Posts Tagged ‘Devika Rani’
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Blog Day : |
4471 | Post No. : | 15971 |
We in this blog remember the personalities of HFM during their anniversaries. But in case of Ashok Kumar’s birth anniversary, we are constrained to defer it to next day because this day unfortunately turned out to be the death anniversary of Kishore Kumar, his younger brother.
Ashok Kumar (13 October 1911 – 10 December 2001) was easily the first superstar of HFM. He achieved his stardom in early 1940s, at a time when many actors now regarded as superstars had not even made their debuts. For instance, people like Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor had not even made their debuts by that time. Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan, future superstars were mere toddlers at that time.
Ashok Kumar began his film career as a lab technician. His rise to superstardom from that position was quite meteoric. Unlike meteors, he stayed on top throughout his career. He was not just a top actor, he was also a film maker. He never had to look for work. He was himself an employer of film actors. Unlike many film personalities who fell on hard times and survived in penury in old age, Ashok Kumar managed his finances well and he was always financially well secured. This is one quality of his that most film personalities needed to learn from.
Ashok Kumar was well connected to lots and lots of other well known film personalities through blood relations as well as marriage alliances. In his own household he had Anup Kumar and Kishore Kumar as his brothers. His sister Sati Rani Devi was married to film producer Shashdhar Mukherjee (founder of Filmalaya), whose brother Subodh Mukherjee was a director. Shashdhar Mukherjee’s sons were Rono Mukherjee, Joy Mukherjee, Deb Mukherjee, Shomu Mukherjee and Shubir Mukherjee, all into films. Shomu Mukherjee’s wife is Tanuja. Their daughter is Kajol.
If one looks at the filmy connections of Ashok Kumar, thanks to Kishore Kumar’s various marriages, it will turn out that Ashok Kumar was related to almost every major star in HFM and beyond. Ashok Kumar is related to Kapoors, Bachchans, Rabindranath Tagore, Mithun Chakraborty etc. Exploring all these connections can be used as an exercise in timepass by those interested. 🙂
Ashok Kumar was an actor-singer during the early parts of his career. Some of his songs have gone on to become immortal songs. Who can forget the immortal “Achhot Kanya”(1937) duet Main ban ki chidiya ban ban doloon re with Devika Rani.
Here is another Ashok Kumar-Devika Rani duet. This song is from “Anjaan”(1941). It is penned by Kavi Pradeep. Music is composed by Pannalal Ghosh.
A very nice retro style romantic song. One would love watching the picturisation.
Lyrics of this song were sent to me by Avinash Scrapwala.
Song-Mere jeewan ke pathh par chhaayi ye kaun (Anjaan)(1941) Singers-Ashok Kumar, Devika Rani , Lyrics-Kavi Pradeep, MD-Pannalal Ghosh
Lyrics(Provided by Avinash Scrapwala)
Hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm
aa Haa ha haa haa aa
Hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm
Hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm
Mere jeewan ke path par chhaayi ye kaun
Poonam ki chaandni
Kaun
Poonam ki chaandni ee ee
Mere jeewan ke path par chhaayi ye kaun
Poonam ki chaandni
Badi madhur madhur man bhaayi
Madhur madhur man bhaayi
Ye kaun
Badi madhur madhur man bhaayi
Poonam ki chaandni
Mere jeewan ka path par chhaayi ye kaun
Poonam ki chaandni
Dheeme dheeme meri kuti mein
Dheeme dheeme meri kuti mein ae
Ithlaati huyi
Bal khaati huyi
Ithlaati huyi
Bal khaati huyi
Chup chaap kahin se aayi ee ee
Chup chaap kahin se aayi ee ee
Ye kaun
Chup chaap kahin se aayi
Poonam ki chaandni ee ee
Mere jeewan ka path par chhaayi ye kaun
Poonam ki chaandni
Kaun pari ye swarg se utri
Kaun pari ye swarg se utri
Badi laaj bhari mere aas paas
Khelan laagi ras rang raas
Khelan laagi ras rang raas
Pal pal lekar angdaayi
Pal pal lekar angdaayi
Ye kaun
Pal pal lekar angdaayi
Poonam ki chaandni ee ee
Mere jeewan ka path par chhaayi ye kaun
Poonam ki chaandni
Tum kaun
Poonam ki chaandni
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 : |
3935 | Post No. : | 15009 | Movie Count : |
4111 |
Today’s song is from a film called Vachan-38. Films with the same title-Vachan were made in 1938, 1955, 1974 and 1996. Today’s film Vachan was produced by Bombay Talkies.
In the early era of Talkie films, Bombay Talkies had created great curiosity when it was established in the year 1934, mainly for 3 reasons. First reason was that both Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani, a highly educated, foreign returned couple, hailing from prestigious families, was behind Bombay Talkies. Secondly, It was the first ever film company established as a Registered company with Bombay Stock Exchange, with the most respected and very highly placed personalities of Bombay on its Board of Directors. They were Sir F.E.Dinshaw, Sir Chunilal Mehta, Sir Chimanlal Setalwad, Sir Phiroz Sethna, Sir Cawsaji Jehangir and Sir Richard Temple. Thirdly, there was a German Film Director Franz Osten and his team of Technicians consisting of Cinematographer Joseph Wirsching, Set Designer Karl Von Sreti, Sound Recordist Len Hartley and Lab Technician Wilhelm Zolle, to work in Bombay Talkies.
Germany had a very good name in India during the olden days i.e. during the early part of the last century. I remember my Grandfather ( who expired in 1975 at the age of 91 years) always praising Germany for so many things. In India,all things German were considered the Best- even better than the Vilayati or the British things !
Very few people know that Indian Cinema had a little known connection with the rise of Hitler in Germany in 1932-33. A group of men , engaged in Cinema in Germany, flocked to India in the 30’s and played a vital role in Indian Cinema and the arts of that times. After Hitler took over Germany in 1933, the German Cine Studio’s glory days were over and they were turned into Nazi Propaganda Machines !
It was at this time that several of its men left the studio and arrived in India, and contributed to Indian cinema’s formative years.
The foremost among them is Frantz Osten, a German whom Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani met at the UFA when they went to train there (they worked with Lang and Marlene Dietrich). Osten had already been directing films for the couple since 1925, when he made Light of Asia for them from Germany.
In 1934, he came to India and the next year, after Rai founded Bombay Talkies ‘ the legendary film studio in Malad that now lies in ruins ‘ Osten directed its first film.
He went on to direct the famous Devika Rani-Ashok Kumar starrer, Achhyut Kanya, without much knowledge of Hindi. The film, which featured the song “Main ban ke chiriya”, was shot by Joseph Wirsching; the sets were designed by Karl von Spreti and the laboratory was headed by Zolle, Osten’s team of UFA ex-members who worked for Rai’s state-of-the-art studio.
Osten and his fellow Germans directed 16 films for Rai. It was a remarkable feat for people who knew little Hindi ‘ mistaking the word “bulbul” once for a pair of bulls.
“It’s not clear if they had anything to do with the Nazi ideology, either way,” said film historian Amrit Gangar.
“If they did, it did not show in their films. But there were two other people who almost certainly migrated to India because of the persecution of Jews.”
Franz Osten(23-12-1876-2-12-1956) Hindi director, born in Munich as Franz Ostermayer, the elder brother of successful producer Peter Ostermayer. They set up a travelling cinema, Original Physograph (1907) and founded Munchner Kunstfilm (1909) after Osten had been making shorts for Pathé, Gaumont and Eclair. Their first feature: Die Wahrheit (1910). Osten’s début as director: Erna Valeska (1911). War correspondent in 1915. Joined Peter’s company Emelka (later Bavaria Film) in 1918. Made Der Ochsenkrieg (1920) with young cameraman Frank Planer of later Hollywood fame, one of Osten’s several contributions to a budding genre that after WW2 became known as the Heimatfilm. In fact, the Ostermayr/Osten brothers claimed to be the originators of the genre.
When Himansu Rai and Emelka made a deal to produce Prem Sanyas aka Light of Asia, Osten was assigned to direct. Continued directing Rai’s productions, often shooting in India as well as in Europe, in addition to directing for numerous companies in Berlin. Moved with cameraman Josef Wirsching and set designer Karl von Spreti to India to work at Himansu Rai’s Bombay Talkies (1934).
While in Bombay, became a member of the Nazi Party (1936). Interned by the British at the outbreak of WW2 while shooting his last film there, Kangan. Released and allowed to return to Germany (1940). Employed by Bavaria Film until 1945, for casting and setting up its film archive. In addition to Indian films, directed 33 silent features and 10 sound films.
After WW2 became manager of a Bavarian spa. His Indian films, following UFA tradition, were huge Orientalist spectacles with elephants, camels and expansive vistas often shot in deep focus. Effective authorship shared by producer Rai and scenarist Niranjan Pal. Adopted European conventions to introduce main actors, e.g. backlit mid-shots in soft focus gradually becoming more contrasted; also used mobile outdoor shots as in the railway-crossing sequence of Achhut Kanya. Strongly influenced younger Bombay Talkies film-makers Amiya Chakrabarty and Gyan Mukherjee, though they used his techniques for very different purposes.
Filmography-1925: Prem Sanyas, 1928: Shiraz, 1929: Prapancha Pash, 1935: Jawani Ki Hawa, 1936: Achhut Kanya, Janmabhoomi, Jeevan Naiya, Mamata, Miya Bibi, 1937: Izzat, Jeevan Prabhat, Prem Kahani, Savitri, 1938: Bhabhi, Nirmala, Vachan, 1939: Durga, Kangan, Navjeevan .
Film Vachan was a costume drama, first such film for Ashok Kumar. Some actors form an image in our mind. We accepted Ashok kumar as a simple hearted lover boy in early films like Jeevan Naiya, and Achhut kanya etc. Even his shaky songs became popular, because in those days all these social films with a cause were novelties. Most of the 7 films he did with Devika Rani were successful, but this film has to be rated a little on the lower side of the list. I have not seen the film, nor have I got any inkling about its story line, but from the comments in Film India Magazine of those days, it looks like a film of moderate success. It was released on 19-8-1938, at Roxy cinema, Bombay.
The cast of the film consisted of Devika Rani, Ashok kumar, meera, Mumtaz Ali, peethawala, Kamatha Prasad, Maya Devi, Pratima, Balwant Singh etc etc.
The name MEERA is one of those which cause ‘ Same Name Confusion’. Luckily, the other Meera (Mishra) started acting only in 1946, when this Meera was in the last phase of her career. Still many sites, books and writers mix up their filmography. Meera was an Anglo-Indian girl in Hindi films. During the silent film era a lot many European and Anglo-Indian girls acted in films. Few of them continued even after Talkie films started and very few like Sulochana and Sabita Devi etc. became successful even in the films for a considerable time.Some of these girls were, Ruby Meyers-Sulochana, Iris Gasper-Sabita Devi, Susan Soloman-Firoza begum ( not the singer), Effie Hippolet-Indira Devi, Bonnie Bird-Lalita Devi, Esther Abraham-Pramila, Renee Smith- Sita Devi, Berryl Classen-Madhuri, Winnie Stewert-Manorama Senior, Erine Issac Daniels-Manorama Junior, Florence Ezekiel-Nadira, Sophie Abraham-Romilla, Rose Musleah-Rose, Lilian Ezra-Lilian, Mercia Soloman-Vimla, Rachel Sofaer-Arti Devi, Rachel Cohen-Ramola Devi, Patience cooper, Violet Cooper, Ermelin-Sudhabala etc etc.
Meera’s real name was Muriel Alexander. She was born on 10-11-1919. She was from a respectable family. Her father was Superintendent-local Audit in AG’s office.Brother E. Alexander was an All India level cricketer. She passed her Inter science exam from Benaras Hindu University. It was through one Mr. Seal,who was a manager in Adarsh Chitra,she got her first break in film Dhuwandhar-1935. This was the Debut film of Leela Chitnis also. It is not known if she sang any song in that film,as no records are available.
My guess is that,besides acting,she must have sung few songs in that film.
Her name first appears as an actress and singer in film Bhabhi-38,in which she sang 3 solo songs. from 1935 to 1938,she must have sung many songs,but singers names are not mentioned. thus many singers’ credit must have been lost in those years.Same case was with Amirbai karnataki also. After Bhabhi,her name appears in Nirmala-38 and vachan-38 in which she sang 1 solo and 3 duets. She acted and sang songs in films of Ranjit,Prakash and Minerva Movietone films.
As per information available Meera acted in Dolti Naiya-34, Dhuwandhar-35, Bhabhi-38, Vachan-38, Adhoori Kahani-39, Tatar ka chor-40, Paak Daaman-40, Chingari-40, Armaan-42, Meri Duniya-42, Mauj-43, Krishna bhakta Bodana-44, Ji haan-45, Sham Savera-46, Ye hai Duniya-48 and Sansar-51. She only sang in Nirmala-38.
Another interesting name in the cast is Maya Devi. Maya Devi was from Bombay and started her career from silent films in 1928 with Anarkali by imperial. Her first Talkie film was Kunwari ya widhva-35. Her real name was Leela. She became a favourite of Bombay Talkies and she did 6 films with them in 37 and 38. In all she did 5 silent films and 31 Talkie films till 1949. her last film in India was Raaz-49. She got married with a Muslim and then migrated to Pakistan, where she did 19 films and then retired in 1964. Her first film in Pakistan was Phere-1949.She died in Lahore on 1-2-67. She did films in Gujarati and Punjabi also.
Today’s song is a song sung by Devika Rani, Meera, Lalita and Vimla. I do not know who these Lalita and Vimla were. This seems to be a friendly song of 4 of the sahelis, with dialogues in the beginning and the end of the song. With this song, film Vachan-38 makes its debut.
(For this post, I have used information from ” Walter Kaufmann in India 1934-1946″ by Amrit Gangar, The Big Indian Picture- Bombay Talkies-By Ambarish Roy Chaudhari, indiancine.ma, with thanks and my notes.)
Song-Naval Naveli Nyaari hum Kunwari baari(Vachan)(1938) Singers-Devika Rani, Miss Meera, Lalita, Vimla, Lyrics – J S Kashyap, MD- Saraswati Devi
Lyrics
hahahahaha
Malti
abhi aur khelenge
nahin Shama
ab ghar chalna chaahiye
bahut der ho gayi
kyon
darti hai
kahin pati mahashay khabar na len
hahaha
kyun nahin
pati ki dulaari hai na
hahahahaha
hum kunwaariyon ko koi fikr nahin
nahin nahin nahin nahin
hazaar baar nahin
hahahahaha
Naval Naveli Nyaari
hum Kunwari baari
Naval Naveli Nyaari
hum Kunwari baari
dosh nahin kuchh
hosh nahin kuchh
saral sahaj matwaari
dosh nahin kuchh
hosh nahin kuchh
saral sahaj matwaari
hum Kunwari baari
Naval Naveli Nyaari
hum Kunwari baari
khuli hawa mein nav kali ?? phoolen
khuli hawa mein nav kali ?? phoolen
pawan jhakoron mein madmaati jhoolen
pawan jhakoron mein madmaati jhoolen
tan man apna jeewan apna
tan man apna jeewan apna
ham ban ki chidiyaa
haan tum ??
maina
maina
maina
hahahaha
suna
jee
suna
aur guna bhi
aap ne abhi suna hi suna hai
guna nahin
hahahahah
Main to tumse bandhi rahoon
Posted on: December 11, 2015
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.
“Anjaan”(1941) was directed by Amiya Chakraborty for Bombay Talkies Limited, Bombay. The movie had Devika Rani, Ashok Kumar, V H Desai, Girish, Suresh, P F Pithawala, Gulab, Fatty Prasad, Yusuf Suleman, Saiyyad Mukhtar, David, Reva, baby Madhuri, Arun Kumar, Ibnul Hasan, Bachan Lal Dixit, Om Prakash, Tarun Kumar, Bhargavi etc in it.
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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.
“Karma”(1933) was directed by J J Freer Hunt for Himanshu Rai Indo International Talkies, Bombay. The movie had Devika Rani, Sudha Rani, Himansu Rai, Dewan Sharar, Abraham Sofire, Ghanshyam etc in it.
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Sainyya more re tu le chal
Posted on: November 2, 2015
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.
“Karma”(1933) was directed by J J Freer Hunt for Himanshu Rai Indo International Talkies, Bombay. Tmovie had Devika Rani, sudha Rani, Himansu Rai, Dewan Sharar, Abraham Sofire, Ghanshyam etc in it.
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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.
“Anjaan”(1941) was directed by Amiya Chakraborty for Bombay Talkies Limited, Bombay. The movie had Devika Rani, Ashok Kumar, V H Desai, Girish, Suresh, P F Pithawala, Gulab, Fatty Prasad, Yusuf Suleman, Saiyyad Mukhtar, David, Reva, baby Madhuri, Arun Kumar, Ibnul Hasan, Bachan Lal Dixit, Om Prakash, Tarun Kumar, Bhargavi etc in it.
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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.
“Izzat”(1937) was directed by Franz Osten for Bombay Talkies. The movie had Devika Rani and Ashok Kumar in lead roles. The movie also had Kamta Prasad, Fateh singh, M Nazir, Ahmad, Mumtaz Ali, K H Dharamsi, Vimla, P F Peethawala, N M Joshi, Ameer Ali, Suneeta Devi, Madhurika, Manohar Ghatwai, Chandraprabha etc in it.
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Tum meri tum mere saajan
Posted on: March 5, 2014
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in 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.
Bombay has been the centre of Film making in India right from the very beginning. Why Bombay and not any other city in India ? It was because Bombay wahub of business activities in India, because it attracted Talent from all over the country and because the Bombay Government constantly made attempts to develop it as a metropolitan city. Old records indicate that a total of 2.72 lakh people migrated to Bombay in 1911, while this figure was was 4.21 lakhs in 1921 and more than 5 lakh people came to Bombay in 1931 to seek employment.
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Jeewan hai sangraam bande
Posted on: February 20, 2014
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in 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.
In the early days of films, it was almost a tradition for the film people to invite or encourage their friends and relatives to join the industry. There could be two motives, One-to give opportunities to the dear ones and Two-to include them in the line so that their own position gets strengthened. Thus, the early artistes-at least the majority- were one way or the other connected to each others in the film line. Those days,Industry too needed people in various branches of film making as it was growing fast and social inhibitions still restricted the entries of people from respectable families.
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