Posts Tagged ‘Pt Indra Chandra’
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusaist of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
| Blog Day : | 4234 | Post No. : | 15444 |
Today’s song is from a film having a familiar title – Lakhon mein ek-1947, but this film is hardly known to anyone. The title is familiar, because there were two more films with the same title, in two different decades later on. One was Lakhon mein ek-1955, which had a less known Heroine Asha Mathur, opposite a veteran Jairaj. It had music by Bhola Shreshtha. The other film was Lakhon mein ek-1971, which had an unknown (till then and later too) debutante Heroine- Radha, opposite comedian Mehmood. This film had music by R D Burman and few songs became popular for some years.
Today’s film was made by Ranjit Movietone- the film factory, owned by Sardar Chandulal Shah. The film had music by Hansraj Behl (7 songs) and Bulo C Rani (4 Songs).
In 1947, Bulo C Rani was employed by Ranjit as their in house composer after Gyan Dutt (37-40) and Khemchand Prakash (40-45). The film’s songs were written by Pt. Indra Chandra. The film was directed by Taimur Behramsha, who debuted as a director, with this film. Earlier he was a Cinematographer in Ranjit. After this film, Ranjit gave him another film for direction – Bhool Bhulaiyan-49. Then he floated his own company ‘ Taimur Art Productions’ and produced and directed film Izzat-1952.
The cast of the film was Khursheed Jr. (Meenakumari’s elder sister), Nirupa Roy, Ghulam Mohammed, Bipin Gupta and others. Khursheed jr, first entered the films, then came Meena Kumari and lastly Baby Madhuri aka Madhu. All sisters got married only to suffer in their later life. Their stories are pathetic. The handsome actor Altaf, was married to Khurshid. Mehmood & Altaf were co-brothers,being married to siblings Khursheed & Madhu respectively. Khursheed & Madhu tried their luck & appeared in few movies,but were not successful. Madhu, it may be recalled had a brief role in Manzil(1960).
Altaf was not as lucky as his co-brother- Mehmood or sister in law Meena Kumari. Although,initially he appeared in some movies as leading man in 40s, but soon he was relegated to play negative roles in films. Chhote Nawab, Ghulam Beghum Badshah, Sone Ki Chidia, Noor Jahan, Raja Rani, Char Chand etc were few of his movies.
Meena Kumari, Khurshhed & Madhu,it seems, were destined to suffer, in their second half of life. While we are aware of Meena Kumari’s last days, Khurshid & Altaf led miserable life & were forced to live in Jhopadpatti, due to financial constraints, after Meena Kumari passed away. Madhuri was divorced by Mehmood & she had to leave the house,to live the life in penury.
The music director Hansraj Behl is one of my favourite composers, though his name never came up in the A class composers. His compositions were very melodious, but his luck was very harsh with him. Many such cases, be they composers, actors, directors or singers, are known to us. When one sees their life stories and works, one is forced to believe that LUCK is more important than Talent, at least in Film Industry. This is Hansraj Behl for you….
Hansraj Behl (19-11-1916 to 20-5-1984), in my opinion,is one of those composers in film world, who composed lots of melodious songs. Unfortunately, he was also one of those composers who never got Big banners to work for. He and his brother, Gulshan Behl founded N.C.Films, on their father’s name-Nihal Chand- and produced B and C grade movies to which Hansraj gave his music. Hansraj was known as Master ji, in the industry. Only two people were known as Master ji…one was Ghulam Haider and the other was Hansraj Behl. Hansraj usually worked alone and rarely used any assistant while giving music.
Hansraj is remembered for giving initial playback singing breaks to Asha Bhonsle and Madhubala Jhaveri. He also gave chance to his own friend Verma Malik-Lyricist. Malik used to live with him initially, in Bombay. He composed music for 71 films from Pujari-46 to Badmashon ka Badmash-79. One film “Insaaf ka Khoon” was released after his death,in 1988.
Hansraj Behl is one of the music directors who became successful in the post independence era. He composed music for not only Hindi films but also for Punjabi films. Hansraj was born on 19 November 1916 in Punjab. He got his basic education in music from Pt. Chunnilal. Then he opened his music school in Lahore and he had some non-film records released under the label of HMV. In 1944 Hansraj came to Bombay to try his luck in Hindi film industry as a music director.
After one year of struggle he got his first film Pujari, made by Ardeshir Irani, in 1946. He got films like Gwaalan and Phulwaari in the same year, but all these films could not do well at the box office. Behl tasted success in 1947 with the release of Laakhon Mein Ek and Chheen Le Aazadi. ‘Moti Chugne Gayi Re Hansi..’ sung by Shamshad Begum and Mukesh from the film Chheen Le Aazadi became very popular. In 1948 he came up with four films – Chunariya, Mitti Ke Khilone, Pardesi Mehmaan and Satya Narayan, of which Chunariya’s music was a hit especially the song ‘Dil-e-Nashaad Ko Jeene Ki Hasrat Ho Gayi..’ sung by Lata Mangeshkar. The song which placed him among high class music directors was ‘Sab Kuchh Lutaya Hamne Aakar Teri Gali Me..’ sung by Mohammed Rafi and written by Mulk Raj Bhaakri.
In the year 1949, he came out with Chakori, Raat Ki Raani, Zevraat and few more films. Lata sang one of her favourite songs, ‘Haye Chanda Gaye Pardes Chakori Yahan Ro Ro Mare..’ in Chakori, which became very popular and it helped Hansraj to gain popularity among music lovers. ‘Jin Raaton Mein Neend Ud Jaati Hai..’ sung by Mohammed Rafi in Raat Ki Raani was a nation wide hit.
In 1950-51 he gave many hit songs with Lata Mangeshkar, Geeta Dutt and Suraiyya. Songs of Kisi Ki Yaad became very popular soon after the release of the film. ‘Koi Mujhko Na Bulaye..’ and ‘Tadapta Chhod Kar Mujhko Kahaan Tum Reh Gaye..’ both sung by Geeta Dutt and ‘O Jaane Wale Ye Kya Kiya..’ by Mohammed Rafi gained immense popularity. In 1952 he introduced Madhubala Jhaveri as a playback singer in Apni Izzat and Jaggu. Madhubala sang ‘Dil Mera Tera Diwaana..’ with Talat Mehmood and ‘Meethi Meethi Loriyaan Main Dheere Dheere Gaoon..’ (both Apni Izzat) featured her solo voice. In 1954, he again came out with musical films like Dost and Khaiber. ‘Aaye Bhi Akela Jaye Bhi Akela..’ from Dost (1954) sung by Talat Mehmood was among one of his memorable compositions.
He continued to give his best in films like Rajdhani, Milan, Miss Bombay, Changez Khan and Saawan. Songs like ‘Bhool Ja Sapne Suhane..’ from Rajdhani (1956), ‘Mohabbat Zinda rehti Hai..’ from Changez Khan (1957), ‘ Jab Raat Nahi Katti..’ from Changez Khan (1957), ‘Zindagi Bhar Gham Judaai Ka..’ from Miss Bombay (1957), ‘Haseen Ho Khuda To Nahi..’ from Mud Mud Ke Na Dekh (1960), ‘Bheega Bheega Pyar Ka Sama..’ from Saawan (1959) and ‘Tujhko Dhoondhu To Dhoondhu Kahaan..’ from Milan (1959) crossed all the barriers of success and Hansraj Behl’s name was on the lips of every music lover.
After all these successful films he continued to give music till 1969 but failed to give any hit because his later films were either stunts or fantasy films with little scope for having good music. His last hit song was an all time great creation ‘Jahan Daal Daal Pe Sone Ki Chidiya Karti Hai Basera..’ which was sung by Mohammed Rafi for the film Sikandar-e-Aazam in 1965. In all, he gave music to 71 films and composed 530 songs.
Hansraj Behl died of Cancer in Bombay on 20-5-1984.
Today’s song is a very melodious song sung by Hamida Bano. Singer Hamida Bano was born on 19-10-1928,in Lahore. Her family shifted to Bombay in 1942. Hamida’s elder brother Akbar worked with a Drama company. He gave her the initial training in singing. This kindled a desire in her mind to sing in Hindi Films. Those days,the well known,Actor/Director Master Bhagwan lived nearby. He once recommended her name to his best friend-C.Ramchandra. He was the MD for Bhagwan’s film ” Naghma-e-Sehara “-1943. He gave her a break with 3 songs in this film. Unfortunately,this film got delayed and was released only in 1945. Meanwhile,Naushad had found her and he gave her a song in film ” Sanjog’-43 and she sang her first released song with Shyam kumar.
C.Ramchandra continued using her in films like Bahadur, Lalkar, Manorama, Raunaq, Sawan etc. In those years C.Ramchandra himself was not very famous-till his HIT films like Safar-46 and Shehnai-47 etc. So Hamida was not much benefitted with these songs. From 1945,it was composer Bulo C Rani,who used Hamida Bano for some really memorable songs like in film ” Moorti”-45–badariya baras gayi uss paar. Then came Rajputani, Chheen le Azadi, Phulwari, Badi baat, Shahenshah Babar, Naseeb, Parayi aag,Preet, Devar Dharti, Nek Parveen, Neelkamal, Tohfa and Rimjhim. After 1950 her songs became less and she sang in Bikhre Moti, Rajput, Anjaam,and Majboori-54-her last film in India. She sang about 125 odd songs in about 62 films.
In 1956, she migrated to Pakistan. In Karachi,she recorded some songs. Then she settled in Lahore and became active in social work. Occasionally, she was seen in functions like ” Nigar Awards Function ” etc. She continued singing on Lahore Radio. Hamida Bano died on 20-11-2006 at the age of 78 yrs. Her last song in India was with Asha in Majboori-1954-“Tere poojan ko Bhagwan bana Man mandir aalishan”.
Enjoy this lovely song composed by Hansraj Behl.
Song-Hum tumhaare tum hamaare aao karen pyaar (Laakhon Mein Ek)(1947) Singer- Hamida Banu, Lyricist- Pt. Indra, MD- Hansraj Behl
Lyrics
hum tumhaare tum humaare
aao karen pyaar
hum tumhaare tum humaare
aao karen pyaar
dekho ji dekho ye kaisi bahaar
dekho ji dekho ye kaisi bahaar
hum tumhaare
tum humaare
hum tumhaare tum humaare
aao karen pyaar
hum tumhare tum humaare
aao karen pyaar
gungun karen bhanwara pukaar
gungun karen bhanwara pukaar
kaliyon ne ghoonghat diye hain utaar
kaliyon ne ghoonghat diye hain utaar
aasha ne khole mere sapnon ke dwaar
aasha ne khole mere sapnon ke dwaar
hum tumhaare
tum humaare
hum tumhare tum humaare
aao karen pyaar
hum tumhaare tum humaare
aao karen pyaar
chanda se maangege kiranen udhaar
chanda se mangege kiranen udhaar
shabnam se le lenge moti ka haar
shabnam se le lenge moti ka haar
saajan ko dhoondhenge kar ke singaar
saajan ko
haan haan saajan ko
haan haan saajan ko dhoondhenge kar ke singaar
hum tumhaare
tum humaare
hum tumhaare tum humaare
aao karen pyaar
hum tumhaare tum humaare
aao karen pyaar
dekho ji dekho ye kaisi bahaar
dekho ji dekho ye kaisi bahaar
hum tumharae tum humaare
hum tumhaare tum humaare
aao karen pyaar
hum tumhaare tum humaare
aao karen pyaar
| Blog Day : | 4228 | Post No. : | 15436 |
“Paataal Bhairavi”(1952) was a remake/ dubbing of a blockbuster Telugu movie of the same name. This movie was produced by B Nag Reddy and Chakrapani and directed by K V Reddy for Vijaya Vauhini Productions, Madras. The producers were the same people who were also behind the publication of the popular Children’s magazine “Chandamama”, which was published in many languages of India.
The movie had N T Rama Rao, S V Ranga Rao, C S R Relangi, Balakrishnan, Padmnabhan, Malti, T G Kamla, Laxmikantham, Hemaltamma Rao, Girija, Surbhi Kamala, Chitti etc in it.
The movie had nine songs in it. Three songs have been cobvered in the past.
Here is the fourth song from “Paataal Bhairavi”(1952) to appear in the blog. This song is sung by Talat Mehmood. Pt Indra Chandra is the lyricist. Music is composed by Ghantsala.
The song is picturised as a background song in the movie.
I am unable to identify the actors who are seen in the picturisation. I request our knowledgeable readrs to help identify them.
Song-Prem panthh ko chala musaafir ban kar deewaana(Paataal Bhairavi)(1952) Singer-Talat Mehmood, Lyrics-Pt Indra Chandra, MD-Ghantsala
Lyrics
Prem panthh ko chala musaafir
ban kar deewaana
musaafir ban kar mastaana
Prem panthh ko chala musaafir
ban kar deewaana
musaafir ban kar mastaana
kathhin dagariya door nagariya
sambhal sambhal kar jaana
aa aa aa aa
aa aa aa aa
aa aa aa aa
aa aa
aa aa
kathhin dagariya door nagariya
sambhal sambhal kar jaana
laagi najariya baali umariya
na jaana pahchaana
Prem panthh ko chala musaafir
ban kar deewaana
musaafir ban kar mastaana
pyaar bhara hai dil maata ka
usko na bisraana
pyaar bhara hai dil maata ka
usko na bisraana
koi na apna sangi saathhi
saara desh begaana
Prem panthh ko chala musaafir
ban kar deewaana
musaafir ban kar mastaana
rang bhari dulhan ki aahen
dil ka dard na jaana
rang bhari dulhan ki aahen
dil ka dard na jaana
rahi tadapti shama akeli
roothh chala parwaana
Prem panthh ko chala musaafir
ban kar deewaana
musaafir ban kar mastaana
musaafir ban kar mastaana
Bhai bhaj le shri Bhagwaan
Posted on: December 24, 2019
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 other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
| Blog Day : | 4176 | Post No. : | 15350 |
Today’s song is from the film “Aankh ki sharm (1943). This bhajan is sung by one ‘Pande ji’. I am neither aware who this singer is, nor aware of any information on him. The Music Director of this film was Vasant Desai, who was known to be a Talent Hunter ( He had discovered MD S.Purushottam and singers Desai sisters – Pramodini and Vinodini ). May be Pande ji was also his discovery. However in later films of Vasant Desai I failed to find his name again. Possibly he was a ‘one film wonder’, like many others.
The film was made by Wadia Movietone. In 1942, the Wadia brothers – Homi and J B H Wadia separated, when the elder brother J B H Wadia proposed that the company should start making Social films, instead of only Stunt films. Homi Wadia established his own company Basant Pictures and continued making stunt films with Fearless Nadia – who sided with him, obviously, in the separation. Much later, Nadia married Homi Wadia and she thus became Nadia Wadia !
This was the second Social film ( after film Shobha-42) that Wadia Movietone made after the split. It was directed by Balwant Bhatt – elder brother of Nanabhai Bhatt who was a veteran in directing B and C grade films.
All the 11 songs of the film were written by Pt. Indra Chandra. The cast of the film was Prithwiraj Kapoor, Kaushalya, Trilok Kapoor, Nayampalli, Nalini Gupte, Moti, Gulab, Himalayawala, Agha, Dalpat, Indira etc etc. This must be one of the very few films (or was it the only movie ?) in which Prithwiraj and Trilok Kapoor were acting together in one film.
An interesting name in the cast was that of NALINI Gupte. I said interesting, because, in Hindi films, as many as 12 NALINIs acted/ sang in films at slightly different times. Add to this list the name of a Male actor ‘ Nalini Ranjan Roy ‘, who, thankfully, acceded to the suggestion to change his name to ‘Kanu’ Roy. ( It is another matter that even this name clashed with another Kanu Roy, who was MD, in the same period…causing serious ” Same Name Confusion”. ) The different NALINIs were…
Nalini Tarkhud…..many films
Nalini Jayawant…many films
Baby Nalini…Mera ladka-43
Nalini Nagpurkar…Krishnarjun yuddha-34, Chacha Chaudhari-53
Nalini Chonkar… many films
Nalini Borkar…singer
Nalini Dhere… Nagad Narayan-43
Nalini Gupte…Ankh ki sharm-43
Nalini Mulgaonkar…Didi-48, nakli Baap-49
Nalini Rao…Talash-43
Nalini Saraf (later Seema Deo)… Anand-70
Nalini korgaonkar… singer
Additionally, there were actresses called SuNALINI and MriNALINI too.
These Nalinis did not cause any Same name Confusion, because, being Marathi artistes, they wrote their names with Surnames, so their names remained different always. Easily, this name is the most ‘appeared’ name in the Hindi Film History !
Another interesting name ‘ Nayampalli’ always reminded me of the ” Nampalli” Railway station… which is another name for Hyderabad Railway station. This actor Nayampalli was leading a silent life of a middle class gentleman, doing a 10 to 5 job and raising a family, when he was invited to the glamorous world of Films.
S.B. Nayampally (or Nayampalli) was working at the firm of Killick, Nixon and Company in Bombay, when he was discovered by film director P.Y. Altekar at a gym where Nayampally regularly exercised. Altekar felt that Nayampally very much resembled the famous French boxer Georges Carpenter and would be perfect for the stunt films that had become popular at the time. At Director Altekar’s urging, Nayampally joined Imperial Studios and was quickly cast in his first film, Wedding Night(1929), opposite the popular actress Jilloo.
When he arrived at Imperial to begin his first day of filming he was amused to find that the building now used for the studio had formerly housed the school he attended as a child.“Wedding Night was a stunt film of the Robin Hood type,” Nayampally explained in a 1964 interview. “It had a little more of a plot to it than many films of the same class. My next film, Hell’s Paradise (1929), I remember for three reasons. One, it was based on a real-life episode involving an Indian prince and a foreign girl, described as an adventuress. Two, Mama Warerekar, the noted writer, did the story. Three, the film had a kissing scene, probably the first ever in an Indian film.”
Nayampalli was cast in Imperial’s Noorjehan (1931), which was initially to be a silent picture, but because of the success of their film Alam Ara (1931), which was India’s first talkie, the studio decided to make Noorjehan partly with sound. Nayampally was not originally cast in Noorjehan, but a chance meeting with the film’s director, Ezra Mir, got him the role of Prince Salim in the film.Nayampally then played Karna in Imperial’s next sound film, the mythological Draupadi (1931), but the actor considered his best mythological role to be that of the wily Shakuni in Mahatma Vidur (1943), a part that was appreciated by critics and the public, alike.
As sound films came in, silent actors were being discarded in favor of those with stage backgrounds, so Nayampalli joined the Grant Anderson Theatrical Company which specialized in Shakespearean plays. After gaining some experience he tried to rejoin films, but without much luck. His previous roles had been leads, so he decided if he wanted to work regularly, maybe he should take a different approach and he offered himself up for character parts.
His break came in the role of a hunchback in love with the heroine in Ezra Mir’s Zarina which starred Jal Merchant and Zubeida. The dentures he wore for the role were created specially by a dentist named Jimmy Gheista who had trained abroad with the dentist who had made similar dentures for Lon Chaney.
Nayampally had learned early on how to apply make-up for his roles and, in fact, he became so good at it he eventually came to specialize in horror make-up, which earned him the nickname “The Indian Lon Chaney.” Indeed, Chaney, Erich von Stroheim, Emil Jannings, and John Barrymore were the actors that Nayampally most tried to emulate. Boris Karloff was another of his role models. He was able to put his make-up expertise to good use for the film Sair-e-Paristan (1934), where he was a vampire-like devil, and in Zingaro(1935), in which he played a monster created by a mad scientist, and then as a the hairy “missing link” in Zambo (1937) and its sequel Zambo Ka Beta (1938). For Kalkoot (1935) he created a make-up to resemble the wrinkled effect that Karloff had used in The Mummy(1932).
Nayampally continued working in films throughout the 1940s and 50s, particularly in mythologicals and costume pictures including Raj Nartaki (1941), Nagad Narayan (1943), Vishwas 1943), Taramati(1945), Urvashi (1946), Jhansi-Ki-Rani (1953), Durgesh Nandini (1956), Basant Bahar (1956) and Shiv Parvati (1962) His last credited film appearance was in 1970’s Priya.
After his career in films ended, he started making Documentaries. He made about 35 documentaries. He won ‘ Silver Dolphin’ award for his documentary in the International Film Festival at Teheran in 1970.
He died on 7-5-1994, in Mumbai.
In the cast, there is another name which, apart from being very unusual, belongs to an actor, who earned considerably infamy in his private life. He is Himalayawala. His name was Mohd Afzaluddin. He was born in March 1916, at Dehradun. After school education he joined his brother, Mohd Misaluddin’s firm – The Himalaya Drug Company, a leading Pharma company of repute (even today). He worked there for 10 years and after a dispute with his brother, left the company. He came to Bombay to join films.
First he had thought of starting a company, but looking at the situation, he decided to do acting only. His first film was ‘Kiski Biwi’ (1942), directed by MA Mirza. His name was changed from Afzal to A Himalaywala (since he came from the Himalayan town of Dehradun, like Kashmiri from Kashmir), by Shaukat Hussain, husband of Noorjehan. However in many films he was credited as Afzal only. He worked in few films like, ‘Vishwaas’ (1943), ‘Ankh Ki Sharm’ (1943), ‘Dost’ (1944), ‘Kismatwaala’ (1944), ‘Zeenat’ (1945), ‘Humayun’ (1945), ‘Nal Damayanti’ (1945), ‘Jagbeeti’ (1946), ‘Samrat Ashok’ (1947) and ‘Elaan’ (1947).
He was an outspoken and straightforward person, fond of hunting, football and travelling by car. He toured all of India twice in his car. In 1943, he married actress singer Amirbai Karnataki. After marriage he banned her from acting in films. Within 2-3 years, on this and other issues, they could not get along. He used to hit her and take all her money. At last, it was rumoured that he gave her talaaq after taking 2 lakh rupees and her car. Even after this he was stalking her. She stayed with her elder sister Ahilya Bai. Then one day, she was kidnapped by Himalaywala, from the recording room. She was kept locked in a room and beaten daily. She somehow managed to inform this to her sister.
Ahilyabai then got in touch with her acquaintance Mr Rasiklal Vyas and his brother Chhailabhai Vyas – one of the best criminal lawyers of Bombay. With their political and social connections, they forced the police to register an FIR, which was refused due to Himalaywala’s bribe. Meanwhile Himalaywala was alerted by his cronies. Within few hours Amirbai was escorted back to her sister’s place, by Himalaywala. All this episode is described in full details in the book ‘Aap Ki Parchhaiyaan’, by Rajnikumar Pandya ji. Amirbai later married Gujarati Journalist Badri Kaanchwala.
After partition, Himalaywala migrated to Pakistan. There the lady luck smiled on him and he did very well. Urdu film Shahida (1949) was his first film in Pakistan, which celebrated silver jubilees in Delhi and Lucknow.
Hamaliawala was in leading role in Pakistan’s first silver jubilee Urdu film Do Aansoo in 1950. He was main villain actor in the most of 1950s movies. He played the Akbar The Great role in musical film Anar Kali in 1958. His other famous moves were Kundan (1950) Chan Way(1951), Ghulam (1953), Gumnam, Ruhi (1954), Shoni(1955),Qatil (1955), Sarfarosh (1956), Saat Lakh (1957), Gumrah, Naghma-e-Dil (1959), Farishta (1961), Watan(1960) and Azra (1962).
He was seen in 33 movies, only two of them were in Punjabi language. His last film was Yahudi Ki Larki in 1963.
Mohd Afzuluddin Himalaywala married Begum Perveen, in Pakistan. He died on 1st January 1984 in Lahore. (Thanks to Film directory-46, http://www.pak.mag.com, Shishir krishna Sharma ji, book Aap ki parchhaiyan by Rajnikumar Pandya ji and my notes, for information used herein.)
Now let us see the video of today’s song. The singer on screen is probably Pande ji himself. This is my guess. I find this song scene funny. Prithwiraj is seen, obviously in sick condition. The singer is singing before him and telling him that ” tu do din ka mehmaan” ! What must be the sick man’s condition, hearing this ! But, after all, there must be some background also for this situation in the film, I am sure. With this song, Pande ji makes his Debut on this Blog, as a singer.
Song- Bhai bhaj le shri Bhagwan (Aankh Ki Sharm)(1943) Singer- Vasant Desai, Lyricist- Pt. Indra, MD- Vasant Desai
Lyrics
Bhai bhaj le shri Bhagwan
Bhai bhaj le shri Bhagwan
tu do din ka mehmaan
tu do din ka mehmaan
Bhai bhaj le shri Bhagwan
Bhai bhaj le shri Bhagwan
kal aayaa thha
kal jaayegaa
kal aayaa thha
kal jaayegaa
aaj ko soch vichaar
aaj ko soch vichaar
chhod ke bande
tu tu main main
chhod ke bande
tu tu main main
apna kaaj sudhaar
dhar murlidhar ka dhyaan
Bhai bhaj le shri Bhagwan
kya lena hai
kya dena hai
kya lena hai
kya dena hai
kyon jhoothha janjaal
kyon jhoothha janjaal
bair birodh bisaar ke bande
bair birodh bisaar ke bande
bhaj Giridhar Gopal
bhaj Giridhar Gopal
bhaj Giridhar Gopal
nar kar jag ka kalyaan
Bhai bhaj le shri Bhagwan
Bhai bhaj le shri Bhagwan
Mujhe mil jaayegi unki dagariya
Posted on: October 22, 2019
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws
| Blog Day : | 4113 | Post No. : | 15264 |
Today’s song is from an old film Ek hi Rasta-39. The film was made by Sagar movietone. It was directed by Mehboob Khan and the music was by Anil Biswas. These two legends actually established themselves in the cinema industry through Sagar Movietyone, which rightly included their names in their list of ” Jewels of Sagar “.
Anil Biswas (7-7-1914 to 31-5-2003), however, had already done 9 films as a Music Director (Dharam ki Devi-35, Bharat ki Beti-35, Bal hatya-35, Shokh Dilruba-36, Sher ka panja-36, Sangdil Samaj-36, Prem Bandhan-36, Pratima -36 and Pyar ki Jogan-36) before coming to Saqgar Movietone. Of course, none of these films were famous or hits. He got success with his film Manmohan–36 from Sagar, first time. The film was also a Milestone for Sagar. Director Mehboob Khan (9-9-1907 to 28-5-1964) also had already directed one film – Al Hilal-35 very successfully and Manmohan- 36 was his second film as a director in Sagar, equally successful again.
The two became thick friends. Anil Biswas used to call him ‘ Mawali ‘ and Mehboob khan called him ‘ Bangali ‘. Cameraman Faredoon Irani also joined them and three friends enjoyed work and life together in Sagar and in National Studios, till, due to differences of work philosophies, these friends parted ways and Anil Biswas separated from the two others, never to work together ever again in life. They had worked together in 6 films (5 Sagar and 1 National Studios). Mehboob Khan directed 8 films for Sagar and 2 for National Studios. Anil Biswas was MD for 11 Sagar films and 2 films of National.
Film Ek hi Rasta-39 or The Only Way, was the first Multi-Hero film in India. It had 3 Heros and 2 Heroines. Heros were Shaikh Mukhtar, Harish and Arun Ahuja and Heroines were Anuradha and Jyoti. The real name of Anuradha was Khurshid Akhtar (same as Shyama). She was the youngest sister of actresses Miss Zohra and Mushtari. After Miss Zohra separated from her husband Rafiq Ghaznavi, Anuradha had married him. Jyhoti’s real name was Sitara Bai. She was singer actress Wahidan Bai’s younger sister. Nimmi was Wahidan’s daughter- who married singer G M Durrani.
Film Ek hi Rasta was based on two Hollywood films, namely ‘ The road back’-37 and ‘ Seventh Heaven’-37. The second world war had just begun. Mehboob tried to depict the ill effects of war in an artistic way in this film. The main Hero of the film was Arun Ahuja.
Arun Ahuja’s real name was Gulshan Singh Ahuja, a Sikh, born on 26-1-1918 at Gujaranwala (now in Pakistan). After the school education, he joined Mughalpura Engineering college and secured an Engineer’s degree in 1937. During his college life he had won the Best Football player of the year award. Mehboob Khan was on a Talent Hunt in Lahore. From among the 100 and odd candidates, his choice fell on the well built, athletic, dashing and handsome Gulshan. He was selected and brought to Bombay to act in film Ek hi rasta-39, with a screen name of Arun Ahuja. He was variously billed as Aroon, Arun, Aroon Kumar, Arun Ahuja etc.
His first film was an outstandingly successful hit film. Arun got roles in Bhole Bhale-39 and Civil Marriage-40. Later Mehboob khan took him for film Aurat 40, which he directed for National Studios. The versatile actor acted in over 25 films in 6 years, some of his films were Kanchan, Holiday in Bombay, Beti, Nurse, Savera, Return of Toofan Mail, Shankar Parvati, Andhera, Bharthari, Caravan, Amrapali etc. From 1945 onwards he became a Free lancer.
During the film Savera-42, he fell in love with his co-star – Nirmala. They got married on 5-5-1945. After marriage Nirmala (7-6-1928 to 15-6- 1996) completed 4 pending films and stopped working. Her last film Sudhar was released in 1949. In this film also she paired with Arun. Thus her last film also had her life partner. She acted in only 12 films, but she sang 63 songs in 23 films.
Arun Ahuja was in demand. He continued working in films. He set up his own production company – Arun Productions and he produced 2 films. One film Sehra was released in 1948, but the other film ” Jo hai saajan” remained unreleased for some reasons. Film Sehra was also a huge flop. Arun suffered heavy losses. He tried to work in films to compensate it, but now due to competition from new stars, new films were slow to come, so he did not get many films. His last film was Aulad-54. He had to sell all his property, bungalow, cars and jewellery. He shifted from his bungalow in Bandra to a chawl in far off suburb Virar, with his family, in 1962. Here his last son Govinda was born in 1963.
His health deteriorated. Nirmala decided to revive her singing, to help the financial difficulties of the family. . Composer A R Qureshi arranged her stage programme in Calcutta. It went off with tremendous success and offers started pouring in. She became famous as a Thumri singer. She did many jalsas in India and abroad. Their financial position improved. Their son Govinda also became a big star. He bought a house in Juhu and the family shifted to Juhu for the sake of convenience. However, Arun Ahuja continued to stay in Virar. He did not shift to Juhu.
Arun Ahuja died on 4-7-1998, two years after his dear wife’s death on 15-6-1996.
Film Ek hi rasta-39 was a hit film. Though it was a debut film of Arun, the benefit of the film being a hit went to the other Hero- Shaikh Mukhtar. The tall, strong and not so good looking actor had a meaty role in the film.All the sympathy of the audience went to him when he kills the person who accuses him falsely.
The second world war had just begun in 1939. The film, however, tried to stress that no problem is solved with a war. War is not a solution.Of course, wars do not care what films say. The II WW went on till August 1945, when the Germans were defeated and Hitler committed suicide, along with his lover, after marrying her in the last hour of their life. The Japanese had already surrendered. The film’s story has already been provided in one of the song-posts of this film, so I will not repeat it . The duet song was sung by Wahidan Bai and Anil Biswas.
Not much information is available on Waheedan Bai. Her younger sister Sitara Bai aka Jyoti and her own daughter Nawab Banoo aka Nimmi were actresses. Waheedan Bai was from a Tawayef family. Her daughter Nimmi, had always denied this-understandably too, but Waheedan Bai’s name gave away the true story.
Waheedan Bai belonged to a small town Fatehabad, near Agra. Her father’s name was Basheer khan. She was second amongst 4 sisters. The youngest was Sitara Bai aka Jyoti. Waheedan was a trained and good singer, but Tawayafs did not get social status, so she got married early to one Abdul Hakeem from Nasirabad, settled in Meerut. He had met Waheedan in a shrine in Agra, where she recited verses from Koran.
Soon after their marriage, His father, a contractor with Military, died and Hakim inherited the business. He was a novice and was cheated by his manager and they lost everything. The family moved to Calcutta to start a Leather business. Here also he failed. In Calcutta, their neighbour was director A.R.Kardar. Through his wife, Bahar, Kardar was contacted and he gave a small role to him in a film. Here again he got terrified and ran away, at the time of shooting.
Waheedan came forward and after hearing her singing, she was given a song in the film and it was recorded. Meanwhile Chandulal Shah offered her roles in his films. They shifted to Bombay and she joined Ranjit Movietone. Her first film was Toofani Toli-37. Prithvi Putra-38 was the second film. Her songs in her films were liked and became famous.She worked in other films like Prof. Waman, M.Sc.-38, Rikshawala-38, The Secretary-38 and Thokar-39.
She got acquainted with Mehboob Khan and he offered her lead role opposite Surendra in film Alibaba-40, a Sagar Movietone film initially, but later on sold to Ranjit of Chandulal Shah, in a game of gambling. Film Alibaba-40 was made in Hindi and Punjabi. The film songs became very popular. When Sagar merged into National Studios, she worked in film Sanskar-40.
Waheedan contracted T.B. and left films. She acted in only 8 films and sang 26 songs in 11 films-including her 8 films. She died in 1942.( based on information from the book- Sagar movietone by Biren kothari ji and my notes)
Here is the song. This will be only the 3rd song from this film to feature here. There were 12 songs in the film and the singers were Jyoti, Waheedan bai, Anil Biswas, Harish and Arun Ahuja.
Song-Mujhe mil jaayegi unki dagariya (Ek Hi Raasta)(1939) Singers-Anil Biswas, Wahidan Bai, Lyrics-Pt Indra Chandra, MD-Anil Biswas
Both
Lyrics
mujhe mil jaayegi ee
unki dagariya
mil jaayegi ee
unki dagariya
haan mil jaayegi
chaahe ghir-ghir aaye badariya
chaahe ghir-ghir aaye badariya
mil jaayegi ee
unki dagariya
mil jaayegi ee
unki dagariya
haan mil jaayegi
chaahe panchhi na bole
chaahe panchhi na bole
chaahe chandrmaa aankh na khole
chaahe panchhi na bole
unhe dhoondh nikaalegi hamri najariya
dhoondh nikaalegi hamri najariya
mil jaayegi ee
unki dagariya
mil jaayegi ee
unki dagariya
mil jaayegi
dwaar naya chhat nayi naya ghar
ghar ka sab saamaan naya
dwaar naya chhat nayi naya ghar
ghar ka sab saamaan naya
phir bhi sakhi kahin tikti nahin hai
phir bhi sakhi
phir bhi sakhi kahin tikti nahin hai
vyaakul
vyaakul hamri najariya aa aa
vyaakul
vyaakul hamri najariya
mujhe mil jaayegi unki dagariya
haan mil jaayegi ee unki dagariya
haan mil jaayegi
Hawa chale saany saany
Posted on: October 19, 2019
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
| Blog Day : | 4110 | Post No. : | 15261 |
Today’s song is a Parody song from film Phoolwari-46. It is sung by Mohantara Talpade. Jayashree T and Meena T were her brother’s daughters, I believe. Mohantara was a major female playback singer in the 40s. Starting with film Mamaji-42,she sang 117 songs in 54 films, till Inaam-55. Though she got married in 1950 to Dr. Ajinkya, she continued with using her maiden name to avoid confusion. Mohantara was a popular Bhavgeet and film singer in Marathi also.
In Hindi films we find a variety of songs. Love songs, Happy songs, Sad songs, Comedy songs, Birthday songs, patriotic songs, Chorus songs, prayers, Lories, Bhajans and many more types.
However there is one type of songs which is a sure hit with all viewers and that is a PARODY SONG(in Hindi it is called VIDAMBAN song – विडंबन ). Normally a Parody song is equated with a medley of old popular song tunes, set to new Lyrics, enacted by someone else.
While this is right to a great extent, the actual definition of a Parody song is ” A song which involves changing or copying well known musical ideas or lyrics or copying a particular style of a composer or an actor or even a general twisted style of Music ”.
Our friend AK ji of Songs of Yore says, “As is commonly known, parody is an exaggerated imitation of a person, song, literature or performance to produce a comic effect. It seems parody has existed from the earliest days of dramatic performance. Wikipedia states that according to Aristotle, Hegemon of Thasos was the inventor of a kind of parody; by slightly altering the wording in well-known poems he transformed the sublime into the ridiculous. In ancient Greek literature, a parodia was a narrative poem imitating the style and prosody of epics “but treating light, satirical or mock-heroic subjects”. The ancient Indian treatise on dramaturgy, Natyashstra by Bharat Muni, is of similar antiquity. Though it mentions Prahasan as one of the ten types of play, from its definition it seems to be a low form of performance – something like burlesque – and not quite parody as we know today.
Where do parody songs in Hindi films fit in the above general description? Parody songs do not have any pretensions of being art. They are not intended to mock the original either. Very simply, these songs are a recognition of the original’s popularity. They include a large number of such songs. Broadly classified Parody songs are in two types: one, parody based on a single song, and the other, a medley of songs. There could be some more subtle variations within these broad categories.” (adapted, with thanks, from his article on Songs of Yore dt.2-3-2018)
The very FIRST Parody song in Hindi films came as early as 1936. It came from a film called ” Sunehara Sansaar”-1936. It was a Parody of a famous patriotic song by Dr. Iqbal-” Saare jahan se achha Hindosta hamara…” The parody song was ‘ Saare jahan se achha saabun bana hamara,hum kishtiyan hai iski…’
The lyricist was Vijay Kumar, B.A. and the Music Director was K C Dey.
When the song was released, instead of becoming popular, it drew people’s ire for distorting a patriotic song. There was criticism and several protests.
Another Music Director Master Mohd. (who was well known for composing many patriotic songs in those days, in his films) decided to make a Parody of K C Dey’s famous song, ‘Jao jao aye mere sadhu…’ from Pooran Bhagat-1933.
He included this parody song in same year in his film ‘ Miss frontier Mail ‘-1936. The lyrics for this song were- gaao gaao aye mere aye mere sadhu…’.
It was sung by Minu,the Mystique in the film.
This Minu was actually Minoo Cooper, a regular singer in Bombay city Parsi circles. He used to sing in many Hotels in those days. He has also sung a few more songs in Hindi films later.
This retaliatory Parody song was well received by the audience and it became popular too.
This song has been posted on this Blog, by our dear SUDHIR ji, on 29th June 2012.,along with a very interesting write up, for which he is known.
So, parody songs entered Hindi films with an interesting History behind them !
I can recall that during our younger days, it was our hobby to twist the popular songs with comic lyrics. Even today I still remember a few of them…
1) Jiya beqarar hai
Nargis ko bukhar hai,
Aja be Dilip kumar
tera intejar hai.
2) Dhoti chhod ke mat jaana
Dhoti saath mein le jaana
kasam tujhe mere Pehelwanki….
3) Bhaiya mere, saambaar mein Idli na dubaana
4) Ek saal pehle,tum to Bekaar the
Gadhe pe sawar the,
aaj bhi ho,aur kal bhi rahoge…
5) De gayi bill, budhiya dukaan ki… etc etc
I am sure many of the readers also must have done this,in their times. These song Parodies added spice to our lives. So when some film had a Parody song, we used to see that film without fail !
Making a Parody song is one of the easiest matters for the Music Directors and many Music Directors have resorted to Parody songs at least once, except probably serious composers.
The cast of the film Phoolwari was Motilal, Khursheed, Dikshit, Tiwari, Himmat Sharma (brother of Kidar Sharma), Leela Shinde, Baby Anwari etc etc. The film was made in Ranjit studios. Ranjit was almost like a factory, churning out films after films continuously. The studio had 6 shooting floors. When a Ranjit film was not shooting, the floor would be given on hire to other producers. When film Phulwari was being made, there were other five films shooting in Ranjit , on other floors. They were Prabhu ka Ghar, Chaand Chakori, Dharati, Rajputani and Seeta Haran. In this list, Khurshid had 2 films, Trilok kapoor was in 2 films and Mumtaz Shanti also had 2 films being shot there at the same time. In other films actors like Jairaj and Surendra were acting. By the way this was Khurshid’s last film at Ranjit Studios.
The film was directed by Chaturbhuj Doshi. Chaturbhuj Doshi (1894–1969) was a Hindi and Gujarati writer-director of Indian cinema. He was one of the top Gujarati screenplay writers, who helped script stories for the Punatar productions. He is stated to be one of the leading figures who launched the Gujarati film industry with work on notable films like Gunsundari (1948) and Nanand Bhojai (1948). He was well known for his family socials and had become a celebrity in his own right. He made a name for himself as a journalist initially and was referred to as the “famous journalist” & publicist by Baburao Patel, editor of Filmindia.
His debut film as a director was Gorakh Aya (1938), produced by Ranjit Movietone, though he joined Ranjit in 1929, as a scriptwriter. In 1938, he directed another film for Ranjit, a social comedy, The Secretary, and both films were box-office successes for Doshi. His forte was socials, regularly adapting stories and novels for films. He worked initially on comedies like Secretary and Musafir (1940), but then “shifted to more significant films”.
Chaturbhuj Anandji Doshi was born in 1894 in Kathiawad, Gujarat, British India. He was educated at the University of Bombay, after graduation he started work as a journalist for a daily, Hindustan (1926), working for editor Indulal Yagnik. His entry into films was working as a scenarist in the silent era for directors like Jayant Desai, Nandlal Jaswantlal & Nanubhai Vakil. He joined Ranjit Movietone in 1929, and wrote stories and screenplay for several of Ranjit films.
Film Gorakh Aya (Gorakh has come) in 1938, was the first film directed by Doshi. It was produced by Ranjit Movietone with screenplay by Gunvantrai Acharya & dialog-ues by P. L. Santoshi. The music, termed “good” was composed by Gyan Dutt. The Secretary (1938), was a “riotous comedy”, starring Madhuri, Trilok Kapoor. Charlie. The music was composed by Gyan Dutt, became a regular in most of the films directed by Doshi. Musafir in 1940 was a comedy costume drama, which had Charlie playing a prince.
Bhakta Surdas, a devotional film directed by Doshi in 1942, is stated to be the “most famous” of the several versions made. It starred K. L. Saigal and Khursheed “the singing idol(s) of millions”, winning “unprecedented popularity” everywhere.
Maheman (1942) starred Madhuri, Ishwarlal, Shamim and Mubarak. Music director Bulo C. Rani had come to Bombay in 1942, and joined Ranjit Studios assisting Khemchand Prakash in music direction.
Doshi helped enormously in the development of the Gujarati cinema. During 1948-49 he directed three successful Gujarati films which “brought immense success to the industry”. The success of the Gujarati film Kariyavar in 1948, directed by Chaturbhuj Doshi from a story by Shaida, called Vanzari Vaav, helped establish the Gujarati film industry along with other films like Vadilo Ne Vanke (1948) by Ram chandra Thakur and Gadono Bel (1950) by Ratibhai Punatar. His next Gujarati film was Jesal Toral (1948) based on folk-lore, which proved a big box-office success. In 1949, Doshi directed another Gujarati film, Vevishal, an adaptation of Meghani’s novel of the same name.
He also wrote stories, and one of his stories Pati Bhakti was used in the Tamil film En Kanawar (1948) produced by Ajit Pictures, which starred the Veena maestro, Sundaram Balachander, who was also the debut director and music composer for the film. In all he directed 24 Hindi films. His last Hindi film was Sanskar-1958. He had also written few songs in film Maya Bazar-32.
Chaturbhuj Doshi died on 21 January 1969 in Bombay, Maharashtra, India. Filmography-1932: Narasinh Mehta (Writer), 1934: Sitamgarh (Writer), 1938: Gorakh Aya, Secretary, 1939: Adhuri Kahani, 1940: Musafir, 1941:Pardesi, Sasural, 1942: Bhakta Surdas, Dhiraj, Mehmaan, 1943: Chhoti Maa, Shankar Parvati (Director, Writer), 1944: Bhartrahari, 1945:Murti, 1946: Phulwari, 1947: Bela, Kaun Hamara, 1948: Jesal Toral, Kariyavar (Director, Writer), Sati Sone, 1949: Bhakta Puran, Vevishal, 1950: Akhand Saubhagya, Kisi Ki Yaad, Ramtaram, 1954: Aurat Teri Yahi Kahani, 1956: Aabroo, Dashera, Dassehra, 1957: Khuda Ka Banda, Shesh Naag, 1958: Sanskar, 1960: Mehndi Rang Lagyo (Writer, Lyricist) (Thanks to Gujarati articles provided by Harish Raghuwanshi ji and Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema).
In the cast, you will find a name Dikshit or Dixit. In the olden films Dixit and Ghory was a comedy pair, which became very famous. Some times they even acted singly in different films. Phoolwari-46 was one such film for Dixit.
Manohar Janardhan Dixit was born on 12-11-1906 at Sinner in Nashik district,Maharashtra (Bombay state at that time.) His comedy career started with silent film ‘Sparkling youth’-1930. His first day of work in a film was 14-11-1929. He did 3 more silent films with Navjivan Films and then joined Ranjit studio. Here he met his mate Nazir Ahmed Ghori,born on 11-8-1901 at Bombay.He was the senior of the two,having started in 1927. He worked till 1931 in silent films of various companies and then joined Ranjit studio in 1931 Here too he did 4 silent films.
He paired with Dixit first time in Char Chakram-1932,directed by Jayant Desai.The film was a terrific hit and the pair did many films together like, Bhutio mahal, Do Badmash, Bhola shikar, Bhool bhulaiya, Vishwamohini, Nadira etc. They worked together till 1947,doing solo films also in between. Unfortunately none of their films have survived and we know about their acting only through Photographs,interviews and articles. However Dixit’s solo films like Pehle Aap-44, Jeevan yatra-46, Aap ki sewa mein-47 and Pugree-47 are still available. In film Pugree,his name was Ramu kaka and the very fat Dixit (222 pounds) carried the world’s smallest dog-Chikoo in the film. Later comedian Omprakash did this role in the remake of the film in Dil Daulat Duniya-1972.
Dixit acted in 66 Talkie films and 8 silent films in 17 years. He died on 29-6-1949 due to a massive heart attack. His partner Ghori migrated to Pakistan and did 8 films there till 1960,without much success. He too died on 9-12-1977 at Karachi. (Thanks to book Ina Mina Dika by Sanjit Narwekar.)
Music was by Hansraj Behl, for this Ranjit movie. I have heard many many parody songs, have seen also many, but this must be the only time when the singer of the original song is also in the same film in which that singer’s song is ‘parody- ed’. Today’s song is a parody of the famous song of Khurshid from film Tansen-43 ” Ghataa ghanghor ghor, Mor machaave shor “. I wish I was able to this film.
Song-Hawaa chale saany saany (Phoolwaari)(1946) Singer- Mohantara Talpade, Lyrics- Pt Indra Chandra, MD- Hansraj Behl
Lyrics
hawa chale saany saany
hawa chale saany saany
kauwa kare kaany kaany
more sajan jaago o
jaago
more sajan jaago o
murga jaaga
murgi jaagi
jaage khel kabootar
murga jaaga
murgi jaagi
jaage khel kabootar
bhadak bhadak kar jaagi bhainsan
jaage saanp chhachhundar
bhadak bhadak kar jaagi bhainsan
jaage saanp chhachhundar
chhodo piya chaarpaayi
chhodo piya chaarpaayi
garma garam chaai laayi
more sajan jaago o
jaago
more sajan jaago o
dhanna dhobi ganga teli
natkhat nanda naai
dhanna dhobi, ganga teli
natkhat nanda naai
chhagan sambholi laaya goli
koot raha halwaai
chhagan sambholi laaya goli
koot raha halwaai
chaukwa khaska de bhaiya
chaukwa khaska de bhaiya
wahaan dekho jaaya(?) sainya
more sajan jaago o
jaago
more sajan jaago o
daal chadhi choolhe per meri
garam masaala laao
daal chadhi choolhe per meri
garam masaala laao
main talti hoon bhajiya bhaaji
tum bacche nahlaao
main talti hoon bhajiya bhaaji
tum bacche nahlaao
raho piya ?? joda
raho piya ?? joda
rahe jaise ?? ghoda
more sajan jaago o
jaago
more sajan jaago o
Hey ae mulak Kathiawad
Posted on: October 8, 2019
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in 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.
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Blog Day : |
4099 | Post No. : | 15246 |
Today’s song is from a historical film ” Woh Zamana “-47.
In India, importance is rarely given to history and to historical personalities born and bred in the local soil. The so called ‘ Historical Films’ made here are mostly on Mughal Kings or other invaders like Sikander or Changez Khan etc, who can not be called the sons of soil. Many of them came from out of India, stayed here till they benefited and left when they finished looting India. True sons of India or locals like Marathas, Rajputs, Gujars or Sikhs have been rare cases of subject matters for Hindi films.
Films on Vikramaditya, Chandragupta, Shivaji, Rana Pratap and brave kings from other states like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Bengal, Orissa, the UP and the southern states like Andhra, Karnataka, Tamilnadu or Kerala have been rare and can be counted on fingers. Very sad state of affairs indeed. This was the result of wanton and systematic planning by the Britishers in their, about 200 years of rule, to teach a distorted history to last about 5 to 6 generations. This was to suppress any patriotic feelings to rise against them. Our generations learnt only about the valour and generosity of the British and the Mughal kings, thereby totally blacking out the true history of original sons of soil leaders and kings, which was the true Indian History.
For example, can you name one king from any of these Indian kingdoms ? Mauryas, Saatwahans, Guptas, Pandyas, Cholas, Pallavas, Chalukyas, or Ahoms ? Ask any average educated Indian to name the kings of Mughal period (only 250 years) 99 out of 100 will name them in the sequence – Babar, Humayun, Akbar, Jehangir, Shahjehan and Aurangzeb. That is how ill-informed almost everyone is about Indian kings and dynasties. The so called Historical films have not helped either.
I have not seen film “Woh Zamana”, but I know that this film was based on the stories of bravery of a king of Kathiawad and how he saved his kingdom from the invaders from the Middle East. Kathiawad was the main part of Saurashtra, which comprised the districts of Junagadh, Amreli, Bhavnagar, Botad, Jamnagar, Rajkot, Morbi, Surendra nagar, Somnath and Dwaraka. After India’s Independence, the Nawab of Junagadh wanted to merge with Pakistan, but his subjects revolted and Sardar Patel merged Junagadh into India. The Nawab migrated to Pakistan with his entourage.
Film “Woh Zamana” was made by Ranjit Movietone. The owner of Ranjit – Sardar Chandulal Shah was from Kathiawad and so had a special interest in this film. Chandulal was keen that the then well known actor singer of Kathiawad, Rati kumar Vyas should act and sing in this film. Rati kumar declined acting in Hindi, but sang 1 duet (with Mohantara) and 1 solo song in this film. This was his only Hindi film. His duet song is already discussed on the Blog.
The lyricist was Pt. Indra and MD was Bulo C Rani, who had joined Ranjit after his Guru Khemchand left it. The cast of the film was Khurshid junior, Altaf, lalita Pawar, S N Tripathi, Pt. Iqbal, Padma Banerjee, Joshi, Kabuli etc.etc.
Khurshid Jr. – the film’s Heroine – was the eldest daughter of Master Ali Baksh, Music Director and Iqbal Begum, film artiste and one time a famous and popular stage artist of Madon, Alfred and other Drama companies in the Eastern India. The family actually belonged to Sargodha in Punjab, but Khurshid was born in Bombay on 10-4-1930. Being born in a filmi family, the atmosphere was very conducive for Khurshid to join films.
After getting school education upto 12 years of age, she entered films. Her first film was Zameen-43 as a side Heroine. Then came Minerva’s Dr. Kumar-44 and Naghma E Sehra-45 – in which she was the Heroine of Master Vithal. Due to her good acting skill, there was no shortage of film offers. She had to add Jr. to her name , as there was a more famous actress singer Khurshid Bano, already in film line, in the same period.
Khurshid’s younger sisters Baby Meena (later Meena kumari) and Baby Madhuri Later actress Madhu- Mehmood’s wife) were also working in films. Khurshid Jr. married her handsome co-star Altaf. who did few films as a Hero but then shifted to side roles soon. After Partition, the couple considered shifting to Pakistan, but decided to stay here as her both sisters were here and doing better.
As long as Meena kumari was alive, they were comfortable, but after her demise, they became helpless and went down financially. They had to live in smaller tenement and roles also dwindled. Khurshid Jr. acted in 65 films. Her last film was Oh Bewafa-80. Altaf acted in just 21 films from Sipahi-41 to Pakiza-71. Even Khurshid had also acted in it.
One more name seems odd in the cast – Kabuli. Abdul Rehman Kabuli was from Afganistan. An expert stage artiste, he had his own Drama Company-Elphinston Theatre Company in Bombay. He sold the company, went to Calcutta and joined Madon Theatres/studios as an actor and director. He first acted in Shirin Farhad-31, Indrasabha-32,Guluru Zarina-32, Zahri saanp-33 etc etc, in all 39 films, both at Calcutta and Bombay, in the early era. Further he directed 12 films, starting with Shravan Kumar-32 up to Veer Bala-38. He wrote 55 songs in 6 films and sang 15 songs in 7 films. After Partition, he returned to his native country.
Today’s song is sung by Kathiawad’s well known actor singer Rati Kumar Vyas. He used to live in Ahmedabad, but was born in Gondal (Rajkot district) on 10-8-1921. Gondal was his maternal grandfather’s town. Due to his inclination towards singing, he was admitted in Vanita Ashram National School, by his father. He was also trained by Pt. Narayan rao Vyas and learnt Classical singing.
He worked as a Music Teacher in Bombay. He recorded his first song at A.I.R. Bombay on 7-2-1941 and got a fabulous amount of Rs. 5 as fees ! His record was brought out by Young India Record company. he acted and sang in several stage dramas. He got into Gujarati films too. His songs in film Allabeli (Good-Bye) were quite famous.
His role and songs in film Jogidas Khuman-48 and 62, both versions became popular and famous. He acted in films directed by Manhar Raskapoor. He was honoured by Delhi Gujarati Samaj and the Kaag Dhaam award also. Rati kumar Vyas died on 12-5-1991. ( Thanks for information, to shri Rajni kumar Pandya ji and Harish Raghuwanshi ji).
Today’s song is a typical Kathiawadi Folk Tune.
Song –Hey ae mulak Kathiyawad (Woh Zamaana)(1947) Singer – Rati Kumar Vyas, Lyricist – Pt. Indra, MD – Bulo C Rani
Lyrics
hey ae ae ae
ae ae ae ae
ae ae ae ae
ae ae ae
hey ae ae ae
ae ae ae ae
ae ae ae
ae ae ae de
ae de de
ae de de
ae mulak kathiawad
ae mulak kathiawad
dharti par doojo nahin
ae ae ae ae
jaise atal pahaaad
ae toote par na jhuke kabhi ee
ae jaise atal pahaad
ae toote par na jhuke kabhi ee
ae jagat raha gun gaaye
ae jagat raha gun gaaye
baghero ka raat din
hey ae ae ae
sheesh jaaye to jaaye
ae moonch rahe oonchi sada
dushman khele daanv
ae dushman khele daanv
peethh na dekhe mard ki
ae dushman khele daanv
peethh na dekhe mard ki
ae ae ae ae ??
haathhi ghaav
ae hans hans jhele soorma
ae jag mein miley na jod
ae jag mein miley na jod
maan ek kul teri kahi ee
hey ae ae ae ae
ae byaah adhoora chhod
ae mard jaaye rann mein lade
mulak kathiawaad
mulak kathiawaad
dharti par doojo nahin ee
hey ae ae jaise atal pahaad
ae toote par na jhuke kabhi
This article is written by Mahesh Mamadapur, 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 : |
4021 | Post No. : | 15133 | Movie Count : |
4155 |
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Mukesh and his Composers – 19
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chaahe kahin bhi tum raho,
chaahenge tumko umr bhar
tumko na bhool paayenge
Remembering Mukesh on his 96th birth anniversary (22 July 1923 to 27 August 1976).
A life and career spent on entertaining music lovers all over the world, the very mention of his name brings to the mind several of his priceless renditions. A voice which remains active on air-waves to this day and beyond. More than being on the air-waves and various technological formats, it is the legacy and remembrance of the familiar voice that continues to dwell in the hearts of music lovers. A voice so familiar that it directly conveys to our hearts the feelings expressed in his songs.
For this post, I have taken the liberty of using material and information provided by many fellow blog contributors as well as Shri Harish ji.
It all started when Sadandand ji posted a comment on this post of Sudhir ji in his rather elaborate and highly researched series on missing films and songs of the 60’s which was given to him as a homework. Sadanand ji in the comments section of the aforesaid post has provided quality information and the video link of the song. The fact that Mukesh had sung a solo for MGR made me sit up and take notice. I had heard the song but was not aware that it was featured on MGR.
I was under the impression that it could be the only song sung by Mukesh for MGR. So I asked our Sudhir ji if he could send me the list of Hindi films in which MGR had acted. His prompt and detailed reply was as follows,
| Year | Movie |
|---|---|
| 1951 | Ek Tha Raja |
| 1956 | Gul e Bakaavali |
| 1961 | Baghdad |
| 1962 | Hamen Bhi Jeene Do |
| 1962 | Meri Bahen |
| 1963 | Raj Mahal |
| 1965 | Nartaki Chitra |
| 1970 | Koi Ghulam Nahin |
| 1974 | Aakhiri Nishaan |
| 1975 | Rangeen Duniya |
| 1976 | Love in Kashmir |
| 1970s | Ganga Ki God Mein (Unreleased) |
A dozen films which included an unreleased film. Going through the list, one finds that the very first Hindi film in which MGR acted has a duet of Mukesh with Shamshad Begum. I am not sure if Mukesh sang for MGR in the duet, but it appears that the song under discussion is his only solo for MGR.
However, this post is on the collaboration of Mukesh with composer Dhaniram about whom very less material is available on the net. Shri Arunkumar ji helped me in sending the web-link of one of his interviews and it can be found here.
I have come across Dhaniram’s name many years back as two of his songs sung by Talat Mahmood are my personal favourites. They are Yeh Kya Hai Dhang Zamane Ka and aao baadal chain se royen.
The one from Dak Babu(1954) is simply out of the world. I request readers to listen to this composition and rendition by Talat Mahmood and especially the lines.
aye dil aisi mehfil se to
behtar tanhaai hai
One can only ask, where are those days and where are those people who created such majesties.
Coming back to Mukesh-Dhaniram, the present song appears to be their only collaboration and hence there will be no table. (But, then there is always a possibility of tracing obscure songs…)
The present film Meri Behan (1962) starring MGR was the dubbed version of the Tamil film ‘Aransilankumari’ (1961) as confirmed by Sadanand ji.
Now some interesting trivia.
Mere Behan (1962) was based on Tamil film Aransilankumari (1961).
Aransilankumari (1961) was based on 1952 Hollywood film Scaramouche.
Scaramouche (1952) in turn is based on the novel with the same title by Rafael Sabatini.
The novel by Rafael Sabatini is based on story set during the French revolution.
So, the conclusion can be deduced that our own Mere Behan (1962) was based on French Revolution. ?
Since I could trace very little to write on Dhaniram and considering the fact that Mukesh has a solitary song for the composer, I have probably failed to do justice to the post and the composer.
I am however glad to present this solo number sung by Mukesh for the great MGR. I thank Sadanand ji, Arunkumar ji, Harish ji, Sudhir ji and Atul ji for having given me this opportunity to present the song.
The post is a tribute to Mukesh on his birth anniversary for his voice has become an inseparable part of our lives which he himself had said in one of his songs…
chaahe raho jaa kar kahin
paaoge tum mujhko wahin
ki band gar aankhen zaraa
main khwaab ban kar aaunga
Song-Nanhe munne nanhe munne laal desh ke (Meri Bahan)(1962) Singer-Mukesh, Lyrics-Pt Indra Chandra, MD-Dhaniram
Lyrics
nanhe munne
nanne munne
laal desh ke
nanhe munne
nanne munne
laal desh ke
le tujh se boloon
baat cheet ki
ise maan le re
ismein maan le
nanhe munne
nanne munne
laal desh ke
bade hoke manzil par tum
jald pahunchna
munne naam kamaana
bade hoke manzil par tum
jald pahunchna
munne naam kamaana
phool ho tum duniya ki
bagiya ke liye re ae
bagiya ke liye
phool ho tum duniya ki
bagiya ke liye re ae
bagiya ke liye
nanhe munne
nanne munne
laal desh ke
neem ped ooncha dikha
bhooton se log daraate ae ae ae
ae ae ae
neem ped ooncha dikha
bhooton se log daraate
mat darna polam pol
jhoothhi gappon se
nis din
rakhna khud pe bharosa
mere naujawaan
bade log baithh kahin
fizool ki baat karen
bade log baithh kahin
fizool ki baat karen
phailaayenge ye jhoothh
kabhi na maan’na re
beza aisi baat na inki
baabu maan’na na
baabu maan’na
nanne munne
nanne munne
laal desh ke
le tujh se boloon
baat seekh ki
ise maan le re
ismein maan le
nanhe munne
nanne munne
laal desh ke
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 : |
3835 | Post No. : | 14843 | Movie Count : |
4059 |
Today’s song is from the film Return of Toofan Mail-42. It was a C grade Stunt film, made jointly ( for reasons not known,yet) by Wadia Movietone and Ranjit Studios. The film was directed by Aspy Irani ( Husband of actress Husn Bano) and the music was by Gyan Dutt for the lyrics of Pt. Indra.
Did you ever see films like, Khooni Khanzar, Dagabaj Doctor, Shaitaan ka paash, Char chakram, Daku Rani Talwarwali, Jaadu ka dandaa, Zinda Laash, Revolver Rani, Sindbad-Alladin-Alibaba, Flying man, Fighter Sheela, Khooni Darinda, Tarzan aur Jadugar, Tarzan aur Jadui Chiraag, Golden Gang, Murde ki jaan khatare mein, or Jadui putli ?
Obviously, these are the titles of all Stunt/Action films in Grade C. Considering the captive audience of such films, more spicy, odd and sensational titles were coined for these films to arouse curiosity. In the era of silent films, C grade stunt films were extremely popular. In fact a major part of the silent films was such films. May be that is the reason, why going to see a cinema was not considered good for impressionable girls and children of middle class and upper class, in those days.
Besides specific audience of workers,daily wagers and such other lower social strata, the stunt films had their own fixed Producers, Directors and even the actors. Most times, a set of action film actors was regular and specific to the production houses. For example, Fearless Nadia, John Cavas, Sayani Atish, Boman Shroff, the Billimorea brothers, Basheer etc were the fixtures in stunt films of Wadia Movietone. Master Bhagwan, Chandrarao, Harischandra rao, Azeembhai, Vasantrao and Baburao pehelwan, Leela Gupte, Prakash, Habeeb etc were with stunt films made by Bhagwan and Harischandra rao.
Besides the human actors, some trained animals as well as a car and a Motor cycle were also fixtures in stunt films. What’s more, these non-living and non -human participants too were named. So, you had Punjab ka Beta (Horse), Gunboat (Dog), and Austin ki Beti (car) in films made by Wadia Movietone. For Basant Pictures, it was Rajpoot (Horse), Moti (Dog) and Austin ki Bachhi (Car).
In addition to all this, actors with odd and weird names were to be always found in stunt film casts. Have you ever heard actors with names like Bajar Battu, Phool kumari, Maruti pehelwan, Bataata, Mitthoo Miyaan, Fatty Prasad, Boken Chattu, Minu the Mystic, Manchi Tuthi, Gareeb Raja, Kurbaan Jaoon, Pandit Dukhi, Vilayatu, Loveji Lavangiya, Adam Sandow, Sandow Safar, Dunlop, Chic Chak and a very strange name CHEMIST ! This name is found in 5-6 films.
However, since the film Return of Toofan Mail was also made by Ranjit, there were some well known and regular actors in the cast like, Arun (Ahuja0, Shamim, Firoz Dastoor, Hari Shivdasani, Dikshit-Ghori, Azeem, Jal Khambata, Rajni, Azuri etc etc.
Film’s Heroine Shamim was variously billed as Shamim, Miss Shamim, Shamim Bano and Shamim Akhtar, in different films. She was born on 11th September 1926 in Lahore. Her father was a General Merchant. She used to sing and act in school dramas. She completed her matriculation from Islamia Girls school, Lahore. In 1939, she visited Bombay along with her father. They accidentally met director G.R.Sethi, who encouraged Shamim to join films. She too was keen on joining films.
She debuted in film Imaandar-1939. Then came Baghi-39, Niraali Duniya-40, Kanyadan-40,Jadui Nagari-40, Pyas-41, Dhandhora-41, Return of Toofan Mail-42, Mehmaan-42, Fariyaad-42, Armaan-42, Gauri-43, Bansari-43, Pehle Aap-44, Jwar Bhata-44, Sanyasi-45, Laaj-46, Samrat Ashok-47 and Sindoor-47. She also sang about 30 songs in 11 films.
After partition, she migrated to Pakistan with the family. There, she acted in 8 films- 6 Urdu and 2 Punjabi. her first film Shahida-49 was a hit film and ncelebrated Silver jubilee. Even, Do Ansoo-50 and Ghulam-53 were hit films. Shamim married Producer/Director Anwar Kemal Pasha. Shamim died on 23-10-1982 in Lahore. Shamim was niece of actress singer Khursheed Begum. Shamim’s younger sister Naseem was also an actress in India, but she died quite young, on 17-11-1946 at Bombay, in India only.
Actor Hari Shivdasani- father of actress Babita- was born on 4-12-1910 at Hyderabad-Sindh. He went to England and Germany for education and got UFA degree from Germany in acting and direction. he was very handsome and polished. He started as a Director in film Yasmin-35, but then opted for acting only. His first film as actor was Prem Pariksha-34 which was released before Yasmin -35 as a director. in all he acted in 110 films. In his first film he even sang one song.
While in England, he married a British girl- Maria. he had 2 daughters. One of them was actress Babita who married Randhir Kapoor and they had two daughters- Karishma and Kareena. Hari Shivdasani died in 1994.
Film Return of Toofan mail-42 was directed by Aspi Irani,who was basically famous for stunt and C grade films. Aspi Irani was an important director from the early films.His full name was ASPANDIAR HORMUSJI IRANI.He was born in the Parsi colony, Panch Gardens in Dadar,Bombay on 8-10-1911. He started work in the film industry after he completed his secondary schooling and as all parsis are,due to his hard work,he soon attained a top rank in the Industry.He started directing films from 1936,the early Talkie stage,when the influence of Parsi Theatre,fantasies and dramas on folklore was the staple of stunt films.All such films had a basic structure and with a little changes here and there new films hit the screens.
There was a fixed audience for such films, but as the time went by,slowly the taste of the audience changed.However Aspi Irani continued with his style till the end.He did direct few social films also but the handling of social films had a clear stamp of Aspi’s direction.
He must have directed about 50-55 films till the early 80s. Some of his films were,Naya paisa,qaidi no.911,Barood, Shabnam, Baadal etc. He was married to actress Husn Bano ( daughter of actress Shareefa).
On a fine morning on 23rd November 1986, Aspi left his home in the morning for work and never ever returned. No one knows what happened to him. Since then there was no trace of this man and officially he was declared ‘missing since 23-11-1986′. What an end to a legend !
The story of film Return of Toofan mail was…
Diwan Randhir, as a Night Rider ” Toofan mail ” has saved the kingdom from a Tyrrant, some years back. Now he is looking after the kingdom’s heir- Kirti kumar- since last 15 years. Kirti is sent to England for further studies. Meanwhile the army’s Captain kishori takes over and starts his terror reign. The prince is about to come back and Kishori is waiting to kill him.
Randhir sends his daughter Hansa to warn the Prince but she is captured by army. Kirti has, however, arrived before time and is safe. he wants to see the kingdom’s condition incognito, so he dons the attire like Toofan Mail. On his way, he meets Hansa who is escaping from the soldiers. promptly, they fall in love and sing few songs.
From Hansa he knows all happenings. He does not reveal his identity and as prince tries to flirt with her, which she deplores. Kishori wants to kill Diwan and captures him, but a masked person attacks and takes away Diwan to safety. Kishori hold Hansa captive and demands she marry him or else he will kill the Prince. By now, Hansa knows that the Prince is Toofan mail. To save his life, she agrees to marry Kishori.On the day of marriage Toofan mail rides there and runs away with the bride. Kishori fights with him and gets killed. All is well in the end . Prince, Hansa, Diwan, the Janata of kingdom and the audience in the cinema hall, are all happy.
Today’s song is a raunchy song, sung in a theatre. The lyrics are quite lewd and suggestive. They are written by Pt. Indra. The song is sung by Brijmala, Mehendi Raja and Rewa shankar (who himself was a Music Director and singer in early era of Talkie). With this song film Return of Toofan mail-42 and singers Mehendi Raja and Rewa Shankar make their debut on the Blog.
Song- Abhi Chhoti hoon baalam jawaan hone de (Return of Toofaan Mail)(1942) Singers- Brijmala, Mehendi Raja,Rewa Shankar, Lyricist- Pt. Indra, MD- Gyan Dutt
Lyrics
ui maa
ui maa
ui maa
ui maa
ui maa
Abhi Chhoti hoon baalam
Abhi Chhoti hoon baalam
jawaan hone de
Abhi Chhoti hoon baalam
Abhi Chhoti hoon baalam
jawaan hone de
zara sejon ka saajan saamaan hone de
zara sejon ka saajan saamaan hone de
Abhi Chhoti hoon baalam
jawaan hone de
main na jaanoon jawaani ki baaten abhi
main na jaanoon jawaani ki baaten abhi
meri kat’ti akeli ki raaten abhi
meri kat’ti akeli ki raaten abhi
Abhi chunri ka palla sambhaal sakoon na
Abhi chunri ka palla sambhaal sakoon naa
abhi aankhon mein aankhen main daal sakoon na
abhi aankhon mein aankhen main daal sakoon na
zara teeron ki tirchhi kamaan hone de
zara teeron ki tirchhi kamaan hone de
Abhi Chhoti hoon baalam
jawaan hone de
Abhi Chhoti hoon baalam
jawaan hone de
mera bachpan machalta hai jaane ko ab
mera bachpan machalta hai jaane ko ab
mera joban uchhalta hai aane ko ab
mera joban uchhalta hai aane ko ab
meri aankhon mein chhaayi hai naadaaniyaan
mujhpe hoti hain sabki meharbaaniyaan
meri aankhon mein chhaayi hai naadaaniyaan
mujhpe hoti hain sabki meharbaaniyaan
mere dil men
mere dil mein kisi ko mehmaan hone de
mere dil mein kisi ko mehmaan hone de
abhi chhoti hoon
haay abhi chhoti hoon
abhi chhoti hoon
Abhi Chhoti hoon baalam
jawaan hone de
Abhi Chhoti hoon baalam
jawaan hone de
Zara dheere ho zara dheere
Posted on: November 26, 2018
This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog.This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
| Blog Day : | 3783 | Post No. : | 14765 |
With the advent of talkies in 1931, many new actors joined the Hindi film industry in the 1930s in addition to those who had switched over from silent films. While some actors became successful and remained active in the film industry for a long time, an overwhelming majority of actors could not be sustained for longer period in the film industry. Within this category, there were some actors who became successful in their initial stages of the filmy career, but lost the momentum of success in their later stage. While they remained active in the film industry for reasonable period, they went into oblivion and thus forgotten after the end of their filmy career.
Rama Shukul was one of such actors who despite talent and age on his side could remain active only for a decade or so. Thereafter he made some sporadic appearances films in minor roles for about another decade. Today, he has been forgotten to such an extent that no basic information about him is available on the internet other than his incomplete filmography. Luckily, I could lay my hand on an article written by Hyacinth (pseudo name of Susheela Rani) on Rama Shukul in Filmindia magazine (September 1942) based on her inter-actions with him sometime in 1942. I could also update his filmography and other information from various issues of Filmindia magazines of 1938 to 1949 and thereafter from the website, myswar.co. I also watched his four films – ‘Bhabhi’ (1938), ‘Navjeevan’ (1939), ‘Durga’ (1939) and ‘Aazaad’ (1940) which are available online to get a feel of his acting. I found Rama Shukul to be a natural actor. He looked like a seasoned actor even in his first film ‘Bhabhi’ (1938).
Rama Shukul was born in Jabalpur to Badri Prasad Shukul and Sushila Shukul in a wealthy family. His father was the District Superintendent of Police in Central Province (presently the parts of Madhya Pradesh, Chhatishgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra). Rama Shukul was the only son and therefore was pampered a lot by his father. Whenever his father was transferred, he would take with him Rama Shukul. As a result, his education was affected. He completed his Matriculation and was enrolled in Robertson College, Jabalpur for graduate study. The pampering of his father was such an extent that he gifted a car for his son to travel to the college. The whole idea of his father was to keep Rama Shukul interested in studies. However, he was more interested in sports and acting than the studies.
Rama Shukul was the college champion for three years in a row in tennis and was in the college teams for cricket, hockey and volleyball. In 1935, he participated in the Inter-Collegiate Drama Competition at Banaras Hindu University where he received the trophy for the best actor in the role of Hamlet in the drama. His father wanted to send him to England for ICS or for becoming a barrister. But Rama Shukul could barely complete his Senior Cambridge. Looking at his son’s interest in sports, his father arranged for a job for him as an Assistand Director of Physical Culture in the State at Nagpur. But the young Rama Shukul refused to accept the job saying that he was going to become a film actor. His father lost all hopes of shaping his bright career.
In 1938, Rama Shukul came to Bombay (Mumbai) to pursue an acting career in the films. But to get into the film studios, one must have reference but Rama Shukul did not have any in Mumbai. He had one friend in Mumbai, Fazal Chinoy. His father, Sir Rahimtula Chinoy was the promoter of the Indian Radio Company and the Director of the Imperial Bank of India (now State Bank of India). He was also a former member of the Indian Legislature Assembly. With his influence, Rama Shukul could get an appointment with Sir Richard Temple, the Managing Director of Bombay Talkies.
Sir Richard was impressed with his educational background. He introduced Rama Shukul to Himanshu Rai who agreed to take him as an actor. He signed a contract with Bombay Talkies in September 1938 and made it to ‘Bhabhi’ (1938) as his first film in a villainous role. The film was a box office success. In the film’s review published in ‘Filmindia’, Baburao Patel praised his acting by saying that ‘Rama Shukul is a good addition to the Indian screen. In the role of Anupam – the main obstacle in the whole scheme, he turns out to be a successful nuisance’.
Rama Shukul worked for Bombay Talkies for about 2 years during which time he acted in lead roles with Hansa Wadkar in ‘Navjeevan’ (1939) and with Devika Rani and Hansa Wadkar in ‘Durga’ (1939). In ‘Aazaad’ (1940), though Ashok Kumar and Leela Chitnis had lead roles, it was Rama Shukul pairing with Hansa Wadkar who had major presence in the film.
When he was to work opposite Devika Rani in his 5th film in Bombay Talkies, Himanshu Rai died. His death was a great shock to Rama Shukul due to his personal attachment. He was regarded as a blue-eyed boy of Himanshu Rai. Many in the Bombay Talkies had developed dislike for him as they felt that he was pampered by the boss of the Bombay Talkies. In this milieu, Rama Shukul could not continue in the Bombay Talkies for long.
His next destination was Ranjit Movietone where he acted in the second lead role in ‘Iqraar’(1942). This was followed by ‘Mehmaan’ (1942), ‘Fariyaad’ (1942) and ‘Dukh Sukh’ (1942). However, none of these films made much impact on the box office front. From 1943, he became a free-lance artist and acted in the second lead in Ramnik Productions’ ‘Dulhan’ (1943), ‘Kiran’ (1944), and ‘Gaon Ki Gori’ (1945).
By this time, his status as an actor seems to have come down from second lead actor to one among the supporting actors. In this category, he worked in Filmistan’s ‘Eight Days’ (1946) and ‘Shikari’ (1946). This was followed by ‘Mulaaqat’ (1947), ‘Shikaayat’ (1948) and ‘Meherbaani’ (1950).
After 1950, the filmy assignments of Rama Shukul seem to have dwindled significantly. His name started appearing in ‘other actors’ like in ‘Shamsheer’ (1953), ‘Sardaar’ (1955) and ‘Sitaaron Se Aage’ (1958). ‘Madhu’ (1959) was Rama Shukul’s last film as an actor when he may be around 45 years of age. I could not get any information as to how he spent rest of his life after 1959.
Despite being recognised as one of the fine actors of the 1940s, Rama Shukul had an active filmy career of about 10 years (1938-48). During his entire career, he acted in 20 films.
I am presenting ‘zara dheere ho zara dheere’ from ‘Mehmaan’ (1942) sung by Shamim Bano and Rama Shukul. The song is written by Pandit Indra and is set to music by Khemchand Prakash. This duet is actor-singer songs and is the 5th song to appear in the Blog.
Although HFGK credits the male voice in the song to Rama Shukul, in my view, it may not be his voice when I compare his voice in the songs in ‘Navjeevan’ (1939) and ‘Durga’ (1939). My hunch is that the male voice in this song may be of Bulo C Rani based on his rendition of ‘rootthna pyaar mein karwat ka badal jaana hai’ from the same film. I request the opinions from the experts on my presumption.
For the time being, however, I have retained the name of Rama Shukul as the male singer in the video caption of the song.
I find this song a sweet expression of love.
Song-Zara dheere ho zara dheere(Mehmaan)(1942) Singers-Shamim Bano, Rama Sukul, Lyrics-Pt Indra Chandra, MD-Khemchand Prakash
Both
Lyrics
zara dheere ho zara dheere
zara dheere ho zara dheere
zara dheere ho zara dheere
zara dheere ho zara dheere
saajanwa
saajaniya
saajanwa
saajaniya
zara dheere dheere
zara dheere dheere
jhoola na ho
mora naazuk jiya behlaana
o mora naazuk jiya behalaana
zara dheere ho zara dheere
zara dheere ho zara dheere
chunariya hamaari hawa ho gayi
nazariya tumhaari dawa ho gayi
chunariya hamaari hawa ho gayi
nazariya tumhaari dawa ho gayi
ye champa chameli rahi kyun akeli
bataao zara morey shyaam
ye champa chameli rahi kyun akeli
bataao zara morey shyaam
saajanwa
saajaniya
saajanwa
saajaniya
zara dheere dheere
zara dheere dheere
jhoola na ho
mora nazuk jiya behlaana
o mora najuk jiya behalaana
zara dheere ho zara dheere
zara dheere ho zara dheere
zara dheere ho zara dheere
zara dheere ho zara dheere
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