4 April 2014

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.

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. 
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.
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?
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. 


  1. Lovely post, Anu. I loved all the trivia, so many fascinating bits of history.

  2. Sridevi lost to Shabana for Arth (remember our earlier discussion :)). BTW, Salangai Oli and Sagara Sangamam came out on the same day?

  3. Yes, I will make that change. :)

    Yes, Salangai Oli and Sagara Sangamam were released on the same day. So I'm wondering if I was wrong about the Tamil version being dubbed? Perhaps it was made as a Tamil/Telugu bilingual? I have to see the Tamil version again to see if that is the case.

  4. Thank you, Banno. I'm glad you liked the post.

  5. Ha, then mail me the synopsis of the film if possible!

  6. You are nuts! I saw that film when it was released. You think it is so remarkable that I remember what happened? Here, Wiki has a synopsis.

    I haven't read this, and I wouldn't know if it is correct anyway. I hope to continue forgetting I ever saw the movie!

  7. Yeah, that is what I remember reading as well - that it was dubbed into Tamil.

  8. Shilpi, I was sure you would have seen instances of such 'missing' songs. I must confess that after hearing Sharda sing this song, I am glad that it was not there in the film! I'm not a fan of her voice!

  9. But the wiki plot summary looks so long that it dominates the whole article. Guess some hardcore AB fan might have written that!

  10. Too bad for you then. I have no intention of wasting my time reading it either. :)

  11. Really, was it that horrible? (apologies for asking again).

  12. Ha, it's available in youtube. Will have a try!

  13. N Venkataraman4 April 2014 at 15:01


    Thanks for this fine post. I have heard the song Husn ki baraat chali before. But I was surprised to know that Main pyar ka raahi hoon and Chain se humko kabhi were deleted from the released versions of the respective films. In fact I remember seeing this film during my college days, but I was not aware of this fact! Both the songs were too good to be deleted. All the other songs were new to me.

    It seems the following two songs were deleted from the
    respective films.

    Tum meri zindagi mein by Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar, film Bombay to Goa (1972), lyrics Rajinder Krishan, music R D Burman


    Humein koi dekhle by Shamshad Begum, Deewana (1952), lyrics Shakeel Badayuni, music Naushad


  14. Mr Venkatraman, thank you. Do you remember if Chain na humko kabhi was in the film when you saw it? From what I've heard, it wasn't. (Though why Asha would want such a beautiful song of hers deleted beats me!)

    I haven't heard the Bombay to Goa song before. I wonder if it was shot at all, or like so many other songs on this list, shot, released and then deleted. The Diwana song is beautiful, and that one, at least, I have heard before. It also reminds me of another, more famous song. Do you know which one this song resembles?

  15. Anu,

    This is a very interesting list and full of excellent information. I was looking forward to the song Sahil ki taraf kashti le chal. Is the song available anywhere?

    Half the songs in your list are by OP Nayyar. Can it be a chance event? But it is interesting that his deleted songs are among the most well-known from those films. I knew about Jata kahan hai deewane and Chain se humko kabhi that these were deleted. But I could not believe that Main pyar ka rahi hun was not in the film.

    From Andaz I find the deleted duet much better than the one that was included. The producers were helpless before the mindless censors. But the other songs they deleted on their own, which went on to become great hits - it is clear they were not able to judge a priory the appeal of those songs.

    I should thank you for the triad song from Mughal-e-Azam. I was aware of such a song but I had not heard it.

    One song which was deleted from a movie, which sounds excellent is this by Lata in Raga Kedar from Manmauji



  16. "Le chal wahan piya" reminds me of "Chali chali re patang meri chali re". But in Sangdil itself there is another song sung by Geeta Dutt that has the same basic rhythm accentuated by the jal tarang though slowed down considerably. It is a lovely song marred by the presence of the marionette like movements of Madhubala and the PT exercises by the usual suspects. Perhaps it should have been deleted too and released only on a record. It has the typical Sajjad quirks which made him one of the best composers ever to give music in Hindi films. It is a bhajan and set to an interesting metre. An aural delight , a visual bleh...In this clip at the end of the song there is a lovely orchestral piece that is cut off. The clip has more than the song and provided me a great deal of amusement.


  17. AK, I haven't been able to source Sahil ki taraf kashti le chal anywhere, not even it's audio. It is weird, since the scene was actually shot that no one has yet uploaded the deleted clip anywhere on the web. I would like to hear it as well, though, as I said, Hemant Kumar used the tune for Ya dil ki suno later.

    When producers or directors decide to delete a song, I think, *mostly* , they do that because of the length of the film. As you said, obviously, they cannot foresee which song would become popular. Actually, even in those days, didn't the songs release first? I mean, if the score was already released, then shouldn't they keep the songs that are popular? I can understand directors like Chetan Anand or Raj Kapoor, for instance, who delete songs even if they are popular, because in their films, the songs were part of the narrative. (For example: Shaam gayi raat aayi, which was recorded and shot for Shree 420 but never used in the film.)

  18. It's very bad of you to mention the visuals, because I found myself giggling right through the clip! And I wouldn't have done that before I read your description. I would have just taken the visuals as rather 'meh' but not bad at all. Yes, this is a lovely song, and Geeta has sung it beautifully as well.

  19. Interesting, very interesting article, dear Anu! so much information!
    In fact, I'd all but forogtten about the query. You have made a good posting out of it! Hats off to you!

    Was very surprised to see the video of "khelo na mere dil se". Somehow it gives me the feeling that that particular video was never a part of the film. But it is just a feeling.

    The qawaali chand sa koi chehra was deleted from Sholay
    Mind you the video is not of the song.

    Similarly two songs composed by R. D. Burman were deleted from Yash Chopra's Deewar. And supposedly RDB got so angry about it that he swore never to work with Yash Chopra again.

    Tehre are sure to be more such songs, but can remember only these now.

  20. Hi Anu, what an interesting post. The song from Diwana seems to resemble this song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE-ITO3ZqoM from Shabab which also had music by Naushad.

    Pakeezah like Mughal E Azam, had so many gems by Ghulam Mohaamad which never got shot or released.




  21. Thank you, Harvey. You and Madhu set off the list that made this post. :)

    According to Sanjeev Kohli, the song *was* part of the film. Whether this particular video was, I have no idea. As I said, it's just a clip.

    Ah, the quawwali from Sholay - I think it was Memsaab blog that I first came across a mention of this song in the comments. I'd forgotten about it; I'm so glad you linked it here. I'm wondering where the song would have fit in the film.

    Also, I wonder which film this video is taken from - Amitabh and Dharmendra acted in only three films (that I know of) - Sholay, Chupke Chupke and Ram Balram. I don't remember this from any of those films. :( I wonder if any of the readers will know?

  22. Thank you, Nra. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I love the Shabab song, though I haven't heard it for a long time.

    The songs from Pakeezah? I haven't heard even one of them. Now that I've heard it, I am glad they weren't in the film - somehow, they don't match the heights to which the original score had reached. (In my opinion.)

  23. N Venkataraman6 April 2014 at 10:56


    In those days I used to watch all sort of movies including the Hunterwali, Pistolwali types! I can not exactly call to mind seeing this song sequence. Later I have listened to this song several times, but it never occurred to me that it was not in the movie!

    Coming to the song Tum meri zindagi mein, a duet sung by Hemant Kumar and Geeta Dutt, based on the theme tune of Limelight was recorded for the film Raaz (1959). Guru Dutt was the producer and he assigned R D Burman, who was in his late teens, to do the music score for this film. Suddenly Guru Dutt lost interest and shelved the film. It is said that the same tune was used for the song Tum meri zindagi mein by R D Burman. The song was recorded, but was not included in the film Bombay to Goa (1972). As per the book, R D Burman – the man, the music, ‘….the tune was remodeled and finally used in Mukti (1977) as Main chod chala peekar and as the Bengali song Ki kore jaanle tumi released in actor Victor Banerjee’s film titled Debota (1991).’

    The Shabab song is also beautiful, and thanks to Nra. I was not aware of this song. Now I come to know that the tune of the deleted Naushad-Shakeel Badayuni song of 1952 was recycled in the film Shabab by Naushad and Shakeel Badayuni is the lyricist once again. Naushad has done this few more times. In Akji’s parlance, auto-plagiarism

    The video, mixed with the deleted Qawwali from Sholay, was from the film Charandas (1977). Amitabh made special appearance as a Qawwali singer in this film. Yesudas sang for Amitabh and Aziz Nazan Qawwal sang for Dharmendra. Rajesh Roshan was the MD. Here is the clip.


    Enjoyed the other interesting additions. Thanks once again.

  24. This seems like big departure from usual roles for all the main cast. I can't see it ending well, so I'm not sure if I want to jump into it right away--but eventually I might watch it just to see Padma Khanna in AN ACTUAL role, lol. Also, this reminds me more of Amitabh's "simpleton" character in Reshma aur Shera . . . someone compelled by his very powerlessness to do something evil.

  25. I made my family watch this one with me recently, and I highly enjoyed it. Not sure why I hadn't seen it before now, though I'm pretty sure I'd caught various scenes of it on classic movie channels over the years. The ending especially I'm pretty sure I'd seen--how could one forget that "alpine" soundstage? For some reason, I'd never really sought out other Carol Reed fare--even though The Third Man has been one of my ultimate favorite movies since middle school. I can't help but feel bad that his work and reputation was "overshadowed" first by Hitchcock, and then by Orson Welles. But perhaps he was sensible enough to brush that nonsense off.

    I had no idea that this was Rex Harrison's first major role. I think it shows in places (like in his laughable German accent), but he also seems a breath of fresh air because he doesn't really conform to the acting styles of the rest of the actors in the film. But his non-conformist, devil-may-care attitude certainly went will with the film's overall goal to buck up people's spirits in wartime.

    Paul Henreid was probably my favorite part of the film (despite the hilarity of Caldicott and Charters) . . . mostly because he was the biggest surprise. I am one of those soulless people who didn't find Casablanca all that moving . . . and his role in that didn't do him any favors in my eyes. But in this film, he just shines . . . and I love how you pointed how layered his character is. I have a lot of respect for the minds behind this film--but I think he probably brought most of aforesaid layers all by his lonesome. He is not a symbol, he's a person . . . something rare to see of portrayals of the enemy during wartime films.

  26. Mr Venkatraman, thank you for all the additional information! I knew I could count on you to come up with the answer to my question about the original film of the video that Harvey had put up! :)

    As for auto-plagiarism, I disagree with the term 'plagiarism' being used for a composer using his own tunes again. :)

  27. Miranda, it ended as well as could be expected. Bitter-sweet perhaps, and not without its consequences, but it was (to me) as satisfying an end as a film could have.

    Amitabh's character here, is not as powerless as in Reshma aur Shera; here, he is manipulative and scheming. Only, he is not outright 'evil'. It was fascinating to see the grey shades to his character.

    Padma Khanna was good in her role. I honestly wish she didn't have to turn vamp to survive.

  28. I really enjoyed The Third Man. I think Carol Reed's work can, and should, stand on its own. And yes, it helped that the film saw Germans as individuals with their own flaws and virtues. I'm glad you enjoyed the film!

  29. I think we have already discussed this once, I think.
    The video is the song from Charandas, where they both had a guest appearance.
    Here is the original song:

  30. Here is a deleted song from Jeevan Jyothi, which I came across today.
    Since it was deleted from that movie, SDB used it in Sagina

    Another deleted song, again from SDB from Paying Guest

    I think if you search for deleted song on youtube, you might find others.

  31. Here is a song which was not included in the film. jamuna kinare aaj from Mehbooba

    The song gumsum kyun hai sanam was recorded for Kasme Vaade but since it didn't have any place in the screenplay, it was given to the filmmakers of Bhala Manus.The song was released in the sound track of Kasme Vaade but inclluded in the film Bhala Manus.

  32. I found the words of the songs deleted from Deewar's final cut from Sahir's biography by Akshay Manwani
    One was 'yeh deewaron ka jungle, aabadi jiska naam' and the other was a "satire on customs officers 'idhar ka maal udhar jaata hai'

  33. I'm sure we did discuss this, Harvey, but my single brain cell gave up trying to remember long ago. :)

    Yes, Mr Venkatraman had kindly found the original for me. I didn't know (or didn't remember, if I did) that AB and Dharmendra had appeared in a guest appearance.

  34. So they shot this for Kasme Vaade since this was Neetu's uniform in that film. Did Bhala Manus star the same pair, so they could use the video footage as well? Not a great song, is it? Kasme Vaade had far better songs.

  35. Am I silly for liking the song in Sagina better than the original from Jeevan Jyoti?

    The song from Paying Guest sounds like it may have been picturised on Nutan on stage... within the film, that is.

  36. Ha! I'm glad they were cut. That was one movie that had no business having songs at all. In fact, Yash Chopra put them in against the protests of Salim-Javed, who felt that the songs diluted the script.

  37. Wonderful that you gleaned this bit of info out of the past. Wonder how many more such compositions have been lost to us.

    Balma Khuli Hawaa main, Jaata Kahaan Hain Diwaane & Chain Se hum Ko Kabhi are so much a part of the audio track that I never looked in the movie to find them, assumed they're there somewhere. All three brilliant ones too.

    Wonder what it is with O P Nayyar and the Mangeshkar sisters. Imagine parting ways with Asha Bhonsle, akin to Raj Kapoor refusing Mukesh. That man was an eccentric genius.

    Couldn't locate the Sahib Biwi aur Ghulam soundtrack. Any links?

  38. Shalini Razdan7 April 2014 at 11:43

    I'm with you Harvey. I love "gumsum kyon hai sanam" and prefer it to the other songs in Kasme Vaade (or Bhala Manush for that matter).

  39. Shalini Razdan7 April 2014 at 11:59

    You've picked a fascinating (and vexing) topic to post on, Anu. I can't tell you the # of times I've watched a film for one song only to find it missing from the movie.:-( You've mentioned some of my favorite "deleted" songs, but sadly there are many more.

    Rut phire par din hamare - Pyaasa

    Chand madham hai - Railway Platform

    Dekh li teri khudai - Kinare Kinare

    Honton pe hansi aankhon mein nasha - Sawan Ki Ghata

    PS. I don't think that clip of "khelo na mere dil se" is actually from Haqeeqat. At least I dearly hope not - that song deserves much better.

    PPS. I've always heard that the reason "chain se humko kabhi" was removed from "Pran Jaaye Par Vachan Na Jaaye" was because OPN insisted upon it. He thought his song was too good for the movie.:-)

  40. Wonder how many more such compositions have been lost to us.
    By the looks of the comments, many, many more than I would have dreamed of. :(

    The Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam sound track is lost to us, unless some kind soul somewhere discovers it somewhere and uploads it on YouTube or something!

  41. Thank you, Madhu. :) Yes, it is sad, isn't it, that so many good songs didn't make it to the marquee, or were deleted after they were shot? The worst offenders are the censors, who decided on such arbitrary reasons. I mean, I can understand a song being cut because the film is too long - though, that took away Khelo na from Haqeeqat, but that reason at least makes sense!

    (and I have a creepy feeling too that I've seen a video of it, but I'm very likely mistaken)
    Madhu, I'm glad you said that! Because I'm almost sure that when I watched CID on Doordarshan, the song was there! And if that is so, that must be where you saw it too! Because I remember being taken aback when a couple of years ago (I think it was on your blog) I read that Jaata kahan hai deewane is not in the film. I could have sworn it was!

    Or if not, we are both going crazy together!

  42. Thank you, Canasyaji. It was indeed a pleasure to host Ashwin. I don't know enough about the dangers of breathing one way or the other, but I would assume that if our musicians did it, they were trained in that way. I will let SSW weigh in on this. He will definitely have more than assumptions to contribute. :)

  43. Circular breathing has been around for centuries. It isn't new and it has been used by metal smiths, glass blowers, snake charmers and wind instrument players for years. Obviously they have been trained to do it. Maybe the ones who couldn't took up another occupation.:-) Usually it isn't Bismillah Khan who does the bulk of the circular breathing, it is his accompanying shehnai players who provide the single note drone and I guess they do it in relays. Amateurs probably shouldn't try it but it is something only the really good players aim to hit as they need to sustain long passages smoothly. Again to play an instrument like the algoza you would probably need to do something similar to produce the continuous supporting note. See this performer for example his cheeks are almost always slightly distended. So I guess with the correct training you'd be okay.


  44. Anuji, a gripping post with stories worthy of the Master himself! Madanmohan’s official website


    mentions 21 songs that were filmed but not released as audio record, another 4 that were never filmed, and 45 recorded songs and tunes from films that were never released/completed. This list does not include songs like the one from Haqeeqat whose audio records had been released. Madanmohan composed about 700 songs. That gives a 'missing ratio' of about 10%. Here are some songs from that list available on YouTube. In some cases the video is so short as to indicate that the larger part of the song had been cut. (That suggests another topic for a post: The Mystery of the Missing ‘antara’).

    Unhein Qissa E Gham (Rafi in Naya Qanoon, 1964)


    Do ghadi saath rahe (Rafi in Pooja ke phool, 1964)


    Sanam apni palkon pe tujhko (Rafi in Pooja ke phool, 1964)


    Dil haseenon se lagaana (Shamshad Begum and Rafi in Khota Paisa, 1958)


  45. Anu, Venkataramanji
    I did use the word auto-plagiarism - I do not know if I am the creator of this word - but I agree, a less offensive word is needed. Since Jogan ban jaaungi has been mentioned, I would invite you to recall Naushad's two more Ghunghat nahi kholungi saiyan tore kaaran (Mother India) and Lagan more man ki balam nahi jaane (Baabul). Interesting Auto-?


  46. Lovely post, Anu. I had no idea there were so many axed songs. I am just glad that the audio versions have survived. I only knew of Chain se humko kabhi from Dustedoff's O. P. Nayyar post. I thought some of the other familiar songs - Jaata kahan hai deewane, Main pyaar ka rahi hoon and Humne to dil ko aapke - were a casualty of the VCD/DVD manufacturers. Are you sure Main pyaar ka rahi hoon was deleted from the film before fRIENDS, et al, got their hands on it? I have a strong feeling that I've seen the song on Chitrahaar, back in the DD days. Also, is there a Mukesh version of Yunhi dil ne chaaha tha rona rulaana? I've always thought of it as a Mukesh song, for some reason, and always come up against a Suman Kalyanpur version on youtube!

  47. N venkataraman9 April 2014 at 07:17


    I came across this word auto-plagiarism for the first time in SoY and I liked the coinage. I am not sure whether the word pre-existed. I too disagree with the word plagiarism being used for a composer using his own tunes again. In my humble opinion, when the word auto is prefixed then it no longer sounds offensive. Akji thanks for those interesting additions.

  48. Canasyaji, Madan Mohan did have the most awful luck! Some of his most beautiful songs were for films that didn't exactly set the box-office on fire.

    I like that idea for a new post.

  49. My disagreement is because the meaning of plagiarism is entirely different. To reuse one's own tunes is no crime, surely? Perhaps 'recycle' or 'reuse' is a better word. :)

  50. Main pyar ka raahi hoon is definitely not in the film. Or, let me be specific - it wasn't in the film when I watched it on Doordarshan - long before DVDs made an appearance. The song was equally definitely shot, so no wonder you watched it on Chitrahaar.

    As far as I know, Yunhi dil ne chaha tha rona rulana is the Suman Kalyanpur version. There is a Mukesh-Suman Kalyanpur duet called Chura lena tumko ye mausam suhana. I don't know if there is a Mukesh solo in the same tune.

  51. Mr Venkatraman, I'm slightly allergic to the word, that is all. :) No offence meant, and I really have no opinion one way or another on someone else using it. That is all.

  52. Bhavadas Kaplingat15 October 2014 at 12:31

    I had read many interviews with Manoharida, so his life story was kind of very familiar. However, the 5 songs mentioned with musicians was very new ! Thanks a lot !

  53. Thank you for reading and commenting, Bhavadas. The songs were Ashwin's selections to showcase Manoharida's versatility.

  54. A collection of Old Hindi songs on the Saxophone. I wonder if it was Manohari Singh playing them !!



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