Baiju Bawra

A 1952 musical drama that tells the story of Baiju.In Emperor Akbar’s court is a maestro musician, Tansen, whom Baiju believes is responsible for his father’s death. So he challenges Tansen to a musical duel to avenge his father’s death. Baiju ..the insane ( the literal meaning) was directed by Vijay Bhatt.It was a megahit.It ran for 100 weeks in the theaters.With Baiju Bawra music director Naushad introduced the classical component in films.

The sound track is based on various ragas like,Puriya dhanashree,Todi,Malkauns,Darbari & Desi.The lyricist had to furgo Urdu to write in Hindi For bhajans like ‘Man tadpat hari darshan ko aaj..’ which became very popular.The film starred Bharat Bhushan & Meenakumari .She became the first ever Filmfare best award winner of 1954, one of the four she won in her career. Music director Naushad also won the inaugural award for the song,’Tu ganga ki mauj main Jamuna ka dhara..sung by Mohd. Rafi.

‘O duniya ke Rakhwale..’ is sung in heart wrenching way that it makes you cry everytime you hear it.Mohd. Rafi’s voice suited this kind of genre. i was small & did not understand every word but the language of music is eternal & the tone is to be felt. The emotions are so real, Baiju’s loss is our loss!

‘ Mohe bhool gaye Sawariya…’ Meenakumari sad & trying to find him in her own way. Very rarely does a song do justice to the situation,here it uplifts the scene.

‘Man tarpat Hari darshan ko aaj..’ the ‘sur’ makes for the longing for the ‘darshan’,we wonder what more is the devotee supposed to do!

‘Aaj gawat man mero..’ & ‘ jhoole mein pawan ki aaye bahaar’ set the mood of the young couple. The elders object to the love between the pair & Meenakumari is to be married with someone else. Baiju hears of it & tries to cross the river. Meenakumari reaches the bank & they meet in the midst & drown together. With this sad end, Meenakumari was often cast into a tragedy which is why she was labelled ,’Tragedy queen’.

‘Bachpan ki Mohabbat ko..’ & ‘Door koi gaye…’ sung by Lata Mangeshkar were famous then & are remembered even today.

A remake was planned by Krishna Shah in 2010. Big names like Aamir Khan & AR Rahman were to come together but the film got shelved. In feb.2019, Sanjay Leela Bhansali announced the remake of Baiju Bawra, slated to be released in Diwali 2021. Let’s hope we are able to see the film soon & discuss about it’s merits.Till then happy viewing!