Paro Devi

Paro was a courtesan. According to Saadat Hasan Manto, she came from Meerut where she was a big hit with all the rich men of the city. Among those who frequented her kotha were the poets Josh Maleehabadi and Saghar Nizami!

She was introduced by Savak Vachcha in Shikari (1946) as a supporting actress.  She sang her own songs in this film including Chupo chupo o marne se darnewalon and Rangeela re, jawani mein sata ke kahan kahan gaya re composed by S.D. Burman. Later, she played supporting roles in many films including Do Bhai (1947), Sargam (1950), Angarey (1954) etc. However, her most memorable role was opposite Dilip Kumar and Kamini Kaushal in Shabnam (1949). The film was a box-office success mainly because of its dances and music. Three of the Mukesh-Shamshad duets were picturized on her and Dilip Kumar – Tumhare liye huwe badnaam, Tu mehloun mein rehnai walie and Pyar mein tumne dhoka seekha.

Despite having a good voice, music directors rarely used her voice for playback singing. Many of her songs onscreen were sung by Shamshad Begum. However, she did sing quite a few songs in films and one of the most famous one was Deewana gaya daaman sai lipat from Karwat (1949), music by Hansraj Behl – Ummer Siddique

Listen!

Deewana gaya daaman sai lipat, Singer – Paro Devi, Music – Hansraj Behl, Film – Karwat, Year – 1949

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