Posts Tagged ‘Husnlal Bhagatram’
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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Today’s song is from the film Romeo and Juliet-1947, which the HFGK mentioned as ” शास्त्रीय संगीत प्रधान ” (Classical music based) film. However, hearing songs from this film, I wondered why this film was labelled so. After hearing today’s song, you may also wonder likewise, I am sure.
This was a film made by Nargis Art Concern. It was directed by Akhtar Hussain, with music by Husnlal- Bhagatram. The cast of the film was Nargis, Sapru, Anwar hussain, Nissar, John Cavas, Hamid Ali Murad, Violet Cooper and others. This film was unique in many ways. Firstly, it was based on the famous English play ” Romeo and Juliet”, written by William Shakespeare and staged for the first time in 1597. Important point is that the story was attributed to Shakespeare in the film’s credits, posters and the booklet. Secondly, this was the only Hindi film made on this famous tragic Love-story. And the most important point is that this film was made by Jaddan Bai. This was the only film in which all her 3 children were involved. All the children had different fathers but one common mother- Jaddan Bai.
Jaddanbai had 3 husbands and 1 child each from every one.
First she married Narottamdas Khatri,the financer of her first film.He converted to Islam and became Bachhi Babu to marry her.She got Akhtar Hussain from him.
Her second husband was Ustad Irshaad Meer Khan,from whom she got Anwar Hussain.
Her third husband was Mohan Babu. This Uttamchand Mohanchand was an orthodox Mohyal Brahmin from Rawalpindi.He was going to London for studying Medicine.He heard Jaddanbai’s singing and fell for her.Against all resistance from his family,he converted to Islam,became Abdul Rashid and married her.They had atlast found true love and till the end,they loved each others.He was known as Mohan Babu.He was handsome,rich and good natured.From him Jaddanbai got a girl child called Fatima Rashid or Baby Rani or NARGIS.
Her elder son Akhtar kept away from the family,became a Director,but later started his own business away from these people.Anwar Hussain and Nargis entered films.
Jaddanbai was very well read,cultured and a social person.
Romeo Juliet and Laila Majnu were famous Love-stories, but they were not from India. India also had its own folk tales of love from different states. India is a unique country in the world. ” Vividhata mein ekta” (विविधता में एकता ). A country which has 28 states and 9 UTs, 22 languages mentioned in its Constitution, 30 languages spoken by 30 lakh people each, 122 languages spoken by more than 10000 people each and 1652 languages spoken in all the country. So many religions are living amicably for thousands of years and still the country is ONE unit, when the Nation needs it. Disproving all the Pundits of the world saying that India will break into pieces after independence, we are stronger and more developed by the day. So, what is the secret ?
The secret is its Culture, which keeps all faiths and languages bound together. In India, Culture is greater than and a bigger influence than individual religions. The flexibility, adaptability and readiness to make changes by the majority section, is the secret. This makes India the biggest Democracy in the world today. The entire world looks up to us as a final Saviour. Culture and Folklore have bound Indians together. In every state there are its own Folk tales, Folk Dances and Folk Music. Still, some common Folklore is all over the country. Though every region has its own Folklores, Lovers’ Folk lore from Punjab and Sind have been traditionally well known throughout India, e.g. Heer-Ranjha or Sohni-Mahiwal etc etc. Our films have a great contribution in keeping the country United and Together,despite calamities and aggressions. Some of the Folk tales of Love from Punjab and Sindh became well known due to films made on them.
There are 9 Tragic Love stories from Punjab and Sindh,in which both the lovers die without getting united. These 9 Love stories are-
Mirza-Sahiban
Heer – Ranjha
Sassi-Punnu
Momal-Rano
Umar-marvi
Sohni-Mahiwal
Lila-Chanesar
Noorie-Tamchi
Dhaj-Rorkumar (Unlike most pairs,in Mirza Sahiban,the Male name comes First !)
Indian film producers have helped spread these Immortal Love stories by making movies on them,as under-
Heer-Ranjha… Films made in 1931,32,48, 1970 and 1992
Mirza-Sahiban… In 1933,35,47 and 1957
Sassi-Punnu… In 1932,33 and 1946
Sohni-Mahiwal…In 1933,46,58 and 1984
Umar-Marvi…in 1942
Noorie-Tamchi…In 1934
There is one folk tale of love from Gujarat, but it is claimed by Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, with their versions. It is the story of Dhola- Maru. A film on them was made in 1956.
Anyway, the film Romeo and Juliet is not available and is considered lost. Only HFGK has some details. From the bits of information, it seems this film was very true to the original story of Shakespeare.
In the cast, we find some odd names like Master Nissar, who was a famous actor since the silent and early Talkie era. John Cavas, an actor from the stable of Wadia Movietone and one who was generally seen only in stunt and action films. Then there was Violet Cooper, yet another old time actress. Her two sisters (out of total 7 sisters) were also actresses. They were Patience Cooper and Pearl Cooper. The film’s Hero was Sapru aka D.K.Sapru aka Daya Kishen Sapru. Let’s know more about him….
This young boy had come all the way from Jalandhar to Prabhat Studios Poona, in 1942, for an interview. . Shantaram , Babu Rao Patel and Sheikh Fatehlal were the partners of Prabhat Studios at that point of time.
Looking at his face and after the usual introduction ,V Shantaram signed the actual blue eyed handsome Daya kishen Sapru aka Sapru, for a role in his next movie RAM SHASTRI-44. Meanwhile, Shantaram and others left Prabhat and the film was directed by Gajanan Jahagirdar. The character of a Peshwa played by him was well noticed and the movie turned out a big hit. He was signed as lead hero by the Company on a monthly salary of Rs 3000/-, one of the highest ever, paid to any hero during those days . It was a hefty sum that enabled him to live a princely life during those days . He did films Chand-44 and Lakharani-45 for Prabhat. It was somewhere around 1945-46.
Films started pouring in later. He acted in Romeo and Juliet ( opposite Nargis). Nargis’s Mother Jaddan Bai was all praise for Sapru. The film was produced by Nargis’s brother Akhtar Hussain . ) ,Jhansi Ki Rani ,Kalapaani , Hum Hindustani , Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, Mujhe Jeene Do , Leader and Shaheed. Who does not remember his role as Majhale Sarkar ( Chaudhary ) in Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam. Again as Zamindar in Mujhe Jeene Do , he became quite popular. We saw him in some wonderful roles in Naya Daur, Prem Pujari, Jewel Thief, Krodhi , Kudrat ,Dharm Veer, Dream Girl, Zanjeer , Pakeezah and many more such films .It was a period when story writers would create a character for him in the story or script. He was seen either as a Zamindaar or a Police commissioner or a Judge in most of his later films .(Murad was another actor fit for similar roles)
In Total, he must have acted in more than 200 films and out of which he played the lead role in more than 50 films. He also played lead roles in some Gujarati and Punjabi films.
Saprus are Sarswat Brahmins from Kashmir known as Kashmiri Pandits who belong to DIPAT SAMAN AUPAMANYAVA Gotra or the lineage of an Aryan Rishi. This clan of kashmiri Pandits actually belong to village SAPREIN in present day Kulgam district of Kashmir and could be safely called as aboriginal Kashmiris. Some other prominent Saprus are Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru , Jagdish Narayan Sapru ( Prominent Businessman of the country ) Sahaj Ram Sapru Revenue collector during the rule of Afghan Governor Azim Khan ( 1809-1819 ) and Dr Allama Iqbal Urdu poet and Islamic scholar ( He too belonged to a sapru family from kulgam that had converted to Islam )
Daya kishen Sapru belonged to a well off family from Kashmir and his father was employed in Maharaja’s Treasury . That made the family move to Jammu and Lahore during winters. Daya Krishen was born at Jammu on 16-3-1916 and had his early education at Jammu and Lahore .Fluent in Punjabi, he was also proficient in Hindi, Urdu and English .From his childhood days, he would love music and singing. He could easily play on his Harmonium.
Before moving to PUNE , D K as he was known amongst his numerous friends lived at Jalandhar cantt for some time where he took up the job of a contractor. He had four brothers and two sisters and D K happened to be the fourth child in this joint family.
D K Sapru met Marathi actress and IPTA activist Hemvati and they fell in love. They married in 1948. Hemvati was a noted Marathi actress who also worked at PRITHVI Theatres. She acted in SANGRAM with Ashok Kumar and Nalini Jaywant in lead roles. She had also worked with Dev Anand in MOHAN ,Mubarak and Renuka in Ghar Ghar Ki Kahaani and Raj Kapoor in Jail Yatra. (It was rumoured that Raj Kapoor wanted to marry her). A play named Deewar had Hemvati and Raj kapoor in lead roles and the play became quite popular on stage during those days.
After marriage, Hemvati played the role of a caring wife and an affectionate mother in her family. After marriage, she possibly acted only in one movie PATIT PAVAN a home production of Sapru family.
Sapru children are also in films. To quote their elder daughter REEMA is a well known script writer while second daughter PREETI is a successful Punjabi actress while their son Tej is a noted film and TV actor. The brother and sisters are closely attached to each other. They too live by the family values that they inherited from their father.
D K Sapru also acquired good and working knowledge of Homeopathy and was seen reading Homeopathic books quite often during his spare time. He then started practicing this school of medicine and would treat everybody without any charge, often Buying medicines and distributing them free.
Sapru also committed a folly of producing films. One can say that he was misguided by some selfish friends .Though he had learnt some lessons from his first home production Patit pavan, a movie that earned him a few thousands only yet he took up another production project “Bahadur Shah Zafar” and brought in a large star cast that included Sudesh Kumar, Chand Usmani, Shyama, Rehman, Jeevan, Ulhaas ( M N Kaul ) and Nirupa Roy. He pooled in all his resources and raised loans for the project mortgaging his spacious new Bungalow. The movie did not sell on Box office. That landed the family in great trouble. The house had to be sold to repay debts .
Sapru turned diabetic during his later life. In Spite of his failing health he decided to make a last attempt to produce another film JEEVAN CHALNE KA NAAM. By Now Reema was a trained screenplay / script writer. She wrote the script and the family signed Sanjeev Kumar, Rekha, Shashi Kapoor. DK fell ill suddenly and had to be hospitalized for about a year. The project was abandoned. D K was also operated upon for a malignant growth in his shoulder and finally died of a heart attack at a young age of 63 years on 20-10- 1979. His favourite child Reema was already married at that time. And by then he had also turned into a grandfather .
Today’s song is the last and final song of this film, making it a YIPPEED film.
Song- Kisko khabar thhi dil ki ye duniya (Romeo and Juliet)(1947) Singer- Not known, Lyricist- Manohar Khanna, MD- Husnlal-Bhagatram
Lyrics
kisko khabar thhi
dil ki ye duniya
apne hi haathon barbaad hogi
kisko khabar thhi
dil ki ye duniya
apne hi haathon barbaad hogi
bijli giregi yoon hasraton pe
??zindagaanee naashaad hogee
kisko khabar thhee
o o o o
maaloom kya thha aa aa
o o o
maaloom kya thhaa
milte hi nazren
chhaayegi harsu
gham ki ghataayen
chhaayegi harsu gham ki ghataayen
saaj ae tamanna hoga shikasta
naghmon se paida fariyaad hogi
saaj ae tamanna hoga shikasta
naghmon se paida fariyaad hogi
kisko khabar thhi
dil ki ye duniya
apne hi haathhon barbaad hogi
kisso khabar thhi
dil thhak gaya hai barq e alam(?) se
dil thhak gaya hai barq e alam(?) se
har saans hai kyon gham ki kahaani
har saans hai kyon gham ki kahaani
ujdi hui hai dil ki ye basti
allaah kaise aabaad hogi
ujdi hui hai dil ki ye basti
allaah kaise aabaad hogi
kisko khabar thhi
dil ki ye duniya
apne hi haathon barbaad hogi
kisko khabar thhi
Agar dil kisi per lutaayaa na hotaa
Posted on: April 8, 2024
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 : |
5743 | Post No. : | 18265 |
Today’s song is from the film Gauna-1950. Out of 7 songs of this film, 6 are already discussed here. This is the last and the final song to make the film YIPPEED !
The film was made by Jagat Pictures. It was directed by Amiya Chakravarti. Music was by Husnlal-Bhagatram for the songs written by Qamar Jalalabadi. The cast of the film was Usha Kiran, Anup Kumar, Poornima, S.Nazir, Kesari, Wasti, Indumati etc.
Change of name is not a novelty in Film industry. Many Muslim actors such as Kumar, and actresses such as Meena Kumari, took Hindu names to appeal to a bigger audience. But there are cases where Hindus took Muslim names. One such person was Qamar Jalalabadi – Lyricist of this film. Om Prakash Bhandari (9 March 1917 – 9 January 2003), better known as Qamar Jalalabadi, was a poet and lyricist. He composed the title track of the popular television serial Vikram Aur Betaal.
He was born as Om Prakash Bhandari in a Punjabi family on 9 March 1917 in Jalalabad, a village near Beas in Amritsar district, Punjab, India. Right from the age of seven, he started writing poetry in Urdu. There was no encouragement from home, but a wandering poet named Amar Chand Amar met him in his hometown and encouraged him to write, recognising his immense talent and potential. He also gave him the pen name of Qamar which means moon, and Jalalabadi was added for his native town. It was the general trend in those days for writers to name themselves after the towns they hailed from. After completing his matriculation from Amritsar, he embarked on his journalistic career journey by writing for Lahore-based newspapers like Daily Milap, Daily Pratap, Nirala, Star Sahakar etc.
Attracted by the promise of a career in the film industry, Qamar Jalalabadi came to Pune in the early 1940s. In 1942, he wrote lyrics for his first film Zamindar which was a Pancholi Pictures production and the songs of this film were very well received, especially the song sung by Shamshad Begum “Duniya Mein Garibon Ko Aaram Nahi Milta”, which also had a line or two written by writer and poet Behzad Lucknawi.
Subsequently, Jalalabadi relocated to Bombay, and worked there as a lyricist for nearly four decades. His songs were sung by many notable singers including S. D. Batish, Noor Jehan, G. M. Durrani, Zeenat Begum, Manju, Amirbai Karnataki, Mohammad Rafi, Talat Mahmood, Geeta Dutt, Suraiya, Mukesh, Manna Dey, Asha Bhosle, Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar. He worked with many popular composers including S. D. Burman and Sardar Malik.
As a lyricist, Qamar Jalalabadi was very versatile. On one hand he wrote mesmeric duets like “Sun Meri Sawari Mujhko Kahin Tum Bhool Na Jaana…” sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi (film: Aansoo 1953) and on the other hand he penned comic relief songs like “Khush Hai Zamana Aaj Pehli Tarikh Hai” endured with full throttle gusto by Kishore Kumar (film: Pehli Tarikh-1954). This song became very popular and was played on Radio Ceylon on the first of every month for decades, and it probably continues like this.
The film Howrah Bridge (1958) skyrocketed his career as lyricist to unprecedented heights. Songs like “Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu” (Geeta Dutt) and “Aaiye Meherbaan, Baithiye Jaanejaan….” (Asha Bhosle) became highly popular.
In his long career span he worked for several film companies like Prabhat Film Company, Pancholi Pictures, Filmistan Ltd., Famous Pictures, Minerva Movietone, Prakash Pictures, Wadia Films Ltd., Filmkar Ltd., Sippy Films, N.C. Sippy Films, Shri Shakti Films, Mitra Productions and many more.
He was one of the founder members of prestigious organisations like Film Writers Association & IPRS in Mumbai. The music composers he worked with were: Ghulam Haider, G. Damle, Pandit Amarnath, Khemchand Prakash, Husnlal Bhagatram, S.D. Burman, Anil Biswas, Shyam Sunder, Sajjad Hussain, C. Ramchandra, Madan Mohan, Sudhir Phadke, S.D. Batish, Sardar Malik, Ravi, Avinash Vyas and in the latter phase of his career with O. P. Nayyar, Kalyanji-Anandji, Sonik–Omi, Uttam Singh and Laxmikant–Pyarelal as well. Qamar Jalalabadi wrote song lyrics for 155 films and wrote a total of 709 songs in his long career. He was a poet (shayar) and participated in several mushairas all over India.
In his personal life, Jalalabadi was a highly religious person and he chanted excerpts from the Bhagavad Gita, the Koran as well as the Bible. He was deeply into transcendental meditation, and was mostly embedded in his writing for most part of the day. He once gifted a bungalow in Khar, Mumbai to one of his married sisters to save her from a difficult marriage, and shifted to simpler accommodation in Juhu with his own family. He and his wife Leelawati had seven children.
He had several friends and hundreds of fans whom he called his “pankhe”. His fan mail came in various languages; Hindi, English, Urdu and many regional languages as well. He replied to all his fan mail and judiciously sent an autographed photo as well. ( adapted from the book Filmi Geetkar, wiki, muVys and my notes).
The Heroine’s real name was Usha Marathe. She had debuted in the film ‘Lalaat’-1947 with this name. However, director Amiya Chakravarti, who had a ” Special’ bond with Usha, changed her name to Usha Kiran. The Hero Anup Kumar was actually Kalyan Kumar and actress Poornima was in reality Meher Bano. The film’s story and screenplay was by Ali Sagheer Usmani and Devi Sharan. Dialogues were by Vrajendra Gaud.
Ego Clashes and professional jealousies were quite common in older days when the Studio system was firmly saddled in the industry. Sometimes it even destroyed the studio like what happened in Calcutta’s New Theatres. B.N.Sircar and P.C.Barua spite forced Barua to quit. Later Sircar and Nitin Bose ego clash took New Theatres to its downfall and the exit of not only Nitin Bose but also Prithviraj kapoor, K.N.Singh, Kidar Sharma, K.L.Saigal and many others.
Same thing happened in Prabhat film company, where clashes of Shantaram with other directors prompted him to quit, with his group. Amiya Chakravarti came over to Bombay and, being a Bengali, joined Bombay Talkies owned by Bengalees, first as a Tutor for Bangla for the children of Niranjan Pal. Niranjan Pal had spent all his life in the UK and came to India with friend Himanshu Rai ( within a few years they fought bitterly and separated). Amiya first started as a Canteen Manager and then worked as assistant to Himanshu Rai. After Himanshu Rai’s death, there were two groups. Amiya joined Devika Rani’s group,being her favourite. She gave him the reward by allowing him to direct the film Anjaan-41, a Devika-Ashok Kumar love story.
Though, for director Naqvi’s film Punarmilan, Amiya and Gyan Mukherji wrote the screenplay together, they were never comfortable with each other. After the split in Bombay talkies,when Gyan Mukherjee went with the opposition group, their competition increased since now both were directors. When the other group started work on Kismet, with Anil Biswas as MD, Amiya also started Basant, with the same Heroine- Mumtaz Shanti- and Anil Biswas incognito with Pannalal Ghosh as a Front.
Even after Bombay talkies closed down, their competition continued. When Amiya did Baadal-51, on the same story, Gyan Mukherjee made the film Shamsheer-53 ( originally this film was made by Sargam films, but Bombay Talkies purchased its rights and released it.) Further in 1957, both started a film each with the same Heroine-Vyjayantimala. Amiya did Kathputli-57, but he died before this film was completed and Nitin Bose completed the remaining film. Similarly Gyan mukherjee started the film Sitaron se aagey, but he too died before the film was completed. After some time Satyen Bose was commissioned to complete the film, thus delaying its release in 1958. Their competition ended only after their deaths !
Husnlal-Bhagatram was one of the most popular composer pairs of their times. They started in 1944 with Chand. Their peak was achieved in 1949 and their magic ended with the sixth decade. They gave music to 49 films and most films’ music became popular. Although Bhagatram was the Elder of the two brothers, their name was famous as Husnlal – Bhagatram. During the peak of their career, the handsome,good looking Husnlal’s name was linked to the upcoming singer of those days-Lata Mangeshkar. This episode is described by C. Ramchandra in his autobiography in Marathi.
Elder brother Bhagatram had given music to 9 films in 1939 and 1940, independently, under the name Bhagatram Batish, but the brothers prospered only after Husnlal joined his brother and they gave music as Husnlal-Bhagatram.
Pandit Husn Lal was born in Kahma Village, district Jalandhar, Punjab, on 8-4-1920. He was initiated into music by his father, the Late Devi Chand and elder brother Pandit Amar Nath, (the famous music composer of the ‘40s). Later he became the disciple of Sangeet Maha Mahopadhyaya Pandit Dilip Chandra Vedi Ji.
Pandit Husn Lal’s first passion was playing the violin, and he learned further under Ustad Bashir Khan. Pandit Husn Lal was a performer par excellence in Khyal, Thumri, Dadra, Gazal, and Bhajan. He had a voice range of three octaves and was an accomplished master of complicated patterns of Taans, like his Guru Vedi Ji.
Pandit Husn Lal was an accomplished Violinist, a renowned Classical singer and an ace Music Director. He, along with his elder brother Bhagat Ram (an ace harmonium player, born in 1914), were the first prolific Hindi film music directors to work as a duo and went by the name of “HusnLal-Bhagat Ram”. The beauty and command over the violin can be seen in different compositions of the duo’s songs in films. They popularized Punjabi folk music as an art form, with a range of music that has a rare lilt and rhythm, yet soulful and poignant, thus becoming the most sought after composers. Their first hit was a film named Chand, after which they never looked back. They gave super hit melodies for more than 80 Hindi films. One point to be noted is that most of his films celebrated their Golden Jubilee with a credit to the music compositions and songs.
Their film Badi Behan (1949) was a classic in the history of Indian cine music. Besides the most popular song, ‘Chup chup kharay ho…‘ there are other seven numbers which gave the audiences the pleasure of music as an art form – ‘Wo pass rahein, ya door rahein‘, ‘Tum mujhko bhool jao, ab hum na mil sakeinge‘, ‘Likhnein waley ney likh dee meri taqdeer mein barbaadi likhnein waley ney‘ and ‘Bigree bananey wale, bigree banaa dey‘ (Suraiya) and ‘Muhabbat ke dhoke mein koi naa akey‘ (Mohammed Rafi).
In ‘Chaley janaa nahin‘ and ‘Jo dil mein khushi ban kar ayey‘ Lata Mangeshkar was perhaps at her best and there could not have been a better return gift to the composer Husan Lal on her 20th birthday (Lata Mangeshkar was born in 1929). The utterance coming straight from the singer’s heart, at times makes the listener cry, as a spontaneous outcome of eternal pleasure. The quality of a diamond cutter in master violinist Husan Lal can be visualized through these two immortal melodies of Lata Mangeshkar. The Punjabi style dholak played by their musician, Shanker (of Shanker-Jaikishan fame) was again a notable landmark!
The song “Suno Suno Aye Duniya Walo Bapu Ki Yeh Amar Kahani”, sung by Mohammed Rafi, was a milestone in the history of music. This song was composed by the duo within a record time of just 24 hours; soon after the demise of Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation. More than a million copies of a set of two 78 rpm discs of this recording were sold, within one month.
Husn Lal-Bhagat Ram worked with famous playback singers like Ameerbai Karnataki, Suraiyya, Shamshad Begum, Zohrabai Ambala, Lata Mangeshkar, Geeta Dutt, Suman Kalyanpur, and Kishore Kumar, Mohammed Rafi, amongst others. He also composed and played alongside Pandit Ravi Shankar and Pandit Jasraj.
Pandit Husn Lal performed as a violinist on All India Radio and at other renowned music festivals and concerts and taught music to his music-loving disciples. In the late 60s,this pair parted company with each other. Husnlal’s father in law was an influential person. With his help,Husnlal settled in Delhi and started teaching music to aspirants.
One day morning, while on a morning walk, he fell dead in a garden. Someone recognised him and informed his family. The day was 28-12-1968.
Bhagatram too spent his last days in pathetic condition,working for other composers.one day in 1973,he died in Bombay. His son Ashok,who uses the surname Sharma, is an artiste with Doordarshan. ( I had the opportunity to speak to Shri Ashok Sharma ji, about his father,a few months back).
Bhagatram was the elder brother, Husnlal was the younger brother. Have you anytime wondered why the younger brother’s name comes first in this pair ?
Normally, when a pair of brothers is referred, it is the elder brother’s name that comes first. For example, Ram-Laxman or Balram – Srikrishna or even Kalyanji – Anand ji, Jatin-Lalit or Anand-Milind. For many years, this matter was bothering me, but I could not find any justification for this unusual way of pairing. I was sure that there must be some story behind this.
The Blog “Songs of yore” published the second part of Husnlal-Bhagatram post on 11-8-2017, based on the interview of Dinesh Prabhakar, son of Husnlal and Ms. Nirmala Devi, wife of Husnlal. During her talk, Nirmala Devi explained the reasons for calling the pair as Husnlal-Bhagatram, in spite of Bhagatram being the elder one and more experienced of the two. Bhagatram had already given music, individually to 9 films, in the late 30s and early 40s, before the pair was formed. Her statement answered my long awaited query about the unusual name of the pair. Here is the related portion of her interview….
” The 90-year old Shrimati Nirmala Devi is an amazing lady. She still has a razor-sharp memory and superb knowledge of music and music personalities of that era. She gave me a lot of interesting information, not available elsewhere – for example, the reason why the younger brother Husnlal’s name comes first in the duo’s name. Her talk also revealed that other family commitments, too, in Delhi were contributory factors for their decline in the film music.
Shrimati Nirmala Devi speaks about her husband (late) Pt Husnlal….
“DD Kashyap, who was directing Chaand (1944) for Prabhat Films, wanted to engage Pt Amarnath based in Lahore, who was a towering figure in music. As he was heavily preoccupied, he strongly recommended his younger brother Pt Husnlal who was staying with him and assisting him in Lahore-based films of Pancholi and others, assuring Kashyap that Pt Husnlal was no less talented than him. Pt Amarnath was like a father-figure to his younger brothers, especially to Pt Husnlal. A music session was organized to demonstrate Pt Husnlal’s talent. Kashyap was highly impressed. When it was time for Pt Husnlal to proceed for Poona/Bombay, Pt Amarnath, out of concern for his kid-brother, suggested to Kashyap to also engage Pt Bhagatram with him. Kashyap expressed difficulty in arranging the payment for two as the contract was already made out. Pt Amarnath assured him that he should not bother about increasing the fee, but the two brothers must work together. Thus it was that Bhagatram got appended to Husnlal, forming the duo HB. ” Another reason why the younger brother’s name preceded the elder brother was simply the aesthetics – Husnlal-Bhagatram sounding better than the other way around. (Thanks to Blog “songs of yore” for this information.)
Today’s song is sung by Lata Mangeshkar. With this song the film gets YIPPEED, with all its songs covered on this Blog.
Song-Agar dil kisi per lutaaya na hota (Gauna)(1950) Singer- Lata, Lyricist-Qamar Jalalabadi, MD- Husnlal Bhagatram
Lyrics
hum jaisa kaun hoga zamaane mein badnaseeb
manzil se door ho gaye manzil ke saamne
agar dil kisi par lutaaya na hota
agar dil kisi par lutaaya na hota
agar dil kisi par
to ashqon ka dariya bahaaya na hota
agar dil kisi par lutaaya na hota
agar dil kisi par
jo maaloom hota ki hoga andhera
ki hoga andhera
jo maaloom hota ki hoga andhera
ki hoga andhera
charaag-e-mohabbat jalaaya na hota
charaag-e-mohabbat jalaaya na hota
agar dil kisi par
o duniya ke maalik
judaa thha jo karna
judaa thaa jo karna
o duniya ke maalik
judaa thha jo karna
judaa thha jo karna
to achcha thha unse milaaya na hota
to achcha thha unse milaaya na hota
agar dil kisi par
to ashqon ka dariya bahaaya na hota
agar dil kisi par lutaaya na hota
agar dil kisi par
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 : |
5572 | Post No. : | 18044 |
Today’s song is from the film Gauna-1950.
Some of the readers may wonder about this title. The meaning of this word may not be known to readers from Non-Hindi states. Google defines it as….
” Gauna is a North Indian Hindu custom and the ceremony associated with the consummation of marriage is prevalent in the states of Bihar, U.P. and Rajasthan. It is associated with the custom of Child Marriage. The ceremony takes place several years after marriage.”
Hindus all over India have this custom in almost every state, but with a different name in every language. Of course now that the child marriage is illegal by law, this custom is out of date. However it is still performed immediately after all marriage rituals even these days in every Hindu marriage performed traditionally. These days the Bride and the Groom are quite matured at marriage time – mostly in their mid 20’s or even late 20’s. They already know everything about ‘ everything’ and the custom is followed only symbolically most times.
This film was made about 75 years ago. All this was a regular practice then. This was the first major film for the Heroine Usha Kiran. She got this name from this film. Earlier she used her real name Usha Marathe in films like “Lalaat”-1947. It was the director of this film Amiya Chakravarti, who gave her this name in the film Gauna-1950.
Born on 30-11-1912 Bogra,Rangpur District in East Bengal (now Bangladesh), Amiya Chakravarti worked as a child actor and singer on local stage. Later he joined the freedom struggle and courted arrest during Gandhi’s salt Satyagraha. Then he came over to Bombay and, being a Bengali, joined Bombay Talkies owned by Bengalees, first as a Tutor for Bangla for the children of Niranjan Pal. Niranjan Pal had spent all his life in the UK and came to India with friend Himanshu Rai ( within a few years they fought bitterly and separated). Amiya first started as a Canteen manager and then worked as assistant to Himanshu Rai. After Himanshu Rai’s death, there were two groups. Amiya joined Devika Rani’s group,being her favourite. She gave him the reward by allowing him to direct the film Anjaan-41, a Devika-Ashok Kumar love story.
Though, for director Naqvi’s film Punarmilan, Amiya and Gyan Mukherji wrote the screenplay together, they were never comfortable with each other. After the split in Bombay talkies,when Gyan Mukherjee went with the opposition group, their competition increased since now both were directors. When the other group started work on Kismet, with Anil Biswas as MD, Amiya also started Basant, with the same Heroine- Mumtaz Shanti- and Anil Biswas incognito with Pannalal Ghosh as a Front.
Even after Bombay talkies closed down , their competition continued. When Amiya did Baadal-51, on the same story, Gyan Mukherjee made the film Shamsheer-53 ( originally this film was made by Sargam films, but Bombay Talkies purchased its rights and released it.) Further in 1957, both started a film each with the same Heroine-Vyjayantimala. Amiya did Kathputli-57, but he died before this film was completed and Nitin Bose completed the remaining film. Similarly Gyan mukherjee started the film Sitaron se aagey, but he too died before the film was completed. After some time Satyen Bose was commissioned to complete the film, thus delaying its release in 1958. Even earlier Gauna-50 made by Amiya and Leela-47 made by Gyan Mukherjee had the same story. Their competition ended only after their deaths !
During his Bombay Talkies days, Amiya directed Anjaan-41,Basant-42 and Jwar Bhata-44. For his own Mars and Movies, he directed Daag-52,Patita-53,Baadshah-54, Seema-55,Dekh kabira Roya-57 and Kathputli-57. For other producers,he directed films like Mera Suhag-47,Girls school -49, Gauna-50, Baadal-51 and Shehenshah-53. In a career spanning 16 years he directed only 14 films. He also wrote story and screenplays for films like Bandhan-40, Anjaan-41, Baadal-51,Daag-52, Dekh kabira roya-57 and Kathputli-57.
Amiya introduced Dilip Kumar in Jwar Bhata-44, Usha Kiran in Gauna-50 ( though she had acted in film Lalaat-47 in her real name-Usha Marathe) and Shubha khote in film Seema-55. He promoted Jawahar Kaul, Daljeet and Anup Kumar as Heroes in the film Dekh kabira roya-57. He handled problems like Alcoholism in film Daag-52,Rape victim’s rehabilitation in Patita-53, Injustice in Seema -55, and problems of an Actress in film Kathputli-57. Amiya got involved with Usha Kiran during the film Gauna,but his wife sorted out the problem by meeting Usha Kiran and offering her divorce, upon which Usha Kiran wisely decided to break the affair herself to save Amiya’s marriage. Later Usha Kiran got married in 1954 with Dr. Manohar kher, who was given all information about this.
Amiya Chakravarty died of Heart attack on 6-3-57, at a young age of only 45 years. Till the end he donned only White Shirt and White Pants-the uniform of Bombay Talkies !
Film gauna-1950 had a starcast of a New heroine-Usha Kiran and a New Hero- Anup Kumar ( real name Kalyan Kumar Ganguly, younger brother of Ashok Kumar and elder brother of Kishore Kumar. Born on 9-1-1926, he acted in 47 films, directed 1 film-Nafrat-1987 and sang 3 songs in 3 films. Gauna-50 was his first film. He died on 20-9-1997), Poornima, S.Nazir, Indumati, Wasti and others. The MD was Husnalal-Bhagatram. All the 7 songs of this film were written by Qamar Jalalabadi (real name Om Prakash Bhandari-9-3-1917 to 9-1-2003).
One of the actresses was Indumati Lele in this film. She acted in only one film as a Heroine- Mazdoor-1945, opposite debutant Nasir khan. INDUMATI LELE (Born 18 December 1927 – Died 11 September 2013), forgotten Yesteryear Indian Theatre and Film Actress turned Folk Artiste.
Indumati and Kumudini Lele who were once famous as ‘Lele Sisters’ in Hindi and Marathi Theatre and Cinema fields, have been forgotten today. Indumati Lele, died at the age of 86, when she was still working as an examiner for the television program ‘Dum Damadam’.
Kumud and Indumati, were both known as ‘Lele Sisters” in the fifties. Both of them originally hailed from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh. Their father Girdhar Lele was in Government job as Director of Agriculture, at Indore. From an early age, the two sisters loved acting and dancing. Both were involved in dance and dance related activities in their school. Prithviraj Kapoor saw the two at one of the school events and talked to their father and brought them straight to Mumbai. For the next two years, both sisters worked as artists in Prithviraj Kapoor’s ‘Prithvi Theatres” until the company closed. They played different roles in several of his Plays and had the fortune of touring India all along with Prithviraj Kapoor.
While Kumudini acted in Bimal Roy’s ‘Parivar’, ‘Bandini’ etc. and in few Marathi films like ‘Ram Ram Pauna’ etc., Indumati Lele acted in Prithviraj Kapoor’s Shakuntala’ and other plays. She also acted in some films while working in ‘Prithvi Theaters’, like Mazdoor-45, ‘Shehnai’ (1947), ‘Aag’ (1948), ‘Sunahare Din’ (1949), ‘Gauna’ (1950), Actor-51, ‘Chaudhwin ka Chand’ (1960), ‘Budtameez’ (1966), ‘Man Mandir’ (1971), to name a few. In Raj Kapoor’s ‘Aag’ (1948), she acted as his mother. She also appeared in two English films, ‘Householder’ with Leela Naidu and ‘Shakespeare wala” both with Shashi Kapoor.
Today’s song is sung by Shamshad Begum and chorus. This is the sixth song from this film to feature here. Now only one more song remains uncovered.
Song- Haseen chehre pe ye zulfen giraanaa–Unhen chhup chhup ke dekha hai (Gauna)(1950) Singer-Shamshad Begam, Lyrics-Qamar Jalalabadi, MD-Husnlal Bhagatram
Chorus
Lyrics
haseen chehre pe ye zulfen giraanaa
kis’se seekhaa hai
meree jaan
chaand badlee mein chhupaanaa
kisne seekhha hai
unhen chhup chhup ke dekha hai
unhen chhup chhup ke dekha hai
ise deedaar kahte hain
ise deedaar kehte hain
diya pehlee nazar mein dil
diya pehlee nazar mein dil
isi ko pyaar kehte hain
isi ko pyaar kehte hain
unhen chhup chhup ke dekha hai
unhen chhup chhup ke dekha hai
ise deedaar kehte hain
ise deedaar kehte hain
zara aanchal uthha ke dekhne do
chaand sa mukhdaa
ajee haan chaand sa mukhdaa
ajee haan chaand sa mukhdaa
ajee haan chaand sa mukhdaa
kaho tum isko aanchal
kaho tum isko aanchal
ise deewaar kehte hain
ise deewaar kehte hain
unhen chhup chhup ke dekha hai
unhen chhup chhup ke dekha hai
ise deedaar kahte hain
ise deedaar kahte hain
idhar bhee ik nazar daalo
bhhikaaree ban ke aaye hain
bhhikaaree ban ke aaye hain
bhhikaaree ban ke aaye hain
bhhikaaree ban ke aaye hain
unhen ye duniya waale
unhen ye duniyaa waale
husn ki sarkaar kehte hain
aejee sarkaar kehte hain
unhen chhup chhup ke dekha hai
unhen chhup chhup ke dekha hai
ise deedaar kahte hain
ise deedaar kahte hain
hamaaraa kaam dil denaa
tumhaaraa kaam dil lenaa
tumhaaraa kaam dil lenaa
tumhaaraa kaam dil lenaa
tumhaaraa kaam dil lenaa
hamen kehte hain dil waale
hamen kehte hain dil waale
tumhen dildaar kehte hain
tumhen dildaar kehte hain
unhen chhup chhup ke dekha hai
ise deedaar kehte hain
ise deedaar kehte hain
- In: "Zindagi" song | Asha Bhonsle solo | Asha Bhonsle songs | Devnagri script lyrics by Sudhir | Feelings of heart | Guest posts | Happy song | joie de vivre | Lyrics by Prakashchandra | Lyrics contributed by readers | Post by Arunkumar Deshmukh | Songs of 1950s (1951 to 1960) | Songs of 1956 | Yearwise breakup of songs
- 3 Comments
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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Blog Day : |
5509 | Post No. : | 17953 |
Today’s song is from a C grade costume film ‘Aan Baan’ (1956).
I was in two minds while searching for songs of this film on YouTube. Firstly, whenever I tried to find a song of this film, invariably YouTube presented songs from the film ‘Aan Baan’ made in 1972. After getting tired of this behaviour of YT, I got an idea and I asked for songs from ‘Aan Baan’ (1972). Lo and behold ! YT promptly gave me songs from ‘Aan Baan’ (1956) ! I was in a fix whether to pat my back for this idea or to curse YT for its dumbness.
Secondly, I was very happy that my coined word ‘Same Name Confusion’ and my pioneering work on this subject which troubled the HF history students no end, had even influenced YT which got confused with the same name film title !!
Out of 7 songs of this film 5 songs are already on the Blog. Today’s song will be the 6th song. The 7th and the last song of this film is available on You Tube, waiting to make this film Yippeed !
This film was a routine C grade costume film, having a story involving a King, Queen and wicked Vazir – a story which was used by hundreds of such films. Anyway, as long as there was a fixed audience the such films were made and the makers made a lot of money too. These films were made with a stringent budget but had a wide market all over.
The story of this film was. . .
When the Maharani of Shivgarh was on the deathbed, she asked others of the family to take care of her daughter Jai Kumari. But all the others were of different natures. Her father was an old warrior. Elder brother Devi Singh believed in peace and co-existence. Younger brother Amar Singh believed in the might of the sword and wanted the throne for himself.
When Devi Singh fell in love with a dancer Heera, Amar Singh wanted to rebel against him, but Jai Kumari supported elder brother and got him married to Heera. Amar Singh, however, continued troubling the family. Fed up, the king took back all his ranks and honors and boycotted him from the family. Only Jai Kumari helped him to regain all his honors.In the meantime, Jai Kumari fell in love with Karan Singh, Prince of the neighboring enemy state Raigarh. Taking this opportunity, Amar Singh waged a war with the king and his elder brother Devi Singh. Amar Singh won the battle and the king and brother were arrested and sent to jail. Jai Kumari herself went to jail along with father and brother.
When Karan Singh came to know this, he attacked the state with the help of sympathizers in Shivgarh. The king, brother and sister are freed and Amar Singh gets killed in the battle. Devi Singh becomes the king. Jai Kumari and Karan Singh get married. Thus all is well. The audience jumps up like a child and goes back to their homes, greatly relieved !
Despite being a Ccostume film the actors and the MD were good, because the producer and director was DD Kashyap. The film was made under his banner Kashyap Films. He had a good taste. The music directors Husnlal-Bhagatram are one of my favorite composers from the older generation.
Husnlal-Bhagatram was one of the most popular composer pairs of their times. They started in 1944 with ‘Chand’. Their peak was achieved in 1949 and their magic ended with the sixth decade. They gave music to 53 films (of which two are unreleased) and most films’ music became popular. Although Bhagatram was the elder of the two brothers, their name was famous as Husnlal–Bhagatram. During the peak of their career, the handsome, good looking Husnlal’s name was linked to the upcoming singer of those days – Lata Mangeshkar. This episode is described by C Ramchandra in his autobiography in Marathi.
Elder brother Bhagatram had given music to 9 films in 1939 and 1940, independently, under the name Bhagatram Batish, but the brothers prospered only after Husnlal joined his brother and they gave music as Husnlal-Bhagatram.
Pandit Husnlal was born in Kahma Village, district Jalandhar, Punjab, on 8-4-1920. He was initiated into music by his father, the Late Devi Chand and elder brother Pandit Amar Nath, (the famous music composer of the ‘40s). Later he became the disciple of Sangeet Maha Mahopadhyaya Pandit Dilip Chandra Vedi Ji.
Pandit Husnlal’s first passion was playing the violin, and he learned further under Ustad Bashir Khan. Pandit Husnlal was a performer par excellence in khayal, thumri, dadra, ghazal, and bhajan. He had a voice range of three octaves and was an accomplished master of complicated patterns of taans, like his Guru Vedi Ji.
Pandit Husnlal was an accomplished Violinist, a renowned classical singer and an ace music director. He, along with his elder brother Bhagatram (an ace harmonium player, born in 1914), were the first prolific Hindi film music directors to work as a duo and went by the name of Husnlal-Bhagatram. The beauty and command over the violin can be seen in different compositions of the duo’s songs in films. They popularized Punjabi folk music as an art form, with a range of music that has a rare lilt and rhythm, yet soulful and poignant, thus becoming the most sought after composers. Their first hit was a film named ‘Chand’, after which they never looked back. They gave super hit melodies for 53 Hindi films. One point to be noted is that most of his films celebrated their Golden Jubilee with a credit to the music compositions and songs.
Their film ‘Badi Behan’ (1949) is a classic in the history of Indian cine music. Besides the most popular song, “Chup Chup Khade Ho Zaroor Koi Baat Hai” there are other seven numbers which gave the audiences the pleasure of music as an art form – “Wo Pass Rahen, Ya Door Rahen“, “Tum Mujhko Bhool Jaao, Ab Hum Na Mil Sakenge“, “Likhne Waale Ne Likh Dee Meri Tqdeer Mein Barbaadi” and “Bigdi Banaaney Waale, Bigdi Banaa De” (Suraiya) and “Mohabbat Ke Dhoke Mein Koi Naa Aaye” (Mohammed Rafi).
In the songs “Chaley Janaa Nahin Nain Mila Ke” and “Jo Dil Mein Khushi Ban Kar Aaye” Lata Mangeshkar was perhaps at her best and there could not have been a better return gift to the composer Husnlal on Lata’s 20th birthday (Lata Mangeshkar was born in 1929). The utterance coming straight from the singer’s heart, at times makes the listener cry, as a spontaneous outcome of eternal pleasure. The quality of a diamond cutter in master violinist Husnlal can be visualized through these two immortal melodies of Lata Mangeshkar. The Punjabi style dholak played by their musician, Shanker (of Shanker-Jaikishan fame) was again a notable landmark!
The song “Suno Suno Ae Duniya Waalo Bapu Ki Yeh Amar Kahani”, sung by Mohammed Rafi, was a milestone in the history of music. This song was written by Rajendra Krishan and composed by the duo within a record time of just 24 hours; soon after the demise of Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation. More than a million copies of the set of two 78 rpm discs of this recording were sold, within one month.
Husnlal-Bhagatram worked with famous playback singers like Ameerbai Karnataki, Suraiya, Shamshad Begum, Zohrabai Ambala, Lata Mangeshkar, Geeta Dutt, Suman Kalyanpur, and Kishore Kumar, Mohammed Rafi, Mukesh, among others. They also composed and played alongside Pandit Ravi Shankar and Pandit Jasraj.
Pandit Husnlal performed as a violinist on All India Radio and at other renowned music festivals and concerts and taught music to his music-loving disciples. In the late 60s, this pair parted company with each other. Husnlal’s father in law was an influential person. With his help, Husnlal settled in Delhi and started teaching music to aspirants.
One day morning, while on a morning walk, he fell dead in a garden. Someone recognized him and informed his family. The day was 28-12-1968.
Bhagatram too spent his last days in pathetic condition, working for other composers. He passed away in 1973, in Bombay. His son Ashok,who uses the surname Sharma, is an artiste with Doordarshan.
[Author’s Note: I had the opportunity to speak to Shri Ashok Sharma ji, about his father, a few months back].
Once Lady Luck turns her back on someone, destiny plays strange games. Here is a comment by a leading composer of the 50s, about Husnlal-Bhagatram’s destiny,
Some things happen in life differently – for example, as Shankar was a good dancer, he danced with dholak, in ‘Pyaar Ki Jeet’ (1948), and the music directors were the then first pair of Hindi film music Husnlal Bhagatram who were brothers. Husnlal was a good violinist and Bhagatram was a harmonium master. When they were assigned the film ‘Pyaar Ki Jeet’, Shankar was their assistant and played dholak and tabla and being a dancer himself, danced in the film as stated above.
It is destiny, that Shankar made a pair with Jaikishan and both with a brilliant mind, went on to become the most successful of music directors, and Husnlal Bhagatram, went into oblivion with the passage of time.
Husnlal’s father-in-law was a well established person and supported his son-in-law, after being failure as music director. Husnlal took to play violin. And Bhagatram, sorry to say, being alone, started to play harmonium under the direction of his disciple, none other than Shankar, who once played dholak and tabla under his direction. . . What would you call it. . .? Destiny?
Here is their filmography by year.
[Author’s Note: Thanks to dear Mahesh ji for preparing the following table for HB’s filmography.]
| Composer | Year | Name of the Films | No of Films | |
|
Bhagatram |
1939 | Midnight Mail, Bahadur Ramesh, Bhedi Kumar, Chashmawali | 4 | |
| 1940 | Tatar Ka Chor, Sandesha, Hatimtai Ki Beti, Deepak Mahal | 4 | ||
| 1941 | Hamara Desh | 1 | ||
| Husnlal and Bhagatram |
1944 | Chand | 1 | |
| 1945 | Nil | |||
| 1946 | Hum Ek Hain, Nargis | 2 | ||
| 1947 | Heera, Mirza Sahiban, Mohan, Romeo And Juliet | 4 | ||
| 1948 | Aaj Ki Raat, Lakhpati, Pyaar Ki Jeet | 3 | ||
| 1949 | Amar Kahani, Balam, Badi Bahen, Bansariya, Hamari Manzil, Jal Tarang, Naach, Raakhi, Sawan Bhadon | 9 | ||
| 1950 | Aadhi Raat, Apni Chhaya, Birha Ki Raat, Chhoti Bhabhi, Gauna, Meena Bazaar, Pyar Ki Manzil, Sartaj, Surajmukhi | 10 | ||
| 1940s | Bambi (UR) | 1 | ||
| 1951 | Afsana, Rajput, Sanam, Shagun, Stage | 5 | ||
| 1952 | Kafila, Raja Harishchandra | 2 | ||
| 1953 | Aansoo, Farmaish | 2 | ||
| 1954 | Shama Parwana | 1 | ||
| 1955 | Adl e Jehangir, Kanchan | 2 | ||
| 1956 | Aan Baan, Mr Chakram | 2 | ||
| 1957 | Dushman, Jannat, Krishna Sudama | 3 | ||
| 1958 | Trolley Driver | 1 | ||
| 1959 | Nil | |||
| 1960 | Nil | |||
| 1950s | Kya Baat Hai (UR) | 1 | ||
| 1961 | Apsara | 1 | ||
| 1962 | Nil | |||
| 1963 | Shaheed Bhagat Singh | 1 | ||
| 1964 | Nil | |||
| 1965 | Tarzan And Circus | 1 | ||
| 1966 | Sher Afghan | 1 | ||
Bhagatram was the elder brother, Husnlal was the younger brother. Have you anytime wondered why the younger brother’s name comes first in this pair ?
Normally, when a pair of brothers is referred, it is the elder brother’s name that comes first. For example, Ram-Laxman or Balram – Srikrishna or even Kalyanji – Anand ji, Jatin-Lalit or Anand-Milind. For many years, this matter was bothering me, but I could not find any justification for this unusual way of pairing. I was sure that there must be some story behind this.
The Blog ‘Songs of Yore’ published the second part of Husnlal-Bhagatram post on 11-8-2017, based on the interview of Dinesh Prabhakar, son of Husnlal and Ms. Nirmala Devi. During her talk, Nirmala Devi explained the reasons for calling the pair as Husnlal-Bhagatram, in spite of Bhagatram being the elder one and more experienced of the two. Bhagatram had already given music, individually to 9 films, in the late 30s and early 40s, before the pair was formed. Her statement answered my long awaited query about the unusual name of the pair. Here is the related portion of her interview,
The 90-year old Shrimati Nirmala Devi is an amazing lady. She still has a razor-sharp memory and superb knowledge of music and music personalities of that era. She gave me a lot of interesting information, not available elsewhere – for example, the reason why the younger brother Husnlal’s name comes first in the duo’s name. Her talk also revealed that other family commitments, too, in Delhi were contributory factors for their decline in the film music.
Shrimati Nirmala Devi speaks about her husband (late) Pt Husnlal….“DD Kashyap, who was directing ‘Chaand’ (1944) for Prabhat Films, wanted to engage Pt Amarnath based in Lahore, who was a towering figure in music. As he was heavily preoccupied, he strongly recommended his younger brother Pt Husnlal who was staying with him and assisting him in Lahore-based films of Pancholi and others, assuring Kashyap that Pt Husnlal was no less talented than him. Pt Amarnath was like a father-figure to his younger brothers, especially to Pt Husnlal. A music session was organized to demonstrate Pt Husnlal’s talent. Kashyap was highly impressed. When it was time for Pt Husnlal to proceed for Poona/Bombay, Pt Amarnath, out of concern for his kid-brother, suggested to Kashyap to also engage Pt Bhagatram with him. Kashyap expressed difficulty in arranging the payment for two as the contract was already made out. Pt Amarnath assured him that he should not bother about increasing the fee, but the two brothers must work together. Thus it was that Bhagatram got appended to Husnlal, forming the duo HB. ”
Another reason why the younger brother’s name preceded the elder brother was simply the aesthetics – Husnlal-Bhagatram sounding better than the other way around.
[Author’s Note: Thanks to Blog ‘Songs of Yore’ for this information.]
Almost all the songs in this film are good. Today’s song also is sung by Asha Bhosle very nicely.
Song – Jhoom rahi hai zindagi (Aan Baan)(1956) Singer – Asha Bhosle, Lyricist – Qamar Jalalabadi, MD – Husnlal-Bhagatram
Lyrics (Provided by Prakashchandra)
jhoom rahi hai zindagi
ae mere dil tu gaaye jaa
saans jahaan tak aaye jaaye
pyaar ki dhun sunaaye jaa
jhoom rahi hai zindagi
tera hazaar shukriya
pyaar ka dard de diya
dard mein hai badaa mazaa
aur ise badhaaye jaa
jhoom rahi hai zindagi
ae mere dil tu gaaye jaa
saans jahaan tak aaye jaaye
pyaar ki dhun sunaaye jaa
jhoom rahi hai zindagi
aankhon mein aankhen daal ke
kaisa pila diya nasha
kaisa pila diya nasha
hosh kahe sambhal sambhal
dil kahe ladkhadaaye jaa
jhoom rahi hai zindagi
ae mere dil tu gaaye jaa
saans jahaan tak aaye jaaye
pyaar ki dhun sunaaye jaa
jhoom rahi hai zindagi
pehlu se dil nikaal ke
kadmon pe tere rakh diya
chaahe ise rulaaye jaa
chaahe ise hansaaye jaa
jhoom rahi hai zindagi
ae mere dil tu gaaye jaa
saans jahaan tak aaye jaaye
pyaar ki dhun sunaaye jaa
jhoom rahi hai zindagi
————————————————
Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
————————————————
झूम रही है ज़िंदगी
ए मेरे दिल तू गाये जा
सांस जहां तक आए जाये
प्यार की धुन सुनाये जा
झूम रही है ज़िंदगी
तेरा हज़ार शुक्रिया
प्यार का दर्द दे दिया
दर्द में है बड़ा मज़ा
और इसे बढ़ाए जा
झूम रही है ज़िंदगी
ए मेरे दिल तू गाये जा
सांस जहां तक आए जाये
प्यार की धुन सुनाये जा
झूम रही है ज़िंदगी
आँखों में आँखें डाल के
कैसा पिला दिया नशा
कैसा पिला दिया नशा
होश कहे संभल संभल
दिल कहे लड़खड़ाए जा
झूम रही है ज़िंदगी
ए मेरे दिल तू गाये जा
सांस जहां तक आए जाये
प्यार की धुन सुनाये जा
झूम रही है ज़िंदगी
पहलू से दिल निकाल के
कदमों पे तेरे रख दिया
चाहे इसे रुलाये जा
चाहे इसे हसाए जा
झूम रही है ज़िंदगी
ए मेरे दिल तू गाये जा
सांस जहां तक आए जाये
प्यार की धुन सुनाये जा
झूम रही है ज़िंदगी
Pi pi ki boli na bol papeehe
Posted on: May 1, 2023
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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Blog Day : |
5400 | Post No. : | 17715 |
Today’s song is a beautiful Lata song from the film Aan Baan-1956.
The film was a Costume film telling us an age old story about an old dilapidated king,ambitious evil Rajkumar, a Princess in love with the enemy state prince and as expected a Happy end confirming that ” Good prevails over the Bad”. This type of childish stories had slowly failed to entertain the audience, who looked for some fresh different stories set in the current social scene.
The film was made by the producer, director D.D.Kashyap under his own banner – Kashyap productions, Bombay. Kashyap was a director who directed only 15 films in more than 20 years, but he gave us some Hit and popular films like Nai kahani-1943 (his Debut film as a Director), Chaand-1944 (First film of Prabhat to try an outside director), Badi Bahen-1949 (one of the best Musical films ever), Aaram-1951 (excellent Lata songs), Halaku-1956 (all 8 songs by Lata) and Maya-1961.
The cast of the film was Nalini jaywant, Usha Kiran, Ajit, Mahipal, Pran, Ulhas, Man mohan krishna, Maya Devi, Nazir and others. There were 7 songs written by Qamar Jalalabadi and the best thing about this film- music was composed by Husnlal-Bhagatram. Though the MD pair was in their last lap of career, (after this film in 1956, they did only 9 more films in next 10 years till 1966, before packing up ), they still had their spark working, albeit weakly ! One of their popular songs from this film was ” Aji iss phani duniya mein, muhabbat ke siwa kya hai ” sung by Asha Bhosle and Mubarak Begum, their only duet. Today’s song is the 5th song to be presented here. The story of the film was….
When the Maharani of Shivgarh was on the deathbed, she asked others of the family to take care of her daughter Jai Kumari. But all the others were of different natures. Her father was an old warrier. Elder brother Devisingh believed in peace and co-existence. Younger brother Amar singh believed in the might of the sword and wanted the throne for himself.
When Devi singh fell in love with a dancer heera, Amar singh wanted to rebel against him, but Jai Kumari supported elder brother and got him married to Heera. Amar singh, however, continued troubling the family. Fed up, the king took back all his ranks and honour and boycotted him from the family. Only Jai Kumari helped him to regain all his honours.
In the meantime, Jai Kumari fell in love with Karan Singh, Prince of the neighbouring enemy state Raigarh. Taking this opportunity, Amarsingh waged a war with the king and brother. Amar singh won the battle and the king and brother were arrested and sent to jail. Jaikumari herself went to jail along with father and brother.
When Karan Singh knows this, with the help of sympathisers in Shiv Garh, he attacks the state. The king, brother and sister are freed and Amar singh gets killed in the battle. Devi singh becomes the king. Jai Kumari and Karan singh get married. Thus all is well. The audience jumps up like a child and goes back to their homes, greatly relieved !
One of the actors in the cast is Manmohan Krishna. He was an unusual entity in the Hindi film industry, A highly educated man with a stiff spine, a social worker, an IPTA worker, a person, who due to his nature, could never mix with film people, he always kept away from filmi parties too.
MANMOHAN KRISHNA was born on 11-8-1908, at Lahore in Punjab. He was a very studious person and always stood first in school. He completed his M.Sc. in Physics and started working as a Physics lecturer in a Lahore college. He was very fond of singing and also sang on Lahore Radio. Once when V. Shantaram visited Lahore, he heard Manmohan’s singing on stage and was impressed. Shantaram offered him the lead role in his forthcoming film, “Matwala Shair Ramjoshi”-1947, In this film Manmohan sang 6 solos and 3 duets with Zohrabai Ambalewali. However, his first song as a playback singer was in Shantaram’s film, ” Jeewan Yatra”-1946, under Vasant Desai’s baton.
In his career of more than 40 years, he acted in 183 films and directed 1 film – Noorie-1979. He also sang 24 songs in 8 films, namely Jeewan Yatra-46, Matwala Shayar Ramjoshi-47, Andhon ki duniya-47, Apna Desh-49, Afsar-50, Aaram-51, Railway Platform-55 and Shehar aur Sapna-1963. During his stay in Bombay, he anchored a Radio show ” Cadbury’s Phulwari” in the 50’s.
Manmohan Krishna was connected with Indian Peoples Theatre i.e. IPTA and acted in few of their dramas. Being an educated person, he was impressed with Nehruvian Secularism. He worked in films like Shehar aur Sapna by K. A.Abbas as well as the first Indo-Soviet film Pardesi-1957. He also got the Film Fare award for playing the role of Abdul Chacha in the film Dhool ka Phool-64. A song in this film ” Tu Hindu banega na Musalman banega ” shot on him, became very popular.
Being a member of the intelligentia, he could not sell himself nor gel into the Hindi filmi world fully. He always fought against injustice. He established ‘ Yuvak Biradari ‘ for young Indians, which became a big organisation in due course.
He was a favourite of the Chopra Brothers and acted in most films made by them. Some of his famous films were Deewar, Trishul, Humraaz, Insaaf ka Tarazu, Joshila, Kanoon, Kala Pathar, Dhool ka phool, Waqt, Naya Daur etc. etc. He also worked in 12 Punjabi films. He was prominently spotted in any role due to his thick bushy eyebrows.
In Hindi films, he rarely got a hero’s role, barring few films, because of his ordinary look. He had no looks required for a Hero’s role in a commercial film, in those days. He was of course an excellent Character Artiste. Due to his nature, he kept away from Filmi parties and groupism. He had no real friends in the film industry. Manmohan krishna did not keep good health in his last few years and died at the age of 82 years, in Lokmanya Tilak Hospital, Bombay, on 3-11-1990.
( Based on some information from wiki, ‘Beete kal ke sitare’ by Shriram Tamrakar,muVyz, HFGK and my notes. Thanks to all.)
Today’s song is a very good song by Lata Mangeshkar. I had observed that in all films of Husnlal Bhagatram, Lata had given her best efforts. Enjoy this sad song….
Song- Pi Pi ki boli na bol papeehe (Aan Baan)(1956) Singer-Lata Mangeshkar, Lyrics-Qamar Jalalabadi, MD-Husnlal Bhagatram
Lyrics
pi pi ki boli naa bol
boli na bol papeehe
ae ae ae ae
kehna na apna dard kisi se
kehna na apna dard kisi se
pi pi ki boli na bol
jaan gayi tere dil ka main dukhda
tujhse bhi tera preetam hai bichhda
rota hain duniya mein kaun khushi se
ae ae ae ae
kehna na apna dard kisi se
keahna na apna dard kisi se
pi pi ki boli na bol
tu bhi deewana aa aa aa
main bhi deewani
teri kahaani hain meri kahaani
donon hi tadpe dil ki lagi se
ae ae ae ae
kehna na apna dard kisi se
kehna na apna dard kisi se
pi pi ki boli na bol
dil jo mile to bichhadna bhi hoga
jalna bhi hoga tadapna bhi hoga
kyun ro raha hain pagle abhi se
ae ae ae ae
kehna na apana dard kisi se
kehna na apana dard kisi se
pi pi ki boli na bol
boli na bol papeehe
ae ae ae ae
kehna na apana dard kisi se
kehna na apana dard kisi se
pi pi ki boli na bol
Koi dil mein samaaya jaaye
Posted on: February 28, 2023
This article is written by Avinash Scrapwala, 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 : |
5338 | Post No. : | 17505 |
#the Decade of Fourties – 1941 – 1950 #
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In this post I am presenting a song from the movie ‘Romeo And Juliet-1947’.
‘Romeo And Juliet-1947’ was directed by Akhtar Hussaain for ‘Nargis Art Concern, Bombay’ (home production of actress Nargis). It had Nargis, Sapru, Anwar Hussain, Sunalini Devi, Nisar, John Cavas, Hameed Murad, Nazir Kashmiri, Violet, Pushpa, Abdul Rasheed, Amanullah and others.
This movie has eight songs in it penned by five lyricists as per details given below.
| S.No. | Song Title | Lyricist | Singer | Posted On |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Mast jawaani aayi mast jawaani aayi | Majrooh Sultanpuri | Zohrabai Ambalewali | 28.12.2020 |
| 02 | Mausam ye suhaanaa, ahaa ahaa | Manohar Khanna | Zohrabai Ambalewali | 26.07.2017 |
| 03 | Tumhe sitaaron ne be-akhtiyaar dekha | Akhtar Shirani | G.M. Durrani | 21.09.2014 |
| 04 | Koyi dil mein samaaya jaaye | Manohar Khanna | Zohrabai Ambalewali | Being presented today |
| 05 | Kisko khabar thi, dil ki ye duniya | Manohar Khanna | ||
| 06 | Kya bataayen ishq zaalim | Jigar Moradabadi | Zohrabai Ambalewali | 08.06.2022 |
| 07 | Wo yaad aa rahe hain, laaye unhe kahaan se *not mentioned in HFGK Vol-II |
G.M. Durrani | 08.01.2023 | |
| 08 | Donon jahaan teri muhabbat mein haar ke | Faiz Ahmed Faiz | Khayyam, Zohrabai Ambalewali | 12.08.2014 |
From the above table we can see that out of the eight songs in this movie, Manohar Khanna was the lyricist for three songs.
One song each was written by Majrooh Sultanpuri, Akhtar Shirani, Jigar Moradabadi and Faiz Ahmed Faiz.
Lyricist’s name for one song is not mentioned in HFGK Vol-II (1941-1950).
Today’s song is the seventh song from this movie being presented on the blog. It is sung by Zohrabai Ambalewali.
Lyrics of the song are by Manohar Khanna. Music is composed by Husnlal Bhagatram.
Today’s song is a beautiful ‘falling in love’ category song and it is a nice song to listen to …
With this song we bring ‘Romeo And Juliet-1947’ at the door-step of ‘Yippeeee-land’ and will be saying ‘Yippeeee’ to this movie soon 🙂
Till then enjoy this song …
Audio
Song-Koi dil mein samaaya jaaye (Romeo and Juliet)(1947) Singer-Zohrabai Ambalewaali, Lyrics-Manoharlal Khanna, MD-Husnlal Bhagatram
Lyrics
Koi dil mein samaaya jaaye
Koi dil mein samaaya jaaye
Koi aankhon mein utraa aaye ae
Koi aankhon mein utraa aaye ae ae
Koi dil mein samaaya jaaye
Koi dil mein samaaya jaaye
Kaun aaya meri zindagi mein ae
Kaun aaya meri zindagi mein ae
Kaun chhaaya meri zindagi mein ae ae
Kaun chhaaya meri zindagi mein ae ae
Kaun deewaana mujhko banaaye
Kaun deewaana mujhko banaaye
Armaanon mein ae
Halchal machaaye
Armaanon mein ae ae
Halchal machaaye
Koi dil mein samaaya jaaye
Koi dil mein samaaya jaaye
Koi aankhon mein utraa aaye ae
Koi aankhon mein utraa aaye ae ae
Koi dil mein samaaya jaaye
Koi dil mein samaaya jaaye ae
Aaj kitni haseen chaandni hai
Aaj kitni haseen chaandni hai
Mere dil ki kali khil rahi hai ae
Mere dil ki kali khil rahi hai
Koi chupke se phoolon ki oat mein
Koi chupke se phoolon ki oat mein
Mujhe dilkash taraane sunaaye ae ae
Mujhe dilkash taraane sunaaye ae
Koi dil mein samaaya jaaye
Koi dil mein samaaya jaaye
Koi aankhon mein utraa aaye ae
Koi aankhon mein utraa aaye ae ae
Koi dil mein samaaya jaaye ae
Koi dil mein samaaya jaaye ae
Kaahe dheere chale ree ghadi
Posted on: February 14, 2023
This article is written by nahm, 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 : |
5324 | Post No. : | 17453 |
Tribute to Lata Mangeshkar – 3
From where can one start talking of Lata Mangeshkar, from the ‘carefree’ Hawa mein udtaa jaaye, to the restless Jiya bekaraar hai, to the idealistic “ham ne dekhi hai unn aankhon ki mehekti khushoo”, to the itthlati/itraati “bindiya chamkegi’/ ’koyi shehri babu dil lehri babu’, to pensive “rahen na rahen ham’, to the patient “ab to hai tum se’ mischievous “baahon mein chale aao’, to the mysterious ‘naina barse’/“lag ja gale” , to the despairing ‘jo ham ne daastaan apni sunaayi’, to the unabashed “kaanton se kheench kar yeh aanchal” & “ab ke sajan saawan mein” & “nainon mein badra chhaye”, to the resigned “duniya mein aisa kahan sab ka naseeb hai”, to sad “duniya mein ham aayen hai to” & ‘bekas pe karam keejiye”, & “Raja ki aayegi baraat”….. the list will go on forever.
Songs like “main tere ishq mein mar na jaaun kahin”, “dil mein kisi ke pyar ka jalta hua diya”, “jab bhi jee chaahe nayi duniya”, “hai tere saathh meri Wafaa”, ”milo na tum to ham ghabraayen”, “do dil toote do dil haare”, “Do hanson ka joda bichhad gayo re” & “dhoondo dhoondo re saajna”, “raat bhi hai kuchh bheegi bheegi”, “gairon pe karam” / “milti hai zindiagi mein”, “baar baar tohe kya samjhaaye”, “yoon hasraton ke daagh” & “unn ko yeh shikayat hai” , the unforgettable songs of “pakeeza’. I will stop now; the list is never ending.
If I go through all the films featuring in the ‘list of songs movie-wise’ I will find 60 % movies having Lata songs. This is just a guess; I could not go through them all. With 3800 plus songs posted on the blog, she is bound to be in 60% movies list. With 17400/- total songs posted in the blog, Lata Mangeshkar is featuring in more than 22 % songs.
Her many melodies will haunt the music and songs aficionados forever.
Tu chanda main chaandni
yoon hee mahke preet piyaa ke
Ae dil e nadaan
For decades, we have heard her, in Meena Kumari’s tallafuz, Mala Sinha’s diction, Waheeda’s naunces, Hema Malini’s accent, Nargis’s melancholy, Jaya’s integrity, Mumtaz’s exuberance, among many others hues and emotions. It is said that it was Madan Mohan who really taught her to emote in songs. It could be true, in a sense, we as radio listeners could not always know the mood of the song, when listening to Lata’s perfection in delivery and diction. A case in point, is the song “ham tere pyar mein saara aalam’ from “Dil Ek Mandir”. I have heard it on the radio from childhood, but had no idea that it is a sad, and crying song, though at the end of the song there is a “siski”. When I saw that song on youtube, for the first time, I was surprised to see that Meena Kumari is crying ‘zaar-o-qataar”. It is as if Lata Mangeshkar was not briefed about the crying of Meena Kumari while singing the song on screen. This is the more likely explanation, in my opinion.
The perfection of Lata Mangeshkar, is a great learning instrument for vocalists around the world. And her dignity, her self-belief and pride are her achievements, for always keeping herself head and shoulders above her colleagues and competitors, even her own sister. For the world is not a nice place for a woman, who is alone, without a husbands name to add. People judge women unfairly. This has happened to women, in history and in reality, in fact and in fiction, in personal life and in professional life. In a society, where women are goddess and maataa, but in real application, they are subordinate to the god and pita/pati, a male one.
If there was anyone, who could be her equal in her professional field, it was one and only Rafi Sahab. In terms of success, in voice quality, delivery and versatility, Lata Mangeshkar remained first among equals. That is her final triumph acknowledged as such. As the life force drained out of her, we do not know what she felt as a creation, finally going to meet her creator. But we shall remember her as a shining voice, which will resonate till this civilization lasts.
I have chosen this song from 1949 film ‘Raakhi”, where she sounds like the young girl, she was then. Sarshar Sailani is the lyricist and composers are Husnlal-Bhagatram.
These five songs from this film posted in the blog:
| Song | Date of posting |
|---|---|
| Ab to aa jaao | 17 June 2011 |
| Raakhi ka aaya tyohaar sakhi | 2 august 2012 |
| Dil par kisi ka teer e nazar khhaa ke reh gaye | 24 January 2014 |
| Mohe laa de reshmi lahanga | 3 October 2019 |
| O roothh jaane waale mera qasoor kya hai | 28 september 2022 |
This song is truly a hidden gem. I say this about most of Husnlal- Bhagatram songs. But then there is nothing sweeter than a youth, who cannot wait to embrace life. Time has a way of running away when it wishes and moving slowly when it wills.
In this song, the girl/lady singing feels that time is moving too slowly, she is charmingly complaining to the clock, for running slowly, as she waits for her “saajan” to return home in the evening. There have been a few songs in this genre too in hindi films. This is also a ‘dheere dheere’ catrgory song.
Song-Kaahe dheere chale ree ghadi (Raakhi)(1949) Singer-Lata Mangeshkar, Lyrics-Sarshaar Sailani, MD-Husnlal-Bhagatram
Lyrics
kaahe dheere chale ri ghadi ee ee
kaahe dheere chale ri ghadi
baat dekhoon main
baat dekhoon main kab se khadi ee
kab se khadi
kaahe dheere chale ri ghadi ee ee
kaahe dheere chale ri ghadi
chain padti nahin
mohe saajan bina
mohe saajan binaa
tere bas mein saajan ko
laana yahaan
haan laana yahaan
tez ho jo ghadi ki ghadi ee ee
tez ho jo ghadi ki ghadi
ghadi ki ghadi
kaahe dheere chale ri ghadi ee ee
kaahe dheere chale ri ghadi
tu jo tick tick kare
jiya dhak dhak kare
jiya dhak dhak kare
yeh khushaamad bhala
koyi kab tak kare
koyi kab tak kare
main to sau baar
painyyaan padi ee ee
main to sau baar
painyyan padi ee
painyyaan padi
kaahe dheere chale ri ghadi ee ee
kaahe dheere chale ri ghadi
jhhoom uthhe
ashaaon bhara man
aashaaon bhara man
jhhoom uthhe
aashaaon bhara man
aashaaon bhara man
chhoom chhanana chhanan
chhan chhan chhan chhan
paanch bajaa
(tan tan tan tan tan)
meharbaani ho teri badi ee ee
meharbaani ho teri badi
teri badi
kaahe dheere chale ri ghadi ee ee
kaahe dheere chale ri ghadi
baat dekhoon main
baat dekhoon main kab se khadi ee
kab se khadi
kaahe dheere chale ri ghadi ee ee
kaahe dheere chale ri ghadi
This article is written by nahm, 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 : |
5305 | Post No. : | 17385 |
74th Republic Day on 26th January, 2023
We have all heard this ghazal, in the form of patriotic songs, songs with nationalistic flavour in various films made on Shaheed Bhagat Singh, and some not made on him. Such is the power of this inquilabi poetry, that people seemed to have recited and memorised this one through generations, when there was no digitalization of data and published material was not available for cheap. Or not easily accessible in remote areas. The ghazal has gone hand in hand with ‘mera rang de basanti chola’ through out history of independent India, in movies and beyond. Be it hindi films or regional language films, obviously Punjabi movies. But I am prepared to not be surprised to find these two songs in other regional language films, like Bengali, Marathi and others.
Just today, Peevesie’s Mom’s post on ‘Kaahe ko Biyaahi Bides’ has appeared on the blog. The same creation by Amir Khusro, for the umpteenth time. And this was created centuries ago. At least ‘sarfaroshi ki tamanna’ is less than 100 years old.
I am reproducing here the original ghazal by Bismil Azimabadi (Sourced from Rekhta.com in devnagari script).
सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है
देखना है ज़ोर कितना बाज़ू-ए-क़ातिल में है
ऐ शहीद-ए-मुल्क-ओ-मिल्लत मैं तिरे ऊपर निसार
ले तिरी हिम्मत का चर्चा ग़ैर की महफ़िल में है
वाए क़िस्मत पाँव की ऐ ज़ोफ़ कुछ चलती नहीं
कारवाँ अपना अभी तक पहली ही मंज़िल में है
रहरव-ए-राह-ए-मोहब्बत रह न जाना राह में
लज़्ज़त-ए-सहरा-नवर्दी दूरी-ए-मंज़िल में है
शौक़ से राह-ए-मोहब्बत की मुसीबत झेल ले
इक ख़ुशी का राज़ पिन्हाँ जादा-ए-मंज़िल में है
आज फिर मक़्तल में क़ातिल कह रहा है बार बार
आएँ वो शौक़-ए-शहादत जिन के जिन के दिल में है
मरने वालो आओ अब गर्दन कटाओ शौक़ से
ये ग़नीमत वक़्त है ख़ंजर कफ़-ए-क़ातिल में है
माने-ए-इज़हार तुम को है हया, हम को अदब
कुछ तुम्हारे दिल के अंदर कुछ हमारे दिल में है
मय-कदा सुनसान ख़ुम उल्टे पड़े हैं जाम चूर
सर-निगूँ बैठा है साक़ी जो तिरी महफ़िल में है
वक़्त आने दे दिखा देंगे तुझे ऐ आसमाँ
हम अभी से क्यूँ बताएँ क्या हमारे दिल में है
अब न अगले वलवले हैं और न वो अरमाँ की भीड़
सिर्फ़ मिट जाने की इक हसरत दिल-ए-‘बिस्मिल’ में है
As per Rekhta.com, this ghazal is by Bismil Azimabadi, and researchers have found that it is present in his collection ‘Hikaayat e Hasti’. Hikayat means – story, tale, narrative, narration, fable, anecdote. All those things. Rekhta.com has also explained the reason of this ghazal being wrongly attributed to Ram Prasad Bismil, is the tradition that when Ram Prasad Bismil was being hanged, the “matla’a” of this ghazal was recited by him.
This legend also explains why this ghazal and ‘mera rang de basanti’ are invariably included in all films made on Shaheed Bhagat Singh.
I found these versions of this song already posted in the blog:
| Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai | Shaheed (1965) |
| Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai | Shaheed e Azam Bhagat Singh (1954) |
Incidentally, both versions are sung by Rafi Sahab, one being group song.
I remember, there is a recitation in “Rang de Basanti” (2006) too. So, these two songs really go hand in hand. This movie was not on Bhagat Singh, even so.
The word Sarfarosh means ‘one who is ready to die for a good cause’, jaannisar or jaanbaaz. This persian origin word’s impact is such, with less than 30% population who can speak and understand Urdu, there are four movies with this word, Sarfarosh 1964, Sarfarosh 1985, Sarfarosh-e-hind 1999 and Sarfarosh in 1999.
This style of poetry is known as Inquilabi shayari. Content and substance will matter in all eras. However much technological advancement, we are seeing at present could not have happened without human intellect, which created the problems, analysed them and solved them. Now those same solutions are in the process of reformation and refurbishment. Strong content with truthful intent will survive for centuries, mere laffazi will not.
So this is also the USP of Urdu language in the present era, with its relatability, with its small vocabulary, with scope for borrowing from its parental, friends, neighbours, relative languages, without really requiring expansion of its dictionary. Ha! what am I saying? This is truly debatable. I am prone to passing sentences, without corroborating them with any scientific, analytic proven facts.
As we celebrate 74th Republic Day today, we must accept, it’s the substantial literary output presented by the authors, writers and poets of the region, for centuries, which has survived the test of time. It was the combined intellect of the constitutional committee, with its 100s of members, which has given us the constitution. There was no, ‘one size fits all’ solution in front of these men and women. They had the ‘tehzeeb’ and ‘rivaayat’ of different schools of intellectual and religious thoughts that have prospered in our region and elsewhere and shaped it. And they managed to create a workable system, which has served us for better part of the century.
I sometimes wonder, if the constitution can be called a work of fiction or non-fiction. It is something that the Parliament must implement and the courts of law must uphold. I am confused, between implemented and not implemented, upheld, and not upheld constitutional rights.
Enough of my musings, will move on to the song.
I am presenting yet another Rafi version of ‘sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai’. This one is from ‘Shaheed Bhagat Singh (1963) composed by Husnlal-Bhagatram. The lyrics are credited to Ram Prasad Bismil, in this instance. The film is exactly 60 year old in 2023, so it of retirement age.
These 2 songs from this fil are already posted:-
| Song | Date of post |
|---|---|
| Hain abhi aur ae dil tere imtihaan | 23 March 2012 |
| Chadh ke sooli Bharat maa de jis ne kasht nivaare | 23 March 2022 |
And this is by no means the end of ‘Sarfaroshi ki tamanna’ as far as hindi film songs are concerned. There are more songs remaining to be covered.
Audio:
Video
Song-Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai (Shaheed Bhagat Singh)(1963) Singer-Rafi, Lyrics-Bismil Azimabadi, MD-Husnlal Bhagatram
Rafi + Male chorus
Rafi + Male Chorus +Female chorus
Lyrics(Based on video)
sarfaroshi ki tamanna
ab hamaare dil mein hai
dekhna hai zor kitna
baazu-e-qaatil mein hai
sarfaroshi ki tamanna
ab hamaare dil mein hai
dekhna hai zor kitna
baazu-e-qaatil mein hai
aaj maqtal mein yeh qaatil
keh raha hai baar baar
keh rahaa hai baar baar
aaj maqtal mein yeh qaatil
keh raha hai baar baar
keh rahaa hai baar baar
jaan dene ki tamanna
aaj kis ke dil mein hai
sarfaroshi ki tamanna
ab hamaare dil mein hai
sarfaroshi ki tamanna
ab hamaare dil mein hai
waqt aane par bataa denge
tujhe ae aasmaan aan
tujhe ae aasmaan
waqt aane par bataa denge
tujhe ae aasmaan aan
tujhe ae aasmaan
ham abhi se kya bataayen
kya hamaare dil mein hai
sarfaroshi ki tamanna
ab hamaare dil mein hai
sarfaroshi ki tamanna
ab hamaare dil mein hai
ab na pehle walwale hain
aur na armaanon ki bheed
aur na armaanon ki bheed
ab na pehle walwale hain
aur na armaanon ki bheed
aur na armaanon ki bheed
ek mit jaane ki Hasrat
ab hamaare dil mein hai
sarfaroshi ki tamanna
ab hamaare dil mein hai
sarfaroshi ki tamanna
ab hamaare dil mein hai
sarfaroshi ki tamanna
ab hamaare dil mein hai
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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