Archive for the ‘Songs of 1930s (1931 to 1940)’ Category
Tu ban ka raaja tu ban ki raani
Posted on: April 7, 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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Blog Day : |
4281 | Post No. : | 15523 | Movie Count : |
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Today’s song is from an old film Baaghi-1939. Same title films were also made in 1953, 1964, 1990 and 2000. In addition the word Baaghi was used as a prefix in few more films, like Baaghi Aurat-2000 or Baaghi Sipahi-36 etc .
Today’s film was made by Vishnu Cinetone and it was directed by the banner’s owner Dhirubhai Desai, a veteran in Costume and other C grade films. The film had other names like ‘ Bandkhor (बंडखोर )’ and ‘Sarfarosh’. This double or treble name system was prevalent in film industry since the Silent films. For silent films such multiple names were justified and necessary, because silent films ran in different language regions. So, for the benefit of local audience, these films were advertised in different names. Somehow this system continued even after Talkie films started, though its utility had diminished when films had dialogues and were shown all over the country, but still, one finds that this trend continued. Nowadays, I find that almost every film has an indicative Tag line.
In the Hindi film industry,there are 4 types of people.
The first type is of those people,who join this industry,struggle very hard and succeed in fulfilling their dreams,for example Guru Dutt, Mehboob, Johnny Walker, Lata Mangeshkar, Mohd.Rafi etc. who are well known to all by now.
The second type of people are those who join the industry,struggle very hard ,do not succeed and leave dejected.
The third type is those people who have a filmi connection or a strong luck,who join,struggle a bit and succeed, like for example,Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Dilip kumar, Rakesh and Rajesh Roshan, Anand Milind, Nanda, Nargis, Meena Kumari etc.
And….. the fourth type is those people who join the industry, struggle very hard and succeed partly, but end up doing something else,to keep them sustaining here.
The industry is full of people of the 4th type. People who come with dreams in their eyes, but end up doing something else. People who start as a Hero in 2-3 films,settle for side roles and finally character roles, like Dev Kumar, Sujit Kumar, Jeevan etc.
Not only this but we have examples where they started with something else and ended with a totally different thing and succeeded.For Example,Guru Dutt started as a Choreographer/dance Director (Lakharani-45) and ended up Actor/Director, Ashok kumar started as a Lab Technician in photography but became a great actor and Amiya Chakravarty who started as a Canteen Manager in Bombay Talkies,for which, later, he directed finest movies. Kanhaiyalal and Mirza Musharraf came here to become Lyricist, but ended as Comedians.
All such cases do not end happily. In most cases, the artiste has to make compromise with his fate. One such artiste was Music Director Jimmy, who came to films to make a career as a singer. He did not succeed as a singer, but having settled for a career of a Composer, here too he was not much successful. Today’s duet is sung by him.
Composer Jimmy is one of those little known composers who never got fame or name in spite of their Talents. His real name was JAMES SINGH. He was a Christian sikh from Ludhiana. He was educated in Delhi.He started his career in Hindi films as a singer in Chorus. He sang 7 songs in 6 films (Imandar-39, Baghi-39, Pyar-40, Anjaam-40, Jadoo Nagri-40, and Maaya Nagri-44). He could play many western instruments, especially all types of Guitars.When he failed as a singer, he became assistant to many composers. Finally, he got his chance to compose few songs for film ‘Muqaddar-50’, though with Khemchand Prakash and Bhola Shreshtha. He composed 2 duets of Asha and Kishore. The credit of composing the First ” Yodelling ” song of Kishore kumar goes to Jimmy. Kishore ‘yodelled ‘ first time in this film.
Jimmy then gave music to 14 more films like, Shrimatiji-52, Smuggler-59, Awara Shehzadi-56, Sher e Baghdad-57, Nek khatoon-59, Pathan-62, Miss chaalbaz-61, Tarzan and Gorilla-63, Duniya hai dilwalon ki-66, Pyar ki Baazi-67, Tarzan in fairy land-68, Aakhir-84, Khoon aur sazaa-86 and his last film, Sachhi Ibadat-1987. Inspite of giving sweet and melodious songs of a variety, Jimmy never came up to A class. He always remained a composer for C grade films. Anyway, as long as Kishore’s yodelling is heard,Jimmy’s name will be remembered. For singing,he used the name James Singh and as a Music Director he used Jimmy. (Like Chitalkar and C Ramchandra) .
The cast of film Baaghi-39 was Mehtab, Shamim, Amirbai karnataki (who sang as Amir jan), Anwari, Anil kumar (real name Sardar Gul), Ashraf Khan, Master Shiraz and many others. Actress Anwari, who acted in this film , was from a Tawayaf family of Lucknow. She started her acting career with film Heer Ranjha-32 opposite Rafiq Ghaznavi and then she acted in film Pooran Bhagat-1932, along with K L Saigal. She did the role of Rani Uchharan.
She joined East India Film co. and worked in films like Aurat ka pyar-33, Night Bird-34, Nagin-34 and Mumtaz Begum-34. She had also acted in another NT film Chandidas-34. She shifted her base to Bombay and worked in several films for next four decades. Her last film was Chaitali-1975. In all she did 140 films. She was known as ‘ Pride of Lucknow’ during her peak period. She was credited variously as Anwari Begum, Anwari, and Anwari bai.
Actress Anwari was the second wife of Rafiq Ghaznavi with whom she had a daughter, Zarina. Later, Zarina changed her name to Nasreen and worked in director A.R. Kardar’s movie, ‘Shah Jehan’ and Daud Chand’s movie, ‘Aik Roaz.’ Later Zarina married Liaqat Gul Agha, a rich Jeweller of Pakistan and they settled in London. She became Zarina Agha. Further, Zarina Agha’s daughter, Salma Agha, achieved great name and fame as a singing star. She expired somewhere in early 80s.
Anwari and Rafiq Ghaznavi were divorced (or separated) after Zarina/Nasreen’s birth, and Anwari then married a rich Hindu businessman named Jugal Kishore Mehra ( Maternal uncle-Mama- of Raj Kapoor). In order to marry Anwari, Jugal Kishore Mehra abandoned not only his family but also his religion; he became a Muslim and took the name Ahmed Salman. Since Anwari had a child, Jugal Kishore Mehra effectively became the father of the infant Zarina/Nasreen.
The most interesting name in the cast is that of Master Shiraz. He was one of the most popular and very famous Heros in the silent era. Like many others, when the Talkie era began, he too was relegated to the background and with great difficulty could get character roles in films. His first Talkie film was Mast Faqir-1934. He sang one song each in 2 films- Baghdad ka chor-34 and Chalta Purja-34. He continued doing roles in films.
During his good times, he had learnt the art of Massaging, as a Hobby and this became his last straw for survival. When film roles were not available, he used to roam about with his kit and do Massaging to earn a living. After doing about 26 films, till Naiya-47, he stopped getting credited in the cast. Now he worked as an extra.
He was last seen in film Guddi-1971- doing massage to Omprakash in one scene. In that film, Dharmendra tells Jaya Bhaduri (Guddi) that Master Shiraj was a star in silent film era. Director Hrishikesh Mukherjee ensured that Shiraj got his name in the film credits of Guddi-71.
Master Shiraj was just one of those unfortunate film artistes who spent their end-time in a very pathetic manner. Some other examples are- actor/singer Parshuram- died on road as a beggar, Singer Vatsala Kumthekar- died on road as a mad beggar,Wasti was seen begging near Liberty cinema and Rattanbai was seen begging near Haji Ali. There are many more such stories. The world of films is the most unpredictable and unless the artiste is wise to secure his future, there is no light at the end of the tunnel !
Today’s song is sung by Shamim and James Singh. The song is composed by Shanti Kumar Desai and is of average quality, but it has special importance as it is sung by James Singh, whose songs are not available much. With this song, film Baaghi -39 makes its Debut on the Blog.
( information used in this article is culled from various sources like Encyclopedia of Indian Films, Film Directory-46, The Lost Treasure by Kamlakar Pasupuleti, our beloved Pakistan by Anis Shukur, HFGK and my notes. Thanks to all)
Song-Tu Ban ka Raja tu ban ki raani (Baaghi)(1939) Singers- Shamim, James Singh, Lyricist- Gaurishankar Lal ‘Akhtar’, MD- Shanti Kumar Desai
Both
Lyrics
Tu ban ka Raja
tu ban ki Raani
Tu ban ka Raja
megha banke garje chaaron oar re
tu ban ki Raani
bijri ban ker chamke chaaron oar re
Tu ban ka Raja
megha banke garje chaaron oar re
tu ban ki Raani
bijri ban ker chamke chaaron oar re
main kaise tumhen rijhaaun
aur kya kya ban kar aaun
main kaise tumhen rijhaaun
aur kya kya ban kar aaun
main saagar ban kar dhoom dhaam se
chaaron taraf lahraaun
main sarita bankar us saagar ki dhaar se dhaar milaaun
main saagar ban kar dhoom dhaam se
chaaron taraf lahraaun
main sarita bankar us saagar ki dhaar se dhaar milaaun
main baadal ban ka
jhoom jhoom kar swaati jal barsaaun
main papeeha ban kar wo jal dhaara
pee ke amar ho jaaun
main baadal ban ka
jhoom jhoom kar swaati jal barsaaun
main papeeha ban kar wo jal dhaara
pee ke amar ho jaaun
ho ban ka raaja
ban ki raani
ham hain ban ke
raaja raani
ham hain ban ke raaja raani
Aao mil jul ke
Posted on: March 23, 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.
| Blog Day?: | 4266 | Post No.: | 15492 |
Today’s song is from an old film Baghbaan-1938. There was one more film Baghbaan made in 2003, but the story was different. One film having similarity in name was film Baadbaan made in 1954. This too was a different one.
Baghbaan-38 was the first film of A R Kardar as a Director in Bombay, after his very successful foray in to the Calcutta Film world. This film was made by General Films, Bombay.The music was by Mushtaq Hussain, who had a young, ambitious and talented assistant for this film, whose name was Naushad. Yes, he is the same Naushad, who paired with Kardar in later years and gave us unforgettable music from many films.
The name of Music Director Mushtaq Hussain may not be known to today’s music lovers. Mushtaq was famous as a Classical singer and was called a Ustaad. He started giving music to films in 1933. His first film was Aurat ka pyar-33. He gave music to few films only, like Sauteli Maa-35, Balaa ki raat-36, Jaljalaa-36, Bhedi Trishul-38, Baghbaan-38, Pati patni-37, Kanyadaan-40, Baadal-42, Chhed chhad-43, Do or die-44, Daasi ya Maa-46 and his last film was Bombay- 49. After this, perhaps he realised that the public taste was changing and he left films. During the period of 1938, Naushad worked as his assistant in his struggle days and learnt few things.
The cast of the film was Bimla Kumari, B.Nandrekar ( one of the most handsome actors of Hindi films ), Sitara Devi, Yasmin, Putlibai, Ashraf Khan, Lala Yakub, K N Singh, R Wasti and many others. The 11 songs of the film were written by Hafiz Jallundhari and Mirza Musharraf, who wrote with a Pen name of Mirza Shauq. He had also acted in this film as a comedian. His typical style of mixing Urdu dialogues with English words was very popular in those days. Comedian of the 70s-Ram Avtar made his Debut with this film.
The film was a roaring success and brought many lucrative directorial offers to kardar from big banners like Ranjit and Circo etc. This also gave Kardar a confidence that he can himself own and start a studio and production company in Bombay. He had his pioneering small production company in Lahore, but that was for Silent films. Making Talkie films in Bombay was entirely different.
!942 was an year in which many ambitious and talented artistes established their own companies. There was Mehboob Khan, V.Shantaram, Homi Wadia, and the splinter group from Bombay Talkies also established Filmistan company. Abdul Rashid Kardar too plunged into the flowing river and established his own Kardar Studios. His first film was Sharda-42, which released on 23-1-1943. It was a Hit film. That way, Kardar’s life was full of adventures.
Abdul Rashid Kardar (1904–1989), often abbreviated as A.R. Kardar, was an actor and film director/film producer. He is credited as establishing the film industry in the Bhati Gate locality of Lahore, British India (now in Pakistan).
Kardar was born on 11-10-1904 at Lahore in a rich family. He was provided with all facilities and put into a very good school. Kardar was more interested in bunking school and seeing films and dramas than his studies. As a result he failed in his Matriculation examination. By the time he was 18 year old, he came to Bombay in 1922 to join films. He met director Homi Master in Kohinoor film company. With his good looks and good manners, he was employed as an extra, but there was no work. he used to visit the sets where shootings were taking place in the studio. One day the Cameraman Narayan Devre found him meddling in the shoot and he asked the owner Dwarkadas Sampat to throw him out of the company.
Dejected, he returned to Lahore and studied Calligraphy and Painting, in which he soon gained excellence. Kardar started as an arts scholar and a calligraphist making posters for foreign film productions and writing for newspapers of the early 1920s. His work would often lead him to meet filmmakers around India.
In 1924, the first silent film, The Daughters of Today was made and released in Lahore at a time when the city only had nine operational cinema houses. Most of the films shown in theatres in Lahore were either made in Bombay or Calcutta, besides ones made in Hollywood or London. The Daughters of Today was the brain-child of G.K. Mehta, a former officer with the North-Western Railway, who had imported a camera into the country for this very project from London. He asked Kardar to assist him as an assistant director on the project and ended up giving Kardar his début role in his film as an actor. Muhammad Ismail, his friend and fellow calligraphist, accompanied Kardar in the making of the film.
In 1928, with no work left after their maiden venture, Kardar and friend M. Ismail sold their belongings to set up a studio and production company under the name of United Players Corporation, the foundation stone for the film industry in Lahore. After scouting for locations, they settled for their offices to be established at Ravi Road. Although, the dim-lit area presented with much difficulties after the studios were established. Shootings were only possible in the day-light but nevertheless the area had some very important landmarks like the Ravi Forest and the tombs of Mughal emperor Jahangir and his wife Nur Jahan.
It is reported that the team working at the studios would commute on tangas and even lost equipment once while travelling on the bumpy roads on the horse-drawn carriage.However basic and crude their working conditions, Kardar believed in his work and in 1930 he produced the first film under the studio’s banner.
With this film, Husn Ka Daku a.k.a. Mysterious Eagle, Kardar made his first directorial début. He also cast himself as an actor in the male lead opposite Gulzar Begum with Ismail in a supporting role. The film featured an American actor, Iris Crawford, as well. The film had mild success at theatres but prominently established Lahore as a functioning film industry. Kardar vowed on not acting in any other film and instead focusing on direction.
Immediately afterwards the studio released the film Sarfarosh aka Brave Heart, with Gul Hamid playing the lead role with more or less the same cast as in the previous film. This production proved equally appealing but was able to stir noise about this industry in film production circles throughout India. Kardar made 12 silent films at Lahore.
When the Talkie era started, he closed down making silent films and produced his first Talkie film ” Heer Ranjha” in 1932 , with Rafiq Ghaznavi and Miss Anwari in the lead. Ghaznavi was the MD also. The film was a big flop.
Kardar shifted to Calcutta after this; and joined the East India Film Company, where he made about seven films for them. He acted in a costume drama-Aab E Hayat-33, as a Hero. Later he directed 6 films for this company. Almost all films were successful. After the company closed down in 1937 he moved to Bombay and joined Film City (in Tardeo) where he made one film Baaghban-38, for General Films, Bombay. It won the Gohar Gold Medal starring Bimla Kumari, B. Nandrekar and Sitara Devi.
Subsequently he joined Ranjeet Movietone towards the end of 1937 and made only three movies with them. He also made film Pooja-40 for National Studios. From here he moved to Circo Productions Ltd., and made 2 films for them .But just one year later, in 1942, when Circo Productions Ltd. went into liquidation, Kardar bought out the company and started Kardar Productions. In the same compound, he also started Kardar Studios and started making movies under the Kardar Productions banner from 1942 onwards. His first film was Sharda-42, which released on 23-1-1943. Kardar Studios was one of the best equipped studios in those days and also the first to have air-conditioned make up rooms.
In 1946, Kardar gave a commercially successful film with K. L. Saigal and composer Naushad, Shahjehan (1946).Claimed as a “masterpiece”- the film songs became all hits.
Following Partition in 1947, A. R. Kardar and his co-brother Mehboob Khan both left for Pakistan. However, according to Bunny Reuben, as quoted by Mihir Bose, they returned to India, but no reason was given for their return. In this connection Journalist and author of several books, Ambarish Mishra writes, ” when I asked Kardar about his Pakistan visit, he told me that after the Partition, Mehboob immediately went to Pakistan. He was disturbed with the news of Hindu-Muslim conflicts in Bombay Film Industry. It was said that Hindus will not allow Muslims in film industry – which was totally wrong and only a rumour. He wanted to take an idea about his future in this new country. He was keen on settling there. After a month or so, I went there. Being from Lahore, I understood that the film conditions were not conducive for our growth there, as nothing was in order. Everything was in a mess there. I convinced Mehboob somehow and we both came back for good. I told him, as long as Nehru was there, they had no problems in India.” By coincidence, Nehru died and next day Mehboob also died !
Kardar went back to film making and directed Dard (1947), which starred Suraiya and had music by Naushad. Dillagi (1949), a romantic tragedy, was a commercial success at the box-office. Inspired by Wuthering Heights (1939), Kardar later used the plot in Dil Diya Dard Liya (1966). Dillagi’s music by Naushad became extremely popular, especially Suraiya’s song “Tu Mera Chand”. Dulari (1949) had equally popular music, with a memorable Mohammed Rafi song “Suhani Raat Dhal Chuki”.
Dastan (1950) a tragic melodrama, was inspired from the film Enchantment, and was cited as “one of the biggest commercial hits”. Jadoo (1951) and Deewana (1952) marked the parting of ways between Kardar and Naushad. Dil-E-Nadaan (1953) had popular music by Ghulam Mohammed. He made three more films before starting Dil Diya Dard Liya (1966), which again had music by Naushad. Kardar’s last film was Mere Sartaj (1975)
He introduced many artists to the Hindi film industry who went on to become renowned in their own right, such as Naushad, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Suraiya. The legendary singer Mohammad Rafi got his first hit from the song, ‘Suhani raat dhal chuki’ – from Kardar’s film Dulari. He also started the Kardar-Kolynos Contest, to find new talent and through this contest he discovered and introduced to the industry, Chand Usmani and Mahendra Kapoor.
kardar was popularly called as Miyan ji. He directed in all 37 films in his career. He had acted in one film Aab E Hayat-1933.
Mehboob Khan’s wife Sardar Akhtar was the sister of Bahar, Kardar’s wife. Kardar was the step-brother of Pakistan’s famous cricketer A. H. Kardar (Abdul Hafeez Kardar). Kardar’s marriage to Bahar has an interesting story.
Sardar Akhtar and Bahar were sisters and were singers and dancers in Lahore’s famous Heera Mandi. They were known as Daari and Beharo. Bahar was very good looking. Kardar selected her as a Heroine for his film, opposite himself as a Hero and the shooting started. Kardar fell in her love, but Bahar was guarded closely by her escorts and sister Sardar Akhtar. Kardar was wondering how to go about. He opened his mind to friend M.Ismail. a 6 feet tall,and hefty friend. Ismail went to Bahar’s residence and lifted her on shoulders and brought her to Kardar. They hurriedly got married. Meanwhile Sardar Akhtar came to know this and made a Police complaint. The police came , arrested kardar and all shooting artistes. He spent 2 days in Police custody. Then it was Bahar herself who gave in writing that she was an adult and she married Kardar by her consent only. Kardar and others were released then. Few years later Sardar Akhtar married Mehboob Khan and Kardar became his Co-brother.
Kardar, who lived in Marine Drive, died at the age of 85 years, on 22 November 1989, in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
Kardar supported and helped composer Naushad in his struggling times. Naushad was in a contract with Kardar studio, even when he had become famous, but he never left Kardar on his own. Kardar also took advantage of Naushad. Kardar also helped directors S U Sunny and M Sadiq. Sunny was working as a gatekeeper in Maadan Theatres of Calcutta. That time Kardar took him as an assistant. M.Sadiq’s father was a Tailor and he was looking after Kardar Studio’s costume department. He requested that his son may be taken by Kardar. kardar took him also. Both were initially paid Rs. 300/-. Slowly it became Rs.3000/- and then they learnt the art of direction and became independent.
Film Baghbaan (Gardener, Maali) was slated to be released on 16-7-1938, but just one week prior to its release date , Prabhat Film Company filed a case against film’s hero B Nandrekar and applied for a stay on film’s release. B Nandrekar aka Baba Saheb Nandrekar had acted in Prabhat’s famous film “Sant Tukaram-36″ (Marathi Version. Its Hindi version came only in 1948). That time Prabhat had signed a 3 year contract with him. But after Tukaram, Nandrekar was not given any film, so he acted in film Baghbaan. The case came up in the court on 13-7-1938. His advocates were Jinnah and Setalwad. He won the case and the court refused to give a stay. The case was summarily dismissed. The film released and became a Hit film. Nandrekar was a very popular actor. The chappals he used in film Baghbaan became famous as ” Nandrekar Chappals” and sold hundreds in market.
The story of film Baghbaan -38 was…..
SARUP (Nandrekar) is a disciple of Sadhu Bhagat Ram(Ashraf Khan). One day the Sadhu starts singing a devotional love song, but Sarup, without understanding its real meaning gets lost in thoughts of love. Seeing his condition, the Sadhu sends him to a janmashtami fair. In the fair also Sarup walks thinking about love, not knowing where he is going or what he is doing. The police suspect him, arrest him and he is sent to jail.
In the jail, Sarup is given the gardener’s job at the Superintendent’s bungalow. In one jail riot, he is injured. Seeing this,Durga ( Bimla Kumari),the jail Superintendent’s daughter, along with her friend Shanta(Sitara Devi) takes Sarup inside the house and Dr. Hansraj, father of Shanta is called. On arrival Dr. Hansraj suspects that Sarup is his long lost son, feared drowned, after marriage to Durga. Since then Durga is treated as a widow, but no one knows this. Durga takes care of Sarup, who is now a free man also. Slowly they develop love. The parents of Durga want to remarry Durga to somebody now. Ranjit (Yakub),a spent young man, wants to marry Durga. he spreads the news that Durga is a widow, so that no one will marry her.
As expected his marriage is fixed with Durga, much to the ire of his earlier lover kammo (Yasmin). Durga asks Sarup to go back. Sarup comes to Sadhu Bhagat Ram and tells everything. The Sadhu reveals that actually Sarup is Durga’s long last Husband and son of Dr. Hansraj.
They hurry up to Durga’s house, where the marriage ceremony has started. The Sadhu enters the mandap and utters Bollywood’s famous Dialogue- ” Yeh shaadi nahin ho sakti “. There is a great commotion. Then the Sadhu explains that Sarup is the long lost husband of Durga. As a proof, he produces the locket which Sarup had in his childhood.
Suddenly Kammo enters the mandap and shoots at Ranjit, killing him. She then kills herself also.
The long lost Husband and wife reunite and all are happy !
Today’s song is the 3rd song from this film to appear on this Blog. It is sung by Sitara Devi and Bimla Kumari.
(For this article, information has been culled from ” Music and arts in Hyderabad Deccan”-Kamlakar pasupuleti, ” Ateet ke Sitare’-Nand kishore, “सुंदर ती दुसरी दुनिया ” – Ambarish Mishra, ” Asli nakli chehere’ – Vithal Pandya, wiki, muVyz, HFGK, Film India-Sept-40 issue and my notes. Thanks to all)
Song-Aao mil jul ke (Baaghbaan)(1938) Singers-Sitara Devi, Bimla Kumari, Lyricist- Not mentioned in HFGK, MD- Mushtaq Hussain (Asst-Naushad )
Lyrics
Aao gale mil ke
Aao gale mil ke
jhoolen
padat phuhaar sajani ee ee
ae aao mil jul ke
aao mil jul ke
lotten fasle bahaar sajani ee ee
ae aao mil jul ke ae
aao mil jul ke
rut barsaat ki
rut barsaat ki re
rut barsaat ki
aayi ?? malhaar sajani
ae ae
kaali kaali badali ye
kaali kaali badali
chaaayi man mein ?? sajani
piya bina naahin re
piya bina naahin
?? zulfon ka ?? sajani
ae ae
piyaa binaa naahin te
piyaa bina naahin
jiya lalchaave
jiya lalchaave ae
jiya lalchaave ae
jiya lalchaave ae
jiya lalchaave
ke jiya lalchaave
?? charan piya sajani
ae ae
jiya lalchaave te
jiya lalchaave
man mandir mein ae
man mandir mein ae
man mandir mein ae
man mandir mein ae
man mandir mein
ke man mandir mein
aao karo upkaar sajani
ae ae
aao gale mil ke
aao gale mil ke
jhoole padat phuhaar sajani
ae ae
aao mil jul ke te
aao mil jul ke
looten fasl e bahaar sajani
ae ae
aao mil jul ke
aao mil jul ke
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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Blog Day : |
4263 | Post No. : | 15488 | Movie Count : |
4269 |
Today’s song is from a very old film, Moti ka Haar-1937. The song is sung by Ashiq Hussain. The song begins with few sentences in English. The music is by Jaddanbai. The film was produced by Jaddanbai,under the banner of her own Sangeet Film Company, Bombay. It was directed also by Jaddanbai. Though she sang few songs in this film, she did not act in it. However, her daughter Baby Rani aka Fatima Rashid aka Nargis in adult life, acted in this film.Her son, Anwar Hussain also acted in this film. The other cast in the film was Mehtab, Ashiq Hussain, P L Santoshi, Mirza,Yusuf and many more.
Jaddanbai came from a Tawaif family. In the initial stage of the Indian films,whether silent or talkie,it was difficult to get girls from good families and background. Slowly this picture changed. When Talkie started many Tawaifs, singing girls and girls from such families joined films as they fulfilled the requirement of singing and looking good, in addition to their ease on Hindi/Urdu language.
At this time, slowly many educated and girls from high society as well as middle class families started joining films. So,to distinguish these women from each others, a system of nomenclature was followed.
All the Girls coming from Singing families and Tawaif background added the suffix “Bai” to their names, like Jaddanbai, Waheedan bai, Zohrabai,Amirbai etc. The Anglo-Indian and middle class girls took the prefix of ‘ Miss” like,Miss Moti,Miss Rose,MissTara,Miss ajmat,Miss Pearl etc.Those girls who were from high society were called Devi,like Sabita Devi,Kamla Devi,Renuka Devi etc. All Marathi actresses used their full names like Shanta Apte,Minaxi Shirodkar etc.
Another point, this nomenclature was only unofficial and traditional. So some Tawaif actresses took advantage of this to hide their roots.Like, Rampyari who was from a singing family of Hyderabad, sometimes called herself as Miss Rampyari.
Do you know the meaning of the word Kaneez ? Not many may be aware of it. To understand this word,we have to go back in History. There were 565 Princely states in India before Partition. Due to patronising of fine arts like music and dance by these Princes, a new class of Nautch Girls emerged in the 19th century. All Nautch Girls were not the same. Author Michael Kinnear, in his book “The Gramophone company’s first Indian Recordings 1899-1908 “, has explained the classification and Nomenclatures of these Nautch Girls. As per that, there were 4 types…
| Lowest Class…..IV | Name – Khanki | Prostitutes/Sex workers |
| Class III | Name – Kaneez | Daasi or servant |
| Class II | Name – Bai ji | Singing/Dancing |
| Class I | Name – Jaan | Top class singers |
They all were called collectively as Tawayafs. The readers will now understand the difference between Amirbai, Waheedanbai, Jaddanbai and Tamancha Jaan, Gauhar Jaan, Malika Jaan, Zohra Jaan etc etc. In the first decade of Talkie films, almost 90% actresses were from Tawayaf families. As the time went by, their percentage went reducing as girls from respectable families started opting for a film career.
Few of these Tawayaf actresses proved to be extraordinary and they set exemplary lifestyles. I would especially mention 4 names of such actresses, who were different from the rest and did an unexpectedly praiseworthy job. They are – Indurani, Mehtab, Gohar Mamajiwala and Jaddanbai. Indurani, was educated in a Convent school in initial years and understood the importance of education. She ensured high quality education to her children and after retirement from films, settled in US with her children. ” Knowledge is the greatest wealth” – her favourite life philosophy is engraved on her Grave stone in America.
Mehtab and Gohar Mamajiwala, both managed their husband’s cine studio companies with great efficiency. Both sacrificed their film careers to be with their husbands in thick and thin and ensured that they remained a great strength to their extended families. Both these women were highly respected in film industry.
The best among the four, however, was Jaddanbai. She was a multifaceted artiste. She was an excellent singer in her early career, where she was in great demand, receiving invitations from various princely states across the Indian subcontinent. In later life, she was a screen writer, Lyricist, Music Director, Actress, Director, producer and owner of a film production company. More than this, she had earned a high reputation in the film industry. She personally knew big guns like Mehboob, Karadar etc. Jaddanbai had undoubtedly earned a special status in the industry.
Her ability to settle complex personal and professional industry disputes, her generous open kitchen for co-workers, her penchant for colourful language and the high premium placed on her advise and recommendation made her a veritable institution in Indian film industry of her times.
Not only she wrote screenplays for all her films, she also helped her estranged son-Akhtar Hussain’s ” Nargis Art Films”, by writing screenplays for his films ” Anjuman-48″ and ” Darogaji-49″. Jaddanbai was proficient in Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, Persian, Arabic and English too. Jaddanbai’s films were made to boost good morals and promote Swadeshi values. Even her first film “Talash E Haq-35” was a story of a wayward actress Feroza, who had many lovers etc, but she finally goes for Search of Truth, denouncing all worldly matters in her life.
JADDANBAI was born in 1892. She was the love child of Motilal Nehru and her mother Daleepabai, who was a beautiful Tawaif. Daleepabai was originally from a Brahmin family,but was abducted and trained as a Tawaif. Jaddanbai was picked up from a mela of kothewalas, when she was only 5 yr. old and was trained as a Tawaif.
A close look at the special feature of Nose in Nargis,Indira Gandhi,Pt.Nehru,Rajiv Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi will confirm the similarity in the Nehru clan feature. Jaddanbai used to tie Rakhi also to Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru. ( from an article by Rajnikumar Pandya ji.)
Jaddanbai started learning music under the Ustad Moinuddin Khan, Barkat ali khan, Chhaddu khan and Laabh khan. For this she shifted to Calcutta in her teens only. Though she was born in Benaras, she grew up in Allahabad, the Nehru’s home town.
She started singing gazals and soon became so famous that she cut several Gramophone records. She was invited by many kings and states like, Rampur, Indore, Gwalior, Bikaner etc. She was very popular. A Lahore based film maker, Hakim Ram Pershad was also charmed by her singing and offered her a film role. At that time she was almost 40 year old, but she was not hired for her beauty but her singing. She did the role of Gopichand’s mother in this film. She was offered a role in film Raja Gopichand-1933, by Play Art Photo tone Co. of Lahore. She did that film and also did Insan ya shaitan, also in 1933, Sewa Sadan, Prem Pariksha and Naachwali, all in 1934 in Lahore and Karachi.
After these films, she decided that she had earned a lot so far and she wanted to enter the film business. She left the well earned fame and riches to relocate to Bombay to do a film career. Those days, Calcutta was for Bangla films, Lahore for Punjabi films and Madras for Tamil/Telugu films, so only Bombay catered to Urdu/ Hindi films. Naturally Jaddanbai’s choice became Bombay.
She started her own company – Sangeet Film Co. and produced ‘Talashe Huq’ in 1935, in which her daughter Baby Rani (later Nargis) made her debut. ( actually Baby Rani had also worked earlier in film Nachwali-34, but it was uncredited ). Jaddanbai was an actor,singer, director and she also gave music to few films. Thus she became the second female music Director(after Bibbo) in India.
As an actress her films were- Raja Gopichand-33, Insan ya shaitan-33, Sewa sadan-34, Prem Pariksha-34, Naachwali-34, Talash e huq-35, Hriday Manthan-36 and Madam Fashion-36.
She also Directed few films-Madame Fashion-36, Hriday Manthan-36, Moti ka Haar-37 and Jeewan Swapna-37.
As a Music Director,her films were-Talash e huq-35, Madame fashion-36, Hriday Manthan-36, Moti ka Haar-37 and Jeewan Swapna-37.
As a singer her famous songs were- pardesiya re jara-Naachwali-34
range mehfil na raha-Prem pariksha-34
Aaina rakh do -Sewa sadan-34
Dil me jabse kisi ka-Talash e huq-35
Khoone dil ka kahin-Hriday manthan-36 and
Ho pyala mad se bhara-Madam Fashion-36.
Her singing was very enchanting and even Saigal was her fan.
She had 3 husbands in three marriages and 1 child each from every one.
First she married Narottamdas Khatri,the financier of her first film.He converted to Islam and became Bachhi Babu to marry her. She got Akhtar Hussain from him.
Her second husband was Ustad Irshaad Meer Khan, from whom she got Anwar Hussain.
Her third husband was Mohan Babu. This Uttamchand Mohanchand Tyagi was an orthodox Mohyal Brahmin from Rawalpindi. He was going to London for studying Medicine. He heard Jaddanbai’s singing and fell for her. Against all resistence from his family, he converted to Islam, became Abdul Rashid and married her. She had at last found true love and till the end, they loved each others. He was known as Mohan Babu. He was handsome,rich and good natured. From him Jaddanbai got a girl child called Fatima Rashid or Baby Rani or NARGIS. It is believed that due to her love for Mohan Babu she adopted a Hindu name of Jaya Devi Tyagi also.
Her elder son Akhtar kept away from the family, became a Director, but later started his own business away from these people. Anwar Hussain and Nargis entered films.
Jaddanbai was very well read, cultured and a social person.
She died on 8-4-1949.
The hero of film Moti ka Haar-37 was Ashiq Hussain. Not much information is available on him, except that he hailed from U.P. and that he was educated up to Matriculation, in those days. He was one of the young and good looking heros of those days. He acted in 25 films, starting with Jaddanbai’s film Talash E Haq-35 and his last film was Utho Jaago-47 – a film produced by actress Shehzadi. After the film was complete, they got married and later migrated to Pakistan. There, Ashiq Hussain turned into a full time producer and made many films. Unfortunately no information about him in Pakistan is also available. Ashiq Hussain sang 32 songs in 13 films in India.
Today’s song is sung by Ashiq Hussain. The song has some English lines in prose, before the actual song starts. Surendra and Bibbo made this style famous, with their popular song “Tumhi ne mujh ko pyar Sikhaya’in film Manmohan-36, in which at the beginning, Bibbo asks ” क्या मैं अंदर आ सकती हूं ? ” This different style of song was liked by public and then some more songs with same style were brought in by other composers. May be this song too was an attempt in this direction. With this song, film Moti ka Haar makes its Debut on the Blog.
( I thank for information used in this article from writings of Jill Nelmes and Jule Seibo from book “Women Screen writers- An International Guide”‘, article by Debashri Mukherji, titled “Screen writing and Feminist Rewriting”, article by Michael Kinnear, site http://www.pak.mag.com, http://www.muVyz.com, Film Directory 1946 and my notes).
Song-Chot maar lyo ghoonghatwa ki oat janiya (Moti Ka Haar)(1937) Singer- Ashiq Ghulam Hussain, Lyricist- Jaddanbai, MD- Jaddan bai
Lyrics
aa aa aa aa
you told me
you told me
to come with your home
tomorrow morning
jab ham wahaan pe gaye to
cheez ka pata nahin mila
I am very much ?
I am very much ??
I love and I do for you
chot maar lyo
chot maar lyo
chot maar lyo
ghoonghatwaa ki oat janiyaa
ghoonghatwaa ki oat janiyaa
chot maar lo
chot maar lo
ghoonghatwaa ki oat janiyaa
o chot maar lo
ghoonghatwaa ki oat jainiyaa
chot maar lo
phooli hai bagiya
ghata lahraayi
sooni sejariya se tu naahin bhaawe
aa jaa sejariya ki oar janiyaa
haan aa jaa jhopadiya ki oar janiyaa
haan raaja jhopadiya ki oar janiyaa
chot maar lo
ghoonghatwaa ki oat janiyaa
chot maar lo
haan
?? joruen pyaari
main shauhar unka laadlaa aa aa
main shauhar unka laadlaa
aur ghar ka numberdaar
in sab joruan ke bech kar
main utaroon ganga paar
chot maar lyo ghoonghatwaa ki oat janiyaa
chot maar lyo
Roop Anoop Wahi Hai Sajani
Posted on: March 15, 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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Today’s song is from a relatively unknown or rather less known film ‘Vasanti’ (1938). The film was made by Minerva Movietone. The film was given to a novice for direction – KM Multani. He was with Sohrab Modi since his drama days and worked as a cinematographer for Modi’s first two films made by his Stage Films Company. After this first film, Multani also directed 4 more films, namely ‘Virginia’ (1940), ‘Vaseeyat’ (190,) ‘Ujala’ (1942) and ‘Umang’ (1944).
‘Vasanti’ had a pair of music directors. They were Govindrao Tembe and Meer Sahab. Meer Sahab joined Minerva in 1937 and gave music to its first film ‘Atma Tarang’ (1937). Though this film was a flop, he was continued to give music to few more Minerva films like ‘Vasant’, ‘Jailor’ and ‘Divorce’ in 1938, ‘Pukar’ (1939), ‘Main Haari’ (1940), ‘Sikandar’ (1941), ‘Phir Milenge’ (1942). ‘Patharon Ka Saudagar’ (1944) and ‘Lal Haveli’ (1944). either solely or with other MDs.
When Meer Sahab was giving music to an outside film ‘Bahadur Kisan’ (1938), his assistant was C Ramchandra during this period. He became very friendly with Master Bhagwan who was film’s director, hero and a singer too. Meer Sahab was an expert in classical music, but he used to forget tunes. That is why he was best when working with some other MD. In film ‘Vasanti’, his co-MD was Govindrao Tembe. Govind Sadashiv Tembe, popularly known as Govindrao Tembe (5 June 1881 – 9 October 1955), was a harmonium player, stage actor, and music composer. He grew up in Kolhapur and became attached to music early in life. He was largely self-taught as a harmonium player. He has acknowledged the debt of Deval Club for his initial forays into Hindustani classical music.
Tembe learnt his art from Bhaskarbuwa Bakhale and, although he never received direct guidance from Alladiya Khan of Jaipur Gharana, Tembe considered Khansaheb as his guru. He used to accompany Pt. Bhaskarbuwa Bakhale, and would also often perform solo, but later gave up harmonium for most part of his career. He composed music for the drama ‘Maan Apmaan’ in 1910, and also for the first Marathi talkie ‘Ayodhyecha Raja’ (1932). He also acted in both these productions.
He was a personal friend of Late Yuvaraja of Mysore, HH Sri Kanteerava Narasimha Raja Wadiyar. Prof Tembe was part of a large entourage of Yuvaraja during his trip to Europe in 1939. The troupe performed before the Pope and at other places during this trip. As World War II broke out, they stayed at London for a long time and ultimately returned in Jan 1940. Yuvaraja died soon after, at his Palace Anchorage (next to Hotel Taj) in March 1940 and Prof Tembe lost his patron.
Prof Tembe was part-owner of Gandharva Natak Mandali when it was formed in 1913. Two years later, he started his own company named Shivraj Natak Mandali. He wrote dramas and also the padas (songs) in them.
While in film industry, he dabbled in many departments. He was fond of acting. He acted in 6 films, namely ‘Maya Machhindra’ (1932), ‘Ayodhya Ka Raja’ (1932), ‘Seeta’ (1934), ‘Usha’ (1935), ‘Nand Kumar’ (1938) and ‘Krishna Sudama’ (1945). He sang 15 songs in his first 4 films, where he had acted. He directed one film – ‘Raj Mukut’ (1935) and he was a MD in 12 films, from ‘Ayodhya Ka Raja’ (1932) to ‘Saathi’ (1938).
Govindrao’s death was in a strange circumstance. His friend, VH Deshpande has written about it in an article, I found on http://www.parrikar.org, as follows.
Govindrao’s death was unexpected. Of late, he had taken considerable interest in the work of the Central Audition Board of All India Radio. He had gone to Delhi in connection with the work of this Board and suffered a heart attack on 29th September, 1955. Dr. Sumati Mutatkar conveyed the news to the Minister in charge of Information and Broadcasting Dr. B.V. Keskar and Shri P.M. Lad, I.C.S., who took keen personal interest and had Govindrao removed to Wellington Nursing Home. They also arranged for a thorough medical check-up and treatment by expert doctors.
It was felt that somebody from Govindrao’s family should go over to Delhi and stay with him. Shri P.M. Lad, Secretary to Government in the Department of Information and Broadcasting, wrote to Govindrao’s eldest son, Pilunana and called him to Delhi. For the first few days Govindrao was unable to move his hands and feet. But soon he rallied round and was well enough to send a telegram home saying – “I am feeling better. The A.I.R. officers have made excellent arrangements for my treatment. There is, therefore, no need for anybody from the family to come here. There is absolutely no cause for anxiety.”
In the meantime his youngest son, Bhaurao and his eldest daughter-in-law, Indirabai, had left Kolhapur for Delhi; but having seen (at Pune) the reassuring telegram from Govindrao they returned home. Fearing that the telegram might not have reached Kolhapur and that Bhaurao might have started for Delhi, Govindrao pressed Pilunana to go to the Delhi Railway Station to fetch him. Pilunana left the Nursing Home for the station. At 5.35 p.m. Govindrao suffered a heart attack apparently caused by a coughing fit which brought his life to an end in a matter of seconds. When Pilunana returned from the station at 7 p.m. he found that his father had passed away.
Officers of the All India Radio rushed to the hospital on hearing the news. Dr. Keskar too came to pay his respects to the departed soul. He gave
instructions to his officers in regard to the funeral. During this terminal illness of Govindrao, Dr. Keskar, Shri P.M. Lad and Dr. Sumati Mutatkar had
paid personal attention to Govindrao’s treatment and made every effort to make his stay at the hospital as comfortable as possible. They all felt a sense of guilt for the tragedy since it was in response to their invitation that Govindrao had gone to Delhi. “
Minerva Movietone was one of the major and famous film companies. Its initial films were very purposeful and tackled social evils like divorce, alcoholism and incest etc. Minerva was also famous for its grand historical movies and the solid dialogues delivered by Sohrab Modi. All this success did not come to him easily. He learnt through bitter lessons.
In the 30’s, when the talkie films started, there were about 9 big, famous and trend setting film companies. Most companies had graduated to talkie status after they made silent films. Only Bombay Talkies and Minerva Movietone started after talkie films had established a foothold. Let us see when these companies started their film making.
| Company | Year started |
|---|---|
| Madon Theatres | 1919 |
| Imperial | 1926 |
| Ranjit | 1929 |
| Prabhat | 1929 |
| Sagar | 1929 |
| New Theatres | 1931 |
| Wadia Movietone | 1931 |
| Bombay Talkies | 1933 |
| Minerva Movietone | 1936 |
From this chart, it is clear that Minerva was the youngest of all these companies. Modi brothers had started a company called Stage Films Co. in 1935, which shot 2 films from a running stage drama. They were ‘Hamlet’ (1935) and ‘Saeed e Hawas’ (1936). Both were flops. Minerva Movietone was started by Sohrab and brother Rustom Modi in 1936, when they realised that the stage dramas, filmed as feature films did not get the public approval. Production from Stage Films- their first film production enterprise- was suspended till Minerva became successful. ‘Aatma Tarang’ (1937) was the new company’s first film. C Ramchandra was the harmonium accompanist for MD Habib Khan and Bundu Khan. He also did a small role in ‘Aatma Tarang’ and earlier ‘Saeed e Havas’ (1936). Minerva’s first film proved to be a let down.
Sohrab found that there were hardly 20 to 30 persons in the audience on the very first show. The film was based on the power of ‘Bramhacharya’ (Celibacy). In those days, Sohrab was greatly influenced by the teachings of Ramkrishna Mission. Seeing the poor response, he was upset. Thoughts of quitting the film production line were crowding in his mind. Suddenly, he saw four men coming towards him. They came, confirmed that he was Sohrab modi and told him that his film was very good. They further advised him to keep making such good films and one day he will be on top. Later on he learnt that these gentlemen were the Judges of Bombay High Court.
This gave lot of motivation to Modi. It also boosted his self confidence. As such he was sure of his success in films, but now he knew that he must make films on subjects of interest of the public and not his own philosophy, if he wants to succeed commercially. His second film was ‘Khan Bahadur’ (1937), based on the bravery and generosity of a Muslim king who became famous for his bravery. The English rulers gave him the title of Khan Bahadur. The film did a reasonable business.
This incident infused him with new hopes and enthusiasm. This changed his life. Initially he focused on making films on social evils like drinking (‘Meetha Zehar’ (1938)), husband-wife separation (‘Divorce’ (1938)) and incest (‘Bharosa’ (1940)). Enthused with this experience, he made successful films and took his company to the top. Renowned for big budget historical films, Minerva benefited from Modi family’s distribution interests in Gwalior, expanded by his third brother Keki Modi into western India. At one time he controlled a chain of 27 theatres in 10 cities. In 1952, they established India’s first Technicolour Laboratory.
In those days, every film company had its own committed audience. In addition, the language used in every studio’s films had a special touch e.g. Prabhat film language (i.e. dialogues and song lyrics) had a Poona Marathi influence, Ranjit films were Gujarati oriented and New Theatre’s language was ‘Bhoyankor and Bhishon’ – all words were rounded. Bombay Talkies brought in a day to day simple Hindi language. Minerva used Urdu and Farsi influenced words and pronunciations. It suited the long and forceful dialogues of Modi in his historical movies.
The cast of film ‘Vasanti’ was Naseem Banu, Navin Yagnik, Putli, Kusum, Sadiq Ali, Jamshed ji, Ghulam Hussain and many more. Something about the unusual name in the cast – Jamshed ji. His full name was Jamshed ji Bairam ji Khan Saheb. In some films, he was credited as Khan Saheb also. He was born in Bombay in 1889 as a typical Parsee. He was one of the oldest and most experienced actors having worked with several directors and over 25 years of acting.
He started with Silent films like ‘Pyaari Mamta’, ‘Madhuri’, ‘Sohni Mahiwal’, ‘Pooran Bhagat’, ‘Gulshan e Arab’, ‘Hoor e Baghdad’ and ‘Indira’. His first talkie film was ‘Daulat Ka Nasha’ (1931) and ‘Noorjahan’ (1931). He acted in about 50 films. His last known film was ‘Andaz’ (1949).
Jamshed ji, also gave music to 3 films- ‘Naya Zamana’ (1935), ‘Zaate Shareef’ (1936) and ‘Jagat Kesari’ (1937).
Hero of film ‘Vasanti’ was Navin Yagnik. Navin was a well known stunt film actor who did social films also with the same ease. Navin was born in Calcutta on 3-10- 1912. His father was from UP and mother from Bengal. During school days, he was more interested in sports, dramas and oratory. He did not complete his Matriculation, but ran away to Bombay, to become an actor-against the wishes of his family. He joined Sagar Films in 1930, as an extra, without salary. After few months he got Rs. 35 pm, but no credited roles. After a year or so, he left Sagar and joined Mohan Bhavnani’s Ajanta Film company. He first worked in film ‘The Mill ‘ (1934). Unfortunately, this film was banned for 2 years. The film was based on a story by Munshi Premchand and depicted the poor conditions of mill workers in Bombay. The Mill Owners’ Association brought pressure on Government and got the film banned. After 2 years, the film was released as ‘Ghareeb Parvar’ (1936) aka ‘Daya Ki Devi’. Two more films and Navin became hero in film ‘Pyar Ki Maar’ (1935).
In her autobiography, actress Hansa Wadkar says,”My hero in this film was one Navin Yagnik, a handsome boy from UP. He was very shy and after the shootings, he would quietly sit in one corner reading something. He never joined our drink parties, nor he participated in any other group activity. I was attracted towards him but he gave no response. He sent me invitation card of his marriage, when it was fixed.”
He also worked in Minerva Movietone, Prakash pictures, Filmistan and other good banners. Some of his well known films were, ‘Zambo-The ape Man’ (1937), ‘Meri Bhool’ (1937), ‘Divorce’ (1938), ‘Vasanti’ (1938), ‘Son of Zambo’ (1939), ‘Main Haari’ (1940), ‘Vasantsena’ (1942), ‘Raja Rani’ (1942), ‘School Master’ (1943), ‘Prithvi Vallabh’ (1943), ‘Chal Chal Re Naujawan’ (1944) etc. His last recorded film was ‘Bhagwat Mahima’ (1955). In all, he worked in 30 films.
Navin Yagnik died on 28-10-1977.
Today’s song is probably composed by Govindrao Tembe, but HFGK does not credit any song to individual MD in the duo. With this song, film ‘Vasanti’ makes its debut on this Blog.
Song – Roop Anoop Wahi Hai Sajani (Vasanti) (1938) Singer – Naseem Banu, Lyricist – Abdul Baqi, MD – Govindrao Tembe and Meer Saheb
Lyrics
roop anoop vahi hai sajani
roop anoop vahi hai sajani
jo preetam ko bhaave ri sajani
jo preetam ko bhaave ri sajani
jo saajan ko lubhaave sajani
jo saajan ko lubhaave sajani
roop anoop wahi hai sajani
roop anoop wahi hai sajani
jo preetam ko bhaave ri sajani
jo preetam ko bhaave ri sajani
jo saajan ko lubhaave sajani
jo saajan ko lubhaave
prem mein mann aisa kho jaawe
prem mein mann aisa kho jaawe
apna dhyaan na aawe ree sajni
apna dhyaan na aawe ree sajni
sab sudh budh bisraawe sajni
sab sudh budh bisraawe
yaad mein jeewan unke bita doon
yaad mein jeewan
aa aa aa aa aa
yaad mein jeewan unke bita doon
prem ki aag suhaave sajani
prem ki aag suhaave sajani
prem mein mann sukh paave sajani
prem mein mann sukh paave sajani
roop anoop wahi hai sajani
roop anoop wahi hai sajani
jo preetam ko bhaave ri sajani
jo preetam ko bhaave ri sajani
jo saajan ko lubhaave sajani
jo saajan ko lubhaave
——————————————
Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
——————————————
रूप अनूप वही है सजनी
रूप अनूप वही है सजनी
जो प्रीतम को भावे री सजनी
जो प्रीतम को भावे री सजनी
जो साजन को लुभावे सजनी
जो साजन को लुभावे सजनी
रूप अनूप वही है सजनी
रूप अनूप वही है सजनी
जो प्रीतम को भावे री सजनी
जो प्रीतम को भावे री सजनी
जो साजन को लुभावे सजनी
जो साजन को लुभावे
प्रेम में मन ऐसा खो जावे
प्रेम में मन ऐसा खो जावे
अपना ध्यान ना आवे सजनी
अपना ध्यान ना आवे सजनी
सब सुध बुध बिसरावे सजनी
सब सुध बुध बिसरावे
याद में जीवन उनके बिता दूँ
याद में जीवन
आ आ आ आ आ
याद में जीवन उनके बिता दूँ
प्रेम की आग सुहावे सजनी
प्रेम की आग सुहावे सजनी
प्रेम में मन सुख पावे सजनी
प्रेम में मन सुख पावे सजनी
रूप अनूप वही है सजनी
रूप अनूप वही है सजनी
जो प्रीतम को भावे री सजनी
जो प्रीतम को भावे री सजनी
जो साजन को लुभावे सजनी
जो साजन को लुभावे
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusaist of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
| Blog Day : | 4240 | Post No. : | 15453 |
Today’s song is from the early era of Talkie films. The film is Desh Deepak-1935. The film was made by Wadia Movietone – the pioneers and Flag bearers of Stunt and Costume films. The film was directed by J B H Wadia, the elder brother of the owners. The screenplay, story and Lyrics were by Joseph David and the music was given by Master Mohammed. The cast included Master Mohammed, Shareefa, Iqbal, Sayani Atish, Sardar Mansoor, Husn Bano, Nadia, Boman Shroff, John Cavas, Jaidev(composer), Jijibhai and many more.
When the Talkie films started, the audience was awestruck and went to the theatres to see and enjoy, whatever the producers served them on the screen. Initially, the films were mostly Mythological and Costume dramas, but in due course, the film makers realised that making a stunt film was much more profitable than a Costume drama. Stunt films could be made in Rs. 30-50 thousand, whereas for other films, the investment was more. Further religious films catered to only a particular religion, i.e. Muslim and Christian audience would not see a Mythological film and Hindu and Christians will not see a Muslim religious film. But stunt films were for all and sundry. There was no restriction.
Due to all this, the pioneers of stunt/action films decided to concentrate on this Genre only. Wadia Movietone was the leading film maker of these C grade films. Other companies who made such films were, Imperial, Ranjit, Sharda, krishna, Saraswati, Saroj, Sagar, Bharat Royal, Ajanta, Madan etc. in 1933 Wadias entered with force in this market, and followed by others, in just 3 years i.e. from 1933 to 1935, a total of 138 films of Stunt/Action, Costume, Arabian Night stories and magic based Imaginary films ( all C grade) were made. Significantly, out of these 138 films, as many as 42 films were Stunt and Action films. This was mainly because of Wadia Movietone. They introduced Fearless Nadia in Hunterwali-35 and virtually ignited the flame of Stunt/Action films from 1935 to 1950. Thus the decade of 40s could be called “Stunt Film Decade” with 210 such films from 1941 to 1950.
Wadia Movietone was a noted Indian film production company and studio, based in Mumbai, established in 1933 by Wadia brothers J. B. H. Wadia and Homi Wadia. It was most known for stunt, fantasy and mythological films, including Hunterwali (1935).
Wadia brothers belonged to a Parsi family, and their ancestors came from the ship building Wadia family (Wadia Group), originally from Surat, which also built the British wartime ship HMS Trincomalee (1817). Their ancestors moved to Bombay in the 18th century. It was co-established in 1933, by producer and screenwriter J. B. H. Wadia, his younger brother director Homi Wadia, film distributor Manchersha B. Billimoria, and brothers Burjor and Nadirsha Tata.
However, the Tata brothers left the partnership within three years. The company then continued production of film, documentaries and newsreels from its studios near Lowjee Castle, Mumbai, the Wadia family mansion, owned by their great-grandfather Lovji Nusserwanjee Wadia, a noted shipbuilder, who founded the Wadia Group in 1736. The company even had its logo as a ship, honouring their family legacy. They company made Hunterwali (1935) starring Fearless Nadia, Boman Shroff and John Cawas, which became a surprise hit and its first big success. Thereafter, they made several films based on the Arabian Nights.
However, by the end the 1930s, the genre of stunt, fantasy and mythology films which dominated the early films, was beginning to fail and the company ran into heavy losses, after they invested into ambitious projects which flopped. The last film made by the company was Raj Nartaki (1941) under the direction of Madhu Bose. Thereafter, the studio premises were up for sale; V. Shantaram bought the studio in 1942 and established Rajkamal Kalamandir on the premises. Homi Wadia, who worked as a director the company, went on to establish Basant Pictures in the same year, though initially as a film production house. Subsequently, he established a film studio under the same banner in 1947, which functioned till 1981.
Riyad Vinci Wadia, grandson of J.B.H. Wadia inherited the studio in 1990. He is most known for his film, Bomgay (1996) and a documentary on Nadia, Fearless: The Hunterwali Story. He died in 2003.
In the early phase of Cinema, till about the end of 40s, the Studio system was in vogue. Initially, all studios employed their own staff and the films were sold on the name of the studios, e.g. Prabhat, Wadias, Ranjit, Sagar, New Theatres etc etc. Over the years slowly the ‘ Free Lance ‘ system set in and major stars operated independently. All studios tried to have the best, among their staff. Successful artistes had great demands. Even the story writers and screenplay writers were important. one such person was Joseph David (Penkar), from Imperial film co., who ,later on , joined Wadias. He was a Jew. The contribution of Jew Community to Hindi cinema in different fields like, acting, Direction, Cinematography, etc was noteworthy from the beginning of Talkie films.
Among the earliest script writers for the silent films was a Bene Israel Jew, Joseph David Penkar- (जोसेफ डेव्हिड पेणकर) (1872-1942), a theatre manager of the third decade of the twentieth century, who was also the author of plays in Marathi and Urdu. Today, three of his plays – Queen Esther, The Maccabeen Warriors and Prince Ansalom – are archived in Israel.
He wrote the story, screenplay and some of the music of Alam Ara (1931), the first full length talkie of Indian cinema. Alam Ara betrays the influences of Hebrew, Hindi and English stories. In one scene, the wicked queen imprisons a young man who fails to respond to her advances, like the Biblical story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife. And the sub-plot of a lover couple separated, reminds of Rama and Sita from the great Hindu epic Ramayana, with perhaps a touch of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
Joseph David was born in the Marathi speaking Penkar (पेणकर ) clan of Bene Israel Jews in the Dongri-Umarkhadi area of Bombay in 1872.
Although David did not receive much of schooling, he acquired fluency in Hebrew, English, Hindi, Urdu, Marathi and many other Indian languages. Driven by his passion for English plays, David joined the Parsi Theatrical Company as a stagehand. He was given small improvisational parts as an actor. But, with his talent for music composition and way with words, he soon found himself working as a playwright.
He made a breakthrough when he wrote the screenplay for India’s first talkie, Alam Ara, which was released on 14th March 1931. The film was a huge success. Tickets were sold for twenty times the admission rate as crowds thronged to see the first talkie venture of Indian cinema. After Alam Ara, he joined its production house, the Imperial Film Company, as a playwright and also got involved with film-producing, directing and music composing. Other screenplays followed: Sati Sone (1932); Lal-e-Yaman (1933), to which he also composed the scores; and Desh Deepak (1935). Joseph David died in 1942.
He gave music to 3 films,composing 40 songs…Laal E Yaman-33, Vaman Avtar-34 and Bagh E Misr-34. He also wrote 110 songs in 11 films, from Mahabharat-33 to Pahadi Kanya-36.
Film Desh Deepak-35 had music by Master Mohammed- who also acted in this film. Master Mohammed started his career as an actor and composer in Krishnatone’s ” Harishchandra”-1931-one of the earliest Talkie film in the first year itself. He composed 20 songs in ” Seeta swayamvar”-1933. Same year he acted and composed music to India’s First Talkie Fantasy film “Lal E Yaman”-33. He used to sing songs in his films. He was MD of many films of Fearless Nadia, from her First big film ” Hunterwali ” -1935 to ” Sher E Baghdad”-46. He gave music to 24 films, composing 217 songs and sang 41 songs in 18 films. He also acted in 23 films.
His specialty was patriotic songs in his films. Some of his famous songs were, Hum watan ke-jai Bharat-36 and Zanda uncha rahe hamara-Lutaru Lalna-38. Another song from his film, ‘Jagat ka sapna” was based on Hindu-Muslim Unity. In his every film, there used to be a patriotic song.
His last film as an actor was ” Flying Prince “-1946.
His last film as a composer was Sati Seeta-46.
I have not seen this film, but I got its story, with thanks, from a Blog, exclusive for such film discussions – http://www.pedrotheapebomb.wordpress.com. One special point about this film. This film has the famous composer Jaidev, acting in it as a child artiste. Jaidev had run away from home to Bombay and did few films before returning to home, according to his biography.
The story is…
A kingdom loses its king and there is a mad scramble to take power which would otherwise go to the child prince (Master Jaidev), who is now in hiding. Meanwhile a young woman (Sharifa) is selected to run the country.
To keep the woman in power, her elder sister (Iqbal) joins forces with the General (Sayani Atish) who, unbeknownst to anyone, desires the kingdom for himself. But the woman’s husband (Sardar Mansoor), a patriot, will not divulge the whereabouts of the prince, who is safely hidden away with a high priest (Master Mohammad) and his family, so the general puts him in jail.
The General’s daughter, a pacifist, wins over one of her father’s officers (S.L. Puri) in hopes that he will help avert an all out war, but the General, feeling betrayed, demands his execution. The daughter then meets two entertainers (Nadia and Parsi Charlie) and they try to release the patriot and two other rebels (Boman Shroff and John Cawas), who are imprisoned with him, and together they hope to stop the execution of the young officer.
When she comes to realize the General’s true plans, the elder sister turns against him and goes back to help her husband…but then, the younger sister and her army set out to crush the rebellion once and for all.
One song from this film is already posted here. So, this is the second song, sung by Husn Bano and S L Puri.
Song-Naseeba mera chamka jo sabak loon tumse (Desh Deepak)(1935) Singers-Husn Bano, S L Puri, Lyrics-Joseph David, MD-Master Mohammad
Both
Lyrics
sipahsaalar Feroz
Kya
insaan ka khoon bahaana
ye sab aapka ka kaam hai
?? jo maalik tumhaare haathon
khuda ke bandon ka khoon bahaate hain
wo sirf apna matlab nikaalte hain
sipahsaalaar
watan kaum aur mazhab ke liye
jung karna jitna achcha hai
usse behtar insaani hamdardi mein koshish karna behtar hai
shahzaadi saahibaa
to aaj se mujhe apna shaagird banaa lo
naseeba mera chamka
jo sabak loon tumse jaana ka
mujhe tum hi se haasil ho
tajarbaa aah re duniya ka
mujhe tum hi se haasil ho
tajarbaa aah re duniya ka
yahi laajim hai insaan ko
yahi laajim hai insaan ko
bane hamdard insaan ka
bada ye ??
bane hamdard insaan ka
museebat dil ko ??
aisa aaj na hona
koi maatamzada mile jaaye
jinse ??baan hona
koi aur raah gum kar de
aisa rehnuma hona
?? har ??khuda marha??
?? hona
har baar ?? marha??
kis tarah hona
yahi laajim hai insaan ko
yahi laajim hai insaan ko
bane hamraaz insaan ka
badhaaye ?? aisa ko
bane ?? ka
badhaaye ?? aisa wo
bane hamsa ?? ka
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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4221 | Post No. : | 15423 | Movie Count : |
4250 |
Today’s song is from a C grade stunt film – Diamond Queen-1940. The film was made by Wadia Movietone, who specialised in and thrived on such action films. This was the 10th film of Homi Wadia as a Director.
Homi Wadia (8-1-1908 to 9-1-1996) directed 35 films. His first film as a director was Veer Bharat 1934 and last film was Adventures of Alladin-79. The first film of Fearless Nadia, Hunterwali-35 was directed by him. He later married Nadia, in their later life.
Wadias were always famous for their stunt and action films. Once they got Fearless Nadia as a star, they became monopolist of Stunt films. It is said that Nasir Hussain and Manmohan Desai had only ONE story and they made a dozen films on that one story only. What was astonishing was most of these films became Hits and popular too. No one complained about the stories. Actually, one can safely say that this had started much earlier and the Pioneer in this was Wadia Movietone. Their story department had no work. They made films on just ONE story. The skeleton story was – a cruel king or a cruel Prime Minister, punished by a masked ” Do Gooder” – a friend of the poor and the oppressed janata and lot of daredevil stunts on Horse, Lion, Elephant, Tiger, on moving carriages, with cars and Motor Cycles etc. This was more than enough masala to make a Wadia stunt film of Nadia !
Like good businessmen, Wadias never depended only on Nadia, but kept a back up of stunt actresses in reserve. These were used alternatively to make films. The stock consisted of Radha Rani, Sona Chatterjee, Miss Gulshan, Husn Banu and Noorjehan Sr. to name a few. Likewise in males too they had Jal khambata, jal Merchant, John Cavas, Prakash, Billimoria brothers-Eddie and Dinshaw, Boman Sroff etc to act in their films whenever needed.
Similarly, they had a battery of side actors, villains and comedians, who invariably featured in almost all movies of Wadia. Some of them were Atish Sayani, Minoo Cooper, Sardar Mansoor, Dalpat, Bismilla, Master Chhotu, Manchi Thooti, Master Chhotu, Basheer, Jamshed ji etc. Master Mohammed was an actor, singer and Music Director in many films.
Besides Wadias, there were others like Ramniklal Shah, Nanabhai Bhatt, Harishchandra Rao, Chandra Rao,Imperial and many smaller film makers, who also made stunt films. Thus in totality and in comparative number, there was a sizable group of artistes specialised in action films. By middle of the 40’s, Master Bhagwan entered this Genre, with his Jagriti Films and contributed substantially. Almost all of Bhagwan’s films had only ONE story – a rich seth, a villain extorting money from him, seth employing 2 youths as his bodyguards (Bhagwan and Baburao Pehelwan), who fall in love with seth ji’s daughter and her maid and also destroy the villain.
Coming to today’s movie Diamond Queen-40, it was directed by Homi Wadia. The cast was Nadia, John Cavas, Radha Rani, Sardar Mansoor, Sayani Atish, Minu the Mystique, Boman Shroff, Dalpat etc etc. The 5 songs were written by Munshi Shyam and Music Director was Madhulal Damodar Master.
The name Madhulal Master must be unknown to the newer crop of Music lovers, because he retired from film music in 1952- much before most readers were even born. The story of Madhulal Master is as strange as his death. On the morning of 19th June 1990, The Times of India, Bombay flashed a news…” The old time Music Director and a Director of Indian Institute of Puppetry, shri Madhulal Damodar Master is found murdered in his Shivaji Park home.”
Born on 21-6-1903, Madhulal joined the film industry to become a Comedian, but he was first made a sound recordist assistant, then an assistant MD for two films and finally independent MD for Krishna Tone Film Company for their film, ‘ Navchetan’-32. In the next 21 years he gave music to 34 Hindi films, few Gujarati films and some documentaries, composing 267 Hindi songs. Unable to cope up with the changed pattern of Music and public taste, he retired from this profession after his last film- Jungle ka Jawahir-52. After this he pursued his hobby of Puppet making and soon developed a flourishing business. Internationlly well known, he was the only Indian member honoured by the International Puppetiers’ Organization. Very few people know that it was his JOKER PUPPET which was used by Raj Kapoor in his ambitious film MERA NAAM JOKER-1970.
He was invited as a special guest for the release ceremony for the HFGK-Vol I, on 8-10-1988, after Harmandir ji meticulously made special efforts to locate him in Bombay. He was overwhelmed with this gesture. Madhulal ji showed a Catalogue to Harmandir ji, in which Madhulal ji had recorded information about all songs composed by him with details of the every film that he did in his career. Harmandir ji was wonder struck with his systematic records. In the ceremony, senior artistes like Naushad, Sitara Devi, Rajkumari ji etc all touched his feet with respect. He regaled the audience with his humorous talk for an hour. He had spent 38 years before this in anonymity. It is very sad that his life ended in such a tragic way. ( His murderer was never found out, nor was the motive known and the case was filed.)
One of the actors in the cast was Sayani Atish. He was a regular Villain in Wadia films. Sayani Aatish – his real name was Sayani Abdul Hamid Ahmed. He was born in Bombay. He had a ancestral Timber business, but his intense desire to work in films brought him to this profession in 1925. He started working in Silent stunt films as a villain.By the time Talkie films came, he had perfected his style. He joined Wadia Movietone. His first Talkie film was “Laal-E-Yaman”-33. After this he did 18 films.His last film was Mere Sajan-41. He was considered an outstanding villain of films.He was a writer and composer too.
One more actor was Boman Shroff. Boman Shroff was born in Kalyan-Bombay. He joined films in 1922. After doing many silent films, he joined Wadia Movietone. His first Talkie film was “Laal E Yaman-33”. He was known as a Dare Devil stuntman and master of make up.His role was usually of a comedian. His best performance was in Toofani tarzan-37. He worked in 17 films. His last film as an actor was Stunt King-44. Boman Shroff also directed two films- Toofani tirandaz-47 and Sher Dil-54.
The story of film Diamond Queen-40, as I found on Wiki is this….
Diamond Queen is a 1940 Hindi action adventure comedy film. It was directed by Homi Wadia and produced by Wadia Movietone. It starred Fearless Nadia, John Cawas, Radha Rani, Sayani Atish, Sardar Mansur, Dalpat, Kunjru, and Boman Shroff. This film was the seventh in the Diamond thriller series with the first being Veer Bharat in 1934, directed by Homi Wadia under the production of J. B. H. Wadia. It is cited as one of the best films produced by the Wadia brothers. The film’s success saw Homi Wadia becoming a producer by which he was able to obtain raw stock for his films due to the rationing of two films per producer during the Second World War.
The film is set in Diamond Town where Madhurika returns following five years of studies in Bombay. She is the Bambaiwali the townspeople have been waiting to see. She returns to her town wearing western clothes and looking fit and to her father’s query she replies that she’s been working out in the Bombay gymnasiums. The town is reeling under the brutal atrocities of the mustachioed bushy eye-browed villain, Kedarnath (Sayani Atish) who has usurped the Prince’s place while he is away. Kedarnath had been given charge by authorities to weed out corruption but is instead heavily into corruption, taxing people and outrages against women. He also has an enemy in the dacoit Diler as he cheated Diler’s father many years ago. Diler was the sole survivor in his family when Kedarnath burnt his family home. He had been given a dying oath by his father to take revenge against Kedarnath. Madhurika joins up with the dacoit Diler and manages to deliver the town from the evil Kedarnath. She advocates for women’s literacy and independence and uses dialogues like: ‘If the nation is to be freed, the women have to be free first.’
Today’s song is sung by Radha Rani and Sardar Mansoor, with Chorus. Singer Radha Rani is one of the ” Same Name Confusion” actresses, about whom I have written here earlier, so I am not repeating. With this song, film Diamond Queen-1940 makes its Debut here.
Song-Kariye kasrat ka prachaar jai bajrang pukaaro (Diamond Queen)(1940) Singers – Radharani, Sardar Mansoor, Lyricist – Munshi Shyam, MD – Madholal Damodar Master
Chorus
Sardar Mansoor + Chorus
Lyrics
khabardaar
maaro
Kariye kasrat ka prachaar
jai bajrang pukaaro
Kariye kasrat ka prachaar
jai bajrang pukaaro
kasarat hai jeevan ka saar
jai bajrang pukaaro
kasarat hai jeevan ka saar
jai bajrang pukaaro
Kariye kasrat ka prachar
jai bajrang pukaaro
himmat na hargiz haaro
kasarat kar tan man waaro
balwaan bano balwaan bano
balwaan bano ab pyaaron
jai bajrang pukaaro
hoy
jai bajrang pukaaro
ek do teen chaar paanch chhe saat aathh
??
badhho rukho jhuko uthho
Kariye kasrat ka prachaar
jai bajrang pukaaro
kasarat ka shauk badhaao
?? maan padhaao
shakti ka
shakti ka
shakti ka prashn banaao
jai bajrang pukaaro
hoy
jai bajrang pukaaro
ek do teen chaar paanch chhe saat aathh
desh ki shobha jo balidaan
jo nirbal hai wo ??
desh ki shobha jo balidaan
jo nirbal hai wo ??
phir yahaan aa gaye
kya karoon
?? mujhe pahle hi yahaan ghaseet laate hain
geet khatm ho jaane do
phir tumhaari khabar leti hoon main
shukriya
aap to hamesha hi hamaari khabar leti rahti hain
dhanwaan se achche nirdhan
dhanwaan se achche nirdhan
ye jeewan
ye jeewan
ye jeewan safal banaao
jai bajrang pukaaro
hey
jai bajrang pukaaro
kariye kasarat ka prachaar
jai bajrang pukaaro
Raja hamen na nihaaro
Posted on: January 28, 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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Blog Day : |
4211 | Post No. : | 14409 | Movie Count : |
4245 |
Today’s song is from the film Nav Jeevan-1939. It was a film made by Bombay Talkies, one of the heavyweight film making companies of those times. Bombay Talkies and Prabhat Film company of Poona were the companies that tackled offbeat and social reform issues through their films. They generally, combined social work with entertainment successfully and therefore their films became popular.
The owners of Bombay Talkies, Himanshu Roy and Devika Rani were Bengali. The company, no doubt, helped and gave opportunities to many capable Bangla artistes in different fields of film making, like cinematography, direction, acting etc. However, they were also known to recognise talents and offered opportunities to right persons irrespective of language, caste or religion – Bangla or non Bangla. Both the owners were foreign educated and Himanshu Roy had been in Germany to make films. Very few people know that his first wife was a German lady !
The couple had a soft corner for Germans because of their personal experiences. This was evident from the fact that Bombay Talkies had employed a team of German Technicians and other specialists like Director, Cinematographer etc. In the early stages of Bombay Talkies, from 1935 to 1939, almost all their films were directed by Franz Osten – a German.
Germany had a very good name in India during the olden days i.e. during the early part of the last century. I remember, my Grandfather ( who expired in 1975 at the age of 91 years) always praising Germany for so many things. In India, all things German were considered the Best- even better than the Vilayati or the British things !
Very few people know that Indian Cinema had a little known connection with the rise of Hitler in Germany in 1932-33. A group of men engaged in Cinema in Germany, flocked to India in the 30’s and played a vital role in Indian Cinema and the arts of that times. After Hitler took over Germany in 1933, the German Cine Studio’s glory days were over and they were turned into Nazi Propaganda Machines !
It was at this time that several of its men ( mostly persecuted Jews) left the studio and some arrived in India, and contributed to Indian cinema’s formative years.
The foremost among them is Frantz Osten, a German whom Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani met at the USA when they went to train there (they worked with Lang and Marlene Dietrich). Osten had already been directing films for the couple since 1925, when he made Light of Asia for them from Germany.
In 1934, he came to India and the next year, after Rai founded Bombay Talkies ‘the legendary film studio in Malad that now lies in ruins,’ Osten directed its first film.
He went on to direct the famous Devika Rani-Ashok Kumar starrer, Achhyut Kanya, without much knowledge of Hindi. The film, which featured the song “Main ban ke chiriya”, was shot by Cinematographer Joseph Wirsching; the sets were designed by Karl von Spreti, the laboratory was headed by Zolle, and the sound recordist was Len Heartley. This was Osten’s team of USA ex-members who worked for Rai’s state-of-the-art studio.
Osten and his fellow Germans directed 16 films for Rai. It was a remarkable feat for people who knew little Hindi mistaking the word “bulbul” once, for a pair of bulls.
“It’s not clear if they had anything to do with the Nazi ideology, either way,” said film historian Amrit Gangar.
“If they did, it did not show in their films. But there were two other people who almost certainly migrated to India because of the persecution of Jews.”
Franz Osten(23-12-1876 to 2-12-1956) Hindi director, was born in Munich as Franz Ostermayer, the elder brother of successful producer Peter Ostermayer. They set up a travelling cinema, Original Physograph (1907) and founded Munchner Kunstfilm (1909) after Osten had been making shorts for Pathé, Gaumont and Eclair. Their first feature: Die Wahrheit (1910). Osten’s début as director: Erna Valeska (1911). War correspondent in 1915. Joined Peter’s company Emelka (later Bavaria Film) in 1918. Made Der Ochsenkrieg (1920) with young cameraman Frank Planer of later Hollywood fame, one of Osten’s several contributions to a budding genre that after WW2 became known as the Heimatfilm. In fact, the Ostermayr/Osten brothers claimed to be the originators of the genre.
When Himanshu Rai and Emelka made a deal to produce Prem Sanyas aka Light of Asia, Osten was assigned to direct. Continued directing Rai’s productions, often shooting in India as well as in Europe, in addition to directing for numerous companies in Berlin. Moved with cameraman Josef Wirsching and set designer Karl von Spreti to India to work at Himansu Rai’s Bombay Talkies (1934).
While in Bombay, became a member of the Nazi Party (1936). He was interned by the British at the outbreak of WW2 while shooting his last film there, Kangan. Released and allowed to return to Germany (1940). Employed by Bavaria Film until 1945, for casting and setting up its film archive. In addition to Indian films, directed 33 silent features and 10 sound films.
After WW2 became manager of a Bavarian spa. His Indian films, following UFA tradition, were huge Orientalist spectacles with elephants, camels and expansive vistas often shot in deep focus. Effective authorship shared by producer Rai and scenarist Niranjan Pal. Adopted European conventions to introduce main actors, e.g. backlit mid-shots in soft focus gradually becoming more contrasted; also used mobile outdoor shots as in the railway-crossing sequence of Achhut Kanya. Strongly influenced younger Bombay Talkies film-makers Amiya Chakrabarty and Gyan Mukherjee, though they used his techniques for very different purposes.
Filmography-1925: Prem Sanyas, 1928: Shiraz, 1929: Prapancha Pash, 1935: Jawani Ki Hawa, 1936: Achhut Kanya, Janmabhoomi, Jeevan Naiya, Mamata, Miya Bibi, 1937: Izzat, Jeevan Prabhat, Prem Kahani, Savitri, 1938: Bhabhi, Nirmala, Vachan, 1939: Durga, Kangan, Navjeevan
In addition to the German team in Bombay Talkies, there were three more Germans who also came to India and worked in Hindi films. One was Walter Kauffman (1-4-1907 to 9-9-1984). The other was Wilhelm Haas (18-6-1915 to 30-3-1979), who was a writer. Both were Jews and friends. Kauffman, Haas and Bhavnani worked together in Premnagar (1940), Naushad’s first film as music director. Kauffman composed the background score; Haas wrote the screenplay.
“It is debatable, but Kauffman is probably also the person behind the All India Radio signature tune. Haas was a member of the Indian chapter of PEN,” Gangar said. Haas also wrote the script for Bhavnani’s Jhooti Sharam (1939).
The third German was Paul Zils ( 1-6-1915 to 30-3-1979 ). Zils, believed to be a Nazi sympathizer, turned up in India under strange circumstances: he was bound for Indonesia in a steamer that got torpedoed by an Indian naval ship during World War II and he was taken prisoner.
After his release, because of his film experiences, the leadership of the sales department in Ezra Mir led government documentary production company called him to join Information films of India. End of October 1945, he came to Bombay and started his work. Following the closure of the Information Films of India, Zils was freelancing and in 1948 founded his own company Documentary Films of India; in 1949 India created new state production company Films Division. To popularize the documentary he was supported in 1949 among others by Mulk Raj Anand , B.K.Karanjia , Vikram Sarabhai , Frene Talyarkhan and Jagmohan.
1950-1952 is Zils tried as a feature film director, turning three films with Dev Anand. Paul Zils directed 3 Dev Anand films, according to the documents. Hindustan Hamara-50 and Zalzala-52 are found in HFGK, but the third film called ‘ Shabash”, though listed in 1949, gives no details, except the film name.
Paul Zils was also active in organizations of filmmakers. From 1957 to 1959 he was president of the Indian Documentary Producers Association (IDPA). In March 1959 he returned to Germany.
As the studio system came to an end and individual producers took over, the days of the Germans in Indian cinema were over. Many, including Osten, went back to Germany. Set designer Spreti was appointed German ambassador to Guatemala and was later shot dead by terrorists.
Most of the others remained associated with the film world abroad.
Film Nav Jeevan-39 had music by Saraswati Devi (a Parsee). Amongst the first 3 women Music Directors of India – the first being Ishrat Sultana aka Bibbo, the second was Jaddanbai and then came Saraswati Devi (1912-10.8.1980) – she was the most consistent and prolific composer. She gave music to 31 films, composing 262 songs. She also sang 10 songs in 6 films.
The cast of the film was Hansa Wadkar, Rama Shukul, V H Desai, Mumtaz Ali, P F Peethawala, Lalita Deulkar and many others. Today’s song is written by J.S. Kashyap and this duet is sung by Lalita Deulkar and Balwant Singh.
LALITA was born in Bombay in 1924.She was not interested in acting or singing, but poor family conditions and father’s T.B. forced her to earn a living by singing and acting. During 1940-45, she recorded many songs. One Mr. Dulerai Pandya, a Gujarati, owned “The National Recording Co.Ltd.” in Bombay’s fort area. There was a Tricolour shown on the labels of the records,hence this company was known as Jhandewali record co.. V.Shantaram was also on its Board of Directors. Initially Prabhat and later Rajkamal film songs were issued on this Jhanda Chhap records only. The company had hired Datta Davjekar for Marathi and Avinash vyas and Lallubhai Bhojak for Hindi and Gujarati songs. She recorded many Darya songs and Bhavgeets in this company.Along with her, Gajanan Watwe, Jyotsna Bhole also recorded songs here. Some records named her as Lalita Devi. Once Saraswati Devi heard her and gave her chance to do small roles and sing in chorus of songs of Bombay Talkies films. Her Debut was made with the song ” Raja hamen na niharo”. It was a duet with Balwant Singh, in film Navjeevan-39.
After singing songs in films like Parbat pe apna dera-44,Valmiki-46 and Eight Days-46,she got a good break in film Saajan-1947. Her duet with Rafi, ” Humko tumhara hi aasra” is remembered even today. Film Nadiya ke paar-48 also had a duet with Rafi,”More raja ho,le chal nadiya ke paar” which was very popular. C.Ramchandra was MD for both these films. She sang in several other films like Bhakta Dhruv,Khidki,Jalan,Shaheed,Shakti,Vidya,Bedard,Daulat,Girls school,Jai Bheem,Roshni,Sanwariya,Shabnam,Apni Chhaya,Malti Madhav,Pahli Tarikh,Sajni etc.
In all she acted in 5 films and sang 79 songs in 36 films.
She got married to Composer Sudhir Phadke (25-7-1919 to 29-7-2002),on 29-5-1949 at Poona. Their common friend Mohd. Rafi sang a specially prepared and meticulously rehearsed ” Mangalashtak ” ( an eight stanza marriage song in Marathi), in their marriage. After marriage she sang only in films of Sudhir Phadke. After Sajni-56, she stopped singing completely and became a devoted housewife. She died on 25-5-2010. Their son Shridhar Phadke is a well known Marathi singer and composer.
The male voice in this duet belongs to Balwant Singh. BALWANT SINGH was born in Pandoga village of Hoshiyarpur on 9-12-1918 in a Jahagirdar’s family. He was quite rich.
After a training from Pt.Bhishmadev in classical music, he came to Bombay and joined Bombay Talkies at the age of 18 years. He first gave Playback in Jeevan Prabhat-37. In Nirmala-38 he acted and also sang a song. Then came Durga-39 where also he acted and sang.
V.Shantaram cast him in Padosi-41 and his songs in this film were hits.
He was Hero in Darpan, Swapna, Malan, Naukar, Paraya Dhan, Ashirwaad, Collegian, Dr.Kumar, Bhanwar, Hip hip hurray and Apni chhaya-50 etc. As a hero he sang less songs. His songs with Shanta Hublikar(Malan) and Parul Ghosh and Khan Mastana(Bhanwar) were very popular. He also acted in Nirmala,Vachan and Kangan.
In all, he acted in 18 films, sang 20 songs in 10 films and also wrote 6 songs in film Sumitra-1949.
He married a girl from the royal family of Palanpur, Gujarat. After leaving films, he worked in All India Radio for 4 years. The signature tune played just before the morning broadcast was composed by Balwant Singh, for A.I.R.
Then he settled in Ahmadabad, directing Dramas and Teaching music. Finally, he shifted to Ludhiana where, after a long illness, he died on 4-12-1985.
With today’s song, film Nav Jeevan-1939, makes its Debut here.
( Some information used herein is from the book ” The music that rings every dawn ” by Historian Amrit Gangar ji, The Record news Bulletins of S.I.R.C , Prof. Yogesh yadav ji’s book ” Hindi film singers ” and Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema. My thanks to these sources.)
Audio
Video
Song-Raja hamen na nihaaro (Navjeevan)(1939) Singers-Lalita Deulkar, Balwant Singh, Lyricist- Jamuna Swarup Kashyap ‘Natwan’, MD-Saraswati Devi
Both
Lyrics
Raja hamen na nihaaro
o raja hamen na nihaaro
hamen to lag jaayegi najariya
ho raam
hamen to lag jaayegi najariya re
tirchhi najariya patri kamariya
tirchhi najariya patri kamariya
chhedo hamen na sanwariya
haan haan
chhedo hamen na sanwariya
haan haan
chhedo hamen na sanwariya
hamaari baali umariya
ho raam
hamen to lag jaayegi najariya
ho raam
hamen to lag jaayegi najariya re
kaun des se aayi gujariya
kaun des se aayi gujariya
ka matki bhar laayi gujariya
ka matki bhar laayi gujariya
brindawan ?? aayi gujariya
prem preet ras aagi gujariya
brindawan ?? aayi gujariya
prem preet ras aagi gujariya
daasi tihaari rasiyaa
haan haan
daasi tihaari rasiyaa
haan
daasi tihaari rasiyaa
sang sang beete umariya
ho raam
hamaari beete umariya
ho raam
hamaari beete umariya re
Door. . . Bahut Door
Posted on: January 17, 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.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 : | 4200 | Post No. : | 15384 |
Today’s song is from the first decade of the talkie era and from one of the very popular Saigal films coming from New Theatres, Calcutta, ‘President’ (1937).
Ardeshir Irani of Imperial Film Co. won the race with Calcutta’s Madon Theatres and released the first talkie film of India – ‘Alam Ara’ (1931) and a revolution took place in the Indian Film Industry ! With just one shot, scores of Anglo-Indian actresses of the silent era became jobless, because they could not speak Hindi or sing a song. Smaller producers of silent films just shut their shops, because now, a single talkie film needed 4 times more investment compared to cheaper varieties of silent films produced earlier. The financial wizards understood the new opportunity of making money by investing in talkie film production. The number of staff of film companies increased and the big players with sound finances, became ready to grow bigger.
By 1934, the production of silent films ceased completely. Some of the noted film makers like V Shantaram, for example, who had shunned the talkie films initially as a temporary aberration, now took keen interest in making talkie films. They realised that talkie films could be an excellent vehicle for giving out social reform messages to the society. Initially, though the talkie films were made on folk tales, Parsi dramas and mythological stories, after 4-5 years the trend changed in its content and we can see a variety of genres in films then.
The playback was introduced in 1935 at Calcutta and in 1937 at Bombay – both by Bengali MDs. So, in 1937 films became mature. The other major highlights of 1937 were. . .
1.The first songless film – ‘Naujawan’ – was made by the Wadias
2. First English poem was used as a song in a Hindi film – which is available even today.
3. Younger MDs like Gobind Ram, Gyan Dutt, Ram Gopal Pande etc started their film careers.
4. Prabhat Films brought out their first film on social reforms – ‘Duniya Na Maane’. Same time New Theatres gave ‘Mukti’, ‘Ánath Ashram’ and ‘President’, on social issues.
5. First colour film – ‘Kisan Kanya’, indegenously shot and processed by Imperial, was released.
In 1937, a total of 176 films were made in India, out of which 102 were Hindi films. 14 films were made in Calcutta, 2 in Poona, 1 each in Kolhapur and Lahore and 83 films were made in Bombay alone, establishing itself as the undisputed Capital of Film Industry. In Bombay, the major players (film companies) made films in 1937 alone, thus – Prabhat-2, Ranjit-8, Sagar-6, Bombay Talkies-4, Minerva-2, Huns Pictures-3, Wadias-4, Prakash-3 and the maximum films were made by Imperial-9. The rest films were made by dozens of smaller production houses and individual producers under their banners. The major companies made 41 films, which was a major chunk of the 83 Bombay made films, in 1937.
Out of this, some notable films were – ‘Khwab Ki Duniya’ made by Prakash, was based on the famous novel and a subsequent Hollywood film ‘The Invisible Man’ (1933). The trick scenes were lapped up by the audiences. ‘Mahageet’ made by Sagar, heralded the playback singing in Bombay. ‘Savitri’ made by Bombay Talkies, was Ashok kumar’s first mythological film (he acted in another film ‘Úttara Abhimanyu’ (1946) later on). ‘Naujawan’ was Wadia’s first songless talkie film of India.
By 1937, the film music had also undergone total change. From stage drama style music, now MDs tried various other original melodies. Thus music became one of the major attractions of a film. Particularly some film songs are such that they occupy a special place in our heart. Many such songs of Hindi films are known to all of us and at some point of time we all had also got carried away with such songs. The other day, I was reading the book- “Golden period of film music 1931-1960” by film historian and writer Isak Mujawar ( चित्रपट संगीताचा सुवर्णकाळ १९३१-१९६०), in which he has related an anecdote…
When Producer Director Raj Khosla was a small boy, his father used to love Saigal songs. They had an ancient type of gramophone and his father would always play Saigal’s song “Ik Bungala Bane Nyaara” from film ‘President’-1937. It was his favourite song. Even Raj used to like this song. As he grew older he always used to remember his father and this song. In 1969, when he made film “Do Raaste”, he created a scene in it, in which Balraj Sahani – the eldest of the three brothers in the film, always listens to this song on his gramophone. The same song is played in the film many times. In fact,the entire film story is built around that song.”
(free translation from Marathi).
When I read this, out of curiosity I opened my laptop and went to You Tube. I searched for the film ‘Do Raaste’ and watched it. Lo and behold ! The song indeed is played by Balraj Sahani and I too – along with Balraj Sahani – enjoyed the song again. Nowadays, we find in many films, old songs are played. Our own Sudhir ji is also running a series of such songs on this blog.
About a month back, I came across 2 song snippets, from film President-37, which I found were not covered in the Blog so far. The problem was, one song was of only 40 seconds and the other was of 50 seconds. Next day, I had urgent engagements till next 10 days, so I left the matter at that. However, when I became free, I sent those snippets to Atul ji and Sudhir ji. Sudhir ji informed me that the shorter song was opening part of the famous song “Ek Bangala Bane Nyaara” and was already covered in the blog. However the other 50 second snippet needed some work on it. Sudhir ji restored it by editing, cutting, joining and adding the missing song lines to it, etc. to make it a song of respectable duration of 2+ minutes. It included some dialogues also. He even uploaded it. I thank Sudhir ji for mending, amending and sending the song to me for presentation.
As per HFGK, there are 8 songs in film President. 6 songs are already discussed. In these posts, lot of information about the film and related matters has already been given , so there is nothing left to write about these matters. However, I have found that the synopsis of the film given by the Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema takes a different angle of the story than what is already given in the blog. So I am reproducing it here to know what it means. . .
A famous Saigal musical narrating a strange love story set against 1930s industrialisation and worker-management relations. The 16-year-old Prabhavati (Chandrabati Devi/Kamlesh Kumari) inherits a mill and turns it into an extremely profitable enterprise.
Prakash (Saigal) is a worker who designs a more efficient machine for the factory for which he first gets sacked and then is re-employed. He falls in love with Prabhavati’s sister Sheila (Leela Desai), who later makes way for Prabhavati who is also in love with Prakash.
Her withdrawal distresses Prakash, causing him to bully the workers who then go on strike. Prabhavati realises the problem and presumably commits suicide (she disappears into an office and locks the door) for the good of her sister and of the business. The hint is about her death.
The unmistakable thrust of the story is that the ‘personal’ (i.e. relations with women) should not be allowed to interfere in male pursuits like business or management, equated with social good. The film has Saigal’s classic number Ek bangla bane nyara. The plot echoes the Guru Dutt script for the unfinished Baharain Phir Bhi Ayengi.
Let us now listen to this reborn 7th song. Some dialogues come free with the song…
Song – Door. . . Bahut Door (President) (1937) Singer – Bikram Nahar, Lyricist – [Unattributed], MD – Pankaj Mullick
Leela Desai
Jagdish Sethi
Lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
[jeejee
ae ree jeejee
toone jo kiya thheek kiya
tujhe ye sab kuchh chhod kar chala jaana hoga
door
bahut door
bahut door]
door
bahut door
phir bhi tum itne nahin door
jitna aankhon se noor
phir bhi tum itne nahin door
jitna aankhon se noor
[damn it
daam aankhen
damn noor]
ras bhari vaani se to
man ki kali
khil gayi
khil gayi
hic
theeeeeeee
kathor vachan
hic
sunte hi
murjhaayi
hic
[Vikram
ye bakwaas band karoge ya nahin]
[. . .]
[..clipped dialogues..]
[. . .]
[apne us rascal se keh dena ki
uski daal ab yahaan nahin galegi
Sheela darling us’se nafrat karti hai
Sheela dear. . .]
[tum isi laayak ho
raat khatm hone waali hai
jee bhar ke ro sako to ro lo
savere tak dil ki bhadaas nikal jaayegi
ghabraane ko koi baat nahin]
mere nainan ke tat pe shnaan
birha ki kaali raat
karti hai jis bhaant(?)
ho jaati hai parbhaat
mere nainan ke tat pe shnaan
birha ki kaali raat
karti hai jis bhaant(?)
ho jaati hai parbhaat
haar mein hoti hai jeet
yahi ee
hai
preeet ki reeeet
————————————————————
Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
————————————————————
[जीजी
ए री जीजी
तूने जो किया ठीक किया
तुझे ये सब छोड़ कर चला जाना होगा
दूर
बहुत दूर
बहुत दूर]
दूर
बहुत दूर
फिर भी तुम इतने नहीं दूर
जितना आँखों से नूर
फिर भी तुम इतने नहीं दूर
जितना आँखों से नूर
[डैम इट
डैम आँखें
डैम नूर]
रस भरी वाणी से तो
मन की काली
खिल गई
खिल गई
हिक
थी॰॰॰
कठोर वचन
हिक
सुनते ही
मुरझाई
[विक्रम
ये बकवास बंद करोगे या नहीं]
[. . .]
[..संवाद कट..]
[. . .}
[अपने उस रास्कल से कह देना कि
उसकी दाल अब यहाँ नहीं गलेगी
शीला डार्लिंग उससे नफरत करती है
शीला डियर ॰ ॰ ॰]
[तुम इसी लायक हो
रात खत्म होने वाली है
जी भर कर रो सको तो रो लो
सवेरे तक दिल कि भड़ास निकाल जाएगी
घबराने कि कोई बात नहीं]
मेरे नैनन के तट पे श्नान
बिरहा कि काली रात
करती है जिस भाँत(?)
हो जाती है परभात
मेरे नैनन के तट पे श्नान
बिरहा कि काली रात
करती है जिस भाँत(?)
हो जाती है परभात
हार में होती है जीत
यही॰॰॰
है
प्रीत कि रीत
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