Ek Thi Larki (1949)

Remembering  binota chakraborty - "Dilli se aaya bhai tingu, tingu ka bhai chingu aur uska bhai shingu ....."

Ek Thi Larki 1949

*ring   - Meena Shorey, Motilal, IS Johar, Majnu, Kuldip Kaur

Lyrics – Aziz Kashmiri , Music – Vinod , Direction – Roop Shorey  

A spunky  madcap – that’s Meena .  Orphaned in the Quetta earthquake , she is alone but  gutsy . Who else could sing “ Larra Lappa Lara Lappa , adi tappa ....”  after  her  first day at office . The words are for  a  parsimonious boss Ranjeet who denies benefits , is  fastidious  and   cantankerous .....  and the entire staff joins in singing with her. 

She’s running away from trouble –  two pranksters [ Johar and Majnu ] who cajole  her to act as a princess of Champatpur by  convincing her that the police are  trailing her for a murder which she hasn’t  committed. While evading the police , they attend a song performance at a hotel and watch Honey O ‘Brien dance to  ‘ Dilli se aaya tingu .....” That’s the  song sung by Binota Chakraborty.  

Meena’s  next stop is Delhi as she accompanies  Ranjeet for a meeting  . Twists and turns force them to stay at 5 Qutub Road posing as house helps. Of course they fall in love and start to enjoy  the household chores of cooking , cleaning  and washing clothes . Ranjeet quits the  managers’s job as it    threatens to tie him in matrimony with the owner’s cloying daughter Bimla  [ Kuldip kaur ] . He takes Meena  to Kashmir [ that’s home , where I belong , I am Khaalis Kashmiri ,  he says ] and it is on a shikara in Kashmir that  the air is cleared  and love blooms as the lovers  are  adrift on the gentle waters of the  lake .  

 

Endnotes

*A song by Binota Chakraborty , born as Vinita Amladi . This was discovered by Arun kumar Deshmukh after painstaking research , as it was earlier credited to the dancer Honey O’ Brien.

*I S Johar , comes with classic oneliners – all with a straight face. When the police inspector warns him to be careful of the kanoon [ law ], he says “ We love kanoon! “

* Composer  Vinod [ Eric Roberts ] is seen on screen during the song , directing the music .