Archive for the ‘Songs of 1930s (1931 to 1940)’ Category
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws
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4758 | Post No. : | 16502 | Movie Count : |
4483 |
India is a Multi racial, multilingual and Multi religions country. It is not only the largest Democracy in the world, but also the largest Secular state in the world, where people from different faiths have been living together since centuries.
Many saints and religious leaders have played a significant role in keeping the mixed population of India as One Unit, when it was needed the most. A majority of Hindus, ruled by Muslim Mughals was a natural cause for social divisions, but Saints like Kabir, Surdas, Tulsidas, Ramdas, Tukaram, Ramanand, Narsi Mehta, Purandar das,Namdev, Guru Nanak Dev, Eknath, Bhakta Pundarikar, Rohidas, Mrutyunjaya and many such noble souls, did an excellent job of maintaining harmony amongst peoples of different faiths.
Indian spiritual Gurus set themselves as Role models for the masses. Whether it was Ramkrishna Paramhansa or Shankaracharya or all the others have guided their followers to achieve peace of mind through spirituality. Religion is a way of life in India and most Gurus teach their followers how to follow the right path even while looking after their families.
Some of the saints have done monumental literary works for the masses, bringing what was available only in Sanskrit, to the doorsteps of the common people. Among such saints, Sant Tulsidas tops the list, according to me. He sets an example of how a person can educate himself and how a person can change himself for his Goals in life.
The period of 1300 to 1600 AD, a time frame of 300 years or thereabouts, was when most saints were active in India. This was the period when several outside rulers invaded India and established their rules. This was the time when the culture and religion of India had to be saved from annihilation. The saints of India played an important role in this and maintained Unity and Oneness of Indian culture from getting destroyed. But for them,there was a danger of the whole nation getting converted to Islam or Christianity. India will forever be grateful to the saints for this .
The Bhakti Movement was India’s own way to combat foreign attackers, cruel rulers and the sleeping people of India. The movement from 1300 to 1600 AD produced many religious Saints and social reformers from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and from Assam to Gujarat. The Indian culture is such that the advice given by a religious saint is more acceptable than that given by a social reformer. Thus, in this hour of need, India’s Saints tried to teach message of reforms such as removal of Untouchability, freedom from Varnashram lifestyles, importance of education, Women’s emancipation and other such matters,through their poems, dohas, Abhangs and writings as well as kirtans. They tried to make the masses wake up against the ill effects of social practices that were being observed those days.
Saints appeared in ALL areas of India,during this period. However,due to language problems, knowledge and information about Saints in other regions trickled down very slowly. States which shared the use of Devanagari script were aware about them in a better way. Thus,Maharashtra,Gujarat,Rajasthan and the Northern Hindi belt states exchanged their knowledge about their saints more frequently than other regions such as Bengal, the Eastern states or the southern states where the scripts were different. Andhra and Karnataka were closer as their scripts are similar, except perhaps the alphabet ‘K’. Tamil and Malayalam scripts have Dravidian origins and were not easily accessible for the rest of India.
With a view to bring some of these saints in limelight, I ran a series of 10 Bhajans from films which were made on the lives or incidents of some Saints of India. The title of this series was ” The Great Souls of India” and it ran from 1-11-2013 to 15-11-2013. It was one of the very popular series from my 26 series which I had run on this Blog. Many readers wrote their comments and conveyed that they liked the series.
In that series, I had purposely not included Meerabai, as my purpose, as always, was to highlight less known Saints into the limelight. Meerabai is a character on whom a maximum number of films were made….
Meerabai-1932
Raajrani Meera-1933
Matwali Meera-1940
Meera-1947
Meerabai-1947
Raajrani Meera-1956
Meera Shyam-1976
Meera-1979
Meera ka Mohan-1991 and
Meera ke Giridhar-1993
There was also one film ” Meerabai Not Out”-2008, but I believe it had nothing to do with Saint Meerabai. In the Silent era also I find a film Meerabai-1921 made by Kohinoor film co. and Sant Meerabai-1929 made by Hindustan Cinema Film co., Nashik.
Today’s song is from the film Matwali Meera-1940. This film was made in Calcutta by Bharat Lakshmi Pictures. It was directed by Prafulla Roy and the music was by Master Brijlal Verma. Lyricist was Pt. Bhushan. There were 15 songs, out of which only 5 were Meera Bhajans. The main lead was Mukhtar Begum who sang 3 Bhajans, Fida HGussain and Kamla Jharia one Bhajan each.
The cast had 17 names, out of which 11 were Muslim actors in this Bhakti Pradhan film. I have heard all the available songs-7 and frankly I was disappointed. Mukhtar Begum has sung the Bhajan in Mujra or Ghazal style. As it is in those times the music was very slow, making it further an outrage. I have selected, therefore, a song-not a bhajan- by Kamala Jharia.
With this song, the film Matwali Meera-1940 makes its Debut on this Blog.
Song-Sun ri sakhi ek Gope-suta ki sundar katha sunaaun (Matwaali Meera)(1940) Singer- Kamla Jharia, Lyricist-Pandit Bhushan, MD- Master Brijlal Verma
Lyrics
Sun ri sakhi
haan haan sun ri sakhi
ek Gope-suta ki sundar katha sunaaun
jiske atal prem par main bhi
waari waari jaaun
Sun ri sakhi
haan haan sun ri sakhi
ek Gope-suta ki sundar katha sunaaun
Dwaapar yug thhaa jis vasant ki
Dwaapar yug thhaa jis vasant ki
ras ke jharne jharte
raas rachaate Krishn Kanhaiyya
raas rachaate Krishn Kanhaiyya
man ki peeda harte
mast raag se kal-kal karti
bahti nadi toofaani ee ee
mast raag se kal-kal karti
bahti nadi toofaani
kho gayi jismein bahte bahte
kho gayi jismein bahte bahte
ik gopi deewaani
ik gopi deewaani
prem viyog mein jogan ban kar
is duniya mein raazi (?)
prem viyog mein jogan ban kar
is duniya mein raazi (?)
raaj ?? kul ki shobha
raaj ?? kul ki shobha
matwaali Meera bai
matwaali Meera bai
matwaali Meera bai
Nis din Shyam Shyam japati
Posted on: July 5, 2021
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws
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4735 | Post No. : | 16456 | Movie Count : |
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Today’s song is from the film Lagna Bandhan-1936. The film was made by Sagar Film company. The director was K.P. aka Kaliprasad Ghosh- who was a master in directing Silent Films. Film Shehar ka Jaadu-1934 was his Debut film for a Talkie version of films. After this film he directed one more film for Sagar, Lagna Bandhan-36 and then he left for Bengal.
His most important contribution to Hindi films of Bombay was that he convinced Motilal to join films, when he had come to the studio, with a friend, only to watch the shooting of a film. Ghosh spotted Motilal, who had a very impressive personality, and talked him into joining the films. K.P.Ghosh was also a writer. This film’s story, dialogues and Screenplay was done by him only. We do not know who was the Lyricist of the 8 songs of this film. The Music Director was Pransukh Nayak, an old timer expert in music for stage dramas in Gujarati. He started giving music to Hindi Talkie films with Sati Sone-1932. He composed 293 songs in 26 films. His last film as a Composer was film Kulvadhu-1937 from Sagar film company.
In those days, there was a Studio system, in which various artistes in different departments of filmmaking used to be paid servants of a studio. For composing music to Hindi films, the first composer in Sagar was S.P.Rane- a Marathi Manoos from Baroda, Gujarat. He gave music to almost 15 films here. Then came Pransukh Nayak. He gave music to 10 films. He was followed by Anil Biswas, who gave music to 12 films of Sagar and 2 films of National, before joining Bombay Talkies.
The film was released on 18-11-1936 in Roxy Cinema, Bombay. The cast of the film was Sabita Devi, Motilal, Azuri, Sankatha Prasad, Aruna Devi, Leelavati, Bhudo Advani, Ansari and many others. Though the film was labeled as ” Social” in HFGK, looking at the story, one finds that it was a costume drama spinning a story of King, Queen and the wicked Vazir etc stuff, combined with a love story. Such stories originated from the fertile imaginations of the Story Departments or the story writers. The story of the film as per the booklet is….
Yudhajit (Sankata Prasad) is the outlawed brother of the king of Udaynagar. Before he left the palace, he had stolen the elder of the Twin sons of the king to be killed for revenge. However, looking at the sweet baby, he decides to bring up the boy to be used for revenge afterwards. He grows up into a handsome Indrajeet (Motilal). His brother Shatrujit-in the Royal palace- falls prey to a dancer-Najma (Azuri) and becomes a drunkard.
Rajnagar princess Chandra (Sabita Devi) is due to marry drunkard Shatrujit. To avoid this she tries to escape from the palace guised as a Dasi-Nanda. Meanwhile Indrajeet is sent there to kidnap the princes, before marriage. They meet accidentally and fall in love wishfully. After singing a few love duets in a few days, Indrajeet returns empty handed. Yudhjeet plans that Inderjeet takes the place of Shatrujeet at the time of marriage. Reluctantly he agrees.
On the day of marriage, in any case, Shatrujeet is so drunk that he is not in a state to stand for marriage. The Dewan (Ansari) finds Indrajeet who, being a Twin, looks similar. He is caught and produced for marriage as Shtrujeet. The marriage takes place. Both the Groom and Bride see each other and are very happy. However soon the reality is declared. There is a fight in the armies of Yudhajeet and the King, in which Yudhajeet dies. Before dying he reveals the secret of the brothers to the king and others ( audience, anyway knows this before them !). All is well that has already ended well !
The film had the popular pair of Sabita Devi and Motilal. They acted as Lead Pair in 8 films of Sagar and 2 films of Sudama films of Sarvottam Badami, who had directed the pair in 5 films earlier in Sagar.
The real name of Sabita Devi was IRINA MAUDE GASPER. She was an Anglo-Indian, born in an affluent family of Calcutta, on 20-7-1914.
After completing education she wanted to join films, but her family objected. Without the family’s knowledge, she sent her resume and Photo to British Dominion Film Co., owned by Dhiren Ganguly in Calcutta. When they informed their consent the family resisted and kept her locked in the house. She fell ill and finally, the family conceded to her wish.
Her first Silent film was Flames of Flesh-1930. Then came Kanthahaar, A touch of Love, After the death, Aparadhi, Money makes what not and Bhagyalaxmi as silent films.
When the talkie came, she determinedly learnt Hindustani and Urdu and also Music.
She’s stated to have influenced P. C. Barua, who had joined the Board Of the British Dominion Film Company and acted in a few silent films, to start his own company. According to sources, “He was inspired to become independent”. After his return to Calcutta from Paris, Barua set up the Barua Film Unit. The first film under this banner was Aparadhi (1931), directed by Debaki Bose, with Sabita cast as the heroine. The film went on to become a “critical success”.
Her first Talkie film was Radhakrishna-33, in which she sang 16 out of 23 songs in the film, but no records were made. Next was Ek din ka Badshah-33. She shifted to Bombay for better opportunities. In 1934,came Shahar ka Jaadu,with Motilal as a debut actor and this film was a Hit. Later she and Motilal became a popular pair.
Sabita Devi and Motilal’s first movie as a pair in the famous Sagar Movietone, the movie Lure of the City (aka Shaher ka Jadoo) released on 29 th September 1934 at the Imperial Cinema Bombay. This movie was directed by Kaliprasad Ghosh and music was composed by K.C.Dey (the blind singer). Cast : Sabita Devi, Motilal, M.Kumar, K.C.Dey and Kamalabai.
This was the sound debut of Kaliprasad Ghosh at Sagar after a few successful movies directed in the silent era. Mehboob Khan was earlier selected for the lead role and was later replaced by Motilal. This was actor Motilal’s debut film and Motilal – Sabita made the best couple of the Sagar Film Company since then in many other movies under the banner of the Sagar such as, Silver King (1935), Dr Madhurika (1935), Lagna Bandhan (1936), Jeevan Lata (1939), Kulvadhu (1937), Kokila (1937), three hundred days and after (1938) and later in Films Ap Ki Marzi (1939) and Prarthana (1944).
She did many films. Her some films were- 300 days and after, Apki marzi, kokila, Kulvadhu, Amrapali, Ladies only, Chandragupta, Chingari, Dr.madhurika, grihalaxmi, holiday in bombay, Jeevan Lata, King for a day, Lagna bandhan, Manmaani, , Phantom Of the hills, Silver king, vengeance is mine, Village Girl etc etc. In all, she acted in 23 Talkie films and sang 15 recorded songs in 7 films. She was a good Piano and Harmonium player.In later days in 1943 onwards, she stopped singing herself. Her last picture was Amrapali-45.
She was one of the earliest female artists to write about film acting as a decent profession for ladies from respectable families. In a letter to the Filmland English weekly, November 1931 issue, titled “Why Shouldn’t Respectable Ladies Join the Films”, she countered claims of immorality and low moral standards of producers and directors, raised by an anonymous actress in the September 1931 issue, “Should Respectable Ladies Join Films”. She stated that “the attitude a man takes towards a woman is governed by the latter’s own integrity, by her actions, words and manner”. She went on to state that people had a “mid-victorian conception” of women on stage and that “A Lady Artiste” was perhaps herself to blame for any unwanted advances.
She was the highest paid actress of the 1930s and the magnet of attracting audiences for the movies made by the Sagar Movietone. Lure of the City (1933), Phantom of the Hills (1934), Educated Wife (1934), Vengeance Is Mine (1934), Silver King (1935), Dr Madhurika or Modern Wife (1935),Lagna Bandhan or Forbidden Bride (1936), Village Girl (1936), The Creeper of Life or Jivan Lata (1936), Kokila (1937), Kulavadhu (1937), Three-hundred Days and After (1938), Ladies Only (1938) are the hit movies she made under the banner of the Sagar Movietone in most opposite Motilal. Sabita- Motilal became a finest and most romantic couple in mid 1930 s . In 1939 she started working in Sudama Pictures and produced movies Aap Ki Marzi (1939), Chingari (1940), Sajni (1940),and Holiday in Bombay (1941). Thereafter she did lead roles in Fashion (1943) , Prarthana (1943) and Amrapali (1945).
In 1946, she got married and left for England. She came back again only to die in Calcutta on 11-3-1965.
With today’s song, film Lagna Bandhan-1936 will make its Debut on this Blog.
Song-Nis din Shyam Shyam japati (Lagna Bandhan)(1936) Singer- Sabita devi, Lyricist- Not known, MD- Pransukh Nayak
Lyrics
Nis din Shyam Shyam Japati
main apne piyaa par jaan maan shaan arpan karti
Nis din Shyam Shyam Japati
main apne piyaa par jaan maan shaan arpan karti
Nis din Shyam Shyam Japati
prem nadi hriday uchhalti
prem nadi hriday uchhalti
hansti khelti ramti
hansti khelti
Nis din Shyam Shyam Japati
main apne piyaa par jaan maan shaan arpan karti
Nis din Shyam Shyam Japati
kaisi sooratiyaa pyaari
main hoon bani matwaari
more jiya ko laga ?? chaab nyaari
man tadpat larjat(?) waari
jaaun waari o bihari
piya charan pe tan man harti
Nis din Shyam Shyam Japati
main apne piyaa par jaan maan shaan arpan karti
Nis din Shyam Shyam Japati
main apne piyaa par jaan maan shaan arpan karti
Nis din Shyam Shyam Japati
Rah rah uthhti tees hriday mein
Posted on: July 3, 2021
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws
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4733 | Post No. : | 16453 | Movie Count : |
4467 |
Today’s song is from the film Maa-1936. As per the Title index book, there were 5 films having this same title and one was incomplete in the 60’s. In addition there were 23 other films with titles having Maa in them like, Maa qasam etc.
Among this series, today’s film Maa 1936 seems to be the first one. The film was made under the banner of Prafulla Pictures, floated by Producer-Director Prafulla Ghosh. Possibly, this was the only Hindi film of this banner. The MD was S.P.Rane, who was a ‘Marathi Manus’ grown up in Gujarat. The lyricist was B.N.Gupta and the cast was Zubeida, Jal Merchant, Kanan Bala, Master Brijmohan, Manorama and others.
The actress Manorama in this film was a Bengali Jew, whose real name was Winnie Stewart. This Manorama was obviously different from the comic Manorama of Hindi films of the 40s to the 90s. This later manorama was famous for her role of Chachi in the film Seeta aur Geeta-1972. The Manorama of film Maa was acting in silent films.She acted in 15 silent films and then 19 Talkie films. She acted in many Hindi films made in Calcutta like Anath Ashram-37, Dushman-38, Kapal Kundala-39, Zindagi-40, Kashinath-43, Hospital-43, Hamrahi-44, Tum aur Main-46, Suleh etc. Her last film was in 1952- Chhoti Maa .
Director Prafulla Ghosh was directing films since the Silent era. After the Talkie started, he first directed the First Talkie film made by Sagar Movietone-Veer Abhimanyu-1931. He went on to direct 3 more films for Sagar- Abul Hasan-31, Romantic Prince-31 and Subhadra haran-32. In 3 of these 4 films the lead pair was Zubeida and Jal Merchant. Ghosh then went to Calcutta and directed Chaar darvesh-33 and hari Bhakti-34. He came to Bombay and started his own banner Prafulla Pictures and made today’s film Maa-1936. There is non information about him after this. Maybe he went back to Calcutta and did work in Bengali. We do not know.
In the early years of Talkie films, Parsis made substantial contributions in many departments of filmmaking. In acting, Sohrab Modi, Eddi Billimoria, Dinshaw Billimoria, Jal Khambata and Jal Merchant were famous. Jal Merchant was a typical Parsi born and brought up in the Parsi Colony area in Bombay. Though his family had a business, he did not join it as he was keen to make a career in films. Bombay being the centre of filmmaking he had plenty of chances. He did not have a masculine, wide chested body, but he compensated with his superb acting skills. He could also sing in his soft voice.
It was a colorful stellar team that Jal Merchant formed with Zubaida in the early talkies. But it was in mythological roles, and not romantic parts, that they first won the hearts of cinegoers. The first picture that made them a rage everywhere was Sagar’s “Veer Abhimanyu,” in which Jal played Abhimanyu to Zubaida’s Uttara. In the next one- Subhadra Haran-32, Jal was Arjun, Abhimanyu’s father, while Zubaida played Subhadra.
Like Zubaida, Jal Merchant joined films in the “silent days”. It was a change of medium for him, for he had been playing female roles on the Gujarati stage! His performance as the heroine of “Shankit Hriday,” a Gujarati play, proved a hit, and Nagendra Majumdar, who directed the play, induced him to switch over to screen acting. Jal joined the Imperial Film Company, and among his early films the most notable was “Vasant Bengali,” a social picture directed by R.S. Chowdhury. In those days, the screen hero generally had more brawn than brains, but the lead player of “Vasant Bengali” was called upon to show more intelligence than physical prowess. Jal did just that – and won instant fame.
After the advent of sound, Jal’s first four films for Sagar were mythologicals – “Veer Abhimanyu-1931,” Subhadra Haran-1932,” “Pandav Kaurav-1933” and “Mahabharat-1933”. For close-ups of these pictures, Jal used to wear trousers and only the upper part of his body was made up for his role. But in one close-up his pants were also visible! The shot was cut on the first day of screening in Bombay.
Gifted with a fine voice, he also delighted cinegoers with his singing. He sang 33 songs in 7 films-Meerabai-32, Pandav Kaurav-33, Mahabharat-33, Grihalaxmi-34, Aaj kal-34, Sone ka Shahar-35 and Toofan Express-1938.
In “Zarina,” written and directed by Ezra Mir, he was the tongawallah who falls in love with a dancing girl at a carnival. This poignant romantic tragedy won plaudits for both Jal and Zubaida. It was their last picture together for Sagar. Zubaida left Sagar and Sabita Devi took her place. Sabita and Kumar were the first stars imported from Calcutta. Sabita co-starred with Jal in “Phantom of the Hills,” directed by Ezra Mir, in which he played a dashing Pathan riding a white charger. In “Educated Wife” (Grihalaxmi), directed by Sarvottam Badami, he played a modern educated youth. In this role the versatile Jal revealed a genial personality. Sabita was again his co-star.
Jal and Zubaida played stellar roles together once again in “Aaj Kal,” directed by R.S. Chowdhury. This was the last important picture for both stars. Jal acted in about n15 Silent films and 29 Talkie films. His first Talkie film was Veer Abhimanyu-1931 and his last Talkie film was Armaan 1953.
Jal Merchant, who already had a family flourishing business, retired from the screen. Later, he started to live a quiet life in Bandra. Jal was an excellent shikari in his younger days. His screen associates also remember his soft voice, gentle manners and sensitive, handsome face. His pairing with Zubeida and Sabita Devi was very popular. He had all the gentle Parsee manners and was a popular co-star for the heroines.
I have read somewhere that Jal Merchant died in 1963 in Bombay. He was unmarried till the end, like many Parsis. ( information from an article by V.P.Sathe in Screen, ‘Screenplay’ by Isak Mujawar, HFGK, muVyz and my notes have been used in this post, with thanks.)
The Heroine for film Maa-36 was Zubeida Sr, who had acted in India’s first Talkie film-Alam Ara-1931, made by Imperial film co. She also acted in the first talkie film made by Sagar nMovietone- Veer Abhimanyu-1931. One of the 4 wives of Nawab Siddi Ibrahim Muhammad Yakut Khan of the state of Sachien,Gujarat, was Fatima Begum. She was in films, even before marriage. There is however no proof of their marriage. From the Nawab, She had three daughters, namely Sultana, Shahzadi and Zubeida. All daughters and the mother were into films.
When the girls became of age, Fatima used to make them dance in the film theatres between the change of reels- which was to entertain the audience. The beautiful eldest daughter Sultana and playful sister Shahzadi were already working in films. When Fatima and the Nawab had some differences, Fatima took her daughters and came to Bombay to work on her own.
Fatima was the First woman to establish Fatima Film co, Bombay, to produce and Direct Bulbul-E-Paristan-1926. All the 4 women acted in it. Fatima then formed Victoria Fatima Film Co. in 1928 and produced 7 silent films-Chandravali,Heer Ranjha both in 1928 and Kanak Tara, Milan Dinar, Goddess of Love, Shakuntala and Wonderful Prince all in 1929. Her company was closed in 1930.
Sultana, the eldest daughter, known as The sultry Sultana;, was famous for doing sexy roles. She came into limelight when she filed a case against Yassir Hussain Lalji, son of the chief of Bombay Municipality, in 1931, claiming to be his wife and demanding a sum of Rs. 5 lakhs in those days !
The second daughter known as Lovable Shahzadi also acted in films.
The third Zubeida, was born in 1911 and acted in silent film Veer Abhimanyu, but debuted as a Heroine in Gul Bakavali-1922. She acted in 36 silent films and then she became the Heroine of India’s first Talkie AALAM ARA-1931. In this film she sang one song also.
In 1935, she converted to Hinduism and married Raja Dhanrajgir Narsing Girji Gyan Bahadur, a very rich Jagirdaar from Hyderabad state. She stopped working in films, after 21 films, in 1935.
She lived peacefully with her husband in Bombay. In 1982, one of her legs was amputated due to severe Diabetes and she spent her remaining life in a wheelchair, yet till her end on 20-9- 1988, she used to look very beautiful and gracious.
Please note there was another actress named Zubeida, who appeared only after Zubeida Sr. retired in 1935. Zubeida Jr. was the inspiration for the film Zubeida-2001. These two are different. Do not get confused.
With today’s song, the film Maa-1936 will make its Debut on this Blog.
Song- Rah rah uthhti tees hriday mein (Maa)(1936) Singer- Kanan Bala, Lyricist- B N Gupta, MD- S P Rane
Lyrics
Rah rah
uthhti tee ee ee ees
hriday mein aen
aen aen
aen aen aen aen aen
Rah rah uthhti teees
hriday mein
Rah rah uthhti teees
hriday mein
?? ka man mere man mein
Rah rah uthhti teees
hriday mein
?? ka man mere man mein
Rah rah uthhti teees
hriday mein
paa gayi wo sab is jeevan mein
paa gayi wo sab is jeevan mein
aa aa aa aa
aa aa aa aa
aa aa aa aa
aa aa aa aa
aaa
aa aa
aa aa aa aa aa
paa gayi wo sab is jeevan mein
nahin kisi par trish(??) hai
phir kyun
nahin kisi par trish(??) hai
phir kyun
Rah rah uthhti teees
hriday mein
Rah rah uthhti teees
hriday mein
?? ka man mere man mein
Rah rah uthhti
Rah rah uthhti
Rah rah uthhti teeeees
Tum ho sajni meri tamanna
Posted on: June 17, 2021
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws
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Blog Day : |
4717 | Post No. : | 16425 | Movie Count : |
4462 |
Today’s song is from a film called Daughters of India-1939. The film was made by Super Pictures, Bombay. It was directed by V M Vyas and the Music Director was Pt. Ram Gopal Pandey. Twelve songs of this film were written by Munshi A. Shah ‘Aziz’. The cast of the film was Khursheed, Ashiq Hussain,Radha Devi, Vimla Devi, Shah Ali, Leela etc.etc.
Film’s Hero Ashiq Hussain hailed from U.P. He was a Handsome person. He could act and also sing reasonably well. He was selected by Jaddanbai as a side Hero in her first film “Talash E Haq”-1935, wherein, her own daughter Nargis also made a Debut as a Child Artiste with the name Baby Rani. Jaddanbai was in the female lead opposite Yaqub, who also hailed from a Tawayef family. Ashiq hussain acted in all the 5 films made by jaddanbai, namely Madame fashion-36, Hriday manthan-36, Moti ka Haar and Jeevan Swapna-37- all directed by her. Ashiq hussain acted in 25 films. His last film was ‘ Utho Jaago”-1947, in which he was cast opposite actress Shahzadi. She was also the producer of the film. After the film was released, Ashiq Hussain married Shahzadi and they both migrated to Pakistan.
I do not know what was the story of the film Daughters of india-39. I had seen an advertisement of this film in Film India magazine, wherein they said ” after Mother India-38, another social film “. However I found that both films were made by different banners and different Directors too. The Music Director was the same.
I have heard 3 songs from the film Daughters of india-39 and frankly I was disillusioned. The songs are so drab and have almost the same style and same tune-with slight variation. I also happened to listen to some songs from other films of Ram Gopal pandey, like Kisan kanya-37 and mother india. They are so unmusical. No wonder Ram Gopal got only C grade action and stunt films.
Music Director Ram Gopal Pande was variously credited as R G Pande, Ram Gopal, Ram Gopal Pandey etc. He hailed from U.P. After trying to become a singer unsuccessfully, he became assistant to many well known composers and learned the methods.
His first break came in 1936 with ‘ Matwali Jogan’ aka A girl from Lahore. Then he was called by the Imperial film company for its first colour film Kisan Kanya-37. Master Nisar and Padma Devi’s songs became popular, so he was given two more films- Mere Laal-37 and Vasant Bangalee-38.
Then came Mother india-38, Actress kyon bani-39, Flying Rani-39, Perfect man-38, Daughters of India-39 and Chalti Duniya-40. He was then connected with Mohan Pictures. He did other movies like Tatar ka chor-40, Deepak Mahal-40, Captain Kishore-40, Jadui Bandhan-41, Shahzadi-41, Bulbul E Baghdad-41, Bandukwali-44, Hoor E Jungle-46, Baghdad ka Chor-46, Arab ka chand-46, Ali Baba-46.
His last film seems to be Angoorbala-47. He was left behind as his music was stage and drama type only. He did not change the style either. In all he gave music to 22 films and composed 203 songs. None of his songs are remembered today. No other information is available on him.
Even the director of this film was V M Vyas who specialised in films of low budgets and C grade films generally. Vishnukumar Maganlal Vyas was born on 4-11-1905 in Ahmedabad. He started his career in 1927 as a Cinematographer. His company, Sunrise films, was started in 1941. He produced and directed 30 Hindi ( 3 Silent and 27 Talkie films) and many Gujarati films . He died on 24-1-1962 at Bombay. Vyas was a very hardworking person and a man of ‘ never say die ‘ spirit. He was disciplined and did not tolerate any nonsense. He was also known as a very miser. Being a Vaishnav, his stars would get only vegetarian food during shootings. If they wanted Non Veg food, they had to pay for it.
His first Talkie film was Saubhagya Lakshmi-34 and the last was Naag Devta-81.
Famous writer Manto has described in his book an incident about Noorjehan and V.M.Vyas.
At the time of film Naukar-43, the pair of Shaukat Hussain and Nur jehan troubled Vyas to no end. Not attending the shoots on time, asking for extra money on some pretext or the other and in general giving trouble and mental torture to Vyas were common. Not only this, additionally Nur jehan and Shaukat used to take interesting property materials from the sets to their house-like furniture, decorative vase, cupboards etc. Vyas kept quiet till the film was complete.
Once the film was completed and released, he registered an F.I.R against both of them for stealing studio equipment. To utter dishonour of Noor jehan, a police raid was made on her residence and all the furniture, tables, decorative pieces etc. , which she had taken from the sets were confiscated and the court fined her also.
Thus Vyas did not keep quiet when it was his turn and taught a lesson to Noor jehan and Shaukat Hussain, for troubling him.
After listening to songs of early era films made in Bombay, no wonder the film songs from Calcutta films became more popular. It must have been a breath of fresh air to the audience.
This song was given to me by Shri Abhay Jain jee (US) and it was uploaded by Sadanand Kamath jee for me. I thank both.
With this song, the film Daughters of India-39 makes its debut on the Blog.
Song-Tum ho sajni meri tamanna(Daughters of India)(1939) Singers- Ashiq Hussain, Khursheed Bano, Lyricist-Munshi A Shah ‘ Aziz’, MD- Pandit Ram Gopal Pandey
Both
Lyrics
Tum ho o sajni meri tamanna
sajni ee meri tamanna
tum ho saajan mera sahaara
tum ho saajan mera sahaara
aao nayi ek duniya basaa kar
aao nayi ek duniya basaa kar
us mein prem ka baag lagaayen
hum roothhen aen
tum hamko manaao
tum roothho ham tumko manaayen
tum roothho ham tumko manaayen
jahaan sadiyaan haan jahaan sadiyaan
jahaan sadiyaan
jahaan sadiyaan khil khil jaati hon
jahaan prem ki neenden aati hon
haan
jahaan koyal boley koo koo koo
jahaan ?? boley choon choon choon
prem badariya chhaayi ho sajni ee
barse amrit dhaara aa aa
prem badariya chhaayi ho sajni ee
barse amrit dhaara aa
tum ho
tum ho
tum ho o o
Main deepak ki baati
Posted on: May 25, 2021
This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in 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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‘Sajni’ (1940) was produced under the banner of Sudama Productions and was directed by Sarvottam Badami. The cast included Prithviraj Kapoor, Sabita Devi, Snehprabha Pradhan, Noor Jahan (Sr.), Tarabai, Ghory, Kesri, Dixit, Shakir etc. The story and dialogues for of the film were written by Zia Sarhadi. P L Santoshi, Pandit Indra and Zia Sarhadi wrote the songs which were set to music by Gyan Dutt.
From the cast and crew, Sabita Devi, Sarvottam Badami and Zia Sarhadi belonged to Sagar Movietone while Noor Jahan (Sr.), Kesari, Dixit, lyricists P L Santoshi, Pandit Indra and music director Gyan Dutt among others belonged to Ranjit Movietone. The advertisement of the film shows that the film was produced at Ranjit Studio. Why did the amalgam of artists from two competitive banners of film productions happened? The answer is in the genesis of Sudama Productions, the banner under which ‘Sajni’ (1940) was produced.
Sometime in the middle of 1939, Sagar Movietone of Chimanlal Desai faced the financial crunch to such an extent that to come out of it, the banner was required to be merged with General Pictures of Fazalbhoy to make a new entity, National Studios. Offers were given to the existing staff of Sagar Movietone to join National Studios. While most of the artists and crew members joined National Studios, Sarvottam Badami and Sabita Devi decided to join as stake holders in the newly set up film production company, Sudama Productions floated by Dr. Ambalal Patel in which Ranjit Movietone had a stake in it. The films produced under this banner used facilities available in Ranjit Studio and their artists/crew members. Incidentally, Dr Ambalal Patel was a ex-partner in Sagar Movietone.
Sarvottam Badami, the director of the film was a product of Sagar Movietone for whom he directed 10 Hindi films during 1933-39. Except for his first Hindi film, ‘Chandrahaas’ (1933), Sabita Devi acted in remaining of his 9 films as a lead actress. Under the banner of Sudama Productions, Sarvottam Badami directed 4 films – ‘Meri Marzi’ (1939), ‘Chingari’ (1940), ‘Sajni’ (1940) and ‘Holiday in Bombay’ (1941). In all these films, Sabita Devi was in the lead role.
‘Sajni’ (1940) was released on August 17, 1940. The film’s review was published in September 1940 issue of ‘Filmindia’. The reviewer had criticised the film for poor story and direction. The role of Sabita Devi as an uneducated village girl in the film was not in keeping with her image in the Hindi films as a sophisticated girl. The story of the film as per the review is summarized below:
The village’s wealthy money-lender’s son, Nanda (Prithviraj Kapoor) is in love with a peasant girl, Rupa (Sabita Devi). Nanda wish to get married to Rupa but his father is not in favour of his son’s marriage with Rupa due to the financial status of the girl’s family. Nanda is forced to marry Radha (Snehprabha Pradhan) whose father has given a good amount of dowry. To add to the misery of Rupa, her father dies.
Radha soon comes to know that Nanda was in love with Rupa and he still loved her even after the marriage. When Rupa comes know about this, she prevails upon Nanda to forget about her and to strengthen the marriage with Radha for the sake of the society. With Rupa’s blessing, Nanda agrees to her advice. Rupa sacrfices her love for Nanda to make his married life happy.
The main theme of the film’s story may appear familiar to those who has watched films of 1950s and 60s in which inequalities in the societal status make the hero/heroine a doomed lover. In the film under discussion, Sabita Devi is a doomed lover because of her background as a poor peasant girl. Due the unprecedented success of ‘Devdas’ (1935), films with a story of a doomed lover were in vogue especially during 40s through 60s. ‘Deedar’ (1951) and ‘Do Badan’ (1966) are examples among other films.
‘Sajni’ (1940) had 9 songs of which 7 songs were written by P L Santoshi and one each by Pandit Indra and Zia Sarhadi. Since none of the songs were available on any video sharing platform, I have recently uploaded a song ‘deepak ki baatee priyatam main deepak ki baatee’ which I am presenting here. The song is rendered by Snehprabha Pradhan and is set to music by Gyan Dutt.
The song reflects the state of the mind of Radha (Snehprabha Pradhan) married to Nanda (Prithviraj Kapoor). Thier married life is unsettled when she becomes aware that Nanda is still in love with Rupa (Sabita Devi).
With this song, ‘Sajni’ (1940) makes its debut on the Blog.
Audio Clip:
Song-Deepak ki baati priyatam(Sajni)(1940) Singer-Snehprabha Pradhan, Lyrics-P L Santoshi, MD-Gyan Dutt
Lyrics
deepak ki baatee ee
priyatam
main deepak ki baatee
mai….n
deepak ki baatee
priyatam
main deepak ki baatee
pal pal chhin chhin jalti jaatee mai…n
deepak ki baatee ee
priyatam
main deepak ki baatee
pal pal chhin chhin jalti jaatee mai…n
deepak ki baatee
priyatam
main deepak ki baatee
meri raam kahaani sun kar
jal marta parwaana
kahe jaata hai
dheere se wo…o
behta jaa raha ?? jaana
phir bhi jal ki pyaasi
phir bhi jal ki pyaasi
main deepak ki baatee
main deepak ki baatee
mai….n
deepak ki baatee
priyatam
main deepak ki baatee
andhiyaare mein andhiyaare ka
andhiyaare mein andhiyaare ka
rahta ek sahaara
mere andhiyaare jeewan mein
wohi ek hamaara
jab tak hai wo
tab tak hoon main
jab tak hai wo
tab tak hoon main
wo jaata main bujh jaati
wo jaata main bujh jaati
main deepak ki baatee
mai….n
deepak ki baatee ee
priyatam
main deepak ki baatee
Zara muskura kar milaao nazar hi
Posted on: May 22, 2021
This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in 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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‘Bahurani’ (1940) was produced by Kishore Sahu under the banner of the then newly set up, India Artists Ltd. The star cast included Kishore Sahu and Rose in the lead roles with Anuradha, Mubarak, Pratima Devi, Masood, Nana Palsikar etc in the supporting role. The film had its mahurat shot taken in January 1940 under the direction of Mubarak. In February 1940, R S Junnarkar was assigned the direction of the film along with Mubarak. So, it was their joint directorial venture. For Mubarak, it was his maiden attempt as a director which happened to be his last film as a director. R S Junnarkar was a screen-play and dialogue writer for Huns Pictures of Master Vinayak. It was also his first Hindi film as a director.
The film was expected to be released in April 1940. However, it was finally released on June 20, 1940. The film’s premier was held in Excelsior theatre and Dada Saheb Phalke, the father of the Indian film industry was the guest of honour among many big wigs of Hindi film industry who attended the premier.
Kishore Sahu started his filmy career as a lead actor in Bombay Talkies ‘Jeevan Prabhat’ (1937) which was a box office success. Probably, his entrepreneurial ambition made him to leave Bombay Talkies and float a film production company. In his ambition, Seth Ramnath Daga, a Bikaner based multi-millionaire, supported him with the finance required for such a venture. It was the brain child of Seth Ramnath Daga to set up a film production company called ‘India Artists Ltd’ for which he appointed Kishore Sahu as the Managing Director. He was assisted by Seth Ramnath Daga’s educated son, Dwarkadas Daga.
‘Bahurani’ (1940) was the first film produced under India Artists Ltd. The vision of the banner was to make socially relevant films. During the making of the film, Kishore Sahu had creative differences with Seth Ramnath Daga, the main financial supporter of the banner. After the release of “Bahurani’ (1940), Kishore Sahu resigned from the company and returned to Bombay Talkies to take the lead role in the film ‘Punar Milan’ (1940) opposite Snehprabha Pradhan. It took another 4 years for Kishore Sahu to float his own film production banner, Hindustan Chitra under which he produced and directed ‘Sharaarat’ (1944) and many more films thereafter.
The story of ‘Bahurani’ (1940) was adapted from a Hindi novel ‘Mimansa’ (1937) written by Hindi laureate, Anuplal Mandal who is regarded as ‘Premchand of Bihar’. The screen-play and dialogues were written by another Hindi laureate, Amritlal Nagar. The film was reviewed in ‘Filmindia’ magazine and for a change, the reviewer had praised the film for its story, screen play/dialogues and the performances of the main actors viz, Kishore Sahu, Rose and Anuradha (real name: Khursheed). Based on the review of the film. I have summarized the story as under:
Vijay (Kishore Sahu), a young landlord meets Aruna (Anuradha), a poor village girl born out of wedlock, during a village wedding. He likes Aruna and visits in her house where her mother is seriously ill. She takes a promise from Vijay that he would take care of Aruna if she did not survive. The mother soon dies. As promised, Vijay brings Aruna to his house and is treated as a child of the family by Didi (Pratima Devi) the elder widowed sister of Vijay. Diwanji (Mubarak), the trusted servant of the family is aware of Aruna’s background. But he keeps quite about it.
Soon, Vijay goes to the city for completing his education. He meets Mallika Rai (Rose), a sophisticated girl in the college. Vijay finds her on the same wave length as his in his idealistic approach. After completion of his education, Vijay returns home and finds Aruna now grown up and charming. Vijay falls in love with her and proposes her for the marriage. After overcoming a minor resistance from the family, Vijay and Aruna get married. The couple respects each other and Didi loves Aruna like her own daughter. The life goes on very well. But behind her happiness, there is a lurking fear in Aruna’s mind as to what will happen if Vijay and Didi comes to know about her background of a girl born out of wedlock.
In the meanwhile, Didi leaves for few days to visit her relatives. Vijay is busy with his involvement in the village upliftment activities and to support his growing activities, he calls Mallika to join him. She is given accommodation in Vijay’s house. Both Mallika and Aruna likes each other, Mallika likes Aruna for her simplicity and Aruna likes Mallika for her woman supportive views. Most of the day, Vijay is in the company of Mallika in the village upliftment activities and in course of time, both become close to each other. Aruna is aware of their closeness but pretends to both as if she is not aware of their relationship.
Under these circumstances, Lallan (Masood), the younger brother of Vijay returns home after completing his education. He gets to know the stigma attached to Aruna and tries to blackmail her to satisfy his lust. The stress of ‘affair’ of her husband with Mallika and the blackmailing by Lallan affects her health and she becomes bedridden. How, Vijay and Aurna comes out of the difficult situations and find a solution to a happy ending for everyone is not revealed in the film review.
I was interested to know as to how the story end to the satisfaction of all the main characters. Fortunately, the novel ‘Mimansa’ is available to read on-line in Hindi. I read the entire novel (203 pages). It is really a moving story in a realistic setting. At the end, the main character in the story – Vijay, Aruna, Mallika, Didi will surely get sympathy from the readers. Incidentally, the film has used the same names for the characters as in the novel.
The film has followed more or less the same story as depicted in the novel up to the entry of Lallan who has been shown as a villain in the film. To some extent, Mallika has also some shade of villain, being the ‘other woman’ in the life of Vijay. However, in the novel, no character has been depicted as villain.
Both Aruna and Mallika have cordial relations though some mild arguments do take place between them. But the respect for each other overwhelms such ‘noise’ in their relationship. Again, Aruna and Lallan have good relations. The only villainous streak in him is that he reveals to Didi the background of Aruna which makes her, in turn, to reveal the secret to Vijay. The novel makes the society at large as the main villain for the likes of Aruna.
The end is somewhat dramatic to the relief of Aruna. Didi has already written a letter to Vijay about the background of Aruna which makes Aruna jittery. To add to her misery, Vijay has become close to Mallika. The intense stress in her life makes Aruna ill. Vijay arranges the best doctors and medicines. But she is not recovering from her illness. The servants tell Vijay that bahurani is not taking medicines and is not allowing doctors to check her. Both Vijay and Mallika think that Aruna has no will to survive from her illness.
Both Mallika and Vijay visit Aruna separately to make her understand to take medicines. During the conversations, Mallika realises that Aruna’s love for Vijay is undiminishing despite their affair. The greatness of Aruna is that she is not blaming either Mallika or Vijay for what is happening to her life. With a lot of deliberations, Mallika decides that it is better to detatch herself from Vijay. She leaves Vijay’s house without informing anyone and goes back to her city. Before leaving, she writes a letter address to Vijay to take care of Aruna and suggests him to take Aruna for a long outing for a change.
The story in the novel ends with Vijay and Aruna travelling to Puri. While in the train, Aruna hands over a letter written by Didi revealing the stigma attached to her. Vijay reads it and tears off the letter by telling Aruna that he was already made aware of her background by Diwanji when he proposed her for the marriage. It was his conscious decidion to marry her and he was capable of facing the repurcussion even now. But nothing will break their union.
The film had 9 songs written by J S Cashyap and Azad. However, individual credit to the songs is not available. All the songs were set to music by Rafique Ghaznavi. I am presenting the film’s first song, ‘zara muskura kar milaao nazar hi’ to appear on the Blog. HFGK mentions Zohra as the singer of the song. The voice in the song does not sound like that of Zohrabai Ambalewaali.
In the 1930s, there was an actor-singer called Miss Zohra Jaan who was a star in her own right. She had two sisters – Mushtari Bai who was also an actor-singer in early 1930s. Unfortunately, she died in her teenage in 1934. The other sister was Khursheed (known as Anuradha in Hindi films). Shri Arunkumar Deshmukh has painstakingly collated the rare information on ‘Zohra Sisters’ and has covered in an article, mere baba ne baat meri maan li.
Rafique Ghaznavi, the music director of the film was married to Zohra Jaan in the 30s. After divorcing her in early 1940s, he married her sister Khursheed (Anuradha). Since Anuradha is in the film under discussion, it further strengthens my belief that the singer of the song is Zohra Jaan.
The song is written in Ghazal style, fit for a mujra. Towards the end of the song, there is a long music suggestive of a mujra dance, It is quite possible that the song may have been picturised on Zohra Jaan herself who was also a good mujra dancer though her name does not appear in the credit. But there are cases where some of the actor-singers appeared in the films uncredited.
With this song, ‘Bahurani’ (1940) makes its debut on the Blog.
Audio Clip:
Song-Zara muskura kar milaao nazar hi(Bahurani)(1940) Singer-Zohra Jaan, MD-Rafiq Ghaznavi
Lyrics
haan aa aa
zara muskura kar milaao nazar hi
zara muskura kar milaao nazar hi
meri jaan ham bhi
aa aa aaa aa
aa aaa aa aa
meri jaan ham bhi khade hain idhar hi
meri jaan ham bhi khade hain idhar hi
na jaao jagaao o o aa aa
na phir phir ke dekho o o o
mujhe chhod do haan aan aan aan
mujhe chhod do bas mere haal par hi
mujhe chhod do bas mere haal par hi
sambhal kar meri jaan aa aa aa aaa aa
na khanjar uthhaana aa aa aa aa aa aa
kahin bal na khaa jaaye aa aa aa aa aa
kahin bal na khaa jaaye teri kamar hi
kahin bal na khaa jaaye teri kamar hi
shab-e-hijr kaa aa aa aa aaa
fasl ki chabri()?? ee ee ee ee ee
ke haan haan mein naa naa
haan aan aan aan aan
ke haan haan mein naa naa rahi raat bhar hi
ke haan haan mein naa naa rahi raat bhar hi
Hamaari kahi maano baabujee
Posted on: May 20, 2021
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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4689 | Post No. : | 16373 | Movie Count : |
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Imagine you are driving a car and your family is with you. You are about to visit an unknown place for the first time. You are going as per the guidelines given by your friend. Suddenly you come across a board in the middle of the road saying ” ROAD CLOSED”. You look left and right for a diversion – none exists. You turn around, stop near a small roadside shop and enquire. He does not know any other route.
Same feeling comes to me when I come across a film in HFGK, about which there is no information available anywhere. There are 2 types of ” Road Closed ” in HFGK films. The first type is where you find only the Title of the film printed. Nothing else. In every year’s list, one can find at least 8 to 10 such films. For example, for the year 1935, there are 10 such films, on whom no information, except their Title is given.( Today’s song is from a 1935 film)
The second type of ” Road Closed ” film is where the film has information on its director, the cast,songs and the banner . In many cases MD’s or the Lyricist’s name are missing. In the early era films, upto 1938-39, there were many films where song details like singer’s name or the MD/Lyricist’s name is not given, as no Gramophone records were issued in those days, except a few films. Except for the information given in the HFGK, nothing more is known about the films – story, screenplay or dialogue writer or cinematographer etc. are not known. In the case of 1935, for example, a total 152 Hindi films were made in this year. More than 100 films from this fall under the Type 2 of ” Road Closed”. This means that other than what is given in HFGK, nothing else is known about these films.
So what do we do about such films where you can’t write about anything else except the cast or the director/MD/Lyricist ? There are few sources like books, old film magazines, Newspaper cuttings, research papers etc. Stubborn films do not appear even in these too !. But yes, there is one more way to get information. If you catch hold of a cast member of that film, you can expect some information.. Here, the problem is, for films before the 50’s, a cast member is difficult to find. And even if you find, due to age his memory may fail him. Harmandir Singh Hamraz ji wrote in Listeners’ Bulletin that when he used to meet old time actors, singers, MDs etc, in many cases it was Hamraz ji who would provide the information to him about his films ! Many of them did not remember much about their own films, due to old age.
One can get the information about an artiste from his/her living close relatives – like son, daughter or other relatives. This was the way I collected information by interviewing close relatives, like about Bhudo Advani from his son, Parshuram from his daughter, Mirza Musharraf from his Daughter/ Son in law, Latika from her daughter, Indurani from her Son-Salim Shah, Sailesh Mukherjee from his Daughter in law, Shankar Vazre from his Grandson etc etc.
today’s song is from the film Bharat ki Beti-1935. Made by Eastern Arts, Bombay, the film was directed by Premankur Atorthy – a solid pillar of New Theatres, Calcutta, in its early period. His name is not much known to the younger generation. Premankur Atorthy (1 January 1890 – 13 October 1964) was a novelist, journalist, and film director, born in Faridpur. He was involved in Hindi and Bengali cinema.
Atorthy’s initial schooling started at Brahmo School, Kolkata. He then studied variously at Duff School, Keshab Academy, City School and Brahma Boys Boarding and Day School, which were then under the University of Calcutta. His father, Mahesh Chandra Atorthy, was a propagator and writer of the Brahma Samaj.
Atorthy was imaginative and fond of adventure from boyhood. Failing to do well in his studies, he ran away to Bombay. At Bombay he learnt to play the sitar under Ustad Karamatullah. Returning to Kolkata, he started working at a sports goods shop in Chowringee. Subsequently, he worked for the Baikali, Yadughar, Hindustan, bharatvarsha, Sangkalpa, Nachghar and bharati.
He was a noted novelist and playwright, author of many books including compilations of short stories, essays (e.g. on silent film, cf. Atorthy, 1990) and plays. Best- known literary work: Mahasthavir Jatak (1944), a fictional autobiography in four volumes noted for its irreverent portrayal of Calcutta’s early 20th-century élites. Among his other novels are Anarkali (1925), Bajikar (1922), Achalpather Jatri (1923), Chasir Meye (1924), Dui Ratri (1927) and Takht Taus. Associated with literary journal Bharati; edited Nachghar, one of the first performing arts journals to take film seriously, with Hemendra Kumar Roy and film- maker Pashupati Chatterjee.
Founded Betar Jagat, the journal of the AIR, Calcutta (1929). Started as scenarist and actor, using the pseudonym Krishna Haldar, at Indian Kinema Arts (Punarjanma, 1927; Chasher Meye, 1931). Remade Punarjanma in 1932. Joined B.N. Sircar’s International Filmcraft as writer and assistant to Prafulla Roy (Chasher Meye is based on Atorthy’s novel and script). Also scripted Nitin Bose’s Buker Bojha (1930).
Premankur entered the cinema world with a role in the Bangla film Punarjanma. First directed film, Dena Paona, was New Theatres’ first talkie, made in direct competition with Madan Theatres’ Jamai Sasthi (1931). Made several Urdu films as part of New Theatres’ effort to enter the North Indian market, including the classic film of Agha Hashar Kashmiri’s play Misar Kumari to Yahudi Ki Ladki (1933). His film versions of literary classics, e.g. from Saratchandra Chattopadhyay (Dena Paona), Rabindranath Tagore (Chirakumar Sabha) and Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay (Kapal Kundala), established the élite literary film genre intended to distinguish New Theatres’ films from routine stage adaptations and remained important signifiers of high art in Bengali cinema. First Bengali film-maker to work in Western India, e.g. for Kolhapur Cinetone (1935) and for Imperial (1936). Credited with the supervision of H.K. Shivdasani’s Yasmin (1935), made by the Krishna Studio.
As an actor – Punarjanma-27,Chaser Meye-31 and Punarjanma-32. As a Director – Subah ka sitara-32, Punarjanma-32, Zinda Laash-32, Mohabbat ke aansoo-32, Kapal kundala-33, Yahudi ki Ladki-33, Bharat ki Beti-35, Karvaan E Hayaat-35, Bhikaran-35, Sarla-36, Hind Mahila-36, Dhanwaan-37 and Dulhan-38 (only Hindi films.). As a writer, he wrote stories, screenplay and dialogues of the films Bhikaran-35 and Sarla-36.
Music was by Ustad Jhande Khan (9 songs) and Anil Biswas (3 songs), who also looked after the film’s background music. While we know that today’s song is sung by Rattanbai, we do not know who the Lyricist was. The cast of the film was Rattanbai, Gul Hamid, Hari Shivdasani, Dadabhai Sarkari, Yasmin, Amirbai Karnataki, Sarojini, Kamala etc.etc.
Sadanand Kamath ji not only uploaded this song for me, but also expertly identified the singer and then sent me a few advertisements of this film for getting some idea about the film. From these I can surmise that the film was about a spirited young girl (Bharat ki Beti), who stands by truth and protects her father who has refused doing illegal acts as wanted by some criminals and has become their target. She seems to have sacrificed her love and risked her own life to protect the family honour. The Hero of the film was Gul Hamid – a name hardly familiar to our readers because his career span was very short and he died just one year after this film.
Gul Hamid or Gul Hamid Khan (born 25-5- 1905) was a Hindi film actor. He started his acting career in silent films and later played leading roles in talkies. He had many honors to his credit. He acted in Heer Ranjha, the first film produced in Punjabi and in Seeta, a talkie that won an honorary diploma in the 1934 Venice Film Festival and that was also the first Indian film shown at an International film festival. Hamid also wrote the script, acted in, and directed the film Khyber Pass (1936 film). Hamid died of Hodgkin’s Disease in 1936.
Gul Hamid was born in Pirpiai, a village near the Kabul River in the North West Frontier Province of British India (now in Pakistan). His father was Saif Ullah Khan. Gul Hamid Khan had three brothers named Abdul Hameed Khan, Gul Jamal Khan and Sayed Jamal Khan. Gul Hamid Khan was married to Patience Cooper(later Sabira Begum) from 1930–1936, one of the first early silent movie actors.
Gul Hamid, a handsome young man from Peshawar, became an all-India celebrity when A.R.Kardar cast him in his hit movie. It is said that the movie industry never again saw an actor with Gul Hamid’s looks”. He made his film debut with Sarfarosh alias Brave Hearts in 1930, which was a silent movie made in Lahore & directed by A. R. Kardar. In 1931, his films Aatishe Ishq and Wandering Dancer were released.
Gul Hamid also had the honour of working in the first ever Punjabi feature film Heer Ranjha released in 1932. This film was made in Lahore and directed by A.R.Kardar.
In 1933, his film Yahudi Ki Ladki was released based on Agha Hashar Kashmiri’s play Yahudi ki ladki.
Gul Hamid’s film Seeta, produced by East India Film Company & directed by Debaki Bose was the first talkie shown in an international film festival when it was shown in 1934 at the Venice Film Festival, where it won an honorary diploma. His other films released in 1934 were Chandar Gupt, Mumtaz Begum, Sultana and Night Bird.
1935 was the rich year of Gul Hamid’s career as many of his films were released in it. In Karwan-E-Hayat (a 1935 adventure film) and Bharat Ki Beti (1935), his heroine was Rattan Bai. His other notable talkies (films) in 1935 were Soteli Maa, Badruhi, Saleema and Murderer. Yasmin was also released the same year in which his name was Behram.
Only three films are present on the record to be released in 1936 i.e., Sunehra Sansar, Baghi Sipahi and Khyber Pass.
Khyber Pass was the film in which he not only acted but also wrote its script and directed it.
He worked with his wife, Patience Cooper, in three films i.e., Baghi Sipahi, Murderer (1935) and Khyber Pass. After starting his film career from Lahore, he moved to Calcutta where he worked in more than a dozen of silent films and talkies. Some of his films were made in Bombay too. In all, he acted in 17 Talkie films.
He died in 1936 due to cancerous throat ailment.(Hodgekin’s Disease).
Today’s song is quite melodious. This rare song was given to me by my friend shri Abhay Jain (US), whom I thank heartily. With this song, the film Bharat ki Beti-35 makes its Debut on this Blog.
Song- Hamaari kahi maano baabuji (Bharat Ki Beti)(1935) Singer-Ratan Bai, MD-Ustad Jhande Khan
Lyrics
aa haan haan re
haan aa aa aan re
hamaari kahi maano baabujee
hamaari kahi maano baabujee
hamaari kahi maano baabujee
suno baabujee
Dehli se ?? bulaayo
suno baabujee
Dehli se ?? bulaayo
na ??
haan haan na ?? aaiho
?? baabujee
hamaari kahi maano baabujee ee
hamaari kahi maano baabujee
naqaab chehre se khursheed jab uthhaata hai
naqaab chehre se khursheed jab uthhaata hai
?? harek ko ?? kaar se lagaata hai
haan
?? harek ko ?? kaar se lagaata hai
koi haram ko koi maikade ko jaata hai
koi haram ko koi maikade ko jaata hai
koi talaash e maishat mein dil ganwaata hai
koi talaash e maishat mein dil ganwaata hai
jo mai na poochha ke ae dil tu kidhar jaata hai
jo mai na poochha ke ae dil tu kidhar jaata hai
to bhar ke aankhon mein aansoo
ye keh sunaata hai
to bhar ke aankhon mein aansoo
ye keh sunaata hai
suno baabujee
Dehli se ?? wo laayo
suno baabujee
Dehli se ?? wo laayo na
na badri
haan haan
na badri
aaiho na badri se ??
baabujee
hamaari kahi maano baabujee
suno baabujee
kholo na jangla kevadiya
suno baabujee
kholo na jangla kevadiya
chundar mohi
haan haan
chundar mohi
aaiho
chundar mohi bheege
baabujee
hamaari kahi maano baabujee
Tumhi ne mujhko maar khilaayaa
Posted on: May 14, 2021
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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Just because I like old films and claim to know about the old films more than others, I do not consider New films worthless. Since the beginning – first the stage dramas and then the films always reflected what the current social scenes, problems and the aspirations of the young generation of the times showed. Old time films, to start with, were mainly made on Mythological stories and Folk tales. Later the focus shifted to Social themes. Still later it was music and then it was comedy and entertainment.
If one studies the pattern of living standards, styles and the general pattern, in the early times, the society was religious minded. Their entertainment was listening and reading about folk tales. So films were made on these subjects. During the II World War period, the people had become aware of their social issues and problems ( like alcoholism, Bal-Vivah, Dowry etc0 and films on these issues were made. After the war and independence, people were exposed to and enjoyed music from the world over, they were relaxed, so musical films were made (The Golden Age of HFM ). And then with many other sources of entertainment like Television, videos, cable TV etc, films were made on comedy and entertainment of all types.
A lover of films – any subject, any language, I became a little uninterested in films from the 70’s onwards. Reasons were many-job, marriage, family raising etc. I was forced to see some films due to my wife’s insistence, but soon I made a deal with her and got freedom from seeing films. When needed, TV and VCR were always there. As far as I remember, I have not visited a Cinema Theatre to see a film in the last almost 35 years. I do not know what a Multiplex looks like from inside ! Not a matter of pride at all,nevertheless a reality.
Maybe due to age or whatever, I do not have the patience to sit at one place to watch a movie for 2 to 3 hours- even on a TV. However, I have seen many films on TV-by instalments, in the 70’s and 80’s. The last film I saw on TV must have been a few years ago, perhaps.
Irrespective of whether I like it or not, the new songs are heard by me unintentionally in functions, get-togethers and gatherings. I have no comments on today’s films/songs/music. As I said music and films are made to suit the current generation’s likings and I am certainly not young anymore ! Occasionally some good films made on National events or National Heroes do come. I see them in my style. I like their presentations. Fortunately, in such films, songs are nil or only on the backgrounds.
The other day, someone asked me what the difference between old time songs and today’s songs is. I think comparisons can be made only of ‘ Likes with the Likes’. There is almost nothing common in these two, so no comparison. If you insist, I would utter only one word – MELODY !
However, I end this topic here by repeating my favourite quote (made by me only)-” Not all that was made before the 70’s was good and not all that is made after the 70’s is bad”! Mind you, this is not a Compromise or a Truce, but a Fact !
Today’s film Challenge-1937 is an interesting film. No, I have not seen it, but whatever information is available in HFGK clearly makes it interesting. Firstly, it is mentioned as a Costume Drama. When you look at the banner,the director, the Md and the cast, you start thinking that it is a stunt/action film. In the cast, along with Jayant, Gulab, Rajkumari, Shirin, M.Ismail, Jahangir and Lallubhai, you also find 3 names Tiger (a Dog), Bahadur (a Horse) and Runnio (a Motorcycle). In the stunt films of Fearless Nadia, in the same period, there was another set of ‘ Non Human ” cast, namely Punjab ka Beta (Horse), Moti (Dog) and Rolls Royce kin Beti (a Car). Later on, when she shifted from Wadia Movietone to Basant pictures, she had Rajput(Horse), Tiger(Dog) and Austin ki Bachhi (a Car). She also used Runnio (M/C) in a few films.
Secondly, names of some characters in this film were funny – M.Ismail’s name was Choona, Lallubhai was Kathha and Shirin was Supari. (I wonder who was the Paan ?).
Today i will tell you about an interesting actor in the cast of this film – M.Ismail. Besides being a devoted Chela of A.R.Kardar, Ismail’s role in Kardar’s marriage was unimaginable. Read on….
M.Ismail was born on 14-5-1902 in a Jeweller family of Lahore. He was a very good designer and Calligrapher.
M. Ismail was a resident of the Inner Bhati Gate in Lahore. Well built and fair complexioned, Ismail had blue eyes, and was quite attractive. Mian Abdul Rasheed Kardar (the famous A. R. Kardar), also belonged to the same area in Lahore. M. Ismail used to work as a golden calligrapher, while Kardar was involved in sketching and illustration.
They went to Bombay in 1927, and according to Ismail, he and Kardar played Kaedo and side hero respectively, in Imperial Company’s Heer Ranjha. But conditions weren’t helpful, and the two young men had to return to Lahore. Fortunately, for them, during 1928, Premier Film Company started a film called Daughters of Today. Both Kardar and Ismail were inducted into the cast, but the film remained incomplete.
Later, Kardar learned production and became well known as a brilliant technician. Kardar established his own film making firm in 1930, called United Players Corporation, and cast Ismail in his early silent movies like Mysterious Eagle a. k. a Husn Ka Daku, which also had Kardar in a central role. Others in the cast were Gulzar Begum, Ghulam Qadir, Ahmed Deen and an American actress, Aeris Crawford. Ismail also acted in Kardar’s film, Safdar Jang, and both these early silent films were very successful. This led Kardar to cast him in Shepherd King (Gadarya) and Golden Dagger (Sunehri Khanjar). In those days, every film used to have an English title and an Urdu one.
Kardar’s marriage to Bahar has an interesting story, and M.Ismail has a role in it.
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 love, but Bahar was guarded closely by her escorts and sister Sardar Akhtar. Kardar was wondering how to go about it. 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.
After Alam Ara opened the way for talkies, Ismail became even more popular. In Kardar’s Hoor e Punjab, an adaptation of Heer Ranjha, Ismailagain played Kaedo, the intriguing ice uncle of Heer, which he repeated yet again later, in film Heer Siyal, with his characteristic style. His other films in India include Alif Laila, Dekha Jaega, Mast Faqeer, Raja Gopi Chand, Prem Pujari, Watan Parast, Sohni Mahiwal, Laila Majnoon, Zamindar and others. In all he acted in 16 Talkie films. He even sang 7 songs in 3 films.
In 1948, M. Ismail came to Pakistan, and immediately got offers from seniors like Nazir, whose films, Pherey, Larey, Anokhi Dastan and Shehri Babu included him in their cast. His first film here was Hichkole-49. Observing his work, another promising and experienced director, Anwar Kamal Pasha offered him some good roles. His films, Ghulam, Gumnam, Qatil, Inteqam and others were the earliest hits of Pakistan. Luqman also cast him in Patan, and Mehbooba was another one that was appreciated.
Similarly Nazeer Ajmeri’s Qismat and Paigham, Munshi Dil’s Hasrat and Ishq e Laila and S. M. Dar’s Saltanat and Dulla Bhatti were also amongst his famous movies. His other films were Darwaza, Subah Kaheen Sham Kaheen, Patey Khan, Piya Milan Kee Aas, Jameela, Bara Aadmi, Zehr e Ishq and many others. M. Ismail was a charming person, with a rural simplicity and a very forgiving disposition. Endearingly called Bhaiyyaji in the industry, M. Ismail’s roles of good hearted, forgetful, careless and sometimes cynical man were the best that he did. But, in many films, he performed a perfect villainish role, including the earlier mentioned, Hoor e Punjab, which had a historic role of Kaedoo. This one was only bettered later, by that most sterling artiste, Ajmal, who made Kaedo legendary with his gestures in Khwaja Khurshid Anwar’s Heer Ranjha.
In Yamla Jat and Khazanchi, in India, he did very fine title roles, while K. Asif’s Phool portrayed him as an old hakeem from Turkey, which he did to perfection. As a villain in Indian film, Wamiq Azra, he presented an individual style, with his full facial expressions. By full facial expressions means that most artistes use the eyes and the forehead, but M. Ismail, with a tremendous mobility of his motor mouth, his sagging cheeks and his prominent and protruding jowls, used a tremendous expanse of his face, which aided him in doing old men’s roles very early in his career.
In those days, there was much importance of finding a characteristic face for films and not handsome or beautiful faces, which is the trend today. That was the reason that more such fine artistes were available to the screen. In Nazeer Ajmeri’s Qismat, he played a unique role of a man, who is too forgetful to even remember his own name. It was a most hilarious performance from a truly talented actor of his times. M. Ismail got a Presidential Award for this role in Qismat.
His last film in Pakistan was Maan jawani da-76- released after his death. He died on 22-11-1975 at Lahore. ( The article is based on information from Filmdom-1946, Cineplot, pakmag.com,muVyz, HFGK and my notes, with thanks to all).
The song I have selected from this film is a Parody of a popular and famous song from the film ” Manmohan-1936″. It was sung by Surendra and Bibbo. Speciality of this song was, after 4-5 lines by Surendra,Bibbo peeps from the door and asks ” kya main andar aa sakti hoon ? ” This variation in a song was a novelty in those days and it added to the popularity of the song further. Enjoy this parody song by Lallubhai and an unknown male. With this song film Challenge-37 makes its Debut on the Blog.
Song- Tumhi ne mujh ko maar khilaaya (Challenge)(1937) Singers- Lallubhai Nayak, Unknown male voice, Lyrics- Sampat lal shrivastav ‘Anuj’,
MD- Lallubhai Nayak
Lyrics
aa hahahahahaan
kyun bachchaa
ab tum kyon rone lage
arre kya bataaun bade bhai
tumne to mujhko aisa maar khilaaya
aa
aisa maar khilaaya
jiska bayaan nashr mein nahin
balke gaane mein sunaana padega
gaane mein
haan
achcha
sunaao
aa haa haa
unhoon
Tumhi ne mujh ko ho ho ho
arree mere bhai
hahahaha
maar khilaaya
ha ha ha
aa
tumhi ne mujh ko zahar pilaaya
aahahahnaha
sota huaa aa aa aa
ek saanp jagaaya
sota huaa aa
ek saanp jagaaya aa
sota huaa aa
ek saanp jagaaya
ahahaha
man ko jalaaya
tan pitvaaya
arre meri maar
hahahaha
man ko jalaaya
tan pitvaaya
tumhi ho poore ganvaar
saajan
tumhi ho poore ganvaar
saa aa aa aajan
tumhi ho poore ganvaar
jo chiraag lekar gahre gadhe mein gire
wo ganvaar nahin to aur kya
hahaaha
tumhi ho poore ganvaar o saajan
tumhi ho poore ganvaar
saa aa aajan
tumhi ho poore ganvaar
tumhi ne mujhko maar khilaaya
tumhi ne mujhko zahar pilaaya
tumhi ne mujhko maar khilaaya
tumhi ne mujhko zahar pilaaya
tumhi ne mujhko maar khilaaya
tumhi ne mujhko zahar pilaaya
aa ha ha h ah
tumhi ne mujhko
hahahahaha
hoho ho ho
aaaa
maar khilaaya
hahaah
arre mere baap
are kambakht
agar gaane mein hi sunaana thha
to koi ghazal , daadra , thumri mein sunaata
ye beqoofi ?? kyun pasand ki
arre bade bhai
arre bade abba
mohabbat ke rone mein isse badhkar aur kaun see
?? ho sakti hai
aa ha ha
chup kar baithh
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