चिराग़

A 1943 Hindi social drama from Murli Movietone, directed by Ram Daryani and headlined by the singing-actor Ishwarlal alongside Kaushalya and Veena Kumari. Like much of the era's studio output, the film's lasting value rests less on its melodramatic plot than on Khemchand Prakash's tuneful score, sung by a cast who carried their own songs in the pre-playback singing-star tradition.

Khemchand Prakash scored Chirag in the singing-star idiom of the early 1940s, writing for the voices of his own cast — Ishwarlal, Kaushalya and Veena Kumari — rather than for dedicated playback singers. The lyrics were divided among three writers: D.N. Madhok, Wali Sahab and Pandit Indra. The surviving 78-rpm record titles preserve the soundtrack's range, from the devotional 'Jholi Meri Bhar Do Baba' and the Krishna-lullaby 'Soja Soja Pyare Kanhaiya' to the romantic duets 'Aao Phir Se Yaad Karen' and 'Do Bol Muhabbat Wale Koi Bolo'.

Chirag belongs to the rich middle phase of Khemchand Prakash's career — the years between his Ranjit successes and the towering Tansen (1943) and Mahal (1949) scores — when he was among the most prolific and melodically inventive composers in Bombay. The film is also noted in music histories as an early break for the playback-era singer Vishni Lal, recommended to Khemchand Prakash by director Ram Daryani.