Saraswati Devi –The First Woman Music Director Of Indian Cinema

Main ban ki chirriya ban ke ban ban bolun re…. , Chali re chali re meri naav chali re chali re… Main to Dilli se dulhan laya re he babuji…. Chane Zor Garam Babu Main Laya Mazedar….

Music buffs who love Golden Era Music will adore these chart-topping 1930s songs by Saraswati Devi. She was the first woman music director. The Music Director who composed these hit songs was Saraswati Devi the First woman music director of Indian Cinema!!

Saraswati Devi‘s real name is Khorshed Minocher Homji. She was born in a Parsi family in 1912. The Paris community created a furor over her joining films but she changed her name to Saraswati Devi to escape the wrath of her community. As a child, she was passionate about music. Her parents encouraged her and gave her training in Hindustani classical music under Music Ustaad Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande. Later she learned professional music from Marris College (re-christened as Bhatkhande Music Institute) of Music at Lucknow.

Saraswati Devi’s Major Achievements

At was just 18, All India Radio in Mumbai selected her for musical performances. Himanshu Rai, Chief Director of Bombay Talkies,heard her and appointed her Head Of Music to score for his films. Saraswati Devi accepted the challenge. She began with Jawani Ki Hawa the  Bombay Talkies’ first film. In her second film,  Achhut Kanya (1936) she made history. She composed ‘Main ban ki chidiya ban ke sang sang dolun re’ a top chartbuster. It even rivalled  K.L.Saigal’s hit song, ‘ Prem nagar mein basuoongi ghar main…’

Saraswati Devi’s Acclaimed Work

Saraswati Devi worked with Bombay Talkies from 1935 till 1940. Her last film with Bombay Talkies was Bandhan (1940). In this film, she composed the super-duper hit song Chal chal re nau jawan….which became a regular part of the Prabhat Pheri during the Indian freedom movement in India.

The most interesting fact of  her music is that it was copied by top music directors to make hit songs. Remember the hit song Ek chatur naar karke singaar from Mehmood‘s film Padosan (1968). Well, R.D. Burman has lifted the song from Saraswati Devi‘s film Jhoola (1941). Similarly, the Kishore Kumar hit song Koi humdum na raha….. Jhumroo (1961) has been a direct pick from Jeevan Naiya (1936) composed by Saraswati Devi.

Though she worked as music director till 1961, she got faded away from the memory of the film industry.

On August 9 in 1980 Saraswati Devi‘s died an unsung death!