This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
This is a song from film Duniya Rang Rangili-57, sung by Asha bhosle and Mohd. Rafi. The song is filmed on Johnny Walker and Shyama.
The role of a comedian in a film has been an essential part since the beginning. There have been many great Comedians in Hindi films and the tradition continued till about the 1980s. After this period, the format of Hindi films changed drastically and Comedians disappeared. The Heroes themselves started doing comedy, so there was no scope for a separate and individual comedian, as such.
Comedians like mast Fakir, Harold Lewis ( later called Majnu), Noor Mohd. Charlie, Ghori and Dixit starred as comedians during the silent cinema period. After Talkie films started, Charlie, Ghory, Dixit and Kesari were comedians in the early era. Ghori and Dixit had copied Laurel and Hardy style. There was a comedian called Durga mota in the Lahore films. Out of these, Charlie came in the limelight and became a famous comedian.
After these old comedians, a new crop of comedians like Damuanna Malavankar, Bhudo Advani and Mirza Musharraf became well known. During this period Yakub and V H Desai also made their mark, though Yakub later did villain and side roles more. Then came Gope, Dar Kashmiri or Jeevan as comedians. Jeevan however branched out as Narad in Mythological films and then became a comic villain till the end. Fatty Prasad was another comedian in those days.
Then after the 1950s started,came Kishore Kumar, Bhagawan, Omprakash, I S Johar, Rajendranath, Anoop Kumar, Jagdeep, Mohan Choti, Keshto Mukherjee, O P Ralhan, Asit Sen, Ram Avtar, Sunder, Janakidas and many many more.
However, in the 1950s, there was one Comedian who proved to be the most popular and the Best Comedy actor. His name was JOHNNY WALKER.
Born on 11-11-1926 at Indore, Johnny’s family shifted to Bombay. he wanted to act in films, so he stared acting as an extra in films. His first film was ‘Aakhri Paiham’-49. He was also working as a Bus Conductor, when one day Balraj Sahni heard his jokes and was impressed. He asked johnny to meet him. Few days later when Balraj was riding his bike , Johnny stopped him and begged to help him get work in films. Balraj made a plan and called him to Navketaan office next day to meet Guru Dutt, the director of Baazi, for which Balraj was writting the story. How Johnny impressed them and got a role in Baazi is too well known to be repeated here for the nth time.
Before Johnny got his big break in Baazi, he had acted in about 20 films, mostly as Extra and was uncredited in them. However in Malhar-51 nnd Pyar ki baaten-51, he was credited. After Baazi, the friendship of Johnny with Guru Dutt and Dev Anand formed the base of his tall building and there was no looking back.
Johnny created a situation in the film industry, where producers felt that their film was incomplete if Johnny was not in it. Special roles and dialoues were written for him. He played a Hero in 8 films. In 7 of these, his heroine was Shyama. Both had risen to lead roles from being extras first in the start of their careers. In the film ” Duniya Rang Rangili’-57 he was the Hero and Rajendra kumar ( later to become a Jubilee kumar) was the side Hero !
Johnny was a Teetotaller and a disciplinarian in private life. He never missed Lunch at 1.30pm and Dinner at 8.30pm. He avoided going to filmy parties. If he had to go, he would finish his dinner at home and then go to the party. he was keen on educating his children. All 3 of his sons went to USA for higher studies.
According to him he acted in about 300 films. Hamraz ji says about 150 and we have names of 190 films in which he worked. Johnny never posed any treat to any Hero in the film. “Scene Eating” was not for Johnny. Therefore he was a darling of all Heroes. Johnny never ever used any vulgar or double meaning dialogues to create humour. His was a Royal family comedy.
His peak period was from 1954 to 1960. During 1951 to 1960, he did 92 films, maximum being in 1955…tally of 20 films in an year ! next was 16 films in 1958 and third high was 14 films in 1956. He sang 140 songs on screen in his career. In 3 songs of films, Chaudhavi ka chand-60, Gateway of India-57, and Taxi Driver-1954, Johnny used his typical voice in songs. Johnny directed one film-Pahunche huye log-89. His last appearance in film was kamal Hasan’s Chachi 420 -1997.
In the late 60s and 70s, Mehmood entered the scene and by the 7os, he was all over the silver screen. Even in the year 1966, his name clone Johnny Whisky had more releases (10) than Johnny ( 7 ). Clearly his time was up. Johnny then hung his boots and began enjoyed family life. He breathed his last on 29-7-2003.
Today’s film Duniya Rang Rangili had 8 songs. This will be the 5th song to be posted here today. The film was an out and out Johnny Walker film. The story was-
Manohar ( Johnny walker0 and his sister Radhe (Chand Usmani) were orphans and were raised by their mama( S N Banerjee) and Mami (Amir bano). Both were waiting to swallow the estate kept by Johnny’s parents for the children. manohar is jobless graduate, but loves a Rich girl Nirmala (Shyama). Her father simply hates him as he is a jobless poor boy.
Radha loves Shyam (Rajendra kumar) and Shyam’s father is a greedy person wanting a hefty dowry. When he comes o know about love of Radha and Shyam, the father shifts to an unknown place to get rid of poor Radha. meanwhile Manohar gets a job with a Jeweller, whom he has saved from criminals. Manohar is sent to Delhi with lot of Jewellery. The criminals follow him and news of Manohar’s death comes as a bolt to Radha.
In reality Manohar has not died luckily. He takes advantage of the situation. He becoes a Ghost and terrifies Mama and mami. He extracts from them their Estate and gives it to Radha. As a scent seller, he traces Shyam and finds out that he is in lucknow, where his father is taking big dowry and plans to get Shyam married. In the guise of a Millionaire, Manohar tempts father with bigger dowry and makes him marry Radha and Shyam.
Now since Manohar is also rich and with a job, Nirmala’s father agrees to their marriage. Thus all matters are settled amicably.
Such films have to be seen for Johnny Walker’s antics and certainly not for the story content, which defies all logic and reasoning. Usually Johnny’s films had good music so that was another saving point. Today’s song video shows Shyama and Johnny in a jolly mood. The duet is sung by Rafi and Asha. personally, I always feel that Rafi songs are much better with Asha, than Lata. I am sure many will agree with me on this.
Song-Tujhko na koi gham mujhko na koi gham (Duniya Rang Rangeeli)(1957) Singers-Rafi, Asha Bhonsle, Lyrics-Jaan Nisaar Akhtar, MD-O P Nayyar
Both
Lyrics
tujhko na koi gham
mujhko na koi gham
zaalim tujhe aa le chalen
dil mein chhupa ke hum
o mere jaane jaan
kehta hai dil jawaan
ho pyaar ki duniya jahaan
le chal mujhe wahaan
o mere jaane jaan
tu meri hansi
tu meri khushi
hai tere liye meri zindagi
aa aa aa aa
aa aa aa aa
tu meri hansi
tu meri khushi
hai tere liye meri zindagi
ye armaan ye toofaan
ye dil ki lagi
ye armaan ye toofaan
ye dil ki lagi
tujhko na koi gham
mujhko na koi gham
zaalim tujhe aa le chalen
dil mein chhupaake hum
he he he he
ho ho ho ho
he he he he
he he he he
uthh gayi jidhar ye teri nazar
khil gaye chaman door tak udhar
aa aa aa
aa aa aa
uthh gayi jidhar ye teri nazar
khil gaye chaman door tak udhar
hai kitna suhaana hamaara safar
hai kitna suhaana hamaara safar
o mere jaane jaan
kehta hai dil jawaan
ho pyaar ki duniya jahaan
le chal mujhe wahaan
he he he he
o de de de
o de de de
tere pyaar ka
kar to loon yaqeen
ruk na jaaye dil
haaye re kahin
aa aa aa aa
aa aa aa
tere pyaar ka
kar to loon yaqeen
ruk na jaaye dil haaye re kahin
ye tere ishaare hain kitne haseen
ye tere ishaare hain kitne haseen
tujhko na koi gham
mujhko na koi gham
zaalim tujhe aa le chalen
dil mein chhupaake hum
o mere jaane jaan
kehta hai dil jawaan
ho pyaar ki duniya jahaan
le chal mujhe wahaan
o mere jaane jaan
he he he he
he he he he
