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.
HFM Songs Statistics by Year – 3
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Year 1934
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“हर साल का अपना एक सिक्का होता है”
(Every year has its own identification, its own currency).
As we review the historical record of look at the early years of Indian Cinema, true to the expectations, these formative years were very eventful and very exciting. Any new art form, or a new concept, always attracts people who are the explorers, the adventurers – people who relish the excitements and risks of trying out the new. Thus these formative years are full of new milestones, new people, new landmarks. Their historical record makes for a very interesting read.
Everyone who has see the actor Chandrmohan (1905 – 1949) on the screen, will have a most significant memory about his screen presence. More than his impressive and forceful dialogue delivery, it is his intensely expressive eyes that capture the attention of the moviegoers, with the piercing gaze that seems to be looking directly at you, cutting through the screen and the ambient darkness. Chandramohan made his debut in this year – 1934, in the film ‘Amrit Manthan’ (1934), appearing in the role of Rajguru, accompanied by a star cast that includes Nalini Tarkhud, Shanta Apte, Suresh Babu, V Maane, Buwaa Sb and others. The film was produced and directed by V Shantaram under banner of Prabhat Film Company, that had by now moved from its original location in Kolhapur, to Poona (now called Pune). A new filming technique was introduced first time in Indian cinema. The company imported special photographic lenses from Germany, which we are now familiar with by the name of zoom lenses. And so, for the first time, the moviegoers in India got the view and feel of the techniques of ‘close up’ and ‘zoom shots’. And the very first significant scene that was shot using this technique, was Chandramohan’s intense eyes – a shot that is a part of the opening sequence of the film. This film is currently available and can be viewed on YouTube here.
V Shantaram, one of the most important pioneers of Indian cinema, is one of the first producer/directors who made effort to establish the cinema as an art form with an identity of its own. For the first two decades, the cinema borrowed almost everything from the stage. The films were almost a true replication of the drama that is presented on a stage, a medium that is limited both in space, as well as time. The medium of film gave it more space and variety of ambience. But the presentation was still like a play being enacted on stage. Through his works, V Shantaram was making continuous effort to make a standing for cinema as a distinct art form. From that perspective, ‘Amrit Manthan’ is a landmark film, as it is one of the very first few films that significantly departs from drama presentation towards narrating a coherent tale spread out in space and time. The use of close up shots was just like getting closer to the characters, or even getting inside their mind. A view of the close up shots of Chandramohan’s eyes in this film, was kind of the very first opportunity for the viewers to get so close to the character on the screen.
And yes, ‘Amrit Manthan’ was the film for which the term ‘Silver Jubilee’ was invented. It was the first film in Indian cinema to have an uninterrupted run of 25 weeks in Bombay.
Coming now to the number of films. When the talkie films hit the silver screens in 1931, even the film personality as notable as V Shantaram initially dismissed them as a passing fancy, and pronounced silent cinema as the more true art form. However, he was quick in retracting his stand and his company moved to talkie films in 1932, with their first Marathi talkie production ‘Ayodyache Raja’. The fortunes of silent films continued to dwindle rapidly. But still, it is on record that eight silent films were produced in this year.
The economics of this industry was now rapidly attracting more financiers. Looking at the numbers – 1932 saw a production of 24 talking films. In 1933, this number jumped to 61. And in 1934, this number crossed its century milestone for the first time – 121 films came out of the major film centers i.e. Bombay and Calcutta. The studios were becoming assembly line factories with the likes of Maadan Theatres (Calcutta), New Theatres (Calcutta), Wadia Movietone (Bombay) and Ranjeet Movietone (Bombay), churning out anywhere from 3-4 to 7-8 films a year. The shooting and production work of the film ‘Baag e Misr’ (1934) was completed in a mere 19 days, a record of sorts for that era.
It is important to note that of the 121 films produced in this year, only two films have survived and are available in public domain – ‘Amrit Manthan’ from Prabhat Studios, and ‘Chandidas’ from New Theatres.
Besides ‘Amrit Manthan’, two other landmark films need special mention here. Munshi Premchand, the eminent novelist and short story writer of Urdu and Hindi, was associated with the Bombay film industry for a brief period. Two of the films produced this year, were based his stories. ‘Mill’ (also titled in Hindi as ‘Mazdoor’), was the only film on Hindi screen for which Munshi Premchand wrote the story, the screenplay and dialogues. He also played a short cameo in the film, his only appearance ever on the silver screen. (The second movie, ‘Seva Sadan’, was based on a novel of the same name that he had written earlier). The lead actors in ‘Mill’ were SB Nayampalli and Bibbo. It was probably the first film that depicted the struggle of the working class against the rich imperialists. For its time, the film generated quite a bit of controversy in the media and amongst the people. In certain states, it was even banned by the local British governments. For this reason, it proved to be a commercial flop, and its production banner, Ajanta Movietone, became bankrupt, not to be heard of again.
[Note: Regarding the second film, ‘Sevasadan’, Munshi ji was very disappointed with the film version. Disillusioned as a result of these two experiences, Munshi decided to bid goodbye to the film industry, never to return. Other later films associated with his name are based on his earlier written works – ‘Heera Moti’ (1959), ‘Godaan’ (1963), ‘Gaban’ (1966), ‘Shatranj Ke Khiladi’ (1977, directed by Satyajit Ray), ‘Oka Oori Katha’ (1977, in Telegu, directed by Mrinal Sen), ‘Sadgati’ (1981, in Bangla, directed by Satyajit Ray.]
The second landmark film of 1934 is ‘Seeta’. Directed by Debaki Bose for the production banner of East India Film Company, Calcutta, the film’s lead actors are Durga Khote and Prithviraj Kapoor, with music by KC Dey. This film credit to fame is that this is the first film from India that participated in an international film festival. This film was sent to the second Venice International Film Festival, where is was recognized with an Honorary Diploma award, thus becoming the first Indian film to be recognized at the international level, and Debaki Bose became the first director to win an international award.
From the house of New Theatres came three very notable films this year. The first is the timeless classic ‘Chandidas’. With the success of ‘Yahudi Ki Ladki’ (1933) behind him, ‘Chandidas’ helped to firmly establish KL Saigal Sb as the star singer-actor of 1930s. The second film, ‘Rooplekha’ had KL Saigal, Pahadi Sanyal and Ratanbai as lead actors. Saigal Sb played the role of Emperor Ashok. This film carries the notable credit of being the first film to use the ‘flashback’ technique to tell the story. The third film, ‘Daaku Mansoor’, is based on the folk tale of a brave tribal girl and a kind hearted bandit. The film was branded as communal, and was banned from exhibition, which resulted in heavy losses for New Theatres.
A significant success this year was the film ‘Indira, MA’ from Imperial Movietone. As we look back into the records, Imperial Movietone had produced ‘Indira, BA’, a silent film, in 1927. So by the time 1934 came around, ‘Indira’ had acquired post graduate qualifications. And had started to talk. :)
Other significant firsts that make 1934 as an important year in film history.
Actor Motilal made a very successful debut this year, with his first film ‘Shehar Ka Jaadu’, produced by Saagar Movietone.
Another surprise and lesser known debut is a personality that we are more familiar in later years as a music director. Jaidev, the famed composer of ‘Hum Dono’ (1961) and ‘Mujhe Jeene Do’ (1963), made his debut as an actor, at the age of 15 years, in the role of Naarad Muni in the Wadia Movietone production ‘Vaaman Avtaar’.
The banner of Prakash Pictures, promoted by Vijay Bhatt and Shankar Bhatt, was established in this year. Their first production was the film ‘Actress’, with Miss Panna, Kashinath and Miss Alaknanda in lead roles.
Baburao Patel, later to become famous as the incisive and controversial editor-publisher of ‘Film India’, set up his production company – Gandharva Movietone. Earlier associated with production of a number of Marathi silent films, the first film produced under this banner was ‘Maharani’.
The tale of an enterprising and wise lady, who saves a large joint family from disintegration, originally told on the silent screen as ‘Gunsundari’ (1927), was remade in 1934 as a talkie film with the same title. The lead roles were played by Gauhar and E Billimoria. Both the silent and the talkie versions were produced and directed by Chandulal Shah for Ranjeet Movietone. This film belongs to the category of trendsetter movies. This seminal tale of a young lady saving the brittle relationships in a joint family, has be retold many times over the subsequent decades.
1934 also turns out to be a significant debut year for the cinema in South. Srinivas Cinetone was established as the first studio in Madras, and their first production, ‘Srinivas Kalyanam’ was released this year. This year also saw the release of the first Kannada film, ‘Dhruv Kumar’.
In other significant firsts, RC Boral produced the first animation film in India – ‘On A Moonlit Night’. Following which, Prabhat Studios went on to produce the first cartoon film, ’Jambu Kaka’ (Jambu, the Fox).
Coming now to the song statistics for the year. The 121 films released this year carried a whopping 1300 plus songs. Based on available data in Geet Kosh, 41 music directors had worked to create these 1300+ songs. This year saw the debut of music director Ghulam Haider, who composed music for the film ‘Thief of Iraaque’ as his first one.
Of the 1300 songs that were recorded live – playback technology was still one year away – the maximum number of songs that is available from records and surviving films, is only 48, from 14 films. A woefully small number, which is just about 3.6% of the total. The rest of this year’s treasure is lost, probably forever.
I base these number on the information provided by Shri Girdharilal ji Vishwakarma of Jodhpur, and Zafar Bhai of Delhi, both being serious collectors of Hindi film music, plus the information available in the volume 1 of the Geet Kosh.
For today’s post, I am presenting a rare song from a film from 1934 as yet unrepresented on this blog. ‘Bhakt Prahlad’ is a film from the banner of Saraswati Cinetone of Poona (now Pune), directed by KP Bhave. The story is adapted from the traditional scriptures, by MG Rangnekar, and the screenplay is written by KP Bhave. The main cast of actors is led by Krishnakant Saalvi. Others in the list are Ratnaprabha, Shakuntala, Ved Pathak, Rama Pathak, Varne, Javdekar, Bhosle and Vasant Pehalwan.
[Note: Following additional information provided by our dear Arun ji Deshmukh.]
The main role of the young Bhakt Prahlad was done by Mohan Karve, a child artiste, whose name is not mentioned in HFGK. This information is from “Marathi Chitrapat Sangeetkar Kosh”, from the chapter on Anna Saheb Mainkar. This child artist later on became a well known singer, Pt. Mohanrao Karve, in Maharashtra.
The film was produced simultaneously in Hindi and Gujarati languages, with the same title. There are 14 songs in this film, as listed in the Geet Kosh. The name of the songwriter is not identified. The music for these 14 songs is composed by Anna Saheb Mainkar.
Anna Saheb Mainkar is one of the category of pioneer music directors, native to Maharashtra, who played an influential role in shaping the music of the talkie films in the first decade. Anna Saheb was born in 1904 in the village of Sangli near Pune. His father was a lawyer, but he recognized the interest and the talent of this young child, and encouraged his training in music by Abdul Karim Khan and Allahdia Khan. As a young man, Anna Saheb started to perform on stage. He went to Lucknow for a brief stint, to learn more of Hindustani Classical from Jamaaludin Baksh. He also started to teach music to the younger generation of the affluent families of Lucknow.
After this stay in Lucknow, he returned to Bombay. With his fame preceding him, HMV soon contracted with him and he made many recordings for them. Getting associated with the film industry was only the natural next step for him. He made his debut in Hindi films with the 1933 prodcution ‘Awaara Shehzada’, followed in 1934 with ‘Bhakt Prahlad’ and ‘Bhedi Rajkumar’. Pankaj Raag, in this book ‘Dhunon Ki Yatra’ has devoted a full page on him, listing many of his more successful and popular composition from his career. In his late thirties, Anna Saheb started losing health. In 1945, at a very young age of 41, he passed away.
[Note: Following additional information provided by our dear Arun ji Deshmukh.]
Some additional info on Anna Saheb Mainkar.
His father was an advocate. Looking at his interest in music, the father gifted him an organ. After matriculation, Anna Saheb started working on stage. He was proficient in playing harmonium, sitar, sarangi, sarod, been and dilruba. He first gave music in 1932 to a Marathi film. Ardeshir Irani called him to compose songs for “Awara Shahzada” (1933) directed by Master Vithal. (Shahu Modak performed a double role in this film; the first double role in talkie films in India)
Anna Saheb composed music for a Telugu film “Dharmapatni”, along with Timir Baran.
He was a bachelor. He died of Diabetes, in 1945.
As per the information available in the Geet Kosh, four songs of this film were released on gramophone records. The song I present today is in the voice of Ratnaprabha, and in all likelihood, it must have been picturized on herself. Now tune in to the link below, and listen to this very rare melody from more than eight decades ago – marvel and enjoy.
[Note: I have referred to the following resources for compiling this article.
‘Hindi Cinema – Sadi Ka Safar’ (Hindi Cinema – Journey of a Hundred Years); written by Shri Anil Bhargav
‘A Year In Hindi Movies – 1934’; written by Shri Surjeet Singh, and available on his web page here
‘Seventy Five Years of Indian Cinema’; by Shri Feroze Rangoonwala
Information on films ‘Mill’ and ‘Seeta’ from the web pages of Film Heritage Foundation, established by Shivendra Singh Dungarpur.
‘Dhunon Ki Yatra’; written by Shri Pankaj Raag
Information on songs availability, supplied by Shri Girdhari Lal ji Vshwakarma, (Jodhpur) and Zafar Bhai (Delhi).
And last, but not the least – Hindi Film Geet Kosh Vol. 1 (1931-1940); compiled and annotated by Shri Harmandir Singh ‘Hamraaz’
I duly and gratefully acknowledge the immense contribution by the above listed personalities towards original research, documentation and preservation of information and artifacts related to the early history of Indian Cinema.]
Song – Prabhu Laaj Bhakton Ki Raakhe Sadaa (Bhakt Prahlad) Singer – Ratnaprabha, Lyrics – [*Unattributed], MD – Anna Sahab Mainkar
Lyrics
prabhu laaj bhakton ki raakhe sadaa
prabhu laaj bhakton ki raakhe sadaa
prabhu laaj bhakton ki raakhe sadaa
hua dhanya saubhagya jeevan hamaara
hua dhanya saubhagya jeevan hamaara
prabhu laaj bhakton ki raakhe sadaa
prabhu laaj bhakton ki raakhe sadaa
rahega na koi yahaan doosra
rahega na koi yahaan doosra
aaaa aaaaa aaaaaa
aaaaaa aaaaaa aaaaaa
aaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
aaaaaa aaaaa aaa aaaa
rahega na koi yahaan doosra
amar naam jag mein prabhu ji tumhaara
amar naam jag mein prabhu ji tumhaara
prabhu laaj bhakton ki raakhe sadaa
prabhu laaj bhakton ki raakhe sadaa
rahega na koi yahaan doosra
rahega na koi yahaan doosra
amar naam jag mein prabhu ji tumhaara
prabhu laaj bhakton ki raakhe sadaa
karun jaan balihaar tum pe piya
karun jaan balihaar tum pe piya
aaaa aaaaa aaaaaa
aaaaaa aaaaaa aaaaaa
aaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
aaaaaa aaaaa aaa aaaa
karun jaan balihaar tum pe piya
kartaar jagdish data vidhaata
kartaar jagdish data vidhaata
prabhu laaj bhakton ki raakhe sadaa
prabhu laaj bhakton ki raakhe sadaa. . .
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Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
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प्रभु लाज भक्तों की राखे सदा
प्रभु लाज भक्तों की राखे सदा
प्रभु लाज भक्तों की राखे सदा
हुआ धन्य सौभाग्य जीवन हमारा
हुआ धन्य सौभाग्य जीवन हमारा
प्रभु लाज भक्तों की राखे सदा
प्रभु लाज भक्तों की राखे सदा
रहेगा ना कोई यहाँ दूसरा
रहेगा ना कोई यहाँ दूसरा
आ आ आ
आ आ आ
आ आ
आ आ आ आ
रहेगा ना कोई यहाँ दूसरा
अमर नाम जग में प्रभु जी तुम्हारा
अमर नाम जग में प्रभु जी तुम्हारा
प्रभु लाज भक्तों की राखे सदा
प्रभु लाज भक्तों की राखे सदा
रहेगा ना कोई यहाँ दूसरा
रहेगा ना कोई यहाँ दूसरा
अमर नाम जग में प्रभु जी तुम्हारा
प्रभु लाज भक्तों की राखे सदा
करूँ जान बलिहार तुम पे पिया
करूँ जान बलिहार तुम पे पिया
आ आ आ
आ आ आ
आ आ
आ आ आ आ
करूँ जान बलिहार तुम पे पिया
करतार जगदीश दाता विधाता
करतार जगदीश दाता विधाता
प्रभु लाज भक्तों की राखे सदा
प्रभु लाज भक्तों की राखे सदा
