ANAND BAKSHI : Pen and Personality by Ameen Sayani.
Almost all the songs that Anand Bakshi wrote are embedded in our hearts. His lyrics spoke of all shades of love and hope and pain and ecstasy – but with a simplicity of expression that immediately linked his poetry with our own actual and imagined experiences.
And that endearing simplicity was also beautifully reflected in the man himself. Anand bhai was one of the nicest, warmest human beings I’ve ever met – and, if I hadn’t interviewed him, I would never had known that this kind and genial friend had spent over eight years of his life in the Armed Forces – first as a sailor, and later as a soldier !
Fortunately, the only lasting influence that his military background had on him was to imbibe in him a sense of discipline and perseverance – without blunting the romanticism of his heart and his pen.
Finally, his “fauji ghisaai” had also given him a thick-skinned good humour, which helped him to enjoy all the ragging that he often got from his many good friends. For instance, he always had a good laugh whenever Laxmikant revealed how this “bahadur sipahi” was always terrified of air-travel and lizards!
Thank you, Anand bhai, for all that you gave us – it will light up our lives forever !
Anand Bakshi’s popular & hit songs that played on (Binaca) Geetmala radio show,
from 1962 until 2002, hosted by the one and only Ameen Sayani (Information thanks to Rajil Sayani):
Ameen Sayani & (Anand Bakshi with his guru lyricist D N Madhok, receiving Binaca Geetmala Silver Jubilee memento, 1977):
D N Madhok was the earliest lyricist to use Punjabi in Hindi songs, Anand Bakshi was the next and he made Punjabi words popular & ‘normal’ in Hindi film songs from 1970s onward.
Thanks also to the songs’ co-creators – music composers, singers, directors, musicians, sound recordists, story writers, producers, cinematographers, actors….. for making these songs successful, it is always team work, no one is an island.
Total nos of songs of all lyricists that played on Geetmala over the decades:
2094 songs played of all lyricists from 1952 to 2006; Anand Bakshi’s songs played nearly 392 times on the weekly Geetmala show from 1962 to 2002. A few composers and singers’ whose songs written by Anand Bakshi played on Geetmala: Laxmikant Pyarelal & AB – 182 songs played. R.D. Burman & AB :- 67 songs played. S.D. Burman & AB :- 10 Kalyanji Anandji & AB: – 06 A.R. Rahman & AB :- 03 Lata M & AB :- 155 (Lata Mangeshkar has sung max songs of AB in her entire career. As of October 1990, she had sung 680 Anand Bakshi’s songs for nearly 309 films. ) Kishore K & AB:- 122 M Rafi & AB:- 74 Asha B & AB :- 39 (Asha Bhosle and Suman Humrahi Kalyanpur are the two singers who sang maximum of his songs in the first decade of his career.) Mukesh & AB :- 12
Saregama Caravaan digital music player, which includes the Geetmala radio show hosted by Ameen Sayani, is available at:
https://www.saregama.com/carvaan/carvaan2.0hindi
Contributed by Ajay Poundarik, 510 songs of Anand Bakshi in ‘Caravan’ music player, 2019:
Ameen Sayani saab with author Rakesh Anand Bakshi’s book on radio presenters: Let’s Talk On Air! Conversations with radio presenters.
ANAND BAKSHI : Pen and Personality by Ameen Sayani.
Almost all the songs that Anand Bakshi wrote are embedded in our hearts. His lyrics spoke of all shades of love and hope and pain and ecstasy – but with a simplicity of expression that immediately linked his poetry with our own actual and imagined experiences.
And that endearing simplicity was also beautifully reflected in the man himself. Anand bhai was one of the nicest, warmest human beings I’ve ever met – and, if I hadn’t interviewed him, I would never had known that this kind and genial friend had spent over eight years of his life in the Armed Forces – first as a sailor, and later as a soldier !
Fortunately, the only lasting influence that his military background had on him was to imbibe in him a sense of discipline and perseverance – without blunting the romanticism of his heart and his pen.
Finally, his “fauji ghisaai” had also given him a thick-skinned good humour, which helped him to enjoy all the ragging that he often got from his many good friends. For instance, he always had a good laugh whenever Laxmikant revealed how this “bahadur sipahi” was always terrified of air-travel and lizards!
Thank you, Anand bhai, for all that you gave us – it will light up our lives forever !
BINACA GEETMALA ‘Song of the year’ Playlist
1962 to 2000. “Saal ka sab se lok priy geet”
- YOUTUBE PLAYLIST:
- SPOTIFY PLAYLIST:
FILMFARE AWARDS PLAYLISTS
40 nominations, 4 awards 1967 to 2001 playlist.
- YOUTUBE PLAYLIST:
- SPOTIFY PLAYLIST:
Updated list (July 2025) songs of Anand Bakshi that played on Binaca Geetmala:
Binaca Geetmala Anand Bakshi Songs June 2025
(Work in progress, spelling corrections have to be made as yet. Your feedback, suggestions, corrections are welcome at rakbak16@gmail.com)