The first Indian movie I heard about was Dosti. Dosti was released in Trinidad on October 21, 1965, three days before the annual Divali Day celebrations. This was my first Divali, although I can remember nothing of that auspicious day, having made my entry into the world only six months before. At that time, Divali Day was an occasion observed by the Hindus as part of their customary religious practices without any special national recognition. This was to change in the following year, 1966, when the government proclaimed that Divali Day would be an annual public holiday in Trinidad and Tobago. From that time onwards, Hindus were free to devote an entire day to Divali preparations and celebrations.

Dosti was released in India on November 6, 1964. By the time the movie reached the shores of Trinidad, it had won six Filmfare awards from the seven nominations it had received, including best film for 1964. This certainly helped in marketing the film, as seen in the advertisement below where the six Filmfare awards are prominently displayed:

Dosti was the 3^rd highest grossing film for 1964 in India. It was declared a “Super Hit” at the Box Office. It was also a big hit in Trinidad. It ran for three weeks at the Astor cinema in Port-of-Spain and the Metro cinema in San Fernando where it was first released. The following advertisements appeared in the Trinidad Guardian in the first two weeks of its release in Trinidad.

My earliest memory of Dosti was my mother telling my sisters and me little bits of the story each night before we fell asleep. Although electricity was widely available in Trinidad at the time, there was no electricity at home, since we lived a little distance away from the main electricity lines. I remember watching the kerosene lamp flickering in the dark house and hearing my mother excitedly talk about the movie.

I could not imagine what a cinema was like. I had previously seen a few TV shows such as Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Hogan Heroes, Bonanza etc. at the homes of neighbours, so I had a vague idea that one could see “moving pictures” at a cinema. But, I loved stories so I struggled to stay awake each night to find out the next thing that would happen in the movie as narrated by my mother.

I don’t believe my mother saw Dosti when it was first released because I would have been too young to remember her nightly stories. As was the custom in those days, the movies would first be displayed at the two biggest towns in the country, Port-of-Spain and San Fernando. In the weeks and months after, the movies would be shown in smaller towns around the country, finally ending up in the less-populated towns.

We lived about 8 miles from the closest town, Couva. There were two cinemas in Couva, the Metro and the Reno. Indian movies were only shown at the Metro. Regular show times were around 4:30 pm and 8:30 pm. Since the taxis from my village to Couva stopped their operations after dark, it was difficult to go to a movie in Couva unless it was on a Saturday, when there was an early show around 12:30 pm.

Even so, with three little children on her hands, it would have been difficult for my mother to travel to Couva to see Dosti when it was first released. There was a tendency by cinema operators to repeat the showing of successful movies in later years and this is probably how my mother got to see Dosti, about three years later with my sister.

I didn’t get a chance to see Dosti until many more years had passed. Apart from my mother’s nightly segments, my only other memory of Dosti was the songs. From all the Indian movie song albums that I am familiar with, I rank the songs of Dosti in the top 5. The songs of Mohammed Rafi were simply unforgettable. After 57 years, there is probably no one in the East Indian community who is not familiar with “Chahunga Mai Tujhe Sanjh Sawere”. Mohammed Rafi was awarded Fllmfare’s Best Playback Singer of 1964 for this song (he had already won two, one in 1960 and one in 1961).

Although this blog is about Indian film songs in Trinidad from 1940 onwards, because of the events I just described, I thought it fitting to start off the blog by featuring two songs from Dosti. Dosti is also a good place to start, since the name of the blind singer in the movie is Mohan. The first song is “Chahunga Mai Tujhe Sanjh Sawere”, which Mohan sings as he wanders aimlessly from place to place after being rejected by his friend, Ramu. Mohan makes it abundantly clear in the song that he will never again call out the name of his friend, Ramu, despite the fact that he longs for Ramu day and night.

Title	Chahunga Mai Tujhe Sanjh Sawere
Movie	Dosti
Date Released (India)	November 6, 1964
Date Released (Trinidad)	October 21, 1965
Singer	Mohammed Rafi
Lyrics	Majrooh Sultanpuri
Music	Laxmikant-Pyarelal
Starring	Sudhir Kumar, Sushil Kumar, and Sanjay Khan

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The second song from Dosti that will now be featured is, “Raahi Manwa Dukh Ki Chinta”. Just before the song starts, Ramu and Mohan visit the young girl, Manjula, and asks her for a loan of sixty rupees, the exact amount required to pay Ramu’s school fees. Manjula’s brother rebuffs them and gives them only five rupees. They walk away, feeling insulted and dejected. Mohan decides to raise the money by singing. He looks at the dejected Ramu and delivers a beautiful discourse about the role of sadness in life.

Title	Raahi Manwa Dukh Ki Chinta
Movie	Dosti
Date Released (India)	November 6, 1964
Date Released (Trinidad)	October 21, 1965
Singer	Mohammed Rafi
Lyrics	Majrooh Sultanpuri
Music	Laxmikant-Pyarelal
Starring	Sudhir Kumar, Sushil Kumar, and Sanjay Khan

Mohammed Rafi

Chahunga mai tujhe sanjh sawere
Phir bhi kabhi abb nam ko tere
Aawaj mai naa dunga
Aawaj mai naa dunga
Chahunga mai tujhe sanjh sawere
Phir bhi kabhi abb nam ko tere
Aawaj mai naa dunga
Aawaj mai naa dunga
Chahunga mai tujhe sanjh sawere

Dekh mujhe sab hai pata
Sunta hai too mann ki sada
Dekh mujhe sab hai pata
Sunta hai too mann ki sada
Mitwa mere yar 
Tujhko bar bar aawaj mai naa dunga
Aawaj mai naa dunga
Chahunga mai tujhe sanjh sawere
Phir bhi kabhi abb nam ko tere
Aawaj mai naa dunga
Aawaj mai naa dunga
Chahunga mai tujhe sanjh sawere

Dard bhi too chain bhi too
Daras bhi too nain bhi too
Dard bhi too chain bhi too
Daras bhi too nain bhi too
Mitwa mere yar 
Tujhko bar bar aawaj mai naa dunga
Aawaj mai naa dunga
Chahunga mai tujhe sanjh sawere
Phir bhi kabhi abb nam ko tere
Aawaj mai naa dunga
Aawaj mai naa dunga
Aawaj mai naa dunga
Aawaj mai naa dunga

Mohammed Rafi

I shall yearn for you day and night
Despite this, never again will your name
be called out by me
Be called out by me
I shall yearn for you day and night
Despite this, never again will your name
be called out by me
Be called out by me
I shall yearn for you day and night

Look, I know everything
That you always listen to your heart
Look, I know everything
That you always listen to your heart
Buddy, my pal
you won’t be called out by me again and again
Be called out by me
I shall yearn for you day and night
Despite this, never again will your name
be called out by me
Be called out by me
I shall yearn for you day and night

You are a pain to me, you are also my comfort
You are my sight, you are also my eyes
You are a pain to me, you are also my comfort
You are my sight, you are also my eyes
Buddy, my pal
you won’t be called out by me again and again
Be called out by me 
I shall yearn for you day and night
Despite this, never again will your name
be called out by me
Be called out by me
Be called out by me
Be called out by me