This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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Some years back, I recall having seen for the first time on the internet the photo features of Hindi film stars such as Madhubala, Nalini Jaywant and Begum Para in ‘Life’ magazine. These photographs were taken by the magazine’s well known photographer, James Burke in 1951 who was posted in India. From the standard of 1951, these photographs would have ranked as bold. But one more actress also featured in that magazine – the featured photos were bolder than those of the stars I mentioned earlier. Subsequently, I had also seen her images appearing in ‘Filmindia’ magazines of 1948 and 1949. The actress in the photoshoot of 1951 was Mohana Cabral.
Today, September 11th is the 30th Remembrance Day of Mohana Cabral who died of heart attack this day of the year 1990 in France where she had been staying with her husband and daughter since 1986.
Mohana Cabral (03/02/1929 – 11/09/1990) whose real name was Mona Cabral, was born in Socorro in Bardez taluqa of North Goa in Konkani speaking Christian family. In early 1930s, the family shifted to Bombay (Mumbai) when her father changed his job to Bombay-based Hindustan Construction Company. Mohana did her initial schooling at Victoria High School in Mahim. Later. she was put in a boarding school in Pune where she completed her high school. In Pune, she joined as a telephone operator in a telephone company. It is through connecting the long distance telephone calls that Mohana got acquainted with some of the film stars of that time including Nargis, Begum Para and Pratima Dasgupta.
Mohana got introduced to Kishore Sahu who offered her a role in his film ‘Saawan Aaya Re’ (1949) which was her debut film though ‘Aag’ (1948) was released first without her name being accredited in the film. Kishore Sahu changed her name from Mona to screen name, Mohana which got attached with her during the rest of her life not only in films but also in the Konkani plays and singing career.
Sometime in 1948, Mohana got involved with Konkani ‘Tiatr’ in Mumbai. (‘Tiatr’ is a Portuguese word used in Goa for ‘theatre’ for the Konkani dramas encompassing music, dance, and singing. In a way, it is akin to Marathi ‘Sangeet Natak or musical dramas). Her debut Konkani drama was ‘Cortub Avoichem’ (1948) which was directed by the pioneer of Goan Konkani Tiatr, C Alvares, the producer, director, actor, song writer and the singer. In fact, Alvares was instrumental in encouraging girls to play the female roles in his dramas and introduced Mohana and her younger sister, Ophelia. In 1952, Mohana got actively involved with Konkani tiatr in Mumbai, mostly collaborating with C Alvares as an actor-singer and worked in about a dozen plays. Both the sisters were actor-singers in Konkani Tiatr in Mumbai and later in Goa. In fact, in Goa, Mohana is known more as a tiatrist than the Hindi film actress.
In 1951, Mohana met Edward Downing, a Royal Indian Air Force pilot in a hotel where the shooting of her film ‘Sansaar’ (1951) was in progress. They got married in 1951 and had a son, Mark. Unfortunately, her husband died in a plane accident in less than two years of their marriage. In 1955, Mohana got married for the second time with John D’frates who was working for the United Nations and got posted at Beirut. With this posting, Mohana bid adieu to Hindi film industry. Her last shoot was for the film, ‘Insaaniyat’ (1955).
In Beirut, Mohana learnt Arabic and began producing dance programmes for Television. She also acted in a couple of dramas on Television. After spending many years in Beirut, her husband got posting in Vienna from where he retired in 1986. Post retirement, Mohana and her family settled in France. Mohana was very much interested in Goan Konkani Tiatr. She would regularly visit India on holidays and act in Konkani dramas in Goa. During the period of her visits, she had also cut a few discs of her non-filmy Konkani songs, some with her mentor, C Alvares.
Mohana died of a heart-attack in France on September 11, 1990 when she was 61. [Thanks for the inputs from Shishir Sharma’s Blog, ‘Beete Hue Din’ on Mohana posted on May 13, 2015 and an article in ‘The Navhind Times, Panaji, Goa dated April 6, 2020].
It is interesting to note from her filmography that how quickly Mohana established herself in Hindi film industry. In ‘Aag’ (1948), she had one song role though her first debut film was ‘Saawan Aaya Re’ (1949). In 1949, she had acted in as many as 6 films. 1950 was a blank year for her as probably she got associated with Konkani plays in Mumbai. In 1951 and 1952 she did 5 films each. 1953 and 1954 was again lean years for her. In 1955, she did 4 films before quitting the film industry. In all, she acted in 26 films in her short span of 6 years in the film industry. The full filmography of Mohana is given below:
1948: Aag.
1949: Chaar Din, Jagriti, Kamal, Patanga, Rimjhim, Saawan Aaya Re.
1951: Adaa, Naadaan, Nageena, Sagaai, Sansaar.
1952: Aashiana, Chham Chhama Chham, Najaria, Saloni, Saaqi.
1953: Shole.
1954: Danka, Dost, Shart.
1955: Insaaniyat, Marine Drive, Sau Ka Note, Teerandaz.
1956: Taksaal.
I had noticed in the advertisements of films for which she worked in 1949-50 that her name was written either in bold or capital letters. That shows that Mohana was popular among the audience of that time and her name mattered for the success of the films. In most of her films, she got roles of a ‘side kick’ to the comedians like Gope, Agha and as a singer-dancer. Her popularity can be gauged from the fact that in most of her films, Mohana will have at least one song picturised on her. Some of the songs picturised on her for which video clips are available for watching are listed below:
Raat ko ji haay raat ko ji chamke taare – ‘Aag’ (1948)
Pyaar ke jahaan ki niraali sarkaar hai – ‘Patanga’ (1949)
My my my my my dear – ‘Nageena’ (1951)
O baabu kaise dil karoon qaaboo – ‘Sagaai’ (1951)
Lucknow chalo ab raani – ‘Sansaar’ (1951)
Haseena sambhal sambhal ke chal – ‘Saaqi’ (1952)
O madam do se ho gaye ek ham – ‘Aashiana’ (1952)
Dil mera hai deewaana – ‘Shart’ (1954)
Mohana has also rendered two songs on herself in the film ‘Rimjhim’ (1949).
On the occasion of Mohana’s 30th Remembrance Day, I present a song “Aisi Nainwa Ki Laagi Kataar” from ‘Insaaniyat’ (1955) rendered by Mohammed Rafi and Asha Bhosle. The song is written by Rajinder Krishan which is set to music by C Ramchandra. The song is picturised on Mohana as a part of a ploy to wood wink a soldier to stripe out his uniform to be used for disguising Mangal (Dilip Kumar) as soldier to gain access to the prison to facilitate the release of Bhanupratap (Dev Anand).
In the video clip, there are only two stanzas where as the audio clip contains the full song of four stanzas. This is the 10th song to appear on the Blog out of 17 songs in ‘Insaaniyat’ (1955).
Video (Partial)
Audio (Complete)
Song – Aisi Nainwaa Ki Laagi Kataar (Insaaniyat) (1955) Singer – Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle, Lyrics – Rajendra Krishan, MD – C Ramchandra
Mohammed Rafi + Asha Bhosle
Lyrics (Based on Audio Clip)
aisi nainwa ki laagi kataar
jiya kare khusar fusar
haan haan kare khusar fusar
aisi nainwa ki laagi kataar
jiya kare khusar fusar
haan haan kare khusar fusar
na marodo kalaiya hamaar
kangan mora churar murar
haan haan kare churar murar
na marodo kalaiya hamaar
kangan mora churar murar
haan haan kare churar murar
nainon mein lagaaun tohe kajara banaay ke
manwa ki dibiya mein rakh loon chhupaay ke
nainon mein lagaaun tohe
nainon mein lagaaun tohe kajara banaay ke
manwa ki dibiya mein rakh loon chaupaay ke
jataao na itna pyaar
ke mann mora surar surar
haan haan kare surar surar
aisi nainwa ki laagi kataar
jiya kare khusar fusar
haan haan kare khusar fusar
aisi nainwa ki laagi kataar
jiya kare khusar fusar
haan haan kare khusar fusar
dekho na dekho mohe tirchi nazar se
darr mohe laage tori patli kamar se
dekho na dekho mohe
dekho na dekho mohe tirchi nazar se
darr mohe laage tori patli kamar se
dekhi jab ke suratiya tohaar
kamar mori ghumar ghumar
haan haan kare ghumar ghumar
aisi nainwa ki laagi kataar
jiya kare khusar fusar
haan haan kare khusar fusar
aisi nainwa ki laagi kataar
jiya kare khusar fusar
haan haan kare khusar fusar
main tori bulbul tu mora kaaga
kaage se bulbul ka taanka hai laaga
main tori bulbul
main tori bulbul tu mora kaaga
kaage se bulbul ka taanka hai laaga
aa ja chalen ghataaon ke paar
udd jaayen furar furar
haan haan jaayen purur purur
aisi nainwa ki laagi kataar
jiya kare khusar fusar
haan haan kare khusar fusar
aisi nainwa ki laagi kataar
jiya kare khusar fusar
haan haan kare khusar fusar
———————————————————
Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
———————————————————
ऐसी नैनवा की लागी कटार
जिया करे खुसर फुसर
हाँ हाँ करे खुसर फुसर
ऐसी नैनवा की लागी कटार
जिया करे खुसर फुसर
हाँ हाँ करे खुसर फुसर
ना मरोड़ो कलइयाँ हमार
कंगन मोरा चुरर मुरर
हाँ हाँ करे चुरर मुरर
ना मरोड़ो कलइयाँ हमार
कंगन मोरा चुरर मुरर
हाँ हाँ करे चुरर मुरर
नैनों में लगाऊँ तोहे कजरा बनाय के
मनवा की डिबिया में रख लूँ छुपाय के
नैनों में लगाऊँ तोहे
नैनों में लगाऊँ तोहे कजरा बनाय के
मनवा की डिबिया में रख लूँ छुपाय के
जताओ ना इतना प्यार
के मन मोरा सुरर सुरर
हाँ हाँ करे सुरर सुरर
ऐसी नैनवा की लागी कटार
जिया करे खुसर फुसर
हाँ हाँ करे खुसर फुसर
ऐसी नैनवा की लागी कटार
जिया करे खुसर फुसर
हाँ हाँ करे खुसर फुसर
देखो ना देखो मोहे तिरछी नज़र से
डर मोहे लागे तोरी पतली कमर से
देखो ना देखो मोहे
देखो ना देखो मोहे तिरछी नज़र से
डर मोहे लागे तोरी पतली कमर से
देखी जबसे सुरतिया तोहार
कमर मोरी घुमर घुमर
हाँ हाँ करे घुमर घुमर
ऐसी नैनवा की लागी कटार
जिया करे खुसर फुसर
हाँ हाँ करे खुसर फुसर
ऐसी नैनवा की लागी कटार
जिया करे खुसर फुसर
हाँ हाँ करे खुसर फुसर
मैं तोरी बुलबुल तू मोरा कागा
कागे से बुलबुल का टांका है लागा
मैं तोरी बुलबुल
मैं तोरी बुलबुल तू मोरा कागा
कागे से बुलबुल का टांका है लागा
आ जा चलें घटाओं के पार
उड़ जाएँ फुरर फुरर
हाँ हाँ जाएँ फुरर फुरर
ऐसी नैनवा की लागी कटार
जिया करे खुसर फुसर
हाँ हाँ करे खुसर फुसर
ऐसी नैनवा की लागी कटार
जिया करे खुसर फुसर
हाँ हाँ करे खुसर फुसर