Archive for the ‘Song of 1940’ Category
Musaafir kahaan hai tera des
Posted on: January 28, 2023
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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5307 | Post No. : | 17392 | Movie Count : |
4685 |
The Indian film industry has been absorbing and giving opportunities to all people in India, irrespective of their Caste, Culture, Language, Religion or Province. Maharashtra being ” The birthplace of Indian Film industry” (not my words, but a title of the English book by Isaq Mujavar), initially the film industry had a sizable majority of Marathi and Gujarati people. The Marathis had the talent and the Gujaratis had the money power. After some time, slowly people from all regions, religions and provinces joined the industry. By the time of the First talkie film came, the first film “Alam Ara”-1931 virtually reflected the representations of the variety of people operating in the film industry.
The producer director was a Parsee, the Hero was Marathi, the Heroine was a Muslim, the dialogue writer was a Jew and the cast included Punjabis, marathi, Hindu, Muslim and parsees. It even included an Afghani Muslim, who sang the first ever Hindi film song in the film. Indian films were made to entertain Indian people. No wonder along with Hindu Mythological films, many films with Muslim history and background were also made. Folk stories and Costume dramas were also popular. from 1931 itself, films with social content were made.
Majority films were based on Mythology, Romance, Folk stories, Costume films etc. Many films with Muslim backgrounds were made, but they were mostly on Mughal kings or Arabian Night stories. It is to be noted that the entire Hierarchy of Mughal Emperors has been the subject matter of Hindi films. Films were made on Taimur, Babar, Humayun, Akbar, Jehangir, Shajehan, Aurangjeb and even Bahadur Shah Zafar. Comparatively muslim social films were less in the early era. The first ever known Muslim social film was Rashida-1935. There was no systematic effort to make Muslim Social films.
It is popularly believed that it was Mehboob Khan who made the first ever muslim social film, when he made the film ” Najma”-1943. It was his first film after he established his own Mehboob production and his studio. The film had prominent stars like Ashok kumar, veena, Sitara devi, Kumar and others. But this is not true. The honour of making a series of Muslim Social films must go to the Fazli brothers. Who were they ?
Today’s song is from the film Qaidi-1940. The film was produced by Fazli brothers, known to make films on Muslim background only.
The producers, Fazli brothers, were the sons of Khan Bahadur S M Fazal Rabb of Bahraich- about 125 kms from Lucknow in U.P. The elder brother was Hasnain and the younger brother was Sibtain ( born on 9-7-1916). Hasnain Fazli was born on 12-1-1912 in the United Province (today’s U.P.). Their family belonged to the noble Sayyads of Allahabad. Hasnain was a graduate of Allahabad University. Though his father was a Khan Bahadur, a Government Jahagirdar and lifetime Magistrate, Hasnain refused to do any service and did not complete his I.C.S. studies, as expected by the family.
He had a creative mind. He joined the film line. He was very keen on making a film on Muslim Society. In those days it was considered outrageous to produce a film on Muslim society for fear of the ire of the fundamentalists. However Hasnain broke the barrier and the first Muslim Social film Qaidi-40 was produced and directed by him under the banner of Film Corporation of India, Calcutta. Very cleverly, the film was made at Calcutta, ( though the film depicted life in Lucknow ), and not at Bombay to avoid any disruption in the making of the film. The film was made so well that it was received very well by all strata of the population, including the Muslims and became a hit film. After this Hasnain made more Muslim social films like Masoom-41, Chowringhee-42, Fashion-43 and Ismat-44. These films discussed Muslim family life and problems etc.
His first directorial film was in his 23rd year- Triya Charitra-35. Then came Sajiv Murti-35, in which Handsome Vijay Kumar from Himachal Pradesh was the Hero. Fazli brothers also made Dil-46, Mehendi-47, Duniya-49 and Khoobsurat-52. Hasnain was so talented that he himself wrote the film stories, screenplays and dialogues usually. Sibtain Fazli directed 3 films-Chowringhee-42, Ismat-44 and Mehendi-47.
After the Partition, Fazli brothers migrated to Pakistan. Sibtain remained in Pakistan and Hasnain returned to India to make 2 more films. Later Hasnain too relocated to Lahore and died there on 16-7-1957. His brother Sibtain ( 9-7-1916 to 25-7-1985) who had directed 3 films in India, made 4 films in Pakistan, including the most popular Urdu film of Madam Noor Jehan – Dupatta-52.
Film Qaidi was a Muslim Social film made by Film Corporation of India, Calcutta, to avoid disturbance by Muslim fundamentalists in Bombay. It was directed by Hasnain fazli, the elder brother. The cast of the film was Ramola, Mehtab, Nandrekar, Monica desai, Wasti, Leela Mishra Madhuri and others. Songs were written by Arazu lucknowi and the Music Director was Bhishmadev Chatterjee.
Prof. Acharya Bhishma Dev Chatterji. He was born on 8-11-1909 in Hooghly, West Bengal. He studied upto M.A. in English. He became a Teacher and taught English in a college. Few years after learning Music from stalwarts of Bengal, he left the job of teacher and joined Megaphone Record Company as a Composer. He used to meet Kidar Sharma in the Recording studio.
Taking permission from his company, he became a Music Director for his First film – Dil hi to hai aka Aulad-1939, made by the Film Corporation of India, Calcutta. He composed some Ghazals, which Ramola and Ramdulari sang. After this film, Bhishma Dev gave music to 3 more Hindi films – The Rise-1939, Qaidi-1940 and Hamara Hindustan-1940. All films made by Film Corporation of India and in Calcutta. This was the end of his Hindi film music .
Bhishma Dev was highly respected in Bengal for his knowledge of Classical Music. Even S D Burman learnt music from him. His nature was saintly. He cut many records on Dhrupad sangeet. I am not aware of his contribution to Bangla films.
Suddenly, one day, he left his job, work, music, family, everything and he became a Sanyasi. He remained so till he died on 8-8-1977.
The story of the film Qaidi-1940 was…..
There was a poor family of a Mother (Leela Mishra), Son Aziz (Nandrekar) and small sister Chanda (Madhuri). Aziz is B.A. but does not have a job. In frustration of not getting any job or a loan, he murders a rich man. His younger brother dies for lack of buying medicines. Aziz is arrested and jailed for 10 years. His mother and sister become beggars.
In the prison, Aziz assaults the jailor and runs away. To hide from the Police, he enters a rich man’s house and due to mental strain falls unconscious. The daughter of the rich man is Salma (Ramola). She nurses him. The rich man is a Dacoit. With his help, Aziz also becomes a dacoit and murder. Salma loves him. Laila (Mehtab), a dancer also loves him but not as a passion.
Police track Azizx. When they shoot at Aziz, Laila takes the shot on her and before dying in the arms of Aziz, reveals that she is Chanda, his sister and their mother has also died. She dies. Aziz tries to run away into a Mosque, but the Police fire on him and he dies in the Mosque.
Now let us listen to the song from the film Qaidi-1940. The singer is not known. This rare record was uploaded by Syed Zafar Shah, a close friend of our Sudhir ji.
( some of the information about the film Qaidi-1940 is taken, with thanks, from the book ” Forgotten movies on Muslim Culture” by P. Kamlakar ji).
Song- Musafir kahaan hai tera des(Qaidi)(1940) Singer- Not known, Lyricist-Arzu Lucknowi, MD- Prof. Bhishmadev Chatterjee
Lyrics
Musaafir kahaan hai tera des
Musaafir kahaan hai tera des
ranj mein hani hani hani hani hanki
tang gali se
ranj mein hanki
tang gali se
bhog(??) badalkar bhes
dil ka sheesha naazuk sheesha
dil ka sheesha naazuk sheesha
kahin laage na thhes
kahin laage na thhes
Musaafir kahaan hai tera des
Musaafir kahaan hai tera des
ranj mein hanki
tang gali se
ranj mein hanki
tang gali se
bhog(??) badalkar bhes
dil ka sheesha naazuk sheesha
dil ka sheesha naazuk sheesha
kahin laage na thhes
kahin laage na thhes
Musaafir kahaan hai tera des
Musaafir kahaan hai tera des
Ye bade sahab ka topaa hai
Posted on: April 22, 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.
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5026 | Post No. : | 16934 |
Today’s song is from the film Diwali-1940.
Going through the Film Index book, listing all Hindi films from 1931 to 2012, I was surprised to see that only one film was made with the title of Diwali. One more film was Diwali ki Raat-56. Similarly, only one film was made with the title Dussehra-1956. There are 2 films on Holi-1940 and 1984 while another was Holi ayee re of 1970. This is the end of Indian Festival films. 2 Films were made on Eid ka chaand in 1933 and 1964, Idd ka salaam-1976 and finally Idd Mubarak-1988.
I fail to understand, when so many films are made on Mythological stories, Gods, Arabian Night stories and Mughal Kings, why were the filmmakers disinterested in making films on Indian festivals ? It is ofcourse most unlikely, rather impossible, that any Indian producer will read my question and give a convincing answer. Likewise there are not many songs on Diwali or other festivals either. I found many songs on Holi and Rakhi, though. I don’t expect any explanation for this either !
I am not aware of the storyline or any other matter concerning today’s film. The film was made by Ranjit Movietone and was directed by Jayant Desai. Music was given by the inhouse MD- Khemchand Prakash. This was his first film with Ranjit. Before him Gyan Dutt was the resident MD who worked from 1937 to 1940. After Khemchand prakash left Ranjit, it was Bulo C Rani from 1945 onwards.
In the early era, Ranjit was one of the most powerful and famous filmmaking companies in India, boasting of famous and popular artistes on its payroll. owned by Chandulal Shah, Ranjit Movietone made,in all, 175 films during its existence. Calcutta’s New Theatres, however, stands tall at No.1 with 177 films to its credit.
Film Diwali-1940 had 13 songs, written by D N Madhok, Pt. Sudarshan and P L Santoshi, but HFGK does not credit any song to any Lyricist. The cast of the film was Motilal, Madhuri, Ishwarlal, Keshavrao Datey, Dikshit, Indubala, Suresh, Vasanti etc.etc. The name of Indubala is a misfit. She was a Bengali and did Hindi films mainly made by Calcutta producers in Calcutta and she acted during a period from 1932 to 1949. She sang 30 Hindi songs in 14 films She acted in 33 Hindi films. In most films, she did comic roles. Even in this film she is paired with comedian Dikshit ( of the Ghori-Dikshit pair of the 1930s films). Here is Indubala’s Biodata based on an article by Dr, J.P.Guha, with thanks to him.
Indubala’s mother was Rajabala, who along with sister Matibala and brother Tinkary worked in Motilal Bose’s The Great Bengal Circus, also known as Bose’s Circus or Professor Bose’s Circus. Harimati was the eldest sister of Rajabala and had a different life. Rajabala performed mainly as a trapeze artiste and got married to Motilal Bose at a temple in Ujjain, India. At the time he was then in his forties while Rajabala was still a teenager. The marriage was never accepted as legal by Motilal’s family. Motilal Bose’s first wife was Mrs. Annadamohini Devi.
Indubala was born in November, 1899 at Amritsar, where the circus party had gone for performance. Indu was born premature and Dr. Bidhumukhi Basu was taken to Amritsar from Calcutta to attend Rajbala. Such was the affection and concern of the husband for his young wife. Motilal’s interest in Rajbala dwindled later, supposedly because Rajbala showed no interest in going back to the circus after Indu’s birth and soon she was left to fend for herself. She came to Calcutta with her daughter and was given shelter by a Jiban Krishna Ghosh, who remained loyal to her till his death and also played a major role in establishing Indubala in her life as a performer. Once in Calcutta, Rajabala trained herself as a singer and Indubala’s first training in music was from her mother. The initial plan was to train Indu as a nurse and she was admitted as a trainee in a hospital in the Pataldanga locality of Calcutta. Indu did not take fancy in the job and ran away from the hospital, much to the disappointment of her mother, who never wanted her only daughter to be forced into a life of indignity.
After this incident Indubala’s musical training started. Although her father ignored wife Rajabala completely, he remained fond of his daughter and kept in touch with her and often invited her to his ancestral home where he lived during his brief visits to Calcutta and sent her a monthly pocket money of Rupees twenty till his death. Indubala’s first performance was at a gathering of distinguished guests where her mother was the chief entertainer. Each one of the guests appreciated Indu’s singing and thus began her formal training from Gouri Shankar Mishraji. Indu was only about twelve then. This also marked the entry of Indubala into the red light world. Amongst her trainers were Kali Prasad Mishra, Elaahi Bux and Miss Gauhar Jaan. Apart from music, Miss Gauhar Jaan, credited as Prima Donna of India, Indu also learned etiquette from the elder artiste and developed a close friendship with her. This association provided Indu with valuable musical knowledge and experience.
In later years she took training from Girin Chakraborty, Kamal Dasgupta, Subal Dasgupta, Jamiruddin Khan and Kazi Nazrul Islam. In time she came to be one of the major exponents of Nazrul songs and her songs along with those of Miss Angurbala and Kamala Jharia are still referred to for authenticity of lyrics and tunes of Nazrul songs. In 1916, Indubala recorded her first songs. She was brought into the record circle by Bhagabati Charan Bhattacharya and Mr. Manindra Nath Ghosh, alias Mantababu, himself a gramophone singer of repute. The first songs published as a record were Asha Phuraye Gelo, Sindhu Khambaj and Aar Mukhey Boley Ki Hobey, Kedara. The record number was P 4306. In the beginning she did not take any money from the Gramophone Company and as such was credited in the records as Miss Indubala (Amateur). She was not the first amateur artiste of the company but enjoyed the privilege of announcing her name at the end of each song saying “My name is Indubala”. The amateur status continued for a fairly long period. Later on she received Rupees two hundred per record and also received a royalty of five per cent over the sales. Her first songs of Nazrul on the disc were “Cheyona Sunayana” and “Rumjhum Rumjhum Ke Eley Nupur Paye”. The record number was P 11661. To Indubala also goes the credit of being the first Bengali artiste to record Hindustani songs for the Gramophone Company. For the Indian State Broadcasting Center, later named All India Radio, Indubala first sang on the second day of the radio company’s broadcasting in 1927 in Calcutta and went on singing in this medium for nearly fifty years. Over the radio, Indubala sang not only from Calcutta but from several other stations by special invitation all over India. Apart from discs and the radio, Indubala was well established by the thirties in cultural functions all over India. Frequent invitations used to come from Shahjahanpur, Pakur, Madras, Bangalore, Palanpur, Nagpur, Hyderabad, Oudh, Trivandrum, Vizagapattam, Ajmer, Coimbatore, Dacca and several other places.
In 1936 she was appointed court musician to His Highness, The Maharajah of Mysore. She received a monthly salary of Rupees two hundred and fifty and this continued till the time when the native princes faced withdrawal of privy purse. In all Indubala had recorded some two hundred and eighty songs, including about two hundred forty basic songs, the rest being from films. Indubala’s first stage appearance was in The Rambagan Female Kali Theatre, established by her mother Rajabala in 1922. Both mother and daughter took part in the plays and Indubala appeared in about twelve plays in this short-lived company which lasted for only two years and in 1924 she joined Calcutta’s most prestigious stage, The Star Theatre. She continued to appear on the stage mainly in singing roles and her songs were a major attraction in each of the plays. By rotation she acted in all the public theaters of Calcutta and even took part in the Hindi Parsee Theatre in 1945 and 1946, the plays being Ghar Ki Laaj and Jasoos. Her last appearance in the public stage was in the play Prithviraj in the role of Mehga at Star Theatre in 1950. Thereafter she worked in call shows till almost 1958.
Jamuna Puliney (1933) has been credited as her first film. This is probably because this was her first film contract although Ankh Ka Tara (1932) released before Jamuna Puliney. In all she acted in about forty eight films in Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Tamil languages. In most of them, she had songs as a major attraction or else did comic roles as in Bengali Indira (1937) and Hindi Diwali (1940) to name a few. She did the role of Dhai Ma in both the versions of Swayamsiddha (1947). Thereafter she was not seen on the screen. As a playback singer she lent her voice in films like Alibaba (1937), Chandragupt (1934) in Hindi, Ab E Hayat (1933) in Urdu and Dil Ki Pyaas (1935) also in Urdu. She did not act in these four films. Indubala did not receive any major award apart from the Gold Disc given on behalf of His Master’s Voice. The government of India never considered her name for any award. The Sangeet Natak Academy however honoured her with a lifetime achievement award in 1975. The government of West Bengal, India however did arrange for a pension for which a lot of running about had to be done.
In personal life, Indubala was most humble and polite and bold in her behavior and was never ashamed to admit or discuss her origin. Even when established as a major singing artiste with an all India fame, she refused to move out to a respectable place leaving her residence in Rambagan, a notorious red light area of Calcutta. Indubala got herself involved in voluntary work for the uplift of fallen women and worked actively for their rights in society through various organizations, which were patronized by top political leaders of the time. She had some interesting hobbies like writing poetry and collecting perfumes.
Even at old age all the empty perfume bottles were kept within her view. She was fond of jewelry too and had a great collection, either purchased or gifted by admirers. These valuables vanished when she was too unwell to keep track of them. Her contemporary artiste Miss Angurbala was a close friend with whom she confided and shared the joys and sorrows of life and this friendship lasted till the very end. Indubala adopted a nephew of her mother’s friend Jiban Krishna Ghosh. The boy’s name was Pranab Ghosh. This foster son did not look after her mother very much when in old age Indubala suffered from conditions like cataract and then paralytic strokes. It was Dr. Badan Sengupta who made necessary arrangements for her treatment. She could not afford nursing homes and therefore was treated at state government hospitals in all occasions of illness.
The end came on the thirtieth day of November, 1984 after a prolonged illness during which again Dr. Badhan Sengupta looked after her as his own mother. Perhaps by coincidence her friend Angurbala died the same year.
Today’s song is sung by Vasanti and Suresh. Vasanti was a very well known and popular Child star. So was Suresh. However Suresh became an adult star in later years. I know of only 2 child artistes, who left the film world, though they were in great demand. First was Vasant, who got married at an appropriate age and left films. The second was Shashi Kapoor Sr. who quit a quite flourishing film career to pursue higher education. He spent his life as a Professor in an US University.
Let us now listen to the duet of Vasanti and Suresh.
Song- Ye bade sahab ka topa hai (Diwali)(1940) Singer- Vasanti, Suresh, Lyricist- Not known, MD- Khemchand Prakash
Lyrics
Ye bade sahab ka topa hai
ye memsaab ka baja
Ye bade sahab ka topa hai
ye memsaab ka baja
ye dholak Natthu dhobi ki
ye Kalkatte ka Raja
ye dholak Natthu dhobi ki
ye Kalkatte ka Raja
Ye bade sahab ka topa hai
ye memsaab ka baja
Ye bade sahab ka topa hai
ye memsaab ka baja
ye dholak Natthu dhobi ki
ye Kalkatte ka Raja
ye dholak Natthu dhobi ki
ye Kalkatte ka Raja
Raja ke ghar saab aaya
gitpit gitpit boley
Raja ke ghar saab aaya
gitpit gitpit boley
Raja Rani pade soch mein
kaun kiwaade kholey
Raja Rani pade soch mein
kaun kiwaade kholey
Natthu dhobi aaya re
Natthu dhobi aaya re
sang mein dholak laaya re
sang mein dholak laaya re
dhanak dhanak dhan dhanak dhanak dhan
dholak baaje re
dhanak dhanak dhan dhanak dhanak dhan
dholak baaje re
raja ke ghar topey waala
saath biraaje re
raja ke ghar topey waala
saath biraaje re
maange sodawater
oye
maange sodawater
Raja ?? baaje
Raja ?? baaje
maange sodawater
maange sodawater
Raja ?? baaje
Raja ?? baaje
haa aa ha ha ha ha aha
aah ha ha ha h ah
haa aa ha ha ha ha aha
aah ha ha ha h ah
haa aa ha ha ha ha aha
aah ha ha ha h ah
haa aa ha ha ha ha aha
aah ha ha ha h ah
hey
Saanwariya se hamri naaheen bani re
Posted on: March 6, 2022
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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4979 | Post No. : | 16859 |
“Main Haari”(1940) was directed by Gajanan Jagirdar for Minerva Movietone, Bombay. The movie had Navin Yagnik, Maya Devi, Naseeb Bano,Hari Shivdasani,Ghulam Hussain,Eruc Tarapore etc in it.
The movie had six songs in it. One song has been covered in the past.
Here is the second song from “Main Haari”(1940). The song is sung by Menaka Bai. Kamal Amrohi is the lyricist. Music is composed by Meer Sahab.
Only the audio of the song is available. I reuest our knowledgeable readers to thro light on the picturisation of the song.
Lyrics of the song were sent by Prakashchandra.
audio link:
Song-Saanwariya se hamri naaheen banee re (Main Haari)(1940) Singer-Menaka Bai, Lyrics-Kamal Amrohi, MD-Meer Sahab
Lyrics(Provided by Prakashchandra)
saanwariyaa se hamri naaheen banee rey ae ae
saanwariyaa se hamri naaheen banee rey ae ae
saanwariyaa se hamree naaheen banee rey ae ae
bas ek baar charnon mein bichchney ki ??
bas ek baar charnon mein bichchney ki ??
aa aa haa aan aa haan aan aaa
aan aaan aa aaa
main sau baar sainyyaan ke paaiyyaan padee rey ae
main sau baar sainyyaan ke paaiyyaan padee rey ae
saanwariyaa se hamree naaheen banee rey ae ae
main ujdee bhee
sanwri bheeee
bigdi banee rey
main ujdee bhee
sanwri bheeeee
bigdi banee rey ae ae
ke paaoon unhein jaisey waisey sajee rey ae
ke paaoon unhein..aen jaisey waisey sajee rey ae
paseejey kisee baat se bhee na saajan..n.n.n.n.n
paseeje kisee baat se bhee na saajan
main royee main tadpee
main roothhee manee rey
main royee main tadpee
main roothhee manee rey
woh kaisey mujhey ae apney mann mein basaatey ae
woh kaisey mujhey ae ae apney mann mein basaatey ae ae
woh ho honthon se mere aey ae ae aey ae ae ae
woh ho hoke mere main thee hee bujhee rey aey ae ae ae
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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4895 | Post No. : | 16694 |
Songs from Artiste Name Films….Second Season….No. 8
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Today’s song is from the film Azad-1940
The film was made by Bombay Talkies. The lead pair was Leela Chitnis and Ashok Kumar. Earlier Ashok Kumar was paired with Devika Rani since 1936 and they did many Hit films together. Devika Rani or Leela Chitnis had joined films by choice. However, Ashok Kumar had never imagined that he would pursue a Film career. He had joined Bombay Talkies with the help of Sashadhar mukherjee, his Brother-in-law, as a Technical staff, after completing his degree education. But fate brought him to films. Everyone knows how.
But then Ashok Kumar’s case is not unique. The film industry has seen some more such cases, where the artistes dramatically entered the filmline in different capacities. Take the case where one Motor Mechanic became a well known film Director (Sarvottam Badami) while the other became a famous poet, lyricist and a Director (Gulzar), a Navy aspirant was made a hero (Motilal), an International wrestler ‘acted’ in several films (Dara Singh), a Typewriter salesman became immortal singer actor (Saigal), an international dramatist and U.N.O. Executive wrote stories, songs and dialogues of Hindi films and acted too (Dewan Sharar), a Mathematician with a prestigious Tripose from Cambridge University and service in I.L.O. Switzerland became an actress in Hindi films (Shakuntala Paranjpye) and an Editor of Dance magazine with high education was taken out of a Bus queue and made a Hero of over 40 films (Ranjan). These are some examples how Fate changes the course of Life !
Leela Chitnis was senior to Ashok Kumar in acting. Azad-40 was her 13th film, whereas for him it was only the 9th film of his career. They did 4 films together. Their first film was kangan-39. Then came Bandhan-40. Azda was 3rd and last film together as lead pair was Jhoola-41. Three films were hits, but Azad-40 was an average film. This happened because in 1940, Bombay Talkies’ original story writer Niranjan Pal had left the company after a spat with the owner Himanshu Rai. In his place, another Bengali – Sardendu Bannerjee wrote the story, which was a weaker one. The story of the film Azad-40 was…..Azad was a story of 3 friends and the age old conflict of conservatism v/s Modernism.Vijay(Ashok kumar) is a wealthy young collegian with modern thinking and rebellion against bad customs.Loknath(Ramchandra Pal) is a conservative while,Jagdish(Arun Kumar) is oscillating between the two.
One day they come across a girl Jamuna(Leela Chitnis) hunted by a badman.Loknath and and Jagdish stay away,but Vijay rescues her and takes her home.She is stamped a fallen woman,but Vijay knows she is pure and courageous.They fall in love,marry and go away to another village Ratanpur,to avoid trouble from society.
After 25 years, Jagdish settles as a Lawyer in Calcutta.He has one motherless daughter Seeta(Hansa Wadkar),who is rescued from Train dacoits,by Anand,the Doctor son of Vijay.Jagdish calls him home and learns that he is Vijay and Jamun’s son.He is in a dilemma now.
However love triumphs and the youngsters finally get married in presence of Vijay,Jamuna,Jagdish and Loknath.
This was a film in the tradition of bringing new thinking through films by Bombay Talkies,for which they were known.
So much about the film. Our today’s hero is Actor AZAD. in Hindi films there were 2 actors with the name AZAD. Luckily the senior Azad acted only in a few films till Partition and then migrated to pakistan. Hence there was no ‘ Same Name Confusion’. The junior Azad became active only from 1958 onwards. Let us first see about the Azad Sr.
There was an actor named Azaad in Hindi films. His real name was Mohd Hanif. He was born on 16th October 1916 at Delhi in a wealthy family. His father was an electrical engineer and a political leader. His elder brother was in the British Army.
Hanif started a motor vehicles business in Delhi. He got married also. Due to his desire to act in films, he came to Bombay. His acting career started with ‘Himalaya Ki Beti’ (1938). During this film he got to know Kalyani Bai, the singer – actress. Soon they got married.
While she did well in films, he was struggling in his career, without credit. In the film ‘Haqdaar’ (1946), he was credited with his film name Azaad. Frustrated, he left films and went back to Delhi to restart his motor vehicles business. Kalyani brought him back and together they started their own production company – Azad Pictures. However, soon after partition, he and his family migrated to Pakistan. Kalyani stayed back.
In Pakistan Azad became a successful supporting actor in over a 100 Urdu and Punjabi films. He died on 12th September 1986 in Karachi.
It is believed that before films, this Azad worked as a Car Driver to Mohammed Ali Jinnah for some time during 1935 to 1940.
The other actor Azad was a Bodybuilder. He entered the films with a new character ‘ Zimbo” in 1958. He did 3 films on Zimbo. In his initial period he became a Tarzan and did 11 films on Tarzan. In those days(1958 to 1970) Tarzan and similar films featured many Bodybuilders like Randhawa, Dara Singh, Hemant Birje, Viju Penkar, Hercules, Indrajeet etc., but only Azad showed staying power. He acted in a total of 82 films. What’s more, 8 songs were filmed on him in which he even sang on screen. Here is a short post on this Azad…
“Tarzan The Most popular fictional character in the world of cinema Both in foreign films and Hindi cinema. The First film on this Character Tarzan was Made in India in Hindi By Homi wadia Production Directed By Homi wadia Himself. The first Actor who portrayed The Role of Tarzan was John Cavas in the 1937 released film Toofani Tarzan .
Thus the series of Tarzan films was Kept on making By Hindi cinema Production House among Which Basant pictures of Homi wadia were the pioneers.
They Made the maximum number of film’s on Tarzan.
He is Azaad Irani popular as Azaad Who was a Zoroastrian Irani. He was born on 23-11-1938 at Bombay.
He first Debuted as Tarzan in Homi wadia Production Film ,1958 zimbo . The Film was Super Hit and thus the series of Tarzan films has been made.
In most of the film’s Azaad played Tarzan. Lady of the lake, Tarzan And Circus, Tarzan ki Mehbooba, Tarzan and Captain Kishore,Tarzan in Town, jungle Boy, Tarzan 303, Toofani Tarzan,Tarzan and Delilah, Tarzan and magic lamp, Jungle ki Hoor, Tarzan in fairyland, Tarzan Ka Beta, Tarzan and the Gorilla,Tarzan Aur jal pari, Tarzan Aur jaadugar Caption Azaad,jadu Mahal ,Shaahi lootera ,And Many many more
All these films were considered B Grade films. Why I could not understand as most of these Films were successful as the audience used to like Such film’s in which there used to be animals, action , jungle adventure, romance, comedy in short full Entertainer.
It was like By all types of audiences right From children to adults.
Azaad in the sixties became a household name And Was mostly popular among audiences as Tarzan .
In His films the heroines were mostly Chitra, Indra Bala,Tabassum,Helen, Sunita .
Apart from Tarzan series AZAAD Acted in film’s of action genres too Along with Dara Singh, Kamran, Randhawa And Hercules.
After the end of sixties the craze of Tarzan film’s got Faded as many film’s started getting flops as the audience’s got exhausted of watching Tarzan films.
As it was not only Azaad who was popular as Tarzan even Dara Singh and Randhawa started playing Tarzan.
Azaad was not a Hero material who could be cast in other genre’s films , So By end of sixties he was left with no work .
He switched on doing supporting And small roles which were not worth mentioning.
He did many film’s Till eighties like inkaar,Naseeb,Dostana, Dharam veer But his roles were not remarkable.From 1958 to 1989, he acted in 82 films.
Atlast he left India and settled down in America at Maryland he got One son Melvin Irani.
Azaad is diagnosed with a disease called Parkinson and he has been fighting with it since the last few decades as a fighter keeping his screen image of Tarzan alive Who always stays in the jungle in the middle of Wild animals And survived.”
(Article by shri Rajnikumar Pandya ji, with thanks.)
Today’s song is sung by Hansa Wadkar (Ratan Salgaonkar in real life).
Song- Saajan Mohan waari tum mere main tumhaari(Aazaad)(1940) Singer- Hansa Wadkar, Lyricist- J S Casshyap ‘Natwan’, MD-Saraswati Devi
Lyrics
saajan mohan waari
tum mere main tumhaari
saajan mohan waari
tum mere main tumhaari
duniya hamaari nyaari
tum mere main tumhaari
duniya hamaari nyaari
tum mere main tumhaari
bano sajan tum ban ke birwa main lata
kahoon kaan mein dheere dheere dukh katha
tum mere main tumhaari
main banoon phool tum bhanwra banakar aana
birha murjhaayi dekh mujhe apnaana
tum mere main tumhaari
tum hi chanda sooraj nis din baithhi aas lagaaye
ro ro naina khoy diye
tab aaye to kya aaye
aawo krishn muraari
tum mere main tumhaari
aawo krishn muraari
tum mere main tumhaari
saajan mohan waari
tum mere main tumhaari
Mori hundi sweekaaro maharaj re
Posted on: October 12, 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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4834 | Post No. : | 16617 |
When I joined this Blog’s activities in 2010, by way of comments, I used to first read the post fully. In one post our ATUL ji had said something which has been carved deep in my mind. He had said that “In India, people are interested in 3 things- Cricket, Films and Politics”. How true it is !
However, based on my experience of so many years in different fields all over India, I could add one more activity to the above three. And the activity is ” Branding”, Not the kind of Brands in the markets, what I mean is ” Labelling “, in other words. We Indians are quick in branding or labelling everything. In fact it is our very faourite pastime.
Some examples will explain what I mean. Take the case of Cinema – we branded Dilip Kumar as the Tragedy King, Meena Kumari as the Tragedy Queen, Jeetendra as the Jumping Jack, Mithun as Poor Man’s AB, AB as the Angry Young man etc etc. The branding did not change even after DK changed the track and acted in films like Azaad, Ram aur Shyam or Naya Daur etc. AB remained the same even after films like Chupke Chupke, Anand, Abhimaan or Amar Akbar Anthony. Same thing about other actors. Branding/Labelling or the Chhappa is for ever !
Take another example. We feel a Sikh must be either a Taxi Driver or in Army or Police, A Gujarati should only do business, A Bihari must only do Kheti, A Bengali must only read a book or write a book, A Marathi must only do a service in some company or Government etc etc. What if Sikhs are big businessmen, actors, singers ? What if a Gujju is a fine actor, Musician or a singer or a Politician ? What if the Biharis are the single largest group in the successful IAS Cadres (25 % in the last 10 years) ? So on so forth. But No – Branding is almost permanent !
Today we are going to talk about a Gujarati Saint. GUJARAT- the name itself evokes thoughts of Trade and Business. Due to their Business talents, Gujarat was known to Romans, Greeks and Persians, since the pre Christ era. Gujarat Maritime merchant history dates back to the First century after Christ.
Gujarat had produced many worthy souls who made the country proud of them. The top being Gandhi ji. Then there were Sardar Patel, Vikram Sarabhai(Space Ace), Morarji Desai, the Ambanis, Azim Prem ji, Parsis of Navsari, Narendra Modi, Amit Shah etc etc. In the religious field, Gujarat had its share with Jalaram Bappa, Narsi Bhagat, Dadu Dayal, Dayanand Saraswati, Rang Avdhoot ji, Rameshbhai oza, Hemchandra Surishwar, Pramukh Swami etc etc. (these are only indicative examples,not exhaustive).
India had been under the Mughal and the British rules for hundreds of years. A Nation of Hindu majority was ruled by the Minority Mughals, who perpetrated a lot of injustice and tried to destroy the Indian Culture with barbaric brutalities. This gave rise to the Bhakti movement to awaken the Indians and make them self conscious about their own strengths.
The Bhakti Movement was India’s own way to combat foreign attackers, cruel rulers and the sleeping people of India. The movement from 1300 to 1600 AD produced many religious Saints and social reformers from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and from Assam to Gujarat. Indian culture is such that the advice given by a religious saint is more acceptable than that given by a social reformer. Thus, in this hour of need, India’s Saints tried to teach message of reforms such as removal of Untouchability, freedom from Varnashram lifestyles, importance of education, Women’s emancipation and other such matters,through their poems, dohas, Abhangs and writings as well as kirtans. They tried to make the masses wake up against the ill effects of social practices that were being observed those days.
Saints appeared in ALL areas of India,during this period. However,due to language problems, knowledge and information about Saints in other regions trickled down very slowly. States which shared the use of Devanagari script were aware about them in a better way. Thus,Maharashtra,Gujarat,Rajasthan and the Northern Hindi belt states exchanged their knowledge about their saints more frequently than other regions such as Bengal, the Eastern states or the southern states where the scripts were different. Andhra and Karnataka were closer as their scripts are similar, except perhaps the alphabet ‘K’. Tamil and Malayalam scripts have Dravidian origins and were not easily accessible for the rest of India.
India is a Multi racial, multilingual and Multi religions country. It is not only one of the largest Democracies in the world, but also the largest Secular state in the world, where people from different faiths have been living together since centuries.
Many saints and religious leaders have played a significant role in keeping the mixed population of India as One Unit, when it was needed the most. A majority of Hindus, ruled by Muslim Mughals was a natural cause for social divisions, but Saints like Kabir, Surdas, Tulsidas, Ramdas, Tukaram, Ramanand, Narsi Mehta, Purandar das,Namdev, Guru Nanak Dev, Eknath, Bhakta Pundarikar, Rohidas, Mrutyunjaya and many such noble souls, did an excellent job of maintaining harmony amongst peoples of different faiths.
Today we will talk about the ADI KAVI of Gujarati-Narsimh Mehta aka Narsi Bhagat (1414 to 1486). He is one of the most popular saints of Gujarat. No wonder then,that the First Talkie in Gujarati was a film called NARSI MEHTA-1932. In Hindi too,”Narsi Bhagat ” was made as early as 1940. Vishnupant Pagnis (Sant Tukaram fame) had done the role of Narsi Bhagat in this film.(In the first Talkie film of Gujarat “Narsi Mehta”-1932 also this role was done by a Marathi actor Maruti Rao Pehelwan.)
The best Bhajan written by Narsi Bhagat is “Vaishnav jan to tene kahiye”. All Indians know that this was the most favourite Bhajan of Gandhi ji. Actually many people thought that he himself wrote this Bhajan !
Here is a short Biography of saint Narsi Bhagat –
Narsinh Mehta was born in Vaishnava Nagar community at Talaja and later shifted to Junagadh (then Jirndurg) in Saurashtra, Gujarat. He lost his parents when he was 5 years old. He could not speak until the age of 8. He was raised by his grandmother Jai Gauri.
He married Manekbai probably in the year 1429. Mehta and his wife stayed at his brother Bansidhar’s place in Junagadh. However, his cousin’s wife (Sister-in-law or bhabhi) did not welcome Narsinh very well. She was an ill-tempered woman, always taunting and insulting Narsinh Mehta for his worship (Bhakti). One day, when Narasinh Mehta had enough of these taunts and insults, he left the house and went to a nearby forest in search of some peace, where he fasted and meditated for seven days by a secluded Shiva lingam until Shiva appeared before him in person. On the poet’s request, the Lord took him to Vrindavan and showed him the eternal raas leela of Krishna and the gopis. A legend has it that the poet transfixed by the spectacle burnt his hand with the torch he was holding but he was so engrossed in the ecstatic vision that he was oblivious of the pain. Mehta, as the popular account goes, at Krishna’s command decided to sing His praises and the nectarous experience of the rasa in this mortal world. He resolved to compose around 22,000 kirtans or compositions.
After this dream-like experience, transformed Mehta returned to his village, touched his bhabhi’s feet, and thanked her for insulting him. In Junagadh, Mehta lived in poverty with his wife and two children, a son named Shamaldas, and a daughter for whom he had special affection, Kunwarbai. He revelled in devotion to his hearts’ content along with sadhus, saints, and all those people who were Hari’s subjects – Harijans – irrespective of their caste, class or sex. It also seems that he must have fallen into a somewhat ill repute for his close relations with Lord’s sakhis and gopis, Narsinh mehta’s women followers, with whom he danced and sang. The Nagars of Junagadh despised him and spared no opportunity to scorn and insult him. By this time, Mehta had already sung about the rasaleela of Radha and Krishna. The compositions are collected under the category of shringar compositions. They are full of intense lyricism, bold in their erotic conception and are not without allegorical dimensions, this saves the compositions from being something of erotic court poetry of medieval India.
Soon after his daughter Kunwarbai’s marriage (around 1447) to Shrirang Mehta of Una’s son, Kunwarbai became pregnant and it was a custom for the girl’s parents to give gifts and presents to all the in-laws during the seventh month of pregnancy. This custom, known as Mameru, was simply out of the reach of poor Narsinh who had hardly anything except intransigent faith in his Lord. How Krishna helped his beloved devotee is a legend depicted in ‘Mameru Na Pada’. This episode is preserved vividly in the memory of Gujarati people by compositions by later poets and films. Other famous legends include ‘Hundi (Bond)’ episode and ‘Har Mala (Garland)’ episode. The episode in which none other than Shamalsha Seth cleared a bond written by poverty stricken beloved, is famous not only in Gujarat but in other parts of India as well. The Har Mala episode deals with the challenge given to Mehta by Ra Mandlik (1451–1472) a Chudasama king, to prove his innocence in the charges of immoral behavior by making the Lord Himself garland Narsinh. Mehta depicts this episode. How Sri Krishna, in the guise of a wealthy merchant, helped Mehta in getting his son married is sung by the poet in ‘Putra Vivah Na Pada’. He went to Mangrol where, at the age of 79, he is believed to have died. The crematorium at Mangrol is called ‘Narsinh Nu Samshan’ where perhaps one of the greatest sons of Gujarat was cremated. He will be forever remembered for his poetic works and devotion to Lord Krishna. He is known as the first poet of Gujarati.
The role of Narsi Bhagat was done by Vishnupant Pagnis, a Marathi actor who became famous due to his role in film ” Sant Tukaram”-1936 by Prabhat Film co. Vishnupant Pagnis was born in a small place Chikodi, near Kolhapur, on 1-11-1892, in a lower middle class family. After formal education, he was assisted by Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur state to join a Drama company at the age of 10 years. He sang naturally, without any training from an expert. He was a popular artiste doing female roles, till his entry in films. He shifted to work in various drama companies including “Lalit Kaladarsh” of Mama Varerkar- a name connected with many Marathi and Hindi films of that time. In 1913, he floated his own company ‘ Jagchitradarsh ‘, only to wind up after two years in 1915. He continued working in dramas and doing female roles, for which he was famous in those times.
After a few years, he left drama acting. In 1920, he worked in a silent film, Surekha Haran. In this film V Shantaram had also acted. After this he worked as a Music Teacher in Municipal school at Girgaum in Bombay. After his wife died, he lived with his friend Petkar. They started a Gold Jewellery shop “Pagnis Petkar and Mandali” in Girgaon.
When Prabhat Film company planned to make Sant Tukaram, a search was undertaken for the main role and the main female role. This was in early 1936 and he was selected for the role of Tukaram, while a worker in the Prabhat company-Gauri – was selected as his wife. The Director duo of the film- Damle and Fattelal- were not happy about his selection, because his name was associated with female roles. But this became his strong point for the film in which he portrayed a soft, kind and loving Tukaram. He did the role so well that the film Sant Tukaram became an International Hit, in addition to running to full houses in Non Marathi areas like Madras Presidency, covering Andhra, Tamilnadu, Kerala and Karnataka and also in Bengal and Punjab. He became an actor in great demand for Saint films. After the film Sant Tukaram, hundreds of people used to crowd in his shop at Girgaum to pay respects and touch his feet as Tukaram. He also always dressed like Tukaram thereafter !
Vishnupant Pagnis worked in 4 more such films, namely Sant Tulsidas-39, Narsi Bhagat-43, Bhakta Raj-43 and his last film Mahatma Vidur-43. He also gave music to 2 films, Sant Janabai- 38 and Sant Tulsidas-39 (Marathi). These two and Mahatma Vidur were also made in Marathi language. His most famous film Sant Tukaram was released in Hindi only in 1948, but without his songs, because he had died on 3-10-1943. The MD- Snehal Bhatkar sang his songs in the Hindi version.
Vishnupant Pagnis did the immortal role of Tukaram in his first film and then lived the role throughout his life, though he did 4 more films in the same Genre of Saint films.His name became famous not only in India but also in other countries, when this film was hailed as “one of the 3 Best films in the world”at the Venice Film Festival, where it won accolades.
Records of his Bhajans from this film created records ( we too had these records in our house in the 40s.) Even today this film is shown and discussed in the film Institutes of many countries.Many books, essays and articles are published on this film. His performance as Tukaram has become a major reference-point in debates about Indian performance idioms: e.g. Kumar Shahani’s essay The Saint Poets of Prabhat, 1981; Geeta Kapur’s Mythic Material in Indian Cinema, 1987 etc etc.
Today’s bhajan is a very good Bhajan. I like it very much. You may also like it.
Song- Mori Hundi sweekaaro maharaj re (Narsi Bhagat)(1940) Singer- Vishnupant Pagnis, Lyricist- Not known, MD- Shankar Rao Vyas
Lyrics
Mori Hundi sweekaaro maharaj re
saanvre giridhaari
Mori Hundi sweekaaro maharaj re
saanvre giridhaari
Mori Hundi sweekaaro maharaj re
saanvre giridhaari
mohe ek tihaaro aadhaar re
mohe ek tihaaro aadhaar re
saanwre giridhaari
Mori Hundi sweekaaro maharaj re
saanvre giridhaari
raakhi ?? Prahlad ki
liyo narsinh Avtaar
kamb phaari pargat bhaye
taaro bhoomi ko dhaar re
saanvre giridhaari
Mori Hundi sweekaaro maharaj re
saanvre giridhaari
pooji gopi chandan mori
tulasi kone ko haar
saancha gahna to mero saanwro
mori daulat hai jhaanjh khadtaal re
mori daulat hai jhaanjh khadtaal re
saanvre giridhaari
Mori Hundi sweekaaro maharaj re
saanvre giridhaari
bhajo Radhe Govind bhajo Radhe
bhajo Radhe Govind bhajo Radhe
bhajo Radhe Govind bhajo Radhe
bhajo Radhe Govind bhajo Radhe
bhajo Radhe Govind
bhajo Radhe Govind
bhajo Radhe Govind
bhajo Radhe Govind
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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4820 | Post No. : | 16592 | Movie Count : |
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Today’s song is from an obscure old film Jhoothi Sharma-1940. The film was made by Bhavnani Productions, Bombay and was directed by its owner Mohan Bhavnanni himself Music was given by the veteran, multi-talented Badri Prashad and the songs were written by D.N.Madhok.
Though the film was obscure which remained unknown in later years, it was a special film because a German had written its story and screenplay, while another German had provided the background music and the orchestration for the film. Now, where did the Germans come from in this film ?
Very few people know that Indian Cinema had a little known connection with the rise of Hitler in Germany in 1932-33. A group of men , engaged in Cinema in Germany, flocked to India in the 30’s and played a vital role in Indian Cinema and the arts of that time. After Hitler took over Germany in 1933, the German Cine Studio’s glory days were over and they were turned into Nazi Propaganda Machines !
It was at this time that several of its men left the studio and arrived in India, and contributed during the Indian cinema’s formative years.
The foremost among them is Frantz Osten, a German whom Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani met at the UFA when they went to train there (they worked with Lang and Marlene Dietrich). Osten had already been directing films for the couple since 1925, when he made Light of Asia for them from Germany.
In 1934, he came to India and the next year, after Rai founded ‘ Bombay Talkies ‘ the legendary film studio in Malad that now lies in ruins, Osten directed its first film.
He went on to direct the famous Devika Rani-Ashok Kumar starrer, Achhyut Kanya, without much knowledge of Hindi. The film, which featured the song “Main ban ke chiriya”, was shot by Joseph Wirsching; the sets were designed by Karl von Spreti and the laboratory was headed by Zolle, Osten’s team of UFA ex-members who worked for Rai’s state-of-the-art studio.
Osten and his fellow Germans directed 16 films for Rai. It was a remarkable feat for people who knew little Hindi ‘ mistaking the word “bulbul” once for a pair of bulls. While in Bombay, he became a member of the Nazi Party (1936). He was interned by the British at the outbreak of WW2 while shooting his last film there, Kangan. Released and allowed to return to Germany (1940).
“It’s not clear if they had anything to do with the Nazi ideology, either way,” said film historian Amrit Gangar.
“If they did, it did not show in their films. But there were two other people who almost certainly migrated to India because of the persecution of Jews.”
They were Walter Kauffman, a scholar and composer interested in Oriental music, and Wilhelm Haas, a writer and a friend of Franz Kafka.
“Both were Jews, and Haas came to India because of Kauffman, who went on to found the Bombay Chamber Music Society,” Gangar added.
Kauffman arrived in 1934 after meeting director-producer Mohan Bhavnani at the UFA (where V. Shantaram also did a stint).
“Haas was in Czechoslovakia, but left the country for India just after Hitler’s invasion,” Gangar said.
Kauffman, Haas and Bhavnani worked together in Premnagar (1940), Naushad’s first film as music director. Kauffman composed the background score; Haas wrote the screenplay.
“It is debatable, but Kauffman is probably also the person behind the All India Radio signature tune. Haas was a member of the Indian chapter of PEN,” Gangar said. Haas also wrote the script for Bhavnani’s Jhooti Sharam (1939) and Kauffmann provided Orchestration and background music.
The story of Paul Zils ( 1-6-1915 to 30-3-1979 ) stands out, though. Zils, believed to be a Nazi sympathizer, turned up in India under strange circumstances: he was bound for Indonesia in a steamer that got torpedoed by an Indian naval ship during World War II and he was taken prisoner.
After his release, because of his film experiences, the leadership of the sales department in Ezra Mir led government documentary production company, called him to join Information films of India. End of October 1945, he came to Bombay and started his work. In March 1959 he returned to Germany.
Josph Virsching-the Cinematographer, however, stayed back in India till his death in 1967. He did few Hindi films too.
Paul Zils directed 3 Dev Anand films, according to the documents. Hindustan Hamara-50 and Zalzala-52 are found in HFGK, but the third film called ‘ Shabash”, though listed in 1949, gives no details, except the film name. ( Information adapted from the book ” Walter Koffman” by Amit Gangar, with thanks and my notes.)
The cast of the film Jhoothi Sharm-40 was Trilok Kapoor,Bimla Kumari, Shareefa, Navin Yagnik, Nayampally, Girish, Iqbal, Rajkumari and others. The film was directed by Mohan Bhavnani. Most of the new generation readers may not know anything about this pioneer film maker.
Mohan Dayaram Bhavnani was born on 2-10-1903 at Hyderabad-Sindh. He studied at the College of Technology, Manchester (1921-24). After graduation, he went to Germany to study film making at the UFA (Universum Film ArtikenGessel schaft), a German motion picture production company in 1924. He came back to India and joined Kohinoor Film Co. in Bombay. He made several Silent films with actress Sulochana, like Cinema ni rani, Maitri prem, Veer Bala, Bhamto Bhoot, Wild Cat of Bombay ( she played 8 different roles in it) etc. Then he joined Imperial film co. in 1927. In 1931 he became an independent producer with Indian Art Production.
He returned to Germany to study sound film technique, when the advent of the Talkie happened in India. he came back and made his first Talkie Farebi jaal aka The Trapped-1931, a part Talkie film. It flopped but actress Durga Khote debuted with this film and sang 2 songs too. Even his future wife Enakshi Rama Rau also acted in this film in a small role.
He started his Ajanta Cinetone(1933-34) and his own Bhavnani Productions (1935-1948). He hired famous author Premchand to write a story for the film ‘ Mazdoor’ (The Mill)-1934. The film was banned for 2 years. It was followed by the film Jagran-1936- both films on Labourer’s problems. He also produced a film Ajeet-48, the first full length colour film on 16 mm and blown up on 35 mm.
He left filmmaking and joined the Government Films Division as its first Chief producer (48-55). Then he went to China, on the invitation of Chow En Lai to make documentaries for China. He took his cameraman Kishore Rege and S.K.Kulkarni with him.
His wife Enakshi became a famous Dancer and also wrote books on Dances of india. Mohan Bhavnani died on 30-12-1962 at Bombay The 72nd Annual Cannes film Festival was organised from 14th to 25th May 2019 and it was dedicated to short films made by Mohan Bbhavnani of india. What an honour for him to get such a tribute!
Filmography- 1925: Cinema Ni Rani, Matri Prem, Seth Sagalsha, Veer Bala, 1926: Bhamto Bhoot, Diwan Bhamasha, Mena Kumari, Pagal Premi, Ra Kawat, Samrat Shiladitya, 1927: Daya Ni Devi, Gamdeni Gori, Naseeb Ni Lili, Trust Your Wife, Wildcat of Bombay, 1929: Hawai Swar, Khedda, Khwab-e-Hasti, Mysore: Gem City of India, 1930: Vasantsena, 1931: Farebi Jaal, Lafanga Langoor, Shakuntala, 1932: Veer Kunal, 1933: Afzal, Rangila Rajput, 1934: Dard-e-Dil, Mazdoor (Director, Writer), Sair-e-Paristan, 1935: Jung Bahadur, Navjeevan, Shadi Ki Raat, 1936: Dilawar, Garib Parwar, Jagran (Director, Producer), Wrestling, 1937: Zambo the Ape Man, 1938: Double Cross (Director, Producer, Writer), Himalay Ki Beti, Yangrilla, 1939: Zambo Ka Beta, 1940: Jhoothi Sharm, Prem Nagar (Director, Producer), 1945: Biswi Sadi, 1946: Rang Bhoomi, 1948: Ajit (Director, Producer), 1949: Vale of Kashmir, 1950: The Private Life of a Silk Worm, Search For Shelter (Producer), 1951: Lest We Forget, 1952: Kumaon Hills, 1953: Feminine Fashions (Producer), Folk Dances of India, Republic Day Record, Six Years of Freedom (Producer), 1954: Good Manners (Producer), Modest Homes (Producer), 1955: Republic Day 1955, 1956:Operation Khedda, 1957: The Himalayan Tapestry ( Thanks to Encyclopedia of indian Cinema.)
Today’s song is sung by Iqbal Bibi. I do not have any information about this singer/actress.
Song- Phoolon ki main laayee hoon maala (Jhoothhi Sharm)(1940) Singer-Iqbal Bibi, Lyricist- D N Madhok, MD- Badri Prasad
Lyrics
Phoolon ki main laayee hoon maala
Phoolon ki main layee hoon maala
chun chun kali kali
Phoolon ki main laayee hoon maala
chun chun kali kali
koi mohe kahe kahaan
koi mohe kahe kahaan
preet ki hai kaun gali
koi mohe kahe kahaan
preet ki hai kaun gali
Phoolon ki main laayee hoon maala
chun chun kali kali
ab Ghanshyam milo
ho ab Ghanshyam milo
bhayi birha ki gali
ab Ghanshyam milo
ab Ghanshyam milo
bhayi birha ki gali
Phoolon ki main laayee hoon maala
chun chun kali kali
Phoolon ki main layee hoon maala
torey bin chain nahin
torey bin chain nahin
kal bin rain nahin
torey bin chain nahin
kal bin rain nahin
ab Ghanshyam milo
ab Ghanshyam milo
jag hai chalaa chali
ab Ghanshyam milo
ab Ghanshyam milo
jag hai chalaa chali
Phoolon ki main laayee hoon maala
chun chun kali kali
Phoolon ki main laayee hoon maala
Bhagwaan bhajan pyaara
Posted on: September 23, 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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Today’s song is from an obscure Costume film, Sardar-1940. The film was made by Prakash Pictures, Bombay. It was directed by Dwarka Khosla and the music was by the favourite MD of Prakash Pictures- Shankar Rao Vyas. All the 15 songs were written by Balam Pardesi. However HFGK lists only 12 songs under the film title and 3 more songs are further added through ‘Addenda’, at the end of the Kosh. Today’s song is the first song of this film to be posted here.
Director Dwarka Khosla was born in 1904 at Hoshiarpur, Punjab. He entered the films during the Silent era. His first Talkie films as a director was Josh-E-Jawani-1935. He directed 33 films. His last film was Reporter Raju-1962. The cast of the film was Jayant, Pramila,Shah Nawaz, Amirbai Karnataki, Munshi Khanjar and others. Actor Jayant was a find of Vijay Bhatt. He gave him first chance in Nai Zindagi-1934. He also changed his original name to Jayant.
Jayant was born as Zakaria Khan,on 15-10-1912 at Alwar, Rajasthan. His father Syed Ahmed Khan was originally from Peshawar, but was working as a Sports Coach in the court of the Maharaja of Alwar,Rajasthan. Along with his elder brother Jahangir Khan, Jayant used to sell ‘Makka-Bhutta’ (Maize) on a roadside thela and thus earned his pocket money, with which he used to see films. When he grew up, he was taken by his father to the Maharaja, who recruited him as Second Lieutenant in his Army. Jayant soon got bored with this life, left the job and came to Bombay in search of a job in films. When he met Vijay Bhatt of Prakash pictures, this 6’1″ tall,handsome and young man was liked by him. Jayant also knew Horse riding and swimming. He was named JAYANT by Vijay Bhatt and offered a role in their film Nayi Duniya-1934. Rajkumari Banaraswali also debuted in this film.
Excellent Urdu delivery and handsome personality earned Jayant Hero’s roles in Bambai ki Sethani,Bombay Mail, Lal chithi, Shamsheer-e-Arab, Azadveer, Passing show, Snehlata, Top ka gola, Challenge, His Highness, Khwab ki duniya, Mr.X, State Express, Hero no.1, Sardar and Mala. By now his salary was 3700 per month. He was more at ease in Costume and stunt films than social flicks.
Khwaab ki Duniya-37 was based on the story of Invisible Man and this was the first film as a Director for Vijay Bhatt. Babubhai Mistry from Surat used Trick photography in this film, by using Black Thread on black background.
Jayant was married to 13 year old Kamarbano Sultan. His first son,Imtiaz khan was born on 15-10-42 and second son was born on 21-10-43. He was Amjad Khan (Gabbar singh of Sholay). As a child, Amjad khan was very frail and weak till his second year. Later in his youth, of course he expanded out of proportion. Jayant’s elder brother Jahangir Khan died suddenly in an accident. Jayant was very much attached to him. To forget the sorrow, Jayant started smoking and drinking. After he was out of Prakash Pictures, he was taken by Minerva for Sikander’s role. When Sohrab Modi saw him smoking and drinking on sets, he was summarily thrown out and the role went to Prithwiraj Kapoor, for whom it was a Milestone in his career.
Jayant worked in Aladdin, Laila, Bulbul e Baghdad, Mere saajan, Zewar and Dawat. He even went to Lahore to act in “Poonji” and “Shirin Farhad”. When Shirin Farhad became a resounding flop, Jayant stopped getting roles, but he never went to anyone to ask for roles. P N Arora went to Jayant’s house to sign him for Doli. After Partition, his finances became critical and he had to sell even family jewellery for his drinks. He acted in character roles in Amar ,Insaniyat, Madhumati, Maya, Memdidi, Son of India, Kabli Khan, Hakikat, Leader, Himalay ki God mein, Sangharsh, Do Raaste, Heer Ranjha, Mera Gaon Mera Desh etc. He worked in 105 films. Can you imagine Jayant singing ? Yes, he had sung a song in film State Express-1938, along with Sardar Akhtar.
Jayant was a family man. Till the end he had only one wife and he followed the rule to partake the dinner at home with all family members daily. He contracted Cancer, lost his voice in 1970. His last film was ‘Love and God’,which was released 11 years after his death.
Jayant died on 2-6-1975. ( Thanks to shri Harish Raghuvanshi ji, for Jayant’s profile in his Gujarati book ,Inhe na Bhulana ).
In the last few posts we have seen the brief history of 2 famous studios of yore – Imperial and New Theatres, Calcutta. today we will read the brief history of Prakash Pictures, Bombay.
The success story of the famous Prakash Pictures (1934 to 1971) is also a success and hard work story of two brothers-Vijay and Shankar Bhatt.
The sons of a railway guard, Vijay Bhatt, along with his elder brother and his lifelong partner, Shankar bhai Bhatt, shared a fascination for theatre and films.
The mid twenties brought them to Bombay, where Vijay Bhatt enrolled in St.Xavier’s college and studied upto Inter-Science. While Shankarbhai took up a job in a store selling readymade garments. In order to secure a steady, lucrative job, he obtained a Diploma in Electrical Lighting and Traction from the International Correspondence School, London. Quitting college, he joined the BEST and worked for 3 years rising to be an officer with the designation of Drawing Office Superintendent.
He quit his job after two months and both the brothers decided to take on the world of showbiz.
A flair for writing led him to get involved in a humble way as a storywriter.
It was Ardeshir Irani, the ‘Father of Indian Talkies’ and the maker of ‘Alam Ara’, who would show them the way. At that time, he was the managing director of The Royal Studios. He glanced through the stories, selected one of them and asked the brothers to meet the proprietor of the studio, Seth Aboo Hussein. ‘Show him the story and then come back to me. If it is all right for him, it is all right for me’ they were told.
The story was approved and Ardeshir Irani took it upon himself to teach Vijay Bhatt how to write Screenplay. Every evening after the day’s work and dinner, the Bhatt brothers would make their way to Majestic Cinema, built by Ardeshir Irani in 1918 in partnership with the exhibitor, Abdulaly Yusoofaly. Irani would be here every evening with his friends. And it was here that Vijay Bhatt scripted his very first screenplay, ‘Vidhika Vidhan’, which was made into a film by director K.P.Bhave.
Ardeshir Irani made two more films based on the stories of Bhatt brothers. They were ‘ Paani mein Aag’ and ‘ Ghulam’-1929, both of which were directed by Nagendra Muzumdar. Their third film featured a newly recruited actor from Peshavar, Prithviraj kapoor.
By now, Ardeshir Irani had founded his own Imperial Studios and drawn to it a host of artists and technicians. The Bhatt brothers too had gathered enough experience and ventured to make films on their own.They soon founded the Royal Film Co., in partnership with a cousin and the first film to be produced under this banner was Black Ghost. It starred Master Vithal and Madhuri and was photographed by V. M.Vyas. With Vijay Bhatt at the helm of the creative affairs and Shankarbhai in charge of the business aspect, they made seven silent films under the banner of The Royal Film Company in an open air studio in Juhu. Among them was ‘Heer Ranjha’, where Vijay Bhatt gave A.R. Kardar, a poster maker for foreign film distributors, his first acting assignment.
Then came the year of Talkies and the Bhatts too switched over to this new medium with ‘Alif Laila’-1933, which was based on an Arabian Nights story and made under the banner ofRoyal Cinetone. This was followed by 3 other talkies made under the banner of Kardar Studios. He then founded a film distribution concern, Royal Pictures Corporation, which acquired the distribution rights of ‘Sohni Mahiwal’ for North India for Rs. 11,000 – a sensational amount at that time. For, as he often used to say, “In those days, it cost just about Rs. 8000 to make a film 8 -9 thousand feet in length!”
By now Vijay Bhatt had evolved into a director to be reckoned with. It was time to set up his own production company. And Prakash Pictures was born. Prakash Studios was built in 1934 at Andheri. That time Andheri was an undeveloped suburb of Bombay and not many facilities like roads, Lights etc were available easily there. The place where the studio was to come up was a very big open area. Except for huge open grounds, there was one double storey bungalow. All offices were kept in that. The first film to be made there was the film ‘Actress’-1934 ( Bambai ki Mohini), written and produced by Vijay Bhatt.
After a few more stunt films, a shooting floor was constructed and they made ” Khwaab ki duniya” in 1937. In 1938 they made State Express, Passing show, Challenge and Top ka Gola etc. By that time their reserves for stars included Sardar Akhtar, Pramila, Ratnamala, Ranjana, Jayant, Umakant, Prem Adeeb etc. Harsukh Bhatt and Raja Nawathe were assistant directors. By making stunt films they made good money and completed the second shooting floor also with that money. The famed torch of Prakash Pictures continued to shine over decades and in all, 64 films were made in various Genres, in black and white as well as colour. Vijay Bhatt directed 23 films. He also wrote lyrics for the film Snehlata-1936.
Because of hectic activities in the studio and the traffic to the studio,that part of Andheri became developed with street lights, cement roads, Bus stops etc. Their next film Purnima-38 made excellent business. Bhatt brothers were impressed with Gandhi’s favourite bhajan ” Vaishnav jan to “. They made a film ‘ Narsi Bhagat’ in 1942 with Vishnupant Pagnis and Durga Khote. It ran so well that Prakash made ‘ Bharat Milap’ in Hindi and ( भरत भेट ) in Marathi. The tremendous success made them make ‘Ram Rajya’ ( again in Hindi and marathi) and Prakash became famous all over India, making name, fame and a lot of money.
From 1945 to 1948, Prakash faced a spate of flop films. Bhatta brothers kept silent for 4 years, renting its studio to other producers. Prakash was planning a Love story. Their friend Naushad suggested them Baiju Bawra. They made the film with less famous Bharat Bhushan and Meena Kumari. The film created Box office records.
Goonj uthi Shehnai-59, Hariyali aur Rasta-62 and Himalay ki God mein-65 did well but again few flop films…. Bhatt brothers decided to stop making films from 1971 and sold the studio and all the land.
Vijay Bhatt died on 17-10-1993 at Bombay. Vijay Bhatt played an important role in the careers of some major stars. He was the person who gave Mehzabeen (Meena kumari),the name Baby Meena. He also gave her the first major heroine’s role in Baiju Bawra-52.Till then she did roles in B and C grade films.
O K Dhar Kashmiri was given the name ” JEEWAN “,when he did Narad’s role in Bharat Milap. Later he did Narad’s role in over 100 films.
Suraiyya got her big singing role in Station master-42.
Manoj Kumar was made hero in Himalaya ki God mein-65
Today on that land many factories are erected. Few Housing societies and a Marriage Hall ” Vishal” came up too. Thus ended a glorious chapter of a film making studio called “Prakash Pictures”- a guarantee for wholesome entertainment ! (information for this article is used from vijaybhatt.com, and a book ” तीन भिंतींची दुनिया ” by Bhai Bhagat, with thanks and my notes.)
Today’s song is sung by Amirbai Karnataki (alongwith an unknown male voice, since identified as Sheetal Ghosh). With this song, film Sardar-1940 makes its Debut on this Blog.
Song- Bhagwaan bhajan pyaara (Sardaar)(1940) Singer- Amirbai Karnataki, Lyricist- Balam, MD- Shankar Rao Vyas
Amirbai Karnataki + Sheetal Ghosh
Lyrics
Bhagwaan bhajan pyaara
Bhagwaan bhajan pyaara
Bhagwaan bhajan pyaara aa aa
Bhagwaan bhajan pyaara
Bhagwaan bhajan pyaara
bhakt ki naiyya ka sahaara
bhakt ki naiyya ka sahaara
andhon ka ujiyaara aa aa
Bhagwaan bhajan pyaara
Bhagwaan bhajan pyaara
Bhagwaan bhajan pyara aa aa
Bhagwaan bhajan pyaara
Bhagwaan bhajan pyaara
Bhagwaan bhajan pyaara aa aa
Bhagwaan bhajan pyaara aa aa
Bhagwaan bhajan pyaara
Bhagwaan bhajan pyaara
Pandav aur Prahlad ubaare
bhakt aajaa milte hain saare
Pandav aur Prahlad ubaare
bhakt aajaa milte hain saare
?? nahin hamaara aa
Bhagwaan bhajan pyaara
Bhagwaan bhajan pyaara
Bhagwaan bhajan pyaara aa aa
Bhagwaan bhajan pyaara
Bhagwaan bhajan pyaara
sakal vishw mein goonje hardam
Meera ka iktaara
sakal vishw mein goonje hardam
Meera ka iktaara
Bhaj Raam
Ghanshyam
gaaye baarambaar
Bhagwaan bhajan pyaara
Bhagwaan bhajan pyaara
Bhagwaan bhajan pyaara aa aa
Bhagwaan bhajan pyaara
Bhagwaan bhajan pyaara
Aaj milaa hai bichhdaa saajan
Posted on: September 12, 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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Today’s song is from a Saigal film- Zindagi-1940. The film was made by New Theatres, Calcutta.
At one time New Theatres (NT) was the most successful film production company in India. It was not only prestigious,but it also shaped up and discovered many artistes who made their marks in the Hindi film industry. New Theatres, Calcutta was one of the top 5 film companies in India – the others being Imperial, Prabhat, Ranjit and Bombay Talkies.
The rise and fall of the giant company was a glorious yet a sad chapter. Besides other factors, I feel the ego-conflicts and the obstinate and adamant behaviour of the people coupled with false prestige led the artistes to desert the company leading it to its end. Of course other reasons were equally responsible.
New Theatres operated from 1931 to 1955 and made 177 films, slightly more than Ranjit film co.-with 175 films. B.N.Sircar established New Theatres in Tollygunge, Calcutta on 10-2-1931, as a family concern, where all shares were held by the family members and He was the managing Director. Same year it built its studios in the same area. It had 3 fully equipped units for shooting, with the best technicians and musicians. Like other studios they had salaried staff in all departments, on a monthly basis. In this period there were other studios also in Calcutta, like Bharat Laxmi pictures, Devdutt films, East India Film company, Kali Films and Radha Film co.
Their first talkie film was in Bangla-Chandidas-32. For the North Indian market Hindi film Puran Bhagat-32 was made. NT had markets in East India, North, North west and South, but none in Bombay or western India. Sircar, along with I.A. Hafis ji, toured the unrepresented areas himself and appointed distributors in Madras, Madurai,Trichannapally,Erode, Bangalore, Poona, Bombay, Ahmedabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Kangra Valley and Lahore. Puran Bhagat-32 and Yahudi ki ladli-33 were distributed here.
NT became popular in Non Bangla areas due to its Music, which became their main strength. They popularised Robindra Sangeet, with songs by Pankaj Mullick. Miss Panna Rai ji, the first ever woman to do Ph.D in Indian Cinema, wrote on NT films without knowing Bangla language. WB, EB, Burma and Eastern states were their strongholds.
1940 was the Best year for the company with films Doctor, Zindagi and Nartaki. It was an year of beginning of the end also. The first to leave was director P.C.Barua. The Second World war gave a big jolt with the quota system for Raw film. NT was allowed only 6 films per year. Income reduced. Their monthly salary bill was 45000 rupees. Communal riots in 1946 and Partition in 1947 were great setbacks. Due to Partition, NT’s markets were shrunk and due to curfew, huge losses incurred. In the early 40’s many artistes left for Bombay.
By 1951, son Dilip Sircar said,” people left, finance lost, court cases. My father virtually closed the shop.” Liquidation of Calcutta National Bank, NT’s chief financer, was the last shock. The company was handed over to Arora Film company between June to December-1954. From Jan 55 to Aug 55, it was managed by Deluxe Film company. Then a Court Receiver was appointed. In Jan-56, NT was closed down. In Mar-62 NT went into liquidation. The Liquidation was revoked and NT revived by Dilip Sircar on 8-8-1991. However, no activity was seen except that a 5 part serial on NT was made.
B.N.SIRCAR-Birendranath Sircar( 5-7-1901 to 28-11-1980 ), was the son of Shri Nripendranath Sircar-a well known Jurist and a member of the Viceroy’s committee. B.N.Sircar was a Civil Engineer from U.K. who developed an interest in film making. He left his very lucrative job at Martin Burn and Co. in 1928-29 and made 2 silent films,under the banner of International Film Craft.These were Directed by his First colleague Premankur Atorthy. After testing the film market this way, he founded New Theatres.
NEW THEATRES ( NT ) was established by B.N. Sircar, on 10-2-1931,in Tollygunge, Calcutta. It had 3 studio floors for shooting. It had the best Technicians, the best actors and the best Musicians. He acquired the Tanar equipment and services of Wilfred Denis,imported from Hollywood by Ardeshir Irani. New Theatres attracted major Technical and creative talents from silent studios,which were on collapse now. Thus,”Indian Kinema” provided Directors Nitin Bose and Premankur Atorthy and stars Durgadas Bannerjee,Amar Mullick,Jiban Ganguly etc,” Barua Pics ” gave P.C.Barua and Sushil Mujumdar,” British Dominion Films ‘ gave Dhiren Ganguly etc.
B.N.Sircar was a firm believer that Cinema is a medium between a Novel and a Drama,so he depended upon Bangla famous literature for his films. The first Talkie of new Theatres, “Dena Paona”-31,was based on Sharat babu’s works. Though this film was a flop,he continued to depend upon novels by Sharat babu and Tagore to make his films.His first seven films were flops in a row. Their first big film was Chandidas-1934. New Theatres had many Directors on its payroll and used technological advances with recordist Mukul Bose.
From 1931 to 1955,NT produced 177 films, a Record unlikely to be broken in future by any single production house. The nearest rival was Ranjit studios, with 175 films produced. It is not that there was no competition in Bengal. In 1935,there were 14 production houses in Calcutta and in 1938, there were 18 of them, though some , like Madon Theatres, closed down sooner.
NT was mammoth, peopled by giants. Through the 30s and early 40s,NT had the biggest names in Indian cinema, on their payrolls. K L Saigal, Pahadi Sanyal, Jamuna Devi and Leela Desai were ‘discovered’ by NT. Others like P C Barua, Kanan Devi, Umashashi, Molina and Chandrabati emerged as stars at NT. Some like Durgadas Bandopadyaya and Prithviraj Kapoor had been stars before coming to NT. They had directors like Premankur Attorthy, Debaki Bose, Madhu Bose, D N Ganguly, Nitin Bose, Hiren Bose, R C Boral (only Bangla), Profulla Roy, Phani Mujumdar, Bimal Roy, Hemchandra Chunder, sound recordist Mukul Bose and Musical giants like R C Boral, Pankaj Mullick, Timir Baran and K C Dey.
B N Sircar was the Patriarch, the disciplinarian, who held them together like in a big family. NT had a veritable galaxy and clashes between the Titans were inevitable. NT had its own share of fallouts, peer rivalries, squabbles and scandals. Due to the stern and uncompromising nature of B N Sircar, the first to leave was Pramathesh Barua, then Nitin Bose, and Kanan Devi. There was that famous spat between Debki Bose and Nitin Bose on the sets of Meerabai-1933 itself and they stopped talking to each other. Add to this the heavy drinking of Saigal and Umashashi’s elopement with the heir of Shova bazar palace. Each of these has an independent story.
The political situation in Bengal after the WWII, i.e. 1945 also caused the journey of NT towards its downfall and eventual closure in 1956. If only B N Sircar had changed his attitude, NT would not have died so soon, at least not without a fight and not so tamely, in the face of the competition. The biggest bank of Bengal, which financed NT- The National bank also went into liquidation at the same time to add to their woes further.
Personally, I would not hold B N Sircar alone responsible for the decline of NT, which was Hindi cinema from Bengal itself in reality. Another very important factor was,while many stalwarts like Saigal, Prithviraj Kapoor, Kidar Sharma, R C Boral, etc made a beeline for Bombay, Hindi cinema music in Calcutta remained the same, where it was in 1931,without any change. On the other hand, Bombay had enriched its music by adapting to the changing times with a mix of music from Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, UP, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Lahore and the south. The music of the 40s in Bombay had become Vibrant, whereas there was no change whatsoever in Bengal Hindi music. It kept on hankering on Robindra Sangeet and Nazrul Geeti. Maybe, the extreme variety of Regional pride of Bengal came in the way of adopting and adapting to the changes. (This Pride has, even Today, kept Bengal much behind the rest of India.) Thus Bombay became the undisputed capital of Hindi Cinema and Music.
New Theatres was established in 1931,as a family business, with B.N. Sircar as the Managing Director. Once NT started growing, the local regional pride almost forced Madan Theatres-belonging to a Parsee family from the western India-to pack up. By 1938,Madan Theatres had produced over 154 films-silent and Talkie. They made their last Talkie, ” Khatarnak Aurat”-1938 and the company closed down.
New Theatres had the Best actors, best Directors, Best composers and the very best Technical staff in India. They had 4 distinct strengths….
1. Right from the beginning, Bengal had an edge over Bombay and Lahore etc in that the Educated and Respectable family members did not hesitate to join the Film Industry in Bengal. In fact, over 90% of its people were educated-some of them even Foreign educated too. In this ,Bengal was very Progressive. On the contrary, the western centres of film making were confined to Courtesans, Tawayafs and uneducated run-aways in its film industry.
2. NT or the Bengali film industry had a very wide market spread out over the entire West and East Bengal, Bihar, orissa, Assam, the N-E states and Burma. Their Distribution network included Madras,Madurai,Erode,Trichannapally,Bangalore,Mysore,Poona,Bombay,Cawnpore(Kanpur),Kangra valley and Lahore circuits.
3.People who worked for NT were like a united family. Feelings of Goodwill and Happiness permeated the studio. Workers came in the morning and worked till it was finished. Discipline and adherence to deadlines and principles regulated their lives. projects were, therefore, completed always as planned and in time.
( Only Madras of the 40s and 50s came near this. Bombay and Lahore were exactly the opposite, where discipline and punctuality were never a Virtue (Tradition continues…)
4. Almost all films made in Bengal by NT or any other company, were based on either stories or dramas or Novels, by renowned authors from the East(read Bengal). Thus, the film’s story content was so solid that they did not need appendages of comedians or a CSP (comic side plot) or too many songs.
( IN other parts like Bombay and Lahore, studios had what was called “The Story Departments”, consisting of 4-5 writers, the owners, directors, who would work up a story in unison !)
NT popularised a new brand of Music.i.e. Rabindra Sangeet, which was hitherto confined to only Shantiniketan. With all this in place,NT was on its peak in 1940,when their slide started. One of their pillars P.C.Barua left NT. This was the beginning. Debki Bose left. Nitin Bose left after completing ‘Kashinath’ in 1943. Kanan Devi left to join Barua and Uma Shashi eloped with her lover.
Pankaj Mallick, though unhappy over the treatment meted out to him in NT, did not leave till the end. He did Bombay film music at Calcutta-like Kasturi or Zalzala etc. He always considered NT as his Alma Mater.
The ongoing II world war, the communal riots of 1946.the Partition of 1947 and the deteriorating civil conditions of Bengal (specially Calcutta),due to the influx of Refugees, broke NT completely. The Govt. had regulated supply of Raw Film, East Bengal market was lost totally, artistes left for Dhaka or Bombay…all this took NT to its end rapidly.
In such worsening conditions in 1944/45,Sircar tried to mend things by replacing the II and III level artistes to fill up gaps left by departed people. Thus, Bimal Roy, who was a Cinematographer and an Editor, got an opportunity to sit in the Director’s Chair. They made an ambitious film ” Udayer Pathe” -44. A Hindi version was made as ‘ Hamraahi”-45. It was Bimal Roy’s First brush with a Hindi Film Direction. Both versions were successful. But with major things remaining the same for years, without any changes, the house of New Theatres became a dilapidated, colourless, tattered big empty Palace. It’s sad to write about the fall of an Empire- a Giant !
(Article is based on information from “The glory that was New Theatres” by Sharmishtha Gooptu, ” सुंदर ती दुसरी दुनिया ” a Marathi book by Ambarish Mishra, The Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema, with thanks, along with my old writings and my notes.)
Today we will know for the first time more about an artiste who was with NT from almost the beginning. The name is strange and uncommon-NEMO.
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 Naag Champa-58.
Nemo worked for 19 films of New Theatres and 4 others totalling 23 films in all. His Filmography – Yahudi ki ladki-33, Karwaan E Hayat-35, Devdas-35, Karodpati-36, Manzil-36, Vidyapati-37, Anath Ashram-37, President-37, Dushman-38, Dharati Mata-38, Abhagin-38, Jawani ki reet-39, Badi Didi-39, Zindagi-40, Haar Jeet-40, Doctor-40, Aandhi-40, Lagan-41, Saugandh-42, Shri 420-55, Jaagte Raho-56, Raja Vikram-57 and Naag Champa-55. 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 NEMO – a nobody. ( based on information from Filmdom-1946, HFGK, muVyz and mainly an article by Yasir Abbasi, with thanks.)
Today’s song is sung by Aruna.
Song- Aaj mila hai bichhada saajan(Zindagi)(1940) Singer- Aruna, Lyricist- Kidar Sharma, MD- Pankaj Mullick
Lyrics
Aaj mila hai
Aaj mila hai ae
Aaj mila hai
bichhda saajan
aaj mila hai ae
Aaj mila hai
mre man ka
mere man ka
phool khila hai
Aaj mila hai
Aaj mila hai
jaag uthhi hai
aaj jawaani
yaad aayi hai
apni kahaani
jaag uthhi hai
aaj jawaani
yaad aayi hai
apni kahaani
apni kahaani
Aaj mila hai
Aaj mila hai
Aaj mila hai ae
Aaj mila hai
kaise koi dil mein aaya
kaise kuchh khoya
kuchh paaya
kaise koi dil mein aaya
kaise kuchh khoya
kuchh paaya
hamne
hamne jee ko khud banaaya
hamne jee ko khud banaaya
dil se dil ko ?? samjhaaya
Aaj mila hai ae
Aaj mila hai
mere man ka aa
mere man ka phool khila hai
bichhda saajan
bichhda saajan
aaj mila hai ae
aaj mila hai
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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