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History

1932 Madhuri, a scholarly book argues, incorrectly, was the first Indian film the songs of which were issued on a gramophone disc. It was the second. As many as four of its songs can be heard on YouTube, thanks to Shalin Bhatt.

Obviously, other filmmakers followed suit and at least four more 1932 songs from three films are available on YouTube. In all, YouTube has eight songs from 1932.

1932 was the second year of sound in Indian cinema. Chandidas was, as per available records, the first Indian film with background music. Raychander Boral was the composer.

1932 Indrasabha (music: Nãgar Dãs Nayak) had as many as 69 songs. The film was a success, indeed a landmark. However, none of the fifteen-odd authorities cited by Indpaedia mentioned a single song from the film among their favourites. Perhaps no individual song from the film was popular.

Eight significant Hindi-Urdu songs from 1932

*Song*	Film	Music	Lyrics	Singer(s)
Deejo darshan mujhe bansi ke bajaane waale	Ankh Ka Tara	Motilal Naik	?	Indubala Devi
Hai kya kya jalwa bharaa hua	Ankh Ka Tara	Motilal Naik	?	Indubala Devi
Aase madhuri amrita pani	Ayodhyecha Raja	Govindrao Tembe	?	?
Ahankãr kar ké hamesha (Raag Malkauns)	Madhuri	Pransukh M. Nayak	?	Pt. Vinayakrao Patwardhan
Jaise jaise bansuri/ Kaise jãooñ kaise Madhuri, jiyã mãnat nãhiñ (Raag Tilang)	Madhuri	Pransukh M. Nayak	?	Pt. Vinayakrao Patwardhan
Parmukh bani tu Kamala, mohé kãhé sharmãyé	Madhuri	Pransukh M. Nayak	?	Pt. Vinayakrao Patwardhan
Sarita sugandh shobhe vasant, jîyarã rãs khélé ré	Madhuri	Pransukh M. Nayak	?	Pt. Vinayakrao Patwardhan
Chhod aakash ko sitaré zameeñ par aayé	Maya Machhindra	Govindrao Tembe	Kumar?	Govindrao Tambe

How these particular songs were chosen

India’s first—and Hindi-Urdu music’s only durable—hit parade began in 1954. Its creator, Binaca Geet Mala, issued annual lists for 1952 and 1953 as well. However, songs had been introduced in Hindi-Urdu films as early as in 1931, indeed, with India’s first talking film.

Which were the most popular Hindi-Urdu songs between 1931 and 1951? The internationally accepted way of finding out is to go through contemporary as well as later articles to see which songs were mentioned (‘cited’) most often.

Indpaedia’s volunteers spent almost 21 man-months combing through all sources that mentioned songs from the years not covered by Binaca Geet Mala. Around one-third of this time was spent sifting through and analysing fifteen sources that covered the period 1931-53. These included YouTube playlists, three encylopaedias of Hindi-Urdu songs and a scholarly history of Hindi-Urdu film music. Because very few songs were mentioned ‘often,’ the volunteers noted down every song that was mentioned at all. Less than half a dozen songs were omitted because they did not exist either on Saregama’s website, the Geet Kosh, YouTube or Hindi Geet Mala. Every song was cross-checked with at least one of these sites.

For more details please see Hindi-Urdu songs: methodology.

Annual lists for the years 1931-51 have been arranged in the alphabetical order, because no one knows the order of their popularity. However, this can be done.

The Indpaedia community will be grateful if some volunteer(s) check out on YouTube the songs mentioned on this page and rank them according to the number of times each song has been played. (Most, but not all, of these songs are on YouTube.) This contribution will be gratefully acknowledged in the volunteer’s name.

Raags in songs

Few film songs that have a root in Indian classical music remain faithful to a raag throughout their length. Indpaedia volunteers have sometimes mentioned raags even when there is merely a hint of that raag in a song. (‘Raag’ is frequently spelt ‘raga,’ while ‘taal’ is also spelt ‘tal.’)

Wherever a taal has been mentioned, it is the one verified by ChandraKantha.com, and sometimes the raags, too.

Hindi-Urdu songs: 1932

Contents

History

Eight significant Hindi-Urdu songs from 1932

How these particular songs were chosen

Raags in songs

See also

For lists of popular songs

For lists of popular Hindi-Urdu films

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