O Re Poran Bondure...

O Re Poran Bondure- Film Teen Batti Char Rasta 1953-  Different Singers- Different Lyricist-Different Music Composers

We all know the multilingual song ' Mile Sur Mera Tumhara'. The song was rendered in different Indian languages and in different voices. However do you know which was the first multilingual song in Hindi Films. ? It was 'Ab Kaheko Kal Ki Baat' (Film Aadmi 1939). V.Shataram was the Director of the film and music was given by Master Krishnarao.

In 1953, V.Shantaram repeated the same theme of multilingual song in film Teen Batti Char Rasta. However, the music of this film was scored by different composers. The song was ' O Poran Bondure'. The Bengali part of the song was written and composed by Kanu Ghosh, Tamil part by Natraj, Sidhi part by Gulshan Shafi, Marathi part was written by Ga.Di. Madgulkar and music by Vasant Desai, Gujarathi part was written and composed by Avinash Vyas, Hindi part written and composed by P.L.Santoshi and Shivram Krishna.

The song ' Ab Kaheko Kal Ki Baat' was picturized on Shanta Hublikar alone, whereas this song 'O Re Poran Bondure' was pictured on Nirupa Rpoy (Gujrathi), Shashikala (Marathi),Smriti Biswas (Bengali),Sheela Ramani (Sindhi) and Meenakshi (Tamil).

Teen Batti Char Rasta, was a film produced and Directed by eminent V.Shantaram under his Rajkamal Banner. It is comedy social drama advocating National Integration. The songs were written by P.L.santoshi and music scored by Shivram Krishna. The story involves a family, whose patriarch Lala Gulabchand (Diwan Sharar), is a Punjabi married to a woman from Uttar Pradesh. He lives near a crossroads with three lights and four streets. The crossroads is used symbolically as a union of the different states and religions in the country, as mentioned in the film. Their five of six sons then marry girls from five different states in India and the story follows the chaos that ensues. The film had a sub-plot weaved into it in the form of a dark-complexioned girl,  (Sandhya), Kokila, called Shyama (Sandhya), is the dark-complexioned maid who works in their home and is proficient in all the different languages that the wives of the brothers speak and is very efficient at her chores. However, he rejects her as she's dark and Shyama leaves the house despondent. The turmoil the household goes through with the absence of Shyama and a repentant Ramesh, finally makes for a happy ending by everyone getting together again.  There was perceptible similarity between Kokila's character and Lata Mangeshkar, or at least Cine viewers felt it like that. The persona Outwardly not beautiful but having gifted by heavenly divine voice that captivates the listeners.

Teen Batti Char Rasta 1953
Film cast: Karan Dewan, Sandhya, Nirupa Roy, Meenaxi Shirodkar, Shashikala, Smriti Biswas, Ishwar, Parshuram, Lalita Kumari, Leela Mishra
Singer: Talat Mahmood, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Zohrabai Ambalewali, S. Balbir
Lyricist: Pyarelal Santoshi
Music Director: Shivram Krishna
Film Director: V Shantaram
Film Producer: V.Shataram.
A Rajkamal Production Film.