Gulshan Bawra is remembered on his birthday.
The music lovers all across India remember legendary lyricist Gulshan Bawra on his birthday on 13th April, 2011. His birthday cannot be celebrated with pomp and grandieur as he died on 7th August, 2009, at the age of 72 years. He had died due to heart failure.
Although his involvement in lyrics of bollywood films is related to less number of songs if compared with the dynamism of Shakeel Badayani, Hasrat Jaipuri, Shailendra, Sahir Ludhiyanvi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Kaifi Azmi and others, his words were very meaningful and his work was appreciated by elite section of the society. Born in 1937, he came to Bombay as a railway clerk in the 50s and showed his talent as a lyricist in due time. His song “tumhe yaad hoga kabhi hum milethe” sung by Hemant Kumar and Lata in Balraj Sahani’s film Satta Bazar gave him recognition.
He received filmfare award for the best lyricist for his brilliant composition “mere desh ki dharti”, sung by Mahendra Kapoor and composed by Kalyanji Anandji in the film Upkaar in 1967. Manoj Kumar’s epic film won most of the awards that year and Gulshan Kumar gave his best for the epic film. He had a great combination with Kalyanji Anandji and for them he wrote different types of songs including patriotic songs, romantic numbers, tragic numbers, etc. He again got filmfare award for the best lyrics written for the song “yaari hai imaan mera yaar meri zindagi” for the film Zanjeer. It was sung by legendary singer Manna Dey and composed by Kalyanji Anandji.
Gulshan Bawra also acted in the film and gave lips in a song sung by Rafi. His other hit songs included “kasme wade nibhayenge hum” and “aati rahegi baharen” in the film Kasme Wade, composed by RD Burman, “wada karle saajna” from the film Haath Ki Safai, and many other songs. He faded away from the industry after the emergence of new lyricists in the 1990s. But his works were very meaningful and unique. His songs should be preserved.
