सुनने वाले सुनो कहानी

'Sunane Wale Suno Kahani' is one of seven documented songs from the 1941 Hindi film Mere Raja, with lyrics by Ishwar Chandra Kapoor and music by Damodar Sharma. The framing — an invitation to listeners to hear a story (kahani) — suggests a narrative or sutradhar-style number, a common device in films of the era. The playback singer is not recorded in surviving catalogues, and no audio is presently in circulation.

Ishwar Chandra Kapoor was active as a Hindi film lyricist primarily in the late 1930s and early 1940s. 'Sunane Wale Suno Kahani' opens in the second-person plural — an address to listeners — before pivoting to narrate a 'kahani' (story). This structural move mirrors the opening of classical tale-telling forms like the dastan or the qissa, where the narrator secures the audience's attention with an invocation before beginning the narrative. The word 'wale' (those who / you who) is a versatile Hindustani suffix creating an inclusive, intimate community of listeners: 'sunane wale' means simultaneously 'those who listen' and 'you who are listening', blurring the boundary between character and audience. Whether the song proceeds to narrate the film's story within its verses or merely frames the film's mood, the title alone reads as a self-aware, theatrical gesture — a filmmaker's invitation wearing a lyricist's clothes.

Mere Raja (1941) was produced by Paramount Film Company and directed by T. S. Mani. The cast included Mazhar Khan, E. Billimoria, Kanta and Bibbo — a mix of established Bombay character actors and leading players typical of mid-tier studio productions of the period. Damodar Sharma's music was set to lyrics by Ishwar Chandra Kapoor across seven documented songs. 'Sunane Wale Suno Kahani' places a narrator figure at the centre — a device deeply familiar in Indian performance traditions from the katha-vachak of temple courtyards to the sutradhar of Sanskrit drama. In 1941 Hindi film, a sutradhar-style song could introduce a flashback, contextualise the hero's situation, or hold audience attention during a scene transition. The film's title — 'My King' — suggests a narrative of loyalty, power or romantic idealism, and a storyteller's opening invites the audience into that world from the outset.