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Ashok Kumar, the original singer & Saraswati Devi, the original composer of songs EK CHATUR NAAR & KOI HAMDAM NA RAHA. (Did You Know - 59)

03 Feb, 2014 | Did You Know!

Hindi Film Music lovers are well familiar with two memorable musical gems from the Golden Era as “Ek Chatur Naar” and “Koi Humdam Na Raha” from film PADOSAN (1968) and JHUMROO (1961) respectively. The songs enjoy a huge fan following due to their melodious compositions, touching lyrics and fabulous renditions by the masters led by the legendary Kishore Kumar.

However not many friends would be knowing that these two songs were actually composed by a Parsi lady music director, Saraswati Devi in two successful films released before the Indian Independence and were originally sung by one of the first big stars of Hindi Films i.e. Ashok Kumar himself in his unique style.

Taking them individually, the song “Koi Humdam Na Raha” was originally there in JEEVAN NAIYA (1936) and the film was directed by Frank Osten. Ashok Kumar & Devika Rani played the lead roles in the film which had its music composed by Saraswati Devi and this particular song was sung by Ashok Kumar himself both on & behind the screen.

Later the same track was reused by Ashok Kumar’s younger brother Kishore Kumar in his film JHUMROO (1961) in which Kishore Da not only played the lead along with Madhubala. But also composed the musical score and sung this song too in his novel unmatchable style, giving it a better edge. The film was directed by Shankar Mukherjee and it also had many other famous songs in its soundtrack.

The second immensely popular track “Ek Chatur Naar” was first heard in film JHOOLA (1941) which was directed by Gyan Mukherjee and had Ashok Kumar & Leela Chitnis in the lead. The music of the film was again composed by Saraswati Devi and here too Ashok Kumar himself sung the song both on the screen as well as on the microphone.

After almost four decades, the song got a huge transformation in film PADOSAN (1968) which was directed by Jyoti Swaroop and had Sunil Dutt, Kishore Kumar, Mehmood and Saira Banu playing the lead. The music was composed by R.D. Burman and it seems that Kishore Da was also responsible for the inclusion of this particular song in the film due to the evident Ashok Kumar link. But what R.D. Burman eventually did with the basic composition taking along singers like Kishore Kumar and Manna Day posing as musical rivals (along with Mehmood), took the track to another level all together, converting it into a cult song forever.

So that was the history behind these two immensely popular gems and in case you wish to listen both the original tracks, then at the time of writing this article they could be easily found at the following Youtube links :

(Jeevan Naiya) - http://youtu.be/gUpJ3-QG-fs

(Jhoola) - http://youtu.be/Y_5ULuy3Gak

Cheers!

Tags : Ek Chatur Naar By Ashok Kumar, Ko Humdam Na Rah By Ashok Kumar, Saraswati Devi Parsi Music Director, Unknown Bollywood Facts by Bobby Sing, Rare Hindi Films Trivia at bobbytalkscinema.com, Interesting Bollywood Trivia by Bobby Sing.

03 Feb 2014 / Comment ( 1 )

Jagdish

submitted on 02 November 2018

Amazing!

Bobby Sing

submitted on 04 Jan,2019

Thanks a lot for you kind words Jagdish.

Do go for my book DID YOU KNOW (Vol.1) for more of such rare and must read stuff on Hindi cinema.
Its available at Amazon at the following link (along with many other portals like Flipkart and more too)

https://www.amazon.in/know-Bollywood-Obsessed-Movie-Buffs/dp/9384391077/

Cheers!

Ashok Kumar, the original singer & Saraswati Devi, the original composer of songs EK CHATUR NAAR & KOI HAMDAM NA RAHA. (Did You Know - 59)

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Ashok Kumar, the original singer & Saraswati Devi, the original composer of songs EK CHATUR NAAR & KOI HAMDAM NA RAHA. (Did You Know - 59)

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