The fifteenth day of songs in this series.
I am back after a few days break necessitated due to my course reunion at my home place: Kandaghat.
In the last two weeks, we have taken up songs of eight male singers: Talat Mahmood, Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar, Mohammad Rafi, Mukesh, Hemant Kumar, Mahendra Kapoor and SD Burman. We also took up songs of six female singers: Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Suman Kalyanpur, Shamshad Begum, Geeta Dutt and Uma Devi (Tun Tun).
Tonight, we shall take up a song of our seventh female singer: Suraiya; a singing star.
In my other series: Raaga Based Songs Of The Day, we took up another song by the same singing star Suraiya on the tenth day (Please see: ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #10’): Dhadakte dil ki tamanna ho mera pyaar ho tum.
The 1949 movie Bari Bahen, from where this song has been taken, was a DD Kashyap movie. In addition to the direction, he wrote the screenplay too and was also the producer. The songs of the movie were penned by Rajinder Krishan and Qamar Jalalabadi. This one was by the latter. the songs as well as dialogues of the movie. The song was composed by Husnlal Bhagatram. Hindi movies first music duo. The movie starred Suraiya in the title role with Geeta Bali as her younger sister. The movie was all about the sacrifices of Suraiya as Badi Bahen for her sister who was in love with a rogue (Pran) and that led to her (Suraiya) causing massive misundertanding with her own lover Rehman. This song is Suraiya singing it for Rehman before the misunderstanding.
The earlier Suraiya song that I mentioned to you about above, was from the 1961 Lekhraj Bhakri movie Shama that had Nimmi in the title role and Suraiya as Roshan Ara. Both were in love with a poet Parvez or Parwana played by Vijay Dutt. Nimmi as Shama had a heartbreak (Dil gham se jal raha hai par dhuaan na ho) when she arranges his marriage with Suraiya as Roshan Ara. Indeed, in the song Dhadakane dil ki tamanna ho mera pyaar ho tum both give vent to their feelings of love for him in the same voice of Suraiya!
Nevertheless, who does the song remind you of most? I would say: Suraiya. Suraiya died on 31 Jan 2004, at the age of nearly 75 years, a spinster. And it is not that she didn’t want to get married. Her love affair with actor Dev Anand started with working together for the 1948 movie Vidya. Their love affair, one of the most intense love-affairs in the history of Hindi films, lasted for three years. In those three years, she willingly let go of singing many a song in her movies to Lata Mangeshkar so that she could spend more time with Dev Anand. The two of them were paired in seven films together; Vidya (1948), Jeet (1949), Shair (1949), Afsar (1950), Nili (1950), Do Sitare (1951) and Sanam (1951), all of which were successful at the box office. In all these movies’ credits, her name was shown before Dev Anand’s since she was a bigger star than him. The movie Vidya had a popular song: Kinaare kinaare chale jayenge. During the shooting of the song in the river, her boat capsized. And who do you think rescued her? Well, Dev Anand did and it was a story in the making in real life as well as in reel life. By the time they came to their fourth movie Afsar, they were so much in love that Dev Anand proposed to her with a diamond ring that cost all of Rupees 3000, a huge sum during those days. Her maternal grandmother, who didn’t like the alliance, threw the ring into the sea. During the shooting of Rana Pratap’s film Jeet, both Dev Anand and Suraiya, with the help of the film cast and crew, namely Durga Khote (actress), Dwarka Divecha (cinematographer) and others, had made plans for marriage in a temple, and elopement, but at the last minute, an assistant director, jealous of their marriage, informed Suraiya’s grandmother, who dragged her home from the scene. Speaking to journalist Sheila Vesuna, Suraiya said: “Eventually, my grandmother succeeded in separating us. Dev was deeply hurt and offended by my lack of courage. But I was afraid for him. In retrospect, I don’t think anything would have happened if I’d been bold enough. But I was terrified of my grandmother. And was heartbroken. But time is the greatest healer.” Here are pictures of the love bitten couple in their heydays before their love was cruelly broken by a domineering grandmother:
Some of my favourite songs of Singing – Star Suraiya are: Aap se pyaar hua jaata hai and Mast aankhon mein sharaarat kabhi aise to na thi (Shama 1961), Chahat ka bhulana mushkil hai (Khiladi 1950), Chale din ki duniya barbaad karke and Dil dhadake aankh mori phadke (Dard 1947, Shakeel Badayuni’s debut film), Dil-e-naadan tujhe hua kyaa hai, Rahiye ab aisi jagah, Aaah ko chahiye, Nuktacheen hai gham-e-dil, and Ye naa thi hamari kismat (Mirza Ghalib 1954), Hamen tum bhuul baithe ho and Kyaa cheez hai mohabbat koi mere dil se puuchhe (Shair 1949, another Shakeel Badayuni song), Ho ho ho chandini raat hai (Dak Bangla 1947), Holi khele Nandlala Birj mein (Maashooqa 1953), Il bewafa ki yaad ne tadapa ke maar daala (Char Din, 1949, Shakeel), Ik teri nazar ik meri nazar and Khushiyon ka zamaana beet gaya (Amar Kahani 1949), Jab se chale gaye hain wo zindagi zindagi nahin (Natak 1947), Jab tum hi nahin apne duniya hi begaani hai (Parwana 1947), Kaagaz ki meri naav aur duur kinaara hai (Do Dil 1947), Kinaare kinaare chale jaayenge (Vidya 1948), Man more hua matwaala and Nain deewane ik nahin maane (Afsar 1950), Mohabbat badha kar judaa ho gaye (Dastan 1950), Mujhe tumase mohabbat hai (Do Sitaare 1951), Nigaahen kyun milaayi thi agar youn chhod jaana tha (Lal Kunwar 1952), O duur jaanewaale (Pyaar Ki Jeet, 1948), Rahi matwaale tu chhed ik baar (Waris 1954), Raaton ki neend chheen li aankhon ke intezaar ne (Shokhiyan 1951), Tera khayal dil se bhuallaya na jaayega and Tuu mera chaand main teri chandini (Dillagi 1949, Shekeel), Tum man ki peedha kya samajho (Jeet 1949), Ye kaisi ajab dastaan ho gayi hai (Rustom Sohrab 1963), and Zara thehro main haal-e-dil suna luun (Inaam 1955).
Lets turn to the lyricist Qamar Jalalabadi now. He was born as Om Prakash Bhandari on 09 Mar 1917, in the town of Jalalabad, near Amritsar in Punjab. To become a lyricist in Hindi movies he arrived in Pune in 1940s (he had started writing Urdu poetry at the age of seven). He wrote his first lyrics for the Pancholi Pictures movie Zamindar in which his song Duniya mein gareebon ko araam nahin milta, sung by Shamshad Begum became quite famous. You would recall his 1958 movie Howrah Bridge songs that sky-rocketed his career particularly Aaiye mehrabaan baithiye jaane jaan and Mera naam Chin Chin chu. Some of my favourite songs of Qamar Jalalabadi are: Chhaliya mera naam chhalna mera kaam, Chhota sa baalma, Dam dam digha digha mausam bigha bigha, Dekh ke teri nazar beqraar ho gaye, Deewano se mat puuchho, Din hai suhaana aaj pehli tareeq hai (That used to be played on Radio Ceylone on first of ewvery month), Ik dil ke tukade hazaar huye, Ik pardesi mera dil le gaya, Jab raat nahin katati, Main bewafa nahin huun tere pyaar ki kasam, Main soya akhiyan meeche, Main to ek khwaab hoon, Mere tuute huye dil se koi to aaj ye puuchhe, O duur jaane waale wada na bhool jaana (Suraiya in Pyaar ki Jeet 1948), Phir aane laga yaad wohi pyaar ka mausam, Phir tumhaari yaad aayi hai sanam, Piya piya na laage mora jiya, Rafta rafta woh hamare dil ke armaan ho gaye, Teri raahon mein khade hain dil thaam ke, Tum ruuthh ke mat jaana, Tumhin mere meet ho tumhin meri preet ho, Tu hai mera prem devta, and Ye kaisi ajab daastan ho gayi hai. I also like him due to his secularism in that he would quote from Bhagwad Geeta and Bible as much as he did from Koran.
Husnlal Bhagatram were not just one of the first music director in Hindi movies but also the first duo. They trained Shankar Jaikishan, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Khayyam and singer Mahendra Kapoor. They were born in Village Kahma, Jalandhar, Punjab in the Batish family. Husanlal was an accomplished violinist and a good classical singer and Bhagatram was an ace harmonium player. They were the brothers of the famous composer of the 40’s, Pandit Amarnath, and both worked as his assistants. They gave their first hit with ‘Do dilon ko yeh duniya milne bhi nahin deti’ sung by Manju. Some of my favourite songs of Husnlal Bhagatram are: Abhi to main jawan hoon, Bhagwan tumhaari duniya mein kyun dil thukraaye jate hain, Chand sitaare karte ishaare, Do dilon ki ye duniya, Ik dil ke tukade hazaar huye, Jo tum badle jahan badla, Kabhi panghat pe aa ja, Khushiyon ke zamaane aaye dil pyaar ke gaane gaaye, Mera dil tod kar jaane wale, Mohabbat ke dokhe mein koi na aaye, O duur jaane wale, Shaam-e-bahaar aayi kar ke singaar aayi, Thukra ke hamen chal diye begaana samajh kar, and Yaad aa raha hai dil ko bhoola huaa zamaana.
Please enjoy Suraiya sing: Woh paas rahen ya duur rahen nazaron mein samaaye rehate hain….
वो पास रहें या दूर रहें
नज़रों में समाये रहते हैं
इतना तो बता दे कोई हमें
क्या प्यार इसी को कहते हैं
छोटी सी बात मुहब्बत की
और वो भी कही नहीं जाती
कुछ वो शरमाये रहते हैं
कुछ हम शरमाये रहते हैं
मिलने की घड़ियाँ छोटी हैं
और रात जुदाई की लम्बी
जब सारी दुनिया सोती है
हम तारे गिनते रहते हैं
वो पास रहें या दूर रहें
नज़रों में समाये रहते हैं
इतना तो बता दे कोई हमें
क्या प्यार इसी को कहते हैं
Some of us have this impression that film-stars are the favoured lot whose real lives reflect the glamour, pomp and show of the tinsel world. The fact is that they are people like us. Suraiya’s dream of marrying her lover Dev Anand was shattered by her domineering maternal grandmother. She was so much in love with him that she never married in her lifetime. She craved to be with him on the sets of their movies so much that she even let go recording songs that were offered to her in favour of Lata Mangeshkar. People can think of many of her songs reflecting her situation with Dev Anand. I have chosen this though in the movie she sang it for Rehman. The song brings out the joy and excitement of first love in a girl’s life. The last stanza truly portrays what she must have felt about Dev Anand:
मिलने की घड़ियाँ छोटी हैं
और रात जुदाई की लम्बी
जब सारी दुनिया सोती है
हम तारे गिनते रहते हैं
In the mukhada of the song Suraiya asks:
इतना तो बता दे कोई हमें
क्या प्यार इसी को कहते हैं?
Yes, indeed, it is Love but in some cases it doesn’t lead anywhere. I get goose pimples every time I listen to the song.
I hope you enjoyed it too.
Please await tomorrow’s song.
Too good
Thank you