सौगंध

A 1942 social drama from New Theatres, Calcutta, directed by Hemchandra Chunder, whose title — 'Saugandh' (the oath / the pledge) — frames a melodrama of vows and moral testing in the studio's signature literary register. As with most New Theatres productions of the era, the film's enduring claim on memory rests less on its plot than on its R. C. Boral score, sung in part by the actor-singer Asit Baran.

The score is by R. C. Boral with lyrics by Pandit Natwar. The most remembered number, 'Ab Aayi Basant Bahaar', is sung by Asit Baran; 'Sakhi Tori Chaturai Sab Jaan Gayi' is sung by Vinay Goswami; 'Naach Naach Chanchal Man Naache' features an unidentified female voice picturized on Bharati Devi.

New Theatres' house style placed the music director and the studio's literary sensibility at the centre of production. Hemchandra Chunder was one of the studio's reliable in-house directors, and Pandit Natwar supplied the verse for Boral's tunes. The presence of Tulsi Chakraborty in a supporting role marks the Bengali theatre and film talent pool that New Theatres routinely drew upon.

Saugandh is a representative New Theatres production at the very moment the Calcutta studio's golden run was being challenged by the rise of Bombay's music industry. R. C. Boral — widely called the father of Indian film music — anchored the soundtrack, and Asit Baran's on-screen-and-playback double duty exemplifies the New Theatres tradition of singing actors that ran from K. L. Saigal through K. C. Dey.

Saugandh survives today chiefly through its songs, which circulate on vintage-music blogs and archival channels. 'Ab Aayi Basant Bahaar' in particular remains a touchstone for collectors of 1940s New Theatres music and of Asit Baran's vocal recordings, preserving a snapshot of the Calcutta studio sound on the eve of the industry's decisive shift to Bombay.