FAN LOVE!!! How deeply this listener has listened to their songs; Fan love for the creators of retro songs we love, is the biggest reward for artists. This above compliment is not just for Anand Bakshi, its also for all those who created those songs with him, his directors, music composers, singers, musicians, sound recordist, actors, writers of those amazing stories, producers who invested their passion, money and time. Thanks to the songs’ co-creators – music composers, singers, directors, musicians, sound recordists, story writers, producers, cinematographers, actors….. it is always team work, no one is an island. – Rakesh Anand Bakshi.
“It’s not about making hit films, or writing a hit script. Hits and Flops are learnings. What really matters at the end of the run of hits and flops is the kind of person you become while your work becomes Hits and Flops. And the Colleagues, Family and Friends you earn and keep along that way. That’s the best reward of a life lived. The Best reward of your work.” – Anand Bakshi.
The film-song lyric. A breed apart.
By Rakesh Anand Bakshi
The Indian film song bridged the gap between classical, folk, and western music. Therefore, the same song was loved across demographics, transcending barriers and boundaries between classes and masses and nations.
However, the film lyric was once considered a poor country cousin of poetry. This was prior to the 1980’s. Religious songs and liturgy and shayari considered the film song as profane, rubbishing it as simply first, as an unwanted pregnancy, and later as a bloody- bastard-child.
The film lyric survived. And how!
Some poets who were successful film-lyrics writers when Anand Bakshi arrived in the late 1950s, and even after he was successful and ruled Hindi cinema lyrics on the top with a few others, in the 70’s and 80’s, some lyrics writers from the earlier generation and some from his own looked down on him and publicly claimed ‘Bakshi shayari nahin, tukbandi karta hai. Woh toh shayar hi nahi.”
A lyrics writer may not be a special kind of man, but a lyrics writer is a special kind of poet. The film’s story is necessary and enough for him or her to subconsciously weave his or her metaphors, poetry and philosophy, as a lyrical expression. Anand Bakshi was often asked the source or secret of his success and inspiration behind his largely high quality and high numbers of songs. He would state as a matter of fact, with no qualms about sharing the world’s best kept secret “Story sunn ke hi dimaag chalta hai.” Many directors we met said, “… before every song he would ask us to narrate the entire story once again. And when he listened even an earthquake could not have distracted him.”
Though the story was of prime importance to him, a lyricist, he knew and respected the place of the Music Composer in the trio of a film song – the Music Composer, the Lyrics writer and the Singer/s; instruments, words and human voice. It is the music composer who fuses these primary elements of the film song and enables it to reach the listener, the audience. He or she weaves the lyrics, the singer’s voice, and the tune and orchestra into, ideally, a cohesive and harmonious song. Therefore, the music composer is at the top of the chain of three, even though their boundaries often blur.
The film lyric aspires to be effective, rather than authentic. Because in most cases it must justify the story, reflect elements in the script. Poetry can stand alone. A film lyric mostly will stand shoulder to shoulder with the script. Hence, Anand Bakshi considered it more challenging to write film lyrics, because the writer has to work within the confines of the script, and willingly accept and respect the limited freedom of thought and expression. Of course, the lyrics writer can fly, like a poet. But only within the sky of the story and not in more immense and vast skies of his or her mind. This makes it a difficult discipline compared to the earlier shayari.
The film-lyric has acquired a universality. It became a fabric anyone could adorn to lift or entertain themselves, unlike shayari in the past was restricted to a certain class, and centuries ago only meant for the kings’ and queens’ darbars.
Such artists cannot be islands unto themselves. Unlike a poet, the film lyrics writer has to gel with the art of others without losing his or her own art and individuality. Like a river flowing through an ocean and still maintaining its characteristics when she emerges from across many oceans. That is the strength, rigidity with malleability, and thus the uniqueness and speciality of the film-lyrics writer. A specialist, really.
Pt. Narendra Sharma stamps a film lyricist with a beautiful expression: The film lyrics writer inspires and entertains the unknown man, encouraging him to believe he or she too could perhaps be its writer, its singer, or its music composer.
A film lyric, like a common man, osmosis into a listener unlike a poem. In an instant. Faster than lightning. Because she sails right into your consciousness on the additional winds of a music composer and singer. The three being inseparable, credit and love for any one will be shared by all three.
If an artist is not a special kind of person but every person can be a special kind of artist then the film lyric and the film-lyrics writer are a special kind of art and artist by themselves.
Inspiration and Anand Bakshi
By Rakesh Anand Bakshi
21st of July dawned upon us, my Father’s Birth anniversary, and once again dear Ali Peter John Sir asked me to write something about my Father, Anand Prakash Bakhshi Vaid (Anand Bakshi). Something beyond his expressions that have already been heard through his more than 3000 lyrics.
I did not know where to begin, what to write as it’s difficult to recollect things you hear and see around you as a child while you are busy making grand plans to run down and play with your friends.
I thought of something people ask me often – “How did Bakshi ji get inspired?”
I don’t know the complete nor the exact answer. I do know he was primarily inspired by the film’s story and screenplay. However, the metaphors and expression were his. I miss him and at such times too, as I wish he was around to reply to my curiosity and that of some of his passionate fans, who want to know so much more about a man they heard a lot but rarely saw and never met.
I think I learned from my Father … “Inspiration does not come like a bolt of lightning, nor is it a kinetic, energetic conscious striving, …. but Inspiration can come into us slowly and quietly and discreetly and even all the time, though we must regularly and every day, moment by moment give it a little chance to start flowing, then to keep flowing, provide it with a solitude and idleness. You need not leave your home to write the most awesome or meaningful lyrics. Remain sitting at your table, your bedroom, your living room, and listen. Listen to the words the silence speaks within you. And you need not even listen, but simply wait, just learn to become quiet, and still, and solitary. And the World around you, the Universe will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked in an art form of your choice. The Poet will find his words, the Painter will find his colors. Because then Inspiration has no choice; it will roll in ecstasy at your feet, the feet of the Artist, the Poet, the Musician, the Painter…. At the feet of the one who knows how to welcome it and make it stay.”
Rank as an artist
By Rakesh Anand Bakshi
Rank is determined by:
a. an artist’s/writer’s grip upon the Truth (reality).
b. by his response to his environment (the world he wants to create from the characters and situations and stories he was narrated by the director, and the world the artist lives in, his home, his family, his work place, his friends, his city, country, his culture)
c. by his or her ability to stand the test of time
d. and most fittingly by the quality of hard work/effort which reveals his technical skills,
e. his personal worth. (not wealth, but worth as a human, as a soul, as a spirit, as a mind)
f. his Vision as an artist.
Bakshi ji lived in a world of realities and unseen realities. the unseen realities being the world of his thoughts and feelings. for him thoughts and feelings weighed more and obtain more in the making of a man than do all the tangible realities which surrounded him. thoughts and feelings are stuff which life was made up of for him and were the languages of his soul that communicated through his expression of writing. for him in each word was imprisoned a feeling and that is why he could express the deepest and widest of emotions in simple words because even those simple were ones which held feelings for him.
Every artist, writer, has 3 distinct attributes:
a. His nature. (his artistic temperament. meaning he is sensitive to harmony and in harmony, more sensitive or alert to sights sounds smells, he sees or notices values in the everyday world which make little or no appeal to many others. he considers nature (mother nature) as a storehouse so huge that he can forever find all the materials with which to construct a world of his own.
b. His rank. (which I described earlier)
c. His ability to stamp himself upon his work. most of his lyrics are proof of his simple language and depth and a play of words, and they almost always rhyme, unlike some other writers who write non-rhyming songs. Bakshi ji had an amazing ability to rhyme his verses almost always.
d. beyond talent and skills an artist must have the faculty of hard work, close work and constant work. this is made possible by his sheer love for his subject of work, a love so great that he never sees the work because it is replaced by the hidden and rarely revealed joy of working, the joy of application and accomplishment of the work.
It is up to the listener and reader if Anand Bakshi and any other srtist you are a fan of lived up these definitions of an artist. This is just my view, all views are welcome.
Filmmaker Subhash Ghai
90th Birth Anniversary 21st July 2020, Subhash Ghai, Vijay Akela, Rakesh Anand Bakshi. (Thanks to Indian Performing Rights Society)
90th Birth Anniversary 21st July 2020, Tribute to Anand Bakshi | Subhash Ghai | Kumaar | Amitabh Bhattacharya | Irshad Kamil & Rakesh Anand Bakshi (Thanks to Indian Performing Rights Society)
Pindi – The landscape of his childhood
(Androo-e-shehr – Inside Anand Bakshi’s village Pindi.)
A Tribute by Rakesh Anand Bakshi to the pind (village) of Anand Bakshi.
The earth does not belong to man. Man can belong to the earth. Even though he cannot possess her, she will possess him. Pindi meant that to Nand (Anand Bakhshi). Until his golden years.
Her memory remained a mystical and mysterious connection to his past. There was not a night, three decades later, when Nand, by now Anand Bakshi the lyricists, did not speak fondly with nostalgia of life back then in is beloved Pindi. Describing his rural childhood pal, Pindi, with the affection one reserves for things special but lost forever.
Androo-e-shehr – Inside Nand’s Pindi.
Jamun trees. They built doors from their insect repellent wood, but even if a teenager stepped on a branch, it was likely he or she would crumble to earth like the fruit free falls on ripening. The sweet-sour jamun fruit did not remain elusive for agile and light footed Nand. He would climb the highest branches, adjusting his weight carefully, his friends cheering him on in greedy anticipation of the sweet sour big and juicy fruits of his nearly foolhardy labor. Ironically, decades later, when this same child would not reside in any apartment beyond two stories higher, out of fear of greater heights. The Jamun trees grow as much too, going up to three stories too. The grape fruit trees was also as hard to pick from, and was another target of the children’s summer joys. The Plum bushes were another target of the children s gourmet ambitions.
Pine trees were aplenty. Banyan trees that must have been more than a hundred years old were aplenty. Under these benevolent timber giants, the children rested, distancing themselves from the hot midday sun, before setting off home for lunch with his Mohallah-dars, neighbourhood pals.
Meals were served on a dining table, unlike the traditional system of service on ground using Durrees, carpets using “Dastar Khwans” the long Mats.
In the early evenings, many flowers of many varieties attracted a variety of butterflies, which attracted children. Nand too chased them to hold them by their colorful wings and after having admired their beauty would set them free. Five decades later, when his son Rakesh purchased a cage with the most beautiful pair of love-birds, from his saved pocket-money, Anand Bakshi set them free. Reason – you have not lived under foreign rule so do not know the value of freedom. No caged birds nor fish, not even tethered dogs, were allowed to be kept as pets at home.
Autumn would arrive with the fragrance of dry leaves. These carried colors no artists can match on man-made canvas, This was another vivid memory because Nand could describe her colors even three decades later. Including the bakery items also sold in big tin boxes by the on-foot vendors.
Chittian Hattian was connected with its surrounding areas through a network of narrow, labyrinthine streets, and strangers walking around on their own could easily get lost there. Because the only traffic possible was pedestrian and bicycles, children had a field day playing on safe streets right outside their homes, with their mothers keeping a close watch on them from windows and verandas.
Knitting was a hobby and joy of the household women and kept them indoors. Bangles, hair clips from Bambai or Dilli, woollen yarn and muslin cloth was sold house to house by sellers operating out of a single tin trunk, balanced precariously on his head. They were identified by the metallic yard-stick in their hands. Nand was fascinated by the variety of goods, of all sizes and shapes and colors, inside one trunk. Magical. Buffaloes ferrying water on leather bags across their backs from water tanks and wells in the vicinity to the house of the rich Europeans or Indian Sahebs.
Salted Kheera placed on ice blocks, Dahi Balley were the children’s favorites. Tikka-Kebabas were the local favorite with the elders. Late night people would visit shops to drink hot sweet milk served in glazed earthen huge cups, and salted or sweet “Lassi with perhas” a drink made with curd and dehydrated milk (Khoya). One anna Roti and Daal mufft (free) was a common fare in many restaurants. Halwa puri, mutton nihari and channay were rare treats on festive days.
A landscape of religious tolerance, Muslims would pray before dawn, and the Hindus/Sikhs would visit their temples/gurdwaras to pray post dawn. Each of them would recite their prayers aloud, be it the Gita (aarti), the Koran (aazaan) or the Granth (paath), and no one took offence to another’s beliefs. Communal flare ups were very rare. There was respect for all. Hindu-Muslims-Sikhs mingled during both happy and sad occasions. All festivals were equally celebrated, even that of Christians. All types of festivals of Muslims and Hindus/Sikhs and Christians were celebrated with great pomp and show under competitive attitude. The main Hindu festivals were Dusehra, Diwali and Basant. The main Muslim festivals were Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Azha and Eid Milad-un-Nabi. A big attraction for all communities was burning of three big Statues of Hindu gods during Dusehra. People gathered in thousands to see the function. There was a tradition of sending sweets and special dishes to Mohalla –dars neighbours on nearly every special occasion.
Almost all the buildings in Pindi were lighted with candles and “Diyas” on Diwali and the whole town was lit with dim twinkling lights all the night. Special kinds of sweets were prepared on Diwali. One such sweet was Channa Murghi, very small round balls prepared with caramelized milk. The Diwali being distinctively observed was seen in the densely Hindu pockets of the population like Arya Mohalla, Bhabrha Bazaar, Naya Mohallah, Chitian Hatiyan. Child birth at home was common, so Daees, mid-wives, were respected professionals and delivered babies of all communities.
There was a tall clock, gharhyal, whose bell would chime by the hour and helped people nearby tell time. The further people went from the clock the more audible was the ring, fascinated Nand. Water carriers (Mashkys) was another fascinating sight for a child. Mitti ka tel (kerosene) lamp posts dotted streets and filled with oil daily and lighted in the evenings.
Hindu traders were in majority and financially much better off than the others. Sikhs were second to the Hindus. Muslims were mainly farmers/tillers and dominated in the military, Police and in Civil Courts services. The Hindu/Sikhs were the biggest property owners in Pindi. A telephone connection was a sign of high status. The Bakhshis had one.
Tongaas and a few Buggies were the sawari available for well to do families, otherwise bicycles or on foot were the means for travelling for the common man. Phillips, Hercules and Raleigh bicycles were in use. Ford, Chevrolet and Mini Austin cars, Nanda Bus Service, Pindi Bus Service were other means of private and public transport. For Muslim ladies a bed sheet was fixed on the back side of the Tongas as “Pardah” to cover the seating so that they were no more visible to the public while travelling. The Tonga Kootch-wan (driver) would charge four annas per trip for longer journeys. Import of bicycles was not allowed, the locally made bieks were popular and Nand prided in owning an imported bicycle when he arrived in his teens.
Railway was the only comfortable transport service, with 1st Class, 2nd Class, Inter Class and 3rd Class compartments. The common people could not even think of travelling in 1st or 2nd Class compartments. Only the Indian/British Army officers used 1st class, whereas all the other rank British would travel in the 2nd Class.
Road-side Chinese-acrobats, snake charmers, comedians, medicine men (mustanad Hakeems) selling his cures at two annas, Hakims of all nationalities running their Matabs (Clinics) and the Pansaarys (Pharmacists) used to sell herbal medicines. Dentists with just a chair and tongs as tools of trade occupied footpaths under banyan trees, like the barbers and tea sellers, monkey-tricks, wild bear-tricks, magicians, weight lifters were other sights were part of Pindi’s mauj-masti for children. A skinny bony man lifting a stone far beyond his capacity was another road side attraction. Nand loved the syrups the herbal pharmacists sold, Sharbat Banafsha, Sharbat Shahtoot, Sharbat Falsa, Sharbat Anaar, Sharbat Bazoori, In later decades Rooh Afza, a rose syrup remained a family favorite for the Bakshis for over three decades.
Rose, Nishat, Imperial and Plaza were popular cinemas. The Imperial Cinema in the city area of Rawalpindi was initially a theatre also. There used to be mobile theatrical companies too, that toured the country.
Another form of entertainment, beyond women folk family members singing, on marriages and child births was the dancing/singing by the eunuchs. They provided music entertainment for the home ridden women folk and were looked forward to during such occasions. One more form of entertainment was, there was a sect of persons who used to memorize the entire ancestries of the gentries. When asked to narrate, they used to stand on one leg and start narrating the names of fathers/grandfathers/great grandfathers/great great grandfathers and in many cases, they used to go on naming the 10/15 generations in one go.
All India Radio had started transmitting dramas, talks, discussions, music, children programmes, and religious programmes by 1940s in Rawalpindi. Restaurants and tea shops began playing the radio to attract more customers. Phillips, HMV, Midwest, Minerva, Westinghouse, Murphy were famous brands, and the family owned a Murphy and a Phillips radio, along with owning a gramophone player, the only one on their street. Mohalla-dars would come to hear his father play Saigal’s songs. “Jo Radio Sunta Hai woh duniya se be-khabar nahin” was a common phrase Anand Bakshi remembers it from his childhood days, and may have applied to reading books when he told his son Rakesh– One who read a new page a day is truly alive.
Nand’s favorite were the Hindi music programs. He would not sleep without hearing his favorite Hindi music program. As he grew older into his teens, Saigal, Rafi and Mulesh were to become his first favorites. During early 1940s the film songs were started in their midday transmissions, which proved to be great entertainment especially with “Request Programmes”.
The price of gramophone records was Rs. 3 each; and price for a set of discs for complete dramas used to cost Rs. 10-15 depending upon the length of the drama, which was recorded on more than two/three discs on both sides. During 1920s these discs were only one-sided, and were very heavy in weight with 3-minute recording; but during 1930s the quality improved with recording on both the sides with a diameter of 5 inches. Later “LP” (Long Play) records were introduced with bigger size long-playing time. When he carried his mother’s photos with him while leaving his place of birth, he alone carried a record of Saigal too. Music too was so precious to a boy leaving his homeland at 17.
The dramas of Agha Hashar Kashmiri and Munshi Prem Chand were modern and liked very much; the fables Laila Majnu, Heer Ranjha, Shireen Farhad, Sohni Mahiwal, attracted hundreds. Hindus had their own groups that performed religious dramas Ram Leela, Mahabharat, Banbaas (Ramayan) in the evenings. The stage would be set at a height and the public would sit on ground on Durrees, and Petromax gas lights were used to illuminate the chowk.
There used to be the Fauji Drama Sabha, in the Army during British times. These drama units were mobile and kept visiting their units in various cantonments posted in far-flung uninhibited areas. Many decades later Anand Bakshi and Sunil Dutt visited and performed at Indian Army functions for free to entertain Indian jawans at border areas.
Radio and cinema were the two largest sources of mass entertainment. Unknowingly, Nand had already set his eyes on them, as he was already singing Saigal’s songs and playing the banjo when he was in his teens. Kamla Jharyia, Indo Bala and Begum Akhtar were popular singers then and one would hear any one of them if one walked across any bazaar.
There used to be mobile cinemas on wheels going round the streets showing short cut movie films (“TOTAY”) or fixed slides, Bioscopes. They were small oblong boxes fixed on four small wheels; with two or three magnifying glasses fixed on both the sides for the viewers to see through, with a hand projector fixed on one end and one square foot screen on the other side of the box. Children used to enjoy a lot after watching the “show”, after paying one or two paisa as tickets.
This may be just a fraction of all that Nand must have experienced, because, in his 40s Anand bakshi had attributed a large quantum of who he turned out to become eventually to his childhood spend in his earlier motherland – Pindi. However, a tragic event awaited little Nand, much before he could take his first step into his preteens – his closest play-mate home-mate being snatched by the hands of fate. Maybe she was too lovely for Earth to keep for long.
– Rakesh Anand Bakshi. (To write this, to do justice to the formative years Anand Bakshi spent in Rawalpindi from 1930 to 1947 I have borrowed material liberally from various other people, various sources, material I do not own copyright to, people who have written about their experiences growing up in Rawalpindi of 1930’s 40s, to be able to recreate my own faint memories and those of our relatives alive today.)
Dilip Kumar, Javed Akhtar in 1998
Woh jazbaat ka kaunsa modh hai, woh ehsaas ki kaunsi manzil hai, woh thadkanon ki kaunsi ruth hai, woh mohhabat ka kaunsa mausam hai, woh zindagi ka kaunsa mukaam hai, jahan suron ke badalon se Anand Bakshi ke geeton ke chand jhalakte na hon! Anand Bakshi. aaj ke folk writer hain; Anand Bakshi aaj ke samaaj ke shayar hain.
British National Museum mein jahan Egypt ki barson purani mummies rakhi hain, Hindustan ke baadshaon ke sharaab ke pyale aur khannjar rahke hain, jahan Rome ke tehzeeb ke nishanath aur souvenirs rahke hain, wahan ek bahut bada hall hai jahan mashhoor angrez writers ki manuscripts, literature and poetry, unki rough books, note books, rakhi hui hain kaanch ke showcases mein. Wahan George Bernard Shaw, William Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde hain, Charles Dickens hain, Keats hain; aur wahan ek showcase mein Beatles ke haath ka likha huwa geet ‘Yesterday’, bhi rakha huwa hai. Inn baaton se, hakikaton se, humme pata chalta hai – ek toh yeh ki woh kaum Beatles ki izzat karti hai; Doosra yeh pata chalta hai, ki uss kaum mein itni khud-mati hai, self-confidence hai ki woh literature-writer Shakespeare ke saath song writer aur musician Paul McCartney ki izzat karne mein apne aap ko gair-mehfoos nahin samajhti. Mujhe dukh se kehana padhta hai ki humari kaum, humari akademia mein, humare intellectuals mein, yeh self-confidence abhi tak nahin aaya.
Aaj shayad koi maane ya na maane, lekin main apne khoon se yeh likh ke de sakta hoon ke ek din aayega jab log jaanenge, ki Anand Bakshi ka aaj ke geeton aur aaj ki shayari mein kitna bada contribution hai! Aur uss din, Anand Bakshi pe thesis likhi jayengi aur Phd ki jayegi universities mein.
Today whether some people agree with me or not, but I can ink my conviction with my own blood and claim a day will arrive when our society, people will realise the worth and literary value of film song Anand Bakshi, his immense contribution to Hindi cinema songs and to literature too through his songs. The day will arrive when upon this realisation thesis will be written on his lyrics and universities will offer PhD on his film-based lyrics.
- Javed Akhtar
Kaash Main tere hathon ki Kalam hota.
(Fan love. A poem written by a fan when he was in class 10th)
Kaash Main tere hathon ki Kalam hota…..
Ya tere Kalam se Nikla ek geet hota………
din raat geeton ki kitaab mein geet ki chadar le kar sota …..
Duniya kaisi hai …..ya pyar kaisa hai tere geeton se sikhaya ….. yahan jeeya kaise jata hai….tere hi geeton ne bataya….
Duniya tujhe jaane Na jaane Main Jaan gaya hoon…..
Yeh tujhe maane Na maane Main maan gaya hoon…..
Kaash Main tere Dil ka Dard hota …
Ya tere Dard ka malham hota…
Kaash Main tere haathon ki Kalam hota …..
Kahin koi tera geet bajaade ….waha Main apna sab kuch khota….
Geetkaar toh bohot hue iss Desh mein ….
Par Kaash ….Kaash…. kaash…. Aye Dil Kaash Main ANAND BAKSHI hota.
- Harsh Barahate harshbarahate5@gmail.com
🍁#बॉलीवुड_ में_ गीतकार_ आनंद_ बख़्शी🍁
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April 28 2020 By Devmani Pandey
कोई हसीना जब रूठ जाती है और भी हसीन हो जाती है
टेशन से गाड़ी जब छूट जाती है एक दो तीन हो जाती है
🍁
यह मुखड़ा निर्देशक रमेश सिप्पी को गीतकार आनंदब ख़्शी नेअपने संघर्ष के दिनों में सुनाया था।
सिप्पी ने मुखड़ा रिजेक्ट कर दिया। कहा- ये एक दो तीन क्या है? ये नहीं चलेगा।
कई साल बाद रमेश सिप्पी ने फ़िल्म ‘शोले’ के गीत लिखने के लिएआनंद बख़्शी से अनुरोध किया।
आनंद बख़्शी ने यही मुखड़ा सामने रख दिया।
बोले- इसे रिकॉर्ड कीजिए।रमेश सिप्पी को ये मुखड़ा रिकॉर्ड करना पड़ा।
🍁
कार्टर रोड, बांद्रा के आवास ‘कोस्टाबेले’ मेंआनंद बख़्शी से 20 मार्च सन् 2001 में मुलाक़ात हुई।
फ़िल्म जगत में प्रचलित यह क़िस्सा मैंने उन्हें सुनाया। वे हंस ने लगे।बोले-
हमारे फ़िल्म जगत में ऐसे मज़ेदार क़िस्से लोगगढ़ लेते हैं। मुझे फ़िल्म ‘शोले’ में सिचुएशन बताई गई कि वीरू (धर्मेंद्र)
मज़ाकिया इंसान है।गीत उसी अंदाज़ में होना चाहिए। चरित्र के हिसाब से मैंने फोकस्टाइल में यह गीत लिखदिया।
🍁
दुनिया में कितना ग़म है
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
लाल रंग की टी शर्ट और ख़ाकी हाफ पैंट में ऊंचे क़द के आनंद बख़्शी काफ़ी स्मार्ट दिख रहे थे।
बोले- एक महीने से बीमार था अब जाकर ठीक हुआ हूं। आप से गपशप करना अच्छा लग रहा है।
मैंने कहा- अपने गीतों की कामयाबी का श्रेय आप किसे देना चाहेंगे।
वे झट से बोले- मैं नॉन मैट्रिक यानी कम पढ़ा लिखा इंसान हूं। आसान ज़बान में लिखता हूं।
मेरे गीत लोगों की समझ में आ जाते हैं।इसलिए लोग पसंद करते हैं।
दुनिया में कितना ग़म है, मेरा ग़म कितना कम है
लोगों का ग़म देखा तो, मैं अपना ग़म भूल गया
🍁
बख़्शी साहब ने बताया- मैं जब यहां आया तो मेरे सामने मजरूह सुल्तानपुरी, कैफ़ी आज़मी, साहिर लुधियानवी और शकील बदायूंनी
जैसे बहुत बड़े बड़े शायर थे। मैं तो तुकबंदी करने वाला एक साधारण गीतकार था। मेरा अंदाज़ लोगों को पसंद आगया।
🍁
दुनिया में सबका कहां ऐसा नसीब है
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
आनंद बख़्शी का जन्म रावलपिंडी में हुआ था। विभाजन के बाद एक घरकी तलाश में उनके परिवार को काफ़ी भटकना पड़ा।
उन्हें बचपन से ही गाने का शौक़ था।त्योहारों और घरेलू उत्सवों में गाते गाते गीत भी रचने लगे।
बड़े हुए तो फ़ौज की नौकरी करली।नौकरी के दौरान वे अक्सर सोचते – क्यों न फ़िल्मों में गीत लिखे जाएं!
एक दिन वे नौकरी छोड़ कर मुंबई आगए। क़िस्मत ने साथ नहीं दिया तो वापस लौट गए। फिरसे फ़ौ में भर्ती हो गए।
शादी की और जब ek beti के बाप बन गए तो क़िस्मत आज़माने सन 1956 में फिरसे मुंबई पहुंच गए।
आनंद बख़्शी ने बताया – अगर मुझे रेल कर्मी छतर मल जी न मिलते तो मैं फिर वापस चला जाता।
आनंदब ख़्शी बोरीवली लोकल में यात्रा कर रहे थे।सामने एक सीधे-साधे इंसान थे।
उन्होंने पूछा- आप क्या करते हैं? इन्होंने बताया- गीत लिखता हूं। वे बोले- कुछ सुनाइए।
बख़्शी साहब ने सुनाया। छतर मल जी बहुत प्रभावित हुए। बोरीवली के अपने रेलवे क्वार्टर में ले गए।
बोले – मैं यहां अकेला रहता हूं। आप जब तक चाहें मेरे साथ रह सकते हैं।छतर मल जी अच्छे आदमी थे।
चुपके से आनंद बख़्शी के पर्स की तलाशी लेते। अगर उस में पैसा नहुआतो तो दस-बीस रूपए डाल देते।
🍁
परदेसियों से ना अखियां मिला ना
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
सन 1956 में आनंद बक्शी ने भगवान दादा की फ़िल्म ‘भलाआदमी के गीत’ लिखे। फ़िल्म फ्लॉप हो गई।
किसी ने ताना दिया- तुम्हारी ज़रूरत सेना को है, फिल्म इंडस्ट्री को नहीं।
कुछ साल भटकने के बाद सन् 1962 में निर्माता हिरेन खेड़ा ने ‘मेहंदी लगे मेरे हाथ’ फ़िल्म में अवसर दिया। फ़िल्म चल गई।
उसी साल दूसरी फ़िल्म मिली ‘जब जब फूल खिले’। इस फ़िल्म में आनंद बख़्शी के गीतों ने पूरे हिंदुस्तान में धूम मचा दी-
परदेसियों से ना अखियां मिला ना
परदेसियों को है इक दिन जाना
🍁
आराधना, अमरप्रेम, दोरास्ते, दुश्मन, कटीपतंग, हाथी मेरे साथी,
प्रेम नगर, महबूबा, आप की क़सम आदि फ़िल्मों में आनंद बख़्शी ने राजेश खन्ना को एक से बढ़ कर एक सुपर हिट गीत दिए
“ऐसा कहा जाता है आनंद बख़्शी के गीतों ने राजेश खन्ना को सुपरस्टार बना दिया।
” मेरे इस सवाल पर वे मुस्कुराए- “मेरे गीत सुपरस्टार राजेशखन्ना पर फ़िल्माएगए इस लिए वे सुपर हिट हो गए”।
🍁
वो बादल राजा कहां से आए तुम (Chak dhoom dhoom)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
आनंद बख़्शी को अगर धुन पसंद नहीं आती थी तो वे लिखने से मना कर देते थे। एक बार उन्हों ने महेश भट्ट को मना कर दिया था। उसी धुन पर भट् टसाहब ने इंदीवर से गीत लिखाया
और वह गीत पसंद भी किया गया।
संगीतकार उत्तम सिंह ने मुझे बताया – “दिल तो पागल है” फ़िल्म में आनंद बख़्शी ने एक धुन पर लिखने से मना कर दिया।
नौजवान उदय चोपड़ा को वह धुन बहुत पसंद थी। वह आनंद बख़्शी के घर गया। उसने आग्रह किया- अंकलजी, मुझे यह धुन बहुत पसंद है।
आप इस पर हाथी घोड़ा कुछ भी लिख दी जिए। आनंद बख़्शी ने उस नौजवान की बात मान ली। ऐसा गीत लिख दिया जिस पर युवा पीढ़ी ने झूम झूम कर डांस किया।
घोड़े जै सी चाल हाथी जैसी दुम
वो बादल राजा कहां से आए तुम
🍁
टूटें ज़माने तेरे हाथ निगोड़े
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
आनंद बख़्शी के यहां तुकबंदी का बड़ा मज़े दार खेलदिखाई पड़ता है।
वन टू का फोर, फोर टू का वन, माय नेम इ जलखन।
मेरा नाम है चमेली, मैं हूं मालन अलबेली, चली आई मैं अकेली।
अमवा की डाली पे, गाए मतवाली, कोयलिया काली निराली…
एक ही लाइन में इतनेसारे तुकों का इस्तेमाल करना उन्हीं के बस की बात थी। इस तुक बंदी में वे कोई ऐसी बात भी कर जाते हैं कि दिलों के तार बज उठते हैं।
फ़िल्म ‘हीरो’ के गीत ‘बड़ी लंबी जुदाई’ में ‘तोड़े निगोड़े’ की तुकबंदी में शामिल बद्दुआ देखिए –
टूटें ज़माने तेरे हाथ निगोड़े
जिन से दिलों के तूने शीशे तोड़े
हिज्र की ऊंची दीवार बनाई …बड़ी लंबी जुदाई
हाथ के साथ ‘निगोड़े’ विशेषण का इस्तेमालअद्भुत है।
इसी तरह “चिट्ठी आई है” गीत में जो सीधी साधी तुकबंदी है वह दिल को झकझोर देती है।
सात समंदर पार गया तू, हम को ज़िंदा मार गया तू
तूने पैसा बहुत कमाया, इस पैसे ने देश छुड़ाया
देश पराया छोड़ के आजा, पंछी पिंजरा तोड़ के आजा
आजा उम्र बहुत है छोटी, अपने घर में भी है रोटी
चिट्ठी आई है आई है चिट्ठी आई है ….
🍁
आजा संवरिया आ आ आ आ Taal
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
संगीतकार ए आर रहमान रात 12 बजे काम शुरू करते हैं। गीतकार को रात भर जगाते हैं। मैंने जानना चाहा कि फ़िल्म ‘ताल’ के संगीतकार के साथ उनका अनुभव कैसा रहा ?
आनंद बख़्शी ने बताया- मुझे हवाई जहाज़ की यात्रा में बहुत डर लगता है। इसलिए मैंने चेन्नई जानेसे मना कर दिया। रहमान की बनाई धुन लेकर सुभाष घई आते।
मैं यहीं घर में लिख कर दे देता था।
आनंद बख़्शी ने ख़ुद को कमपढ़ा लिखा बताया लेकिन जो काम किया वह बहुत पढ़े-लिखे लोग भी नहीं कर पाते।
फ़िल्म ‘ताल’ कागी तहै-
दिल ये बेचैन वे, रस्ते पे नैन वे
जिंदड़ी बेहाल है, सुर है न ताल है
आजा संवरिया आ आ आ आ
ताल से ताल मिला ……..
सवाल यह है किआनंद बख़्शी ने चार बार ‘आ आ आ आ’ क्यों कहा? इसमें एक रहस्य छुपा हु आहै।अंतरे में उन्होंने ‘चाल’ और ‘हाल’ तुकों का इस्तेमाल किया है।
अगर ये शब्द वे मुखड़े में रखते तो मुखड़ा अच्छा नहीं लगता। क़ाफ़िया तंग है। यानी दूसरे तुकों को लाना मुश्किल काम था।
इसलिए बख़्शी साहब ने शब्द के बजाय शब्द की ध्वनि से काम लिया।
‘मिला’ शब्द के अंतमें जो ‘आ’ शामिल है उसका चार बार इस्तेमाल कर के उन्होंने गीत के मुखड़े को ख़ूबसूरत बना दिया।
🍁
“सोलह बरस की बाली उमर को सलाम” गीत केअंतरे में आनंद बख़्शी ने लिखा-
मिलते रहे यहां हम, ये है यहां लिखा
इस लिखावट की ज़ेर-ओ-ज़बर को सलाम
फ़िल्म के गीत में ज़ेर-ओ-ज़बर क़ा फ़ियालाना बहुत बड़े समर्थ गीत कारका काम है।
तुम्हारी ज़ुल्फ़ है या सड़क का मोड़़ है यह
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
फ़िल्म का गीत चरित्रों के स्वभाव और बोलने के अंदाज़ पर आधारित होता है।
चरित्रों के अनुकूल भाषा का इस्तेमाल करना पड़ता है।
फ़िल्म ‘दुश्मन’ (1971) में आनंद बख़्शी ने ट्रक ड्राइ वर के लिए लिखा था-
तुम्हारी ज़ुल्फ़ है या सड़क का मोड़़ है यह
तुम्हारी आंख है या नशे का तोड़ है यह
फ़़िल्म ग़दर : एक प्रेम कथा (2001) में जब उन्हें फिरसे ट्रक ड्राइ वर पर लिखना पड़ा तो उन्हों ने लिखा-
मैं निकला, ओ गड्डी लेकर, वो रस्ते पर ओ सड़क में, इक मोड़ आया मैं उथ्थे दिल छोड़ आया
रब जाने कब गुज़रा अमृतसर ओ कब जाने लाहौरआया मैं उथ्थे दिल छोड़ आया
🍁
चाहे भीगे तेरी चुनरिया
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
फ़िल्म ‘कटीपतंग’ (1970) मेंमूड के हिसाब से नायक नायिका दो विपरीत चरित्र है।
जोशीले नायक के लिए उन्होंने लिखा-
आज न छोड़ेंगे बस हमजोली खेलेंगे हम होली
चाहे भीगे तेरी चुनरिया चाहे भीगे रे चोली
श्वेतवसना, उदासी में भीगी हुई नायिका की भावनाओं को आनंद बख़्शी ने यूं साकार किया-
ऐसे नाता तोड़गए हैं मुझसे ये सुख सारे
जैसे जलती आग किसी वन में छोड़ गए बंजारे
एक ही गीत मेंइ सतरह का अंतर् विरोध अभिव्यक्त कर पाना आसान नहीं होता।
🍁
धुन की समझ, गायकी का हुनरऔर लोक संगीत की जानकारी ने आनंद बख़्शी को कामयाब गीतकार बनाया।
फ़िल्म ‘खलनायक’ में उन्होंने एक गीत लिखा – “चोली के पीछे क्या है।” इसके लिए उन्हें बदनाम किया गया।
अपनी सफ़ाई में उन्होंने बस इतना ही कहा- “जो मुझे बदनाम कर रहे हैं उनकी नज़र मेरे गीत पर नहीं चोली पर है।” यह उस साल का सबसे ज़्यादा सुना जाने वाला
और सबसे ज़्यादा बिकने वाला गीत साबित हुआ।
🍁
चिट्ठी न कोई संदेस जाने वो कौन सा देस
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
21 जुलाई 1930 को रावलपिंडी में जन्मे आनंद बख़्शी ने 30 मार्च 2002 की शाम को मुंबई में अंतिम सांस ली।उनकी याद में फ़िल्मराइट र्सएसोसिएशन
में एक स्मृति सभा का आयोजन किया गया। संचालन की ज़िम्मेदारी मुझे सौंपी गई। मंच पर शायर नक़्श लायलपुरी, फ़िल्मकार सुभाष घई
औरआनंद बख़्शी के बेटे Rakesh बख़्शी मौजूद थे।एसो सिएशन के अध्यक्ष जगमोहन कपूर ने मुझसे कहा – शुरुआत में आप दसमिनट आनंद बख़्शी के गीतों के बारे में बोलिए।
“ज़ुल्फों में छइंया, मुखड़े पे धूपहै.
बड़ा मज़ेदार गोरी ये, तेरा रंग रूप है.
ऐसे बिम्बों के ज़रिए मैंने उनके गीतों के बारे में अपनी बात रखी। जाते समय सुभाष घई मेरे पास आए। हाथ मिलाया और बोले पांडेयजी, आप बहुत अच्छा बोलते हैं।
🍁
ख़त लिख दे संवरि या के नाम बाबू
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
हमारे बचपन में गांव के रेडियो परआनंद बख़्शी के गीत सुनाई देने लगेथे। “सावन का महीना पवन करे सोर” छोटे-छोटे बच्चे गाते थे।
शादी ब्याह में नृत्य करने वाली बाइयां गाती थीं-
ख़त लिख दे संवरिया के नाम बाबू
कोरे काग़ज़ पे लिख दे सलाम बाबू
🍁
आनंद बख़्शी के गीतों की कामयाबी में उनकी बोल चाल की आत्मीय और रोचक शैली का काफ़ी योग दान है।
उनके कुछ गीतों पर नज़र डालिए-
*खिलौना जानकर तुम तो मेरा दिल तोड़ जाते हो
*दुनिया से जाने वाले जाने चले जाते हैं कहां
*मेरे नसीब में ऐ दोस्त तेरा प्यार नहीं
*मेरे सपनों की रानी कब आएगी तू
*दिल ने दिल को पुकारा मुलाक़ात होगई
*दुनिया में रहना है तो काम करो प्यारे
*हम तुम एक कमरे में बंद हो और चाबी खो जाए
*अंखियोंको रहने दे अंखियों के आस पास
*सुहानी चांदनी रातें हमें सोने नहीं देती
*आदमी मुसाफ़िर है आता है जाता है
*हम तो चले परदेस हम परदेसी हो गए
*दो दिल मिल रहे हैं मगर चुपके चुपके
*गली में आज चांद निकला
*ज़िंदगी के सफ़र में गुज़र जाते हैं जो मुकाम
🍁
मैं शायर बदनाम
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
आनंद बख़्शी के गीतों में मौसम के सभी रंग, फूल और ख़ुशबुएं शामिल हैं।बख़्शी साहब दिल जोड़ ने के लिए भी लिखते थे
और दिल तोड़ने के लिए भी। वे हंसाते थे और रुलाते भी थे। उनके गीतों में ज़िंदगी की जीती जागती दास्तान है।भावनाओं और सम्वेदनाओं का ऐसा समंदर है जो हर
उम्र के लोगों से अपना नाता जोड़ लेता है।
मां बाप, भाई बहन, प्रेमी प्रेमिका, दुश्मन दोस्त, होली दीवाली… उन्होंने सब के लिए गीत लिखे।
आनंद बख़्शी अपने साथ गांव की मिट्टी की ख़ुशबू, लोक जीवन की ज़िंदा दिली और लोक संगीत की मिठास लेकर आए थे।
अपने गीतों में उन्होंने इस पूंजी का बख़ूबी इस्तेमाल किया। हर फिल्म उनके लिए एक इम्तहान थी।
हर फ़िल्म में उन्होंने साबित किया कि वे एक अच्छे गीतकार हैं।
🍁
आनंद बख़्शी ने सिने जगत के बड़े-बड़े संगीतकारों के साथ काम किया। संगीतकार आर डी बर्मन के साथ उन के बड़े अच्छे रिश्ते थे। 99 films.
संगीतकार लक्ष्मीकांत प्यारेलाल के साथ उन्हों ने 33 (303 films) साल लंबी पारी खेली।
कभी-कभी गीत लिखाने के लिए निर्माता सीधे उन के पास आ जाते थे। संगीतकार का नाम पूछते तो वह एलपी यानी लक्ष्मीप्यारे बोल देते थे।
🍁
आनंद बख़्शी साहब जब मुझे विदा करने दरवाजे परआए तो बोले-
“यह एक मुसलसल सफ़र है। मंज़िलें आती जाती रहती हैं। लोक प्रियता मिलते ही अधिक मेहनत की दरकार होती है।
जो सोच लेते हैं कि हम तो कामयाब हो गए अब मेहनत की ज़रूरत नहीं है, वे आउट हो जाते हैं। संघर्ष, अपमान और उपेक्षा से घबराना नहीं चाहिए। “
🍁
आपका-
देवमणि पांडेय Devmani Pandey 98210-82126
A Guldasta of 90 roses for Anand Bakshi, his lyrics with ‘flowers’ in them
By Rekha Shenoy.
गीतकारआनंद बक्षी जी की ९० वीजन्म जयंति
जिनकी गिनती उन चंद बहुचर्चित गीतकारों में होती है
जिन्हो ने साल दर साल बेहद लोकप्रिय और दिल
लुभाने वाले गीत बेहद सरल शब्दों में लिखे| दोस्ती पर गीत हो
या प्यार भरा या फिर दर्द भरा, हर तरह के गीत लिखने में महारथ हासिल थी
बक्षीजीकोऔरमैंउनकीबडी
प्रशंसक उन्हीं के लिखे गीतों के मुखडे और अंतरे
मेंसे फूल चुन कर ९० फूलों का गुलदस्ता उन्हे श्रद्धांजलि
स्वरुप अर्पित करतीहूं…उम्मीद है आपको पसंद आयेगा..
1. फूलों के इस गुलसितां से जाना मुश्किल है यहां से… बेमिसाल
2. कोई फूल कोई तोहफा तुम कुछ भी साथ
नही लाते…. चांदनी
3. जैसे फूलों के मौसम मे ये दिल खिलते है… Rockey
4. चमन में नही फूल दिल में खिले थे… चांदनी
5. फूल बहारों से निकला चांद सितारों से निकला.. शोले
6. फूल है बहारों का बाग है नजारों का… जिगरी दोस्त
7. फूलों की गली में आई भंवरों की टोलियां … मोम की गुडिया
8. बागों में फूलों के खिल ने से पहले… आराधना
9. चांद आहे भरेगा फूल दिल थाम लेंगे… फूल बने अंगारे
10. ये कली जब तलक फूल बन के खिले इंतजार… आये दिन बहार के
11. फूलों की डालियां भी यही गीत गार ही है… आये दिन बहार के
12. तू फूल बने पतझड का तुझपे बहार ना आये… आये दिन बहार के
13. और फूल मुस्कुराए मुझे तुम याद आए… तकदीर
14. मैं तेरी हंसी महफिल में फूल लेके आता… फर्ज
15. कागज के फूलों को भी जो महकाक रदिखलाए. जीने की राह
16. कभी फूलों में ढूंढू कभी कलियों में… साजन
17. फूल सी खिल के पास आ दिल के दूर से मिल के.. आराधना
18. चुरा के नजरे ना देखो तुम ये फूल… अन्जाना
19. हर एक रंग के फूल है खिलते… जिगरी दोस्त
20. मैने फूल तो देखे है फूलों का हार नही देखा… मस्ताना
21. फूलों सी नाजूक है वो मोटर में बैठी है जो… हाथीमेरेसाथी
22. खिजां के फूल पे आती कभी बहार नही… दो रास्ते
23. के खुशबू आ नही सकती कभी कागज के फूलों से… दुश्मन
24. तेरे गले में हम डालेंगे ये माला फूलों की… दुश्मन
25. मिले हम को फूल के काँटे मिले… Bobby
26. फूल खिलते है लोग मिलते है मगर… आप की कसम
27. कागज के फूल खुशबू कहां से लाएं गे… भंवर
28. मैं फूल बेचती हूं मैं हू फूलवाली… आस पास
29. मैं फूलों पे सोने वाली काँटे तेरा बिछौना… मेरा गांव मेरा देश
30. फूलों में कलियों में गांव की गलियों में… मि. नटवरलाल
31. कलियों का बचपन है फूलों की जवानियां है… तेरी कसम
32. फलक हो या जमीं ऐसा फूल है कहीं… अब्दुल्ला
33. फूल वती का गजरा ना पहना हो ऐसा तो… क्रोधी
34. बागों में कैसे ये फूल खिलते है… चुपके चुपके
35. होठों पे गीतों के फूल खिलगये सारी दुनिया… बरसात की एक रात
36. मैं टूट के फूल सी गिर पडूंना किसी झोली में… बरसात की एक रात
37. हम फूल बने या राख हुए पर साथ नही छूटा अपना… मिलन
38. सब फूल काँटे तू सबका माली शिरडी वाले साई बाबा… Amar Akbar Anthony
39. उस चमन से हमे फूल चुनना नही जिस गली में… कटी पतंग
40. बादल के छाते ही फूलों के मौसम में… इश्क पर जोर नहीं
41. तू फुलवारी है ओ माँ ओमाँ.. राजा और रंक
42. कर बैठा भूल वो ले आया फूल वो… DDLJ
43. देख कर जो मुझे फूल सा खिल गया… नसीब
44. आ गया फूलों के खिलने का मौसम… रोमान्स
45. फुलवा के संग संग बगियां में काँटे … अनुराग
46. हमार फुलवा को हमरी उमर लगि जाये… अनुराग
47. काँटों के सर पे ही बांधे जाएंगे फूलों के सेहरे… नया जमाना
48. फूलों-कलियों की बगिया में काँटे भी है सिर्फ… अवतार
49. इन राहों में फूल बिखरते जाएंगे… अवतार
50. फूल बहारों के झूठे आज खिले और कल टूटे… जुगनू
51. काँटे लगाये गाये फूलों भरा चमन… चुपके चुपके
52. फूल तब गीतों के होठों पे खिलते है… चुपके चुपके
53. ये तेरा रुप गोरी सरसों के फूलों जैसा… राजा औ ररंक
54. रंग रंग के फूल खिले मोहे भाए कोई रंग ना… आन मिलो सजना
55. उठो हर फूल से कह दो बनजाए वो अंगारा… फूल बने अंगारे
56. कैसे कैसे फूल चमन में लेकिन ऐसा…. तमन्ना
57. फूलों में काँटे काँटों में फूल… नास्तिक
58. पहने फूलों ने किरणों के हार ऐसा मौसम… हीरो
59. फूल सारे नही खिलते चांद सब को नही मिलते… पतिता
60. तेरे जैसा कोई फूल है ना तारा….आसरा
61. मैं बन फूल बन का फूल… बनफूल
62. देखा फूलों को काँटो पे सोते हुए.. मजबूर
63. फूल खिले ना बादल बरसे… सिंदूर
64. उम्मीद की कली खिल के फूल हो गई.. शक्ति
65. ये सब नजारे फूल बादल हवा.. मां और ममता
66. फूलों के बदले काँटों पे चलना पडा उन्हे.. जीने की राह
67. फूलों से मैने दामन बचाया… श्रीमान फंटूश
68. फूलों की जवानी है मेरी महबूबा… जीने की राह
69. येहु स्न ये अदाये फूल सा बदन… हम
70. मेरी तो झोली में दो फूल थे खाली.. बचपन
71. मैने तेरी यादों के जुल्फों लगाए फूल… विश्वात्मा
72. छू रहे है फूल यूं तुझे जैसे होइन्हें भी तुझसे प्यार
नाइट इन लंडन
73. बाग में फूल किसने खिलाए है मैने तो नही… नाइट इन लंडन
74. फूल मुरझाने से गुलजार ऐ सरकार नही मिटता.. रोटी
75. यूंही नही चली आई बहारें फूल यूंही न ही खिले… काली घटा
76. गुलशन बनी गलियां सभी फूल बनगई कलियां सभी… शक्ति
77. फूलों का दिल भी कुछ बदगुमान है… लोफर
78. दीए जलते है फूल खिल ते है… नमक हराम
79. फूलों के शहर में है घर अपना… Love Story
80. फूल पवन बादल पंछी ये सब अपने हम जोली… सरगम
81. फूल बने है घुंगरु घुंगरु बन गये फूल… सरगम
82. फूल आहिस्ता फेंको फूल बडे नाजूक… प्रेम कहानी
83. फूलों का तारों का सब का कहना है… हरे रामा हरे कृष्णा
84. बागों में जब जब फूल खिलेंगे तब तब ये हरजाई मिलेंगे… जब जब फूल खिले
85. ना ये बादल ना ये तारे ये कागज के फूल है सारे.. जब जब फूल खिले
86. जहां का फूल है जो वही पे वो खिलेगा… जब जब फूल खिले
87. सरगम के फूलों से गीतों का हार बनाऊं… चैताली
88. मस्त फूलों के दिल भी धडकने लगे है… तेरी कसम
89. फूलों के मत हार बना कांटों से तलवार बना… राजपूत
90. जो खुद फूल हो उस को क्या दे फूलों का गुलदस्ता…आप के दीवाने
बक्षी जी भले ही आज हमारे बीच नही पर उनके
गीत हमेशा हमारे दिलों में रहेंगे और हम सदा यही
गुनगुनाएंगे….हम तो आपके दीवाने है बडे मस्ताने है
आ हा ओ हो…
इन सदा बहारऔर अनमोल गीतों के लिए बक्षी जी का
शुक्रिया शुक्रिया…शुक्रिया शुक्रिया…
Rekha Shenoy
*आनंद ही आनंद है ~ बक्शी ने बख़्शा है* *Bakshi Bliss*
by Manohar Mohhabat Iyer
(A lovely Lyrical Tribute to Anand Bakshi on his 90th Birth Anniversary)
During his poetic sojourn at our planet earth, Anand Bakshi, the Bard from Bandra, true to his maiden name fused, infused and transfused a lot of ‘anand’ in the collective consciousness of music lovers.
Long before and even eighteen years after he bid अच्छा तो हम चलते हैं to this ephemeral world, the much adored, admired and awe inspiring ‘Baaqalam Bakshi’ still continues to remain MI blissful beloved.
Exactly a week before, MI dear friend Rakesh Bakshi, son of the PENman with a poetic PENchant, sent me a link to his father’s humongous repertoire. The first words which crossed MI mind was ‘Anand hi Anand’ to express the immense joy of receiving it. I acknowledged him formally with a few words without MI customary creative touch to it.
The ‘Bazm~e~Bakshi’ is so tellingly impactful in MI entirety and totality, that soon thereafter, the bard seized MI Being literally (pun intended) for the next seven days. And the result is this long ‘love story’, in lyrical form, of longing and belonging for MI ‘beloved’! The reader is to find this labour of love as MI most challenging and creative, lasting and loving outpourings, as of now and here!!
Reason being, MI poem for posterity joins and juxtaposes poignant ‘words and phrases’ taken from some of the ‘mukhdas’ of the over 4,000 songs written by Bakshi Sahab, and goes on connecting seamlessly the dots ….. ….. ….. like a ‘kolam’ (rungoli) in a typical TamBrahm household.
MI painstaking and passionate original composition with borrowed lyrics melds and merges benignly with the songs of Bakshi Sahab and what emerges is a beautiful ‘Rangoli’ of multi hues and myriad patterns that have kept pouring from the pen of the poet.
MI only submission to the reader is that while reading the psalm, one need not get hooked to the original tune of the lines used. In all probabilities, it can obstruct the easy, effortless and free flowing readability thereby creating a discordance in the metre of this composition. Bask in the Bakshi Bliss!
Eighteen years later on Tuesday 21 July 2020, MI most ‘mast malang manohar’ mixed bag of melodic metre is in front of music lovers like you. Going phase by phase, MI medley connecting one metre to another metre of that ‘Mahakavi’ became so much of a challenge; so much so, believe it or not, MI labour of love devoted nonetheless a minimum of even two to three hours or even more to give a construct to a single line! Finally, MI ‘mehnat’ and ‘mushaqqat’ like ‘mehndi rang laayi’!
Read (your patience at stake) and radiate in the blissful and bountiful ‘anand’ that the Bard from Bandra kept ‘bakshing’ us beyond the beyondness of time and space: Anand Bakshi is in a distinct derivative format for you to elate and exhilarate:
बस, आनंद ही आनंद है, परमानंद है, ब्रह्मानंद है,
जिसने *बख़्शी* ये ख़ुशियां, उस *आनंद* में
मन सानंद है.
*Reverence and Remembrance*
सावन का महीना आया, ‘आनंद’ तेरी याद आई,
जानी, चली हवा मस्तानी, पवन चले पुरवाई;
तू भी आजा, ये मस्त हवा, तेरा संदेसा लाई,
तेरी सरगम के फूलों से, बाग़ों में बहार आई.
आया सावन झूमके, आये दिन बहार के,
रंग रंग के फूल खिले, गुनगुना रहे हैं भंवरे;
महक गई राहों की धूल, महका ये जग सारा है,
धरती अम्बर नींद से जागे, वल्लाह क्या नज़ारा है.
यहां वहां सारे जहां में, देखो कितना आनंद है,
जिसने *बख़्शी* ये ख़ुशियां, उस *आनंद*
में मन सानंद है.
*Longing and Belonging*
मस्त बहारों का मैं आशिक़, मेरा नाम अंजाना,
तुम कौन हो बताओ: सुनीता, शन्नो,
शबनम, सुल्ताना;
रेशमी ज़ुल्फ़ें, गुलाबी आंखें, रूप तेरा मस्ताना,
नज़र न लग जाये, मनचली, कहां चली, रुक,
रुक जाना.
मेरी मोहब्बत, तेरी जवानी, जैसे को तैसा मिला,
अफ़्फ़ू ख़ुदा, मैं तो दीवाना दीवाना दीवाना;
बाहोश~ओ~हवास, मुझे कुछ कहना है,
जो दिल में है,
तन मन धन सब है तेरा, Bye Bye Miss, तू कल फिर आना.
तू कितनी अच्छी है, यही अदा तो मुझको पसंद है,
जिसने *बख़्शी* ये ख़ुशियां, उस *आनंद*
में मन सानंद है.
*Wooing and Winning*
जान~ए~जां, जब तक है जां, ये दोस्ती
हम नहीं तोड़ेंगे,
हाय तौबा, फिर ना कहना, ‘आज नहीं दिल कल देंगे’;
मैं जट यमला पगला, तेरा पीछा ना मैं छोडूंगा,
इक न इक दिन, ये ‘ना ना’, ‘हां जी हां’, रंग ले आयेंगे.
दिल से दिल मिल गया, ये मौसम आया है,
चुपके चुपके,
ये क्या हुआ, कैसे हुआ, ये दुनियावाले पूछेंगे;
कुछ तो लोग कहेंगे, ये public है, ये सब
जानती है,
आया हूं मैं तुझको ले जाऊंगा, आज न छोड़ेंगे.
तेरे नाम का दीवाना, शादी के लिये रज़ामंद है,
जिसने *बख़्शी* ये ख़ुशियां, उस *आनंद*
में मन सानंद है.
*Union and Communion*
हम दोनों दो प्रेमी दुनिया छोड़ चले,
अब के सावन,
बंधन टूटे ना, मैं तेरा दूल्हा तू मेरी दुल्हन;
ढ़ल गया दिन, हो गयी शाम, रात सुहानी
जाग रही,
छुप गये सारे नज़ारे, शुकर कि,
एक शमा तो जली.
चिंगारी कोई भड़के, भीगी भीगी रातों में,
करवटें बदलते रहे, मेहबूब की मेहंदी हाथों में.
हम तुम एक कमरे में बंद,
किसीको नज़र नहीं आयें,
हम तुम गुमसुम रात मिलन की है,
आओ झूमें गायें.
हटा ये घुंघटा, ये पर्दा, ये चिलमन,
तुमको सौगंध है,
जिसने *बख़्शी* ये ख़ुशियां,
उस *आनंद* में मन सानंद है.
*Splitsville and Separation*
सात अजूबे इस दुनिया में, आठवीं अपनी जोड़ी,
इक दूजे के लिये, हमारी रबने बना दी जोड़ी;
तेरे मेरे बीच में, कैसा है ये बंधन, मितवा,
भूल गया सब कुछ, सौ रब दी,
जाने कैसे कब हुआ.
हाय ओ रब्बा, क्या उमर, क्या समां,
क्या ज़माना था,
दिन महीने साल् को, देर से आना,
जल्दी जाना था;
पतझड़ सावन बसंत बहार, इक रुत
आये इक रुत जाये,
लिखनेवाले ने लिख डाली, लंबी जुदाई, हाये.
दुनिया में कितना ग़म है, पर मेरा ग़म
कितना कम है,
तेरे लिये मोहब्बत है, दुनिया के लिये…. “मोहब्बत बंद है”!
बस, आनंद ही आनंद है, परमानंद है, ब्रह्मानंद है,
जिसने *बख़्शी* ये ख़ुशियां, उस *आनंद
* में मन सानंद है.
*मनोहरानंद ‘मोहब्बत’ अय्यारानंद*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*BaaQalam Bakshi’s 50 Blissful Busters*
1. Chand aahen bharega (Phool Bane Angaarey)
2. Mere mehboob qayamat hogi (Mr. X in Bombay)
3. Ek tha gul aur ek thi bulbul (Jab Jab Phool Khile)
4. Sawan ka mahina (Milan)
5. Mast baharon ka main aashiq (Farz)
6. Roop tera mastana (Aradhana)
7. Bindiya chamkegi (Do Raaste)
8. Aane se uske aaye bahar (Jeene Ki Raah)
9. Achha to hum chalte hain (Aan Milo Sajna)
10. Jhilmil sitaron ka aangan hoga (Jeevan Mrityu)
11. Khilona jaankar tum to mera dil tod jaate ho (Khilona)
12. Ye jo mohabbat hai (Kati Patang)
13. Jaane kyon log mohabbat kiya karte hain (Mehboob Ki Mehndi)
14. Waada tera waada (Dushman)
15. Chal chal chal mere haathi (Haathi Mere Saathi)
16. Maar diya jaaye (Mera Gaon Mera Desh)
17. Chingari koyi bhadke (Amar prem)
18. Duniya mein logon ko (Apna Desh)
19. Dam maaro dam (Hare Rama Hare Krishna)
20. Jaan-e-jaan dhoondhta phir raha hoon (Jawani Diwani)
21. Ye jeevan hai (Piya Ka Ghar)
22. Hawa ke saath saath (Seeta Aur Geeta)
23. Hum tum ek kamre mein bandh ho (Bobby)
24. Jai jai Shiv Shankar (Aap Ki Kasam)
25. Gaadi bula rahi hai (Dost)
26. Dil kya kare jab kisise (Julie)
27. Main jatt yamla pagla diwana (Pratiggya)
28. Mehbooba mehbooba (Sholay)
29. Mere naina sawan bhadon (Mehbooba)
30. Parda hai parda (Amar Akbar Anthony)
31. Main Tulsi tere aangan ki (Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki)
32. Pardesiya ye sach hai piya (Mr. Natwarlal)
33. Dafliwaale (Sargam)
34. Om shanti om (Karz)
35. Pyar karnewaale pyar karte hain (Shaan)
36. Tere mere beech mein (Ek Duje Ke Liye)
37. Yaad aa rahi hai (Love Story)
38. Chithhi aayi hai (Naam)
39. Mere haathon mein nau nau choodiyan hain (Chandni)
40. One two ka four (Ram Lakhan)
41. Oye Oye (Tridev)
42. Jumma chumma de de (Hum)
43. Ilu Ilu (Saudagar)
44. Jaadu teri nazar (Darr)
45. Choli ke peechhe kya hai (Khalnayak)
46. Tu cheez badi hai mast mast (Mohra)
47. Mehndi lagaake rakhna (Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge)
48. Dil le gayi le gayi (Dil To Pagal Hai)
49. Taal se taal mila (Taal)
50. Main nikla gaddi lekar (Gadar)
When I met Yash Chopra
By Rakesh Anand Bakshi
Yash Raj Films released a book on Dilwale Dhulania Le Jayenge running for 20 years. Great! So, I decided to share what Bakshi ji told the director Aditya Chopra after he heard the script:
“Adi, if you make even 50 percent of what you just narrated to me, this film will be a big hit!”
Many months later, after Bakshi ji saw the preview of the film, before its release, he told Adi:
“Adi…. You have done 100 percent justice to what you had narrated to me. This film is going to be a blockbuster and it will not come off theatres for a very long time!”
But for how long it will run, I guess even Bakshi ji could not have guessed that! Because only the viewing public can be the ultimate and truest barometer of your work.
When I met Yash Chopra ji on 14 july 2012, a few months before he passed away, this was what transpired between us:
I asked Yash ji: ‘When and how did you meet my father, Anand Bakshi, and when did you decide to work with him, hire him as your lyrics writer?’
Yashi ji replied, “I would meet your father, Bakshi ji, often at film functions and film parties, and he was a very successful lyrics writer already by then. He also loved to sing and sang well.
One day I was re-introduced to him by my lyric’s writer Sahir. Sahir was not only my lyrics writer but he was also my dear friend, and Sahir told me ‘…use Anand Bakshi for lyrics someday in your film, he also writes well.’
I was surprised, that my own lyrics writer Sahir saab was recommending another lyrics writer, Anand Bakshi, to me for my film, even though Sahir was my old and my current writer working in all my films.
I was very happy with Sahir saab writing lyrics in my films and I had not asked him to recommend me another lyrics writer. Yet he did! And he recommended Anand Bakshi.
The best thing about Bakshi ji was, even though we both were established professionals by the time we met sometime in 1980’s with Sahir saab, and even before that I had met him on and off at parties, Bakshi ji never ever asked me for an opportunity to write songs in my films. I think Bakshi ji knew that Sahir saab was my favorite lyrics writer and my dear friend too, and Bakshi ji honoured and respected that relationship we shared.
I can say Bakshi ji was amongst the good human beings I have met, and the number one lyrics writer; of course, there were many good poets and lyrics writers, but there will be only one lyrics writer cum poet like Anand Bakshi.
one day, a big producer wanted me to direct a film for him, and the music was by R D Burman. the producer was gulshan rai. he suggested to me, or was it R D Burman who suggested to me, that we should sign Anand Bakshi saab for the lyrics in my film. I happily agreed to their suggestion.
consequently, I met bakshi saab for my film and he gladly agreed to work in my film as lyrics writer without asking me any questions about why Sahir is not writing my film.
however, when I returned home, I felt guilty and very bad that Sahir saab was also a very good song writer, and he was also my very good friend since many years, therefore, I must continue to work with Sahir saab, even though Sahir saab himself had once told me to work with Bakshi ji also.
however, I decided I have to go back to bakshi saab and tell him I am sorry that I cannot work with him. bakshi saab was a very successful and famous writer even then, in fact ever since 1964-1970 onward he was very much in demand.
Embarrassed, I approached Bakshi ji hesitatingly and apologized profusely for going back on my word to him. I honestly told Bakshi ji I want to remain loyal to my very dear friend and very talented writer Sahir saab, so I cannot use his (Bakshi ji’s) talent in my film, even though it is I who approached him, and asked him Bakshi ji if that is okay with him.
surprisingly, Bakshi ji was extremely graceful, and moreover, he was very happy that I wanted to continue working with Sahir saab even though he and I had a deal from the day before. I think the reason was, Sahir saab had given bakshji good advice on song writing and also some good introductions to producers and directors when Bakshi ji was desperately looking for a foothold in the profession many years ago from 1956 to 1964. Bakshi ji never forgot Sahir saab’s help, I think.
furthermore, Bakshi ji told me even if we do not work together in this film, or any other, we must remain friends. thus, I will say here, I never met a man like Anand Bakshi. he never played politics, he never spoke bad about any other rival writers or people he did not work with or who did not want to work with him. he was always quite, and did his job quietly, and then he would leave once his work is dome. even when we became friends over the many films we did together, he made no unnecessary chatter or gossip ever.
it was only when God took Sahir saab away from us, that I approached anand Bakshi ji for my film. Chandni was my first film with him. And what songs, what lyrics he gifted my film and my other films with him! Unforgettable contribution!
He wrote for so many films of mine, and even some by other directors making films for yash raj, and he also wrote for my son aditya’s first and his second film as director.
We worked together in:
Chandni (1989)
Lamhe (1991)
Parampara (1992)
Darr (1993)
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995)
Dil To Pagal Hai (1997)
Mohabbatein (2000)
Mujhse Dosti Karoge! (2002)
When my son aditya narrated his script of ‘dilwale dhulania le jayenge’, to Bakshi ji, bakshi saab told my him, ‘beta, if you make even 50 percent of the script you have narrated to me, this film will be a huge hit, an unstoppable success!” That film is still running in Bombay, since 1995. Teenagers even today sing those songs.
Bakshi ji would write songs within minutes for me. sometimes he wrote one traveling in his car from his house in bandra to my house in juhu, in 15 mins.
sometimes he wrote verses for me in less than 4 minutes while I would hold on the telephone. when I would be stuck during a recording of a song and I felt a verse or word needs to me changed while we are recording the song with the singers, I would call him and he never said no or never told me call me tomorrow. there and then he wrote and changed words or lines for me!
such was Bakshi ji’s speed, depth, dedication and enthusiasm. he never questioned or fussed with me why I want anything changed even after I had liked and accepted his lyrics. he never said that it is not possible to make changes if I needed them over the phone while we are recording. he always delivered on every occasion that arose, any time, any day.
once when he was admitted at nanavati hospital for getting a heart pace maker put, I went to meet him there. he told me he had thought of some new verses for a song in Chandni which he had already delivered to me. I had never asked him to improve on what he had already written. so that proved he was thinking of his directors, producers even while he was being treated for his heart in a hospital!
where are such people, such dedication, such talent, such sincerity, such enthusiasm, today?!
Bakshi, Bakshi ji, bakshi saab, Anand Bakshi, remains unforgettable even today to me, and even my son adiyta. beta, we miss your father immensely.”
Haji Chandiwala
Haji Chandiwala, his good friend, a furinure factory owner, “Kings Furnitures”, Bandra west, (now, Raymonds Retail) where Bakshi ji would spend much time after he became successful, says, “Bakshi ji would take 5 visits and a week to choose a piece of furniture for his house. But, would write a song in 10 minutes!…
Once he told me to drive him to tardeo for a song recording of singer Mukesh Saab. He wanted me to drive as he said he has a lot on his mind and will not be able to concentrate. Enroute, he asked me about my love life. While I was talking to him about my love life, and we had just reached Mahim, he asked me to stop driving and park the car. As I was watching him, he was lost in his own world, oblivious to the traffic sounds, and my presence. He wrote the song “Kisi rah pe, Kisi modh par, tu chal ne dena mujhe chodh kar, mere humsafar, mere humsafar…..”, right then and there in traffic!
One day, he took me to Mohamed Ali road, and introduced me to a shop keeper with whom he had mortgaged his EME workshop tools for money. He had needed money desperately to receive his father who had arrived at Bombay Central station to meet him. He mortgaed his Electrician tools on the way to the station, for food money for his father. Such was the poverty he had survived without compromising his principles.
He would bargain a lot when buying furniture from me, make one dozen visits before finalaizing the furniture he liked, and bargain the hell out of us. However, when ever he would come, he would give my polih men and carpenters money to buy meat and have a good meal. He was a fakir, not meant for this world. However, he was generous to them, but bargain with us for every penny he paid. (Laughs) He never defaulted and we never had to remind him for money as he never purchased anything on credit for over 40 years he was our friend and client.”
(Dad respected Haji uncles elder brother Ahmed uncle immensely. Along with all the house furniture, they had made for us, (Haji uncle, his younger brother Pappu uncle and Ahmed uncle) Ahmed uncle had made and gifted the Mandir for our house, for our Hindu Gods Idols…. and over 40 decades dad renovated his house and upgraded many things often, but he never upgraded or changed the very simple but beautiful wooden Mandir gifted by Ahmed uncle, where we to date worship our Gods.
- Rakesh Anand Bakshi
Mahesh Bhatt
I asked him to write a song for Zakham. He asked me ‘how often does the man of the house visit his family (the woman he loves but does not marry. I told him – the father comes home once in a blue moon. In seconds Bakshi ji wrote – “Tum aaye toh aaya mujhe yaad gali mein aaj chand nikla”
Mahesh Bhatt mentions Dushman song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_N4MdiwmWc
- Rakesh Anand Bakshi
The rare Anand Bakshi
By Dr Rajiv Vijayakar, 2003.
The lyricist took his leave a year ago, on March 30. Lyrics have never been the same again since then, for Anand Bakshi was an institution that generated a whole new concept of film lyrics, where depth could be simplified to near-nursery rhyme, and oft-repeated situations got the privilege of turning parents to some of the greatest verse heard in Indian cinema. Laxmikant-Pyarelal, R.D.Burman, Kalyanji-Anandji and S.D. Burman — these were the four names with whom Bakshi did the vast majority of his films, and most of his best and successful work. But as a current rhymester asserted but failed to prove, a lyricist made a music director and not the other way round.
This is a point to ponder as today’s lyricists, except for a couple, wait for music directors to distribute songs like largesse to them. For Anand Bakshi’s The Train (gulabi ankhen jo teri dekhi, kis liye maine pyaar kiya) , took R.D. Burman on the popularity expressway when even Teesri Manzil could not, Jab Jab Phool Khile and Himalay Ki God Mein settled Kalyanji-Anandji on an even keel, Milan consolidated the super-success of Laxmikant-Pyarelal, and Aradhana brought S.D. Burman meteorically back to reckoning.
As the world of musicdom reverberates to thousands of timeless Bakshi beauties set to music by these six geniuses, let us go down Anand Bakshi boulevard to seek rare avenues, equally fruitful, where the master-lyricist synergised powerfully with other names, often setting new standards for them or himself, and proving that a lyricist could add that vital additional dimension that makes the crucial difference to a composer’s career.
Here then are 12 Bakshi films that are remembered outside the ambit of his fave music (composers) men:
Devar (1966/ Roshan):
Roshan was one of the earliest composers to notice Bakshi potential. (Ditto filmmaker Mohan Segal.) So when the two came together for this classic romance, Bakshi was the unanimous choice. The unsung genius of Roshan and the fresh enthusiasm of the poet coalesced to yield lustrous songs like ˜Duniya mein aisa kahaan sab ka naseeb hai…and ˜Roothe saiyyaan hamare saiyyaan… and those twin Mukesh towers ˜Bahaaron ne mera chaman loot kar…’ and ‘Aaya hai mujhe phir yaad who zaalim…’
My Love (1970/ Daan Singh):
The low-profile Rajasthani composer did a handful of Hindi films but is remembered only for My Love. Bakshi ˜Sunaate hain sitaren raat bhar… lingers on, as do frothy ˜O my love… ˜Woh tere pyar ka gham… and ‘Zikr hota hai jab qayamat ka…’
Main Sundar Hoon (1971/ Shanker-Jaikishan):
This film gets into this list by virtue of the popularity of most of its songs at that time, though over the years only ˜Naach meri jaan… and ˜Mujhko thand lag rahi hai… are remembered. One also includes this film for Bakshi’s own statement, ‘Jaikishen was a man with a fantastic sense of melody.’ Yes, Jaikishan did this film solo, and his death the same year prevented the titans from perhaps working on better films.
Julie (1975/ Rajesh Roshan):
Rajesh Roshan may have made a wow beginning with Kunwara Baap, but he really made both the commercial and creative grade with this inter-religious love saga. Over the years, ‘Yeh raatein nayi purani…’, ‘Bhool gaya sab kuchh…’, ‘Dil kya kare…’ and ‘Saancha naam tera…’ have proved to be perennials as well as remix favourites, besides being the original blueprints for the future successful ‘styles’ of Nadeem-Shravan and Anu Malik. And of Anand Bakshi’s post-Julie output with Rajesh Roshan, Mr Natwarlal remains the best and most successful.
Sohni Mahiwal (1984/ Anu Malik):
Purely quantitatively, Anu Malik ranks among the top five Anand Bakshi music-men, apart from being the composer with whom he recorded his swan-song. Their qualitative output was mixed, with stray songs in Aasmaan, Awargee, Dil Ne Ikraar Kiya, Chamatkar, Ram Jaane, Aankhon Mein Tum Ho, Rahul and Yaadein making an impact. But their first tryst together, Sohni Mahiwal, is remembered for songs like ‘Sohni meri sohni…’, ‘Sohni Chenaab de kinare…’ and ‘Bol do mithe bol…’, and Malik was first taken seriously with this score.
Chandni (1989/ Shiv-Hari):
Shiv-Hari also claimed what L-P did with Anand Bakshi — of instinctive telepathy while creating together. After experimenting with multiple writers after the death of Sahir, Yash Chopra settled for Anand Bakshi as his permanent lyricist. And their first union, Chandni was studded both, with hits (‘Mere haathon mein nau nau chudiyaan…’ and the title-track), as well as scintillating melodies like ‘Lagi aaj saawan ki…’ and ‘Tere mere honthon pe…’ Lamhe, Darr and Parampara (with that Lata-stunner ‘Tu saawan main pyaas piya…’) followed.
Tridev (1989/ Viju Shah with Kalyanji-Anandji):
The score set the trend for ‘item’ numbers with ‘Tirchhi topiwale…’, and its all-hit score was one of the four to revive the music industry and big-screen entertainment after the video menace of the 80s. ‘Raat bhar jaam se…’, ‘Gali gali mein phirta hai…’, ‘Main teri mohabbat mein…’ and the climax song ‘Gajar ne kiya hai ishara…’ formed a heady package that brought freshness and pace into film songs. The team went on to triumph in Vishwatma, Mohra, Tere Mere Sapne, Gupt and Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat. Today, Rajiv Rai, who made all but one of the above films, is lost as he looks for a ‘verse’ replacement.
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995/ Jatin-Lalit):
The career-defining score for Jatin-Lalit re-affirmed Bakshi’s supremacy almost four decades after his arrival. ‘Ghar aaja pardesi…’ was the icing on the cake that included ingredients like ‘Tujhe dekha to yeh jaana…’, ‘Mehandi lagaake rakhna…’, ‘Ho gaya hai tujhse…’, ‘Zara sa jhoom loon main…’, ‘Ruk jaa ae dil deewane…’ and ‘Mere khwabon mein jo aaye… J-L also collaborated fruitfully with Anand Bakshi on Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai, Mohabbatein and in the unsung Return Of Jewel Thief and Kranti.
Pardes (1997/ Nadeem-Shravan):
Sau sonar ki, ek lohar ki — if this old adage is ever applied to Hindi film music, it would be in the way N-S collaborated with Sameer in over a 100 films, and yet gave their career-finest score with the bard for all seasons and composers, Anand Bakshi. As ‘I love my India…’ remains a catch-phrase five years later, ‘Do dil mil rahe hain…’, ‘Meri mehbooba…’, ‘Jahaan piya wahaan main…’ and the climactic qawwali, ‘Ho gaya hai mujhe pyar…’ remain almost like exotica, and Sonu Nigam goes on record to say that ‘Dil deewana…’ remains a path-breaking song in his career. All part of the Bakshi magic.
Dil To Pagal Hai (1997/ Uttam Singh):
He came back solo after the death of his partner, with a king-size break from Yash Chopra. Uttam Singh’s new innings took off to a splendiferous start with this hit musical romance, and Bakshi’s ‘Le gayee le gayee…’, ‘Bholi si soorat…’, ‘Dholna…’, the title-track and the lyrical gem ‘Ek duje ke vaaste…’ all added to the SRK-Madhuri-Karisma song-fest. After this, Uttam collaborated fruitfully again with the lyricist in Gadar-Ek Prem Katha, and The Hero is likely to complete the trilogy.
Taal (1999/ A.R. Rahman):
Taal remains one of A.R. Rahman’s biggest Hindi successes, garnering awards and hype like none of his scores, other than his first film Roja. But till that point of time, Rahman’s music was associated mainly with functional lyrics for his dubbed films, or lyrically-mediocre or ‘item’ songs for his original Hindi films like Rangeela and Kabhi Na Kabhi. It was Anand Bakshi who gave Rahman what was his first-ever score with lyrical substance (‘Neeche ishq hai, oopar rab hai/Inn dono ke beech mein sab hai…’) and situational veracity. It was principally after this score that Rahman began to count as a prime contender for in-depth, prestigious assignments.
Kachche Dhaage (1999/ Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan):
The musically-inclined Milan Luthria chose Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Anand Bakshi to make music for his road-thriller, and to date Kachche Dhaage, with its magnificent melodies (‘Khaali dil nahin…’, ‘Is shaan-e-karam…’, ‘Band lifafa dil mera…’, ‘Oopar Khuda…’, ‘Dil pardesi ho gaya…’, ‘Pyaar nahin karna…’ and ‘Ek jawaani meri…’) remains musically the finest production to come from a leading audio company, Tips.
Music Composer S. Mohinder (Mohinder Singh)
“Bakshi ji acted as a Fakir, in a song in the film PICNIC, 1966, produced by Filmistan, Music S. Mohinder, Lyrics Majrooh Sultanpuri, (Picnic song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIsMKeJXjIQ) starring Manoj Kumar, Kalpana, Azra & Shubha Khote.
Bakshi ji played a small role of a Fakir in a song written by Majrooh Sultanpuri in that film, only because he needed money, Rs 300 exactly, very badly and asked me, the music composer of the film, Picnic, for work, any kind of work to earn the Rs 300 he needed immediately.
I was impressed that Anand Bakshi, who had already written a few films by then, did not borrow the money from me but but asked me to help him find any kind of film work to earn the 300 he needed very badly.
I had just recorded a song ‘Bijli giri kahan se’ for that film, Picnic, written by lyrics writer Majrooh Saab. And I was aware that in the situation of the song, a Fakir is singing the song on the streets, and because the Fakir appears just once in the film in that song and is a stranger the director will be casting an extra for that small role of a only one time appearance.
I convinced the director, S P Bakhshi, to cast new lyrics writer Anand Bakshi for that small role so that that way Anand Bakshi can earn the Rs 300 he needs very badly. That is a condition Bakshi ji put forward to do that role, even though he needed the work.
The director, S P Bakhshi, very kindly agreed to Anand Bakshi’s condition even though he was not known at all, he had laid a condition that he has to be paid Rs 300 per day for acting in that song.
The director said he is willing to pay Anand Bakshi Rs 300 for that shoot because he can shoot his one time appearance in that song within a day, so it is not too big an amount to pay Rs 300 to an extra. The director shot Bakshi ji’s shots in the song within half a day and paid him Rs 300. That is how Anand Bakshi got to play the Fakir in this song and also earned the money he badly needed then.”
7 films with S Mohinder ji
(As told to me by Composer S Mohinder ji in June 2013, at his daughter’s Peony Chopra’s house in Mumbai. – Rakesh Anand Bakshi)
Music composer Anu Malik
” I lost a father twice. The first time when Bakshi saab passed away. The second, when my own father did. When Bakshi saab passed away, I told my own father, Sardar Malik, Dad I lost a father today. ” @ Anu Malik. Feb 23 2013.
“We arrived at Bakshi ji’s house for a song sitting for Sohni Mahiwal. My producer Mr Mehra and I, hesitatingly suggested to Bakshi ji if we can use a verse I had written for the song he was going to write for the film Sohni Mahiwal. Bakshi ji told me to narrate the verse to him. I narrated the verse I had writtem, “Sohni Meri Sohni, Aur Nahin Koyi Honi Sohni, Rab Se Ziyaada Tere Naam Leta Hoon”. Bakshi ji pondered for a while and then told us, ‘We cannot use the verse you have written’ I felt angry that Bakshi ji is rejecting the verse I have written because Bakshi ji has an ego that a newcomer like me has dared to suggest such a good verse to a veteran like “Bakshi Sahab”. However, I concealed my anger and asked Bakshi ji politely, ‘Why cannot we use my verse?’ Bakshi ji thought for a while and replied, ‘Because what you have written is offensive to God. Ideally, a man’s love for God should not be lesser than his love for a human, even if he she is his beloved. It is disrespecting our Ceator.’ Then he thought for a while, and said, ‘However, if the Producer and you like the verse you have written, and want me to use your verse in my lyrics, we can, but we cannot use it unless we add another verse to your verse.’ And in 2 seconds Bakshi ji wrote, “…..RAB MUJHE MAAF KARE, MERA INSAAF KARE”, and he explained to us, ‘Since your verse means that the lover has gone ahead and loved his beloved more than his God, then he must seek God’s forgiveness. So by adding the verse I have written to your verse the lover can honour his beloved Sohni, as well honour his greater respect and love for God. That would complete the mukhda and be correct for our respect for God.” When I heard the reasoning behind why Bakshi ji had rejected my verse, and then immediately he offered us a solution too, I felt guilty that I had suspected he has an ego and because of his ego he had first rejected my verse. I was humbled by his humility and his deep understanding of God and man.”
(Told to me by Anu Malik – Rakesh Bakshi)
J Om Prakash
Tribute by film maker J. Om Prakash ji (aye din bahar ke, aya sawan jhoom ke, aap ki kasam, apnapan, asha) for Anand Bakshi – “Kuch aise log aate hain iss duniya mein, aur woh aisa kaam kar jaate hain, aisi yaadein de jaate hain, ki unke dobara iss duniya mein aane ke liye Taareekh (date, history) ko doharana padta hai!” (Said to me on 1.11.2011.)
…… I further asked J Om Prakashji, “how did Bakshi ji write lyrics like, mere dushman tu meri dosti ko tarse, karwatein badalte rahe saari raat hum aap ki kasam, zindagi ke safar mein guzar jaatein hain jo mukaam, aadmi musafir hai aata hai jaata hai, sheesha ho ya dil ho aakhir toot jata hai…” , J Om ji replied quoting the poem by writer Sharshar Sehalani “Yeh Dein Hai Allha Ki, Allha Jisse De, Har Fikrr Se Aijaze Bayani Nahin Aati”.
J Om Prakashji added “Anand Bakshi was an asset to producers and directors and singers and music composers he worked with because he was a good singer and a good lyrics writer and could compose music too. He had a fantastic sense of music, and that’s why he was an asset to some of his music composers and singers too!”
J Om Prakash ‘ I liked to discuss my srory and screenplay in detail with him during song sittings, because he had a good sense of human emotions and would always give me good suggestions. He would hear the story very keenly. He was genuinely interested in stories and situations that challenged him and provoked him deeply to write better lyrics.”
J Om Prakashji “when I gave him the situation in aaye din bahaar ke, I told him to write what people really feel when they are betrayed or abandoned. What they feel for their enemy but do not disclose to anyone. Because deep down we all secretly curse anyone who harms us. And Bakshi ji wrote the song ‘mere dushman tu meri dosti ko tarse’ in 3 hours for this situation.”
J Om Prakash “Bakshi ji wrote “zindagi ke safar mein guzar jaate hain jo mukaam” in one day after he heard the story and the situation of the song in the story. That song helped me a lot not only as a film maker as it was my first film as director and it helped me say a lot without having scenes. The song did the job of many scenes that were not needed because of the way Bakshi ji wrote the lyrics in the 3 antras, but the song also helped me a lot personally in my life thereafter. Don’t ask me anything more now about Bakshi ji or else I will begin to cry. I miss him as a song writer and a deep friend and good human”.
(Tolds to me by J Om ji – Rakesh Anand Bakshi)
Dr S G Gokhale
Dr Gokhale was Anand Bakshi’s Family Physician from around 1972 to 2002:
DG – First time I met Bakshi saab was at his previous residence at Honey Comb, Bandra west; I was in the compound and I was to visit a doctor friend Dr Apte, who used to stay in the same building. I saw Bakshi saab cycling in the compound, sporting a red colour shirt and equally matching pant. It must be around 1971-72. He was fond of exercise and looked very handsome, was very well built, tall like a handsome Afghan pathaan. My friend Dr. Apte introduced us. That very second I felt I would click with this very polite man, somehow I felt I would be friendly with him though I was not the film profession.
Few days later Bakshi ji wanted to check his blood pressure so he came to my clinic alking from home, waited for some time and we exchanged pleasantries and I examined him. Our very second meeting was very cordial and yet it was like we have been friends for years. I was highly impressed by this man and then I found out he was the writer of so many songs I had heard on radio, and he also felt he should come back to me the next time he has some medical problem. Thereafter, I was his doctor since until he passed away in 2002, not a day has gone by I have not thought of him and his kind friendship and affection for me, his family and his friends.
We remained friends almost 30 years. He had high blood pressure and minor medical problems, and a heart condition in late 80’s and then in 90’s again. He would come to my clinic on hill road, bandra west, and get his blood pressure checked daily, and then after he told me ‘doctor saab you come home please on Tuesday and Friday and see my blood pressure and have tea and I will pay you home visit fees.’ I would get new cassettes from him from his recently released films almost every two weeks so many films he wrote! He would take me to special screenings of his films before they released almost twice a month, so many films he was working on. Because of him I began to see Hindi films. He had a release almost every month or two or three releases sometimes in a month. We became better friends and he started calling me for his home parties too where he rarely called anyone who was not a good friend because he believed in friendship and not making friends for work and to be called to his house I realized was a sincere invite and not just because I am his doctor. He was very fond of calling his close friends and relatives for new film releases in private preview cinemas. I think I must have seen all films of his with family and friends and sometimes with celebrities who used to come to those private cinema halls too. I have to give credit to Mr. Bakshi also because it was only because of him I saw films.
He was not what they call ‘filmy’, he was a simple home-loving person, spent almost all day at home writing, he used to love his family and friends and took care of his sons and daughters and his wife and his relatives too. He used to walk a lot daily to keep fit. And do yoga at 7am also. He was very fond of smoking, eating tobacco and he liked to have good alcohol drinks daily at night but strictly at 9pm and never before or after meals.
When it would rain he would call me and ask me, ‘doctor saab free ho, kya kar rahe ho, gaadi mein jaayenge aur ek ek peg maarenge whisky ka, chalo.’ So when it rained we used to travel in his imported car from Bandra to worli seaface and have a peg each of his whisky. He used to collect me and drop me home and while driving he would be talking all the way about so many things during our journey about his struggles and problems and life in general, always emotional things, always his philosophies and those he had read in the many books he read.
He had told me he was in the army and he was also a truck-Tank driver some years, driving a big truck that carries Tanks, and he told me how he came to Bombay and first 2-3 years he stayed at the railway station and then how he met a ticket conductor, Chitramal Swarup at the station and the ticket conductor asked him, ‘why are you sitting here?’ He said I have come to Bombay to write songs for films and I am not successful and I am going back.’ Chitramal said do not go back and that ticket checker took him to his own house in Borivali west and he said you are going to stay with me and become a song writer. He stayed there for 2 or 3 years and his name was Chitramal Swaroop and he took care of your father for 2 years till he got some break in films and then he started living independently. When Bakshi ji became successful he looked after Chitramal as a friend throughout his life, not financially because Chitramal was too noble and too good and proud a man to ask Bakshi ji for any favours or take any favour from Bakshi ji for what he has done as Chitramal believed he did not do anything special for the stranger he met on marine lines station and just believed that Bakshi ji can be a good writer someday and so must not give up because he has run out of money in bombay. Whenever Bakshi ji would travel anywhere in India by train he used to take Swaroop bhai with him and his family and he would look after all his needs on these many many journeys.
Bakshi ji always spoke highly of all the people who helped him, and he was very hurt by the many who did not help him and he would cry thinking of those bad years. In those hard days he told me how he got his first break from an angel called actor Bhagwan Dada. Bakshi ji used to go to Ranjit studios and sit outside the gate and try to meet producers and directors to tell people he is a song writer and would narrate them his poems. One day what happened was that Bhagwan Dada was shooting for his film Bhala Aadmi, and Bhagwan Dada’s song writer did not come and he was angry. Bhagwan dada found out some struggler is waiting outside his office for a break as song writer so he asked Bakshi saab to come in and told him if you are a writer then prove it and write me a song right now. Nikaalo sab pen aur paper aur likho gaana abhi. Then your dad wrote songs and there were some musicians there and they tuned it and the tune was also good what Bakshi ji wrote and that’s how Bhagwan Dada told Bakshi ji to write three more songs, and that became his first film just by luck or hard work or whatever. Bhagwaan dada liked him and he said now you only write all the remaining 4 songs in my film. He wrote some 4 songs and he was given 150 rupees for all 4. 150 rupees those days were equivalent to 15000 rupees today I think.
Bhalaa Aadmi (Bala Aadmi/Bhalaa Aadmi 1958)
(Unity Films/Brij Mohan) (Director Master Bhagwan) (Cast: Chandrashekhar, Anita Guha, Bhagwan, Kum Kum, Ulhas, Protima Devi, Kumar and Shyam Kumar)
Four songs lyrics by AB.
Date of first recording 9.11.1956
Lyrics: Dharti Ke Lal Na Kar Itna Malaal, Tu Dharti Ke Liye, Dharti Tere Liye. Singers Bhooshan (Bhushan) and Party (Sound recordist: Minoo Katrak)
Thereafter Mr. Bakshi started writing some more films but only after another few years so he had a very bad struggle for many years almost ten and after 1962 or 1964 he never looked back and always in great demand. I can say he worked as hard all his life even though he became rich and famous at heart he remained a labourer for his producers and his family until he passed away. I found out he wrote a song one month before he died for subhash ghai from his bed lying down with 103 fever and asthama and heart problem, such was his fierce determination to write.
I remember clearly, he said he also was a truck tank driver in army years and he would write songs during his military years and sing them in his own tunes during army programmes and concerts. And one day he felt he should leave military and become a song writer in bombay and left the army at jubbolpore cantonment HQ.
He used to stay in a clean chawl in Borivali and in 1 room house with Swaroop and sometimes he used to sit all day inside the house and just write and then he would go to different places to seek work and first break. His compositions used to be very simple, I am a lay man and I do not understand anything about films and yet I knew that much about his skill. Let me give you an example of what I, a doctor for lower and middle class and rich people call simple, I was highly impressed by that simple song he wrote ‘prem kahani mein ek ladka hota hai ek ladki hoti hai kabhi dono haste hai kabhi dono rote hai.’ How simple and yet how true and fairy tale like is the writing I thought when I heard it, and yet it had depth of immense love for a beloved.
His songs became so popular that I think in 70’s there was not a single film where his name was not appear I think, I could be wrong but I think that. Because, whenever I would play the radio, two names I always heard every hour and day was Anand Bakshi and laxmikant pyarelal, so I am basing my judgement on what I heard on radio. A lot of music directors followed him and he became the darling of film songs in India I can say. He was always fond of good food and drinks and smoke and paan and writing, all with the same passion. What a passionate man I tell you.
What really impressed me was how fast he used to write songs. Tuesday and Friday when I used to check his blood pressure and it takes 1 minute to take blood pressure. In that one minute I have seen him write 3 to 4 verses! And he used to write only in Urdu. I did not understand urdu so I would ask him what have you written so fast while I am checking your blood pressure, and he would sometimes narrate the verses to me and they used to be often 3 to 4 verses he has written in front of me while I was holding his one arm checking his blood pressure with my pump action BP apparatus. What speed! And what dedication he had I tell you! He would not fuss when I would check his pressure that he has to write songs and I should hurry up, he would let me do my job and he would do his without making it seem important. He would write like he is breathing, effortlessly. That used to show his creative abilities. I am telling the truth and m God is my witness. I was amazed at this. He was so creative and he knew the pulse of rich and common people. Because I realized he would write what so many people liked. Many people feel film songs are written without thinking as they are not poetry but I say, even though I am just a doctor, he thought before writing one because if you analyse his songs every song had a meaning and many have deep meanings. If he is not able to write a song sometimes, he would not try to write for a few days and read books in that time and relax with family and then all of a sudden it used to come to his mind and he used to finish the song in minutes. He was a great creative song writer. Mr. Subhash Ghai told me after Bakshi ji’s death, ‘doctor saab it is difficult to make a film because I do not know a song writer who can write as good as Mr. Bakshi. So there is a big void in the film industry.’
One anecdote I will tell you about Bakshi ji, I was at my home and Bakshi ji called me that he cannot raise his right hand.
I rushed there and I found that he was almost going into paralysis! I examined him, we decided to rush to the hospital.
He asked me to wait one minute, and told your mother to make him one chuna and tobaco laden paan! In front of me, his doctor whom he had called in emergency!
I scolded him, Bakshi ji you should not eat tambaaku ka paan now, it will worsen your heart condition. But he also smoked a cigarette right then! I was panting and anxious not knowing what is going to happen to this very stubborn man. The responsibility was on me, as I was also his family doctor.
He had the tobaco laden paan too after his cigarette and tried to pacify me with… ‘Doctor saab, paan emergency mein kaam aata hai.’ As a medical professional I could not understand his foolish logic.
We left for the hospital, as we entered the ICU he collapsed. He was revived soon and he was treated over a few weeks and returned home happily back to his daily walks, writing and had stopped having tobaco. Good sense had dawned on him.
On one of my subsequent visits, I asked your mother the logic behind his eating paan during a medical ’emergency’. What your mother told me baffled me further, ‘Yeh roz subah ek tambaku wala paan banwate hein, aur usse apne paas rakhte hein, aur din bhar usse khaate nahin, aur shaam ko usse phek dete hain. Roz aisa karte hain.’ Your mother was annoyed why he makes her make a paan for him daily which he does not eat!
Bakshi ji was presnt and laughed and said, “Emergency mein paan aur doctor dono kaam aate hai! That day I would have died before reaching the ICU. Because I had that paan I managed to reach it. I came home alive because you let me have that paan before we left! Yeh paan mere emergency ka saathi hai, jaise aap hain dr saab.”
When I used to come to see him for his BP sometimes I would meet celebrities at his house who were working with him, and one thing I must say Bakshi ji made it a point that he never went to a producers house, producer’s would come to meet him, he never asked anyone for work he said.
He was very concerned about his friends. Whenever I was unwell, he was the first one to come and see me. He was a very big name in the industry and I was just an ordinary family physician. He need not do anything for me and yet I would have had to attend to him being his doctor and friend. Yet he would come. He could call and ask me how I am. He had a great liking for me. Every party of his I was always called, though I could not entertain him or his friends yet he made me feel my presence and I was important to his life, I was not a celebrity but he always felt I should be there in his parties and film previews.
How can I forget such a man. There is not a single day when I have not remembered Mr. Bakshi. I used to remember his birth date as 21st July and his death anniversary as 30th March. I do not remember only on those 2 days. After death I must be remembering him for 360 days. If the year had 500 days I will remember him at least 495 days I know. Arre, what remember him, I still feel Anand Bakshi is around and I sometimes I ask my family members that Bakshi saab will just appear to me someday.
- Oct 1st 2012. At my residence, Rakesh Anand Bakshi.
When I met Lata ji
By Rakesh Anand Bakshi
LM – Main gayi thi baahar London ya America meri shows the. Yeh gaana Kavita Krishnamurthy ne gaake rakha tha fir mujhe gaana tha. main jab vaapas aai tab Raj saahab baahar gaye the. Laxmi ne kaha hum record karte hai. Toh humne yeh gaana record kiya. record karne ke baad Raj sahib ko laga ki mere saamne nahi hua toh unhone gaana hi nikaal diya aur fir doosra gaana rakha, aisa kuch hua tha.
RB – Daddy ke bare mein aap kuch kehna chaahte hai.
LM – Anand Bakshi ji ko main sabse pehle mili thi Kalyanji Bhai ke ghar mein. tab woh bahot patle the aur mujhe unka sur yaad hai ki woh kaise gaate hai. Woh mere saath bahot kam baat karte the. Fir kya hua ki beech mein thodi si gap hui aur baad mein Laxmikant Pyarelal ke saath mile. Vahaan woh roz recording mein aate the woh suggest karte the yeh thik hai aur yeh nahi hai. Gaate bhi the. Mere saath gaya bhi tha unhone duet, baahon mein bahaar aayi. Ek solo bhi gaaya tha unhone woh picture mein. Mom Ki Gudiya mein gay atha aur shaayad usmein actress Tanuja thi.
RB – Aapka experience kaisa tha?
LM – Hamare itne ache sambandh the, ki jab pehle Laxmi ne kaha, woh mazaak kar raha tha, maalum hai aapke saath kaun gaa rahe hai? Maine kaha kaun? Unhone kaha Anand Bakshi ji gaa rahe hai. Au rmaine kaha bahot achi baat hai par maine suna nahi hai unko. Toh sab mazaak kar rahe the ki kya gaate hai aur unko chedd rahe the. Bakshi saahab ne gaaya mere saath aur hota hai na kabhi kabhi ki Lata ke saath gaa rahe aur aisa kabhi darr hota hai, har naye aadmi ko. Woh bahot free the aur aaram se gaaye aura cha gayaa.
RB – Shaayad khud likha ho toh lafz ache nikalte hai.
LM – Gaana woh samajhte the. Kayi baar dekha tha ki kuch tarze ( tune) woh dete the Laxmikant ko. Jab likhte the unko koi purana gaana yaad aaya toh woh batate the. Baagon mein Bahaar shaayd unka hi gaana tha. unko woh bhi ek gift that ki woh bata sakte the. Mere saath unke bahot ache relation the.
RB – Woh hamesha aapko Waah ji waah kehte the.
LM – Haan. Yeh aapne acha yaad dilaya.
RB – Maine ek article mein padha tha. Aap Bangalore se aae the Bombay mere sister ki shaadi attend karne, Belgaum se. Specially aap aae the. Padha tha maine paper mein.
LM – Sahi baat hai. Wahi se main shaadi pe pahoch gayi thi. Unke hamare bahot ache sambandh the.
RB – Aapka Favorite song kaunsa hai Bakshi saahab ka? Mere jo Favorite hai woh hai, 16 baras ki baali umar ko salaam, bindiya chamkegi. Aap kuch kehna chahenge uske bare mein?
LM – Pehle aap apne sab selections bata dijiye.
RB – Fir, tu kitni achi hai kitni bholi hai pyaari pyaari hai oh maa, woh best gaana hai, fir bhor bahe panghat pe mhore natkhat shyam sataye Satyam Shivam SUndaram, maar diya jaae ki chod diya jaee bol tere saath kya sulook kiya jaae, Mere Khwaabon mein jo aae from DDLJ, Megha re Megha Re from Lamhe. Aapke bahot gaane hai kam se kam 1000.
LM – Haan bahhot gaane gaaye hai maine unke. Par aapne jo nikaale hai usmei mujhe Mere Khwaabon mei jo aae bahot acha lagta hai. Uski tarz bhi achi hai aur likha hua toh hai hi acha. Mujhe unka woh gaana acha lagta hai Mere Haathon Mein Nau nau chudiyan hai, kitni achi hai kitni bholi hai bahot acha tha. yeh mujhe thoda kuch yaad nahi aa raha hai par sant gyaneshwar mein unhone likha tha?
RB – Nahi.
LM – Kyunki hame pata nahi chala tha kisne likha hai. Hum likh bhi nahi lete the. Kuch kavi aise the jinke gaane woh khud aake batate the, Pradeepji jaise the, Majru saahab, toh maalum hota tha Majru saahab ka hai. Bakshi ji ne mere khayaal se Yashji ke saath bahot kaam kiya hai aur Yashji unse bahot khush the.
RB – Main abhi 1 mahine pehle Yashji se mila, unke aankhon mein aansu aa gaye,
LM – Bahot pyaar karte the Yashji aur hame kehte the Anand Bakshi ji hai toh mujhe koi darr nahi hai, gaana acha hi hoga. Kya gaane likhe hai unhone.
RB – Sahi mein. Chandni, Darr, Lamhe, DIlwale, Dil Toh Paagal Hai, Mohabbatein.
LM – Lamhe mein tha, Chandni mein the, Darr mei woh gaana bahot acha tha mere ar Udit ka duet, Tu mere saamne main tere saamne. Aur chandni mein woh gaana tha, Tere mere hothon pe meethe meethe geet mitwa. Woh gaake batate the. Uss din recording pe aae the. Aur hum log gaa rahe the meethe meethe, unhone kaha ki meetthhe meetthhee kahiye.
Par Bakshi ji mere saath bahot ache se aur pyaar se baat karte the. Mujhe ab bhi yaad hai mujhe jab Padmavibhushan mila tha, unhone ek function kiya tha, Andheri mein koi club hhai, Bakshi ji aae the toh thoda sa drink kiya hua tha unhone, main khadi thi toh mere paas khade ho gaye. Function khatam ho gaya aur sab jaa rahe the. Aur phir unhone mere upar jo kavita likhi thi woh jor se gaake batai.
RB – Not in front of the audience? Sirf aapke liye?
LM – Nahi, mere saamne khade hoke. Baaki log aake paas khade ho gaye aur sab kehne lage kya acha likha hai aur sab waah waah kar rahe the. Aur main kabhi recording ke liye jaati thi aur agar woh baithe hue hote the jaate hi kehte the waah ji waah kya baat hai.
Date: September 2012, at her residence.
(1st song of #AnandBakshi + Lata Mangeshkar was composed by Roshan for the film Warrant 1961. Minoo Kartik was the recordist. Hoton pe hasi, palkon pe haya, aakhon mein shararat reheti hi… It was recorded on 6.11.1959 and was a hit song!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8En0L2_gmEI&pbjreload=10 )
Tribute paid by Lata ji to Anand Bakshi on his passing away on 30 th March 2002:
When it was Bakshi ji’s daughter’s (Suman Datt’s) wedding, mid 1970’s, he insisted I come. So, I travelled by car from Kolhapur to Belgaum, then took a flight to Mumbai to attend the wedding.
When he sang a song with me in “Mom ki Gudiya”, “baghon mein bahar ayee”, he approached me before the recording and told me, since I am singing with him, the song will be a big hit. He sang very confidently, even though it was his first time singing professionally, and that too with an established singer like me, he was not at all nervous, as sometimes people do feel nervous when they sing for the first time with an established singer, he was not at all nervous. I was pleasantly surprised how confident and well he sang.
Bakshi ji was very blunt, spoke little, lost his temper quickly. He would never compromise. Bhut shareef aadmi the. He would tell me, “My philosophy in life is SIMPLE LIVING, HIGH THINKING.” This philosophy was reflected in his lyrics too. Even if the listener was a stranger to poetry, he could understand Bakshi ji’s lyrics.
Over the years, trends changed, but Bakshi saab went on and on and on. Yet he wasn’t the kind to blow his own trumpet. We all wish he had got little more recognition during his lifetime as a lyricist and poet. He wrote so well, so consistently, it seems he has always been there, writing my songs. I’ve sung more of his songs than any other lyricists.
Some of his songs are my favorite:
Jaane kyon log mohabbat karte hain – mehboob ki mehendi
Baaghon mein bahar hai, kaliyon mein – aradhana
Tu mere saamne – darr
Tere mere honton pe – chandni”
He never interfered with anyone during recordings. He was one of the few lyricists that made it a point to attend all his recordings, and when necessary, suggest changes in expressions to singers, who he thought had not comprehended his words completely, or pronounce them correctly.
When I was recording “tere mere honton pe, meethe meethe geet mithwa”, for “chandni”, he came up to me and asked me to pronounce the word ‘meethhe’ hard, with a strong ‘thh’, instead of a softer one. His suggestion made a world of difference to the song!
Whenever he would meet me, he would greet me with, “Wahh Ji Wahh”.
When I received the Padma Vibhushan in 2001 (he wrote this poem in 1973) he presented this poem, he wrote for me, post the awards ceremony by narrating it to me personally:
“Ye gulshan mein baad e saba gaa rahi hai
Ke parbat pe kaali ghata gaa rahi hai
Ye jharno ne paida kiya hai tarannum
Ke nadiya koi geet sa gaa rahi hai
Ye Mahiwaal ko yaad karti hai Sohni
Ke Meera bhajan Shyam ka gaa rahi hai
Mujhe jaane kya kya gumaa’N ho rahey hain
Nahi aur koi, Lata gaa rahi hai
Yunn hi kaash gaati rahein ye hamesha
Dua aaj khud ye dua gaa rahi hai”
Bakshi ji presented this poem to me in 2001, when I was honored with the Padma Vibhushan, he narrated it to me while presenting it to me post the award ceremony at the venue, itself after the award ceremony.
Producer director Tony Juneja
“I met Bakshi ji first when I was very young….. I was new in Bombay, I had come from Calcutta (I was earlier in Delhi.)
I remember we, my brother Tito and I, our production company was, Navjeevan Films International, we were going to start shooting our film, Ram Balram, with actor Dharamji, this was sometime around 1978/79 or 1980. We sent composers Mr. Laxmikant and and Mr Pyarelal to meet Bakshi ji for the lyrics, and Bakshi ji agreed to write our songs of Ram Balram. Later I went to meet Bakshi ji and I fell in love with Bakshi saab.
Soon our film Ram Balram got delayed, because of certain circumstances (The dates Dharamji gave us clashed with dates he had given to some other producer…), so Ram Balram had to be postponed, and thus suddenly we had free time for two to three months; Therefore, we, Tito and I, decided to make another film in that time, and that was Mr Natwarlal; with director Rakesh Kumar.
We requested Amitji if he would do the film, Natwarlal, with us and Rakesh Kumar, and he agreed. Our director Rakesh Kumar had just finished shooting his film ‘Khoon Pasina’ and we knew that Rakesh Kumar and Amitji both got along very well, so we signed Rakesh Kumar and Amitji for Mr Natwarlal.
There was no script at that time, when we approached Amitji for Natwarlal, we had only the story of Mr. Natwarlal.
Ram Balram got postponed sometime in March, and we had two months of free time to complete the script of Natwarlal and do the preproduction untill May; Because we planned to go to Kashmir in summer, May, to shoot Mr Natwarlal. Though we did not have a complete screenplay or complete script ready in March, we had some great gimmicks (scenes with great fun elements) and we knew they would eventually fit very well into the script/film.
While we were scripting Natwarlal we decided to immediately record the 6 songs we needed for the script, because we knew all the song situations in the script, or story, and we decided that while we record all the songs in two months and then them in Kashmir in May, the scenes, the script will be ready before we start the scenes.
Now, it was most challenging to record six songs within just the two months we had in hand before shoot begibs, March and April, because we confirmed the Kashmir schedule for may.
We approached composer Rajesh Roshan (Raju) to compose the music for Mr Natwarlal, and then we requested Bakshi saab to team up with him and give us 6 songs WITHIN THREE WEEKS!
When we met Bakshi saab with this sudden and ‘strange’ request, I remember he was having his paan and he jokingly told us to ‘get out of my house!’ (laughs)
He scolded us, ‘You must be crazy that you want me to write 6 songs for you in 3 weeks, and that too just because you want to go to Kashmir to shoot in May! ‘I have many other producers whom I have promised songs, and I cannot let them down by giving you songs before them.’
We assured him we do not want all the 6 songs together; we want them one by one over three weeks. He thought and agreed!!
Since that day I started going to his house almost every day, to follow up on our request, and he would also call me as and when he spared time for us from all his other commitments. He was a very busy writer, even then and yet he adjusted his time for us.
I would collect him from his house in bandra and drive him to composer Rajesh Roshan’s music sitting room in santacruz, or drive Rajesh Roshan to Bakshi ji’s house, and very soon Bakshi ji and I developed a good relationship with each other.
I must tell you, he used to love the saag (spinach) dish made in my house by our cook. So I would send it to him often. That was the beginning of our relationship as far as affection was concerned.
In those days, we had to book the recording theater 2-3 weeks or a month in advance, since there were few good ones and so they were very difficult to get overnight.
Rajesh Roshan somehow booked a recording studio, I think by requesting LP, with great difficulty. Now the dilemma was we had a recording studio but we had no song to record.
Bakshi saab normally came in his 1964 Fiat car at sharp 6 ‘o’ clock in the evening to Raju’s (Rajesh Roshan) house, with a pan and a 555 cigarette packet, and we all would sit to think on the song.
One evening, as usual, he was smoking his 555, he began humming a song, the lyrics and tune too – ‘Pardesiya se sach hai piya, sab kehete hain toone mera dil le liya…’
We were all surprised, and wondered what Bakshi ji is saying and humming in tune, but it sounded great to all of us. Raju and his musicians got all charged up and they played along Bakshi saab …. that was how that song was composed.
After he narrated and sang the first verse of that song, the remaining three verses he wrote in front of all of us in 15 minutes! And he did that while chewing his paan and smoking his 555.
I must add, after he wrote the first verse of the ‘Pardesiya’ song, he went out of the music hall to the balcony where he sat and looked out for a few minutes. Then he returned and wrote the rest of the verses of that song, one after the other! The whole song ‘Pardesiya” was ready within half an hour, with even the music in place!
When his paan got over, he sent his driver to get him more paan from a shop in Khar west, opposite khar station. Then he said his brains are not working and asked for a cup of tea.
he had the tea, again he lit his cigarette and said ‘Why not we have a song that Amitji sings with the children, and why not we make Amitji sing this song in his own voice?’
Out of the blue he suggested we make actor Amitabh Bachchan sing a song with the children in the story, and Amitji had never sang a song before.
We all were very close friends by then, so Raju looked surprised and told me this would be the first time Amitji would be singing a film song, as a playback singer; and Bakshi saab replied, ‘Yes, but why not make him sing? Him singing in his own voice will make the song sound more intimate especially since he is singing with children.’
That was the end of our discussion on the voice, and believe me in the next 10 minutes he wrote the complete song that Amitji sang as playback singer in the film, ‘Mere paas aao mere doston ek kissa suna.’ That is history I tell you! Because I do not think any lyrics writer ever wrote 2 songs for a film in one music sitting and within an hour, giving the basic tunes, and both the songs became super hits when the film Mr Natwarlal released. Natwarlal’s main assets were the gimmicks and music, for which credit goes to Bakshi ji too.
Once when we became financially tight I told Bakshi saab there is no money to pay him, and he said he should be paid, but it was his greatness that he never asked us for the money thereafter. However, eventually we did pay him in installments.
Those were old days, the great days of trust and of love. We all worked as one team. Bakshi saab was a Great man, I say.
We did 7 pictures with him! ‘Teri Kasam’ was another example of how he gave us great songs with Pancham Da, R D Burman. In 2 days he wrote us 6 songs and he gave us the basic tunes too.
We had 2 movies scheduled for shooting in Manali, ‘Johnny I love you’ and ‘Teri Kasam’, They were planned all of a sudden, and Bakshi saab delivered us songs without a complaint.
Teri Kasam was a romantic film of Kumar Gaurav, and was releasing after his super hit film, “Love story” so the music had to be very good, and Bakshi ji helped us with that, and this is the respect and regards I have for Bakshi saab that he was a genius that the film industry had. I wish he could be with us even now.
Bakshi ji never wanted to hurt anyone’s feelings. If we pleaded with him to give us songs earlier he would always adjust. He would call up his music directors, who were also top composers so they were also very busy, and he would request them to adjust time for him, so that he could adjust for us. Bakshi ji was writing for everybody, so many producers and yet he never let us down, that was his professionalism! One must learn from him that everybody’s money is important and has value, so you should and cannot let anybody down ever. You must adjust with everyone and deliver to everyone. He never delayed my songs even when we suddenly asked for them.
He would always call me or Raju and ask how is the verse/antra he has written, and narrate it to us. So he had no ego about his work and would ask us an opinion sometimes. These are nice things in him. What amazed me is he used to write a song in 15 minutes or maximum in a day and it did not think its a very big thing he does. Nowadays, I am told, some writers take many days to write a song.
Bakshi saab had the talent, the energy, and the honesty to his work and producers above all, and all three combined together and made Bakshi saab a Genius and a living legend.
He also wrote songs for our other films, like, Ram Balram, and in Aasman he wrote us two fabulous songs, ‘Banke nazar Dil ki Zubaan’ and ‘Baagan wich Lagiyan Ambiyan’; he also wrote sings for Johnny I love you, Teri Kasam, and some other two films whose names I am now forgetting.
I had a great association with Bakshi saab, and I regret a legend like him is not there with us today.
I used to go to his house in the evening sometimes just to see him. I once saw him at the joggers park where he would walk regularly, and he asked me ‘Saag kithhe hai’ (‘when are you making saag for me? Tell Meenu to send me saag.’) Meenu. my wife. One cannot forget those moments, the most simple ones are so beautiful.
There are other unforgettable ones with him, like seeing him chewing his paan, and he always carried his paan ka dabba to music rooms, his cigarette held between his third and fourth finger, so many moments and memories I have.
He used to play the harmonium at times when he would write lyrics.
He used to tell me, ‘My songs rhythm will always sound like a heartbeat. My songs will beat just as our heart beats, my songs should beat like our hearts beat.’
Bakshi saab was a genius and a genius still remembered.”
- Told to me – Rakesh Anand Bakshi