Archive for the ‘Song of 1938’ Category
Sukh chain ke din sab beet gaye
Posted on: April 18, 2022
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 : | 5022 | Post No. : | 16930 | Movie Count : | 4596 |
Today’s song is from an obscure old film – Chhote Sarkar-1938.
My today’s post is No.32 of this year i.e. 2022. Since 1st January 2022, the pattern of my poists seems to have changed perceptibly. Earlier I was known for writing on films of the 30’s and the 40’s on priority, but this year, till my last post (31 posts), I have written only 3 posts on films of the 30’s, only 11 posts on films of the 40’s but 17 posts on films of the 50’s. Come to think of it, there is no intentional shift in my policy or any purpose in doing so, but it looks like it is happening inadvertently. My today’s post will be only the 4th post on a film of the 30’s this year.
Do I have an inclination towards antique films ? YES is the answer. I like to bring the unknown, the less known and the not so famous artistes of the early era to light, to bring the pillars of the film industry in Limelight, so that the younger generation knows about them and becomes aware of the difficult times through which the stalwarts carried our film industry towards today’s Glory !
While doing so, I had to do the hard yards to dig information about these forgotten artistes, contact several Historians, buy and read many books, spend hours on the Internet and collect and record the information. I was singularly Lucky to get a suitable platform to showcase my results, in the form of Atul ji’s Blog. Atul ji’s help in publishing my posts untiringly has helped not only me but the Blog has also now become a storehouse of Credible, Reliable Information on the old timers in the film world, for the use of future students of film history. Thanks a million, Atul ji.
During the writing of my posts here since 2012 till date, I have noticed one thing. I am not sure of anyone else, other than Atul ji, who has also noticed it. I observed that in the early times of this Blog from 2008, the number of visitors kept on increasing and many of the visitors took pleasure in putting in their comments on almost every post. Comments on popular film songs were naturally more, but later readers also commented on other posts, about the artistes, songs, film making, their experiences and provided additional information. Therefore, visiting the Blog was a pleasure not only to enjoy the songs posted, but also to read different comments from the readers.
I remember there were several readers from abroad who used to write comments. There were comments from readers from Singapore, Fiji, Malaysia, Australia, Newzealand, Africa, European countries, UK, USA, Dubai, Pakistan and also from several cities of India like Lucknow, Delhi, Calcutta, Bombay, Pune,Andhra, Madras, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala – in fact from all nooks and corners of India and the world. Many of them were quite knowledgeable too.
Unfortunately, from somewhere from 2016-17 onwards I saw a steady drop in the number of comments from readers. Notably comments from readers from abroad diminished considerably and as of today, their number is almost nil. What could be the reason for this change ? One guess is that the older generation which commented is now too old and hence not active. The other guess could be that initially, as the Blog was new, most songs posted were the popular and well known ones, which the readers knew well, but slowly that stock, naturally, thinned out and unknown and unheard new but old songs were being discussed, which were not known to many present readers to comment upon.
The second guess seems to be more convincing. Nowadays younger contributors are posting songs from the 70’s, 80’s and the 90’s and comments are trickling from equally younger readers, though not so many as in the past. I believe the trend of appreciation, encouraging and commenting changes with the change of Readers’ Profiles.
Today’s film Chhote Sarkar-1938 was made by Sundar Movietone (never heard of it). It was directed by Homi Master. He was one of the directors of the First Generation of Hindi films of the early era, who was a spillover from the Silent Film Era. Since his career as a Director ended in 1946, there is no chance that the younger generation readers would know about him, so here is some information on him.
Homi Master (1900–1949) was an actor-director of early Indian cinema. His work extended from the silent era to the talkie era and up to his death. He produced his best films for Kohinoor Film Company and he has been referred to as “silent cinema’s most successful film-maker”.
He acted as Duryodhan in the then-controversial film Bhakta Vidur (1921), as hero in Kala Naag and Kulin Kanta. Some of his important films were Bismi Sadi, Manorama, Do Ghadi Ki Mauj (1935), Samaj Ki Bhool (1934) and Gul Sanobar (1934). He was active from 1921 to 1949 and made over seventy-eight films. His later films in Gujarati and Hindi were termed as B movies. He died in 1949.
At the age of thirteen, Master joined a famous Parsi theatre group called Bilwala. He soon became a popular stage actor, with his performance in Pakzaad Parveen being appreciated. Following a brief stint at the Phalke Film company, he joined Kohinoor Film Company working initially as an actor. He went on to direct films for them starting with Bismi Sadi.
Homi Master acted in three films before getting a chance to direct. The three films, Bhakta Vidur (1921) (in the role of Duryodhan), Ajamil (1922) and Vratasur Vadha (1923), were directed by Kanjibhai Rathod. He played the lead role in Kala Naag, a film he helped co-direct with Rathod in 1924. A crime drama, it was the first “recorded example” using real-life characters and was based on the Champsi-Haridas Murder case in Bombay.
In 1924, Master started his career as a director with Dwarka Sampat’s Kohinoor Film Company. His first film for Kohinoor was Bismi Sadi, starring Raja Sandow, Miss Moti and Noor Mohammed Charlie. The film was about a hawker who becomes a mill-owner and goes on to exploit the people working under him. Manorama (1924) was based on the famous Gujarati romantic poet Kalapi’s autobiographical poem “Hridaya Triputi”. The film was made in the fantasy genre and broke “all records” when it ran for fourteen weeks.
Other significant films at this time were The Telephone Girl (1926), also called Telephone Ni Taruni, produced by Kohinoor, and starring Ruby Myers, Gohar and Raja Sandow. Educated Wife or Bhaneli Bhamini (1927), was another Kohinoor film with Gohar, Vaidya and Raja Sandow. They were social films that were successful at the box office.
Gul Sanobar (1928) was a fantasy production from Kohinoor Film Company, based on Persian fairy tale romances, and directed by Master. It starred the then-popular star Khalil with Miss Yakbal. The film was later remade in 1934, with the same name, directed by Master and produced by Imperial Film Company. The cast included stars of the time like Sulochana (Ruby Myers), D. Billimoria and Zubeida.
His 1934 film Samaj Ki Bhool, was a social film promoting a widow’s right to remarry. It starred Jamshedji, Lalita Pawar, Jilloobai, Dulari and Rafiq Ghaznavi, with music composed by Pransukh Nayak.
In 1935, he directed three films Do Ghadi Ki Mauj a social film produced by Imperial, starring Ruby Myers and D. Billimoria; Ghar Jamai, a social comedy, a Hindi/Gujarati bilingual, produced by Premier Films with story by Mohanlal G. Dave. (A story about a “resident son-in-law” that became a “major success” at the box office). The third film, Naya Zamana was again produced by Premier Films and starred Heera and Ghulam Mohammed with music by Khansaheb.
It was said that Master was sent abroad to Europe to market Phalke’s films . He teamed successfully with scenarist Mohan lal Dave and cameraman D.D.Dabke with actress Gohar to make many popular films. Gohar called him the most dramatic director , better than Mohan Bhavnani or even Chandulal Shah. His first Talkie film was Saubhagya Sundari-1933 and the last was Chamkati Bijli-1946.
He continued to direct films making ‘B’ class films and some in the Gujarati language. According to the Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema, he worked as a production manager at Kardar Studios towards the end of his career. He died in 1949. ( based on The Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema, wiki, Film world-1946 and my notes).
The cast of the film was Jal Merchant, Leela Chitnis, Panna, Heera, Meher Bano, Raj kumari etc. Jal Merchant was a typical Parsi born on 15-1-1920 and brought up in the Parsi Colony area in Bombay. Though his family had a business, he did not join it as he was keen to make a career in films. Bombay being the centre of filmmaking he had plenty of chances. He did not have a masculine, wide chested body, but he compensated with his superb acting skills. He could also sing in his soft voice.
It was a colorful stellar team that Jal Merchant formed with Zubaida in the early talkies. But it was in mythological roles, and not romantic parts, that they first won the hearts of cinegoers. The first picture that made them a rage everywhere was Sagar’s “Veer Abhimanyu,” in which Jal played Abhimanyu to Zubaida’s Uttara. In the next one- Subhadra Haran-32, Jal was Arjun, Abhimanyu’s father, while Zubaida played Subhadra.
Like Zubaida, Jal Merchant joined films in the “silent days”. It was a change of medium for him, for he had been playing female roles on the Gujarati stage! His performance as the heroine of “Shankit Hriday,” a Gujarati play, proved a hit, and Nagendra Majumdar, who directed the play, induced him to switch over to screen acting. Jal joined the Imperial Film Company, and among his early films the most notable was “Vasant Bengali,” a social picture directed by R.S. Chowdhury. In those days, the screen hero generally had more brawn than brains, but the lead player of “Vasant Bengali” was called upon to show more intelligence than physical prowess. Jal did just that – and won instant fame.
After the advent of sound, Jal’s first four films for Sagar were mythologicals – “Veer Abhimanyu-1931,” Subhadra Haran-1932,” “Pandav Kaurav-1933” and “Mahabharat-1933”. For close-ups of these pictures, Jal used to wear trousers and only the upper part of his body was made up for his role. But in one close-up his pants were also visible! The shot was cut on the first day of screening in Bombay.
Gifted with a fine voice, he also delighted cinegoers with his singing. He sang 33 songs in 7 films-Meerabai-32, Pandav Kaurav-33, Mahabharat-33, Grihalaxmi-34, Aaj kal-34, Sone ka Shahar-35 and Toofan Express-1938.
In “Zarina,” written and directed by Ezra Mir, he was the tongawallah who falls in love with a dancing girl at a carnival. This poignant romantic tragedy won plaudits for both Jal and Zubaida. It was their last picture together for Sagar. Zubaida left Sagar and Sabita Devi took her place. Sabita and Kumar were the first stars imported from Calcutta. Sabita co-starred with Jal in “Phantom of the Hills,” directed by Ezra Mir, in which he played a dashing Pathan riding a white charger. In “Educated Wife” (Grihalaxmi), directed by Sarvottam Badami, he played a modern educated youth. In this role the versatile Jal revealed a genial personality. Sabita was again his co-star.
Jal and Zubaida played stellar roles together once again in “Aaj Kal,” directed by R.S. Chowdhury. This was the last important picture for both stars. Jal acted in about n15 Silent films and 29 Talkie films. His first Talkie film was Veer Abhimanyu-1931 and his last Talkie film was Armaan 1953.
Jal Merchant, who already had a family flourishing business, retired from the screen. Later, he started to live a quiet life in Bandra. Jal was an excellent shikari in his younger days. His screen associates also remember his soft voice, gentle manners and sensitive, handsome face. His pairing with Zubeida and Sabita Devi was very popular. He had all the gentle Parsee manners and was a popular co-star for the heroines.
I have read somewhere that Jal Merchant died in 1963 in Bombay. He was unmarried till the end, like many Parsis. ( information from an article by V.P.Sathe in Screen, ‘Screenplay’ by Isak Mujawar, HFGK, muVyz and my notes have been used in this post, with thanks.)
With today’s song by Rajkumari, film Chhote Sarkar-1938 makes its Debut on this Blog.
Song- Sukh chain ke din sab beet gaye (Chhote Sarkaar)(1938) Singer- Rajkumari, Lyricist- Pandit Amar, MD- Shanti Kumar Desai
Lyrics
Sukh chain ke din
sab beet gaye
dukh rain andheri chhaayee hai
sukh chain ke din
sab beet gaye
dukh rain andheri chhaayee hai
koi sang na saathi saath sakhi
koi sang na saathi saath sakhi
sapna sa ?? mein aayi
sapna sa ?? mein aayi
Sukh chain ke din
sab beet gaye
dukh rain andheri chhaayee hai
jhoothha prem ye jhoothhi aashaa
jhoothha prem ye jhoothhi aashaa
jhoothhi kaaya
jhoothhi maaya
jhoothhi kaaya
jhoothhi maaya
jhoothhe jag mein
???
jhoothhe jag mein
???
jhoothhi preet lagaayi hai
jhoothhi preet lagaayi hai
Sukh chain ke din
sab beet gaye
dukh rain andheri chhaayee hai
Main tere gale ki maala
Posted on: April 12, 2022
- In: Actor-Singer song | Bibbo Songs | Devnagri script lyrics by Sudhir | Duet | expression of love | Feelings of heart | Guest posts | Love song | Lyrics contributed by readers | Post by Arunkumar Deshmukh | Song of 1938 | Songs of 1930s (1931 to 1940) | Surendra - Bibbo Duet | Surendra songs | Yearwise breakup of songs
- 2 Comments
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 : |
5016 | Post No. : | 16922 |
Today’s song is from an early talkie film ‘Gramophone Singer’ (1938).
The film was made by Sagar Movietone. It was directed by Ramchandra Thakur and Virendra Desai (owner Chimanlal Desai’s son and the first husband of Nalini Jayawant). The 15 songs of the film were written by Zia Sarhadi – who rose to great heights in the Indian film industry, but was humiliated, suspected and ill-treated in Pakistan. His end in Spain too was pathetic. Music Director for this film was Anil Biswas. The cast of the film was Surendra, Bibbo, Prabha, Bhudo Advani, Kanhaiyalal, Sankatha Oprasad, Gulzar and many others.
It is interesting to know the story of how Sagar Movietone came into being. Ardeshir Irani, the owner of Imperial Film Co. and the maker of India’s First Talkie film ‘Alam Ara’ (1931), was keen to get the famous and popular star of the films in those days – Master Vithal, into his stable. That time Vithal was with Sharada Film Company. He was unhappy there, because despite every film being a hit, his salary was never increased in spite of his request. To get Master Vithal with whatever means, Irani floated Sagar Movietone in 1929, so that his name was not involved in luring another company’s artistes. After an interesting episode of action in the High Court, Master Vithal joined Imperial through Sagar Movietone.
Once he got master Vithal, Irani lost interest in Sagar Movietone and he sold it to Dr. Ambalal Patel and Chimanlal Desai – his distributors from Bangalore to whom he owed money. After Irani separated, the company was wholly owned by Desai and Patel. Later Patel too left and Chimanlal became the sole owner of Sagar Movietone.
In those days, Sagar had a good collection of actors, actresses, directors and MDs on its payroll. Sagar went on to make several Hit films from 1931 onward. In 1934, Motilal joined the company and in 1935, the singing actor Surendra came. Sagar was on a victory roll and it became one of the major film making companies in India. In the form of Surendra, Sagar got an actor/singer, who would compete with KL Saigal of New Theaters, Calcutta as the “Bombay’s answer to Saigal” !
Surendra, however, was an educated (BA, LLB), intelligent person and he understood that Saigal was in a different league altogether. Instead of copying his style, Surendra cultivated his own identity. Sagar, however, ensured that the competition between the two got the desired reckoning and this showed in their pattern of films. As against ‘Devdas’ (1935), Sagar released ‘Manmohan’ (1936)’. After ‘President’ (1937) came ‘Jagirdar’ (1937) and after ‘Street Singer’ (1938) Sagar released ‘Gramophone Singer’ (1938). Nevertheless all these films became successful.
In the Hindi film industry, we read frequently about famous stars, actors/actresses of the early era who ended their last days in penury, illness, loneliness and misery. Many had to beg on roads for a living. Some of these cases are tear jerking too. However, even in those days there were some wise artistes who planned their afterlife thoughtfully and retired gracefully spending the rest of their life happily. Some names like SD Batish, Laxmi Shankar, Ranjan, Shashi Kapoor Sr., Mukund Roy Trivedi-MD, Durga Khote etc. come to mind in this connection. Actor Surendra too falls in this category. Before he retired from films, he established an advertising firm and made short films (Durga Khote also did the same). His sons expanded the business successfully.
‘Gramophone Singer’ was the debut film for both the directors, who bloomed in their careers later. Actress Prabha started with Sagar from this film onward. Kanhaiyalal became a regular actor with this film – instead of a Lyricist. Zohrabai Ambalawali sang her first song under the baton of Music Director Anil Biswas, in this film.
Surendra and Bibbo acted together in 6 films of Sagar Movietone. Their first film was ‘Manmohan’ (1936), in which their duet song “Tumhin Ne Mujh Ko Prem Sikhaaya” became a Hit in those days. Then came ‘Jagirdar’ in 1937 and ‘Dynamite’ in 1938. Like Motilal and Sabita Devi (* films), this pair too proved to be a ‘Hit Jodi‘. However, at the time of planning for the film ‘Gramophone Singer’, Surendra and Bibbo had some dispute and they were not on speaking terms. They even avoided each other. This problem was tactfully solved by director Ramchandra Thakur, who diplomatically lied to both separately that the other one was keen to work with her/him. Like true professionals both agreed and the film got through. Not only this, but they even worked in another 2 more films also !
The film is a story of a love triangle and Prabha did the role of Surendra’s wife in this film. Prabha is not known to most people. Let us know more about Prabha.
Prabha Rajpal was from a respectable Hindu family of Punjab. She was born on 6-6-1915 at Ludhiana. Her father was a high ranking government officer based at Lahore. All her education was done in Lahore. She was fluent in Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi and English.
Right from childhood, she was keen on working in films. Belonging to an orthodox family, there was opposition, but despite all this she entered films and her first film was ‘Jung Bahadur’ (aka ‘Dare Devil’) in 1935. After doing some films like ‘Dilawar’ (1936), ‘Awakening’ (1936), she left the Bhavnani camp and worked in Minerva’s film ‘Atma Tarang’ (1937) as the heroine opposite Sohrab Modi. She was very beautiful. Then she joined Sagar and worked in films like ‘Gramophone Singer’ (1938), ‘Ladies Only’ (1939), ‘Civil Marriage’ (1940). Later she became a freelancer.
In all she worked in 36 films in her career. She got married to Virender Ahuja, a cinematographer, and settled down after the film ‘Veerangana’ (1947). When her husband was one of the producers, she worked in the film ‘Shrimati ji’ (1952) and then retired from films. She died on 12-3-1975.
‘Gramophone Singer’ was a reasonably successful movie. Its lyricist was Zia Sarhadi. It had 15 songs, but only 4 Records having 8 songs came into the market.
The story of the film is….
Sundardas (Surendra) was a successful gramophone singer and lived in a town near Bombay. He was happily married to Mohini (Prabha) and had a baby boy also.The family was a picture of happiness, but….
Tilottama (Ishrat Sultana or Bibbo) was a famous singer of international reputation. She conducted foreign tours also. She lived in a luxurious flat in Bombay. She had heard the songs of Sunder and loved his voice. She was waiting to meet him.
Sunder had to visit Bombay often for song recordings etc. He was very friendly with Ghosh Babu (Bhudo Advani), owner of a Gramophone company. Rana ji (Kayam Ali) was a regular customer of Ghosh Babu. Once in a party given by Ghosh, Rana ji introduces Sunder to Tilottama. In the first meeting itself she fell in Sunder’s love. He too was impressed with her. Slowly their meetings increased and soon they were in deep love, Sunder forgetting about wife and child. Once they decide to go to Rampur – a resort. Here poor Mohini waits for Sunder for many days. The child falls ill too. Finally, Mohini decides to visit Bombay. There she learns everything about Sunder’s affair. She meets Madan (Sankatha Prasad), a singing partner of Tilottama, and a silent deep lover of hers too. They go to Rampur, but the pair is missing.
In the climax scene, Tilottama and Sunder are about to get married, when Mohini, her sick child and Madan reach the spot. Seeing his wife and ailing child, Sunder realizes his folly and returns to Mohini. Madan wins over Tilottama and the end is at Tilottama’s wedding party thrown by Ghosh Babu.
Today’s song is sung by Surendra and Bibbo.
Song- Main tere gale ki maala (The Gramophone Singer)(1938) Singers- Surendra, Bibbo, Lyricist- Zia Sarhadi, MD- Anil Biswas
Both
Lyrics
main tere gale ki maala
main tere gale ki maala
main tere gale ki maala
main tere gale ki maala
main tere gale ki maala
main tere gale ki maala
tu saagar main sarita
tu saagar main sarita
tu kavi main kavita
tu saagar main sarita
tu kavi main kavita
tu meri nazar ki jwaala
tu meri najar ki jwaala
main tere gale ki maala
tu meri najar ki jwaala
main tere gale ki maala
main tere gale ki maala
main tere gale ki maala
main tere gale ki mala
main tere gale ki mala
deepak bankar aag jala de
deepak bankar aag jala de
aag laga de aag laga de
aag laga de aag laga de
deepak ban sansaar jala de
deepak ban sansaar jala de
hans ab hans chal prem sikha de
hans ab hans chal prem sikha de
prem sikha de gwaala
tu prem sikha le gwaala
main tere gale ki maala
main tere gale ki maala
main tere gale ki maala
main tere gale ki maala
main tere gale ki maala
main tere gale ki maala
————————————————
Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir Kapur)
————————————————
मैं तेरे गले की माला
मैं तेरे गले की माला
मैं तेरे गले की माला
मैं तेरे गले की माला
मैं तेरे गले की माला
मैं तेरे गले की माला
तू सागर मैं सरिता
तू सागर मैं सरिता
तू कवि मैं कविता
तू सागर मैं सरिता
तू कवि मैं कविता
तू मेरी नज़र की ज्वाला
तू मेरी नज़र की ज्वाला
मैं तेरे गले की माला
तू मेरी नज़र की ज्वाला
मैं तेरे गले की माला
मैं तेरे गले की माला
मैं तेरे गले की माला
मैं तेरे गले की माला
मैं तेरे गले की माला
दीपक बनकर आग जला दे
दीपक बनकर आग जला दे
आग लगा दे आग लगा दे
आग लगा दे आग लगा दे
दीपक बन संसार जला दे
दीपक बन संसार जला दे
हंस अब हंस चल प्रेम सिखा दे
हंस अब हंस चल प्रेम सिखा दे
प्रेम सिखा दे ग्वाला
तू प्रेम सिखा दे ग्वाला
मैं तेरे गले की माला
मैं तेरे गले की माला
मैं तेरे गले की माला
मैं तेरे गले की माला
मैं तेरे गले की माला
मैं तेरे गले की माला
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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Blog Day : |
4850 | Post No. : | 16640 |
Today’s song is from the film Mera Ladka-1938. This was a film made by Prabhat Film Company, which was one of the most popular banners in India those days. Prabhat was the company which made the First Talkie ” अयोध्येचा राजा ” in Marathi (Ayodhya ka Raja in Hindi) in 1932. During the period of 1932 to 1944, Prabhat gave excellent films having reformative and educational content for the society of those days, combined with entertainment. Their peak came when films like Sant Tukaramin Marathi-1936 Duniya na maane-1937 and Aadmi-1939 became milestones in Indian film history. The person who took Prabhat to its peak was V. Shantaram, as a Director.
Shantaram was like a Jauhari (Jeweller) who identified the true value of people. His selection of actors for specific roles was nothing but amazing. Durga Khote, Pagnis, Shanta Apte, Shahu Modak, Shanta Hublikar, Vasant desai etc were his selections.
Whatever one may say, but it is a fact that Prabhat lost its sheen, lustre, name and fame after Shantaram’s exit from it. Envy of the partners and a faulty, unjust rule of the company (No Partner of the company should get involved in any actress. Should this happen, he has to leave the company) forced him to quit prabhat. Shantaram became its victim when he fell for actress Jayashree. Earlier , Keshavrao Dhaiber had to leave Prabhat when he married company’s Heroine Nalini Tarkhud. Surprisingly S. Fattelal-another partner cum Director survived from this rule, though he had married Prabhat’s silent film heroine Kamala Devi alias Gulabbai ( one seen with Tutari in Prabhat’s famous Logo). This was because the controversial rule came into being only after his marriage with Gulab bai !
Shantaram had selected Shanta Hublikar for the lead role, opposite Shahu Modak in the bilingual Mera Ladka i.e. माझा मुलगा in Marathi. her performance impressed Shantaram so much that she and Shahu Modak were selected for his next epoch making film Aadmi-1939 (माणूस in Marathi).
The Film Industry had artistes of all types, religions, regions and from different backgrounds. In the early era, most artistes were uneducated. This state remained so till the 4o’s, after which most artistes joining the film industry were educated and from good families. In those early years, there was no investment awareness, investment opportunities or avenues and the artistes led an uninhabited life – living for the moment. This finally led to many old time artisted dying in penury, poverty and with health issues with no one to look after them.
Most of us know about the sad ends of artistes like Parshuram, Vatsala Kumthekar, Rattanbai, Wasti, Sadiq Ali, Master Nissar, Master Shiraz, Meena Shorey and many others. Some of them had to beg on the road and their last rites had to be done by charity collections.
There were four educated lead actresses in the industry at almost the same times. Their careers spanned from the 30’s to the 70’s. They were Durga Khote, leela Chitnis, Shanta Apte and Shanta Hublikar. Shanta Apte and Shanta Hublikar stopped their work by the 50’s, while Durga Khote and Leela Chitnis continued till the 70’s. Let us see how they ended their lives.
Durga Khote remained the luckiest. She had money and recognition till the end but no one to look after her. She lost her sons prematurely and her daughter in law did a second marriage with a Parsee actor. She died a lonely death.
Leela Chitnis married many times, including a Muslim person, in search of happiness, but she never got it. In her last days, she went to USA to live with her sons, but they put her in an old age home. She lost health, suffered memory loss, Alzheimer and finally died all alone in the old age home. No one came even after her death. Only money was sent for cremation.
Shanta Apte remained without marriage till end but had a Live-In relationship with Bombay’s leading Gynaecologist Dr. Shirodkar for many years. She did have a daughter, without marriage and through a reported incestuous relationship-a forced one- from her own brother, but she never stayed with the daughter.
Shanta Hublikar married a businessman after films. The husband wound up his business and lived off her money. Her son and daughter in law kept her in a third rate old age home, from where some reporters rescued her. After her story was published help poured in and she spent her last days in a better old age home. She published her autobiography also in this period. She died unsung, unattended. Her death news flashed after a week or so.
Shanta Hublikar was born on 14-4-1914 at village Athergunchi, near Hubli. She was one among three sisters. The eldest was Neelamma, the second was Shanta, but her name was Rajamma( she was called only Raju) and the youngest was Sharada. She was fluent in Marathi and Kannad and could sing very well. When she was about 18-20 years she went to Kolhapur, which was an active centre of Film making. Her first film was Bhedi Rajkumar aka Thaksen Rajputra-1934. her role was a minor one.
Her first major role was in the film Kanhopatra-37(Marathi). She was picked up by Prabhat stalwarts for their film Mera Ladka (Majha Mulga in Marathi)-38. Her acting and songs impressed V. Shantaram.
Shantaram was planning a path breaking film Maanus (Marathi-Aadmi in Hindi) in those days and was in the process of finalising the cast. Vasant Desai who was Shantaram’s chela in those days was aspiring to become a Music Director. He started his career as an actor in small roles and he sang songs too. He had very high hopes that Shantaram will do something for him. One day Shantaram called him and said,” I am planning a new film. You will be the Hero and Shanta Apte will be the Heroine.” Vasant was very happy. His auditions were good.
Meanwhile “Mera Ladka” became quite popular and its songs particularly,”dekhoon kab tak baat( Paahu re kiti waat-Marathi)” by Shanta bai and composed by Keshavrao Bhole was a great Hit. Impressed with her effortless acting and natural singing style, Shantaram changed his mind and decided to cast Shanta Hublikar and Shahu Modak as the lead pair for Aadmi.
Shantaram called Vasant Desai and told him,” Be ready for a shock. I have decided to make Shanta Hublikar and Shahu Modak as the Hero and Heroine of my new film. You will have to wait. But your time will come ” Vasant Desai was heart broken. With Shantaram’s permission he composed music for Shobha and Aaankh ki sharm in 1942 and Mauj in 1943. He had worked as an assistant to Tembe, Krishnarao Bhole and Mainkar. he had acted and sang in Amar Jyoti. His time came when Shantaram gave him SHAKUNTALA-1943 as its Music Director.
Meanwhile Shanta Hublikar fully justified her selection for Aadmi-39. Her songs and acting became hits. Her multilingual song “ab kis liye kal ki baat” in Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu and Bengali became a landmark song in Hindi films forever.
Shanta did not do many films. She did a few Marathi, Kannada and Hindi films- Thoratanchi Kamala and Pahila Palna in Marathi, Jeevan naatak in Kannada and Prabhat, Ghar ki Laaj, Maalan, Kulkalank and Jeewan Chhaya in Hindi.
After that Shanta married a rich businessman from Poona-Bapusaheb Geete, proprietor of Deccan Cloth Emporium in Poona. She did try a comeback in 1958 with Filmistan’s ‘Saubhagyawati Bhava and Ghar Grihasthi but that was the end. She then retired from films.
Shanta Hublikar died on 17-7-1992 at Poona.
The film Mera Ladka-38 was directed by Keshav Narayan Kale. He was born on 24-2-1904 in Maharashtra. After his formal education he became a radical Journalist and to give expression to his ideology joined films, as an actor,Director and writer. He acted in major films like Amar Jyoti, Dharmatma, Parakh for which he wrote the story and screenplay also.He acted in 13 films, Directed 7 films and wrote for 3 films, starting with Prabhat’s Wahan, which he also directed. His last film was Didi-1959. He died on 20-2-1974 at Bombay.
I saw MERA LADKA-1938 sometime in the fag end of the 40s, in a Prabhat Film Festival, at Hyderabad. The story was an offbeat one, not the usual love-story. The cast was Shanta Hublikar,Shahu Modak, Ulhas, Vasantrao Thengdi, Balakram, Master Chhotu, Vatsalabai Joshi etc.
Diwakar (Shahu Modak) is a young man full of new ideas, has hot blood and a rebellious thinking. He is a radical Journalist having his Printing press and editing a Newspaper. He has a rich girl Nalini (Shanta Hublikar) as his girlfriend. She sympathises with him but does not share his radicalism. His middle class father does not like all this. He wants Diwakar to do a 9 to 5 job like any other person.
His father expresses his displeasure to the cunning and scheming political friend of Diwakar, Vithal Rao (Vansant Rao Thengdi), who takes advantage of the situation. He arranges a strike in the press and when it closes down, takes over it.The father is happy, but Diwakar does not yield. Instead of doing a 9-5 job, he decides to contest against Vithal Rao in the Municipal election.
Nalini also contests. First she joins the group of Vithalrao to know his tactics and then shifts to Diwakar’s camp. She even campaigns for Diwakar.In the elections, Nalini wins, Diwakar loses,but he gives a speech, claiming a Moral Victory for him,as Vithal rao is defeated.
Film director Kale, being a radical journalist himself before entering films ,got so much involved in the film that after the film, he actually wrote a long essay ” Mera Ladka-Some Musings” in a local newspaper in 1939 ! (In Marathi it was titled ‘ Majha mulga chya Nimittane…)
Excellent performances by Shanta and Shahu Modak earned them the coveted roles in Aadmi(Manoos in Marathi)-1939, which happens to be a Milestone film in India.
The music Director was Keshavrao Bhole. Here is the second song from this film in the blog….
Song- Kaisa jaadu daala toone jaan-e-jaan (Mera Ladka)(1938) Singer- Shanta Hublikar, Lyricist-Pt. Anuj (S.L.Shrivastav), MD- Keshavrao Bhole
Lyrics
Apne dil ki baaten
maine tumhen hai sunaani
apne dil ki baaten
maine tumhen hai sunaani
shabo roz furkat mein rahoon
main pareshaan
shabo roz furkat mein rahoon
main pareshaan
Kaisa jaadu daala toone jaan-e-jaan
Kaisa jaadu daala toone jaan-e-jaan
naalon se mere jo uthha hai ye dhuaan
haan
naalon se mere jo uthha hai ye dhuaan
Kaisa jaadu daala toone jaan-e-jaan
chaahe mujhe thhukra do yaa
hiya mein basa lo
chaahe mujhe thhukra do yaa
hiya mein basa lo
haal dard e dil ka main karoon kaise bayaan
haal dard e dil ka main karoon kaise bayaan
kaisa jaadoo daala toone jaane jaan-e-jaan
raah e muhabbat se peechhe kadam na hataaoon
raah e muhabbat se peechhe kadam na hataaoon
tu bhi raaz e dil wo pyaar(?) kar de ??
tu bhi raaz e dil wo pyaar(?) kar le ??
Kaisa jaadu daala toone jaan-e-jaan
Kaisa jaadu daala toone jaan-e-jaan
haan
jaane jaan
Tumse maangne mein laaj aaye
Posted on: August 13, 2021
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws
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Blog Day : |
4774 | Post No. : | 16523 |
Today’s song is from a film of the First decade of Talkie films in India. After the advent of the Talkie films in India, with Imperial’s ” Alam Ara”, many strong filmmakers from the silent era jumped into the field of making Talkie films. Initially only Bombay and Calcutta were the two filmmaking centres, but soon, Kolhapur,Lahore, Madras and a few other places began making Talkie films.
Most filmmakers made films based on Mythology, Folk stories, Costume dramas, but few Social and Historical films were also made. Imperial, Sagar, Bharat, Ranjit, Krishnatone and Mohan Bhavnani’s Indian Art Production made Hindi films in the First year. From Calcutta it was only Maadan Theatres which made Hindi films.
In 1932, Kardar’s Playart Photophone from Lahore, Kamla Movietone and Oriental Pictures from Lahore, Shantaram’s Prabhat Film co. and Torne’s Saraswati Cinetone form Poona, Saroj and Sharda Movietone from Bombay, Elephanta Movietone from Punjab and from Calcutta- New Theatres and the Eastern Films from Hyderabad joined the band of Pioneering filmmakers.
Although preparations for making a Talkie film had started from 1929 itself, initial equipment acquisition and training the technicians took one year and early in 1931 beginning, the talkie films went on floors at Bombay and Calcutta. Calcutta’s Maadan Theatres was better equipped with superior Machinery and A 1 Class actors for their film “Shirin Farhad”. Ardeshir Irani at Imperial, Bombay was making his “Alam Ara” at Bombay. Both companies wanted to be the First to release their Talkie film.
Irani was a clever person. He had his own Network at Calcutta, through which he knew the progress of Maadan’s film. When he came to know that “Shirin Farhad’ would have 18 songs, he took a decision to have only 7 songs in his film. This reduced the shooting and editing days and he was in a position to release his Talkie film on 14-3-1931 at Majestic Cinema in Bombay and record his name in the History books, as the First Talkie Filmmaker. Maadan could only release their film on 30-5-1931 to become the second Filmmaker of Talkie films in Hindi. However, their film was much better technically and sound was clear…yet they were second !
Within the next few years, the decade was shining with popular and meaningful films from New Theatres, Calcutta and Prabhat Film co. Poona. The reason was that New Theatres made films with a solid story base. They tried to make films on well known authors’ works and Prabhat film company took up social evils as the central themes of their films. These two companies also made it a point to make Bilingual movies – in local and in Hindi languages, thus capturing the home market and the All India market with the Hindi version.
Today’s film “Abhagin”-1938 made by new Theatres, Calcutta was based on the story by Bangla famous author Upendranath Ganguli. It was a bilingual film. In Bangla language it was titled ‘ Abhigyan”. Hindi dialogues were by A.H.Shore and lyrics were by Arzu lucknowi. The screenplay was by Phani Majumdar – his first as a script writer, who became a well known Director in later days. Bimal Roy was the Cinematographer. He too became a big filmmaker and a Director.
The film was directed by Prafulla Roy. Prafulla Roy ( Born on 1-1-1892 at Kushtia, Bengal) started his career in the silent era by directing 2 silent films. His first talkie film in Hindi was Ramayan-34, made by Bharat laxmi Pictures, Calcutta. Bharat Laxmi Pictures had Prafull Roy as its director for Bangla and Hindi films. Roy directed 12 films in Hindi. 9 out of them were made in Calcutta, 1 film in Lahore (Prem yatra-37) and 2 in Bombay (Mera Gaon-42 and Phulwari-51). Roy had also acted in 2 New Theatres films, namely Millionaire-36 and Mukti-37.
The cast of the film was Prithviraj Kapoor, Molina Devi, Vijay Kumar, Nemo, Menaka Devi, Pankaj Mullick, Chaman Puri (makes his Debut. He was the eldest brother of Madan Puri and Amrish Puri). The film was released in Majestic Cinema, Bombay.
One of the names in the cast is that of NEMO. I remember him as Seth ji, who is disturbed in the night by the Bastiwala’s singing, in the film Shri 420. This strange name is a Latin word, meaning ” Nobody”. All these years, I tried hard but never got any information about him. Recently, however, I could get some information about Nemo. Here it is, for the first time, for our readers.
Nemo (Mirza Muhammad Begg) was born on 27th december 1903 at Calcutta. He passed his Senior Cambridge. One day he, along with some friends, visited New Theatres to see a film shooting. Mirza Muhammad Begg merely wanted to watch the shooting of ‘Yahoodi Ki Larki’ (1933) but, as luck would have it, his visit to the New Theatres studio in Calcutta led to a small role in the same film. The part was that of a Roman king and little did Begg know back then that he’d soon be turning to Latin to fish out a lasting identity.
A year later, he was invited by New Theatres’ founder B.N. Sircar to work as the production manager of ‘Karwan-e-Hayat’ (1935) and another chance role beckoned. A female actor who was supposed to play an old witch in the film failed to turn up for the shooting and Begg volunteered for the part. The make-up department stepped up to the challenge and Begg, unrecognisable in the get-up, did the job (and always considered it his best effort). What happened next is even more interesting. Once the film was ready, the makers felt apprehensive about revealing to the public that a man had played the witch’s role. Begg came up with a solution – a gender-ambiguous screen name for himself. And in a delightfully wacky move, he picked a name that means ‘nobody/nothing’ in Latin – ‘Nemo’.
The name stuck on and this was the beginning of Nemo’s steadfast association with New Theatres – one that resulted in a string of features like ‘Karodpati’, ‘Dushman’, ‘Doctor’ and ‘Zindagi’. He was Vidushak, the royal jester, in ‘Vidyapati’, a rigid but caring father in ‘Jawani Ki Reet’ and the devoted caretaker Dharamdas in P.C. Barua’s ‘Devdas’. These diverse characters earned him appreciation from audiences and critics alike. Further, the story of the Saigal hit ‘The President’ (1937) was based on his idea and he was duly credited for the same. Alongside his work in films, he also edited and published ‘Akkas’ – a very popular Urdu (and later, Urdu-English bilingual) film magazine in those days. Its surviving copies now serve as an important archive of the early talkies. His last film with New Theatres was Kashinath. When Calcutta was bombed by Japan in late 1942, Nemo migrated with his family to his ancestral hometown, Lucknow. He later went over to Bombay for a short while to work in Mazhar Khan’s ‘Pehli Nazar’ (1945), and then returned to Lucknow to settle into a life far removed from the studio lights.
In the middle of it all lies an extraordinary fact – at the time he entered the movies, M.M. Begg was a national billiards champion! He won the inaugural Indian Open Billiards Championship in 1931 and never left the game thereon, despite a busy and flourishing film career. He won the trophy again in 1937, and between the 2 wins, he was the runner-up thrice. Not to mention, he represented the country at international tournaments and also headed various administrative organisations related to the game. His contributions towards establishing and popularising billiards and snooker in India are widely mentioned, and always in glowing terms. He was also obsessed with Racing.
It was nearly a decade after ‘Pehli Nazar’ that Raj Kapoor managed to pull Nemo out of his sabbatical for 2 memorable final acts in ‘Shree 420’ and ‘Jagte Raho’. In both, Nemo played similar roles of manipulative, corrupt seths who hide their sinister designs behind a facade of respectability. If he was jittery about facing the camera after a long gap, it doesn’t show (unless Seth Sonachand’s trembling chin is not a mannerism). He was particularly effective in ‘Shree 420’, where he puts on the most evil smile possible and hisses to Raj Kapoor, “Aap se mulaqaat ho gayi, is mein fayda hi fayda hai.” He also did 2 more films- Raja Vikram-57 and Nag Champa-58.
Nemo worked in 19 films of New Theatres and 4 others totalling 23 films in all. It is believed that he died in Bombay on 18-8-1960. Cinema, publishing, sports – Mirza Muhammad Begg distinguished himself in everything he touched. And chose to call himself a nobody. ( based on information from Filmdom-1946, HFGK, muVyz but mainly an article by Yasir Abbasi, with thanks.)
Today’s song is sung by Kamala Jharia. This is the 5th song from this film to feature on this Blog.
Song- Tumse maangne mein laaj aaye (Abhaagin)(1938) Singer- Kamla Jharia, Lyricist- Aarzu Lucknowi, MD- R C Boral
Lyrics
Tumse maangane mein laaj aaye
tumse maangne mein
Tumse maangane mein laaj aaye
tumse maangne mein
komal tan
komal man
komal tan
komal man
?? ka bojha
kaise uthhaaya jaaye
Tumse maangane mein laaj aaye
tumse maangne mein
koi jo maange muraad
ab bhi hai ?? baaqi
rah gayi maangke
lene ki tamanna baaqi
koi to maange muraad ab bhi hai
?? baaqi
rah gayi maangke
lene ki tamanna baaqi
?? dukh mein koyi
murjhaayi kali
khud khil jaaye
?? dukh mein koyi
murjhaayi kali
khud khil jaaye
sab kuchh ?? khona hai ke
sab kuchh mil jaaye
sab kuchh ?? khona hai ke
sab kuchh mil jaaye
kaun hai
kaun hai
kaun hai aisa jo ki
khud ko preet mein jalaa paaye
kaun hai aisa jo ki
khud ko preet mein jalaa paaye
???
Tumse maangane mein laaj aaye
tumse maangne mein
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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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
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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