We keep searching for rare and lesser heard gems of Geeta ji and on the eve of her 85th Birth anniversary we are pleased to share some rare gems. We will be posting five songs per each post. All of these have been collected from various sources over several years of painstaking efforts. We are grateful to our dear friend Aditya Pant for sharing these extremely rare songs with us. This is the sixth part in this series.
1) Geeta Dutt, G M Durrani, Meena Kapoor – O rani mainawati..Dil ko chhod ke chalo – Ghayal (1951), MD- Gyan Dutt, Lyrics – Saraswati Kumar Deepak.
This is another rare song from Ghayal (1951)
Geeta sang about 54 songs in Gujrati and 51 songs in Hindi for Avinash Vyas, making him the composer with most songs for her. This is another lovely rare song sung by Geeta ji and Rafi sahab.
3) Geeta Dutt, Mohd Rafi, Usha Mangeshkar – Sukhi nahin woh..bhaiya kaam karo – Baalyogi Upamanyu (1958) – MD – Chitragupt, Lyrics: Pandit Bharat Vyas.
Among all the Hindi film composers she sang for, her most songs are with Chitragupta, the number is close to a hundred. Enjoy this rare trio of Geeta Dutt, Mohd Rafi and Usha Mangeshkar.
4) Geeta Dutt and Mohd Rafi – Tore bin raaja mohe – Pujya Gandhiji (Unreleased), MD- Harindra Nath Nandy, Lyrics: J S Kashyap.
This is a rare song from an un-released film from the fifties.
5) Geeta Dutt: Yeh Khamoshi kyun – Hamare Gham Se Mat Khelo (1967), MD- Jaidev, Lyrics – Buta Ram Sharma.
This is the only song Geeta ji sang for composer Jaidev ji in Hindi films. We were searching for a good quality audio of this song for quite some time.
We keep searching for rare and lesser heard gems of Geeta ji and on the eve of her 85th Birth anniversary we are pleased to share some rare gems. We will be posting five songs per each post. All of these have been collected from various sources over several years of painstaking efforts. We are grateful to our dear friend Aditya Pant for sharing these extremely rare songs with us. This is the fifth part in this series.
1) Geeta Dutt, Mukesh – Kya tujh ko hua aakhir – Bebus (1950), MD – S K Pal, Lyrics – Saliq Lakhnavi.
For long time we have been searching for a good audio of this rare song. The file we had had a lot of scratching voice. Finally we have found this good quality audio.
2) Geeta Dutt, Satish Batra – Lagi re lagi re..Meri mehfil mein – Baghi Sardar (1956), MD – Baldev Nath Bali, Lyrics – Pandit Bharat Vyas.
Another rare song composed by B N Bali sahab. Possibly one of the very few songs of Geeta ji with Satish Batra
3) Geeta Dutt – Mere dil ki duniya mein – Gumasta (1951), MD – K Dutta, Lyrics – Wahid Qureishi.
A rare melancholy sung by Geeta ji for maestro composer K Dutta sahab.
4) Geeta Dutt, Suman Kalyanpur – Mohe laa de chunariya laal – Chandi Ki Deewar (1964), MD- N Dutta, Lyrics – Sahir.
Another case where we were searching for a good quality audio of this song.
5) Geeta Dutt – O ban ke azaad panchhi – Hua Savera (1948), MD – Gyan Dutt , Lyrics – Bhagwati Prasad Vajpeyee.
This is a very rare song from the late forties composed by Gyan Dutt sahab.
We keep searching for rare and lesser heard gems of Geeta ji and on the eve of her 85th Birth anniversary we are pleased to share some rare gems. We will be posting five songs per each post. All of these have been collected from various sources over several years of painstaking efforts. We are grateful to our dear friend Aditya Pant for sharing these extremely rare songs with us. This is the fourth part in this series.
1) Geeta Dutt, Parshuram – Jai ho vijay ho – Meri Bhabhi (1948), MD – R A Paingankar , Lyrics – Gulshan Jalalabadi.
This is another rare song from her early films, Meri Bhabhi (1948).
2) Geeta Dutt – Jai jagdish hare – Dashavtar (1951), MD – Avinash Vyas, Lyrics – Saraswati Kumar Deepak.
Lyricist Saraswati Kumar Deepak took the religious song Jai Jagdish Hare and gave it the form of Dash avtaars (ten re-incarnations of God Vishnu). This is a very lovely song.
3) Geeta Dutt – Kise apne gham ki – Deewan Ji (1950) , MD – S Banerjee, Lyricist – Not known
A rare song from an obscure film.
4) Geeta Dutt, Mohd Rafi – Jeevan kya hain – Danapani (1953), MD – Mohan Junior, Lyrics- Kaif Irfani.
Another rare duet with Rafi sahab. We are not sure if the MD Mohan Junior is the famous composer Madan Mohan sahab himself.
5) Geeta Dutt, Mohd Rafi, Paro – Kabhi yeh saath na chhoote – Kisi Ki Yaad (1950), MD – Hansraj Behl, Lyrics – Moti B.A.
An extremely rare trio of Geeta Dutt, Mohd Rafi and Paro. Excellent composition by Hansraj Behl ji
We keep searching for rare and lesser heard gems of Geeta ji and on the eve of her 85th Birth anniversary we are pleased to share some rare gems. We will be posting five songs per each post. All of these have been collected from various sources over several years of painstaking efforts. We are grateful to our dear friend Aditya Pant for sharing these extremely rare songs with us. This is the third part in this series.
1) Geeta Dutt – Dim dikamk damroo – Shiv Shakti (1952), MD – Avinash Vyas, Lyrics – Munshi Sagar Hussain.
Here is another lovely rare religious song in relatively good audio quality.
2) Geeta Dutt – Ek gagan panth ka – Nanad Bhojai (1948), MD – Bulo C Rani, Lyrics – Pandit Indra.
Nanad Bhojai was also first made in Gujrati and then re-made/dubbed in Hindi. Once again all the tunes of the original Gujrati film were used in Hindi but again Avinash Vyas ji was not given the credit. The Hindi songs were credited to Bulo C Rani sahab.
This song is remade from the original Gujrati song Ek gagan panth nu pankheru.
3) Geeta Dutt – Gaaoon mai dil ka tarana – Nanad Bhojai (1948) – MD – Bulo C Rani, Lyrics – Pandit Indra.
One more song from Nanad Bhojai (original Gujrati song – te je kahyu.n te kyaa.n gayu.n) originally penned and composed by Avinash Vyas ji. The Hindi version is again credited to Bulo C Rani sahab
4) Geeta Dutt – Hum bhi jiye tum bhi – Meri Bhabhi (1948) , MD- R A Paaingankar, Lyrics : Gulshan Jalalabadi.
Very playful and rare song from the film Meri Bhabhi (1948) with chorus.
5) Geeta Dutt : Jab se uljhe nainwa – Pareeksha (1963) , MD – Pandit S N Tripathi, Lyrics: S R Saaz.
Pareksha (1963) was the last film for which Geeta ji sang for Pandit S N Tripathi ji. This is a very rare song.
We keep searching for rare and lesser heard gems of Geeta ji and on the eve of her 85th Birth anniversary we are pleased to share some rare gems. We will be posting five songs per each post. All of these have been collected from various sources over several years of painstaking efforts. We are grateful to our dear friend Aditya Pant for sharing these extremely rare songs with us. This is the second part in this series.
1) Geeta Dutt , Mohd Rafi, Manna Dey , Nirmala Devi – Jinhe rukh se parda – Haqdaar (1964), MD – Bulo C Rani, Lyrics – Prem Varbartani.
This is a Qawwali styled song sung by Geeta Dutt , Mohd Rafi, Manna Dey , Nirmala Devi and chorus. This is possibly last song Geeta ji sang for Bulo C Rani sahab. Also this could be the only song when she sang with Nirmala Devi ji (mother of actor Govinda).
2) Geeta Dutt, Manna Dey – Bholanaath re naiya – Shri Ganesh Janma (1951) , MD – Khemchand Prakash, Manna Dey, Lyrics – Pandit Bharat Vyas.
This is a lovely devotional song based on the traditional tune. MD Khemchand Prakash ji passed away during making of the film, hence Manna Dey ji completed the music.
3) Geeta Dutt – Chupke chupke teer chale – Hamari Duniya (1952), MD – Shyam Babu Pathak, Lyrics : Indivar.
This is a very rare song and unfortunately we are still not able to get it in very good audio quality.
4) Geeta Dutt, G M Durrani, Meena Kapoor – Daiya re daiya – Ghayal (1951) , MD – Gyan Dutt, Lyrics: Sarswati Kumar Deepak .
The film Ghayal (1951) had this rare trio song by Geeta ji, her friend Meena Kapoor ji and G M Durrani sahab.
5) Geeta Dutt – Dekho ji dil na todo – Captain Kishore (1957), MD – Chitragupt, Lyrics – Raja Mehdi Ali Khan.
We have been looking for better audio quality of this very melodious comic romantic song. This has some hissing noise but is still better than the audios we had in the past.
We keep searching for rare and lesser heard gems of Geeta ji and on the eve of her 85th Birth anniversary we are pleased to share some rare gems. We will be posting five songs per each post. All of these have been collected from various sources over several years of painstaking efforts. We are grateful to our dear friend Aditya Pant for sharing these extremely rare songs with us.
1) Geeta Dutt and Agha – Aag se na khelo – Guru Ghantal (1956) , MD – Lachhi Ram, Lyrics – Sarshar Sailani.
Enjoy this rare comic number where the actor Agha also sings with Geeta ji.
2) Geeta Dutt – Dard kyun uthataa hain dil mein – Birha Ki Raat (1950), MD – Husnlal Bhagatram, Lyrics – Sarshar Sailani.
This is a rare sad song from the film Birha Ki Raat (1950) starring Dev Anand and Nargis.
3) Geeta Dutt – Aaayi bahaar bhar lo – Kitna Badal Gaya Insaan (1957), MD – Hemant Kumar, Lyrics – S H Bihari.
We had been looking for this dance number from the Ajit and Nalini Jaywant starrer film Kitna Badal Gaya Insaan. It is a lovely dance number with chorus.
4) Geeta Dutt and chorus – Ab toh darshan do – Mere Bhagwan (1947), MD – Sajjad Hussain, Lyrics : Shevan Rizvi.
This song is mainly sung by the chorus singers and Geeta ji sings just one line in this song. Listen to her sweet and young voice at 2:09 minutes in this song. The film stars Madhubala and singing star Surendra.
Gunsundari (1948) was a social drama based on the famous maha-granth Saraswatichandra. It was a musical super-hit. Avinash Vyas ji composed music and wrote lyrics for this original Gujrati film. Young Geeta Roy sang “have thoDaa thoDaa thaav varaNaagii, o bhaabhii tame” (oh sister-in-law please become a little fashionable) became huge hit. The film was also made (probably dubbed) in Hindi but here Avinash Vyas had to share the credits with Bulo C Rani. Almost every Hindi song was made using the tune of the original Gujrati song. Geeta sang this song Bhabhi O Bhabhi Badlo Thoda Thoda Rang – (copy of Have thoda thoda thaav) was only credited to Avinash Vyas.
Kab se mehdood hain ye daa’era-e-ma’ani mein
Sham’a parwane ko thodi si rihaee de do
(Confined within the limits of meaning for so long,
The flame and moth now seek a release)
In the context of Urdu poetry, the metaphor of sham’a parwana is old as the hills. It is an imagery borrowed from the Persian tradition. So deeply ingrained has this metaphor become within Urdu poetry, that it is no longer ‘foreign’. At the same time, it has been used (and abused) so often that one could even call it a cliché. It wasn’t only the sham’a parwana metaphor that Maulana Altaaf Hussain Haali, a noted 19th century Urdu critic and poet, had in mind while criticizing the adherence to conventional metaphors and borrowed imagery by contemporary Urdu poetry of his time, but he would have surely thought about it. Of course, there were some great poets who did impart varied flavor to this imagery, despite the fact that it does not lend itself to very many different interpretations. One such unconventional use of this metaphor is by Ghalib, who hasn’t used it very often in his poetry. He wasn’t probably satisfied even with this one, as he finally expunged it while compiling his Diwan for publishing. It is a very unique usage where the poet compares the wings of a moth to the glass-shade of a candle.
Aashiq naqaab-e-jalwa-e-jaanaana chaahiye
Faanoos-e-sham’a ko par-e-parwana chahiye.
When it comes to Hindi film songs, the sham’a parwana metaphor has been beaten to death. There has hardly been any exploration beyond the obvious and conventional. And one wouldn’t entirely blame our lyricists for that. Film songs have to be more accessible and conventional imagery is definitely very accessible.
Let us try to explore a few shama parwana songs sung by Geeta Dutt.
1) Sham’a and parwana translates to deepak and patang(a) in Hindi.
In Ganesh Janma (1951) the poet, Bharat Vyas, presents the contrast of how deepak and patang symbolizing the lovers ‘burn’ together, but the character singing the song is destined to burn along in the absence of her lover. It is the contrast between visaal and firaaq; milan and virah…
Deepak ke sang jalta patang
tere bina piya mora jale ang ang
2) Next, let us look the case of an object of affection expressing pride at the fact that she has multiple prospects vying for her attention.
Raja Mehdi Ali Khan’s lyrics were tuned by Bulo C. rani for Baghdad (1952)
Ek shama mehfil mein parwane hazaaron hain
wo naina hoon jiske deewane hazaaron hain
3) Finally, here is a song that tries to give a slightly unconventional twist to this conventional metaphor.
Sham’a and parwana are still lovers, but it is not the suicidal parwana that wants to burn in the flame, but a playful, flirtatious lover who is teasing the object of his affection. The song is from the film Ek Armaan Mera (1959), written by Kaif Irfani, composed by S. D Batish and sung by Geeta Dutt.
Aa ke sham’a ke qareeb jo parwana palat jaye
To ye sham’a ke parwane ka kitna sitam … haaye kitna sitam
Acknowledgements:
We are highly grateful to our dear friend Aditya Pant for writing this special tribute on the eve of 23rd November, birth anniversary of Geeta Dutt ji . It is also the 4th birthday of our website http://www.geetadutt.com dedicated to her.
If there is any female playback singer other than Lata Mangeshkar that I am a big fan of, it has to be Geeta Dutt. I must admit that I have only discovered her fairly recently. I mean I always enjoyed listening to her popular numbers like Mera Naam Chin Chin Choo (Howrah Bridge) or Babuji Dheere Chalna (Aar Paar) or the all-time classic like Waqt Ne Kiya (Kaghaz Ke Phool), but in my mind the image of Geeta Dutt largely remained that of a singer who excelled in only one kind of genre – the club song – with a few sprinklings of pathos-ridden songs here and there.
And, boy was I wrong! As I listened to more and more of her songs, I realized that her repertoire is so wide that it is difficult to slot her into a particular genre. That’s what I mean, when I use the word ‘discover’ in her context.
I am presenting below some songs that I have discovered only in the last 4-5 years, but which have left an impression on me for varied reasons. They are relatively less talked about or even heard, cover different genres and styles and are beyond her usual hits i.e. those from Guru Dutt films or those composed by S. D Burman, O. P Nayyar and Hemant Kumar.
Barkha Ki Raat Mein He Ho Ha (Sardar, 1955, Jagmohan ‘Sursagar’, Udhav Kumar)
What an infectious song! The joi de vivre captured in this composition comes alive in Geeta Dutt’s voice. I can never get enough of this song. If I play it once, it ends up being played several times in a loop.
O Raja Re Mujhe Apni Bana Le (Leela, 1947, C. Ramchandra, Qamar Jalalabadi)
This is one of the few solos that C. Ramchandra composed for Geeta Dutt. What a delightful song! Hear the way she renders the words “O Raja Re” – pleading and seducing at the same time!
Mujhe Huzoor Tum Se Pyar Hai (Son of India, 1962, Naushad, Shakeel Badayuni)
Naushad hardly ever used Geeta Dutt’s voice, and this is the only full-fledged song he gave to her (the earlier song she sang in Dillagi can best be classified as a song-let). Geeta Dutt’s rendition oozes romance with just a modicum of seduction sprinkled in.
Here is the film version of this song
And here is the full audio of the same song
Dil Lagana Tu Kya Jaane (Commander, 1959, Chitragupta, Sarshar Sailani)
Chitragupta was one composer who exploited Geeta Dutt’s expertise in various genres to the fullest, giving her all variety of songs though the 50s. This club-style composition from Commander has Geeta Dutt written all over it.
Sun Le Zameen Aasman Ke Khuda (Nek Khatoon, 1959, Jimmy, ?)
Complaints to God are usually composed in a maudlin, mostly melodramatic fashion. That’s what makes this song different. I would love to see the situation of this song as this is composed like a dance song. Geeta Dutt does complete justice to the contrast in subject and form.
Dilbar Se Pyar Chhupane Mein (Inquilab, 1956, Hansraj Bahl, Raja Mehdi Ali Khan)
In this song, Geeta Dutt sings for two on-screen characters. Filmed as an exchange between two friends, this song has a certain cuteness that is difficult to resist.
Thi Aur Mulaqat Wo (Nirmal, 1952, Bulo C. Rani, Moti B. A)
Bulo C. Rani is another composer whose collaboration with Geeta Dutt was nothing short of magical. Nirmal is his lesser known film with some lovely Geeta Dutt songs. The high point of this romantic song from Nirmal is when Geeta Dutt renders the second stanza. The variations in the word ‘jhulaoon’ are simply a class apart.
Ankhiyon Se Need Chura Re (Bhool Bhulaiyan, 1949, Bulo C. Rani, Rajinder Krishan)
Another Bulo C. Rani beauty set to a simple, but catchy rhythm. From the words the song seems like depicting the first realization of love by the character. Geeta Dutt adds a distinct charm to this song by accentuating the new-found longing of the character as she lingers on just a little longer on the word ‘haaye’.
This effect of a moving train is masterfully created by Gyan Dutt in this song. The ease of Geeta Dutt’s rendition is perfectly in sync with the gay abandon with which Rehana dances on screen.
O Pagle Manwa Rota Hai Kyun (Bheeshm Pratigya, 1950, S. K Pal, Manohar Khanna)
While most people tend to unfairly stereotype Geeta as a singer of sad and devotional songs in the early part of her career, it cannot be denied that her sad songs of the era have a quality that comes straight from the heart. This song from Bheeshm Pratigya is quite rare, but deserves a much wider appreciation.
I hope you enjoyed the above selections. By no means do they represent what I would consider Geeta Dutt’s best or even a list demonstrating her width and depth. But they are certainly songs that deserve to be heard.
Acknowledgements:
We are extremely grateful to our dear friend Aditya Pant from Ghaziabad for paying tribute to Geeta ji’s lesser heard gems through this post. Aditya’s interests and knowledge in Indian film music has great variation and depths. He also has his own blogpage Urge to Fly dedicated to his passion about music and beyond. The URL is here
