Posts Tagged ‘S K Pal’
Sundar sapna ban ke aali
Posted on: November 26, 2021
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.
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Blog Day : |
4879 | Post No. : | 16675 |
Songs from Artiste Name Films….Second Season….No. 2
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Sulochana (Ruby Meyers), Zubeida, Prithviraj Kapoor, Devika Rani, K L Saigal…. These are some names which can be called as the artistes who shaped the early Talkie cinema and gave it an identity. Great filmmakers like Baburao Painter, Ardeshir Irani, B N Sircar; directors like V Shantaram, Master Vinayak, Debki Bose and Music Directors like R C Boral, Pankaj Mullik, Shankarrao Vyas, Govindrao Tembe etc were people who contributed to early cinema, developed the next generation and experimented in the film making.
While enough information about them and their contribution is available, it is not in circulation, because people who would have been interested to know about them are diminishing. Except for hard core lovers of old films and students of early cinema, hardly anyone shows interest in discussing these artistes’ lives and careers.
Through this series,I will attempt to portray their contributions to Indian cinema and give a nostalgic feeling to old film lovers.
Prithviraj Kapoor is called the head of the First family of Hindi cinema, because his family, through several generations, has been in this field for almost a Century – considering that Prithviraj began his acting career in the 20’s decade of the last century. He made his film debut in 1928 with the silent film ” Be Dhaari Talwar” (Double edged sword), made by the Imperial Film Company, Bombay.
Prithviraj Kapoor was very handsome with a good physique and personality. He was a thorough gentleman and a good friend. His interest in stage was more than in films. Today’s song is from the film ” Prithviraj Sanyogita “-1946, made by Shalimar Pictures, owned by W.Z.Ahmed, husband of the Heroine of the film-Neena. The film was directed by Najmul Hasan Naqvi. The music was by S.K.Pal, the in-house Music Director of Shalimar. The cast was Prithviraj Kapoor, Neena, Tiwari, Bharat Vyas, Ram Avtar, Uma Dutt etc etc. The film was released on 17-5-1946 at Lamington Cinema in Bombay.
The story of the love affair of Prithviraj Chauhan and Sanyogita is a glorious chapter in Indian History. The story of their love as depicted in the film was…
Prithviraj Chauhan ( 1149-1192) was the king of the Chauhan dynasty whose rule extended to parts of present day Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi and some parts of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. He is also hailed as the last Rajput king to rule Delhi before the Muslim conquest of the Indian subcontinent. Prithviraj was a valiant king and his glory surged to new heights after he defeated Muhammad Ghori, the Sultan of Ghurid Empire (present day Afghanistan) in the first battle of Tarain. Legend has it that Ghori attacked Delhi 17 times, and was defeated 16 times at the hands of Prithviraj Chauhan and his army.
Soon enough, the heroic tales of Prithviraj’s valour reached the ears of Sanyogita, the daughter of Kannauj king, Jayachand. But before love could flourish between the two, the relationship between Jayachand and Prithviraj Chauhan was strained. Jayachand wanted to assert his supremacy over the other Rajput kings and hence decided to do a Rajsuya Yagya. Prithviraj, however, refused to accept Jayachand’s supremacy and this marked the beginning of their enmity. But while Jayachand was enraged by Prithiviraj’s refusal to accept him as the supreme king, his daughter Sanyogita was smitten. She had heard about Chauhan’s heroic expeditions and was absolutely in love with him.
According to legend, they fell in love when a painter from Prithviraj’s court, Panna Ray, visited Kannauj and showed his painting of the king to the princess. The same painter, upon returning, painted Sanyogita’s portrait and showed it to Prithviraj. Needless to say, he too was smitten by her beauty.
At this time, Jayachand decided to arrange a swayamvara for his daughter. He sent an invite to all the kings except Prithiviraj. To add to the insult, he got a statue of Prithviraj made and installed it as a doorman. But Sanyogita had already given her heart to him. When she came to know that he wasn’t even invited to the swayamvara, she was devastated and wrote him a letter expressing her desire to marry him. To this, Prithviraj promised her that he would come to the swayamvara.
On the day of the swayamvara, Sanyogita walked past all the kings and princes, rejecting each one of them, and finally reaching the statue. At that moment, Chauhan, who was hiding until then, came out and Sanyogita put the garland around his neck. Prithviraj Chauhan then openly challenged Jayachand to stop him from taking his wife. This made Jayachand shake with rage at the insult in front of a huge gathering of kings and princes.
That day, thousands of soldiers laid their lives to make sure that Prithviraj Chauhan escaped safely from Kannauj, with his newly-wedded wife Sanyogita.
Jayachand was raging with anger and he wanted to take revenge. So, he formed an alliance with Muhammad Ghori, whom Prithviraj had previously defeated 16 times, and extended his support to Ghori’s army to attack Delhi. When Ghori’s army attacked this time, Prithiviraj lost the war and Ghori captured him. Legend has it that Chauhan had begun to ignore state affairs after his marriage to Sanyogita.
Chauhan was defeated, but he refused to bow his head in front of the Sultan. So, Ghori’s soldiers blinded him, using hot iron rods. Seeing his king helpless and in pain, Bardai – the court poet – who had been accompanying Prithviraj in the war, tricked the Sultan into organising an archery performance by Prithviraj Chauhan. Apparently, Prithviraj could hit a target with just his sense of sound.
An archery competition was held and Bardai subtly told his blind king about the exact place where the Sultan was standing. He said:(Translation: Sultan is sitting four measures ahead of you and twenty four yards away when measured with eight fingers. Don’t miss your target, Chauhan).
When Muhammad Ghori ordered the blind king to shoot, Prithviraj took aim based on Bardai’s hints and shot the arrow at him. He didn’t miss his target and Muhammad Ghori was killed. The court-poet then stabbed Prithviraj and himself to avoid further humiliation at the hands of Ghori’s soldiers. (Thanks to whoopscoop).
Now let us know more about Prithviraj Kapoor, because he last acted exactly 50 years ago. Almost 2 Generations have gone after that and so most readers may not be knowing much about his life, work and career in Indian Cinema. Prithviraj Kapoor (born Prithvinath Kapoor; 3 November 1906 – 29 May 1972) was an actor, film producer, writer, and film director, who is also considered to be one of the founding figures of Hindi cinema. He was associated with IPTA as one of its founding members and established the Prithvi Theatres in 1944 as a travelling theatre company based in Bombay.
He was the patriarch of the Kapoor family of Hindi films, four generations of which, beginning with him, have played active roles in the Hindi film industry, with the youngest generation still active in Bollywood. His father, Basheshwar Nath Kapoor, also played a short role in his movie Awara. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan in 1969 and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1971 for his contributions towards Indian cinema.
Kapoor was born on November 3, 1906 in Samundri, Lyallpur District, Punjab into a Punjabi Hindu Khatri family.His father, Basheshwarnath Kapoor, served as a police officer in the Indian Imperial Police in the city of Peshawar, North West Frontier Province while his grandfather, Keshavmal Kapoor, was a Tehsildar in Samundri.Kapoor’s childhood was largely spent in Lyallpur, Punjab, where his grandparents and extended family lived. Later, his father was transferred to Peshawar, North West Frontier Province, and after and later at Edwardes College Peshawar in Peshawar.
Kapoor began his acting career in the theatres of Lyallpur and Peshawar. In 1928, he moved to Bombay, Bombay Presidency with a loan from an aunt. There he joined the Imperial Films Company and started acting in minor roles in movies. In 1928, he made his acting debut as an extra in his first film, Be Dhari Talwar. He went on to earn a lead role in his third film, titled Cinema Girl, which was released in 1929. After featuring in nine silent films, including Be Dhari Talwar, Cinema Girl, Sher-e-Arab and Prince Vijaykumar, Kapoor did a supporting role in India’s first film talkie, Alam Ara (1931).
In 1931 his two sons died accidentally. He left films and joined Grant Anderson Theatre company. In 1932 when they were at Calcutta, on tour, the company closed down and Kapoor decided to try luck in Calcutta. He joined New Theatres and acted in more than 12 films. He became friends with K N Singh and Kidar Sharma as well as K L Saigal. In 1939, he realised that Bengalees were preferred for roles, he left Calcutta and came back to Bombay joining Ranjit. After sometime he became a Freelancer and worked in films of Minerva, Prakash, Wadia and with Shantaram. He did Historical, Mythological, Social and Stunt films equally. After Raj Kapoor became a producer and director he acted in his films. He developed a reputation as a very fine and versatile actor on both stage and screen.
By 1944, Kapoor had the wherewithal and standing to found his own theatre group, Prithvi Theatres, whose première performance was Kalidasa’s Abhijñānaśākuntalam in 1942. His eldest son, Raj Kapoor, by 1946, had struck out on his own; the films he produced had been successful and this was also an enabling factor. Prithviraj invested in Prithvi Theatres, which staged memorable productions across India. The plays were highly influential and inspired young people to participate in the Indian independence movement and the Quit India Movement. In over 16 years of existence, the theatre staged some 2,662 performances. Prithviraj starred as the lead actor in every single show. One of his popular plays was called Pathan (1947), which was performed on stage nearly 600 times in Mumbai. It opened on 13 April 1947, and is a story of a Muslim and his Hindu friend.
As Kapoor progressed into the 50s, he gradually ceased theatre activities and accepted occasional offers from film-makers, including his own sons. He appeared with his son Raj in the 1951 film Awara as a stern judge who had thrown his own wife out of his house. Later, under his son, Shashi Kapoor, and daughter in law Jennifer Kendal, Prithvi Theatre merged with the Indian Shakespeare theatre company, “Shakespeareana”, and the company got a permanent home, with the inauguration of the Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai on 5 November 1978.
In 1996, the Golden Jubilee year of the founding of Prithvi Theatre, India Post, issued a special two Rupee commemorative postage stamp. It featured the logo of the theatre, the dates 1945–1995, and an image of Kapoor. The first day cover, (stamped 15-1-95), showed an illustration of a performance of a travelling theatre in progress, on a stage that seems fit for a travelling theatre, as Prithvi theatre was for sixteen years, till 1960. On the occasion of 100 years of the Indian cinema, another postage stamp, bearing his likeness, was released by India Post on 3 May 2013.
His filmography of this period includes Mughal-e-Azam (1960), where he gave his most memorable performance as the Mughal emperor Akbar, Harishchandra Taramati (1963) in which he played the lead role, an unforgettable performance as Porus in Sikandar-e-Azam (1965), and the stentorian grandfather in Kal Aaj Aur Kal (1971), in which he appeared with his son Raj Kapoor and grandson Randhir Kapoor. He did 95 films in Hindi. He directed one film Paisa-1957. He had also sung a song in the film Dagabaz Ashiq-1932.Kapoor starred in the legendary Punjabi film Nanak Naam Jahaz Hai (1969), a film so revered in Punjab that there were lines many kilometres long to purchase tickets.
He also starred in the Punjabi films Nanak Dukhiya Sab Sansar (1970) and Mele Mittran De (1972).
He also acted in the Kannada movie Sakshatkara (1971), directed by Kannada director Puttanna Kanagal. He acted as Rajkumar’s father in that movie.
In 1954, he was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, and in 1969, the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India. He remained a Nominated Rajya Sabha Member for eight years.
He was posthumously awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 1971. He was the third recipient of that award, the highest accolade in Indian cinema.
1954: Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship by the Sangeet Natak Akademi
1956: Sangeet Natak Akademi Award by the Sangeet Natak Akademi
1969: Padma Bhushan by the Government of India
1972: Dadasaheb Phalke Award (Posthumous) for the year 1971, for his immense contribution to Indian theatre and cinema
Kapoor was aged 17 when he was married to the 15-year-old Ramsarni Mehra, a lady of his own community and similar background, in a match arranged by their parents in the usual Indian way. The marriage was harmonious and conventional and lasted all their lives. In fact, the wedding had been held even earlier, a few years prior to this, and it was the gauna ceremony (farewell) which was celebrated when Ramsarni reached the age of 15 and became old enough to leave her parents and reside with her husband and in-laws. Ramsarni’s brother, Jugal Kishore Mehra, would later enter films.
The couple’s eldest child, Raj Kapoor, was born the following year in Peshawar, North West Frontier Province, on 14th December, 1924; making Prithviraj a father at age 18. The couple went on to have three more children: sons Shamsher Raj (Shammi) and Balbir Raj (Shashi) (who were to become famous actors and filmmakers in their own right), and daughter, Urmila Sial.
After his retirement, Prithviraj settled in a cottage called Prithvi Jhonpra near Juhu Beach, West Bombay. The property was on lease, which was bought by Shashi Kapoor, and later converted into a small, experimental theatre, the Prithvi Theatre. Both Prithviraj and Ramsarni had cancer and died about a fortnight apart. Prithviraj died on 29 May 1972. (Thanks to information from wiki and the book Beete kal ke sitare by shriram Tamrakar).
Here is a good song by Sitara Kanpuri from the film Prithviraj Sanyogita-1946. Enjoy….
Song-Sundar sapna ban ke aali (Prithviraj Sanyukta)(1946) Singer- Sitara Kanpuri, Lyricist- Akhtar-ul-Iman, MD- S K Pal
Lyrics
Sundar sapna ban ke aali
ban ke aali
Sundar sapna ban ke aali
ban ke aali
nainan mein kaun samaaya
kaun samaaya
ye kaun samaaya
kaun samaaya
ye kaun samaaya
Sundar sapna ban ke aali
ban ke aali
nainan mein kaun samaaya
har umang mein
har tarang mein
har umang mein
har tarang mein
phool paat mein
rang rang mein
rom rom mein
ang ang mein
rom rom mein
ang ang mein
ek hi ko paaya
kaun samaaya
Sundar sapna ban ke aali
ban ke aali
nainan mein kaun samaaya
man matwaara aashaaon ki god mein
god mein aen
jhoola jhoolen
jhoola jhoolen
palchhin paayen sang usi ko
uski baat na bhoolen aen
uski baat na bhoolen aen
kuchh soch soch kar phoolen
kuchh soch soch kar phoolen
ye kaisa rang jamaaya aa aa aa
kaun samaaya
Sundar sapna ban ke aali
ban ke aali
nainan mein kaun samaaya
meethhi yaad kisi ki
man mein amrit ghol rahi hai
man mein amrit ghol rahi hai
saanson ke taaron se tan ki
veena bol rahi hai
veena bol rahi hai
sab duniya dol rahi hai ae
sab duniya
sab duniya dol rahi hai
ye kaisa jaadoo chhaaya aa aa
kaun samaaya
Sundar sapna ban ke aali
ban ke aali
nainan mein kaun samaaya
kaun samaaya
ye kaun samaaya
kaun samaaya
ye kaun samaaya
This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, 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
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Blog Day : |
4774 | Post No. : | 16524 |
Today, August 13, 2021 is the 44th Remembrance Day of a playback singer who was associated with the historic moment in the Indian film industry when for the first time, a system of playback singing was introduced in the film ‘Dhoop Chhaaon’ (1935)/’Bhaagya Chakra’ (Bangla). Yes, the playback singer is Parul Ghosh, one of the first three female playback singers – other two being Suporva Sarkar and Harimati Dua.
I am not sure as to how many of the Hindi film music lovers of the present generation have heard of Parul Ghosh as a playback singer. Or how many are aware that she was the sister of Anil Biswas, the ‘Bhishma Pitamaha’ among the Hindi film music directors and the wife of Flute maestro, Pandit Pannalal Ghosh. The main reason for her name being not known to the present generation is that Parul Ghosh had a short stint as a playback singer and that too in the 1940s during which time, she sang very close to 100 songs.
Parul Ghosh (1915 – 13/08/1977) was born in Barisal (now in Bangla Desh). She was the second child among three in the family, the first being Anil Biswas and the last being Sunil Biswas. Her mother, Satyabhama Biswas was a classical singer and a kirtankar. In 1924, Parul Ghosh got married to Pannalal Ghosh, a close friend of Anil Biswas. At the time of the marriage, Parul Ghosh was 9 and Pannalal Ghosh was 13.
Sometime in 1930, Anil Biswas shifted his base to Kolkata. Pannalal Ghosh and Parul Ghosh also fallowed him. While Anil Biswas was employed in Hindustan Recording Company as a singer and composer, both Pannalal Ghosh and Parul Ghosh were employed in New Theatres (NT) as the musician and singer, respectively. It is said that while working with NT, Parul Ghosh sang some Bangla film songs. To devote more time on his first love, flute, Pannalal Ghosh shifted to Mumbai along with his family in 1940. At that time, Bombay Talkies was conducting audition for new playback singers. Parul Ghosh also went for audition and got selected.
In Mumbai, the playback singing career of Parul Ghosh started in the right earnest. At that time, the top-most female playback singers like Amirbai Karnataki, Shamshad Begum, Zohrabai Ambalewaali, Zeenat Begum etc came from the family of professional singers. On the other hand, Parul Ghosh was first a house-wife then a playback singer. It took some time for her to create a space for herself in the midst of the top playback singers of that time.
After singing a couple of songs in ‘Kanchan’ (1941) and ‘Mala’ (1941) which failed at the box office front, Parul Ghosh sang as many as 8 songs in Bombay Talkies’ ‘Basant’ (1942) under the music direction of her brother, Anil Biswas. {For the reason of the contractual obligation, Pannalal Ghosh was credited as the music director for the film). The film was a hit and its songs became very popular.
In ‘Basant’ (1942), Shanti Sudha Ghosh, the elder daughter of Parul Ghosh also sang two solo songs for Baby Mumtaz (Madhubala) thus making her probably the first female child play-back singer of Hindi films. Also, this may probably be for the first time that two mother-daughter version songs were sung in the film. Shanti Sudha Ghosh rendered two songs for Baby Mumtaz which were also rendered by her mother, Parul Ghosh for Mumtaz Shanti in the film. These two songs are hamko hai pyaari hamaari galiyaan and mere chhote se man mein chhoti si duniya re.
Following the success of ‘Basant; (1942), Parul Ghosh sang 5 songs for Devika Rani in ‘Hamaari Baat’ (1943) under the music direction of Anil Biswas and 5 songs for Protima Dasgupta in ‘Namaste’ (1943) under the music direction of Naushad. In musical blockbuster film, ‘Kismet’ (1943) in which songs of Amirbai Karnataki dominated, Parul Ghosh sang only one song, papeeha re mere piyaa se kahiyo jaaye which became very popular.
In ‘Sawaal’ (1944). Parul Ghosh sang 5 songs under the music direction of her husband, Pannalal Ghosh. In this film, I liked the ghazal, aaj pehlu mein dard sa kya hai, rendered by her. In ‘Jwaar Bhaata’ (1944), Parul Ghosh sang as many as 8 songs under the music direction of Anil Biswas. One of her best songs in this film was bhool jaana chaahti hoon. In ‘Milan’ (1946) she rendered a beautifully raaga-based song, suhaani beriyaan beeti jaayen. Parul Ghosh rendered 4 songs for ‘Tohfa’ (1947) under the music direction of M. A. Rauf Osmania. She has beautifully rendered an emotion-filled ghazal, hamne tumne kiyaa thha jo aabaad.
Sometime in 1947, due to domestic compulsion, Parul Ghosh reduced her playback singing assignments and chose the life of a house-wife looking after her two daughters and her husband. She sang for the last time as a playback singer in ‘Andolan’ (1951) under the music direction of her husband, Pandit Pannalal Ghosh. This was also the last film for Pannalal Ghosh as a music director. From 1955-60, the family stayed in Delhi after Pannalal Ghosh took up the job as a Composer and Director of All India Radio, Delhi Vadhya Vrinda (Orchestra).
I have been able to collate songs rendered by Parul Ghosh, from the various sources which works out to 95 songs in 33 films. As expected, she sang the maximum number of her songs (30) in 7 films under the music direction of her brother, Anil Biswas.
Parul Ghosh faced a series of tragedies after she withdrew from playback singing. In 1951, her second daughter, Noopur died of small pox when she was around 2 years. In 1960, her husband, Pandit Pannalal Ghosh suddenly died of heart attack at the age of 48. Shanti Sudha, her elder daughter who got married to Devendra Murdeshwar, one of the senior disciples of Pandit Pannalal Ghosh died of cancer in January 1975. All these tragic events had led to deterioration in the health of Parul Ghosh who became bedridden after her elder daughter’s death. During this period, she was looked after by her two nieces (her younger brother, Sunil Biswas’s daughters) and some of the disciples of Pandit Pannalal Ghosh to whom she was the ‘Guru Maa’. Parul Ghosh died on August 13, 1977 at Malad.
On the occasion of the 44th Remembrance Day of Parul Ghosh, I am presenting one of my favourite songs of her from the film ‘Seedha Rasta’ (1947). The song is ‘tum jhooth na jaano saajan mera pyaar’, written by Amar Verma and set to music by S K Pal. The song is picturised on Kamala Kotnis. The video clip of the song end abruptly while the audio clip which I have uploaded has the full song.
In a Radio interview some years back, Anil Biswas had said that his mother’s voice had the melody of a flute and the texture of a shehnai and Parul Ghosh inherited the same quality of voice from her mother. This song reaffirms what Anil Biswas had said about Parul Ghosh’s voice.
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Note: Some of the personal information about Parul Ghosh have been sourced from
(1) the interviews of V G Karnad and Anand Murdeshwar, disciple and grandson, respectivey of Pandit Pannalal Ghosh which are available on http://www.pannalalghosh.com and (2) an article ‘Sublime Genius – Pannalal Ghosh’ written by the late Mohan Nadkarni which is available on his website, https://mohannadkarni.org
Audio Clip:
Video Clip:
Song-Tum jhooth na jaano saajan mera pyaar (Seedha Raasta)(1947) Singe-Parul Ghosh, Lyrics-Amar Verma, MD-S K Pal
Lyrics (Based on Audio Clip)
tum jhooth na jaano saajan mera pyaar
tumhen kaise samjhaaun
tumhen kaise samjhaaun
tum jhooth na jaano saajan mera pyaar
tumhen kaise samjhaaun
tumhen kaise samjhaaun
beete din ki hai yaad
beete din ki hai yaad
jab kabhi aati
dil jalta hai
jyun jale diye ki baati
aankhon se bahti hai aansoo ki dhaa..aa.aar
jiya kaise bahlaaun
jiya kaise bahlaaun
kal tak jo thhe wo aaj rahe na hamaare
ek jhalak dikha kar toot gaye do taare
maine na jaana ulfat ke din chaa…aar
ro ro ke pachhtaaun
ro ro ke pachhtaaun
tumhre haathhon haay mit gayi anjaani
tumhre haathhon haay mit gayi anjaani
ab roti hai..ae ae
ab roti hai
meri barbaad kahaani
badnaam huye
chhoda hamne gharbaar
gharbaar
kise fariyaad sunaaun
kise fariyaad sunaaun
tum jhoothh na jaano saajan mera pyaar
tumhen kaise samjhaaun
tumhen kaise samjhaaun
This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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Blog Day : |
4377 | Post No. : | 15720 |
“I worshipped Bimal Roy. For me, his worth as a man was more than his films… It is impossible for me to describe what a man he was.”
The above quote was by Ritwik Ghatak, one of Bimal Roy’s desciples who later became an internationally known director of parallel cinema in Bangla films.
In Hindi film industry, there are many film artists, directors and those connected with the film music who are admired for their excellent professional performances. But there would be very few among them who would also be admired as the good human beings. Among few such personalities, the name of Bimal Roy comes to my mind because for the last few months, I have extensively read on the life and works of Bimal Roy. I have found that those who have closely worked with him like Dilip Kumar, Balraj Sahani, Vyjaynatimala, Kamini Kaushal, Nutan, Dharmendra, Shashi Kapoor, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Gulzar and many more have highly talked about Bimal Roy as a fine human being besides an being an outstanding director. What touched me most about Bimal Roy was what Manobina Roy, his wife had said in an interview. Just a few minutes before his death on January 8, 1966, Bimal Roy had called her and said that he was deeply worried about his workers in Mohan Studio as to what will happen to them after his death. Only when she assured him and repeated her assurance that she would take care of them, Bimal Roy closed his eyes never to open them again.
Today, July 12th 2020 is 111th birth anniversary of Bimal Roy (12/07/1909 – 08/01/1966), one of the greatest Hindi film directors who rose from a still photographer to a cinematographer and then as a producer-director of some of the classic and socially relevant films. Although, there were many film directors from Bengal – especially in the Bombay Talkies who had directed Hindi films in Mumbai in the 1940s, it is said that it was Bimal Roy who brought ‘Bengaliness’ in his Hindi films in Mumbai. He was a trend setter in introducing the ‘middle of the road’ films.
Arunkumar Deshmukh ji has already discussed Bimal Roy’s biographical and celluloid journey in his article covering the song, chale re chale raam vanwaas. I would, therefore, skip his profile and his sequential journey in the film industry. I propose to concentrate mainly on three important phases in his filmy career which led to his meteoric rise in the film industry – as a Cinematographer, as a Director for films produced by New Theatres and as a Producer-director of Hindi films in Mumbai. In my view, the three phases were also the important turning points in the career of Bimal Roy.
Bimal Roy joined New Theatres (NT) as an Assistant Cameraman to Nitin Bose in 1932 during which he assisted him for ‘Chandidas’ (1932, Bangla version and also Hindi version in 1934), ‘Meerabai’ (1933) etc. He was promoted as a cinematographer in NT and shot films like ‘Devdas’ (1935), ‘Manzil’ (1936), ‘Mukti’ (1937), ‘Abhagin’ (1938), ‘Abhinetri’ (1940) ‘Meenakshi’ (1942) etc.
The high point in his career as a cinematographer was ‘Mukti’ (1937) – the first film from NT which was extensively shot outdoors, mostly in the forest of Gauripur (Assam). It was a challenge for Bimal Roy as a Cinematographer to shoot outdoors, the scenes with proper lightings. Even his indoor shots were exceptional. His camera works in the opening scene of the film itself is marvelous. The camera focuses on P C Barua who walks through three rooms, one after another before knocking the door of the fourth room. Here, only the camera ‘speaks’ in the scene in complete silence without any background music to create suspense as to what is going to happen next. The light and shadow effects have been effectively used to convey the mood of the situations in the film.
Kanan Devi, in one of her interviews had said that in ‘Mukti’ (1937), Bimalda through his camera work, made her more beautiful than what she looked in reality. P C Barua, the director, was so happy with his camera work in the film that in the publicity poster of ‘Mukti’ (1937), he made the name of Bimal Roy to appear next to his name with names of the actors appearing in the side. Probably, this may be the first occasion in NT that the publicity poster had prominently carried the name of the cinematographer.
Bimal Roy entered his second phase of his career when he turned as a director for the first time for the Bangla film ‘Udayer Pathe’ [(1944), ‘Towards the Twilight’]. A year later, a Hindi version of the film was made as ‘Hamraahi’ (1945), also directed by Bimal Roy. Manobina Roy, the wife of Bimal Roy was surprised as to why he chose the subject of exploitation by upper class of the lower strata of the society when he himself had the background of a landlord’s son. Probably, he may have seen such scenarios in his teenage days in his family and he wished to bring them to the notice of masses.
The challenge for Bimal Roy in this fiim was that NT boss, B N Sarkar has personally told to direct the film with the left-over cut pieces of the raw stock of negative film as those days, raw stock of films was rationed. There was no scope for wastage of the raw stock of films by way of reshoots. On the top of it, he had taken newcomers, Binita Bose (Roy) and Radhamohan Bhattacharya as the lead actors. With these backgrounds, it was imperative that he should also take the responsibility as a cinematographer. When the shooting of the film was completed, B N Sarkar was surprised that the film was completed by Bimal Roy without taking any extra stock of raw films.
The film though made with a small budget was one of the top box office grossers for NT. The film ran for more than one year in Kolkata’s Chitra theatre. With its Hindi version of the film, the name of Bimal Roy became well-known all-over India. In the Bengali speaking regions, ‘Udayer Pathe’ (1944) became one of the highly discussed films. The film became a trend setter for some subsequent Hindi films having ‘rich girl poor boy’ love story with the background of a class conflict. Chetan Anand’s ‘Neecha Nagar’ (1946) followed, more or less, the similar pattern in the story.
The extra-ordinary success of ‘Udayer Pathe’ (1944) did not help much in Bimal Roy’s career as a director as fortune of NT had taken a down turn due to the adverse impact on the film industry of the World War II and thereafter partition of Bengal by creating the then East Pakistan. Bimal Roy did direct two films for NT – ‘Anjangarh’ (1948) and ‘Pehla Aadmi’ (1950). The highlight of ‘Pehla Aadmi’ (1950) was that it was made on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. It was a challenge for Bimal Roy to shoot the battle scenes of the film in the studio itself which should look real in the film. I have watched the clip of the battle scene and it looks real. Though these two films were critically acclaimed, they did not fare well at the box office.
The downfall of NT in post-partition period and the emergence of Bombay (Mumbai) as the main film production centre prompted many artists and technicians in Kolkata to migrate to Mumbai. On the other hand, the Bombay Talkies was also going through the bad times. An opportunity came to Bimal Roy when he was invited by Ashok Kumar to direct ‘Maa’ (1952) for Bombay Talkies which he had to reluctantly accept due to the adverse conditions of the film industry in Kolkata. Bimal Roy came to Mumbai with his team consisting of Hrishikesh Mukherjee (Editor), Asit Sen (Assistant Director), Nabendu Ghosh (Dialogue writer) and Paul Mahendra (Hindi dialogue writer and actor). Later, some more artists and technicians from Kolkata like Kamal Bose (Cinematographer), Arvind Sen, Asit Sen, Debu Sen, Basu Bhattacharya and Salil Chaudhury joined Bimal Roy.
In terms of box office, ‘Maa’ (1952) did not add to the coffers of Bombay Talkies. Bimal Roy was all set to return to Kolkata along with his team when Ashok Kumar gave him another film, ‘Parineeta’ (1953) which was produced under the banner of Ashok Kumar Productions. Simultaneously, something was cooking within Bimal Roy’s team. Hrishikesh Mukherjee had revealed in an article that after watching an English film in Eros Theatre at Churchgate, Bimal Roy and his team were returning home on a BEST double decker bus and were discussing as to why they cannot make film like the one they watched. Bimal Roy asked as to who will write the story for the film to which everyone in his team offered to share the responsibilities. That was how Bimal Roy Productions was born on a double decker bus of BEST. And this was the third turning point in Bimal Roy’s career.
Bimal Roy embarked upon his maiden film ‘Do Bigha Zameen’ (1953) as a producer-director. Bimal Roy had read the story ‘Rickshwala’ written by Salil Chaudhury, based on the Rabindranath Tagore’s poem, ‘Doi Bigha Zomi’. This was perhaps the first film in Bollywood depicting what is called ‘neo-realism’, a term normally used for post-war effects on the poor class of the population who tended to migrate to urban area for sustenance. Many in his team had reservations about the selection of Balraj Sahani in the role of Shambhu, the farmer because of his urban look. But Bimal Roy struck to his choice. He had seen him acting live on the sets of ‘Dharti Ke Laal’ (1946) when he had visited Mumbai at the time of the release of his film ‘Hamraahi’ (1945) and thereafter in ‘Hum Log’ (1951).
‘Do Bigha Zameen’ (1953) put Bimal Roy on an international pedestal. The film won for him the Prix International Prize at 7th Cannes Film Festival (1954). The film also won him National Award for the Best Film and also the inaugural Filmfare Award, 1954 for the ‘Best Film’ and ‘The Best Director’. With the success of this film, the seeds of the ‘middle of the road’ cinema was sown in Bollywood.
One of Bimal Roy’s film which did not fit into his psyche of film making was ‘Madhumati’ (1958). The reincarnation story of the film was written by Ritwik Ghatak who was an assistant to Bimal Roy during his Kolkata days. He was without work in Kolkata and had come to Mumbai for work. Bimal Roy assigned him to write a story and screen play for his forthcoming film and also direct the film. This was how the film ‘Madhumati’ (1958) was born. But, at the last minute, he had to go back to Kolkata as he could arrange finance for his Bangla film, ‘Ajantrik’ (1958). ‘Madhumati’ (1958) was thought of mainly for the financial survival of Bimal Roy Productions. Hence, the commercial elements in the film was evident with Dilip Kumar and Vyjayantimala in lead roles, Pran as villain and Johny Walker as comedian and 11 songs. With Bimal Roy handling the direction, the mix of classic touch and commercial elements led the film to attain the status of the most commercially successful film for Bimal Roy Productions and the highest grosser among Hindi films released in 1958. The film won 9 Filmfare Awards.
Bimal Roy has shown through his films like ‘Udayer Pathe’ (1944), ‘Do Bigha Zameen’ (1953), ‘Sujata’ (1959) and ‘Bandini’ (1963) that the victims of oppressions have superior morality than the oppressors. Bimal Roy had not been known to have leanings towards any political ideology. It is, therefore, a surprise to observe that in most of his films, the exploitation of downtrodden by the superior class of the society is evident though he belonged to a wealthy family of the landlords in a village near Dhaka in East Bengal (now Bangla Desh). The reasons for his ‘dislike’ for landlords or upper class probably stem from having been a victim himself when after the death of his father in 1930, his family was denied share in the estate and was expelled. He along with his mother and brothers had migrated to Kolkata where they may have initially faced the same problem as Balraj Sahani in ‘Do Bigha Zameen’ when he migrated to Kolkata.
Rinki Roy Bhattacharya believes that some characters in his films may have been modelled on the traits of a few of his family members. For instances, the arrogant and authoritarian fathers in ‘Udayer Pathe’ (1944), ‘Parineeta’ (1953) and ‘Devdas’ (1955) may have been based on Bimal Roy’s authoritarian father. The character of a whip cracking school master in ‘Devdas’ may be a whip cracking Head Master of Bimal Roy’s school in Dhaka. Pran’s character in ‘Madhumati’ (1958) may have been inspired from his uncle Jogeshchandra Roy who loved wines, women and dances.
During his filmy career, Bimal Roy directed 15 Hindi films which included his classics and popular films like ‘Parineeta’ (1953), ‘Do Bigha Zameen’ (1953), ‘Biraj Bahu’ (1954), ‘Devdas’ (1955) ‘Madhumati’ (1958), ‘Yahudi’ (1958) ‘Sujata’ (1959), ‘Parakh’ (1960), ‘Prem Patra’ (1962) and ‘Bandini’ (1963) which was his last film as a director.
Bimal Roy also produced 7 Hindi films which he did not direct but gave the opportunity to direct most of them to his assistants. These films were ‘Amaanat’ (1955) directed by Aravind Sen, ‘Parivar’ (1956) and ‘Apraadhi Kaun’ (1957) both directed by Asit Sen (comedian), ‘Usne Kaha Thha’ (1960) directed by Moni Bhattacharya and ‘Kabuliwaala’ (1961) directed by Hemen Gupta who was unemployed at that time. ‘Benazir’ (1964) and ‘Do Dooni Chaar’ (1968) were directed by S Khalil and Debu Sen respectively due to Bimal Roy’s illness.
Those who had worked closely with Bimal Roy had said that he was a man of few words. It was very difficult to initiate a conversation with him. Dilip Kumar had said in an interview that he found the most peaceful atmosphere among the studios when he worked with Bimal Roy because no one was allowed to talk loudly. Nabendu Ghosh, his screen-play and dialogue writer, has said that Bimal Roy spoke little but smoked cigarettes a lot. Probably, his cigarette smoking may have resulted in lung cancer at a later stage which took his life on January 8, 1966.
At the time of his death, Bimal Roy had started work on ‘Do Dooni Chaar’ (1968) and ‘Sahaara’. While the first film was completed by one of his assistants, Debu Sen and got released in 1968, ‘Sahaara’ which was based on Bengali novel ‘Chaitali’ by Ashapoorna Devi got sheleved. In fact, Bimal Roy had done some shooting of the film with Dharmendra and Sharmila Tagore when he got ill on the set after which he never recovered. When Dharmendra became a top star from early 1970s, he convinced Bimal Roy’s wife, Manobina Roy to revive the film for which he arranged the finances and pursuaded Saira Bano to act in the film. Hrishikesh Mukherjee directed the film under its new title ‘Chaitali’ (1975).
One of Bimal Roy’s dream project which was very close to his heart was a bilingual film ‘Amrit Kumbh Ki Khoj Mein’ (Hindi and Bangla). He had started the work as early as 1960 when he had shot about one hour of footage of Ardha Kumbha Mela held at Allahabad in 1960. Gulzar was entrusted with writing the script for the film. It was his intention to complete the shooting of the film during the next Poorna Kumbh Mela. During the last stages of Bimal Roy’s illness when he was bed-ridden, Gulzar used to visit him every day and read out what he had written for the script of his favorite film. With the death of Bimal Roy, the film remained a dream. However, scenes shot for the film were converted into a 12 minutes of documentary film ‘Images of Kumbh Mela (1960) by his son, Joy Bimal Roy.
On the occasion of Bimal Roy’s 111th birth anniversary, I have selected a song, ‘main na boloon na boloon na boloongi’ from ‘Maa’ (1952), his first film in Mumbai as a director. The song is sung by Geeta Dutt which is picturised on Shyama. The song is written by Bharat Vyas which is set to music by S K Pal.
With this song, all the songs of ‘Maa’ (1952) have been covered in the Blog.
Acknowledgements: In writing this article, I have been greatly benefitted by the following sources:
1. ‘Bimal Roy – The Man Who Spoke in Picture’ (2009), a book containing a collection of articles, edited by Rinki Roy Bhattacharya, the daughter of Bimal Roy.
2. ‘The Cinema of Bimal Roy – An ‘Outsider’ Within’ (2017) by Shoma A, Chatterji. (Book).
3. ‘Ravi Paar Aur Anya Kahaaniyaan’ (1999) by Gulzar – Chapter on ‘Bimal da’.
4. Remembering Bimal Roy (2007) – A documentary film by Joy Bimal Roy.
Editor’s note: This song is the 5000th song from the decade of 1950s(1951 to 1960) to appear in the blog.
Video Clip:
Audio Clip:
Song-Main na boloon na boloon na boloongi (Maa)(1952) Singer-Geeta Dutt, Bharat Bhushan, Lyrics-Bharat Vyas, MD-S K Pal
Lyrics
main na boloongi
o main na boloon na boloon na boloongi
aaj mere chhote se dil mein
chhupa hai kya raaz main na kholoongi
aaj main na boloon na boloongi aaj
kya raaz hai
hai to bataao
saawan ki ithlaate baadal se poochh lo ji
baadal se poochh lo
kajraare nainon ke kaajal se poochh lo ji
kaajal se poochh lo
bhole baalam
mohe laage sharam
haaye laage sharam
bhole baalam
mohe laage sharam
haaye laage sharam
ye bharam apne man ka na kholoongi
aaj main na boloongi
aaj main na boloon na boloongi aaj
main na boloongi
ho main na boloon na boloon na boloongi
aaj mere chhote se dil mein
chhupa hai kya raaz main na kholoongi
aaj main na boloon na boloongi aaj
achcha
hum bhi nahin sunte
o o o o o
suna maine jo
wo kaise sunaaun
wo baaten tumhe main kaise bataaun
kaho ji kaise bataaun
kuchh khud samjho
kuchh khud samjho
kuchh meri palkan se samajh lo ji
palkan se samajh lo
kuchh dil mein chhupi dil ki dhadkan se samajh lo ji
dhadkan se samajh lo
bhole baalam mohe laage sharam
haaye laage sharam
bhole baalam mohe laage sharam
haaye laage sharam
ye bharam apne man ka na kholoongi
aaj main na boloongi
aaj main na boloon na boloongi aaj
Wo aankhen kya aankhen
Posted on: April 11, 2020
This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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Blog Day: |
4285 | Post No. : | 15532 |
“Maa”(1952) was produced by Ashok Kumar and Sawak Vacha and directed by Bimal Roy for Bombay Talkies. This movie had Leela Chitnis, Bharat Bhushan,Shyama, Nazir Hussain,Asit Sen, Manju, B.M.Vyas, Achla Sachdev, Bikram Kapoor, Krishnakant, Samar Chatterjee, Bharata Vyas(uncredited) etc in it.
This movie, which was based on a Bangla story by Swaraj Bannerjee had six songs in it. Four songs have been covered in the past.
Here is the fifth song from “Maa” (1952) to appear in the blog. This song is sung by Manna Dey. Bharat Vyas is the lyricist. Music is composed by S K Pal. The lyrics for this song have been contributed by Avinash ji.
Only the audio of this “ode to mother” song is available. I request our knowledgeable readers to throw light on the picturisation of this song.
Video
Song-Wo aankhen kya aankhen(Maa)(1952) Singer-Manna Dey, Lyrics-Bharat Vyas, MD-SK Pal
Lyrics (Provided by Avinash Scrapwala)
wo aankhen kya aankhen aen jin mein
aansu ki dhaar nahin een een een
wo dil patthar hai
jis dil mein maata ka pyaar nahin
wo aankhen kya aankhen jin mein
aansu ki dhaar nahin
wo dil patthar hai
jis dil mein maata ka pyaar nahin
dharti si dheeraj waali
aur aakaash si nirmal maa
ganga si paawan man-bhaawan
jamuna si nischchhal maa
bhagwaan bhagwaan
bhagwaan banaayi hai toone duniya mein kaisi maa
jo sab kuchch de
aur kuchh bhi na le ae ae
jo sab kuchch de
aur kuchh bhi na le
bas ek hai aisi maa
duniya mein hazaaron naate
duniya mein hazaaron naate
par maata do chaar nahin
wo dil patthar hai
jis dil mein maata ka pyaar nahin
wo aankhen kya aankhen
bachpan ki pyaar bhari godi ke
meethhe meethhe jhoole
haaye meethhe meethhe jhoole
lori ka aa
lori ka wo sangeet madhur
koi kab kaise bhoole
maata ka ye nirmal naata aa aa aa
maata ka ye nirmal naata
toote na koi tode
insaan nahin
haiwaan hai wo o o
jo maa se bhi munh mode ae
insaan nahin haiwaan hai wo
jo maa se bhi munh mode
wo jeevan kya jeevan
wo jeevan kya jeevan
jismein mamta ka taar nahin
wo dil patthar hai
jis dil mein maata ka pyaar nahin
wo aankhen kya aankhen
Dhhal gayaa aashaa ka sooraj
Posted on: February 13, 2020
This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
| Blog Day : | 4227 | Post No. : | 15434 |
“Bheeshm Pratigya”(1950) was directed by Vasant Rao Painter for Vishal Chitra, Bombay. This mythological movie had Nargis, Shahu Modak, Mishra, Mahipal, Poornim, Nimbalkar, H Prakash, Kamalkant, Moti Beena, Kumar, Meenakshi, Kusum Thaakar etc in it.
The by now obscure movie had seven obscure songs in it. One song has been covered in the past.
Here is the second song from “Bheeshm Pratigya”(1950) to appear in the blog. This song is sung by Asha Bhonsle. Manohar Khanna is the lyricist. Music is composed by S K Pal.
Only the audio of this rare song is available. I request our knowledgeable readers to throw light on the picturisation of this melancholic song.
Song-Dhal gaya aasha ka sooraj (Bheeshm Pratigya)(1950) Singer-Asha Bhonsle, Lyrics-Manohar Lal Khanna, MD-S K Pal
Lyrics
Dhal gaya
aa aa
aa aa
aa aa
aasha ka sooraj
dhal gaya
dhal gaya aa aasha ka sooraj
jeewan jyoti bujh gayi ee
bujh gayi ee
bujh gayi ee
aankhon mein aansoo reh gaye
ik jalti nishaani pyaar ki
pyaar ki
dhal gaya aa aasha ka sooraj
dhal gaya
jeewan mein aaya thha basant
ik pal ko
ik kshan ke liye
patjhad phir aisa aa gaya
ik ghor udaasi chhaa gayee
chhaa gayee
dhal gaya aa aasha ka sooraj
dhal gaya
kitne sunahre sapne thhe
kitni suhaani neend thhi
aaye nahin phir laut ke
wo din mere ae
raaten meri
raaten meri
dhal gaya aa aasha ka sooraj
dhal gaya
soojhe na koi raasta
jaaun kidhar
jaaun kahaan
soojhe na koi raasta
jaaun kidhar
jaaun kahaan
chaaron disha mein aag lagi hai
chaaron dishaaon mein aag hai
meri chita aa jalti huyi
jalti huyi
dhal gaya aa aasha ka sooraj
jeewan jyoti bujh gayee
bujh gayee
bujh gayee
dhal gaya aa aasha ka sooraj
dhal gaya
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 : | 4172 | Post No. : | 15346 |
Today’s song is from an obscure film-Dhola Maru-1956. The film was produced by and under the banner of Cine Workers’ Society, Bombay. It was directed by N R Acharya and the music was provided by S K Pal – for whom this film was his swan song. This was his last film as MD. All the 11 songs of the film were written by Bharat Vyas. The cast was Usha Kiran, Pradeep Kumar, Achala Sachdev, Rehana, Sapru, S Nazir, Kumkum and many others including 5 actresses named as Miss Pammi, Miss Usha, Miss Hemlata, Miss Hansa and Miss Sarita as well as a guest artiste- Ulhas.
” Unity in Diversity” was a favourite slogan of Nehru. Truly, there is no other country in the world having such a diverse population and area. The biggest surviving Democracy in the world has 28 states and 9 Union Territories. Our constitution mentions 22 official languages, including Urdu and Sanskrit. In this vast country about 30 languages are spoken, each by more than 3 million people, 120 languages are spoken by more than 10000 people and about 1600 spoken languages and with script- both mixed. In addition, 7 major and several other religions too.
With so much of diversity of languages, religions and cultures, it is a wonder that India has survived for thousands of years. The main factor is the binding of Indian Culture and Tolerance. It is interesting to recall that, just prior to getting Independence, Winston Churchill and many other world leaders had predicted that within a short period, India will disintegrate into pieces. Contrary to their wishful thinking, Indian people have come out stronger in last 75 years.
Due to the diversity, there are separate Folk lores in almost every state. Love stories are the major contributors. Like the famous Laila-Majnu and Romeo-Juliet, every state has its own Love story. Even our Mythology has thrilling love stories, Like Uttara- Abhimanyu, Dushant-Shakuntala, Arjun-Subhadra etc.
For love stories, Punjab and Sindh lead all the way. You have several such stories as – Sohni Mahiwal, Heer-Ranja, Sassi-Punnu, Monal-Rano, Umar-Marvi, Lila-Chanesar, Noori-Tamchi, Dhaj-Rorkumar and Mirza-Sahiban are some of the most popular love stories of Punjab and Sindh.
Like I said, in other regions too, there are Love stories like Jodha -Akbar, Salim-Anarkali, Bajirao-Mastani, Prithviraj-Sanyogita, Amrapali-Bimbisar, Mumal-Mahendra, Amaravathy-Ambikapathy (south-Tamil) etc.
There was yet another popular Folk-Lore of Lovers in the states of Rajasthan, M.P., Chhattisgarh and Gujarat and that is the story of Prince Dhola and Princess Maru. Unlike the Punjab Folk-Lores of Lovers, Dhola Maru has several versions, especially Rajasthani and Chhattisgarhi versions. Several Books and stories as well as Folk songs were written on Dhola-Maru. There was a Gujarati Hit film Dhola-Maru-1983.
( When I had first heard the name of Dhola-Maru, I was reminded of the Japanese steamship Kamagota Maru, which had carried about 300 Sikh and other Indians, who tried to enter Canada. They were refused and sent back to India. On reaching Calcutta, they were refused entry as they were from Hongkong. There was a fight and in the ensuing firing, hundreds were killed. This was known throughout the world.)
Dhola – Maru story took place somewhere in the 15th century. However this is a Happy ending Love story, unlike most Punjabi tragedies.
The Rajasthani version of the story is-
The Legend of Dhola and Maru is the Indian version of Romeo-Juliet saga. The princess Maru was from a place called Pugal near Bikaner while Dhola was the young and handsome prince of Gwalior. A terrible drought in Pugal made Maru’s(then 2 years old) father shift to Gwalior, which was ruled by his friend, the father of Dhola. He stayed there for three years and before leaving for his hometown, the two kings each promised to get their children married to each other. However, after a span of 20 years all promises were forgotten and Maru was betrothed to a man called Umra. But destiny prevailed, and bard from Pugal who had travelled to Gwalior sang at the royal court about the childhood betrothal of Dhola and Maru. After listening to the song Dhola fell hook, line and sinker for the virtuous princess Maru. With love in his eyes Dhola began wooing Maru who also fell in love with the handsome Dhola. Where two hearts collide there has to be an outcome, and so they decided to run away.
Umra came to know about their plans and went after them with his brother sumra. The eloping lovers on their Camel with their bows arrows were no match for the Umra-Sumra brothers who had guns. However, they were able to evade the evil brothers and took refuge in a forest. Unfortunately Dhola was bitten by a snake and died on the spot, Maru, thus cheated by her lover, proceeded to weep the death. Luck favoured Maru and her cries were heard by Lord Shiva and consort Parvati. Parvati requested her husband to revive Dhola and thus by divine intervention the lovers were united to live happily ever after.
There are some differences in the Chhattisgarhi versions, where in prince Dhola gets married to Rewa for 12 years, after which,he goes for Maru etc.
(all information culled from sanskriti.com, unitedindia.com and wiki)
In Indian films, there were some actresses who were earmarked to do the roles of Mothers and Grandmothers. Some of them were Leela Chitnis, Durga Khote, Leela Mishra, Deena Pathak, Nirupa Roy, Achala Sachdev and few others. While Leela Mishra and Deena Pathak seemed to be born to do such roles, most others were Heroines in their Hey-days. Achala Sachdev was a prominent actress, who was highly respected in the industry – only till she was in circulation. Once she retired from films, no one bothered about her and she died absolutely a lonely death.
Achala Sachdev ( 3-5-1920 to 30-4-2012) (original name Rajinder)’s name is permanently conjoined with a mother’s role. She did a mother’s role when she was very young and since then-more than a heroine- she has been seen either as a sister or Mother in films. In her earliest film ‘Dilruba’-50 she was Dev Anand’s sister and later in many films she was a fixed mother of Dev Anand.
She worked in All India Radio, Lahore,she came to Delhi after the Partition and continued her job in All India Radio, till her first film. She acted in 181 Hindi films, 3 Punjabi films and 1 Gujarati film, in addition to 1 uncompleted Bangla film. She acted in few television serials and FD documentaries too.
In her early years she had got married to Gyan Sachdeva. She begot one son and one daughter from him. Her son Jyotin, a business consultant, settled in US and Daughter was married in Bombay. When she could not pull on, she divorced her husband. After 12 years of loneliness she fell in love and married an American Clifford Douglas Peters, who was an Engineer and ran an Electronics factory in Poona. She stopped accepting new films after 1976 and then shifted to Poona.
After her second husband died, she shifted from her Bungalow in Bhosari, near Poona to a specious flat in Hadapsar area of Poona. She had completed all films on hand ,but due to insistence of family friend Yash Chopra, she acted in some of his films- notably ‘Dilwale dulhaniya le jaayenge’-95. Though her last film was ‘ Dahak ‘-98, her last released film was Suno sasur ji-2003.
During her heydays, she was very friendly with Sunil Dutt and Nargis, Mona Dev Anand ( kalpana kartik), Meena kumari, Saira Bano and her mother Naseem Bano. She was very punctual during her shootings. Once while working in a Rajesh Khanna film, she had to wait for him for 4 hours, with all make up done. When this continued to happen for next 10 days, she left the film and went back to Poona. Rajesh Khanna wrote an apology letter to her and then only she came back to complete the film.
Once she was in Poona, she was all alone. No one from film industry ever contacted her in her last 40 years. She was very generous. She had donated 25 lakhs to an NGO, Janseva Foundation to start ‘Achala Sachdev Institute of Education”. She also gave 15 Lakhs to Dr. H.V.Desai Eye Hospital for a ward construction. In her last days,she even donated her flat also to the NGO Janseva Foundation.
She was sick for last 6 months and was looked after by the NGO. Admitted to Poona General Hospital ICU, she got Paralysis, lost her vision and then lost her life on 30-4-2012. A highly successful film star with lots of money, but she was neglected by her own son and daughter. Above all, in last 40 years in Poona, not one soul from the film world met her. What was pathetic was, when she was admitted in I.C.U., her attending doctor, Dr. Mehta sent messages to Yash Chopra and others in Film industry, but none came or even inquired and she died a lonely death.
( ( Based on Cine Blitz, Madhuri,Times of India, Indian Express, Wikipedia and info kindly given by shri Harish Raghuwanshi ji ).
Here is a duet by Manna Dey and Asha Bhosle from film Dhola Maru-1956.
Song-Ek samay Dushyant thhe Bharat ke samraat(Dhola Maru)(1956) Singers- Manna Dey, Asha Bhonsle, Lyricist- Bharat Vyas, MD- S K Pal
Both
Lyrics
Ek samay Dushyant thhe
Bharat ke samraaat
jinka danka goonjtaa desh videsh viraat
Kaamdev ka aa aa
Kaamdev ka roop thha
dhoop bada balwaan
dhoop bada balwaan
ek samay ban mein chale
le kar teer kamaaaan
le kar teer kamaan
ban mein ek albeli mili
bandevi si naar
?? se nrup se sant ki
ho gayin aankhen chaar chaar
ho gayin aankhen chaar
mohit ho Dushyant ne
ek nikaali raah
Shakuntala ke sang kiya
jhat gandarv vivaah
din beete aur jug beete ae ae ae ae
din beete aur jug beete
bhookh bhaye behaal
roye dukhi Shakuntala
roye dukhi Shakuntala
khabar na li
khabar na li
khabar na li pratipaal
bhooh bhaye behaal
band karo ye geet
?? ke raajveer
bane aaj Dushyant
main
haan tum
apni marwan bhool kar
rewa sang raman
rewa sang raman ??
maruwan bisraai
maruwan ho maruwan ??
bharman hoi
Mhaane chaakar raakho jee
Posted on: December 23, 2018
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog.This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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Blog Day : |
3810 | Post No. : | 14806 | Movie Count : |
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My first article was posted on this Blog on 1-10-2012. Before that, for almost an year and a half, I used to post my comments on the songs posted on the Blog. In those comments, I used to give information about not only the songs, but also about the film, the cast, story. MD, Lyricist and in general any matter connected with the film or the song. For example, while commenting on a song from film Chandralekha-48, I had mentioned how Vasan made more than 100 prints of the film for its All India release and how the famous ‘ Nagara’ dance was choreographed etc etc.
Other readers gave me lot of support by liking and appreciating my informative comments. This and Atul ji encouraged me and I started writing posts on the Blog with great enthusiasm. I have always believed that Knowledge increases by sharing and indeed it did. Within a week’s time I brought up my first series on ” Less Known Singers”. Looking at the welcome it received from people in the Blog and the visitors, I continuously ran as many as 26 series of songs on selected themes.
Some themes were my favourites, like ‘ Flavour of the 30’s ‘, ‘ The vibrant 40’s ‘, ‘ Vintage Naushad “, ‘ Bhajan Mala ‘, ‘Gems from the Migrators’, and ” songs from the Artiste name films”.
One of the series was ” The Great souls of India”, which ran from 1-11-2013 to 15-11-2013, covering 10 songs. In this series I had selected songs from films on Sant Kabir, Sant Tulsidas, Sant Surdas, Sant Tukaram, Sant Dnyaneshwar, Bhakt Dhruv, Bhakt Prahlad, Narsi Bhagat, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Jagadguru Shankaracharya.
That time I regretted that I could only include 10 ‘ Great souls ‘ in the series, when another 8 to 10 were left out. I felt particularly sad that Sant Meerabai was left out. I am making amends to that lapse now. DER AAYE DURUST AAYE. It is never too late to repair the damage. So, today’s song is from a film ” Meerabai”-47. There was yet another film ” Meera’ in 1947. Two songs from that film were already discussed here, therefore I have selected this film, which makes a Debut here.
There was one thing common in these two films on Meerabai. Both films had songs predominantly sung by just One Singer. In the film ‘Meera’-47, 17 songs out of the 18 songs were sung by its Heroine M.S.Subbulakshmi. In the film ‘ Meerabai’-47, all the 13 songs were sung by Sitarabai Kanpuri. While Meera was originally a Tamil film of 1945, dubbed in Hindi in 1947, Meerabai was a fresh film made in Hindi only. In Meera, it was a feast and delight to listen to M.S. in Hindi. Her conspicuous Hindi pronunciations were never a barrier in savouring her divine rendering. Most bhajans in her film had the traditional tunes, but in film Meerabai, the MD S.K.Pal had tried newer tunes to these Bhajans. To his credit, I must say that his attempts were praiseworthy. Just listen to today’s song and you will agree with me.
Mirabai was a great saint and a devotee of Sri Krishna. Despite facing criticism and hostility from her own family, she lived an exemplary saintly life and composed many devotional bhajans. Historical information about the life of Mirabai is a matter of some scholarly debate. The oldest biographical account was Priyadas’s commentary in Nabhadas’ Sri Bhaktammal in 1712. Nevertheless, there are many oral histories, which give an insight into this unique poet and saint of India.
Mira was born around the start of the 16th Century in the Chaukari village in Merta, Rajasthan. Her father was Ratan Singh a descendant of Rao Rathor, the founder of Jodhpur. When Mirabai was only three years old, a wandering Sadhu came to her family’s home and gave a doll of Sri Krishna to her father. Her father saw this as a special blessing but was initially unwilling to give it to his daughter, because he felt she would not appreciate it. However, Mira had, at first sight, become deeply enamoured with this depiction of Lord Krishna. She refused to eat until the doll of Sri Krishna was given to her. To Mira, this figure of Sri Krishna embodied his living presence. She resolved to make Krishna her lifelong friend, lover, and husband. Throughout her turbulent life, she never wavered from her youthful commitment.
On one occasion, when Mira was still young, she saw a wedding procession going down the street. Turning to her mother, she asked in innocence, “Who will be my husband?” Her mother replied, half in jest, half in seriousness. “You already have your husband, Sri Krishna.” Mira’s mother was supportive of her daughter’s blossoming religious tendencies, but she passed away when Meera was only young.
At an early age, Mira’s father arranged for her to be married to Prince Bhoj Raj, who was the eldest son of Rana Sanga of Chittor. They were an influential Hindu family and the marriage significantly elevated Mira’s social position. However, Mira was not enamoured of the luxuries of the palace. She served her husband dutifully, but in the evening she would spend her time in devotion and singing to her beloved Sri Krishna. While singing devotional bhajans, she would frequently lose awareness of the world, entering into states of ecstasy and trance.
Her new family did not approve of her piety and devotion to Krishna. To make things worse, Mira refused to worship their family deity Durga. She said she had already committed herself to Sri Krishna. Her family became increasingly disproving of her actions, but the fame and saintly reputation of Mirabai spread throughout the region. Often she would spend time discussing spiritual issues with Sadhus, and people would join in the singing of her bhajans. However, this just made her family even more jealous. Mira’s sister-in-law Udabai started to spread false gossip and defamatory remarks about Mirabai. She said Mira was entertaining men in her room. Her husband, believing these stories to be true, tore into her room with sword in hand. However, he saw Mira only playing with a doll. No man was there at all. Throughout these hysterical slanders, Mirabai remained unmoved by both the criticism and praise of the world.
After this experience, her family continued to torture her. They restricted her movements and sought to make her life as uncomfortable as possible. In the face of all these trials and tribulations, she remained detached from her physical suffering. There was nothing that could disturb her inner connection to Giridhara (epithet of Sri Krishna as young cowherd boy). It is said that twice her family tried to kill her, once through a venomous snake and once through poisonous drink. On both occasions, it is said Mirabai, protected by the Grace of Sri Krishna, came to no ill harm.
However, the relentless torments and hostility interfered with her life of devotion and contemplation on Krishna. She sought the advice of learned men and saints. They advised her to leave the palace and return to Brindaban. Secretly, with some followers, she slipped out of the palace and escaped to the holy city of Brindaban. In Brindaban Mirabai was free to worship Giridhara to her heart’s content. She would spend her time in singing bhajans and in ecstatic communion with Krishna. Like a true Bhakti, she worshipped God wholeheartedly. The riches of the world offered no attraction to Mirabai; her only satisfaction came from her single-minded devotion to Sri Krishna. Her soul was ever yearning for Krishna. She considered herself to be a Gopi of Vrindaban, mad only with pure love for Sri Krishna.Her devotion and spiritual magnetism were infectious.
Even learned Sadhus would come to her for inspiration. There is a story of one respected Spiritual Master, who refused to speak to Mirabai because she was a woman. Mirabai replied there was only one real man in Brindaban, Sri Krishna; everyone else was a Gopi of Krishna. On hearing this, the spiritual Master accepted the wisdom of Mirabai and agreed to talk to her. Later, Mirabai would become his student.
Much of what we know about Mirabai comes from her poetry. Her poetry expresses the longing and seeking of her soul for union with Sri Krishna. At times, she expresses the pain of separation and at other times the ecstasy of divine union. Her devotional poems were designed to be sung as bhajans, and many are still sung today.
Mirabai was a devotee of the highest order. She was immune to the criticism and suffering of the world. She was born a princess but forsook the pleasures of a palace for begging on the streets of Brindaban. She lived during a time of war and spiritual decline, but her life offered a shining example of the purest devotion. Many were inspired by her infectious devotion and spontaneous love for Sri Krishna. Mirabai showed how a seeker could attain union with God, only through love. Her only message was that Krishna was her all.
It is said in her death she melted into the heart of Krishna. Tradition relates how one day she was singing in a temple when Sri Krishna appeared in his subtle form. Sri Krishna was so pleased with his dearest devotee that he opened up his heart centre, and Mirabai entered leaving her body while in the highest state of Krishna consciousness. (free adaptation from biographyonline.net, with thanks)
Film Meerabai-47 was made by Shalimar Pictures, Poona. Its direcor was W.Z.Ahmed. Lyrics were by Meerabai and MD was Suryakant aka S.K.Pal ( he was the nephew of another MD Ramchandra Pal of Bombay Talkies). The cast of the film consisted of Neena, Masood Pervez, Neelam, Tiwari, Shyama (Dulari), Ramavtar, Noorjehan sr. etc etc.
There is a general and wrong feeling among some movie buffs in India that, artistes who opted to migrate to Pakistan after partition had failed there and died in penury and misery. While some such cases indeed were there unfortunately, but not ALL had failed. On the contrary, I feel most of the Directors, Music composers and Heros succeeded in Pakistan. This was because they were all ready made available to Pakistan industry. Many of them like Khursheed Anwar, Inayat Hussain or G.A.Chisti were regarded as pioneers of Pak film industry. Same case with directors like Dawood Chand, M Sadiq, Shaukat Husaain Rizvi etc who became pillars of Pak film industry. unfortunately, once the crop of artistes who migrated from India ended their careers, their film industry had a premature death. This was because, there was no second line of artistes to take over.
The Hero of the film Meerabai-47, Masood Pervez was also one such migrant who succeeded in Pakistan. He was born in 1918 in Amritsar, Punjab, India. He passed his M.Sc. and joined films. His first film as a Hero was Punjabi film ” Mangati “-42, which became a Golden Jubilee film. He further worked in film Gulami-45 and Meerabai-47. After Partition, he went to Pakistan.
His first film as a Director in Pakistan was ‘ Beli’-50 It had a moderate success. His big breakthrough came with film ‘ Intezar ‘-56, which was a colossal hit. He directed 23 films between 1950 and 1982. he is considered to be one of the pioneers of Pak films. He directed 3 Folk stories Mirza Jat-67, Heer Ranjha-70 and again Mirza Jat-82, all very successful. he died on 11-3-2001 in Lahore. He was the nephew of Saadat Hassan Manto.
Film Meerabai-47 had 13 songs, most of them quite good. The original Meera Bhajans were translated in plain Hindi by Pt. Bharat Vyas. With this song the film makes its Debut on this Blog.
Song-Mhaane chaakar raakho jee (Meera Bai)(1947) Singer-Sitarabai Kanpuri, Lyrics-Meera bai, MD-S K Pal
Lyrics
mhaane chaakar raakho ji ee
chaakar raakho ji
sanwariyaa aa
mhaane chaakar raakho ji
mhaane chaakar raakho ji ee
chaakar raakho ji
saanwariyaa
mhaane chaakar raakho ji
chaakar rah toon baag lagaa doon
nis-din darshan paa toon
brindaawan ki kunj-galin mein
brindaawan ki kunj-galin mein
teri leelaa gaa toon
teri leelaa gaa toon
maane chaakar raakho ji
chaakar raakho ji
saanwariyaa
mhaane chaakar raakho ji
unche unche mahal banaaun
jis bich raakhoon baari
saanwariyaa ke darshan paaun
saanwariyaa ke darshan paaun
jaaun tan man vaari
jaaun tan man vaari
mhaane chaakar raakho ji
chaakar raakho ji
saanwariyaa
mhaane chaakar raakho ji
jogi aayaa jog karan koon
jogi aayaa jog karan koon
tap karne sanyaasi
hari-bhajan ko saadhu aayaa
bindraaban ke waasi
kaahe neer jhare nainan se
kaahe neer jhare nainan se
dheer dharo ji meeraa
aadhi raat prabhu darshan de hai
aadhi raat prabhu darshan de hai
prem nadi ke teeraa aa
prem nadi ke teeraa
mhaane chaakar raakho ji
chaakar raakho ji
saanwariyaa
mhaane chaakar raakho ji
Pyaase nainon ki pyaas bujha de
Posted on: June 17, 2018
This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
| Blog Day : | 3621 | Post No. : | 14431 |
“Pyaase Nain”(1954) was produced by K P Shahani and directed by S Ram for Tekchand Talkies, Bombay. This “social” movie had Nimmi, Rehman, Gope, Shyama, Vikram Kapoor,mAnwari Begam, Mumtaz, Parvati, Mirza, Baby Feroza, Shamim etc in it.
The movie had eight songs in it that were penned by three lyricists and composed by two music directors.
One song has been covered in the past.
Here is the second song from “Pyaase Nain”(1954) to appear in the blog. This song is sung by Meena Kapoor. Wahiq Qureshi is the lyricist. Music is composed by S K Pal.
Only the audio of the song is available. I request our knowledgeable readers to throw light on the picturisation of the song.
(Audio video not available on Youtube – This is another site audio mp3 song)
Audio – Mp3 Link
Click Here – Pyaase Nainon Ki Pyaas Bhuja De.mp3
Song-Pyaase nainon ki pyaas bujha de (Pyaase Nain)(1954) Singer-Meena Kapoor, Lyrics-Wahid Qureshi, MD-S K Pal
Lyrics
pyaase nainon ki pyaas bujha de
bichhad gaye hain jo
bichhad gaye jo
unko mila de
unko mila de
apna sahaara koi nahin hai
jag mein hamaara koi nahin hai
jiska kinaara koi nahin hai ae
koi nahin hai
us dariya se paar lagaa de
unko mila de
honthon par hai thhandi aahen
dekh dekh kar thhaki nigaahen
kho gayi sab jeewan ki raahen
aasha ka koi deep jala de
unko mila de
pyaase nainon ki pyaas bujha de
bichhad gaye jo
bichhad gaye jo
unko mila de
unko mila de
din raat yoon jo dukh main paaun
darr hai ke tujhko bhool na jaaun
dukh paa kar bhi main muskaaun
main muskaaun
aisi koi raah bata de
unko mila de
pyaase nainon ki pyaas bujha le
bichhad gaye hain jo
bichhad gaye jo
unko mila de
unko mila de
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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