#337

        Song:   Bhagwaan teri duniya mein
                Insaan nahin hain
                Masjid bhi hai, mandir bhi hai
                Imaan nahin hai

        Film:   Rail ka Dibba (1953)
        Singer: Asha Bhosle
        Music:  Ghulam Mohammed
        Lyrics: Shakeel Badayuni
        *ing:   Madhubala, Shammi Kapoor, Sajjan

This song was a truly beautiful discovery for me. It is a  lovely
melody  with  a  very  sweet, fairly simple tune, and Asha sounds
simply magnificent - the impassioned plea could shake a block  of
granite.

The song comes across as even more tangibly heartfelt  when  seen
in  the  context  of  the  movie  -  picturized on a forlorn girl
(Madhubala) driven to suicide by a heartless, money-minded  world
and  saved  by a good but penniless samaritan (Shammi Kapoor) who
lives in an abandoned railway carriage. The whole movie has got a
very  moving,  melancholy  strain, and the evocative portrayal of
kindness and large-heartedness in the face  of  adversity  cannot
help  but  touch  your  heart.  Ghulam  Mohammed's  glorious (and
unfortunately not  so  popular)  musical  score,  with  Shakeel's
poignant  lyrics (as in this song) contribute in a big way to the
emotive thread in the movie.

Though it was not a big hit, Madhubala and Shammi  Kapoor  (in  a
gawky  pre-Yahoo persona- this was his debut) have given inspired
performances in this movie, which contains, in addition  to  this
Asha gem, some of Shamshad's loveliest renditions to date  (which
I shall post eventually on ATMJH). I recommend the movie  to  all
old-movie  enthusiasts;  though  it  gets  a  bit melodramatic at
times, it is eminently watchable.

This is a bit late in coming, but I'd like to dedicate this  post
to  the memory of the late Om Prakash, who plays a very important
and sensitive role in Rail ka Dibba - he  plays  Shammi  Kapoor's
(and  Madhubala's)  closest friend, and later on, in a way, their
emotional anchor.








Guest Author: Hrishi Dixit