Archive for the ‘Song of 1940’ Category
Naach rahi hai Maaya Maaya
Posted on: July 8, 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 : |
4373 | Post No. : | 15711 | Movie Count : |
4330 |
Today’s song is from a film of early cinema-Bharosa-1940. There was a film of the same name- Bharosa in 1963, but the stories were entirely different. That film was more popular for Mehmood-Shubha Khote’s side story. Today’s film Bharosa-40 was made by Minerva Movietone. It was quite a serious film with an unusual, daring story for its time. The history of making this film is very interesting.
Sohrab Modi, in his earlier career used to work as an actor in his elder Brother’s – Rustom’s- ” Arya Subodh Natak Mandali “. After the Talkie films started, they felt it to be a threat to their stage dramas and decided to make Talkie films. ” Stage film company” was established in 1935 and to play safe, they decided to film their most popular drama ‘ Hamlet aka Khoon ka Khoon’ and market it, followed by their next best hit drama ‘Saeed E Havas aka King John’. Accordingly both were filmed and released as Talkie films. Unfortunately, their hopes were belied. Most people, having seen these dramas, did not see the films. The Modi brothers realised that making a Talkie film was a different ball game altogether !
They floated Minerva Movietone and produced the film ‘ Atma Tarang-37’. Those days Modi was influenced by Ramkrishna Mission teachings. Bachelor Modi used a story of ‘Celibacy’ (ब्रह्मचर्य ). In the period of 1935 to 1940, many Romantic films by Bombay Talkies and others were attracting the audience. People expressed their displeasure by not coming to this film. Consequently, this first film of Minerva Movietone also flopped. Luckily another film “Khan Bahadur’ was also made at the same time and this clicked.
Sohrab Modi understood and decided to make films on social issues, like Prabhat and New Theatres. Accordingly, he first made ‘Meetha Zaher’-38 on the evil of drinking alcohol, ‘ Jailor-38’ on illicit passion and ‘Divorce-38’ on separation after marriage. After a breather – Pukar-39 – he ended his quartet of reform Films with ‘Bharosa-40’. This film handled a very unusual subject like ” unintended Incest ” .(In 1941, film Bahen also touched on this topic subtly). According to the comments in magazine Film India,of those times,this film was not as successful as expected. Possibly due to the background of a more successful film ‘Pukar’, only the earlier year. Chandra Mohan was a common actor in both films, naturally his roles were compared by all.
The film was directed by Modi and the music was composed by G P Kapoor, who was a director (Nazrana-42), Singer and MD for 5 films, including Bharosa-40. Film’s story, screenplay, dialogues and songs were written by L C Bismil. The cast of the film was Chandra Mohan, Sardar Akhtar, Mazhar khan, Maya Devi, Sheela, Naval, Eruch Tarapore, Gulab, Menaka, Ram Apte and others. The film was released on 15th August 1940 at Minerva Theatre, Bombay. The story of the film Bharosa-40 was…..Gyan(Mazhar khan) and Rasik(Chandra Mohan) are good friends. When Gyan has to go to Africa, he leaves his wife-Shobha(Sardar Akhtar) with Rasik and his wife Rambha(Maya Devi). Rasik has always liked Shobha secretly and he develops intimacy with her. When Rambha goes to Maika, these two come together and Shobha gets pregnant. She delivers a daughter-Indira(Sheela).
As Indira and Madan(Naval)-Rasik’s son, grow together, they fall in love. Meanwhile Shobha dies and Gyan decides to marry Indira and Madan, though, knowing the secret, Rasik resists this marriage. But Gyan has his way and the marriage takes place. Rasik feels remorseful and reveals the truth to the newly married couple, who are actually Brother and Sister. Both commit suicide.
In the issue of Film India of September 1940, Baburao patel appreciated the direction of Sohrab Modi and called this film a better film than Pukar-39. The name of Maya Devi is not known much. Maya Devi was from Bombay and started her career from silent films in 1928 with Anarkali by imperial. Her first Talkie film was Kunwari ya widhva-35. Her real name was Leela. She became a favourite of Bombay Talkies and she did 6 films with them in 37 and 38. In all she did 5 silent films and 31 Talkie films till 1949. Her last film in India was Raaz-49. She got married with a Muslim and then migrated to Pakistan, where she did 19 films and then retired in 1964. Her first film in Pakistan was Phere-1949. She died in Lahore on 1-2-67. She did films in Gujarati and Punjabi also.
Another new name is Eruch Tarapore. He was a distant relative of Sohrab Modi and he worked only in Modi’s films. He worked in 16 films, right from Modi’s first film Hamlet-35 up to 1948. Eruch sang one song each in 3 films, Meetha zehar-38, Jailor-38 and Phir milenge-43. He died in 1948.
Sohrab Modi was a very strict person and when he entered the studio, there used to be total silence.C Ramchandra had spent the first 3 years of his career in Minerva and learnt the basics of composing music, under different MDs employed by Minerva. In due course, he became a big name and very successful. He described one memory associated with Minerva and Modi to film historian Isak Mujawar thus…
When Sohrab Modi sent a call to him to come for composing songs for one of his films, C Ramchandra remembered all this. While in Minerva, he knew Modi as a strict disciplinarian and a kind soul. In the subsequent period, C Ramchandra was impressed with the extraordinary success of Minerva movies like Pukar-39, Sikander-41 and Prithwi Vallabh-43. Afterall, his and Minerva’s careers had started together only ! Though he had become a famous and successful Music Director now with films like Shehnai, Saajan, Nadiya ke paar and Khidki etc amongst his 30 odd films, he went to meet Modi.
There was a tremendous change in circumstances when he left Minerva in 1938. When Minerva requested him to work for them in 1948, he had become so big that he could have easily refused to work for them, but he was not ungrateful. C Ramchandra has described this meeting to one of his friends, Isak Mujawar thus…
” When I entered the office of Minerva, after 10 years, I realised that while I had grown in my stature, Minerva had lost some of its sheen and its place among the top studios. Whatever I had learned while working here had made my foundation so strong that I could never repay Minerva’s debt fully. As I entered, I saw the same tall, well built Sohrab Modi and by his side Mehtab was sitting next to him. As soon as I crossed the door, both of them stood up. I was embarrassed. I went ahead and touched his feet. He murmured something and hugged me. I did Namaste to Mehtab ji. Modi talked briefly about his film and their expectations about the music. Then with a little hesitation, he asked me for my fees. I smiled and said, “Give me just One Rupee, sir. That’s my fees for Minerva”. However, they did not agree and a nominal token fee was fixed. I signed the contract “.
Those were the days when artistes gratefully acknowledged the help they received in their early careers !
Today’s song is sung by Menakabai. This is a Same name Confusion case. There were two Menakas. One singing this song was from Bombay.
Menaka/Menakabai / Menakabai Shirodkar ( Bombay )
—————————————————-
Menaka was born in Lahore in or around 1910. She was from a professional singer family and got training in classical singing. The family was originally from Belgaon and her maiden name was Menaka Belgaonkar. Later she was married and became Menaka Shirodkar.
At the age of 23-24 she landed in Bombay to try her luck in films. In those days such girls from singing families used to get into films easily, due to their singing capability. She joined Minerva and sang in their films, starting with Pukar-39,in which she got only one song.
She was more interested in classical singing and hence concentrated on singing more than acting. However, she did act in 5 films, in which she also sang.
After her film Gul Bakavli-47 she devoted her full time in singing and holding jalsas. Soon she became a known figure in singing circles. After marriage she got two daughters. One of them Shobha became a famous singer and was known as Shobha Gurtu.
After her singing was over Menakabai Shirodkar-as she came to be known later- retired and settled in Ponda,Goa.
She died on 23-12-2003 at the age of around 93 years.
Filmography-
——————–
| Title | Comments |
|---|---|
| Pukar-39 | 1 solo song |
| Paak Daman-40 | Acting and 3 solos+ 1 Duet |
| Main Haari-40 | 1 solo, 2 Duets |
| Bharosa-40 | Acting and 2 solos, 1 Duet |
| Sikandar-41 | 1 solo |
| Ulti Ganga-42 | 1 solo, 1 Trio |
| Phir milenge-42 | Acting and 3 solos |
| Prithwi Vallabh-43 | 2 solos, 2 Duets and 1 Trio |
| Bhakta Raidas-43 | Acting and 1 Duet as Menakabai |
| Dr. Kumar-44 | 1 solo |
| Gul Bakavali-47 | Acting and 4 solos, a Duet..all as Menakabai |
With today’s song film Bharosa-1940 makes its Debut on this Blog.
Song-Naach rahi hai Maaya Maaya (Bharosa)(1940) Singer- Menaka Bai (Bombaywali), Lyricist-Lalchand Bismil Peshawari, MD- G P Kapoor
Lyrics
Naach rahi hai Maaya Maaya
Naach rahi hai Maaya Maaya
Naach rahi hai Maaya
Naach rahi hai Maaya Maaya
Naach rahi hai Maaya
ma ga re sa re sa ma ga pa ma ga
ma ga dha ni
dha pa dha ni dha pa sa
sa re sa
da ni dha
??la sabke saath milaaya
??la sabke saath milaaya
n n n n n n n n
naach rahi hai Maaya Maaya
naach rahi hai Maaya
Baaj rahi hai anvat(?) veena
naach rahi hai ?? Maaya
Baaj rahi hai anvat(?) veena
naach rahi hai ?? Maaya
saat suran mein ?? bandhe(?) hain
saat suran mein ?? bandhe(?) hain
?? apna rang jamaaya
apna apna rang jamaaya
n n n n n n n n
naach rahi hai Maaya Maaya
naach rahi hai Maaya
Maaya
naache
Maaya
dekhe
Maaya ne hai swaang banaaya
Maaya ne hai swaang banaaya
ajab khilaadi hai ye maaya
ajab khilaadi hai ye maaya
jisne ye adbhut khel rachaaya
jisne ye adbhut khel rachaaya
n n n n n n n n
naach rahi hai Maaya Maaya
naach rahi hai Maaya
Kaun tujhe samjhaaye
Posted on: April 9, 2020
This article is written by Avinash Scrapwala, 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 : |
4283 | Post No. : | 15530 |
—————————————————————————
Blog 10-Year Challenge (2010-2020) – Song No. 19
—————————————————————————
Regulars on the blog would be surprised to see my post covering a song from the forties or rather from the decade of ‘thirties’-1931-40.
My forte is the movies from the ‘seventies’. But, yes, I have from time to time shared songs from movies before the years of ‘seventies’ too.
As a music lover, I love the songs from the ‘golden period’ or ‘pre-golden period’ of Hindi cinema. I have a great admiration for the stalwarts of that era and a great fascination of the movies and songs of that era.
During my childhood days, I got to watch many movies of the ‘black & white’ era e.g. ‘Dillagi-1949’, ‘Dard-1947’, ‘Dulaari-1949’ etc. during the regular weekly screening of movies at our colony recreation club.
I don’t think I have ever watched a movie from the decade of 1931-1940. So, when I noticed this movie ‘Nartaki-1940’ falling under ‘blog ten year challenge’ of today 09.04.2020 I browsed its pending songs, and when I found that a song from the great Pankaj Mallick is pending to be posted, it was enough reason for me to share this song.
A few years back I got to watch a documentary on ‘New Theatres’ on ‘Doordarshan’ and I got to watch it more than once. The great Pankaj Mallick and songs sung by him have special place in my heart so I am more than happy to share this song here today.
HFGK Vol 1 1931-1940 mentioned this song in two versions (i.e. Male version and Female Version by Roop Kumari). The audio/video links of the song available were only for the male version sung by Pankaj Mallick or some mentioned them as Pankaj Mallick and chorus.
As the movie was available online, I decided to watch this movie. For me this is the oldest movie I have watched till date. And, for me, the current ‘situation’ makes it a special occasion and a very ‘special movie’ to watch and to remember as a ‘memory of these days’.
(Imagine what record I have created for me :). I have watched a movie released twenty-eight before I was born and I have watched a movie seventy-nine years after it was released. 🙂 (This movie was passed by the then Bengal Board of Censors on 18.12.1940).
After watching this movie, I can say that there is no female version sung by Roop Kumari for today’s song as mentioned in HFGK. (And I think this needs to be corrected in HFGK).
Coming back to the movies represented ten years back on this day we have the following songs represented on the blog on 09.04.2010 including a song from this movie ‘Nartaki-1940’;
| Song | Movie title-Year | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Dene waala jab bhi detaa … | Funtoosh-1956 | All songs covered (08) |
| Dil mein hamaare kaun samaayaa… | Adhikaar-1954 | All songs covered (08) |
| Beqaraar hai koi | Shama Parwaana-1954 | All songs covered (11) |
| Prem ka naataa chhootaa | Nartaki-1940 | 05 of 08 songs covered |
So far, following songs from “Nartaki-1940” have been covered on the blog;
| Song | Posted On |
|---|---|
| Prem ka naataa chhootaa | 09.04.2010 |
| Madbhari rut jawaan hai | 21.09.2011 |
| Ye kaun aaj aayaa sawere sawere | 15.03.2011 |
| Aankh moond kar dhyaan | 10.06.2011 |
| Teri dayaa se ae daayee | 12.10.2011 |
let us now enjoy this song for today …
(video) (Part-1)
Video (Part II)
Audio (Record version)
Song-Kaun tujhe samjhaaye (Nartaki)(1940) Singer-Pankaj Mullick, Lyrics-AArzoo Lucknow, MD-Pankaj Mullick
Lyrics
——————————-
Video (Part I)
——————————-
kaun tujhe samjhaaye moorakh
kaun tujhe samjhaaye
kaun tujhe samjhaaye moorakh
kaun tujhe samjhaaye
prem parikshaa(?)
ulte seedhe donon baan chalaaye
ae ae
bhed chhipaaye
marey ghut ghut ke
kahe to maaraa jaaye ae
bhed chhipaaye
marey ghut ghut ke
kahe to maaraa jaaye ae
moorakh
kaun tujhe samjhaaye
kaun tujhe samjhaaye moorakh
kaun tujhe samjhaaye
(conversation between the actor & actress, not included)
kaun tujhe samjhaaye moorakh
kaun tujhe samjhaaye
kaun tujhe samjhaaye moorakh
kaun tujhe samjhaaye
prem juaa aur laabh ki aasha
jo hai ye bhi jaaye ae ae ae
prem juaa aur laabh ki aasha
jo hai ye bhi jaaye ae ae ae
man maujan ki ulti Gangaa
jeeta daanv haraaye
moorakh
kaun tujhe samjhaaye ae
(song continues in the background as the actor & actress are shown walking together)
kaun tujhe samjhaaye moorakh
kaun tujhe samjhaaye
apni chaal badalnaa maanjhi
ee ee ee ee
apni chaal badalnaa maanjhi
mauj bhanwar naa sataaye
swarg ghaat ko jaati naiyya
narak pahunch na jaaye ae
swarg ghaat ko jaati naiyya
narak pahunch na jaaye
moorakh
kaun tujhe samjhaaye ae
———————————
Video (Part II)
———————————-
kaun tujhe samjhaaye moorakh
kaun tujhe samjhaaye ae
kaun tujhe samjhaaye moorakh
kaun tujhe samjhaaye ae
prem juaa aur laabh ki aasha aa
jo hai ye bhi jaaye ae ae ae
prem juaa aur laabh ki aasha
jo hai ye bhi jaaye ae
man maujan ki ulti Gangaa
jeeta daanv haraaye
moorakh
kaun tujhe samjhaaye ae
(dialogues, not included)
apni chaal badalnaa maanjhi
ee ee ee ee
apni chaal badalnaa maanjhi
mauj bhanwar naa sataaye ae
swarg ghaat ko jaati naiyya
narak pahunch na jaaye ae ae …
—————————————————-
(chorus) (record version)
—————————————————–
kaun tujhe samjhaaye moorakh
kaun tujhe samjhaaye
kaun tujhe samjhaaye moorakh
kaun tujhe samjhaaye
prem juaa aur laabh ki aasha
jo hai ye bhi jaaye ae ae ae
prem juaa aur laabh ki aasha
jo hai ye bhi jaaye ae ae ae
man maujan ki ulti Gangaa
jeeta daanv haraaye
moorakh
kaun tujhe samjhaaye ae
prem parikshaa (?)
ulte seedhe donon baan chalaaye
ae ae
prem parikshaa(?)
ulte seedhe donon baan chalaaye
ae ae
bhed chhipaaye
marey ghut ghut ke
kahe to maaraa jaaye ae
bhed chhipaaye
marey ghut ghut ke
kahe to maaraa jaaye ae
moorakh
kaun tujhe samjhaaye
apni chaal badalnaa maanjhi
ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee
apni chaal badalnaa maanjhe
mauj(?) bhanwar naa sataaye
swarg ghaat ko jaati naiyya
narak pahunch na jaaye ae
swarg ghaat ko jaati naiyya
narak pahunch na jaaye ae
moorakh
kaun tujhe samjhaaye ae
kaun tujhe samjhaaye moorakh
kaun tujhe samjhaaye
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 : |
4221 | Post No. : | 15423 | Movie Count : |
4250 |
Today’s song is from a C grade stunt film – Diamond Queen-1940. The film was made by Wadia Movietone, who specialised in and thrived on such action films. This was the 10th film of Homi Wadia as a Director.
Homi Wadia (8-1-1908 to 9-1-1996) directed 35 films. His first film as a director was Veer Bharat 1934 and last film was Adventures of Alladin-79. The first film of Fearless Nadia, Hunterwali-35 was directed by him. He later married Nadia, in their later life.
Wadias were always famous for their stunt and action films. Once they got Fearless Nadia as a star, they became monopolist of Stunt films. It is said that Nasir Hussain and Manmohan Desai had only ONE story and they made a dozen films on that one story only. What was astonishing was most of these films became Hits and popular too. No one complained about the stories. Actually, one can safely say that this had started much earlier and the Pioneer in this was Wadia Movietone. Their story department had no work. They made films on just ONE story. The skeleton story was – a cruel king or a cruel Prime Minister, punished by a masked ” Do Gooder” – a friend of the poor and the oppressed janata and lot of daredevil stunts on Horse, Lion, Elephant, Tiger, on moving carriages, with cars and Motor Cycles etc. This was more than enough masala to make a Wadia stunt film of Nadia !
Like good businessmen, Wadias never depended only on Nadia, but kept a back up of stunt actresses in reserve. These were used alternatively to make films. The stock consisted of Radha Rani, Sona Chatterjee, Miss Gulshan, Husn Banu and Noorjehan Sr. to name a few. Likewise in males too they had Jal khambata, jal Merchant, John Cavas, Prakash, Billimoria brothers-Eddie and Dinshaw, Boman Sroff etc to act in their films whenever needed.
Similarly, they had a battery of side actors, villains and comedians, who invariably featured in almost all movies of Wadia. Some of them were Atish Sayani, Minoo Cooper, Sardar Mansoor, Dalpat, Bismilla, Master Chhotu, Manchi Thooti, Master Chhotu, Basheer, Jamshed ji etc. Master Mohammed was an actor, singer and Music Director in many films.
Besides Wadias, there were others like Ramniklal Shah, Nanabhai Bhatt, Harishchandra Rao, Chandra Rao,Imperial and many smaller film makers, who also made stunt films. Thus in totality and in comparative number, there was a sizable group of artistes specialised in action films. By middle of the 40’s, Master Bhagwan entered this Genre, with his Jagriti Films and contributed substantially. Almost all of Bhagwan’s films had only ONE story – a rich seth, a villain extorting money from him, seth employing 2 youths as his bodyguards (Bhagwan and Baburao Pehelwan), who fall in love with seth ji’s daughter and her maid and also destroy the villain.
Coming to today’s movie Diamond Queen-40, it was directed by Homi Wadia. The cast was Nadia, John Cavas, Radha Rani, Sardar Mansoor, Sayani Atish, Minu the Mystique, Boman Shroff, Dalpat etc etc. The 5 songs were written by Munshi Shyam and Music Director was Madhulal Damodar Master.
The name Madhulal Master must be unknown to the newer crop of Music lovers, because he retired from film music in 1952- much before most readers were even born. The story of Madhulal Master is as strange as his death. On the morning of 19th June 1990, The Times of India, Bombay flashed a news…” The old time Music Director and a Director of Indian Institute of Puppetry, shri Madhulal Damodar Master is found murdered in his Shivaji Park home.”
Born on 21-6-1903, Madhulal joined the film industry to become a Comedian, but he was first made a sound recordist assistant, then an assistant MD for two films and finally independent MD for Krishna Tone Film Company for their film, ‘ Navchetan’-32. In the next 21 years he gave music to 34 Hindi films, few Gujarati films and some documentaries, composing 267 Hindi songs. Unable to cope up with the changed pattern of Music and public taste, he retired from this profession after his last film- Jungle ka Jawahir-52. After this he pursued his hobby of Puppet making and soon developed a flourishing business. Internationlly well known, he was the only Indian member honoured by the International Puppetiers’ Organization. Very few people know that it was his JOKER PUPPET which was used by Raj Kapoor in his ambitious film MERA NAAM JOKER-1970.
He was invited as a special guest for the release ceremony for the HFGK-Vol I, on 8-10-1988, after Harmandir ji meticulously made special efforts to locate him in Bombay. He was overwhelmed with this gesture. Madhulal ji showed a Catalogue to Harmandir ji, in which Madhulal ji had recorded information about all songs composed by him with details of the every film that he did in his career. Harmandir ji was wonder struck with his systematic records. In the ceremony, senior artistes like Naushad, Sitara Devi, Rajkumari ji etc all touched his feet with respect. He regaled the audience with his humorous talk for an hour. He had spent 38 years before this in anonymity. It is very sad that his life ended in such a tragic way. ( His murderer was never found out, nor was the motive known and the case was filed.)
One of the actors in the cast was Sayani Atish. He was a regular Villain in Wadia films. Sayani Aatish – his real name was Sayani Abdul Hamid Ahmed. He was born in Bombay. He had a ancestral Timber business, but his intense desire to work in films brought him to this profession in 1925. He started working in Silent stunt films as a villain.By the time Talkie films came, he had perfected his style. He joined Wadia Movietone. His first Talkie film was “Laal-E-Yaman”-33. After this he did 18 films.His last film was Mere Sajan-41. He was considered an outstanding villain of films.He was a writer and composer too.
One more actor was Boman Shroff. Boman Shroff was born in Kalyan-Bombay. He joined films in 1922. After doing many silent films, he joined Wadia Movietone. His first Talkie film was “Laal E Yaman-33”. He was known as a Dare Devil stuntman and master of make up.His role was usually of a comedian. His best performance was in Toofani tarzan-37. He worked in 17 films. His last film as an actor was Stunt King-44. Boman Shroff also directed two films- Toofani tirandaz-47 and Sher Dil-54.
The story of film Diamond Queen-40, as I found on Wiki is this….
Diamond Queen is a 1940 Hindi action adventure comedy film. It was directed by Homi Wadia and produced by Wadia Movietone. It starred Fearless Nadia, John Cawas, Radha Rani, Sayani Atish, Sardar Mansur, Dalpat, Kunjru, and Boman Shroff. This film was the seventh in the Diamond thriller series with the first being Veer Bharat in 1934, directed by Homi Wadia under the production of J. B. H. Wadia. It is cited as one of the best films produced by the Wadia brothers. The film’s success saw Homi Wadia becoming a producer by which he was able to obtain raw stock for his films due to the rationing of two films per producer during the Second World War.
The film is set in Diamond Town where Madhurika returns following five years of studies in Bombay. She is the Bambaiwali the townspeople have been waiting to see. She returns to her town wearing western clothes and looking fit and to her father’s query she replies that she’s been working out in the Bombay gymnasiums. The town is reeling under the brutal atrocities of the mustachioed bushy eye-browed villain, Kedarnath (Sayani Atish) who has usurped the Prince’s place while he is away. Kedarnath had been given charge by authorities to weed out corruption but is instead heavily into corruption, taxing people and outrages against women. He also has an enemy in the dacoit Diler as he cheated Diler’s father many years ago. Diler was the sole survivor in his family when Kedarnath burnt his family home. He had been given a dying oath by his father to take revenge against Kedarnath. Madhurika joins up with the dacoit Diler and manages to deliver the town from the evil Kedarnath. She advocates for women’s literacy and independence and uses dialogues like: ‘If the nation is to be freed, the women have to be free first.’
Today’s song is sung by Radha Rani and Sardar Mansoor, with Chorus. Singer Radha Rani is one of the ” Same Name Confusion” actresses, about whom I have written here earlier, so I am not repeating. With this song, film Diamond Queen-1940 makes its Debut here.
Song-Kariye kasrat ka prachaar jai bajrang pukaaro (Diamond Queen)(1940) Singers – Radharani, Sardar Mansoor, Lyricist – Munshi Shyam, MD – Madholal Damodar Master
Chorus
Sardar Mansoor + Chorus
Lyrics
khabardaar
maaro
Kariye kasrat ka prachaar
jai bajrang pukaaro
Kariye kasrat ka prachaar
jai bajrang pukaaro
kasarat hai jeevan ka saar
jai bajrang pukaaro
kasarat hai jeevan ka saar
jai bajrang pukaaro
Kariye kasrat ka prachar
jai bajrang pukaaro
himmat na hargiz haaro
kasarat kar tan man waaro
balwaan bano balwaan bano
balwaan bano ab pyaaron
jai bajrang pukaaro
hoy
jai bajrang pukaaro
ek do teen chaar paanch chhe saat aathh
??
badhho rukho jhuko uthho
Kariye kasrat ka prachaar
jai bajrang pukaaro
kasarat ka shauk badhaao
?? maan padhaao
shakti ka
shakti ka
shakti ka prashn banaao
jai bajrang pukaaro
hoy
jai bajrang pukaaro
ek do teen chaar paanch chhe saat aathh
desh ki shobha jo balidaan
jo nirbal hai wo ??
desh ki shobha jo balidaan
jo nirbal hai wo ??
phir yahaan aa gaye
kya karoon
?? mujhe pahle hi yahaan ghaseet laate hain
geet khatm ho jaane do
phir tumhaari khabar leti hoon main
shukriya
aap to hamesha hi hamaari khabar leti rahti hain
dhanwaan se achche nirdhan
dhanwaan se achche nirdhan
ye jeewan
ye jeewan
ye jeewan safal banaao
jai bajrang pukaaro
hey
jai bajrang pukaaro
kariye kasarat ka prachaar
jai bajrang pukaaro
Wo man nagari mein aayenge
Posted on: January 16, 2020
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me.This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
|
Blog Day : |
4199 | Post No. : | 15382 | Movie Count : |
4241 |
Today’s song is a very rare song from an obscure and unheard of film – Anjaam-1940. Films with the title Anjaam were made in 1940, 1952, 1968, 1978, 1986 and 1993. Today’s film was the first and then in every decade one film was made on this title. First I thought that this title wins the highest number, but NO. The honour of ‘same title maximum films made’ goes to INSAAF, which was made 7 times !
It gives me a pleasure to write about rare, obscure old films. Mainly because, it is a challenge to gather or literally excavate information from various different sources about the film, director, MD, the actors or the singers. Many times, some names are so obscure that it takes several days or even months to get the information. While reading an article, the readers rarely realise the hard work that has gone into the presentation. Not all information is available on beck and call. Sometimes a windfall comes with plenty of information from unexpected sources, but that is rare. Many times days and months are blank. I call this as a challenge.
Film Anjaam-40, made by Vishnu Cinetone- owned by Dhirubhai Desai, was a Costume drama. The music for the film was by Shanti kumar Desai and the cast was Anil kumar, Meher Sultana, Yeshwant Dave, Rajkumari, Samson, Bulbule, Fazlu etc. All the songs were written by Munshi Qabil. The film was directed by Kanjibhai Rathod.
The name Kanjibhai Rathod will not ring any bells in the ears of any reader. That is because, this was his last film as a director. Since his directorial career ended 80 years ago, it is unlikely that any reader has even heard his name. I had come across this name earlier, but there was no opportunity to write on any song from his films. So, when I finally got hold of this rare song, I knew this was my last chance to write about him as this was his last film as a director. Of course, he was very much in the film industry for another 20 odd years, but as a Production manager.
After I got this song, it took me almost one month to collect enough information about Kanjibhai Rathod. I had to literally dig out information from quite old articles. I knew if at all his bio is available, it had to be in Gujarati alone. So I scanned Gujarati articles. Harish Raghuwanshi ji also helped me in this and also provided his own Gujarati article on Kanjibhai Rathod.
In the Hollywood filmdom, in the early years, Blacks were not given any jobs. Over a period, this changed and Blacks became a part of film industry. Similarly, in early years, in Indian film world, backwards and Dalits were not preferred except for menial jobs. However, it is to the credit of the Gujarati filmdom that they encouraged Kanjibhai Rathod and gave him opportunities to showcase his skills as an actor and a very successful silent film director. Kanjibhai Rathod was a Dalit.
Kanjibhai Rathod from Maroli village in south Gujarat, was considered the first successful commercial director in Indian cinema. His rise to fame was in an era when most people stayed away from films, due to a peculiar stigma attached to the filmdom.
Not much is known about Rathod’s personal life. Film historian Virchand Dharamsey writes, “Kanjibhai was coming from a Dalit family and he can be considered the first successful professional director of India.”
Rathod began as a still photographer with the Oriental Film Company, owned by a U.S. trained film maker Sachet Singh,in Baroda. His experience earned him a job in Kohinoor Film Company and its owner Dwarkadas Sampat made him a director. Till then he worked as an actor in many silent films. In film Narsi Bhagat, he did the Hero’s role.
Rathod’s ‘Bhakta Vidur’ released in 1921, was perhaps the first criticism of the British colonialism in a popular feature film.
This mythological allegory directly alluded to political issues, particularly the controversy over the Rowlatt Act.
An adaptation from a section of the Mahabharata, this film showed the British as the Kauravas and its protagonist Vidur as Gandhi. Sampat himself played the role donning the Gandhi cap and khadi shirt. The film raised a storm – while a big hit in Bombay, it was banned by the British in Karachi and Madras, write historians.
Rathod was the first film-maker to direct a crime thriller in 1920s on contemporary events. His Kala Naag (1924) was based on famous double murder case in Bombay. Rathod introduced Zubaida to film industry with his Gulbakavali.
By the time he left for Saurashtra Film Company in Rajkot in 1924, Rathod had enough work on his name. At the launch of Krishna Film Company, he returned to Mumbai in 1931, the year of first talkies.
Dharamsey writes in his ‘Light of Asia: Indian Silent Cinema 1912–1934’ that Rathod directed five talkies out of 17 made in 1931. The films were, Chintamani, Ghar ki Laxmi, Harischandra, Laila Majnu and Paak Daaman, all for Krishna Movietone. He remained active in the industry even in 1940s, but he was not as successful directing talkies.
In the early film making, the contribution of Gujarati men is substantial. Out of the 1313 silent films made during 1913 to 1934, more than half were made by Gujarati producers. Companies like Sagar, Kohinoor, Shrikrishna, Sharda etc at Bombay and Elphinston Film co. at Calcutta were owned by Gujaratis. They not only did business, but also made many Gujarati and Non Gujarati artistes. Gujarati writers always provided story lines.
From 1921 to 1924, Kanjibhai Rathore directed 31 silent films for Kohinoor Film Co. For Shrikrishna film Co. of Maneklal Patel, he directed 21 silent films. For some time he did work for Saurashtra Film co. at Rajkot also.
Kanjibhai directed total 59 silent films and 16 Hindi Talkie films and 1 Gujarati Talkie film . A grand total of 76 films in all. Quite a substantial number. Kanjibhai Rathod was much ahead of times. In one silent film-Sati Anusuya-1921, an actress, Sakeena, was shown fully naked. During silent film era major actors like Raja Sandow, Jaleel, Fatima Begum, Ermelin, Gohar, Putlibai, Gulab, Rampyari etc worked for him. In Talkie era, actors like Sardar Akhtar, Prem Adib, Charlie, Navinchandra, Azuri, Marutirao pehelwan etc acted in his films.
Kanjibhai joined as Production Manager in Chandrakala Pictures of Dhirubhai Desai, after retiring from direction. Dhirubhai remade several of Kanjibhai silent films as Talkie films, like Bolti Bulbul-42, Devkanya-46, Bhakta Prahlad-46 etc. Kanjibhai had 2 wives. He wedded Kanta Ben in a traditional way and he wed Ganga Ben in Arya Samaj style. Ganga Ben gave him a son, Suresh. unfortunately, he died at the age of just 16 years. Then Kanjibhai retired and lived in village Ponsara in Gujarat. He died peacefully on 31-12-1970. Thus ended a superb career.
Film Anjaam’s hero was Anil kumar. 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 side hero in this film was Yeshwant Dave. It was not uncommon during the days of early cinema for people to hang around studios and filming locations in the hopes of being discovered. One such intrepid soul was Yeshwant Dave (or Yashwant Dave), who was at Kohinoor Studios observing a picture being made by producer J.B.H. Wadia. The handsome and athletic Yeshwant cornered Wadia, insisting that he would make a fine hero for an action film.
Wadia agreed to test Yeshwant by having him jump from the roof of one set piece to another. He did so successfully, and J.B.H. decided to cast him in a film that he was to direct for Young United Players, the 1931 silent THUNDERBOLT (aka DILER DAKU) featuring Mumtaz as the heroine.
Yashwant was again directed by Wadia in TOOFAN MAIL (1932) and there after became a sought after action star appearing in the stunt films of other directors like Aspi, Dhirubhai Desai, Nari Ghadiali, Chunilal Parekh, and Harshadrai Mehta. Some of his films include BHARAT VEER (1932), JADUI JUNG (1934), BOMBSHELL (1935), VASANTBENGALI (1937), FLYING RANEE (1939), MAGIC CITY (1940), TORPEDO (1941), ROYAL MAIL (1946), and KAUN PARDESI (1947).
Growing out of the stunt hero persona, he turned to character parts and made infrequent onscreen appearances throughout the 1950s, including in SHEIKH CHILLI and MAKKHEE CHOOS both released in 1956 and starring comedian Bhagwan. What became of Yeshwant Dave afterwards is anybody’s guess, as the once popular action star faded into obscurity and, sadly, is barely remembered today.
Today’s song is sung by Meher Sultana and chorus. Not much information is available on Meher Sultana. From HFGK, we find that she featured in 19 films as an actress and sang 6 songs in 3 films also. Her songs in this film were her last songs. Her first film as an actress was Bhool ka Bhog-1935 and last film was O Jaanewale-1948. Today’s song, though 80 year old is of good quality and pleasantly sung in tune, to listen to. Enjoy…
( Information for this article is culled from 2 Gujarati articles of Shri Urvish Kothari ji, a Gujarati article by Harish Raghuwanshi ji, wiki, Filmdom-1946, cinemajadu.com. muVyz.com and Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema. My thanks to all.)
Song- Wo man nagari mein aayenge (Anjaam)(1940) Singer-Meher Sultana, Lyricist-Munshi Qabil, MD- Shanti Kumar
Lyrics
Wo man nagari mein aayenge
man nagri mein aayenge
hans hans ke bhaag jagaayenge
hans hans ke bhaag jagaayenge
wo man nagari mein
man nagari mein
man nagari mein aayenge
main dulhan ban sharmaaungi
main dulhan ban sharmaaungi
munh pher pher ithhlaaungi
munh pher pher ithhlaaungi
aur darshan ko tarsaaungi
aur darshan ko tarsaaungi
wo ghoonghat aap uthaayenge
wo ghoonghat aap uthaayenge
Mohan ki murali baajegi
Mohan ki murali
Mohan ki murali baajegi
chhum chhum chhum Raadha naachegi
chhum chhum chhum Raadha naachegi
mridang jhaanjh bajaayenge
mridang jhaanjh bajaayenge
madhuwan mein raas rachaayenge
madhuwan mein raas rachaayenge
wo man nagari mein
man nagari mein
man nagari mein aayenge
hans hans ke bhaag jagaayenge
hans hans ke bhaag jagaayenge
wo man nagari mein aayenge
wo man nagari mein aayenge
Prem nagariya jaayenge hum
Posted on: May 19, 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.
|
Blog Day : |
3957 | Post No. : | 15033 | Movie Count : |
4121 |
Today’s song is from the film Jadu Nagari-1940.
In last 2-3 years, I find that a lot many collectors are uploading songs from films of the 30s and also rare songs. The HFM History students- like me- are highly indebted to them for their generosity.
Like in any other fields, here too some disturbing events take place. Some collectors upload incomplete songs, thinking that this will protect their monopoly. I feel this is very unfair. No one forces them to upload songs. If they do so on their own, why not complete songs ? Anyway, it is their thinking and choice. Fortunately, true connoisseurs, like Shalin Bhatt ji are highly dependable and his songs are not only complete and rare but he also adds some information to it. Many times the viewers’ comments on the song also gives important information pieces. May God increase his tribe !
Film Jadu nagari-40 was based on an imaginary story, like many such films. These films had writers, who flew the kites of their imagination, sometimes in a very comic way. For example, turning Humans into Animals or showing talking animals, birds and even Snakes. Of course since the film had Jadu in its title iteslf, all these things were within expectations only. Actually these things made the films very interesting and watchable. ALAS ! The era of such C grade films is gone for ever !
I selected a song from this film, because I found some unusual and rare points here, worth talking about.
Firstly, the film is directed by Baburao Apte ( variously spelt as Baburao, Bapurao or S R Apte), who was the elder brother of actress Shanta Apte. He had started his acting career from the silent era. He acted in 8 silent films. Starting with film Shyamsunder-32, he acted in his first Talkie film, as Radha’s husband- where Radha was his own younger sister, Shanta Apte. In all, he acted in 16 Talkie films, his last film being “Main abla nahin hoon”-49 directed by Shanta Apte herself. He had a very minor role in it-courtesy his sister. He also directed 8 Talkie films from Kala Pahad-33 to Jadu Nagari-40. yes, today’s film was his last film as a director.
And yes, he was the same person, who brought his own younger sister of 9 years to act in films. He would put a condition in the contract that no other actor will touch her while shooting. If she had a wife’s role, he would do the husband’s role. Fortunately for cine goers, as Shanta Apte grew up as a rebel, she defied this rule and Baburao started his acting and direction separately. He got married and lived separately.
Shanta Apte- though unmarried till end- had a daughter-Nayana Apte. However this news of her daughter was kept a secret. When Shanta Apte died on 28-2-1964, ten years later Nayana declared that she was Shanta Apte’s daughter. Film Historian Isak Mujawar, in one of his books, has said that Nayana was Shanta’s daughter from brother Baburao Apte only. Such matters have no credible proofs anytime. By the way, Nayana Apte became a popular actress on Marathi Stage and in Marathi Cinema. Obviously Baburao Apte was very creative indeed !
Secondly, in this film Rajkumari Calcuttewali (real name Pullo Bai) had acted and also sang 5 songs. Though HFGK is silent about which Rajkumari it was in this film, the noted Music Historian and collector Girdharilal Vishwakarma ji has confirmed this. Also the song’s uploader Shalin Bhatt ji also mentions Rajkumari Calcuttewali. Though she acted and sang only in films made at Calcutta, two films ‘Gorakh aaya’-38 and ‘Jadu Nagari’-40 indicate her participation.Later she married one Seth Motilal from Calcutta and left films.
Thirdly, Music Director in later times-Jimmy aka James Singh- sang a duet in this film with Rajkumari Calcuttewali. Composer Jimmy aka James Singh- is one of those little known composers who never got fame or name in spite of their Talents. His real name was JAMES SINGH. He was a Christian Punjabi from Ludhiana. He was educated in Delhi.He started his career in Hindi films as a singer in Chorus. He sang 7 songs in 6 films (Imandar-39, Baghi-39, Pyar-40, Anjaam-40, Jadoo Nagri-40, and Maaya Nagri-44).
He could play many western instruments, especially all types of Guitars.When he failed as a singer, he became assistant to many composers. Finally.he got his chance to compose few songs for film ‘Muqaddar-50’, though with Khemchand Prakash and Bhola Shreshtha. He composed 2 duets of Asha and Kishore. The credit of composing the First ” Yodelling ” song of Kishore kumar goes to Jimmy. Kishore ‘yodelled ‘ first time in this film.
Jimmy then gave music to 14 more films like, Shrimatiji-52, Smuggler-59, Awara Shehzadi-56, Sher e Baghdad-57, Nek khatoon-59, Pathan-62, Miss chaalbaz-61, Tarzan and Gorilla-63, Duniya hai dilwalon ki-66, Pyar ki Baazi-67, Tarzan in fairy land-68, Aakhir-84, Khoon aur sazaa-86 and his last film, Sachhi Ibadat-1987. Inspite of giving sweet and melodious songs of a variety,Jimmy never came up to A class. He always remained a composer for C grade films. Anyway, as long as Kishore’s yodelling is heard,Jimmy’s name will be remembered.
However, in this film Jimmy was not the MD. It was yet another little known MD- Shanti kumar Desai, a very talented but unlucky composer who rarely got support from any famous banner. His music was enchanting and tunes were superb, but Lady Luck did not favour him.
He was born in Amreli,Saurashtra, Gujarat state on 3-3-1908. His family was in service as Royal Musicians, so he was exposed to music from childhood.He was an expert Harmonium player. To start his career, he came to Bombay and worked in H.M.V. as a Broadcaster. Here he came into contact with many composers and learnt how they operated and made tunes etc. He was already giving music to Dramas, but wanted to join Film line as M.D. He got his first film Navbharat ( Jawanmard)-1934. In those days Gujarati producers and directors used to prefer Gujarati MDs. Thus out of his 36 films, 18 were done with Gujarati Directors like Sohrab modi, Nanubhai Vakil, V.M.Vyas(4 films), Kanjibhai Rathod, Dhirubhai Desai etc. He also gave music to Gujarati films.
He gave music along with Madholal Master,Rafiq Ghaznavi, Pannalal Ghosh, Shyambabu Pthak etc. Famous singers like Rafi, Manna Dey, Zohrabai, Amirbai etc sang in his films during their early careers. Even kishore kumar’s early film Sati Vijay-48 had music by Shanti kumar Desai. He gave music to films of early era actors like Prem Adib, Mehtab, Sitara Devi, Leela Chitnis, Jal Merchant, Ashraf Khan, Rajkumari, Mazhar khan, Shanta Hublikar, Jairaj, E Billimoria, Kumar, Sardar Akhtar, Chandramohan, Shobhana Samarth, Durga Khote, Shahu Modak and Sulochana.
From 1934 to 1948, he gave music to 35 films and in 1964 his one film was released. He composed about 300 songs. He never got films from top banners like Bombay Talkies,Prabhat, Sagar or Minerva, otherwise his career would have been different.
He died on 6-1-1986. Some of his better known films were Bholi bhikaran-36, Punarjanma-38, Anjaam-40, Suhaagan-42, Naukar-43, Ek din ka sultan-45 and Lav Kush-51.
The Hero of this stunt film was the Stunt King Yeshwant Dave…..ever heard his name ? Not a great chance, I know.
It was not uncommon during the days of early cinema for people to hang around studios and filming locations in the hopes of being discovered. One such intrepid soul was Yeshwant Dave (or Yashwant Dave), who was at Kohinoor Studios observing a picture being made by producer J.B.H. Wadia. The handsome and athletic Yeshwant cornered Wadia, insisting that he would make a fine hero for an action film.
Wadia agreed to test Yeshwant by having him jump from the roof of one set piece to another. He did so successfully, and J.B.H. decided to cast him in a film that he was to direct for Young United Players, the 1931 silent Thunderbolt (aka Diler Daaku) featuring Mumtaz as the heroine.
Yashwant was again directed by Wadia in Toofaan Mail (1932) and thereafter became a sought after action star appearing in the stunt films of other directors like Aspi, Dhirubhai Desai, Nari Ghadiali, Chunilal Parekh, and Harshadrai Mehta. Some of his films include Bharat Veer (1932), Jaadui Jung (1934), Bombshell (1935), Vasant Bengali (1937), Flying Ranee (1939), Magic City (Jaadoo Nagri) (1940), Torpedo (1941), Royal Mail (1946), and Kaun Pardesi (1947).
Growing out of the stunt hero persona, he turned to character parts and made infrequent onscreen appearances throughout the 1950s, including in Seikh Chilli and Makkhee Choos both released in 1956 and starring comedian Bhagwan. What became of Yeshwant Dave afterwards is anybody’s guess, as the once popular action star faded into obscurity and, sadly, is barely remembered today.
Today’s song is a duet sung by Rajkumari Calcuttewali and James Singh. There were 9 songs in the film. With this song, film Jadu Nagari-40 makes its Debut on this Blog.
(Thanks to cinemajadu.com, activeindiatv.com, Cinerang by Isak Mujawar, Harish Raghuwanshi ji of Surat and my notes for information used herein.)
Song-Prem nagariya jaayenge hum(Jaadoonagri)(1940) Singers- Rajkumari Calcuttewali, James Singh (aka Jimmy), Lyricist- Munshi Kabil Amritsari, MD- Shanti Kumar Desai
Both
Lyrics
Prem nagariya jaayenge hum
Prem nagariya jaayenge hum
Prem nagariya jaayenge
dharti pe swarg basaayenge
dharti pe swarg basaayenge
Prem nagariya jaayenge
Prem nagar ki har galiyan mein
Prem nagar ki har galiyan mein
prem bageech banaayenge
prem bageech banaayenge
prem panchhi ban kunj kunj mein
prem geet nit gaayenge
prem panchhi ban kunj kunj mein
prem geet nit gaayenge hum
prem nagariya jaayenge
kal kal karti prem sarit mein
prem mast ho ??aayenge
kal kal karti prem sarit mein
prem mast ho ??aayenge
prem sudha ras pi pi kar
tan man ka taap mitaayenge
prem sudha ras pi pi kar
tan man ka taap mitaayenge
prem nagariya jaayenge
ek pran ham do tan ho kar
phir bhi to bisraayenge
haan
ek pran ham do tan ho kar
phir bhi to bisraayenge
haan
prem devta ke kunjan mein
prem devta ke kunjan mein
jeewan sakal bitaayenge hum
jeewan sakal bitaayenge hum
prem nagariya jaayenge
Duniya rain basera musaafir
Posted on: April 3, 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.
|
Blog Day : |
3911 | Post No. : | 14969 | Movie Count : |
4091 |
Today’s song is from an obscure film Vaseeyat-1940.
Though this film was made by Minerva Movietone, neither it was directed by Sohrab Modi nor he had acted in it. The film was directed by K.M.Multani, who also wrote the screenplay for this film. Multani had directed his first film also from Minerva only-Vaasanti-38 – a social film. This too was without Sohrab Modi in any capacity. Multani further directed 3 more films, Virginia-40, Ujala-42 and Umang-44.
Minerva Movietone was started by Sohrab and brother Rustom Modi, when they realised that the stage dramas, filmed as Feature films did not get the public approval. Consequently production from Stage films- their first film production enterprise- was suspended till Minerva became successful. ” Aatma Tarang-38″ was the new company’s first film. C. Ramchandra was the Harmonium accompanist for M.D. Habib Khan and Bundu Khan. He also did a small role in Aatma Tarang and earlier Saeed E Havas-36. 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.
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.
Film Vaseeyat40 had music by khan Mastana, who was essentially a singer. The lyrics were by Abdul Baqi. The cast of the film consisted of Sheela, gajanan jahagirdar, Eruch Tarapore, Sunalini Devi, Shobha, Kamini and many others. There were 6 songs sung by Sheela, Pramila and Khan Mastana himself.
Sheela was the Heroine of this film. SHEELA(real name-Roshan Ara) was born on 13-3-1925 at Sholapur-Maharashtra.Her father was Station Master at Sholapur Rly.Stn. Once Sohrab Modi had come to Sholapur with his Drama company.He went to the station to do reservations and saw Sheela.They got to know each others and he proposed to give her roles in his films.Thus Sheela came to Bombay in 1936 and Joined Minerva Movietone as a singer/actress.
Her first film was Khan Bahadur-37,ih which she sang and acted.Then came Jailor-38 in which she sang 4 solo songs under MD Mir Sahib.Then Divorce and Meetha Zahar came.
She became famous only after her songs in Pukar-39.Bharosa,Wasiyat and Sikander also gave her name and fame.In Sikander she had 6 songs out of total 7 songs. The famous song ‘ zindagi hai pyar se’ also had her voice in the chorus. She was Heroine in film ‘ Vaseeyat’-40
Ulti Ganga, Bhakta Raidas, Prithvi Vallabh,and Patharon ka Saudagar were all Minerva films.
She had also done films elsewhere- Alladin and wonderful lamp,college Girl,gaibi Gola,jahan ara,keemti qurbani,Sansar naiya,Shaitan ka pash etc.
After 1943,she almost stopped working.Only in Beete Din-47 and lastly in Billi-49 she sang songs., which was a stunt film of Nadia and Cavas.
She had married the actor Rama Shukla, in 1947. He was a Kanauji Brahmin and they had terrible opposition to their marriage. The marriage was by Registration. Only 4 friends were present in the marriage. They had one son and one daughter. Rama Shukla died by Heart attack in the 50s.
Her voice had a peculiar mixture of Muslim style of Amirbai karnataki and Marathi slant od Shanta Apte.
There is an anecdote with one of her songs. When film Pukar was in the making, C.Ramchandra was working as an assistant to MD Meer Saheb. He has mentioned in his autobiography also that in the absence of Meer saheb, he used to insert his tunes to songs as Meer saheb’s. This was known to many, except, may be, Meer saheb himself. One of the very popular songs sung by Sheela ” Tum bin hamri kaun khabar le ‘ was actually composed by C.Ramchandra. This is supposed to be CR’s first composed song. The credit ,of course, went to Meer Saheb.
Another uncommon name in the cast is Sunalini Devi. Sunalini Devi, the actress, was born on 1-1-1896 in Hyderabad Deccan. Her father, Aghornath Chatopadhyay-a Bengali settled in Hyderabad – was a Sanskrit scholar, was proficient in 27 languages and was the first Indian to get the D.Sc. honour. Sunalini was the elder sister of Sarojini, who became Sarojini Naidu after her marriage, and Harindranath Chatopadhyaya-renowned poet.
Sunalini learnt Music and Dance from her third year of age itself. Due to her sweet voice, she was called ‘ Kokila ‘. It is to be noted that her younger sister Saojini Naidu was called ‘ Nightingale of India’ ! It is unfortunate that the film industry did not use Sunalini’s music skill in her films and she sang just one song in her career in film ‘ Raja Rani-42’.
Sunalini started acting in stage dramas from 1918. Her first movie was ” Light of Asia”-released initially in Germany and Poland in 1925. It’s restored version was released on 5th July 2001, in India. This film was made by Himanshu Rai. The film was shot in Lahore. It was a silent film on Gautama the Buddha. Her first Talkie film was ‘ veer Kunal-32’. She acted in 56 films. Mostly she was known for motherly roles only. She had, like her more eminent sister, married a south Indian- Mr.A.S.Rajan, a writer from Madras.
Some of her more known films are, Aurat,Lalaji, Inkaar, Nai roshni, Talaash, Bairam khan, Tamasha, Dilruba, Malhar etc etc. She retired from films in 1956.
Then there is Eruch Tarapore. Eruch Tarapore was a distant relative of Sohrab Modi and he worked only in Modi’s films. He worked in 16 films, right from Modi’s first film Hamlet-35 up to 1948. Eruch sang one song each in 3 films, Meetha zehar-38, Jailor-38 and Phir milenge-43. He died in 1948.
I have no details of the storyline of film Vaseeyat-40. However, I faintly remember having read somewhere that the story was about a rich person, who dies without a will. There is lot of confusion, but finally the will is found etc.
With today’s song, film Vaseeyat-40 makes its Debut on the Blog.
Song- Duniya rain basera Musafir duniya rain basera hai (Vaseeyat)(1940) Singer- Sheela, Lyrics- Abdul Baqi, Music- Khan Mastana
Lyrics
Duniya rain basera musaafir
Duniya rain basera hai ae
Duniya rain basera hai
Duniya rain basera musaafir
Duniya rain basera hai ae
Duniya rain basera hai
saari duniya jaag uthhi tu
saari duniya jaag uthhi tu
lambi taane sowe
lambi taane sowe
jo jowe so paawe musaafir
jo jowe so paawe musaafir
jo sowe so khowe
jo sowe so khowe
door hai manzil neend ke maare
?? jaag ??
duniya rain basera hai
duniya rain basera musaafir
duniya rain basera hai ae
duniya rain basera hai
duniya kya hai paap ki nagri
duniya kya hai paap ki nagri
is se man na lagaana
is se man na lagaana
kadam kadam pe ?? base hain
kadam kadam pe ?? base hain
soch ke pair uthhaana
soch ke pair uthhaana
moh lobh mein pyaar ke ??
aane ?? hai
duniya rain basera hai
duniya rain basera musaafir
duniya rain basera hai ae
duniya rain basera hai
Ae ae ae ae jagmaali
Posted on: March 22, 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.
|
Blog Day : |
3899 | Post No. : | 14949 | Movie Count : |
4085 |
Today’s song is from an old, obscure film, Paak Daman-40.
The meaning of the word Paak Daman is Spotless Character. It has several other meanings depending on its usage. Generally this word is used to describe a woman of Chastest character and without any blemish.
Paak Daman was first made in 1931, the very first year of the Talkie films. Then it was made in 1940 and finally it was made in 1957. Paak Daman was a popular stage drama of early 1900’s. There were many versions of this story with minor variations,like names and place etc. The Parsi Urdu Theatre version was written by Agha Hashra Kashmiri, then famously known as ” Shakespeare of India”. The Parsi Gujarati plays were written by various authors. Syed Yawar Ali penned the script for the ” Moon Parsi Theatre”. The Alfred Drama Company had their own version of the story. In 1932, a film called ” Paak Daman Raqaasa aka Innocent Rakkasa or innocent Dancer or निर्दोष नर्तिका ” was made by Elephanta Movietone, Punjab. But I guess it was not one of these versions, just like the 1957 movie.
Paak Daman-1931 with Rampyari and Hyder Shah was based on a Gujarati play and Paak Daman-40 was written by Agha Hashra Kashmiri for the Urdu Parsi Theatre. This was a small budget movie, with not so popular star cast. It’s shoe-string budget did not allow any advertisements in Film India or other film magazines or papers or any other media like Hoardings in major towns. For all such low budget films the usual method of making advertisement was by distributing handbills from bullock carts ( छकडा ) with a one piece band consisting of ताशा or ढोल. The handbills would be printed in Urdu or local languages and distributed in predominantly Muslim majority area of the towns.
The film was produced by Stage Film Company and was directed by Rustom Modi. The film was censored on 20th October 1940 and released first in Lahore. Most of the film cast was drawn from Urdu Parsi Theatre to save money. Actors like Mohd. Ishaq (as Jaandaar, the King), Abu Baker(as drunkard), K.Pawar(as Bhangedi), Sonaba(as Afimi), Mehboob(as Baldy), Faqir Mohd(as Guardian) and Krishnabai as Dancer, were taken along with regular actors like Ghulam Mohammed(as Safadar Jung), Firoz Dastur(as Jameel). The female cast was Meera Devi(as Razia), Menaka Hyderabadi(as Sayeeda, the Heroine) and Leela Hyderabadi( as Nadira). These female actors were stage actresses from Urdu parsee Theatre in the 1930’s. They had played these roles so often on stage that all the dialogues were byheart to them. They had done small roles in films but went unnoticed,perhaps due to being uncredited.
The film was directed by Rustom Modi, who was the elder brother of Sohrab Modi. To understand the background of making of this film, we have to first take a look, in short, at the early build up of the careers of the Modi brothers.
Born on 2-11-1897, Sohrab Modi and his elder brother Rustom Modi spent their initial years in the Parsi community in Bombay, where their father was a Civil servant. The brothers were no good students in studies but were more interested in acting on stage. After their family shifted to Rampur in United Province (today’s Uttar Pradesh), when Sohrab was about 15 year or so, he used to read Urdu Books from library of Nawab of Rampur, with whom his father worked as a Superintendent. This made Sohrab an expert in Urdu Language and diction. Coupled with his love for sports and body building, he soon became an impressive young man.
As he was growing, his brother Rustom helped him and he started doing small roles in stage dramas. At one stage his roles in “Khoon ka khoon”and “Saeed E Hawas” won laurels from the audience. By then Rustom had started his own drama company “The Arya Subodh Natak Mandali”. In 1931, Talkie films started and people were attracted to them. Sensing a danger to drama companies, Rustom Modi established “Stage Film Company” and filmed their “Khoon ka khoon aka Hamlet” and ‘Saeed E Hawas” in 1935 and 1936 respectively. However since people had already seen these dramas, these 2 movies did not click to expectations.
Sohrab Modi realised that film making was a different game entirely. So, in 1936, the brothers started Minerva Movietone and a new film “Atma Tarang” was made. It was also received with a tepid response, with just 20 persons for the first show. Sohrab was disappointed, however, some critics appreciated his effort and encouraged him to go ahead. Soon he made successful films like Meetha Zahar-38, Divorce-38, Pukar-39 and Bharosa-40 and so on.
Rustom Modi, however, continued with his dramas and making films on dramas. On this background Rustom Modi made Paak Daman in 1940- again with his stage artistes. This time, there was a good response and the old timers enjoyed the film reminiscing what they had earlier seen as a Urdu Parsee Theatre drama.
The film had a second title of “Shaheed Naaz”. The story, dialogues, screenplay and Lyrics were by Agha Hasra Kashmiri. The music director K.M.Pawar, besides doing a small role in the film, also doubled as a Choreographer along with Master Chhota.
The story of the film was…..
The king Jahandaar was a Noble and honest ruler. He used to roam about in his kingdom in a Faqir’s disguise. In his absence, his close courtier Safdar jung used to look after the kingdom. Safdar was a cruel and immoral person. He had deserted his own wife Nadira, after fully enjoying her chastity.
A young man Jameel had used a girl Razia and abandoned her. She complained to Safdar Jung. Jameel was caught and sentenced to death. Jameel’s sister was Saeeda. Beautiful Saeeda goes to Safdar and begs for cancellation of death sentence. Safdar asks her to spend one night with him as a gift in return to this favour. He gives her time to think and come back.
While returning, Saeeda meets the Faqir( king in disguise), who enquires what is wrong. Saeeda tells him all. King is very angry. He discloses his identity to Saeeda and asks her to find and bring Nadira. The three of them hatch a plot.
Next day, Saeeda informs Safdar that she is ready to do as he wants, provided there is total darkness and no talk in that period. He gladly agrees. In the darkness of night Nadira replaces Saeeda and Safdar spends time with her, thinking that she is Saeeda.
Next day Nadira appears in Darbar and asks Safdar to take her back. The Faqir also reveals himself and Saeeda tells the truth of the night. Safdar is stunned. The king orders Safdar to take back Nadira and leave the court-if not he will be executed. Jameel is released but has to marry Razia.
Jameel’s role was done by Firoz Dastur, who started with films, but became a well known classical singer of India. Firoz Dastur or Feroze Dastur (30 September 1919 – 9 May 2008) was an eminent vocalist of Kirana Gharana and a film actor.
Dastur was part of Indian Film Industry in 1930s, acting in a few films by Wadia Movietone and other film banners. In 1933, when Wadia Movietone under JBH Wadia, released its first talkie film, he performed classical songs as child actor in film Lal-e-Yaman. But his first love was Indian Classical Music.
He was the disciple of Sawai Gandharva, whose other disciples were Bhimsen Joshi and Gangubai Hangal and a regular performer at Sawai Gandharva Music Festival for several years, well into his late 80s.
Dastur died on 9th May 2008 in Mumbai after a brief illness. He was 89.
He acted in 16 films- from Laal e yaman-33 to Gul e Bakavali-47. He sang 60 songs in 19 films. Last he sang in film Bhumika-77.
He also gave music to 2 films,composing 17 songs ( Sunehra Baal-38 and Gul e Bakavali-47)
Safdar’s role was done by Ghulam Mohammed. Ghulam Mohammad was a super star villain actor in the pre-partition films. He was a popular stage actor in the 1920s and appeared in movies mostly as villain actor in the 1930s/40s. His first big film was Madhuri in 1932 which was directed by R.S. Chodhary. He was in main role with actress Sulochana who was a Jewish artist and the first ever super star film heroine in the sub-continent. It was one of many famous productions by the leading Bombay based film company Imperial Film Co. and Ghulam Mohammad was an automatic choice for them. He was called Prince of Imperial Film Company and he was the first ever Muslim actor to buy a luxury car in the 1930s.
Ghulam Mohammad was an all round actor and appeared as hero, villain and supporting actor in more than 60 movies in the 1930s-40s. He played the main villain role in the first ever colored film Kissan Kanya from Bombay in 1937. He was in title role with Noorjahan in Lahore based Punjabi film Chodhary in 1941 and also in her first Hindi/Urdu film as heroine, Khandan in 1942, which was made in Lahore as well. He was also in the last big film before partition Jugnu (with Noorjahan and Dilip Kumar and Sulochana).
Ghulam Mohammad was almost in every second Pakistani film in the 1950s. He was born in 1900 in Lahore and died on March 10, 1961. He appeared in more than 500 stage dramas and fought as soldier in the WW1 in Baghdad, Iraq. He was best known as Chacha (Uncle) in film circles.
Today’s song is extremely rare song, says uploader- our own Sadanand ji Kamath. The song is based on Raagdari, which one, I could not identify as I am not an expert. Considering this is a recording done almost 80 years ago, it is still in good condition, except at few places. It is confirmed that the Lyrics were by Agha Hashra Kashmiri. The Music Director K.M.Pawar was employed in Rustom Modi’s stage film company.
( My thanks to ” Forgotten movies on Muslim Culture,1933-1947″ ,by Kamalakar ji Pasupuleti, “Stages of Life; Indian Theatre autographies ” by Kathryn Hansen, HFGK, MuVyz,www.pak.mag,Listener’s Bulletin and my notes).
The movie as well as the singer Kaka Ji make their debuts in the blog with this song.
Song-Ae ae ae ae jagmaali (Paak Daaman)(1940) Singers- Phiroz Dastur, Kaka ji, Lyrics- Agha Hashra Kashmiri, MD- K M Pawar
Lyrics
ae ae ae ae
ae ae ae ae jagmaali
ae ae ae ae
ae ae ae ae jagmaali
Phooli dali dali
Chhaayee nirali,
Rangwali laali
hariyaali
ae ae ae ae
ae ae jagmaali
ae ae ae ae jag
gun gaati bhaanti koyaliya kaali
gungaati bhaanti koyaliya kaali
Chhaayee niraali
Rangwaali laali
hariyaali
ae ae ae ae ae ae
jagmaali
ae ae ae ae
ae ae jagmaali
bhanwar papeeha mor uthh bhor
bhanwar papeeha mor uthh bhor
chaaron oar jape tero naam
chaaron oar jape tero naam
waari
kunjan kunjan mein
phoolan ke ban mein
kunjan kunjan mein
phoolan ke ban mein
acharaj man mein
hansat basat hai
acharaj man mein
hansat basat hai
chhav tori niraali
rangwaali laali
hariyaali
ae ae ae ae jagmaali
ae ae ae ae jagmaali
Recent comments