Considering the current situation in India, with farmers' protests at the forefront, many of us have been listening to numerous hindi songs on the Annadatta’s. Hindi movies have been enamored with village life from its inception. True, rural life as shown in Hindi cinema is far from reality, with the exception of a few films (Godaan, Do Bigha Zameen, Aurat, and its adaptation Mother India, among others). Anyone who has only seen farms in Hindi films would believe that Indian farmers spend their days singing and dancing and bill-and-cooing with beautiful village girls.
Farms and farmers, on the other hand, have a far more difficult existence than that. And farmers deserve all of our thanks and respect: we wouldn't be able to eat if it weren't for farmers.
But the farmer in Hindi cinema songs is the core of the subject. Given the prevalence of singing and dancing in Hindi films, here is a list of songs featuring characters who are farmers or farm labourers, singing about farming or some part of agriculture, the land, what life means to them, and so on.
List of best hindi songs on farmers: listen and enjoy
Dharti kahe pukaarke (Do Bigha Zameen, 1953): The first film that comes to mind is this classic Bimal Roy film about a poor farmer who is forced to leave his village and travel to the big city in order to earn enough money to redeem his prized two bighas.
Umad-ghumadkar aayi re ghata (Do Aankhen Baarah Haath, 1957): Do Aankhen Baarah Haath had this song if Do Bigha Zameen had Hariyaala saawan dhol bajaata aaya as a monsoon song. The song Umad-ghumadkar aayi re ghata commemorates the arrival of the rains and the joy it brings to the farmers' lives.
Hiya jarat rahat din rain (Godaan, 1963): This film starring Raj Kumar and Kamini Kaushal was adapted from Munshi Premchand's classic novel about a poor farmer and his family whose greatest wish in life is to own a cow.
Mere desh ki dharti sona ugle (Upkaar, 1967): However, while Mere desh ki dharti eventually becomes a paean to India's heroes, whether it's the Unknown Soldier or stalwarts like Bose or Tilak, the song's concentration is on the country's rural, agricultural areas.
Dukh bhare din beete re bhaiya (Mother India, 1957): This song about a good crop and everything that it implies comes from one of Hindi cinema's classic films. While the lyrics (by Shakeel Badayuni) of Dukh bhare din beete re bhaiya aren't explicitly about farming and the delight of a successful harvest, the picturization is.
Bol bol tu bol (Aurat, 1940): Mother India was a remake of Mehboob Khan's film Aurat (1940), starring Sardar Akhtar, which he had directed seventeen years before. Anil Biswas' music for Aurat consisted of a number of short songs, each lasting only a few minutes, and given the film's rural location, several of them dealt with farming in some way.
Aao jhoomein gaayein (Paraya Dhan, 1971): Despite the fact that it was released in 1971, Paraaya Dhan has a late 1960s flavour about it, which is why I included a song from it on this list. Hema Malini's heroine, who was raised in a Himalayan hamlet by her foster father, a converted former dacoit (Balraj Sahni), goes dancing and singing across the fields while the farmers harvest their crops (grain of some type, and cabbages) and load them onto vehicles.
Aayo re aayo re saawan aayo re (Bandhan, 1969): Another of those songs about the delight of the monsoon's arrival and the importance of the monsoon in the farmer's life. Bandhan, like Godaan, Do Bigha Zameen, and Mother India, was a film about a moneylender's grasp on a farmer who wants to keep his land no matter what, although the narrative was not quite as bleak.
Jai dharti maiyya jai ho (Dharti ke Laal, 1946): This song differs from the others in that there is no farming work taking place in the background. But many believed Jai dharti maiyya, from one of the great films on farming and the struggle of farmers, deserved to be on this list.
Naach re dharti ke pyaare (Heera Moti, 1959): This song, along with Dharti kahe pukaarke, is the favorite of the bunch for two reasons: both songs are fantastic in terms of lyrics and melody, and both feature picturization that really depicts the life of a farmer.
