Ten of my favourite Manoj Kumar Songs

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RIP, Manoj Kumar.

The first week of April has seen two major actors of the film world pass away. Hollywood great Val Kilmer (whom I actually always associate with The Saint, though most others probably think Batman and Jim Morrison of the Doors), on April 1st; and on April 4th, Manoj Kumar. Kilmer, though I’ve watched several of his films, isn’t part of my timeline when it comes to blogging; but Manoj Kumar certainly is.

Born on July 24, 1937 in Abbottabad (now in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Harikrishan Giri Goswami came with his family to Delhi during the Partition. At the age of twenty, Goswami (now with the screen name Manoj Kumar—inspired by the name of Dilip Kumar’s character in the 1949 film Shabnam) featured in Lekhraj Bhakri’s Fashion (1957), a fairly lacklustre debut. There are interesting anecdotes of how he, along with Dharmendra (who debuted a few years later) had to go through a good deal of ‘struggle’, wandering from studio to studio, producer to producer, trying to get roles. The roles did come, eventually, with Manoj Kumar making a name for himself as a popular romantic hero, and then (in films such as Woh Kaun Thi?, Gumnaam, Anita, Saajan and Poonam ki Raat) as the hero of a suspense thriller. Around the same time, he also began to dabble in other areas of film production (the posters of Woh Kaun Thi?, for instance, were designed by him)—soon going on to become a director, editor and producer.

It was as ‘Bharat Kumar’ (as he came to be popularly known) that Manoj Kumar is mostly remembered today: a result of all those uber-patriotic films he produced, directed and starred in, beginning with Shaheed (1965). I have to admit I find most of these a little too jingoistic, and Manoj Kumar overbearingly nationalistic for my liking. The mannerisms he acquired, particularly that curling lip and distinctive face palm gesture, also got on my nerves.

But at one time Manoj Kumar was handsome, pleasant, and the star of lots of films that had some very good songs. Here are some of them: songs where his character sings, either solo or as a duet. As always, these songs are all from pre-70s Hindi films that I’ve seen. In no particular order:

1. Aa tu aa zara dil mein aa (Phoolon ki Sej, 1964): In his early years, Manoj Kumar acted in a slew of films that are now mostly forgotten. Phoolon ki Sej, based on a novel by Gulshan Nanda, starred him opposite Vyjyanthimala in a time-worn tale of two lovers who love deeply but not wisely, leaving the woman pregnant while her lover vanishes—unknown to her, for reasons beyond his control. Much mayhem, of course, ensues. Phoolon ki Sej had music scored by P Adinarayan Rao, and my favourite song from the film is this liltingly romantic one, picturized just before the climactic sequence when all barriers are let down…

2. Zulfon ki ghata lekar saawan ki pari aayi (Reshmi Rumaal, 1961): Reshmi Rumaal was one of several early Manoj Kumar films which had little to remember them by—except the good music (composed by Babul Bose, with lyrics by Raja Mehdi Ali Khan). A memorable solo picturized on Manoj Kumar from this film was the uplifting, cheerful Gardish mein hon taare na ghabraana pyaare; but I like this one, another melodious and lovely romantic song, much more. Shakila is pretty, Manoj Kumar is handsome. The setting is picturesque, and the song beautiful.

3. Bhari duniya mein aakhir dil ko samjhaane (Do Badan, 1966): Manoj Kumar, playing a man who thinks he’s been jilted by the woman he loves (no, of course he hasn’t, because Hindi film heroines didn’t betray their men) sits down at a piano and sings of his woe. Patthar ke sanam tujhe humne (which is further on in this list)? Yes, and also this song, which echoes the same emotion. And that too in a similar setting: a party, where he adopts the “bare your heart and vent all you can” technique. Pointed looks, of course, are exchanged between not just the pianist and the target of his song (Asha Parekh) but also between her father (Wasti) and the man she’s being bullied into marrying (Pran, who else?).

Angsty, but still: a good song, and wonderfully sung by Rafi.

4. Teri yaad dil se bhulaane chala hoon (Hariyali aur Raasta, 1962): Another angsty song of blighted love (Manoj Kumar ‘sang’ a lot of songs of this type). This film, one of Manoj Kumar’s first hits, was also one of which he seems to have had rather distressing memories. A ‘snow storm’ consisting of soap flakes in one scene had soap getting into his mouth all the time. Co-actor Mala Sinha, already a well-established star, was miffed at acting opposite a relative newcomer, and made it clear that she thought Manoj Kumar beneath her standard.

Anyway, at least Hariyali aur Raasta had a superb score (by Shankar-Jaikishan, with lyrics by Hasrat Jaipuri and Shailendra), with one great song after another: Laakhon tare aasmaan mein, Bol meri taqdeer mein kya hai, Yeh hariyali aur yeh raasta, Ibtida-e-ishq mein hum, and this one among them. Sad, yes; but very good too.

5. Tiki riki tiki riki taako ri (Woh Kaun Thi?, 1964): Of all the Manoj Kumar films I’ve watched (and I have watched quite a few, including several of his little-known early films), my favourite is Woh Kaun Thi?. It has its flaws, its plot holes; but it’s immensely entertaining, and both Sadhana (who is drop-dead gorgeous) and Manoj Kumar are easy on the eyes. The film also had fabulous music, composed by Madan Mohan.

Oddly enough, though there are several superb solos, Manoj Kumar does not lip-sync to any of them: Sadhana ‘sings’ the iconic Lag jaa gale, Naina barse rim-jhim rim-jhim, and Jo humne daastaan apni sunaayi, and Praveen Chaudhary lip-syncs to the often (unfairly) overlooked Shokh nazar ki bijliyaan. To Manoj Kumar’s lot fall two duets, both with Helen. One is the romantic Chhodkar tere pyaar ka daaman; the other is this peppy dance floor number. I choose Tiki riki tiki riki taako ri for this list simply to have a break from Manoj Kumar being either glum or mushy-romantic. Plus, of course, it’s a fun song, and Manoj Kumar shows off his dance moves, not bad at all.

6. Kaisi haseen aaj bahaaron ki raat hai (Aadmi, 1968): On to another duet, and one which is an unusual one, for various reasons. For one, it features two men singing (not so very common an occurrence, though there are quite a few examples of it). For another, the two men here are Manoj Kumar and Dilip Kumar, the latter being the actor whose onscreen character in Shabnam inspired the screen name ‘Manoj Kumar’: an actor whom Manoj Kumar admired a lot.

Lastly, Kaisi haseen aaj bahaaron ki raat hai is the only instance of a duet sung by Rafi with Mahendra Kapoor. Incidentally, the singer originally chosen to sing Manoj Kumar’s part was Talat; the composer, Naushad, even had Talat record the song, but Manoj Kumar, long used to Mahendra Kapoor singing playback for him, put his foot down and got Naushad to have the song re-recorded in Mahendra Kapoor’s voice.

7. Patthar ke sanam tujhe humne (Patthar ke Sanam, 1967): Earlier in this list, I’d posted Bhari duniya mein aakhir dil ko samjhaane; Patthar ke sanam tujhe humne mirrors that song to some extent. Here too, Manoj Kumar plays the jilted (or so he thinks) lover, betrayed by the woman he loves. At a party (where, again, Pran is the villain of the piece) he accuses her of perfidy in song, accompanying himself on the piano.

While Laxmikant-Pyarelal’s music is good and Rafi’s rendition excellent as always, I think special mention must be made of Majrooh Sultanpuri’s very interesting lyrics. A good bit of the song equates love with faith/religion: sanam (literally, ‘idol’), khuda, mandir sa ek dil, sajde kiye—all these phrases reinforce the idea of love = faith. The mukhda itself, Patthar ke sanam tujhe humne mohabbat ka khuda jaana (‘Oh idol of stone, I thought you were the deity of love’) exemplifies this sentiment, implying as it does that the idol was soulless, no God at all.

8. Tum poochhte ho ishq bala hai ke nahin (Nakli Nawab, 1962): From Manoj Kumar’s early career is this relatively lesser-known Muslim social about a sadakchhaap tapori-cum-pickpocket (Manoj Kumar) who turns out to be the long-lost son of a ‘shareef’ family. The story has this young man, Yusuf, being taken into the home of his late father’s friend and undergoing a makeover; but before that happens, Yusuf first makes an impression—especially on the beauteous Shabnam (Shakila) —at a mushaira where he recites his poetry, much to the horror of the more straitlaced poets. I actually like Manoj Kumar quite a bit in this film: he’s handsome, he does a good job of portraying a character who changes (though not in the essentials, perhaps), and it’s generally an enjoyable, if somewhat predictable, film.  

9. Tum bin jeevan kaise beeta (Anita, 1967): Through the mid- and late-1960, Sadhana starred in a suspense trilogy directed by Raj Khosla: Woh Kaun Thi?, Mera Saaya, and Anita. Manoj Kumar was the male lead in both Woh Kaun Thi? and in Anita, both films about a man discovering that there’s something very mysterious about the woman he loves. Here, watched by a woman (a completely coincidental look-alike of his late sweetheart?), he laments the death of the woman he had once been about to marry, and who seems to have killed herself. Sordid facts have come to light about his beloved Anita, but it doesn’t lessen his love for her: his misery is still as intense as it ever was.

Frankly, I think Manoj Kumar’s pained look is a little overdone, but the song is a good one. And you realize just how many of these sad songs Mukesh sang so very well for Manoj Kumar.

10. Jaan-e-chaman shola badan pehloo mein aa jao (Gumnaam, 1965): And, to end the list, a song I was a little conflicted about. There is lots I love about Jaan-e-chaman shola badan: Rafi is at his best; Shankar-Jaikishan are at the top of their game, and Nanda and Manoj Kumar have a good deal of chemistry (personally, I rate Manoj Kumar’s come-hither quotient on par with Joy Mukherjee’s in Aaja re aa zara aa). But. There is Sharda singing playback for Nanda, and I cannot stand Sharda: there’s something just so off about her.

But it’s a good song, one of the few really sizzling ones from old Hindi cinema.

Thank you for the cinema, Mr Goswami.

33 thoughts on “Ten of my favourite Manoj Kumar Songs”

  2. Hi madhu ji ! I wish to add some songs one is from bedaag. It’s a rain song like janey chaman. aakhon aakhon mein na janey , door reh kar na karo baat kareeb aa jao from amanat, mohbhat jisko kehtey hai and haa mainey kaha both from maa beta.

    if I have to choose only one song then I will go for chand si mehbooba hogi. There are many memories attach to the song.

    Manoj ji was tall broad and handsome with smile which used to match pearl smile of kumud chugnani ji and mystrious smile of sadhna ji.

    ( Madhuri repoter went to her house and then she was smiling during interview then repoter said kumud ki muskan motiyo ki muskan hai ) .

    When I watched both poonam ki raat and woh kaun thi. Then i immediately said yeh do log hai jinki muskaan sabsey achi hai. Mujhey dil sey khusi hui.

    He had the best smile for sure. While reflecting his career Shashi ji said Manoj was the most handsome among all.

    bishu da and manoj ji were life long friends like brothers. . Bishu da said we both did thrillers. And we used to discuss songs.

    He used to say that deep jaley kahi dil best gana hai toh bishu da said nahi naina barsey rhim jhim zayda acha hai and then manoj ji said jhoom jhoom kohra ka then bishu da said gumnaam hai koi zayda acha hai. It was really hearty to know that they remember their thriller movies.

    Saira Banu ji tribute was most touching.

    Manoj ji was suffering from many years. My heart is heavy and sad. Om shanti ! 🙏

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    • Personally, I think Manoj Kumar in his heyday far outshone Biswajit! – I always find Biswajit a little too effeminate. But of course both of them worked in some thoroughly entertaining films (for Biswajit, there’s also Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi and Kismet, in the suspense thriller genre) and both got to lip-sync to some wonderful songs.

      You mentioned Door rehkar na karo baat, but you didn’t embed it, so I will do that, because it’s a song I like quite a lot. Thank you for mentioning this one as well as the others, all of them good songs.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynJxU2lt9e0

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  3. It is inappropriate to make these comments on Manoj Kumar in the immediate days after his death

    In most of his movies songs became & remained popular & he deserved compliments

    Towards the end- particularly after Kranti-he remained clueless about the art of movie making delivering one forgettable after the other

    Manoj Kumar showed the Western world -Christendom- in poor light in many of his movies; Purab aur Paschim, Kranti (attempted rape by Tom Alter with camera focusing on the cross hanging from neck with the lady gazing at the cross without blinking)

    India as a civilization remains great on its own strength & not in comparison with the “bad” world( was it religion that he wanted to compare?)

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    • I am a little puzzled by your comment. On the one hand, you’re saying it’s inappropriate to make such comments after his death; on the other hand, you too go ahead and criticize him…

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  4. So well written, especially about his mannerisms that have come to epitomize hams. But what beautiful songs if you take away that jingoism! Apart from your list, Zindagi ke mod par jo koi rasta mila, teri gali se ja mila. And Muhabbat jisko kehte hain wo ik dhadkan purani hai. Kya kehne!

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    • Oh, yes, what beautiful songs, indeed. There are many more (Deewaanon se yeh mat poochho, Mere khwaabon mein khayaalon mein, etc) which were on my shortlist, but didn’t make it to the final – but not because they aren’t wonderful songs). Thank you for adding these ones, I had forgotten about Zindagi ke mod par.

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  5. I did not enjoy Manoj Kumar even when I might have liked the movie on its own. But he was bearable in his earlier films when his mannerisms hadn’t set in. All the same he did get to lip sync to many fabulous songs. Am adding the link to two songs that I love. One is from Naqli Nawab, a film from which you have already mentioned one song and I adore that song. Chheda jo dilka fasana. https://youtu.be/-fA0DJSGRXY?feature=shared

    The other is from the film Picnic https://dai.ly/x41lgm6

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    • Yes, I agree Manoj Kumar was bearable (to me, even likeable) in his early films. Later (rather like what happened to Dev Anand), with increasing success, he acquired mannerisms that really put me off.

      Thank you for these songs. Chheda jo dil ka fasaana is a lovely song, and I should have remembered Mausam lehra gaya: I have seen the film (and enjoyed this song, a lot).

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  6. There are a few songs of Manoj Kumar, which I like and many of them are in your list. Some others are:
    tum kahan le chale ho from Poonam Ki Raat (1965)
    ae dil-e-awara chal from Dr. Vidya (1962)

    Even from his 70s films I like a few.
    main na bhoolonga from Roti Kapda aur Makaan (1974)
    ik pyaar ka nagma hai from Shor (1972)
    purva suhani aayi re from Purab aur Paschim (1971)

    May his soul have a peaceful journey ahead.

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    • Some really nice suggestions there, Harvey – especially Ae dil-e-awara chal, and Ek pyaar ka naghma hai. If my blog extended into the 70s, Ek pyaar ka naghma hai would definitely have been on this list, it’s such a beautiful song.

      Also, let us not forget (tongue in cheek! ;)) that Manoj Kumar lip-synced to the LGBTQ+ anthem, Bas yahi apraadh main har baar karta hoon:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzfJWRSZz2A

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      • That gay anthem was a good one. :D More so, because it seems so improbable to think of him on such liberal terms.

        Which reminds me that as kids we used to sing it as “…aadmi hoon janwar se pyar karta hoon”

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        • because it seems so improbable to think of him on such liberal terms.

          Yes! Given the sort of films he made, as well as his politics (he was, after all, a party member…), I doubt he would have been happy to support the LGBTQ+ movement. Ironic. :-)

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  7. Madhu, we may have had only one song in common, but we do have four films in common. :) Indeed, you have referenced songs that are on my list (Ibtida-e-ishq, for instance), and some of the songs on yours were on my shortlist. In fact, I changed Patthar ke sanam to Tauba ye matwali chaal at the last moment because I wanted a happy, light-hearted Manoj, instead of one with the curling lip and palm-over -face morose-ness!

    I do like Jaan-e-chaman (it was on my shortlist), precisely for the reasons you mention – the Nanda-Manoj Kumar chemistry, the way Rafi has sung it, the melody by S-J… but honestly, I couldn’t get past my dislike for Sharada!

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    • Yes! And the things we wrote about Manoj Kumar were also somewhat similar. :-)

      … but honestly, I couldn’t get past my dislike for Sharada!

      Hehe. I actually had to listen to the song all over again to decide whether I found her so vastly intolerable that I couldn’t put the song on my list. Then I decided the pros of the song outweighed her. If only Asha or someone else could’ve sung it!

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  8. Lovely list. I am glad you included the Woh Kaun thi song – “Tiki Riki Tiki Riki” In a stellar album, this song does not get much attention. Song which brings the best of Rafi and Helen. Manoj Kumar does a good job here before the movie moves into the suspense zone.Notable omission because of your timeline is – Ek Pyar Ka Nagma hai. Somewhat sad but a very likeable song. Probably the most popular violin song in hindi film music.

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  10. Mr Goswami aka Manoj kumar touched his leading lady for one last time in the song jaane chaman shola badan in Gumnaan. Image changed with the release of Upkaar next year

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  11. Fabulous post on Manoj Kumar songs. I like all of them. Let me tell you that Bhari Duniya Mein and Patthar Ke Sanam songs aren’t mirror images of each other. Perhaps you had seen Do Badan a long time back, so you’re not able to recall the background of Bhari Duniya Mein. In this song, Manoj Kumar’s grievance isn’t towards Asha Parekh but the materialistic world and his own poor status.

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  12. Madhuji

    Just curious, have you came across any song of Manoj-Kishore? I am not, so strange as both were from the same era.

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