By Jagmohan Singh Barhok
On Her Birth Anniversary
चमन के फूल भी
तुझको गुलाब कहते हैं
हमीं नहीं हैं सभी
लाजवाब कहते हैं
Ragini, who was part of the famousTravancore Sisters trio, was a trained dancer & actress who made inroads into Hindi films in 1950s. She worked opposite Shammi Kapoor in “Mujrim” (1958), Ajit in “Shikari” (1963) also starring Madan Puri ,Helen & “Amardeep” (1958), featuring Dev Anand, Vyjayanthimala, Padmini, Ragini, Johnny Walker, Pran & Om Prakash. The film’s music was composed by C. Ramchandra & lyrics penned by Rajinder Krishan with many a titillating , foot tapping & touching songs like- ‘Mere Man Ka Bawra Panchi Kyon Baar Baar Dole’, ‘Dekh Hume Aawaz Na Dena O Bedard Zamane’ & ‘Dil Ki Duniya Basake Sanwariya Tum Na Jane kahan Kho Gaye’ to name only three.
“Shikari” (1963) was another musical hit which was mentioned during the “Bollywood Centenary Celebrations” with many hits including ‘Tumko Piya Dil Diya Kitne Naaz Se & ‘Chaman Ke Phool Bhi Tujhko Gulaab Kehte Hain’ under the music score G. S. Kohli with lyrics written by Farooq Qaiser. She played the lead in the film under reference. I watched most of her films at Kumar Cinema, Chandni Chowk, Delhi between 1959 to 1963 and later in 1965- 1966 including some religious films.
Ragini featured in many dozen Tamil films including Telugu, Malayalam & Bengali films. Interestingly, in most such films her sisters Latha & Padmini were together .She also shared screen with her sisters in few films. In fact the ‘dance and song’ tradition in the Hindi films was started by Ragini and Padmini in mid 1950s who were gifted with various sinews of classical dancing. Other South actresses later followed suit.
“Kalpana” (1960) also starring Ashok Kumar & Padmini , “Gehra Daag” & “Yeh Dil Kisko Doon” (1963) were her other prominent Hindi films to mention. Died of Cancer in 1976.
