New Delhi, Feb 22 (PTI) Timeless but a forgotten classic, the country’s first Bhojpuri film ‘Ganga Maiyya Tohe Piyari Chadhaibo’ was released exactly 59 years ago in Patna, and legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar had sung some soulful songs in it.
The film starring Kumkum of movie ‘C.I.D’ fame and also featuring the voices of Usha Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi in beautiful renditions, was released on February 22, 1963, and set benchmarks both critically and commercially.
It was dedicated to India’s first president Rajendra Prasad.
Lata Mangeshkar, one of the biggest music icons of the country, died on February 6 due to multiple organ failure. She was 92.
Her death has brought back her matchless legacy once again in focus. And, while many find it hard to believe, Lata Mangeshkar was one of the main playback singers in ‘Hey Ganga Maiyya Tohe Piyari Chadhaibo’, a path-breaking cinema that highlighted social evils and struggles of widowed women in that era.
The film was released at Veena Cinema in Patna, one of the last surviving single-screen theatres in the Bihar capital as most of them have been demolished or have given way to multiplexes.
The iconic film had mellifluous numbers like ‘He Ganga Maiyya’ and ‘More Karejwa Mey Pir’ (both sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Usha Mangeshkar), ‘Kahe Bansuriya Bajaile’ and ‘Luk Chhuk Badra’ (by Lata Mangeshkar), and emotionally heavy ‘Sonwa Ke Pinjra Mein’ (sung by Rafi).
The historic film which enjoys a legendary status has slowly but faded from public memory.
While Lata Mangeshkar died early this month, veteran actress Kumkum had passed away in July 2020, aged 86.
The film, a result of noted actor Nazir Hussain’s “obstinate dream”, was made after a long struggle and was dedicated to President Rajen Babu at his post-retirement retreat at the Sadaquat Asharam in Patna on February 21, 1963 and released the next day for public. Hussain’s love story set against a rural backdrop of Bihar and shot largely outdoors in Maner, Patna and Varanasi wowed the audience so much that village folks drove from countryside in bullock carts in huge numbers to theatres. Octogenarian Anandi Mandal who was employed as a manager in the 60s with the company, which distributed the film in Patna and Kolkata, had in 2013 recalled the days with great fondness.
“On the opening day of the show on February 22 in Veena that year in Patna, we had about 1,000 people inside the venue and many thousands who had gathered outside as we had also brought in the main star cast and crew and it took us half-and-hour to negotiate through the crowd. It opened in Prakash Talkies in Varanasi and Hind Cinema in Calcutta. At Hind it ran just few years shy of its Silver Jubilee,” Mandal had told PTI.
But, the fall in standards in current Bhojpuri cinema pained Mandal.
Lata Mangeshkar, besides singing in this pioneering film, had lso lent her silver voice in many other Bhojpuri films, including, ‘Lagi Nahi Chhute Ram’. PTI KND ANB ANB
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Source: The Print
