghar’ (1942, directed by Debki Bose), ‘Nai Duniya’ (1942, directed by A R Kardar) and ’Mahatma Vidur’ (1943, directed by P Y Altekar). As per the estimates, CIRCO was expected to earn a profit of Rs. 11 lakhs after the release of these three films taking into account the star value of the main actors and the eminent directors. The petitioner argued that these three films can as well run into losses.
The court held the view that it cannot declare a company insolvent merely based on the speculation that there could be losses after the release of the films. None of the creditors of the CIRCO and a majority of the shareholders have supported the petition for winding up. The court dismissed the petition with cost.
One of the interesting example of the mismanagement of funds of CIRCO was that Shanta Apte was paid Rs,90000/- for working as heroine in a single film which, according to the petitioner, was unreasonably high. The film was not even completed when the matter was under discussion in the court. CIRCO responded by revealing that the amount was paid to Shanta Apte as ‘waiting salary’ for the unexpired period of her contract with Prabhat Film Company. If the CIRCO had not done so, several film producers would have grabbed the opportunity to secure her services for their future film productions.
Another bone of contention between the petitioner and the company was the way the profit was measured in the film industry. CIRCO had drawn the profit and loss account with realizable revenue from film distributors and expected revenue from the films under production for which distribution rights had been contracted. The petitioner found this practice not in keeping with the good accounting principles as this accounting system hides the true financial position of the company.
On the other hand, CIRCO maintained that it followed the convention among the film production companies in drawing its profit and loss account. More often, there were long gap between making of a film and releasing it. During the making of the films, a good amount of money was spent while the income from films would accrue only after their releases and that too, over a period of time. During the intervening period, the company will have to show losses in its profit and loss account. Hence an estimate of revenue of the company was made for the films under production based on the commitment by the film distributors and also the likely response from the film audience based on the star value.
If all the film production companies of that time drew their profit and loss account based on the estimated future profit, it amounts to masking their true financial position. Probably, this type of ‘accounting jugglery’ made some of the producers to float multiple film production companies after closing the earlier ones. Chimanlal Trivedi was no exception as after 1951, he had floated film production companies in different names.
Though the court verdict came in favour of Chimanlal Trivedi and the Company, this was short-lived as CIRCO went into liquidation in 1942. So, the apprehension of a shareholder who had filed the petition in the court about the mismanagement of funds turned out to be correct even though the Bombay High Court had dismissed his petition. It is interesting to note that Chimanlal Trivedil had hired A R Kardar to direct ‘Swami’ (1941) and ‘Nai Duniya’ (1942) under CIRCO banner. After the liquidation of CIRCO, it was A R Kardar who bought CIRCO’s studio at Parel for Kardar Productions.
Chimanlal Trivedi seems to have departed from the usual practice of hiring the actors and crew as per the studio system. It is said that he would first plan the film project and then hire the actors and crew as per the requirements of the new film. Often, he would select the most popular lead actors and directors as per their box office success and pay them in lumpsum for the film which would often work out much higher than what actors would have got under the studio system. It was reported in Filmindia magazine that Chimanlal Trivedi’s ‘highjacking’ of star actors and directors from some of the well known film production companies of that time affected their shooting schedules for the films under productions.
For ‘Tamanna’ (1942), the maiden film under Laxmi Productions, Chimanlal Trivedi hired Leela Desai, one of the successful actresses of New Theatres along with Jairaj with 7 crew members from Bengal which included Phani Majumdar as director, K C Dey as actor-music director, Bibhuti Laha as Cinematographer and Robin Chatterjee as Sound Recordist. It was Leela Desai’s maiden film in Mumbai. It is said that his financial offer to Leela Desai was so attractive vis-à-vis her salary in New Theatre that she accepted the offer.
Chimanlal Trivedi produced around 45 films during 1940-1960. Surprisingly, even with high-end star actors and eminent directors, especially in 1940s when he produced 28 films, there was not a single film which can be tagged as an outstadning film under his banners. In the 1950s, most of his films he produced were of ‘B’ Grade.
‘Sharaafat’ (1943) was third film with Leela Desai-Chimanlal Trivedi combination as actor and producer, respectively under the banner of Laxmi Productions. The star cast included Leela Desai, Pahadi Sanyal, Jagdish Sethi, Agha, Moti, Ghulam Rasool, S L Puri etc. The film had 9 songs which were set to music by Ashok Ghosh. Lyricist for all the songs is unknown.
I am presenting the first song, ‘aayi aayi re maalan singapur se’ from the film to appear on the Blog. HFGK is silent on the singers of the song. But it is apparent that the voices in the song are that of Amirbai Karnataki and Pahadi Sanyal with an unknown female voice in between. At the outset, the song appears to be ‘sales pitch’ but after the completion of the song, a long musical orchestration gives an impression of a stage song.
With this song, ‘Sharaafat’ (1943) makes its debut on the Blog.
Audio Clip:
Song-Aayi aayi re maalan Singapur se (Sharaafat)(1943) Singers-Amirbai Karnataki, Pahadi Sanyal, Unknown female voice, MD-Ashok Ghosh
Amirbai Karnataki + Pahadi Sanyal
Lyrics
aayi aayi re
haan aayi aayi re
aayi re maalan Singapur se
haan Singapur se
haan haan Singapur se
oh
aaya aaya re
haan haan aaya aaya re
aaya re maali
haan Rangoon se
haan haan Rangoon se
haan haan Rangoon se
rang birange phool hamaare
rang birange phool hamaare
rang birange gehane
bhaagonwaala le jaayega
bhaagonwaali pehne
gori pehanegi
haan gori pehanegi
dil ke hain naina jaa ke teer se
haan haan jaa ke teer se
haan haan jaa ke teer se
aayi re maalan Singapur se
phoolon se mehka do
more tan ko aaj saja do
phoolon se meha do
more tan ko aaj saja do
bas jaaun aa ke nainon mein
aisa jaal bichhaa do
aao aao ree
haan haan
aao aao ree
raah takoon mein teri der se
haan teri der se
haan haan teri der se
aayi re maalan Singapur se
raat ki raani kaa gajra
champe ki kaliyon kaa jhoomar
kyun deke phoolon ki maala
nargis ke gunchhon ki jhaanjhar
nikhra waah waah roop tihaara
joban dhoom machaaye
nikhra waah waah roop tihaara
joban dhoom macchaaye
nayi jawaani chhaayi raani
jo dekhe lalchaaye
aao aao ri
haan haan aao aao ri
raah takoon mein teri der se
haan teri der se
haan haan teri der se
aayi re maalan Singapur se
Ham ban gaye sab bade doctor
Posted on: May 23, 2019
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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Today’s song is from a very old film-Do Deewane-1936. The film was made by Sagar Movietone. It was directed by Chimanlal Luhar and the music was by Pransukh Nayak.
The film was a Comedy film. Originally made in Gujarati as ” Be kharab jan “, it was based on a play written by the famous Literary figure of Gujarat- Kanhaiyalal Munshi ( 30-12-1887 to 8-2-1971 ). He was an activist in Independence struggle, a Politician ( Home Minister and Governor), a writer and an educationist (founded Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan). Munshi had dabbled in film industry and many Gujarati and Hindi films were made on his plays and stories in almost every decade.
All the 11 songs of the film were written by the famous Gujarati poet ” Raskavi ” Raghunath Bramhabhatt. He was born on 13-12-1892. He was a famous Gujarati poet and also a popular playwright. He was aptly called ‘Rasakavi’ or ‘Poet of rasa’. He began his career by writing erotic poems that became very popular. His plays mainly tackled mythological and historical subjects, such as Buddhadev i.e. ‘The God Buddha’, Sringi rishi i.e. ‘Mountain Sage’, Ajatsatru, Saraswatichandra, Sneh mudra i.e. ‘Ring of Affection’. He followed Sanskrit dramaturgy i.e. a novelty when Shakespearean adaptations ruled the Gujarati stage. His adaptations of Nanalal Kavi’s verse plays and Govardhanram’s novel, Saraswatichandra, were highly appreciated by audiences. He is accepted in literary circles as a major dramatist, a rare recognition for a writer of the old professional theatre. His autobiography Smaran manjari i.e. ‘Cluster of Memories’ in 1955 traces the history of Gujarati theatre over three decades beginning from 1910.
Darpana’s productions of his play Kalyan rajya i.e. ‘Benevolent Kingdom’ in 1962 points to his ability to attract the experimental theatre.Raghunath Brahmbhatt died on 11-7-1983. He wrote lyrics for just 6 Hindi films- Do deewane-36, Baaraat-42, Mera Gaon-42, Ashirwad-43, Bhakta Bilwamangal-48 and Roop sundari-49.
The film cast was Motilal, Shobhana Samarth, Yakub, Aruna Devi, Sankata Prasad, Bhudo Advani and others. The name of Aruna Devi may be a new one for many. She started acting in films with film Village Girl-36. The same year, she also acted in Mard ka Bachha, Lagna Bandhan,Do Deewane and Deccan Queen ( she did a double role in this film. She also sang 2 songs in this film.) and in 1938 she acted in her last film Asha-38. After this she got married to a businessman Mr. Nanavati and settled in England- ending her very short career as an actress.
Do Deewane was the first film in which Motilal and Shobhana Samarth acted together. In later life, however, besides acting, they lived a life together also in real life. The film was directed by Chimanblal Luhar.
The Director CHIMANLAL MULJIBHOY LUHAR ( 1901-1948) was a Chemistry graduate from Bombay University. He started writing as a critic and author in journals like Beesvin sadee, Navchetan and Bombay Chronicle. He joined film line as a lab Assistant in Kohinoor studios in early 20s. Soon he became a noted cameraman for several documentaries, with K.D.Brothers, Bombay,under a British cameraman of Prince of Wales’ official entourage. After a brief stint at Rajkot with Saurashtra Films and a longer one at Krishna Films-where he shot 20 films, he joined Sharada Studios with ‘Dagabaz Duniya-1926 and several stunt films by Master Vithal. He turned a producer for a few stunt films. Later he was a partner in Sharda films and a Director with Sagar Movietone(1934-1940). From 1941 to 46 he worked for Prakash Pictures. He directed Sassi Punnu-32,Silver King-35 Talash-E-haq (first film of Nargis, made by Jaddanbai)-35, Do deewane, Kharab Jaan, Capt. Kirtikumar, Dynamite, Kaun kisika, Sewa Samaj, Saubhagya, Darshan, Station master, School Master, Uss paar and Bindiya. He died at the young age of 47 years,in 1948. He had established his own production outfit ‘Sun Art Pictures’ in 1943, but he made only 3 films with it -School Master-43, Uss Paar-44 and Bindiya-46, before he died, after a prolonged illness.
FILMOGRAPHY: 1932: Sassi Punnu; 1935: Silver King; Talash-e-Haq; 1936: Do Diwane/Be Kharab Jan; 1937: Captain Kirti Kumar; 1938: Dynamite; 1939: Kaun Kisika; Seva Samaj; 1940: Saubhagya; 1941: Darshan; 1942: Station Master; 1943: School Master; 1944: Us Paar; 1946: Bindiya.
Film Do Deewane took a satirical look at the practice in society, the character of a father, forcing his daughter into a marriage for monetary incentive, was at the heart of this film. The daughter runs away from home and meets a lot of people. In his original stage drama, Munshi had brought different people speaking in different languages- creating kind of a humour, however in the Hindi film version it was only Hindi language spoken by different people…still creating laughs by their grammar and pronunciation.
While doing the shooting, Motilal was quite hesitant and shy in love scenes. There was a scene in which he was supposed to take the Heroine in his arms. But even after trying several times Motilal could not do it. Fed up of waiting for long, it was Shobhana who jerked him towards her and embraced him ! Imagine who must have blushed in this scene !!
In another scene, Shobhana is sitting on a swing. Motilal had to come from behind and push the swing to frighten her.While doing the rehearsal of this scene, Motilal gave a hard push to the swing to look realistic. As a result Shobhana not only fell off the swing but promptly became unconscious also. It was then that Motilal came to know that she was pregnant. Later on 4-6-1936, Shobhana gave birth to Nutan !
The story of the film was the usual conflict between Generation thinkings and values. Since the time unknown, newer Generations have always felt that the older people were not keeping up with current times. This was so 100 years ago and is very much true even today. The film which was made about 80 years ago tried to discuss this conflict, cinematically. Millionaire Ramdas wants to marry his daughter as per his choice. Not agreeing to this daughter Miss Rambha (Shobhana Samarth) runs away from home and in her quest of peace, meets Dr. Mohanlal (Motilal). They fall in love. At the end it is revealed that Mohanlal was the original choice of her father. So, all is well.
The film had subplots to create comic situations. However, as per the review of the film posted in Film India magazine, the comedy did not induce most people in the audience to laugh and acting of most actors was mediocre. The technical side was much appreciated. Anyway, Baburao Patel of Film India magazine rarely appreciated or had good words for any film, so nothing new in this review also.
There were 11 songs in the film. The composer was Pransukh Nayak, who started his career with film Sati Sone-33 and ended with film Kulvadhu-37, giving music to 27 films in between this period and composed 293 songs.
In Sagar Movietone, many actors, actresses, directors and technicians got first opportunity or got opportunity to develop their existing careers. The Regular artistes of Sagar Movietone were called ” The Jewels of Sagar “. They included Motilal, Surendra, Kumar, Charlie, Yakub, Bhudo Advani, Sh. Mukhtar, Kanhaiyalal, Sankata Prasad, V H Desai, Sabita Devi, Bibbo, Waheedan Bai, Jyoti, Maya Banerjee, Nalini Jaywant, Ezra Mir, Ramchandra Thakur, mehboob, Sarvottam Badami, Zia Sarhadi, Faredoon Irani, Kaushik Dholabhai and Anil Biswas.
Today’s song is a fun song. From the lyrics, it sounds like a group of freshly graduated Doctors. The song has many medical terms and mentions of Medical instruments etc. This is a Chorus song. With this song, film Do Deewane makes its Debut on the Blog.
( I am thankful to the book ” Sagar Movietone”, by Biren kothari ji for information used herein.)
Song-Hum ban gaye sab bade doctor (Do Deewaane)(1936) Singer- Chorus, Lyricist- Raghunath Bramhabhatt, MD- Pransukh Nayak
Lyrics
Hum ban gaye sab bade doctor
physician aur Surgeon
patient hamaara dilbar
chaaku hamaara nashtar
Hum ban gaye sab bade doctor
physician aur Surgeon
patient hamaara dilbar
chaaku hamaara nashtar
koi nine pills aur powder
koi nine pills aur powder
koi nine pills aur powder
koi nine pills aur powder
tonic lotion aur tincture
tonic lotion aur tincture
tonic lotion aur tincture
tonic lotion aur tincture
patient hamaara ho mister(?)
patient hamaara ho mister(?)
phir mauj kare kheese bhar kar
phir mauj kare kheese bhar kar
bane hunarwar chale akadkar
badhe position ghar ghar
bane hunarwar chale akadkar
badhe position ghar ghar
MBBS
FS(?)
ab kaun hai hamse badhkar
ab kaun hai hamse badhkar
ham ban gaye sab bade doctor
physician aur Surgeon
patient hamaara dilbar
chaaku hamaara nashtar
ham ban gaye sab bade doctor
physician aur Surgeon
patient hamaara dilbar
chaaku hamaara nashtar
koi nine pills aur powder
koi nine pills aur powder
koi nine pills aur powder
koi nine pills aur powder
tonic lotion aur tincture
tonic lotion aur tincture
tonic lotion aur tincture
tonic lotion aur tincture
patient hamaara ho mister(?)
patient hamaara ho mister(?)
phir mauj kare kheese bhar kar
phir mauj kare kheese bhar kar
bane hunarwar chale akadkar
badhe position ghar ghar
bane hunarwar chale akadkar
badhe position ghar ghar
MBBS
FS
ab kaun hai hamse badhkar
ab kaun hai hamse badhkar
ham ban gaye sab bade doctor
physician aur Surgeon
patient hamaara dilbar
chaaku hamaara nashtar
ham ban gaye sab bade doctor
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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