Music & Arts in erstwhile Hyderabad - Deccan

Gulfarosh Hussain Bros Qawwal

2012-01-04T14:56:00.000-08:00

The inseparable Brothers who met the Lagendary KL Saigal .

During my childhood days my father often took me for long walks . During those days standing in front of my home I was able to see the main road two furlongs away and notice the traffic . I was able to see my father returning home from a distance . There were very few houses and everything was an an open ground . Getting on to the main road walking hand in hand with my father was a great pleasure for me . The Goshamahal High School was just opposite to the main road . Taking a right turn , there was a shop chalia ghar and the shopkeeper used to sell everything needed for a betal leaf lover , many varieties of betal nuts , cloves , cardamom , kathha ( Catechu ) and so on . He also had a stock of dry fruits . Betal chewing was one of the favourite pastimes in those days and almost every home had a paandaan . My parents were great lovers of the betal leaf with zarda and qiwam and my father used to buy his needs from him . There were a number of zarda ( scented tobacco ) shops in the city . the famous being Gulbahar & Co: and later came the Shamim &co : A hundred yards away was the shop of Hussain Bros - flower merchants .
The shop was almost opposite to Siddianbar Bazar Mosque . Mohammad Hussain and Ahmed Hussain were two brothers who moved over to the city from Bidar Sharief in the mid 1920's in search of better living . They both were great lovers of music .

They both had a good voice and had good knowledge of playing the harmonium . They were good at singing ghazals , qawwalis , naat's and marcia . It was my father's eldest brother and a carpenter friend who helped them in establishing the flower shop in 1927 . I have seen many a times my father stopped by their shop and the Hussain Bros were very happy to greet and speak to him , make him sit and at times offer some tea from the nearby hotel . One very notable thing with them was singing all the time while making garlands , guldastas and packing flowers for the customers .

Soon their business thrived , the rich and the poor visited the shop for small and big needs according to the necessity . They started receiving big orders from the Nawab's and the Hussain Bros were kind enough to deliver the flowers of choice to their havelis . The passion of singing was so great that along with the floral deliveries they used to carry their harmonium and sing before the inmates . They had prior information about the function which was to be held and accordingly they would sing . They had songs in their collection for all occasions - Salgirahs ( Birthdays ) , Shaadi ( Weddings ) , Sagai ( Engagements ) , and so on . During the fasting days of Ramzan they would sing naat's ( Devotional songs ) during the nights .

Their popularity grew fast and the rich and the elite started inviting them for different parties for the singing sessions . The Hussain Bros were very humble , they did not demand any money for the singing and usually they took whatever had been offered to them . They were served good food prepared for the guests . They were happy and contended with whatever had been given to them . On one occasion a Nawab saheb had ordered his munshi that they be presented with tweed sherwani's and pajama kurtas tailored by Nawab saheb's personal tailor .

My father told me that during the days of Silent films they were invited by the theatre owners to entertain the public . There were only 6 theaters in Hyderabad in those days , the numbers increased after the talkie films were introduced . They would sing before the commencement of the show and were paid a handsome reward as the public loved their singing . Mr Roshan Ali and Janab MA Rauf of Deccan Radio persuaded them for singing naaat's and qawwalis . They had given several performances in the late 1920's for the Deccan Radio . The listeners had great admiration for their singing .

I recall my father telling me that in the mid twenties there were only a hand full of automobiles owned by the very rich Nawab's and the commissioner of police ordered that the traffic police should whistle whenever they see a car passing by so that the next policeman standing a furlong away on the street would see it passes safe who in turn will whistle again to alert the next policeman . A very funny thing to imagine in today's life . Occasionally a car passed on the road where the Hussain Bros shop was located . Most rich customers came in Buggies , Tongas ( Horse drawn carriages ) .

When I was around five I started going round the road walking on the side carefully . One day I stopped by the Hussain Bros shop . They spoke to me and asked if everything was alright at home . After that occasionally I used to visit them .

. As I grew up they became closer to me and I used to sit and spend sometime with them in their shop during my leisure . I noticed some photographs framed and kept in a cornor . On enquiring they told me that it was the photograph of KL Saigal the famous actor and singer . There was another photo in which the Hussain Bros were standing alongwith KL Saigal . This really surprised me .

I later learnt thru my father that both the brothers were the greatest fans of KL Saigal . Mr Chakrabarti was a colleague of my father . He was staying a furlong away from our house . His father was an employee of New Theaters Calcutta . My father told the Hussain Bros that Mr Chakrabarti can help them in meeting KL Saigal . Both the brothers had a great desire to meet him and made him listen some of his ghazals in their voices but , somehow making a long trip to Calcutta was a time consuming , painful and expensive thing as they cannot afford to close their business for such a long time .

When they came to know that KL Saigal moved over to Bombay they planned their move . One of their customer was a clothier who traveled to Bombay frequently and was aware of the city and it’s surroundings . They took his help and traveled to Bombay , but meeting their favourite hero was not an easy thing . They were constantly driven away by the guards at the Ranjit studios . Someone working in the studio informed him that Saigal would leave in the evening after the shooting . He also gave the description of his car and number etc . The brothers waited for the car to pass the gate and both of them stood before the car not allowing the driver to move the car forward . Saigal sahib peeped in from the car and asked them to come nearer to him . Both the brothers anxiously approached him , politely asked their pardon for stopping him and expressed the purpose of the visit . KL Saigal was moved at their fine talk and gave them his address and asked them to meet the next morning .

The next day both the brothers along with their harmonium landed at his place much ahead of the scheduled time . Saigal Saheb peeped thru the window , came down , greeted and were taken inside . He asked them to sit on the sofa but the brothers squat down on the carpet and commenced singing one ghazal after another . Saigal sahib was very much moved on hearing their entire story and asked them as to where they were staying and how long they have been in Bombay . He made them eat some breakfast and served tea with his own hands . When they requested to have a photograph taken along with him he obliged with out hesitation . He got his camera from inside his room and asked his driver to click . He carefully took down their address for mailing the photographs . He gave them five hundred rupees ( BG ) which is equal to over 580 rupees of ( OS ) Osmania Sikka or Hyderabad currency to cover the expenses of travel etc . They were overjoyed at his noble gesture and their happiness multiplied many fold when they received the envelope containing their photograph along with a small letter in his own handwriting in Urdu which they framed it carefully .

When the news of KL Saigal’s death reached Hyderabad they were terribly moved . They prepared a nice garland of the finest roses they had and decorated his photo . That day evening they rendered many songs and ghazals of Saigal . I along with my father were there in the gathering . There were many memorial programs on KL Saigal , one was at the Reddy Hotel near Muralidhar Bagh . ( A separate article will be covered titled ' Record Changer at Reddy Hotel '

In summer of 1949 , one afternoon when both the brothers sat for having the food the younger one suddenly collapsed and died . The shop keepers around assembled and were all grief stricken . The loss of his brother was something unbearable for the elder Hussain . They both were inseparable . His shop remained closed for three days and on the fourth day the shop keepers of that area were shocked to know that Mohammad Hussain the elder one passed away last night in sleep . He was buried next to his brother’s grave .

The death of both the brothers in quick succession was very painful for my father and his elder brother , for both of them they were real good friends . After few days the shop was taken over by another man . The elder Hussain had a son and every one hoped someday he will take up the business .

Radio Hyderabad - This day 70 years ago

2011-12-31T05:24:00.000-08:00

Program

NasharGah Hyderabad

December 31 , 1941 Iswi ( CE / AD ) ChaharShunba 28 Bahman 1351 Fasli

( Wednesday )

Sa'at Shaam

5 - 30 - Khayal , Sudh Sarang

5 - 50 - Ghazal , ' teri khushi se agar gham men bhi khushi na hui ( Jigar )

6 - 00 Aam pasand Mouseqi

6 - 20 Marathi Pad aur Bhajan

6 - 40 Ghazal - Ishq mujhko nahin wahshat hi sahi ( Ghalib )

Ghazal Mere haal par bebasi ro rahi hai

7 - 7 30 Bachon ka program

7 30 Khatm Saal - Taqreer

7 45 Khayal Maalkouns

Sa'at Shab

8 - - Urdu men khabren

8 - 25 Angrezi men khabren

8 - 50 Aam pasand mouseqi

9 - 10 Karnataki Anand Bhairavi

10 Duae Salamati .

Memoirs - Dance songs of Miss Indira Bai -

2011-12-21T15:53:00.000-08:00

Memoirs of Narsappa & Sharada Bai of Gulbarga House
( A seperate article will be covered about them )

All those music lovers who heard the lovely dance songs of Miss Indira Bai on 78 rpm discs knew well how melodious was her voice . She was a classic beauty a mix of Indo-Persian blood . Many claimed her to be from Maharashtra , some claimed her to be from Delhi , Lucknow and even Burma , but her roots in Deccan area was known to many persons who heard her live performances .

I heard the Dance songs of Indira Bai ( Indira Bai ke Naach gaaney ) for the first time from the collection of Mr Narsappa who used to reside near my house in the year 1958 . His wife Sharada Bai was an ace ladies tailor specailised in dresses for the courtesans of that era . She narrated the story of Indira Bai to me .

Tulja Bai a classic beauty of Sholapur migrated to Hyderabadin late 1890's and settled down nearIbrahim Bagh . She was from a Brahmin family but driven by her circumstancesshe took up singing as a profession . She was a very good singer ofsemi-classical music and ghazals . Most of her admirers were army personnelfrom the Golconda area . One day she came in contact with a rich Persianbusinessman by name Shirazi who was visiting Hyderabad . Shirazi , a bachelorwas attracted by the beauty of the courtesan . They both fell in love and shemoved over with him to Delhi and lived with him for nearly fifteen years .Indira Bai was their product of love , an Indo-Persian beauty tall andproportionately built , of very fair complexion and well defined features . Tulja Bai and her daughter Indira moved along with Shirazi on his business trips and stayed in many cities . Shirazi decided to return back to Iran and so parted with Tulja Bai afterpaying her a handsome amount to carry on her livelihood .

Tulja Bai returnedback to Hyderabad with her daughter . Indira Bai was trained in classical and semi-classical music by Ustad Ramzan Khan and Ustad Hafeez Khan . She also received dancing classes from Feroza Jan a noted dancer . .She was good at Persian , Urdu , Hindi , Marathi songs and ghazals . When she grew up she instantly gainedpopularity . She was the most sought after courtesan of the1930's for the rich and affluent .

Indira Baicame in contact with a big time contractor from Aurangabad who promised notonly to marry her but also take care ofher mother . He was a good person and kept his word . He married her in 1934 in thecompany of his friends and relatives and took care of her and her mother . She became a good house wife and bid farewellto singing .

Such cases like Indira Bai are very rare says Sharada Bai .Most of the courtesans had lived a great life in their youth but had a veryrough time in their old age and died in utter poverty .
Sharada Bai passed away in 1961 . On receiving the news of her death Indira Bai reached Hyderabad and attended all her ceremonies . I had the opportunity to see this dazzling beauty who was in her fifties . She was a very sophisticated lady , soft spoken . She spoke to me in both English and Urdu . Her Urdu was impeccable . According to her some of her dance songs were recorded in live performances .

Nostalgia - Dukh ke ab din beetat naahi

2011-12-17T11:11:00.000-08:00

Memoirs of Shri Arvind Reddy of Hyderabad

During my visit to Hyderabad in October 2006 I had the occasion of meeting Mr Arvind Reddy at a dinner party . Do you know that the song ' dukh ke ab din beetat nahin ' is the saddest song ever recorded . I knew very well that Mr Reddy had a very fine taste for Hindi film music but , this sudden question to me was of a little surprise . I told him as a child when I first heard the song I did not like it but , as I grew older I started feeling the depth of pain which made me hum every time.I ran into rough times . Mr Reddy smiled but did not reply . I was to leave for US the next day and had little time to speak further to Mr Reddy .

Five years later in Nov 2011 I happened to meet Mr Reddy again at a function at Hyderabad . I approached him and reminded him about our inconclusive discussion about the song ' dukh ke ab din beetat nahi ' . He smiled again and told me that when the movie Devdas was released in 1935 the saddest song touched the hearts of music lovers . All the songs of the movie were so popular that the large crowds watched the movie a dozen times . Timir Baran's music was appreciated by one and all . The use of Sarod for the first time in the orchestra in the song ' balam aao baso more man men ' was so great and coincided withe steps of Jamuna Devi who played the role of Parvati . The great songs of KC De and Pahari Sanyal not to forget the song by Rajkumari Banaraswali and the song by the cart driver , but , remember ' dukh ke ' was unbeatable .

He continued , eight years later the impact of the song ' dukh ke ' was also felt in the west . When the Germans were loosing the war in 1943 and the people were going through rough times the song was played every day from Radio Berlin . As a young college student I used to tune to Radio Berlin to hear the news in English and there goes the song for full length after the news . How did the Germans came to know about the sad song full of emotion ? It is amazing says Mr Reddy .
Mr Reddy was working for a bank in Calcutta during 1950 - 53 . One day while waiting for the tram one of his Bengali friend asked him you have lot of admiration for Timir Baran , do you wish to see him ?

On saying Yes , his friend pointed him to a person standing in the Que and said He is Timir Baran . The musician got into the same tram and got down at a station . He was all for himself moving his head and hand in a funny way , probably he as composing for some song / dance music .

He also spoke at length on RC Boral the great musician of New theaters . He told me that when the Calcutta radio station was opened in the mid 1920's RC Boral composed many instrumental pieces of music which were used during the opening / closing and as signature tunes for some of the programs . They were heard for a couple of decades . Every composition of him was a master piece .

Punkaj Mullik deserves a special mention he says . While Boral and Baran were great composers Mullik has the honor of being a singer and an actor apart from a music director . He is triple talented .

He has lot of regard for Kidar Sharma both as a lyricist and a director . He spoke at length about his movie Chitralekha which was released in 1941 . Ustad Jhande Khan Saheb was a great musician he says . The movie had two music directors . Ustad Jhande Khan and Gyani . Khan Saheb composed all the songs and wrote the background score . He recorded 4-5 songs and the rest were recorded by AS Gyani as per the instructions of Ustad Jhande Khan Saheb who was in a hurry to go to his native place . Mr Reddy remembers many of the dialogues from the movie Chitralekha which were penned by Kidar Sharma .

He has great love for his other movies Jogan for it's lovely music and also Bawre Nain .

He is not averse to the songs of KL Saigal from the Bombay movies . He says some of his songs from Surdas , Tansen and Shahjehan are as good as songs from NT Movies .
Mr Arvind Reddy is now 85 . He still gets invitation from Saigal fans to participate for program on Saigal day celeberations Jan 18th every year .

I met Mr Arvind Reddy for the first time in 1994 during his son's marriage and later in 2001 and 2006 .
He still speaks of his younger days playing songs on Gerard auto record changer which he proudly owned .
During our recent two meetings he presented me a set of 5 casettes of KL Saigal which I did not accept as I no longer listen to songs on casettes . I wish him a long and healthy life for the great old man of music . .

Film Pukar - 1939 . A bird's eye view .

2011-09-07T17:51:00.000-07:00

              A translation of an article in Urdu by Naseeruddin Hashmi in Movieland - 1940

In one of my article “ What type of movies do we need “ which was published in “ Movieland “ I had emphasized on the need for historical movies .
Movies should be made on lives and achievements of our Emperors so that our youngsters can learn about them and walk on the footsteps of their ancestors and also know that over the centuries Hindus and Muslims lived together in harmony like brothers and served the country . Our rulers were very keen on justice and were also generous . It was also made clear in that article that the justice of Emperor Jahangir was a historical reality . The punishment awarded to his own beloved wife Nurjehan whom he loved with heart and soul on the charges of killing is not and ordinary event . Was there any movie made to exhibit such achievements of Jahangir ?

It was a great pleasure watching the movie Pukar . It cannot be said that the film was made after reading my article . A collection of my own thoughts have been presented in the movie and to feel happy about it is not unreasonable . If I express my thoughts now it will not be unsuitable and do keep in mind that I am not a critic .

1.The language plays an important role in a movie but it appears that our Indian film companies are firmly determined to use Hindi . It is hardly to find any movie today which is not full of Hindi words and even the commonly used Urdu words are being replaced by Sanskrit words . But , the language of Pukar is Urdu and simple Urdu which is spoken and understood from east to west and north to south of our country . There are no such words in Pukar which is not understood even by ten percent of our population . It is true that Pukar had made use of Hindi words but as per the situation it was necessary . It can also be said that if the Hindi words were not used then the movie would not be called as presenting the real facts because , the Hindi words used in were spoken by the Rajput’s . In any case , as far as the language is concerned it can be said with certainty that the language of the film is Urdu .

2. After language the next thing to be considered is about presenting the civilization , customs and the society of that period .  In one of the scenes it was noticed that Mangal Singh's wife was wearing a dress that had some part of the top open . There is no doubt that such a dress was definitely in vogue at the time, where some part of the top remained bare. For films in general, and for historical films in particular, it is absolutely necessary that even the minute detail must be presented in a realistic manner .On this also it can be said that the movie featured the above facts in its true essence .

3. After this if we examine the acting roles of various actors and actresses . It is noticed that every actor and actress had played their roles very well , weather it was a big role or a small role every one had given a fitting performance . If I make a mention of a special individual it will not look awkward but it is best to avoid such things . There is nothing which can be pointed about a single actor or actress who did not play the role well and every one is worthy of congratulating .

4. While discussing about the film it becomes necessary to know about the plot on which the movie is based . Pukar is a historical movie . Any historical movie presenting a wrong plot can totally ruin the film . But the last scene in Pukar Emperor Jahangir while delivering his judgement offers his own life as a Qisas - is incorrect but a Little change in the movie has created a special event .
( Qisas is an Arabic word for " The Law of Equality in punishment " eye for en eye , tooth for a tooth )

5. It will be inconclusive if a mention is not made about the songs of the movie . Our films have become infamous for having a large number of un-necessary songs with out an occasion . This film neither has many songs nor they can be termed unmelodious .

6. The last thing is about the architecture , scenes and scenarios whether it is of royal palaces , big mansions of nobles or the houses of the poor , the gardens , the jungles and the barren lands etc were shown according to the period of the era and need a word of praise . There is nothing which can be said it doesn’t belong to the Mughal period . Any way these are few things which made the film a success and any one who had made a keen observation will notice them . There are few other things I wish to state which cannot be neglected .

A. The emotions and thoughts expressed in movie Pukar on many instances need a praise ; Mangal Singh’s mother had brought out her emotions and facial expressions very well both as a mother and a women ; when Jahangir comes to know that his beloved wife whom he loved so dearly was the murderess he keeps walking restlessly through out the night in deep thought ; the feelings of Jahangir while talking to Malika Nurjehan ; in a private meeting while addressing with Mangal Singh’s father etc . There are many such emotional occasions shown in the movie and the talent of enacting the roles which have highlighted the movie further .

B. In film Pukar even the minute details have been pictured precisely from which many conclusions could be drawn ; for example – it was well known when Jahangir used to sit in Durbar ( Royal Court ) Empress Nurjehan sitting behind him in Purdah ( behind the curtain ) used to place her hand on his back and sometimes used to tap tenderly on his shoulder . This incidence was also very well shown in Pukar , especially during the time of judgement of Mangal Singh when Jehangir was building up his anger and it was necessary for her to tell him that anger on such occasions might lead to mis- judgement .

C. There are various other very interesting scenes in Pukar which have created a lasting impression ; example – playing of chess ; dialogue between Empress Nurjehan and Emperor Jahangir “ Insaaf “ ( justice ) ; as a prisoner Empress Nurjehan taking a morsel of bread and curry ; The conduct and behavior of Hyder Khan during the arrest of Mangal Singh etc .

D . The scenes of war and fighting are very common in Indian movies which are often are uncalled for and it appears as if the soldiers are encountering puppets dressed in uniforms but in Pukar the fighting against Mangal Singh gives a clear proof of two well trained and established fighters in a duel . I short there are many merits in Pukar which made the film to occupy a special place if the world of movies .

.On this occasion it is also necessary to point out at one or two short comings .

1. The language of the washer woman is rural and is different from the language of the urban educated class and it should be like that but while talking to Empress she does not appear to be a villager and the use of a clear civilized language by her is improper .

2. In the lyrics of the song by washermen the use of the word “Angiya “ ( blouse ) and “Baghal “ ( arm pit ) cannot be termed as civilized .

3. The way the prisoners were released from the jail was not proper . It should have been a royal prison and to show the release of prisoners was unnecessary .

4. It is difficult to choose artists for the roles in historic movies . It can be said with out any doubt that Jahangir and Nurjehan appear as real Jahangir and Nurjehan but Mangal Singh’s wife does not bear any resemblance of a Rajput lady . Her selection was improper .

These are a few points to comment but these small things does not play a big role in deteriorating the performance of the movie .
Lastly Mr Sohrab Modi deserves to be congratulated for proving that India can also produce movies filled with life and enthusiasm . This unique romantic film of the Mughal era will remain as an everlasting movie in the world of movies .

Movieland - 1940                                      Naseeruddin Hashmi

Zebunnisa - Greta Garbo of Hindi Movies .

2011-09-02T13:56:00.000-07:00

One of the foremost actresses of the Indian movies . Miss Zaibunissa was born in Peshawar and moved over to Bombay in 1922 . She was not very confidant in the beginning of gaining success in the movies but as she took up side roles in the beginning and with every movie her confidence increased . The Imperial film Company offered her heroine roles . Her first most successful movie was Alauddin ka Chiraagh . She became a big name and the Sharada film Company later hired her . She acted in nearly a dozen movies mostly with Master Vittal and Jairaj . She was called the Greta Garbo of the Indian movies . She was very graceful and had good dancing capabilities , but was poor at singing . She was capable of swiftly changing her roles from a princess to a pauper at the very moment . Some of her memorable movies with Sharada film Co , are Sharab Jawani , Heera Sundari , Sassi Punnu , Mirza Sahiban and Dilruba etc .

In 1930 she moved over to Bangalore and joined Surya film Co , and acted in three movies Asia Sitara , Kya Baat & Rajlakshmi . Later she moved back to Bombay and appeared for the first time in a talkie with Jairaj in Shakuntala – 1932 . She never looked back after this movie and acted in several movies playing lead and supporting roles . Her most memorable movies are Bharthruhari – 1932 , Malti Madhav – 1933 , Hothal Padmini , Dilara – 1934 , Elan-e-Jung – 1936 , Elaan - 1947 etc . Her name can be traced back all the way upto Pakeezah – 1972
She was a devotee of Actor turned Sufi Saint Ashraf Khan with whom she acted in couple of movies as a heroine . She used to attend the Urs every year .

She was known as Zebu in Hyderabad . She was the most admired heroine of the early 1930's . She visited Hyderabad on couple of occasions . She was fond of Hyderabadi Pearls , food and visiting historical places . Her screen appearances faded away during the mid 1930's and was seen occasionally playing supporting roles . Zebunnisa is a forgotten name for the modern generation .

Mushtari - The first fatality of Hindi movies ; 1934

2011-08-20T09:03:00.000-07:00

Those whom God loves die young

Only three years after commencement of talkie in India nature was brutal to one of the finest actresses of the Hindi film screen . The death of actress Miss Mushtari was a shocking news for thousands of movie goers and music lovers . She was only in her teens . Her innocent looks and a smiling face is best justified of her gentle nature . Unlike most heroines of her days who entered talkie from the stage and silent movies Miss Mushtari gained direct entry into talkie . Her very first audition earned her a supporting rule in Anang Sena - 1931 . Her dialogue rendition was flawless , her dancing fabulous and her singing melodious . Her lead role as Rukmini in film Rukmini Haran - 1934 with few lovely songs kept the audience spell bound .

Those were the days of epidemics ; Cholera , Plague and Smallpox etc etc . Anything could have killed her , although no particular reason was announces . She had many fans in Hyderabad . It is believed that she was very prompt in answering her fans with an autographed photograph and a letter in Urdu .

Mushtari was born and brought up in Lahore . She is the younger sister of actress Zohra Jan . She received training in music and dance at Lahore and joined movies in 1931 . She acted in couple of movies with her elder sister Zohra .

Her memorable movies are -

Anang Sena – 1931 with Elizer , Jillo , Hadi and Jagdish Sethi

Sati Sone - 1932 with Jamshedji , Hadi , Jillo & Boman Shah

Daghabaz Aashiq - 1932 with Elizer , hadi , Prithviraj Kapoor & Zohra

Nek Abla - 1932 with Jamshaedji , Hadi & Ghulam Muhammad .

Bharti Mata - 1932 with Jamshedji , Khalil , Jillo & Zohra .

Nek Abla – 1932 with Hadi , Jamshedji , Ghulam Muhammad & Zohra

Dorangi Duniya - 1933 with Hadi , Jamshedji , Jillo & Khalil

Rukmini Harn - 1934 with Nagarkar , Billamoria & Jillo

Manjari - 1934 with Govind Rao Tembe , Ghulam Rasool & Merwan Irani .

While acting in film Manjari the young actress became sick for a few days and passed away on June 8th 1934 at Lahore . She was one of the youngest heroines to pass away in her teens

Rampyari - The pride of Nagulachinta

2011-07-18T06:32:00.000-07:00

Rampyari hails from a Telugu family of highly skilled professional dancers and singers of Golconda . They claim to be the descendants of the legendary Taramati and Premamati of Golconda . They were invited by the Tanashah's of Golconda for dance performances at the Royal court to entertain Royal guests . Apart from the Sultan's , many nobles of the kingdom invited them on festivals and important occasions for dance and singing sessions . After the fall of Golconda the families scattered to other areas of the city like Madannapet , Hayatnagar etc . Some of them moved over to Madras Presidency . A small group of dancers settled down in Nagulachinta area which is located in the old city of Hyderabad . As the name Nagula ( Cobras ) Chinta ( Tamrind ) . This area at that time was covered with tamrind trees and poisonous cobras .

She was born in December 1908 , the year which is remembered for the great floods which devastated Hyderabad . She was taught Urdu , which was the language of the State and also English . Apart from Telugu which was her Mother tongue she was fluent at other Dakhni languages , Marathi and Kannada . She was trained both in dancing and singing . In 1918 at the age of 10 she was taken to Madras by her aunt who trained her in Bharata Natyam . Four years of rigorous training and she emerged as the best dancers of Madras . In 1926 a film producer from Kohinoor Films Co, Bombay visiting Madras witnessed her dance and invited her to Bombay . It was the era of Silent movies . Her first movie was Gunsundari with Miss Gohar and Raja Sandow . The movie was directed by Sardar Chandulal Shah . The movie was released in 1927 . Her supporting role as a dancer was greatly admired by the audience . Her next movie was also a supporting role in Vile Woman - 1928 . She was a highly acclaimed dancer and in later years played the lead roles as a heroine . She acted in more then twenty silent movies and established her name as a seasoned actress of the 1930's .

With the advent of Talkie she easily switched over to talkie . She had no difficulty in delivering her dialogues as she was familiar with Urdu language . The year 1931 at the commencement of talkie she acted in three movies Paak Daaman , laila Majnu and Ghar ki Laxmi . Her memorable movies of the talkie are Gunsundari - 1934 , Azad Abla , Meethi Nazar , Hamlet - 1935 . When the famous Director of Calcutta Mr . Debaki Bose signed her up for a supporting role in film Sunehra Sansar - 1936 her fame reached to the peak . Later she also played a supporting role in Vidyapati - 1937 which was a mega hit movie .

She toured the entire South India and gave dance performances in major cities . Her dance performances were so much admired that the Ceylon Labour Union presented her with a Golden Momento . According to her she was greatly inspired by the acting of Miss Sulochana ( Ruby Myers ) and Miss Gohar of Ranjit with whom she acted in many movies .

Her success in movies made her move permanently to Bombay and by early 1930's all her family members moved out of Hyderabad - Deccan . She had a huge fanfare from Hyderabad . Some of them who went on to meet her in Bombay spoke at length about her beauty and her Dakhani Tehzeeb va Tamaddun . She always responded to her admirers by replying promptly both in Urdu and English . She got married and after completing her movies she bid farewell to acting career . During the late thirties the small group of dancing girls were driven away from the Nagulachinta area and were displaced . Today , there is hardly any one in Nagulachinta who are aware of Rampyari and the glory of the past .

Rampyari's Filmography .

Talkie Movies .

Barat - 1942 , Shobhana Samarth , Harish , Mirza Musharraf & Rampyari

Prem Sagar - 1939 , S Varalaxmi , Paresh Banerjee , Kokila & Rampyari

Khudai Khidmatgar - 1937 , Mazhar Khan , Radharani , Rampyari & Sarla Devi

Samundeeswari - 1937 , Raghavan , Rukmimi & Rampyari ( Tamil Movie )

Milaap - 1937 , Prithviraj Kapur , Indira Devi , Vimla Kumari & Rampyari .

Janbaz Malika - 1936 , RP Kapur , Rampyari & Akhtari

Sunehra Sansar - 1936 , Gul Hameed , Menaka , Vinod Kumar , Mazhar Khan , Rampyari & Kamala Jhariya

Bandit of the air - 1936 - Hashmat , Rampyari . Mazhar Khan , KN Singh .

Aparadhi - 1935 , Rampyari , Kamalabai Barodekar & Madhav Kale

Azad Abla - 1935 , Rampyari , Maruti Rao & Sitara- Dir ; AP Kapur

Jeevan Natak - 1935 , Jairaj , Durga Khote & Rampyari , Dir - Debaki Bose .

Mithi Nazar - 1935 , Rampyari & Bhagwandas .

Gunsundari - 1934 , E.Billamoria , Miss Gohar & Rampyari , Dir - Chandulal Sha

Ghar ki Laxmi - 1931 , Ghaznavi & Rampyari

Laila Majnu - 1931 , Haider Shah & Rampyari .

Paak Daman - 1931 , Haider Shah , Iqbal Begum & Rampyari

Silent Movies .

Dashing Youth - 1931 , Haider Shah & Rampyari
Lioness - 1931 , Haider Shah , Rampyari & Rafiq Ghaznavi
Dare Devil - 1930 , Rampyari & Others
Immortal Glory - 1930 , Rampyari & Abhayankar
The Valiant - 1930 , Haider Shah & Rampyari
Yasmina - 1930 , Haider Shah & Rampyari
Daring Rathod -1929 , Haider Shah & Rampyari
Female Feat - 1929 , Haider Shah , Gulab & Rampyari
Friend Or Fiend - 1929 , Haider Shah & Rampyari
Hatimtai - 1929 , Gulab , Rampyari & Pehalvan
Jai Somnath - 1929 , Gulab , Rampyari & Madhav Kale
Miss Dolly - 1929 , Babu Rao Apte & Rampyari
Raj Hansa - 1929 , Haider Shah , Gulab & Rampyari
Revolution - 1929 , Haider Shah & Rampyari
Detective Kumar - 1928 , Athavle & Rampyari
Dreamland - 1928 , Gulab & Rampyari
Hamlet - 1928 , Iqbal , Rampyari & Roy
Kunj Kishori -1928 , Gualb , Rampyari
Neelam Manek - 1928 , Gulab , Rampyari
Silver Cloud - 1928 , Rampyari & Kumudini
Vile Woman - 1928 ,Gulab , Nandram & Rampyari .
Gunsundari - 1927 , Raja Sandow , Miss Gohar & Rampyari

Jaddan Bai - A lady of multiple talents .

2011-06-24T09:04:00.000-07:00

Apart from the local courtesans who were easily accessible , a few courtesans from the other parts of the country inspired the rich and the nobles of Hyderabad . Akhtari Faizabadi , Janaki Bai Allahabadi , Angurbala of Calcutta , Babban Jan of Lucknow , Shamshad Bai of Delhi and Jaddan Bai etc etc to name a few . Miss Angurbala was invited by the Nizam and Akhtari Faizabadi was invited by Prince Moazzam Jah Bahadur , the second son of Nizam . Miss Indubala held her own ghazal concerts in the city . There are no records available to substantiate that Jaddan Bai was invited to Hyderabad . The reason probably was she bluntly refused the invitation by the Nawab of Rampur . This gave an impression of her pride , arrogance and rudeness which the nobles of Hyderabad did not like . Later , the news reached that she did not decline to sing but bluntly refused to perform takht-i-rawan mujra on his salgirah ( birthday ) for which she was invited . She is a lady of guts , She did a right thing , her courage was appreciated .

It was understandable as many courtesans do not agree for a takht-i-rawan mujra : which is dancing on a wooden platform which is moved along with the procession . It is not a private mujra limited to dignateries but is open to public , an outdoor activity with crowds of spectators watching . In Hyderabad Nautch girl Muhammadi performed takht-i-rawan mujra during the marriage procession of Nawab Bahadur Yar Jung in the 1920's . This type of mujra is not acceptable to courtesans of repute and respect , and the nautch girls who perform charge heavily for such occasions .

Radio receiver was an item of the rich and the affluent in the mid- late 1920's . Apart from the huge cost and availability much of the Hyderabad city was not electrified . The rich whose homes were electrified travelled to Bombay for the purchase of radio sets with short wave reception . Crystal radio sets with head phones were in great Vogue and was a boon to those who cannot afford the high cost of the radio and also to those whose houses were not electrified but , the crystal radio sets were able to get hold of only local broadcasts . Those living in the city were able to listen to Deccan Radio . The ghazals of Jaddan Bai were heard on the radio and some were impressed . She was stationed at Calcutta but her ghazals were heard from many radio stations Calcutta , Delhi , Allahabad and Lucknow etc etc . Travelling by train from Hyderabad to Calcutta was painful and time consuming . A handful of admirers visited her at Calcutta and some of them visited when she moved over to Bombay .

At Bombay she was busy with her new venture of film production . It is said that KL Saigal noticed her talent in many areas such as acting , singing , composing music and even writing the lyrics . It was he who advised her to move over to Bombay and start her own production of movies . Accordingly she moved over to Bombay and produced movies under the Sangeet films banner . Apart from producing she also directed and composed music . She also introduced her young daughter Nargis as a child artist ( Baby Rani ) in her first movie Talash-i-Huq .

When the movie Talash-e-Huq was released the music lovers were surprised to find some songs with the influence of dakhan .

kaaya ka pinjra dole rey - was a famous bhajan heard in Hyderabad form early 1800's . It is believed that the bhajan came along with the Marwaris who migrated to Hyderabad from Alwar , Rajasthan in early 1800's . MA Rauf of Deccan Radio renderd this bhajan in 1931 with a new tune at the annual day celebrations of the Osmania University . The crowds cheered , once more , once more . He rendered again on a different tune . He rendered the bhajan thrice , all on different tunes . The tunes were totally different from the traditional bhajan . The bhajan with the new tunes became so popular that it was hummed by all music lovers in those days . The bhajan from film Talash-e-Huq was composed on one of the tunes . Akhtari Bai Faizabadi liked this bhajan very much during her stay as a guest of Muazam Jah Bahadur , the second son of Nizam in the early 1930's .

Another song from the movie jhoolo jhoolo meri pyari dulari - was famous with the tawaif's who would be called to sing on occasions of new born and cradle ceremonies . The household ladies were not permitted to sing in those days . This song too was in the same tune . rasool-i-khuda o kamli wale - was another devotional naa't heard at most durgahs in Hyderabad . The tune is probably traditional .

Jaddan Bai's multiple talents of producing movies , composing music , directing the films , writing lyrics was appreciated by a large number of fans which she rightly deserve . Many disc collectors of Hyderabad had her famous discs in their collection .

Here is a little biography of her from an article in Urdu published - 1936 .

Jaddan Bai was born in 1892 at Allahabad in a respectable Muslim family . At a tender age of five she lost her father . Her mother relied upon a close relative and gave charge of what all she was left with . He duped her and the poor widow was left in wilderness and look for a living on her own . Jaddan Bai moved over to the city and and became a singer but she soon learnt that she was not a trained singer . She later approached Bhayya Saheb Ganpat of Calcutta and became his disciple .
It was rather unfortunate that before completing her training Ustad Ganpat passed away . She later completed her training under Ustad Moinuddin Khan the famous musician of Calcutta . This was not enough for her she approached two more musicians Ustad Chaddu Khan Saheb and Ustad Laab Khan Saheb and completed her training to become one of the famous ghazal singers of India . .

Her training under the masters became fruitful . Her songs became famous in almost every lane and by lane of Calcutta . Columbia gramophone Co, started recording many of her beautiful ghazals . Her fame reached through out the country . She started participating in music sessions . She was invited by the rulers of many states like Rampur , Bikaneer , Gwalior , Kashmir , Indore and Jodhpur . She had also rendered songs and ghazals at various radio stations in the country .

With the commencement of talkie the Play art photo tone Co, of Lahore approached her for a role in their movie Raja Gopichand – 1933 in which she played the role of the mother of Raja Gopichand . Later she worked for a Karachi based film Co, in Insaan ya Shaitan – 1933 . Her popularity in this movie was more then her expectations .
She worked in two more movie Prem Pariksha and Seva Sadan before starting her own production company called Sangeet film Co, and produced two movies . Talaash-e-Huq – 1935 in which she acted and composed the music . She also introduced her daughter Nargis as a child artist who later became a big name . Madam Fashion – 1936 in which she acted , directed , penned lyrics and also composed music . Nargis also appeared as a chid artist . She was well versed in Urdu , Persian , Bengali and English .

_----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Filmography of Jaddanbai .

As Artiste:

Madam Fashion (1936)
Hridaya Manthan (1936)
Talash-E-Haq (1935)
Nachwali (1934)
Prem Pariksha (1934)
Seva Sadan (1934)
Insaan Ya Shaitan (1933)
Raja Gopichand (1933)

As Director:
Jeewan Swapna (1937)
Moti Ka Haar (1937)
Hridaya Manthan (1936)
Madam Fashion (1936)

As Music Director:

Jeewan Swapna (1937)
Moti Ka Haar (1937)
Hridaya Manthan (1936)
Madam Fashion (1936)
Talash-E-Haq (1935)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jaddanbai's Discography

A cursory eye on film Mahabharat - 1933

2011-06-17T10:48:00.000-07:00

A translation of Naseeruddin Hashmi's article in Urdu .

This is a talkie film produced by Sagar movie tone starring Miss Zubeida and Jal Merchant . Miss Zubeida played the role of Draupadi . Generally in drama movies attention need to be focused on the following four things . 1. The story 2. The role of the actors . 3. Scene and scenery and 4. The language and songs . Mahabharat is based on a historical story which is well known to every student of history . The story of Kauravas and Pandavas . Many incidents in the story such as the Pandavas winning Draupadi in the Swayamvar and living as a wife of all the Pandava brothers , later Pandavas loosing her in the gambling and their kingdom to Kauravas etc . Apart from these famous incidents there is not much to say about the story .

The second thing is about finding whether the actors have done their job well or not . Needless to say that all the actors and actresses played their roles very well especially Jal Merchant and Zubeida acted very well . Amongst the Indian actresses Miss Zubeida posses all the qualities required for a successful actress both in drama as well as cinema .The role had the need for a great number of qualities and characteristics such as good feminine body features , immodesty , mischievous , playfulness , fluent rendering of dialogues and knowledge of singing and all the above were present in her . European movies give greater importance to feminine figure and build rather then a good looking face . A good looking face is considered an additional merit . In this way Zubeida had both the figure and a beautiful face and looks distinguished and elegent for the role .

Another great quality of an actress is immodesty which becomes necessary during scenes of romance and intimacy . There is no place for modesty for an actress in such roles , and shyness will be considered unfit for that situation . During the situations of happiness , grief and despondency too while expressing her emotions there is no need to be modest . Mahabharat has many situations where an actress has to come out of her veil to express her emotions . Considering this it can be said that Miss Zubeida played her role with out a blemish . .

The third thing is proficiency in music and good singing talent one of the important features of an actress . An actress who is also a talented singer will be successful in cinema . An actress with no proficiency in singing will not be successful . In this connection actresses like Miss Kajjan and Miss Mumtaz have been considered as finest actresses . Mahabharat may not have that many songs as normally seen in Indian movies but still her singing talent does not lag behind others . There was one song which was uncalled for the situation and was also lacking in melody . Indian films with plenty of unwanted and non melodious songs make them defective and worthless .

The fourth condition for the success of a movie is language . The actors and actresses must be able to understand and render the dialogues fluently in whatever the language the film is made . A film was made by the name “ Shikari “ in which the language of actress Sabita Devi was found objectionable . The language of film Mahabharat is Hindi and not Urdu and in this respect Zubeida had rendered her dialogues clearly and fluently and was successful on this count also .

The last necessity is filming the movie according to the era to which the story belongs to . The civilization , the nature of buildings , the various gardens , the costumes , and the society , the way people lived etc should be according to that period . The Mahabharat was not able to meet this requirement . The movie did not posses any of the things which belonged to that period and on the other hand the civilization the buildings , the society , costumes , the gardens etc had a flavor of the Mughals that was established following Babur is noticeably seen in the movie . This point is certainly objectionable and defective .

“ Aaina “ - Delhi , 1933 Naseeruddin Hashmi .

KL Saigal – Less known Actresses of his early movies .

2011-06-10T10:34:00.000-07:00

KL Saigal came into limelight with Yahudi-ki-Ladki 1933 . His earlier films, Mohabbat ke Aansoo , Subah ka Sitara , Zinda Laash and Puran Bhagat did not earn him fame . However , the bhajans of Puran Bhagat were appealing and almost every disc collector of those days had them in their collection in Hyderabad .

His heroines and other actresses like Uma Shashi , Jamuna , Rattan Bai , Kanan Devi , Leela Desai and Husn Banu are well known to the public and some information about them is available both in books and internet , but no information is available about some of the earliest actresses from his less known movies .

I , therefore contribute whatever little information I could gather from old books and magazines about some of them like Akhtari Muradabadi , Anwari , Mah Jabeen and Tara , etc.
.
Akhtari Muradabadi ,

She was KL Saigal’s first heroine . Tall , fair and slender and charming she hailed from a respectable Muslim family of Muradabad but moved over to Calcutta in her childhood . She was fluent in both Urdu and English . Her dialogue rendering was perfect . She played the lead role in New Theaters Mohabbat ke Aansoo which received much appreciation . The magazines and papers of those times predicted her of a great future as an actress . She had lovely voice and rendered couple of songs in the movie . Later , she moved over to Burma and joined the Burma Imperial Film Company and played the lead role in Daku ki Dulhan . Her later details were not available .

Anwari ,

KL Saigal did not act in Puran Bhagat but he appeared on the screen during the bhajans he rendered for the movie . Anwari had played the role of Rani Uchharan in Puran Bhagat which was directed by Debaki Bose . Anwari was born and brought up in Lucknow . She was known as the Pride of Lucknow as she was one who brought fame to the city by her good roles in movies . Later on she moved away from New Theaters and joined The East India Film Co ; and acted in Mumtaz Mahal . Her other notable movies are Aurat ka Pyar – 1933 and Aansuon ki Duniya – 1936 .

MahJabeen -

One of the famous dancers of Calcutta . The public were mad about her dances . Before the talkie era she danced along with Miss Kajjan . She was hired by the New Theatres of Calcutta for their initial movies Zinda Laash and Mohabbat ke Aansoo – 1932 . She did not renew her contract and joined Madan theatres for some time and later worked for other film companies . Her other memorable movies are Ameena – 1934 , Rasheeda – 1935 , Bulbul-e-Iran – 1936 . She had proficiency in Hindi , Urdu and Bengali and used to contribute articles to various magazines . She was a good singer and many of her private songs were recorded . Most of her private songs were Mujra's ( Dance songs ) . Many disc collectors of Hyderabad had her songs in their collection .

Radharani -

It is said that she was a born actress . She is the daughter of a retired Captain of the army and her mother was a European . She was very active during her school days and took part in dramas and cultural activities . She was a good swimmer and a horse rider . She was also good at singing . She was hired by the British Dominion film Co, Ltd in 1930 and acted initially in several Silent movies Flames of Flesh – 1930 with Debaki Bose , Sabita Devi and Dhiren Ganguly - Alik Babu – 1930 with Dhiren Ganguly

She switched over to Talkie and acted in both Bengali and Hindi movies . It is important to note that she acted in two movies Yahudi ki Ladki – 1933 and Kurukshetra – 1945 with legendary KL Saigal . Her some notable Hindi movies are Sawal , Bhai , Romantic India etc . She was active in films upto 1946 .

( Not to be confused with Radharani , Kirtan singer of Film Kashinath - 1943 )

Tara – 1905 - ?

Also known as Tara Devi . She played the role of Princess Octavia in Yahudi ki Ladki – 1933 . She hails from a well to do and respectable Bengali family of Calcutta . She started her acting career in Silent movies and made her way into talkie . Her most notable Silent movies are Malati Madhav and Bombay ki Sethani . She was a good dancer and played the role of a dancer in Daulat ka Nasha – 1931 . She later played major and supporting roles .
Her most memorable movies are Roshan Ara , Bharthruhari – 1932 . Puran Bhagat , Aurat ka Dil , Sati Swayamvar , Suryakumari , Yahudi ki Ladki – 1933 . Shahar ka Jadu , Iraq ka Chor , Vasantasena and Dukhtar-e-Hind – 1934 and Aadarsh Mahila – 1936 .

Film 300 days after . Review by Naseeruddin Hashmi

2011-06-10T08:44:00.000-07:00

For the last four months the film 300 days after was running in cinema theatres of Hyderabad . The exhibitors of the film announced a reward for the best article on this movie . Several young film enthusiasts wrotr many articles and some of them
were also published in the local news papers . All of them had highlighted mostly on one aspect and so I thought it is better to express my impartial view on this movie .

300 days after is a movie by Sagar Movietone . It is a story about those who inherit a great amount of wealth with out labor and indulge in pleasures and luxuries do not understand the difficulties of the poor . They consider it below their dignity to to work or take up some profession . Some of the professionals who get involved so deep in their activities forget that they need to take care of those depending on them . They often avoid their duties to the extent they even forget their wives and fall into the bad company of women . Based on this type of story the movie had tried to unveil the underlying truth about the lives of such people
.
The story is about Sudhir a rich young man gets addicted to heavy drinking and debauchery . This makes him sick and he maintains indifferent health . His health deteriorates due stomach problems and develops bulimia . He seeks doctors help for his treatment but the doctor refuses to treat him and advise him of hard physical labor in order to get rid of his disease . Impressed by the humorous behavior and advise he determines to follow the doctor’s advise . He bets with the doctor that in 300 days he will earn his living by his own hard labor with out depending on his wealth .

He leaves his home alone and starts living by doing various types of jobs . Some times he works as an agent for a soap factory , some times a vegetable vendor , a barber , tram ticket collector and finally becomes a motor car driver . While working for the soap factory he finds that the factory was getting into heavy losses so he secretly invests his own money to save the factory . During this time he gets attracted towards a young typist working in the factory . He also develops a friendly attitude towards an old women , a vegetable vendor .

This way by the end of 300 days he makes a living of his own hard earned money with out depending on his inherited wealth . He fully recovers from his ill health , on account of his physical labor his appetite becomes normal . He starts eating a hearty meal like any normal person . He meets his doctor after the end of 300 days and wins his bet . He then generously donates a large sum of money for the welfare of the poor . He marries the typist girl with whom he was friendly in the soap factory and also includes the old lady who was working as a vegetable vendor as a part of his family .

Although the story looks simple and ordinary but it has presented several facts which occur in real life and bringing a change for those who fall victims to bad habits . These are worthy of consideration and some of the important things portrayed in the movie are given below .

1. Physical exercise and a habit of of doing his own things is absolutely necessary for an individual to maintain good health .

2. With self determination and effort it is possible to win over a difficult situation easily .
3. The rich man should understand the difficulties of the poor .

4. Ill effects of consuming alcohol .

5. The inner , secretive and hidden lifes of the courtesans .

6. The results ensuing rich men who indulge in high living and sensual pleasures .
7. How young and emotional women fall a prey into bad company on account of absence of their husbands who engage themselves in pleasures with women of ill-repute .

8.How young women of good character save themselves from becoming victims of wealthy men of society despite their poverty .

9. The need of purity and chastity in life among women .

10. The life styles of rich and the famous men in society

11. The real and true nature of emotional love .

It can be seen from the above mentioned facts that how many views and dimensions of our modern society were brought together in the movie . This is certainly a great achievement to present everything together and also making the film interesting and enjoyable to watch . The main stars of the movie are Motilal , Yaqub , Sabita Devi and Bibbo . All of them have played their roles in a fitting manner .

Despite all the positive points the film has certain short comings and it is necessary to clearly mention them here .

1. While talking to the doctor over telephone the way he had described about himself makes it impossible for him to stay in his own town for 300 days with out being recognized by his own circle of people .
2. It is not possible for an educated person to undertake so many different professions such as sales man , barber , paper vendor , bus conductor and motor car driver etc in such a short span of ten months .

3. When Sudhir reaches his home along with Sharada it is astonishing to find being greeted by a single doorman and no one else was present .

4. The servants unable to recognize their master Sudhir just after ten months also looks rather unbelievable .

5. It is necessary for a bus conductor to behave well while a bus inspector is performing his duties .

6. It looks odd and against all principles when Sharada leaves her ailing sister to be looked after by a maid servant while going out with Sudhir , instead of calling a doctor goes to Sudhir’s home .

7. Indian actresses are not used to certain odd situations of romance at par with the western counterparts till now . The way Saith Lakshmi Das’s wife places her arms around his neck while traveling in a motor car and the way she advances towards the chauffer near the river bank is just an insult for any Indian women . Also the way she expresses her emotions in a poetical style is far from reality .

8.Sharada invites the vagabond Dhani Ram for obtaining the photograph of Saith Lakshmi Das’s wife and joins him for a drink but does not even consume a glass of it but pours every thing into the flower pot . When two persons are engaged in drinking it is absolutely impossible for one to put all the contents into the flower pot with out being noticed by the other person even on a single occasion . This is something away from reality .

9. The relationship between a teacher and student was improperly picturised when Sharada a respectable women goes to teach saith Lakshmi Das’s wife .

10. The doctor’s role looks impractical .

There are many other short comings which slightly effects the movie’s performance for example while picturising the scenes during the nights etc, but the essence of its contents and merits outweigh as every effort was made to present the facts in reality . All actors have played their roles very well especially Sabita Devi and Moti . The ‘ Sunday Standard ‘ had praised the acting of Sabita Devi to new heights .

“ Movieland “ Dec 1938

Naseeruddin Hashmi -

2011-06-09T13:54:00.000-07:00

Naseeruddin Hashmi ( 1895 – 1964 ) was an accomplished scholar of Urdu . He belonged to Hyderabad . He authored several books on Urdu literature and History . While films were of no big passion for him he contributed some articles to various news papers and magazines mostly about bringing reformation in movies , role of language in movies , the need of education among the movie stars etc . The Muslim actresses and reasons for not many girls coming forward from educated and well to do families , their need to step forward and bring about change , refinement and reform to improve the existing social pattern of life in the community . With out mentioning directly to the nautch girls and courtesans he addresses them as a community belonging to different class or a community who are looked down by the society or coming from ill-famed houses who have captured the cinema industry due to the absence of Muslim girls from educated and well to do families .

He also published a book on collection of his articles titled ‘ Filmi Numa ‘ in 1940 . In his foreword to the book he mentions about the growing popularity of film magazines . While the demand for literary and historical magazines tend to remain popular but the field of movies are some thing a new area and many magazine editors look forward for articles on movies and movie stars to make their magazines profitable . The youngsters who are very active and enthusiastic on this matter keep submitting their articles only to find their name as a prolific journalist of movies . Most of such articles lack in substance of literary and artistic value .

Some of his historic articles published in various magazines were later published in others sometimes quoting his name and sometimes without mentioning . His first movie article titled – A view on film “ Mahabharat “ was published in the Urdu magazine Aaina from Delhi in 1933 . The second one titled – “ The actresses of Europe and India “ was published in “ Musavvir “ Bombay in 1934 . After that about ten to twelve articles were published in “Movieland “ and “ Film “ in 1939 . He also wrote his review on two more films 300 din baad and his last one was on film “ Pukar “ .

To criticize about a movie it becomes necessary for one to watch the movie several times , be fully aware of the background of the theme , the period of the story related to etc and any shortage of this will lead to a wrong assessment of the movie .
He had endeavored to write only about the correctness , change , refinements and reformation needed in a movie but nothing glamorous and spicy was ever written about the movie stars and their personal matters as some others . It is on account of lack of time for this and therefore did not contribute later to pen articles related to movies in future . It is also interesting to note that he did not mention anything in particular about songs , music and music directors .

A translation of three movie reviews out of total of sixteen of his various articles originally written in Urdu are reproduced here . As with any translation it is almost impossible to maintain the original tempo and beauty of any language but every effort has been made to the extent possible to retain the originality of the articles . The author being a scholar had emphasized on matters of education among the actresses , change , refinements and reforms necessary in society and the need of training for enhancing the performance of the artists . The articles were published between 1933 -1940 .

1933 - Movies & Music

2011-02-04T10:52:00.000-08:00

A total number of 75 movies were made out of which one was in colour .
A total number of 27 songs were recorded on the discs .

Aab-e-Hayat -

Not much was heard about this movie produced by East India Films Calcutta . However , it is worth mentioning here as the hero of the movie was AR Kardar who later had established his own studios Kardar Productions at Bombay . This was also the first film for the blind singer KC Dey as a music director .

Aankh ka Nasha -

The movie was based on Agha Hashar Kashmiri’s drama starring Jahn Ara Kajjan who rendered five lovely songs . Rajkumari also acted and rendered three songs . The following songs from the movie were heard for sometime among the music lovers .
maaloom na they dhang jahan khayaal ke - - - Kajjan
mori naazuk kalaiyan chudian dheere pehna manhar – Rajkumari
gaao gaao hilmil sajni kaari badariya chaayi re - Rajkumari cho

Aawara Shahzaada –

The film by Saraswati Movietone Poona became popular on account of the double role played by the hero Shahu Modak . This was the first of it’s kind in Hindi movies . He played the roles of both Rajkumar ( Prince ) and Bholaram .
He also rendered his own songs a total of eight and were forgotten soon .
Anna Saheb Mainkar scored fine music and the two ghazals rendered by heroine Chanda Jan became very popular . AS Maikar’s music was extremely popular among Maharashtrians especially living in the Marthwada districts of Aurangabad , Nanded , Parbhani and Osmanabad . The Tabla was played by the renowned Ahmed Jan Thitkawa .
The ghazals which were remembered for a long time are –

kya sunenge andaleeb-e-zaar se , legaya sayyad jab gulzar se - Chanda Jan
mit ta nahin kisi tarah ranj-o-mahal ko kya karun - Chanda Jan

Afzal -

The film gained some popularity on account of good songs by Mst Nissar and Miss Ameena . The songs were composed by BS Hoogan .
The following songs were popular with music lovers .

tumhe na bhoolun ga seene me jabtak dum hai - Mst Nissar
husnwaalon ko bhala ho ke sata rakha hai - - - do - -
main maah-e-munawwar hun - - - Ameena
nigaahen milte hi seene pe pad gaye bhaale - - - do - -

Chaar Darvesh -

The first movie of Kanan Devi who later became a famous singing star of many movie of New Theatres . The movie also had Miss Angurbala the famous ghazal singer of Calcutta who visited Hyderabad at the invitation of the Nizam . The film did not fare well . The music in general was good but the songs did not receive much attention of music lovers .

Daaku ki Ladki -

Not a great movie worth mention . The music was scored by Pransukh Nayak and Gadgil . Two songs were recorded but , none of the singers appeared on the star cast . The playback was introduced in 1935 . It is possible that this was a first play back disc of the hindi film music or just used in the movie in the background .

dil kabhi kahin na diya na liya - - - - Zohra Jan ,
aisi jafa karma han dekhna - -- - - Zohra & Aslam

Eid ka Chaand -

One of the memorable movies which was remembered for a very long time . The film starring Ashraf Khan , Sardar Akhtar and Zeibunissa . The movie had the finest dialogues in Persianised Urdu which was the centre of attraction . The lyrics too were appealing coupled to the lovely composition by Sunder Das . Sardar Akhtar the dancer , actress and singer stole the show with her great performance . She became an instant hit with the cine goers of Hyderabad . Zaibunissa the celeberated star of the silent era was a poor singer and no songs were picturised on her .
Almost all the songs were good but the following three were the most popular -

ya ilaahi khud-ba-khud dil mera ghabrata hai kyun - - - - - Sardar Akhtar
Jab ranj ho qismat men to kya shikwa gila hai - - - - - - - - Sardar Akhtar
tumhe soumpa jawani ka baagh re dekhna sawaarna - - - - Sardar Akhtar & Ashraf Khan

Insaan ya Shaitaan -

The famous ghazal singer Jaddan Bai played the role of heroine . Her ghazals were famous on the radio and had many nobles of Hyderabad in her clientale . Many movie and ghazal lovers witnessed the movie only to see and listen to her ghazals . The movie also had the National Anthem song ‘ jan gan man adhi nayak jay hay ‘ a very interesting thing for that period . The following songs of Jaddan Bai were also popular with music lovers .

ay falak hai arz tujhse na jafa se kaam karna
kya khoob hai ye hasrat afza man mod liya hai raahat ne .
murad mere meri madad kart ere siva koun mera .

Karma -

The movie jointly produced by India and England was the first to have a song in English “ now the moon her light has shed “ . The movie starring Devika Rani and Himansu Rai had the longest kissing scene which was censored in Hyderabad . Secunderabad which was under the British however screened with out any censoring .
The movie was not popular but music lovers had liked the songs by Devika Rani . Two songs on a HMV disc were released and many music lovers had them in their collection .
The music was composed by Earnst Bradhurst .

mere haathon men therey haath rahey - Devika Rani

sab kuch bhoole jhoola jhoole - Devika Rani ,

King for a Day –

The famous courtesan Akhtari Bai Faizabadi was the heroine in this movie . Her fame reached Hyderabad . The second son of Nizam invited her to Hyderabad and was his guest for some time . The movie also starred Miss Indubala another classicalist from Calcutta . The public response was poor .

Kurukshetra -

Nothing much is known about the movie but the two songs were available with some record collectors of Hyderabad .

dhavlagiri vaasini shakti maa - Neelkanth Chikhlikar

dharni par sharn nahin jaaun - - - - do - - --

Laal-e-Yeman -

Wadia movietone’s first movie was a great hit . The story is about the the ageing king of Yeman who was made powerless by the young queen who grabs the power and takes control of the kingdom . She then imprisons the prince who was heir apparent to the throne . While in prison a mystic Sufi gives the Prince a magic dagger which makes him invisible and with its help he wins over his enemies and wins back his status as a Prince and heir apparent to the kingdom .
The lead roles were played by Karimja and Padma . Master Mohammad played the role of the mystic sufi . Jal Kambhatta as king , Mohini as the queen .
The success of the movie apart from the good acting was mainly due to the trick photography . The music was scored by Joseph David and Master Mohmmad . According to local papers and magazines of Hyderabad Joseph David had proficiency in many instruments like piano , saxophone and other wind instruments . Mst Mohammad acted , composed the music and also rendered songs which became quite popular . Feroze Dastur also played a supporting role and rendered some good songs .

Wadia movietone was also famous for recording some of the songs on the disc . Four of the songs out of a total of thirteen appeared on the disc . Hyderabadi’s who had great love for Sufi music did enjoy the songs by Mst Mohammad .

ghaafil bande kuch soch zara - Mst Mohammad
dheer dharna jab aafat aaye - - - - do - -
Khaaliq tori nazaria - - Feroze Dastur
Jaao sidhaaro fateh paao - - - do- -
The discs of Laal-e-Yeman were available with many collectors in Hyderabad .

Maalti Madhav –

Saroj movietone’s Mythological starring Sardar Akhtar , Ashraf Khan and Zaibunissa was popular movie among the Hindu population . Sardar Akhtar in the role of Maalti acted very well and rendered four lovely songs composed by Sunder Das . Unfortunately they were not recorded .

nahi aaye ghanshyam ghir aayi badri - Sardar Akhtar
khadi hun vedi pe tumhari - - - - do - - -
bahar aate hi kunj-e qafas me qaid huve - - - do - - -
ye preet ki reet anokhi bhai - - - do - -

Maya Jaal -

The first movie of Miss Bibbo with Mst Nissar and Jairaj . Miss Bibbo later became very famous and her songs were much in demand . She rendered five songs in this movie composed by BS Hoogan . A few songs from the movie became popular .

yahan tak dil bujaya ishq ne - Miss Bibbo
naalaa-e-dil kharaash men - - - do - -

Miss 1933

Two ghazals of Miss Gohar composed by Ustad Jhande Khan were popular .

dil par nigaahen yaar se bijli si pad gayi - Miss Gohar
kaleje se lagakar yaar ki tasveer rakhte hain - - - do - -

Mirza Sahiban -

The movie was based on the famous story of Punjab about the love between Mirza and Sahiban who were both childhood play mates and also cousin but when she is grown up her father forcibly wants her to marry some one else . Sahiban sends a message thru a Brahmin messenger . Mirza a gallant youth comes to her rescue and both of them escape on a horse but soon they were chased and Sahiban’s brother kills Mirza in the fight . Sahiban ends her life by taking her own life with a dagger .
Bachu and Noorjehan Sr played the lead roles . The famous Mehboob Khan also acted in the movie playing a suppoting role .

According to many music lovers the film had good music by SP Rane .

ya ilaahi khai ho wo abtalak aaye nahin - Noorjehan ( Senior )
aakhri baar bhi na unse mulaqaat huwi - - - - do - -

Naqsh-e-Sulemani -

The movie was popular on account of good music and dances by Iqbal Begum . Sunder Das composed good music and Sardar Akhtar rendered four lovely solos and two duets with HC Bali but the following three were most popular .

ye qudrat ki gulkaari kaisi bahar hai - Sardar Akhtar &cho
qurbaan jaaun ay dil is paak pehran ke – Sardar Akhtar
tu jaa re na mujhpe apna jaal bichaana - - - do - -

Puran Bhagat –

New Theatres first hit movie directed by Debaki Bose starring Kumar , Anwari , KC De , Prithviraj kapoor , Uma Devi and KL Saigal .

This is the story of Puran the child prince of Sialkot . The King as per the advise of the royal astrologers sent him away from the palace and raised in a secluded place where neither he nor his wife could see him for a period of sixteen years . The king married a second time . Puran returns home after the end of sixteen years and was warmly greeted by his parents . However , the king’s second wife ( step mother ) seduces Puran and wanted him to make love . Puran runs away from her chamber . Unable to bear the insult the step mother reports to the king that Puran forcibly wanted to out rage her modesty . The king who loved his second wife so dearly that he became furious and with out verifying the facts he orders that Puran hands be cut and thrown into a well . A spiritual leader Gorakhnath passing through that way finds Puran in the well . He restores his two chopped off hands with his healing powers and ask him to return back to his kingdom but , Puran decides to become an acsetic and follows Gorakhnath . When he learns about the evil plan conceived by his step mother to over throw his father with the help of the army chief with whom she developed intimacy Puran returns to his kingdom and with his meditative powers deposes the general and hands over the kingdom to his father and retun back to his ascetic life .

The movie was a great success . This was the first hit movie of music director RC Boral with memorable songs by KC De and KL Saigal who appeared in the movie only during his songs . The New Theatres for the first time recorded the six songs out of twenty songs in the movie and every song was a hit and they also were later released on Cassettes and CD’s . The three discs of this movie were available with many collectors .

kya kaaran hai ab rone ka - - - KC De
jao jao ay mere saadhu - - - do - -
bhaj mai to bhaav se shri girdhari - KL Saigal
raadhe rani de daaro na - - - do - -
din neeke beete jaat hai - KL Saigal
awsar beeto jaye - - - do - - -

Radha Krishna –

This was the first movie of Sabita Devi the famous heroine of the silent era . She later became famous and acted in many hit movies . The movie also starred Miss Indubala and Miss Angurbala the famous singers of Calcutta . The movie had 23 songs and the music was scored by Tulsi Lahiri according to the movie lovers who had seen the movie and most of the songs were very good .

Raajrani Meera -

My father had great appreciation for this New Theatres movie , especially the acting of Prithviraj Kapoor . The music was composed by RC Boral and had some lovely bhajans of Meera . However only two songs were recorded in the voice of Miss Indubala . Most disc collectors of Hyderabad had the disc .

piya Milan ki aas , miti nahin - Indubala -
Chandra kala si swet raat thi - - - do - -

Rangeela Raajpoot –

The following four songs from the movie were note worthy .
Music lovers enjoyed good music composed by BS Hoogan . Farhat Jahan Bibbo came to limelight and her songs were great hits .

daagh-e dil taaza huwe rang-e-gulistan dekh kar - Mst Nissar
teri chab manmohan bhavat hai - - Miss Bibbo
bechain jaan-e-nazar hai kaise mannaun dard-e-dil - - - do - -
zindagi men nahin jaane they kabhi gham kya hai - - - do - -

Sairandhari -

This was the first colour film which was processed in the country but the was sent abroad for the prints . Prabhat film Co, under the direction of V Shantaram also got the first of its discs made through Telefunken of Germany .
The story from the epic Mahabharata – the killing of Keechak by one of the Pandava brother Bhimsen . Prabhat films got six of the songs recorded out of a total of nine in the movie . The music was scored by Govind Rao Tembe . I had no success in tracing the discs with the collectors nor any of them have heard of them . However , the songs from the Marathi version were found with few collectors .
.
Yahudi ki Ladki –

The first hit movie by New Theatres starring KL Saigal , Ratan Bai , Nawab , Pahari Sanyal , Tara Bai and Munir Bai . One of the highlights of the movie was the lovely music composed by the new comer Punkaj Mullik . New Theatres initially released only four songs of KL Saigal and one ghazal in female voice was released after fifteen years in 1948 . All the songs of KL Saigal icluding a ghazal penned by Ghalib became very popular with the music lovers .

nuktachi hai gham-e-dil - Ghalib’s ghazal , KL Saigal
ye tasarruf allah allah - - - - -- -- KL Saigal
lag gayi chot karejwa men - --- - KL Saigal
laakh sahi hum peeki batiyan - - ----- - - do - -
ab shaad hai dil - ( Female voice - unknown )
The last ghazal in the female voice was released after fifteen years in 1948 . The flip side has the song from film Oonch Neech .

Zehr-e-Ishq -

The movie was a muslim social with powerful dialogues and lyrics in Persianised Urdu and became quite popular with the masses . The highlight of the movie was good acting and singing by Miss Zohra and lovely compositions by music director Prof , BR Deodhar . Miss Zohra was a beautiful lady and had good voice too . She had many admirers during
those days . Six out of a dozen songs including the famous ghazal penned by Ghalib ‘ nukta chin hai gham-e-dil became very popular . It was unfortunate that none of the songs were recorded on discs .

nazar aarahi hai haqeeqaten teri - - Miss Zohra
nukta chin hai gham-e-dil - ( Ghalib’s ghazal ) - do - -
ay beniyaaz tere karam par nisaar - - do - -
jalwa-e-ishq mazaaji ka jo shaidai hai - - do - -
Kaisa pur hasrat mareez-e-ishq ka najam hai - Miss Panna

1932- Movies & Music

2011-01-02T13:34:00.000-08:00

A little over 60 movies were released in the year 1932 . There were few new entrants in the production like the Prabhat headed by V Shantaram who initially produced movies from Kolhapur and later from Poona , The New Theatres headed by BN Sircar from Calcutta and AR Kardar from Lahore . All the three later became legends with many memorable movies to their credit .

Some movies like Ayodhya ka Raja and Indra Sabha , Aankh ka Tara and Zarina were more popular then the others in Hyderabad .

Aankh ka Tara –

Produced by Madan Theatres , Calcutta it had two notable classical singers , Jahan Ara Kajjan and Miss Indubala who was a famous ghazal singer of Calcutta . The movie was famous for it’s music with lovely songs by Kajjan and Indubala . Miss Indubala rendered two songs in the movie

‘ Hai kya kya jalwa bhara hua ghanshyam tumhari aankhon mein ‘ and
‘ Dijo darshan mujhe banshi ke bajane waale ‘

These two bhajan’s are available on HMV Disc – P 10492 . However , it is not known whether these were from the movie / private recordings . Many disc collectors of Hyderabad had the disc in their collection .
The movie had a moderate success at the theatres .

Ayodhya ka Raja -

This was the first movie produced and directed by V Shantaram from Kolhapur It was released in both hindi and marathi . This was the story of the truthful king Raja Harshchandra and his wife queen Taramati . The leading roles were played by Govindrao Tembe and Durga Khote . The movie had 14 songs and were composed by Govindrao Tembe . The role of Taramati was so powerfully portrayed on the screen and so well acted by Durga Khote that the movie lovers especially the female folks made several trips to the theatres . The role of Narada was played by Master Vinayak which was admired by cine goers .

According to the local papers of that time the film was a big hit and the Marathi version was very popular in the bordering states of Aurangabad , Nanded , Parbhani .
Although the songs were appealing none of the songs appeared on the disc .

Bhartruhari -

The movie was released by Saroj movietone , Bombay starring Ashraf Khan in the role of Raja Bhartruhari who renounces his throne to become a monk while his wife Pingla played by the beauty queen Zeibunissa persuades him to return back to the wordly life of pleasure and comfort .
The main attraction of the movie was the presence of Zeibunissa the heroine of the silent era who was famous for her beauty and people loved to see her . Apart from this it had some good songs by Ashraf Khan who played the lead role .
The following two songs gained a little popularity .

mari haai dayya re najariya ke maari
dil ki hasrat dil-e-aashiq ki qaza hoti hai

Bilwamangal –

This was the first colour movie produced in India by Madan Theatres Calcutta with a big star cast Patience Cooper , Jahan Ara Kajjan and Mst Nissar . It was based on the script by Agha Hashar Kashmiri . The technicolor features were done abroad but the film did not evoke much response at the theater .

Bhutia Mahal –

A movie by Ranjit movietone starring Ghori , Dixit , E Billamoria and Kamala was the story of a haunted house . It was a comedy . It had eight songs and two of them appealed the music goers . Music was scored by Ustad Jhande Khan .

Saaqi ne mere ghar ko maikhana bana dala
Lagi hai mohe piya Milan ki aas

Char Chakram –

Ranjit deviated again from socials to produce comedies . This was based on a story of four scoundrels who make their living by cheating innocent and gullible persons . The roles were played by Ghori , Dixit , E Billamoria and Keki Adjaniya . Miss Kamala and Miss Shanta were the leading female stars . Out of the seven songs only two of them became a little popular but soon forgotten . It was a mediocre movie . Ustad JhandeKhan scored the music .

Jee bhar ke saaqia pilade
Unke bina hai mohe na chain

Gul-e-Bakavali -

Saroj movietone’s Gul-e-Bakavali starring Ashraf Khan and Zeibunissa was a successful movie mainly on account of good songs by Ashraf Khan and the acting of Zaibunissa , a beauty of the silent era . The movie had 18 songs of which Ashraf Khan rendered eight of them . Zaibunissa was a poor singer and hence was made to sing only one song . She played the role of Bakavali .

The following two songs were reported to have become popular among the music lovers at that time – No songs appeared on discs .
Majhdhar nayya mori paar lagade moula - a Naa't rendered by Ashraf Khan was the most popular song from this movie .
Dil-e-nadaan tujhe hua kya hai – the famous ghazal penned by Mirza Ghalib was used in this movie finely rendered by Najju Begum . This was also loved by some music lovers .

Gulru Zarina -

Another memorable movie as far as music is concerned . Mst Nissar and Miss Kajjan duo and music composed by Brijlal Varma . It was studded with 33 lovely songs but only some of them were remembered for a very long time .

kya hi tha nauroz subah – the Parsi new year song was the greatest hit .

din paaya bahar ka
hori mujhe khel ko tesoo manga de
morey man samay gayi

Hathili Dulhan –

Madan Theatres social . This was a movie based on the William Shakespere’s story ‘Taming the shrew ‘ A rich man gets married to a stubborn and fiery wife tries to sober her down .
The central attraction of the movie was the acting of Patience Cooper the famous heroine of the silent era . The movie also starred the famous classicalist Mukhtar Begum and Shehla .
The movie was also remembered for it humorous lyrics and good music - examples of some humorous songs

Shaadi rachaunga dulhan banaunga , rakhunga mai rok dhaab mein
Kaisi biwi mili bholi bhali , dil men shohar ko de sav sav gaali
Aao meri bholi bhali , lakhon naazon nakhre waali .

Heer Ranjha –

This was the first movie by AR Kardar from Lahore who later started his own Kardar Studios and produced many famous movies from Bombay . The movie was produced both in urdu and Punjabi . Rafiq Ghaznavi and Miss Anwari played the lead roles . The music was also composed by Rafiq Ghaznavi who later scored music for many movies in Bombay . However the movie was a big flop . The Punjabi version was not released in Hyderabad .

Indrasabha -

Madan Theatres gretest musical release starring Jahan Ara Kajjan and Master Nissar . What once used to be a Nautanki played on stage was brought on to the screen with similar dialogues , a mixture of urdu and hindi and folk lore songs and dances . The story originally was penned by the famous poet of Lucknow Agha Hassab Amanat in the mid nineteenth century .
Both Nissar and Kajjan had a good background of performing on the stage . They had no difficulty in playing the roles for the screen to which they were accustomed to .
This was the only movie till today to have the highest number of songs that is 71 . The movie became a huge success in the entire country and also in Hyderabad and Secunderabad .

Some of the most notable songs of the movie –

Toone to mora man har leeno morey baanke sawariya Miss Kajjan
Challa hamara yaad rakhna Miss Kajjan
Kati raat mazey men saari , baith merey pehlu men pyari Vilayat Husain
Chaman ko yun mere saaqi ne maikhana bana diya Miss Kajjan
Kab se khadi hun terey dwar , bula le mohe baalam rey - - do - -
Dil de diya hai unko dekhen wo kya karenge - - chorus
Shaadiye jalwaye gulfaam Mubarak howey - - chorus
Maaduri –

This movie was credited with lovely classical songs composed by Pransukh Nayak . Four songs in the voice of Prof Vinayak Rao Patwardhan have been recorded . He also acted in the movie . As music from the movies appeared on discs they were available with most collectors . Prof. Patwardhan himself was a notable classicalist .

Kaise jaaun madhuri jiya maanat naahi - -
sarita sugandh shobe vasant - -
parmukh bani tu kamala mohe kaahe sharmaye -
ahankaar karke –

The following songs which were very popular with music lovers were not recorded .

Hari bin koyi kaam na aaya - Prof Patwardhan
Aarzoo ye hai ki - - - Chanda Bai
Lagat kalejwa men chot - - - do - -

Maya Machindra –

Another hit movie by Prabhat Films Poona produced and directed by V Shantaram . The film is based on the tantric Machindra ( Tembe ) who demonstrates illusion to his disciple Gorakhnath ( Mst Vinayak ) . The film had lots of camera tricks like creation of an invisible sword and chopping off the head with it .
Unlike Ayodhya ka Raja which was a biggest hit Maya Machindra was loved for its tricky camera work and was a moderate success in Hyderabad .
However , none of the songs from this movie became a hit .

Mohabbat ke Aansoo –

This was a New Theatres movie from Calcutta . KL Saigal appeared in this movie as a hero for the first time . The movie was a big flop . It had few songs in his voice but were not recorded and were forgotten . The New Theatres after initial failures became a very successful production company which gave a number of memorable movies with lovely music by RC Boral , Punkaj Mullik and Timir Baran .

Pati Bhakti –

Madan theatres movie starring Jahan Ara Kajjan and Patience Cooper was withdrawn from the show after finding some unwanted scenes of intimacy and kissing scenes . Very few people watched this movie and not much is known about it .

Radharani –

Ranjit’s costume drama based on the story by Narayan Prasad Betaab was a tragedy movie . Miss Gohar played the role of a village girl whose marriage ws fixed with her childhood friend but she accidentally falls in love with a stranger who was later identified to be a prince and was taken away from her . She becomes a prostitute and unable to reunite with her husband dies .
The movie had few good songs but none of them were recorded . The movie was unsuccessful at the theatres but the following songs were popular .

More angna men bansi baja ja
gokul se gawalan aayi hai
jai shiv omkara hari shiv omkara
Nirdayi sang kheli hori

Sati Savitri –

Ranjit’s Mythological movie starring Miss Gohar in the lead role of Savitri the story based on the epic where Savitri saves the life of her husband Satyavan ( Bhagwandas )
after constant persuation with Yama the god of death .
The movie invoked much of the response from the female folks . It had a good musical score but none of them appeared on the discs and were soon forgotten

Shikari -

This was a first movie by Eastern Movies from Hyderabad – Sind starring Jairaj who hailed from Hyderabad Deccan and Sita Devi . This was the first talkie for hero Jairaj after acting in 10 silent movies mostly with Madhuri and Zaibunnisa . Sita Devi’s real name was Renee Smith who also acted in several silent movies and became famous with Himansu Rai’s Prem Sanyas (1925 ) . The film was just a moderate success on account of good music by Prof Deodhar . The following two songs were popular for sometime during 1932 .

Suratiya dekhe bina chain -
Kaise hawa-e-gham chali -

Shyam Sundar –

The movie was based on the epic from the puranas about the tales of childhood Sri Krishna . The film was a flop but two of the stars later became famous .
Shahu Modak who played the role of child Krshna became a mythological hero and Shanta Apte with her classical background became a great singing star of 1930’s and 40’s.

Subah ka Sitara –

New Theatres movie starring KL Saigal and Ratanbai was not very successful movie but people enjoyed the good songs of both Saigal and Ratanbai .

Zarina –

Starring Zubeida and Jal Merchant was locally censored and the members agreed for release after deleting some scenes . It had many kissing and unwanted romantic scenes . The film was directed by Ezra Mir who later became a famous director According to some articles there were around 50 kissing scenes in the movie . This was one of the reasons for unpopularity of the movie in Hyderabad .

.Zinda Laash –

A KL Saigal starrer was a big flop

Ashraf Khan - Actor turned Sufi Saint

2011-01-01T10:49:00.000-08:00

Jan 2011

One actor who inspired thousands of movie fans in the 1940's in Hyderabad with his acting and singing and still holds a wide popularity even today with his magical healing powers half a century after his demise is none other then Ashraf Khan . He had comforted many families and gave a new life for those whose avenues were at cross roads or even totally closed . Many attribute his spiritual powers were on account of his great devotion and dedication towards his mother who was widowed when he was seven . Some feel it is on account of his self imposed discipline , honesty and deep sense of faith in the Almighty . He is considered by many as Wali ( a holy man , a friend of God , protector , guardian ) . In Hyderabad and the neighboring Deccan area he is known as Baba Ashraf Waley .

Ashraf Khan shot to limelight with film Baghban - 1938 . He played the role of a mendicant and rendered three lovely songs composed by Music Director Mushtaq Husain . Ro ro nain gavanvun , sajanva aan milo was the most popular song among the three songs he rendered . The movie was a great hit and all the nine songs in the movie were popular .The movie was directed by AR Kardar . The lyrics were penned by the comedian Mirza Musharraf . He was paid Rs 90 / - for the nine songs he wrote for the movie . It is important to know how he progressed in is life and attained the spiritual powers with which he helped millions of people across the globe .

Ashraf Khan was born in Indore in 1901 . He lost his father at a young age of seven . The burden of taking care of his widowed mother and a young sister fell on his shoulders . Indore was a famous city for wrestling and the wrestling competitions were held for all ages including children . He took wrestling as a profession for some time . He later became a Shepard boy and guarded the sheep .

He had a good voice and used to sing while taking the sheep in and out of the city . One evening while returning home from the outskirts he started singing loud . A Gujrati's drama company was stationed in a near by bungalow . The owner of the drama company heard his song and was called inside . The owner asked the boy if he is willing to work for the drama company . The boy replied Yes . There upon the owner asked him if he can play the role of a girl . The boy daringly replied No , will play the role of a boy . The owner was impressed and he got into the Gujrati drama company .

He started playing small roles and as he grew up was given the role of a hero .
His salary increased periodically and by the time he was playing hero roles he was paid Rs 600 / per month . He used to give away his entire earnings to his mother . His mother used to give him four annas a day as his allowance as he had the habit of eating Paan ( betal leaf ) , but Ashraf Khan used to return back the four annas to his mother in the evening

Ashraf Khan's mother tongue was Urdu and Pushtu but he learnt to speak Gujrati with ease and he rendered his dialogues fluently . He gave record breaking performances in Malopati Manjh ( Pritnvi Vallabh ) . He played the role of a hero Prithvi Vallabh in three thousand shows . Prithvi Raj Chauhan was another stage performance in which he played the hero role of Prithviraj Chauhan in two thousand shows . Ashraf Khan's heroine on the Gujrati stage was Sandhya wife of V Shantaram . Ashraf Khan was associated with the Gujrati stage even after joining the films .

With the advent of talkie he moved over to Bombay in 1932 . With his experience in stage he was hired for three movies Bhartruhari , Gul-e-Bakavali and Veer Kunal . He played the role of a hero initially and later in life played character roles . He acted in more then a dozen movies . Mehboob Khan portrayed him as a mad professor in his famous film Roti - 1942 . It was during the filming of Roti he came in contact with Peer-0-Murshid ( Spiritual Guide ) Ghulam Sarvar . Ghulam Sarvar belonged to Lahore and was employed in railways as a guard . He had many followers in Bombay . Ashraf Khan's devotion towards his spiritual guide was so great that when ever he visited Bombay he used to carry his luggage on his head and escort him home .
Large crowds used to gather to meet Peer-o-Murshid Ghulam Sarvar in the 1940's and among the film personalities the notable were AR Kardar , Mehboob Khan , Yaqub , Prithviraj Kapoor , Trilok Kapoor , Sardar Akhtar , Akhtari Faizabadi , Jaddan Bai etc etc to name a few . Akhtari Faizabadi and Jaddan Bai used to sing devotional songs during the assembly .

Taking care of the visitors foot ware was the first duty assigned to him by his Peer and Ashraf Khan never thought it was a menial job .He knew that the peer is shedding his ego by assigning such tasks . Peer-o-Murshid Ghulam Sarvar was so pleased with his devotion that he handed over his Gaddi ( seat ) to Ashraf Khan . Ashraf Khan became a Peer .
His association with the Gujrati stage lasted till his end . In 1962 after his last stage show at Dharoji in Gujrat he returned to the Durgah where he was stationed with his family . It was the ninth day of the Gyarhvi Sharief ( the eleventh month of Islamic calender ) . He lied down on his bed and spoke few words to his wife and fell unconscious , but his lips started moving as if he is narrating verses from . This situation continued the whole of that night and the next day . His wife , family members and devotees remained at his bed side reading verses from Ayat Sherief . He opened his eyes in the evening . His devotees asked him how he was and he replied that where ever he is , he is doing well .

He was brought to the hospital at Rajkot in this condition . Ashraf Khan passed away at eleven PM on the eleventh day of the Gyarhvi Sherief , the eleventh month of Islamic calender . His mortal remains were brought to the residence of Dr Malik who was a friend and a devotee for funeral . His devotees were chanting holy verses from Ayat Sherief and Darood Sherief . Around 4 O' clock in the morning he opened his eyes once again , looked all around him with a smile and closed his eyes . This was a surprising moment for all those who were present around him . A dead man opening his eyes and smiling was some thing strange . The crowd shouted Hazrat is alive , Hazrat is alive , call the doctor .There are several people alive today who witnessed this strange incidence . Dr Malik examined him and pronouned him dead . He was buried at Gunj Shahda which is located on the Ahmedabad - Delhi highway . The Urs is celeberated every year and lakhs of devotees all across the globe visit his Mazaar ( Tomb )

Among the film personalities who used to attend the Urs were Mehboob Khan , Sardar Akhtar , Zaibunissa , Mehtab , Begum Akhtar , Prithviraj Kapoor and Trilok Kapoor etc .

There are hundreds of families in Hyderabad whose vows were fulfilled by the spiritual powers of Hazrat Ashraf Khan . Each family has a different story to narrate . Many sickly got cured , many got rid of financial troubles , rivals became friends , many women became mothers after best efforts by doctors failed .

Amirbai Karnataki rendered a couple of devotional songs in his praise . Some disc collectors of Hyderabad had them in their collection .

Filmography of Ashraf Khan .

Aaiye 1949 , Phool 1945 , Roti 1942 , Baghban 1938 , Ajamil 1934 , Roop Basant 1933 , Malati Madhav 1933 , Husn Ka Gulam 1933 , Veer Kunal 1932 ,
Gul-e-Bakavali 1932 , Bhartruhari 1932

List of songs renderd by Ashraf Khan in movies .

Baagbaan 1938 Basaa Le Apane Man Men Men Preet - Asharaf Khan
Baagbaan 1938 Prem Jhoothaa Prem Jag Jhoothaa - Asharaf Khan
Baagbaan 1938 Ro Ro Nain Ganvaaoon Sajanawaa Aan Milo - Asharaf Khan
Baaghi 1939 Holee Khelat Tumase Main Haaree - Amir Jan & Asharaf Khan
Baaghi 1939 Mrig Jal Ko Saagar Jaan Gote Maarataa - Asharaf Khan
Baaghi 1939 O Charkhe-jafaa Parvar Jee Bhar Ke Sata - Asharaf Khan
Aazaadi-E-Vatan 1940 Kuchh Socho To Duniyaawaalo - Asharaf Khan
Aazaadi-E-Vatan 1940 Yah Duniyaa Hai Ek Khawaab - Asharaf Khan
Roti 1942 Ab Peenaa Hai Haan Peenaa Hai - Asharaf Khan & Anil Biswas
Roti 1942 Gareebon Par Dayaa Karake - Asharaf Khan
Roti 1942 Raham Naa Khaana-2 Hai Makkaar zamaanaa - Asharaf Khan
Roti 1942 - Kyoon Ratataa Rotee Rotee - Asharaf Khan
Pagli Duniya 1944 Kyon Lalachaataa Us Duniyaa Par - Asharaf Khan
Naiya 1947 .. Raam Naam Kyaa Japnaa - Asharaf Khan
Naiya 1947 - Siyaaraam, Tan Kaa Pinjaraa Soonaa - Asharaf Khan

Music during the last Nizam 1911-1948 .

2010-12-16T10:50:00.000-08:00

Dec 16 2010

Mir Osman Ali Khan succeeded the throne in 1911 after the sudden and untimely death of his father . He is known as the architect of modern Hyderabad . He had shown great love for music and poetry during the first two decades of his rule . The Nizam had a number of notable poets and musicians in his royal court . He himself wrote poetry and a collection of his poems were published . He also used to contribute his poetry for publication in the local Urdu dailies Rahbar-i-Dakan and Subah-i-Dakan . The Nizam was very fond of ghazals , qawwalis and naat's . He got many qawwalis of Kallan Khan and party recorded on Charminar label discs . Some of the discs were recorded with his photograph and were only circulated among the elite member's of inner circle .

The World War – 1 ( 1914-18 ) had a great impact on the resources of the state . Later , the Khilafat movement (1919-24) coupled with the struggle for independence made the Nizam occupy with matters of greater priority and hence the dance , music and other activities of leisure had seen a declining phase . With the World War – II ( 1939-45 ) and the later developments like partition of the country and the deteriorating law & order situation the activities of dance and music in the state and at the royal court in particular came almost to a grinding halt .

Music as a medium during Khilafat movement

Music became the main source of making the khilafat movement populist and bring awareness among the common masses .
During the khilafat movement the singers and qawwals were engaged in songs supporting the movement and criticizing the British . It gained momentum like wild fire . The songs of khilafat movement were heard in every locality . Many songs started with the words boli amma Hussaini ki . The qawwali programmes were organized in various localities . The sessions would start around 9-10 at night and last until dawn . The expenditure was met by some well to do members of the locality

* Bi Amma -

The khilafat movement was not limited to men but also the women who organized separate gatherings . They engaged Siddanis , also known as Habshis ( black African Arab women ) for singing sessions . The only musical instrument they used was Dhol ( a percussion ) . Bi Amma was one of the noted singers of those days whose songs supporting the khilafat movement and criticizing the British were heard all over the state .

• not to be mistaken with Bi Amma the village courtesan of Gandipet .

Ali Bakhsh Qawwal -

He was the famous qawwal of the early 1900’s . He was a disciple of sufi saint Hazrat Sufi Abdul Qadar . He used to preach and also sing qawwalis and on this account he was awarded the title of Waaiz-i-Qawwal . He was known by this title through out the country .
One of his famous song which was liked by the masses was -

mard-i-khuda , khuda se dar
zindagi chand roz hai .
sham-o-sahar ya do pahar
zindagi chand roz hai
This song was later rendered by many others .

Akramuddin qawwal – He was another famous qawwal along with Ali Bakhsh Qawwal . There were a number of scholars and poets who actively participated in the movement by writing lyrics suitable for the occasion . Among the notable were Moulana Hasrat Mohani and Josh Malihabadi .

Miss Angurbala -

The notable singer Miss Angurbala of Calcutta was invited for a performance at the royal court as a guest of the Nizam . Her famous ghazal ' inhe dhoondh rahi aankhein meri ' and ' toone gher liya yaar mujhe ghere me ' were extremely popular with the old timers . A singer of repute she also acted in several Bengali and Hindi movies in the thirties . Due to the political developments in later years the priorities shifted to administrative matters and music at the royal court took a back seat .

The Nizam had also invited many talented artists who performed at his Durbar , famous among them were Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan , Fayyaz Khan , Hirabai Barodekar , Saraswati Rane and DV Paluskar etc .
Many other artists visited Hyderabad on learning about the prosperity of the princely state and gave performances in the city . Some notable artists are -

Miss Indubala -

The famous classicalist , ghazal singer and movie star of Calcutta visited Hyderabad in June 1931 along with Miss Laila and performed at the Prem Theatres , near residency market . The function was largely attended .

Miss Juthika Roy –

The famous bhajan singer of Bengal gave a performance at the Zamrud Mahal theatres in 1945 . The program was meant for a charity . She was accomodated at a guest house of Raja Saheb . She reached the theater early for rehearsel and found Sarojini Naidu sitting on a sofa along with her daughter Padmaja Naidu . She reached out to her and greeted . She learnt from her that Mahatma Gandhi used to play the discs of her bhajans every day morning at the prayer hall . The performance was great and the singer was cheered by the huge crowds .

The periodical music and dance programmes were quite common in the city . The reputed dancers of the both Indian and Western visited Hyderabad , one of them was Miss Meeravati Devi an expert western dancer who performed for a few days at a theatre near Putli Bowli from 16th Sept 1931 .

Due to the political developments in later years the priorities shifted to administrative matters and music at the royal court took a back seat .

Miss Akhtari Bai Faizabadi –

Prince Muazam Jah Bahadur the second son of Nizam invited her to Hyderabad . She stayed as a guest of the prince for a full fortnight at Rs 2000 a day with all her expenses covered in full . Apart from this the prince had presented her with expensive sarees with matching blouses and jewelery which was estimated at Rs 25,000 . The prince also paid for all the expenses of her personal shopping a day before she left Hyderabad . The prince was almost bankrupt much to the annoyance of the Nizam who had to pay off for his extravaganza .

The prince had a peculiar habit of sleeping all day and his royal court would function only from dusk to dawn . Josh Malihabadi , Fani Badayuni , Maharul Qadri and Sidq Jaisi were some of the famous poets who witnessed the singing sessions of Akhtari Bai as royal courtiers of the prince . A full account in detail about her stay and her singing sessions was penned in a book in Urdu by Sidq Jaisi ‘Darbar-i-Durbar’ . A fine translation in English ‘ The Nocturnal Court ‘ by Narendra Luther is available for the readers who wish to go through in detail .

Josh Malihabadi -

Josh Malihabadi was associated with the Bureau of translation , department of Urdu at the Osmania University. He was there from 1924 - 1934 . He was expelled from the state for reciting a poem criticising the Nizam about his fuedal system of functioning . Josh sent many appeals to Nizam for visiting Hyderabad to meet some of his friends but his requests were always turned down by him .
He was also a royal courtier of Prince Moazamjah the second son of the Nizam . During that period he was one of the rare who witnessed the ghazal sessions of Miss Akhtari Bai Faizabadi . Apart from this he also took active part in the mushairas , especially during the khilafat movement along with Moulana Hasrat Mohani . He penned several poems in support of the movement criticizing the British .

Josh Malihabadi later wrote lyrics for several movies the famous one being Man Ki Jeet released in 1944 . The songs from this movie pardesi kyun yaad aata hai , and nagri meri kab tak yun hi barbaad rahegi penned by him were extremly popular with the masses . One more song meri jubna ka dekho ubhaar paapi was banned for reasons of its vulgarity . Josh Malihabadi moved over to Pakistan in 1958 . The government of Pakistan had issued a commemorative stamp in his honour .

Mirza Mohammad Hadi Ruswa

Ruswa was another notable Urdu poet and fiction writer who spent some time working for the Bureau of translation at the Osmania University . He is best remembered for his novel ‘ Umrau Jan Ada ‘ which was filmed twice . Josh Malihabadi wrote in his memoirs that Mirza Ruswa was his neighbor . He had mastery over Persian ,Urdu and also English . Ruswa taught him English and Persian .

• Many of his life details are unclear . It is believed he visited Hyderabad twice and spent most of his time in the company of courtesans .

Fani Badayuni -
Another notable poet who spent nine few years in Hyderabad from UP was Fani Badayuni .
He was a poet of great talent but his poetry was filled with gloom and pessimism probably due to his own life events . Born in UP , Shaukat Ali Khan whose pen name was Fani came to Hyderabad from UP in 1932 on the advise of his friend Josh Malihabadi . It took some time for him to get employment as he was over aged and not a domicile of Hyderabad state . With great difficulty on the recommendation of Maharaja Kishan Pershad the Prime Minister he was
appointed as the head master of Dar-Ul-Shifa high school . He also became a courtier of Prince Muazam Jah the second son of the Nizam . He was one of the rare few who witnessed the famous ghazal singer Akhtari Bai Faizabadi ‘s performances at the Hill fort palace of the prince which were held only during the nights . His spendthrift habits made him remain poor all his life to the extent that he did not even had enough money for his wife’s funeral .
It is said that Fani would request MA Rauf of the Deccan radio to compose and render his ghazals and on hearing him render he would cry non stop for a long time . His ghazals were heard on the Deccan Radio rendered by many local artists . His sad end came in 1941 and his mortal remains were buried in the city .

He later returned back to his native place . One of his ghazal ' misle khayal aaye the aakar chale gaye ' was used in film Aaina - 1943 . It was a tandem ghazal rendered by Miss Kalyani and Shama , both the ghazals were very popular amongst the music lovers . Some more ghazals of him were rendered by well known artists .

The rise & fall of courtesans in Hyderabad

2010-12-08T10:50:00.000-08:00

After the fall of Golconda the capital was shifted from Hyderabad to Aurangabad in 1687 .There is no evidence that the courtesans also moved to the new capital knowing well the Emperor who was dead against music and their profession cannot flourish . It was not until 1776 when the capital was shifted back to Hyderabad the courtesans had their hey day . The famous courtesan of those days Mahlaqa Bai Chanda and her daughter Haseen Mahlaqa were already mentioned earlier . The only source of music for the rich and the poor was a courtesan . Music and Dance had no place in any normal household as the society attached lot of stigma to these things in Hyderabad . However , during the marriages , birthday parties and other social functions courtesans were called to entertain the guests with music and dance otherwise they were strictly meant for men who visited them and some of them became their mistresses or sometimes married and became wives and bid farewell to the life of a courtesan . This trend flourished until late 1920 ‘s . Then with the emerging trends in electricity the city indeed took a new look in the nights and there was indeed rejoicing but not for the courtesans for whom the dark days were just ahead .

An era of declining phase

When the Deccan Radio started in late 1920’s there were hardly a handful of discs to play from the station studio . Some of the courtesans took part in the programs while few others looked for a fair amount of money to participate on the radio . As the time passed by the talkie era started some of the courtesans were the first to join the movies while girls from educated and well to do families were hesitant to show up . By mid thirties many film discs and private songs , ghazals , bhajans and naa'ts appeared on discs and it became easy for the radio stations to stock them and play for the listeners . Thus the popularity of music which was mainly centered with the courtesans no longer continued with them . The songs of many artists were freely heard on the radio sets of some if not most homes during the thirties .

The Cinema played a major role and the public were attracted more towards the heroines on the screen rather than a courtesan . There were discussions about the actresses who were good looking and had talent for singing so much so some rich and well to do even traveled to production centers like Bombay to meet their favorite actresses . Some of them even extended offers to marry them . By 1940’s the courtesans were finding difficult to find admirers and customers and some of them were forced into prostitution to make a living . Although the outside of their kothas looked like places of singing the activities inside were of different nature . After the independence the courtesans were no longer protected by law as was during the time of the Nizam .

Education played a prominent role . As most people got into schools and colleges including girls , they did not like the activities of courtesans .The public response also played a major role in driving them off from various localities . Thus by late 1940’s the profession was almost dead and only red light areas were operating . The once famous Mehboob ki Mehandi turned into a center of such activity , from time to time they were raided by the police and chased away . Today the courtesan is a name of the past .

Hyderabad goes on Air

2010-12-08T10:40:00.000-08:00

The Deccan Radio went on air in the year 1927 . It started as a private radio station with a transmitting power of 200 Watts . The transmitter was assembled locally . The radio station was privately owned and operated by the family members . It was situated at the Chiragh Ali Lane opposite John Co, Abid Road . Hyderabad did not lag with the rest of the country as regards to radio transmission .

There were broadcasts of news in Urdu , Dakhni dholk ke geet , ghazals , qawwalis etc . At a time when film songs did not exist and only a handful of discs by singers like Gauharjan , Jankibai of Allahabad and Zohrajan of Agra etc existed the local artists came forward and entertained with their lovely voices . With the opening of a radio station a number of talented artists specialised in both vocal and instrumental music enrolled themselves with the radio station for audition . Roshan Ali a noted musician of that time was the first music director of the Deccan radio . Later MA Rauf joined the Deccan radio as a studio executive , he was a notable ghazal singer . The Deccan radio was taken over by the Nizam in 1935 . A powerful transmitter of 500 Watts was purchased and installed from the Marconi Co, England . The new studios were set up at the Yaawar Manzil , Khairatabad and the transmitter with big antenna was set up at Saroornagar on the out skirts of the city . The red lights on the twin antennas were visible from many parts of the city . Broadcast Studios were also established at Saroornagar later and few programs used to go on air especially during the second world war .

The 200 Watt transmitter was shifted to Aurangabad and a small station at the district level was established . The majority of people at Aurangabad spoke Marathi and so along with Urdu the programmes in Marathi were also broadcast .

There were no transmissions during the month of Mohurrum . Later the transmission was suspended only for the first 13 days of the month of Mohurrum but there were no programs on music . The news was taken from the local news papers and the important events were reported . The news mostly contained matters related to the State . After 1935 some of the songs appeared on the discs and the Deccan Radio procured some of the good ones and presented them . The program on Film music although a brief one received appreciation from the listeners .

The demand and importance of music was felt by the Deccan Radio and soon arranged music programs by local artists . A large number of talented local artists came forward and initially volunteered to perform with out any renumeration . By mid thirties the Deccan Radio became so popular that great classicalists like Ustad Fayyaz Khan , Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan , Hira Bai Barodekar and her sister Saraswati Rane were on the list of artists of the Deccan Radio . Ustad Abdul Karim Khan visited Hyderabad twice and during that time gave performance at the Deccan Radio .
The talent of the local artists were recognized in a short time and there were a large number of artists on the list of the Deccan Radio .
Some of the notable artists of those times are Ustad Qayyum Husain Khan ( sarangi ) Pt Venkat Rao ( Harmonium ) , Amba Prasad ( Harmonium ) Sheikh Dawood ( Tabla ) GN Dantale - ( Jaltarang and Vocal ) . The other Vocalists included Shankarlal Masterji , Vasumati Dantale , Ambadas Apte , Vittal Rao , SB Deshpande . Amba Prasad was a master of Harmonium . He was called for occasions when others were unable to accompany some of the vocalists like Ustad Fayyaz Khan and Hirabai Barodekar .

The artists who were famous for singing the Dakhni dholak ke geet , tappa , and folk songs of Deccan were Noorjehan Bharatpuri , Kaneez Fatima , Qamar Jahan and Bangari Bai . A large section of the Hyderabad city was not electrified . This was a precious commodity and coupled to this the radio set was very expensive and beyond the reach of a common man . In many localities there were a handful of radio sets and sometimes the non-privileged were accommodated to enjoy the programs by those who had the radio sets with them .
By late 1930’s the markets were flooded with songs on 78 RPM discs from the movies . The public got more and more interested in film music and a number of middle class opted to buy a radio set on instalments when their houses got electrified .

As a large section of population consisted of locals who spoke Telugu , Kannada and Marathi . There were regional programs in those languages and were alloted some slots on specific days .

MA Rauf who joined Deccan Radio as a Program Executive later became the Station Director . An excellent ghazal singer and a composer who went on to score music for few movies produced from Bombay . The films are Tohfa , Beete Din - 1947 and Basera - 1950 .

Moizuddin was another notable ghazal singer who was one of the court singers at the palace of Moazzum Jah Bahadur the second son of Nizam .

Nautch girls of Mahbub ki Mehandi .

2010-12-07T10:46:00.000-08:00

During the early 1900’s the local residents and businessmen started a drive aginst the courtesans in the nearby localities around Charminar , Laad Bazaar , Mughalpura , Hussaini Alam areas resulting in dislocating the courtesans to another famous place known as the Mehboob ki Mehandi . There were already few established courtesans running their business and were joined by many others who moved over from the north . These were chiefly Muslim courtesans most of them had been well trained in their profession and were great ghazal singers . A few of them were highly paid and had the patronage of the rich and the elite .
Some of the courtesans were sisters and usually participated as a pair . In most of such cases it has been recorded that one of them had the real capability to sing and the other was just an accompanying partner or the second one possessed the skill of speaking a flowery language or a skilful ways of offering paan ( betal leaf ) which the other was unable to do or more often the ability to pocket more money from a customer

Bilqis & Aaftaab – The sisters hailed from Lucknow . Bilquis was a very tall and slender and good at singing while her sister Aaftaab was charming and although not a good singer she had the skill of flowery speech , a true Lucknowi style mannerism of offering paan .

Waheedan bai of Kanpur - was a good classicalist but was ill tempered .Her greatest admirer was a police officer . For some reason she did not become popular and after a few years she moved away from Hyderabad .

Zohra Jan of Calcutta – A young beauty queen from Bengal . She was one of the most fashionable courtesan of her time who wore very expensive clothing , perfume and even her paandaan was made of pure silver . A noted ghazal singer and a good dancer .

Nurjehan Bai of Rajasthan – She hailed from Bharatpur , Rajasthan . A charming beauty of Rajasthan was good at singing Rajasthani folk and ghazals . She was little plump , fair and had very thin mustache which she used to shave . She was very talkative and would not get tired speaking to some one for hours . She made every one happy by her flowery language . She was fond of eating paan and also make others eat as well . She was a lucky lady to find a some one who married her and later she lead a peaceful life . She was famous for her holi and raakhee folk songs .

Mushtari Bai of Agra –
A bulky figure , a little absent minded but a singer of such a great repute that even Ustad Abdul Karim Khan had lot of praise for her classical singing .

Bulbul ke Bachhe –
Very few people knew their real names bit every one used to call them by the name of Bulbul ke Bachhe . They were sisters in real life and were good at singing ghazals .

Naseem Naseer –
The famous pair were called with many names Azraah Taqannun
Azraah ( A Virgin ) Taqannun ( Amusement ) and also Yateem Yaseer . Yateem - (An Orphan ) and Yaseer ( Motherless )

Chunnu - Ferozah -
This was another notable pair . Their singing was so famous that even the Nizam of Hyderabad admired them and whenever a marriage in which the Nizam was attending the host made it a point to have the mujra of Chunnu Ferozah .

I find an interesting story regarding this famous pair nicely documented . When Maharaja Kishan Pershad was the Prime Minister of Hyderabad a special fund of two lakh rupees was allocated which could be spent on charity , assistance and certain welfare activities at his discretion . One early morning both Chunnu and Ferozah knocked on the door of Maharaja with a verbal petition . Maharaja was at his breakfast table and soon after finishing came out to hear the petition of the courtesans . Moulana Maharul Qadri who was with the Maharaja also followed him . On hearing the petition of the courtesans he turned towards Moulana and asked him to do a favor by writing an application on behalf of the courtesans . It is not known whether Moulana ever wrote a poem for the courtesans but he submitted a fine petition on their behalf . A handsome amount was sanctioned by the Maharaja to meet the immediate necessity of the courtesans .

Gulshan - Gulzaar -
They came from Lahore . Well dressed , well mannered , polite and courteous they won many admirers . Only Gulzaar was good at singing . They were the most fashionable courtesans of the city . It was amazing to look at them at some functions wearing high heeled sandals and carrying a beautiful hand bag any one would easily mistake them for a Raani or Maharaani . They moved over to Pakistan after partition

Hindu nautch girls of Gowliguda .

2010-12-06T10:30:00.000-08:00

The Gowliguda area was famous place for one of the earliest Urdu paper “Musheer-i-Dakan “ which was established by Kishan Rao , in 1850's , but in the 1920’s Hindu courtesans from neighboring states started camping at Gowliguda and by 1930’s the place became famous mostly for singing and dancing girls .

Baalu Bai -
She was one of the oldest courtesan famous for her classical singing even in her old age . She had a daughter Shakuntala Bai who was so pretty that many would attend Baalu Bai only to watch her beautiful daughter instead of listening to her singing .

Shankari Bai -
She was the most famous courtesan of this area . She was also called Shankara Bai by many , a Telugu lady of short stature , dark complexion , thick lips , big eyes . She was not an attractive female but her singing was really great . She was well versed with classical music and had the ability to sing ghazal , bhajan or anything which has been demanded by a customer . It is said that she was the richest of the Hindu courtesans of that time . Having earned lot of money by way of singing she built her own home in Murlidhar Bagh and moved away from Gowliguda . Her daughter Vimla was another good singer . She was a regular singer at the Deccan Radio

Very few are aware that Shankari Bai was very proficient in both Urdu and Persian . She was well versed with Diwan-i-Ghalib and chose to render many ghazals penned by Ghalib .

Maanki Bai -

She was another famous courtesan , a lady of short in height , medium complexion , slight small pox marks on the face . She was fond of eating paan and used to carry her paandaan always with her . She had many young disciples who were being trained by her .

Vimla –

The beautiful Telugu girl was the daughter of Shankari Bai and was good at singing ghazals . Ustad Abdul Karim Khan heard her ghazals during one of his visits and was much impressed with her singing talent . He later told her that if she wish to learn more about music she should accompany him to Bombay but her mother was unwilling as she was getting old and she was attracting customers because of her young daughter . She later got married and settled comfortably as a house wife .

Bangaari Bai

was another classicalist . She had a lover who was known as Nawaab who used to carry her paandaan and tune her tampura .
Saraswati Bai was another notable singer worth mentioning

Ustad Abdul Karim Khan visited Hyderabad on two occasions . Many courtesans and singers used to assemble around him during his visit . Khan Saheb had the habit of listening to them patiently . He once declared that there were only two good singers in Hyderabad , one is Mushtari Bai of Agra and another Basheer Khan a classicalist who used to sing for the Deccan Radio .
A strange incident is documented about the singing talent of Basheer Khan . One day while singing raag malhar at the Deccan Radio when the studio was located at Chiraagh Alai Lane some people sitting in the studios felt as if it was raining with thunder and lightening . When they looked out of the windows there was no rain or thunder and the sky was also clear . It was only a feeling they had felt resulting from the effect of raag malhar . The raag is supposed to bring rain .

Most of the courtesans of repute moved out of Gowliguda area before the World War – II . During the second world war period a lot of pseudo courtesans occupied their places who were no singers . The place soon turned into a red light area following large troop movement through Hyderabad . With the war coming to an end they were driven away by the locals . Later it became a centre for many businesses especially textiles .

Twin sisters of Golconda . 1910-1940's

2010-11-19T13:40:00.000-08:00

Qamar and Badar were twin-sisters . Some people called them Sultana sisters . When they became popular with foreigners they were called Moon-Moon sisters . They lived in Ibrahim Bagh Area which is close to the foot hills of Golconda . The place was filled with army barracks . It is said that the sisters had an in-born talent for music , no one ever taught them music , but , what ever they heard it was just recorded in their minds .They could repeat the same flawless . They learnt many folk songs of the local area , apart from this they learnt to render many beautiful ghazals penned by notable poets of that time . They became popular in the army barracks . They were invited to sing and dance at various functions and were paid suitably .

1912 - It was the time the construction of Gandipet ( Osmansagar ) lake commenced on a big note . Many contractors some of them were foreigners with their servants , cooks moved into the camps . Hundreds of construction workers established themselves in the area for carrying out the project . The new camping area was short of an entertainment center . Those were the days of Nautanki , Dramas , Theater and Nautch girls . The twin sisters rose to the occasion by visiting the camps during the evenings and holidays , singing folk and ghazals . They attracted the masses and soon became famous for their singing . The foreigners too invited the sisters for the musical performances . Some of them played the English music on the hand cranked gramophones and the sisters would dance to the tunes . They liked the company of the sisters and were richly rewarded .

1919-1924 . The sisters actively participated during the Khilafat movement . The programmes were held regularly in the evenings where they would sing songs against the Britishers . It was this period their popularity reached in the city of Hyderabad . They were invited by some of the Nawabs for singing sessions at marriages , birthday parties and other social gatherings .

1931 - With the commencement of talkie era the twin-sisters picked up popular songs from the movies and render before the audience . Since most of the songs were not recorded in the early movies the public liked them to be heard in their voices . The twin-sisters were doing good business and were seen up to early 1947 . What happened to them later is unknown . It is rumored that their link with the foreigners got the hint that a lot worse is going to happen in Hyderabad , so they moved over to Pakistan area ahead of partition . This was a guess though no one knows the truth .

. 1931 – Film Journalism begins at Hyderabad

2010-11-11T10:31:00.000-08:00

Long before Baburao Patel started editing Filmindia there were few film magazines in existence which did not fair well and were closed down . To name a few ' Cine Herald ' was published from Lahore by BR Chopra who after partition moved over to Bombay and became a producer and director . There was another magazine from Lahore by Bodhraj Oberoi called ' Cinema ' . A Gujrati magazine “ Mouj Maja “ None of them survived .

Hyderabad was a princely state and all the news papers , magazines etc published were mostly meant for circulation within the state , since most of the material contained there in was pertaining to the state affairs they hardly reached outside its boundaries . There were few national papers like Mushir-i-Dakan , Sahifa , Payam , etc in Urdu and Deccan Bullitin in English which had circulation outside the state .

There were a number of film magaizines on and off which lived a short span of life in Hyderabad like Filim , Filim va Mouseqi , Mutaharik Filmein , Filmi Khabrein , Senima , Aaina , Movieland , Mirror etc etc . Ishwarlal's Filim va Mouseqi was the leading magazine which lasted few years . He authored a book Yaadgaar filmi naghmein 1931-1940 published by Shankar Press , Hyderabad .

There were a row of small printing press doing good business on the Afzalgunj - Gowliguda road and also in the Chatta bazar area in the old city . Wedding cards , invitations for various occasions , doctor's pads , personal cards , business cards name anything they will do it in a professional manner . When the talkie came into existence the responsibility of making the flyer's for the movies fell on this industry .

Munir Alam was a young and enterprising man working at one of the printing press . When the first talkie film Alam Ara was released he wrote a brief story of the movie with the lyrics of couple of songs . His write up was so attractive that soon one of the film magazines offered him a job to review the forthcoming movies in their magazine . There were a number of cine goers who contributed to the leading news papers and other magazines but Munir Alam soon earned the name of a film journalist .
He moved over to Lahore in early 1940's finding a job of a film journalist on a hefty pay . It is difficult to find the old magazines and reviews penned by this enterprising man but , Munir Alam is remembered by many as the first film journalist of Hyderabad - Deccan .
It is believed that he wrote dialogues for some movies produced in Lahore under a pseudonym .

Film Censorship in Hyderabad Deccan .

2010-11-09T10:43:00.000-08:00

Kissing , Scenes of intimacy & obscene dancing scenes in movies
Most of the silent movies produced outside the country which were screened in Hyderabad had kissing scenes and under the influence of the British occasionally some kissing on mouth appeared in the movies . The first such scene to be noticed was in Pati Bhakti - 1922/23 starring Patience Cooper . Heer Ranjha another silent movie starring Sulochana ( Ruby Myers ) too had kissing scenes . The Britishers were little lenient towards such scenes . The viewers expressed strong dislike as early as 1923 . Film Razia Begum - 1924 , created a furore among the masses . The news reached the Nizams court and he summoned his advisors who after couple of meetings decided to form a committee under the chairmanship of the Commissioner of Police . According to the powers vested in him the Commissioner appointed two police inspectors one from Hindu and the other from Muslim community who would watch the movie before screening and report any irregularities . The commissioner upon their advise would then order to skip those scenes from the movie for the presentation of the audience . This system worked for sometime and later few more members from the public were included . The movies screened in Secunderabad which was under the direct control of the British did not see these changes . Thus the first censorship of movies came into existence in Hyderabad around 1924 seven years before the commencement of the talkie era in 1931.

1931 – Talkie comes to town

2010-11-08T14:21:00.000-08:00

Alam Ara –

A new era of talkie had begun with the release of Alam Ara in the summer of 1931 .The propaganda was enormous . Many agents were touring different localities advertising about the gran dour of the movie thru the metallic horns which were in Vogue at that time as mobile public address system was not yet available . There were flyers mostly in Urdu and some in English distributed all over the city . The posters of Alam Ara showing Zubeida , Master Vittal and Prithviraj were to be seen on the lamp posts . Ardeshir M Irani takes the credit of producing and directing the first talkie of Indian cinema .

There were very long ques at the theatre when it was released . It was a unique experience to see the rendering of dialogues and songs on the screen along with the movie .

It was a story of an ageing king who had two wives Naubahar and Dilbahar . The rivalry between the two queens when a faqir predicts that Naubahar heir will be the successful heir to the thrown . Dilbahar in disappointment conceives evil plans with out success .
Zubeida played the role of Alam Ara and Master Vittal as Adil the commander-in chief .

Zubeida looked very graceful on the screen . The songs were enjoyable . The songs by Zubeida and Wazir Mohammad Khan were very impressive .
The crowds cheered occasionally in excitement which was something strange . The movie ran for many weeks and left a new impression on the movie lovers .

The song ‘ dede khuda ke naam pe pyarey taaqat ho gar dene ki ‘ rendered by Wazir Mohmad Khan was the best loved song . There were a total of seven songs in the movie .
‘ badla dilwayega yaarab tu sitamgaron se ‘ by Zubeida was another hit song .

Master Vittal the hero of the movie had a contract with a Marathi theatre and they filed a suit against him for acting in Alam Ara . Muhammad Ali Jinnah the leading lawyer of Bombay at time time fought on his behalf and won the case .

Devi DevyaniSardar Chandulal Shah and his partner Miss Gohar under the banner of Ranjit Movie tone released their first talkie Devi Devyani starring Miss Gohar , Miss Kamla and Billamoria . The movie was directed by Chandulal Shah . It boasted of great music by a classicalist with a three piece orchestra comprising of harmonium , sarangi and tabla . The movie was a big hit in Hyderabad and they liked some of the songs especially the one picturised on Miss Kamla who played the role of Sharmishta . Unfortunately for the music lovers the songs were not recorded on to the discs .
Miss Gohar of the parsi theatre was an accomplished actress and had a fairly good voice . she was a bit on the plus side but in the thirties that was considered quite healthy and normal . Miss Kamla was a charming girl with a good physique and became quite popular in later years .

Harishchandra

The movie starring Master Mohammad as Harishchandra and Miss Neelam as Taramati had a limited success mainly on account of good singing by both the artists . The music was also composed by Master Mohammad .

Heer Ranjha

The music for this film was composed by *Master Ali Bakhsh . He also played many supporting and villain roles .Three songs from the movie became popular in those days . * Mst Ali Baksh was the father of actress Meena Kumari .

har cheez dast-o-baagh men waqfe bahaar hai - Mst Faqir
dekhoon main unhe kyun na mohobbat ki nazar se - Miss Shantakumari
na uthayi jaayegi ab ye jafaayen baaghbaan ki - - - - do - -

He also composed music for Gunahgaar ( 1936) and Vaayida ( 1940 ) . He composed another movie along with Ashok Ghosh - Aarti in 1945 .
Ali Bakhsh's wife Iqbal Begum simply refrred as Iqbal was a professional dancer for the Parsi theatre and appeared in many movies chiefly as a dancer .

Laila Majnu

There were two Laila Majnu’s released in the same year but the one produced by Madan Theatres , Calcutta was a successful one starring Master Nissar and Jahan Ara Kajjan in the lead roles . The movie had in all 24 songs . The film was supported by another actress by name Miss Shehla . Most of the songs were in the old ghazal style on harmonium and tabla and this was the style of music the Hyderabadi’s of those times liked . The lyrics were also very meaningful .
Kajjanbai was a beauty of those days and she rendered her songs very well .

tere qudrat ka jalwa dekh kar
dil ye kehta hai dilruba tu hai - Miss Kajjan
tapish hai ranj hai gham hai -
hum nahin un mein jo mout se darne waale – Miss Kajjan
inshaani lailla - was a song on an Egyptian dance and was received admiration .

Noorjehan

The film directed by Ezra Mir starring Vimla and Nayampalli was the first Indian movie in English . The theatres of Secunderabad received good response due to the British troops stationed there who watched the movie with interest . Ezra Mir later became one of the successful directors of Indian movies .

Shakuntala

There were two releases of Shakuntala , one by Madan Theatres starring Master Nissar and Kajjan and the other one by Saroj Movietone Bombay starring Ashraf Khan and Naaz Begum . This film also had Zaibunisa in a supporting role who was considered a beauty queen of the silent era . She was also called the Greta Garbo of Indian films . None of the two films gained popularity in Deccan .

Shirin Farhad
This was the second talkie to be released after Alam Ara . There was a speculation in the press for sometime that the movie would be released earlier then Alam Ara but due to some technical related problems it was delayed by a couple of months .
The movie was one of the greatest musical hit of 1931 with eighteen songs . The music was scored by Brijlal Varma . The movie established both Master Nissar and Jahan Ara Kajjan as the top singing duo of the film industry . Jahan Ara Kajjan earned the title of the Lark of India for her singing .
The picturisation , photography and editing was much superior to that of Alam Ara . The following songs rendered by Kajjan were most popular and the crowds paid many visits to theatres only for the songs and Kajjan .

naseem-e-subah tu itna usey suna dena - Nissar & Kajjan
yaarab na kisiko ho aazaar mohobbat ka – Kajjan
kaisa naseeb laayi thi gulshan-e-rozgaar mein – Kajjan
Chaar din ki ye zindagaani hai - - - Kajjan
Wo muqaddar na raha , wo zamana na raha - Nissar

Movies of the Silent Era - Film production in Hyderabad Deccan .

2010-11-07T10:56:00.000-08:00

The first Indian silent movie was Raja Harishchandra which was released in May 1913 . DG Phalke is considered to be the founder of the Indian film industry . It is estimated that a total number of 1300 silent movies were produced at several cities across the country like Bombay , Calcutta , Lahore etc . With the advent of talkie in 1931 the production of silent movies tapered down slowly but continued till early 1934 .Some of most famous silent movies which were remembered for a long time were England Returned , Pati Bahkti , Noor Jehan , Anarkali ,Prem Sanyas / The light of Asia and the Throw of Dice .

Hyderabad too had it’s share in making silent movies . With the approval and encouragement from the Nizam Mr JF Madan of Madan theatres fame established film production in Hyderabad . He hired the services of Dhiren Ganguly who was a talented artist and stage actor . While working as a teacher and later Head Master at the Nizam College he used to conduct and perform dramas . He was a very famous person and had direct access to Nizam . JF Madan in coloboration with DN Ganguly established the Lotus film Co , at Hyderabad in early 1921 . Dhiren Ganguly had established a good rapport with the Nizam who permitted him even using his palace gardens if required for the purpose of film production . With his influence JF Madan also established two cinema theatres .

It is said that he produced nearly ten movies in Hyderabad . Some of the popular movies produced by him are Chintamani , England Returned , The Lady Teacher , Marriage Tonic , Hara Gouri , Indrajit , Sadhu aur Shaitan , Step Mother and Yayati . The trouble started with the film Razia Begum – 1924 a film which was not produced by Lotus films but was distributed by them . The film had a distorted story of Princess Razia's love affair with a Hindu boy . This created a commotion among the public . The unpleasant news reached the Nizam who ordered the closure of the Lotus film Co and also Dhiren Ganguly to move out of the state .

The theater at which Razia Begum was screened was called Lotus in the 1920's . It was having a seating capacity of about 50 . It was a house on the second floor which was converted as a theater . It was located on the Abid's - Gunfoundry main road . The theater was later re-named as Lighthouse which was functional till recently .

With this the film production in Hyderabad under the Nizam met a premature death . After more then two decades the film production in Hyderabad started in late 1950’s with the establishment of Sarathi studios at Amirpet

Courtesans - Tawaif's , Nautch Girls of Bela 1830-1930's

2010-11-07T10:32:00.000-08:00

During the period of Maharaja Chandulal as the prime minister of Hyderabad state ( 1829-1857 ) a large number of courtesans moved over from Rajasthan and settled down around the place known as the Chandulal Bela . It was just about a kilometer from historical Charminar . The Maharaja used to live in the same area . He was a great lover of music and dance . The courtesans were mostly Hindus . The dance and music was mostly based on folk . They were well versed with the Hindu tradition and sing bhajans and kirtans on different religious occasions . There used to be great celebrations during the Hindu festivals of Rakhi , Ganesh Chaturthi , Navratri days of Dussehra and Ramnavmi etc . The courtesans would sing appropriate bhajans for each festival . rakhiya bandhalo bhayya and rakhi ka aaya tyohar were two traditional songs which became very popular during that period and were heard for many years .
The courtesans participated in Holi , the festival of colors , they used to play colors , sing traditional songs of Holi going round in circles in front of the bone fire lit in the evening .

holi ke din holi aayi re , zara baaje bansuri . mat maro pichkari , naache nandlala and holi aayi re kanhayi holi aayi re were traditional Rajasthani songs heard during the entire week preceeding the Holi festival .

It was also customary to engage courtesans for dance and music sessions for entertaining the royal guests for lunch and dinner . Most often the guests were from the officers of the British army and other high ranking civil servants serving with the local British Resident stationed at Hyderabad . kesariya baalam padharo hamri des was mostly sung for the Britishers who admired the song very much .

Maharaja Sir Kishen Pershad , the Prime Minister of Hyderabad ( 1902-1912 ) & (1926-1937 ) was also a great lover of music , poetry and dance . He was a great scholar in Urdu , Persian , English and Hindi and wrote many books . He engaged the courtesans for all occasions from salgirahs ( Birthdays ) to festivals and official parties and entertaining personal guests . Both Maharaja Chandulal and Maharaja Sir Kishen Pershad were devotees of Lord Krishna . Janmashtami was celebrated on a grand scale and on this occasion courtesans used to render bhajans of Meerabai on Sri Krishna . Sir Kishen Pershad had such a devotion for Sri Krishna that he wrote many devotinal poems in praise of the lord . The book is known as " Premdarpan " . Several bhajans from his book Premdarpan were set to tune in early 1930's by Janab MA Rauf , the famous ghazal singer and composer of Hyderabad . MA Rauf was the Station Director of Deccan Radio and a good friend of Maharaja .

Maharaja had a special relief fund under his direct control for the welfare of the courtesans . He would hear their petitions and grant appropriate amount of relief depending on individual need of every case . Due to this he was very popular with the courtesans of those days .

Further up from Bela towards the foot hills of Falaknumah groups of courtesans used to live . This area was known as Nagulchinta . Not much of information is available about their activities but , it is widely believed that they moved over from the deserted areas of Golconda which was once prosperous .

Music & Dance , Courtesans , Tawaif's , Nautch Girls 1850-1920

2010-11-06T10:27:00.000-07:00

The courtesans of Gol Bungla

With the prosperity of Hyderabad a number of courtesans moved over to the city from Lucknow , Agra , Meerut etc and settled down in localities of Mughal Pura and near by Charminar area . The Gol Bungla was a famous place for some of the reputed courtesans . It was called Gol Bungla because the bungalow was round in structure . The locality came to be known as Golbungla . There were many business establishments , especially flower merchants , nahari - kulcha stores and paan shops doing good business around this locality . Some of the courtesans moved along with their own musicians who were in service for playing harmonium , sarangi and tabla . Many ustads ( qualified musicians ) who used to compose the ghazals in various ragas also moved along with them . The place became a hub of activity and during the evenings the streets were filled with carriages carrying the nawab’s , rajas , jagirdars and rich businessmen . The streets had many vendors selling flowers and Itar ( Perfume )

Feroza Jan and Durdana were the two most famous courtesans of that time need a mention here . While Feroza Jan moved over from Lucknow Durdana had her ancestry in Iran . Her father moved over from Iran and was in service with the Mughals . She was a rare beauty and and a very good singer . Her mujra was the costliest of those days . These two were very expensive courtesans and had hired fine living quarters and big arched halls which were decently decorated with Persian carpets and draperies . Due to their high cost only a select few of the nobles used to attend their mujra’s . The nawab’s and the the rich nobles had a love for poetry and used to pen their own ghazals . At times they would ask the singers to sing the ghazals penned by them . The ustad’s ( maestros ) accompanying them used to set the ghazals to a tune according to the depth of the ghazal and the singers used to render them at a short notice . This was an amazing thing for those present .

Another notable courtesan of that time was Gora Jan who moved over from Benaras and spent only a couple of years in the city . A scaring incident made her leave Hyderabad in a hurry . During one of her mujra sessions an army officer took her by force and dragged her . She made a hue and cry and hearing the commotion a British Officer took out his pistol to scare away the soldier . She received some bruises and minor injuries . Shortly after this incident she moved back to the north . It was in her time the ghazal ‘ inhi logone cheeni re dupatta mera ‘ was heard in Hyderabad .

There were many others living in the Gol bungla and the surrounding areas serving the needs for the various levels of society . On occasions like engagements , weddings , salgirah ( Birthday ) etc the courtesans were engaged for singing the songs appropriate to the occasion as singing by the household females was considered a taboo in those days . The courtesans charged suitably , the rich would offer them with extra perks .
The birthday celebrations of the Nizam was always a special occasion but his 33rd birthday celebrations which lasted for three days were very memorable and the gran dour of these celebrations were recorded in the book “ Tuzuk-i-Mahbubiayah “ by Ghulam Samdani Khan Gohar vol – 1 pages 177 – 184 . The festivities of sports at Fateh Maidan grounds and the grand celebrations of music and dance at the Public Gardens lasted for three continuous days . The book also mentions of Qawwals and Courtesans greeting and offering salutations to the Nizam on his arraival . They later took part in the celebrations .

Origins of modern movies – the history of Theater in the Deccan

2010-11-06T09:49:00.000-07:00

Nautanki Shows – 1800’s

The Nautanki ( folklore drama ) became a popular show among the poor and middle class mostly in the village areas of north India . A large number of civil servants , traders and other professionals moved over from the north after the fall of Golconda to Aurangazeb . Among these were many kayasth families who occupied high official positions . It is with their blessings that the nautanki became popular in Deccan . It is not known wheather any of the nautanki companies visited the Deccan , but it is said that the Ramlila became very popular in the city by early 1800’s . It was organized by the local heads of various localities . A temporary stage would be erected and the artists would perform based on the script . There were many famous writers who used to pen the dialogues and songs . Women did not take part and the men usually dressed as females used to compensate those roles . The nautanki shows were staged during the evening hours and would run late into the night . There was no electricity and so no microphones during those days . The artists good voice was a boon .

One of the first nautanki from the neighboring Maharashtra area visited Hyderabad and camped at the grounds near Gulzar Houz in the 1840’s and staged few plays .
Their shows became very popular and were admired by the locals
The Krishna Opera House was built on these grounds many years later . It was re-named Krishna Talkies after the commencement of the Talkie Era in 1930’s .

Theatre – 1840’s – 1930

The earliest history of theatre dates back to 1843 when a group of artists from the neighboring Maharashtra visited Hyderabad and staged some shows and was greatly applauded by the audience . The details of the shows are unclear .

The Moon Parsi Theatre later came with some historical and romantic plays with improved sets and dresses . The dialogues in Urdu and Hindi were very powerful . Some of the plays by them were Siraj-ul-Dowla , Zawaal-e-Hindustan , Imaan Ka Sauda etc .
During this period Syed Yaawar Ali came to be recognized as the Shakespeare of Deccan who wrote powerful dialogues and script for the Moon Parsi Theatres . He had an elaborate education in Urdu , Persian and Arabic which gave him mastery over the dialogues . Long before Agha Hashar Kashmiri’s time Syed Yaawar Ali wrote hundreds of plays mostly for the Parsi theatres . He is documented to be the first drama play writer of Hyderabad . Some rich and influential persons used to buy his dramas and sell them to various theatres on their own name . Another company famous in those days was the Imperial Theaters .

The list of plays of Syed Yaawar Ali staged by various Parsi theatres are exhaustive but the most famous among them were Asia-i-Sitara , Fitna , Hoor Banu , Aftab-e-Sharafat , Daku ki Dulhan , Aaj Kal , Sauteli Ma , Laila Majnun , Shirin Farhad , Dukhia Dulhan , Mehtab Jahan , Baap ki Bad Dua , Shahi Daku , Duniya men Jannat , Imaan ka Sauda , Siraj-ul-Doula , Taqdeer ki Tasir , Fareb Husn , Shikista Dil , Talwar ka Dhani , Mazloom Mohsin and many more .

During the Khilafat movement ( 1919 – 1924 ) the Moon Parsi theatres , the Imperial theatrical Co, and the Alfred theatrical Co, have presented several historical dramas penned by Syed Yaawar Ali Azam which became very popular paving a way for registering the name of Deccan amongst the dramatists . Some worth mentioning dramas are Tipu Sultan and Islami Jhanda etc . Some other theatres which existed around that time was Photo Place Ltd in Secunderabad which engaged the services of another dramatist by name Vilayat Husain Farkh whose drama Islahuddin Ayyubi became very popular in early 1900’s . Moulana Zafar Ali’s drama Jung-e-Roos -wa-Japan was also one of them . His drama was published in an Urdu weekly Deccan Review in 1905 . This was the only book which was published in a book form and the foreword was written by Moulvi Abdul Qadar Saheb who was the Commisioner of Gulbarga District , Hyderabad .

Syed yaawar Ali who earned the name of Shakespeare of Deccan was born in Hyderabad in 1883 . He belonged to the family of Syed Dawood Ali Shah Ramaal . He received his education at Hyderabad in Urdu , Persian , Arabic and English . The decision by the famous poet Daagh Dehlvi to reside in Hyderabad was a boon to him . He joined him as one of his desciples and learnt the art of writing ghazals . Apart fom this he also learnt the techniques of scripting the dramas . His proficiency was exploited by the Parsi theatre for their own benefit by not paying him the suitable reward he expected for his painful work . This made him poor and his last days were spent in full of hardship and poverty . He died in 1932 at the age of 49 . A small book about the collections of some selected poems and works of him were published by one of his disciple Syed Qurban Ali Qurban in 1932 . It was better if his dramas too were published in a book form , unfortunately his works on dramas were not taken care of .
Qabil Hyderabadi was another notable dramatist who wrote several dramas for the theatre . Hoor Banu and Islam ka Insaf are his two famous dramas . Moulana Zafar Ali Khan was also a notable dramatist .

The prosperity of Hyderabad and the encouragement received by the artists many drama companies from the neighboring states visited Hyderabad . Kirloskar Sangeet Mandali visited Hyderabad from the neighboring Maharashtra between 1893-1912 and staged few shows .

On learning about the success of Kirloskar sangeet mandali , Keshav Rao Badodekar Natyamandali visited Hyderabad between 1885 -1906 . One of their best shows was Othello staged at the Zamrud Mahal Grounds . The Zamrud Mahal Theatre was built on the same grounds much later . Zamrud Mahal was known as Krishna Theatres in the early 1900’s , which is located in the busy and fashionable Abid’s area . It later became one of the leading Cinema halls of the city . One should not get confused with Krishna Theatres of Abids and Krishna Talkies of Gulzar Houz .

Of the local talent Shyam Rao Nyalkal of Hyderabad founded the Deccan Music Club and staged Sharada in April 1916 at the Krishna Opera located in Gulzar Houz . This is one of the oldest theatres of the old city which was very popular with the public .

Deccan Literary Association staged four plays between 1924-1927 .

Hirabai Barodekar’s drama Co, visited Hyderabad a couple of times between 1936-1940 . She was a regular visitor to Hyderabad and participated on the Deccan radio .

The leading dramas staged by these drama companies include Taj-e-Wafa , Desh dasha , Dooj ka Chaand and Vatan ke Dost .

Music Circle ( Kala Mandali ) was established at Hyderabad in 1933 . Ladies started participating in the shows from 1942 .
Early Dramatists of Hyderabad

Ranga Bai -

She was one of the earliest stage actresses of 1900’s . She was born in Secunderabad in a Telugu family . The financial difficulties compelled her to join the stage for a living . She traveled most Indian cities along with the various drama companies she worked for but was not very successful . She moved over to Burma for some time but it did not prove very prosperous for her . She returned back to Bombay and worked for some time .

Harindranath Chattopadhyaya –

The youngest brother of Sarojini Naidu was a famous personality of Hyderabad . Right from his childhood days he was interested in organizing dramas at his home before his parents with the help of his sisters Sunalini , Mrinalini and his nephew Jaisoorya and niece Padmaja . His education at St George Grammar School and Nizam College helped him in authoring many plays in English .

Many people know him only as small time actor of Bollywood , but in fact he was a great Poet , a Dramatist , Director , Author and a Translator . He authored more then a dozen books .

His dramas “ Abu Hasan “ and “Valmiki” were light musical comedies staged at Victoria Hall Madras in 1918 which drew huge crowds . A couple of years later he wrote few social plays “ The Sleeper Awakened “ and “ Returned from Abroad “ which ran to packed houses all over India and Ceylon . After his controversial marriage to Kamala Devi he was living with his wife in Mangalore and wrote some devotional plays mostly on the saints of Maharashtra who were his mother-in-laws favourites “ Tukaram “ , Jayadev “ “ Sakku Bai “ , “ Eknath “ and “ Pundalik “ . Of all these devotionals “ Tukaram “ was the greatest hit all over the country . He also wrote a couple of poitical and social plays ‘ The New Toy Cart “ and ‘ The Black Ship “ . Kamala Devi Chattopadhyaya worked in a couple of silent movies and also in talkie in the early 1930’s at a time when women from decent house hold were against joining in movies .
However , she did not come into limelight in this field .

Harindranath also translated a Bengali book along with Dilip Kumar Roy .
He acted in about 25 Hindi movies of which the following few are worth mentioning . Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam , Tere ghar ke Saamne , The House Holder ,
Teen Deviyan , Raaz , Aaat aur Din , Ashirwad and Bawarchi .

Makhdoom Mohiuddin -

Makhdoom Mohiuddin was born in Medak District in 1908 .
His life can be summed up into three parts – Poet , Dramatist and Politician . A large section of people are unaware of his talents as a dramatist . He authored three dramas as a student at Osmania University . He also played pivotal roles and directed them .

Hosh ke Nakhun was based on George Bernard Shaw’s drama Widowers Houses and was staged at the annual Osmania University function at the Liaqat Manzil grounds on 16th December 1934 . The drama which was a huge success was attaended by many famous personalities including The Nizam Of Hyderabad and Rabindranath Tagore . The drama was published in a book form .

Murshad , This was also staged at the Osmania University grounds .

Phool Ban , The drama was based on the English Play “ Cherry Orchard “ was staged at the Zamrud Mahal theatre but failed to inspire . Miss Leelamani Naidu the youngest daughter of Ms Sarojini Naidu compered the program .
It was un-common in those days in Hyderabad for females to take part in dramas and hence the female roles were played by men in female costumes . The change came in the early 1940’s when female artists participated in dramas and other stage performances .

His poetical works ‘ Bisat-e-Raqs’ which includes his earlier collections Surkh Savera (1944 ) and Gul-e-Tar ( 1961 ) is the most memorable award winning book for lovers of poetry .

Mahdoom Mohiuddin was associated with the Deccan Radio for a brief time working as a translator . He then opted for a teaching profession and worked as a lecturer at the City College and later entered into politics and became an active trade union leader with leftist leanings . He passed away in 1969 . Many of his ghazals were taken into movies and became very popular . Some of the ghazals used in movies are listed below –

jaanewaale sipaahi se poocho – Film Usne Kaha Tha , 1960
ek chambeli ke mandve taley - Film Cha Cha Cha , 1964
aap ki yaad aati rahi raat bhar – Film Gaman , 1979
phir chidi raat , baat phoolon ki - Film Bazaar , 1982

Sunalini Devi & Mrinalini Devi

The two younger sisters of Smt Sarojini Naidu appeared initially in the dramas penned by their youngest brother Harindranath Chattopadhyaya . Together they also acted in a silent movie The Light of Asia produced by Himansu Rai in 1925 . The hindi title was Prem Sanyas . Later Mrinalini Devi moved over to Madras and became the Editor of Shama’a an international quarterly magazine on arts , culture and civilization . The magazine ceased publications after 1931 . She also published few books penned by her youngest brother Harindranath Chattopadhyaya , The Magic Tree , Perfume of Earth – 1922 , Sakku Bai – 1924 , Cross Roads – 1934 . Mr Venkatachalam became an Assistant Editor of Sahma’a . the journal . ( Later to become Fellow , Lalit kala academy )

Sunalini Devi moved over to Bombay and acted in several movies Veer Kunaal – 1932 ,
Hum Tum aur Who – 1938 , Pooja – 1940 , Mohabbat – 1943 , Shikayat – 1948 , Dilruba – 1950 , Nadaan , Malhaar and Buzdil – all 1951 , Tamasha and Naubahar – 1952

Beginning of a new Era of Arts , Poetry & Music 1800-1920

2010-11-05T14:35:00.000-07:00

With the decline of the Mughal Empire a large number of musicians left Delhi for good . A similar situation prevailed in places like Lucknow , Agra , Allahabad , Gwalior , Baroda etc and the migration lead them to Hyderabad Deccan where poets , musicians and courtesans were admired and paid sufficiently for their existence .

The sixth Nizam Mir Mahbub Ali Khan was only around three years of age when he succeeded the throne in 1869 . He was educated inside the four walls of his palace .
Nawab Sarvar-ul-Mulk , the grandson of of renowned urdu poet Mirza Ghalib was invited from Delhi to tutor the Nizam who taught him Persian , Urdu and Arabic . He later became his private secretary . Captain Clark was his tutor who taught him English . It was during his rule that the official language was changed from Persian to Urdu .

The Nizam was a man of taste , a connoisseur of good food , clothes , great love for poetry and music . He had such a big ward robe and was unwilling to wear any of his garments the second time and used to donate them to the needy . This charitable nature was a blessing for musicians who received a lot more then expected for their performance at the royal court .

Inayat Khan

Many notable musicians and poets were invited with royal honours while others lined up in front of the palace gates of his Chow Muhalla Palace close to Charminar for an audience . One such lucky musician was Inayat Khan ( 1882-1927 ) who migrated from Baroda . He was an excellent classicalist and a Veena player . The news of his arraival reached the Nizam and was soon invited . He gave several performances in the royal durbar both vocal and instrumental . The Nizam was so much impressed with his music that he conferred the title of ‘Tansen of Hyderabad ‘

The Nizam got some of his songs recorded on to the discs by Victor Co, of Calcutta around 1907 . They were both vocal and Veena recordings . One performance of him at the durbar was the famous Thumri ‘ babul mora ‘ penned by Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Audh . This was a master piece . Many disc collectors of Hyderabad had all these discs in their collection . A number of photographs of him along with the Nizam and the Royal courtiers were also available with some collectors . Inayat Kan was a very humble and un-assuming person . He lived a simple life and helped all those who visited him . He also was very charitable and donated some of his earnings from his shows to the orphans .

He spent a couple of years in Hyderabad but , suddenly he came under the influence of the great Sufi saint Muhammed Abu Hashim Madani and upon his advise he left India and traveled to US and Europe and held several music concerts . He propagated the path of Sufism and came to be known as Hazrat Inayat Khan . He authored several books . While his books are popular through out the world but , unfortunately most of his discs were lost . A few vocal recordings which were traced back at a later time have been restored and are available on Cassette / CD at some select places around the world .

Pt Motiram

Another notable musician of the Mewati Gharana who won the praise of Nizam was Pt Moti Ram . He spent few years in Hyderabad and was the court musician for some time . He holds the distinction of making the Nizam sit on the floor by rendering a beautiful Hamd ( A religious song ) . The lyrics of the song had the names of Hazrat Ali , ( Son-in-Law of Prophet Muhammad ) Hasan and Hussain . On hearing the names of Hasan and Hussain the Nizam got up from his seat and simply sat on the floor as a mark of respect to the Holy Prophet .

His youngest son Pt. Jasraj is the leading classicalist today who was awarded the Padma Vibushan in 1999 . He has many followers and produced many great desciples in the field of music . The famous playback singer Sadhana Sargam is one of them .
Janaki Bai of Allahabad

By 1908 Janki Bai was a very popular name and word soon reached the Nizam who was thinking of inviting her to the royal darbar but the great floods of Hyderabad of 28th September 1908 was a very sorrowful event which made Nizam fully occupied in the relief work and large sums of money was spent on rehabilitation and restoration work . His sudden and untimely death in 1911 was a greatest loss for the music enthusiasts.

In the early 1900’s a sweet vendor Hari Ram of Allahabad moved over to Hyderabad for a living and opened a small shop near the Afzal darwaza area . His business soon picked up and became famous around the city . He was a friend of Jankibai’s father Shiv Malikram who was also a sweet vendor . The people of Hyderabad soon learnt about the story about her famous stabbing incident by her lover Raghunath Dubey . She survived 56 stabbings and came to be known as Chappan Churi . Hari Ram lost everything in the great floods of 28th September 1908 . The greatest loss for him more than the shop was his dear wife .The Nizam took care of all the flood victims and were compensated adequately but Hari Ram was a broken man after loosing his pregnant wife who was washed away in the floods and so decided to go back to his native place .

Gohar Jan of Calcutta

The famous courtesan of Calcutta Gohar Jan of Calcutta visited Hyderabad during the years 1910 -11 . Her performances were witnessed at the Krishna theatres ( later re-named Zamrud Mahal ) by thousands of music lovers . She was accompanied by her personal servants some of them were Europeans who received a hefty pay .

Dagh Dehlvi

He was a poet of repute . He did not sing but had great love for music . After ending his term in the Rampur darbar Dagh reached Hyderabad in 1891 but had to wait 10 long years before he was taken into the court . His luck changed when the Nizam ordered the payment of arrears in full in bulk for the whole ten year period . There was no paper currency in those days . The huge sum in silver coins bundled in sacks were carried in a bullock cart and delivered at his residence . He spent the rest of his life happily . Dagh was fond of music and Nautch girls . He loved a courtesan Munni Bai of Calcutta . She moved over to Hyderabad for some time and lived with him . Many of the ghazals of Dagh were rendered by singers both in the royal court and by the courtesans of Gol bungla . Some of his ghazals chosen by the courtesans of Gol Bungla which were popular with the admirers are given below . The tunes were composed by their own musicians and were accompanied on harmonium , sarangi and tabla . Wind instruments like clarinet etc were rarely used .

Ajab apna haal hotha jo visaal-e-yaar hota
dil gaya tumne liya hum kya Karen
dil ko kya hogaya khuda jaane
Uzr aane men bhi hai aur bulaate bhi nahin

Ameer Minai -

Ameer Minai visited Hyderabad on the invitation of Dagh Dehlvi . He lived near Osmanpura area close to Dar-ul-Shifa for a very brief time . Unfortunately he fell ill and despite the best medical treatment and care taken by his friend he passed away in 1900 . Many of his ghazals were rendered by famous musicians including KL Saigal .

Nautch girls of old city .

2010-11-05T13:50:00.000-07:00

A large group of courtesans migrated mostly from the north a few from east and west and camped in the surrounding localities around Charminar . When they were driven away from one locality they often moved over to another . They also shifted on their own for better prospects when any influential person offered his help in doing so .

Bekan Jan , Banni Jan and Kaali Jan were the most famous courtesans of the old city . Kaali Jan’s daughter Mohammadi was famous for her beauty and many used to attend the mujra of Kaali Jan just to have a glimpse of Mohammadi . Kaali Jan was a good classicalist and was good at singing ghazal , thumri and daadra . She was often invited by the rich and elite for the mujra during the marriages and she was one of the highly paid singer of the 1920’s . Nothing much was ever heard about Mohammadi’s singing talent except for her charm and beauty .
There is an interesting mention about the khada mujra in a couple of books and articles . Normally a courtesan renders the song in a sitting posture or if she is a dancer while dancing but there were instances where a singer would render while standing and ther is also a mention of takht-e-rawan special instances like marriages where the mujra singers rendered while walking along with the baaraat procession . Wooden planks or panels of suitable size would be grouped together and spread on the street and will be moved as the baaraat proceeds . The dancers and singers would sing and dance walking on the wooden planks . They would accompany the baaraatis . This sort of mujra is probably first introduced in Hyderabad . I have no idea if similar thing existed elsewhere in the country .

Another notable mention about the mujra in Hyderabad is the fee or amount charged by a mujra singer for a singing session which was also termed as mujra , example Rs 250 mujra .

There is also a mention of Kaali Jan and Mohammadi performing a takht-e-rawan mujra ( singing and dancing while following a marriage procession walking on wooden planks ) at the marriage ceremony of Nawab Bahadur Yar Jung .
Two more famous courtesans of those days were Teeti Jan and Mehtab Begum , both of them were very good at mujra and were good at rendering ghazals .