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Maasoom nazar ka bholaapan lalcha ke lubhaana kya jaane

Posted by: Atul on: June 15, 2020

In: "Aankh" song | Feelings of heart | Guest posts | Post by Arunkumar Deshmukh | Songs of 1940s (1941 to 1950) | Songs of 1941 | Theme song | Title song | Yearwise breakup of songs
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This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusaist 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 :

4350

Post No. :

15663

Movie Count :

4314

Today’s song is from film Masoom-41, the first among the three same title films made later in 1960 and 1996. I was tempted but I am not counting the funny title ” Masoom Chudail” made in 2000 !

Masoom-41 was a Muslim Social film made by Fazli Brothers in Calcutta. Like many other myths in Hindi film industry, one myth is that Mehboob Khan was the pioneer in making Muslim social films in India. This probably originated because the first film of Mehboob’s own company Mehboob Productions was ” Najma”-43, a Muslim social film starring Ashok kumar, Veena, Stara, Kumar, Yaqub etc. But the fact is different.

Although historical and costume films with Muslim backgrounds were commonly made from the beginning of films, films depicting the social life of Muslims were not being made frequently. The first Muslim social film was ” Rashida”-35, made by Madon Theatres, Calcutta, featuring Kajjan, Effendi and others. It was directed by a Jew-Izra Mir. The name of the film indicated that it was about a Muslim girl. Somehow, I find a lot of Muslim social films made had titles of girl’s names, Like Zeenat, Ameena, Najma, Shama, Heena, Zubeida, Salma, Ismat etc etc.

The beginning of serious Muslim social films was done by Fazli Brothers- Hasnain and Sibtain Fazli. They first made a Muslim social film Qaidi-1940, featuring Ramola,Mehtab, B.Nandrekar, Wasti etc. This was a period of struggle for Indian Independence. The fundamentalists in Muslims were active and due to the fear of their reaction, film makers were wary of producing such films. Even Fazli brothers were also afraid that there would be obstruction from these people to their film, so they decided to make the film in Calcutta. Their first Muslim Social film Qaidi-40 was very successful. Encouraged, they made two more such films (Masoom-41 and Chauranghee-42) in Calcutta. For film Chauranghee-42, the Fazli Brothers roped in famous Bangla poet (who later on became the National Poet of Bangladesh) Kazi Nazrul Islam- the creator of Nazrul geeti, as a Lyricist and MD for the film.

After 1942, Fazli Brothers shifted their activities to Bombay and made many Muslim social films like Fashion-43,Ismat-44, Dil-46 and Mehendi 47. So, in true sense, it is the Fazli Brothers who were the pioneers of Muslim Social films in India.

Film Masoom was directed by the elder brother-Hasnain Fazli. The music was by one time Music Director Munshi Mubarak Hussain. Actually, ” Munshi” is a prefix solely used for writers. How this Munshi gave music, is a wonder to me. Out of the 9 songs, only 2 songs are credited with the lyricist’s name. Otherwise the film has no Lyricist name in HFGK. Also none of the singer’s names are mentioned. The cast of the film was Ramola, Amjad, Mazhar khan, Mehtab, Anis, Nazir Kashmiri etc etc. In their first film Qaidi-40 also Ramola was the heroine. Here she was repeated. Hero Amjad in this film was repeated in the next film but these two artistes did not feature in any Fazli films later on. Though Ramola was very active, Amjad disappeared totally. Ramola had already become famous and popular in India due to her role in Pancholi’s film at Lahore- ” Khazanchi”-41.

Actress Ramola (real name- Rachel Cohen) was born in a Jew family on 5-7-1917, at Bombay. Her father Hayam Cohem was a school Teacher. Her initial education was done in Bombay. Later they shifted to Calcutta where she completed her matriculation and joined films. Her first film was ‘ Graher fer’-38,a Bangla film. She did a few small roles and then came ‘Khazanchi’-41 from Pancholi of Lahore. This changed her career and she became a popular actress. She did films like Masoom,Khamoshi manchali.etc etc.

Initially,Ramola was a small actress. First she acted on stage along with her two sisters. Then she got a Bangla film. It was Jagdish Sethi who introduced her to director/lyricist/dialogue writer Kidar Sharma. According to Kidar Sharma,
“She was smart and a charming young lady. Her only drawback was her height. She was not tall, just about 5 feet, but she had lofty ambitions. One day she came to see me and I promised I would personally take her to the director of her choice. She said, “I would like to be introduced to Mr. Nitin Bose, and no one else.” I took her to Mr. Bose, and was sure that her charm and talent would impress him.

Mr. Bose scanned her, from top to toe, while I praised her talent and her choice of a director, like Nitin Bose. After a long silence, Mr. Bose addressed me and said, “When you brought her to me, why did you forget to bring some bricks for her to stand on?” Poor Romola was hurt and heart-broken by this great director’s caustic remark. She quietly said, “Goodbye” and walked away from his office.

I followed her and found that she was in tears. ‘I was moved by the plight of a struggling youngster having high hopes, being ridiculed for something which nature was responsible for. I knew what it felt like to be ridiculed. I had experienced it often enough. I escorted her to the tram junction and there she bid me goodbye. To encourage her, I said, “Please, Romola, don’t be heart-broken. One day, when I become a director, you will be my first heroine, and we will prove to Mr. Bose and the world, what a great star you are.” Romola laughed and said,- “Poor Mr. Kidarnath, the dialogue-writer will never be a director and I will never be a heroine.” So saying, she jumped into the tram.”

However, Kidar Sharma kept his promise and cast her in his first film as director Aulad / Dil Hi To Hai (1939). Aulad/Dil Hi To hai was a down-to-earth story of a middle-class father, who had sacrificed all his life to educate his son and his darling daughter, hoping that they would be worthy children to the society and to the family. Little did the old man know that the generation gap would present a different, horrifying reality, which would destroy him completely. The modern college Miss, who destroys the dreams of her old father, the aged struggling middle class man, was played by Ramola.

After the success of the film, Ramola got romantically involved with R.C. Talwar, Kidar Sharma’s assistant who later became a director in his own right. According to Kidar Sharma, “R.C. Talwar was a classmate and friend so I ignored his relationship with Ramola.”

Later Ramola appeared in many films including Qaidi, Khazanchi, Khamoshi, Swan Aya Re, Rim Jhim etc. When she acted in Pancholi’s famous film Khazanchi-41, she became famous all over India and film offers started pouring on her. She looked so cute in her Punjabi dress- Salwar and Kurta- in that film, that this dress became famous and popular as Khazanchi dress amongst the women in India.

She acted in 23 films in Hindi and 5 films in Bangla. She even sang 14 songs in 4 Hindi films. After the arrival of new heroines including Madhubala, Nargis, Meena Kumari etc, Ramola’s career got eclipsed and she bid farewell to her film career. Her last 3 films Actor, Jawani Ki Aag and Stage were released in 1951. However her actual last film was the Bangla film, Anurag-51

Ramola was married twice. Her second husband, Leslie Rondeau, was a Captain in the British Air Force, who helped to train Indian pilots in the IAF post Indian Independence. Her son, Sam, from her first husband, migrated to Israel in the 1950s. She had two daughters, Dena and Linda, from her second marriage. Dena, based in London today, even acted in a film, GP Sippy’s Ahsaas (1979), and works in the fashion industry while Linda, a resident of Bombay, was an air-hostess with Air India. With her generous and large hearted spirit, Ramola also ‘adopted’ and looked after another 14 families, helping them move ahead in life. Ramola passed away in Bombay on 10-12-1988.

Here is some information on Fazli Brothers. The producers Fazli brothers, were the sons of Khan Bahadur S M Fazal Rabb of Beharaich- 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, Chowranghee-42, Fashion-43 and Ismat-44. These films discussed Muslim family life and problems etc.

His first directorial film was at his 23rd year- Triya Charitra-35. Then came Sajiv Murti-35, in which the 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-Chowranghee-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 Masoom-41 was released on 30-5-1942, at Imperial Theatre, Bombay. The story of the film is…..Noor Ali (Mazhar khan) becomes a widower. He has a small child-Masoom. So he remarries a widow(Mehtab), with a child Jameel. Both Jameel and Masoom grow up together. Masoom falls in love with his childhood friend Rehana (Ramola) and Jameel loves a modern, educated girl-Shahida (Anis). After many twists and turns, all becomes well and they get married happily.

Today’s song is a typical Bangla type song. I mean a Hindi song sung in Bangla tune and style. Though the singer is not mentioned, Sadanand Kamath ji, who uploaded this song, on my request promptly, feels that the singer is Jagmohan Sursagar. I tend to agree with him. Since the film was made completely in Calcutta, it is very much possible. With this song, film Masoom-41 makes it’s Debut on the Blog.

(Ack: information used herein is culled from books “Forgottem movies on Muslim Culture” by Kamlakar P. and ” Muslim Cinema” by Isak Mujawar, Film India magazine, my thanks to them and Film Directory-46 also)

Song-Maasoom nazar ka bholaapan lalcha ke lubhaana kya jaane (Maasoom)(1941) Singer- Unknown Male, Lyricist – Arzoo Lucknowi, MD- Munshi Mubarak Hussain

Lyrics

Maasoom nazar ka bholaapan
lalcha ke lubhaana kya jaane
Masoom nazar ka bholaapan
lalcha ke lubhaana kya jaane
dil aap nishaana banta hai
wo teer chalaana kya jaane
dil aap nishaana banta hai
wo teer chalaana kya jaane

chatki jo kali koyal kooki
ulfat ki kahaani khatm huyi
ulfat ki kahaani khatm huyi
kya kisne kahi aur kisne suni
ye baat zamaana kya jaane
kya kisne kahi aur kisne suni
ye baat zamaana kya jaane

hum aarzoo aaye baithhe hain
aur wo sharmaaye baithhe hain
aur wo sharmaaye baithhe hain
mushtaaq nazar gustaakh nahin
parda sarkaana kya jaane
mushtaaq nazar gustaakh nahin
parda sarkaana kya jaane
Maasoom nazar ka bholaapan
lalcha ke lubhaana kya jaane
dil aap nishaana banta hai
wo teer chalaana kya jaane

Tags: 1941, Aarzoo Lucknowi, Maasoom, Munshi Mubarak Hussain

Yaad Aaye Ke Na Aaye Tumhaari

Posted by: skapur01 on: May 10, 2020

This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.

Blog Day :

4314

Post No. :

15596

The days were when gramophone instruments and radios used to be a luxury. People could (and would) listen to music and songs either at family functions and weddings where a gramophone player was part of the arrangements, or in cinema halls, or maybe at restaurants and corner shops. But then still, the awareness and popularity of the songs and the artists was evidently widespread. The gramophone records of popular songs would sell out briskly, and there are many cases of a 2nd, and a 3rd edition of records being released by the companies. Word of mouth was a strong method of spreading awareness, and people used to hum and lightly sing the popular songs as they went about their work. One reads about this phenomena in anecdotal references in newspapers and magazines – like such and such song being on the lips of ‘everybody’, or such and such song being played in every street and lane – ‘गली गली में बजता था’.

Just put on the imagination cap and visualize – the songs being hummed by the common people as they go about their work, in streets and market place, singing – “Piya Milan Ko Jaana”, or “Ye Kaun Aaj Aaya Savere Savere”, or “Chale Pawan Ki Chaal”, or “Tere Mandir Ka Hoon Deepak Jal Raha”, and other such wonderful creations – in the voice of one of the very first group of singers in this country that started being recognized and loved across the length and breadth of our land.

Remembering Pankaj Babu today, on the 116th anniversary of birth – 10 May, 1905.

A voice that is so uniquely impressive, a voice that appears to be emanating from the depths of a sublime creativity, the deep resonating bass that defies measure and replication. A voice that is so enmeshed with an equally deep understanding and awareness of what music is, and how it becomes a delight for the listeners.
A voice and creativity that was so genuine, so sincere; a voice that expressed itself with a perceivable authority, understanding and proficiency – so much so that Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore was so verily impressed by the composition and expression of this young artist that he immediately granted the requested permission to use Gurudev’s poetry and compositions for commercial cinema. In that accomplishment, Pankaj Babu is eminently instrumental in giving a unique personification to Rabindra Sangeet, and to take it beyond the borders of Bengal and make it a recognized genre across the entire country.

A career that is not defined by numbers, but more by the quality of his creative genius. Working with RC Boral at New Theatres, Calcutta he was instrumental in introducing to the world of cinema, such delightful sounds of singing – KL Saigal, Kanan Devi, Uma Shashi, Pahadi Sanyal, Suprova Sarkar, and more. Defining and establishing the methodology of off-line recording of music and songs, thus becoming the pioneer of playback singing. He was a music director, a singer, an actor, and a teacher – all rolled into one.

Yes, a career that is not defined by numbers. In that, a couple of days ago, I was almost at the verge of despair, being unable to locate a song by him to post today. Most of his songs in films, including the version songs of the film ‘My Sister’ (1944), and many of his non-film Hindi songs are already showcased here. But yes, I am able to locate another very beautiful non-film Hindi song to present today.

Lyrics of this song are from the pen of Pandit Bhushan. The music composition is by Pankaj Babu himself. Anecdotal information available tells that the orchestration arrangement was done by a musician named Francisco Casanova, who used to lead the band at the Grand Hotel in Calcutta. Here is a brief information about this gentleman, which I am able to locate from an article on Pankaj Babu, written by Shri N Venkatraman on the blog ‘Songs of Yore’. Regulars will know this as AK ji’s blog.

Francisco Casanova was a Spanish musician, conductor and composer. He could play the saxophone, flute and clarinet with equal deftness. He was a well-known performer, and on the occasion of the Olympic Games in 1924, he performed with his orchestra at the Champs-Elysées Theatre in Paris. In 1930 he came to India with his orchestra and performed in many cities. He chose to stay at Calcutta and was appointed the Principal of the Calcutta School of Music. He stayed in India till 1956. He was closely associated with Mehli Mehta, father of Zubin Mehta. In 1952, Casonova and Mehta assisted Yehudi Menuhin, when he came to India to perform. He was also a leading conductor of Calcutta Symphony Orchestra and the conductor of a Spanish band at one of Calcutta’s foremost hotels. Manohari Singh learnt the nuances of playing the key flute from him. It is also said that the orchestration to our National Anthem was by him!

Listen and enjoy this vintage voice, in a recording that surely is 70+ years young. 🙂

Song – Yaad Aaye Ke Na Aaye Tunhaari (NFS – Pankaj Mullick) (1940s) Singer – Pankaj Mullick, Lyrics – Pandit Bhushan, MD – Pankaj Mullick

Lyrics

yaad aaye ke na aaye tumhaari
main tum ko bhool na jaaun
yaad aaye ke na aaye tumhaari
chhin chhin aawat waar tumhare
bin kaaran gaane gaaun
yaad aaye ke na aaye tumhaari

din jaaye chale jab tak jeeta hoon
raah chalte kabhi main aaj to aa pahunchun
din jaaye chale jab tak jeeta hoon
raah chalte kabhi main aaj to aa pahunchun
mukh pe tumhaare sukh ki pyaari
meethi hansi hi paaun
main isi liye bin kaaran gaane gaaun
yaad aaye ke na aaye tumhaari

jhadte hain phool phagun ke
phagun ke mahine mein
main tum se bida hota hoon
ik dard liye seene mein
jhadte hain phool phagun ke
phagun ke mahine mein
main tum se bida hota hoon
ik dard liye seene mein
din beetega aur hoga andhera
geet nahin goonjega
tham jaayegi beena
din beetega aur hoga andhera
geet nahin goonjega
tham jaayegi beena
jab tak tum raho aankhon mein
jam jam jee behlaaun
main isiliye bin kaaran gaane gaaun
yaad aaye ke na aaye tumhaari

——————————————–
Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
———————————————

याद आए के ना आए तुम्हारी
मैं तुमको भूल ना जाऊँ
याद आए के ना आए तुम्हारी
छिन छिन आवत वार तुम्हारी
बिन कारण गाने गाउँ
याद आए के ना आए तुम्हारी

दिन जाये चले जब तक जीता हूँ
राह चलते कभी मैं आज तो आ पहुंचूँ
दिन जाये चले जब तक जीता हूँ
राह चलते कभी मैं आज तो आ पहुंचूँ
मुख पे तुम्हारे सुख की प्यारी
मीठी हंसी ही पाऊँ
मैं इसी लिए बिन कारण गाने गाउँ
याद आए के ना आए तुम्हारी

झड़ते हैं फूल फागुन के
फागुन के महीने में
मैं तुमसे बिदा होता हूँ
इक दर्द लिए सीने में
झड़ते हैं फूल फागुन के
फागुन के महीने में
मैं तुमसे बिदा होता हूँ
इक दर्द लिए सीने में
दिन बीतेगा और होगा अंधेरा
गीत नहीं गूंजेगा
थम जाएगी बीना
दिन बीतेगा और होगा अंधेरा
गीत नहीं गूंजेगा
थम जाएगी बीना
जब तक तुम रहो आँखों में
जम जम जी बहलाऊँ
मैं इसी लिए बिन कारण गाने गाउँ
याद आए के ना आए तुम्हारी

Tags: 1940s, NFS - Pankaj Mullick, Pandit Bhushan, Pankaj Mullick

Morey Angna Mein Ambuwa, Ambuwa Ki Daali

Posted by: skapur01 on: April 19, 2020

Blog Day :

4293

Post No. :

15547

Another of those “aa ha” moments, as I was searching for a song to celebrate an anniversary. Sitting on my hard disk for a long time, I just pulled it up and listened to it, as I searched for a song by Khusheed Bano, And wow, what a wonderful creation this one turns out to be. And with a surprise bonus that saved me some extra effort.

Well actually, this post should have come on board yesterday (18 Apr). Having missed the birth anniversary of Khursheed Bano on 14th April, as I checked the anniversaries page, I found that I was still in time for her anniversary of passing away on 18th April. So I started the search and prep for a song sung by her. As luck would have it, I narrowed down to this wonderful song which is such a pleasing listen.

The twist comes in like this. As I checked from the Geet Kosh in my search, and identified this song from the 1941 film ‘Pardesi’, I noted that the GK lists the singer for this song as Khursheed and chorus. But when I played this song, I was taken by surprise to discover that this song is actually a duet, and that too, a delightful romantic duet. To check on the identity of the male voice, I turned to our dear friend, Girdhari Lal ji (of Jodhpur), and requested him for identification. His response was immediate – the male voice is that of Kantilal.

And then another part clicked into place. I immediately went back to the anniversaries list to confirm, and yes my memory was right. 18th April also is the birth anniversary of singer actor Kantilal. And so the celebrations connected and coalesced together into this one song.

Interesting to note that today’s song is one of those rare combinations wherein we have two actor-singers singing together. Yes, there are other pairs that we can list – Surendra – Noorjehaan, Suraiya – Surendra, KL Saigal – Suraiya, KL Saigal – Khursheed etc. Kantilal is also a singer of certain repute, active during the early years Hindi cinema. He has appeared as an actor, and has sung songs that he has performed himself on screen. He has also given playback to other artists. About today’s song, my take is that this song is not performed by Kantilal himself on screen although he himself is also listed as one of the actors in the film. In all probability he has given playback for Motilal. Motilal used to sing off and on. In some films, we find his name listed as singer, and in some films we see him lip syncing other playback singers. In ‘Pardesi’, he is the lead actor, but his name does not appear in the list of singers. And since, in this film, he is paired opposite to Khursheed, and that she is the other singer in this song, it would follow logically that Motilal is lip syncing Kantilal voice in this song.

Now, for the details. We already have a good set of posts giving details about this film and the artists, I will not attempt to re-present that information. However, I will give the links to where these details can be perused.

About the film – ‘Pardesi’, the film synopsis has been posted by our dear Arun ji, in his post for the song “Ab Kahaan Basera Apna”. In the same post, we also can read a brief biosketch about Khursheed Bano.

Our dear Sadanand ji has also presented another brief about Khursheed in his post for the song “Pehle Jo Mohabbat Se Inkaar Kiya Hotaaa”, also from the same film.

Regarding actor-singer Kantilal, I refer to another post by Arun ji, for the song “Dhanwaalon Ki Duniya Hai Ye, Nirdhan Ke Bhagwaan” from the film ‘Holi’ from 1940.

The film ‘Pardesi’ is from the house of Ranjit Movietone, and is directed by Chaturbhuj Doshi. The list of actors, as per Geet Kosh, is – Motilal, Khurshid, Snehprabha, E Billimoria, Durgesh, Keshari, Kantilal, and Bhagwan Das amongst others. The film has 15 songs listed. The songwriters listed for this film are DN Madhok and PL Santoshi. However, specific songwriter for individual songs, is not identified for all songs. As such also for this song – the specific songwriter is not identified. Music for this film is by Khemchand Prakash.

So with this song, we pay our tributes to Khursheed Bano and Kantilal on their anniversaries today. So many things to cherish for, in memory. 🙂

[Author’s Note: The available recording is certainly not the best. I have not been able to decipher one word in the 3rd antraa. I request other readers with keener ears to please help make the correction. Thanks.]

Song – Morey Angna Mein Ambuwa, Ambuwa Ki Daali (Pardesi) (1941) Singers – Khursheed, Kantilal, Lyrics – [Unattributed], MD – Khemchand Prakash
Khursheed + Kantilal

Lyrics

more angana mein ambuwaa..aa

more angana mein ambuwaa
ambuwa ki daali
daali pe koel bol gayi re. . .
bol gayi re
more angana mein ambuwaa
ambuwa ki daali
daali pe koel bol gayi re. . .
bol gayi re

dol gayi re
dol gayi re
dol gayi re
dol gayi re
duniya dilon ki dol gayi re
duniya dilon ki dol gayi re
more angana mein ambuwaa
ambuwa ki daali
daali pe koel bol gayi re. . .
bol gayi re

dekh sajanwa kaliyan khil gayi. . .
dekh sajanwa kaliyan khil gayi
kaliyon ko bhanwara
bhanwre ko kaliyan
kaliyon ko bhanwara
bhanwre ko kaliyan
mil gayi re
mil gayi re
mil gayi re
mil gayi re
more angana mein ambuwaa
ambuwa ki daali
daali pe koel bol gayi re. . .
bol gayi re

phoolon ki ot sajanwa lag gayi. . .
phoolon ki ot sajanwa lag gayi
kaanton ki meethi kor
kaanton ki meethi kor
?? ras mein ras ghol gayi re
haan haan bol gayi re
ras ghol gayi re
ras ghol gayi re
more angana mein ambuwaa
ambuwa ki daali
daali pe koel bol gayi re. . .
bol gayi re

more angana mein ambuwaa. . .

———————————————————
Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
———————————————————

मोरे अंगना में अंबुवा॰॰आ

मोरे अंगना में अंबुवा
अंबुवा की डाली
डाली पे कोयल ॰ ॰ ॰
बोल गई रे
मोरे अंगना में अंबुवा
अंबुवा की डाली
डाली पे कोयल बोल गई रे॰ ॰ ॰
बोल गई रे

डोल गई रे
डोल गई रे
डोल गई रे
डोल गई रे
दुनिया दिलों की डोल गई रे
दुनिया दिलों की डोल गई रे
मोरे अंगना में अंबुवा
अंबुवा की डाली
डाली पे कोयल बोल गई रे॰ ॰ ॰
बोल गई रे

देख सजनवा कलियाँ खिल गईं॰ ॰ ॰
देख सजनवा कलियाँ खिल गईं
कलियों को भँवरा
भँवरे को कलियाँ
कलियों को भँवरा
भँवरे को कलियाँ
मिल गईं रे
मिल गईं रे
मिल गईं रे
मिल गईं रे
मोरे अंगना में अंबुवा
अंबुवा की डाली
डाली पे कोयल बोल गई रे॰ ॰ ॰
बोल गई रे

फूलों की ओट सजनवा लग गई॰ ॰ ॰
फूलों की ओट सजनवा लग गई
काँटों की मीठी कोर
काँटों की मीठी कोर
?? रस में रस घोल गई रे
हाँ हाँ बोल गई रे
रस घोल गई रे
रस घोल गई रे
मोरे अंगना में अंबुवा
अंबुवा की डाली
डाली पे कोयल बोल गई रे॰ ॰ ॰
बोल गई रे

मोरे अंगना में अंबुवा॰ ॰ ॰

Tags: 1941, Kantilal, Kehmchand Prakash, Khursheed, Pardesi

Kho kar bhi sab kuchh izzat na khona

Posted by: Atul on: October 27, 2019

In: "Advice" song | Actor-Singer song | Guest posts | Post by Arunkumar Deshmukh | Rare song | Songs of 1940s (1941 to 1950) | Songs of 1941 | Theme song | Title song | Yearwise breakup of songs
5 Comments

This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws

Blog Day :

4118

Post No. :

15271

Movie Count :

4198

Today’s song is from film Kasauti-41. This was a film made by National Studios, after Sagar Movietone withdrew from it. The film was directed by a protege of Sagar- Ramchandra Thakur. The music was by Ashok Ghosh and the songs were written by Kanhaiyalal Chaturvedi (brother of actor Sankatha Prasad-a regular fixture of Sagar. Later on Kanhaiyalal himself became a famous character actor and a comic villain.) and Neelkanth Tiwari. The cast of the film was, Miss Rose, Prahlad, Veena, Sunalini Devi, Satish, Marutirao Pehelwan, Baby Meena, Ansari and many others.

In the early phase of the cinema, there were very few artistes hailing from respected families or who were educated, but as the time went by, slowly and steadily, educated people also started joining films.Most Marathi actresses from the beginning, like Durga Khote, Leela Chitnis,Nalini Tarkhad,Shanta Apte, Snehprabha Pradhan, Vanmala were graduates. Among men, Mohan Bhavnani, Nanubhai vakil, Surendra, Motilal, Dev Anand, Ashok kumar etc were graduates. Surendra was B.A;LL.B and in initial his degrees were flaunted prominently in film credits and advertisements. By the turn of the 30’s decade, majority of artistes were educated.

Ramchandra Thakur – the director of this film was one such scholarly person who was a Postgraduate and a prolific writer on films in English, Hindi and Gujarati, before joining films. Ramchandra Thakur was born in Suver of Sabarkantha district in Gujarat, on 17-12-1908. He moved to Bombay when he was just 9 year old. He pursued his higher education in Bombay and emerged as a scholar of Pali language. When he gave his M.A. final exam, he wanted to become a teacher in a college, if he got First class. If not, he would join film industry as a director. During his college years he had written many articles on films. He had translated Sound Recordist Minu Katrak’s English works in Hindi and Gujarati.

When he did not get First class, he joined Sagar Movietone, in its Marketing department. After few months, Baburao Patel took over from him and he became an assistant director to Chimanlal Luhar for film Dynamite-38. Next, along with Virendra Desai ( Nalini Jaywant’s first husband), he became a co-director of film The Gramophone Singer-38. His first film, as an independent Director was the Debut film of Snehprabha Pradhan – Civil marriage-40.

Then he joined Ranjit Movietone. He directed mythological, Social and Comedy films. Art Director Kanu Desai’s film Geet Govind was directed by him. Thakur directed 20 films. He also wrote script for the popular film Baiju Bawra-52. He produced 5 films. He directed 2 Gujarati films and wrote stories and screenplays for several Gujarati films.

He was an accomplished writer. He wrote 4 novels – Amrapali, Budhidhan Birbal, Prem Diwani and Urmila. He wrote several satirical commentaries too. He wrote a detailed article on Sagar Movietone and Chimanlal Desai in Gujarati magazine ” Jee”. His last Hindi film as a director was Nawab Sirajuddaula-67, which he had produced also. He died on 31-10-1992.

In the early era of silent films, many Anglo-Indian, European and Jew girls joined the films. They were free in behaviour and not averse to intimate scenes or kissing on the screen, hence film makers also preferred them. However they did not/could not speak Hindi or Urdu, but for silent films, this was not a hindrance. For Talkie films, this became a problem for these girls and their number went down considerably.

Among these actresses,there were mostly Baghdadi Jewish women and the rest were from the Bene Israel community, not the Cochini community. That community was small, did not speak Hindi or Urdu, and lived far from the film making cities of Bombay and Calcutta. A single Baghdadi family contributed greatly to Indian films, by giving us the actress-producer Pramila (Esther Victoria Abraham), her sister the actress Romila (Sophie Abraham), and her cousin the starlet Rose (Rose Musleah). Pramila’s son Haider Ali is an actor, who is best known as the co-writer of the blockbuster film Jodhaa Akbar.

Miss Rose Musleah was the heroine of film Kasauti-41 Sometime back our Sadanand kamath ji has provided the life story of Rose on this Blog, so I am not repeating it. Instead of that, let us know something about a ” Cloak and Dagger” personality from Hindi films. His name is N A Ansari.

Nisar Ahmed Ansari was the son of the late Dr. Ameer Ahmed Ansari. He was born on 29-8-1917 at Jhansi. His father had been serving in Military for 11 years and he expired in 1938. He was well known in Jhansi as he practiced there for 40 years.

Ansari matriculated from Allahabad University in 1933. In 1935, he passed his Inter from Aligadh. By 1939 he was a graduate of the Bombay University. He was keen to join films and in this, Mehboob khan helped him by recommending him for film Aasra-40, made by National Studios. It was directed by Mehboob’s assistant Chimanlal Gandhi.

By watching him, no one can ever visualise that a suave and respectable man like him can be a scheming villain . Competition for him was tough,initially when he joined the film industry ,as there were many character actors already there ,who were specialist of negative roles . But young and energetic Nisar Ahmad Ansari had faith in his potentials .

He believed that it is not necessary that villain should have thick eye brows with roving eyes and have a permanent frown on his face. A person having negative traits may have a smiling face also ,to conceal his evil designs . Therefore in most of his movies , he was a well dressed person ,always beaming and had friendly smile on his face . In his films , he use to be boss of a criminal syndicate and have an army of foot soldiers who carried out dirty work on his behalf . To keep a distance between master and servant , instead of calling them by their name he use to call his cronies by their allotted numbers like Number Ten Or Number Five .

With a hit movie ‘Mangu’, he became a director and later directed many successful movies like Black Cat ,Tower House ,Mr Lamboo ,Zara Bach Ke, Wanted etc for various producers and after he established his own banner Bundel Khand Films ,he made many memorable movies . Although, he had to look after his own company and permanent staff ,but he did not disappoint other film makers ,who wanted to have him in their movies in the role of villain. It is a fact, that it was his Black Cat which helped G P Sippy to be a part of the league of big producer ,but it is also true ,Mr Sippy forgot him later and never acknowledged Mr Ansari’s contribution .

Mr N A Ansari ,was essentially a dedicated film maker and had no false illusions about his own capabilities . His movies were never lavishly made and had average production value ,but it did not deter his fans and sizable majority of film viewers ,who adored him and his pictures to patronise his movies . Those who love the movies of golden age ,fondly remember his movies which used to have him in the role of villain ,beside good music, suspense, comedy, ,dance with a plausible story and a strong message for society ,that “Crime Never Pays”.

With producer/actor Sheikh Mukhtar, Nisar Ahmad Ansari had earlier worked as an actor in Dada, Dara & Ustad Pedro. Sheikh Mukhtar, aware of Ansari’s capability ,in 1954,offered him Mangu, to direct. The big success of Mangu was a game changer for Ansari & O P Nayyar. They both were immensely benefited with the favourable outcome of the movie & it’s music. Mangu had predictable Jodi of Sheikh Mukhtar & Mukri ,with Nigar Sultana ,Sheila Ramani & Ansari himself, as a suave villain. Mangu had breath taking, thrilling climax, involving the speeding train. Some real shots, few stock shots & rest studio shoot with back projections (Aadhi Haqeeqat ,Aadha Fasaana ),made the climax awe-inspiring. Unfortunately, the movie could not be preserved & the the present generation has been deprived of witnessing Ansari’s first effort as director. Mangu is one of the most searched movie at youtube.

He again directed Mr Lambu, a big success, for Sheikh Mukhtar. This time with the classic beauty Suraiyya with music by O P Nayyar, but similar tragedy happened, again. No print of the movie is available. In almost all his films N.A.Ansari played the role of an urbane & sophisticated Don. He always appeared, well dressed in impeccably tailored suits, fedora, trade mark pipe between his teeth & walking stick, in his hand.

Besides Sheikh Mukhtar, he directed movies, like Black Cat, Tower House, Jara Bach Ke, Wanted for other producers and playing the main villain. He had no qualms working in movies directed by other film makers & in this category, movies like Private Secretary, Fareb ,Do Thug ,Khota Paisa, Gunda,Ustad 420,Gunahon Ke Raaste can be named. Under his own banner Bundel khand Films he made Wahan Ke Log,Mulzim,Zindagi Aur Maut,Mr Murder, Jurm Aur Sazaa and Noor E Ilahi. The last one being his last production in 1976 & then he decided to hang his boots.It was a big journey for Ansari,who was discovered by Mehboob & given a role in Aasra ,released in 1941.

He could not say “No” to film maker Sultan Ahmad ,when he insisted him to appear in Dharam Kanta (1982 ) & later in Jai Vikranta. N.A.Ansari closed his eyes for ever on 11 Jan 1993, in Canada, thousands of kilometres away from his beloved city Jhansi ,much before the release of his last movie Jai Vikranta in 1995.

Film Kasauti-41 had 13 songs – effectively only 12, as one song was deleted from the film later, for reason not known to us. The Music Director Ashok Ghosh is the ” Mystery Man” of Hindi cinema. That is because, there is absolutely no information about his life story, available anywhere on internet or in any of the several music related books I have with me. All that we know about him is that he assisted MD Pransukh Nayak, while serving in Sagar and that he started independentl composing with film Manmohan-36, in which Anil Biswas was his assistant. The very next year Anil Biswas took over from him as MD for film Jagirdar-37 and spent a long association with Sagar and National studios.

Ashok Ghosh did only 12 films as an MD – Manmohan-36, Sanskar-40, Radhika-41, Nirdosh-41, Kasauti-41, Garibi-42, Sharafat-43, Inkaar-43, Miss Devi-44, Angoothi-44, Aarti-45 and last film Gunjan-48. After this , there is a total black out of information on Ashok Ghosh. Strange !

According to the November 41 issue of Film India magazine, film Kasauti-41 was released on 11-10-41 at Pathe Cinema in Bombay. In its review of the film, Baburao Patel had hardly anything good about it. He only appreciated the acting of Sunalini Devi, as the mother of the hero. He says that the film was a tear jerker story. Raju (Prahlad) tries to prevent the suicide of a woman, who anyway dies. This is witnessed by the victim’s sister Meena (Veena), who is a vamp. She starts blackmailing him . She, calling herself now as Manjula announces her love for Raju. Raju is slated to marry Madhuri (Miss Rose). After some time, she tries to force Raju for her marriage with him. Raju’s mother comes to know all this. As a true mother she goes to Manjula’s house, gives her poison and kills her. Thus a dutiful mother saves the life of her son.

Today’s song is sung by Marutirao pehelwan. A Pehelwan and a song ? Matter for laughing or serious thinking ?
Marutirao Pehelwan also acted in this movie. He was originally from Kolhapur. In the early era of talkie films, many wrestlers joined film companies. They worked mostly in action films. Some such actors were Baburao Pehelwan (he was the hero of Master Bhagwan’s stunt films; later on worked as a stuntman with fight master Azim Bhai), Vasantrao Pehelwan (he was the one who brought Indurani from Poona to Bombay; was a popular villain in stunt films), Nandram Pehelwan (very popular in silent films but fell on bad days in the talkie era), Sadiq Pehelwan, Maane Pehelwan, Amir Khan Pehelwan etc

Marutirao Pehelwan was different. He was handsome, tall, well built, could act and sing well. He was selected for the hero’s role in first Gujarati talkie film ‘Narsi Mehata’ (1932), made by Sagar Movietone. He acted as hero and other roles in about 40 films and sang 56 songs in 17 films. His first Hindi film was ‘Lanka Dahan’ (1933) and last his film was ‘Apna Ghar’ (1942)

He married his co-star of many films – Tara (sister of Sitara Devi and Alaknanda). They left films and settled in Dhule, Maharashtra. Marutirao started a dairy business there. Famous dancer Gopi Krishna was their son. After Marutirao’s demise Tara had a terrible time. She stayed in Bombay slums and did any extra role in films.

From 1946, there was another comedian actor named Maruti (Marutirao Parab), active in Hindi films. Initially, he too was billed as Marutirao, creating confusion. He was the father of comedienne Guddi Maruti.

So, here is the philosophical song.

( I thank Biren kothari ji for his book ” Sagar movietone” and shri M N Sardana ji for some information about N A Ansari, used in this post)

With this song, “Kasauti”(1941) makes its debut in the blog.

Song-Kho kar bhi sab kuchh izzat na khona (Kasauti)(1941) Singer-Maruti rao Pehelwan, Lyrics- Kanhaiyalal Chaturvedi, MD-Ashok Ghosh

Lyrics

Kho kar bhi sab kuchh a a
izzat na khona aa
zuroori hai ae ae ae ae
jeewan mein ae ae
izzat ka hona
Kho kar bhi sab kuchh
izzat na khona
Kho kar bhi sab kuchh
izzat na khona
zuroori hai
jeewan mein
izzat ka hona
zuroori hai
jeewan mein
izzat ka hona
Kho kar bhi sab kuchh
izzat na khona
Kho kar bhi sab kuchh
izzat na khona

pareeksha ho jis dam
hansna na rona
pareeksha ho jis dam m m
aa aa aa aa
aa aa aa aa
aa aa aa
aa aa aa aa
aa aa aa aa
aa aa aa aa
pareeksha ho jis dam
hansna na rona
kasauti pe utre jo sachcha
wo sona
kasauti pe utre jo sachcha
wo sona
kasauti pe utre jo sachcha
wo sona
kasauti pe utre jo sachcha
wo sona
Kho kar bhi sab kuchh
izzat na khona
Kho kar bhi sab kuchh
izzat na khona aa

Tags: 1941, Ashok Ghosh, Kanhaiyalal Chaturvedi, Kasauti, Marutirao Pahalwan

Ek baat bataao hamen gori

Posted by: Atul on: September 26, 2019

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 :

4087

Post No. :

15228

———————————————–——————————————
Blog 10-Year Challenge (2009-19) – Song No. 47
——————————————————————————————

When one discussed a movie of 1940s, one often assums by default that it must be a “boring” movie, one which may not hold the interest of later generation movie goers. And when one finds that this movie has Ashok Kumar and Leela Chitnis in lead roles, people who have seen them in character roles may consider dropping the idea of watching the movie.

But what if I tell you that this movie from 1941 is a laugh riot ? And that this movie was the original inspiration of “Padosan”(1968) ? I am sure that people will suddenly get interested in knowing more about this movie.

“Jhoola”(1941) was directed by Gyan Mukherji for Bombay Talkies, Bombay. This movie, a “social” movie had Leela Chitnis, Ahok Kumar, Shah Nawaz, V H Desai, Mumtaz Ali, Karuna Devi, Shahzadi, Rajkumari Shukla, Meenu Cooper, M A Aziz, Kaazi, Master Laxman, Leeladhar Sharma, Iqbal Bai, B M Dixit, Jyoti, Dulaari, Nana Palsikar etc in it.

The movie had eleven songs in it. Five of these songs have been covered in the past. This movie has a song that goes Ek chatur naar karkar singaar . Yes, I mentioned that this movie is the original source for “Padosan”(1968) and this song is the inspiration of that famous “Padosan”(1968) Kishore Kumar Manna dey laugh riot.

If “Padosan”(1968) had Mehmood then “Jhoola”(1941) had his father Mumtaz Ali lip syncing the wonderful stage dance song Main to Dilli se dulhan laayaa re.

“Jhoola”(1941) had made its debut in the blog on 26 september 2009, viz exactly ten years ago, with the evergreen song Chali re chali re meri naao chali re .

This day that year ten years ago, the blog was at its usual prolific best. Six songs from six different movies were covered in the blog on that day. Five out of six of those movies have already been covered in the blog. “Jhoola”(1941) remains the only un YIPPEED movie from that day.

Here are the details of the songs that were discussed on 26 september 2009:

Song	Movie title-Year	Remarks
Tera mujhse hai pahle ka naata koi	Aa Gale Lag Jaa-1973	All Songs covered in the blog
Har aas ashqbaar hai	Kinaare Kinaare-1963	All Songs covered in the blog
Dekha naa jaaye socha naa jaaye	Mr India-1961	All Songs covered in the blog
Kahaan chhod ke chalaa hai tu	Anjaan-1956	All Songs covered in the blog
De bhi chuke ham dil nazraana dil kaa	Jaal-1952	All Songs covered in the blog
Chali re chali meri naao chali re	Jhoola-1941	05 of 11 songs covered

According to HFGK, the movie had 12 songs. I find that the song Ek chatur naar karkar singaar does not find mention if HFGK. To compensate for that, the song under discussion today gets mentionc twice (as song number 6 and 11). So the count of songs in the movie remains accurate, viz 12.

Today, as part of Blog ten year challenge, here is another song from “Jhoola”(1941). Like the song that was covered ten years ago, this song too is a duet sung by Ashok Kumar and Leela Chitnis. In the song ten years ago, the leading duo were riding a boat, here they ride a ghodagaadi, and while doing so, Ashok Kumar makes gentle 1940s style passes on Leela Chitnis, asking the love letter back. Leela Chitnis teases him back 1940s style responds 1940s style viz.

Dekho kah doongi
Haan haan dekho kah doongi
Tumhaare man ki batiyaan

and subsequently

Hamri gali mein dekho
Tum kal se aana chhodo
Varna hansengi hamaari sakhiyaan

The lyrics by Kavi Pradeep are quite cute and romantic. The romantic song, in which both make paasses at each other must have been quite a rage in those pre independence days.

Music is composed by Saraswati Devi.

Lyrics of this song were sent to me by Avinash Scrapwala.

Video

Audio

Song-Ek baat bataao hamen gori (Jhoola)(1941) Singers-Ashok Kumar, Leela Chitnis, Lyrics – Kavi Pradeep, Music – Saraswati Devi
Both

Lyrics (Based on video link) (Provided by Avinash Scrapwala)

chaliye …

Ek baat bataao hamen gori
Kaho kisne sikhaayi tumhen chori
o gori
kisne sikhaayi tumhen chori
Ek chor se mera naata
wo meri gali mein aata aa
Haan usne sikhaayi hamen chori ee
Haan haan usne sikhaayi hamen chori

Hhahahahaha

Dekhiye meri chhitthhiyaan
De dijiye
Laayiye

Dekho kah doongi
Haan haan dekho kah doongi
Tumhaare man ki batiyaan
Tumne chori chori bheji
Hamen patiyaan
Tumne chori chori bheji
Hamen patiyaan
Dekho kah doongi
Haan haan dekho kah doongi
Tumhaare man ki batiyaan
Chori pe seenazori
Ham se karo naa gori ee
Chori pe seenazori
Ham se karo naa gori
De do hamaari ham ko patiyaan
Dekho kah doongi
De do hamaari ham ko patiyaan
Dekho kah doongi
Tumhaare man ki batiyaan
Baatein banaana chhodo
Chori chhipaana chhodo
Hamri gali mein dekho
Tum kal se aana chhodo
Hamri gali mein dekho
Tum kal se aana chhodo
Varna hansengi hamaari sakhiyaan
Dekho kah doongi
Haan haan dekho kah doongi
Tumhaare man ki batiyaan

Meetthi meetthi baaton mein
Hamko bhulaaya tumne
Bholaa sa man hamaara
Chanchal banaaya tumne
Meetthi meetthi baaton mein
Hamko bhulaaya tumne
Bholaa sa man hamaara
Chanchal banaaya tumne
Badi raseeli hain tumhaari
Ankhiyaan
Dekho kah doongi
Haan haan dekho kah doongi
Tumhaare man ki batiyaan

Chhodo ye baatein gori
Aao aao kishori
Tumne ki hamse chori
Hamne ki tumse chori
Tumne ki hamse chori
Hamne ki tumse chori
Aao basaa len dil ki duniya
Dekho kah doongi
Aao basaa le dil ki duniya
Dekho kah doongi
Tumhaare man ki batiyaan
Dekho kah doongi
Tumhaare man ki batiyaan

————————————-
Devnagri Script lyrics (Provided by Avinash Scrapwala)
————————————
चलिए…

एक बात बताओ हमें गोरी
कहो किसने सिखाई तुम्हे चोरी
ओ गोरी
किसने सिखाई तुम्हे चोरी
एक चोर से मेरा नाता
ओ मेरी गली में आता आ
हाँ उसने सिखाई हमें चोरी ई
हाँ हाँ उसने सिखाई हमें चोरी

हा हा हा हा हा

देखिये मेरी चिट्ठियाँ
दे दिजिये
लाईये
देखो कह दूँगी
हाँ हाँ देखो कह दूँगी
तुम्हारे मन की बतियाँ
तुमने चोरी चोरी भेजी
हमें पतियाँ
देखो कह दूँगी
हाँ हाँ देखो कह दूँगी
तुम्हारे मन की बतियाँ
चोरी पे सीनाजोरी
हम से करो ना गोरी ई
चोरी पे सीनाजोरी
हम से करो ना गोरी
दे दो हमारी हम को पतियाँ
देखो कह दूँगी
दे दो हमारी हम को पतियाँ
देखो कह दूँगी
तुम्हारे मन की बतियाँ

बातें बनाना छोडो
चोरी छिपाना छोडो
हमरी गली में देखो
तुम कल से आना छोडो
हमरी गली में देखो
तुम कल से आना छोडो
वरना हँसेगी हमारी सखियाँ
देखो कह दूँगी
हाँ हाँ देखो कह दूँगी
तुम्हारे मन की बतियाँ

मीठी मीठी बातों में
हम को भुलाया तुमने
भोला सा मन हमारा
चंचल बनाया तुमने
मीठी मीठी बातों में
हम को भुलाया तुमने
भोला सा मन हमारा
चंचल बनाया तुमने
बड़ी रसीली है तुम्हारी
अँखियाँ
देखो कह दूँगी
हाँ हाँ देखो कह दूँगी
तुम्हारे मन की बतियाँ

छोडो ये बातें गोरी
आओ आओ कीशोरी
तुमने की हमसे चोरी
हमने की तुमसे चोरी
तुमने की हमसे चोरी
हमने की तुमसे चोरी
आओ बसा ले दिल की दुनिया
देखो कह दूँगी
आओ बसा ले दिल की दुनिया
देखो कह दूँगी
तुम्हारे मन की बतियाँ
देखो कह दूँगी
तुम्हारे मन की बतियाँ

Tags: 1941, Actor-Singer, Ashok Kumar, Jhoola, Kavi Pradeep, Leela Chitnis, Saraswati Devi

Nadi kinaara ho taaron bhari raaten

Posted by: Atul on: September 25, 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 :

4086

Post No. :

15226

Today’s song is from film Pyas-41.

The film was made by Murli Movietone. It was directed by Ram Daryani. The lyricist was D N Madhok and the music was by Khemchand Prakash. The cast of the film was Snehprabha Pradhan, Ishwarlal, Nazir, Shamim, Gope, E Bilimoria, Sharifa, Gulab, Khatoon, Majid, Tarabai etc etc. There were 9 songs in the film. One song is already discussed, so today, it will be the second song of the film here. It is a duet sung by the lead pair Snehprabha and Ishwarlal.

Various communities of India contributed to the development of Indian Film Industry. No wonder, we never saw communal feelings in the film world. It is probably the only industry in India, which is truly a Secular one.All communities and religions live here happily together. Every community is, however, identified with a particular state, i.g. Sikhs and Punjabis from Punjab, Bengalis from Bengal, Marathis from Maharashtra etc etc. But there is one community which has no state of its own, still it has been contributing to almost every industry in India whole heartedly. That is SINDHI community.

In film industry too, their contribution is almost in every department – be it production, direction, acting, music or any other form of film making, for that matter. Generally, they are a business community and are highly adaptable to available circumstances. Right from Vithal Panchotia in the early 30s to Ranvir singh Bhavnani in the 2019, their presence as actors, Producers (Sippys), Directors (Mohan Bhavnani), Music composers (Bulo C Rani) to Comedian (Bhudo Advani) is felt in all decades. Brij Rani, Sheila Ramani, Sadhana, Babita and Kitu Gidwani or Gope, Bhudo Advani, Sushil Kumar, Asrani etc are some of the names that come to the mind off hand.

Film Pyas-41 was also directed by one Sindhi – Ram Daryani ( Ram Kamlani was different, he was brother of Gope). Ram Daryani was born on 6-12-1915, at Hyderabad, Sindh Province (now in Pakistan). His early education was done in Sindh and for college education he came to Karachi. Due to intense desire of being in film world, he left studies and joined Eastern Art Production and assisted Moti Gidwani in direction of film Insan ya Shaitan-33. But due to family pressure he had to rejoin college. After some time he again left college for good and started working as assistant director for films Prem Pariksha-34 with G R Sethi, Bharat ki Beti-35 with Premankur Attorthy and Yasmin-35 with H K Shivdasani.

He got his first chance to independently direct the film Baal Hatya aka Khoon E Nahak-35. In the year 1936, he floated his own company Daryani productions and directed films like Sangdil Samaj-36, Prem Murty-36 and Gentleman Daaku-37, for which his brother K S Daryani wrote the stories. In 1938, brother K S Daryani started Krishna Movietone. Ram Daryani closed his company Daryani productions and directed film Zamana-38 for krishna Movietone. The film became a Hit and his name became famous.

He worked for Murli Movietone to direct films like Pyas-41, which celebrated Silver jubilee. His other films were Qurbani-43, Preet-45, Panna Dai-45 and Shravan kumar-46. In all, Ram Daryani directed 23 films. His last film was Chand mere aaja-60. After this he entered Film Distribution business. Ram Daryani died on 7-9-1993. ( adapted from Filmdom-1946).

The Heroine for film Pyas-41 was Snehprabha Pradhan, who was an excellent actress and a good singer. However, she acted in only 17 films in 10 years i.e. 1940 to 1950. After films, she started acting in Marathi dramas and became famous and popular there.

SNEHPRABHA PRADHAN was born on 20-10-1915 in Nagpur,Maharashtra. Her father was Vithalrao and mother was Tarabai.Tarabai was a child widow who grew up in an orphanage and SP’s father married her as a social cause,when he was already 50 yr old.

Like her contemporaries, Shanta Apte and Hansa Wadkar(Ratan Salgaonkar in real life), she too travelled a lot in her first 10 years,to places like Nagpur,Bombay,Poona,Delhi,Calcutta,Lahore etc.

When her father left them and mother was unable to support the family,SP had to seek work.She did small roles in films.One Chimanbahi Desai of Bombay Talkies was a family friend.Through him, she worked and sang in Civil marriage,saubhagya and Sajni.
Her first break as a Heroine came with Punarmilan-1940,opposite Kishore Sahu.They fell in love and married,but within an year she divorced him on grounds of his impotency !

SP was studying,while working too and she became the First woman Graduate from Ferguson college,Poona,in those days !
Even though system was there,still SP was NOT attached to any Studio nor was she on rolls of any Production company.She virtually started the ‘Free Lance working system’ in those days.

She worked in Bombay Talkies,New theatres,with K.A.Abbas,Roop k.Sorey etc.She sang songs with Pahadi Sanyal also.
In the late 40s,she reduced her work in Hindi,as she was more inclined to work on Marathi stage dramas.In 1942 she worked in Marathi film “PAHLI MANGALAGAUR”,in which 10 year old Lata Mangeshkar acted and sang First time in her career. In 1946 SP she acted in Salgirah and sang 6 songs.After this she did “Anmol Moti” in 1949.Then she stopped working in Hindi films. She wrote Screenplay of film “Ladai ke baad”-1943,acted in it and also sang 9 songs in it.

Her name was kept Snehprabha,as a compromise,since her mother could not decide in 2 names-Snehlata or Prabhavati.So the names were combined as Snehprabha. She married Dr.Shirodkar and settled in Bombay,occasionally doing some stage dramas in Marathi. She died on 7-12-1993.

Birha ki Raat-1950. She acted in this film as Dev Anand had expressed his desire to act in a film in which SP was there. Dev Anand was her great fan.He agreed to work with Nargis only on the condition that SP would work with him. Snehprabha Pradhan could not refuse Dev Anand.

There is another name ‘ Khatun ‘ in the cast. Miss Khatun Bano was born and brought up in a poor Muslim family of Lahore. As per the family tradition, she learnt dancing and singing. once, when she was performing on stage in Lahore, the Talent hunter of Sagar movietone spotted her and she was offered a role in a Talkie film- which was a novelty in 1931. Her first film was Abul Hasan-31. Then came Subhadra haran-32, Meerabai-32, Maya Bazar-32 etc etc. In all, she acted in 59 films, till her last film Ibrat-60. She also sang 25 songs in 12 films.

One more interesting actress in the cast was Tarabai. She is none other than the elder sister of famous dancer actress Sitara Devi. Born in 1905, she was a good dancer. She started film career from Silent films like Malti Madhav, Bambai ki sethani etc. She started Talkie films with Vasantsena-31. She played the role of Princess Octavia in film Yahudi ki Ladki-33, along with K L Saigal.

She acted in many films like Shehar ka jadu-34, Savitri 37, Narsi Bhagat-40, Sasural -41. She acted in film Haiwaan-40, along with her two other actress sisters,namely Alaknanda and Sitara Devi. This may be the only Hindi film, in which 3 sisters played roles in one film.

She married co star Marutirao Pehelwan, left films and they settled in Dhule,in Maharashtra. They started a Dairy business. Their son was the famous dancer Gopi Krishna. After husband’s death and winding up of the Dairy business, Tarabai returned to Bombay and started working in films. But now she was reduced to as Junior Artiste (Extra) and got only negligible roles. She lived in Bandra slum. There is no information about her after this.

Film Pyas-41 was a very successful film. It was written by K S Daryani- brother of director Ram Daryani. The film was shot in Ranjit studio. This was the first film of Murli Movietone. The March 1942 issue of Film India magazine reviewed the film and Baburao Patel, for once , was all praise for the film, direction and the acting. The film was released in Imperial Cinema, Bombay on 14-2-1942. While praising the acting of Snehprabha Pradhan, Baburao Patel could not resist the temptation of subtly commenting on her looks, saying, ” she was photographed so nicely that she sometimes looked ‘almost’ beautiful” ! That’s Baburao for you !!.

The story of the film as given in the review is…….

Sethji’s (Nazir) wife is dying due to TB…according to the evil family doctor (E. Billimoria), who wants to marry his niece( Gulab) to Seth ji. He also tries to kill wife and her child. Sensing this, the wife, Menaka (Sharifa) runs away with the child. She hands over the child to a village mukhiya and dies. Seth ji marries the niece of doctor, who starts extracting money from her.

The child grows into a big man-Chiman (Ishwarlal) who loves village belle Radha.

Once Chiman goes to the city and gets to know Seth ji, who employs him. Seth ji’s niece Rupa starts loving him. Once by accident , Chiman comes to know that he is Seth ji’s son. Seth ji is happy and throws a party in which the engagement of Rupa (Shamim) is announced. Chiman is craving for Radha. Radha comes to know these matters and comes to city. Rupa realises their true love and sacrifices. Chiman and Radha unite.

Today’s song’s mukhada is ” Nadi kinara ho “. This “Nadi kinara” was very popular amongst the lyricists of the 30s and 40s, because I found so many songs having this beginning of songs, till even the 50s. Somehow this went on diminishing later. I guess the lovers stopped going to the Rivers or may be they preferred a Mall or a Multiplex than going to the ‘Nadi kinara’, battling the traffic jams !

Song- Nadi kinaara ho taaron bhari raaten (Pyaas)(1941) Singers-Snehprabha Pradhan, Ishwarlal , Lyrics- D N Madhok, MD- Khemchand Prakash
Both

Lyrics

Nadi kinaara ho o o
taaron bhari raaten
taaron bhari raaten
taaron bhari raaten
taaron bhari raaten
Nadi kinaara ho o o
taaron bhari raaten
taaron bhari raaten
taaron bhari raaten
taaron bhari raaten
moh hamse karen aur chori se munh na taaken
moh hamse karen aur chori se munh na taaken
yaad dilaayen
beeti huyi baaten
yaad dilaayen
beeti huyi baaten
Nadi kinaara ho o o
taaron bhari raaten
taaron bhari raaten
taaron bhari raaten
taaron bhari raaten

kabhi wo kabhi main roothh jaaun
kabhi Radha kabhi main manaaun
kabhi wo kabhi main roothh jaaun
kabhi Radha kabhi main manaaun
main na maanoon
na maanoon
na maanoon
tere jee ki main jaanoon
main na maanoon
na maanoon
na maanoon
jee dil ki main jaanoon
na jaanoon
Nadi kinaara ho o o
taaron bhari raaten
taaron bhari raaten
taaron bhari raaten
taaron bhari raaten

Tags: 1941, Actor-Singer, D N Madhok, Ishwarlal, Khemchand Prakash, Pyaas, Snehprabha Pradhan

Bharat ki vidhwa dukhiyaari

Posted by: Atul on: August 31, 2019

Blog Day :

4061

Post No. :

15194

Movie Count :

4174

Today’s song is from film Abla-41.This highly obscure film was directed by actor Director R.N.Vaidya (9 silent and 16 Talkie films as a director). The film was made under the banner of Bharat Photophones Ltd. Bombay. The music was composed by one Khurshid khan. This seems to be the only film for which he composed music. All the 6 songs were written by Pt. Gyan Chandra, who wrote mainly for Wadia films and other C grade action films. The cast of film Abla-41 was Heeralal,Shyam Narayan,Dar Kashmiri, Akbar khan, Ghulam Mohd., Sunder, Raja Babu, Chandrika, Suryakumari, Dev kumari, Sheela, Guljar etc.etc.

Funny cast this ! There is a Suryakumari and a Chandrika and there is a Dev Kumari also!There is a Raja, Akbar and Ghulam also ! And there is a Sunder and Guljar also !! What a collection !! Apart from the humour, names of Surya kumari, Chandrika, Dev kumari and Shyam Narayan are names which I have heard first time.

About Dar Kashmiri.Most sites and Blogs list Dar kashmiri as another initial name for actor Jeevan. Even Surjit Singh ji, in his short articles on years from 1931 to 1947, on his site, claims that Jeevan was called Dar Kashmiri in his initial career (see article on 1934 on his site). The reality, however, is different. Dar Kashmiri was a Pseudo-name used for Om Prakash Dar- a Kashmiri actor, who was the elder brother of actor Jeevan and who came to work in Hindi films much earlier than Jeevan had.

Om Prakash Dar was born into a large family, he had 23 siblings. His grandfather was the Governor of Gilgit in Gilgit-Baltistan. He lost his father when the youngest- Jeevan- was 3 years old and his mother died at childbirth. Being the eldest,he came to Bombay in search of jobs and entered films. Instead of his original long name,he was called Dar Kashmiri.

Actually, When Jeevan came to Bombay in search of film roles, Om Prakash Dar aka Dar kashmiri, his elder brother, was already working in films. Jeevan appeared first time in Fashionable India-35. Since his name was Onkar Nath, he was billed as O.K.Dar (and not Dar kashmiri-please note).
His elder brother Dar Kashmiri worked in films like –
Noor Mahal-34, Watan parast-34, yaad rahe-40, Abla-41, Saugandh-42, Angoori-43, Naya Tarana-43, Room No.9-46, Hua savera-48, Kundan-55 and Ayodhyapati-56. and many other films. Every film, he was billed as Dar kashmiri only.
Jeevan was billed as O.K.Dar (Jeevan) from film Romantic India-36 onwards
and then on as Jeevan only-except still a few films where he was billed as O.K.Dar(Jeevan).
In film Patit pawan-1955, both brothers acted and they were individually billed as Jeewan and Dar Kashmiri. This settles their name issue decisively. Most of this information comes from Filmdom-The All India Film Directory and Who’s who in Indian Film Industry-1946.

The curse of ” Same Name Confusion” is cast on the film industry from its early era (The first heroine Zubeida – Alam Ara-31, had a same name actress later on in the 40s). The name Ghulam Mohammed was the only one in 1932, but later on two more Ghulam Mohammeds came on the scene for the same period. One of them was the well known Music Director and the third one was a small time singer in the 50s and the 60s. Initially, very little information was available on actor Ghulam Mohammed. Now,more information is available and hence his information is more uptodate- with dates of Birth and Death etc. Here is the latest note on Ghulam Mohammed-the actor…

Ghulam Mohammad was born on 19-3- 1905 in Lahore and died on March 10, 1961. He appeared in more than 500 stage dramas and was, during the WW1, in Baghdad, Iraq. He was best known as Chacha (Uncle) in film circles.

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. Choudhary. He was in Villain’s role with actress Salochana 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 bye a luxury car in the 1930s.

Ghulam Mohammad was an all round actor and appeared as hero, villain and supporting actor in 65 movies in the 1930s-40s. In ‘Daku ki Ladki’-33 he was in the role of the Daku. With this film he became popular. By 1942,he was called by Dalsukh Pancholi,to Lahore. He did ‘Khandan’,’ Zamindar’, and Shirin Farhad’ during 1942 to 1945. Shirin Farhad was a big flop. He came back to Bombay. He did about 25 films here. Some of his films were Ek din ka Sultan,Sanyasi,Behram Khan,Humjoli, Raajputani, Chhin le Azaadi, Jugnu, Lakhon mein ek, Heer Ranjha, Pardesi Mehmaan, Vidya etc.

He played the main villain role in the first ever colored film Kissan Kanya in 1937. He was in main role with Noorjahan in Lahore based Punjabi film Chowdhary 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).

Around 1949,he migrated to Pakistan and did 69 films there (41 urdu and 28 Punjabi films) and finally died in poverty and anonymity.

( Adapted from http://www.pakmag and vo bhuli dastan by Subhash Jadhav)

For a long time,I was searching for information on comedian Sunder. I got hold of a 2 page detailed article on Sunder, but it was in Punjabi- which I could not read or use. I found a small paragraph on Sunder in Sanjit Narvekar ji’s book ” Eena Meena Deeka”. Lastly, I requested Harish Raghuwanshi ji for help. Despite his failing health, he promptly sent me articles in Hindi, English and Gujarati, on Sunder. He is such a helpful person. May God give him a healthy life.

Sunder Singh aka Sunder was born in Sialkot, Punjab in August 1916. His father was working in Madon Theatres, Calcutta. Sunder also started working there. Initially, for long period,he did Girl’s roles. Once his work was seen by H.S.Rawail (Director in later life). He was quite impressed. Later Rawail started working with R.N.Vaidya as his assistant in direction.Meanwhile Sunder started working in Talkie films. His first film,where he was credited was ” Na honewali baat”-38. Before that, Rawail and Vaidya were preparing to make film Banke Sipahi-37.Rawail recommended Sunder and Vaidya gave him an uncredited small role in that film.

Sunder and Rawail became good friends and started staying in one flat in Calcutta. After few films here, they both went to Lahore and Sunder got the Hero’s role in film ” Shukriya”-44. There were 4 Heroines in the film- Ramola, Rooplekha, Manorama and Raksha. Sunder’s role in this film was that of a young man from a village and Ramola was from a City. Sunder’s one song from this film-‘ Nayanon ke teer chala gayee ek shehar ki laundiya’ became very popular allover India, However the song was banned in Punjab due to its lyrics. After this they both came back to Calcutta.

His next film was Albeli-45, in which too there were 4 Heroines- Ramola, Rooplekha, Manoram and Usha. In the 40’s , Sunder acted in many films like Arabian Nights, Baap, Shabri, Chandrashekhar, Ek aurat, Grihalaxmi, Lottery, Samapti, Jhoothi kasme, Savyasachi, Do baaten, Shadi ke baad, Bawra, Khiladi, Nai Bhabhi etc. In Calcutta, Sunder got married to a girl from his community. Rawail left for Bombay. After few months, Sunder also returned to Bombay.

Rawail was very happy to get him back and gave him roles in almost all of his films. Not only Rawail, but also J.Om Prakash, Mohan Kumar, Lekhraj Bhakri, Manoj kumar etc gave him roles in their all films and he became a busy actor. He was at one time, in great demand. He was quite popular due to his nature.In the decade of 50’s he did 88 films, which increased in the 60s and 70s. In the 80s however films came haltingly.

From singing Hero, he became a Junior artiste( extra), in presence of the new crop of actors. The role of comedians was on decline, as Heroes like Amitabh and others did comedy scenes themselves. His health started troubling him. His last film was probably Bahurani-89. He became ill for a long time and finally died on 5-3-1992. Sunder acted in 436 films He was a good singer and sang his own songs in early cinemas. In all, Sunder sang 40 songs in 25 films. ( Thanks to Harish Raghuwanshi ji for material for adaptation.)

I do not know, what the film Abla-41 was about and what its story was. I could not find anything about this film in any issues of Film India of that period. Only 2 songs of the total 6 songs in the film are available on You Tube. From the HFGK, it is known that the film’s singers were Ram Dulari, Binapani, Bhawani and Akbar Khan Durrani Peshawari- who had worked in the film also. Today’s song is sung by Akbar Khan and Chorus. With this song, film Abla-41 makes its Debut on the Blog.

Song-Bharat ki vidhwa dukhiyaari (Abla)(1941) Singer- Akbar Khan Durrani Peshawari, Lyricist- Pt. Gyan Chandra, MD- Khurshid Khan
Chorus
Unknown female voice 1
Unknown female voice 2

Lyrics

Bharat ki vidhva dukhiyaari
Bharat ki vidhava
Bharat ki vidhava dukhiyaari
Bharat ki vidhva

bin maalik ke kheti jaaye
bin maalik ke kheti jaaye
chor uchakka najar lagaaye
chor uchakka najar lagaaye
laage aag bhasam ho jaaye
laage aag bhasam ho jaaye
sookhe jeewan ki phulwaari
Bharat ki vidhva dukhiyaari
Bharat ki vidhva

?? jewar
?? saare
?? jewar
?? saare
har deewaali gaye intzaari
har deewaali gaye intzaari
mata pita bhi thokar maaren
mata pita bhi thokar maaren
bipad padi dukhiya pe bhaari
Bharat ki vidhava dukhiyari
Bharat ki vidhava

jaago jaago hosh mein aao
ghar mein laagi aag bujhaao
jaago jaago hosh mein aao
ghar mein laagi aag bujhaao
vidhwaaon ke kasht mitaao
vidhwaaon ke kasht mitaao
?? dekh ki duniya bhaari
Bharat ki vidhva dukhiyaari
Bharat ki vidhva

Tags: 1941, Abla, Akbar Khan Durrani Peshaawari, Khursheed Khan, Pt Gyan Chandra

Naya zamaana aaya logon naya zamaana aaya

Posted by: Atul on: December 8, 2018

This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog.This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.

Blog Day :

3795

Post No. :

14782

Today’s song is from the film Naya Sansaar-41. This was a film made by Bombay Talkies. It was directed by N.R.Acharya and the music was by Saraswati Devi (4 songs ) and Ramchandra Pal (6 songs ). The lead pair of the film was Ashok Kumar and Renuka devi, along with Mubarak, Shahnawaz, Suresh, David, V.H.Desai and many more.

Bombay Talkies was established By Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani in 1934. Their marriage was a confluence of two rich,cultured,educated and Handsome/ Beautiful souls with common interests. While in England, these two frequently appeared on page 3 of the Tabloids of London. They came back to India and established Bombay Talkies Studios in the far western suburb of Bombay City- Malad. The rich and the famous joined them as shareholders and the studio soon boasted of most modern equipment, and a team of European ( read German ) technicians. Himanshu Rai was keen to have only the educated and capable artistes from respectable families. At the pinnacle period, the company had a roll call of 400 persons. They were offered the best of facilities for work and recreation. A 24 hr. Medical assistance with a Doctor was also made available.

Within two years of its existence, Bombay Talkies got its first jolt, when its Heroine cum owner-Devika Rani, eloped with her handsome Hero- Najmul Hasan. This whole thing was somehow managed, with Devika Rani’s return to Bombay Talkies. In the process, a new Hero- Ashok kumar emerged, from within its own stock. Soon all seemed well and the company rolled out 15 films- mostly successful and its name became synonymous with quality films and popular music.

The second jolt came in 1939, when film Kangan was being made and the Second World War started on 1-9-1939. In addition to restrictions on Raw film supply, the British Government arrested the German Technicians of Bombay Talkies and deported, Franz Osten-Director, Joseph Wirsching-Cinematographer, Carl Von Spratti- Set Designer and Len Hartley- Sound Recordist, to Deolali ( near Nashik) under house arrest. Film Kangan was completed by the second line staff of N.R.Acharya and Najam Naqvi. Soon Himanshu Rai lost his mind, suffered from mental illness and died on 19-5-1940.

After his death, the Directors of Bombay Talkies, namely-F.A.Dinshaw, Chimanlal Setalvad, Sir Chunilal Mehta, Sir Phiroze Sethna, Sir Richard Temple and Cawasji Jahangir met in a huddle and appointed Devika Rani as the Production In charge of the company with all powers. Consequently, this led to dissatisfaction among a group of people led by S.Mukherjee. So, two teams were formed for making films. To the credit of Devika Rani, it must be said that during her reign, Bombay Talkies rolled out the best films ever from the studio,like Bandhan, Jhoola, Kismet, Basant, Jwar Bhata, Milan etc till 1945. Devika Rani left Bombay Talkies in 1945 after her marriage. The other group had already left to form Filmistan. During this disturbed phase of the company, film Naya Sansar was made based on the story, screenplay and Dialogues by K.A.Abbas.

Khwaja Ahmad Abbas was born in Panipat, Haryana, on 7-6-1916. He was born in the home of celebrated Urdu poet, ‘Khwaja Altaf Husain Hali’, a student of Mirza Ghalib. His grandfather Khwaja Gulam Abbas was one of the chief rebels of the 1857 Rebellion movement, and the first martyr of Panipat to be blown from the mouth of a cannon. Abbas’s father Ghulam-Us-Sibtain graduated from Aligarh Muslim University, was a tutor of a prince and a prosperous businessman, who modernised the preparation of Unani medicines. Abbas’s mother, ‘Masroor Khatoon’, was the daughter of Sajjad Husain, an enlightened educationist. Abbas took his early education in ‘Hali Muslim High School’, which was established by his great grand father Hali. He had his early education till 7th in Panipat. He was instructed to read the Arabic text of the Quran and his childhood dreams swung at the compulsive behest of his father. Abbas completed his matriculation at the age of fifteen. He did his B.A. with English literature in 1933 and LL.B. in 1935 from Aligarh Muslim University

Worked on National Call, a New Delhi paper (1933); started Aligarh Opinion when studying law (1934); obtained law degree in 1935; political correspondent and later film critic for nationalist Bombay Chronicle, Bombay (1935- 47) praising Dieterle, Capra and esp. Shantaram. Wrote Indian journalism’s longest- running weekly political column, Last Page (1941-86), in Chronicle and Blitz. Best-known fiction (Zafran Ke Phool situated in Kashmir, Inquilab on communal violence) places him in younger generation of Urdu and Hindi writers with Ali Sardar Jafri and Ismat Chughtai, whose work followed the PWA? and drew sustenance from Nehruite socialism’s pre- Independence, anti-Fascist and anti-communal commitments. Founder member of IPTA’s all- India front (1943), to which he contributed two seminal plays: Yeh Amrit Hai and Zubeida. Entered film as publicist for Bombay Talkies (1936) to whom he sold his first screenplay, Naya Sansar (1941). First film, Dharti Ke Lal, made under IPTA’s banner and drew on Bijon Bhattacharya’s classic play Nabanna (1944), dealing with the Bengal famine of 1943.

Set up production company Naya Sansar (1951), providing India’s most consistent representation of socialist-realist film (cf. Thoppil Bhasi and Utpal Dutt). Best work is in the scripts for his own films and for those of Raj Kapoor (Awara 1951); Shri 420 (1955), 1955, both co-written with V.P. Sathe; Jagte Raho, 1956; Bobby, 1973) and Shantaram’s Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani (1946; adapted from his own book, And One Did Not Come Back), which combined aspects of Soviet cinema (Pudovkin) and of Hollywood (e.g. Capra and Upton Sinclair), influencing a new generation of Hindi cineastes (Kapoor, Chetan Anand) and sparking new realist performance idioms (BALRAJ SAHNI). His Munna, without songs or dances, and Shaher Aur Sapna, cheaply made on location in slums, were described as being influenced by neo-realism. Pardesi is the first Indian-Soviet co-production, co- directed by Vassili M. Pronin. The landmark Supreme Court censorship judgement about his Char Shaher Ek Kahani (aka A Tale of Four Cities) curtailed ‘arbitrary’ governmental pre- censorship powers on the grounds that the Indian Constitution guarantees the right to free speech. His constitutional challenge of the Cinematograph Act led to the famous Supreme Court decision upholding the validity of precensorship of cinema. Interestingly in Interestingly in 1939, K A Abbas had written a letter to Gandhi urging him to reconsider his opinion on the idea of the evil of cinema. He writes
“Today I bring for your scrutiny – and approval -a new toy my generation has learned to play with, the CINEMA! – You include cinema among evils like gambling, sutta, horse racing etc… Now if these statements had come from any other person, it was not necessary to be worried about them… But your case is different. In view of the great position you hold in this country, and I may say in the world, even the slightest expression of your opinion carries much weight with millions of people. And one of the world’s most useful inventions would be allowed to be discarded or what is worse, left alone to be abused by unscrupulous people. You are a great soul, Bapu. In your heart there is no room for prejudice. Give this little toy of ours, the cinema, which is not so useless as it looks, a little of your attention and bless it with a smile of toleration”.

Published many books including I Am Not An Island and Mad Mad World of Indian Films (both 1977). Other important scripts: Neecha Nagar (1946); Mera Naam Joker (1970); Zindagi Zindagi (1972); Henna (1991). Abbas also brought a number of new talents into the film industry, such as Amitabh Bachchan in Saat Hindustani . K.A.Abbas died on 1-6-1987 at Bombay. ( adapted, with thanks, from The Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema).

One of the many artistes developed by Bombay Talkies was N.R.Acharya. He was born in Karachi in 1909. He was a Government contractor, when he joined the East India Film Company, Calcutta- one of the first sound film studios in India. He shifted to Bombay and joined Bombay Talkies as Production Manager, when film Achhut Kanya was being made in 1936. When Franz Osten was arrested, while directing film kangan, he completed his work on that film.

He directed his first film Azad-40 and then Bandhan-40, both with Ashok kumar and Leela Chitnis. Then came Naya Sansar-41. When S.Mukherjee, Ashok kumar Wachha and others left Bombay Talkies, he too left, but did not join any group. He started his own company Acharya Arts productions. He produced and directed kishor Sahu’s film Kunwara Baap-42. Then it was Uljhan-42,Aage Kadam-43, parivartan and Shohrat-49, Gujarati film Lagna Mandap-50 and lastly Dhola Maru-56. Amiya Chakravarty and gyan mukherjee were his followers. He died in 1993.

The story of film Naya Sansar-41, as given on wiki, is…

The film was written by Abbas, who was a film critic at that time. He used his journalistic background to create a story about the rising radicalism in Indian society and journalism. The story addressed the conflict between a dynamic young reporter and his cautious, yet idealistic, editor of the fictional progressive newspaper, ‘Sansar’. The story line revolved around the editor, Premchand (Mubarak), who is in love with a beautiful orphan named Asha (Renuka Devi), whom his family has raised from an infant. Soon after Asha starts working for the paper, she falls in love with Sansar’s star reporter and dedicated radical-journalist, Puran (Ashok Kumar). Asha, however, still feels indebted to Premchand’s family.
When Premchand starts to hedge on his radicalism by dealing with the evil Dhaniram, Puran quits, and starts his own newspaper, “Naya Sansar”. Premchand quickly sees the error of his ways, and not only returns to the paper’s previous left-wing stance, but also condones the marriage of Asha and Puran.

One remarkable thing about film Naya Sansar. Ashok Kumar started his career from Jeevan Naiya-36 and acted in 11 films till Naya Sansar-41. He became famous as a Romantic hero. His biggest problem was he did not know what to do about his hands while acting and felt very embarrassed in his films. Due to this he looked bewildered in his films all the time.

In film Naya Sansar-41 he solved this problem. His role was of Puran-a radical journalist. For the first time, he smoked cigarette on the screen and his problem of hands was solved for ever. Thus started his smoking as his trademark in films. Even in private life, he was a heavy smoker.

Today’s song is a chorus song, sung by Arun Kumar and Kavi Pradeep.

Song-Naya zamaana aaya logon naya zamaana aaya (Naya Sansaar)(1941) Singers- Singers-Arun Kumar Mukherji, Kavi Pradeep, Lyricst- Kavi Pradeep, MD- Saraswati Devi
chorus

Lyrics

Naya zamaana aaya logon
naya zamaana aaya
Naya zamaana aaya logon
naya zamaana aaya
aaz naya sansaar sang mein
nayi kahaani laaya
haan haan
nayi kahaani laaya
ho Naya zamaana aaya logon
naya zamaana aaya

jag mein jeewan jyot jagaane
aazaadi ka bigul bajaane
aaj naya sansaar nayi dhun
nayi zindagi laaya
haan haan
nayi zindagi laaya

lo Naya zamaana aaya logon
naya zamaana aaya
halchal charon aor machi hai
chahal pahal ghanghor machi hai
lo duniya bhar ke samaaj ki
palat chuki hai kaaya
Naya zamaana aaya logon
naya zamaana aaya
lo duniya bhar ke samaaj ki
palat chuki hai kaaya
Naya zamaana aaya logon
naya zamaana aaya

kadam kadam par naya taraana
kaun sunega geet puraana
kya dharti kya aasmaan
donon par joban chhaaya aa aa
Naya zamaana aaya
kya dharti kya aasmaan
donon par joban chhaaya aa aa
Naya zamaana aaya
Naya zamaana aaya logon
naya zamaana aaya
aaz naya sansaar sang mein
nayi kahaani laaya
haan haan
nayi kahaani laaya
lo Naya zamaana aaya logon
naya zamaana aaya
naya zamaana aaya

Tags: 1941, Arun Kumar Mukherji, Kavi Pradeep, Naya Sansaar, Saraswati Devi, Singer-Lyricist

Teri gali mein aaya saudaagar

Posted by: Atul on: November 13, 2018

This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.

Blog Day :

3770

Post No. :

14745

Movie Count :

4031

With today’s song, I am introducing not only a Debuting film, but also a great stage actor singer of the Marathi Theatre of yore. The film is Charnon ki daasi-1941 and the singer is Master Avinash.

In the early era of the Hindi films, there were many local artistes, as Bombay was the centre of not only Films but also of Industries, which made it a land of opportunities. Initially the 1930’s film music was, as we all know, greatly influenced by Marathi Natya Sangeet, Hindi classical music and Parsee/Gujarati stage songs. There were musical stalwarts like Annasaheb Mainkar, Master Krishnarao Phulambrikar, Madholal Master, Pransukh Nayak, S.P.Rane, Hari Prasanna Das, Lallubhai Nayak, Brijlal Varma, Nagardas Nayak, Govindrao Tembe, Keshavrao Bhole, Prof. B.R.Deodhar, Dada Chandekar etc etc.

Most of them came to films after working for stage dramas and hence their music was sounding same, whoever was the Music Director. Similarly, singers, who sang on the stage too tried their hand at the film music. However, most such singers failed to impress and their careers did not last long.

Those who are conversant with Marathi Natya Sangeet must be aware of the contributions made by musicians like Deenanath Mangeshkar and Bal Gandharva. The Mangeshkar legacy goes on and on even today. Ganpatrao Laxmanrao Mohite aka Master Avinash was also a tall figure in Natya Sangeet. Master Avinash (1909-2009) was trained in music by Deenanath Mangeshkar and was trained in acting by Chintamanrao Kolhatkar- a great Marathi stage actor.

Avinash was one of those, who were with Balwant Sangeet Mandali, since its inception in 1918. This drama company was established by Master Deenanath Mangeshkar along with Chintamanrao Kolhatkar and Krishnarao Kolhapure. From the beginning, Avinash used to do female roles and his name was taken along with Bal Gandharva, in this respect. Due to his singing skill, he was quite a popular actor on the stage. Several of his Natya Geet records came into market and sold very well.

Master Avinash was simply ” Ganu Mama ” to Mangeshkar family. Though the patriarch of the M-family expired in 1942, Avinash survived almost 70 years (67 to be exact) after him. They were very close, hence a respected person for the M-family. He could, till his end, tell them his experiences with Deenanath and many others of that era. He taught some songs to baby Lata, when she was so small. Surprisingly, till he died in 2009, at the age of 101, his memory and health was very good.

He acted in most dramas written by Acharya Atre (P.K.Atre of Navyug Films and Atre Pictures) as well as all his Marathi films. However, Avinash worked only in one Hindi film-Charnon ki Daasi-41, which was a remake of Marathi film, Paayachi Daasi. By the time he appeared in this film in 1941, his singing and acting style was becoming outdated, for the Hindi audience. New styles of Music and young new actors had entered Hindi films. In any case, he was very successful on Marathi stage, so he did not bother to work in Hindi films.

As per an article on him, in The Times of India of 16-5-2002, he was a good cricketer, a wrestler, actor, singer and Music Director. Daily exercises must have kept him going healthy till the last. He remembered many anecdotes of old times, actors and especially of Deenanath Mangeshkar. He had a good collection of old photos and cuttings to show to the TOI reporter, who took his interview. In most Marathi films, he worked as a Hero opposite Vanmala. In film Charnon ki Daasi also they are the lead pair. Acharya Atre gave him the name Avinash for the stage. His popularity made his name a rage and many new born children were given his name in those years.

Film Charnon ki Daasi was written by P.K.Atre. It was directed by Gajanan Jahagirdar and was produced by Atre Pictures. The Music Director was Annasaheb Mainkar ( there were 3 Annasahebs in Hindi film Music. One was Mainkar, second was Datta Korgaonkar and third was C.Ramchandra. All were called Annasaheb) and the lyricist was Pt. Anand Kumar. The cast was Durga Khote, Vanmala, Gajanan Jahagirdar, Master Avinash, Kusum Deshpande, Nazeer Bedi, Ramesh, Sudhir and many others.

It was a typical Marathi reform social consisting of the age old friction of ” Saas-Bahu “. Durga Khote was the evil mother in law, who tortures the educated daughter in law-Vidya (Vanmala), with husband Murari (Avinash) protesting meekly. After the interval and towards the last part, the husband decides to be tough with his mother and the shocked saas surrenders and makes the Bahu head of the affairs. However, true to the middle class philosophy, the good Bahu returns the honour to the Saas and requests her to continue as family head ( minus the torture part, obviously), gives a very big speech and all is well in the end. The spice was added by the widowed Nanad- Champa (Kusum Deshpande). Gajanan Jahagirdar played Anokheram, the village scoundrel flirt, who is duly punished by the bahu, in the end.

In the advertisement of the film, the educational achievements of Vanmala-B.A., B.T. and Gajanan Jahagirdar- B.A. and Kusum Deshpande- B.A. was mentioned boldly and prominently.

Acharya Atre aka Pralhad Keshav Atre ( 13-8-1898 to 13-6-1969) was a Marathi-Hindi director and controversial literary figure in post-WW1 Maharashtra. Educated at the universities of Bombay and London; he studied experimental psychology under Cyril Burt and taught at Harrow before returning to India.

Owner-editor of populist down-market ” Maratha” newspaper; he was one-time Congress Party MLA. Later he became anti congress. He was Author of 22 plays, 13 short-story collections, four books of poetry and a 4-volume autobiography (Atre, 1965-7).

He was Teacher and producer of several school textbooks, often calling himself Principal Atre in his film credits. Aggressive polemicist remembered for famous literary battles with N.S. Phadke and Mama Warerkar.

He owned Chitramandir Studio/Atre Pictures (1940), the Atre Printing Press (1944) and Atre Arts (1968). He started his Film career by adapting his own short stories for Master Vinayak (Brahmachari, 1938; Brandichi Batli, 1939). He became a leading independent scenarist (e.g. Raja Rani, 1942) and pioneered the entry of new literary modes emerging from non-fictional prose into post-Independence Marathi film. His chosen genre was political satire, usually directed against the realist conventions of pre-WW1 social reform novels with their caste biases and Anglophilia.

However, his best-known film as director was the bitter-sweet melodrama Shyamchi Aai. Wrote plays in many genres: thrillers (To Mee Navhech), tragedies (rewriting the reformist Sangeet Natak playwright Ram Ganesh Gadkari and his own Udyacha Sansar) and satire. Noted scripts: Dharmaveer, Premveer, Begunah (all 1937), Ardhangi/ Ghar Ki Rani, Lapandav (both 1940). Preferred to hire directors rather than to direct. Produced and wrote his own movies, often starring actress Vanmala, through his Atre Pics, founded in 1940.

Gajanan Jahgirdar (2-4-1907 to 13-8-1988) the director of this film was the first Director of FTII in 1960. He is probably the only person in India at least, who has written 2 autobiographies-in 1971 and in 1986. He worked in 147 films and directed 17 films. He also wrote some songs in film Sant Tulsidas-1934.

Let us now listen to the first song of Master Avinash here. He makes his Debut and with this song, the film also makes its Debut.

Song-Teri gali mein aaya saudaagar (Charnon Ki Daasi)(1941) Singer-Master Avinash, Lyrics-Pt Anand Kumar, MD-Annasahab Mainkar

Lyrics

teri gali mein aaya saudaagar
kar le jawaani ka mol
kar le jawaani ka mol
meri sajni
kar le jawaani ka mol
meri sajni
kar le jawaani ka mol

teri zulfen rahin hain machal
tae ne keenhe hain naagan ke bal
tere abroo ne talwar taani hai amdaar
naina rahe munh se bol
tere naina rahe munh se bol
meri sajni
kar le jawaani ka mol
meri sajni
kar le jawaani ka mol
gori
teri gali mein aaya saudaagar
kar le jawaani ka mol
kar le jawaani ka mol
meri sajni
kar le jawaani ka mol
meri sajni
kar le jawaani ka mol

teri bindi pe daali nazar
goya sooraj raha ho nikhar
tere surme ki dhaar
phooti chhaathi ke paar
gayi chitwan kaleje ko chhod
gayi chitwan kaleje ko chhod
meri sajni
kar le jawaani ka mol
meri sajni
kar le jawaani ka mol
gori
teri gali mein aaya saudaagar
kar le jawaani ka mol
kar le jawaani ka mol
meri sajni
kar le jawaani ka mol
meri sajni
kar le jawaani ka mol

tere gaalon ke donon ghadhe
tere gaalon ke donon ghadhe
hain khumaari mein lab tak bhare
hain khumaari mein lab tak bhare
tere honthon ki thirkan
gaalon ki ubhran
thhodi ka til hai amol
teri thhodi ka til hai amol
meri sajni
kar le jawaani ka mol
meri sajni
kar le jawaani ka mol
gori
teri gali mein aaya saudaagar
kar le jawaani ka mol
kar le jawaani ka mol
meri sajni
kar le jawaani ka mol
meri sajni
kar le jawaani ka mol

———————————————————
Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir Kapur)
———————————————————

तेरी गली में आया सौदागर
करले जवानी का मोल
करले जवानी का मोल
मेरी सजनी
करले जवानी का मोल
मेरी सजनी
करले जवानी का मोल

तेरी ज़ुल्फें रहीं हैं मचल
तैने कीन्हे हैं नागन के बल
तेरे अबरू ने तलवार तानी है अमदार
नैना रह मुंह से बोल
तेरे नैना रह मुंह से बोल
मेरी सजनी
करले जवानी का मोल
मेरी सजनी
करले जवानी का मोल
गोरी
तेरी गली में आया सौदागर
करले जवानी का मोल
करले जवानी का मोल
मेरी सजनी
करले जवानी का मोल
मेरी सजनी
करले जवानी का मोल

तेरी बिंदी पे डाली नज़र
गोया सूरज रहा हो निखर
तेरे सुरमे की धार
फूटी छाती के पार
गई चितवन कलेजे को छोल
गई चितवन कलेजे को छोल
मेरी सजनी
करले जवानी का मोल
मेरी सजनी
करले जवानी का मोल
गोरी
तेरी गली में आया सौदागर
करले जवानी का मोल
करले जवानी का मोल
मेरी सजनी
करले जवानी का मोल
मेरी सजनी
करले जवानी का मोल

तेरे गालों के दोनों घड़े
तेरे गालों के दोनों घड़े
हैं खुमारी में लब तक भरे
हैं खुमारी में लब तक भरे
तेरे होठों की थिरकन
गालों की उभरन
ठोड़ी का तिल है अमोल
तेरी ठोड़ी का तिल है अमोल
मेरी सजनी
करले जवानी का मोल
मेरी सजनी
करले जवानी का मोल
गोरी
तेरी गली में आया सौदागर
करले जवानी का मोल
करले जवानी का मोल
मेरी सजनी
करले जवानी का मोल
मेरी सजनी
करले जवानी का मोल

Tags: 1941, Actor-Singer, Annasahab Mainkar, Charnon Ki Daasi, Master Avinash, Pt Anand Kumar

Le chal ri saagar paar

Posted by: Atul on: November 13, 2018

This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.

Blog Day :

3770

Post No. :

14744

Movie Count :

4030

Kikubhai Desai who was the producer-director of many successful stunt films during 1930s and early 40s, may not be known to most of the present generation movie buff or even immediate preceding generation. However, if it is revealed that he was the father of Manmohan Desai, the producer-director of many block buster films during 1960s through 1980s, some of the movie enthusiastic especially the movie fans of Manmohan Desai, may develop interest in knowing Kikubhai Desai.

I first came to know about Kikubhai Desai in one of the old issues of ‘Filmindia’ magazine about 5 years back as a producer/director of a stunt film( I have forgotten the name of the movie). While covering rare songs from films of 1930s and 40s during 2015, I came across the information that Kikubhai Desai was the father of Subhash and Manmohan Desai ! This revelation generated interest in me to know about him in detail. In my article posted in the Blog about 2 years back, I had made a brief mention about the filmy career of Kikubhai Desai. Thereafter, I lost track and did not pursue the subject further.

Recently, while flipping through the pages of January 1942 issue if ‘Filmindia’ magazine, I came across a small news about the sudden death of Kikubhai Desai on November 26, 1941 when he was giving finishing touches to his comedy film ‘Sheikh Chilli’ (1942). This reminded me of my unfinished work to get Kikubhai Desai’s life profile and his filmy career more vigorously than before.

Kikubhai B. Desai (1902-26/11/1941) was born in Sandalpur (now in Navsari district of Gujarat) in an Anavil Brahmin family. Not much is known about his educational background. In 1925, Kikubhai Desai joined as Manager in Jupiter Film Company which was soon taken over by Nanubhai Desai, (father of actress Bindu), one of the two founders of Sharda Pictures, the other being Bhogilal Dave.

However, Nanubhai Desai retired from the partnership in Sharda Pictures and decided to join hands with Ardeshir Irani to set up Sagar Films (Later renamed as Sagar Movietone). Due to some last minute disagreement, Nanubhai Desai withdrew from Sagar Films before it was set up and started Saroj Pictures (later renamed as Saroj Movietone in 1931). He made Kikubhai to handle the film distribution in Punjab and Bangalore branches for Saroj Pictures.

In 1929, Kikubhai visited Bangalore (Bengaluru) and met Haribhai Desai, the proprietor of Surya Film Company who was also his relative. At that time, Surya Films was making its first silent film ‘Raj Hriday’. Haribhai told him that if he has come to enjoy only the colourful world of film industry, he would be sent back home. If he was prepared to work hard and learn the nuances of the film making, he will put him in production department. So Kikubhai started his work from the production department.

When ‘Raj Hriday’ was completed, Kikubhai Desai was made in charge of publicity department. Although compared to production department, publicity department was not a high profile work at that time. Kikubhai felt that he would miss working among the hero-heroines of the films with lot of activities and fun on the set. However, in the absence of any other work opportunity, he reluctantly accepted the change of work. Kikubhai tried new way of publicity for ‘Raj Hriday’ (1929). He got printed a large quantity of attractive pamphlets of the films and got them dropped from the plane in Mumbai. Such publicity was done for the first time. Kikubhai’s novelty in the publicity of the film impressed Haribhai so much that he made him Manager of his Bombay (Mumbai) distribution office.

In Mumbai, Kikubhai’s novel way of publicity of ‘Raj Hriday’ had a positive impact on the film which became a hit. Producers from other banners started giving him contract for the publicity of their films. He did this work for about 2 years during which time he had earned sufficient income to establish his own film production company, Paramount Films and the Paramount Studio at Andheri East in 1931. The banner produced its first silent film, ‘Fauladi Pahelwan’ (1931). Jayant Desai directed the film with Chandrarao Kadam and Miss Nirmala in the lead. In all, Kikubhai produced 8 silent films during 1931-33.

‘Husn Ka Ghulam’ (1933) was Paramount’s first talkie film made under the banner of Saroj Movietone. Thereafter, he produced on an average 3 films every year. None of the online sources give complete list of the filmography of Kikubhai Desai. Manmohan Desai had once mentioned, among other things, that his father had produced/directed 31 talkies during 1931-41. With this vital information, I set upon preparing the filmography of Kikubhai Desai. It was not an easy task to prepare an exhaustive list of films produced by Kikubhai Desai. Sometime his name was mentioned as K B Desai or K Desai. He had also produced films under the banners of India Liberty Films/ Great India Films in addition to his main banner, Paramount Films. I had to rely on the posters/advertisements of the films for confirmations.

Following is the list of films produced by him some of which he directed:

Sr. No.	Name of the film	Director	Banner
01	Husn Ka Ghulam (1933)	J P Advani	Paramount/Saroj
02	Baghdad Ka Chor (1934)	D N Madhok	Paramount
03	Hoor-E-Baghdad (1934)	R N Vaidya	Paramount
04	Chalta Purza (1934)	R N Vaidya	Paramount
05	Khooni Khanjar (1935)	R N Vaidya /Kikubhai Desai	Paramount
06	Jaadui Danda (1935)	Dwarka Khosla	Paramount
07	Tufaani Tamancha (1935)	R N Vaidya	Paramount
08	Burkhawaali (1936)	Kikubhai Desai	India Liberty
09	Laal Panja (1936)	Kikubhai Desai	Paramount
10	Farz-E-Ada(1936)	A M Khan	India Liberty
11	Bansari Baala (1936)	A M Khan	India Liberty
12	Guru Ghantal (1937)	Kikubhai Desai	India Liberty
13	Kaala Bhoot (1937)	A M Khan	India Liberty
14	Taranhaar (1937)	Kikubhai Desai	India Liberty
15	Sinhaldweep Ki Sundari (1937)	Kikubhai Desai	Indis Liberty
16	Alladdin aur Jaadui Chiraag (1938)	Nanubhai Vakil	India Liberty
17	Baanke Saanwaria (1938)	Nanubhai Vakil	India Liberty
18	Madhraat Ka Mehmaan (1938)	Kikubhai Desai	India Liberty
19	Madhu Bansari (1939)	Kikubhai Desai	Paramount
20	Sunehri Toli/Golden Gang (1939)	Kikubhai Desai	Paramount
21	Sansar Naiyya (1939)	Nanubhai Vakil	Paramount
22	Reshmi Saari (1940)	G P Pawar	Paramount
23	Golibaar (1940)	Nanubhai Vakil	Paramount
24	Sneh Bandhan (1940)	J P Advani	Great India
25	Aflatoon Aurat/ Amazon (1940)	Kikubhai Desai	Paramount
26	Akela (1941)	Pessi Karani	Great India
27	Mere Raja (1941)	T S Mani	Paramount
28	Circus Ki Sundari/Circus Queen (1941)	Balwant Bhatt	Paramount
29	Sheikh Chilli (1942)	Kikubhai Desai	Paramount

This list has been vetted by Harish Raghuvanshi ji, the Film Historian who added 4 films to this list making it 29 out of 31 mentioned by Manmohan Desai. The remaining 2 films may be the ones which were under production at the time of Kikubhai Desai’s death in 26/11/1941. Incidentally, for ‘Dashavatar’ (1951) produced under the banner of J K Films and directed by Jayant Desai, the name of Kikubhai Desai has been mentioned as producer. This may be one of the two unfinished films of Kikubhai Desai which may have been taken over by J K Films with new cast and crew.

From the titles of the films listed above, it is clear that Kikubhai Desai specialised in producing mainly stunt films. He seems to have shifted to producing romantic/social films like ‘Sneh Bandhan’ (1940), ‘Akela’ (1941) and a comedy film ‘Sheikh Chilli’ (1942).

I have noted from the star cast of the films produced under the banners of Paramount Films, India Liberty Films and Great India Films that Gohar Karnataki, Miss Pokhraj, Miss Moti, Shiraz, Gulab, Shankar Vazare, Navinchandra, Dalpat, Sardar Mansoor etc were the main actors. Damodar Sharma was the music director for as many as 23 films out of 29 films listed above.

As mentioned earlier, during the final touches to the film ‘Sheikh Chilli’ (1942) which was produced and directed by Kikubhai Desai, he collapsed and died of rupture in appendix on November 26, 1941 at the age of 39.

The sudden death of Kikubhai Desai created a void in his film production companies, Paramount Films and India Liberty Films/Great India Films. At the time of his death, besides ‘Sheikh Chilli’ (1942) which was at the editing stage, two more films were under initial stages of productions. All the works came to a standstill. His two sons, Subhash Desai and Manmohan Desai and a daughter were minors. With heavy liabilities and debts, Kikubhai’s wife decided to sell their big bungalow in Varsova with a fleet of cars and other assets of the film production companies except the Paramount Studio at Andheri (now Filmalaya Studio). She leased the Paramount Studio to Shiraz Ali Hakim on a monthly rental of Rs.500/- for the sustenance of the family. After selling the bungalow, the entire family shifted to Khetwadi in South Mumbai.

‘Circus Ki Sundari’ aka ‘Circus Queen’ (1941) was released on November 28, 1941 (2 days after the sudden death of Kikubhai Desai, the producer of the film) in Mumbai at Super Talkies. The film was directed by Balwant Bhatt. The star cast included Miss Moti, Jal Merchant, Gulab, S L Puri, Bose, Dhulia, A. Karim, Agha, Rekha etc.

The film was shot inside a real circus with its complete paraphernalia of artists and the wild animals. Probably, it was for the first time in India that a film was shot in the actual lions and tigers cages of a circus. Miss Moti must be a courageous girl do the shooting in the midst of lions and tigers. The story of the film runs more or less on the same lines which has been used in many stunt films of that time.

There is a weak King (S L Puri) who has a popular younger brother-prince named Pratap (Jal Merchant). There is a good prime minister and a wicked woman called Shyama Devi (Gulab) who lives with the King. Lastly, there is a gang of ruffians to complete the ingredients for a stunt film.

A circus is camped in the King’s capital in which an artist named Sundari (Miss Moti) acts with wild animals including lions and tigers. King is impressed with Sundari and wants her to be his mistress. He assigns this task to his henchmen. It so happens that Prince Pratap, King’s brother accidentally meets Sundari and they fall in love.

Now comes a third angle in the guise of Shyamla Devi who though lives with the King but likes to flirt with Prince Pratap. She hatches a plot to overthrow the King but on each occasion, the wise prime minister frustrates her efforts. So it is a three-way war for the supremacy – the King and his henchmen for bringing Sundari for him, Prince Pratap and Sundari to turn their love into a marriage and Shymala Devi and her ruffians to overthrow the King. All the three groups work simultaneously to achieve their respective goals. The end result is that Shyamla Devi dies in a large pot of burning oil. prince Pratap gets Sundari with the blessings of the King. The prime minister becomes victorious. [Paraphrased from the review of the film published in January 1942 issue of ‘Film India’ magazine].

The film had 10 songs which were written by P L Santoshi and A Karim. But the division of the songs between the two lyricists is not known. All the songs were set to music by Khan Mastana.

I present the first among 10 songs ‘le chal ri saagar par naiyya’ from the film ‘Circus Ki Sundari’ (1941). The song is sung by actor-singer Miss Moti.

With this song, ‘Circus Ki Sundari/Circus Queen’ (1941) makes a debut in the Blog.

Acknowledgements:
———————–
1. I am grateful to Harish Raghuvanshi ji for providing me with the material on the early life and filmy career of Kikubhai Desai. He also sent me the scanned copies of the 3 pages from the Gujarati book ‘Sapna Na Saudagar’ written by Vitthal Pandya. He also helped me in updating the list of talky films produced/directed by Kikubhai Desai.

2. ‘Manmohan Desai’s Enchantment of the Mind’ by Connie Haham. Some pages were available online through Google Books in which Manmohan Desai talked about his father and their early days in Khetwadi (South Mumbai).

3. ‘The Advent of Sound in Indian Cinema’ by Virchand Dharamsey – published in the ‘Journal of the Moving Image’ as a research article (Pages 22 to 49).

Audio Clip:

Song-Le chal ri saagar paar (Circus Queen)(1941) Singer-Miss Moti, MD-Khan Mastana

Lyrics

le chal ri saagar paar
naiyya
le chal ri saagar paar
saagar paar sunhari duniya
saagar paar sunhari duniya
rehti sada bahaar
roop jawaani raaja raani
roop jawaani raaja raani
mil gaayen malhaar
mil gaayen malhaar
naiyya
le chal re saagar paar

chalna haule haule
naiyya
chalna haule haule
beech bhanwar na dole
chalna haule haule
naiyya
chalna haule haule
beech bhanwar na dole
sang na khewanhaar
sang na khewanhaar
le chal ri saagar paar
naiyya
le chal ri saagar paar
naiyaa
le chal ri saagar paar

Tags: 1941, Actor-Singer, Circus Queen, Khan Mastana, Miss Moti

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