‘Forgotten Artists of Early Cinema and The Same Name Confusion’

18 August 2018

Welcoming the ‘writer’ Arunkumar Deshmukh and his first book

Forgotten Artists of Early Cinema

‘Forgotten Artists of Early Cinema and The Same Name Confusion’
By Arunkumar Deshmukh & Prof Surjit Singh
Published by Professor Toofaanii Publishers

I want some information about Master Vitthal and Zubeida, the lead actors of the first talkie, ‘Alam Ara’, for writing my dissertation for my film course. Where can I get information about the early stars like Master Nissar and Jahanara Kajjan, and other actors, such as Mridula, Vasanti, Bhudo Advani etc? Did the hero Shyam of ‘Dillagi’ (1949) also sing his songs, such as the duets with Suraiya, ‘Tu mera chaand main teri chaandni’ or ‘Zaalim zamana mujhko tumse chhuda raha hai’? Is Rajkumari, who played the role of Chandramukhi in ‘Devdas’ (1935), the same as the famous singer Rajkumari who sang ‘Suno bairi balam kuchh bol’ in ‘Bawre Nain’ (1950)? Are Sitara Kanpuri and Sitara Devi the same person?


Until a few years ago such questions led to a dead-end. Now we know there is one person on this planet who can answer all such queries: Arunkumar Deshmukh. Arunji has written copiously about early cinema and its stars, and directors, producers, music directors, and singers on Atul Song A Day (ASAD) and other blogs, including SoY, and more than that, commented generously on various topics relating to early cinema, adding to our knowledge. He has earned renown all over the blogosphere among lovers of old films and music. Nevertheless, I welcome the writer Arunkumar Deshmukh and compliment him for his first book, brought out with the assistance of Prof. Surjit Singh.

We have all ‘known’ him for long. I know him without the quotation marks, having met him in Mumbai a couple of times. It is inevitable that while discussing the book I would discuss this amazing man who seems to know everything.

Arunkumar Deshmukh: The Man Who Knows Everything

When I first started reading articles and comments on SoY and other blogs by Arunkumar Deshmukh, I was certain this could not be a real person. This must be a phantom, a creation of some artificial intelligence project, which houses the software and a huge storage in the cloud. As soon as it sees anything like ‘Ask Arunji’ or ‘Arunji would know it’, it is activated and pulls out the relevant information instantly. Now that we know he is a mortal like us in flesh and blood, how does he do it?

We have all maintained scrapbooks in our school and college days, filling these with anything that caught our fancy: quotations, words, songs, interesting passages from classics, ghazals, general knowledge etc. As we grew up, moved on with life, got transferred to different places, these compilations got lost, and we forgot about them as adolescent fads. Arunji on the other hand maintained his notebooks meticulously, writing in them about films he saw – and he saw all kinds, because that was his passion. He filled up over 100 such notebooks, and in spite of some loss over time, a good deal remained intact which came in handy when the Internet era arrived.

But these still would not have seen the light of the day, because till the age of 70, i.e. till 2010, he was a complete computer-illiterate. And that is another amazing aspect of the man. I have rarely come across a person who strives to overcome this handicap at such an advanced age. I know any number who have reconciled themselves to living within this limitation, and rationalise that they are doing just fine. He learnt basic computer skills from his grandchildren, and came to speed quickly.

ASAD became his entry to the blogosphere, and his name and fame soon spread all over. The book covers a small fraction of what he has already written on different blogs. Therefore, I expect and hope that this is just the beginning of the ‘Writer Arunkumar Deshmukh’.

Arunji’s life is an open book. Those who follow him on social media know that he was born in 1940 in Nizam state of Hyderabad in a traditional family. He was schooled in Urdu, and thereafter Marathi medium. He also picked up Telugu and Kannada along the way. After his BSc (Agri) he joined Glaxo from where he retired as General Manager. Now he is on the board of a couple of pharmaceutical companies. He is also a Jyotish Praveen in astrology with over 40 years’ experience. If this is not enough to wow you, he is a Brown Belt holder in Judo.

Prof. Surjit Singh: The partner in the project

Arunji’s knowledge would have remained scattered on various blogs, and it would not have come in the shape of a book, but for the collaboration with Prof. Surjit Singh who provided technical support and entrepreneurship, and went over the raw articles several times to bring it up to publication standard. Most of the photographs in the book are from his collection.

Sujitji is an equally fascinating personality. He is a retired theoretical physicist, having published a number of scientific papers in refereed journals, and also written some books in his area of specialisation. In parallel, his interest and passion about old Hindi films and music has been equally deep, which is evident from his site (http://hindi-movies-songs.com/joomla/). It has some rare collection of songs and invaluable articles on early cinema. He has been watching Hindi movies since 1952, has been collecting Hindi songs, movies and magazines since 1969, and has been writing about these things since 1996. He has authored/co-authored five books on lesser known films and artists of early Hindi cinema, the latest being this collaboration with Arunji.

Surjitji’s life has a global imprint. Born in the mid-40s in Lahore where his father worked for a bank in Anarkali Baazar, he had schooling at various places in Haryana and Punjab. After doing MSc from Punjab University, he went to the US where he did PhD from the University of Pittsburgh (1975). He returned to India where he taught in Meghalaya and, subsequently, joined the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research as a scientist. After a few years there, he moved to Canada and the US where he worked as a post-doctoral fellow and a faculty at a number of universities. He is now settled in the US.

The book

I have mentioned the book contains a fraction of what Arunji has already written on different blogs, totalling about 700 articles in which he has given short stories of over 650 films and given information on over 400 artists. In comparison, the first part of the book gives life-sketch of 33 early era film personalities, and the second part contains clarification on 25 sets of persons having similar names which have been a source of perennial confusion.

Written in a simple, matter-of-fact style, the book is as unpretentious as the author himself. It does not claim to give a grand overview of the history of early cinema, but a perceptive reader can see a story, or several stories emerging out of these straightforward narrations. One thread that runs through these profiles is the role of fate in making or unmaking of a star. How else can we explain a craggy-faced Sheikh Mukhtar becoming a major star? Or a Mehboob Khan, born in a poor family, bereft of any formal education, having worked as extras in films – one of his early roles was as a thief in Alibaba Aur 40 Chor, sitting shut inside a drum – going on to become the greatest movie mogul of India?

The fate can be equally unkind. Master Nissar, the superstar of our early cinema, such as Shirin Farhad (1931), Laila Majnu (1931), Shakuntala (1931), Indrasabha (1932) etc, once was the first person in the industry reported to own a Rolls Royce. He was so crazily mobbed by people wherever he went that the Governor had to divert his car. And a time came when he spent his last days of life in penury and deprivation in a one-room tenement in Kamathipura chawl. Those familiar with early talkies would see some more significance in Master Nissar’s place in history. Madan Theatres of Calcutta with Shirin Farhad and Ardeshir Irani’s Imperial Movietone with Alam Ara were in an intense secret race to bring out the first talkies. This was a cloak and dagger game in which Shrin Farhad was beaten by a few weeks for that historical record. Indrasabha with 69 songs has the credit of having the most film songs ever in a film.

Not all riches to rags story can be attributed to fate; in most cases personal hubris, wayward lifestyle, gambling and drinking led to the doom of many. The cases of Chandramohan, Ratanbai, Khan Mastana, Bhagwan Dada, and Bharat Bhushan are well-known to the serious followers of cinema.

The early cinema was organised under what is called the studio system, here as well as in Hollywood. The book would have been greatly enhanced with an insightful overarching article on the early cinema by a film scholar, but even without that you get a feel of the Studio Era. A paid employment on a monthly salary gave a sense of security. The studios also groomed their employees that led to horizontal and vertical mobility: a choreographer Guru Dutt of Prabhat becoming a renowned director; a lab-technician Ashok Kumar of Bombay Talkies becoming a mega star; a canteen manager Amiya Chakravarty becoming a famous director, and so on.

But the studios could be quite vengeful, harsh and exploitative. Shanta Apte, Chandramohan (Prabhat/Rajkamal Kalamandir) and Uma Devi (Kardar) are sufferers of the studio system. A stark case is that of Sitara Kanpuri. A semi-literate person and unaware of the ways of the world, was shocked to realise, when she tried to seek work outside, that she had been bound to Shalimar Studios to a ten-year contract. The migration of Shalimar bosses to Pakistan post-1947 led to her fortuitous freedom from bondage, but it was too late to resume her career.

A friend of mine tells a joke in the backdrop of the spat between V Shantaram-Chandramohan, which some readers may consider a bit indelicate, for which I apologise in advance. But it is too funny and apt to the context to be left out. When Chandramohan asked Shantaram for a raise as he had given several superhits, the latter snubbed, Don’t you have any airs about yourself, Shantaram can produce a hundred Chandramohans. An incensed Chandramohan retorted, आप क्या चन्द्रमोहन पैदा करेंगे. मेरे बाप ने भी काफी कोशिश की एक और चन्द्रमोहन पैदा करने की, लेकिन वे भी सिर्फ एक बृजमोहन ही पैदा कर सके.

Another fascinating aspect of the book is the process of discovery of information. In many cases it has been a combination of a stroke of luck, perseverance and investigative acumen. One Ramesh Advani, who came to live in the same building as Arunji, turned out to be the son of Bhudo Advani, and gave detailed information on his actor father. The readers would remember him for his toothless smile in several films like Shree 420, Boot Polish (one of the baldies in the song Lapak jhapak tu aa re badarwa). A hereditary disorder caused the loss of all his teeth at a young age.

When Arunji referred to an early era singer-actor Parashuram in one of his articles on ASAD, a reader from Australia drew his attention to a comment on the YouTube by some New Zealand-based person claiming himself to be the grandson of Parasuram. That lead led to a trail reaching his extended family based in Mumbai. Thus we have a very comprehensive write-up on Parasuram, who became famous for his role as a beggar boy and his song Man saaf tera hai ki nahi in Prabhat’s Duniya Na Maane (1937), and later in their production Gopal Krishna (1938), for his role as a childhood friend of Krishna and leader of the gope children in Gokul. And for the trivia buffs, he was the person who had the privilege of Bhimsen Joshi giving him playback in Ketaki gulab juhi in Basant Bahar (1956). There are more of such interesting stories.

The second part of the book dealing with similar sets of names is pure social service because misattribution, confusion and mix-ups are quite common even among experts. When the grandmother of Saira Bano, named Shamshad Begum, died many years ago, many journals wrote the obituary of the famous singer Shamshad Begum when she was hale and hearty. Because of her steadfastly avoiding limelight, this erroneous information continued for quite some time, until she chose to go public.

Why at all should we care for such forgotten artists of early cinema? For the same reason as we care for our history and heritage sites. Hindi films and music are more integral to India’s popular culture than cinema anywhere in the world to that country. It is one of the defining features of our ethos ‘unity in diversity’. With our abysmal record of preservation – most of our early films and songs are lost for ever – such books are most welcome, and Arunji and Surjitji deserve all the accolades.

Let me end this post with a few songs which have some connection to Arunji’s work.

1. Marna bhi mohabbat mein kabhi kaam na aya by Raghunath Jadhav and chorus from Azaad (1955), lyrics Rajendra Krishna, music C Ramchnadra

My last post was on qawwalis of Roshan-Madan Mohan which led to some freewheeling discussion on the genre. Am I doing an overkill of qawwalis? No, I want you to spot Master Nissar, the yesteryear superstar I have mentioned above, as one of the main singers in this qawwali.


2. Aaj kyun humse parda hai by Rafi and Balbir from Sadhana (1958), lyrics Sahir Ludhiyanavi, music N Datta

Now a giveaway hint. Master Nissar again, the slim oval-faced singer with a cap is him. समय बड़ा बलवान.


3. Hath chakra Trishul Sadashiv alakh jagaate nagari mein by Abhram Bhagat (NFS bhajan, 1940)

Arunji’s write-up on this song had appeared on ASAD over five years ago. I was obviously unaware of the singer and the song till then. Apparently, he was a renowned singer of bhajans in Gujarat in the 1940s, and was invited to many countries such as the US, UK, Canada, and in East Africa and Europe for performance. Arunji had been fascinated with this bhajan from his childhood, but knew nothing about its singer or other details. Thus, one can imagine his excitement when he saw its first appearance on YT, posted by one Suresh Shandil, then based in Australia. He informed Arunji that he had obtained the song from Fiji Radio which played it almost every second day. Further search through well-known collectors and writers on early era films and stars, Harish Raghuvanshi and Rajnikumar Pandya, led to the discovery of a great deal of material on Abhram Bhagat, who was actually a Muslim by the name Ibrahim. Born in a poor family, an unfortunate accident led to amputation of his leg. For survival he started singing Krishna bhajans that made him so popular that acquiring the name Abhram Bhagat was a natural corollary. I have been equally fascinated by this bhajan from its first appearance.


Note: The book is available on Amazon, and Pothi.com where it is much cheaper. But Pothi.com is quite an unprofessional and consumer-unfriendly site. They don’t give any helpline number or email for contact. The site does not seem to have any feature for searching a book by the title or author’s name. Surjitji, becoming aware of the problems faced by the buyers, wrote to them a stern mail, but their wishy-washy response shows they have no intentions to improve. I consider myself lucky that I could struggle through Google to get the link of the book on their site, and I was able to place order and got it in the time mentioned by them.

I should also thank Arunji for acknowledging me and this blog in the book.

{ 43 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Mehfil Mein Meri August 18, 2018 at 10:52 am

Wow!
Sounds so interesting!
I must get the book.
I have heard of the legends from early era of Hindi films.
But I don’t know anything beyond their names. It would be fascinating to read about them.
I’ll buy the book AsAp.
Thanks AKji for introducing this priceless book to readers of SoY.
Excited to read it.
I’ve many marathi books on old Hindi film and songs, but that old era is not covered in any book.
Thanks a lot, Arunji for the book.
All the best to your book Arunji.

2 Sudhir Kapur August 18, 2018 at 11:05 am

AK ji,

Thanks for posting this interesting and engrossing review. Having worked with Arun ji for so many years now on the ASAD blog, all I can add is that Arun ji’s depth of knowledge on the subject, and his tenacity to seek out details from various sources – whatever may be said in praise of that, always seems less.

Best regards
Sudhir

3 AK August 18, 2018 at 11:24 am

Anup,
You are welcome. Go ahead. Pothi.com should hopefully behave.

4 AK August 18, 2018 at 11:25 am

Sudhirji,
Welcome to SoY and thanks a lot for your appreciation. I hope Arunji is able to bring out more books.

5 Arunkumar Deshmukh August 18, 2018 at 11:44 am

Thanks, Anup ji.

6 Arunkumar Deshmukh August 18, 2018 at 11:44 am

Thanks,Sudhir ji.

7 Ashwin Bhandarkar August 18, 2018 at 2:10 pm

AK,

Thanks for featuring Arunji”s book on SOY. More remarkable than his knowledge is how generously he shares it with others. Hope this book is only the first of many more to come.

8 AK August 18, 2018 at 3:06 pm

Ashwin,
You are welcome.

9 sheo khetan August 18, 2018 at 5:15 pm

I got the book from Amazon. It is very useful book. Congrtulations Arumji

10 surjit singh August 18, 2018 at 7:19 pm

Thanks for your kind words. Please fix the link to my website, it does not seem to be working, The book is a available from all the Amazons, US, UK, Germany, Australia etc. In India, please get it from https://pothi.com/pothi/book/arunkumar-deshmukh-forgotten-artists-early-cinema-and-same-name-confusion

11 AK August 18, 2018 at 9:54 pm

Surjitji,
Welcome to Songs of Yore. There was some problem in linking your site. Readers would have to click on the link below to visit your site.

http://hindi-movies-songs.com/joomla/

12 Jignesh Kotadia August 19, 2018 at 12:41 am

Glad to see, finally our living encyclopaedia Arunji came up with documentation of his vast knowledge ! Hope he will continue this series for the sake of countless Indian film history enthusiasts. A very big congratulation to superman Arunji and Surjitji for this great work.
Also Thanks to Akji for sharing this valuable information to SoYers. Enjoyed your detailed and interesting write up very much.

13 ksbhatia August 19, 2018 at 12:41 am

Arun Kumar Deshmukh ‘Ji , Prof. Surjit Singh ‘ji ;

Your Book is really going to bring in ….. old charm and old treasure ……to the front desk . An archives that will unlock the hidden mysteries . Now I will be able to reconnect to the hidden treasures thru your book .

An instant question that is arising is……what reason that actors Rattan Kumar and Shekhar disappeared suddenly from cinema and what happened to them there after and where they are now ? Why Old actor Amar Kumar only appeared in Dilip Kumar movies ?

As a tribute to an old actor Mumtaz Ali …. Mehmood’s father , here is a song in which he appeared as a road side singer . A beautiful heart touching rendition by Rafi and emotionaly acted by Mumtaz Ali …..a song from Seema .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwPscVP3YaE

14 Arunkumar Deshmukh August 19, 2018 at 3:59 pm

ksbhatia ji….

Kindly contact me on email and ask questions. i will try to answer them. deshmukh.arunkumar@gmail.com.
Since the answers to your these and any other questions are long and may not interest others, i am requesting you to email me.
Thanks.

15 Hans August 19, 2018 at 11:15 pm

Arunji reminds me of a classmate with whom I studied in 10th and 11th class. He was always helping other classmates with their problems. Since math was more problematic for most of them, he was found solving problems and explaining them to the fellow students whenever there were free periods and this being a govt. school, there were a lot of them. Classmates were swarming around him waiting for their turn. Even at that age of 15-16 I never saw him getting angry or even saying ‘hawa to aane do’. He had no airs about him though he was the son of a senior teacher in the same school, making him a candidate for privileges. After college when I had not joined the job, I was informed that he had been selected as SDO in the Electricity Deptt. I felt really elated at the news.

The same thing happened to me when I learned of the release of Arunji’s book. I think there is no regular member in SOY who has not benefited from his knowledge. AK has rightly been complimented for producing this review which is of a very high class. Accept my thanks AK. And congratulations Arunji.

16 Hans August 19, 2018 at 11:58 pm

Bhatiaji
About Amar Kumar I can answer you. He has appeared in many films in which Dilip Kumar did not appear. Sometimes it gets etched in our memory when we see some actors together in some films. I can name a few very famous films where Amar (by that name) appeared and Dilip Kumar was absent. Ustadon ke Ustad, Phir wohi dil laya hoon, Shehnai, Haseena maan jayegi, Baazi, Anokhi Raat are some films where he appeared. You must have seen most of them and would perhaps remember him. Such combos were very much prevalent in Hindi films. You cannot think about Guru Dutt film without Johny Walker. Rashid (whom we used to call marial rashid ) always appeared in most of Dev Anand’s crime mystery films. Shyam Kumar (of tu mera chand fame) appeared in many films where Dharmendra acted. Amar Kumar and Shyam Kumar and Sajjan were the three old actors who continued to act till very late in films.

17 Hans August 20, 2018 at 12:16 am

AK
This Bhudo Advani appeared as ojha in Madhumati also. Parshuram also I have seen in some films in very small roles.

18 AK August 20, 2018 at 7:27 am

Hans,
Thanks a lot for your nice words about me. Yes, I remember Bhudo in Madhumati. Wikipedia mentions he was also in Shatranj Ke Khiladi, though I don’t remember that role.

19 Arunkumar Deshmukh August 20, 2018 at 8:00 am

Thanks, Hans ji for your kind words.

ksbhatia ji,

Now that Hans ji has answered one part of your query, I will complete the rest here only.
You asked what happened to Ratan kumar and Shekhar…

Ratan Kumar (Real Name- Syed Nazar Ali) migrated to Pakistan in 1956, with his family, and remade the movie into Bedari(1957) (Urdu translation of Jagriti or awareness) and used the same old tune for a film song in Pakistan, aimed at igniting a similar emotion and patriotic zeal, among the listeners. Aao bachcho tumhe dikhayen jhaanki Hindustan ki… (come children let us show you glimpses of India), is a popular Hindi film song of the 1950s. Aao bachcho sair karayen tumko Pakistan ki… (children, let us take you on a tour of Pakistan) is an equally hit song of the same period in Pakistan. The movie Bedari (1957) was produced by his elder brother Wazir Ali Rizvi.

He played a young boy’s role in many Pakistani films later. Nagin (1959) was the first Pakistani film he played a lead actor opposite Neelo as the lead actress. Ratan Kumar’s success, as a lead actor, could not last long because his later films did not do well at the box-office and he eventually faded away.

In 1977, his 4 years old daughter died in an accident in Lahore, Pakistan. He was so emotionally upset after that accident that he decided to quit the Pakistani film industry. In 1979, Ratan Kumar left Pakistan never to return again.

In the late 1960s, Ratan Kumar also got into the business of selling oriental carpets and had started travelling back and forth from Pakistan to Europe for this business. Eventually he ended up settling down permanently in the United States after 1979.

Shekhar”s ( real Name- Indriya Daman) career as an actor was cut short abruptly,because he decided to become Film producer.He produced Chhote Babu-57,Aakhri Dao-58 & Bank Manager-59.The last one was a total wash out.Not with standing to it, he started” Pyas”,with Phani Mazumdar as director & N.Dutta as M D.Bina Rai was signed as heroine against himself.To arrange finance he accepted C gde films, such as Dilli Ka Dada with Sheikh Mukhtar &Hum Matwale Naujawan,both 62 movies.Soon he was out of the job & worst, his film remain stalled,due to financial crunch.Shekhar completed the film with great difficuty.The film was ultimately, released in 1968,with a new title “Apna Ghar Apni Kahani”.As anticipated,the film attracted no audience,due to it”s dated look & long forgotten,middle aged lead pair.Finacially ruined, Shekhars migrated to Canada.He expired,there, long time back.
Later one of Shekhar’s relatives claimed in 2012, that Shekhar was alive in USA (New York), but there is no proof to that.
-AD

20 Giri August 20, 2018 at 9:23 pm

I am amazed at the knowledge of Arunkumar Deshmukh and his efforts to gather and preserve information on HFM. He is indeed the”Google” of HFM!. Hats off to him and Prof. Surjit Singh for their book. I hope that they will bring out more such books.
Thanks AK for this post.

21 AK August 20, 2018 at 11:23 pm

Giriji,
You are welcome.

22 ksbhatia August 20, 2018 at 11:25 pm

Hans’ji @16;

Thanks for your information on Amar Kumar . I will surely brows thru films mentioned by you . I have seen them all but how I missed them……sort of failing memory !! ?

Yes, Rashid was a Tag to Devanand ; so also Mukhri to Dilip Sahib , Rajendra nath to Shammi Kapoor . I liked performance of a little less known actor….M.Kumar….who acted as sculpter in Mughal e Azam and Beggar in Shree 420 . He had a nice dialogue delivery in shree 420……yeh bombayi hai mere dost bombayi . I think some of the junior artiste of those times were good helping hand in production controls also. If I am not mistaken actor Jankidas was one of them . He mostly played second fiddle to villains . In Babul he played father of Dilip Kumar.

23 ksbhatia August 20, 2018 at 11:36 pm

Arun Kumar Deshmukh ‘ji @19;

Thank You for the detail information on Shekhar and Rattan Kumar . It is really a sad feeling that an actor who is doing well in his field turning producer and director without any experience and resources and failing and spoiling their career . It happened to Bhagwan , Joy Mukeerji and perhaps Premnath too. However there were actor who were intelligent and invested their earnings in real estates at right time and are still enjoying fruits of their earnings. I think Mala sinha tops in such listings.

24 mumbaikar8 August 21, 2018 at 6:08 am

AK,
Hans has already said it. I will still repeat myself, we at SOY have taken it for granted that if we want any information Arunji will provide it and he has never failed us.
Thanks for the review of his book.
Like him you never fail to deliver too.
May he continue writhing many more books.
Arunji thanks for being there. Congratulation for this book and good luck for the forthcoming.
I would also like to thanks Mr. Surjit Singh for his wonderful website I am frequent traveler for many years now.

25 AK August 21, 2018 at 7:11 am

Mumbaikar8,
Thanks a lot for your appreciation.

26 Shalan Lal August 21, 2018 at 4:36 pm

Two Arun Kumars remind me the song “Ek Raat Mein DO Do Chand Khile”.

Here I am perplexed who is better the writer of the book or the writer about the book.

Both are brilliant as the mid-day sun.

Wonderful to read and very satisfying for the spent time on this post.

Mr Deshmukh deserves all our praise for bringing out a reference book for the old Bollywood films. I hope the great libraries like the British Library and the School of Oriental and African studies will have their copies and display copies as well.

Last night I watched on the BBC the second part of “Bollywood the biggest film Industry”. I missed the first part as I had to see a play previous week. But it will be repeated again I hope.

What this second part showed is the hugeness of the New Bollywood as they now called it. And it has huge amount of funds and all the energetic people and a huge number of English and American girls seeking all kinds of work in the New Bollywood that is a New Fairy Land with new fairy stories. Simply amazing! This has made the Hollywood in California a dated Institute.

Shalan Lal

27 AK August 21, 2018 at 6:41 pm

Shalan Lal,
Thanks a lot for your appreciation.

28 Ravindra Kelkar August 22, 2018 at 10:56 am

Thanks AKji, for excellent review of the book and making me aware of the book.
The one and only Arunkumar Deshmukhji, deserves hearty congratulations for writing the book, Thank you sir, for this priceless treasure. As everyone has requested, please write more books covering other invaluable information that you have so assiduously and painstakingly gathered over God knows how many years.

Last but not the least, special thanks to Prof Surjit Singhji, who is mainly instrumental in carrying out this project.

29 AK August 22, 2018 at 12:50 pm

Kelkarji,
You are welcome. Thanks a lot for your appreciation.

30 Ashok M Vaishnav August 22, 2018 at 10:42 pm

Arunji has always been very readable in all his posts which invariably present a very useful background information. In fact, when I had started brwsing net for articles on Hindi Film Songs history, the first articles that I got to read were on Artists with same name,.

It is so heartening to know that his pains of all these years have now fructified into a book. My heartiest congratulations.

I too join, Liver_Twist-style in wishing for “I want some more?’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex2r86G0sdc

31 Shalan Lal August 24, 2018 at 4:38 pm

KSBhatia @ 23 and Arunkumar Deshmukh @ 19

With reference about actor “Shekhar” in my search for something I stumbled over a blog that writes about films is called Cine-Plot.
Following appeared about Shekhar in Cine-Plot:
“Forgotten Bollywood Hero Shekhar shares his memories. If you don’t know Shekhar, he was introduced opposite to Nalini Jaywant in Aankhen (1950). Other films to his credit include Aas (1953), Hamdard (1953), etc.

If you have seen his films, his acting style is very stilted and wooden, that perhaps explains why he was soon forgotten.”

End of quotation..

Forgotten? Not so much! I read somewhere that his wife is still alive and lives in Windsor recently became famous due to the marriage of Prince Henry aka Harry and Meghan Merkel as their marriage was outstanding in the nine hundred years of the British and European Monarchy.

Shekhar’s grandchildren, grown up now, live in Detroit, U.S.A. according to one information

Shalan Lal

32 ksbhatia August 24, 2018 at 10:47 pm

Ms. Shalan Lal @31;

Thank you for additional information on ……not so forgotten actor….Shekhar . Frankly I was fan of Shekhar after watching his movies……Aakhri Dao and Bank Manager . …for two reasons that his movies had best of heroins of those times and best of songs as well. Kadam behke behke piya…..tujhe kya sunaoan mein dilruba…..humsafar saath apna chhod chhale…..hain unki do nigahen ….etc are one of the best ones from MM .

Him shifting to canada was the last information that I gathered from pre internet magazines like filmfare etc. I think Shekhar should have continued his profession in film industry ……challenging his own [songs ] line…….raasta saaf thha to chhalte rahe , saath hanste saath macchalte rahe , mod aaya to muun ko mod chhale ….

33 Dr Pradeep Kumar Shetty August 25, 2018 at 4:57 pm

At the very outset, let me confess I was a victim of the Same Name Confusion… not with any stars, but with our two Arun Kumar s!
Accidentally discovering both Songs Of Yore and ASAD within a few days of each other,I had an initial phase of confusion!
Coming to the agenda, Congratulations to Arun Deshmukh ji and Surjith Singh ji for the book, thanks for all the efforts that have gone into the project and best wishes for the future ones.
Thanks AK ji for an insightful introduction.

34 AK August 25, 2018 at 5:56 pm

Dr Shetty,
You are welcome.

35 Soumya Banerji August 29, 2018 at 2:21 am

Just ordered the book on Amazon. Looking forward to its arrival. Should be a treat considering it’s written by two erudite people. AK, thanks for your perceptive write-up.

36 Shalan Lal August 29, 2018 at 4:32 pm

Dr Pradeep @ 33 and all the keen readers of SoY

With a reference of the remark of Doctor-saheb “At the very outset, let me confess I was a victim of the Same Name Confusion… not with any stars, but with our two Arun Kumar s!”

It is my blunder I want to express that I mentioned “Two Arun Kumars” in my comment at number “26”

Please accept my Apology for making a “Faux pas” in my comment number: “26”.
The mistake occurred in the words “Two Arunkumars.

Actually there is one (and perhaps only one) Arunkumar Deshmukh.

The other one is celebrated “Anil Kumar” the creator of this blog.

It should have been “Two Aks”! That is what I was going to say but in the force of expressing my poetic frailty I was carried away by the simile in the song and the “Boob” occurred.

Some may feel that the mention of “Chand “in the song is for a woman and unusual for man.

But Chandra as a suffix used in the names like “Krishn Chandra, Ram Chandra etc. So I should be O.K. there.

The imagery of the “Two Chands” or two moons in the same night came from some novel written in the 19th century and the reference was about the last King of the Empire of Vijay Nagar.

The king was very handsome and powerful when he was waiting on the full moon night by a lake and his image was seen in the water near the image of the moon so the writer mentioned the phrase “Two Moons” in the same night.

But he was killed and his Empire was destroyed by the five Muslim Kingdoms got together and attacked Vijay Nagar from all sides.

Eventually they too were destroyed by the successive Mogul Emperors and Aurangzeb in particular.
In my comment I should have said “Two AKs in the same post”.

Hence my plain apology for creating a blunder of “Two Arun Kumars” in my writing. I hope the good readers of the “SoY” will absolve me for my mistake.

Shalan Lal

37 AK August 29, 2018 at 9:18 pm

Shalan Lal,
That’s all right, not warranting an apology.

38 Valliyoor Satya August 25, 2022 at 1:57 pm

Dear Arunji

I am your great fan. I love your writings. I am amazed at the coherent fashion in which you write making the content as engaging as possible.
I request you to throw light on
1. Kanan Kaushal who played the lead in “Jai Santoshi Maa”
2. Shekar who acted with Alka in “Waapas”.
3. Shekar who acted with Nutan in “Akhri Dao”.
4. Kumud Chuggani who acted in ” Resham Ki Dori”.

I also wish to know if actress Alka was really married to Ganesh, music director (brother of Kalyanji Anandji).

Grateful for your response Sir

Thanks and regards

Satya

39 AK August 25, 2022 at 6:21 pm

Valliyoor Satya,
Welcome to Songs of Yore. That is quite a big list of queries. But, Arunji always responds.

40 Arunkumar Deshmukh August 25, 2022 at 6:47 pm

Dear Satya ji,
Thanks for your kind words.
I have got your Email ID.
I will send details to you by mail, which will be too long if given here.
1. Kanan Kaushal was in reality a Marathi/Gujarati actress Indumati Paingankar. Her short bio by mail to you.
2. I have no information on Shekhar Purohit who worked with Alka in film Waapas-1969.
3. Shekhar of Aakhari Dao…his bio will be sent to you by mail.
4. Kumud Chhugani’s bio will be mailed to you.
Yes, old actress Alka had married Ganesh Sharma, MD. Their daughter is Veena Sharma. Ganesh was brother of Pyarelal of Laxmikant-Pyarelal duo and not Kalyan ji -Anand ji.
Thanks again.
-AD

41 Arunkumar Deshmukh August 25, 2022 at 6:57 pm

Satya ji,
I have sent you the details by mail just now. Hope all your queries are answered.
Thanks.
-AD

42 Valliyoor Satya August 25, 2022 at 9:35 pm

Yes Sir. Thank you so much. I read your mail. I am overwhelmed with your earnestness. Here is what I remember reading about Alka. Her real name was Firdaus and she lived in Andheri. Her career did not take off much despite her stunning looks. Readers will recall her as Krishna in the movie “aasoo ban gaye phool”. I am sorry if I am repeating these facts here which are already known in the public domain. The evergreen song – “Jaane Kaisa Hai Mera Deewana” was picturized on her and Deb Mukherjee. I was pained to see her 2-bit role in “Do Jasoos” (1977). There was some loose talk about her involvement with Danny Denzongpa. Interestingly, Alka is one actress who featured in many hit songs. “Man Gaaye Woh Tarana” by Suman Kalyanpur was a song in “Chalaak” that was picturized on Alka. She played a vampish role in this movie. In movies like “Thokar” and “Khote Sikkay” she exposed her voluptuous body. Frankly I felt that she had reasonable acting talent – yet why did she not make it? Even the superhit Rafi song – Ek Tera Saaath Hum Ko Do Jahan Se Pyara Hai – featured Alka with Shekar in the 1968 film – Waapas. The songs of Chalak were composed by Ganesh Sharma.

I was confused because there was some article several years ago that said that Alka had left Bombay for good in the early 80’s and settled down in US. But Ganesh Sharma seems to have stayed put in Mumbai until his death a few years ago. But glad to know that Alka has a daughter called Veena Sharma.

43 Valliyoor Satya August 25, 2022 at 9:44 pm

I recall the TV interview of Shekar many many years ago in a program called – Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan. He was a pale version of his former self having lost all his hair. He was somewhat irritated by Tabassum’s method of questioning. I did not know that he produced Akhri Dao. But yes I was pleasantly surprised to know that Azra had married the scion of Lokhandwala Builders. Azra played the vamp in “Wapas” and “Junglee”. But she played Dev Anand’s loving sister in “Mahal” and made an impact. Another beautiful actress whose talent was wasted by Bollywood.

BTW, I don’t know Gujarati. Yet I managed to watch – Jigar Ane Ami – a film that starred Sanjeev Kumar and Kanan Kaushal. Much later they acted together in “Maan Apman”. I loved the Gujarati film that was based on a true story that appeared as a serial in a magazine.

There was also an article about the plight of all those who acted in Jai Santoshi Maa. Anitha Guha had health issues. Kanan Kaushal’s career in Hindi never took off. She played a side role in the Sanjiv Kumar – Maushmi Chatterji starrer Itni Si Baat. Ashish Kumar who directed Jai Santoshi Maa didn’t meet with much success and supposedly died in penury. Bela Bose lives in Vashi with her children. It was wrong to have attributed the cause of the misery to their acting in the film. In any case, it was fate!

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