50 Years of Navketan's 'Tere Mere Sapne'

 

Recall the song “Hey, Maine Kasam Li” where the hero Dev Anand on a Bicycle and the heroine Mumtaz sitting on the crossbar riding across green fields singing the song with very little action and lots of cuddling. What a picturization.

Tere Mere Sapne is one of my favorite movies. It has substance. Commercially, it did not do very well at the box office but I believe it is one of the most sensitive Bollywood movies by Goldie Vijay Anand. He also acted in this film, he plays a doctor and gave a memorable performance.

 The film is based on the novel “The Citadel” by A.J.Cronin, published in 1937 in UK.  based on his own experiences as a doctor. Dedicated to the medical community, the film starts off with a young, idealistic MBBS doctor Anand Kumar (Dev Anand) moving to a village near a coal mine. He attains his degree in medicine and re-locates to a small village to assist the local doctors there. Upon arrival, he is met by the ailing Dr. Prasad and his wife, and hired on a salary of Rs.250/- per month. He meets with the other doctors namely Dr. Kothari (Vijay Anand), an alcoholic, and Dr. Bhutani, a dentist. Anand finds that he is saddled with all of Kothari's work as well his own due to the reason that Kothari is drunk every night. He nevertheless carries on, aided by the local school-teacher, Nisha Patel(Mumtaz), who he eventually marries. Then one day a proud father, Phoolchand, gives a baksheesh to Anand for the safe delivery of his first-born. This does not auger well with Mrs. Prasad and she fires Anand. Anand and Nisha re-locate to Bombay, and after sometime Anand establishes himself as a leading doctor, is honored for his thesis, and gets to be the personal doctor of a leading Bollywood actress Maltimala. When Dr. Kothari and Dr. Bhutani go to visit them, they find while Nisha is still the same good-natured woman, who is expecting a child, Dr. Anand is a changed individual, who has no time for friends, personal life, or even his wife, and is not even aware that she is pregnant. The two return home disappointed, followed by Nisha, who has decided to separate from Anand.

 There are many beautiful songs and several great dances featuring Hema Malini.  Vijay Anand’s direction keeps things moving along at a good pace. There are so many wonderful characters in this film too. Mumtaz gave a stunning performance. Music by S D Burman and lyrics by Neeraj is superb.

Song	Singers	Picturised on
"Phurr Ud Chala"	Asha Bhosle	Hema Malini
"Mera Saajan Phool Kanwal Ka"	Asha Bhosle	Jayshree T.
"Jaisa Radha Ne Mala Japi"	Lata Mangeshkar	Mumtaz, Dev Anand
"Ae Maine Kasam Li"	Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar	Mumtaz, Dev Anand
"Jeevan Ki Bagiya Mehkengi"	Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar	Mumtaz, Dev Anand
"Tha Thai Thatha Thai"	Asha Bhosle, Chorus	Hema Malini
"Mera Antar Ek Mandir Hai Tera"	Lata Mangeshkar	Mumtaz
"Zamaane Dhat Tere Ki"	Manna Dey	Agha

 

Song of Tere Mere Sapne 1971

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Jaidev- He was Initially Signed for Guide

 

Jaidev was a disciple of  Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, who took Jaidev as his music assistant when he composed music for Navketan's “Aandhiyan” and “Hum Safar”. After that, he became the assistant of S D Burman, he assisted him in almost all the Navketan films till Guide. In fact, he worked as his assistant even becoming an independent composer with Chetan Anand's Joru Ka Bhai(1955) and  Chetan Anand's next Anjali(1957).

Hum Dono(1961) was the first film he worked for Navketan as an independent composer. After Hum Dono’s success, a promise was made by Dev Anand that every alternate film of Navketan will have music by SD Burman and Jaidev. Accordingly, SD Burman was entrusted the baton of “Kala Bazaar” and Jaidev ‘signed’ for the music of “Guide” for which he is believed to have composed a couple of tunes too (‘Tere mere sapne ab ek rang hain’, and ‘Din dhal jaaye haye raat na jaaye); however, the film was made and released finally with music by S D Burman, his career-best. 

Probably, for the first time, Jaidev felt exploited and stifled at Navketan and “Guide” marked the end of his long and fruitful musical association with both Dev Anand and SD Burman. Navketan, too, never called him back, which was the unkindest cut of all. Though the hurt feeling lurked in his mind for long, his respect and reverence for SD Burman remained the same till his last. Besieged by a chain of misfortunes, Jaidev made “Jo kho gaya main usko bhulata chala gaya” the mantra of his life with his spiritual character to ‘guide’ him.

It is said that Dev Anand insisted Jaidev to work as S.D. Burman’s assistant in Guide but he didn't. Jaidev was never again invited by Navketan to compose songs. Dev Anand used both the Jaidev songs in his film Guide. It is said that those two songs were ‘Din Dhal Jaaye Haye Raat Na Jaye’ and ‘Tere Mere Sapne Ab Ek Rang Hai’ sung by Mohammad Rafi. Being cast out of Guide was a very big setback in Jaidev’s film music career. He never really recovered from the shock. Jaidev used to frequently narrate such incidents to his friends, wracked by inconsolable grief.

Jaidev had a unique capability to mix traditional and folk music into Hindi film situations, giving him a unique advantage to other music directors of his times. He is also known for his non-film album of the couplets of Hindi poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan's classic work Madhushala set to music and sung by singer Manna Dey.

Jaidev never married. He remained close to his sister's family who later settled in the United Kingdom. He died on 6 January 1987 at the age of 68. His last work was for the television series Ramayan.

Song of Hum Dono 1961

Song of Hum Dono 1961

Song of Hum Dono 1961

Song of Hum Dono 1961

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DEV ANAND Abhi na jao...

This morning I have woken up to sad news... Evergreen and inspiring hero, Dev Anand, has given the world his last goodbye yesterday in London. The star had been feeling unwell recently and was in England for a health check up when he suffered a cardiac arrest.

Dev Saab was Guru Dutt's best friend, Kalpana Kartik's husband, Gregory Peck's synonym and the hearthrob of millions of Indian women but none of these descriptions englobe the spirit and wonderful array of films he gave Indian cinema since 1946 with his unique style and classy demeanour. His movie hits as an actor include such Hindi film masterpieces as Guide, Paying Guest, Hum Dono, Funtoosh, Jewel Thief, Johny Mera Naam, and CID as well as more than 100 other films while he also produced more than 30 movies through NavKetan productions, a house I feel privileged to have visited and been welcomed to back in the day.

His energy, characteristic walk, charm and indomitable spirit will long be an inspiration to fellow actors. India and worldwide connoisseurs of Indian cinema mourn his absence.

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