The Mystery of the Missing Songs

A long time ago, on one of Dustedoff's posts, fellow-blogger Harvey said he had heard about a missing Hemant Kumar solo from Guru Dutt's Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam, and wondered whether anyone knew anything about it. Having read about it before, and filed it away in the trivia-loving part of my brain, I commented that it was Sahil ki taraf kashti le chal. In the ensuing discussion (I have forgotten which post it was on) of other such songs, Dustedoff commented that I should write a post about them. Well, I agreed, and there the matter stood. I did venture to make a list of the songs I knew were filmed and deleted for one reason or the other. But there it stood and as is always the case with me, I completely forgot about it.

Cut to I-don't-know-how-many-months-later, when Dustedoff put up her post for Valentine's Day. In the comments, I put in Zara si aahat hoti hai from Haqeeqat; it's a song I like very much, and I rued that it was deleted from the film. She said it was there in her copy of the film. I realised I had mixed up two songs - the one missing was another beautiful and haunting Lata solo.  Just that weekend, I had been mourning my lack of ideas for a song list. This just made me dig out my list, and decide how to make a post out of it. 'My Favourites' was out as a tag, because how do you have a list of favourite deleted songs anyway? But the songs were too good not to post, so I decided to make a stand-alone post of them. 

Let me start with the song that began the discussion that spurred this post in the first place - Sahil ki taraf kashti le chal. No, there is no video of the song, though it was filmed and in fact, was there in the first screening of the film. Director Abrar Alvi has an interesting tale to narrate about its deletion. The scene was thus: Chhoti Bahu (Meena Kumari) has tried many ways to bring her errant husband back to her side, and failed. Finally, in a last ditch effort to save her marriage, and her ailing husband's life, she summons Bhootnath (Guru Dutt) to accompany her to the temple. In the carriage, she hears of Bhootnath's engagement to Jaba. Happy for him, weary for herself and wishing Chhote Thakur was more like Bhootnath, she leans forward and rests her head on Bhootnath's lap. 

Photo credit: firstpost.com*

Hemant Kumar's voice fills the silence with Sahil ki taraf...  then, the carriage is waylaid, Chhoti Bahu is kidnapped, and only her shriek pierces the darkness. The scene segues into a deathly silence; then, in the present, an excavation brings forth a human hand, adorned by a single gold bangle.

It was a powerful scene, and Abrar Alvi, in his biography, Ten Years with Guru Dutt, reminisces about going to watch the first show in the theatre.  Caught up in the powerful story, the audience burst into catcalls and whistles when the controversial scene came up. The theatre erupts in pandemonium, a scene that is replicated in other theatres across the city. Alvi, embarrassed, took the unprecedented call to cut the scene from the film. Guru Dutt concurred. The reactions of the audience meant that the intensity of the film was being diluted. Overnight, the reels were recalled, the film was edited and sent back. We lost a scene and a beautiful song. Hemant da would later reuse the same tune for Ya dil ki suno in Anupama. 

Likewise, there are many songs that have been recorded, filmed and then deleted for some reason or, sometimes, for no reason that we know of. Here are some of the songs I have discovered missing from the films for which they were recorded.   

1. Khelo na mere dil se
Haqeeqat (1964)
Singer: Lata Mangeshkar
Music: Madan Mohan 
Lyrics: Kaifi Azmi

This was the song that kicked off this post. A wonderful Lata Mangeshkar solo, composed by Madan Mohan, with lyrics by Kaifi Azmi, filled with the poignancy and apprehension of a love not yet realised. Why was the song axed? Because Priya Rajvansh already had the wonderful Zara si aahat picturised on her? According to an interview with Sanjeev Kohli, the late Madan Mohan's son, it was the composer's favourite tune from the many beautiful melodies that he had composed for the film. But director Chetan Anand took the decision to delete the song much to the composer's disappointment, because the film was too long, and the pace was getting bogged down. I came across a very rare clip of this song, long enough to show that it was indeed picturised. Not on Priya Rajvansh, as I had imagined. But I'm wondering who the actress is. She resembles Simi Garewal, but I do not think it is she. If anyone can identify her, that would be of great help.

2. Balma khuli hawaa mein

Kashmir ki Kali (1964) 
Singer: Asha Bhosle
Music: OP Nayyar
Lyrics: SH Bihari

 If Abrar Alvi self-censored a song because of its picturisation, in the case of this song, our censors stepped in to preserve a morality that seems rather idiotic, even by the mores of the times in which the film released. Kashmir ki Kali released with Balma khuli hawa mein intact. The song follows the night scene where Shammi runs into the girls, and is drenched by them because they suspect him of being a lecher. A repentant Sharmila comes down in the night to cover him with a blanket. The next morning, Shammi looks for her so he can return the blanket, but the girls have already left. As he drives along, he hears a melodious song, and follows the voice to where Sharmila is singing. Then it segues into the scene where he talks to her and returns the blanket. 

The audience of the first week all saw the song, and the scenes preceding and succeeding the song, without any detriment to their morals. However, the Censor Board woke up suddenly and discovered that in the song, Sharmila's dupatta flew in the breeze exposing her (covered by her kameez) breasts which, according to the aforementioned thekedaars of public morals, were heaving too much. Not only that, the dupatta settled on her head without fluttering down to cover her modesty again, so the whole song had to be axed. Director Shakti Samanta did not have a choice - cut the song, or the censor certificate would be revoked. So, everyone's morals were safe, Sharmila's modesty was protected, the Censor Board's honour remained inviolate, and we, the listeners, lost a wonderful song to the moral police. Thankfully, the audio clipping is still available. 

3. Husn ki baraat chali

Mughal-e-Azam (1960) 
Singer: Lata Mangeshkar-Shamshad Begum-Mubarak Begum
Music: Naushad
Lyrics: Shakeel Badayuni

Music director Naushad had composed twenty songs for Mughal-e-Azam, two of them sung by noted classical singer, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. Out of the score of melodies, only a dozen were finally used. The rest were discarded. One never knows whether Naushad recycled them for use later. Or whether, since they were composed exclusively for this film, they became the property of K Asif, to be used at his discretion. Husn ki baraat chali, however, was shot. It was a scene where Prince Salim arrives at the boathouse to distribute prizes to the court singers. However, in the final edit, the scene itself was deleted, owing to the length of the movie, thus removing the occasion for the song. It is a rare triad, Lata, Mubarak Begum, and Shamshad Begum, and just for that, I wish they had retained the song in the released film.

4. Humne toh dil ko aapke

Mere Sanam (1965) 
Singer: Mohammed Rafi-Asha Bhosle
Music: OP Nayyar
Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri

Like Madan Mohan, OP Nayyar was another music director who found his beautiful compositions inexplicably deleted from the final versions of the films. This is a beautiful song that I have grown up listening to, without any idea that it was not in the film. Until I watched Mera Sanam on Doordarshan many years ago, and kept waiting for this song to show up. I was very disappointed when it did not. Further explorations on DVD assured me that I was not mistaken - the song is not there in the film. I have no idea whether it was originally available, and deleted after release, or whether it was one of those songs that were rejected right at the outset. But why would you not want such a lovely song in the film? As one youtube viewer asked, when the film is already three hours long, why should anyone mind if it is three minutes longer?

5. Jaata kahan hai deewane

C.I.D (1956) 
Singer: Geeta Dutt
Music: OP Nayyar
Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri

Now, I could have sworn that I had seen the video of this song when I initially watched the film on Doordarshan in the good old days of Bhaskar Ghosh. My memory must be playing tricks on me because I cannot imagine the guvmint babus airing an uncensored version of a film on National Network. Apparently, the song was deleted from the film within a week of its release.  From what I can glean, and I credit geetadutt.com for this bit of news, the censors apparently took offence to the word 'fiffy' in the lines, Kuch mere dil mein fiffy, kuch tere dil mein fiffy, zamaana hain bura... If that is really the case, I cannot fathom the nonsensical guidelines the censors laboured under. Besides, I also cannot wrap my head around the idea that it always seems to take them a full week after the films' release to wake up to the fact that they had let something slip by their eagle eyes (or ears). Don't they actually watch the whole movie before they award the censor certificate? So how is it that they do not catch all these moral transgressions the first time around? And what is so immoral about 'fiffy' anyway? According to OP Nayyar, that was just a random word they threw in because they couldn't find anything to fit the metre. In the process, we not only lost out on a great song, but one that actually helped the flow of the narrative onscreen. Please, may we decide for ourselves what we can watch?  

6. Yunhi dil ne chaha tha

Dil Hi To Hai (1963) 
Singer: Suman Kalyanpur
Music: Roshan
Lyrics: Sahir Ludhianvi 
There is a beautiful Mukesh-Suman Kalyanpur romantic duet in this film - Chura lena tumko ye mausam suhana. This seems to be the sad version of the same song; I remember having listened to it on the audio cassette of Dil Hi To Hai, but it is not there in the film. From what I can gather, no one really knows whether it was picturised and then deleted, or whether it met the chopping block right at the beginning. However, it is a lovely song, and much though I deplore its absence from the film, I'm glad that the audio clip is still there for our listening pleasure. Thank heavens for YouTube.  

7. Main pyar ka raahi hoon

Ek Musafir Ek Hasina (1962) 
Singers: Mohammed Rafi-Asha Bhosle
Music: OP Nayyar
Lyrics: Raja Mehdi Ali Khan
Poor OP Nayyar. Another beautiful composition that bit the dust. According to one version, the song was picturised on Joy Mukherjee and Sadhana, but deleted from the final print because they found the film was too long. Another version says that when Ek Musafir Ek Hasina was released, it was a phenomenal flop. And that the prints were hurriedly collected, a new song (Main pyar ka raahi hoon) shot with the lead pair, inserted into the film, which was re-released to become a resounding success. If that were true, then we should have a video clip of this song, but unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case. I'm betting that this is another of those songs that were unfortunately discarded before the film hit the theatres. It is a shame actually; this is such a fantastic duet. Just listen to Asha trill the verses. Rafi, as usual, is at his mellow best. Lovely!

8. Le chal wahan piya

Sangdil (1952) 
Singer: Shamshad Begum
Music: Sajjad Hussain
Lyrics: Rajinder Krishan
Considering that Sajjad Hussein only composed for a handful of films, and that he left many films mid-way because he had issues with either the director or the lyricist of even the stars of the film*, it should be no surprise to find that Le chal wahan piya did not find a place in the final score of Sangdil. (Neither did the Asha solo Dard bhari kisi ki yaad.) Radio Ceylon played this over and over again, and I had grown up listening to the song, which they announced as 'from Sangdil'. So it was still surprising to find, even knowing what I did about Sajjad Hussain, that the song is not there in the film. I have not been able to find out whether it was even filmed. This is not a usual Sajjad number; at least, it has no resemblance to the other Sajjad compositions I have heard before. 
*During the filming of Sangdil, Sajjad Hussein ran afoul of leading man Dilip Kumar, and swore never to work with him again. 

 9.  Sun lo dil ka afsana

Andaz (1949)
Singers: Mohammed Rafi-Lata Mangeshkar
Music: Naushad
Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri
With four Mukesh solos in the film, all picturised on Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor had to be content with one duet, Yun toh aapas mein bigadte hain. How interesting, then, to find another Mohammed Rafi-Lata Mangeshkar duet that, if it had been picturised, must surely have been filmed on him and Nargis. (Yes, it had to be on Raj Kapoor, since Mukesh was Dilip Kumar's voice in the film.) It's a lively duet, much like the other duet that was picturised on the Raj and Nargis in the film.  Here, there is no mystery as such; Andaz already had ten songs, and lovely ones at that. It is no wonder that two songs were excluded from the film. This duet and a rare Mukesh solo Kyun pheri nazar. How could they add another two songs and still have time for the plot to meander to its tragic conclusion?

 10. Chain se humko kabhi

Pran Jaye Par Vachan Na Jaye (1973) 
Singer: Asha Bhosle
Music: OP Nayyar
Lyrics: SH Bihari

This was perhaps the unkindest cut of all. It wasn't enough that OP Nayyar's songs were deleted by film-makers because the films were too long, or that censors took offence at the most innocuous of words. It must have stung when his muse, Asha, for whom he had sidelined both Shamshad Begum and Geeta Dutt, had the song deleted because she had parted from her mentor. It was a bitter parting. It was a song for which, ironically, she would receive the Filmfare Award for Best Playback Singer, Female. Her feet by then planted firmly on the ladder of success, Asha flexed her muscles and pulled in favours - the song picturised on Rekha, Asha's last song for OP Nayyar, was missing when the film released. Asha would later firmly disassociate OP Nayyar from her success - "Whichever composer gave me work, it was because my voice was suited to his music at that point. No one musician did me any favour by asking me to sing for him", is what she said when asked about Nayyar's contribution to her success. She did not attend the Filmfare Awards that year to receive her award either. OP Nayyar received it on her behalf, and as he tells it, on the way back from the function with SH Bihari, he flung the award out of the moving car and heard it break. That was the sound of the deathknell heralding the end of one of the most successful collaborations in the history of Hindi music. 

I'm sure there are many other songs out there, beautiful melodies, either excluded from films, or deleted after release for one reason or the other. What are the songs you can think of? Do you know why they did not make it to the final print of the film? Share them with us. 

*The photo was sourced from that website, but I have seen it elsewhere, so I'm not sure who owns the copyright.