Forgotten Wordsmiths: The Lyricists Who Penned Hindi Cinema's Golden Gems But Faded Into Obscurity

"Hansne ki chaah ne itna mujhe rulaya hai" (Film, Avishkaar, 1974), "Lag jaa gale ke phir ye haseen raat" (Woh Kaun thi, 1964), "Ik haseen shaam ko dil mera kho gaya" (Dulhan ek raat ki, 1967), "Dil ki aawaaz bhi sun mere fasane pe na jaa" (Hum Saya, 1968)… the list is endless.

I can bet all readers have listened to the aforementioned popular numbers a number of times, and they may be humming them at the moment as well! But are they aware of the lyricists who penned these gems? Do we remember Kapil Kumar, Shamsul Huda Bihari or SH Bihari, Yogesh, Raja Mehdi Ali Khan, Qamar Jalalabadi, Shevan Rizvi, Naqsh Laylapuri, GS Nepali, MG Hashmat, Sajan Dehlvi, Shiv Kumar Saroj, Aah Sitapuri, Nyaya Sharma, Santosh Anand, or Gulshan Kumar Mehta, better known as Gulshan 'Bawra'?

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Even a prolific lyricist like Indeevar, who wrote Chandan-sa badan (Saraswati Chandra) and 'Paas baitho tabeea't bahal jayegi' (Punar Milan, 1964) and penned more than 1600 songs, is almost a forgotten name today. All these lyricists, despite their talents and skills, got snowed under the avalanche of the established poet-lyricists, viz., Sahir Ludhianvi, Kaifi Azmi, Shakeel Badayuni, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Hasrat Jaipuri, Shailendra, Neeraj, etc. No doubt, Shakeel Badayuni or Sahir Ludhianvi were very skilled poet-lyricists. But Raja Mehdi Ali Khan or Om Prakash Bhandari, better known as Qamar Jalalabadi, were also excellent lyricists. By the way, have you heard the name of the lyricist J Nakshab? Though he penned some songs for both Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle, he is remembered primarily for Mangeshkar’s iconic ‘Aayega Aanewala’ composed by Khemchand Prakash in the 1949 film Mahal. Who was Javed Anwar (not Javed Akhtar)? His real name was Manohar Khanna, and he was composer Usha Khanna's father. Jaddan Bai, mother of Nargis, suggested the nom de plume (takhallus) Javed Anwar for him. Famous songs like 'Apne liye jiye toh kya jiye' (Film Badal, 1966), 'Hai tabassum tera' (Film Nishan, 1965), and 'Maine rakkha hai muhabbat apne afsane ka naam' (Film Shabnam, 1964) ensued from his quill, but he remained in the penumbra of obscurity. That’s sad.

Yet, they didn't get a considerable number of songs in their kitties. Lyricists in Hindi cinema never got the kind of recognition they should have got. The great Sahir had to fight it out with HMV and the then-recording companies to mention the names of lyricists on LP records. His condition on taking one rupee more than Lata Mangeshkar wasn't an act of arrogance; it was his way to get recognition for all the lyricists, and he succeeded to some extent. The same dismal fate befell the lyricists of regional films. The great Gauriprasanna Majumder, who wrote innumerable unforgettable numbers for Bengali films, had a lifelong grievance that lyricists never got true recognition. So, when frontline poet-lyricists like Majrooh, Sahir, and Shailendra, among others, established themselves in the film world after much effort and endeavour, a team of tried and tested lyricists came into existence. Producers also opted for them as they were 'regular' lyricists and didn't want to upset the apple cart. So, rather 'irregular' lyricists like Yogesh, Qamar, SH Bihari, and Raja Mehdi Ali Khan were sidelined in spite of their fine creations in many films. It was sheer ill fate that descended on them as they were competing with already established stalwarts like Majrooh, Sahir and Shakeel.

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It's a tragic fact that compared to the singers and music directors, the work of lyricists is less applauded by the masses. But the truth is that they form a crucial part of each song. If we still sing the old hits today, it’s as much because of the words as it’s because of the tune or the original singer. Now, when the taste for film music has undergone a sea change, the current generation is even more ignorant about the lyricists of yore. This is really saddening and rueful.

Lastly, it has been a classic case of too many to remember. A very large number of lyricists wrote songs for Hindi films. When the quantity is overwhelming, remembering is always a challenge. Ergo, many lyricists were simply forgotten because they were parts of a huge crowd of lyricists in the industry. One more factor that pushed the lyricists into an abyss of oblivion was the contributions of more than one lyricist in a movie. Many Hindi movies of yesteryears had a host of lyricists. Crowd creates obscurity. There's no gainsaying the fact that fate also played a vital role in the lives of many lyricists who simply vanished into thin air despite being talented. They also had no influential godfathers to promote them.

Sumit Paul is a regular contributor to the world’s premier publications and portals in several languages.

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