Birth Anniversary: ​​Kavi Pradeep's songs troubled the British rule

Many songs have been made to awaken the spirit of patriotism in the hearts of the countrymen, but there was one song that created a stir in the hearts of the imperialist whites. Famous film writer Vinod Kumar is telling about that song made more than sixty-five years ago which even today flows the triveni of passion, sacrifice, and pride for the country in our veins.

You must have heard the song "Door hato ae duniya waalon Hindustan hamara hai" from the movie Kismat released in 1943. This song, which mobilized people of every religion and community for freedom, directly challenged British rule, but despite this, the British rulers were deceived by this song. This song fooled the British for years and when they realized their foolishness, their condition became like that of a frustrated cat scratching the pole.

This song is from the 1943 film Kismat, directed by Gyan Mukherjee. It was produced by Bombay Talkies, which was famous for making films on social issues. The songs of this film were composed by famous musician Anil Biswas. This song, written by Kavi Pradeep, was sung by Amirbai Karnataki and Khan Mastana. This song was filmed on the film's heroine Mumtaz Shanti.

When this film was released, a huge crowd of viewers thronged the theatres and the film became a hit overnight. This song, which highlighted the image of India's religious plurality, brought temples, mosques, and gurudwaras together in a row.

In this song, the name of the British who enslaved India was not taken directly but Germany and Japan were challenged and asked to stay away from India.

This was the time when Mahatma Gandhi gave the slogan of Quit India. During the Quit India Movement, all the national leaders were imprisoned and the country was going through a difficult time. At such a time, poet Pradeep molded Gandhiji's movement in his poem in this way "Today, from the peak of the Himalayas, we have challenged you again, move away, O people of the world, India is ours."

Through this song, public sentiment was incited against British rule, but Pradeep Ji used his pen very carefully in this song. In one of its verses, the Germans and the Japanese have been called enemies so that the white government would understand that this song is against their enemies.

During the Second World War which lasted from 1939 to 1945, Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and China were fighting together against Germany and Japan. Since this song addressed fascist powers like Germany and Japan, the censor board did not raise any objection. Despite the strict censorship rules of that time, this song was passed by fooling the censor board by changing the words, but the public was well aware of who was being warned in the lines of the song. During the screening of the film, the song was shown several times at the request of the audience and it was requested in every city. The film Kismat had set a record of running continuously for three years in the same cinema hall.

The British government soon realized its mistake and issued arrest warrants against the lyricist, due to which he had to hide from the government for some time. The British government was troubled by the magic that this song had on the hearts of the people.

Due to this song, Kavi Pradeep's image became that of a fearless poet. Kavi Pradeep was one of those lyricists who got their initial fame from Kavi Sammelans and then came to the film industry. He wrote the immortal patriotic song "Aye mere watan ke logon zara aankh mein bhar lo paani jo shaheed hue hain unki zara yaad karo qurbani" which gained tremendous popularity in the country.

Since independence, this song written by Kavi Pradeep instills a feeling of patriotism in every vein. During an interview, he told about this song - People's morale was down due to India's defeat in the 1962 Indo-China war, in such a situation, the government appealed to the people of the film industry - now you guys do something. Create something that can once again invigorate the whole country and heal the pain of defeat against China.

After that Pradeep ji wrote this song, which was sung by Swar Kokila Lata ji. At that time India's first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was also present there, and his eyes also became moist. Poet Pradeep appealed to deposit the revenue of this song in the War Widow Fund. Even today, when this song is played, people stop and get goosebumps.

The songs written by him were so attractive that the audience would go to watch the film again and again to listen to them. He used very simple and street-speakable language in his songs so that the common man could enjoy his poetry to the fullest.

Some of his famous songs were "Chal Chal Re Naujawaan" from the movie Bandhan, "Aao Bachchon Tumhein Dikhayein Jhanki Hindustan Ki" from the movie Jagriti and "De Di Hamen Azadi Bina Khadag Bina Dhaal".

His 1958 film Talaq starring Rajendra Kumar and 1959 film Paigam starring Dilip Kumar, Vaijayanti Mala, and Rajkumar have stood the test of time. People could not help but be impressed by his meaningful songs like "Insaan ka insaan se bhaichara yehi paigam hamara".

Talaq 1958 Movie Video Songs

This song from the film 'Paigam' was composed by C Ramachandra and sung by Manna Dey. The lines of the song truly introduce people to the Ganga-Jamuni culture.

By the 1960s, the mood of the audience started changing and people started liking fast-paced songs based on Western music and artists like Pradeep Ji started getting ignored. But still, he proved the critics wrong through his poems.

He wrote 1700 songs for 71 films. This lyricist, who created the passion to die for the country, was awarded the 'Dada Saheb Phalke Award' by the Government of India in 1997-98.

In appreciation of Kavi Pradeep's efforts to serve the nation, the recording company HMV released an album of his 13 best songs. The government conferred on him the title of Rashtrakavi (poet of the nation), but among the general public, he became famous as Kavi Pradeep. In 1961, the Sangeet Natak Academy honored him with its Gaurav Puraskar. He was also awarded the "Life Time Achievement Award".

This great poet died in Mumbai on 11 December 1998 at the age of 83. The charm of his eternal songs and poems was there in those times and is there even today, and will remain forever.

About the Author:

Vinod Kumar is a famous film writer and journalist who has written many books on many celebrities in the cinema world. These books include "Meri Aawaz Suno", "Cinema Ke 150 Sitare", and "Rafi Ki Duniya" as well as biographies of Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar, and Raj Kapoor.