Anand Bakshi
Anand Bakshi (21 July 1930 – 30 March
2002) was a popular Indian poet and lyricist. He was nominated for the Filmfare
award for Best lyricist a total of 40 times, resulting in 4 wins.
Early life
Anand Bakshi (Bakshi Anand Prakash Vaid)
was born in Rawalpindi, now in Pakistan, on 21 July 1930. His ancestors were
Mohyal Brahmins from Kurree, near Rawalpindi, and had their origins in Kashmir.
His mother, Sumitra, died when he was five years old. Bakshi's family migrated
to India (Delhi) on 2 October 1947, in the aftermath of the partition, when he
was 17 years old.[citation needed] The family arrived in Delhi, via a Dakota
aircraft, and then migrated to Pune, then Meerut and settled finally in Delhi.
Bakshi was fond of writing poetry since
his youth, but he did this mostly as a private hobby. In a 1983 interview with
Doordarshan, Bakshi recounted that after his initial studies, he joined the
Indian Navy, where due to a paucity of time, he could only write occasionally.
He continued to write poetry whenever time permitted, and used his songs and
lyrics in local programmes related to his troop. He worked in the Navy for many
years and simultaneously tried to market his songs in the Mumbai film world.
Success
Anand Bakshi came to Hindi films to make
a name for himself in writing and singing, but ended up becoming more
successful in writing lyrics. He got his break writing songs in a Brij Mohan
film titled Bhalaa Aadmi (1958), acted by Bhagwan Dada. He wrote four songs in
this film. His first song in this film was "Dharti Ke Laal Na Kar Itna
Malaal" which was recorded on 9 Nov 1956. (In his own voice on All India
Radio interview)
After writing for a few movies from 1956
onwards, he first found success in 1962 with Mehendi Lagi Mere Haath, which was
produced by (LimeLight), Music Kalyanji & Anandji, Music Pub-HMV/Saregama.
Bakshi later made another mark for himself writing a quawwali for the 1962 film
Kala Samundar, the song was "Meri Tasveer Lekar Kya Karoge Tm". He
got his real big breakthroughs in 1965 with Himalay Ki God Mein, and a huge
breakthrough again in 1965 with the super-hit film Jab Jab Phool Khile,
starring Shashi Kapoor; and yet again in 1967 with the super-hit movie Milan
(starring Sunil Dutt). These six hit films within a decade of his entry into
films cemented his status as a lyrics writer of immense calibre. Bakshi was
preferred lyricist by Rajesh Khanna for films with Rajesh Khanna in lead. He
went on to work as a lyricist of over 3500 songs and 638 films in his
career.[5][citation needed] (See Filmography below for films reference, names
of the films and their year of censorship.)
He got his first break as singer in a
film directed by Mohan Kumar – Mom Ki Gudiya (1972). The first song he sang was
a duet – "Baaghon mein bahaar aayi hothon pe pukaar aayi", along with
Lata Mangeshkar, with music composed by Laxmikant–Pyarelal. He also sang the
solo "Main dhoondh raha tha sapnon mein" from the same film. He also
sang songs in four other films: Sholay (1975), where he sang the quawwali
"Chand Sa Koi Chehera" along with Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar and
Bhupinder, (the song was released on vinyl, but not in the feature film); Maha
Chor (1976); Charas (1976); and Balika Badhu (1976).
Anand Bakshi was widely associated with
music composers such as Laxmikant–Pyarelal, R D Burman, Kalyanji Anandji, SD
Burman, Anu Malik, Rajesh Roshan and Anand-Milind, and his songs have been sung
by all the top singers as well as other singers such as Shamshad Begum, Ila
Arun, Khursheed Bawra, Amirbai Karnataki, Sudha Malhotra and more. He is known
to have worked with more than one generation of music composers.
He wrote the first recorded songs of many
first time male and female leads who went on to become stars, and also of
singers such as Shailendra Singh, Kumar Sanu, Kavita Krishnamurthy etc., and he
established himself as a versatile lyricist with the song "Dum Maro
Dum" in the movie Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1972).
After this, he wrote memorable lyrics in
many movies including Bobby, Amar Prem (1971), Aradhana (1969), Jeene Ki Raah,
Mera Gaon Mera Desh, Aaye Din Bahar Ke, Aya Sawan Jhoom Ke, Seeta Aur Geeta,
Sholay (1975), Dharam Veer, Nagina, Lamhe, Hum (1991), Mohra (1994), Dilwale Dulhania
Le Jayenge (1995), Pardes (1997), Heer Raanjha, Dushman (1998), Taal (1998),
Mohabbatein (2000), Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001), and Yaadein (2001).
Death
Late in his life, he suffered from heart
and lung disease as a consequence of lifelong smoking. In March 2002, he caught
a bacterial infection at Nanavati hospital during a minor heart surgery. He
finally died of multiple organ failure on 30 March 2002, 8:00 PM at Mumbai's
Nanavati Hospital, at the age of 71. The last released movie with lyrics by
Anand Bakshi (after his death) was Mehbooba.
At the time of his death in 2002, he was survived by his wife Kamla Mohan Bakshi, his daughter Suman Datt, sons Rajesh Bakshi, Rakesh Bakshi, and daughter Kavita Bali.
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