My Childhood days and Madhubala's films

By: Tarun Nongthombam *

My childhood days were in seventies. Only entertainment which we had was the big old Murphy radio owned by my uncle which we displayed proudly every Sunday afternoon for all the leikai people, who assembled in our sumang to hear All India Radio drama. As a child I hardly understood what elders were listening but getting myself prepared for the big gathering by spreading phuk(mat)and see people coming was more enjoyable than the actual drama played in the radio.

Sometimes you get chini-chaphu given by the elders which we lick till cow comes home. Getting a Parle-G biscuit was a luxury, we could only stare at the Parle-G in our leikai shop and the kid in Parle-G seems to stare back at you. One time, which we surely get the taste of the biscuit, was on Ningol Chakouba when Ningols bring Parle-G with them.

I could remember few households in the leikai had Murphy radio but one thing, which we had which others didn't, was my father's gramophone. My father like many in his generation is a big fan of Dilip Kumar and Madhubala and would spend hours listening to old film music. He would play lullaby "Dhere se aaja" from the film Albela and my mother would sing Manipuri lullaby "Haya hum hum tumtha ro ne" alternatively, to make me sleep. I somehow seem to have picked up the taste of watching old films and would like to share few which I have also enjoyed listening from my father's gramophone as a child. They are as follows.

Amar-This is a must watch picture for all those Dilip kumar and Madhubala fans. In Amar we can see another intense role played by supporting actress Nimmi. Strong point of this film is the evergreen songs sung by Lata. If you want close up view of Madhubala with her beautiful eyes and infectious smile, see the song "Na shikwa he koi". Log on to youtube with the song name and you can make many beautiful portraits of Madhubala and proudly own them.

Barsaat-If Amar is for Dilip Kumar and Madhubala then Barsaat is for Raj Kapoor and Nargis. This film like Amar had many beautiful songs but one, which stood out for me, was "Meri Aankhon Mein Bas Gaya" with Raj Kapoor and Nargis near a waterfall.

Tarana-This is a 1951 film with Dilip Kumar and Madhubala as lead actors. Here you can see very young Madhubala, which many would love to see. Song, which stood out in this film, is "Seene Mein Sulagte Hain Armaan" which is a duet of Lata Mangeshkar and Talat Mahmood.

Anokha Pyar- This 1948 film of Dilip Kumar, Nalini Jaywant and Nargis as lead actors was very popular with the old gramophone owners and film watchers in Manipur. The song that stood out in this film is "Ek Dil Ka Lagana Baqi Tha".

Mela-This is another Dilip Kumar-Nargis film. The song for this film is "yeh zindagi ke mele". Watching this film will tell you why Dilip Kumar is known as Tragedy King. Many of Manipur's old generation hearts are still to be healed because of the hardship and separation suffered by the characters portrayed by Dilip Kumar and Nargis in this film.

Shirin Farhad- This was a film on the famous lovebirds Shirin Farhad. You can see very innocent looking Madhubala in this film. The song of the film is "Guzra Hua Zamana".One can find this in Youtube.

Anarkali-This was probably the first film on love story of Salim during King Akbar regin. This film had many good songs. We are all aware of Madhubala but the actress here is Bina Rai, who is as beautiful as Madhubala and many of the present generation would know very little of her. See the song "Aaja ab to aaja" to get acquaintance with this beautiful actress of yesteryears.

Mughal-e-Azam-This is another film on Salim's love story with Dilip Kumar and Madubala as lead actors. Here you can see frail looking Madhubala chained by real metal chains (she asked the director to use real metal chains) even after she was diagnosed of an incurable heart aliment. She died few years after the film. The song of the film is "Pyar kiya to darna kya".

Goonj Uthi Shehnai- This 1959 film has Rajendra Kumar as the lead actor. As the name suggests one can hear beautiful shehnai being played in this film by Bismillah Khan. Songs one should see and listen are "Tere Sur aur mere geet" and "Dil Ka Khilona Haye Toot Gaya".

Barsaat Ki Raat- This film had Madhubala with Bharat Bhushan and was known for the song "Zindagi Bhar Nahi Bhulaegi".

Madhosh-In these digital days where many Manipuri films are made, we also find many songs lifted directly from Tamil movies or Nepali movies. Hold your breadth, our fathers and grandpas had been doing that. Song from this film "Meri yaad Mein Tum Na Aansoo" by Talat Mahmood had a local Manipuri version which I heard as a child.

Deedar- This 1951 films stars Dilip Kumar and Nargis. Songs to be picked up from this film are "Meri kahani Bhoolanewale" and "Huwe hum jinke liye barbad".

Awara-This 1951 film is the flagship film of RK studio and one could see Raj Kapoor and Nargis combo at its best. This film became popular in far flung places like Russia and Turkey. The pick of the film is the song "Dam bhar jo udhar munh phere" with Raj kapoor romancing Nargis on a boat in a moonlit night.

Shree 420- This is another Raj Kaoor-Nargis combo. This film became very popular overseas with its song "Mera Jhoota he Japani".

Aan- This is probably the first Indian film in colour, which stars Dilip kumar. This film has lot of foot tapping songs, which were a hit. One should try listening the song "Aaj Mere Maan Me Sakhi".

Nagin-This film has Vyjayanthimala and Pradeep Kumar. Vyjayannthi Mala is a very good dancer and is known for completing a dancing song sequence in a single take. Famous one she did was in jewel thief film. See song "Unchi Unchi Duniya Ki Diware" song for artist dressed up in Manipuri polloi look alike attire.

Naya Daur-This film was supposed to have Dilip kumar and Madhubala but relationship between the two soured due to her father interference and Vyjayanthimala replaced Madhubala in this film. This film depicts the incoming of motorized vehicle and its impact on Tongas and how Tonga riders fought against the motorization.

Howrah Bridge-This film has my pick of the all the Madhubala's song. See the two photos below and I say, "Who cares about Marilyn Monroe".

Young generations even from the Hindi heartland are unaware of many of the above-mentioned films. I could see many open their mouth with their jaw dropped when I talked to them about these old classics. Novice interested in filmmaking and song composing should watch these old classics instead of copying dance sequence by Katrina Kaif and Hritik Roshan. Spending time with these classics would do a world of good to the budding professionals.

As a kid, seeing Mughal-e-Azam and few Manipuri films in Victory and Pratap talkies was a treat and my parents couldn't afford that often. Before our time, there was a theatre called MNB (Manaobi, Biramangol and a third person which I don't remember) opposite to where the present Victory Hall is located. These two theatres, Victory and MNB mainly opened the Manipuri society to world of cinema.

There is an interesting story of a mentally retarded man from kwakeithel. He would stare for hours at the painted portrait of Madhubala in cinema hall, curse Dilip kumar who he thinks is ugly and he instead of Dilip Kumar should be beside Madhubala. That is what Madhubala was in 1940s and 1950s!

In today's i-pod generation, our family old gramophone lies unused in our cupboard. It was as if trying to tell me that he has done his job by entertaining us in my initial years and has now gone down the horizon. What comes to my mind are our school teachers who shaped our initial years but we all seem to have forgotten them in the rat race, which we call "LIFE".