KHEMCHAND PRAKASH- A Forgotten Genius

Khemchand Prakash (12 December 1907 – 10 August 1949) is immortal to the music lovers who like old Bollywood songs. Very few of us know that greats like Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar, Naushad, Manna Dey, and Bulo C Rani were mentored by him. But the creator of these musical gems and the mentor of this league of stalwarts is now largely forgotten. On his Death Anniversary, I pay my tribute to this great composer who composed the song Aayega Aane Wala Aayega sung by Lata Mangeshkar.

He got his training of music from his father Pt. Goverdhan Prasad was a renowned Dhrupad singer who received royal patronage and sang in the Jaipur Durbar. Khemchand was not only a trained classical singer but also mastered the Rajasthani folk music and trained as a Kathak dancer. Once the king of Nepal was in Jaipur, he saw him performing there, invited him to come to his Kingdom. He went there and spent 5 years in Nepal.

 The destiny landed him in Kolkata and he joined the legendary New Theaters. While working in New Theatres, he had a chance encounter with Prithviraj Kapoor, and they became lifelong friends. At his suggestion, Khemchand Prakash moved to Bombay along with Kidar Sharma, KN Singh, and last but not the least, the much-celebrated KL Saigal.

He was assistant to composer Timir Baran in Devdas (1935 film), and he sang a comedy song 'lo kha lo madam khaanaa' in Street Singer (1938). He made his debut as music director in 1939 with Supreme Pictures' films Meri Aankhein and Gazi Salauddin and was soon signed up by Ranjit Movietone Film Studio.

In this film, the great music director Naushad was his assistant. Khemchand Prakash used the Arabic style of orchestration to synchronise the ambience of the subject. He also composed Mirza Ghalib's famed ghazal, 'Kabhi neki bhi uske jee mein gar,' in Kalyani's voice. He got another offer for Dwarka Khosla's Meri Aankhein, wherein singer-actor Khursheed got her maiden break and sang 'Aisa geet suna jao' and 'Sach ke khel khilaye aasha,' 'Doodh piyo sab doodh'. These two films established Khemchand and in times to come, he gave classical gems to music lovers. Khursheed was his leading singer and both of them gave many hits of the early 40s. 

Khemchand tasted real success when he joined Ranjit Movietone and accomplished nineteen films during his five-year stint. His films, Pardesi and Shaadi became hits. Pardesi had a ghazal, 'Pahle jo Mohabbat se inkar kiya hota' (Khursheed), which became an instant rage. It is said that Khursheed rehearsed this ghazal for fifteen days before recording it.

 His biggest hit with Ranjit Studio was the film Tansen in 1943. Songs like "Diya jalaao jagmag jagmag", "Rumjhum rumjhum chal tihari", "More balpan ke saathi", "Sapt suran teen gram", "Hath sine pe jo rakh do to karara aa jaaye" were big hits. It is said that he played a key role in classic songs of Devdas( 1935) sung by KL Saigal: 'Balam aayo baso morey man mein' and 'Dukh ke din ab beetat nahin'. He also did cameo roles in New Theatres' films, and this song, 'Madam lo kha lo khana,' in Street Singer, was picturized on him and Kanan Devi. He was also seen in Debki Bose's Sapera.

After Tansen, the next film he did was Bhanwra (1944), starring K L Saigal. Khemchand Prakash offered a totally different type of music in Bhanwara, as evident in its compositions: 'Thukra rahi hai duniya,' 'Muskratey huey aankh churaya na karo,' 'Hum apna unhey bana na sakey,' 'Diya jisney dil' (Saigal), and a duet with Ameerbai Karnataki, 'Kya humne bigara hai,' became super hits.

Another classic of Khemchand Prakash was' Bhartihari' released in 1944, starring Surendra and Mumtaz Shanti. His compositions were once again in classical mode: 'Chanda des piya ke jaa' (Ameerbai Karnataki), and a duet in a dialogue form, 'Bhiksha de de maa pingla' (Surendra-Ameerbai Karnataki), became a listeners delight.

Prabhu Ka Ghar (1945) was the last film he composed music for Ranjeet Movietone, the same year his movie Dhanna Bhagat directed by Kidar Sharma had 'Panchhi pinjara hua purana' (Khan Mastana), that also became quite popular. He had differences with the owner Chandu Lal Shah of  Ranjeet Movietone on the issue of using a new voice in a film. Chandu Lal Shah didn't agree and outright rejected the new voice. The new voice was that of Lata Mangeshkar. Thereafter, Khemchand Prakash started freelancing.

As a freelancer his significant film was Kishore Sahu's silver jubilee 'Sindoor'(1947) with such unforgettable numbers: 'Kissi Ke Madhur Pyaar Mein' (Nasim Akthar-Sushil Sahu), and Ameerbai's solo, 'O Roothey Huey Bhagwan'

1948 marked yet another significant film of his career, Bombay Talkies’s Ziddi. He gave first major break to Kishore Kumar as a singer for the song "Marne ki duaaen kyun maangu".Ziddi featured a beautiful song of Lata Mangeshkar "Chanda re ja re ja re".Lata sang for him for the first time in Asha released in 1948.

Kishore Sahu had Khemchand in his own home production 'Rimjhim'. He composed a rare gem for Kishore, 'Jagmag jagmag karta nikla chaand poonam ka pyaara' This film also had a super hit number in Shamshad's voice, 'Na tum aaye na neend aayi'. Kishore Sahu and Khemchand again came together in Sawan Aya Re, which had all-time greats of Rafi-Shamshad, 'Aye dil na mujhe yaad dila baatein purani.'In the same year released the film Mahal, its song 'Aayega Aane Wala' became a hit and made Lata a household name. The film and its music became a super hit, unfortunately, Khemchan Prakash died before the release of this film. He died at an early age of 41 on 10 August 1949 due to Cirrhosis.

Song of Street Singer 1938

Song of Tansen 1943

Song of Bhartrahari 1944

Song of  Dhanna Bhagat 1945

Song of Sindoor 1947

Song of Ziddi 1948

Song of Ziddi 1948

Song of Mahal 1949

Song of Rimjhim 1949

Rehana - The first Heroine of Dev Anand

Rehana got her major break as a heroine in 1946 film Hum Ek Hain which was also Dev Anand's first film. She became the overnight star in 1947 with the release of her next film Sajan opposite Ashok Kumar.
She was regarded as Hindi cinema's first "jhatka queen". Whether it was her infamous "lesbian act" with Nigar Sultana in Sunehre Din (1949), or the famous bath scene in Dilruba (1950),

She appeared on the silver screen sometime in the late '30s acting in minor roles but soon took the cine world by storm in 1947, her two films Sajan and Shehnai became hit.
1948 to 1951 was the best phase of her career as she did a variety of films paired opposite most of the top heroes of that time, like Prem Adib in Actress (1948), with Raj Kapoor in Sunehre Din (1949) and Sargam (1950), with Dev Anand in Dilruba (1950), with Shyam in Nirdosh (1950) and Surajmukhi (1950), with Shekhar in Ada (1951) and with Premnath Sagai (1951). Two of her biggest hits from these were Sargam (1950) and Sagai (1951).
Mushtar Jehan was her real name,her date of birth is not known but her place of birth was Bombay.

After 1952, her career sharply went on the decline as films like Rangeeli (1952), Chham Chhama Chham, Hazar Raatein (1953) and Samrat (1954) all sank at the box office. With her career on the decline in India, Mushtar migrated to Pakistan with the hope of continuing her career there

Scene of Hum Ek Hain 1946

Song of Hum Ek Hain 1946

Song of Sajan (1947)

Song of Shehnai (1947)

Song of Sargam (1950)

Song of Dilruba (1950)

Song of Sagai (1951)

A Hit Song is a Collaborative Effort

Recently I was watching a video where five Bollywood lyricists were discussing that the due credit is not given to the lyricist. The whole credit for making it hit goes to the composer, singer or hero or heroine who lip-synced the song on the screen.
I believe that a cinema is a collaborative effort, all sections of a movie are in the hands of different professionals. Each one should get their own credit. 

A few years back in an award function, Anu Malik was awarded for the Best Song for" Moh Moh Ke Dhaage" and he didn't take the name of Varun Grover, the lyricist of the song

A few days back they ( Lyricists) came out with this video' Credit De Do Yaar'

         Credit song| Varun Grover| Kausar Munir | Amitabh Bhattacharya

During the Golden Era of Bollywood, there was a long and rich tradition of poems and lyrics. Many great poets were writing songs for the films. The songs were carrying the story forward. The songs written by them became hits and super-hits but their names were forgotten and with the passage of time not many pause to remember them and their contribution to the world of Hindi film music.

Song of Pyaasa 1957

Lyricist and playback singer Amitabh Bhattacharya feels that lyricists are not being given their due in the film industry. He says singers and composers receive more recognition than lyricists. The today music industry is in the hand of a few music companies, they are not bothered to give any credit to the lyricist. Many Bollywood singers recently shared on Twitter that they are disheartened by the lack of recognition in the entertainment industry. Singer Neha Bhasin, known for the song Jag Ghoomeya (Sultan, 2016) and other hits, is the latest musician to claim that she has faced the brunt of disrespect in the entertainment industry.

Song of Sultan 2016

 In Urdu poetry, there is a longstanding tradition of paying tribute or treating a great master’s work as the starting point from where you push off your own lyrical boat.  All the Ghazal singers before starting to sing always tell about the name of the poet who wrote the Ghazal. There was the time when in Vividh Bharti or Radio Ceylon, the name of the lyricist, composer, and singer used to be announced. but nowadays in FM radios and many musical platforms, this is missing.

My suggestion to the people, Whenever we see a song and the lyricist name is missing hit comments and enter it. If a couple of million people keep doing it on every song the platforms will change

Jaane Woh Kaise Log The Jinke Pyar Ko Pyar Mila

This immortal song of Pyaasa(1957) was written by Sahir Ludhianvi, sung by Hemant Kumar and composed by S D Burman. This song was inspired by the second stanza of our national anthem, according to a book on celebrated music composer S. D. Burman.
"In a conversation with lyricist Pulak Bandyopadhyay, Burman had mentioned that the second line of the national anthem—Punjab Sindh(u) Gujarat Maratha Dravid Utkal Banga—had inspired the line, 'Humne to Jab Khushiyaan Maangi'.
"The reference to the national anthem is so subtle that unless someone points it out, it is next to impossible to spot a similarity."
Pyaasa had 10 songs, two solo songs were sung by Geeta Dutt, and one duet of Geeta Dutt and Mohammad Rafi, all the other were solo of Rafi except this song. In fact, Guru Dutt wanted this song to be sung by Rafi but Burman Dada insisted on Hemant Kumar. Dada knew that this song suits Hemant Kumar, one of the highlights of this song was the aching frailty of Hemant's rendition.  A major argument took place between Guru Dutt, composer Burman Dada, writer Abrar Alvi, and Geeta Dutt. Finally, Dutt, who remained unconvinced, had to give in to the pressure.

This song was picturized on Guru Dutt. He is leaning against a bookshelf, wearing a white shawl, stretching his hands, a wry smile even though he was deserted. Singing in a small gathering organized by his employer Rehman, where he meets his ex-girlfriend Mala Sinha, who abandoned him for wealth by marrying none other than the man currently employing him. 
If you listen carefully you will find a piece of very light music is being played in the background. Burman Dada had arranged the song with delicate piano notes, surprisingly np piano is shown on the screen. 
Once  Burman dada was asked why this song had such little music. He replied that the poetry was the hero of the song and had to be showcased. And it’s true, the soft tune in the background pushes Sahir Ludhianvi’s words to the forefront. Unfortunately, this was the last song of Sahir composed by Dada Burman. They never worked together after this song and film.

Song of Pyaasa 1957

60 Years of Mughal E Azam

The Filmfare reviewed Mughal-E -Azam at the time of its release on 5th Aug 1960, it is a  tribute to the imagination, conviction, hard work, and lavishness of an extraordinary filmmaker K Asif. 
The development of Mughal-e-Azam began in 1944 when Asif read a play set in the reign of Emperor Akbar He got a financer/producer Shiraz Ali Hakeem to make the movie. K Asif cast Chandra Mohan, D.K. Sapru, and Nargis for the roles of Akbar, Salim, and Anarkali, respectively..Shooting started in 1946 in Bombay Talkies studio. It is said four reels were shot. The political tensions and communal rioting surrounding India's 1947 partition and independence stalled production. Shortly after partition, Shiraz Ali migrated to Pakistan, leaving Asif without a financier. 

The actor Chandra Mohan suffered a heart attack and died in 1949. Shiraz Ali had previously suggested that business tycoon Shapoorji Pallonji could finance the film. Although Pallonji knew nothing about film production, in 1950 he agreed to produce the film because of his interest in the history of Akbar. Production was then restarted with a new cast. Initially, K Asif rejected Dilip Kumar for the part of Prince Salim as he was too slim but later signed him for the role. For Akbar, the name of Prithviraj Kapoor was recommended by Shapoorji, and for the role of Anarkali the name of Suraiya was chosen but she refused the film. Ultimately Madhubala was signed for this role. 

In 1952 K Asif began the shooting with the new cast. The music director now was Naushad, earlier it was Anil Biswas. Asif wanted to make the film on a grand scale, each set took 8 to 9 months to complete. It took 7 years to complete the film. Shahpoorji had full faith on Asif, he kept on pouring money for this film. Those days a normal film used to have a budget if 12-15 Lakh but this film was made on a budget of 1.5 crore rupees.
The film was sold for an astounding amount of 1.7 million per territory at a time when a big film used to be sold at 3 to 5 lakh per territory. There was a great euphoria related to this film. A grand premiere of this film was organized at Maratha Mandir theatre in Bombay'.All the top celebrities attended the premiere.   In sync with the grandeur of the era, the film had set out to capture, invitations designed as a royal scroll and titled “ Akbarnama” were sent out to “command” the guests to arrive at the grand opening of the film.

. The film had an all-India release in 150 theatres simultaneously. This was a stupendous feat in those days. The film opened to largely positive reviews. It had captured the imagination of the viewers with its lavish scale, excellent performances, immortal dialogues, and soulful music. The film made a record collection 0f rupees 4 million by way of advance booking for the first week in Bombay only. Audiences queued up in front of theatres to see the film. Many stood and lived outside the theater for days. The demand for tickets of the
film forced the management to close ticket bookings for three weeks, “something that had never happened before—or since”.A rupees 1.30 ticket was sold in black for an amount as high as 200/-. Newspapers widely reported the success of the film and the mass hysteria amongst the audience. 
 Mughal-e-Azam became a mega-success and collected sales amounting to 35 million. It ran houseful in Maratha Mandir for three years, a record for Indian cinema which was broken after 15 years by Sholay in 1975.
Mughal-e-Azam garnered the position of a celluloid monument. On November 12, 2004, the film was re-released after fully coloring in theaters across India and history was all set to repeat itself.

Premiere of Mughal e Azam 1960

Song of Mughal e Azam 1960

Song of Mughal e Azam 1960

Song of Mughal e Azam 1960

Song of Mughal e Azam 1960

Song of Mughal e Azam 1960

Song of Mughal e Azam 1960

Song of Mughal e Azam 1960

Song of Mughal e Azam 1960

Song of Mughal e Azam 1960

Song of Mughal e Azam 1960

Main hoon jhum jhum jhum jhum Jhumroo- One Man Show

This song from the 1961 film'Jhumroo' was written, composed, and sung by Kishore Kumar. He was the producer, editor, story writer, and hero of this film. This song is a title song played with the opening credit titles of the film. The film starts with this song, Kishore Kumar is nowhere in the scene. The picturization shows a toy train finding its way on the picturesque terrain of Darjeeling hills while this song gets played in the background. Madhubala is one of the passengers traveling on this train.
Jhumroo was Kishore Kumar's first released film as a composer, before that two of his films as a composer was shelved. Both were to be directed by Phani Mazumdar. Both films couldn't see the light of the day.
 Kishore Kumar is at his absolute best as a singer in this song. This song has Kishore Kumar at his yodeling best  There were 11 songs in the film  Most of the songs were recorded well before the shooting of the film stated. There was no situation for this song, everybody was appreciating this song and wanting to retain this song, so it was kept in the beginning as a background song with the credit titles.
Since Kishore Kumar had no musicians, orchestra, and music arranger so the help of S D Burman's team was taken. Basu Chakravarti who was Burman Dada's arranger helped Kishore Kumar to complete songs.
The song starts with the rhythm of a guitar matching the sound of a steam engine followed by the yodeling of Kishore Kumar Before yodeling starts Kishore creates the sound of the whistle of the engine. There is no differentiation between Mukhda and Antra in this song, in fact, each Antra has the Mukhda in it. Between the Antra Kishore Kumar's high pitched laughter and yodeling is kept as an interlude. The words are simple and minimum use of musical instruments mainly guitar and accordion are the main instruments.

Song of Jhumroo 1961

Jaidev-One of the greatest but Unsung

When we speak of the Golden Age of Hindi film music mostly we speak of a commercially successful composer like Naushad, Shankar Jaikishen, S.D. Burman, O P Nayyar, Madan Mohan, Kalyanji Anandji, and Laxmikant Pyarelal. But there are many composers who established their identities through the uniqueness of their compositions alone. They may not have composed music for a very large number of films. Many of their films might not have succeeded at the box office.but their music is unforgettable.
Jaidev is one such name. His name imprinted on the hearts of lovers of vintage Hindi film songs as the genius who gave such fabulous numbers as ‘Kabhi Khud Pe Kabhi Haalaat Pe’, ‘Allah Tero Naam’ and ‘Abhi Na Jao Chhod Kar’. ‘Kabhi Khud Pe Kabhi Haalaat Pe’ is among the best ghazal numbers sung by Mohammad Rafi.  
He started his film career as a child artist but had to leave acting, He had an interest in music, he learned classical music under Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. When Chetan Anand asked Ustad Ali Akbar Khan to give music for Aandhiyan, he joined Ustad Ali Akbar Khan as his assistant. He was also an assistant to Ustad ji in the next Navketan's film 'Humsafar'. 
When Ustad Ali Akbar Khan decided to return back to Lucknow, he remained in Bombay and became assistant to composer S D Burman. He was assistant music director for Taxi Driver,  SD Burman had full trust in his genius assistant; Each time he entrusted him with a composing or creative job, he would advise him not to complicate it with difficult ‘murkis’ and ‘harkats’. Jaidev’s contribution to the compositions of SD Burman can be gauged through these very intricate nuances, very typical of him, obvious in a number of gems like ‘Phaili hui hain sapnon ki baahen’ (House No. 44), ‘Hum bekhudi mein tumko pukare chale gaye’ (Kala Pani), ‘Hum hain raahi pyar ke’ (Nau Do Gyarah), ‘Dekho rootha na karo’ (Tere Ghar Ke Saamne), ‘Aise to na dekho’ (Teen Deviyan), and ‘Tere mere sapne ab ek rang hain’ (Guide) to name a few.

Jaidev got an independent assignment in “Joru Ka Bhai”, after which he composed music for ChetanAnand’s “Anjali”. The music of both of these films became very popular. Though he became an independent composer, he continued to work as an assistant to SD. When Hum Dono was in making, Burman Da was ill, he suggested his name for the music director for that film.He gave the music for this film, all the songs became hit. Who can forget the songs like ‘Abhi Na Jao Chhodkar’ ‘Main Zindagi ka Saath Nbhata chala gaya’ and the bhajan ‘Allah Tero Naam, Ishwar Tero Naam’ sung by Lata! .

It is said that 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 has 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, 

 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. He did a Nepali film immediately after this incident. produced by King Mahendra. The King was so pleased with Jaidev that he offered him a blank cheque and asked him to fill in any amount as he wished. But Jaidev returned the cheque and asked for a tiger skin instead! He got a few insignificant films zafter that. Sunil Dutt with whom he worked earlier in 'Mujhe Jeene Do'entrust him for his next venture 'Reshma Aur Shera' released in 1971. for this film, he got the National Award of Best Music Director. He got this award twice later in 'Gaman; 1979 and Ankahee in 1985.

In 1976, Madan Mohan passed away, and Jaidev finished the film Laila Majnu by composing five remaining songs for the film. His other film was Alaap starring Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha. Jaidev had ample opportunity to use his classical background in this film. He used the composition of late great master Pt Vishnu Digambar, Mata Saraswati Sharda in Lata-Yesudas-Dilraj Kaur-Madhu Rani's voices. The best song of the film was Dr Harivansh Rai Bachchan's poem, 'Koi Gata Mein So Jata'.

Jaidev had composed music for less than thirty films. The number of songs to his credit may not be more than a hundred and fifty. Though many of Jaidev's films failed at the box office, many of them, such as Alaap, Kinare Kinare, and Ankahee, is remembered for his imaginative musical scores. Jaidev shot to prominence once again with his ghazals and songs in Muzaffar Ali's Gaman like Seene mein jalan, Raat bhar aapki yaad aati rahi and Ajeeb saaneha mujhpar guzar gaya yaaron. He introduced many new singers like Suresh Wadkar, A Hariharan and his protegee Chhaya Ganguly in Gaman.

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. 

Song of Anjali 1957

Song of Hum Dono 1961

Song of Kinare Kinare [1963]

Song of Mujhe Jeene Do [1963]

Song of Do Boond Pani [1971

Song of  Reshma Aur Shera [1971]

Song of  Gharonda [1977]

Song of  Gaman [1979]

Song of  Ankahee [1984]

Seene Mein Sulagte Hain Armaan - An Immortal Song

The writer of this immortal song was Prem Dhawan. It was composed by Anil Biswas and sung by Talat Mehmood and Lata Mangeshkar. Anil Biswas composed the tune of this song in just 15 minutes while riding in a car.
There was a rumor that the lyrics had been bought from Sahir Ludhianvi for Rs 5/-, as Sahir was in need of money, and Prem Dhawan had helped him. It is very sad that Prem Dhawan was always underrated. He was multitalented, he was a composer beside lyricist and as well as a Choreographer.and also acted in a few films.
He wrote songs like Mera Rag De Basanti Chola, Ae Watan Ai Watan from Shaheed, and many more songs. He won the National Film Award for Best Lyrics in 1971 for the film, Nanak Dukhiya Sub Sansar

This song was picturized on Dilip Kumar and Madhubala for the film Tarana released in 1951. This was the first film of Dilip Kumar and Madhubala together. Regarding this song, Shikha Biswas Vohra, daughter of music director Anil Biswas said in an interview that how her father composed this song. Prem Dhawan and her father were good friends, they were booked for two films Tarana and Arman in 1950. One day Prem Dhawan gave him few lines of this song and asked him to make the tune while going to meet the famous Punjabi singer Surinder Kaur On reaching.the destination Anil Biswas asked Prem Dhawan to go to meet the singer and he sat on the parapet and started humming the tune. By the time Prem Dhawan returned, the tune was ready.
Interestingly the song was a sad song but Anil Biswas used the major scale and another point to highlight that he used three different tunes for the three Antaras. A very rare occurrence and only a genius like Anil Biswas could do that. Madan Mohan also did the same in many songs later.in the 60s.If we look technically the use of Teevra 'Ma'gives it the feeling of Raga Yaman Kalyan.
This is probably one of the greatest duets of Bollywood. Everything is perfect, lyrics, music, singing, and picturization on two of the greatest actors Dilip Kumar and Madhubala.

Song of Tarana 1951

Meena Kumari- The Chhoti Bahu of 'Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam'

The character of Chhoti Bahu in Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam is a lonely suffering wife, who took to alcohol to please her philandering husband. This role was played by Meena Kumari and is considered one of the most brilliant portrayals in Hindi cinema by any actress.
The film was based on the 1953 Bengali novel, Saheb Bibi Golam by Bimal Mitra. Guru Dutt was very sure that Meena Kumari is the only actress of that time who could do justice to that role, So he approached her to do this role. Meena Kumari was very busy and had no dates for Guru Dutt that was in 1958.
Waheeda Rehman wanted to play the role of Chhoti Bahu. She even did a screen test, but the photographer V.K. Murthy realized that she was too young for the mature role. So the role of Jaba was given to her.
Guru Dutt then tried an Indian girl living and acting in London but "she was entirely unsuitable". Desperate, he completed the entire film by 1961 except for the role of Chhoti Bahu. 
Before selecting another heroine, he once again contacted Meena Kumari he went to her home and offered the role again. By now, the rift in her relationship with Amrohi had widened and she was taking on more films. When Guru Dutt arrived at her home, he found she was away shooting and left the script with her sister, Khursheed Bano. When Meena Kumari returned, she was shocked to find the script of Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam. She started reading it immediately and called Dutt at 2 a.m. to tell him that she would play the role of Chhoti Bahu.
Meena Kumari had one request for the legendary filmmaker. She asked for the film to be shot in a linear way, as the story progresses so that she could map the changes in her character. This was the first time both of them had shot a film in this way, from start to finish, exactly in keeping with the timeline of the script.
The film was shot at Dhankuria Mansion near Calcutta, but Meena Kumari didn't come to the haveli, its interiors were recreated on a set in Bombay. She gave consecutive forty five days for the shooting of this film.
 As the film progressed, she devoted herself to this character. Vinod Mehta who wrote the Biography of Meena Kumari quotes a passage from her diary where she writes, "This woman is troubling me a great deal. All-day long-and a good part of the night-it is nothing else but Chhoti Bahu's helplessness. Chhoti Bahu's sorrows, Chhoti Bahu's smiles, Chhoti Bahu's hopes, Chhoti Bahu's Tribulations, Chhoti Bahu's endurance, Chhoti Bah's ... Chhoti Bahu's... Chhoti Bahu... Oh! I am sick of it."
The character of Chhoti Bahu was seen as a gamble for Meena Kumari given that the traditional representation of an Indian woman up until that point was of a virginal woman. A woman who could drink herself to self-destruction? 
She won the Filmfare Best Actress Award for this role. In fact, she was nominated for all the three nominations for this category No one before and after this got all the nomination for a particular category. 

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Meena Kumari

                                                     Chhoti Bahu of Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam

Song of Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam 1962

Song of Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam 1962

Scene of Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam 1962

Scene of Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam 1962