Posts Tagged ‘Sarla Devi’
Laa Do Sajan Mohe Baajuband
Posted on: August 1, 2022
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 : |
5127 | Post No. : | 17079 | Movie Count : |
4614 |
Today’s song is a duet from the film ‘Her Highness’ (1946).
The year 1946 was an year which saw many changes in the film industry. The 2nd World War had just ended. Rationing and control on many items had created black marketing. This made many people millionaires. The extra income started getting invested in film making. The increased cost of raw films made film making 7 to 8 times costlier. A film which was made in about 1 Lakh rupees in 1940, needed 8 Lakhs now. Studio system was waning and artiste rates increased in lakhs instead of thousands. In 1945, only 74 films were made. This number increased to 153 films in 1946. Some quality films were made in 1946, indicating the changing face of film making.
Film ‘Dharati Ke Lal’ (1946) was made by IPTA people and it became the first film to be exhibited in Russia. ‘Neecha Nagar’ (1946) won the Grand Prix award in the French Film Festival. Film ‘Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani’ (1946) was dubbed in English as ‘The journey of Dr. Kotnis’. It was shown in the USA and then in the Venice Film Festival. Two musical films – ‘Anmol Ghadi’ and ‘Shahjahan’ were made in 1946. Year 1946 also saw the debut of several stars and artistes. In fact one can call 1946 as the ‘debut year’ of the Hindi film industry. See this….
Nirupa Roy debuted in film ‘Amar Raaj’.
Geeta Bali debuted with a dance in film ‘Badnami’
Geeta Roy sang her first film song in film ‘Bhakta Prahlad’
Balraj Sahni debuted in the film ‘Insaaf’. It was a small role, though.
KA Abbas-Director, Pt. Ravi Shankar-MD, Balraj Sahni as hero and Damayanti Sahni as heroine made their Debut in film ‘Dharti Ke Lal’
Meena Kapoor sang her first Hindi film song in film ‘Eight Days’
Sudhir Phadke debuted as MD in film ‘Gokul’
PL Santoshi as Director, Dev Anand, Rehman, Rehana and Kamla Kotnis debuted as actors in film ‘Hum Ek Hain’
Chitragupta did his first film as MD in ‘Lady Robin Hood’
Ram Ganguly became MD with film ‘Maharana Pratap’
Abhi Bhattacharya debuted in film ‘Milan’
Chetan Anand as Director, Uma Anand and Kamini kaushal as actresses debuted in film ‘Neecha Nagar’
Hansraj Behl debuted as MD with film ‘Pujari’
Madhubala (as Baby Mumtaz) sang her first song in film ‘Pujari’
Majrooh Sultanpuri wrote his first Hindi film song in film ‘Shahjahan’
SD Burman as MD and Kishore Kumar as an actor debuted with film ‘Shikari’
So, you will find the year 1946 was truly an year of change. The winds of Partition were already blowing and the second line of supplementary artistes was ready to replace the migrators, after the Partition.
‘Her Highness’, a stunt film was made by Bharat Talkies. The cast of the film consisted of the usual members of action/stunt films. Sarla Devi, Dilawar, Mehdi Raja, Madhukar Gupte, Meerabai, Prakash, Agha Peerjaan, Narmada Shankar etc. Lyricists were Roopbani and Madhup Sharma. However HFGK does not credit any Lyricist for any specific song. It also does not mention the singers’ names of any song.
The film was directed by stunt film veteran – Balwant Bhatt. He was the elder brother of Nanabhai Bhatt, who too was an expert in directing B and C grade films. One sees this kind of close relatives following each other from the very beginning of the talkie films. Even Zubeida, heroine of the first talkie – ‘Alam Ara’ (1931) had her 2 sisters and mother in this profession. If I start listing such names, it will be a long list. One interesting feature of Balwant Bhatt was that he had also directed the film ‘His Highness’ in the year 1937. If there were films like ‘Momma Highness’ and ‘Papa Highness’, I am sure Balwant Bhatt would have directed those films too !
The elder brother of Nanabhai Bhatt, Balwant Bhatt was born at Porbandar,Gujarat on 13-1-1909. Balwant started his career by assisting Naval Gandhi in 1930-31 and Pesi Karani at Imperial Film company and then NB Vakil at Sagar Studios in 1932.
A prolific director of second tier, action oriented films, Bhatt’s first film as a director was Royal Film Company’s 1932 silent thriller ‘Passing Show’ which featured popular stunt-film actor Navinchandra. He turned director with the advent of talkie films and joined Prakash Pictures with ‘Bambai Ki Mohini’ (aka ‘Actress’) (1934) starring Miss Panna and Miss Alaknanda. His last one was ‘Nagin Aur Sapera’ (1966). He directed 33 films, mostly stunt and C grade films.
Bhatt directed action star Fearless Nadia in ‘Delhi Express’ (1949) and ‘Circuswale’ (1950) as well as the comedian Bhagwan in ‘Joker’ (1949) and ‘Jodidar’ (1950), and even had opportunities to work with bigger name’s such as Bibbo in ‘Suhaag’ (1940), Maya Banerjee in ‘Madhusudan’ (1941), and Prithviraj Kapoor in ‘Aankh Ki Sharam’ (1943). But the vast majority of Bhatt’s output was in the category of B-grade films.
He directed some Gujarati films like ‘Sansar Leela’, ‘Seth Sagsha’, ‘Divadandi’, ‘Snehlata’ etc. He was the producer of ‘Dillagi’ (1942), ‘Gunehgar’ (1953), ‘Alif Laila’ (1953), ‘Sindbad The Sailor’ (1952), ‘Son Of Sindbad’ (1958), ‘Police Detective’ (1960) etc. etc. ‘Diwadandi’ (1950) became famous for its song – ”Taari Aankhni Afini”, sung by Dilip Dholakia with music by Ajit Merchant. His film ‘Mordhwaj’ (1952) was the debut film for MD Narayan Dutt. Balwant Bhatt died on 7-2-1965, at Bombay.
Today’s song is a rare song, but we do not know who wrote or who sung this duet. HC Bali was the music director.
Harishchandra Bali aka HC Bali was born on 10-3-1906 at Jalandhar, Punjab. He received early training in music from Pt. Tola Ram and Ustad Maula Baksh of Talwandi Gharana. He was also a disciple of Bhaskarbuwa Bakhale and Pt. Dilip Chandra Vedi. He adopted their styles. Bali came to Bombay. He entered film by acting as a hero in the film ‘Naqsh-e-Sulemani’ (1933). In later life also he acted in a few more films. As a MD, his first film was ‘Aurat Ka Dil’ (1933) and last film was ‘Janta’ (1947).
He gave music to 26 films. Among these were first films of Prof. Pt. Ramanand Sharma, ‘Watan Parast’ (1934), first film of actress Pramila, ‘Bhikarin’ (1935), first film of Debaki Bose in Bombay, ‘Jeewan Natak’ (1935). In the film ‘Pati Patni’ (1939), Naushad was his assistant and composed a few songs also. In 1942, Bali gave music to ‘Aple Ghar’, the Marathi version of ‘Apna Ghar’ (1941). He was the MD for the last film of Vishnupant Pagnis, ‘Mahatma Vidur’ (1943) and in film ‘Janta’ (1947), he gave the opportunity to lyricist Rajendra Krishna for the first time.
Bali also gets the credit for bringing KL Saigal to limelight. Both he and Saigal were from Jalandhar. When Saigal was in Calcutta for his job as a typewriter salesman, Bali was living with RC Boral. Bali told Boral about Saigal’s singing and the rest is history. Bali came into news in the late 50s, when he said that Lata had sung 4 songs for his film ‘Seedha Rasta’ in 1941 and thus claimed to introduce her to film singing. However, Lata clarified that till the death of her father Dinanath Mangeshkar in 1942, she was in Kolhapur and there was no question of her singing in films in 1941. Thus Bali’s claim got scuttled.
After 1947, Bali retired from films and returned to Jalandhar. He started his own music school, ‘Sangeet Vihar’. He became famous as a music Guru to many singers in later years. Bali also sang on radio and was an A grade artiste of All India Radio. He also wrote a few books on music – ‘Sangeet Vigyan’ in 4 volumes and ‘Sangeet Prakash’ in Punjabi language. These books were published by Punjab State University Text Book Board in Chandigarh. Harishchandra Bali died on 24-6-1976 at Jalandhar.
Here is the rare song from the film ‘Her Highness’. The names of the singers of this duet are not even mentioned on the gramophone record, but I feel the song must have been sung by the cast members itself, to save expenses. Such tactics were followed by the producers while making stunt C grade films.
With this song, film ‘Her Highness’ makes it’s debut on the Blog.
Song- La Do Sajan Mohe Baajuband (Her Highness)(1946) Singers-Sarla Devi, Dilawar, Lyrics-Unknown, MD-HC Bali
Lyrics
la do sajan mohe baajuband
la do sajan mohe baajuband
nahin jaee hoon
nahin jaee hoon
nahin jaee hoon main naihar ko aaj
o o o o
jaee hoon main naihar ko aaj
la do sajan mohe baajuband
la do sajan mohe baajuband
nahin jaee hoon
nahin jaee hoon main naihar ko aaj
jaane ka naam na lo
ro doonga
jaane ka naam na lo
ro doonga
nanhi see
nanhi see
nanhi see
zindadi main kho doonga
jaane ka naam na lo
ro doonga
nanhi see zindadi main kho doonga
haaye haaye
choolha jalaate mori jhulsen ungaliyaan
haaye haaye
choolha jalaate mori jhulsen ungaliyaan
kuchh to karo
tum laaj
aa aa aa aa
jaee hoon main naihar ko aaj
jhagdo na saajan nithhalle
jhagdo na saajan nithhalle
sambhaalo ye peetal ke chhalle
sambhaalo ye peetal ke chhalle
ye hansuli
ye mundri
ye paanwon ki paajeb
ye hansuli
ye mundri
ye paanwon ki paajeb
jhumke hamelon ke saath
ho o o
main to jaaoongi naihar ko aaj
bigdo na sajni
baat baat par
bigdo na sajni
baat baat par
paaon dabaaun torey
paaon dabaaun torey
raat rat bhar
bigdo na sajni
baat baat par
paaon dabaaun tore
raat rat bhar
kaadun nihore tore
kaadun nihore tore
roothho na sajni mose
kaadun nihore tore
roothho na sajni mose
laa doonga baajuband aaj
ho o o o
tumhe laa doonga baajuband aaj
khaao kasam mori
haan haan kasam tori
khaao kasam mori
haan haan kasam tori
laa doge baajuband aaj
haan haan haan
baba laa doonga baajuband aaj
————————————————
Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir Kapur)
————————————————
ला दो साजन मोहे बाजूबंद
ला दो साजन मोहे बाजूबंद
नहीं जई हूँ
नहीं जई हूँ
नहीं जई हूँ मैं नैहर को आज
ओ ओ ओ ओ
जई हूँ मैं नैहर को आज
ला दो साजन मोहे बाजूबंद
ला दो साजन मोहे बाजूबंद
नहीं जई हूँ
नहीं जई हूँ मैं नैहर को आज
जाने का नाम ना लो
रो दूँगा
जाने का नाम ना लो
रो दूँगा
नन्ही सी
नन्ही सी
नन्ही सी
जिंदड़ी मैं खो दूँगा
जाने का नाम ना लो
रो दूँगा
नन्ही सी जिंदड़ी मैं खो दूँगा
हाय हाय
चूल्हा जलाते मोरी झुलसे उँगलियाँ
हाय हाय
चूल्हा जलाते मोरी झुलसे उँगलियाँ
कुछ तो करो तुम लाज
आ आ आ आ
जई हूँ मैं नैहर को आज
झगड़ो ना साजन निठ्ठल्ले
झगड़ो ना साजन निठ्ठल्ले
सम्भालो ये पीतल के छल्ले
सम्भालो ये पीतल के छल्ले
ये हँसुली
ये मुँदरी
ये पाँवों की पाजेब
ये हँसुली
ये मुँदरी
ये पाँवों की पाजेब
झुमके हमेलों के साथ
हो ओ ओ
मैं तो जाऊँगी नैहर को आज
बिगड़ो ना सजनी
बात बात पर
बिगड़ो ना सजनी
बात बात पर
पाँव दबाऊँ तोरे
पाँव दबाऊँ तोरे
रात रात भर
बिगड़ो ना सजनी
बात बात पर
पाँव दबाऊँ तोरे
रात रात भर
काडूँ निहोरे तोरे
काडूँ निहोरे तोरे
रूठो ना सजनी मोसे
काडूँ निहोरे तोरे
रूठो ना सजनी मोसे
ला दूँगा बाजूबंद आज
हो ओ ओ
तुम्हें ला दूँगा बाजूबंद आज
खाओ क़सम मोरी
हाँ हाँ क़सम तोरी
खाओ क़सम मोरी
हाँ हाँ क़सम तोरी
ला दोगे बाजूबंद आज
हाँ हाँ हाँ
बाबा ला दूँगा बाजूबंद आज
Hamri sudh budh kyon bisraayee
Posted on: October 3, 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.
|
Blog Day : |
4825 | Post No. : | 16603 |
The human mind is constantly attracted by imaginary things.He would like to have supernatural powers and do things which he only dreams about. He knows he can not do so, so looks out for those who can do them. A normal person likes to see a man do super-human activity like fighting with hungry lions or teaching a lesson to Roadside Romeos or punishing wrong-doers etc. If possible he would like to do these things himself, but it is not possible for an ordinary man. If someone is thrashing a thief or stopping someone from troubling hapless women, the public gathers and cheers him. We have seen it many times.
Secrecy, Puzzles, riddles, Mystery and fantasy are the initiators of curiosity in Human Mind. The mind dreams of the things it wishes, but can not do and knows that it can not do. That is where the seeds of Action films and stunts are sown.
The film makers took advantage of this human nature and made films about supernatural heroes who rode Horses, fought 10 goons at a time, jumped into and out of fire with ease and generally staked their lives to save the poor and the weak in the society. The audience simply loved it and action films established themselves. There is nothing childish about it. These movies help the majority of moviegoers enjoy such superhuman acts vicariously.
When film making started in India, it was but natural, because of our heritage, that most initial films were mythological. With the beginning of silent films from Raja Harishchandra in 1913 to 1921 almost all films were Mythologicals.
The First off-beat film was ”England Returned or Bilet ferat” a Comedy film made by Indo British films, Calcutta, released on 2-2-1921.
The First fantasy film was ‘Princess Badar or The tale of Kamar-al-Zamin’ made in 1922 by Madan Theatres, Calcutta.
The First Costume film was ‘The song of the slave‘-1922,made by Photoplay Syndicate,Calcutta.
The First Crime film was ‘The Kala Naag or Triumph of Justice‘-1924, made by Kohinoor films,Bombay. The First detective film was ‘ Justice or Nyaya’-1925, made by Premier Photoplay, Poona.
And finally the First Action film was ”The choice of a Bride“-1929, made by Surya Film Company, Bangalore.
After this there were many Action films made in Silent movies till the last silent film in India-” Niyoti”-1934, made by Aurora Film Corporation, Calcutta, released on 15-9-1934.
( Thanks to Dr.R K Verma and his book “Silent Cinema”).
When the Talkie films started , here too Mythologicals led the list. However the First Action Film in Talkie was ” Dagabaz Aashiq”-1932, closely followed by another action film “Do Badmash” made by Imperial and Ranjit respectively.
After this there was no looking back. There was enough material available for Mythological, Historical, religious, social, fantasy and Costume films in India,with its rich Heritage, but for Action and Stunt film stories, movie makers looked to the west.
The legendary King Arthur, Robin Hood, William Tell, Zorro and Tarzan etc all became sources of inspiration for action and stunt films in India. Skillful adaptation and Indianization of western Heroes coupled with the fertile imagination of story writers in our studios provided enough fodder. It is through this that emerged the ideas of ‘Masked men’,’Hunterwali’ and various Baghis.
Out of these the Tarzan stories were more popular as they combined Mystery, jungles, superhuman powers and great strengths which tamed the wild animals. Countless films were made with Tarzan as the central character.
The original Tarzan story was written by Sir Edgar Rice Burrows and it was first published in 1912, followed by its 23 sequels. The story proved to be immensely popular. No wonder, then, that it attracted the Hollywood producers.
The First Silent film ” Tarzan of the Apes” was released in 1918 in which Tarzan’s role was done by Elmo Lincoln and Jane Porter was Enid Markey. From 1918 to 2008, Hollywood made 89 Tarzan Films.
The First Talkie film on Tarzan was ” Tarzan-The Ape Man ” in 1932. Johnny Weissmuller was doing Tarzan’s role and Maureen O’Sulivan was Jane in it.
Johnny was a German bred Romanian settled in America. He was an Olympic Swimming Champion with 5 Gold medals. The pair of Johnny and Maurine was very popular. Johnny Weissmuller did 12 films of Tarzan from 1932 to 1948. 6 films with Maureen, 2 without Jane and 4 with Brenda Joyce. After Johnny 5 Tarzan films were done by Lex Barker and 6 were done by Gordon Scot. After 1960, there were different Tarzan actors in every film.
The Chimpanzee “Cheetah” was there in films from 1932 to 1960, when he died.
In most films, the scripts were loyal to the novels. However, in the novel, Tarzan and Jane get married and they have a son too. But in films, they never got married and their son ” BOY ” was found and adopted by Jane.
Tarzan films attracted Indian film makers too.As far back as the first decade of Talkie films in India , an attempt was made to make films like Tarzan. The name was too obvious to be copied, so a new name was invented- ZAMBO. The adventurous producer Mohan Bhavnani always liked to do experiments and he made a film Zambo- The Ape man in 1937 (aka Sher E Jungle). It had almost a similar story like that of Tarzan but it was fully indianised. Obviously, this film became very successful, because Bhavnani made a sequel ” Zambo ka Beta ” in 1939.
In both the films the Hero was the same-Navin Yagnik. Navin was a well known stunt film actor who did social films also with the same ease. Navin was born in Calcutta on 3-10- 1912. His father was from U.P. and mother from Bengal. During school days, he was more interested in sports,dramas and oratory. He did not complete his Matriculation, but ran away to Bombay, to become an actor-against the wishes of his family.
He joined Sagar Films in 1930, as an Extra, without salary. After a few months he got Rs.35 pm, but no credited roles. After an year or so, he left Sagar and joined Mohan Bhavnani’s Ajanta Film company. He first worked in the film ‘ The Mill ‘-34. Unfortunately, this film was banned for 2 years. The film was based on a story by Munshi Premchand and depicted the poor conditions of mill workers in Bombay. The Mill Owners’ Association brought pressure on the Government and got the film banned. After 2 years, the film was released as ” Ghareeb Parivar”-36 aka ‘Daya ki Devi’. Two more films and Navin became Hero in the film ” Pyar ki maar”-35.
In her autobiography, actress Hansa Wadkar says,” My Hero in this film was one Navin Yagnik, a handsome boy from U.P. He was very shy and after the shootings, he would quietly sit in one corner reading something. He never joined our drink parties,nor did he participate in any other group activity. I was attracted towards him but he gave no response. He sent me an invitation card for his marriage, when it was fixed.”
He also worked in Minerva Movietone, Prakash pictures, Filmistan and other good banners. Some of his well known films were, Zambo-The ape Man-37, Meri Bhool-37, Divorce-38, Vaasanti-38, Son of Zambo-39, Main Haari-40, Jhoothi Sharm-40, Vasantsena-42, Raja Rani-42, School Master-43, Prithvi Vallabh-43, Chal chal re Naujawan-44 etc. His last recorded film was Bhagwat Mahima-55. In all, he worked in 30 films.
Navin Yagnik died on 28-10-1977.
Many films were made on Tarzan in India. Though there was a film ‘ Tarzan ki beti’ made by a Calcutta company in 1938, it was not actually a jungle film, belying its title. It took about 25-30 years to see a Hindi film of Tarzan. In the 60s there was a spate of Tarzan films. About 20+ films were made. Tarzan stories were more popular as they combined Mystery, jungles, superhuman powers and great strengths which tamed the wild animals. Countless films were made with Tarzan as the central character.
When the normal titles finished, the imaginative writers combined Tarzan with Aladdin, Delialah, Rocket, Gorilla, Mermaid, King Kong, Hercules, Cobra, Circus and even Fairyland. When this too was exhausted, they joined him with places like Delhi, spies like 303 etc. They gave Tarzan a Daughter also. When the Indianisation of Tarzan was complete, in came ZIMBO !
Whatever the title, the script ideas were more or less the same. It ensured that the Hero’s supernatural powers and strength was used and wild animals were shown in abundance.
There were also Toofani Tarzan (1937), Toofani Tarzan (1962), Tarzan Aur Gorilla (1963), Rocket Tarzan (1963),Tarzan Aur Jalpari (1964), Tarzan Captain Kishore (1964), Tarzan Comes To Delhi (1965),Tarzan And Circus (1965), Tarzan And King Kong (1965); Tarzan Aur Hercules (1966), Tarzan Ki Mehbooba (1966), Tarzan In Fairyland (1968), Tarzan 303 (1970),Tarzan Mera Saathi (1974), Tarzan (1985), Taarzan – The Wonder Car (2004).
Anyway we are talking about the film Zambo-The Ape man-1937 presently. The music was given by an extraordinarily talented artiste- Badri prasad. He was an actor, singer, Music Director, Producer, Director, Lyricist and a Choreographer in his last lap. I have yet to come across another artiste with so much talent. Additionally he was a Sanskrit pandit and wrote dramas for All India Radio also. We don’t find such people these days !
Film actor and a famous compere DAVID ABRAHAM CHEULKAR, popularly known only as David, made his Debut with this film. David Abraham Cheulkar (21-6-1909 to 2-1- 1981), popularly known as David, was a Jewish-Indian Hindi film actor and a member of Mumbai’s Marathi-speaking Bene Israel Jew community. In a career spanning four decades, he played mostly character roles, starting with the 1941 film Naya Sansar, and went on to act in over 110 films, including memorable films such as Gol Maal (1979), Baton Baton Mein (1979) and Boot Polish (1954), for which he was awarded the 1955 Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award.
He never married. He died on 2-1- 1981 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada of a heart attack at the age of 73.
Today’s song is sung by Sarla devi. It is the second song from this film here.
Song- Hamri sudh budh kyon bisraayee (Zambo The Ape man)(1937) Singer- Sarla Devi, Lyricist- Pt. Badri Prasad, MD- Pt. Badri Prasad
Lyrics
Hamri sudh budh kyon bisraayee
Hamri sudh budh kyon bisraayee
hamre nainan mein nit aas lagi hai
nainan mein nit aas lagi hai
surat kyon hai chhupaayi
Hamri sudh budh kyon bisraayee
hamre kaate katat naahin
birha ki ratiyaan
kaate katat naahin
birha ki ratiyaan
tum bin saajan dhadkat chhatiya
neha lagaa ke
tumne saajan
neha lagaa ke
tumne saajan
birha ki aag lagaayi
hamri sudh budh kyon bisraayee
hamri sudh budh kyon bisraayee
raat andheri
baadal garje ae ae ae
megh chaaye rahe
bijli chamke
aawo ban mein chhupne waale
aawo ban mein chhupne waale
ab pad jaawo dikhaayee
hamri sudh budh kyon bisraayee
hamri sudh budh kyon bisraayee
Kaase main kahoon piya hiya ki baat
Posted on: May 31, 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.
|
Blog Day : |
3969 | Post No. : | 15053 | Movie Count : |
4130 |
Today’s song is from a film of the first decade of the Talkie, ” Yangrilla “-1938. The song is sung by Sarla. No information is available about this singer. The cast of the film was Enakshi Rama Rau, Nayampalli, David, Gyani, Saalu, Shareefa, S L Puri, Fatty Prasad and few others.
It is generally said that in the early era, most actors and actresses came from poor families and most artistes had no or had negligible education. While it is true to a great extent, it is not 100% true. It is not that even in this period, there were no educated persons in the film industry. Right from the beginning of the Silent era to Talkie film era up to the end of the 40s decade, there were actors, actresses, directors,producers and musicians who were quite educated. Some of them had even been trained in western countries.
Take the case of Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani and their team of writer like Niranjan Pal, from the silent era. They were all highly educated and from rich. cultured families. Niranjan Pal was the son of the Freedom fighter Bipin chnadra Pal. B.N.Sircar is another example. Director Nanubhai Vakil was actually an advocate with B.A. LL.B degree. Surendra was BA, LL.B. Motilal was a graduate, so were Ramchandra Thakur, Nandlal Jaswantlal, Jayant Desai, Jairaj, Umakant Desai. Ashok kumar, Dev Anand and his 2 brothers etc.
Among actresses, Leela Chitnis, Shanta Apte, Durga Khote, Renuka Devi were graduates. Vanmala was BA,BT. Kamini Kaushal was BA. The point here is, there were educated and people with respectable family background were also a part of film industry. But of course, initially their number was smaller compared to others who were either illiterate or less educated. For example, the beautiful Meena Shorey and Sitara Kanpuri could not even sign- leave alone reading and writing !. That is why, they were cheated in their contracts by Sohrab Modi and W.Z.Ahmed ( of Shalimar Pictures and husband of actress Neena).
In today’s film, Yangrilla-38, the Hero, Heroine and the Director were all highly educated. The Heroine, Enakshi Rama Rao was the daughter of an ICS officer of Madras Presidency. She came to England for her graduation. After graduation, she took part in some stage dramas, where she got introduced to Niranjan Pal and Himanshu Rai. When Himanshu Rai decided to make a silent film on Tajmahal story, he asked Niranjan Pal to write the film story. Sita Devi aka Renee Smith was selected for the Vamp’s role and Enakshi was selected for the main role of Selima ( who was later named Mumtaj Mahal by Prince Khurram- who was later known as Shahjehan.). The film was named Shiraz.
Enakshi is a very unusual name. Comparatively, Meenakshi is a well known name. Meenakshi means ” one with eyes like Fish “. Enakshi means ” one with the eyes of Doe or Deer”. In other words, Enakshi means Mrignayani. Except name of this actress, I have never ever come across this name (Enakshi) in my life elsewhere !
Her work in film Shiraz was applauded in England, Germany and India. When she returned to India, She met Bhavnani, who made a silent film Vasantsena-31, with her in the lead role. More than as an actress of Silent and Talkie films, Enakshi’s name was known in Elite circles for different achievements, after she stopped working in films.
Not many of us know that Meenakshi Bhavnani ( Enakshi Rama Rao before her marriage ) has done an enormous service to expose Indian dances and Designs to West. No lesser is her contribution to expose Kashmir Crafts and Designs ( Fabric , Wood and Papier Mache ) to west. An American Tourist told in Kerala recently about her detailed work on Kashmir Designs ( shawls , Jackets ).This side of Meenakshi’s personality and work is in addition to her contribution as a Dancer, photographer and actress .Two scholarly Books written by Meenakshi Bhavnani were also published. Both the books are preserved in American Museum of Natural History.These are ..
(1) Folk And Tribal Designs of India
(2) The Dance of India: The Origin and History Foundation, Art and Science of the Dance in India .
This exceptionally talented woman stayed in Kashmir for sometime in 1950 and met cross section of people connected with Arts and Crafts . She had been a visitor thereafter as well . She also visited Leh and kargil for her Book. During this period she also clicked some photographs in Kashmir portraying its rich culture and scenic beauty.She also shot a Documentary “ VALEY OF KASHMIR “ during this period..
Meenakshi was an active member of the Crafts Council of India, which was founded in 1964 to support artisans and keep their crafts relevant and marketable amid rapidly changing economies at home and abroad.
The Photographs clicked by her have also appeared in National Geographic Magazine especially her series.
And in her book on folk dances of India , Meenakshi covers all forms of Kashmirian folk dances .
Enakshi married film maker Mohan Bhavnani ( 1903-1962 ) who was trained in Germany and Hollywood. She was a dancer , Actor , Photographer and writer on Arts , Crafts and culture. From 1929 to 1938, She acted in six films as a leading lady . Out of these six films five ( Vasantsena-31 , Trapped-31 ,Jagaran-36 , Himalaya ki Beti-38 and Yangrilla-38 ) were directed by her husband Mohan Bhavnani . Only Shiraz ( 1929 Produced by Himanshu Roy ) was directed by Franz Osten .
Producer Director Mohan Bhavnani was a learned and illustrious person. This is what the Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema says about him-
Mohan Dayaram Bhavnani (1903-62)
Hindi director born in Hyderabad, Sindh. Studied at College of Technology, Manchester (1921-4), then studied film-making in Germany at UFA (1924). Contracted to Kohinoor (1925- 6) where his Sulochana films were the earliest efforts in the Indian cinema to create a Hollywood-type movie star, e.g. Cinema Ni Rani where she plays a famous actress with whom the painter hero falls in love, or Wildcat of Bombay where she played multiple roles. Joined Imperial (1927-9), where he made Khwab-e-Hasti, adapted from the novel Dreamland (later also adapted by N. Taurog’s Strike me Pink, 1936). Scripted by A.S. Desai, this film is not to be confused with Kashmiri’s play of the same title. Vasantsena was the first Kannada intertitled film. Became independent producer with Indian Art Prod. (1931-2). Returned to Germany to study sound film technique. Started Ajanta Cinetone (1933-4) and his own Bhavnani Prod. (1935-48). Sound de´but was a flop, but it introduced Durga Khote. Hired Premchand to script Mazdoor, representing the author’s only direct encounter with film, following it with the unemployment melodrama Jagran. Produced and directed the first full-length colour film shot on 16mm Kodachrome and blown up to 35mm, Ajit. Joined Films Division and became its first Chief Producer (1948-55). In 1958 Bhavnani followed up an invitation from Zhou En-Lai to make a documentary on China and travelled extensively throughout the country shooting with cameramen Kishore Rege and S.K. Kulkarni. His wife Enakshi Rama Rao, who acted in Vasantsena, had earlier played the lead in Shiraz (1928) and became a noted dancer and author of the book The Dance of India (1965).
FILMOGRAPHY: 1925: Cinema Ni Rani; Matri Prem; Veer Bala; Seth Sagalsha; 1 9 2 6 : Pagal Premi; Diwan Bhamasha; Mena Kumari; Ra Kawat; Samrat Shiladitya; Bhamto Bhoot; 1 9 2 7 : Naseeb Ni Lili; Daya Ni Devi; Trust Your Wife; Wildcat of Bombay; Gamdeni Gori; 1929: Hawai Swar; Khwab-e- Hasti; Mysore, Gem City of India (Doc); Khedda (Doc); 1 9 3 0 : Vasantsena (all St); 1 9 3 1 : Shakuntala; Farebi Jaal; Lafanga Langoor (Sh); 1 932: Veer Kunal; 1 933: Afzal; Rangila Rajput; 1 9 3 4 : Dard-e-Dil; Mazdoor; Sair-e-Paristan; 1935: Jung Bahadur; Navjeevan; Shadi Ki Raat; 1936: Dilawar; Garib Parwar; Jagran; Wrestling (Doc); 1 9 3 7 : Zambo the Ape Man; 1 9 3 8 : Double Cross; Himalay Ki Beti; Yangrilla; 1 9 3 9 : Zambo Ka Beta; 1940: Jhoothi Sharm; PremNagar?; 1945: Biswi Sadi; 1 946: Rang Bhoomi; 1 948: Ajit; 1 9 4 9 : Vale of Kashmir (Doc); 1 9 5 0 : The Private Life of a Silkworm (Doc); 1 9 5 1 : Lest We Forget (Doc); 1 9 5 2 : Kumaon Hills (Doc); 1 9 5 3 : Folk Dances of India (Doc); Republic Day Record (Doc); 1 9 5 5 : Republic Day 1955 (Doc); 1 956: Operation Khedda (Doc); 1 957: The Himalayan Tapestry (Doc ).
Like the Heroine, the name of the film was also strange. I tried very hard to find out what the word Yangrilla meant, but I could not get it. Finally, undaunted, I started going through the list of books on line. Lo and behold ! I bumped into a book with a title ” Rilla of the Inglewood ” written by Lucy Maud Montgomary, published in 1921. Some part of the book was available for reading online and while reading it, I found that ” Yangrilla ” in Swahili language meant a Hunter. Not going into the book and its boring story, I was glad that at last I decoded the word Yangrilla…a Hunter. Considering that the film ‘ Yangrilla’-38 was a Costume drama, I can guess that this film’s story must have been connected with hunting, Jungle and such other interesting and thrilling matters. Film Yangrilla-38 was financed by Ramnarayan Dubey, who in later years swallowed Bombay Talkies with its Land and started an Industrial complex on its land with about 250 to 300 manufacturing units. Recently his grandson was in news for announcing revival of Bombay Talkies !
The Hero of this film was Nayampalli. 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 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’d 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 and could not sing, 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 the 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.
Pt. Badri Prasad was the Music Director of film Yangrilla-38. He used 6 different singers for 11 songs in the film. Besides issuing records for its songs, the producer also floated 2 records of ‘ Bhavnani Productions orchestra ‘.
The uploader of today’s song, our own Sadanand ji Kamath has certified this song to be ” rarest amongst the rare ” songs. With this song, film Yangrilla-38 makes its Debut on the Blog.
Song- Kaase main kahoon piya hiya ki baat(Yaangrilla)(1938) Singer- Sarla Devi, Lyrics- Unknown, MD- Pt. Badri Prasad
Lyrics
Kaase main kahoon
piya hiya ki baat
Kaase main kahoon
Kaase main kahoon
piya hiya ki baat
Kaase main kahoon
Kaase main kahoon
piya hiya ki baat
Kaase main kahoon
piya hiya ki
kaun sunega prem kahaani
kaun sunega prem kahaani
aur usey phir meri zabaani
aur usey phir meri zabaani
yah duniya to preet ki bairan hai
Kaase main kahoon
piya hiya ki baat
kaase main kahoon
is duniya ke rahne waale
is duniya ke rahne waale
kapti paapi man ke kaale
kapti paapi man ke kaale
paap(?) hi inka ghar(?) aur joban hai
Kaase main kahoon
piya hiya ki baat
kaase main kahoon
kaase main kahoon
kaase main kahoon
Sunaaun kisko man ki baat
Posted on: December 21, 2012
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
———————————————
Unknown composers Composer 5-Badri Prasad
———————————————
Hindi films have seen many beautiful actresses. Some beauties were legendary, not only in their times, but also for ever, e.g. Leela Naidu. There were some handsome actors also like Nandrekar, Chandramohan, Nazmul Hussain, Prithviraj Kapoor etc.
Read more on this topic…
This blog boasts of the largest collection of Sajjad Hussain compositions at one place in the entire interwebs. And I am quite proud of this feat. This blog has as many as 57 Sajjad Hussain compositions, and several of them are rare songs not available elsewhere.
Read more on this topic…
Durga Mata O sukh daataa
Posted on: October 17, 2010
Not all Hindi movies are made by big producers. There are many movies that are made by lesser producers with lesser names. Most of these movies, which are known as B and C grade movies, end up remaining unsung and unwatched as majority of such movie do not get proper exposure with the public.
Read more on this topic…
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
Recent comments