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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First of all, I wish ” A Very Happy Birthday” to this Blog. Today, the Blog completes 12 successful years. Congratulations to Atul ji and on behalf of all Atulites a big Thank You for providing us a platform to enjoy and participate in the Carnival of Music of the Yore. I am proud of being associated with this Blog as the Senior Most (by age) Contributor of Posts.
I am quite active on FaceBook and the various groups dealing with old time songs and film related subjects, as well as some similar groups on WA. I feel thrilled and proud when people quote statements citing information from atulsongaday in support of their claims. This is a proof of the Prestige and Credibility this Blog has earned among the fans of old films and Music, all over the social media. This honour was earned by Atul ji with great efforts, hard work and consistency of performance. I can imagine the sacrifices he must have been making in his personal life since the last 12 years.
I wish similar fame, faith and credibility to this Blog in future too. May the Blog be a reference point for dependable and trustworthy information on old films and music for millions of its fans all over the world. And, thanks to Atul ji again.
Today’s song is from the film Bhai Bahen-1950. The words Bhai and Bahen are popular titles in Hindi films. A cursory look at the list of film titles indicates that there are 20 films having the first word as Bhai in their Titles. Titles like Bada Bhai, Mera Bhai, Do Bhai etc are not counted. Only the first word as Bhai is taken. There were 3 films as Bhai Bahen (50,59 and 69) and 3 films as Bhai Bhai (56,70 and 97) and 2 films called Bhai (44 and 97).
Today’s film was made by Krishen Movietone, Bombay, produced and directed by Ram Daryani. The music was by Shyam Sundar and the cast of the film was Geeta Bali, Prem Adib, Nirupa Roy, Bharat Bhushan,Gope, Yashodhara Katju, Gulab, K.N.Singh, Jeevan etc. I have not seen this film and I do not know anything about its story etc, but looking at the cast, I feel it must be a story of a married brother and a married sister and the ups and downs in their relationship. My guess is that the film may not be a very serious tear jerker, as we see the bubbly actress Geeta Bali and the comedy pair of Gope and Yashodhara Katju. out of the 10 songs of the film at least 4 are comedy songs. Five songs from this film are already discussed here. Today’s duet of Shamshad Begum And Satish will be the 6th song.
Geeta Bali became one of my favourite actresses, after I saw her in the film Albela-51. After that, I must have seen at least 10-12 films of Geeta Bali. She was not beautiful in the conventional way. Rather a Tom Boyish look and her naughty eyes and style of acting- particularly lighter and humorous scenes- was very impressive. It is our bad luck that such a talented actress had only a short career of just 14 years, but she made these memorable enough to make her name to be remembered.
Geeta Bali (real name Harkirtan kaur) was born in Amritsar on 30-11-1930, in a Sikh family, known for its religious and Scholarly traditions. Her father was a Sikh Missionary Preacher and travelled not only all over India, but also to Burma, Ceylon and Malaya. Due to frequent change of place, Geeta’s education was not consistent and it ended after 6th standard. When the family was in Kashmir, she joined the dancing and music classes. Keeta (her family nickname) did dance performances on stage in her schools.
When she was about 9-10 year old, she gave a public performance of her Dance in Lucknow. The puritans in their society objected, made a hue and cry and the pendal was burnt, to stop her show. Such experiences made her very bold in life. While at Lahore, Geeta directly entered the A.I.R. office to get a music contract. She got it also. She used to participate in Children’s programmes.
Through her Dance Director in A.I.R., she got into a documentary ” Cobbler” made by Shorey pictures. Impressed, she got a dance performance in film ” Badnami”-46 as well as Kahan Gaye-46 and Pancholi’s Patjhad-47.
After Partition, she came to Bombay. Kidar Sharma gave her a break in his film Suhag Raat-48 The film was successful. Next she worked with Raj Kapoor in Bawre Nain-50, Bhagwan’s Albela-51 and Navketan’s Baazi-52. Now there was no looking back. Geeta Bali went on to act in 80 films in her short career of just 14 years. She even sang a few lines in a song of film Rangeen Raaten-56, with Shamshad Begum and Uma Devi. She worked with Prithviraj Kapoor in Anand math-52 and his sons Raj kapoor in Bawre nain and in many films with Shammi kapoor. With Dev Anand she did Baazi, Faraar, Milap, Jaal, Zalzala, Ferry and Pocket Maar. She worked opposite Ashok Kumar, Motilal, Balraj Sahani, Prem Adib, Jairaj, Rehman, Bharat Bhushan, Abhi Bhattacharya, Kamal Kapoor, Karan Dewan, Shekhar, Sajjan, Amarnath, Jaswant and Suresh.
Some of her notable films were, Girls’ School-49, Dulari-49, Badi bahen-49, Nishana-550,Bawre Nain-50, Baazi-51, Albela-51, Zalzala-52, Raag Rang-52, Anand Math-52, Jhamela-53, Baaz-53, Daaku ki Ladki-54, Vachan-55, Miss Coca Cola-55, Jawab-55, Faraar-55, Bara Dari-55, Albeli-55, Pocket Maar-56, inspector-56, Coffee House-57, Mujrim-58, Jailor-58, Aji Bas Shukriya-58, Mr. India-61 etc etc.
Geeta and Shammi Kapoor fell in love, while working together. However, initially Geeta refused his marriage proposal for 4 months, saying that her family was dependent on her income for living. He did not leave hopes. When Shammi kapoor signed the film Rangeen Raaten, opposite Mala Sinha, she was jealous and approached Kidar Sharma for a role in that film. The story had no scope for another female role. Finally, a new role was introduced in the film-that of the Heroine’s brother and Geeta Bali did this male role throughout the film, just to be with Shammi Kapoor. This may be an unique example in the film world.
During the shooting days, Shammi Kapoor proposed to her again and this time she agreed, with a condition that they get married immediately, the same day. Shammi had not dared, so far, to inform his family about Geeta Bali, as he was afraid of opposition. Same night, in the presence of friends Johnny Walker and Hari Walia, they got married in the Banganga Temple, Napean Sea Road, Bombay, on 23-8-1955. Shammi Kapoor had to use Geeta’s lipstick for filling her ” Maang” with ‘ Sindoor’ ! Within a year, they got a son- Aditya Raj and in 1961 Kanchan was born to them. Contrary to Shammi’s fears, Kapoor Khandaan, did not object to their marriage.
While shooting for film Rano, made by Rajinder Singh Bedi, in Punjab, Geeta Bali contracted Smallpox and she died on 21-1-1965. ( adapted from books Star Portraits by Harish Booch and Stars of the Indian Screen by Baburao Patel, India Today, Yaadon ki Baaraat by Shirish kanekar and my notes).
In the cast of the film, I find at least 4 names who were Kashmiris, namely Prem Adib, Jeevan, Gulab and Yashodhara katju.
Yashodhara Katju (born 15 April 1928 – died – 1974), a forgotten actress of Indian Cinema, belonged to a reputed Kashmiri Pandit family from Lahore that had moved to Lucknow, where her father Jeevan Lal Katju, was a Zamindar and owned lands in Warburton in Khupra district, Punjab. He was appointed to a senior Administrative position by the British Government. J L Katju later resigned his Government job and joined the freedom struggle of the country. Her Mother’s name was Kailashwati (sister of well known Urdu poet & Judge of Allahabad High Court Late Anand Narain Mulla).
Yashodhra was fondly called as Chunnu by her parents. Other members of this Katju family were her brothers Moti Lal Katju , Pyare Lal Katju & her three sisters Chandra (Manno)-a Professor, Usha (Panno)-an M.A., and Manorama- a Doctor.
Yashodhara studied in English medium schools and was fluent in English, Hindi and Urdu. She did her Junior Cambridge. Apart from that, she was a highly talented girl who was equally well versed with singing and dancing. For some time she also joined Bhatkhande Music Institute, Lucknow to learn music but devoted more time to dancing and got herself trained as a professional dancer (Kathakali, Katahk and Manipuri) from some Masters of Lucknow. Later she took dancing lessons in Delhi as well.
All this apart , this talented girl nursed a desire from her childhood to join films. In 1941, Agha jani kashmiri , who was on a Talent Hunt, saw her in Lucknow and talked to her parents. Finally, much against the wishes of her family, she moved to Bombay in 1941. The family is reported to have sought intervention of Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru also to dissuade her from joining films but she proved adamant. Katjus were closely related to Pandit Jawahar lal Nehru’s family. It is said that Chandra Mohan Wattal, another Kashmiri actor of that period too tried to dissuade her from acting in films but she remained adamant. Chandramohan tried all his pressure tactics and tried to force her out of the films, but this girl was different. She was tough and did not fear him or yield to his intimidations. She continued to work in films unabated. Chandramohan died in 1949, but this girl worked in films from 1941 to 1973. Her parents finally consented to her decision and ensured a boarding and lodging for her in Bombay .
Prior to Yashodhara, Shyama Zutshi was the kashmiri Girl who joined films. (She acted in Vishnu Bhakti produced in 1934 and Karvaan E Hayat-35). However, the first Kashmiri girl to work in films was Gulab (real name Saraswati Devi), who worked from 1924 to 1964, in 160 films.
In 1941, at a young age of 14 years, she was offered a role of ” Aarti” in a movie Titled “Lalaji” produced by National Studios. The movie was completed in 1942. Her co-actors in that movie were Yakub, A. R. Kabul, Wasker, Amar, Sunalini, Vatsala Kumtekar, Maya Devi and Krishnakant.
Yashodhara always wanted to be an actress and on 15th August 1941 she joined National Studios. She played heroine and side heroine parts in films like Mahatma Vidur (1943), Dulhan (1943), Vijay Laxmi (1943) etc. Later she was reduced to character roles and became a popular comedienne in the 1950s. Her short plump stature and mischievous eyes really aided her in transitioning from leading to comedy roles. In films like Naujawan (1951), Dholak (1951), Sindbad the Sailor (1952), Ek do Teen (1953), Baaz (1953) etc she was cast in happy-go-lucky roles and even paired with other popular comedians of her time e.g. Bhagwan in Sindbad the Sailor (1952) and Gope. Her last few films as character actress were released in early 1970s including Seema (1971), Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1972), Do Phool (1973) etc .
Between Lalaji (1942 Her first Movie) and Do Phool (1973 her last movie), she acted in about 85 films. Her co stars included Jagdish Sethi, Pahari Sanyal, Shanta Apte, K. C. Dey, Manorama, Motilal, Shobhana Samarth, Leela Misra, Trilok Kapoor, Sadhana Bose, Khurshid, Kanhaiyalal, Ulhas, Yakub, Jairaj, Rehman, Suraiya, Prem Adeeb, Nirupa Roy, Shyam, Kuldip Kaur, Jeevan, Cuckoo, Bharat Bhushan, Lalita Pawar, K. N. Singh, Meena Kumari, Jankidas, Durga Khote, Mukri, Bhagwan, Jagirdar, Nigar Sultana, Ajit, Pran, Agha, Sunder, Anwar Hussein, Jayant, Shakila, Naseem Bano, Guru Dutt, Ratan Kumar, Mahipal, Ifftekhar, Bina Rai, Rajendranath, Helen, Madhubala, Sapru, Sulochana, Sunil Dutt, Meena Kumari, Daisy Irani, Ashok Kumar, Kumkum, Vaijayantimala, Begum Para, Tuntun, Balraj Sahni, Devanand, Prem Chopra, Rajendra Nath, Aruna Irani, Mehmood & Rajendra Kumar.
From the younger generation, her co-stars included Rakhee Gulzar, Rakesh Roshan, Hema Malini, Simi Garewal, Kabir Bedi, Zeenat Aman, Vinod Mehra, Mumtaz and Mehmood Junior. She worked with almost all prominent directors in Film industry including S. S. Vasan, Devendra Goel, Guru Dutt, Mohan Segal, P. L. Santoshi, M.Sadiq, D. N. Madhok, H.S.Rawail, B. R. Chopra, Rafiq Rizvi, Kishore Sahu, Dev Anand and Mahesh Kaul.
She started as a co-star, moved to lead roles, shifted to comedy (Mostly with another comedian of her time known as Bhagwan and Gope) and finally did some memorable performances as a character actress (Seema, Hare Rama Hare Krishna and Do Phool etc.).
Her close friends included Nalini Jayawant, Laita Pawar and Nirupa Roy. Sometime in around 1958, she married a Naval officer (Commander Bhandari) and lived a happy married life. After 1973, she did not act in films and slipped into Oblivion. She died of a sudden heart attack, in 1974 (Autar Mota)
(Thanks to Suresh Sarvaiya, Blog Chinar, Film Directory-46 and my notes).
Before I conclude this post, once again ” Happy Birthday ” to this Blog and Congratulations to Atul ji. After today, the Blog will enter its Teen Age-Thirteen!
Song-Baithe raho joru ke paas baaki duniya sab bakwaas(Bhai Bahan)(1950) Singers- Shamshad Begam, Satish Batra, Lyricist-Raja Mehdi Ali Khan, MD- Shyam Sundar
Both
Lyrics
hum chaand si ik dulhan
aaj apne hain ghar laaye
koi na idhar dekhe
koi na idhar aaye
baithe raho joru ke paas baaki duniya sab bakwaas
baithe raho joru ke paas baaki duniya sab bakwaas
baithi rahoon dulha ke paas baaki duniya sab bakwaas
kaisi sundar surat ho tum ik cheeni ki
ae ji ik cheeni ki moorat ho tum
narm narm ho jaise kapaas baaki duniya sab bakwaas
baaki duniya sab bakwaas
main halwaa hoon tu hai mithaai
main halwaa hoon tu hai mithaai
tu hai rabadi main halwaai
main hi jaanoon teri mithas
shahad aur shakkar sab bakwaas
shahad aur shakkar sab bakwaas
koi na sharbat de ab mujhko raam kasam hai
ae ji raam kasam hai
dekh ke tujhko bujh gayi mere man ki pyaas
lemon soda sab bakwaas lemon soda sab bakwaas
log mujhe kahte hai Gope
tu bandook hai main hoon top
donon kar de satyaanaash
bomb aur gole sab bakwaas
bomb aur gole sab bakwaas
kad ke itne chhote ho tum
kad ke itne
aji phir kyun itne mote ho tum
khaata hoon do ser malai
khata hoon sau baar mithaai
uyi meri maiyya raam duhaai
sajani ho sajani bhookh lagi hai mujhko
saajan ho saajan main doongi tujhko
ubli hui sabji aur daal
rabdi mithaai sab bakwas
aji baithe raho joru ke paas
ae ji baithi rahoon dulha ke paas
baaki duniya sab bakwaas