अनजान बने मेहमान

One of the two Rajkumari sides commercially pressed from Apna Paraya (1942), 'Anjaan Bane Mehman' — 'become a stranger-guest' — voices the film's central wound, the returning husband who is now a foreigner in his own home. Set to Pandit Indra's words and Anil Biswas's composition, it complements 'Pardesi Ghar Aaja' as the reflective counterpart to that song's outward call, and is among the small set of verifiable recordings to survive from this National Studios production.

Anil Biswas keeps the arrangement intimate — harmonium, light tabla and a thin string line under a slow, song-led tune — letting Rajkumari shade the lyric of estrangement with restraint rather than melodrama. It is characteristic of his measured early-1940s manner, where melodic line and a clear vocal carry the emotion ahead of orchestral colour.