रतन पिया

Ratan Piya was a Hindi film lyricist of the 1940s, remembered chiefly for his work on V. Shantaram's landmark Shakuntala (1943), the debut production of Rajkamal Kalamandir. Writing alongside Diwan Sharar for composer Vasant Desai, he penned several of the film's songs, including 'Mere Baba Ne Baat Meri Maan Li' and 'Jhulungi Jhulungi' sung by Jayashree, 'Tumhe Prasann Yun Dekh Ke' rendered by Zohrabai Ambalewali, and the patriotic ensemble piece 'Pyari Pyari Ye Sukhad Matribhoomi Apni'. Shakuntala was a major hit that ran for over a hundred weeks and became one of the first Indian films to be shown commercially in the United States, giving his verses unusually wide reach for the time. His other traced credits are few: songs in Zabaan (1943), scored by C. Ramchandra, and in Maali (1944), with a handful of scattered later credits appearing in song databases through the late 1940s. The name 'Ratan Piya', carrying the traditional poet's suffix 'Piya', is very likely a pen name; nothing further about his life has been reliably documented.