Archive for the ‘Songs of 1942’ Category
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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Today’s song is from a film Iqraar-42. The song is sung by Bulo C Rani, who became a Music Director himself in 1943. Music Director for this film was Khemchand Prakash. The film was directed by Manibhai Vyas. The 10 songs of the film were written by Pt. Indra and Munshi Dil. The cast of the film was, Madhuri, Motilal, Rama Shukul, Shanta Kashmiri,Bhagwandas, Tarabai, Bhoopat Rai and others.
Cut to….
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Place- Shanmukhanand Hall,Mumbai
Date 7-2-1999
Time- 7 p.m.
Programme- Felicitation to ‘ Stars from the Silent Era’
Organisers- ” Amrut” and ” Cine Society of Bombay ”The entire hall was overcrowded. Not only all the seats were occupied,but people were standing wherever possible. Everybody wanted to see the Two STARS on the stage-Jairaj and Madhuri. Both were in their late 80s,but looked radiant and smiling. For Madhuri it was a surprise,that the organisers found her out after living in oblivion for over 50 years. She was simply overwhelmed with the people’s affection and love. For Jairaj,these things were not new. He has been around all the time.
Madhuri and Jairaj were a Popular pair in Silent film era. They worked as a lead pair in 3 films, one each in 1930-Rasili Rani, 1931-Warrior from the wild and 1932-My Hero. They came together after almost 70 years,on this stage.
Like many others, Madhuri too was an Anglo Indian. Her name was Beryl Claessen. She was born on 3-11-1913 at Delhi. Her father was a big officer in Government. Her initial schooling took place in Nainital. She learnt music too,because she wanted to become a Music Teacher. However that she never became,but on a visit to Bombay she was picked up by producer Indulal Yagnik and she started acting in silent films.
Many Heroines in those days were Anglo-Indians, Europeans or Jew girls. Since silent films did not require speaking Hindi or Urdu ( or any language,for that matter),these girls were preferred, as Indian audience loved their fair colour (Gori Mem). Additionally,these girls did not hesitate to give intimate scenes like kissing or doing stunts themselves. Most girls knew Horse riding, fencing and fighting.
In 1928,there was a Silent film Madhuri, but actress Sulochana(Ruby Myers) did this role and in 1932 there was a Talkie film Madhuri,in which also Sulochana only did the role. When Talkie films era began most of the Anglo Indian girls became jobless, since they could not speak Hindi/Urdu nor could they sing a song-the two requirements for actresses in Talkie films. However, a few intelligent and professional actresses learnt Hindi/Urdu language speaking. Madhuri and Sabita Devi (Irene Gasper) were two such clever girls who achieved proficiency in these matters.
Madhuri was very beautiful. After doing 17 silent films,she made her debut in Talike films with ‘ Pardesi Preetam’-1933. Jaswantlal Nandlal directed his first film here. Her Hero was Raja Sandow. She did many films for Ranjit under the direction of Jayant Desai. From 1933 to 1942,she acted in 26 films. They were (not in order) Kashmeera,Mitti ka Putla,Noor e watan,Secretary,Lehri lala,Rangeela Raja,Sitamgarh,Prithviputra,Thokar,Raj Ramni,Diwali,Matlabi Duniya,Toofani Toli,Shama parwana,College Girl,Nadira,Veer babruvahan,Zamin ka chaand,Ban ki chidia,Toofan Mail,mehmanSasural,shadi and Ikrar. By the way, Iqrar – 42 was Madhuri’s last film.
In 1941, Madhuri got married and retired from Film line. After this she simply disappeared for next 50 years without a trace,till the organisers of above programme located her.
This film was made by the film producing machine of the Industry- Ranjit Movietone. The huge set up of the studio, having a galaxy of stars on its roll, had at one time, as many as 300 persons on its pay roll. Most of the workers used to live in studio premises or around it. The Government had opened a Ration shop in the studio campus, for the benefit of their families.
I said it was a film machine, because at a time 5 to 6 films’ shootings took place on the 6 floors of the studio and films for future were planned at the same time. As per a News item published in Film India Magazine of November 1942, the studio had films ready for release…Gauri, Chhoti Maa, Bhakta Surdas, Dukh Sukh, Fariyad, Andhera and Iqrar. The films on floor were Tansen, Vish kanya, Sati Parvati, Kalidas, Shrawan kumar, Rakhi and Jaydev. Due to this continuous activity, the studio staff was always busy and one could hearthe musical rehearsals from near the Music Department.
Like all studios, Ranjit too had a system of employing Music Directors on monthly basis for long terms. In 1942, it was Khemchand Prakash. Hailing from Sujanghar in Rajasthan, Kemchand Prakash, born on 12-12-1907, was an accomplished Kathak dancer and a classical singer. The earthy music of Rajasthan flowed in his veins and helped him infuse irresistible charm into his compositions.
He learned Dhrupad *gaayaki* from his father Govardhan Prasad. He then went to Nepal and lived there for eight years under the patronage of the Maharaja. His career in films began when, on his return, he joined New Theatres (Calcutta) as an assistant to Timir Baran on a monthly salary of Rs.120. When he left New Theatres in 1939 he was drawing Rs. 500 p.m.
As Baran’s assistant he was said to have composed Saigal’s “baalam aaye baso more nam me.n” (in Raag Kafi) and “dukh ke ab bitat nahin” (Raag Des) in’Devdas.’ He even enacted a comic scene and sang a song “lo khaa lo madam khaanaa” in ‘Street Singer’ at the suggestion of the director, Phani Majumdar.
Khemchand migrated to Bombay with Prithviraj Kapoor and Kidar Sharma in search of independent assignments and joined Ranjit Movietone. Khemchand was employed by Ranjit Movietone from 1940 to 1945, in place of Gyan Dutt who was in Ranjit from 1937 to 1940 ( 15 films). Khemchand gave music to 20 films in 5 years period. When he left Ranjit, his friend Bulo C. Rani joined in his place. However ,by that time Ranjit was already going downhill due to financial difficulties caused by the gambling of Sardar Chandulal Shah. With ‘Meri Ankhen’ (1939) he proved himself as an independent composer. Followed ‘Pardesi’, ‘Shaadi’, and ‘Umeed’in 1941 which gave him a firm foothold in the Bombay industry.
One of the most popular songs composed by him during the early phase was sung by Khurshid: “pahele jo mohabbat se inakaar kiyaa hotaa.” “But Khurshid,” recalls Pandit Jagannath Prasad, a cousin and close associate of Khemchand, “was reluctant to sing the song.” And an angry Khemchand gave her the ultimatum: “Sing or get out.”
Unwilling to offend acomposer of Khemchand’s calibre, Khurshid finallygave in and rendered the song. Khurshid had her own reason for hisitating to sing the song, which was a recognizable rehash of Begum Akhtar’s famous ghazal,”deevaana bannana hai to.” She didn’t want to risk a comparison with the great Begum, for she was never really sure of her own calibre as a singer. Ironically, “pahele jo mohabbat” brought her unprecedented laurels!
Khemchand had more hits in 1942–like ‘Chandni’ and’ Khilauna.’ But it was ‘Tansen’ (1943), which sent hsi stock soaring. Based on the immortal singer’s life, ‘Tansen’ inspired Khemchand to come out with a veritable feast of light classical songs, which pleased both the connoisseur and the uninitiated. The film paired Saigal, who had been lured to Bombay by monetary considerations, with Khurshid. And Khemchand gave them a wide range of hummable songs to sing. “more baalaapan ke saathi” (Khurshid,Saigal), “dukhiyaa jiyaraa” and “baraso re” (Raag Megh Malhar–Khurshid), “ghata ghan ghor ghor” (Raag Sarang–Khurshid), “rumjhum rumjhum chaal tihaari”(Raag Shankara–Saigal), “diyaa jalaao” (Raag Deepak–Saigal) and “sapt suran teen graam” (Raag Hameer in Dhrupad–Saigal) were all brilliant compositions, which contributed in a big way to the film’s commercial suceess.
Khemchand’s sway over the Hindi film music scene continued unabated even after the influx of the robust Punjabi brand of music. He stuck steadfastly to classical and Rajasthani folk music and ghazals. His compositions in ‘Bharthari’ (“chandaa des piyaake jaa”–Amirbai), ‘Bhanwara’ (“ham apanaa unhebanaa na sake”–Saigal) and ‘Shahenshah Babar'(“mohabbat me.n saara jahaan jal rahaa hai”–Khurshid) became a rage.
Khemchand was in trouble when the Ranjit boss,Chandulal Shah, started disapproving of his association with outside producers. (Prakash Pictures’ ‘Samaj Ko Badal Dalo’ and Filmistan’s ‘Sindoor.’). The rift came to a head when Shah refused to let Khemchand use a raw voice for a song. “I don’t want an unknown voice in my film.” Shah told off Khemchand. And Khemchand walked out of Ranjit Movietone. The “unknown voice” was young Lata Mangeshkar’s! (Lata had been recommended to Khemchand by Anil Biswas, and he took an instant liking for her mellifluous voice.)
From Ranjit, Khemchand went to Bombay Talkies to score the music for ‘Ziddi.’ The success of the film vindicated his stand on Lata. Lata’s rendering of “chandaa re jaa re jaa re” based on a Rajasthani folk song “kaagaa re jaa re jaa re” was unanimously acclaimed.
‘Ziddi’ launched another eventful career–that of Kishore Kumar’s. In spite of his reputation as a ‘master yodeller’ and a singer of the frothy, light numbers, Kishore invariably excelled as a singer of sad songs. Khemchand Prakash was the first to discover this talent in Kishore. Besides the sad ‘Ziddi’ number (“marne ki duvaaye.n kyaa maangu”), he gave him another pathos-ridden song in ‘Rimjhim’ (jag mag jag mag kartaa nikalaa chaand poonam ka pyaara”).
A line in the song–“meri chaandani bichhad gayi mere ghar mein huaa andhiyaara”–proved ominously prophetic a fortnight after he’d composed the song, when his wife died, which made him a sad, lonely man, and perhaps accounted for the pathos recurring in his later compositions.
Nevertheless, Khemchand wore the facade of a ready-witted jovial person. He had an incorrigible weakness for good food and liquor. In his while dhoti and silk kurta, he was often mistaken for a rich Marwari, while he actually led a frugal existence. At Ranjit Novietone, Khemchand was paid Rs. 100 p.m. When he composed music for his last film at Bombay Talkies, he drew a salary of Rs.1,500. Producers for whom he freelanced seldom paid him his dues in spite of making the best use of his exceptional talent. Once, to collect the two thousand rupees Kishore Sahu owed him, he told the producer-director that he needed the money desperately to perform the last rites of his grandmother. When lyricist Bharat Vyas heard of this ‘bereavement’, he went to Khemchand to offer his condolences. The composer smiled wryly and said, “My grandmother is 90 and fit as a fiddle. I have been ‘killing’ her again and again only to collect my dues from the producers.”
In spite of his meagre earnings, Khemchand was a large-hearted man. He went out of his way to present a radio set to the general ward of Bombay’s K.E.M. Hospital where he had once undergone treatment. (“The antique piece is still working,” says his now physician, Dr. Hindlekar).
Khemchand never allowed his financial worries to affect his creativity. He exhibited his versatility in every composition of his of his–whether it was based on a classical raag (“kukat koyaliyaa kunjan mein”/raag Sarang/Kajjan/’Bharthari’); a Rajasthani folk tune (“silvaa de re sajanavaa mohe/Paro, SushilSahu/’Sindoor’); a ghazal (“dil lagaane mein kuchhmazaa hi nahin”/Khurshid/’Shahenshah Babar’); abhajan (“prabhu ke gun gaaoon main”/Khurshid,chorus/’Shadi’); a romantic song (“ye kaun aaj aayaare”/Kishore, Lata/’Ziddi’); or a heart-reding musical wail (“o roothe hue bhagavaan tum ko kaisemanaaoon”/Amirbai/’Sindoor’). Even as his stock went up as a musician and he came to be acknowledged as one of the best ever composers the film industry had known, Khemchand suffered an acute feeling of loneliness towards the later stages of his career after his wife’s sudden demise, and he began drowning himself in liquor.
During this phase, when he was hospitalized for abdominal ailment, he fell in love with a pretty nurse, Sridevi, who was to be his inspiration in times to come. Khemchand was in poor health when,unexpectedly, Kamal Amrohi assigned the music of Bombay Talkies’ ‘Mahal’ to him. Ashok Kumar had just come back to take over the reins of Bombay Talkies in a desperate attempt to prevent a great institution from crumbling. But the choice of Khemchand as the music director raked up a controversy, as doubts were raised about his about his ability to meet the needs of a changing breed of filmgoers. The music scene in the Bombay film industry had begun to change with breezy, catchy tunes taking over from the slow, classically oriented numbers. The rhythmic, rustic and fast-paced Punjabi folk music was becoming immensely popular. Would the ‘slow’ style of Khemchand suit the changing scene? When he heard the *mukhda* of”aayega aanevaala” in its formative stages, one of the producers of Bombay Talkies, Savak Vachcha, lost his temper, and asked Khemchand, “But when will it(the song) come?” (referring to “aayega” which is repeated five times in the song.) In his faltering Hindi the genial Parsi is said to have asked, “Aap to ‘aayega, aayega’ karte hain, vo aanevaala kidhar hai?”, which provoked the composer to walk out of the room in a fit of fury.
Sometime ago when Kamal Amrohi (who directed’Mahal’) was asked as to what had influenced the choice of Khemchand Prakash for the film, the 69-year old veteran said, “I’d been greatly impressed by Khemchand’s talent when he was with Ranjit. There was always an undercurrent of pathos in his music which reminded me of *marsia* (a dirge) and *noha*(the mournful songs of Moharrum). But he was reluctant to work with me because of my abusive tongue. When I wrote the first part (“khaamosh hai zamaane..”) of “aayega aanevaala”–the rest of the song was written by Nakhshab–and showed it to him,he instantly moved his fingers on the harmonium and played a tune… and I approved it on the spot. Though Nakhshab was angry with me for accepting the very first tune, Khemchand was relieved that I wasn’t so difficult a person after all! Nobody at Bombay Talkies, barring me, was confident of the success of ‘Mahal’ or its songs.”
The film and its music, however, went on to make history. “aayega aanevaala”, based on a Rajasthani folk tune, not only became the film’s major draw,but has remained a perennial favourite of music lovers. The song also opened floodgate of opportunities for Lata Mangeshkar.
Rajkumari, Khemchand’s favourite singer, also sang five memorable songs in ‘Mahal’ (including”ghabaraake jo ham sar ko” and “haaye mera dil”). Though, unfortunately, one of them (“suno mere nainaa”) had to be deleted from the film.
When ‘Mahal’ was released on October 13, 1950 at Bombay’s Roxy cinema to overwhelming response, Khemchand Prakash wasn’t alive to see the fruits of his labour. He had died two months earlier at the Harikisondas Hospital–on August 10, 1950–at the young age of 42.
At the time of his death, Sridevi was beside him. As she wasn’t married to Khemchand and had no legal rights over what he’d left behind, she was left high and dry.
Today, many years after Khemchand’s death, nothing seems to have changed for Sridevi. She still lives in the past, on the pavements of Borivli. Khemchand’s old physician, Dr. Hindlekar, still treats her with great care, but she’s no longer in a position to respond to anybody’s sympathy. The only sound which brings her back to ‘life’ is the strains of “aayega aanevaala.” Whenever she hears the song she stands still on the road, clutching at her only possession–a small sack of clothes and memories of a ‘melodious’ time.
( adapted from articles by Nalin Shah, Satish Chopra, Pankaj Raag and my notes, HFGK, MuVyz and Mid Day 12-2-1999.
Thanks to Harish Raghuwanshi ji )
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I have not seen this film and I do not know its theme. However, from a photo with comments in Film India magazine, it can be presumed that the film was a Love Triangle film. Two friends, Motilal and Rama Shukul vying for the same girl Madhuri. In the process they distance themselves from each others and Madhuri tries to bring them together again. One of the actors in this film is Tarabai. She was the elder sister of Sitara Devi and mother of famous Dancer Gopi Krishna. After marriage with Marutirao Pehelwan, she fell on bad days and started working sundry roles in films. Later on her condition became worse and she used to live in Bombay’s slums. Another actor Bhagwan das, who did small roles in films, became a big time producer, later on and then became a pauper also. He had married actress Poornima. One of the 10 songs of this film is sung by one Master Vithal. He was not that Vithal who acted in Aalam Ara-31-India’s first Talkie. This master Vithal was a professional singer from Sholapur.
Today’s song is sung by Bulo C Rani (6-5-1920 to 24-5-1993). He gave music to 71 films composing 574 songs. He sang 37 songs in 19 films also. His end was terrible. He committed suicide by burning himself in his house. Bulo C Rani had joined Ranjit after Khemchand Prakash left in 1945, but by that time, Ranjit was already drowning.
This song is a very slow paced song and I feel it has inspired some other popular song from some later film, but I am unable to pinpoint the song.
Song-Muhabbat mein luta dee apne haathon zindagi apni(Iqraar)(1942) Singer- Bulo C Rani, Lyrics- Not specified, MD- Khemchand Prakash
Lyrics
Muhabbat mein luta dee
apne haathon zindagi apni
Muhabbat mein luta dee
apne haathon zindagi apni
dil apna
aarzoo apni
hansi apni
khushi apni
dil apna
aarzoo apni
hansi apni
khushi apni
meri ghamgheen raaton mein
ujaala bhi andhera hai
meri ghamgheen raaton mein
ujaala bhi andhera hai
unhi ke bazm mein ae shamma
le ja raushni apni
unhi ke bazm mein ae shamma
le ja raushni apni
main barbaad e tamanna hoon
main naakaam e muhabbat hoon oon oon
main barbaad e tamanna hoon
main naakaam e muhabbat
muhabbat ke haseen waadon pe duniya
ro rahi apni
muhabbat ke haseen waadon pe duniya
ro rahi apni
tamanna thhi ki shaam e gham
tamanna thhi ki shaam e gham
kabhi saahil pe ?? hote ae ae ae ae ae
tumhaari qaid hoti aur ?? apni
muhabbat mein ??
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog.This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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3835 | Post No. : | 14843 | Movie Count : |
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Today’s song is from the film Return of Toofan Mail-42. It was a C grade Stunt film, made jointly ( for reasons not known,yet) by Wadia Movietone and Ranjit Studios. The film was directed by Aspy Irani ( Husband of actress Husn Bano) and the music was by Gyan Dutt for the lyrics of Pt. Indra.
Did you ever see films like, Khooni Khanzar, Dagabaj Doctor, Shaitaan ka paash, Char chakram, Daku Rani Talwarwali, Jaadu ka dandaa, Zinda Laash, Revolver Rani, Sindbad-Alladin-Alibaba, Flying man, Fighter Sheela, Khooni Darinda, Tarzan aur Jadugar, Tarzan aur Jadui Chiraag, Golden Gang, Murde ki jaan khatare mein, or Jadui putli ?
Obviously, these are the titles of all Stunt/Action films in Grade C. Considering the captive audience of such films, more spicy, odd and sensational titles were coined for these films to arouse curiosity. In the era of silent films, C grade stunt films were extremely popular. In fact a major part of the silent films was such films. May be that is the reason, why going to see a cinema was not considered good for impressionable girls and children of middle class and upper class, in those days.
Besides specific audience of workers,daily wagers and such other lower social strata, the stunt films had their own fixed Producers, Directors and even the actors. Most times, a set of action film actors was regular and specific to the production houses. For example, Fearless Nadia, John Cavas, Sayani Atish, Boman Shroff, the Billimorea brothers, Basheer etc were the fixtures in stunt films of Wadia Movietone. Master Bhagwan, Chandrarao, Harischandra rao, Azeembhai, Vasantrao and Baburao pehelwan, Leela Gupte, Prakash, Habeeb etc were with stunt films made by Bhagwan and Harischandra rao.
Besides the human actors, some trained animals as well as a car and a Motor cycle were also fixtures in stunt films. What’s more, these non-living and non -human participants too were named. So, you had Punjab ka Beta (Horse), Gunboat (Dog), and Austin ki Beti (car) in films made by Wadia Movietone. For Basant Pictures, it was Rajpoot (Horse), Moti (Dog) and Austin ki Bachhi (Car).
In addition to all this, actors with odd and weird names were to be always found in stunt film casts. Have you ever heard actors with names like Bajar Battu, Phool kumari, Maruti pehelwan, Bataata, Mitthoo Miyaan, Fatty Prasad, Boken Chattu, Minu the Mystic, Manchi Tuthi, Gareeb Raja, Kurbaan Jaoon, Pandit Dukhi, Vilayatu, Loveji Lavangiya, Adam Sandow, Sandow Safar, Dunlop, Chic Chak and a very strange name CHEMIST ! This name is found in 5-6 films.
However, since the film Return of Toofan Mail was also made by Ranjit, there were some well known and regular actors in the cast like, Arun (Ahuja0, Shamim, Firoz Dastoor, Hari Shivdasani, Dikshit-Ghori, Azeem, Jal Khambata, Rajni, Azuri etc etc.
Film’s Heroine Shamim was variously billed as Shamim, Miss Shamim, Shamim Bano and Shamim Akhtar, in different films. She was born on 11th September 1926 in Lahore. Her father was a General Merchant. She used to sing and act in school dramas. She completed her matriculation from Islamia Girls school, Lahore. In 1939, she visited Bombay along with her father. They accidentally met director G.R.Sethi, who encouraged Shamim to join films. She too was keen on joining films.
She debuted in film Imaandar-1939. Then came Baghi-39, Niraali Duniya-40, Kanyadan-40,Jadui Nagari-40, Pyas-41, Dhandhora-41, Return of Toofan Mail-42, Mehmaan-42, Fariyaad-42, Armaan-42, Gauri-43, Bansari-43, Pehle Aap-44, Jwar Bhata-44, Sanyasi-45, Laaj-46, Samrat Ashok-47 and Sindoor-47. She also sang about 30 songs in 11 films.
After partition, she migrated to Pakistan with the family. There, she acted in 8 films- 6 Urdu and 2 Punjabi. her first film Shahida-49 was a hit film and ncelebrated Silver jubilee. Even, Do Ansoo-50 and Ghulam-53 were hit films. Shamim married Producer/Director Anwar Kemal Pasha. Shamim died on 23-10-1982 in Lahore. Shamim was niece of actress singer Khursheed Begum. Shamim’s younger sister Naseem was also an actress in India, but she died quite young, on 17-11-1946 at Bombay, in India only.
Actor Hari Shivdasani- father of actress Babita- was born on 4-12-1910 at Hyderabad-Sindh. He went to England and Germany for education and got UFA degree from Germany in acting and direction. he was very handsome and polished. He started as a Director in film Yasmin-35, but then opted for acting only. His first film as actor was Prem Pariksha-34 which was released before Yasmin -35 as a director. in all he acted in 110 films. In his first film he even sang one song.
While in England, he married a British girl- Maria. he had 2 daughters. One of them was actress Babita who married Randhir Kapoor and they had two daughters- Karishma and Kareena. Hari Shivdasani died in 1994.
Film Return of Toofan mail-42 was directed by Aspi Irani,who was basically famous for stunt and C grade films. Aspi Irani was an important director from the early films.His full name was ASPANDIAR HORMUSJI IRANI.He was born in the Parsi colony, Panch Gardens in Dadar,Bombay on 8-10-1911. He started work in the film industry after he completed his secondary schooling and as all parsis are,due to his hard work,he soon attained a top rank in the Industry.He started directing films from 1936,the early Talkie stage,when the influence of Parsi Theatre,fantasies and dramas on folklore was the staple of stunt films.All such films had a basic structure and with a little changes here and there new films hit the screens.
There was a fixed audience for such films, but as the time went by,slowly the taste of the audience changed.However Aspi Irani continued with his style till the end.He did direct few social films also but the handling of social films had a clear stamp of Aspi’s direction.
He must have directed about 50-55 films till the early 80s. Some of his films were,Naya paisa,qaidi no.911,Barood, Shabnam, Baadal etc. He was married to actress Husn Bano ( daughter of actress Shareefa).
On a fine morning on 23rd November 1986, Aspi left his home in the morning for work and never ever returned. No one knows what happened to him. Since then there was no trace of this man and officially he was declared ‘missing since 23-11-1986′. What an end to a legend !
The story of film Return of Toofan mail was…
Diwan Randhir, as a Night Rider ” Toofan mail ” has saved the kingdom from a Tyrrant, some years back. Now he is looking after the kingdom’s heir- Kirti kumar- since last 15 years. Kirti is sent to England for further studies. Meanwhile the army’s Captain kishori takes over and starts his terror reign. The prince is about to come back and Kishori is waiting to kill him.
Randhir sends his daughter Hansa to warn the Prince but she is captured by army. Kirti has, however, arrived before time and is safe. he wants to see the kingdom’s condition incognito, so he dons the attire like Toofan Mail. On his way, he meets Hansa who is escaping from the soldiers. promptly, they fall in love and sing few songs.
From Hansa he knows all happenings. He does not reveal his identity and as prince tries to flirt with her, which she deplores. Kishori wants to kill Diwan and captures him, but a masked person attacks and takes away Diwan to safety. Kishori hold Hansa captive and demands she marry him or else he will kill the Prince. By now, Hansa knows that the Prince is Toofan mail. To save his life, she agrees to marry Kishori.On the day of marriage Toofan mail rides there and runs away with the bride. Kishori fights with him and gets killed. All is well in the end . Prince, Hansa, Diwan, the Janata of kingdom and the audience in the cinema hall, are all happy.
Today’s song is a raunchy song, sung in a theatre. The lyrics are quite lewd and suggestive. They are written by Pt. Indra. The song is sung by Brijmala, Mehendi Raja and Rewa shankar (who himself was a Music Director and singer in early era of Talkie). With this song film Return of Toofan mail-42 and singers Mehendi Raja and Rewa Shankar make their debut on the Blog.
Song- Abhi Chhoti hoon baalam jawaan hone de (Return of Toofaan Mail)(1942) Singers- Brijmala, Mehendi Raja,Rewa Shankar, Lyricist- Pt. Indra, MD- Gyan Dutt
Lyrics
ui maa
ui maa
ui maa
ui maa
ui maa
Abhi Chhoti hoon baalam
Abhi Chhoti hoon baalam
jawaan hone de
Abhi Chhoti hoon baalam
Abhi Chhoti hoon baalam
jawaan hone de
zara sejon ka saajan saamaan hone de
zara sejon ka saajan saamaan hone de
Abhi Chhoti hoon baalam
jawaan hone de
main na jaanoon jawaani ki baaten abhi
main na jaanoon jawaani ki baaten abhi
meri kat’ti akeli ki raaten abhi
meri kat’ti akeli ki raaten abhi
Abhi chunri ka palla sambhaal sakoon na
Abhi chunri ka palla sambhaal sakoon naa
abhi aankhon mein aankhen main daal sakoon na
abhi aankhon mein aankhen main daal sakoon na
zara teeron ki tirchhi kamaan hone de
zara teeron ki tirchhi kamaan hone de
Abhi Chhoti hoon baalam
jawaan hone de
Abhi Chhoti hoon baalam
jawaan hone de
mera bachpan machalta hai jaane ko ab
mera bachpan machalta hai jaane ko ab
mera joban uchhalta hai aane ko ab
mera joban uchhalta hai aane ko ab
meri aankhon mein chhaayi hai naadaaniyaan
mujhpe hoti hain sabki meharbaaniyaan
meri aankhon mein chhaayi hai naadaaniyaan
mujhpe hoti hain sabki meharbaaniyaan
mere dil men
mere dil mein kisi ko mehmaan hone de
mere dil mein kisi ko mehmaan hone de
abhi chhoti hoon
haay abhi chhoti hoon
abhi chhoti hoon
Abhi Chhoti hoon baalam
jawaan hone de
Abhi Chhoti hoon baalam
jawaan hone de
Bolo chhoom chhanananana chhai
Posted on: January 11, 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 : | 3829 | Post No. : | 14834 |
Today’s song is from the film Nai Duniya-42. The film was made by Circo productions of Chimanlal Trivedi and was directed by A R Kardar, with music by Naushad Ali.
Naushad was my favourite composer. Having come up from scratch to the zenith of popularity and fame, he had put in lot of hard work in early days of his career. Naushad may or may not be the best Composer the HFM ever had, but he certainly was a good example of Rags to Riches story of Filmy Duniya. He rose from the footpath and became one of the most successful composers ever in Hindi Films. Added to this was his good nature, Lucknowi Tahzib and hard work. This made him a man with least enemies ( competitors-yes, but enemies-No ) and on whose name alone films were sold during his peak period.
Naushad was the only composer on whom 6 Documentaries were made. A student Ms.Mala Sinha secured her Ph.D., making Naushad as a subject of her research. Starting with Rs.40 a month, Naushad was the First to demand and get Rs.ONE LAKH per film and was also the first composer to build his own Bungalow in a posh locality of Bombay with a Music room for doing rehearsals.
When he was on the Top, a trailer of film “Dastaan”-1950 featured Naushad on the screen showing crowds shouting ” 40 karod mein ek hi Naushad “. Such was his saleability that A R Kardar, who had always used Naushad for his own gains, was forced to make Naushad his partner in producing films under their banner ” Musical Pictures .
Naushad was undoubtedly the most successful composer HFM ever had. Out of the 65 films that he did in Hindi, 50% had celebrated jubilees. This is a record unmatched so far. His tally was 3 Diamond Jubilees ( Rattan, Baiju Bawra and Mughal-e-Azam ), 6 Golden Jubilees ( Mela, Andaz, Deedar, Aan, Mother India and Gunga Jamuna ) and 23 Silver Jubilees (Station master, Sharda, Namaste, Sanjog, Pehle aap, Kanoon, Keemat, Sanyasi, Anmol Ghadi, Shahjehan, Natak, Dard, Anokhi Ada, Dillagi, Dulari, Babul, Dastaan, Jadoo, Diwana, Udan Khatola, Kohinoor, Mere Mehboob and Ram aur Shyam ).
Naushad was the First winner of Filmfare Award in 1954 for a song in Baiju Bawra. The Award Ceremony was held in Broadway Theatre, Bombay. Ironically, it was bang opposite this Theatre that Naushad had spent his struggling days and Nights on the Footpath ! Naushad recieved several cherished Awards like Dadasaheb Phalke Award, Padma Bhushan, Lata Mangeshkar award, Maharashtra Bhooshan award, Sahitya and Natak Academy award, Saraswati Award, the IFJ and BFJ awards and scores of other awards.
His first 4 films ( Premnagar-40, Kanchan-41, Mala-41 and Darshan-41), however, were with unimpressive music. From the film Sharda-42, his Luck started changing and then there was no looking back at all for the next 25 successive years. This is exceptional talent and unbelievable Luck.
I see 2 reasons which made him successful. One was his hard work. He never ever compromised on rehearsals and however big the singer was (read Lata) he/she had to come to his Music room for rehearsals on a song for at least 7 to 8 days. He never recorded a song unless he was satisfied fully. Secondly, Naushad had tremendous faith and liking for Indian Classical music, which he used extensively in his songs. Almost all his songs had a classical base and he proved that classical music can be made entertaining for the masses, who could not make a difference between 2 Ragas, but would like his simple and hummable tunes. Very rarely his songs were difficult to hum or sing in the bathroom. He always selected singers based on their suitability for the songs.
After a draught of success, Naushad entered the year 1942. Nai Duniya was his 5th and final film before he began his Success Marathon of jubilees. Out of the 3 films in 1942, his other two films Sharda and Station Master celebrated Silver jubilees. It was only this film-Nai Duniya-which did not celebrate a Jubilee, but this film was no less important and it was a Milestone in the history of HFM.
It was in this film that noted actress singer Suraiyya sang her First recorded film song,as Baby Suraiya ( Boot karoon main polish). I have been seeing that there is a lot of confusion about the Debut song of Suraiya as a playback artiste.
Some people claim that the song ‘ Boot karun mai polish’ from film Nai Duniya-1942 is her first song as a Playback singer and some people claim that the song ‘ Panchhi jaa peechhe raha hai bachpan mera’ from film Sharda-1942 is her debut song as a playback singer.
Naushad himself,in one of the interviews , had said that the Nai Duniya song was her first recorded song as a playback singer.
However, Naushad saab is only partly correct. No doubt this song was recorded earlier ( No. N-26055) and the Sharda song was recorded later (No. N-26099).
Both the films were censored in 1942 only. However film Sharda was released first on 23-1-1943 at Minerva Talkies in Bombay, whereas Nai Duniya was released only on 24-4-1944 at Majestic Talkies in Bombay.
Therefore, the Debut song of Suraiya, as a Playback singer is undoubtedly the Sharda song,namely ‘ Panchhi jaa,peechhe raha”.
Only when a song is released on screen , it is called a Debut song, irrespective of when it was recorded.
The dictionary meaning of “to Debut” is- to perform in public for the first time. Since Sharda song was shown to public first, it becomes Suraiya’s Debut song as a Playback singer.
The song from Nai Duniya-“Boot karoon main polish” at best can be called as “the first recorded song for playback”. The Debut song ‘Panchhi jaa peechhe raha’ was posted by Atul ji on 21-2-2011 here.
( Release dates received with thanks from shri Harish Raghuwanshi ji)
This was also the first movie in which Kardar and Naushad came together. Kardar,in fact, was so much impressed with Naushad’s work style, that he decided to employ Naushad, in Kardar Productions ( which he was about to start soon), as a paid composer for Rs. 500 pm. Naushad,on his part, was very happy that he got into a job, which would ensure a sure income every month.
Later this pair gave film after films successfully. Naushad worked with Kardar for 14 films, excluding films made under the banner of Musical Pictures-in which Naushad was an equal partner with Kardar. Nai Duniya was a Circo production ( Cine Industries Recording Company, owned by Chimanlal Trivedi) and Kardar was only a Film Director for this company. Soon this Circo came up for sale. Kardar bought it to start his production company. He also established a studio in the premises. Kardar made a contract with Naushad for 5 years,but he was allowed to work outside,though the first priority would be Kardar films. Even otherwise also,Naushad restricted his films to 2 to 3 per year,as his style of working needed a long time for rehearsals.
Naushad became a household name all over India after Rattan-44 However he worked in 4 films that year (Rattan,Geet,Jeevan and Pehle Aap.) Similarly in 1949 also he did 4 films (Dillagi, Andaz,Chandni Raat and Dulari). He did only one film each in a few years like for instance- in 1940-Premnagar, 45-Sanyasi, 53-Udan Khatola, 57-Mother India, 58-Sohni Mahiwal, 61-Ganga Jamuna, 62-Son of India, 63-Mere Mehboob , 64- Leader and in 70- Ganwaar.
Nai Duniya-42 was the First ever film produced by Naushad. Later,of course, he made few more films,though he was never at ease as a Producer. For Nai Duniya-42, singer G M Durrani was his chief Musical Assistant. The film cast was Shobhana Samarth,Mazhar Khan, Jairaj, Wasti, Azurie, Jeevan, Ram Awtar etc. Not many readers may know much about old actor Mazhar Khan ( there was another Mazhar Khan in 70s/80s). He was one of the most versatile actors who shifted from Hero’s roles to character roles easily. In Hindi films, the name Khan has always been present in plenty. From Wazir Mohd.Khan of Alam Ara-1931 to Shahrukh Khan of today, there were more than 50 Khans acting in Hindi films.
Mazhar Khan was born in 1907 in the princely state of Dhar in M.P. After Matriculation, he joined Police force due to his build and height, but soon he was fed up and resigned. He straightaway headed for Bombay looking for work in films. Director Durga Prasad Mishra took him in Imperial studio and he did about 19 Silent films starting with Challenge-1929. When Talkie films started, he went to Calcutta, joined New Theatres and worked with K L Saigal in ‘Subah ka Sitara’-1932. For East India Film co.,he did ‘ Ek din ka Baadshah-33’and Raat ka raja-34 in which he did 8 roles in the film. After a few more films, he returned to Bombay and worked in Ranjit and Minerva Movitone films. His career best role came in 1941 in Shantaram’s Padosi, in which he did the famous role of Hindu Friend Thakur, while Gajanan Jagirdar did the role of his Muslim friend. In the prevailing tense communal atmosphere in the country those days,this film was hailed as a milestone depicting life long friendship of a Hindu and a Muslim.
In 1942, he turned Director and did Meri Duniya-42, Yaad-42, Badi Baat-44, Pehli Nazar-45, Dil ki Duniya-49 etc. His noteworthy films were Noorjehan-32, Bharosa-40, Padosi-41 and Ulzan-42. This role was that of a Blind singer-like K C Dey. His last film was Usha Kiran-52. He died on 24-9-1950, before its release.
When you hear today’s song, first time after 1940,you will find that there is melody and Taal in this song. As if there was a transformation, from 1942 onwards, Naushad’s music underwent a sea change. No wonder,in those days people found these songs had easy tunes and a certain melody in them. Naushad’s journey towards success and popularity began with 1942 films.
Film Nai Duniya had 11 songs. 8 songs are already discussed here. Today’s song is the 9th song. This film had 3 songs exclusively by chorus. This was something most unlike Naushad’s style seen in later years. Naushad would have songs sung by 2-3 or even 4 singers( as in Mother India-57) at a time ,but at no time were there any chorus songs in his films exclusively. May be in this film he tried to emulate Anil Biswas who had a penchant for chorus songs in his films. In one of my earlier posts, I have discussed about the chorus songs of Anil Biswas. After this film,something happened to Naushad and suddenly from his next film Sharda-42, he started giving Hit films. These are some of the unexplained wonders of Hindi films. Here is the song….
Song-Bolo chhoom chhananan chhananan chhai (Nai Duniya)(1942) Singer-Male Voice 1, Male Voice 2, Male Voice 3, Male Voice 4, Male Voice 5, Lyrics-A Shah Aziz, MD-Naushad
Chorus
Lyrics
bolo chhoom chhananananana chhai
bolo chhoom chhananananana chhai
chhachhachhai chhachhachhai chhachhachhai
chhachhachhai chhachhachhai chhachhachhai
chhai
hamen bhaabhi ji aa ko mil gayi chhachhachhai
hamen bhaabhi ji aa ko mil gayi chhachhachhai
bolo chhoom chhananananana chhai
bolo chhoom chhananananana chhai
ab aayegi roz mithhaai re sajanwa
aayegi roz mithhaai
hum khaayenge prem se bhaai
hum khaayenge prem se bhaai
kaho maine ye kaisi baat kahi
kaho maine ye kaisi baat kahi
o bolo chhoom chhananananana chhai
chhachhachhai chhachhachhai chhachhachhai
chhai
hamen bhaabhi ji aa ko mil gayi chhachhachhai
bolo chhoom chhananananana chhai
bhabhi apni chhe sudar naari
ji waa waah
bhabhi apni chhe sundar naari
teri soorat chhe ghani pyaari
teri soorat chhe ghani pyaari
ta’ta thai ta’ta thhai ta’ta’ta’ta’ta’ta’thai
ta’ta thai ta’ta thhai ta’ta’ta’ta’ta’ta’thai
bolo chhoom chhananananana chhai
chhachhachhai chhachhachhai chhachhachhai
chhai
hamen bhaabhi ji aa ko mil gayi
bolo chhoom chhananananana chhai
jab petha patise aayenga
o dear jab petha patise aayenga
well hum bhi to khoob khaayenga
well hum bhi to khoob khaayenga
haa haha haaha haha hahahai
haa haha haaha haha hahahai
bolo chhoom chhananananana chhai
chhachhachhai chhachhachhai chhachhachhai
chhai
hamen bhaabhi ji aa ko mil gayi
bolo chhoom chhananananana chhai
garma garam jalebiyaan makhaane ni je bindiye
garam jalebiyaan makhaane
asi khaawaange hun rabb jaane
asi khaawaange hun rabb jaane
agey mildi si saanu roti bai
agey mildi si saanu roti bai
bolo chhoom chhananananana chhai
chhachhachhai chhachhachhai chhachhachhai
chhai
hamen bhaabhi ji aa ko mil gayi
bolo chhoom chhananananana chhai
o bhai achha achha hai ye mera baani bakhaana
bhai achha achha hai ye mera baani
bhabhi mila hai ati lasaani
bhabhi mila hai ati lasaani
puiyo puiyo
khaana puiyo
khaana puiyo
khaana pui
puiyo puiyo
khaana puiyo
khaana puiyo
khaana pui
bolo chhoom chhanananana chhai
chhachhachhai chhachhachhai chhachhachhai
chhai
hamen bhaabhi ji aa ko mil gayi chhachhachhai
hamen bhaabhi ji aa ko mil gayi chhachhachhai
bolo chhoom chhananananana chhai
bolo chhoom chhananananana chhaee..ee. . .
———————————————————
Hindi Script Lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
———————————————————
बोलो छूम छ न न न न न छई
बोलो छूम छ न न न न न छई
छ छ छई छ छ छई छ छ छई
छ छ छई छ छ छई छ छ छई
छई
हमें भाभी जी आ को मिल गई छ छ छई
हमें भाभी जी आ को मिल गई छ छ छई
बोलो छूम छ न न न न न छई
बोलो छूम छ न न न न न छई
अब आएगी रोज़ मिठाई रे सजनवा
आएगी रोज़ मिठाई
हम खाएँगे प्रेम से भाई
हम खाएँगे प्रेम से भाई
कहो मैंने ये कैसी बात कही
कहो मैंने ये कैसी बात कही
ओ बोलो छूम छ न न न न न छई
छ छ छई छ छ छई छ छ छई
छई
हमें भाभी जी आ को मिल गई छ छ छई
बोलो छूम छ न न न न न छई
भाभी अपनी छे सुंदर नारी जी वाह वाह
भाभी अपनी छे सुंदर नारी
तेरी सूरत छे घणी प्यारी
तेरी सूरत छे घणी प्यारी
त त थई त त थई त त त त त त थई
त त थई त त थई त त त त त त थई
बोलो छूम छ न न न न न छई
छ छ छई छ छ छई छ छ छई
छई
हमें भाभी जी आ को मिल गई छ छ छई
बोलो छूम छ न न न न न छई
जब पेठा पतीसे आएंगा
ओ डीयर जब पेठा पतीसे आएंगा
वैल हम भी तो खूब खाएंगा
वैल हम भी तो खूब खाएंगा
हा ह ह हा ह ह ह ह ह हई
हा ह ह हा ह ह ह ह ह हई
बोलो छूम छ न न न न न छई
छ छ छई छ छ छई छ छ छई
छई
हमें भाभी जी आ को मिल गई छ छ छई
बोलो छूम छ न न न न न छई
गरमा गरम जलेबियाँ मखाने नि जे बिंदिए
गरम जलेबियाँ मखाने
असी खवाङ्गे हूण रब्ब जाने
असी खवाङ्गे हूण रब्ब जाने
अग्गे मिल्दी सी सानु रोटी बई
अग्गे मिल्दी सी सानु रोटी बई
बोलो छूम छ न न न न न छई
छ छ छई छ छ छई छ छ छई
छई
हमें भाभी जी आ को मिल गई छ छ छई
बोलो छूम छ न न न न न छई
आ भाई अच्छा अच्छा है ये मेरा बाणी बखाना
भाई अच्छा अच्छा है ये मेरा बाणी
भाभी मिला है अति लासानी
भाभी मिला है अति लासानी
पुईओ पुईओ
खाना पुईओ
खाना पुईओ
खाना पुई
पुईओ पुईओ
खाना पुईओ
खाना पुईओ
खाना पुई
बोलो छूम छ न न न न न छई
छ छ छई छ छ छई छ छ छई
छई
हमें भाभी जी आ को मिल गई छ छ छई
हमें भाभी जी आ को मिल गई छ छ छई
बोलो छूम छ न न न न न छई
बोलो छूम छ न न न न न छई॰॰ई॰ ॰ ॰
Chowranghee hai ye chowranghee
Posted on: December 16, 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 other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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Blog Day : |
3803 | Post No. : | 14796 | Movie Count : |
4046 |
Sometimes, suddenly and unexpectedly, Lady Luck smiles on you and you are so bewildered, you don’t know how to enjoy that moment of Luck. This happened in my case. I have been writing about songs in old time movies and discussing about the people who made that film, that song and the circumstances in which the movie was made etc.
Sometimes,I come across a film, about which nothing-absolutely nothing- is available. No information, no songs, nothing. This is the dead end. But like a true crusader, I continue my efforts about that film, even when, leaving it aside, I have continued with my work. At times, I strike Gold, when it is not expected and I feel like dancing in the rain !
It is not only about a song or a movie, even an actor can get me stumped and then suddenly, there is light at the end of the tunnel ! I can quote several such examples, but I will limit my discussion only about today’s film, song and the MD.
I bought HFGK in mid 2012, that is six years ago and since then film Chowrangee-42 was on my radar. I was very curious about this film, because this was the only Hindi film in which the Great Poet of Bangladesh- Kazi Nazrul Islam, had composed some songs ( 2 songs, confirmed) as a Music Director and also had written those two songs as a Lyricist.
Kazi Nazrul Islam is to Bangladesh, what Rabindranath Tagore is to West Bengal. While, to my knowledge, Tagore never wrote any Naat or a Muslim religious verse, kazi wrote hundreds of Bhajans and Geets on Lord Rama and Krishna. Though many films- Bangla and Hindi- are based on the stories or novels of Tagore, he has not contributed anything directly to any Hindi film ( I do not know about Bangla films). On the other hand Kazi has written story of film Sapera-39 and provided Lyrics and Music to film Chowrangee-42 directly. Like Tagore’s Rabindra Sangeet, it was Nazrul Geeti in Bengal. I am not comparing them. Both were great souls.
The life story of Kazi is full of ups and downs. His last few years were spent in Glory but in very bad health.There were several deaths in his family. His wife became paralytic and he spent time in a Mental Hospital in Ranchi. After the formation of Bangladesh in 1971, the new country, invited him, bestowed honours on him, declaring him ” The National Poet”. The Bangladesh government also took good care of him in his last 4 years, but he was medically unfit to enjoy his glory.
Kazi Nazrul Islam (24 May 1899 – 29 August 1976) Composer and songwriter was born in Burdwan Dist., Bengal. With Tagore he was the major influence on popular Bengali music in the 20th C. Known as the Bidrohi Kavi or Rebel Poet and directly associated with radical nationalist movements (e.g. through the journal Dhoomketu which he edited in 1922, leading to his imprisonment on a charge of sedition), his poetry constitutes the first radical intervention into Hindu and Muslim devotional music, e.g. his famous addresses to the goddess Kali, his ghazal compilations (Chokher Chatak, 1929) and Islamic devotionals (Zulfikar, 1932). Much of his music, continued by the IPTA’s Bengali song repertoire, was polemically seen as a radical-romantic use of the ‘ tradition’ (e.g. Salil Choudhury, 1955). One of the first composer-writers to sign contracts with major record companies in Bengal (for Megaphone and Senola and later HMV) and with the Indian Broadcasting Corp., opening up new employment opportunities to a generation of younger composers such as Anil Biswas, S.D. Burman, Kamal Dasgupta and even Kishore Kumar (whose song Ai ek dui tran char gili gili/bam chick boob chick badhke bol in Kehte Hain Mujhko Raja, 1975, adapts Islam’s famous Cham chiki ude gelo). Created an urban variation of tribal jhumur music for Sailajananda Mukherjee’s Pataal Puri and wrote the songs for Nandini (1941) and Dikshul (1943). Some sources credit him as director for Dhruva, in which he played the Hindu sage Narad. Started Bengal Tiger Pics with Abbasuddin Ahmed. Their film of Islam’s novel Madina remained unfinished.
A significant impact of Nazrul’s work in Bengal was that it made Bengali Muslims more comfortable with the Bengali arts, which used to be dominated by
Bengali Hindus. His Islamic songs are popular during Ramadan in Bangladesh. He also wrote devotional songs on the Hindu Goddess Kali. Nazrul also composed a number of notable Shyamasangeet, Bhajan and Kirtan, combining Hindu devotional music.
Bengali polymath, poet, writer, musician, revolutionary and philosopher. Popularly known as Nazrul, his poetry and music espoused Indo-Islamic renaissance and intense spiritual rebellion against fascism and oppression. Nazrul’s impassioned activism for political and social justice earned him the title Bidrohi Kobi (The Rebel Poet). His musical compositions form the avant-garde genre of Nazrul geeti (Music of Nazrul). Accomplishing a large body of acclaimed works through his life, Nazrul is officially recognised as the National Poet of Bangladesh and highly commemorated in India and the Muslim world.
Born into a Bengali Muslim Quazi (Kazi) family, Nazrul received religious education and worked as a muezzin at a local mosque. He learned of poetry, drama, and literature while working with theatrical groups. After serving in the British Indian Army, Nazrul established himself as a journalist in Calcutta. He assailed the British Raj in India and preached revolution through his poetic works, such as Bidrohi (The Rebel) and Bhangar Gaan (The Song of Destruction), as well as his publication Dhumketu (The Comet). His nationalist activism in the Indian independence movement often led to his imprisonment by British authorities. While in prison, Nazrul wrote the Rajbandir Jabanbandi (Deposition of a Political Prisoner). Exploring the life and conditions of the downtrodden masses of the Indian subcontinent, Nazrul worked for their emancipation. His poetry and music fiercely inspired Bengalis during the Bangladesh Liberation War.
During his visit to Comilla in 1921, Nazrul met a young Bengali Hindu woman, Pramila Devi, with whom he fell in love, and they married on 25 April 1924. Brahmo Samaj criticised Pramila, a member of the Brahmo Samaj, for marrying a Muslim. Muslim religious leaders criticized Nazrul for his marriage to a Hindu woman.
Nazrul’s writings explore themes such as love, freedom, and revolution; he opposed all bigotry, including religious and gender. Throughout his career, Nazrul wrote short stories, novels, and essays but is best known for his poems, in which he pioneered new forms such as Bengali ghazals. Nazrul wrote and composed music for his nearly 4,000 songs (including gramophone records), collectively known as Nazrul geeti (Songs of Nazrul), which are widely popular today. In 1942 at the age of 43 Nazrul himself fell ill and gradually began losing his power of speech. His behaviour became erratic, he started spending recklessly and fell into financial difficulties. In spite of her own illness, his wife constantly cared for her husband. However, Nazrul’s health had seriously deteriorated and he grew increasingly depressed. He underwent medical treatment under homeopathy as well as Ayurveda, but little progress was achieved before mental dysfunction intensified and he was admitted to a mental asylum in 1942. Spending four months there without making progress, Nazrul and his family began living a quiet life in India. In 1952, he was transferred to a psychiatric hospital in Ranchi. Through the efforts of a large group of admirers who called themselves the “Nazrul Treatment Society”, Nazrul and Promila were sent to London, then to Vienna for treatment. The examining doctors said he had received poor care, and Dr. Hans Hoff, a leading neurosurgeon in Vienna, diagnosed that Nazrul was suffering from Pick’s disease.It was rumoured that this was because of slow poisoning by the British Government. His condition was judged to be incurable, Nazrul returned to Calcutta on 15 December 1953. On 30 June 1962 his wife Pramila died, and Nazrul remained in intensive medical care. He stopped working due to his deteriorating health.
On 24 May 1972, the newly independent nation of Bangladesh brought Nazrul to live in Dhaka with the consent of the Government of India. In January 1976, he was accorded the citizenship of Bangladesh.Despite receiving treatment and attention, Nazrul’s physical and mental health did not improve. In 1974. his youngest son, Kazi Aniruddha, a guitarist, died, and Nazrul soon succumbed to his long-standing ailments on 29 August 1976.
His Filmography – 1937: Bidyapati (Writer), 1938: Gora, 1939: Sapurey (Writer), Sapurey/Sapera (Writer), 1942: Chauranghee, Chauranghee, 1949-Chattagram Astraghar Lunthan, 1972: Padi Pishir Barmi Baksha (Lyricist) ( information adapted from Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema and wiki).
I was ecstatic when recently, I could lay my hands on one song of this film, composed and written by Kazi. These songs are so rare that for the last 76 years none of these songs have ever appeared on public domain, like YT etc.
Film Chowrangee-42 was a Muslim social film on a professional singer’s life, who had a Kotha on Chowrangee area of Calcutta. The film was produced by Fazli brothers, known to make films on Muslim background only. The film was directed by the younger brother- Sibtain Fazli.
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 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 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 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 Nurjehan – Dupatta-52.
Film Chowrangee had 13 songs. It included 3 wonderful Ghazals- 2 by Jigar Moradabadi and 1 by Mirza Ghalib ( I have heard these songs). It will be the first time that a song from this film-in its full form- will be available on You Tube, because our Sadanand ji Kamath has uploaded it on my request. Thanks Sadanand ji.
Hanuman Prasad Sharma ( aka Hanuman Prasad Triloki. Both are same. Triloki and Sharma are surnames in Brahmins. This is like the other case. The son of Bhagatram Batish, of Husnlal-Bhagatram duo, Ashok, calls himself as Ashok Sharma.) was also a Music Director for this film. With this film he made his debut in Hindi films. Unfortunately, except for 4 songs-2 for each MD- HFGK is silent on the singer or MD’s names of remaining 9 songs, making it difficult to know the reality. However, according to Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema, the Lori, ” aa jaa ri nindiya ” is also composed by Kazi. May be, in future, some proof or information will emerge to confirm or clarify matters !
There were as many as 5 Lyricists for these 13 songs- Kazi Nazrul Islam, Arzoo lucknowi, Mirza Ghalib, Jigar Moradabadi and Partav Lucknowi. With this song , not only the movie, but also Kazi Nazrul Islam makes his Debut on the Blog as an MD and a Lyricist. Enjoy this historical song….
Song-Chowranghee hai ye chowranghee (Chowrangee)(1942) Singer-Unknown female, Lyrics- Kazi Nazrul Islam, MD- Kazi Nazrul Islam
Lyrics
Chowranghee hai ye chowranghee
Chowranghee hai ye chowranghee
iski duniya rang birangee
iski duniya rang birangee
Chowranghee hai ye chowranghee
gore kaale aawen jaawen
gore kaale aawen jaawen
apni apni chhab dikhlaawen
apni apni chhab dikhlaawen
ye dagar mein sab sansaar aar aar
ye dagar mein sab sansaar aar aar
iski duniya rang birangee
iski duniya rang birangee
Chowranghee hai ye chowranghee
kitne aawe raaja baabu
kitne aawe raaja baabu
kitne hamse bechaare
kitne apne dil ke bande
kitne prem pujaari ee ee
kitne prem pujaari
koi kisi ko raah lagaaye
koi aakar khud kho jaaye
koi kisi ko raah lagaaye
koi aakar khud kho jaaye
seedha rasta peer hazaar
seedha rasta peer hazaar
iski duniya rang birangee
iski duniya rang birangee
Chowranghee hai ye chowranghee
Chowranghee hai ye chowranghee
Chowranghee hai ye chowranghee
Zara dheere ho zara dheere
Posted on: November 26, 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 : | 3783 | Post No. : | 14765 |
With the advent of talkies in 1931, many new actors joined the Hindi film industry in the 1930s in addition to those who had switched over from silent films. While some actors became successful and remained active in the film industry for a long time, an overwhelming majority of actors could not be sustained for longer period in the film industry. Within this category, there were some actors who became successful in their initial stages of the filmy career, but lost the momentum of success in their later stage. While they remained active in the film industry for reasonable period, they went into oblivion and thus forgotten after the end of their filmy career.
Rama Shukul was one of such actors who despite talent and age on his side could remain active only for a decade or so. Thereafter he made some sporadic appearances films in minor roles for about another decade. Today, he has been forgotten to such an extent that no basic information about him is available on the internet other than his incomplete filmography. Luckily, I could lay my hand on an article written by Hyacinth (pseudo name of Susheela Rani) on Rama Shukul in Filmindia magazine (September 1942) based on her inter-actions with him sometime in 1942. I could also update his filmography and other information from various issues of Filmindia magazines of 1938 to 1949 and thereafter from the website, myswar.co. I also watched his four films – ‘Bhabhi’ (1938), ‘Navjeevan’ (1939), ‘Durga’ (1939) and ‘Aazaad’ (1940) which are available online to get a feel of his acting. I found Rama Shukul to be a natural actor. He looked like a seasoned actor even in his first film ‘Bhabhi’ (1938).
Rama Shukul was born in Jabalpur to Badri Prasad Shukul and Sushila Shukul in a wealthy family. His father was the District Superintendent of Police in Central Province (presently the parts of Madhya Pradesh, Chhatishgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra). Rama Shukul was the only son and therefore was pampered a lot by his father. Whenever his father was transferred, he would take with him Rama Shukul. As a result, his education was affected. He completed his Matriculation and was enrolled in Robertson College, Jabalpur for graduate study. The pampering of his father was such an extent that he gifted a car for his son to travel to the college. The whole idea of his father was to keep Rama Shukul interested in studies. However, he was more interested in sports and acting than the studies.
Rama Shukul was the college champion for three years in a row in tennis and was in the college teams for cricket, hockey and volleyball. In 1935, he participated in the Inter-Collegiate Drama Competition at Banaras Hindu University where he received the trophy for the best actor in the role of Hamlet in the drama. His father wanted to send him to England for ICS or for becoming a barrister. But Rama Shukul could barely complete his Senior Cambridge. Looking at his son’s interest in sports, his father arranged for a job for him as an Assistand Director of Physical Culture in the State at Nagpur. But the young Rama Shukul refused to accept the job saying that he was going to become a film actor. His father lost all hopes of shaping his bright career.
In 1938, Rama Shukul came to Bombay (Mumbai) to pursue an acting career in the films. But to get into the film studios, one must have reference but Rama Shukul did not have any in Mumbai. He had one friend in Mumbai, Fazal Chinoy. His father, Sir Rahimtula Chinoy was the promoter of the Indian Radio Company and the Director of the Imperial Bank of India (now State Bank of India). He was also a former member of the Indian Legislature Assembly. With his influence, Rama Shukul could get an appointment with Sir Richard Temple, the Managing Director of Bombay Talkies.
Sir Richard was impressed with his educational background. He introduced Rama Shukul to Himanshu Rai who agreed to take him as an actor. He signed a contract with Bombay Talkies in September 1938 and made it to ‘Bhabhi’ (1938) as his first film in a villainous role. The film was a box office success. In the film’s review published in ‘Filmindia’, Baburao Patel praised his acting by saying that ‘Rama Shukul is a good addition to the Indian screen. In the role of Anupam – the main obstacle in the whole scheme, he turns out to be a successful nuisance’.
Rama Shukul worked for Bombay Talkies for about 2 years during which time he acted in lead roles with Hansa Wadkar in ‘Navjeevan’ (1939) and with Devika Rani and Hansa Wadkar in ‘Durga’ (1939). In ‘Aazaad’ (1940), though Ashok Kumar and Leela Chitnis had lead roles, it was Rama Shukul pairing with Hansa Wadkar who had major presence in the film.
When he was to work opposite Devika Rani in his 5th film in Bombay Talkies, Himanshu Rai died. His death was a great shock to Rama Shukul due to his personal attachment. He was regarded as a blue-eyed boy of Himanshu Rai. Many in the Bombay Talkies had developed dislike for him as they felt that he was pampered by the boss of the Bombay Talkies. In this milieu, Rama Shukul could not continue in the Bombay Talkies for long.
His next destination was Ranjit Movietone where he acted in the second lead role in ‘Iqraar’(1942). This was followed by ‘Mehmaan’ (1942), ‘Fariyaad’ (1942) and ‘Dukh Sukh’ (1942). However, none of these films made much impact on the box office front. From 1943, he became a free-lance artist and acted in the second lead in Ramnik Productions’ ‘Dulhan’ (1943), ‘Kiran’ (1944), and ‘Gaon Ki Gori’ (1945).
By this time, his status as an actor seems to have come down from second lead actor to one among the supporting actors. In this category, he worked in Filmistan’s ‘Eight Days’ (1946) and ‘Shikari’ (1946). This was followed by ‘Mulaaqat’ (1947), ‘Shikaayat’ (1948) and ‘Meherbaani’ (1950).
After 1950, the filmy assignments of Rama Shukul seem to have dwindled significantly. His name started appearing in ‘other actors’ like in ‘Shamsheer’ (1953), ‘Sardaar’ (1955) and ‘Sitaaron Se Aage’ (1958). ‘Madhu’ (1959) was Rama Shukul’s last film as an actor when he may be around 45 years of age. I could not get any information as to how he spent rest of his life after 1959.
Despite being recognised as one of the fine actors of the 1940s, Rama Shukul had an active filmy career of about 10 years (1938-48). During his entire career, he acted in 20 films.
I am presenting ‘zara dheere ho zara dheere’ from ‘Mehmaan’ (1942) sung by Shamim Bano and Rama Shukul. The song is written by Pandit Indra and is set to music by Khemchand Prakash. This duet is actor-singer songs and is the 5th song to appear in the Blog.
Although HFGK credits the male voice in the song to Rama Shukul, in my view, it may not be his voice when I compare his voice in the songs in ‘Navjeevan’ (1939) and ‘Durga’ (1939). My hunch is that the male voice in this song may be of Bulo C Rani based on his rendition of ‘rootthna pyaar mein karwat ka badal jaana hai’ from the same film. I request the opinions from the experts on my presumption.
For the time being, however, I have retained the name of Rama Shukul as the male singer in the video caption of the song.
I find this song a sweet expression of love.
Song-Zara dheere ho zara dheere(Mehmaan)(1942) Singers-Shamim Bano, Rama Sukul, Lyrics-Pt Indra Chandra, MD-Khemchand Prakash
Both
Lyrics
zara dheere ho zara dheere
zara dheere ho zara dheere
zara dheere ho zara dheere
zara dheere ho zara dheere
saajanwa
saajaniya
saajanwa
saajaniya
zara dheere dheere
zara dheere dheere
jhoola na ho
mora naazuk jiya behlaana
o mora naazuk jiya behalaana
zara dheere ho zara dheere
zara dheere ho zara dheere
chunariya hamaari hawa ho gayi
nazariya tumhaari dawa ho gayi
chunariya hamaari hawa ho gayi
nazariya tumhaari dawa ho gayi
ye champa chameli rahi kyun akeli
bataao zara morey shyaam
ye champa chameli rahi kyun akeli
bataao zara morey shyaam
saajanwa
saajaniya
saajanwa
saajaniya
zara dheere dheere
zara dheere dheere
jhoola na ho
mora nazuk jiya behlaana
o mora najuk jiya behalaana
zara dheere ho zara dheere
zara dheere ho zara dheere
zara dheere ho zara dheere
zara dheere ho zara dheere
Main ek niraali gudiya
Posted on: October 16, 2018
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 : | 3742 | Post No. : | 14697 |
“Raja Rani” (1942) was directed by Najmul Hasan Naqvi for Atre Pictures, Bombay. The movie had Vanmala, Sunalini Devi, Maya Devi, Trilok Kapoor, Baby Vimal, Mazhar Khan, Navin Yagnik, David, Bal Govind etc in it.
The movie had fourteen songs in it. One song has been covered in the past.
Here is the second song from “Raja Rani” (1942) to appear in the blog. This song is sung by Baby Vimal. Seeing that Baby Vimal figures in the cast of the movie, we can guess that the song was picturised on her as well.
Pandit Anand Kumar is the lyricist. Music is composed by Khan Mastana.
Song-Main ek niraali gudiya (Raja Rani)(1942) Singer-Baby Vimal, Lyrics-Pt Anand Kumar, MD-Khan Mastana
Lyrics
main ek niraali gudiya
main ek niraali gudiya
main ek niraali gudiya
main ek niraali gudiya
mere nanhe nanhe paanv
mere nanhe nanhe paanv
pair mein jhaanjar jhanjhana baaje
pair mein jhaanjar jhanjhana baaje
mere chhote chhote kaan
mere chhote chhote kaan
kaanon mein baali cham cham chamke
kaanon mein baali cham cham chamke
jaise gagan ke taare
haan haan jaise gagan ke taare
main ek niraali
ek niraali
ek niraali
haan haan haan
main ek niraali gudiya
main ek niraali gudiya
main ek niraali gudiya
chhamchham chhamchham paayal baaje
chaacha ke ghar jaaun
chhamchham chhamchham paayal baaje
chaaha ke ghar jaaun
meethhe meethhe geet sunaakar
chaachi ko bahlaaun
meethhe meethhe geet sunaakar
chaachi ko bahlaaun
main ek niraali
ek niraali
ek niraali
haan haan haan
mai ek niraali
ek niraali
ek niraali
haan haan haan
main ek niraali gudiya
main ek niraali gudiya
main ek niraali gudiya
kunj kunj mein chhup chhup jaaun
kheloon aankh michauli
boondaniyon ke taal pe naachoon
boloon prem ki boli
main ek niraali
ek niraali
ek niraali
haan haan haan
main ek niraali
ek niraali
ek niraali
haan haan haan
main ek niraali gudiya
main ek niraali gudiya
main ek niraali gudiya
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 : | 3741 | Post No. : | 14695 |
“Garib”(1942) was directed by Ramchandra Thakur for National Studios, Bombay. This movie had Surendra, Rose, Baby Meena, Veena Kumari, Santaka, N A Ansari, Agha, Pesi Patel etc in it.
The movie had twelve songs in it. Six songs from this movie have been discussed in the past. Here is the seventh song song from “Garib”(1942) to appear in the blog. This song is sung by Surendra. Safdar Aah Sitapuri is the lyricist. Music is composed by Anil Biswas.
Only the audio of this song is available. It is clear that this song was picturised on Surendra himself.
I have not been able to get a few words right in the lyrics. I request our readers with keener ears to help fill in the blanks/ suggest corrections as applicable.
Song-Mohabbat ki duniya hai sabse niraali (Garib)(1942) Singer-Surendra, Lyrics-Safdar Aah Sitapuri, MD-Anil Biswas
Lyrics
mohabbat ki duniya hai sabse niraali
mohabbat ki duniya hai sabse niraali
tasawwur hai sab kuchh har pehlu hai khaali
tasawwur hai sab kuchh har pehlu hai khaali
mohabbat ki duniya hai sabse niraali
mohabbat ki duniya hai sabse niraali
tu hi tu nigaahon mein apni basa hai ae ae
tu hi tu nigaahon mein apni basa hai
jahaan chaaha tasveer teri bana li
jahaan chaaha tasveer teri bana li
mohabbat ki duniya hai sabse niraali
mohabbat ki duniya hai sabse niraali
shikaayat hai shiqwe ?? tu hai
shikaayat hai shiqwe ?? tu hai
bade lutf ki hai ye bazm e khayaali
bade lutf ki hai ye bazm e khayaali
mohabbat ki duniya hai sabse niraali
tasawwur mein sab kuchh pehlu hai khaali
mohabbat ki duniya hai sabse niraali
Haseenon ko kar lo salaam
Posted on: October 6, 2018
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 : | 3732 | Post No. : | 14677 |
“Garib”(1942) was directed by Ramchandra Thakur for National Studios, Bombay. This movie had Surendra, Rose, Baby Meena, Veena Kumari, Santaka, N A Ansari, Agha, Pesi Patel etc in it.
The movie had twelve songs in it. Five songs from this movie have been discussed in the past. Here is the sixth song song from “Garib”(1942) to appear in the blog. This song is sung by Surendra. Pt Indra Chandra is the lyricist. Music is composed by Anil Biswas.
Only the audio of this song is available but it is clear that this “expression of love” song was picturised on Surendra himself.
Song-Haseenon ko karlo salaam (Garib)(1942) Singer-Surendra, Lyrics-Pt Indra, MD-Anil Biswas
Lyrics
o haseenon ko kar lo salaam
salaam more raaja
haseenon ko kar lo salaam
salaam
salaam more raaja
haseenon ko kar lo salaam
aankh lag jaaye to bas jaao wahin
dil machal jaaye to mit jaao wahin
aankh lag jaaye to bas jaao wahin
dil machal jaaye to mit jaao wahin
zara kar lo shaheedon mein naam
zara kar lo shaheedon mein naam
naam
naam more raaja
haseenon ko kar lo salaam
salaam more raaja
haseenon ko kar lo salaam
husn waale salaamat hain apne yahaan
husn waale salaamat hain apne yahaan
wo hamen chhod kar aur jaayen kahaan
wo hamen chhod kar aur jaayen kahaan
roz khali hai apna mukaam
roz khaali hai apna mukaam
mukaam
mukaam more raaja
haseenon ko kar lo salaam
salaam more raaja
haseenon ko kar lo salaam
salaam
salaam
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 : | 3700 | Post No. : | 14619 |
‘Ujaala’ (1942) was produced under the banner of Taj Mahal Pictures and was directed by K M Multani. The film was based on a story by M A Mughani whose name also appears as the ‘producer’ of the film. The screen play and dialogues were written by Kamal Amrohi. The star cast included Prithviraj Kapoor, Naseem Bano, Mubarak, Ratan Bai, Mirza Musharaf, Baby Vinod Kumari, Jhilani etc.
The film was the maiden venture of Taj Mahal Pictures which was set up by M. Ehsan. However, the film’s publicity materials mentioned M A Mughani, the story writer as the ‘producer’ of the film with M. Ehsan as Associate Producer. My guess is that after completing the college, Ehsan set up this film production company without having any experience in film production. So he may have given a greater role to M A Mughani in the film production who had earlier worked in Minerva Movietone. It was said that Ehsan was a childhood friend of Naseem Bano and she may have partly financed his film production company.
For Naseem Bano, it was her first film after she was released from her contract with Minerva Movietone by Sahorab Modi on her request in 1940. Till that time, she had acted in Minerva’s Movietone’s films like ‘Hamlet’ aka ‘Khoon Kaa Khoon’ (1935), ‘Khan Bahadur’ (1937), ‘Vasanti’ (1938), ‘Meetha Zahar’ (1938), ‘Divorce’ aka ‘Talaaq’ (1938), ‘Pukar’ (1939) and ‘Defeat’ aka ‘Main Haari’ (1940).
After Naseem Bano’s last released film in 1940, there was a gap of nearly 2 years before ‘Ujaala’ (1942) was released in February 1942. It is said that sometime during this interregnum, she accompanied her mother, Shamshad Begum, (a classical singer who was known as Chhamia in the music circle) to be the guest of the son of the Nizam of Hyderabad. There seems to be more to it than being merely the guest in Hyderabad. It was rumoured that Nizam’s prince was interested in marrying Naseem Bano. However, after spending sometime in Hyderabad, both mother and daughter did not like the environment in Hyderabad. So both returned to Bombay (Mumbai). ‘Ujaala’ (1942) was the first film Naseem Bano signed after returning to Bombay.
During the making of the film, a couple of things happened which could have affected the film’s publicity. First, some unscrupulous persons carried out propaganda against Naseem Bano by printing slanderous posters about her. People in the know felt that it was the handiwork of the supporters of the son of Nizam of Hyderbad who were in his payrolls, to tarnish the image of Naseem Bano. But soon, it died down. Probably the fans of Naseem Bano put more faith in her than in the slanderous propaganda.
Second, there were some creative differences between film’s dialogue writer, Kamal Amrohi and the film’s de-facto producer and story writer, M A Mughani. Both had become ‘heavy-weights’ in the film industry after the success of ‘Pukar’ (1939) in which Kamal Amrohi wrote dialogues and lyrics and Mughani was the Publicity Manager. The issues were amicably sorted out and the film was released on February 21 1942 at Lamington Theatre, Bombay (Mumbai).
I have attempted below, a gist of the film’s story based on the film’s review which appeared in April 1942 issue of ‘Filmindia’ magazine.
The story revolves around a theatre which is owned by Shyam (Prithviraj Kapoor). He is idealistic man, a learned musician and also a strict disciplinarian. Maya (Ratan Bai) is the star artist of the theatre who falls to the flattery showered by Tiwari (Mubarak), a wealthy man who is the frequent visitor to the theatre. Maya responds to Tiwari’s flirtations which results in her late hours for the theatre activities. Shyam admonishes her for breaking the theatre discipline resulting in frequent quarrels. One day, Maya, believing the numerous promises of Tiwari, walks out of the Theatre.
Shyam is on a look out for a new girl in place of Maya and find Saroj (Naseem Bano), a dancer. First, she refuses to see him. After listening to his sitar recital over the radio, she falls for him as a musician but refuses to work for him on the stage. Each of them becomes more obstinate than before whenever they meet.
To break down her obstinacy, Shyam takes a flat just below the flat occupied by Saroj. One day, he plays sitar non-stop. At first, Saroj ignores the music but the urge of music in her makes her to dance to the tune of Shyam’s sitar. She admits her defeat and agrees to join his stage show. But this time, Shyam refuses to accept her.
In the meanwhile, Shyam’s theatre has been running into losses. One day, he decides to hand over the theatre to his Manager, Mirza (Mirza Musharaf) and devote his attention to music. Mirza manages a surprise and recruit a new girl, Sarojini for the stage show. Mirza convinces Shyam to attend the opening show. To his surprise, Shyam finds Sarojini is none other than Saroj.
With Saroj, all shows of the theatre become success. Shyam falls in love with Saroj which she reciprocates. Once again, Tiwari comes in to scene to lure Saroj for his personal pleasure. On the marriage day, Saroj is kidnapped by Tiwari and kept in his house. Shyam is distraught. Saroj jumps out of the window of the house where she was kept as prisoner and becomes permanently disabled. Tiwari gets reformed after seeing her pathetic conditions. After some more emotional drama, Shyam and Saroj are united.
Despite a favourable review by ‘Filmindia’, the film failed at the box office. Ehsan incurred heavy losses. He closed down Taj Mahal Pictures in March 1942. The only gain out of producing the film for Ehsan was that Naseem Bano married him and shifted to Delhi after the film’s release. She left the film industry when she was still ‘pari chehra’ (fairy face) for her fans.
But there are twists in the stories of Naseem Bano and the Taj Mahal Pictures. Before that, I need to mention about the system of license for a film production company which was introduced during World War-II. Without this license issued by the Government, the film production company could not import raw films for shooting.
A question was raised in the Central Legislative Assembly (akin to Lok Sabha now) by a legislator “on what grounds Taj Mahal Pictures of Bombay was given licence when the said concern had already closed its business in March 1942”. The Minister of Industry & Civil Supplies replied that “Taj Mahal Pictures did not stop their business. The Government was satisfied that in the absence of the licence, the company could not produce the film and a considerable hardship would be caused if a licence is not granted to them” (as verbatim reported in April 1945 issue of ‘Filmindia’ magazine).
I can now relate this piece of information as to why a dormant film production company like Taj Mahal Pictures got revived. This has also got a connection with the return of Naseem Bano to Bombay film industry in 1944.
Sometime in 1943, Shashdhar Mukherjee along with Rai Bahadur Chunnilal, Gyan Mukherjee, Ashok Kumar, Savak Vacha, Kavi Pradeep and others left Bombay Talkies due to differences with Devika Rani who had taken the reign of Bombay Talkies after the death of her husband, Himansu Roy. This group formed Filmistan Studio. Shashdhar Mukherjee wanted to produce a film on a scale of his box office success film ‘Kismet (1943) which would be his fitting reply to Devika Rani for her ill-treatment of his team.
Shashdhar Mukherjee hit upon an idea of casting Naseem Akhtar in his film ‘Chal Chal Re Naujawaan’ (1944). Since she had already left the film industry in March 1942, it was a difficult proposition to woo her to accept the role in his film. He travelled to Delhi and met M Ehsan, Naseem’s husband with his plan to cast his wife. After much persuasion and a visit by Rai Bahadur Chunnilal, Ehsan agreed on certain conditions. One of the important conditions in the contract was that Shashdhar Mukherjee would oversee the production of one more film under the banner of Taj Mahal Pictures.
It took a long time for ‘Chal Chal Re Naujawaan’ (1944) to be completed. Contrary to the general expectation, the film did not fare well on the box office front. However, as per the contract, Shashdhar Mukherjee was to oversee the production of another film for Ehsan. So the film ‘Begum’ (1945) was stared with most of the infrastructure and resources of Filmistan Studios. The film starred with Ashok Kumar and Naseem Bano in lead roles. With this film, Ehsan’s production company was revived which later produced films like ‘Mulaaqat’ (1947), ‘Chaandni Raat’ (1949), and ‘Ajeeb Ladki’ (1952). Ehsan migrated to Pakistan taking with him all the films he produced in India.
What an irony in Ehsan’s filmy career! When he lost money in ‘Ujaala’ (1942), he gained Naseem Bano. But when he earned a lot of money in Pakistan after releasing these films, he had lost Naseem Bano who was legally separated from him due to his migration to Pakistan.
Now let me present the first song from Ehsan’s first film ‘Ujaala’ (1942). The song is ‘main dekh rahi hoon duniya ke nazaare’ sung by Ratan Bai. The film had six songs, all set to music by Bashir Dehlvi. The lyricist of all the six songs in the film is unattributed. Going by the convention of most of the 1930s and early 1940s films when song writing was a part of dialogue writers, I guess that the song was written by Kamal Amrohi who was the dialogue writer for the film. Incidentally, Kamal Amrohi had written songs for the films ‘Jailor’ (1938), ‘Pukar’ (1939) and ‘Main Hari’ (1940) where he was also the dialogue writer.
With this song, ‘Ujaala’ (1942) makes its debut in the Blog.
Note: This article is based on some of the information gathered from the various issues of ‘Filmindia’ magazines and from the book, ‘Stars From Another Sky’ (2010) by Sadat Hasan Manto.
Audio Clip:
Song-Main dekh rahi hoon duniya ke nazaare (Ujaala)(1942) Singer-Ratan Bai, MD-Bashir Dehalvi
Lyrics
main dekh rahi hoon
oon oon oon
duniya ke nazaare
duniya ke nazaare
main dekh rahi hoon
oon oon oon
duniya ke nazaare
duniya ke nazaare
khilti huyi kaliyaan
jharnon ke kinaare
khilti huyi kaliyaan
jharnon ke kinaare
jharnon ke kinaare
main dekh rahi hoon
oon oon oon
duniya ke nazaare
duniya ke nazaare
bhanwre kaa machalna
daali kaa lachakna
bhanwre kaa machalna
daali kaa lachakna
gulshan kaa tamaasha
phoolon kaa mahakna
gulshan kaa tamaasha
phoolon kaa mahakna
rangeen ishaare
haan rangeen ishaare
main dekh rahi hoon
oon oon oon
duniya ke nazaare
duniya ke nazaare
ab jaise ye duniya
kuchh baaten karegi
ab jaise ye duniya
kuchh baaten karegi
chup reh na sakegi
chup reh na sakegi
hamse hi kahegi
afsaane hamaare
hamse hi kahegi
afsaane hamaare
afsaane hamaare
main dekh rahi hoon
oon oon oon
duniya ke nazaare
duniya ke nazaare
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