I thought of this song for two distinct reasons. One is that that three of the greats involved in the making of the song have their birth anniversaries in the month of June: Lyricist Rajinder Krishan who was born on sixth of June 1919; Music Director Madan Mohan who was born on 25th June 1924 and Actor Bharat Bhushan who was born on 14th June 1920. The others involved in the making of this song are: Actress Madhubala, and Singers Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar.
Let me start with the Lyricist, Rajinder Krishan. Rajendra Krishan (that’s the second way his name is often written) shares his birthday with me: 6th June. He too spent his youth in Shimla. I have as many as four blog-posts on him; and not because of these coincidences or because he won Rupees 64 Lakhs as Jackpot in horse-racing (Please see: ‘The Best Songs Of Rajendra Krishan, The Richest Lyricist’, ‘Part II’, ‘Part III’ and ‘Part IV’). Some of Lata Mangeshkar’s best songs have been penned by him and composed by Madan Mohan.
The best thing about him was that he could pen both serious and sad songs such as Anarkali songs: Mohabbat aisi dhadkan hai, Ye zindagi usi ki hai, and Zindagi pyaar ki do chaar ghadi hoti hai as well as Westernised Songs, for example in Bhagwan Dada’s Albela (Shola jo bhadake, Sham dhale khidaki tale, and Dil dhadake nazar sharmaaye). His Jahan Ara songs (Main teri nazar ka saroor hoon, Teri aankh ke aansu pi jaayun, and Phir wohi shaam wohi gham wohi tanhaayi hai) and Adalat Songs (Unako ye shikayat hai hai ke ham kuchh nahin kehte, Youn hasraton ke daag mohabbat mein dho liye, and Jaana tha hamase door) are in sharp contrast with his, for example, Padosan songs (Ek chatur naar and Mere saamne wali khidaki mein). Some of my other favourites of his are in Dekh Kabira Roya (Meri veena tum bin roye, Hamase aay ana gaya, Kaun aaya mere man ke dwaare), Nagin (All songs including Jaadugar sainya), Main Bhi Ladaki Hoon (Chanda se hoga wo pyara), Manmauji (Chanda ja, and Main to tum sang nain mila ke) and Nai Roshnai (Kis tarah jeete hain ye log bata do yaaro).
Sadhana lip-syncing Manmauji’s Main to tum sang nain mila ke
Madan Mohan brought out the best in Lata’s singing. She used to be annoyed with Mohammad Rafi for making her sing in high-pitched voice, against her natural grain. However, Madan Mohan “bhaiya’s” composition ensured that the song was low pitched to her liking.
Madan Mohan was born on 25 Jun 1924 at Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, where his father Rai Bahadur Chunilal was working as an Accountant General with the Kurdistan Peshmerga forces. Madan Mohan spent the early years of his life in the Middle East. After 1932, his family returned to their home town of Chakwal, then in Jhelum district of Punjab, British India. He joined the Army as a Second Lieutenant in the year 1943. He served there for two years until end of World War II, when he left the Army and returned to Bombay to pursue his musical interests. In 1946, he joined the All India Radio, Lucknow as Programme Assistant, where he came in contact with various artists such as Ustad Faiyaz Khan, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Begum Akhtar, and Talat Mahmood.
He was very fond of singing, and so in 1947 he got his first chance to record two ghazals penned by Behzad Lucknawi, Aane Laga Hai Koi Nazar Jalwa Gar Mujhe and Is Raaz Ko Duniya Jaanti Hai. Soon after, in 1948 he recorded two more private ghazals penned by Deewan Sharar, Wo Aaye To Mahfil Mein Ithlaate Huye Aaye and Duniya Mujhe Kahti Hai Ke Main Tujhko Bhoolaa Doon. In 1948, he got his first opportunity to sing a film duet Pinjare Mein Bulbul Bole and Mera Chhotasa Dil Dole with Lata Mangeshkar under composer Ghulam Haider (composer) for the film Shaheed (1948 film), though these songs were never released or used in the film. Between 1948 and 1949, he assisted music composers SD Burman for Do Bhai, and Shyam Sundar in Actress and Nirdosh.
As Music Director, he scored his first big break with the film Aankhen in 1950. He was soon to emerge as a music director par excellence especially for ghazals. Indeed, music director OP Nayyar once said about Madan Mohan that two of his ghazals were better than all that OP Nayyar composed. Some of the best songs of Lata Mangeshkar (she fondly called him “Madan Bhaiyya”) were composed by him on the lyrics of Raja Mehdi Ali Khan and Rajinder Krishan.
Some of my favourite songs of Madan Mohan are: Aaj soch to aansu bhar aaye, Betaab dil ki tamanna yehi hai, Tum jo mil gaye ho (Hanste Zakham 1973), Aapke pehlu mein aa ke ro diye, Naino mein badra chhaye, Jhumka gira re, Tu jahan jahan chalega (Mera Saya 1966), Aapki nazaron ne samajha, Hai isi mein pyaar ki aabru, Vo dekho jala ghar kisi ka (Anpadh 1962), Aapko pyaar chhupane ki buri aadat hai, Tere paas aake mera waqt nikal jaata hai (Neela Akash 1965), Agar mujhase mohabbat hai, Main nigaahen tere chehre se hatayun kaise (Aap Ki Parchhayiyan), Ai mere dil mujhe bata de (Bhai Bhai 1946), Ari vo shokh kaliyon muskara dena vo jab aayen (Jab Yaad Kisi Ki Aati Hai 1967), Baad muddat ke yeh ghadi aayi, Haal-e-dil youn unhe sunaya gaya, Jab jab tumhe bhulaya tum aur yaad aaye, Kisi ki yaad mein duniya ko jhain bhulaye huye, Main teri nazar ka saroor hoon, Phir wohi shaam wohi gham wohi tanhaayi hai, Teri aankh ke aansu pi jaayun, Wo chup rahen to mere dil ke daag jalate hain (Jahan Ara 1964), Hamare baad mehfil mein (Baghi 1953), Bainya na dharo O balma, Ham hain mataa-e-kuchcha-e-bazaar ki tarah, Mai ri main kaase kahun, Tumse kahun ik baat (Dastak, 1970), Bairan neend na aaye mohe (Chacha Zindabad 1959), Basti basti parbat parbat gaata jaaye banjara, Chand madham hai aasman chup hai, Dekh tere Bhagwan ki haalat (Railway Platform 1955), Bhooli hui yaado mujhe itna na satayo, Vo bhooli dastaan lo phir yaad aa gayi (Sanjog 1961), Chanda ja re ja re, Main to tum sang nain mila ke (Manmauji 1962), Chhadi re chhadi kaise gale mein padhi, Dil dhoondata hai fursat ke, Ruke ruke se kadam (Mausam 1975), Chhod kar tere pyar ka daaman, Jao hamane dastaan apni sunaayi, Lag jaa gale ke phir, Naina barse rimjhim rimjhim, Shokh nazar ki bijliyan (Woh Kaun Thi 1964), Do dil toote do dil haare, Doli chadate hi Heer ne bain kiye, Milo na tum to ham ghabraayen, Ye duniya ye mehfil mere kaam ki nahin (Heer Ranjha 1970), Ham chal rahe the wo chal rahe the (Duniya Na Maane 1959), Ham pyar mein jalane waalo ko chain kahan (Jailor 1958), Hamsafar saath apna chhod chale, Tujhe kya sunayun main dilruba (Aakhri Dao 1958), Hamse aaya na gaya, Kaun aay mere man ke dwaare, Meri veena tum bin roye, Tu pyar kare ya thukraye (Dekh Kabira Roya 1957), Har taraf ab yahi afsaane hain, Hai tere saath meri wafa main nahin to kya (Hindustan Ki Kasam 1973), Hoke majbuur mujhe usne bhualaya hoga, Kar chale ham fida, Khelo na mere dil se, Main ye soch kar uske dar se, Zara si aahat hoti hai (Haqeeqat 1964), Husn haazir hai mohabbat ki saza paane ko, Is reshmi paazeb ki jhankar ke sadake, Tere dar pe aaya hoon (Laila Majnu 1976), Ik haseen raat ko dil mera kho gaya, Kabhi ai haqeeqat-e-muntazar, Sapano mein agar mere (Dulhan Ek Raat Ki 1966), Ishq ki garmi-e-jazbaat kise pesh karun. Mere mehboob kahin aur mila kar mujhase, Naghma o sher ki saugat, Rang aur noor ki baraat (Ghazal 1964), Jaa jaa re jaa saajna, Jaana tha hamse door, Unako ye shikayat hai, Youn hasaraton ke daag (Adalat 1958), Kabhi na kabhi kahin na kahin koi na koi to aayega, Mujhe le chalo aaj us jagah, Sawan ke mahine mein (Sharaabi 1964), Koi shikwa bhi nahin koi shikayat bhi nahin (Neend Hamari Khwab Tumhaare 1966), Main paagal mera manwa paagal (Aashiyana 1952), Meri yaad mein tum na aasnu bahana (Madhosh 1951), Na tum bewafa ho na ham bewafa hain (Ek Kali Muskaaye 1958), Sapne mein sajan se do baaten, Do ghadi wo jo paas aa baithe (Gateway Of India 1957), Teri aankhon ke siwa duniya mein rakha kya hai (Chirag 1969), Tumhari zulf ke saaye mein shaam kar loonga (Naunihaal 1967), Tu mere saamne hai teri zulfen hain khuli (Suhagan, 1964), and Vo jo milate the kabhi hamsase deewano ki tarah (Akeli Mat Jaiyo 1963).
Madan Mohan’s Haqeeqat song: Main ye socj kar usake dar se utha tha brought out the deep sadnesss of soldiers in the desolation of Ladakh during Sino-Indian War of 1962. The song was sung like a poem by Mohammad Rafi without mukhada and antara.(Pic courtesy: Indianetzine)
Lets take up Bharat Bhushan, the actor, screen-writer and producer. He was best known for the portrayal of Baiju Bawra in the 1952 Vijay Bhatt movie by the same name. The first Filmfare Award for Best Actor was instituted in 1954 and Dilip Kumar got it for the 1952 movie Daag over his Baiju Bawra. However, he received the second such award for Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.Indeed, he was considered best suited for portrayal of historical and mythological characters in the Hindi movies. Such was his acting prowess that in the 1960s, he and Dev Anand (one each) were the only actors other than Dilip Kumar who won the awards; though Raj Kapoor too was nominated twice.
Lets turn to the actress of the song: Madhubala, a name (Honey belle) suggested to her by the first lady of Indian cinema and first recipient of India’s highest award in cinematic excellence – the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. Madhubala was otherwise born on February 14, 1933 as Mumtaz Jehan Begum Dehlavi in Peshawar (in Pakistan); the same place wherein the love of her life, Dilip Kumar (born Yusuf Mohammad) was born. She would have married him except that Madhubala’s father Ataullah Khan first didn’t approve of the wedding and later wanted to convert the alliance into a business proposition that Dilip Kumar didn’t approve of. She, therefore, married Kishore Kumar on the rebound.
In 1954, she was diagnosed with a hole in the heart (ventricular septal defect), which eventually took her life, fifteen years later, on 23 Feb 1969. By this time, the beauty and charm of Madhubala had become legendary. She was often compared with Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe. On 10 August 2017, the New Delhi center of Madame Tussauds unveiled a statue of Madhubala, as the famous courtesan Anarkali (of Mughal-E-Azam fame) as a tribute to the legendary actress.
(Poster courtesy: Bollywood Movie Posters)
Today’s song is from a J Om Prakash movie of 1957 titled Gateway of India. Madhubala played Anju in the film, a woman running away from her killers and encountering many suspicious characters whilst on the run. That’s why in the song, you can see two suspicious characters waiting below the building wherein she is with her friend and lover Prakash played by Bharat Bhushan. It is a long wait for the ruffians chasing her since she has spent the whole night with Prakash. In the wee hours of the morning, they write a song together: he sings the lines she writes and vice versa. It is such an adorable romantic number and there is quite a bit of chemistry between them (Madhubala always had chemistry with her co-stars). In the final stanza, she doesn’t require any cues from him in pouring out her natural emotions.
Please enjoy Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar sing a composition of Madan Mohan on the lyrics of Rajinder Krishan, a song from the 1957 J Om Prakash movie Gateway of India: Do ghadi woh jo paas aa baithe….
रफ़ी : दो घड़ी वो जो पास आ बैठे
हम ज़माने से दूर जा बैठे
आशा : दो घड़ी वो जो पास आ बैठे
हम ज़माने से दूर जा बैठे
रफ़ी : (भूल की उनका हम्नशीं हो के
रोयेंगे दिल को उम्र भर खो के) – २
हाय! क्या चीज़ थी गँवा बैठे
आशा : (दिलको एक दिन ज़रुर जाना था
वही पहुँचा जहां ठिकाना था ) – २
दिल वही दिल जो दिल में जा बैठे
रफ़ी : (एक दिल ही था ग़मगुसार अपना
मेहरबां, खास राज़दार अपना ) – २
गैर का क्यों इसे बना बैठे
आशा : (गैर भी तो कोई हसीं होगा
दिल यूँ ही दे दिया नहीं होगा ) – २
देख कर कुछ तो दिल लगा बैठे
दो घड़ी वो जो पास आ बैठे
हम जमाने से दूर जा बैठे
Only about 15 of Madhubala’s over 70 movies were box-office hits; she wasn’t very selective about her roles. However, Bharat Bhushan was certainly more successful. Nevertheless, such was her appeal that she is remembered more than her. She didn’t receive a single Filmfare Award though she was nominated for Best Actress Award for her role as Anarkali in 1960 K Asif magnum opus Mughal-e-Azam.
She has certainly left a mark on this role. The lateness of the night is clearly visible in her eyes.
Rajinder Krishan and Madan Mohan made a very good pair and gave us really memorable songs especially those sung by Lata Mangeshkar. Here too their magic is pravalent in abundance.
The song belongs to that era when it was the done thing to make Hindi movies’ names in English such as Half Ticket, Howrah Bridge, China Town, Mr and Mrs 55, Leader, Blackmail, An Evening in Paris, Jewel Thief and Naughty Boy. The best part was that all of them had good songs.
Philosophy should be for the great thinkers,
Socrates, Plato, Tagore, Vivekananda and their kind;
We should be content in wearing blinkers,
And not tinker with matters of the mind.
We have perfected our responses on the net,
To ‘Like’, ’emojis’ (depicting emotions) and ‘Comment’;
We can’t be expected to think, fume and fret,
About everything that is, on the net, sent.
Life is as simple as IPL cricket match,
Over which time can be justifiably dissipated.
But, certainly, we can’t open our mind’s hatch,
To the product of a mind that’s constipated.
In any case, who can reason about death and life,
Subjects that are beyond most of us?
If in a lifetime one can understand one’s wife,
That itself would take away most of our fuss.
You should stick to ‘Humour’, Ravi, my dear,
That, we acknowledge, is your core strength.
But, delving in Philosophy, is something, we fear,
Should never be attempted by you at length.
Look at me, how simple I have made my life,
I enjoy my life, to the hilt, as it comes;
No ‘negative thoughts’, no worry, no strife,
I totally leave philosophy to the bums.
All of us are born free,
They would like us to believe,
But as soon as we’d hear and see,
They send our freedom on leave.
The first to make us enslaved,
Is memory with which we are born,
Generations of data is engraved,
Love, Fear, Amity, Jealousy and Scorn.
Then we have our parents,
With own and embedded ideas in mind,
They think they’re God’s only agents,
To teach us things of every kind.
Good and Bad is thus imprinted,
With each of their instructions,
You do exactly how they hinted,
Or gave you specific directions.
Already a puppet, you go to school,
To lose more freedom to knowledge of past,
They control you by the Book of the Rule,
And you thought you’d become an iconoclast.
And then you find a job with salary,
Your being bonded is now complete;
Your boss, at your expense, plays to gallery,
And you realise what poison is another man’s meat.
And if there is still some freedom left,
It is time for you to tie the nuptial knot;
You are finally, of all independence, bereft,
That, on being born, you had, from God, got.
And I haven’t talked about fads and habits,
That imprison you in their tight grip.
You hop from one to other like rabbits,
As if you are on a controlled trip.
The society and government keep you on leash,
Not ever wanting you to fall off the line,
There is no way you can carve an independent niche,
Unless you suddenly get powers divine.
Of particular mention is the bureaucracy,
That controls you from birth to death certificate.
It doesn’t matter if you live in democracy,
Rules and regulations make you suffocate.
There is, thus, only one way to redeem your freedom,
It is to happily embrace the messenger of Death;
And get back to Heaven’s Kingdom,
On Earth you are enslaved to your last breath.
Gone are the days when you could idly sit,
And gaze at the clouds changing shapes in the sky,
With intruders you didn’t have to match your wit,
You could let the time, at its own pace, fly.
And then came Internet, a great way to connect,
You lost your privacy, you are never alone.
You could link with people direct or indirect,
They’re there with you with just a click on the phone.
Together with this good, came a great evil,
Making you a puppet much against your choice,
All Applications, Service Providers turned into devil,
Against their barrage, you simply lost your voice.
“Select this”, “Click this” “To proceed further” they dictate,
They constantly vie for your time, money and attention,
You are outnumbered since they’re a corporate,
It is a nuisance and irritation of highest dimension.
They drown you in ads, queries, calls and offers,
Even those like cable tv that you pay in advance,
At your behest they strive to fill their coffers,
You don’t realise you have even lost life’s romance.
Privacy bills, DND etc are not taking us anywhere,
Laws in India never, to common man, provided relief,
A mass movement is required to be there,
In our Right to Privacy, to strengthen the belief.
We don’t want to spend hours every day,
To delete unwanted calls, ads, chats and many a mail,
We don’t want to be contacted even by those we pay,
With offers about making life better if we avail.
Else, if we continue being puppets in remote,
Of all these people and vested interests,
We would be herded like sheep and goats,
Or birds uprooted from their own nests.
Let’s insist with all applications, services and utilities
That they, not us, are constantly on call,
That we are the ones paying for the facilities,
Whilst, at our time and money’s expense, they have a ball.
For ten minutes after you awaken,
Close your eyes and thank God;
Let they not be for granted taken,
The endless bounties of the Lord.
He gave to us so many things free,
Without asking for anything in return;
Ears to hear and eyes to see,
Our life, air, water, moon and the sun.
Next, thank your family and friends,
Without whom life won’t be the same;
If you hurt anyone, resolve to make amends,
Wish them health, success and fame.
Next five minutes, on yourself, devote,
Admire the person you’ve become;
How kind and loving you are, just note,
Happy, healthy, fair and awesome.
Then think of all those in distress,
Not as well placed as you are;
Pray that God in his Goodness,
Would take their worries and anxieties far.
Now open your eyes and look at the day,
Let its freshness and beauty dawn on you;
Before ‘Good Morning’ anyone, to you, can say,
You have aptly greeted a day that’s new.
I am sure if you have done the above,
You have given your day an ideal start;
It would be a day full of joys and love,
Like a joyous dream close to your heart.
And lo, it takes only a quarter of an hour,
For you to usher happiness in your life;
It comes to you like butterfly on a flower,
Saying bye bye to pains, sadness and strife.
These poems are for my close friend Maj Vishwas Mandloi’s delightful group of tipplers called i-peg. One has to raise a toast to the committed lot for their single-minded aim of spreading cheers!
Lets turn to the actress of the song: 
