Chaman (1948) Punjabi-Indian Cinema The Early Years-Classic [DDR]

2013.03.27


Chaman (1948) Punjabi-Indian Cinema The Early Years-Classic [DDR]

CAST:- Meena Shorey, Karan Dewan, Gulab, Om Prakash, Manju, Randhir, Kuldip Kaur, Sangeeta, Axiz Kashmiri,


Director: Roop Shorey


Producer: Jaimani Devan


Music Director: Vinod


Lyrics by Aziz Kashmiri

Songs are included in MP3s


Chaman (1948) Punjabi 00. Title Music and Screen Credits, Vinod


Chaman (1948) Punjabi 01. Nikki Jinni Gallo Lado Rani - Hai Main Ki Karaa, Aziz Kashmiri, Vinod


Chaman (1948) Punjabi 02. Chalo Khol Aaiye Paana Di Dukaan, Aziz Kashmiri, Vinod


Chaman (1948) Punjabi 03. Tere Jahan Se Chale, Aziz Kashmiri, Vinod


Chaman (1948) Punjabi 04. Raahe Raahe Jandeya...Ankhiyan Choora Ka Na Ja, Lata Mangeshkar, Aziz Kashmiri, Vinod


Chaman (1948) Punjabi 05. Jad Naram Kalja Dhadke Ne, Aziz Kashmiri, Vinod


Chaman (1948) Punjabi 06. Ankha Jhukadiya Main Naal Mai Khat Likhya, Aziz Kashmiri, Vinod


Chaman (1948) Punjabi 07. Loki Kendey Diwara De Kann Hondey, Aziz Kashmiri, Vinod


Chaman (1948) Punjabi 08. Taryan Ton Pooch Chann Wey, Aziz Kashmiri, Vinod


Chaman (1948) Punjabi 09. Galiyan Phirde Dhola, Lata Mangeshkar, Aziz Kashmiri, Vinod


Chaman (1948) Punjabi 10. Fair Kesay Di Yaad Aae, Aziz Kashmiri, Vinod


Chaman (1948) Punjabi 11. Chann Kintha Gujar Aaye Raat Wey, Aziz Kashmiri, Vinod


Chaman (1948) Punjabi 12. Anssa Be Kadra Naal Laiyaan, Aziz Kashmiri, Vinod


Chaman (1948) Punjabi 13. Wedding Procession


Chaman (1948) Punjabi 13. END SONG

MINI PROFILE:- Vinod - Music Director (1922 - 1959)




One of the most talented music directors that Punjab has produced was Vinod. His real name was Eric Roberts but for the film industry he chose a more familiar name Vinod.

According to Sardul Kwatra, another Lahore-born music director who knew Vinod since his days in Lahore, as a child Vinod was fascinated by the band music played during Hindu weddings. Vinod also listened carefully to the rababi musicians performing shabad kirtan at Gurdwara Dehra Sahib, Lahore. According to Sardul, Vinod became a student of Lahore’s famous music director Pandit Amar Nath and learnt from him the fundamentals of ragas and composing tunes on a violin.

By 1946, he had started composing music for a number of films, including three Hindi films and a Punjabi film Chaman. However, Chaman could not be taken up due to communal tension in Lahore. It was made in India after 1947 for which Pushpa Hans and Shamshad Begum lent their voices. Vinod gave Lata Mangeshkar three songs to sing. All three numbers became landmark songs. Those were the days of tension on both sides of the Radcliffe line. While the film did not do well in Pakistan, the music of the film did a decent business.

By 1944, most of the Lahore-based music directors like Khurshid Anwar, Shyam Sunder, Hans Raj Behl, Rashid Atre, Feroze Nizami, Ghulam Haider, Pandit Husna Lal Bhagat Ram had shifted to Bombay. Pandit Amar Nath and Pandit Gobind Ram were the only ones left in Lahore. After Pandit Amar Nath’s death in 1945, Vinod was asked to compose music for his mentor’s films Khamosh Nigahein, Paraye Bas Main and Kamini. However, none of the films did well at the box office.

Vinod got a good break when he composed music for Hindi film Ek Thi Ladki (1949). The film was a success and its song Lara lappa lara lappa layi rakhda, addi tappa addi tappa layi rakhda sung by Lata Mageshkar`A0became a hit. The number was based on a Pahari folk tune of Kangra. Following this, he composed music for another Punjabi film Bhaiya Jee in 1950. Lata sang several memorable songs for this film of which Ajj mera mahi nall tutt gaya pyar ve akhiyan na maar ve became a landmark.




According to Sardul Kwatra, Vinod had no Godfather like Shanker and Jaikishan had in producer-actor Raj Kapoor and producer Amiya Chakravarty and Naushad had in producer Mehboob Khan. Roop K. Shori, for whose films Vinod composed many songs, did not belong to the big league. When Shori a film producer in Lahore moved to Bombay, he took his entire team with him which included music director Vinod and lyricist Aziz Kashmiri. Among some of Vinod’s best-known creations were the musical compositions of Anmol Rattan (1950), Wafaa(1950), Sabaz Bagh(1951), Aag ka Dariya(1953), Laadla(1954) and Makhi Choos(1956).

Vinod worked for a little while as a music director in Filmistan Studios too. A characteristic trait of Vinod’s music was that he inserted Hindi songs in Punjabi films and Punjabi lyrics in Hindi film songs. According to Kelly Mistry, Vinod’s son-in-law, on an average Vinod did one or two successful films a year from 1948 to 1957, but this was not enough to ensure a decent living in a city like Bombay. Vinod, in spite of being thoroughly professional, was never financially well off. A Punjabi to the core, Vinod longed to compose music for Punjabi films but after 1951 music directors Hans Raj Behl and Sardul ended up getting all the music direction contracts. Vinod composed music for only five Punjabi films — Chaman (1948), Bhaiya Jee (1950), Mitiar (1950), Ashtalli(1954) and Nikki(1958).

Vinod died penniless at 37 on December 25, 1959. Although Vinod composed music for 32 films, but most of these films were under small banners and the music of many was let down by the film’s poor showing at the box office. His last three films were released after his death. One of Vinod’s masterpiece creations is the music for the Punjabi film Mutiar (1951). One of its Urdu ghazals Aye dil mujhe jaane de, jis raah pe jaata hoon sung by Talat Mahmood simply stands out. Its Punjabi version was never recorded.

FILMOGRAPHY OF VINOD






PROFILE:- Meena Shorey (1921 - 1987)


From being the heart throb of India (being known as the 'Lara Lappa girl' at her peak) to begging at a film function in the 1980s in Pakistan for money to marry off her sister's daughters, Meena Shorey's is the classic and tragic riches-to-rags story one often finds in the filmline.

She was born Khursheed Jehan, the second of four children, in Raiwind in a small rural household. Her father was based in Multan but due to his wayward ways, he lost whatever land the family owned. He tried his hand in the dyeing business in Lahore but that too failed and to make things worse for the family, he used to brutally beat his wife. Meena's elder sister, Wazir Begum, married and shifted to Bombay and she got Meena and their mother to move there as well.

In Bombay, she accompanied her brother-in-law to the mahurat of Sohrab Modi's Sikandar (1941). Modi, taken in by her beauty, offered her a supporting role in the film and bound her to a contract to work exclusively for him. He also gave her the name Meena. Sikandar did extremely well and Meena was on her way. Modi then cast her as the second lead in Phir Milenge (1942) and Prithvi Vallabh (1943). In the last named, she was paired opposite Al Nasir, whom she later married. The marriage did not last very long due to Nasir's womanising ways.

Meena first met the Lahore based filmmaker Roop K Shorey, when he came to Bombay to look for a heroine for his forthcoming film, Shalimar (1946). Though he wanted Meena as the heroine of the film, Sohrab Modi's rigid contract came in the way. According to Meena, the contract again prevented her from doing Mehboob Khan's Humayun (1945) as well. Further, on a visit to Lahore, she met producer Dalsukh Pancholi, who signed her on for two films Shahar se Door (1946) and Arsi (1947). Immediately, Sohrab Modi took her to court asking for damages of Rs 3 lakhs. According to Meena, taking advantage of her illiteracy, Modi bound her for three years whereas the contract was supposed to be for a year only. She added that Modi then demanded Rs 60,000 to release her and seeking help from Modi's wife, Mehtab, the matter was finally settled for Rs 30,000. Meena was now free. She returned to Lahore and fulfilled her contractual obligations by starring in Shahar Se Door and Arsi.

Meena's last film in Lahore was Pathjad (1948). Following the partition of India, she came to Bombay where she did films like Actress (1948) and Dukhiyari (1948). In this period she heard that Roop K Shorey had also moved to India following partition. His studio having burnt down in Lahore, he was financially hard up in Bombay. Meena and Karan Dewan got together and helped him make his first film in India, Chaman (1948) in Punjabi. The film, with music by Vinod, was the first ever Punjabi film in which Lata Mangeshkar lent her voice. Her songs in the film like Galiyan Che Firdey Dhola Nikke Nikke Baal Wey and Chan Kithe Guzare-e-Raat Wey were highly appreciated.




Meena hit the apex of her screen career with Roop K Shorey's Ek Thi Ladki (1949) co-starring Motilal. The film, a comedy thriller, looks at a girl (Meena) on the run after she witnesses a murder and shows a new facet of Meena exploring her comic talents, which were considerable. But above all it was the popularity of the song Lara Lappa Lara Lappa that was chiefly responsible for the film's success. The song was hummed in every nook and corner of the country and as mentioned, Meena became known as the 'Lara Lappa girl!' She also got married to Roop K Shorey becoming Meena Shorey.

After Ek Thi Ladki, Meena did a steady lot of movies, mostly with Roop K Shorey, but none measured up to Ek Thi Ladki. Perhaps, the best of the lot was Ek Do Teen (1953) re-uniting the Shoreys with Motilal. By the mid 1950s though she was still doing the odd film or two every year, it was obvious her career was in decline.

At this point, the Shoreys were invited to come to Pakistan and make a film. The result was Miss 1956 (1956), a copy of Guru Dutt's Mr and Mrs 55 (1955) starring Meena Shorey, Santosh Kumar, Aslam Pervez, Shamim Ara, Zarif and Charlie with music by the great GA Chisti. Though the film did just average business, the adulation that Meena got on returning to Lahore was tremendous. She decided to relocate to Pakistan, even at the cost of her marriage.

Meena's most successful film in Pakistan was Sarfarosh (1956) co-starring Sabiha Khanum and Santosh Kumar. According to Meena, she was signed on to play the lead role of a princess in the film, but later on Sabiha was given the role and Meena was asked to play the 'lesser' role of a bandit queen. She says she walked out of the film but on the pleading of the director, Anwar Kamal Pasha and his father, she relented. Nevertheless, she still made a strong enough impact in the film and perhaps the best song in the film, Teri Ulfat Mein Sanam, sung by Zubaida Khanum was picturised on her. She also became the first Pakistani actress to model for Lux soap, thus becoming the 'Lux Lady of Pakistan.'

However soon, even in Pakistan, with her subsequent films making no impression at the box office, she began getting supporting or negative roles and found herself getting sidelined. Though she made an impression in the odd Mousiqar (1962) as the vamp and Khamosh Raho (1964) playing the madam of a brothel, the roles were becoming a rarity and soon she found herself playing small character roles. A short-lived marriage to actor Asad, her co-star in Jamalo (1962) during this period proved disastrous for her. Perhaps, among the last roles she made any sort of impact was in the Punjabi film Jigri Yaar (1967), her comedy track with Zeenat proving quite popular and Humraz (1967), where she played a negative character of a governess. Thereafter, her roles amounted to little more than small cameos with her last screen appearance coming in the Shabnam - Waheed Murad starrer Nishani (1979).

Meena lived the last few years of her life in abject poverty in Pakistan. She had no savings and was reduced to living in a couple of rooms in Lahore's Mohni Road. There was no one to look after her and she subsisted on a small stipend paid to her by the Pakistan Arts Council and sometimes the Rotary Club. It is said she compared herself to a dried up tree in a grove full of green young saplings that everyone was out to destroy and burn.

Meena Shorey died lonely and forgotten in 1989. Her burial was arranged with charity money and few came to attend her funeral.



TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:-


Video Codec: MPEG-1


Video Bitrate: 1119 kbps


Video Resolution: 352x288


Video Aspect Ratio: 1.333:1


Frames Per Second: 25.000


Audio Codec: MPEG-1 Layer 2


Audio Bitrate: 224kb/s CBR 44100 Hz


Audio Streams: 2


Audio Languages: Hindi


RunTime: 2:28:04


Subtitles: NONE


Ripped by: Trinidad [DDR]


Duration: 2:28:04