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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Today’s song is from the film Thokar-1953.
Films with the same title were also made in 1939 and 1974. This film was produced and directed by Lekhraj Bhakri, for his own banner-Jubilee Pictures, Bombay. Lekhraj Bhakri was a multi-faceted artiste. He was a Lyricist, a story writer, dialogue writer and a screenplay writer, producer and a successful director. He helped many cine artistes to establish their careers like Ameeta, Manoj Kumar etc. The story of him finding an actor in Manoj Kumar is very interesting….
A youngster, like millions of displaced Punjabis ,crossed over to India in 1947 from Abbottabad, now in Pakistan, when the Indian subcontinent was divided. He and his family, like hundreds of other refugee families from Punjab, were given shelter in Kingsway camp located in north Delhi.
It was by chance that the youngster named Hari Kishan Goswami (Manoj Kumar) met his distant cousin Lekh Raj Bhakri, a filmmaker, who was on a visit to Delhi. The well experienced movie maker was impressed with the personality of the lanky handsome man & inquired from him if he is interested in being an actor. The young lad, who was a fan of Dilip Kumar , readily agreed & reached Bombay. Those days Bhakri Sahab was making a film Fashion-1957, with his favourite actor Pradeep Kumar ,Mala Sinha,Chandra Shekhar,Jabeen & Kammo & the shooting was in progress . Mr Goswami was told to be in the studio , to get himself acquainted with the nitty gritty of the film making .
So Goswami started working as an assistant to director Lekhraj Bhakri- for the film Fashion-57. There was a song in the film, in the voice of Hemant Kumar, to be shot on a Beggar on the screen. On the day of shooting, the actor who was supposed to do the role of the beggar and sing this song, did not come. Lekhraj Bhakri caught Hari kishen Goswami, put on the make up of the bearded beggar and made him sing this song on camera. Thus the debut of Goswami took place with Hemant Kumar’s song !
No one from the audience could ever imagine that the person with dishevelled hairs, having a big beard , and with a song on his lips is a handsome young man of 19 years . The movie was ‘Fashion’, released in 1957 & the song was composed & crooned by Hemant Kumar. It was the young man’s first exposure before camera. The song was to chide a wayward hero (Pradeep Kumar),who has left his wife (Mala Sinha),for another woman (Kammo) having ill intentions.The song was “ Dharti ki godh mein…” After Fashion ,Bhakri Sahab made Sahara in 58 ,with M Rajan & Meena Kumari & Hari Kishan Goswami ( who now wanted to be called as Manoj Kumar, the name Dilip Kumar had in a film), was given a substantial role . Bhakri Sahab, true to his words, took on Manoj Kumar in his subsequent movies Panchayat, Chand & Honeymoon (1960).
Lekh Raj Bhakri, directed his first film Rajpoot-51 and thereafter he regularly directed movies ,like Resham,Thokar,Dak Babu etc within a modest budget . He directed Nineteen movies during 1950 to 1962. His last film was Banarasi Thug-1962. He made most of his movies under the banner Tasviristan ,owned by Kuldip Sehgal and his sibling Mulkh Raj Bhakri’s Golden movies . Mulkh Raj Bhakri ,besides being a producer of Hindi/Punjabi movies ,was also a writer & lyricist . He wrote the famous song ‘Haye Chanda Gaye Pardes’ for Chakori, which is still appreciated by connoisseurs of film music. Mulkh Raj Bhakri also made Bhangra ,a super hit musical in Punjabi ,which had Sunder & Nishi in lead roles.
Mr Lekh Raj Bhakri made many family oriented movies,like Maa Beta, Tange Wali ,Naya Zamana,HoneyMoon etc. At the same time ,he had no problems directing films of other genres for those who wanted to watch fantasy & Arabian Nights movies. For them he made Naqab, Alladin Laila & Nag Padmini . Later,he made a musical Muslim social ‘Shama’ ,which had Suraiyya & Nimmi & music was composed by Ghulam Mohammad.
Lekh Raj Bhakri, beside Manoj Kumar, introduced music directors Kanu Roy with his film Pyar Ki Rahen (1959 ) & Iqbal Qureishi with Panchayat (1958 ). He also introduced actor Vijay Dutt with Shama. Mr Bhakri hung his boots after Banarsi Thug ,a hugely entertaining movie ,released in 1962. He did not further attempt to make movies , as after the arrival of colour ,the budget of Hindi movies was increased many fold & now it was a risky business. It did not suit the temperament of a simple soul like Bhakri Saheb. Mr Bhakri,who did not believe in showing off ,always kept a low profile despite being a successful director , bade adieu to show business . Much later, he passed away on 03 March 1976 at the age of sixty years. It was a matter of time ,when the era of principled film makers ,who made purposeful movies with message, came to an end & proposal makers having no regards for ethical values arrived with the sole aim of earning money .( adapted some part from the article by shri M.N.Sardana ji, with thanks, and my notes. )
The film Thokar-1953 was a simple love story of two young people falling in love, misunderstandings and then a reunion with a happy ending. The film’s Hero was Shammi Kapoor, for whom it was only the second released film in 1953, as an emerging actor which also showed up in his acting also. His Heroine was Shyama. She was mush more senior and experienced than Shammi Kapoor, though 4 years younger in age than him. It was her 35 th film, but she was such a nice girl that she never allowed Shammi Kapoor to feel embarrassed during their shootings. Shyama was one of my favourite actresses for more than one reason.
I not only liked but also respected Shyama, because in my opinion, she was one of the few actresses, who was not only versatile but also very humble, modest and cooperative. Though she started from scratch- as an Extra- she worked with Top actors like, Ashok Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Guru Dutt, Kishore Kumar, Balraj Sahni, Motilal, Rehman, Shammi Kapoor, Raaj Kumar, Karan Dewan, Bharat Bhushan etc. But she never hesitated to work with B or C grade Heroes like Sajjan, Mahipal, Kamal Kapoor, Suresh etc. With Johnny Walker, she did 7 films as a Lead actress and 3 more in other roles.
Another speciality of Shyama was that in the song sequences, she used to lip sync in a very natural way giving a feeling that in reality she was actually singing. Some of her senior actresses , especially Meena Kumari, might be a big star but while lip synching she was simply terrible. One felt that she was murmuring something . Never got a feeling that she was singing.
Shyama did many child roles as Baby Khurshid Akhtar. When her first film as a Heroine-Shrimatiji-52, opposite Nasir Khan- was released in Opera House, Bombay, the film Soorat was released in Roxy cinema at the same time. In the film Soorat, she did a child role while in Shrimatiji she was the Heroine. Film Soorat-47 got delayed and was released in 1952. She was named Shyama By director Vijay Bhatt at the time of the film Nai Maa-46.
Shyama ( real name Khursheed Akhtar) was born on 12-6-1935 at Lahore. Her family shifted to Bombay when she was 2 year old. Shyama’s father too was a fruit seller, like Dilip Kumar’s father, in the Byculla market, in those days. Khursheed studied in Urdu medium Municipal school. When she was 10 year old, a chance visit to see a film shooting ended in her participating in the shooting.
The film was “Zeenat”-1945. She was given her screen name-Shyama. Along with Shashikala and Shalini-the other child stars, she sat in the famous qawali, “Aahen na bhari” India’s first all female qawali. Though Noorjehan sang in the qawali, her lines were NOT lip synched by herself, but Rehana lip synched them. In the true sense, this was her first playback in films !
In the next 6 years Shyama did 80 films mostly uncredited,in small roles , like Shayar, Jal Tarang, Namoona, Sajaa, jalsa, Nishana etc. During film Jalsa’s shooting, its heroine Geeta Bali took a fancy to her and predicted that one day,she too will become a Heroine.Her small roles were almost like an extra or a chorus girl.
In her career of 41 years, Shyama acted in 169 films ( 70 as a Heroine) and sang about 140 songs on screen in her films. She married Cinematographer Fali Mistry in 1954. They had 2 sons and 1 daughter. Shyama retired from films in 1976. Fali Mistry died in 1979. She spent a happy retired life with old friends, at her luxurious flat in Napean Sea Road, Mumbai. Shyama died on 14-11-2017.
The others in the cast of this film were Lalita Pawar, Johnny Walker, Mumtaj (not the famous one. This was the younger sister of singer Mubarak Begum, who later also used the name Vijay Bala), Chaman Puri, Rajan Kapoor, JaiJaiwanti ( the first name taken by Qamar Sultana, who later was known better as Ameeta) etc. The Music Director was Sardar Malik and the 9 songs in the film were by 7 Lyricists. They were Mazaz, Raja Mehdi Ali Khan,Prem Dhawan, Shor, Kavita, Harsh and Udhav Kumar. One Mazaz song by Talat in this film -” Aye gham e dil kya karoon” became an all-time popular song. Asha Bhosle also sang this song in the film separately, but the Talat version was known more, though that song by Asha was also equally good.
Let us now listen to today’s song by Balbir and chorus…..
Song- Main to nahin peeta hoon maine to nahin pee hai (Thokar)(1953) Singer- Balbir, Lyricist- Raja Mehdi Ali Khan, MD- Sardar Malik
chorus
unknown male voice
Lyrics
Main to nahin peeta hoon
maine to nahin pee hai
main to nahin peeta hoon
maine to nahin pee hai
main to nahin peeta hoon
maine to nahin pee hai
maine to nahin pee hai
maine to nahin pee hai
haan pee se muhabbat hai
saaqi ki khushee pee hai jee
saaqi ki khushee pee hai jee
saaqi ki khushee pee hai
main to nahin peeta hoon
maine to nahin pee hai
main to nahin peeta hoon
maine to nahin pee hai
aa aa aa aa aa
aa aa aa aa aa
aa aa aa
aa aa aa
haa aa aa
raaton ko tasawwur hai tera jee
raaton ko tasawwur hai tera jee
aur chup ke
hoy
aur chupke chupke rona hai jee
aur chupke chupke rona hai
ae whiskey ki bottle tu hi bata
ae tharre ki bottle tu hi bata
ae bewde ki bottle tu hi bata
anjaam mera kya hona hai jee
anjaam mera kya hona hai ae ae ae
bangla becha beevi chhodi
ee ee
ab to footpath pe sona hai
haan aan
bottle ko laga kar seene se
ye kehna hai aur rona hai
ae ae ae
main to nahin peeta hoon
maine to nahin pee hai
main to nahin peeta hoon
maine to nahin pee hai
saaaqi se muhabbat hai
saaqi ki khushee pee hai
saaaqi se muhabbat hai
saaqi ki khushee pee hai
main to nahin peeta hoon
maine to nahin pee hai
main to nahin peeta hoon
maine to nahin pee hai
o opee ke hum tum jo chale
jhoom ke maikhaane se
pakdo pakdo
haaan pakdo pakdo
ki saza hone lagee thhaane ko
saza hone lagee thhaane ko
saza hone lagee thhaane ko
ae ae
meree gardan pe sipaahi ne
diya jab ghoonsaa
aaa aaa
uske kadmon pe giraa aa aa aa
aur ye ro ro ke kahaa
ho o o
main to nahin peeta hoon
maine to nahin pee hai
main to nahin peeta hoon
maine to nahin pee hai
saaqi se muhabbat hai
saaqi ki khushee pee hai
saaqi se muhabbat hai
saaqi ki khushee pee hai ae