Archive for the ‘Vasanti Solo Song’ Category
Chal dheerey dheerey dheerey
Posted on: August 16, 2023
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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5507 | Post No. : | 17950 |
Today’s song is from the film Aap ki Marzi aka As you please-(1939).
The Talkie era started with the beginning of the 1930s decade, i.e. in 1931. By 1939, it entered the last year of that decade. Within the first 9 years, the film industry had shed its skin several times before beginning a new phase in the 40’s. Most artistes of the early Talkie era were those who came over from the Silent films. Many such artistes ended their careers while the remaining ones began ending their careers. While all this happened there were new entrants with their own new styles of acting.
The system of Playback singing was getting settled. This had given a respite to the singing artistes from singing while shooting the scenes, which restricted their movements. This also saved a terrible balancing act for the Music instrument players who had to perform during shootings, taking care they did not show up in the camera range. Most importantly, now songs could be shot on the Non singing artistes too and songs could be shot on different locations as the artistes had to only lip synch and not actually sing the songs. This also opened up a new category of playback singers who were not acting in the films, paving way to singers like Lata Mangeshkar, Mohd. Rafi etc.
While all this was happening in the film industry, the world had plunged into the II World War from September 1939. It not only affected the entire world but also the Hindi film industry, as the Raw film used for shootings was imported. In due course restrictions were imposed on the quota allotments to studios under certain conditions. let us take a look at the film scene of the year 1939….
The year was 1939 and the British Government had declared war against Germany and Japan, as soon as the WW II began. All countries ruled by Britain were – willingly or unwillingly, drawn into the war efforts and its effects. The war began in the month of September and soon various restrictions came into operation – like rationing, blackouts, shortages etc. The film industry which was still under its development stage suffered. It also realised the importance of remaining united as one industry. However, all that came after 1 or 2 years. In 1939 there was not much effect seen on the film industry.
The industry had its own problems. In spite of the playback system in operation, their problem was that because there was no technique of recording from the film negative yet, the singers had to sing twice. Once for the actual film shooting of the song, and later, with the same set of orchestra, for commercial records. Sometimes, the original singer was not available due to any reason, some other singer had to sing for commercial records. Thus we have many such examples, where the singer in the film song and the record is different. However, this problem continued only till mid 50’s when the Tape and the required technique became available. With just one time recording, the film and commercial recording were taken care of.
Khemchand Prakash. K.Datta (Datta Koregaonkar), Rafiq Ghaznavi and Anupam Ghatak made their Debut as Music Directors. Kavi Pradeep wrote his first film song for film Kangan. In 1939, 2 most Unusual songs were presented, for the first time . One was a Multi-Lingual song from film Aadmi-39, a film by Prabhat….Kis liye kal ki baat. This song was in Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Gujarati, Bangla, Tamil and Telugu. ( In its Marathi film version-” माणूस “, this song was only in one language-Marathi.) Different Lyricists and MDs were used for each language. The song became very popular.
Second unusual song was from film ‘ Ghareeb ka Laal’-1939. The song lyrics had the names of 32 artistes, operating in Hindi films that time. Top Heroes and Heroines were mentioned in this song. The beginning of the song was ” Tuze Bibbo kahoon ya Sulochana, Uma shashi kahoon ki Jamuna “. This song was sung by the comedian Mirza Musharraf. In later years many songs with film artistes’ names came but none had so many names. Thus this record is still unbroken, in case of this song.
Besides these songs, let us quickly take a look at some films of 1939….
Aadmi – Prabhat’s hit film, a remake of the Marathi film ” माणूस “. It had some good songs by Shanta Hublikar, Sundarabai Jadhav and Ram Marathe.
Adhuri Kahani – a trend of Tragedy films set by the effect of film ‘Devdas’. All the 3 main characters of this film commit suicide in the end.
Badi Didi – A New Theatres film.
Brandy ki Botal – Master Vinayak’s comedy remake of Marathi film ‘ ब्रॅंडीची बाटली ‘.
Dil hi to hai – Debut of Kidar Sharma as a Director and Ramola as a Heroine in a Hindi film.
Dushman – New Theatres’ film of Saigal, with only his 4 songs.
Ek hi Raasta – Sagar presents first film with 3 Heroes in one film.
Ghazi Salauddin – Debut of Khemchand Prakash as M.D.
Hukum ka Ikka – First film with a Triple role by Umakant Desai ( who later specialised as Lakshman in 7 films, including Ramrajya-43).
Imaandaar – Debut of actress Shamim Akhtar.
India in Africa – This was the First Hindi film to be shot abroad (in Africa). The Hero B. Nandrekar had also gone to Africa for its shooting. Naaz-54 was not the first such film, though HFGK mentions it so.( Ref – pp 69, Maharashtra-The Birthplace of Indian cinema by Isak Mujawar)
Kangan – First of the 4 Hit films of Ashok kumar and Leela Chitnis, made by Bombay Talkies. Kavi Pradeep’s Debut as a Lyricist in this film.
Kapal kundala – New Theatres. Pankaj mullick’s hit song ‘ Piya milan ko jaana ‘.
Leather Face – Debut of Meena kumari as a child artiste.
Navjeevan – Debut of Hansa Wadkar as a Heroine- Bombay Talkies film.
Pukar – Hit film from Minerva Movietone. Naseem Bano sings ” Zindagi ka saaz bhi kya saaz hai….”
The film Aap ki marzi was made by Sudama Productions, Bombay and was directed by its owner Sarvottam Badami. MD was Gyan Dutt. The cast consisted of Sabita Devi, Motilal, Vasanti, Mazhar, Khurshid, Sunalini Devi, K.N.Singh, Jagdisha Sethi and others. The director was Sarvottam Badami-a well known name in those days to direct funny, comedy and hilarious movies. In his days, he was one of the most sought after directors.
The music was by the grand old man of HFM, Gyan Dutt. The lyricists were P L Santoshi, well known for light and comedy songs and S P Kalla.
The cast included Motilal as Sumant, Sabita Devi as Shashi, Majhar as Sir Bansilal and Govind lal, Khursheed as Manjiri, K.N.Singh, Sethi,Sunalini devi etc.
The story takes place in Bombay’s rich area Nepian Sea Road, where Seth Sir Bansilal stays with his wife-Susheela (sunalini devi) and niece Shashi .Bansilal is very fond of solving crossword puzzles and Shashi helps him. In one such contest, where he contested as an ordinary man Govindlal,he gets the second prize.The first prize is won by a handsome youngbut jobless man Sumant. The prize is a trip to Kashmir.
Bansilal’s wife sends Shashi with him to keep an eye on him and take his care. As Bansilal is going there as a common man Govindlal, they decide that Shashi and Govindlal will act as strangers in the hotel. Unknown to them, his wife has made arrangements for Bansilal in his real name in Shalimar Hotel, Kashmir.
All 3 persons arrive on the same day, First comes Sumant, who is mistaken as Sir Bansilal and given the best room and due respect etc. He gets confused but enjoys all this. Govindlal is given an ordinary room and Shashi takes a good room.
In the hotel, Shashi accidentally breaks some valuable pots Sumant is carrying and they start fighting. The hotel manager comes, pacifies them and tells Shashi not to trouble Sir Bansilal. Shashi is shocked. She goes to his room and says if you are Bansilal, I am your niece. They start fighting again. Govindlal comes and pacifies them .Sumant learns that he is the second winner and calls him for dinner. Shashi also forces herself on the dinner. Shashi and Sumant fall in love.
The film falls on usual song, dance understanding, misunderstanding and interference by the Hotel girl Manjiri sequences. Manjiri tries to blackmail Sumant to extract some money, but finally,Sir Bansilal discloses his identity and all is well at the end.
It was a very entertaining film. When I saw this film, the print was in terrible state and songs were not heard properly. I do not know if this film copy is still available.
The film had 11 songs by Gyan Dutt, Sabita Devi, Vasanti, and Khursheed.
There are two interesting names in the cast – Vasanti and Sunalini Devi. Vasanti Vinayakrao Ghorpade,was born on 23-3-1925 in Kolhapur. Her father’s sister Tanibai was a famous classical singer. Married to Bapusaheb Kagalkar,Tanibai was active in films till 1931 in Kolhapur.
Vasanti was trained by Pt. Vamanrao Sadolikar and Ustad Bamman Khan. V.Shantaram was her neighbour. He saw her and offered a role in films. She first acted in Dharmatma-35 as a child artist. Then came Amarjyoti-36 and Duniya na maane-37. Her songs in these films were popular. She left Prabhat in 1939 and joined Ranjit. She was so popular that she was called Shirley Temple of Hindi films.
She did Sant Tulsidas-(1939), Aapki Marzi-(1939), Musafir-(1940), Diwali-(1940), Achoot-(1940), Beti-(1941), Sukh Dukh-(1942), Bhaktaraj-(1943), Kurbani-(1943), Meena-(1944), Bhagya laxmi-(1944) and Bachhon ka Khel-(1946) also. She sang 56 songs in 14 films. She did not sing in BhagyaLaxmi-(1944) and Meena-(1944), but sang in Holi-(1940). Her last film was Bachhon ka khel-(1946),which was the first film of Meena Kumari, as an adult.
In 1944, during the shooting of film Bhagya Laxmi-(1944), she married the already married Indubhai Patel and settled in Bangalore. After husband’s death, she shifted to Hyderabad and lived there happily, with her 3 sons and a daughter. She died somewhere in the year 2005.
Our senior readers will know Sarojini Naidu’s name who was well known in the pre-independence era, but not many will know that her elder sister was Sunalini Devi-an actress and younger brother Harindranath Chatopadhyaya, an actor. Sunalini Devi, the actress, was born on 1-1-1896 in Hyderabad Deccan. Her father, Aghornath Chatopadhyay-a Bengali settled in Hyderabad – was a Sanskrit scholar, was proficient in 27 languages and was the first Indian to get the D.Sc. honour. Sunalini was the elder sister of Sarojini, who became Sarojini Naidu after her marriage, and Harindranath Chattopadhyay-renowned poet.
Sunalini learnt Music and Dance from her third year of age itself. Due to her sweet voice, she was called ‘ Kokila ‘. It is to be noted that her younger sister Saojini Naidu was called ‘ Nightingale of India’ ! It is unfortunate that the film industry did not use Sunalini’s music skill in her films and she sang just one song in her career in the film ‘ Raja Rani-(1942)’.Sunalini started acting in stage dramas from 1918.
Her first movie was “Light of Asia”-released initially in Germany and Poland in 1925 ( its restored version was released on 5th July 2001, in India. ) This film was made by Himanshu Rai. The film was shot in Lahore. It was a silent film on Gautama the Buddha. Her first Talkie film was ‘ veer Kunal-(1932)’. She acted in 56 films. Mostly she was known for motherly roles only. She had, like her more eminent sister, married a south Indian- Mr.A.S.Rajan, a writer from Madras. Some of her more known films are Aurat,Lalaji, Inkaar, Nai Roshni, Talaash, Bairam khan, Tamasha, Dilruba, Malhar etc etc. Her last film was Chingari-(1955). She retired from films in 1956.
Today’s song is sung by Vasanti.
Song- Chal Dheere dheere dheere (Aap Ki Marzi)(1939) Singer-Vasanti, Lyrics-P L Santoshi, MD-Gyan Dutt
Lyrics
Chal Dheere ae
dheere ae ae ae
Dheere ae
Chal Dheere dheere dheere
teree jeewan gathhree bhaaree re
Chal Dheere
chal dheere ae ae
teree jeewan gathhree bhaaree re
Chal Dheere
baandhh rakha kitna dukh toone
baandhh rakhee kitnee aahen (?)
baandhh rakha kitna dukh toone
baandhh rakhee kitnee aahen (?)
baandh rakhaa aa aa aa
kitna aa aa dukh a a tooone
baandhh rakhee kitnee aahen
baandhh rakhee kitnee aahen
baandhh rakhee kitnee aahen
man ke chhote tukde mein
man ke chhote tukde mein
saaree duniya baandhee re
Chal Dheere
chal dheere ae ae
teree jeewan gathhree bhaaree re
Chal Dheere dheere dheere
Jo pahne ban jaaye dulhan
Posted on: November 8, 2020
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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4496 | Post No. : | 16027 |
Today’s song is from the film Beti-1941.
In India, most people want a Son and not a daughter, but the thinking of film makers seems to be different. From 1931 to 2012 period, only one film titled BETA was made in 1992, whereas there were 3 films titled BETI, made in 1941, 1957 and 1969. there was also one film called BETI NO. 1 made in 2000. Interestingly, while there was a film called BETA HO TO AISA in 1994, there was also a film called BETI TUMHARE JAISI in 1969. As if a compromise was done, there was a film BETI-BETE in 1964 (here also BETI came first). I am happy about this because, hopefully, it indicates where the Indian society is heading to !
1941 was the first year in the second decade of the Talkie Era and it was the beginning of the emergence of a New film industry. When Talkie started in 1931, for many years after that, the films were made by the people who had done work in the Silent films. These films had a spill over for the silent era artistes. Once the films started talking,most silent artistes who could not speak Hindi or Urdu automatically disappeared. Thus started the influx of new actors who could speak Hindi and sing songs, in whatever way they could. Intelligent directors like V Shantaram,Bhavnani, Sohrab Modi, Chandulal Shah, Himanshu Rai, B N Sircar, L V Prasad and a host of Gujarati directors understood that the Talkie needs a different treatment than silent films. Music directors from stage dramas tried their hand in composing film music.
In the next 8-9 years, there was a perceptible change in the film making, acting, singing, and composing music in the films that were made. Quality artistes from the silent era continued for some more years – finally giving way to the new artistes. The 30s and the 40s mostly differed in film music and story contents. The new blood composers like Anil Biswas, C Ramchandra, Naushad, Ghulam Haider, K Datta, Hansraj Behl, Bulo C Rani, Gyan Dutt and many more replaced the Parsi, Marathi and Gujarati drama music to more acceptable lilting songs. Many musical films were made and some everlasting songs were composed by these people. At the end of the 40’s decade one more major change in the film industry took place due to Partition. More about it when we discuss a song from 1951 in coming times.
Today’s film is an excellent example in which the cast indicated artistes, none of whom lasted till 1951. Most retired, some died and a few migrated to Pakistan. The film was directed by Jayant Desai, music was by Gyan Dutt, lyricists were D N Madhok and B R Sharma. The actors were Khurshid, Arun, Vasanti, Ghori, Bilimorea, kesari, Nagendra, Rewashankar and Khatun etc.etc.
In my last post I had written about the multifaceted S N Tripathi, who was an actor, singer, music director and director. Some readers were surprised to read about his multiple activities. But in the Hindi cinema field, there were some really talented, multi activity artistes, both in films and outside films. Offhand I can mention at least 3 such artistes. The first is Dewan Sharar, who was from a Royal clan. He was editor of an Urdu cine-magazine, worked in New York with League of Nations, editor of a London weekly, Wrote many books in English, wrote story of film KARMA-33 an English film, wrote many Radio plays on BBC, Producer and actor in the Hindi version of film Karma-33, worked for A.I.R. Delhi, acted in 8 Hindi films, wrote stories of 10 films and 62 songs in 12 films.
Second example is of Pandit Badri Prasad, who was a Hero, character actor, director, producer, Singer, Music Director, Lyricist and Choreographer in addition to being a Sanskrit scholar. Third example is Sailesh Mukherji – actor, singer, Music Director and Interior Designer (Mala Sinha’s bungalow), Radio compere on A.I.R. Calcutta.
In today’s film also there is one such multi activity artiste. The name is Nagendra Majumdar. He was the father of Ninu majumdar, the music director. Nagendra was born in a happy family in the year 1894 in Bombay. After his father died, “Pearl Dairy’ established by his father ran very well doing good business. Suddenly, Nagendra’s wife fell seriously ill and despite taking her full care, she expired. Due to neglect of the Dairy in this period, Dairy also closed down.
He shifted to Baroda and worked as a State Police Inspector. Later he worked as a Watch and Ward Inspector in Baroda Railways. He left the job and started working as a hero in dramas of famous dramatist R.V.Desai. Heeralal, the owner of Laxmi Film Company, Bombay was impressed with his personality and took him to Bombay in 1926 to act in his silent films. Thus started his film career. In those days Silent films used to be completed within a month. He worked as a Hero in films of Laxmi, Jagdish and Imperial film companies.
In the same year, he directed a film ‘Paani mein aag’-1926, made by Royal Arts. Then came two more films made by Kaiser E Hind films. He also directed films for other companies. In all, he directed 15 Silent films by 1932. By then the Talkie had arrived. In the next 14 years he directed 12 Talkie films like – Ras Vilas-32, Sassi Punnu-32, Patit Pawan-33, mirza Sahibaan-33, Mera Imaan-34, Kala Wagh-34, Rangila nawab-35, Kimiyagar-36, Aaj ka Alladin aka Alladin II-36, Lehri lutera-37, Talwarwala-46 and Swadesh Sewa-46.
When offers for direction became few, he started acting in films. He acted in 12 films. When K L Saigal came to Bombay, Nagendra wanted to work with him. In the film Tansen-43, he did the role of Tansen’s (Saigal’s) father and he was very happy. Other films that he acted in were Kanchan-41,Beti-41, Khilauna-42, Bhakt Surdas-42, Armaan-42, Tansen-43, Gauri-43, Adab Arz-43, Bharthari-44, Prabhu ka Ghar-45, Ghazal-45 and Dhanna Bhagat-45.
His last 2 films came in 1946, but his health was not cooperating for quite a few years. He gave up work and took a rest. However, he suffered from paralysis and died on 22-8-1951. His son Ninu Majumdar worked in Bombay A.I.R. as head of Gujarati programmes, since 1937. By the time Nagendra died, Ninu had already started working as a Music Director.
As a Director, Nagendra had worked with the best of his times like, Master Vithal, Zubeida, Jillo, Billimorea brothers, Madhuri, Navinchandra, Durga Khote, Jairaj, Sultana, Noorjehan sr and such luminaries of those days. He had worked for Ranjit, Imperial, Sharda, Lakshmi, Jayant Desai films, Yagnik films etc etc.
There is a name Revashankar in the cast. Some of Ranjit Movietone’s earliest talkie films had music by Jhande Khan. Next came the trio of Banne Khan, Ganga Prasad Pathak and Rewa Shankar Marwari. None of that music was ever released on 78 rpm records. From 1938-39, the great duo of Jnan Dutt and Khemchand Prakash took over the charge of Ranjit’s music, later to be joined by Bulo C Rani. It was only around 1938 that RANJIT started releasing its film music on 78-rpm records.
Rewa Shankar Marwari’s association with Ranjit Films and films produced or directed by ex-Ranjit hand Jayant Desai continued in the 1940s. He acted in 27 films, till 1955, sang 12 songs in 9 films and gave music to 21 films from Veer Babruwahan-34 to Matrubhoomi-49.
Rewa Shankar sang a beautiful classical composition ‘jay jay shankar’ in Shankar Parvati (1943) for composer Jnan Dutt. It is available with several collectors, and is a rare instance of film music using Raag Shree.
Lastly about actress Khatun. Miss Khatun Bano was born and brought up in a poor Muslim family of Lahore. As per the family tradition, she learnt dancing and singing. once, when she was performing on stage in Lahore, the Talent hunter of Sagar movietone spotted her and she was offered a role in a Talkie film- which was a novelty in 1931. Her first film was Abul Hasan-31. Then came Subhadra haran-32, Meerabai-32, Maya Bazar-32 etc etc. In all, she acted in 59 films, till her last film Ibrat-60. She also sang 25 songs in 12 films.
Today’s song is the 7th song of this film to be presented. In one of the song posts, our Sadanand Kamath ji has given the film story already. For me too, this is my second song from Beti-41 to be discussed here.
( Credits – Information for this, is collated from various sources like Listener’s Bulletins No. 40 of Feb-80 and No.145 of July 2010, HFGK, muVyz, Sapnon ke Saudagar by Vithal Pandya, Silent films by Dr.Verma, Lost Treasures by kamlakar P. and my notes.)
Song-Jo pahne ban jaaye dulhan (Beti)(1941) Singer- Vasanti, Lyricist- D N Madhok, MD- Gyan Dutt
Chorus
Male Chorus
Lyrics
Jo pahne ban jaaye dulhan
Jo pahne ban jaaye dulhan
thhan thhan nikle baala joban
thhan thhan nikle baala joban
dekh dekh lalchaaye saajan
sautan ka jo jiya jalaaye
aisi saadi kaun banaaye
Shankar mill
Shankar mill
Shankar mill
Jo pahne ban jaye dulhan
Jo pahne ban jaye dulhan
thhan thhan nikle baala joban
chhan chhan nikle baala joban
dekh dekh lalchaaye saajan
sautan ka jo jiya jalaaye
aisi saadi kaun banaaye
Shankar mill
Shankar mill
Shankar mill
laala jee jab baahar jaayen
dhoti patlidaar banaayen
laala jee jab baahar jaayen
dhoti patlidaar banaayen
laali jee ka joban bhaaye
aisi dhoti kaun banaaye
Shankar mill
Shankar mill
Shankar mill
laali jee ka joban bhaaye
aisi dhoti kaun banaaye
Shankar mill
Shankar mill
Shankar mill
patli patli pyaari malmal
patli patli pyaari malmal
sabse sundar sabse komal
tan ko laage jaise makhmal
saajan ko de josh ramaaye
aisi makhmal kaun banaaye
Shankar mill
Shankar mill
Shankar mill
saajan ko ?? ramaaye
aisi makhmal kaun banaaye
Shankar mill
Shankar mill
Shankar mill
Shankar mill
Shankar mill
Shankar mill
Ankhiyan Ke Tum Taare Pyaare
Posted on: September 23, 2018
- In: "Aankh" song | Actor-Singer song | Biography of actors | Biography of artists | Devnagri script lyrics by Sudhir | Feelings of heart | Guest posts | Lyrics contributed by readers | mother-child song | Parent Child song | Pathos | Poignant Song | Post by Sudhir | Song of 1936 | Songs of 1930s (1931 to 1940) | Vasanti Solo Song | Vasanti Song | Yearwise breakup of songs
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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 : | 3719 | Post No. : | 14653 |
When ‘Bawarchi ‘ was released in 1972, I had seen it on the big screen in the theatre with family. In this film, Hrishikesh Mukherji has woven a remarkable story of a joint family and their interesting interactions. The head of the family (a widower), his three sons, two daughters in law, third son still a bachelor, and three children. The roles of the two daughters in law were played by Durga Khote and Usha Kiran. Being quite un-exposed to cinema otherwise (it was school years for me) I was quite unfamiliar with these two ladies when I saw this film for the first time.
I was later to recall these two senior actresses, when I would get to see their earlier, older films. The first such re-introduction was when I saw ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ (1960) on TV for the first time. Then I came to recognize Durga Khote in her role as Jodha Bai, and connected her with her role in ‘Baawarchi’. The two films had a difference of 12 years, and decidedly, she is looking much younger and sweeter in her role as Badi Maa in ‘Baawarchi’, compared to her royal appearance as the empress of India and wife of Emperor Akbar. One scene (from ‘Baawarchi’) that really amazed me and mesmerized me, is the family song situation from an early morning impromptu get together of the family members – “Bhor Aayee Gaya Andhiyaara”. During the course of this song, the two supposedly middle aged daughters in law perform the rapid pace thaap steps dance to the rapid taal – “dhiga tum naa naa naa naa naa” being rendered by the family help Raghu (role played by Rajesh Khanna). It was a real wonder to see the two ladies perform that sequence. A quick check reminded me that Durga Khote was, goodness, 67 years of age, when she performed in ‘Bawarchi’.
Remembering Durga Khote on the anniversary of her passing away (22nd September).
The first and the top most lady luminary of the Hindi cinema, Durga Khote was born on 14th January, 1905, in a well known family of Bombay. The family hailed from Goa and spoke Konkani at home. Her mother’s name was Manjulabai. Her father, Pandurang Shamrao Laud, was a famous lawyer and her brother was also a well known barrister. The young Vita Laud (her maiden before marriage) was educated, like her siblings, at Cathedral High School and St. Xavier’s College from where she did her B.A. While still in college, she was married into the Khote family, graduated and settled down with her husband. By the age of 26, she was a widowed mother of two sons – Bakul and Harin.
Into this scenario, and a life of a very traditional family, plopped in something utterly new – the world of cinema. Durga Khote wanted to work to support her children. In doing so, she became a pioneer of sorts. It was a time when the film industry was regarded as the preserve of the base and the bawdy. Also, most of the female characters were played by men at the time.
It all came about through her sister Shalini, also married and having amongst her circle of friends, a gentleman by the name JBH Wadia. At the time JBH was working with Mohan Bhavnani as the latter’s assistant. The talkies had just made their appearance on the silver screen. Bhavnani who had just made a picture, wanted to give it the box office appeal of a “talkie” ending. The picture starred Mrs. Bhavnani and her husband was looking out for a girl who would feature with his wife in the climax scenes of the film. Approached by JBH, Shalini refused. But knowing Durga as a person who would try anything once, she recommended her. Durga was ready to have a go at the part, accepted the role and went off to the studios the same day. Mr. Bhavnani’s heterogeneous production was soon completed, printed and made ready for release.
The film flopped. And for the beautiful young housewife and mother there followed a period of embarrassment at being connected with a filmy disaster. The film was ‘Farebi Jaal’ (also titled as ‘Trapped’ in English). “That is just how I felt when I saw it. It was a terrible film,” Durga Khote recalls in an earlier interview. She goes on to say that, “. . . my position was more than awkward. I had suddenly achieved a fair measure of notoriety. I just couldn’t walk around in Girgaum without people pointing at me.”
Looking back on it she laughed at the by-gone crisis. Through all this turmoil and unease there was one solid consolation: both the Laud and the Khote families were far too intelligent and sophisticated to be worried by the affair. On the contrary “My families stood up for me” declared Durga Khote with a proud smile of affection.
Amongst those who saw the film ‘Trapped’, was the then up and coming producer and director V Shantaram. After seeing her performance, he offered her the female lead role of Taramati in the bilingual film ‘Ayodhyache Raaja’ – ‘Ayodhya Ka Raja’ (1932). Durga Khote saw in it an opportunity to vindicate herself. Once again encouraged by the families, she accepted the role and played it beautifully. The film was not only good but a big hit, in both the Hindi and Marathi versions.
V Shantaram simultaneously cast her also in ‘Maya Machhindra’ (again 1932). This was a also a smash hit. These two top successful films established her straight off as a top star. Following came a number of films that won her acclaim from the public and from the film industry. After the two fabulous successes in 1932, what followed is no less dazzling a repertoire of well known films and famous roles.
In 1933, she appeared opposite to Prithviraj Kapoor in the New Theatres Production from Calcutta – ‘Raajrani Meera’. This year also saw her play the lead role opposite to a very young and handsome new entrant into the industry – P Jairaj, in the film ‘Patit Paavan’ (Pratima Phototone, Bombay).
1934, and she is paired opposite to Prithviraj once again in ‘Seeta’, from East India Film Company in Calcutta.
1935, another production from New Theatres – ‘After The Earthquake’, as the female lead opposite to Syed Mohammed Nawab. And once again, paired with Jairaj in ‘Jeevan Natak’ – a Debaki Bose Production in Bombay.
In 1936 came one of her many superlative roles on the screen – ‘Amar Jyoti’ from the production house of Prabhat, with co stars Chandramohan, Vasanti and B Nandrekar.
She played the lead role in ‘Pratibha’ in 1937, opposite to Master Shyam; film by Shalini Cinetone.
1938, and she appeared in two films – ‘Nand Kumar’ (Jaishree Films), working with Govindrao Tembe and ‘Saathi’ from Natraj Films, paired with Mubarak – another popular hero of that era.
1939 saw her appearing with Prithviraj once again in the Ranjeet Studios production – ‘Adhoori Kahaani’.
In 1940 it is Chandramohan and the film is ‘Geeta’ from Circo Productions. Also in 1940 came the famous and popular hit film, ‘Narsi Bhagat’ working with Vishnupant Pagnis.
1941 and it is ‘Charnon Ki Daasi’ from Atre Pictures, paired with Gajanan Jagirdar.
In 1942, she appeared in 2 films, ‘Bharat Milap’ of Prakash Pictures, with co stars Prem Adeeb, Shahu Modak and Shobhana Samarth; and in ‘Vijay’ from National Studios, opposite to Harish.
1943 turned out to be a blockbuster year for her, appearing in the lead role in six films. She was seen in ‘Qurbani’ opposite to Ishwar Lal, ‘Mahasati Anusuya’ with Shahu Modak, E Billimoria and Shobhana Samarth; ‘Mahatama Vidur’ with Vishnupant Pagnis; ‘Tasveer’ – paired with the young newcomer Motilal; and ‘Zameen’, paired with Biswas. The listing for 1943 is complete only when we talk about the mega film from Minerva Movietone – ‘Prithvi Vallabh’ in which she is paired with Sohrab Modi.
In 1944, it is ‘Maharathi Karn’ paired with Prithviraj Kapoor once again, and ‘Dil Ki Baat’ a romantic social, working opposite to Ishwar Lal.
In 1945, it is ‘Lakahrani’ from Prabhat, working opposite to Sapru; ‘Panna Dai’ working with Chandramohan and Mubarak; and ‘Veer Kunal’ with Mubarak, Kishore Sahu and Shobhana Samarth.
In 1945, we also see a major qualitative shift in her career. She stepped away from lead roles and very gracefully migrated towards support roles as a character artist. ‘Village Girl’ was probably the first such film, in which she does not play the lead role. But her films and her roles continue to be significant and powerful. She had already stated to play non-romantic lead roles in films like ‘Charnon Ki Daasi’ (1941) and ‘Bharat Milap’ (1942). Her filmography beyond 1945 speaks volumes of her prowess as an actress, and her ability to command the scenes, and the films. Moving to character roles, her assignments continue to increase, and she continued to be a busy and an in demand artist for another almost four decades. During her career, she has appeared in more than 200 films.
A special mentions needs to be made of the 1953 film ‘Chacha Chaudhry’ – a comedienne performance which took the industry and the public by storm. The brilliant timing of her expression, gestures, movement and dialogue combined to make that role such a scintillating comedy portrayal that she all but stole the picture from the consummate actor Raja Paranjpe – who doubled as director and lead player – and Dhumal. The three of them made it a slick, hilarious romp.
Durga Khote’s portrayals have been sensitive and consummate. Notable mentions must be made of some of her performances;
as Queen Kaikeyi in the 1942 film ‘Bharat Milap, jealously coveting the throne for her own son – her personification of the grasping queen made one understand if not quite condone the old king’s doting weakness;
as Shachi Devi, mother of Chaitanuya Mahaprabu in the 1953 biopic ‘Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’ – a heart-rending performance of a mother torn between her love for her son and the gratification she feels in his single-minded devotion to God, and her heartbreak for his bewildered, forsaken girl-bride, and her gradual resignation, made for a portrayal which was a gem of histrionic art;
as Jodha Bai, the empress of India, wife of Akbar – once again called upon to make a dreadful choice of loyalties, torn between the warring father and son – at first unable to invoke the blessings for her husband leaving for the battlefield, with the certainty of the fear that her son will be killed, and then when Akbar challenges her by attempting to erase the sindoor from her forehead, very sternly and studiously she performs the pooja giving the due honor to her suhaag even in the face of an eventuality of possibly losing her only child.
These and many other such power packed performances have made Durga Khote the dame thespian of the Indian cinema. She was honored with the Padam Shri award in 1968 and the coveted Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 1983.
In 1950, Durga Khote naturally gravitated towards the stage and she joined the Marathi Sahitya Sangh, starting her long association with the theatre also. She kept busy acting in, producing and directing plays. She also founded Durga Khote Productions which produced short films – advertising, documentary, educational and industrial.
She continued to be active both in films and in theatre till the mid 1980s. After that, she moved into semi-retirement. She passed away this day, in 1991, in Bombay.
The film ‘Amar Jyoti’ has been acclaimed as a film much, much ahead of its time, both in terms of handling of the subject matter as well as in terms of technical finesse and special effects. The film represented India in the Venice film festival in 1937 and won praises and accolades as one of the best three films at the festival.
The film deals with the theme of suppression and negation of the role of the woman in the society, and one lady’s rebellion against it. As a subject, this was a daring endeavor by V Shantaram, given the prevalent sentiments in the society of that era. Nevertheless, this film was much acclaimed and became very popular at the box office too. Since the story revolves around pirates, scenes related to sailing ships and ships in conflict, it was a major accomplishment for the director, to be able to create the necessary environment within the studio, and film all the naval scenes using advanced special effects techniques, within the confines of the studio itself.
The film pertains to an undefined historical period. A queen (role played by Karuna Devi) and her cruel minister Durjay (role played by Chandramohan) are challenged by a woman turning a pirate and terrorizing the coastal provinces of the kingdom. This woman, Saudamini (role played by Durga Khote), has been much wronged by her husband. But when she pleads for justice from the royal court, Durjay decrees that a husband was the complete master of his wife, whom he could ill-treat, use as a chattel or dispose of as a slave. She is denied custody of her son by the queen, after she refuses to return to her matrimonial home. This greatly enrages Saudamini and drives her to revolt and seek revenge. She takes on the mantle of a male role and gets into a commanding position, as the captain of a pirate ship. She is assisted by her associate, Rekha (role played by Vasanti).
Durjay is captured and is kept as a prisoner with one of his legs cut off, to make him realize the eternally enslaved condition of women. Her next big catch is the princess Nandini (role played by Shanta Apte), the queen’s daughter. In her relationship with the princess, Saudamini plays an even bigger game by converting the princess to her creed of female emancipation, which considers love and marriage as a bondage. The princess suppresses her feelings for a shepherd boy, Sudhir (role played by B Nandrekar), whom she had met during her days in the pirate’s den. Unknown to even Saudamini, this shepherd boy is actually her own son, who was separated from her years ago.
In the continued sequence of events, Durjaya escapes with the help of Sudhir and returns to arrest Saudamini. Saudamini is captured, but the others, along with Nandini and Rekha, escape. It is finally revealed that Sudhir is Saudamini’s long-lost son. Nandini and Sudhir are married and Rekha carries forward Saudamini’s legacy.
Shantaram has used the symbol of the lamp and the flame very effectively. He deployed many other techniques that were considered path-breaking at that time. The film’s real success is in bringing out the inner conflicts of women, who may become male-like rebels, at the cost of suppressing their natural urges as wife or mother. In one of the most moving scenes in the film, we see Saudamini secretly fondling the tiny garments of her son, who has been separated from her.
In this song, we see this brief interlude, as Saudamini is remembering her child. The brief song is written by Pt Narottam Vyas, and the music is composed by Master Krishna Rao Phumblikar. The playback singing voice is that of Vasanti.
Remembering and honoring the enduring legacy of this fine actress – Durga Khote.
[Author’s Note: Acknowledgements – This article has adapted material from online sources viz., Cineplot and Wikipedia. Filmography details have been prepared using the Geet Kosh voumes 1 and 2.]
Audio
Video
Song – Ankhiyan Ke Tum Taare Pyaare (Amar Jyoti) (1936) Singer – Vasanti, Lyrics – Pt Narottam Vyas, MD – Master Krishna Rao
Durga Khote
Lyrics
akhiyan ke tum taare pyaare
chhod mohey mat jaa re
ab mat jaa re
akhiyan ke tum taare pyaare
chhod mohey mat jaa re
ab mat jaa re
[sudhir. . .]
[main teri maa. . .]
akhiyan ke tum taare pyaare
chhod mohey mat jaa re
ab mat jaa re
aansoo nainan mein se
aansoo nainan mein se
aansoo nainan mein se
kaahu tohey pukaarun
kaahu tohey pukaarun
waaroon sukh dukh saare
waaroon sukh dukh saare
waaroon sukh dukh saare
akhiyan ke tum taare pyaare
chhod mohey mat jaa re
ab mat jaa re
[ab mat jaa re]
———————————-
Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
———————————–
अखियन के तुम तारे प्यारे
छोड़ मोहे मत जा रे
अब मत जा रे
अखियन के तुम तारे प्यारे
छोड़ मोहे मत जा रे
अब मत जा रे
[सुधीर॰ ॰ ॰]
[मैं तेरी माँ॰ ॰ ॰]
अखियन के तुम तारे प्यारे
छोड़ मोहे मत जा रे
अब मत जा रे
आँसू नैनन में से
आँसू नैनन में से
आँसू नैनन में से
काहू तोहे पुकारूँ
काहू तोहे पुकारूँ
वारूँ सुख दुख सारे
वारूँ सुख दुख सारे
वारूँ सुख दुख सारे
अखियन के तुम तारे प्यारे
छोड़ मोहे मत जा रे
अब मत जा रे
[अब मत जा रे]
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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