Archive for the ‘Song of 1938’ Category
Koi geet manohar nyaara
Posted on: December 6, 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 : |
4524 | Post No. : | 16083 |
Today’s song is from the film 300 Days and after-1938. This was a film made by Sagar Movietone. Based on an English film “A Billionaire’s story “, directed by the famous Haward Hawks. The film was adapted to indian conditions by Babubhai Mehta and the dialogues were written by Wazahat Mirza and Waqif. Music was by Anil Biswas and the 9 songs were written by Zia Sarhadi. Cinematographer was Faredoon Irani. The film was a comedy film directed by Sarvottam Badami. Later he further directed two more comedies – Aap ki Marzi and Ladies Only both in 1939.
Badami was a living example of the famous saying ” where you come from is immaterial. What is important is where you have reached. ” An ordinary Motor Machanic became a famous film director, Head of the Documentary section of Films Division and a management consultant for an Industrial House like the Kamanis in Bangalore. His life story is very inspiring indeed.( another Motor Mechanic became a famous writer and director-Gulzar).
Sarvottam Badami was born in 1910 at Channapatna in Karnataka,to a revenue officer working in Mysore. He passed his SSLC and worked as a garage mechanic and then a projectionist in Select Picture House, Bangalore, both of which were owned by Dr. Ambalal Patel. Patel moved to Bombay and financed Ardeshir Irani of Imperial Film Company, and Chimanlal Desai as a partner forming Sagar Movietone in 1930.
At the age of 19 years, Badami went to Bombay to study automobile engineering. He was asked by Ardeshir Irani who met him at a wedding to help out with the recording equipment he had purchased from abroad.
Badami helped in the sound recording department for the first Talkie in India, Ardeshir Irani’s Alam Ara (1931). Around that time a German director making the film Harishchandra left half-way and Badami offered to complete it, the co-director was Raja Chandrasekhar, although the co-director credit has also been cited as T. C. Vadivelu Naicker. The film turned out to be successful. He was contracted by Sagar Movietone (Sagar Film Company) to direct three films, two in Telugu and one in Tamil: Galava Rishi (Tamil), Rama Paduka Pattabhishekam and Shakuntala in Telugu. The success of these films established him as a director. His working team had people like the cinematographer Faredoon Irani, music director Anil Biswas and the Sagar Movietone favourites Sabita Devi and Motilal.
Initially, to avoid embarrassment to his family he requested not to be credited in the regional language films. He did not know Hindi but from 1932-1947, he worked for Sagar Movietone and also directed nearly 30 films in Hindi, for many others. His first Hindi film was Chandrahasa (1933) starring Noor Mohammed Charlie. He was paid Rs 2000 per film with the complete film being made within Rs 50,000. He worked with most of the top actors of the time like Motilal, Nargis, Ashok Kumar and Pahari Sanyal. He brought Mehboob Khan who was then doing roles as an extra out of obscurity and gave him the role of Sabita Devi’s father in the film Vengeance is mine(1935).
He made several films based on novels. Some of the writers whose work he used were K.M.Munshi, Sarat Chandra and Ramanlal Vasanthlal Desai. The film Aap ki Marzi (1939) was inspired by the Hollywood film Paradise for Three (1938). He became known for his satirical comedies and “socially relevant films”.His film Grihalaxmi (1934), which starred Jal Merchant and Sabita Devi had the woman getting into marriage only if her doctor husband agreed not to want children. The success of the film mitigated the enraged public reaction at the time.
He showed his understanding of media publicity required for films when in 1937, Badami resorted to woo audiences by announcing cash prizes of Rs.500, Rs.200 and Rs.100 for the best reviews of his newly released film Kulvadhu (1937). The promotional gambit worked sending audiences to the theatres. According to an interview, most of Badami’s films didn’t survive as the negatives were burnt to extract the silver from the silver nitrate.
After Aap ki Marzi-38, he followed his mentor, Dr. Patel and joined Sudama Pictures, when in 1939, Sagar Movietone merged into National Films. Badami
also worked in Famous Cine Laboratories, from 46 to 48.
Apparently, in 1948 Deputy Prime Minister Vallabh bhai Patel, who was then also in charge of the Information Ministry, on a visit to the Cine Laboratories Bombay, asked Badami to help set up a NewsReel and Documentary section. The Films Division was established in 1948. He became chief producer in the newsreel department and made several documentaries. He worked in the Films Division making documentaries from 1948-1952. After that he stopped making films and returned to Bangalore to retire as “I was a forgotten man in the feature film world”. He became an industrialist by starting a manufacturing business. Later he worked as a Consultant for Kamani Group of Industries also. He died in 2005 in Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
FILMOGRAPHY: 1932: Harishchandra; Galava Rishi; Paduka Pattabhishekham; Shakuntala; 1933: Chandrahasa; 1934: Grihalakshmi; 1935: Dr. Madhurika; Vengeance is Mine; 1936: Jeevan Lata; Grama Kanya; 1937: Kokila; Kulavadhu; 1938: Three Hundred Days and After; 1939: Aap Ki Marzi; Ladies Only; 1940: Chingari; Sajani; 1941: Holiday in Bombay; 1942: Khilona; 1943: Prarthana; 1944: Bhagya Lakshmi; 1945: Ramayani; 1946: Uttara Abhimanyu; 1947: Manmani; 1951: Vinoba Bhave (Doc);1952: Roof over the head
(Ack: Sapnon ke saudagar by Vithal Pandya, Sagar Movietone by Biren Kothari, HFGK, muVyz, Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema, and my notes)
The cast of the film was Sabita Devi, Bibbo, Motilal, Yakub, Sankata prasad and many more. Though Motilal was the Hero, his name came after two leading ladies as they were seniors and he was comparatively a junior actor. Sabita Devi was a beautiful Anglo Indian girl who joined films in the silent film era. When Talkie started, she too had a problem of Hindi speaking and singing, like all other non indian girls in films in those days. She was a determined lady and she , just like Ruby Meyers (sulochana), learnt Hindi to speak and did singing lessons too, by taking a one year’s gap in career.
The real name of Sabita Devi was IRINA GASPER. She was an Anglo-Indian, born in an affluent family of Calcutta, in 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.
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.
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.
In 1946, she got married and left for England. She came back again only to die in Calcutta in 1965.
The other leading lady in the film was Bibbo, whose real name was Ishrat Sultana. Besides being an actress, she was also India’s First Woman Music Director.
Film 300 Days and after-38 was a popular film which was a comedy.
I started seeing films from almost the end of the 40’s decade. During that period, some films of the 30’s were still being shown in the Morning shows in specific theatres of Hyderabad. These theaters were known to show old films at concessional rates. The tickets started at 4 Annas, 6 annas, 8 annas and 12 annas for Balcony. So, it was affordable to me. The Morning shows used to be only on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at 11 a.m. Invariably, I used to miss school on saturdays and see different films on Saturday and Sundays regularly. As a habit, I used to note down the seen film’s details in a notebook. I remember having seen this film in Royal Talkies in Hyderabad. This way I was lucky to see some films from the 30’s. The story of this film was….
Sudhir (Motilal) is a bachelor billionaire,doing nothing and enjoying life to the fullest with wine, women and gambling. As a result, his health starts falling prematurely when he is just 25-26 yrs only.
one day he falls down and a Doctor is called. After many tests and inspection of everything his family doctor tells him that because of his wayward living and uncontrolled lifestyle he is suffering from many ailments.If he treats them now, he may get all those again and again. The only remedy is Sudhir should do hard manual work, exercises and lead a simple living, which,the doctor says, Sudhir will never be able to do.
Sudhir is angry. He challenges the doctor that he will leave all his wealth, go out in the world, do physical work and earn money for himself. The doctor takes a bet with him and the deal is Sudhir should go out for 300 days without using a single paisa from his existing wealth for himself. Sudhir is ready for this.
Next day Sudhir goes out with a few ordinary clothes, little money and a strong will to face the big bad world.
The film is full of funny situations when Motilal gets different jobs and does not know how to do them. First he tries to work as a Vegetable vendor, but he does not know the names of any vegetable.
He even takes some fruits as vegetables,to sell. Next he tries to work as an assistant in a Barber shop, where he shaves off half the mustache of a customer. He tries to work as a car driver and a Tram ticket collector also.
Finally, he joins as a worker in a Soap factory, where he has to drive sometimes Seth’s wife -Ramola devi(Bibbo), who tries to entice him. Sudhir starts liking a typist girl in the factory Sharada(Sabita Devi). Sharada teaches music to Ramola, wife of Seth Laxmi Das. Motilal takes her everyday to the tuition. They start loving each other. Motilal stays with a kind hearted Vegetable vendor woman as a tenant. She tends to him , feeds him well and takes his care as her son.
Suddenly the Factory must close down due to some loss. All workers are worried. Motilal secretly sends his own money to Sethji as an anonymous partner. The Factory is saved.
Now in this all jumble, 300 days come to an end. Surprisingly Motilal finds himself absolutely fit, healthy and understands the meaning of true life and Love.
He goes back to the doctor to claim his bet money, which he donates to a school.
Sudhir marries Sharada and brings the kind vegetable vendor lady as his family member to live with him for ever.
Today’s song is sung by Sabita Devi.
Song- Koi geet manohar nyaara (300 days and after)(1938) Singer- Sabita Devi, Lyricist- Zia Sarhadi, MD- Anil Biswas
Lyrics
Koi geet manohar nyaara
Koi geet manohar nyaara
nit gaaye saanjh ka taara
nit gaaye
nit gaaye saanjh ka taara
Koi geet manohar nyaara
Koi geet manohar nyaara
mera ghar ho nadi kinaare ae
mera ghar ho nadi kinaare
mera ghar ho nadi kinaare
jahaan pushp hon pyaare pyaare
mera ghar ho nadi kinaare
mera ghar ho nadi kinaare
jahaan pushp hon pyaare pyaare
rahoon ban mein saanjh sakhaare
rahoon ban mein saanjh sakhaare
sun geet manohar nyaara
sun geet manohar nyaara
nit gaaye saanjh ka taara
nit gaaye
nit gaaye
nit gaaye saanjh ka taara
Koi geet manohar nyaara
Koi geet manohar nyaara
Hai koi dil lene waala
Posted on: December 3, 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 : |
4521 | Post No. : | 16079 | Movie Count : |
4391 |
Today’s song is from a film which is 82 years old – Baazigar-38.
It was released just 2 years before I was born. The word Baazigar means a Juggler, Magician, an Illusionist – one who can create magic or one who has the capacity to do the unimaginable things. Perhaps, like a person who wins unexpectedly at the last minute after losing all the while, or one who turns the tables when no one expects him to do so. I have not seen this film, nor I know about its storyline, but my guess is, it must be a story of a person who was daring and changed the game in his favour when everyone thought that he would surely lose it.
There were 4 films called Baazi – made in 1951,1968,1984 and 1995 and then there were 4 films called Baazigar made in 1938, 1959, 1972 and 1993. There was even a film Baazigar-The Iron Man-2008, which was dubbed from a South Indian film.Today’s film Baazigar-38 was made by Ranjit Movietone. In the early era of the Talkie films, Ranjit was a respected big name. The spirit behind Ranjit Movietone was Chandulal Shah – who was a Baazigar himself in this film. An ordinary low level operator in the Cotton market built an empire in the film industry, like a true Baazigar, indeed !
Hindi film industry’s growth in the early years of 20s to 40s was contributed by 2 major communities. One of them was the Gujarati businessmen who immediately identified this business as the future gold mine. The other major community was the Local Marathi, who lent their brain and hard work to this industry. As the time went by, people from Punjab, U.P., Bengal and other states of India joined hands to help this industry to prosper. However, till the mid 50s it was the Gujarati Sethias who poured the finances. Financiers like Sampat Sheth, Gokuldas Pasta, Manik Sheth Patel, Chunilal Munim, Mangaldas Parekh, Abdulali Yusufali, Mohd. Ali Rangwala, Chimanlal Desai, Bhogilal Dave, Mayashanker Bhatt etc only supplied the money, but never dabbled in other departments nor did they learn anything about the film making, more than what was needed to get some profits.
One person, however, was different. CHANDULAL SHAH. He not only put crores of rupees in film making, but also learnt the technique and art of making films, direction, building organisations of producers, developing political connections and what not. He did everything that was needed to become a successful filmmaker and a leader in the industry. That is why Baburao Patel called him “Sardar”. Chandulal Shah made his company Ranjit Movietone, a force to reckon with.
Chandulal Shah belonged to Jamnagar-Gujrat. He was born on 13-4-1898. He was into the cotton trade and used to visit Bombay frequently. Later he started working in Bombay Stock Exchange. He used to visit the Laxmi films, nearby to watch shootings. On one occasion, the director of a silent film ” VIMLA “-1925 fell very sick and on the recommendation of a solicitor friend, Chandulal Shah got an opportunity to direct the balance film. Impressed by his work style he was offered 2 more films. He left the Stock Exchange job and took up the film line completely.
From Laxmi, he shifted to Kohinoor Film Company, where he met actress Gauhar Jan Mamajiwala, who became his mate for the next 50 years till he died. Gauhar used to feature in his films. With Gauhar, he did GUNSUNDARI in 1927 and in 1934 (silent and Talkie respectively).
This film was a tremendous hit and it helped them to establish their own film company, Ranjit Movies in 1929. In the next 3 year’s time they made 39 silent films. After the advent of Talkie, they changed the name of Ranjit to Ranjit Movietone. Chandulal liked to do things only kingsize. Thus he established Ranjit studios with 4 large sound stages. He also hired around 300 people in the beginning. They made ,on an average, 6 feature films every year. His studio was an assembly line production house. At a time at least 5 to 6 films were being made in his studios. He had a big army of famous Actors, Writers, technicians, directors, Music directors etc. on his payroll.
Actors like Gauhar jaan, Bilimoria, Nirupa Roy, Motilal, Madhuri, Khursheed, and K L Saigal, Music directors like Gyan Dutt, Bulo C Rani, Khemchand Prakash etc, Lyricists and writers like Kidar Sharma, Pradeep, Saadat Hasan Manto and many others were on his Payroll.
Chandulal was very proud of his empire and used to advertise ” There are more stars in Ranjit than in the sky “. At the peak time, there were about 700 people employed in Ranjit and the Government had opened a Ration shop in his studio premises for the workers’ benefit ! Khemchand Prakash did 20 films in Ranjit from 1940 to 1945, Gyan Dutt 25 films from 1937 to 1943 and Bulo C Rani did 20 films from 1943 to 1954 here.
From 1929 to 1963 Ranjit made Silent films-39, Tamil-1, Marathi-1 and Hindi Talkie films 120
Unfortunately due to a fire, except 7 talkie Hindi films, all other films were destroyed. Chandulal Shah was an active person. Besides filmmaking he took interest in many Cine Associations and also led delegations abroad. He was a keen Horse racer, better and a Gambler.
In 1944, in one day he lost ONE CRORE TWENTY FIVE LAKH rupees in cotton betting and that was the beginning of his downfall. He had to mortgage all his and Gauhar jaan’s properties, but it could not save Ranjit from ruins. He returned to Film Direction to make money and his First film after 14 years was PAAPI-1953. It had the hit pair of those times-Raj Kapoor and Nargis. For the First time Raj Kapoor did a double role, but the film flopped. Clearly the times were bad for Chandulal. All his kundali was topsy turvy !
He tried 3 more films, all failed. His last film was ‘Akeli mat jaiyo’-1963.A man who ruled an Empire started travelling in local trains and buses.
Chandulal Shah died on 25-11-1975.
The year 1938 was a year in which the film industry was trying to shed the “carried forward” load of the Silent era and make a new beginning towards a better future. Many new production houses, actors, directors and composers were in full steam and churned out films after films. major studios contributed heavily to the total films made that year. Ranjit made 5 films, New Theatres-4, Bombay Talkies-3, Mohan Pictures-6, Sagar Movietone-6, Minerva Movietone-4, Mohan Bhavnani-4, Prakash Pictures-4 etc.
In 1938, Master Bhagwan debuted as a Director with Bahadur kissan, Renuka Devi (Begum Khursheed Mirza) debuted as an actress with Bhabhi, Meenakshi Shirodkar debuted in film Bramhachari, Lalita Pawar produced a film Duniya kya hai. Surprisingly, all these 3 Heroines were married at the time of their Debut. There was a variety in film subjects – comedy, suspense, crime, social, mythological, social evils, stunts, adventure, historical, musical and various other Genres were tried in films. If one goes through the films made this year, it indicates the way the film industry was growing in its initial years.
Baazigar-38 a Costume Drama by Ranjit was directed by Manibhai Vyas- who started his career from the Silent era and became an independent Talkie director with Dukhiyari-1937. He directed 26 Talkie films. His last film was Bajrang Bali-1976. The cast of the film was Khatun, Trilok Kapoor, N M Charlie, Ila Devi, Anis, Suresh etc.etc. All the 13 songs of the film were written by P L Santoshi and Gyan Dutt provided the music.
Iladevi was a new name. Even after efforts, no information was available to me about her. From the question-answer column of the magazine Film India, I learnt that Ila Devi’s original film name was Miss Ilmas. I do not know in which religion or community, this name is used.After making her debut in Hindi films in ‘ Nishan -E- Jung ‘-1937, she changed her name to Ila Devi and acted in 6 more films. Four films in 1938 (Billi, Bazigar, Rikshawala and Gorakh Aaya) and two films in 1939 (Adhuri Kahani and Kahan hai teri manzil). After this her name is not found in any films, when I checked.
This change of name, after using one name in a film, is not unique, though,this seems to be the First such instance. I know, off hand, at least two more such instances in Film industry. Actress Ameeta (Tumsa nahi dekha fame) had used name Jaijaiwanti in her first film Thokar-1953 ( her second film kaafila -52 was released first as Ameeta,however), but she changed it to her name Ameeta from next film onwards. ( her real name was Qamar Sultana). The second example is actress Zeb Rehman who was known first as Preetibala, then she changed her name to Zeb Rehman.
There is another name ‘ Khatun ‘ in the cast. Miss Khatun Bano was born and brought up in a poor Muslim family of Lahore. As per the family tradition, she learnt dancing and singing. Once, when she was performing on stage in Lahore, the Talent hunter of Sagar movietone spotted her and she was offered a role in a Talkie film- which was a novelty in 1931. Her first film was Abul Hasan-31. Then came Subhadra haran-32, Meerabai-32, Maya Bazar-32 etc etc. In all, she acted in 59 films, till her last film Ibrat-60. She also sang 25 songs in 12 films.
Today’s song is sung by Rajkumari Dubey and Noor Mohd. Charlie, as per the uploader’s information on the You Tube. With this song film Baazigar-38 makes its Debut on this Blog.
Song-Hai koi dil lene waala (Baazigar)(1938) Singers- Rajkumari Dubey, Charlie, Lyricist-P L Santoshi, MD- Gyan Dutt
Lyrics
Haan aan aan aan aan
hai koi dil lene waala
le lo jee
lo lo dil mol
haan aan aan aan aan
hai koi dil lene waala
le lo jee
lo lo dil mol
haan aan aan aan
kya tum dil bechti ho
haan
mera dil hai itna bhola
chot lage sah jaaye
mera dil hai itna bhola
chot lage sah jaaye
mera dil hai itna komal
dhoop lage murjhaaye
mera dil hai itna komal
dhoop lage murjhaaye
le lo jee
le lo dil mol
le lo jee
le lo dil mol
haan aan aan aan aan
hai koi dil lene waala
le lo jee
lo lo dil moi
haan aan aan aan aan
aise bhole komal dil ko
dil mein band rakhoonga
aise bhole komal dil ko
dil mein band rakhoonga
chot na lagne doongaa sajni
dhoop na lagne doongaa aa
chot na lagne doongaa sajni
dhoop na lagne doongaa
kya keemat hai bol
kya keemat hai bol
dil ka sauda dil se baalam
dil de de
dil le le
dil ka sauda dil se baalam
dil de de
dil le le
dil hai ye anmol ol
dil hai ye anmol ol
haa aan aan aan aan
hai koi dil lene waala
le lo jee
lo lo dil moi
haan aan aan aan aan
Yauwan mein rut basant aayi
Posted on: May 5, 2020
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. 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: |
4309 | Post No. : | 15583 |
Today’s song is from an old film Duniya kya hai-1938.
Silent films era started from 1912, when 2 silent films were made and exhibited. However, they were not feature films made completely by Indians. The cinematographer was British and the films were processed in England. Thus Dadasaheb Phalke’s totally indigenously produced feature film ‘ Raja Harshchandra’-1913 became the first fully Indian Silent film and it was hailed as the beginning of the Silent film era. In that year one more film ” Mohini Bhasmasur” was also made.
One would think that after this, the silent films were made rapidly by ambitious people. However, the fact is that it took a while to get the momentum in silent film making, for whatever and for various reasons. The following table will show the progress and the ultimate decline of silent films, after Talkie films came.
| Year | Silent films |
|---|---|
| 1912 | 2 |
| 1913 | 2 |
| 1914 | 1 |
| 1915 | 2 |
| 1916 | 1 |
| 1917 | 5 |
| 1918 | 4 |
| 1919 | 8 |
| 1920 | 16 |
| 1921 | 45 |
| 1922 | 67 |
| 1923 | 52 |
| 1924 | 63 |
| 1925 | 87 |
| 1926 | 96 |
| 1927 | 93 |
| 1928 | 115 |
| 1929 | 146 |
| 1930 | 201 |
| 1931 | 211 |
| 1932 | 68 |
| 1933 | 42 |
| 1934 | 8 |
(information from Film Index by Hamraz ji)
Harish Raghuwanshi ji informs that the last silent film was ” Shareef Badmash”, made by Shri Ganesh film company.
Censor Certificate No. B-13975 dated 2-11-1934.
There were hundreds of actors, directors, producers, companies and allied artistes involved in making silent films. The cost of making a silent film was around 20000 rupees only. After the Talkie films started, except the actors, almost all other artistes came over to the Talkie films. However, the actors and actresses now needed a good knowledge of speaking Hindi/Urdu and a reasonable singing (for lead actors). In this test, most Anglo-Indians, Jews, European etc actresses failed miserably. Some actors like Master Vithal too had difficulties. Only a handful of the actresses survived, as they quickly learnt this language and singing. Artistes like Ruby Meyers (Sulochana), Beryl Claessen (Madhuri) and Iris Gasper (Sabita Devi) are such examples, from among others.
Some silent actors spilled over the Talkie era and survived for another 10 to 15 years- a few upto upto the 70s, like Wazir Mohammed khan, for example, ( his first Talkie was Alam Ara -31 and the last film was also Alam Ara-1973 !). As I can remember, P.Jairaj and Lalita Pawar were the notable long survivors in Talkie films, coming from the silent era. Both died 2 years apart in the years 2000 and 1998.
Today’s film Duniya Kya Hai-1938 was produced by Lalita Pawar and directed by her husband G P Pawar. The film was based on Count Leo Tolstoy’s famous novel, ” Resurrection”, published in 1900. The cast of the film was Lalita pawar, Madhav Kale, Indira Wadkar, Begum Fatma, Bipin Mehta and many others. The MDs – Annasaheb mainkar and Kikubhai Yadnik composed songs written by Munshi Aziz.
In the film industry, there were 3 people only, who were called Annasaheb. Incidentally, all were Music Directors. They were Annasaheb Mainkar
(Shankar Vinayak Mainkar), K. Datta (Datta korgaonkar) and C.Ramchandra ( Ramchandra Narhari Chitalkar). Even the prefix ” Masterji’ was used with only 3 MDs, if I remember right.
The composer of this film, Annasaheb Mainkar is not a name known to many people. Born in 1904 at Sangli, Maharashtra, he was trained in classical music at Poona,Baroda,Indore, Mysore and Lucknow. Before joining the film line, he had cut many discs of his songs.
His first film was AWARA SHEHZADA-1933.Incidentally,this was also India’s first film having a double role. Shahu Modak had done the roles of a Rajkumar and a commoner Bholaram in it. It was also the first film of Master Vithal as a Director. He himself was the first to do a double role in a silent film in 1928.
Annasaheb worked for Saraswati cinetone, Imperial, Venus, Huns, Atre and Sunrise films. He gave music to 21 Hindi films, composing 187 songs. His singers were,Master Vinayak, Vanmala, Shahu Modak, Shanta Hublikar, kalyanibai, Sarla Devi, Vatsala Kumathekar etc. His last film was Ashirwad-1943. He died young at 41 yrs.in 1944.
Kikubhai Yagnik was a small time composer from 1933 to 1938 and was not very popular. He had given music to 10 films, composing for 86 songs.
The film Heroine Lalita Pawar was one of a kind artiste. One of the major actors who succeeded in both Silent and Talkie films equally,that too for 70 active years,was LALITA PAWAR.
Today’s generation probably knows Lalita Pawar only as an actress doing crooked Mother in law’s roles only, but in her hay days she was called a ‘ SEX BOMB ‘ !
Born Ambika Laxmanrao Sagun on 18-4-1916, at Indore, her father was a rich person.She started acting very early when she was 10-12 years.Her first silent film was ‘Patitodhar’-1928.
She became a heroine soon and acted in as many as 30 silent films. In the silent and early Talkie era,she did adventurous and stunt films,just like Fearless Nadia did. Because of her boldness she did sexy and romantic roles.I have seen some of her costumes from her early films and those will match any sex-siren of today,I can guarantee !
She was a Heroine till 1942,when while shooting a scene for “Netaji Palkar”-1942, her co-star slapped her during a shot, so hard that she suffered from facial paralysis and damage to her eye.
Inspite of 3 years’ treatment she became unfit for heroine’s roles and at the age of just 25-26,she switched over to character and supporting roles.
She acted in some 7oo Hindi and Marathi films.Some of her roles like the Kelewali in Shri 420,mrs.D’sa in Anari(she won Filmfare award for this role) and Manthara in Ramayana,are quite memorable,though mainly she is known for her wicked roles.
In case of marriage,she competed with Noorjahan(4 marriages) and Meena Shorey(5 marriages).Lalita Pawar’s first husband was Hanuman More,second was G.P.Pawar,her director for stunt films.This marriage went sour when he had an affair with Lalita’s younger sister. Then she married a film producer Rajprakash Gupta, who established Ambika Studios in Bombay.
Her death was tragic. She was found dead-for 2 days-when her husband, son and daughter in law had gone to Mumbai. She was staying alone in her bungalow in Aundh, a suburb of Pune.
She died on 24-2-1998 and it was known on 26th February 1998.
I reproduce here, an obituary as appeared in a Marathi Newspaper of Pune, after her death…(Freeway translation from Marathi)
” Lalita, an actress and a gentlewoman !
Lalita Pawar, the renowned actress of yesteryear who passed away in Pune early this week, enjoyed a most chequered career on the silver screen.
In her seven decades on screen, she has played roles of all variety — from a heroine of the silent era to the squint-eyed mother-in-law of the talkies.
Born as Ambika Laxman Sagun on April 18, 1916 at village Yeole in Nashik district, she made her debut as a child artist in the film Patittodhar. Arya mahila was her first film as a teenaged heroine.
In a career spanning 72 years, she acted in more than 800 Hindi, Marathi, Gujarathi and Bhojpuri films. She was the leading lady of the silent era and, later, a character artiste till she retired from the celluoid.
Her classic silent films include Thugsen Rajputra and Chatursundari. She also tried her hand at the production of Himmat-e-marda and Duniya kya hai. But the films did not do well. Lalita acted as heroine to Baburao Pendarkar’s Netaji Palkar and Jai Malhar. An accident on the sets abruptly ended her career as a leading lady. During the shooting of Jung-e-azadi, Master Bhagwan had to slap her. Her left ear started bleeding profusely. The left part of her face was paralysed and she developed a squint in the left eye.
Talk about courage and turning what would have been a fatal blow to her career into a distinct advantage. That squint alone possibly made her into a famous woman in all her mother/mother-in-law roles.
The Bombay film industry mourned the death of this ‘actress par excellence’ and ‘fine human being’. Shammi Kapoor, with whom she worked in evergreen classics Junglee and Professor said she was a thorough professional. “It is sad that age catches up with people,” Dev Anand said, “We have losta tremendous artist.”
Jairaj, a veteran actor from the silent era, described Lalita Pawar as a capable actress who had a mind of her own. “She expressed herself very well,” he said, “We acted together in Kirtiwhich was remade as Sharda starring Raj Kapoor and Meena Kumari many years later. She also acted as the leading artiste in my home production Mohar.”
The Marathi film Sasurvashin, where Lalitha played the role of a wicked mother-in-law, earned her much popularity. In the Gujarati Mehndi rang laee, which was remade in various languages, Lalitha acted in all the remakes.
In Raj Kapoor’s Shri 420, Lalita was a banana vendor which earned her the Filmfare award. She had this to say about the film: Raj Kapoor gave her a clean and ironed Maharashtrian nine yard saree and dialogues with neat Hindi diction and accent. She told the showman she was prepared to do the role, but would rather do it her way. She improvised the dialogues into the typical Maharashtrian colloquial Hindi and got a very old and shabby saree. Accordingly, she performed the role and won rave reviews.”
The Hero was Madhav Kale. Madhav Kale was born in Nashik in 1903. After his school education at Nashik, he joined Deccan college at Poona and passed Intermediate course. He was interested in playing in dramas, which was opposed by his mother. But he used to take part in dramas while in college. He was a good singer too. Wanting to join films, he sent applications to many companies. Saroj and sharda companies responded. He acted in several silent films like Mukti sangram, kanak kesari etc. He entered the Talkie films with Vikram Charitra-32, Mera Imaan-34 and Vishnu Bhakti-34. During this period, he got married in 1934.
He acted in 21 films. His last film was Gokul ka chor-59. He even directed one film, Sacha Sapna-42. He sang 13 songs in 7 films till 1942.
There is no information about him after this.
After writing this biography of Madhav Kale, I came to know that after the films, Madhav went back to Nashik, where he was active in local politics. He became a Municipal Councillor, but lost Assembly elections, which he was very hopeful of. He died somewhere in 1980.
In the cast there is one more name Indira Wadkar. Hansa Wadkar’s father had three sisters, Kesharbai, Indirabai and Sushilabai. Sushila was married to Master Vinayak, a renowned actor-director of the early era of Indian cinema. The elder sister as well as Indira Wadkar were acting in films and Indira was a classical singer as well. Indira acted in several films including Duniya Kya Hai (Resurrection) (1937) and in Vinayak’s production company “Hans Films” like Devata (1939) in Marathi. Indira used the surname Wadkar to avoid using the family name Salgaokar, for fear of reprisal from society against women acting in films. Her older sister, Kesharbai, was working in a film made by M.G. Rangnekar and suggested that Wadkar work in films to sustain her family. She acted in 11 Hindi films. She was popular mother in law in Marathi films.
Today’s song is sung by Lalita Pawar herself. I have got it confirmed from Girdharilal Vishwakarma ji. Lalita Pawar sang 10 songs in 3 films. Today’s song is her last song in her career, as a singer.
Song-Yauwan mein rut basant aayi (Duniya Kya Hai)(1938) Singer-Lalita Pawar, Lyrics-Munshi Aziz, MD-Annasahab Mainkar
Lyrics
Yauvan mein rut basant aayi
Yauvan mein rut basant aayi
prem badariya chhaayi
prem badariya chhaayi
priytam aawan ka sandesa
priytam aawan ka sandesa
koyal kook sunaaye
koyal kook sunaaye
sajni basant aayi
Yauvan mein rut basant aayi
Yauvan mein rut basant aayi
sajani prem badariya chhaayi
sajani prem badariya chhaayi
ankhiyaan tarasen tumhre daras ko
ankhiyaan tarasen tumhre daras ko
?? kyun na bhaawe
?? kyun na bhaawe
man ko chain na aaye
man ko chain na aaye
sajani basant aayi
Yauvan mein rut basant aayi
Yauvan mein rut basant aayi
sajani prem badariya chhaayi
sajani prem badariya chhaayi
Yauvan mein rut basant
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
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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Blog Day : |
4258 | Post No. : | 15479 | Movie Count : |
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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
Chakho prem ka maakhan aay
Posted on: August 8, 2019
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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4038 | Post No. : | 15162 | Movie Count : |
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Today’s song is from film Talwar ka Dhani-1938. It is a very rare song. The film was made by Vishnu Cinetone and the director was its owner Dhirubhai Desai, who became well known for C grade action / stunt and costume films, later on. The MD for this film was Kikubhai Yagnik. The lyricist was Pt. Gauri shankar lal ‘ Akhtar ‘. The cast of the film was, Anil kumar, Putli, Shaikh, Gulab, Anwari, Moosa Pehelwan, Urmila, Meher Sultana and others. There were 8 songs in the film, Names of Anil kumar, Meher Sultana and Urmila are given for 4 songs. The balance 4 songs remain uncredited in HFGK.
20 years later, there was another film with the same title, Talwar ka Dhani, featuring Manhar Desai, Nadira etc etc. This too was a stunt/Costume film like its earlier version.I remember having read in one interview of Dwarka Khosla, Director of the latter film, that this was a only a remake of the earlier film of the same name. No wonder, because many films were remade from old films of early era. One example I remember off hand is that of film Gunsundari. Original silent film Gunsundari – 27, was remade as Talkie Gunsundari in 1934.The Heroine was same-Gauhar Mamajiwala. Both films were directed by Sardar Chandulal Shah. 14 years later, Chandulal Shah’s nephew Ratilal Punatar made Gunsundari in 1948, with Nirupa Roy in the lead role. The story was same in all 3 versions.
The story of Talwar ka Dhani was woven around a routine, commonly used story of a lone queen, her abandoned son, ambitious and cruel Head of Army, desirous of usrping the throne and how the lost son defeats the Army chief and gives relief to the kingdom’s subjects- while reuniting with the Queen Mother. A love story was also inter woven.
The Hero of the 1938 film, Talwar ka Dhani was Anil kumar. This name is obscure and there is no chance that our readers will know anything about this actor of the 30s and 40s films.His real name was not Anil Kumar, but it was Sardar Gul. He was a Muslim.During the era of Silent films and Talkie films of the early years, it was a trend to take on a Hindu name for films. Whether the actor was Jew, Anglo-Indian, European or a Muslim, a Male or a Female, an actor or a singer, this trend was predominant. Of course, not all artistes changed their names- some continued with their real names, but made them shorter, like Majid, Masood, Rehman etc.
Most name changes were found in actresses. Some examples are Sabita Devi (Irene Gasper), Feroza (Susal Soloman), Indira Devi (Effie Hippolet), Lalita Devi (Bonnie Bird), Pramila (Esther Abraham), Sulochana (Ruby Myers), Seeta Devi (Renee Smith), Madhuri (Berryl Classen), Manorama (Winnie Stewart), Nadira (Florence Ezekiel), Meera (Muriel Alexander), Mohna (Mona Cabral), Kammo (Kamarjehan), Shyama (khurshid Akhtar), Purnima (Meher Bano), Indurani (Ishrat jehan), Ameeta (Qamal Sultana) etc etc.
Some examples of Males- Dilip kumar (Yusouf Khan), Kumar (Syed Ali Hasan Zaidi), Jagdeep (Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed), Ajit (Hamid Ali) etc etc.
Actor Anil Kumar (Sardar Gul) was born in 1915 at Calcutta.His father had a fruit business. They were from Peshawar (just like Dilip Kumar). He was not much educated but could speak Hindi, Urdu and English fluently. Once he went to Bombay to meet a friend. There he met an old acquaintance, who took him to Sohrab Modi.
The good looking Sardar Gul was liked by Modi and he offered him the lead role in his film ‘ Saed E Havas’-36. Sardar Gul was given a screen name of Chandra Kumar. The film was based on a translation of William Shakespeare’s drama- King John, by Agha Hashra Kashmiri in 1907. Sardar Gul was to get Rs. 200 for this work. The film was a flop and Sohrab Modi refused to pay him more that Rs 50. Annoyed, he left Bombay and returned to Calcutta.
However he came back in 1938 and did his first film with a new screen name Anil Kumar. The film was Talwar ka Dhani-38. Soon he was well known and acted in 10 films in next 3 years. As the decade of the 40s saw many new actors, producers and directors, he was reduced to Character roles and side roles. By 1950, he was almost like an extra. He did work in many films, but only few films credited him, as his roles were negligible. We find his name in just 30 films, where he was credited, the last such film being Tarzan and Deliailah-64.
The Heroine of this film was Putli or Putlibai. She was from a Bohra Muslim family of Delhi – originally from Kutch, Gujarat. She started her career by acting in stage dramas, duly shifting to Silent films. She did 23 silent films. She was the mother of Gauhar Mamajiwala- wife of Sardar Chandulal Shah. She entered Talkie films and did 26 films. Some of her films were, Raj Tarang-35, Matwali Jogan, Jungle ka Jawan-38, Farzand E Watan-39, Civil marriage-40, Mere Saajan-41, Inkaar-43, Reporter-46 etc. Her last film was Chunnu Munnu-49.
As I have stated many times, it is very difficult to get information about old time artistes and it entails lot of hard work. From the HFGK, we can get their Filmography easily.
In the cast, you will find a name Urmila- in some films she is named as Urmila Devi, and Urmila Gupta also. She was not a very good looking actress, but she compensated it with her good acting. Urmila Gupta was born in 1921 at Panja Sahib, Rawalpindi district of United Punjab. Her father, who was a Civil Contractor, died when she was only 5 year old. She did not get much education but could read and write as well as talk fluently, Urdu, Hindi and English.
She started her career with a small uncredited role in film Mirza Sahiban-33. She was the younger sister of Mirza in this film. After some more small roles, she got her major role in film Aasuon ki Duniya-36. After this, she did not look back and did Punjab Lancers-37, Talwar ka Dhani-38, Kahan hai manzil Teri-39, Hurricane special-39, Flying Ranee-39, Desh Bhakt-40, Sasural-41, Sajjan-41, Mere Sajan-41, Naari-42, Das Baje-42, Call of youth-42, Badal -42, Apna Paraya-42, Tamasha-42, Kirti-42, Salma-43, Bansari-43 etc etc. Urmila got married to Vinod Talwar, a businessman and stopped working in films, for some time, may be for raising a family. She resumed working in films and acted in another 20 odd films till 1952. She had sung 12 songs. In all, she worked in about 55 films.
Today’s song is a rare song and it appears on You Tube for the first time,kindly uploaded by our Sadanand Kamath ji. I thank him for this. With this song both, singer Meher Sultana and the film Talwar ka Dhani-38 will make a Debut on the Blog. The Lyricist, Pt. Gauri Shankar Lal ‘ Akhtar’ was a well known writer in Hindi and Urdu. Some of his Urdu books are available.
(some information used in this post is courtesy Isuru Udayanga Kariyavasam, Sri Lanka- presently in UK, and from the All India film Directory-46, Statistics are from MuVyz and CITWF. My notes are also used herein).
Song- Chakho prem ka maakhan aay (Talwaar Ka Dhani)(1938) Singer- Meher Sultana, Lyricist- Pt. Gauri Shankar Lal ‘Akhtar’ , MD- Kikubhai Yagnik
Lyrics
??
Chakho prem ka makhan aay
prem prem chhalkaay
maakhan sundar
prem bhi sundar
maakhan sundar
prem bhi sundar
man sundar tarsaaye
sundar man ??
mohan sundar aa man mandir
mohan sundar aa man mandir
?? ter suna
bhavsaagar se tar jaa
chakho prem ka maakhan aay
prem prem chhalkaaye
daras dikha ke
?? chura ke
daras dikha ke
?? chura ke
aaye aaye phir jaaye
aaye aaye phir jaaye
natkhat natwar neha lagaa ke
natkhat natwar neha lagaa ke
darshan ko tarsaaye
sakhi kaun un ko samjhaaye
chakho prem ka maakhan aay
prem prem chhalkaaye
chhalkaaye
Kaase main kahoon piya hiya ki baat
Posted on: May 31, 2019
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in 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.
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3969 | Post No. : | 15053 | Movie Count : |
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Today’s song is from a film of the first decade of the Talkie, ” Yangrilla “-1938. The song is sung by Sarla. No information is available about this singer. The cast of the film was Enakshi Rama Rau, Nayampalli, David, Gyani, Saalu, Shareefa, S L Puri, Fatty Prasad and few others.
It is generally said that in the early era, most actors and actresses came from poor families and most artistes had no or had negligible education. While it is true to a great extent, it is not 100% true. It is not that even in this period, there were no educated persons in the film industry. Right from the beginning of the Silent era to Talkie film era up to the end of the 40s decade, there were actors, actresses, directors,producers and musicians who were quite educated. Some of them had even been trained in western countries.
Take the case of Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani and their team of writer like Niranjan Pal, from the silent era. They were all highly educated and from rich. cultured families. Niranjan Pal was the son of the Freedom fighter Bipin chnadra Pal. B.N.Sircar is another example. Director Nanubhai Vakil was actually an advocate with B.A. LL.B degree. Surendra was BA, LL.B. Motilal was a graduate, so were Ramchandra Thakur, Nandlal Jaswantlal, Jayant Desai, Jairaj, Umakant Desai. Ashok kumar, Dev Anand and his 2 brothers etc.
Among actresses, Leela Chitnis, Shanta Apte, Durga Khote, Renuka Devi were graduates. Vanmala was BA,BT. Kamini Kaushal was BA. The point here is, there were educated and people with respectable family background were also a part of film industry. But of course, initially their number was smaller compared to others who were either illiterate or less educated. For example, the beautiful Meena Shorey and Sitara Kanpuri could not even sign- leave alone reading and writing !. That is why, they were cheated in their contracts by Sohrab Modi and W.Z.Ahmed ( of Shalimar Pictures and husband of actress Neena).
In today’s film, Yangrilla-38, the Hero, Heroine and the Director were all highly educated. The Heroine, Enakshi Rama Rao was the daughter of an ICS officer of Madras Presidency. She came to England for her graduation. After graduation, she took part in some stage dramas, where she got introduced to Niranjan Pal and Himanshu Rai. When Himanshu Rai decided to make a silent film on Tajmahal story, he asked Niranjan Pal to write the film story. Sita Devi aka Renee Smith was selected for the Vamp’s role and Enakshi was selected for the main role of Selima ( who was later named Mumtaj Mahal by Prince Khurram- who was later known as Shahjehan.). The film was named Shiraz.
Enakshi is a very unusual name. Comparatively, Meenakshi is a well known name. Meenakshi means ” one with eyes like Fish “. Enakshi means ” one with the eyes of Doe or Deer”. In other words, Enakshi means Mrignayani. Except name of this actress, I have never ever come across this name (Enakshi) in my life elsewhere !
Her work in film Shiraz was applauded in England, Germany and India. When she returned to India, She met Bhavnani, who made a silent film Vasantsena-31, with her in the lead role. More than as an actress of Silent and Talkie films, Enakshi’s name was known in Elite circles for different achievements, after she stopped working in films.
Not many of us know that Meenakshi Bhavnani ( Enakshi Rama Rao before her marriage ) has done an enormous service to expose Indian dances and Designs to West. No lesser is her contribution to expose Kashmir Crafts and Designs ( Fabric , Wood and Papier Mache ) to west. An American Tourist told in Kerala recently about her detailed work on Kashmir Designs ( shawls , Jackets ).This side of Meenakshi’s personality and work is in addition to her contribution as a Dancer, photographer and actress .Two scholarly Books written by Meenakshi Bhavnani were also published. Both the books are preserved in American Museum of Natural History.These are ..
(1) Folk And Tribal Designs of India
(2) The Dance of India: The Origin and History Foundation, Art and Science of the Dance in India .
This exceptionally talented woman stayed in Kashmir for sometime in 1950 and met cross section of people connected with Arts and Crafts . She had been a visitor thereafter as well . She also visited Leh and kargil for her Book. During this period she also clicked some photographs in Kashmir portraying its rich culture and scenic beauty.She also shot a Documentary “ VALEY OF KASHMIR “ during this period..
Meenakshi was an active member of the Crafts Council of India, which was founded in 1964 to support artisans and keep their crafts relevant and marketable amid rapidly changing economies at home and abroad.
The Photographs clicked by her have also appeared in National Geographic Magazine especially her series.
And in her book on folk dances of India , Meenakshi covers all forms of Kashmirian folk dances .
Enakshi married film maker Mohan Bhavnani ( 1903-1962 ) who was trained in Germany and Hollywood. She was a dancer , Actor , Photographer and writer on Arts , Crafts and culture. From 1929 to 1938, She acted in six films as a leading lady . Out of these six films five ( Vasantsena-31 , Trapped-31 ,Jagaran-36 , Himalaya ki Beti-38 and Yangrilla-38 ) were directed by her husband Mohan Bhavnani . Only Shiraz ( 1929 Produced by Himanshu Roy ) was directed by Franz Osten .
Producer Director Mohan Bhavnani was a learned and illustrious person. This is what the Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema says about him-
Mohan Dayaram Bhavnani (1903-62)
Hindi director born in Hyderabad, Sindh. Studied at College of Technology, Manchester (1921-4), then studied film-making in Germany at UFA (1924). Contracted to Kohinoor (1925- 6) where his Sulochana films were the earliest efforts in the Indian cinema to create a Hollywood-type movie star, e.g. Cinema Ni Rani where she plays a famous actress with whom the painter hero falls in love, or Wildcat of Bombay where she played multiple roles. Joined Imperial (1927-9), where he made Khwab-e-Hasti, adapted from the novel Dreamland (later also adapted by N. Taurog’s Strike me Pink, 1936). Scripted by A.S. Desai, this film is not to be confused with Kashmiri’s play of the same title. Vasantsena was the first Kannada intertitled film. Became independent producer with Indian Art Prod. (1931-2). Returned to Germany to study sound film technique. Started Ajanta Cinetone (1933-4) and his own Bhavnani Prod. (1935-48). Sound de´but was a flop, but it introduced Durga Khote. Hired Premchand to script Mazdoor, representing the author’s only direct encounter with film, following it with the unemployment melodrama Jagran. Produced and directed the first full-length colour film shot on 16mm Kodachrome and blown up to 35mm, Ajit. Joined Films Division and became its first Chief Producer (1948-55). In 1958 Bhavnani followed up an invitation from Zhou En-Lai to make a documentary on China and travelled extensively throughout the country shooting with cameramen Kishore Rege and S.K. Kulkarni. His wife Enakshi Rama Rao, who acted in Vasantsena, had earlier played the lead in Shiraz (1928) and became a noted dancer and author of the book The Dance of India (1965).
FILMOGRAPHY: 1925: Cinema Ni Rani; Matri Prem; Veer Bala; Seth Sagalsha; 1 9 2 6 : Pagal Premi; Diwan Bhamasha; Mena Kumari; Ra Kawat; Samrat Shiladitya; Bhamto Bhoot; 1 9 2 7 : Naseeb Ni Lili; Daya Ni Devi; Trust Your Wife; Wildcat of Bombay; Gamdeni Gori; 1929: Hawai Swar; Khwab-e- Hasti; Mysore, Gem City of India (Doc); Khedda (Doc); 1 9 3 0 : Vasantsena (all St); 1 9 3 1 : Shakuntala; Farebi Jaal; Lafanga Langoor (Sh); 1 932: Veer Kunal; 1 933: Afzal; Rangila Rajput; 1 9 3 4 : Dard-e-Dil; Mazdoor; Sair-e-Paristan; 1935: Jung Bahadur; Navjeevan; Shadi Ki Raat; 1936: Dilawar; Garib Parwar; Jagran; Wrestling (Doc); 1 9 3 7 : Zambo the Ape Man; 1 9 3 8 : Double Cross; Himalay Ki Beti; Yangrilla; 1 9 3 9 : Zambo Ka Beta; 1940: Jhoothi Sharm; PremNagar?; 1945: Biswi Sadi; 1 946: Rang Bhoomi; 1 948: Ajit; 1 9 4 9 : Vale of Kashmir (Doc); 1 9 5 0 : The Private Life of a Silkworm (Doc); 1 9 5 1 : Lest We Forget (Doc); 1 9 5 2 : Kumaon Hills (Doc); 1 9 5 3 : Folk Dances of India (Doc); Republic Day Record (Doc); 1 9 5 5 : Republic Day 1955 (Doc); 1 956: Operation Khedda (Doc); 1 957: The Himalayan Tapestry (Doc ).
Like the Heroine, the name of the film was also strange. I tried very hard to find out what the word Yangrilla meant, but I could not get it. Finally, undaunted, I started going through the list of books on line. Lo and behold ! I bumped into a book with a title ” Rilla of the Inglewood ” written by Lucy Maud Montgomary, published in 1921. Some part of the book was available for reading online and while reading it, I found that ” Yangrilla ” in Swahili language meant a Hunter. Not going into the book and its boring story, I was glad that at last I decoded the word Yangrilla…a Hunter. Considering that the film ‘ Yangrilla’-38 was a Costume drama, I can guess that this film’s story must have been connected with hunting, Jungle and such other interesting and thrilling matters. Film Yangrilla-38 was financed by Ramnarayan Dubey, who in later years swallowed Bombay Talkies with its Land and started an Industrial complex on its land with about 250 to 300 manufacturing units. Recently his grandson was in news for announcing revival of Bombay Talkies !
The Hero of this film was Nayampalli. S.B. Nayampally (or Nayampalli) was working at the firm of Killick, Nixon and Company, in Bombay when he was discovered by film director P.Y. Altekar at a gym where Nayampally regularly exercised. Altekar felt that Nayampally very much resembled the famous French boxer Georges Carpenter and would be perfect for the stunt films that had become popular at the time. At Altekar’s urging, Nayampally joined Imperial Studios and was quickly cast in his first film, Wedding Night(1929), opposite the popular actress Jilloo. When he arrived at Imperial to begin his first day of filming he was amused to find that the building now used for the studio had formerly housed the school he’d attended as a child.“Wedding Night was a stunt film of the Robin Hood type,” Nayampally explained in a 1964 interview. “It had a little more of a plot to it than many films of the same class. My next film, Hell’s Paradise (1929), I remember for three reasons. One, it was based on a real-life episode involving an Indian prince and a foreign girl, described as an adventuress. Two, Mama Warerekar, the noted writer, did the story. Three, the film had a kissing scene, probably the first ever in an Indian film.”
Nayampalli was cast in Imperial’s Noorjehan (1931), which was initially to be a silent picture, but because of the success of their film Alam Ara (1931), which was India’s first talkie, the studio decided to make Noorjehan partly with sound. Nayampally was not originally cast in Noorjehan, but a chance meeting with the film’s director, Ezra Mir, got him the role of Prince Salim in the film.Nayampally then played Karna in Imperial’s next sound film, the mythological Draupadi (1931), but the actor considered his best mythological role to be that of the wily Shakuni in Mahatma Vidur (1943), a part that was appreciated by critics and the public, alike.
As sound films came in, silent actors were being discarded in favor of those with stage backgrounds and could not sing, so Nayampalli joined the Grant Anderson Theatrical Company which specialized in Shakespearean plays. After gaining some experience he tried to rejoin films, but without much luck. His previous roles had been leads, so he decided if he wanted to work regularly, maybe he should take a different approach and he offered himself up for character parts.His break came in the role of a hunchback in love with the heroine in Ezra Mir’s Zarina which starred Jal Merchant and Zubeida. The dentures he wore for the role were created specially by a dentist named Jimmy Gheista who had trained abroad with the dentist who had made similar dentures for Lon Chaney.
Nayampally had learned early on how to apply make-up for his roles and, in fact, he became so good at it he eventually came to specialize in horror make-up, which earned him the nickname “The Indian Lon Chaney.” Indeed, Chaney, Erich von Stroheim, Emil Jannings, and John Barrymore were the actors that Nayampally most tried to emulate. Boris Karloff was another of his role models. He was able to put his make-up expertise to good use for the film Sair-e-Paristan (1934), where he was a vampire-like devil, and in Zingaro(1935), in which he played a monster created by a mad scientist, and then as a the hairy “missing link” in Zambo (1937) and its sequel Zambo Ka Beta (1938). For Kalkoot (1935) he created a make-up to resemble the wrinkled effect that Karloff had used in The Mummy(1932).
Nayampally continued working in films throughout the 1940s and 50s, particularly in mythologicals and costume pictures including Raj Nartaki (1941), Nagad Narayan (1943), Vishwas 1943), Taramati(1945), Urvashi (1946), Jhansi-Ki-Rani (1953), Durgesh Nandini (1956), Basant Bahar (1956) and Shiv Parvati (1962) His last credited film appearance was in 1970’s Priya.
After the career in films ended, he started making Documentaries. He made about 35 documentaries. He won ‘Silver Dolphin’ award for his documentary in the International Film Festival at Teheran in 1970. He died on 7-5-1994, in Mumbai.
Pt. Badri Prasad was the Music Director of film Yangrilla-38. He used 6 different singers for 11 songs in the film. Besides issuing records for its songs, the producer also floated 2 records of ‘ Bhavnani Productions orchestra ‘.
The uploader of today’s song, our own Sadanand ji Kamath has certified this song to be ” rarest amongst the rare ” songs. With this song, film Yangrilla-38 makes its Debut on the Blog.
Song- Kaase main kahoon piya hiya ki baat(Yaangrilla)(1938) Singer- Sarla Devi, Lyrics- Unknown, MD- Pt. Badri Prasad
Lyrics
Kaase main kahoon
piya hiya ki baat
Kaase main kahoon
Kaase main kahoon
piya hiya ki baat
Kaase main kahoon
Kaase main kahoon
piya hiya ki baat
Kaase main kahoon
piya hiya ki
kaun sunega prem kahaani
kaun sunega prem kahaani
aur usey phir meri zabaani
aur usey phir meri zabaani
yah duniya to preet ki bairan hai
Kaase main kahoon
piya hiya ki baat
kaase main kahoon
is duniya ke rahne waale
is duniya ke rahne waale
kapti paapi man ke kaale
kapti paapi man ke kaale
paap(?) hi inka ghar(?) aur joban hai
Kaase main kahoon
piya hiya ki baat
kaase main kahoon
kaase main kahoon
kaase main kahoon
Nirmala Kumari ban ki raani
Posted on: May 8, 2019
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog.This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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Today’s song is from a very old and obscure film, hardly noticed or heard by anyone- Ban ki Chidiya-1938. The film was from Ranjit, directed by Jayant Desai and had a very famous and popular star cast like, Madhuri, E. Bilimoria, Ishwarlal, Charlie, Ghori, Kesari, Ram Apte etc etc. The cast consisted of of the popular stars of those days, still, neither they could make it a popular film nor it provided anything to remember it for.
When I looked at the star cast carefully, I realised that it consisted of 2 actors who had their brothers also working as actors, in the same period. In the early era, when getting good actors/actresses itself was a challenge, every successful artiste used to call his/her sibling or a relative into cinema. This phenomenon was seen more among the female artistes. Though not equal, the males too joined this trend. So you will see that most artistes, directors, producers or actors in the early era were someway related to each others.
The females were ahead in this, simply because the actresses mostly came from singing families-Tawayafs- and these girls were keen to join films with an ulterior motive of catching a moneyed ” seth ji ” as a “Husband”, so that they could live a respectable and comfortable family life.
Thus the very first Talkie ” Alam Ara “-31 had a Heroine Zubeida, whose 2 sisters-Sultana and Shehzadi- were already Heroines in films. There were many such sister pairs in cinema like Amirbai and Gauharbai Karnataki, Violet and Patience Cooper, Pramila and Romilla, Kusum and Ranjana, Purnima and Shirin, Indurani and Sarojini, Leela Desai and Monica Desai, Shamim and Naseem Jr., etc etc. I have quoted names of only Heroines. There could be siblings working as character artistes, which, as on today, I have no information about.
Among the male brothers, off hand, I remember only 2 pairs. Bilimoria brothers in the 30s and Dilip kumar and Nasir khan in 40s and 50s. There were some other pairs of brothers in the same period, but they were not Heros in Hindi films. Names of some pairs are Ram Apte and Anant Apte aka Bajarbattu, Ram Marathe and Anant Marathe aka Anant kumar- hero in few films, and Sankata prasad and Kanhaiyalal (Chaturvedi).
D-Dinshaw and E-Eddie Bilimoria brothers were heros at the same time. How E.Bilimoria became a Hero is a very funny incidence and I think it is unique in the annals of any language Film History how a Mistaken identity can make someone a Hero ! Now read this…
In the early era of the Talkie films the Bilimoria brothers were very famous. First it was D (Dinshaw) and then came E (Eddie) Bilimoria.
Eddie was born at Bilimora,in Gujarat, in 1900. At the age of just 13 years he ran away from house to Kirkee (near Poona), to his uncle, to become a Fireman in Railways. Here, he became a Door keeper in a Cinema house and also learnt operating the film projector. Due to ill health, he was brought to Bombay.
One day he went to Imperial Studio to meet his brother Dinshaw. Mistaking him to be Dinshaw, make up was done to him and he played a role in film ‘Punjab Mail’. Then onwards he started working regularly in films. As a Hero his first silent film was ‘Raj Ramani’. He worked as Hero in 7 Imperial films and 10 films of Ranjit Studio. His Heroines were Putli, Shanta, Sultana. Madhuri, Padma, Panna and others.
When Talkie films started he was Hero in 32 films made by Ranjit, opposite Gauhar, Shanta, Kamla, Mehtab, Madhuri and Sitara etc. He worked in 15 films opposite Madhuri only. Fencing, shooting and horse riding were his specialties as a stunt Hero. He was the First in India to wear Cowboy dress in stunt films.
Char chakram-32, Miss 1933-33, and Nadira-34 were his Hit films. In film ‘ Sipahi ki sajni’-36, he jumped into Sea from a flying plane, without duplicate. Daredevil stunts were his hallmark. There were hundreds of stitches on his body.
After 1939 he stopped getting Hero roles, so he did other character roles. After 1953, he was reduced to only an Extra. He did acting till 1973 and then took up a job in a Fridge and AC shop. He stayed in a flat in Kemps corner in Bombay. His last days were not very happy. E.Bilimoria died on 18-2-1981 at Bombay.
He acted in 73 Talkie films, directed 1 film ( sone ki chidiya-48) and also sang 4 songs in 4 films. His first film was Radha Rani-32 and last was Honeymoon-73.
Eddie’s favourite Heroine Madhuri was in this film with him. Most actors, when they retire, they keep away from limelight-some willingly and most others automatically by the film industry. If an actor is not seen or heard for more than 10 or 20 years, normally it is presumed that he/she must have expired. However, if some artiste is suddenly brought into limelight after a gap of 50 years after he/she is retired, what will you say ? See what happened here….
Place- Shanmukhanand Hall,Mumbai
Date 7-2-1999
Time- 7 p.m.
Programme- Felicitation to ‘ Stars from the Silent Era’
Organisers- ” Amrut” and ” Cine Society of Bombay ”
The entire hall was overcrowded. Not only all the seats were occupied,but people were standing wherever possible. Everybody wanted to see the Two STARS on the stage-Jairaj and Madhuri. Both were in their late 80s,but looked radiant and smiling. For Madhuri it was a surprise,that the organisers found her out after living in oblivion for over 50 years. She was simply overwhelmed with the people’s affection and love. For Jairaj,these things were not new. He has been around all the time.
Madhuri and Jairaj were a Popular pair in Silent film era. They worked as a lead pair in 3 films,one each in 1930-Rasili Rani,1931-Warrior from the wild and 1932-My Hero. They came together after almost 70 years,on this stage.
Like many others,Madhuri too was an Anglo Indian. Her name was Beryl Claessen. She was born on 3-11-1913 at Delhi. Her father was a big officer in Government. Her initial schooling took place in Nainital. She learnt music too,because she wanted to become a Music Teacher. However that she never became,but on a visit to Bombay she was picked up by producer Indulal Yagnik and she started acting in silent films.
Many Heroines in those days were Anglo-Indians,Europeans or Jew girls. Since silent films did not require speaking Hindi or Urdu ( or any language,for that matter),these girls were preferred,as Indian audience loved their fair colour (Gori Mem). Additionally,these girls did not hesitate to give intimate scenes like kissing or doing stunts themselves. Most girls knew Horse riding,fencing and fighting.
In 1928,there was a Silent film Madhuri,but actress Sulochana(Ruby Myers) did this role and in 1932 there was a Talkie film Madhuri,in which also Sulochana only did the role. When Talkie films era began most of the Anglo Indian girls became jobless,since they could not speak Hindi/Urdu nor could they sing a song-the two requirements for actresses in Talkie films. However,few intelligent and professional actresses learnt Hindi/Urdu language speaking. Madhuri and Sabita Devi (Irene Gasper) were two such clever girls who achieved proficiency in these matters.
Madhuri was very beautiful. After doing 17 silent films,she made her debut in Talike films with ‘ Pardesi Preetam’-1933. Jaswantlal Nandlal directed his first film here. Her Hero was Raja Sandow. She did many films for Ranjit under the direction of Jayant Desai. From 1933 to 1942,she acted in 26 films. They were (not in order) Kashmeera,Mitti ka Putla,Noor e watan,Secretary,Lehri lala,Rangeela Raja,Sitamgarh,Prithviputra,Thokar,Raj Ramni,Diwali,Matlabi Duniya,Toofani Toli,Shama parwana,College Girl,Nadira,Veer babruvahan,Zamin ka chaand,Ban ki chidia,Toofan Mail,mehmanSasural,shadi and Ikrar. By the way, Iqrar – 42 was Madhuri’s last film.
In 1941,Madhuri got married and retired from Film line. After this she simply disappeared for next 50 years without a trace,till the organisers of above programme located her.
Today’s song is a funny one. From the lyrics, it looks as if it is addressed to a she monkey, which is obviously a pet monkey. The singers-both Ram Apte or E Bilimoria were not regular singers at all. Ram had sung just 4 songs in 3 films between his 25 films as a Child artiste during the period of 1933 to 1938. From the style of singing itself, one can make out a casual singer.
With this song, the film Ban ki Chidiya-38 and both the singers Ram Apte and E Bilimoria make their Debut on this Blog.
( My thanks to ‘ Inhe na bhulana ‘ by Harish Raghuwanshi ji, Beete kal ke sitare by Shriram Tamrakar, Screenplay by Isak Mujawar and my notes, for information used herein.)
Song-Nirmala kumari ban ki raani (Ban Ki Chidiya)(1938) Singers-Ram Apte, E Bilimoriya, Lyrics-Aarzoo Lucknowi, MD-Gyan Dutt
Lyrics
Nirmala kumari
Ban ki rani
bolo bolo
kook kook kook
Pratap
is bandariya ka naam kya hai
shrimati nirmala kumaari
ahahahahaha
Nirmala kumari
teri bahan ki tarah ladti jhagadti bahut hai
tumhaara kutta bhi to kam nahin
tumhaari tarah bhaun bhaun karta rahta hai
haha
dekh(?) ye bata
teri bahan haar gayi
dekho
wo tumhaarakutta bhaaga
neeroo
neeroo
idhar aao
Nirmala kumari
ban ki raani
bolo bolo
kook kook kook
nirmala kumari
ban ki raani
bolo bolo
kook kook kook
khel mere
?? khel mere ??
?? naach dikhaana
?? naach dikhaana
haan yaar bol bam bhola
haan yaar bol bam bhola
kya
hahahahaha
hohohohoho
ahahahahaha
ohohohoho
Nirmala kumari
ban ki raani
bolo bolo
kook kook kook
Nirmala kumari
ban ki raani
bolo bolo
chaal teri matwaali
gaalon pe tere laali
chaal teri matwaali
gaalon pe tere laali
bolo mahaaraani bolo
bolo mahaaraani bolo
hook hook hook hook kar
hook hook hook hook kar
nirmala kumari
ban ki raani
bolo bolo
kook kook kook
nirmala kumari
ban ki raani
hahahaaha
bolo bolo
hahahaha
Nain mohan prem bhare jaadoo najariya
Posted on: May 4, 2019
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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3942 | Post No. : | 15018 | Movie Count : |
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Today’s song is from a very old film Meetha Zahar-1938.
The title of the film is funny. Normally, we equate Poison taste with Bitterness, though, no one actually knows how poisons taste. There is a story about it, which I read in my childhood. Long time ago, a King was curious to know how the poison tasted. He asked many people but no one was able to give a satisfactory answer. His Prime Minister suggested a plan. He would give poison to a convict of death and ask him to write the taste of poison on a paper. If he writes it, he would be pardoned and a poison antidote will be given to him immediately.
Accordingly, a death convict was provided poison, paper and a pen. After drinking the poison, the convict started writing, but the strong poison killed him instantly and all that he could write was the letter ‘ S ‘ only. Now the question remained if the taste was Sweet, Sour or Salted ? However, Minerva Movietone had decided that the taste was sweet and hence the title of the film was Meetha Zahar !
After suffering initial failures with his first few films like Hamlet-35, Saeed E Hawas-36 and Atma Tarang-37, Sohrab Modi decided to make films on the social evils prevalent for a long time. Other big studios like Prabhat, Bombay Talkies and New Theatres were doing this already and they were making money. Modi decided to make films on separation in Marriage (Divorce aka Talaq-38), Alcoholism (Meetha Zahar-38), Illicit passion (Jailor-38) and Incest (Bharosa-40).
This stance changed the picture. His Historical film ” Pukar’-39 was a grand success, which brought him not only name and fame but also lot of money. Along with him, the Heroine of the film-Naseem Bano also benefitted greatly. After pukar-39, Naseem bano left Minerva. Naseem was launched by Sohrab Modi as a Heroine way back in Hamlet-35.
Naseem was born on July 4, 1916 in Delhi as Roshan Ara Begum, to courtesan-singer Shamshad Begum, better known as ‘Chhamiya’ and rich Nawab, Abdul Waheed Khan. She did her schooling at Queen Mary’s High School there with her mother harboring ambitions to make her a doctor. However, being a big fan of the movies and actress Sulochana in particular, after a family visit to Bombay, now Mumbai, in the 1930s, Naseem decided to make the movies her career. It was not easy. She had to fight hard with her mother to get her way, including it is said staging a successful hunger strike along with many tears!
Much of Naseem’s early work came at Minerva Movietone, owned by the great Sohrab Modi. He introduced Naseem in his adaptation of Hamlet, Khoon Ka Khoon (1935). Sadly for Naseem, the film flopped at the box-office. She then appeared in a series of films, mostly socials for Minerva including Divorce (1938), Meetha Zahar (1938) and Vasanti (1938)before hitting the big time with Modi’s epic historical drama, Pukar (1939). Pukar was a landmark film for Modi and its lead cast that included Chandramohan, Sardar Akhtar, besides Naseem. The film, in particular, makes splendid use of Naseem’s regal bearing casting her as Jehangir’s wife, the Empress Noor Jehan. It remains her most most well-known performance and one where she sang her own songs as well.
Following the success of Pukar, Naseem and Modi parted ways, and based on her strong impact as the Mughal Empress, Naseem signed two films with a rival studio to again play famous queens Cleopatra and Mumtaz Mahal respectively. Both films, however, failed to take off. But by now she had several well-known admirers including the son of the Nizam of Hyderabad. In this period Naseem also met childhood acquaintance Mohammed Ehsan who had returned from abroad armed with a agree in Industrial Chemistry. He launched a production house, Taj Mahal Pictures with the film Ujala (1942)starring Naseem and Prithviraj Kapoor. Through the course of the film and thereafter, Ehsan and Naseem fell in love and got married. Naseem then moved to Delhi along with Ehsan. The couple had two children, daughter Saira Banu, who also went on to become an actress and a son, Sultan Ahmed. For a while it looked like Naseem had bid adieu to films.
However, S Mukherji, who worked at Filmistan, convinced Naseem to come back and star opposite Ashok Kumar for Filmistan’s maiden production, Chal Chal Re Naujavan (1944). Though the build up for the film was huge, it only did moderate business at the box-office. More importantly though, Naseem was now back in the film industry for good. Ehsan and Naseem restarted Taj Mahal Pictures which would produce films starring Naseem. Some films produced by the banner include Begum (1945), Mulaqat (1947), and Chandni Raat (1949), the last also directed by Ehsan. Two of Naseem’s best performances came in Mehboob’s Anokhi Ada (1948) and Sohrab Modi’s Sheesh Mahal (1950), re-uniting her with Modi after more than a decade.
Naseem’s last lot of films include the swashbuckler Shabistan (1951), during whose filming leading man Shyam lost his life, Ajeeb Ladki (1952), Betaab (1952), which was her last film of note as a leading lady, and the stunt films, Sinbad The Sailor (1952) and Baghi (1953). Thereafter, she was seen in Sohrab Modi’sNausherwan-e-Adil (1957), where she impressively played the Empress of Iran.
By the time she completed Ajeeb Ladki, Naseem’s marriage to him was on its last legs. Ehsan migrated to Pakistan on his own taking with him all the negatives and prints of the films produced by Taj Mahal Pictures. He had these films screened there, making her an extremely popular actress across the border as well. Naseem then moved to England for a while as she sent her children to a day school there to give them the best of education. But finding England cold and aloof, the family finally returned to India.
Once her daughter, Saira Banu, entered films, Naseem, who ironically was dead against her joining the movie industry, designed clothes for her including some trendsetting beautiful embroidered saris in Aayi Milan Ki Bela (1964). And though well in her 40s by now, Naseem continued to get acting offers but refused them all. Naseem Banu passed away in Mumbai on June 18, 2002.
Like Naseem Bano, Modi was instrumental in helping and promoting the careers of many others like, Kamaal Amrohi, Chandramohan, Prithviraj Kapoor, Mehtab and many other smaller artistes like Sadiq Ali, Zillo bai, Eruch Tarapore, Sheela, Meena (Shorey), Al Nasir etc . Sadiq Ali was not only a regular, but was Modi’s favourite actor.
Sadiq Ali, was born on 6-10-1911 at Jullundhar, Punjab. His 2 cousins- Wazir Ali and Nazir Ali were famous Indian cricketers. Sadiq Ali completed his Engineering degree and worked in M.E.S. at Kanpur (Military Engg. Services). Due to strong desire to work in films and dramas, he resigned from his job after 5 years and joined Agha Hashr’s Drama company. When the company was closed, he joined The Burma Imperial film company at Rangoon. After few small roles, he came down to Bombay.
After working in some smaller companies, he joined Minerva Movietone. Starting with khan Bahadur-37, he worked in Minerva’s Pukar-39, Sikandar-41, Phir Milenge-42, Prithwiraj Sanyogita-43, Parakh-44 (only directed by Modi) and Ek din ka sultan-45, also in Sandesa-39,Black out, Duniya tumhari hai, Phir milenge, Ulti Ganga, Patharon ke saudagar,Jagbeeti,Nishana, Do Naina, Manjhdar, Mitti etc. In all he acted in 23 films. His last film was Ever Ready-46. After partition, he migrated to Pakistan.
First film in Pakistan Judai (1950 Shaheena,Nazar and Zeenat). Other film Shola (1952).
Sadiq Ali was a very successful and famous actor before partition and got the title of Prince of Minerva. He acted in many films in India, but in Pakistan,
Sadiq Ali could not be successful as he was in India. He was paralyzed in 60’s and could be seen sitting with Pan shop in Capitol Cinema lane, Karachi. Died on 12-7-1977 in Karachi. In his last days, he was seen begging on road.
Film Meetha Zahar was directed by Sohrab Modi. Screen play was by Gajanan Jagirdar. Munshi Irshad Ahmed wrote all the 9 songs of the film, which were composed by B.S.Hoogan, the MD.
When I first came across this name B.S.Hoogan, in the list of Hindi composers,my first reaction was,what is this foreigner doing in Hindi Films ?
Further when I saw his name as MD in 10-15 films of the 30s,I became very curious and wanted to know more about him.As per my experience so far,I usually got information for any -or almost any-Film personality from my notes,Old cuttings,books,magazines,old articles etc ,or even from an obscure,less known Internet site,but in Hoogan’s case I always found myself at a dead end. There was simply NO information about him anywhere ! It was as if no one in India knew about him or as if he was from some alien planet.
I was perplexed.How can anybody from Film industry,with so many films to his credit,be such an unknown person ? This was a challenge and I decided ,come what may,to find out about this elusive,dodging and unreachable B.S.Hoogan,at any cost.
Almost one year passed and I found a ray of Hope.
I visited the Blog of Mr.Kamalakar Pasupuleti ji. He is a writer on old films,music and an avid collector of old songs,besides having been an active RMIM worker.He is also a mine of information. Incidentally,he too is from Hyderabad-just like me,and being in the same age group,we enjoy discussing matters relating to people and places in old Hyderabad of the 40s and 50s,when we were youngsters.Later on, he has migrated to USA.
On his Blog, he had written about Hoogan. He had located the nephew of Hoogan, in India and contacted him.He got some information from him about Hoogan. Although the info was not exhaustive, it was a great find. Plus Kamalakarji himself had also written about Hoogan,from his interaction with people who had met Hoogan in Hyderabad. I wrote to kamalakar ji in USA and he very graciously gave me permission to use all that material for this article.
At this juncture, my luck suddenly decided to cooperate and I found some info about Hoogan in a book.I even found out that the same nephew of Hoogan had uploaded 4 songs of Hoogan,(2 from Parakh-37 and 2 from Meetha Zahar-38) on Hamara Forum.
B.S.Hoogan was not a foreigner,he was very much an Indian.His name was BALWANT SINGH HOOGAN. He was tall,wheat comlexioned and of medium build. He was born in 1901 at Firozpur, Punjab, where his family was settled. He was a Kashmiri Brahmin. According to C.Ramchandra also,he was originally from Kashmir.
Before becoming a music director he seems to have learnt classical music and western music.He played many western instruments.
In the days of silent films,orchestras used to play in the Theatres ,in front of or behind the screen.During the film also they played appropriate music pieces.It would add live pleasure with moving images. Hoogan learnt giving this music and conducting orchestra from his teacher,Mr.Victor Aimes,an Englishman,from the Albert Music Company. He learnt writing music in notations and conducting orchestra with a baton. He played his orchestra of 12 musicians.
Hoogan looked impressive with a Black Tailcoat,Bow-Tie and Grey Trousers,as described by a Hyderabad Nawab,who had been personally introduced to Hoogan in Hyderabad in 1930.
B.S.Hoogan started his career as MD with Ajanta Cinetone of Mohan Bhavnani.He gave music to Afzal,Maya jaal,Rangeela Rajput(all 1933)Dard e dil,Dukhtar e Hind,Mazdoor,Sair e Paristan,Vasavdatta(all1934),Pyar ki maar,Registan ki Rani,Sone ka shahar,sherdil Aurat(all 1935), Begunah,khan Bahadur,Parakh(all1937),Meetha Zahar,Vijay marg(all 1938) and Sansar Sagar-1939.
Total films-18. Songs composed- 231.
Music Director C.Ramchandra,in his Marathi autobiography, wrote about Hoogan. When CR was working in Minerva, Hoogan joined the company, in place of Habib Khan, the composer. He showed CR how the Desi Raag can be played on foreign musical instruments. He brought in many Goanese orchestra players into the company. CR knew writing notations, Hoogan improved this. Hoogan liked CR very much. Hoogan would take CR with him to all big hotels of Bombay. Orchestras would be playing there. CR learned how those tunes could be indianised in his music here only.
Hoogan would make tunes and ask CR to write the notations. CR would hum those tunes and then improve the tunes. Hoogan would not know. Thus many of his tunes were used by Hoogan without knowing it.In the film Meetha Zahar-1938,Naushad was Hoogan’s assistant. Actors like Nissar,Bibbo,Sheila and Naseem Bano sang for him.
B.S.Hoogan died in Ferozpore in September 1938, at the age of 37 only.
Today’s song is sung by one Shanta Dutt. This name is new to me and despite my efforts, I could not get any information about her. As per HFGK she seems to have acted in Divorce-38, Vaasanti-38 and Juari-39 and she sang one song each in film Divorce-38 and film Meetha Zahar-38. To this extent this is a rare song. With this song, film Meetha Zahar-38 and singer Shanta Dutt make their Debut on this Blog.
(I sincerely thank Shri kamalakar ji and shri Sukesh Hoogan ji (the nephew), for providing the above information about B.S.Hoogan. Some information is adapted from Upperstall.com and pakmag.com )
Song-Nain Mohan prem bhare jaadu najariya(Meethha Zahar)(1938) Singer- Shanta Dutt, Lyrics- Munshi Irshad Ahmed, MD- B S Hoogan
Lyrics
Nain Mohan prem bhare
Nain Mohan prem bhare
jaadu najariya
jaadu najariya
Nain Mohan prem bhare
Nain Mohan prem bhare
jaadu najariya
jaadu najariya
din mein aaj nain baandh chale
jigar pe aane lagi
prem ka dariya(?)
prem ka dariya(?)
Nain Mohan prem bhare
Nain Mohan prem bhare
jaadu najariya
jaadu najariya
mujhe jo aap charan haath lage
jigar jigar se mile
najar najar se mile
??ar ?? ar se mile
Go??har go??ar se mile
main aur aap hon ek dor bandhe
main aur aap hon ek dor bandhe
gale ka haar banen
aao sanwariya
aao sanwariya
Nain Mohan prem bhare
Nain Mohan prem bhare
jaadu najariya
jaadu najariya
mil ke saath sajan aao chalen
mil ke saath sajan aao chalen
prem ke oar chalen
prem ke chhor chalen
prem ke daur chalen
prem ke shor chalen
na koi ??air rahe
chain karen
na koi ??air rahe
chain karen
main aur aap hon
prem dagariya
prem dagariya
Nain Mohan prem bhare
Nain Mohan prem bhare
jaadu najariya
jaadu najariya
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