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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.

34 significant Hindi-Urdu songs from 1950

Song	Film	Music	Lyrics	Singer(s)
Dil hi to hai tadap gaya	Aadhi Raat	Husnalal-Bhagatram	Asad Bhopali	Lata Mangeshkar
Humeiñ duniyã ko dil ké zakhm dikhlãnã nahîñ aatã (Raag Bhoop)	Aadhi Raat	Husnalal-Bhagatram	Asad Bhopali	Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi
Man mor hua matwala, kis né jãdoo Dãlã (Raag Bhîm Palãsi/ Taal Keherwã)	Afsar	Sachin Dev Burman	Narendra Sharma	Suraiya
Nain diwãné, ik nahiñ mãné	Afsar	Sachin Dev Burman	Narendra Sharma	Suraiya
Mori atariya pé kãgã bolé (Raag Pahãrhi/ Taals Keherwã, Dãdrã)	Ankhen	Madan Mohan	Pt. Bharat Vyas	Meena Kapoor
Shikwa tera main gaoon	Anmol Rattan	Vinod	DN Madhok	Lata Mangeshkar, Talat Mehmood
Aankhon sé door jake	Arzoo	Anil Biswas	Majrooh Sultanpuri	Lata Mangeshkar
Ai dil mujhe aisi jagah lé chal jahãñ koi nã ho (Raag Adãnã/ Taal Keherwã)	Arzoo	Anil Biswas	Majrooh Sultanpuri	Talat Mehmood
Yeh kaun aaya	Baazi	Sachin Dev Burman	Sahir Ludhianvi	Geeta Dutt
Duniya badal gayi, meri duniya badal gayi (Raag Darbãri Kãnarhã/ Taal Dãdrã)	Babul	Naushad	Shakeel Badayuni	Talat Mehmood, Shamshad Begum
Khayalon mein kisi ké is tarah	Bawre Nain	Roshan	Kidar Sharma	Geeta Roy, Mukesh
Sun bairi balam	Bawre Nain	Roshan	Kidar Sharma	Raj Kumari
Teri duniya meiñ dil lagta naheeñ (Raag Darbãri Kãnarhã/ Taal Keherwã)	Bawre Nain	Roshan	Kidar Sharma	Mukesh
Akelé mein who ghabrãté to hoñgé	Bibi/ Beewee	‘Sharma ji’ [later: Khayyam]	Wali Saheb	Mohammed Rafi
Chhota sa fasana hai teré meré pyãr kã	Birha ki Raat	Husnalal-Bhagatram	Sarshar Sailani	Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi
Tarari rarari	Dastan	Naushad	Shakeel Badayuni	Suraiya, Mohammed Rafi
Hum jaisã kaun hoga zamãné meiñ bad-naseeb (Raag Bhairavi)	Gauna	Husnalal Bhagatram	Qamar Jalâlâbâdî	Lata Mangeshkar
Dukh sé bharã hua hai dil, jeené meiñ ab mazã nahîñ (Raag Jaijaiwanti)	Jaan Pehchan	Khemchand Prakash	Shakeel Badayuni	Shankar DasGupta
Ghunghat ke pat khol (Raag Jaunpuri/ Taal Keherwã)	Jogan	Bulo C. Rani	Meera Bai	Geeta Dutt
Shikãri! Sundarta ké sabhi shikãri	Jogan	Bulo C. Rani	Pt. Indra	Talat Mehmood (debut song)
Bhool ja ai dil muhabbat kã fasãnã (Taal DeepChandi)	Khel	Sajjad Hussain	Shams Azeemabadi	Lata Mangeshkar
Jãté ho to jão	Khel	Sajjad Hussain	Sãgar Nizamî	Lata Mangeshkar
Zamãne ka dastûr hai ye purana (Raag KalyãN/ Jhap Taal)	Lajawab	Anil Biswas	Prem Dhawan	Mukesh, Lata Mangeshkar
O mãhi, o dupatta merã de de	Meena Bazar	Husnalal-Bhagatram	Qamar Jalâlâbâdî	Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi
Akhiyan milaké zara baat karo ji	Pardes	Ghulam Mohammed	Shakeel Badayuni	Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi
Meré ghûñghar walé baal	Pardes	Ghulam Mohammed	Shakeel Badayuni	Shamshad Begum, Mohammed Rafi
Woh sapné wali raat milan ki raat	Pyar	Sachin Dev Burman	Rajinder Krishan	Geeta ‘Roy’ Dutt
Ai chãñd zarã sun lé	Pyar ki Manzil	Husnalal-Bhagatram	Shevan Rizvi	Lata Mangeshkar, Husnalal
Gorey gorey o bankey chhorey	Samadhi	C. Ramchandra	Rajinder Krishan	Lata Mangeshkar, Amirbai Karnataki, Chorus
Hãñ, main hooñ eik khalãsi…Bheem Palãsi	Sargam	C. Ramachandra	Pyare Lal Santoshi	Chitalkar
Jab dil ko satãyé gham (Raag Dév Gañdhãri / Teen Taal)	Sargam	C. Ramachandra	Pyare Lal Santoshi	Lata Mangeshkar
Woh hum sé chup hain	Sargam	C. Ramchandra	P.L. Santoshi	Lata Mangeshkar, Chitalkar
Yaar, vai vai, yaar (Mausam é bahãr, yãr, dil hai gulzar)	Sargam	C. Ramchandra	Pyare Lal Santoshi	Lata Mangeshkar, Chitalkar
O pardesi bãlma	Shaan	Hansraj Behl	Rajinder Krishan	Suraiya

Hindi-Urdu songs: 1950

Contents

How these particular songs were chosen

Raags in songs

See also

For lists of popular songs

For lists of popular Hindi-Urdu films

For raags and taals

34 significant Hindi-Urdu songs from 1950

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