This article is written by Sudhir, 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.
There is an interesting trivia about the logo of the New Theatres film company. Encircling the image of the elephant with a raised trunk, there are two phrases, one in English and one in Bangla. The English phrase in the upper half of the circle records the name of the company – ‘The New Theatres Limited’. The Bangla phrase in the lower half of the circle says – ‘Jivatang Jyotiretu Chhayam’ which translates to ‘Light Infusing Shadows with Life’. I have not seen many logos of some of the earlier production companies, but from the later decades, I do not recall a logo which carries any specific message. It is possible this is a unique trivia in the history of Indian cinema.
New Theatres, the company that put the Tollygunge name on the map of India, was formed in February 1931 by BN Sircar. The first film, a Bangla talkie “Dena Paona” was released in December of the same year. Over the next 24 years, New Theatres produced 150 odd films. Being one of the first starters in the era of talking films in India, New Theatres pioneered many a paradigms related to film production, technology and cinematic presentation. BN Sircar probably identified very early on, the very crucial nerve of a film – its music and songs. And for that aspect of production, there are three names that are associated with New Theatres that are now legends in the history of Indian cinema, namely RC Boral, Timir Baran and Pankaj Mullick. These three stalwarts of film music composition and orchestration were not only very capable composers, but were also instrumental in pioneering new methods and technologies for sound recording. In that context, one must also mention the name of Mukul Bose, the sound recordist at New Theatres, who worked very closely with this team of music directors.
New Theatres used to release their music on their own record labels. The music in the hands of these three experts, has been some of the best music that was ever created in Indian cinema. And the quality of recording is considered to be ahead of its peers from that era.
‘Oonch Neech’ is a film produced under this banner in 1948. The film is directed by Hem Chander, and the cast of actors includes Bharati Devi, Pal Mahendra, Sumitra Devi, Heeralal, Chandravati, Purnendu, Gopal Mehra, Ansari, Deendayal, Nirupama, Ramesh and Indira amongst others. These were the years after the second world war and the great famine in Bengal. Majority of the big name actors associated with New Theatres, had migrated to Bombay.
The lyrics are by Ramesh Pande. The music is composed by Pankaj Mullick. The singing voice is that of Utpala Sen. Here is a song of extreme despair and sadness. The words tell their own story, but it is the music and the rendition that creates that atmosphere of gloom and extreme melancholy. The protagonist expresses her decision never again to light a lamp in her window. The widow of her life is closed forever, and in her loneliness, she herself is the only person to listen to her own voice. The rendition by Utpala Sen will take you down into the dungeons of desolation, and compel a contemplative mood.
(Note: I have not been able to decipher words at two places and request other readers and friends to please help identify the correct words.)
Song-Main nahin deep jalaaungi (Oonch Neech)(1948) Singer-Utpala Sen, Lyrics-Ramesh Pandey, Md-Pankaj Mullick
Lyrics
band jeevan ki. . .
khdiki mein phir
main nahin deep jalaaungi
main nahin deep jalaaungi
band jeevan ki ee ee ee ee
raat ke sannaate mein bajegi
raat ke sannaate mein bajegi ee
yoon gham ki ee raagini ee
sunoongi baithh akeli main
is maun hriday ki vaani
(?) mein
tan man mein andhiyaari mein
bandini ban kho jaaungi
bandini ban kho jaaungi
phir main nahin deep jalaaungi
band jeevan ki ee ee
meri ee ee vednaa..aa..aa ko
is ghor andhere mein aen aen aen
chhup jaa.. ..aane do o o o
mere hirday ko o o
sitaa..ro..n on on on ke ae
us lok mein aen aen
jal jaaane do o
jahaan meri ee
jahaan meri ee ee
anjaan baansuri
pritthak sa(?) lehraaye
phir main sangeet lehriyon mein apna
apna yahaan praan basaaungi
main nahin deep jalaaungi
band jeevak ki ee ee ee
——————————————-
बंद जीवन की॰ ॰
खिड़की में फिर
मैं नहीं दीप जलाउंगी
मैं नहीं दीप जलाउंगी
बंद जीवन की॰ ॰
रात के सन्नाटे में बजेगी
रात के सन्नाटे में बजेगी
यूं ग़म की रागिनी
सुनुंगी बैठ अकेली मैं
ये मौन हृदय की वाणी
(?) में
तन मन(?) में अंधियारी में
बंदिनी बन खो जाऊँगी
बंदिनी बन खो जाऊँगी फिर
मैं नहीं दीप जलाउंगी
बंद जीवन की॰ ॰
मेरी॰॰ईss वेदना॰॰आss को॰॰ओss
इस घोर अंधेरे में
छुप जा॰॰आs॰॰ने दो॰॰ओss
मेरे हिरदय को॰॰ओss
सिता॰॰आ॰॰रोंss के॰॰एs
उस लोक में
जल जा॰॰आs॰॰ने दो॰॰ओss
जहां मेरी
जहां मेरी
अञ्जान बांसुरी
पृथक्क सा (?) लहराए
फिर मैं संगीत लहरियों में अपना
अपना यहाँ प्राण बसाऊँगी
मैं नहीं दीप जलाउंगी
बंद जीवन की॰ ॰ ॰
