Some good Pradeep Kumar songs.

Pradeep Kumar (1925-2001) was a film actor who worked in hindi films from 1952 to 1984.  His filmography looks like he accepted almost any film that came his way.  For instance, in 1965, he worked in Bheegi Raat (co-starring Meena Kumari and Ashok Kumar), and also Zindagi aur Maut (co-starring Faryal).

In 1967, he starred alongside Nargis in Raat aur Din.  In the same year, he also worked in Wahan Ke Log with Tanuja.  He was a hero in both these films, and looks quite fit and fine to me.  Yet, a year later, in 1968, he was playing Deb Mukherjee's father in Sambandh.

Pradeep Kumar's name does not come up when you are recounting the best actors of Hindi films.  However, if you are browsing through YouTube videos of songs you love listening to, you are bound to run into Pradeep Kumar a lot more often.  Therefore, as a tribute to this ubiquitous actor (on YouTube at least) I am presenting here under 10 songs of Pradeep Kumar that I like a lot.

I won't call these songs his best.  Listing best songs of any actor is a pressure I cannot live up to.  Hence, some very good songs that feature Pradeep Kumar, here goes:

1. Vande Mataram from Anand Math

This song never fails to give me goosebumps.  The original Vande Mataram.  I like the Lata version equally well.  This was the debut film, in Hindi, of Pradeep Kumar.  Prior to this, he worked in some Bengali movies. The lyrics are by Shri Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and the music is by Hemant Kumar.

2. Ae meri zindagi tujhe dhondoon kahan from Adil-e-Jahangir

Meena Kumari paired up with Pradeep Kumar in quite a number of films (7 films according to Wikipedia). This was their first film together.  This song is sung twice, once in the voice of Talat Mehmood and next in the voice of Lata.  Enjoy them both.  The link contains both the songs back to back.  The music is by Husnlal Bhagatram and the lyrics are by Qamar Jalalabadi. 

3.  Aree Chhod de sajaniya, chhod de patang meri chhod de from Nagin

Nagin was one of the earliest Hindi films that Vyjayantimala worked in.  It had music by Hemant Kumar which was a super duper hit.  I don't think there walks a lover of Hindi film music on this earth who has not listened to a song of this film.  Of all the songs, I love this lilting tune best.  The song is sung by Hemant Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar.

4. Gaya Andhera hua ujala from Subah ka Tara

In this movie, Pradeep Kumar pairs up with Jayashree Gadkar. It is a duet once again with Talat Mehmood and Lata Mangeshkar.  The music is by C Ramachandra and the lyrics are by Noor Lakhnawi.  I have no idea what the film was about, but the music is divine.

5. Aa Neele Gagan Tale Pyar Hum Karen from Badshah

This is another Pradeep Kumar song that makes me go weak in the knees.  What lovely music by Shanker Jaikishen.  I would surely pick this song as one of the most romantic Hindi film songs.  In this movie, according to the poster, Pradeep Kumar stars with Mala Sinha.  There is no video of the song.  This film also has that beautiful Hemant Kumar number - Rula kar chal diye ik din. The lyrics of the songs are by Hasrat Jaipuri.  

6. Aaye Bahar Ban Ke Lubha Kar Chale Gaye from Raj Hath

This is another gorgeous Shankar Jaikishen number with lyrics by Hasrat Jaipuri.  This song is sung by Rafi. In Raj Hath, Pradeep Kumar co-starred with Madhubala and Sohrab Modi.  The movie has other beautiful songs such as, Yeh wada karo chand ke saamne, and Mere sapne me aana re.

7. Yeh Hansta Hua Karvaan Zindagi ka from Ek Jhalak

Pradeep Kumar starred alongside Vyjayantimala in this film.  Listen to this captivating song sung by Hemant Kumar and Asha Bhonsle.  The music is by Hemant Kumar and the song is written by S.H.Bihari. What a lovely song.

8. Zameen se Hame Aasmaan par  from Adalat

This movie has a line up of lovely songs.  Not a surprise, as the music was by Madan Mohan. The lyrics are by Rajinder Krishan.  I tried using an adjective before the word "lyrics" in the previous sentence, but could not come up with the appropriate word to describe how good they are.  In this movie, Pradeep Kumar stars alongside Nargis. 

9.  Mujko Tum Jo Mile Ye Jahan Mil Gaya - from Detective

In Detective, Pradeep Kumar stars once again with Mala Sinha.  The song is sung by Hemant Kumar and Geeta Dutt.  The music is by Mukul Roy and the lyricist is Shalendra.  What a beautiful song. My heart goes pitter patter when I listen to this.

10.  Tum Chal Rahe Ho Ham Chal Rahe Hain from Duniya Na Maane

Another beauty from the musical repertoire of Madan Mohan with lyrics by Rajinder Krishan.  The song is sung by Mukesh and Lata.  Pradeep Kumar was paired in this film with Mala Sinha once more.

I was going down chronologically through the filmography of Pradeep Kumar and picking the songs I liked best.  But I realised that there are many more beautiful songs of his to be listed.  Rather than make a long list, I decided to split the post into two.  These songs are from the films released in the 50s.  There are many films with excellent songs featuring Pradeep Kumar from the 60s as well.  Coming up ... Some good Pradeep Kumar songs II.

Bawarchi -

“Squabbling Sharma family has a dubious reputation of not having any cook last there for more than a few months. Word spreads out about this family to such an extent that no person wants to be employed as a cook in this household, ironically named Shanti Nivas. Then one day a young man named Raghu offers to work as a cook, and he is hired. Raghu quickly gets a grip on his job and on each of the family members, and soon the squabbles and arguments come to an end. And then the Sharmas find the family jewels and Raghu missing. Written by rAjOo ([email protected])   “ www.imdb.com


This is how the plot of the 1972 film Bawarchi is described on IMDB.  


The recent death of Rajesh Khanna has people talking about many of his films, Aradhana, Namak Haram, Anand, Do Raste and many others.  Everyone wanted to point out how well he managed his emotional and romantic scenes, how well he performed while ‘singing’ songs on screen, how great his dialogue delivery was.  All course, these are all the superlative qualities of the much loved superstar, and deserve to be highlighted.


I felt a little sad about the unwitting neglect of a lovely movie that Rajesh Khanna starred in, at the height of his stardom.  This is the kind of a movie a superstar would usually hesitate to do.  He is the central character in the movie, to be sure.  In fact he is almost ‘god-like’ here, a perfect man who has a solution to every problem.  The problem is, he is not ‘star-like’; that is to say,  he gets no girl, sings no romantic songs and fights no villains.  Yet the movie is a beautiful gem.


Rajesh Khanna as Raghu the bawarchi, fixes all that needs to be fixed in a joint family that is beset with jealousies, quarrels, selfishness and NEGLECT. The people who live in the house neglect the old and the helpless, the old man Shivnath (Harindranath Chattopadhyay) and the young orphan Krishna (Jaya Bhaduri).  They neglect their own duties, simple tasks like cleaning and cooking.  They neglect to respect each other.  Their neglect is turning ‘Shanti Niwas’ into ‘Ashanti Niwas’.  Raghu knows each member of the family very well, and seems to know exactly how to deal with them.


One scene in the movie stands out in my mind, the only one that I am going to discuss here.  On the first day of Raghu's employment, he finds that the floor outside the kitchen is slippery.  All morning the members of the family have been slipping on it, and cursing loudly every time they do.  Raghu asks for a scrubber and some other thing that he claims will be enough to clean it for good. The people of the family are aghast when he offers to clean the floor.  For them cleaning is to be done by minions, not by ‘Kings’ or ‘Queens’ of the household, not even by the high caste bawarchies.  But Raghu says ‘This is my house, why should I be ashamed of cleaning it’  He gets a scraper, and cleans the slippery floor in no time.  This was the best lesson of all in this movie replete with allegorical allusions and homilies.  If there is something that can be fixed with a quick action by you, just do it.

In playing out the floor scrubbing scene, in a way, Rajesh Khanna also displayed his own attitude to acting.  “If there a role that is worth doing, I don't mind stripping myself of my starry trappings to do it”, this is what he seems to be saying.


Rajesh Khanna played Raghu with the same dedication with which he played Flt Lt. Arun and Suraj that brought him such fame.  In this movie he wears a pair of brown shorts and a shirt, like a simple bawarchi, yet his wonderful acting makes him look just as lovable as Arun in his dapper pilot’s uniform.  It is laudable that Rajesh chose to act in this ‘un-star’ like movie at the peak of his career.
The movie is a subtle indictment of people who are willing to carp about issues, but not lend a hand, or do anything constructive for the state that their own homes, their community, their city, and their nation is in.  They would rather 'slip' repeatedly in muck and loudly blame others than clean it up themselves. The movie deserves to be seen again and again, and understood fully, and its simple lessons followed.

Here is a song full of pathos sung by Manna Dey and lip-synched to by Rajesh to such great effect in this movie.