Posts Tagged ‘Actor-Singer’
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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 : |
4450 | Post No. : | 15909 |
Today’s song is a comedy song from a Costume/Action film “Jungle ka Jawahar”-52. The film was a production from Basant Pictures, owned by producer/Director Homi Wadia. In 1942, brothers JBH Wadia and Homi Wadia separated from each other on a very important point. The elder brother JBH Wadia was of the opinion that the life of the action-stunt films is a short one. He firmly believed that the market for action films will dry up within the next 10-15 years, hence the company should change over to Social films.
The younger brother Homi Wadia differed and wanted to continue with stunt films. He separated and established his own Basant Pictures. Most stunt actors joined his group – especially Fearless Nadia. Besides the Human artistes, Homi Wadia also replaced Animals used in stunt films. In Wadia films there was a Horse named ‘Punjab ka Beta’, a dog named ‘Tiger’, and a Motor car called ‘Rolls Royce ki Beti’. Basant Pictures brought a Horse named ‘Rajput’, dog called ‘Moti’, and a Motor Car called ‘Austin ki Bachhi’. In addition they also acquired a Motorcycle named ‘Runnio’.
The history of stunt action films is as old as the Silent film history. Silent films were essentially a Visual medium, as there was no sound. What could be achieved by dialogues had to be conveyed only with the visuals, hence there was not much scope for emotional films. In the initial stages of silent films, the audience was mainly of the middle and lower class of the society. Impressing and attracting them was easy with action films. That’s how the majority of silent films consisted of action or stunt scenes.
After the advent of Talkie films, the trend of stunt films continued and also became money spinners. Those days stunt films did not need any well known or famous actors or beautiful heroines. These films were made with minimum budgets. Master Bhagwan used to make a stunt film in just 60 to 70 thousand Rupees, covering all expenses. The Wadia, Mohan, Imperial or Ranjit action films cost a little more as they were more elaborate with some story and known actors.
There were specialist actors like Baburao Pehelwan, Vasantrao Pehelwan, Fearless Nadia, Prakash, Boman Shroff, Billimoria brothers, John Cawas and few others who were fixed stars of stunt films. In those days “SPL FX” techniques were not there and all the stunts were actually done by the actors themselves.
Veeru Devgan – yesteryear Fight Master, has written an article on “Stunts and Actions” in the “Encyclopedia of Hindi Cinema”. He says in it,
“It was from film Aan-52 that professionals were employed for the first time. Azeembhai handled the Horses and Douglas took care of the fights and fencing….
“Evolution of action hero began with “Phool aur Pathar”-66, when Dharmendra bared his chest for the first time….
“Stunts in Hindi cinema started taking centre stage in the late 60s and early 70s…..
“What is creditable is that most of today’s actors are ready to do all the action scenes themselves “.
These days, no film is complete without “SPL FX”. What we miss now is the Human involvement in film stunts !
The cast of today’s film was Fearless Nadia, John Cawas, Goldstein, Dalpat, Leela kumari, Rajani, Shyamsundar, Raja Sandow etc. This film is remarkable for 2 reasons. First is – for its Music Director, Madholal Damodar Master, this was his last film as MD. He retired from films, but excelled in another field with International fame, after retirement. More of it later in this post.
Secondly, one of the names in the film cast today was Raja Sandow. He indeed was in the film and film credits, though he had died on 25-11-1943 only ! Surprised ? Not only this film, but a total of 5 Hindi films and over a dozen Tamil films featured Raja Sandow in their films till 1960 ! This is because this legend of stunt films was so popular that his film shots were used again in different films for over a decade as a member of film cast. This must be unique in the world.
Raja Sandow (born P. K. Nagalingam) was an Indian film actor, film director and producer. He began his career as an actor in silent films and later became a prominent actor and director in Tamil and Hindi films of the 1930s. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of early Indian cinema.
Raja Sandow was born in Pudukottai, Tamil Nadu. He was trained as a gymnast and started his film career as a stunt actor in S.N. Patankar’s National Film Company at Bombay. He was given the name “Raja Sandow” because of his physique (after strongman Eugen Sandow). His first lead role was in Patankar’s Bhaktha Bhodhana (1922), for which he was paid Rs. 101 as salary. A passionate gymnast, he started his career as a stunt actor in S.N. Patankar’s National Film (1922). Top star at Kohinoor and its associate LAxmi Pics. (1922-8) under Manilal Joshi (Mojili Mumbai), R.S. Choudhury and Homi Master. Achieved fame when he formed a trio with director Chandulal Shah and heroine Gohar starting Jagdish Film with them (1928) and its successor, Ranjit Film (1929-36). Sandow’s star image in reformist melodramas, playing complex psychological characters opposite Gohar, was launched with Gunsundari and extended in several classic ‘negative’ roles in Shah-Gohar sound films, e.g. Desh Dasi, Prabhu Ka Pyara and Barrister’s Wife. Other noted roles include Indira MA where he plays Kishore.
He became famous by starring in silent films like Veer Bhemsen (1923), The Telephone Girl (1926). After acting in a few silent films he also worked as a director in Ranjit Studios for a monthly salary. His first film as director was Sneh Jyoti (1928).
Returning to Tamil Nadu, he directed and acted in a number of silent films for R. Padmanaban’s Associate Film Company. Many of his silent films had reformist social themes like Peyum pennum (1930), Nandhanar (1930), Anadhai Penn (1931), Pride of Hindustan (1931) and sathi usha sundari (1931). After talking films were introduced with Alam Ara in 1931, he went back to Bombay and starred in many Hindi and Tamil talkies. He was often paired with the actresses Gohar and Sulochana (Ruby Myers). Between 1932–35, he acted in many socially themed Hindi films like Shyam sundar (1932), Devaki (1934) and Indira MA (1935). In 1935, he was commissioned to direct his first Tamil film Menaka and returned to Madras. He continued directing and acting in films till his death in 1943. Vasantha Sena(1936), Chalak Chor (1936), Chandrakanta (1936), Vishnuleela (1938), Thiruneelakantar (1939) and Choodamani (1941) were some of the films he directed and starred in during that period. The last film he worked in was Sivakavi (1943). Sandow suffered a heart attack and died at Coimbatore on 25 November 1943. He was survived by his wife Leelabai and one Son.
As far as films are concerned, he acted in 58 Silent films, 16 Hindi Talkie films and also directed 2 Hindi Talkie films.
Sandow was the first Tamil film director to adopt the practice of using names of actors in film titles. He was the first to introduce intimate kissing scenes and dancers in revealing costumes to the then conservative Tamil film industry. He was also the first director and producer to move Tamil cinema from remaking mythological stories and into making social themed films. He even advertised his films as “Don’t miss to see your own picture”. Sandow was also the first director to use Tamil literary works for film by directing Anadhai penn in 1931 based on Vai. Mu. Kothainayagi Ammal’s novel of the same name.
Writing about Sandow, film historian Theodore Baskaran says: “As a director, actor, scriptwriter and producer, his contribution to Tamil cinema is significant. Many of the stars of the Forties and Fifties have worked with him. He was very competent at coaching actors and maintained complete control over his films. He was a martinet on the sets and was often compared to a ringmaster in a circus. In his films, the emphasis shifted from songs to the spoken word.”
Film historian Randor Guy has also described him as a tough task master: “Raja Sandow was a tough and no-nonsense guy who would not hesitate to shout at and slap his crew and cast including women! Regretfully there are no such directors these days!.”
The Tamil Nadu Government has instituted an annual award in his name called Raja Sandow memorial Award, given for outstanding services to Tamil Cinema. A Postage stamp had been issued in recognition of his contributions to Indian cinema.
Filmography-Talkie films in Hindi…Pardesi preetam-33, Noor e imaan-33, Toofani Taruni-34, Partha Kumar-34, kashmeera-34, Indira M.A.-34, Gunsundari-34, Ratan Manjiri-35, Raat ki rani-35, Desh Dasi-35, College girl-35, Barrister’s wife-35, Prabhu ka pyara-36, Matlabi Duniya-36, Dil ka Daku-36 and Chalaak Chor-36. He directed Raat ki rani-35 and Chalaak Chor-36.
An extraordinary point. Raja Sandow was so popular during the Silent era and early Talkie period, that even after his death in 1943 at Coimbatore, his film shots and leftover films were used in 5 Hindi films till 1953-that is till 10 years after his death. Even his name appeared in the film cast and credits !. I feel this is an exclusive honour, which I have never heard in case of any other actor. The films using his shots in them were Dhoomketu-49, Alladin and Wonderful lamp-52, Jungle ka Jawahar-52, Nav Durga-53 and Husn ka chor-53. This information is given in The Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema.
(Thanks for information from wiki, The Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema, Atit ke sitare by Nand kishore, muVyz, HFGK and my notes).
The name Madholal Master must be unknown to the newer crop of Music lovers, because he retired from film music in 1952- much before most readers were even born. The story of Madhulal Master is as strange as his death. On the morning of 19th June 1990, The Times of India, Bombay flashed a news…” The old time Music Director and a Director of Indian Institute of Puppetry, shri Madholal Damodar Master is found murdered in his Shivaji Park home.”
Born on 21-6-1903, Madholal joined the film industry to become a Comedian, but he was first made a sound recordist assistant, then an assistant MD for two films and finally independent MD for Krishna Tone Film Company for their film, ‘ Navchetan’-32. In the next 21 years he gave music to 34 Hindi films, few Gujarati films and some documentaries, composing 267 Hindi songs. Unable to cope up with the changed pattern of Music and public taste, he retired from this profession after his last film- Jungle ka Jawahir-52. After this he pursued his hobby of Puppet making and soon developed a flourishing business. Internationally well known, he was the only Indian member honoured by the International Puppetiers’ Organization. Very few people know that it was his JOKER PUPPET which was used by Raj Kapoor in his ambitious film MERA NAAM JOKER-1970.
He was invited as a special guest for the release ceremony for the HFGK-Vol I, on 8-10-1988, after Harmandir ji meticulously made special efforts to locate him in Bombay. He was overwhelmed with this gesture. Madholal ji showed a Catalogue to Harmandir ji, in which Madholal ji had recorded information about all songs composed by him with details of every film that he did in his career. Harmandir ji was wonder struck with his systematic records. In the ceremony, senior artistes like Naushad, Sitara Devi, Rajkumari ji etc all touched his feet with respect. He regaled the audience with his humorous talk for an hour. He had spent 38 years before this in anonymity. It is very sad that his life ended in such a tragic way. ( His murderer was never found out, nor was the motive known and the case file was closed.)
Here is today’s duet from the film “Jungle ka Jawahar”-52. It is shot on Rajni and actor singer Shyamsundar. Enjoy….
Song- Pyaare Pappu Gore Gappu paas tu mere aa (Jungle Ka Jawaahar)(1952)Singers- Sulochana Kadam, Shyamsundar, Lyricist- Saraswati Kumar Deepak, MD- Madholal Damodar Master
Lyrics (Provided by Avinash Scrapwala)
pyaare pappu gore gappu
pass tu mere aa
o ri kallo jhapak jhallo
chhod de mujhko ja
pyaare pappu gore gappu
pass tu mere aa
o ri kallo jhapak jhalo
chhod de mujhko ja
adiyal tattu mere mitthu
meethe bol suna
ulti sulti khoti khoti
baaten nahin bana
adiyal tattu mere mitthu
meethe bol suna
ulti sulti khoti khoti
baaten nahin bana
bhaiya bhaiya bhaiya
bhaiya aurat ki ye jaat
iski koi na samjhe baat
karti baaton ki barsat
chaahe din ho chaahe raat
maare ghodi ban ke laat
kahoon main mutalle chhod de muhalla
kahoon main nithhalli chhod mera palla
kahoon main mutalle chhod de muhalla
kahoon main nithalli chhod mera palla
main jungle ki sherni
tu shahar ka pilla
khaati gaajar mooli tu
main khaata rasgulla
main khata rasgulla
bhaiya bhaiya bhaiya
bhaiya aurat ki ye jaat
iski koi na samjhe baat
karti baaton ki barsat
chaahe din ho chaahe raat
maare ghodi ban ke laat
ja ja ja na phira dimaag mera
ho ho ho dekha bada rubaab tera
are ja ja ja na phira dimaag mera
ho ho ho dekha bada rubab mera
mujhe jaan le,
nahin
kahaa maan le
nahin nahin
mujhe jaan le
kaha maan le
o tauba hai ??
mujhko nahi sata
bhaiya bhaiya bhaiya
bhaiya aurat ki ye jaat
iski koi na samjhe baat
karti baaton ki barsat
chaahe din ho chaahe raat
maare ghodi ban ke laat
pyare pappu gore gappu
pass tu mere aa
o ri kallo jhapk jhalo
chhod de mujhko ja
adiyal tattu mere mitthu
meethe bol suna
ulti sulti khoti khoti
baaten nahin bana
bhaiya bhaiya bhaiya
bhaiya aurat ki ye jaat
iski koi na samjhe baat
karti baaton ki barsat
chaahe din ho chaahe raat
maare ghodi ban ke laat
Ham dharti ke laal
Posted on: September 16, 2020
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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4443 | Post No. : | 15890 |
“Ghar Ki Bahu”(1947) was directed by Narayan Rao and G K Devre for Kohinoor pictures, Bombay. This “social” movie had Paro Devi, Umakant, Ghulam Mohammad (actor), Pandey, Mehar Sultana, Manohar Ghatwai, Dhuliya, Babu Raje, Geeta Sardesai etc in it.
This forgotten movie had eight songs in it that have become extremely rare songs. One song has been covered in the past.
Here is the second song from “Ghar Ki Bahu”(1947) to appear in the blog. This song, even rarer than the one discussed earlier, is sung by Paro Devi and chorus. Taresh is the lyricist. Music was composed jointly by Shanti Kumar Desai and R C Rai.
Only the audio of this song is available. It is clear that the song was picturised on Paro Devi herself.
I request our knowledgeable readers to throw light on this movie.
Song-Ham dharti ke laal (Ghar Ki Bahu)(1947) Singer-Paro Devi, Lyrics-Taresh, MD-Shanti Kumar Desai
Chorus
Lyrics
Ham dharti ke laal
Ham dharti ke laal
Ham dharti ke laal
hamaaro o o o o
hamaaro dharti se hi pyaar
Ham dharti ke laal
Ham dharti ke laal
Ham dharti ke laal
ghaas paat ki hamri jhopadiya
ghaas paat ki hamri jhopadiya
ho hamri jhopadiya
kheti ko byopaar
kheti ko byopaar
gaay bail hain sangi saathi
gaay bail hain sangi saathi
kudrat ko aadhaar
hamaaro albelo sansaar
hamaaro albelo sansaar
kaho jee
kaho jee saanch baat ya jhoothh
hamaaro dharti se hi pyaar
hamaaro dharti se hi pyaar
ham dharti ke laal
Ham dharti ke laal
ham dharti ke laal
ho o o
garmi jaawe
garmi jaawe
barkhaa taawe
sardi ang churaawe
haay maa
sardi ang churaaye
haay maa
sardi ang churaaye
khoon bahaaye
khoon bahaaye
?? na paaye
ham bhookho rah jaayen
hamen na
hamen na pal bhi mile karaar
hamen na pal bhi mile karaar
kaho jee
kaho jee saanch baat ya jhoothh
hamaaro dharti se hi pyaar
hamaaro dharti se hi pyaar
ham dharti ke laal
ham dharti ke laal
ham dharti ke laal
ho o
dhoop sahen chupchaap rahen ham
karke yahi vichaar
arre haan
karke yahi vichaar
ik din howo
in kheton par hamro hi adhikaar
arre haan
arre haan
hamri hi sarkaar
rahe na kou zameendaar
rahe na kou zameendaar
kaho jee
kaho jee
saanch baat ya jhoothh
hamaaro dharti se hi pyaar
hamaaro dharti se hi pyaar
ham dharti ke laal
ham dharti ke laal
ham dharti ke laal
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.
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4404 | Post No. : | 15791 | Movie Count : |
4350 |
Today’s song is from the film Taramati-45. This is an obscure film. None of its songs are available on YouTube or with Saregama. I was lucky to get hold of this rare song from one of my friends. Taramati-45 was produced by Ramniklal Shah, under his banner Ramnik Films. Yes, he is the same Ramniklal Shah, who married actress Indurani. Ramnik productions were known to make action/stunt films or C grade adventure films. Sometimes they would go for Mythological films. Actually, this was their first Mythological film.
Right from the silent era, the studio system was quite strong. Every notable studio had its own group of actors, directors and composers, along with technical staff. Most were on monthly pay rolls. They were tied up to the studio by a written contract. After the entry of Talkie films, studios became more alert in keeping or holding their people with them. This actually became a limitation for the actors and directors, who wanted to fly high and earn more. The second world war added to the woes of studios. Increasing costs, shortages of raw film and demanding artistes virtually broke the studios.
In or around the early 40’s, the studio system started giving away. When the studios broke up, they gave way to new establishments. Sagar gave way to National and Mehboob studios, Bombay Talkies fragmented into Filmistan, N R Acharya films and later filmalaya, New Theatre directors started their own companies like Bimal Roy, Barua, Nitin Bose etc., Prabhat made way for Rajkamal, Nene production, Alhad Chitra of Dharmadhikari etc.
Film Das baje -42 was a film made at the time when Prabhat’s disintegration had started. Shantaram had already walked out to start Rajkamal. After the film Das Baje-42, during 1943, another batch of Raja Nene, Shantaram Atavale, Datta Dharmadhikari and Keshavrao Bhole left Prabhat, while film Ramshastri was in the making. K.Bhole however, completed the music composition of film Ramshastri before leaving Prabhat and the balance film was directed by Gajanan Jahagirdar.
All this team joined Mohan studios. Some of the actors too joined them to make the film Taramati-45. The young director Raja nene, with a lot of experience in acting and of being the assistant director in Prabhat with the stalwarts like Shantaram, Damle and Fattelal was appointed Director of this Mythological film. He also had the experience of independently directing a successful film Dus Baje-42. Pt.Mukhram Sharma wrote the dialogues and songs. The story was developed by G P Pawar and Shantaram Athavale The music was looked after by Keshavrao Bhole and Ramchandra Pal. The cast included, Shobhana Samarth, Vasant Thengdi, Baby Shakuntala, Ananth Marathe and others. The film was released on 8-9-1945 at the Roxy Cinema in Bombay.
Raja Nene was born in a small village in Konkan, on 18-12-1912. His real name was Gajanan Hari Nene. His early education was done in his hometown and he graduated from a college in Ratnagiri. He was the nephew of Vishnupant Damle, a partner in Prabhat Films. After his graduation, Damle employed him in Prabhat as an assistant Director.
Raja assisted Shantaram in the film Vasantsena-35 and Amar Jyoti-36. During the making of the film Sant Tukaram, he was shifted to Damle-Fattelal duo as their assistant Director and he became a key figure in making that film. Subsequently, he continued with Damle – Fattelal duo in their other ventures like Gopal Krishna-38 and Sant Dnyaneshwar-40. For film Sant Sakhu-41, his name was included as one of the directors, along with Damle-Fattelal. In between, he also acted in the film Duniya na maane-37.
In 1942, he directed his first independent film ” Dus Baje” a Marathi-Hindi bilingual. Meanwhile, V Shantaram, a mentor for all junior aspirants and his proteges, left Prabhat to start his own studio-Rajkamal Kalamandir. Same time, a new film of Prabhat-“Ramshastri” was given to Nene for direction. However, a group of Shantaram loyalists – Athavale, Dharmadhikari, Mukhram Sharma, Raja nene and Keshavrao Bhole – decided to leave Prabhat. The incomplete film Ramshastri-44 was completed by Gajanan Jagirdar, in addition to doing the lead role in the film. Keshavrao Bhole also completed his work before leaving Prabhat.
The entire group joined Mohan studios. After the film Taramati-45, Nene started his own company – Raja Nene Productions and made the film ” Shadi se Pehle”-1947. Nene not only acted in the film, but also directed it along with Debutant director Datta Dharmadhikari. After Rajkamal, Nene Productions was the next big production house to emerge from Prabhat Films. It was followed by Alhad Chitra of Datta Dharmadhikari.
After directing film Lalat-47 ( debut film of actress Ushakiran), Nene turned to Marathi films, acting and directing hit films like, Patthe Baburao and Ketakichya Banaat, Sant Ramdas etc. He returned to Hindi films and directed Shri Vishnu Bhagwan-51, Bhai ka pyar-51, Rajrani Damayanti-52, Lanka Dahan-52, Indrasen-52, Radha krishna-54, Pehli Tarikh-54, Hanuman Janma-57 and Gauri Shankar-58.
In between and after 1958, Nene directed only Marathi films, but acted in few Hindi films. His film Pehli Tarikh-54 was a hit film and the famous Kishore song, ” Khush hai zamana aaj pehli tarikh hai” was filmed on him only. Film Pehli Tarikh was remade in Kannada and Tamil by P. Neelkantham as Modaltedi-55. Raja Nene expired on 21-2-1975 at Bombay. He directed 16 Hindi films and acted in 14 Hindi films from 1937 to 1975. ( Ack: based on information from ” Marathi Cinema in Retrospect” by Sanjit Narwekar and Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema, Film India-Nov.45 with thanks.)
There is one unusual name in the cast of the film – Vasant Thengdi. Vasant Thengadi was born on 11-1-1910 at Nagpur. He was the son of Congress leader Dhaniram Thengadi. Vasant had his education in Poona. He could not join the Army, because of his father’s political connections. He had to leave his Engineering college after his father’s death. Being very handsome,tall and with good physique, he started working in Marathi dramas and films. He started his Hindi work with film Dhuwandhar-35. ( This was also the Debut film for Leela Chitnis and Meera Alexander). He started doing Villain roles and became popular and famous. Besides Marathi films, his Hindi films were Taramati-45, Phir bhi apna hai-46, Mera Ladka-38, Din Raat-45, Ten o clock-42 etc. Later he also worked as assistant director to Raja Nene.
Today’s film, as the name suggests, is a well known story of Harishchandra-Taramati. This is a story which appears in Aitareya Bramhanya, Mahabharat, Markendeya puran and Devi Bhagwat. This story has been quite popular with our filmmakers from the earliest era. As we all know, the first Silent feature film was Raja Harishchandra-1913, made by Dadasaheb Phalke. In the silent era there were 3 films called Raja Harischandra-in 1913, 1917 and 1927. There were two films called Harishchandra in 1928 and 1929. There were two Talkie films, Raja Harishchandra in 1952 and 1979, There was also a Satyavadi Harishchandra in 1931 itself. The story was so well known, that no wonder, film Taramati-45 did not do well at all at the box office.
Today’s song is sung by Baby Shakuntala. When I requested our Sadanand Kamath ji to upload this song for me, after listening to the song, this is what he said, ” This is one of the rarest songs which, to my mind, even SAREGAMA does not have mp3 clips of any song from the film.
Also, this is one of those marching songs which has been composed with a subdued orchestra giving more emphasis on the lyrics to inspire the listeners. The voice of Baby Shakuntala is neither ‘baby’ nor ‘adult’ but has the correct resonance for the marching song.” Very true.
Song-Veer abhimaan se badhta hua shaan se (Taramati)(1945) Singer – Baby Shakuntala, Lyricist – Pt. Mukhram Sharma, MD – Not known (Keshavrao Bhole or Ramchandra Pal)
Lyrics
Veer abhimaan se
badhata hua shaan se
Veer abhimaan se
badhta hua shaan se
thhakta nahin
thhakta nahin
veer kabhi thhakta nahin
veer kabhi thhakta nahin
aapas ki maar se
chinta ke bhaar se
aapas ki maar se
chinta ke bhaar se
jhukta nahin
jhukta nahin
veer kabhi jhukta nahin
veer kabhi jhukta nahin
shok ke pahaad se
dukhhon ki baadh se
rukta nahin
rukta nahin
veer kabhi rukta nahin
veer kabhi rukta nahin
khelta hai jaan par
khelta hai jaan par
mit’ta hai aan par
mit’ta hai aan par
hat’ta nahin
hat’ta nahin
veer kabhi hat’ta nahin
veer kabhi hat’ta nahin
kartavya ke maidaan se
veer kabhi hat’ta nahin
veer kabhi hat’ta nahin
Samjha kya hai duniyaa daana
Posted on: August 3, 2020
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 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 : |
4399 | Post No. : | 15776 |
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Blog 10-Year Challenge (2010-2020) – Song No.49
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In my younger days, I remember to have watched Marathi film ‘Kunku’ (1937) on Bombay Doordarshan (now ‘Sahyadri’ Channel). At that time, I was not aware that ‘Duniya Na Maane’ (1937) was its Hindi version. Even it did not occur to me that the subject chosen for the film was very bold. I have no much recollections of the songs of the film but Shanta Apte’s performance has remained in my mind as it was quite different as compared with the theatrical acting by most of the actors of that time. Even her song renditions were looking natural as against the ‘fixed gaze’ style of song renditions witnessed in most of the films at that time.
After about 3 decades when I had watched the Hindi version on a video sharing platform, I still found that even in the present juncture, the subject handled in the film appears bold. I sometime feel that V Shantaram, the director, must be having a knack of convincing his other partners in Prabhat Films to agree to produce the film with a bold subject who may have thought that the film would receive the brickbats especially from the orthodox segment of the society after the release. That the film was a box office hit proves the capability of V Shantaram as a director for handling the bold subject in a way that convinced a large number of cine-goers about the evil of mismatched marriage
14-year old Nirmala (Shanta Apte) is married through a deciet by her uncle to a widower (Keshavrao Date), a lawyer, who is old enough to be her father. But she does not accept him to be her husband. While she takes care of the family as a housewife, she refuses to consummate the marriage by saying that while sufferings can be borne, injustice can not be tolerated. Over a period of time, her husband feels guilty and treat Nirmala as his daughter. He release her from the marriage but the conservative society does not accept this arrangement. In the end, the widower commits suicide with a note to Nirmala that she is free to remarry.
In selecting Shanta Apte in the role of Nirmala, V Shantaram must have observed her as a woman of substance who would perform her reel role of an enlightened woman who fights for her rights in a same way as she had done in her real life. In this film, there is a scene in which she gives a trashing with a cane to her college going step son for misbehaving with her as well as with his father and forces him to seek forgiveness from his father. I recall an instance when she had gone to ‘Filmindia’ office with a cane (or whip?) to trash Baburao Patel, the firebrand editor for writing some unpleasant comments about her acting. It was reported that to avoid trashing, Baburao Patel had to hide below his table.
10 years back, one song from the film ‘Duniya Naa Maane’ (1937) was posted on the Blog. So far, 5 songs from the film have been posted on the Blog details of which are as under:
| Songs | Name of the Film |
|---|---|
| ek thha raaja | 03/08/2010 |
| in the worlds broad field of battle | 04/08/2010 |
| man saaf tera hai ya nahin | 12/11/2012 |
| jai ambe gauri maiyya | 09/10/2013 |
| saawan jhoola jhool ke nikla | 19/03/2014 |
I am presenting the 6th song, ‘samjha kya hai duniya daana’ from the film which is rendered by actor-singer, Shanta Apte. The song is written by Munshi Aziz which is set to music by Keshavrao Bhole. In this song, there is no musical interludes. I liked the way, Shanta Apte sang the line ‘kisi ki chup’ followed by a very brief pause and then continuing singing ‘walwala kisi kaa’.
One of the features of the film was that the music director, Keshavrao Bhole did not use orchestra for all its songs, Instead, he relied on using a couple of musical instruments. Two of its 12 songs (including the one under discussion) were sung by Shanta Apte by playing gramophone records.
Video Clip:
Audio Clip:
Song-Samjha kya hai duniya daana (Duniya Na Maane)(1937) Singer-Shanta Apte, Lyrics-Munshi Aziz, MD-Keshavrao Bhole
Lyrics
samjha…aa kya hai duniya….aa ….aa
aa aa aa aaa
aa aa aa
daana
yahaan pe aake har ek apni
yahaan pe aake har ek apni
niraali duniya bana raha hai
niraali duniya bana raha hai
deewaana daana zamaana kya kya
deewaana daana zamaana kya kya
hamein tamaashe dikha raha hai
hamein tamaashe dikha raha hai
kisi ki chup
walwala kisi kaa
chhuri kisi ki
gala kisi kaa
kisi ki chup
walwala kisi kaa
chhuri kisi ki
gala kisi kaa
bura kisi ka
bhala kisi kaa
bura kisi ka
bhala kisi kaa
dharam yahi kya sikha raha hai
dharam yahi kya sikha raha hai
sitam kaa sahna
sitam kaa sahna
har ek taakat
badhega dil aur badhegi himmat
sitam ka sahna
aa aa aa aa
sitam ka sahna
har ek taakat
badhega dil aur badhegi himmat
hai ye bhi ek zindagi ki daulat
hai ye bhi ek zindagi ki daulat
suno ye aaj suna raha hai
suno ye aaj suna raha hai
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 : |
4382 | Post No. : | 15730 |
Today’s song is from the film Albeli-45. This was the first of the three same Title films. The other two were made in 1955 and 1974 ( interestingly, its masculine counterpart Albela was made 4 times- in 1951,1971,1990 and 2001 !).
The film was made by Talwar Productions, Calcutta. The music was composed by G A Chisti, who, while in India, got only B and C grade films. He became a big composer in Pakistan, after he migrated there in 1949. He was not only successful, but also got many awards. At the end of his life, he had become a Faqir. He was popularly known as ” Babaji” in the film industry, here and in Pakistan, due to his helpful and simple nature. As per HFGK, the lyricists of film Albeli were Shanti Swarup and Chisti. The cast was Ramola, Rooplekha, Manorama, Satish, Hiralal, Usha and many others. Albeli-45 is perhaps the only film in which there were three Jew girls as Heroines – Ramola, Rooplekha and Manorama.
The film was directed by R C Talwar. R.C.Talwar aka Raghubir Chand Talwar was born on 21-4-1910, at Tolaganj, in Western Punjab-now in Pakistan. His film life, as many others of his ilk, started in Calcutta and ended in Bombay. While at Calcutta, he worked as an assistant to Kidar Sharma. After the success of the film, Aulad / Dil Hi Toh Hai (1939), 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.”
He was a screenplay writer, producer and Director. Starting from Manchali-43, produced by Talwar productions,Calcutta, which he had established there, Talwar directed films like Khamoshi-42, Albeli-45, Khiladi-50, Sangdil-52, Ilzam-54, Rukhsana-55, Memsahib-56, Ek dil sau afsane-63 and Naya Kanoon-1965. He produced 2 films, Sangdil and Memsahib-for which he had written the screenplay also.
Talwar directed Kishore Kumar in 3 films, Ilzam, Rukhsana and Memsahib. In all these films, the Heroine was Meena Kumari. While Ilzam was a social film, Rukhsana was a Costume film and Memsahib was supposed to be a comedy film. This was also produced by him.
After the film Memsahib was completed, Talwar had to pay a balance amount of Rs. 8000/- to Kishore Kumar. Even after Kishore’s several reminders, Talwar failed to pay Kishore his dues. Kishore Kumar employed a novel idea. Everyday, in the morning, before proceeding for shooting, Kishore would go to Talwar’s house. Standing outside at his gate, Kishore used to shout loudly,” Hey Talwar, de de mera Aath Hazaar “. This continued for a few days and Talwar was so annoyed that he paid off Kishore’s dues.
India is a country in which many religions co exist and thrive happily. India’s history says, it was Secular from times immemorial and it never preveted any religions from growing here. The Indian culture believes that all religions are different roads to God. That is why India is considered a Heaven for other religions.
As per records, the first ever outside religious group that came to India was Jews – who landed near Cochin, in Kerala, in the 6th Century. Islam came to India in the 7th Century and a Mosque built by the early visitors in 629 AD still exists in India. The Parsis came to India in the 8th Century. Such was the tolerance of the Indians, since the beginning. No wonder, these religions not only sought growth here but also prospered safely.
Muslims, Parsis and Jews joined the film industry, since its beginning in the Silent Era.
The number of artistes given by one of the single Non Indian communities, in those days was the Jews. The Jews came to India in 562 BCE and in 70 CE in two lots. They settled in various parts of India. It was the first foreign religion to come to India, even before Islam or the Zorostrian. There were 8 types of Jews, based on their locations in India.
1. Cochin Jews
2. Madras Jews
3. Bene Israeli Jews in Bombay and Konkan areas
4. Baghdadi Jews-Gujarat, Bengal and Eastern India
5. South Asian Jews
6. Bnei Menashe- NE states
7. Bene Ephraim- Telugu and
8. Delhi Jews- Punjabi
Though the Jews mingled freely and adapted themselves to local atmosphere- maintaining and following Judaism-, the Jews who took up to Film Industry were only the Bene Israeli and Baghdadi Jews. A point to note was that no Jews from Kerala or Madras even entered the film line. It was only the Hindi films and that too mainly Jew women joined films. The earliest recorded Jew girl to work as a Heroine in a film was Ruby Meyers ( Sulochana ). She acted in silent film Veer Bala-1925, made by Mohan Bhavnani for Kohinoor Film company, Bombay. She went on working in films and became very popular. When the Talkie film age came, she contacted Imperial film co. to stake her claim, but was rejected as she was not fluent in speaking Hindustani. Learning from this, she took one year off and became an expert in Hindi and learnt singing too. She made a thumping entry with the Talkie film Madhuri-1932, in which she sang 4 songs also ! Hats off to the dedication !
There were other Jew actresses like Rose Musleah (Miss Rose), Lilian Ezra (Lilian), Marcia Soloman(Vimla), Rachel Sofaer(Arti Devi), Esther Abraham (Pramila), Rachel Cohen (Ramola), Sofia Cohen (Rooplekha), Sofia Abraham (Romilla), Irene Issac (Manorama), Patience Cooper, Violet Cooper, Susan Soloman(Feroza Begum), Florence Ezekiel(Nadira) and many more. Among the males- David Joseph Penkar wrote the story and dialogues of Alam Ara-1931, Actor David Cheulkar (David ), Ezekiel Penkar (Viju Penkar- Tarzan film Tarzan and the Cobra-88 and few more films) and Lily Ezekiel (Asha Bhende), Edvyn Meyers (Ezra Mir) and Pearl Padamsi are well known Jews. There were some male Jews in the Technical side also.
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.
Ramola’s sister Rooplekha (Sofia Cohen) was also in films. Her first film was Nishani-42. After this she worked in 3 films, all with Ramola. The films were, Shukriya-44, Albeli-45 and Jhoothi kasmen-48. Later she got married and left films.
Ramola acted in 23 films in Hindi and 5 films in Bangla. She even sang 14 songs in 4 Hindi films. She also worked in a Punjabi film “Pardesi Dhola”, for which R C Talwar was the director. 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.
Film Albeli’s review came in the March – 46 issue of Film India magazine. As usual, Baburao Patel had nothing good to say about this film. The film’s story centred around the love affair of a street girl and a Gypsy boy, who is loved by two more girls. The film was released on 22-12-1945 at Central Cinema, Bombay. The story was by Talwar himself. Dialogues and Screenplay was by J.S.Casshyap. Out of the 12 songs of the film, I heard 5 songs and I felt that today’s song was the best amongst them. The song is a duet sung by Zeenat begum and Satish, the film’s hero. Despite all efforts,I could not get any information about this Satish. All that I know is he acted in 24 films-from Uski Tamanna-39 to Bus Conductor-59. He seems to have sung 33 songs in 22 films, from Sanskar-40 to Baghi Sardar-56.
( Information for this post is culled from articles ” Shalom Bollywood” and ‘The rise and fall of Jews in Bollywood’ from Weekly news dated 6-4-2013, wiki, HFGK, muVyz,Film Directory-46, ” The one and lonely Kidar Sharma” by Kidar Sharma and my notes)
Song-Do Saajan ki aur do apni aankhen ho gayeen chaar (Albeli)(1945) Singers-Zeenat Begum, Satish, Lyricist- Not known, MD- G A Chishti
Both
<strong.Lyrics
Do Saajan ki aur do apni
Do Saajan ki aur do apni
aankhen ho gayeen chaar
aankhen ho gayeen chaar
Do Saajan ki aur do apni
Do Saajan ki aur do apni
aankhen ho gayeen chaar
aankhen ho gayeen chaar
donon ke is madhur milan se
donon ke is madhur milan se
basa naya sansaar
Do Saajan ki aur do apni
Do Saajan ki aur do apni
aankhen ho gayeen chaar
aankhen ho gayeen chaar
tum samjhaao(?) saajan beena
main beena ke taaaar
tum samjhaao(?) saajan beena
main beena ke taaaar
jhoom jhoom kar naachen gaayen
jhoom jhoom kar naachen gaayen
gaayen raag malhaar
gaayen raag malhaar
Do Saajan ki aur do apni
Do Saajan ki aur do apni
aankhen ho gayeen chaar
aankhen ho gayeen chaar
haan aan aan aan
sundar sundar naina teekhe
main unke balihaar
haan haan
sundar sundar naina teekhe
main unke balihaar
palkon pe bithhlaa ke peechhe ae ae ae ae
palkpn pe bithhlaa ke peechhe
ud jaaun us paar
palkpn pe bithhlaa ke peechhe
ud jaaun us paar
Do Saajan ki aur do apni
Do Saajan ki aur do apni
aankhen ho gayeen chaar
aankhen ho gayeen chaar
Do Saajan ki aur do apni
Do Saajan ki aur do apni
aankhen ho gayeen chaar
aankhen ho gayeen chaar
Roothhe ko hai manaanaa
Posted on: July 7, 2020
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 : |
4372 | Post No. : | 15709 |
“Jawaani”(1942) was directed by Wajahat Mirza for National Studios, Bombay. The movie had Surendra, Jyoti, Husn Banu, Kayamali, Agha, Nawab, Dulari, Gulzar, A. R. Kabul, Sankata Prasad etc in it.
The movie had ten songs in it. Three song from the movie has been covered in the blog in the past.
Today (7 July 2020) is the 106th birth anniversary of Anil Biswas (7 July 1914 – 31 May 2003).
On this occasion, here is the fourth song from “Jawaani”(1942) to appear in the blog. This song ois sung by Surendra. Aarzoo Lucknowi is the lyricist of this song. Music is composed by Anil Biswas.
Only the audio of this song is available, but it is clear that the song was picturised on Surendra himself.
The audio is not very clear and some of the lyrics noted by me do not make sense to me, so I may have erred at a few places in the lyrics. I request our knowledgeable readers to help point out the errors as applicable.
Song-Roothhe ko hai manaana (Jawaani)(1942) Singer-Surendra, Lyrics-Aarzoo Lucknowi, MD-Anil Biswas
Lyrics
Roothhe ko hai manaana
Roothhe ko hai manaana aa aa
dukh deta hai khatakta kaanta
dukh deta hai khatakta kaanta
sooli se hai banaana
sooli se hai banaana aa aa
Roothhe ko hai manaana
Roothhe ko hai manaana
humko bhi hai chupke chupke
humko bhi hai chupke chupke
prem ka bal dikhlaana aa aa
prem ka bal dikhlaana aa
thhandi saansen ae ae ae
thhandi saansen seekh rahin hain
hawa ka rukh paltaana
Roothhe ko hai manaana
Roothhe ko hai manaana aa
Roothhe ko hai manaana
Ye hai badalti rut ka chakkar
is’se kya ghabraana aa aa
is’se kya ghabraana
Ye hai badalti rut ka chakkar
is’se kya ghabraana aa aa
is’se kya ghabraana
loot’ti jaati barkha tujhko
yahin hai laut ke aana aa
loot’ti jaati barkha tujhko
yahin hai laut ke aana
Roothhe ko hai manaana
Roothhe ko hai manaana aa
Roothhe ko hai manaana aa aa
dukh deta hai khatakta kaantaa
dukh deta hai khatakta kaantaa
sooli se hai banaana
sooli se hai banaana aa aa
Roothhe ko hai manaana
Roothhe ko hai manaana aa
Roothhe ko hai manaana
Bhar bhar aayin mori ankhiyaan
Posted on: July 6, 2020
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 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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4371 | Post No. : | 15705 | Movie Count : |
4329 |
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Hindi Songs in Bangla Films : 34
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‘Jalsaghar’ [(1958), Music Room] was Satyajit Ray’s third film (4th film in terms of the date of release). After the box office failure of his second film, ‘Aparajito’ (1957), Satyajit Ray decided to make a popular film which would cater to the taste of Bengali audience. ‘Jalsaghar’. the short story of Tarashankar Bandopadhyay was the basis for the film which had the popular subject of the declining fortunes of zamindars (landlords) who patronized arts and music. So, there would be scope for songs and dances which would attract the audience.
But how could a director of the stature of Satyajit Ray succumb to make a commercial film whose heart was attuned to making the intellectual films? So, the net result was that when ‘Jalsaghar’ (1958) shooting was completed, the popular subject of declining aristocracy became a serious subject. The popular music associated with such subject was turned into the hardcore Hindustani classical songs and a classical dance. In other words, the film took the shape of an artistic film and won the National Film Award, 1959 for the best feature film in Bengali.
It took quite a long time to search for a dilapidated palace in West Bengal for shooting the film. At last, someone from Murshidabad suggested Nimtita Rajabari in Murshidabad which suited well as a palace for a zamindar whose fortunes are on the decline. It was a great coincidence that later on, Tarashankar Bandopadhyay revealed to Satyajit Ray that his short story was inspired by landlord Upendra Narayan Chaudhury who stayed in Nimtita Rajabari. His descendants have now settled in Kolkata.
The film is available for viewing on one of the video sharing platforms in 10 parts with English sub-titles. While watching, I felt that the original film may have been edited to some extent. However, the continuity of the story seems to have been maintained. The film’s story is set in the mid 1930s and centres around Chhabi Biswas in the role of an aged music-loving landlord. He is present in almost all the frames of the film. Rest of the main actors like Padma Devi, Gangapada Bose, Tulsi Lahiri, and Kali Sarkar have subsidiary roles. The story as depicted in the film is as under:
Biswambar Roy (Chhabi Biswas) is an aged feudal landlord who lives in his dilapidated palace on the banks of a river. He has lost his wife, Mahamaya Devi (Padma Devi) and the only son, Khoka some years back when their boat capsized in the river during a storm. He has lost much of the land-holding due to the soil erosion created by the river. He has only one servant, Ananta (Kali Sarkar) and the Estate Manager (Tulsi Lahiri) to his company besides his horse and an elephant. To maintain his status as an aristocratic landlord, he indulges in lavish spending and pleasures like hosting concerts in his music room, high quality drinks etc. Much of his assets including the remaining land and jewelries have been mortgaged or sold.
While old Biswamber is resting in his room reminiscing his golden days as a wealthy landlord, Mahim Ganguly (Gangapada Bose), his neighbour and a neo-richman, visits the palace to invite him to attend his son’s thread ceremony. While Biswamber declines to attend giving an excuse that because of his old age, he has stopped going out of his palace. But this event reminds him of his son’s thread ceremony which he had conducted in pomp and show worthy of a landlord which included a grand firework in the night followed by a musical concert in his jalsaghar (music room) where all his guests were served choicest drinks. He also remembers that in the same night, his wife resented his spending on concerts too, by mortgaging her jewellery.
Biswamber also remembers that he had arranged a next musical concert on the day his wife and son were to return to the palace after the visit to her mother’s place, to celebrate the new year. This was also to show his might to his new-rich neighbour, Mahim even though for this, Biswamber had to sell some of his antique furniture and some more jewellery. While the concert was in the mid-way, he got the news that his wife and the son drowned in the river while returning on a boat.
After the death of his wife and son, Biswamber has been living in the palace alone with a servant to attend to him. His music room has remained locked for many years. He has become a recluse. He is in no mood to accept his neighbour Mahim’s personal invitation to attend his newly constructed house-warming ceremony and a dance concert. But it reminds him of his music room which has been closed for years. He orders his servant to open it at once. He spends some time inside the music room reminiscing of his glorious days.
In order to spite his neighbour, Biswamber decides to organise a dance concert of a famous kathak dancer from Banaras for which he spends his last cash reserves of Rs.500 for refurbishing his music room, arranging drinks to his guests and giving his last of the precious stones as a gift to the dancer. After the concert, though he has become almost bankrupt, a drunk Biswamber is very happy that he could effectively replicate his past glory to spite his neo-rich neighbour, Mahim.
However, as the night progresses, he observes that one by one the candles in the chandeliers of his music room are getting over, making the room dark. A frightened Biswamber linking the candle light-off to the end of his own life, calls his servant, Ananta who apprises him that the dawn is approaching. He would open the windows and the sunlight would make the room brightened. As the morning sun rises, in his last show of grandeur of his aristocracy, Biswamber mounts his favourite horse and rides at a faster pace away from the palace. But he is thrown out of the horse and dies at the banks of the river – the same river which is also responsible for the erosion of his land and the death of his wife and son.
The moral of the story is that though Biswamber knows that his fortunes are on the decline, he is not ready to adjust to the reality of the situation. Every effort is made to maintain his lavish spending even in the background of facing the adverse financial position. There is no need to compete in terms of prestige with the neo-rich, Mahim who has improved his economic condition by his business acumenship. On the other hand, Biswamber should have taken the clues from Mahim to diversify into some other business ventures. In both the cases – the decline of Zamindars and the emergence of non-Zamindar neo-rich, Satyajit Ray has very well explored human psychology of showmanship.
The highlight of the film is the superb performance by Chhabi Biswas in the role of an aged landlord. The entire film lies on his shoulder. It may be worthwhile to note that in reality, actor Chhabi Biswas belonged to an aristocratic family. He has personally witnessed the downfall of aristocracy. With this background, it comes naturally to him to perform his role of a falling aristocrat. In fact, there is so much of a genuineness in his performance that those who have watched the film would sympathise with him at the end of the film notwithstanding the fact that it is his ego and the false prestige which are responsible for his downfall.
One of the scenes in the film which I liked the most is when Biswamber enteres his jalsaghar (music room) for the first time after keeping it locked for some years. He spends about 5-6 minutes inside jalsaghar without any dialogue and the background music, observing each and every item – portraits of his forefathers, each and every chandeliers, furniture and fixtures etc. This scene reminds me of a similar scene in ‘Kaagaz Ke Phool’ (1959) when an aged Guru Dutt visits his studio and glances the entire studio, reminiscing of his glorious days as a successful director. He touches the camera and sits on his director’s chair in the dark studio never to get up.
Satayjit Ray has used the camera as well as the expression and gestures of the main actors to move forward the story of the film more than the dialogues. My guess is that of 100 odd minutes of the film, the dialogues in the film would have cumulatively consumed not more than 40 minutes. Ustad Vilayat Khan has used mainly Sitar and Flute for background music which goes well with the ambience of the palace as well as the genre of the story.
Like ‘Kaagaz Ke Phool’ (1959), ‘Jalsaghar’ (1958) had also the same fate of failure at the box office. The reviews of the film after its release in India were mostly adverse. It was only after a couple of years when the film was released in the US and the UK, it received a cult status. Over a period of time, the film has been one of the widely discussed classic films of Satyajit Ray like ‘Kaagaz Ke Phool’ (1959). In June 2018, the film was shown in the Siri Fort Auditorium, the only Indian classic film shown at Navras Duende World Film Festival.
‘Jalsaghar’ (1958) has two songs – both rendered in Hindustani classical raags. In addition, the film also has the 8-minute of Kathak dance by Roshan Kumari, the daughter of playback singer, Zohrabai Ambalewaali. I am presenting a traditional thumri ‘bhar bhar aayi mori ankhiyaan piya bin’ rendered by Begum Akhtar. The song is picturised on Begum Akhtar herself up to say 01:45 of duration. Thereafter, the actress singing the song is different until Begum Akhtar surfaces again towards the end of the song. However, the entire duration of the song is rendered by Begum Akhtar. The Thumri was set to music by Ustad Vilayat Khan.
The background of the song is that Biswamber Roy remembers his olden days when after the thread ceremony of his son, he had arranged a concert in the night in his jalsaghar where all the guests had been served with drinks. All the money spent for the event was raised by selling his wife’s jewellery.
The director’s camera captures many other details while the singer is rendering the Thumri. The camera pans over the entire jalsaghar to show the grandeur of the music room. The camera also captures other subsidiary activities simultaneously going on, both physically and mentally. The camera focuses on Chhabi Biswas who is shown to be listening very intensely. But behind the intensity, he is also thinking something else as his eyes remain static, probably remembering many such music soirees of the past. His neighbour, Gangapada Bose is inhaling snuff but at the same time, he is embarrassed as to whether any of the guests has noticed his action. The camera also captures him in trying to control his sneeze following inhaling the snuff and thereafter searching for a glass of drink.
This film, in my view, is a ‘must see’ for those who believe the films as the director’s medium and also for the excellent performance of Chhabi Biswas as an aged landlord.
Video Clip:
Audio Clip:
Song-Bhar bhar aayi mori ankhiyaan piya bin (Jalsaghar)(Bangla)(1958) Singer-Begam Akhtar, MD-Ustaad Vilaayat Khan
Lyrics
aaaaaa
aaa aa aa aaaa
aaa aaa aaaaaa
aaaa aaa aa
aaaaaaaaa aa
aaaaaaaaaaaaa
aa aa
aa aa aa aaaa
aaaaaaaaa
aaa aaa aaa aa
aa aa aa aa aaa aa
aa aa aaaa aa aaaa
ae bhar bhar aayin mori ankhiyaan
piyaa bin
bhar bhar aayin mori ankhiyaan
piyaa bin
bhar bhar
bhar bhar aa………yin
bhar bhar aa………yin
aa aa aa aaa aaa
ae ae ae
bhar bhar aayin aa aaa
bhar bhar aayin mori ankhiyaan
piya bin
bhar bhar aayin
bhar bhar aayin
aa……yi
aa……yi mori ankhiyaan
bhar bhar aayin mori
bhar bhar aayin mori ankhiyaan
piya bin
ghir ghir aayin…een een een…… een een
ghir ghir aayin..een kaari ee ee badariya aa aa
ghir ghir aayi..ee
aa…..aa….yi
ghir ghir aayin
o o ghir ghir
ghir ghir aa..yin een kaari ee badariya
dharkan laagi mori chhatiyaan
piya bin
dharkan laagi
Digant Nath devata anant roop sohta
Posted on: June 26, 2020
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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Blog Day: |
4361 | Post No. : | 15684 |
Today’s song, rather a beautiful Bhajan, is from the film Bhagwat Mahima-55. Earlier 3 songs/Bhajans of this film are discussed here, so it will be the 4th Bhajan from this film to appear here.
The film was made by Filmistan. It was directed by a veteran All-rounder Vithaldas Panchotiya and the music was composed by Hemant kumar- who was famous for creating Bhajans in films.
Hemant Kumar’s associaton with Filmistan started with the film Anand math-52. Director Hemen Gupta recommended his name to S.Mukherjee at that time. Having heard Hemant’s name for his Bangla songs, Mukherjee accepted his name. Earlier C Ramchandra had left Filmistan during the making of film Shabistan-51, due to the interference of his old tormentor Bibhuti Mitra, the film Director.(He was called for the film Anarkali again, after Basant Prakash had left halfway).
Hemant did many films for Filmistan like Shart-54, Samrat-54,Nagin-54, Jagriti-54, Bhagwat Mahima-55 and Durgesh nandini-56. When Hemant was asked to make music for the film Nagin, an interesting event happened. S.Mukherjee had never worked with Master Bhagwan, but he had immense faith in Bhagwan’s Music sense. Most times Mukherjee used to ask Bhagwan’s advice on song tunes of his films. One day, C Ramchandra hosted a party at his bungalow-Sai prasad, Dadar, to celebrate Silver jubilee of film Albela. When the party was in full swing, on the IIIrd floor terrace, Mukherjee called Bhagwan aside and asked him to come with him to the ground floor. Bhagwan was surprised, but without questioning, he accompanied him to the ground floor. There he saw a young man with a Harmonium. Mukherjee said,” Dada, listen to these tunes and give me your opinion.” Then he turned to that young bespectacled man and asked him to play his song tunes. After listening to the tunes, Bhagwan looked excited and said,” My God, kya superb tunes hai ye. Sab gaane hit honge”. That was Hemant Kumar with Nagin Tunes ! Needless to say that Mukherjee passed all tunes.
The decade of 1950s, besides being a part of the “Golden Era” of Hindi film music, also was a very favourable period for Religious films. This was a decade in which maximum number of Mythological/Religious films were made – a record number of 124 films in 10 years’ time. This gave an unprecedented average of One film every month for 10 years at a stretch ! This was a period when joint families still existed and there were many senior citizens in almost every family-who were keen on seeing religious films. The TV had not yet arrived and stage dramas were relegated to the second place in entertainment for families.
During the 1960s and the 1970s, the number of Religious films dwindled, as a variety of topics were handled by films – including the New Wave films, which focused on different issues of the Middle class Indians.
Film Bhagwat Mahima-55 was based on Bhagwat Puran stories. Out of all the 18 Puranas of Hindu religion, Bhagwat Puran is the most popular and most read scripture. It contains 18000 Shlokas in 12 Cantos or Chapters and has stories about Lord Shri Krishna and his devotees. Bhagwat puran has 3 main sections, which emphasize about 1) Bhakti Yog or the Spiritual path to God, 2) Dnyaan Yog or the Wisdom Path and 3) (Nishkaam) Karm Yog or the Virtuous Action Path (without expecting fruits thereof). The entire Puran is about Krishna from his birth to his exit from this world and stories about events and people connected with him throughout his Mortal life.
Hemant Kumar (16-6-1920 to 26-9-1989) excelled in religious films, with his melodious music,often sung in his own voice. Looking at his career statistics, he was more successful as a Singer in Hindi films than as a Music Director. He sang 320 songs in 173 films, while he gave music to only 55 films, composing 423 songs, in his career. I simply love his songs, especially his duets with Lata and Geeta Dutt.
When he first came to Bombay in 1951 to score music for film Anand Math-52, he had a problem with Hindi language pronunciations. As a professional, it is to his credit that he tried hard and successfully corrected his Hindi, while retaining the characteristic Bangla sweetness in his voice. Lata had once said,” when Hemant Kumar sings, you feel a Sadhu is singing !”. Hemant Kumar usually wore a Dhoti and Kurta. His voice was typically different and by nature he was a thorough Gentleman.
The director of this film was Vithaldas Panchotiya. Except those readers, who have a knowledge of early era Hindi films, it is unlikely that other readers might have even heard this name. In the early era, when the studio system was firmly established, the artistes employed by the studio had no specific duties. Anybody and everybody had to do what was needed by the company. Due to this many capable artistes became all rounders in film making.
Vithaldas Panchotiya was certainly one such person. He has been a Producer, Director, story writer, dialogue writer, screenplay writer, lyricist, Singer, Music Director and God knows what else !
Born in October 1906 in Vadnagar in Gujarat, he followed his father’s footsteps. His father worked in stage dramas and toured with the drama company. From the age of 8 years Vithaldas started acting in dramas. Later he joined Calcutta’s Alfred Drama company, owned by Madon Theatres Limited. He worked on a salary of Rs. 35 pm. While working in dramas, he established his own Gujarat Film company and produced 12 silent films in 10 years. Vithaldas first acted in silent film ‘ Dhruv charitra’-1921. He learnt dance and music too. He acted , directed, sang songs and gave music also. He acted in Talkie film ” Muflis Ashiqe”-1932, claimed to be India’s first comedy film. He acted, sang and composed music for this film.
Being a staunch Gandhian, he used to participate in rallies etc. Some of his films were Hindustan-32, Insaf ki Tope-34, Gaibi Gola-35 ( he was the writer and the director too.He gave a break to Baby Noorjahan in this film.), Khudai Khidamadgar-37 aka Garib ki Tope, Takdir ki Tope-38 etc . As per one source, he acted in 35 films, directed 10 talkie films, sang 8 songs, gave music to 1 film and wrote Lyrics to 2 films. Additionally story, dialogues and screenplay writing were also done by him. Some of his films were, Shaikh chilli-37, Khush naseeb-46, Prabhu ki maya-55, Ghar ki numaish-49, Karmaveer-38, Raman-54, Jagriti-54, Hum sab chor hain-56, Basant 60, Bhagvat mahima etc.
I find it very difficult to know exactly how many films he did in various capacities in the 1930s, as there are conflicting claims by him and Master Fida Hussain. In a few cases the details in HFGK and what he claims, gets contradicted. Some of his films in the 40s are Ramanuj-43, Giribala-47, Grihalaxmi-48, Ghar ki Numaish-48 ( released only in 1962, with the title ‘ Jai ho muhabbat ki ‘ )
Thanks to information and statistical data provided by Shri Harish Raghuwanshi ji of Surat, we know that his Filmography consists of a total 11+ 26 films. The break up is-
11 silent films
25 Talkie films as Actor and 1 film as a writer only.
9 films as a Director
2 films as Lyricist and
2 films as Music Director
As per Muvyz data, he sang 37 songs in 8 films.
from 1951 to 1960, he did 13 films- mostly ( 9) for Filmistan. He directed 2 of them. After 1960 his work was reduced. The death of his 3 sons broke him emotionally. As a true Gandhian, it was his dream to make a film- Gandhi Sangram- on mahatma Gandhi. He had done all the spade work and the Muhurat of shooting was also done on 2-10-1987, The Government had promised finance. Even Rajiv Gandhi promised him that. However nothing came to him and he died on 30-10-1996, with his dream unfulfilled.
His daughter Shradha used to work in Gujarati films. She too died in a Train accident in 2000. Her daughter Deepshikha is an actress.
The story of the film Bhagwat Mahima-55 is……
Nagar Seth, a rich man living in one of the gayest cities of India, had everything he wanted in life with one exception. And that was his having no children. His wife, Shanta, consoled him by saying that it was better not to have a child rather than have one who would ruin the fair name of the family by his mis-deeds. She narrated to her husband the story of Sukhram who served his son for three generations in the forms of a bull, a dog and a serpent, even though he could have gone to heaven without doing this service. His son, however, ill-treated the father throughout. Anyway, the story failed to impress Nagar Seth.
One day Shri Jagat Guru Shankaracharya happened to pass through the town. Shanta, who was a disciple of his, requested him to console her husband. In doing so, Shankaracharya narrated a story from the Immortal Classic, Shrimad Bhagvat, wherein Atmadev, also placed in similar circumstances, prayed for a child. Doing penance, Atmadev had `darshan of Narad Muni who gave him a fruit saying that his wife would beget a noble son if she ate the fruit. . Atmadevs wife had no faith in miracles and, on the advice of her sister, Ganga, gave the fruit to her cow.
Ganga, who was expecting a baby, offered her child to Dhundhuli (Atmadevs wife) for some consideration. Thus, Atmadev was made to believe that Ganga’s child was his own. He was named Dhundhukari.At the same time, the cow which had eaten the fruit, also gave birth to a son who was human in every feature except his ears which were shaped like cows. This boy was also brought up by Atmadev and named “Gokarn”.
Both the boys grew up together and, in due course, became young men. Gokarn, who led a pious and righteous life, became a learned and famous man. Dhundhukari, on the other hand, grew up in bad ways and became the terror of the town. . One day, Dhundhukaris real father, i.e.Ganga’s husband, told Atmadev about his son’s real identity. This so much upset Atmadev that he went away into the forest. There, later, he lost his life.
Champa, a helpless girl and one of the many victims of Dhundhukari, conspired with some of her friends and killed Dhundhukari. Because of his manifold sins, he then became a wandering ghost. . Gokarn, who had now become a Mahatma, was at Gaya offering `Pind Dan to his deceased father when he learned about Dhundhukari’s fate. To relieve him of his ghostly existence, Gokarn offered `Pind Dan not once, but 108 times. Still, he was not successful. He then offered prayers to Suryadev on the advice of learned pandits. Suryadev, pleased with the prayers, blessed Gokarn and asked him to recite Shrimad Bhagvat for the salvation of Dhundhukari’s ghost.
Today’s Bhajan is sung by Hemant Kumar. It is a very good Bhajan rendered equally nicely by Hemant Kumar. I like it very much. You too will.
Song-Digant Nath devta anant roop sohta (Bhagwat Mahima)(1955) Singer- Hemant Kumar, Lyricist-Sarswati Kumar Deepak, MD- Hemant Kumar
Lyrics
om Japakusuma Samkaasham Kashyapeyam Mahadhyuthim
?? Tamorim Sarva Paapaghnam Pranathosmi Divakaram
Digant Nath devata
anant roop sohta
tamas kiran anek se
?? vishw paalate
Digant Nath devata
anant roop sohta
tamas kiran anek se
?? vishw paalate
Digant Nath devata
kripaalu Ravi kripa karo
kripaalu Ravi kripa karo
dayaalu Ravi daya karo
mahaan ye ?? tu
ke tum karo ??te
Digant Nath devata
suna rahe digant ke
anant ?? bhairavi
saja rahe ho tum nishaan
vishw bhar ki aarti
dukhon se ?? mukti do
ubaarne ki yukti do
sabhi ke paap taap ko
prabhu tumhi sanwaarte
Digant Nath devata
anant roop sohta
tamas kiran anek se
?? vishw paalate
Digant Nath devata
Digant Nath devata aa aa
Digant Nath devata aa aa
Sedin dujone dulechhinu bone
Posted on: May 26, 2020
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 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: | 4330 | Post No.: | 15624 |
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Bangla Song in Hindi Films-2
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‘Basu (Bhattacharya) used to be fired up by one-liners. He drew stories from one-line coming from his fertile mind’ thus said Rinki Roy Bhattacharya, daughter of Bimal Roy and the ex-wife of the late Basu Bhattacharya in an interview. After going through the interviews of Rinki Roy Bhattacharya and Gulzar who had been associated with Basu Bhattacharya, I have come with my own one-liner about Basu Bhattacharya. He made high quality films with low budget. His first film as a producer-director, ‘Uski Kahaani’ (1966) was made with a budget of Rs.one lakh only.
How did Basu Bhattacharya managed to produce and direct low budget films? Except the lead actors, he took his close friends as side actors, lyricists, music director and technicians with a tacit understanding that they will work within his low budget. And none of them seems to mind it as they kept their personal friendship above the professional relationship. He did not shoot the film in a studio but hired flats for shooting. For example, he majorly shot ‘Anubhav’ (1971) in Tanuja’s flat. ‘Aavishkar’ (1974) was majorly shot in his own flat at Khar.
Basu Bhattacharya (1934 -1997) was born in a priestly family in Kassim Bazar of Murshidabad district in West Bengal. From his teenage days, he was fond of watching films which led to his interest in film-related works. After watching Satyajit Ray’s ‘Aparajito’ (1956), he developed interest in film making. After the decline of New Theatres, some artists, technicians moved to Bombay (Mumbai) in early 1950s who were mostly accommodated either by Shashidhar Mukherjee of Filmistan or Bimal Roy. Basu Bhattacharya was so much influenced by Raj Kapoor’s films ‘Aawaara’ (1951) and ‘Shri 420’ (1956) that he came to Bombay (Mumbai) in 1956 with the sole intention of assisting Raj Kapoor. When his efforts to get entry into R K Studios failed, he joined Bimal Roy Productions as an Assistant to Bimal Roy for Madhumati (1958) and ‘Sujata’ (1959). He became the second unit Director for Bimal Roy’s film, ‘Parakh’ (1960).
During the making of ‘Parakh’ (1960), Basu Bhattacharya and Rinki Roy, Bimal Roy’s elder daughter developed liking for each other which was resented by her parents. After the completion of ‘Parakh’ (1960), Basu Bhattacharya left Bimal Roy Productions and became a free-lancer. Rinki Roy and Basu Bhattacharya got married in a court some time in 1963. Soon after the marriage, Basu Bhattachraya was entrusted with directing Shailendra’s maiden film, ‘Teesri Kasam’ (1966). With this film, Basu Bhattacharya got opportunity to direct Raj Kapoor to whom 10 years back, he was keen to assist him.
Basu Bhattacharya turned producer with the film ‘Uski Kahaani’ (1966) which he also directed. Thereafter, he concentrated his three films – a trilogy of marital discords in an urban setting – ‘Anubhav’ (1971), ‘Aavishkar’ (1974) and ‘Grih Pravesh’ (1979). All these films portray the struggle of the husband and wife to protect their marriage despite a third person entering into their married life. At the end, it is mutual realization that a happy home is the platform for a happy married life. In between, Basu Bhattacharya produced and directed ‘Tumhaara Kalloo’ (1975) which dealt with the importance of education in a village setting.
Basu Bhattacharya’s next film, ‘Anand Mahal’ (1977) was based on Badal Sarkar’s popular Bangla play, ‘Ballavpurer Roopkathaa’ which he produced and directed. The film was completed but remained unreleased. Dinesh Shankar Shailendra, younger son of the late Shailendra who was assisting Basu Bhattacharya in the film, very recently revealed on his facebook page that after editing work was over, Salil Chowdhury started composing background music. After completing the background music work, Salil Chowdhury told Basu Bhattacharya that it was a bad film which was shot like a play. He said that the release of the film would harm his reputation as a director. After listening to the flaws in the film in detail, Basu Bhattacharya accepted Salil Chowdhury’s advice and decided not to release the film.
During his life time, Basu Bhattacharya produced/directed around 15 films which included, in addition to those mentioned in the preceding paragraphs, ‘Daakoo’ (1975), ‘Sangat’ (1976), ‘Madhu Malti’ (1980), ‘Sparsh’ (1980), ‘Ek Saas Zindagi’ (1991) and ‘Aastha’ (1997) which was his last film. Although some of his films were critically acclaimed, almost all of his films did not fare well at the box office. His films, ‘Teesri Kasam’ (1966) and ‘Anubhav’ (1971) received National Awards for Best Film and the Second-Best Film respectively.
While Basu Bhattacharya produced three films on marital discord, his own married life with Rinki Roy Bhattacharya was in doldrum for domestic violence. There are details available in the interview of his ex-wife in the public domain. I feel that Basu Bhattacharya had split personalities – as a film director and as a husband.
Basu Bhattacharya left for the heavenly abode on 27/08/1997.
‘Anubhav’ (1971) was Basu Bhattacharya’s first film of the trilogy of marital discords. The film was made with the assistance of Film Corporation of India (now National Film Development Corporation). The cast included Sanjeev Kumar and Tanuja in lead roles as married couple with Dinesh Thakur as the third person and A K Hangal as the man servant in the household of the couple.
As per Rinki Roy Bhattacharya’s interview, the film started with Pran and Tanuja in the lead role. Some scenes were already shot with Pran. However, after watching the rushes of shots, Basu Bhattacharya decided that the role of an office going husband did not suit Pran. So, he was replaced with Sanjeev Kumar.
I had watched the film many years back (probably on TV) but I failed to recall sequential progression of the story of the film especially as to how the film ended. Recently, I watched the film with HD quality DVD on one of the video sharing platforms. Wow! What a film. After ‘Pyaasa’ (1957), I have immensely enjoyed watching this film in Black and White photography. I feel that the film would not have looked cinematically great if it was made in colour.
‘Anubhav’ (1971) is the story of Meeta (Tanuja), the lonely wife of the workaholic Amar (Sanjeev Kumar) who is the editor of a newspaper. There is not much time for Meeta for the companionship of her husband as he leaves for office early morning and returns late in the night fully exhausted. The one dialogue of Meeta in the film sums up her position in the house when she says to Amar that she felt as if she has been staying in a hotel with all the comforts but nothing for her to do.
She starts rediscovering herself. The first thing she does is that she removes all her servants except Hari (A K Hangal) so that she can keep herself busy with her household work. Now, she is the real in charge of her home. She is able to persuade Amar to spend more time in the house. He hosts parties in the house. Thus, Meeta is able to make him understand the joy of marital bliss.
When things were moving in the right direction for Amar and Meeta, one day, Shashi Bhushan (Dinesh Thakur) comes to meet Meeta without any prior intimation. He was Meeta’s first lover to whom she has forgotten after her marriage. In fact, he has come to get her recommendation for a job at Amar’s office where he has given an interview. He has no intention of reviving his love interest when Meeta seems to be very happy with her married life. She refuses to recommend his case by telling him that she does not interfere in Amar’s office matters. However, Shashi Bhushan does get a job at Amar’s office and in due course of time, he becomes his right- hand man.
When Amar comes to know about the past of Shashi being a lover of Meeta, his male ego creates a storm in their married life. Some time the discord in their married life is open in the presence of Shashi who often visits Amar in his house for office related work. At last, Amar in the fists of anger asks Shashi to resign from the job. But Shashi has already decided to leave the job when he comes to know that he has become the reason for marital discord between Amar and Meeta. When Amar reads the resignation letter of Shashi, he has change of heart. He rejects his resignation letter and ask him to continue the work.
After the resignation drama, there is an apt dialogue between Shashi and Amar. Shashi says ‘mujhe pataa nahin, beeta huwa kal aaj hamaare beech kaisa aa gaya.’ (I don’t know how our bygone days have come between us in our present-day life). To which Amar says ‘beeta huwa kal aaj hamaare beech tab hi aata hai jab hum aaj ko puri tarah se jee nahi paate’. (Bygone days between us comes only when we are not able to enjoy fully our present-day life). The film ends with a positive note clearing all the misunderstanding between Amar, Meeta and Shashi and Meeta giving news to Amar of her pregnancy.
The film has been nicely produced with excellence in almost all the major aspects of the film – direction, acting, dialogues, photography, music etc. The background music in the film has been innovatively done with signature tune of Aakashvani and songs being played in the radio etc. I could faintly hear a Bangla song and a Hindi film song, taash ke baawan patte as part of background music.
Another highlight of the film is the excellent picturization of 4 melodious songs set to music by Kanu Roy with a minimal orchestration. I liked the picturization of one of the film’s songs, meri jaan mujhe jaan na kaho. It is to the credit of Basu Bhattacharya that such a romantic song has been picturised just at one place – at one of the closed windows of the house with the background of heavy rains outside the house. With this song, he has proved that an intense romantic mood in the song can be picturised without going to outdoor shooting or even to Switzerland as Yash Chopra may have done with similar situation. And what a play of words by Gulzar! The words ‘jaan’ has been used both as ‘love’ as well as ‘life’.
All the 4 songs of ‘Anubhav’ (1971) have been covered in the Blog. But there is one more song, a Bangla song ‘sedin dujone dulechhinu bone’, a Tagore song which is rendered by and picturised on Subir Sen. The occasion is a party hosted by Amar in his house in which Subir Sen, (in the role of Subir Sen, the singer) is also invited. The lyrics and the tune are by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore which he composed in 1922. In this song, no orchestration has been used except the harmonium.
I have taken the lyrics, Hindi poetic translation and English translation of the song from http://www.geetbatin.com. I was surprised to note that the Hindi poetic translation was composed in the same metre as Tagore Song. So one can sing Hindi translated song in the tune used for Bangla song.
S D Burman has used the tune of this Tagore song in naina deewaane ek nahin maane from the film ‘Afsar’ (1950).
Acknowledgements for the sources of information on Basu Bhattacharya: (1) Interview of Rinki Roy Bhattacharya by Sonal Pandya published in ‘Cinestan’, Feb 04, 2018 and (2) Interview of Gulzar published in a old issue of ‘Filmfare’, republished in https://tanqeed.com/
Video Clip:
Song-Sedin dujone dulechhinu bone (Anubhav)(1971) Singer-Subir Sen, Lyrics-Rabindranath Tagore, MD-Rabindranath Tagore
Lyrics (Sourced from http://www.geetbitan.com)
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sedin dujone dulechhinu bone
phulodore bandhaa jhulonaa
sei sritituku kobhu khone khone
jeno jaage mone bhulo na
bhulo na
bhulo na..aa
sedin dujone dulechhinu bone
phulodore baandhaa jhulonaa
se din baatase chhilo tumi jaano
aamari monero prolapo joraano,
se din baatase chhilo tumi jaano
aamari monero prolapo joraano,
aakashe aakashe aachhilo chhoraano
tomaro haasiro tulona
bhulo na
bhulo na
bhulo na
sedin dujone dulechhinu bone
phulodore baandhaa jhulonaa
jete jete paathe poornima raate
chaand uthechhilo gaagone
dekha hoyechhilo tomaate aamate
ki jaani ki mahalagone
ekhon aamar bela naahi aar….
Lines not covered in the song
bohibo ekaaki birohero bhaar –
Bnaadhinu je raakhi porane tomar se
raakhi khulo na khulo na
——————————–
Hindi Poetic Translation
(Sourced from http://www.geetbitan.com)
———————————–
वो दिन सुहाना-फुलडोर-बंधे
झूले थे हम वन में झूलना ॥
छोटी-मोटी वो यादें मन में जो जागे
पल वो हम कभी भूले-ना, भूलें-ना ॥
उस दिन हवा में, तुमने भी माना
पागल-वन मेरे, मन का सामाना ।
नीले नीले नभ ने, हरष छा जाता,
तेरे ही हँसी की तुलना ।
भूलो ना, भूलो ना, भूलो ना ॥
राह पे हमराही रात पूनम थी,
चांद चमका नभ में
न जाने वो कौन सी महालगन में
हम ओर तुम थे मिले
(जब) चांद चमकता नभ पे
अब वो बेला बीत चली
बार विरह के सहुं अकेले ।
जो राखी बांधे मैंने प्राण संग तेरे
वो राखी खुले ना, खुले ना, भुले ना ॥
——————————
English Translation (Sourced from http://www.geetbitan.com)
——————————
We had had a swing in the forest on the other day,
It was a swing adorned with garlands.
Wish we do not lose that tiny remembrance which looms about every now and then.
The air was filled with, you know, the meaningless words of my mind,
The sky (was) sprinkled with samples of your smile.
The moon was seen to rise in the sky on the full-moon day while strolling.
Just have no idea of the divine moment on which we had had met each other.
Now I have no time left, and will bear the feeling of solitude alone in myself-
(Please be kind enough) Not to shed the friendship band that (I had) tied with your soul.
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