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

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 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 :

6448 Post No. : 20010

Today’s song is from an almost 90 year old film Sunehra Sansar-1936.

The film was made by the East India Film Co.,Calcutta. It was directed by a veteran Debki Bose. The music was by K.C.Dey ( 1893-1962)- the only blind music composer of those times. Later, of course, two more such Music directors came up. One was Manoharlal Sonik (1923-1993) and the other one was Ravindra Jain (1944-2015). Te lyricist of all the 21 songs of the film was also the film’s Hero, Vijay Kumar Pandit, B.A. The other cast members were Rampyari, Menaka Devi (Debut film in Calcutta), Gul Hamid, Kamla Jharia, Azurie, Mazhar Khan, K.N.Singh (Debut film) and few others.
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This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in 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.

This article is the 20000th song post in the blog. It covers a song that was released in the year 1931 but whose existence came to light only just recently.

Blog Day :

6445 Post No. : 20000 Movie Count :

5197

Things do not get any more rare than this.  Plus celebrations like today’s, also do not get any more better and rare.

Milestones is a habit now long forgotten on this blog. No, I do not mean to say we do not celebrate. But it has now become a matter of routine. However, a milestone such as today, came to fore after a journey of more than 17 years. And that too – we can just bask in this glory for a few hours more. Night will fall, the sun will rise, and this milestone will be left behind – forever.

In five decades of recorded data (1931-80), there is an estimated approximation – about 45 thousand songs, give or take. Beyond that, another 45 years of an industry that I and more in my category have not tracked sincerely. But taking just a crude estimate, let us say, another 40 thousand songs. We are talking of a huge repository that is about 85 thousand songs. I am sure, it is a number that cannot be matched by any other segment of the industry world wide. And if I take a look at the counter on the top of this article, a whopping 20+ percent of that repository is already showcased on Atul-Song-a-Day.

A moment it takes to absorb this. Time to ruminate, to contemplate and to let this number sink in inside.
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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 :

6444 Post No. : 19996

Today’s song is from a film which is almost 90 year old – Jaagirdar-1937. It was made by Sagar Movietone, Bombay.

The talkie films started in 1931 and there was a great activity in the film industry. Major filmmakers from the Silent era were cautious about the future of the Talkie Films, but some people with a vision jumped into making Talkie films. At the same time some more adventurous people entered filmmaking and new studios and companies came up.

The first decade, i.e. from 1931 to 1940 was full of experiments. At a time many Genres were tried. Many experiments were undertaken. The industry was still under the influence of a silent era mentality, so those who could not cope up with the new approach soon eclipsed-like Madon Theatres. Intelligent directors understood that the Talkie films have to be made with a different approach- like V.Shantaram and Sohrab Modi, for example. They not only became famous but also lasted for longer periods.
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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 :

6442 Post No. : 19993

Today’s song is from a social film – Achhut-1940.

The second world war started from 1939, but its effects started being felt in India after 1940 only. The Government became alert and sensitive. Lots of restrictions were put on Imports and Exports. All exports to Germany and Japan were banned. Foreign travel came under Government microscope. Imports were restricted to only essential goods. Raw film stock came under Government control (and naturally became available freely in black market at exorbitant price). Taking advantage of the situation, the Government declared that those film production houses who help the Government in its war efforts, by making films with pro Govt. themes, would get raw film on priority.

Most production studios made films with Patriotic themes accordingly, spicing it with pro Govt dialogues to claim favours. Mahatma Gandhi too upped his efforts to Govt. in distress as much as possible by undertaking different Satyagrahas like the Salt Satyagraha, Burning of Foreign goods, Quit India Movement etc. At the same time Gandhi took up movement against social evils to attract public support to his main cause.
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This article is written by Sudhir, 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 sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.

Blog Day :

6438 Post No. : 19985

 

A Very Happy Holi celebration to all.

Well yes, coming at almost the end of the celebration day. But the greetings and good wishes are being delivered with a one year warranty, valid for a full year, till we come to the next instalment of this celebration.

Maybe many folks did not notice it, but this year’s occurrence of this festival of colours is likely the most rare and unique play out of the celebrations ever. At least I do not remember having encountered this version of the celebration ever in my life. And I would like to hear from the readers, if anyone else has. Like a few other things that happen once in life, this celebration of Holi is once in a lifetime experience.
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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 :

6420 Post No. : 19925

“Gramophone Singer”(1938) was produced by V C Desai and Ramchandra Thakur for Sagar Films Production, Bombay. The movie had Surendra, Bibbo, Ishrat Sultana, Prabha, Bhudo Advani, Sankata, Pande, Jamoo Patel, Pesi Patel, Kayam Ali, Sawant, Kanhaiyalal, Agashe etc in it. This movie had 15 songs in it. Five songs have been covered in the past.
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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 :

6417 Post No. : 19915

There are some popular Kishore Kumar songs that were inspired from songs that were originally created in 1930 and 1940s and they were from movies featuring Ashok Kumar. For example, Kishore Kumar’s “Padosan” song “ek chatur naar karke singaar” was inspired from “Jhoola”(1941) song, “ek chatur naar kar kar singaar” which was sung by Ashok Kumar and it was picturised on Ashok Kumar himself. For that matter, even the movie “Padosan” was inspired from “Jhoola”(1941).

Then there is Kishore Kumar’s popular song “koi humdum na raha” from “Jhumroo”(1961). This song was inspired from “Jeewan Naiyya”(1936) song Koi humdum na raha which was sung by Ashok Kumar and was picturised on him as well.
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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.

Blog Day :

6404 Post No. : 19865 Movie Count :

5185

‘Taqdeer Ki Tope’ (1939) was produced and directed by Vithaldas Panchotia under the banner of Shri Bharat Lakshmi Pictures. The cast included Master Nissar, Husn Bano, Vithaldas Panchotia, Jyotsana Gupta, Sultana Banu, Fakir Mohammed, Abdul Kabuli, Narbada Shankar, Master Gama, Shanti Devi, Aruna Devi etc. I have no idea about the genre of the film. I came across the name of the film while listening, for the first time, the audio clip of a song rendered by Master Nisaar. I found the song interesting because it is rendered by Master Nissar in the Hindustani semi-classical style. Before I listened to the song, I was under the impression that Master Nissar was an actor first and had to sing for himself as during his time, the playback singing system was yet to be evolved. But his voice sounded like a trained singer.
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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 :

6374 Post No. : 19767

Today’s song is from a social film the early era -Janmabhoomi-1936.

This was sort of a hidden or disguised Patriotic film. In those days films were scrutinised minutely by the British Government to eliminate any scene, dialogue or a song, which they suspected was a criticism of the Government. This was to ensure that there should not be any room to create or spread criticism of the Government or to promote patriotism leading to a revolt.

The police became stricter during the war period and it became the reasonKavi pradeep had to go underground for a few months for writing a daring songforthe film ” Kismet”-1943. The song was ” Door hato aye duniya walo (move away, O outsiders)”, which invited the ire of the then Government.

The first Talkie film came in 1931. The first year had just 24 films, but within a span of 3 years, the Talkie films crossed the century mark, with 121 films in 1934, 152 in 1935 and 134 in 1936. Making a film was a complicated process which needed a studio, the latest machinery and a lot of money. This was difficult for a single person and thus the Studio System got established. The studios ruled the industry and the film making. Films were sold on the names of the studios and the actors had secondary appeal to the audience.
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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.

Blog Day :

6354 Post No. : 19698

Today, December 10, 2025, is the 24th Remembrance Day of Kumudlal Ganguly, well-known by his screen name, Ashok Kumar (13/10/1911 – 10/12/2001), the first super star and the Bhishma Pitamah of Hindi films. He was conferred the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1988 for his contributions to Indian Cinema and Padma Bhushan Award in 1999.

Ashok Kumar was the eldest among four siblings and his father, a practicing lawyer in Khandwa wanted him to follow his profession. He was admitted to a law college in Kolkata where he may have been influenced by New Theatres films thus creating his interest in cinema. But his interest was confined to the technical side of the film making. He joined The Bombay Talkies as a laboratory technician where his brother-in-law (sister’s husband), Sashadhar Mukerji was a sound engineer and production manager in 1934.
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